#82 Lu. 10:17-20  A BETTER REASON FOR REJOICING

Introduction:

     In our previous text Jesus sent out seventy preachers.  They were
to go to the cities and villages which Jesus would later visit.  In our
text today we see them all return to Jesus and they are all
rejoicing.

I.  The return of the seventy

     V. 17, "And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord,
        even the
devils are subject unto us through thy name."  Jesus had sent these men
to preach in places where He, Himself intended to later go and preach.
The messages which they would preach and the people they won to
salvation would help to prepare for the time when Jesus would come to
those same places.  The people of each place would all get to talking
about Jesus and would be anxiously awaiting His arrival.  Therefore
when Jesus did come, they would all go out to see Him and hear Him.
Their ministry in those places were great publicity for the coming of
Jesus.
     However, it appears that these preachers did not stay in those
villages and cities until Jesus got there.   Instead, after a
relatively short visit at each of the places which were assigned to
them they all returned to Capernaum from whence Jesus had sent them
out.  Once they arrived, they, of course, reported in to Jesus.
     In reading Luke's account you might get the impression that all
seventy of them arrived back at Capernaum at the same time, reported in
at the same time and that the Lord spoke to them all at the same time.
I am sure that the Lord could have arranged for them to all get back on
the same day if He had wanted to.  However, it is most likely that they
arrived back and reported in at different times.  It is very possible
that Jesus waited until they all arrived to give them counsel all at
one time.

II.  The joy which they expressed at their return

     But now note what they all talked about when they returned.  Luke
says that they returned to Jesus all excited about being able to cast
demons out of people.  I can envision one team coming in and saying,
"Lord, even the demons are subject to us through thy name.  When any
demon possessed person was brought to us, we just commanded that demon
in your name to come out and immediately he came out!  It was
fantastic, Lord!  Oh, we wish you could have just seen us, Lord!  It
was great!"  They did not seem excited about somebody believing the
gospel message and getting saved.  All they wanted to talk about was
being able to cast demons out of the demon possessed.
     Then another team would come in and it was the same story all over
again. Of course, they did not all speak the very same words, but they
all said essentially the very same thing.  They were overjoyed that
they were able to cast out demons.
     Now, of course, they gave Jesus the credit.  They did not try to
take the credit for themselves.  They said, "The demons were subject to
us through thy name.  Now, Lord, we know that we did not have this
power on our own.  It was all done in your name and we know that it was
your power that cast the demon out.  But it was just great, Lord, to be
able to speak the words and watch your power go to work." And so it was
with all the other preachers as they came in.  They all rejoiced that
they were able to cast out demons through the name of Jesus.

III. The Lord's own experience of casting out Satan

     V. 18, "And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall
        from heaven."
     What Jesus is talking about here is an event that took place
before man was ever created.  That event is described in Isaiah 14:12-
15 when Lucifer, one of the mighty angels of God led a rebellion
against God.  Lucifer and those angels which followed him made war
against God in heaven and the angels which were true to God.  Lucifer
was cast out of heaven and cast down to the earth.  Listen to the words
of this passage, "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of
the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken
the nations!  For thou has said in thine heart, I will ascend into
heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also
upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will
ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."
     Jesus was saying in effect to those preachers, "I can identify
with what you are saying.  I can understand your joy.  I experienced a
similar joy myself.  I can recall the time when Lucifer rebelled.  It
is for this reason that Lucifer is now known as Satan and the angels
which followed him are known as demons.  I can remember when I had to
give the command and Satan was cast out of heaven and came down like
lightening to the earth.  I know what it is to feel the joy of victory
over evil."

