Luke 10:19-24

19 “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.

20 “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”

21 At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.

22 “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

23 Turning to the disciples, He said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see,

24 for I say to you, that many prophets and kings wished to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them.”

Pray

I.       There are joys in doing Gods work

A.   The joy of service Luke 10:17-19

19 “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.

B.   The joy of salvation Luke 10:20

20 “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”

C.   The joy of sovereignty Luke 10:21-24

21 At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.

1.     The good news is for the simple common man

2.     The every day guy or gal

3.     They were careful to give God the glory (“in Thy name”)

Look at verse 21

Matthew 11:25-27

25  At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.

26  “Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.

27  “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.    

II.    We as people long for supremacy instead of service

A.   It is unlikely that the messengers of Christ came back all at once

1.     They had gone to every town and place that Jesus was going to visit

Luke 10:1

1  Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.    

2.     They probably came back in small groups; maybe “two by two” as they were sent

3.     No one apparently had a different report

4.     The thing that impressed them most was how supremely they fared in the war against evil spiritual powers

B.   Although they were handpicked by Jesus, these messengers demonstrated that they were not free from the passions of humanity

1.     Many people love statistics that show how successful they have been in a mission for Christ

2.     It is better to speak of service to humans than of conquest over devils

3.     Beware of people who boast of their fights with Satan and their conquest over him.

III.  Our main task in life or our commission is not fighting the devil but carrying out the Lord’s will

A.   Jesus had not given them any specific command to engage in a fight against evil spiritual forces

1.     He told them that there was a harvest

Luke 10:2

2  And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.    

a)    He who sends us prepares the hearts to be reached

b)    We should never go forth fearing the possibility of failure

c)     There were seventy workers for a small area of Palestine where there were only a few villages

d)    The number of workers in proportion to the population was far greater than the proportion of preachers and missionaries to the population in our day, to our great shame

2.     They were to prepare the way for Him, but not to take His place

Luke 10:1

1  Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.

3.     They were sent with authority

a)    The verb Jesus used was apostéllō, “I send you.” There was authority (exousía) attached to this command

b)    Jesus used the same verb in the sending of the Twelve

Matthew 10:16

16  “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.

Matthew 10:40

40  “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.    

c)     It was the same verb Jesus used to indicate His being sent by the Father

Luke 9:48

48  and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.”

Luke 10:16

16  “The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”

d)    There was authority given to the Twelve and the seventy disciples and to us to proclaim the gospel and of Jesus Christ

e)     When it came to the sending forth of all believers after His resurrection in

John 20:21

21  So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”    

f)      , Jesus used the word pémpō, which means “to send” not with authority, but “under authority.” “As my Father hath sent me [apéstalken], even so send I [pémpō] you.”

B.   The Twelve and the seventy disciples exercised powers, perhaps under the illusion that it was the greatest thing they could and would ever do

1.     The preaching of the gospel and its acceptance may have taken an inferior place in their ministry

a)    Observe what they declared about Jesus: “Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.”

b)    They did not fail to preach and heal

Luke 10:9

9  and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’    

c)     They had exhibited such power before, but to actually have evil powers obey them was a surprise

2.     Observe a correct translation of

Mark 16:17

17  “These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues;    

3.     “And these signs shall follow them that believed [tois pisteúsasi, aorist participle]; in my name shall they cast out devils [daimónia, ‘demons,’ the same word used in

Luke 10:17

17    The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”    

4.     When Jesus said he saw satan falling like lightening it was a precursor to  

John 12:31-32

31  “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.

32  “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”

a)    If we lift up Jesus and not our selves

b)    Jesus will draw all men to him

C.   It could be that they were puffed up

1.     They said,

Luke 10:17

17  The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”    

2.     They thought they were very important!

3.     They thought they were special people with the authority to exorcise demons

4.     Of course they did acknowledge that Jesus had a part: “through thy name.”

5.     Perhaps they felt that they were the performers and the influence of Jesus was minimal.

IV.Jesus rebuked the seventy disciples

A.   Jesus rebuked them not because what they did was wrong

1.     They preached the gospel

2.     They healed

3.     They exorcised demons

John 12:31

31  “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.

4.      Compare

Isaiah 14:12

12  “How you have fallen from heaven,

O star of the morning, son of the dawn!

You have been cut down to the earth,

You who have weakened the nations!

B.   He rebuked them because they emphasized the wrong things

Luke 10:19

19  “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.

1.     He assured them that their authority was not gone now that the preaching mission had ended, and that they could safely tread on the “old serpent” without fear

2.     They were proud because they thought they had defeated the devil and his demons

3.     They thought that casting out devils was primary

a)    The power of doing so is intoxicating

b)    If you think that is good, your salvation is more then that

4.     They forgot that their primary task was to preach and heal and then when the devil attacked (as he surely always does) he would not prevail

5.     The devil’s activity is a reaction to God’s children doing what God wants them to do for un saved people

a)    If we attempt to see the devil everywhere, then he will occupy all our time and keep us so busy fighting him that we will leave ourselves no time to preach the gospel

b)    If he is able to engage us in constant battle, he will have succeeded in keeping us from the true fight that we as Christians should be fighting

C.   The most important thing that ever happened to the Twelve and the seventy disciples

1.     Was that their names were written in the Book of Life in heaven

2.     The most important task for any of Christ’s messengers is to see that people’s names are written in the Book of Life

3.     We need to rejoice because our names have been written in heaven

a)    The verb means “they have been written and they stand written.” With a finality       

D.   Knowing that people are saved from the eternal condemnation of sin should produce in us, as messengers of Christ, the greatest joy

V.   Not about us but for us

A.   We are not a great package

1 Corinthians 1:26-29

26  For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;

27  but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,

28  and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are,

29  so that no man may boast before God.

B.   Humbly receive and submit

James 4:6

6  But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

1 Peter 5:6

6  Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,

1.  Are there examples to follow?

2.  Are there errors to avoid?

Meditation

Meditation entails focusing our mind on the word, with our reason, imagination, and emotions.

be “constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine” (1 Tim. 4:6).

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a Ps 91:13; Mark 16:18

a Ex 32:32; Ps 69:28; Is 4:3; Ezek 13:9; Dan 12:1; Phil 4:3; Heb 12:23; Rev 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12, 15; 21:27

a Luke 10:21, 22: Matt 11:25–27

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2 Or acknowledge to You

a John 3:35

b John 10:15

a Luke 10:23, 24: Matt 13:16, 17

a Luke 10:25–28: Matt 22:34–40; Mark 12:28–31; Matt 19:16–19

a Ps 91:13; Mark 16:18

a Luke 10:21, 22: Matt 11:25–27

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