A REASON FOR REJOICING
From The HeartPublish date: 11/08/1998
Luke 10:17-20 (NKJ)
17Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." 18And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19"Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20"Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."
As a children of God, washed in the blood, saved, sanctified and redeemed – we have authority over the devil and demons. Jesus Himself gave us the authority and the power. The Name of Jesus gives us His authority. Because of Jesus, the devil and his demons are powerless against us. They may try, but they will fail, as long as we walk submitted to God.
However, Jesus tells us to find our reason for rejoicing in the fact that our names are written in heaven, not in our authority over devils. Authority over devils is just a by-product of our redemption. It is something we should know about and operate in, but we should not make it our main focus.
There are many Christians who run around crowing about how they dominate the devil and yet, in their hearts, they are secretly afraid of him. Other Christians pay too much attention to the devil and give him too much credit. We should be focusing on Jesus and lifting Him up, instead. Some people arrogantly brag about their authority over the devil and yet their arrogance opens the door in their own life, for the devil to take a shot at them.
2 Corinthians 2:10-11 (NKJ)
10Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, 11lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.
We should not be ignorant of Satan’s modus operandi and we should deal with him and take authority over him whenever it is necessary to do so, without giving him undue attention. Jesus treated him this way: “But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him.” (Mark 1:25-26 - NKJ)
Proverbs 24:17-18 (NKJ)
17Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; 18Lest the LORD see it, and it displease Him, and He turn away His wrath from him.
We should not find our reason for rejoicing in the failings or defeat of another, but we should rather rejoice in the goodness of God toward us. In the same way, we should not be congratulating ourselves over the devil’s defeat or give him any excessive attention in our thoughts, our conversation or our celebration. It is a fact that he is defeated and that we are victorious, but our rejoicing and our praise and our talk should be centered on Jesus – King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Revelation 3:5 (NKJ)
5"He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
Revelation
We can celebrate the goodness of God and our redemption and the fact that our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life!