IV.  Other great powers which the Lord would yet give to them

     Then Jesus went on to tell those men that so far they had only
seen a small portion of what He was going to do in displaying His
mighty powers through them.  V.  19, "Behold, I give unto you power to
tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy:
and nothing shall by any means hurt you."  Jesus said that not only had
He given them power to cast out demons, but that in the time to come He
would give them power to walk on poisonous serpents without being hurt.
The idea is that even if they should be bitten by these snakes it would
not hurt them.  The same was true with scorpions.  Even if scorpions
should sting them they would not hurt them.  Furthermore, all of the
power of the enemy would not be able to hurt them.  Something similar
to this is mentioned in Mark 16:18.
     Now let me point this out to you while we are on this matter, this
kind of miraculous powers would not continue to abide on believers down
through the ages.  If it had, then nothing would ever hurt any believer
in any age.  But the truth of the matter is that relatively soon the
Lord began to remove the miraculous protection and many of His
disciples were persecuted and put to death.  None of those miraculous
powers named in this text are in effect today.  Not until the Two
Witnesses, mentioned in Revelation, will any believer have such
miraculous powers again.

V.  A better reason to rejoice

     V. 20, "Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are
subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in
heaven."  Jesus told those preachers not to rejoice because they were
able to cast out demon spirits.  Now if this were the only thing to
consider, it would, indeed, be something to rejoice in that they were
able to cast out demons.  Demons cause a great deal of suffering for
those whom they possess.  They bring some terrible afflictions.  The
demoniac of Gadara became a wild, violent man who was driven from his
home and from his family to live in the tombs.  He cut himself with
stones inflicting severe wounds to his body.  On several occasions he
was captured and chained by the people of the area.  But it was not
until Jesus cast the demons out that he had any peace of mind.  One
young demon possessed man who was brought to Jesus by his father
suffered seizures and was prone to throw himself in the water or in the
fire whenever he got near it.  There almost had to be some measure of
satisfaction and joy on the part of anyone who could cast the demons
out and bring relief to the people whom they possessed.
     But those preachers were rejoicing in the wrong thing.  There was
most certainly something far more important than the fact that they
could cast out demons.  Jesus told them to rejoice that their names
were written in heaven.

VI.  The greatest reason for rejoicing today


     What do people rejoice the most about today?  Some young men
rejoice that they played on the winning team.  Some rejoice that the
love of their life has say "Yes" to a proposal for marriage.  Some
rejoice that they have landed a good paying job.  Young ladies rejoice
because they have finally married their dreamboat.  They, likewise,
rejoice when at last their baby is born and is in good health.  The
politician who has just been elected rejoices that he won over his
opponent.  The worker on the job rejoices when the week-end comes and
he gets a little respite from his job.  The carpenter rejoices when the
house or building is finished or when it is sold.  There are many
reasons in this world to rejoice.
     But there is no joy in this world that compares to the salvation
of the soul. It is the joy of having a great heavy burden taken away.
There is no burden carried by the human heart that is heavier than the
burden of one's own sin.  When one is saved a great burden of guilt is
lifted and taken away.  It is about like having the weight of a house
lifted from your chest.  Having this burden lifted should bring great
joy.
     It is also the joy of having a great fear relieved.  It is fearful
thing to know that you are headed for hell.  It is true that we cannot
know as yet just how horrible hell really is, but we do know that it is
horrible.  When one is assured that he is saved and is secure in the
arms of Jesus his fears are calmed and great joy swells up within his
heart and soul.
     It is the joy of having one's name written in heaven.  In the
olden days the citizens of each city had their names written in a
register.  This identified them as citizens of that city and of the
country where that city was located.  It was a matter of great pride
for the citizens of the great cities to have their name written on the
register of that city.  It ought to be a matter of the greatest human
joy to have our names written in the Lamb's Book of Life.  Having our
names written there identifies us as being citizens of Heaven and
assures us that one day we will dwell in heaven.
     It is the joy of having great fellowship.  Once one is saved he
has  fellowship with God.  True, it is only a limited fellowship at
this time.  But the time will come when we will have full and unbroken
fellowship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
     It is the joy of having great wealth.  It is not the wealth of
silver and gold, but is far more valuable than silver and gold.  We are
heirs of God and a joint heir of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Rom.
8:16-17.  Knowing this should give us great joy.
     It is the joy of being on the winning side.  You see, some day
every demon spirit will be cast out of every human being.  Some day
Satan, and all of his demons will be cast into the Lake of Fire and
Brimstone and will be tormented there forever and ever.  The Devil's
side is going to lose and God's side is going to win.  Even though that
final victory has not yet come, it is already a joy---it is already a
tremendous joy---to know that you are on the winning side.
     It is the joy of having wonderful friends and associates.  It is
having saved people as comrades and friends.  It is having the people
who are the salt of the earth as close friends.
     It is the joy of loving and being loved.  One who is saved loves
everybody, but he has a special love for those who are saved.  All the
saved are in one great big spiritual family.  We love them and they
love us.  It is a love that is strong and lasting.  Furthermore, we not
only share love with God's people, but we share love with God Himself.
We love God and God loves us.  There is never a reason for a child of
God to feel unloved.  I might add: it is very seldom that any child of
God feels that he is unloved.  He would have to get in a very badly
backslidden condition to feel unloved.

