Calendar

MORE THAN CONQUERORS IN CHRIST
FRIDAY, JULY 11
Luke 10:1-20

Romans 8:28-39

 

“Behold, I give unto you power to

tread on serpents and scorpions…”

 

MORE THAN CONQUERORS IN CHRIST
 
Jesus had previously sent out the twelve (Matt 10:1-42; Luke 9:1-6). Then He sent out seventy in pairs to preach the Gospel of peace and heal the sick for the “harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few.” Like the twelve, they were told also to travel light — no money bag, knapsack, extra footwear — so that they could accomplish their task with haste, and be totally dependent on the kindness of those who would receive them, “for the labourer is worthy of his hire.” Any town that did not welcome them, they should leave alone. By a symbolic action of wiping off the dust from their feet, they were to testify against the city that had rejected them. Judgment would surely come upon that city that had despised the Lord.
 
The seventy returned rejoicing over the victory due to the power the Lord had given them over Satan and his demons. The spiritual forces of darkness have no power over Christians “because greater is he (Holy Spirit) that is in you, than he (Satan) that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Darkness can never overcome Light.
 
Although Satan is a fallen creature, and we have power over demons, we are told not to rejoice because of this, but rather because our names are recorded in heaven’s Book of Life (Isa 4:3; Dan 12:1; Rev 3:5, 20:12, 15). There is a danger that we may be rejoicing over the wrong thing. Jesus told the seventy that they ought to be joyful not because they were able to cast out demons but because they were saved. This is because a person can cast out demons and yet not be saved. For example, Judas was among the twelve who cast out demons, yet was a reprobate from the beginning. Jesus also warned that there are those who cast out demons in His name but are never known by Him and are workers of iniquity (Matt 7:22-23). Moreover, the gift of demon-casting lasted only for a while until the Bible was completed (cf. 1 Cor 13:10), but the gift of eternal life lasts forever. We ought to focus on that which is permanent and not that which is only temporary. It is the power of the Gospel of Christ alone that breaks the stranglehold of Satan and sin in our lives.
 
THOUGHT: “Jesus breaks every fetter.”
PRAYER: Father, set me free from Satan’s grip, and from the bondage of sin.

Search