VII.  The other side of the coin

     But let us turn that coin over.  For those who are still unsaved
there is great distress.  There is the great burden of guilt of sin
that he carries every day.  With his mouth he may say, "I have never
done anything very bad," but in his conscience he says, "Oh, yes I
have.  I have sinned against the Almighty God of heaven and earth."
You cannot get away from that fact.
     To remain unsaved is the distress of fear.  We talked already
about how disturbing fear can be.  Every day that the unsaved person
lives he is in danger of plunging into the fires of hell before that
day is over.  Every breath that he takes may be his last.  He is but a
heartbeat away from the pit of hell.
     To be lost in sin is the folly of waste.  It is wasted time and
wasted effort or labor.  The unsaved person works and earns and
accumulates possessions in this world.  But every day that he works and
accumulates more, his life is drawing closer and closer to an end.  His
health will soon be gone and his life here on earth will soon be over.
The wealth that he has accumulated will all be left behind and he will
have nothing.  All of his earthly possessions will be left behind and
he will be a pauper forever.
     It is the folly of facing everlasting torment.  In hell there will
be no relief.  There will never be an end.  There will be untold agony
forever and ever.
     It is the folly of losing all joy.  Once an unsaved person draws
his last breath he has also experienced his last joy.  He will remember
the good things and the good times that he used to have back on earth,
but he will never experience one joy again forever.
     Let me ask you a question: Which had you rather have?  Had you
rather have a life of earthly pleasures for a little while and then
have nothing but hell for evermore or would you rather have joy
unspeakable and full of glory right now and then the wondrous riches
and joys of heaven for evermore?  I don't know about you, but I know
which I had rather have.  I had rather be saved than have anything else
on this earth.  If I were given one billion dollars right now it could
not possibly bring me as much joy as being save brings to me.

VIII.  Some reasons why the unsaved put off salvation

     A lot of people imagine that if they were to get saved they would
live a miserable life here in this world.  So, to avoid the misery that
they have imagined they just don't get saved.  So what happens?  They
live in misery in this world and then they live in  far greater misery
in the next world. They miss out on the joy the greater joys they
could have in both worlds as a Christian.
     What I am going to ask you to do this morning is to make sure that
your name is written in heaven.  Repent of your sin and ask the Lord
Jesus Christ to save your soul.  You do that and I will guarantee you a
home in heaven.  No there is a better offer than that.  You repent of
your sin and very sincerely ask Jesus to save your soul, and the Lord,
Himself, will guarantee you a home in heaven.  You will stay out of
hell and you will go to heaven.

Conclusion:

     Who will come this morning and ask Jesus Christ to save your soul?
Who will step out and get this very vital matter settled with God?
     What saved person here will come and present yourself to this
church for membership?
     What member of Pleasant Hill will step out and say, "I want to
dedicate my life more fully unto the Lord"?