Alright, well, last Sunday we heard about how Jesus sent 72 guys on a ministry tour.
And they were to go in pairs from place to place, preaching about how the kingdom of God has come near.
And Jesus told them to heal the sick in those towns.
Well, today we pick up the story and we find out a little bit of what happened to them.
We pick up the story in Luke chapter 10.
And we're in verse 17.
And this whole next chunk, until we get to the parable of the Good Samaritan,
is kind of a debriefing conversation that Jesus has with them after this ministry tour.
I originally had thought that we would get through all of these verses right down to 24.
But then there was just a lot in these first few verses here.
So we'll maybe take it a little slower.
So, picking it up in Luke chapter 10, verse 17.
The 72 returned with joy and said,
Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.
So they're excited.
They're rejoicing.
They went from town to town.
They did as Jesus said.
And it's almost like they're surprised that they were even able to cast out the demons.
Remember, these 72 were 72 others.
They were different guys than the 12 that Jesus sent out on the first trip.
Before this trip, they weren't able to heal people or to cast demons out of people.
But now, in Jesus' name, powerful evil spirits are obeying them when they command them to come out.
And this is the cause for this joy that they have, this excitement.
Well, from here on, this passage becomes a little more difficult to understand.
And sometimes that happens when we're reading our Bibles.
We just get to a part where it raises more questions than it seems to answer.
And that's what we get in these next few verses.
Let's look at this next thing Jesus says.
And I think we'll see that pretty quickly here.
Jesus replied to the 72.
He said,
So the disciples give their report that the demons obey them in Jesus' name.
And Jesus responds with this.
I saw Satan fall like lightning.
From heaven.
And here's where the questions start.
What does that mean?
When did Jesus see this?
Why did he fall from heaven?
And Christians have put forward numerous suggestions about what Jesus meant here.
Some suggest that Jesus is actually reflecting back on what he saw even before he came to earth.
When Satan was thrown down to the earth.
Way, way long ago.
Others suggest that when Jesus says,
I saw Satan fall like lightning.
It means that Jesus had a vision.
Similar to how the prophets had visions.
Like the apostle John.
Others try and locate this fall of Satan in the future.
And relate it to what John describes in Revelation.
Where the devil is hurled to earth.
We read about that in Revelation.
That he's seeing what will happen very soon.
And some take this quite literally to mean that while the 72 were out and about casting out demons.
Jesus actually, with his human eyes, saw Satan fall to the earth.
And it looked like a lightning bolt.
And if that's the case, we're wondering, why did he fall?
At this moment.
And why was he up in heaven in the first place?
Was he thrown down to earth by God?
Or did he come streaking down of his own initiative when he saw these disciples winning victory over his underlings?
Casting out his forces?
It kind of raises more questions than there are answers.
Jesus doesn't answer any of these questions.
One thing that seems certain, though, from these words.
Is that as these disciples go out and cast all these demons out.
Jesus seems to be saying that a decisive blow has been struck against Satan.
Up until now, it may have seemed that his rule was uncontested.
Nobody could touch these evil spirits.
We heard about how they possessed people.
The demoniac comes to mind.
And how afflicted he was by legion.
Forcing him to do terrible things.
Hurt himself.
We heard about that earlier in Luke.
But now, that rule, that control is being threatened and challenged.
As Jesus sends these guys out.
In verse 19, Jesus explains that he has given these 72 guys authority to do these things.
He says, I have given you authority.
And we shouldn't skip over those words too quickly.
Isn't it a miracle?
That Jesus is able to just give ordinary men the ability to do the same miraculous things that he does.
To cast out demons.
And to heal people.
And what surprises me about all this is that it's not primarily a matter of power.
It's not as though Jesus just gives them, you know, touches each one of them and gives them a sort of healing touch.
That now they can kind of transfer it.
And do great things.
You know, when I imagine this transfer of power, I can't help but think along the lines of electricity.
Sometimes there's, you know, you got something that's charged up.
And then something that's got no charge.
And so you connect the two and it charges up the thing that's got no charge.
Now there's power over here.
Now this thing has the power to do stuff.
But this is not like that at all.
This has more to do with authority than power.
I have given you authority to do these things.
This is more like having, and this is not a perfect example either.
But it's more like having authority to withdraw from a loaded bank account that's not your own.
You're not the owner of the account.
But if your name is on the account and you are authorized by the owner, then you can take money out of it.
And the people at the bank, they have to comply with your request to withdraw.
Because your name is authorized on the account.
Maybe there's a little bit of that happening here.
It's as though Jesus is saying, you guys are surprised that the demons listened to you.
Well, they had to.
Because I authorized you guys to give orders to them.
And they have to listen to me.
If I tell them to listen to you, they have to listen to you.
Now, the details, as Jesus explains this, again, raise more questions.
We read in verse 19,
I've given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions
and to overcome all the power of the enemy.
Nothing will harm you.
Is Jesus speaking literally or metaphorically when he talks about trampling on snakes and scorpions?
That's the main question here.
Is he talking about how they will step on actual snakes and scorpions
and even sometimes maybe be bit or stung?
How they will face all manner of physical dangers,
but miraculously they will not be harmed?
Or is this metaphor,
is Jesus referring to the demons?
Are they the snakes and the scorpions that they will trample on?
It's interesting that this language of trampling,
and even of trampling snakes and scorpions,
was used before in the Old Testament.
Psalm 91 says this in verse 9 to 13,
If you say,
Could Jesus even be alluding to these very verses?
Maybe for you, as you heard the trampling on snakes,
you even went back further than that
and thought of what God said to the serpent
all the way back in the Garden of Eden
about how his head would be crushed.
I think, personally, I lean towards the metaphorical understanding.
Not that the disciples will be able to endure snake bites
and scorpion stings without harm
because of their authority,
though there is that time where Paul was bit by a snake
and was unharmed.
But the real dangers, the greater threat,
is the spiritual forces of evil.
Their sting and their bite is far more deadly.
And the authority given by Christ, I think,
is to trample over them.
We also see that statement
right at the end.
Nothing will harm you.
And I think we need to be careful with those words
that we're reading them in the context here.
The disciples will endure many things.
Some, like Trophimus and Epaphroditus,
we read about how they get sick.
Others, like Paul, will be beaten
and stoned, even, on one occasion.
Many of them will later be killed
for their faith in Jesus.
And so this statement that nothing will harm you,
I don't think it means that you'll be invincible
as you go forward.
You won't suffer anything.
It may mean simply that the evil spirits
that you run across from now on
will not be permitted to do anything to you.
Evil men, on the other hand,
they'll still be able to oppose
and threaten and harm,
but the devil and his demons?
No.
I'm taking that away from them.
Finally, in verse 20,
Jesus sort of wraps up this conversation,
or at least the first part of it,
by pointing their attention to something
far more significant.
Verse 20, Jesus says,
however, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you,
but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
We might read this account and go,
wow, wouldn't it be awesome to be able to just go around
and cast demons out of people
and heal people?
And it was awesome for these 72 guys.
But there's a far greater,
a far more important thing
than having authority over evil spirits
and even doing miracles.
And that's having your own name
written in heaven.
And what does that mean?
To have your name written in heaven.
Well, if you've been a Christian for a while
and have read through the Bible,
you probably know what that means.
But maybe you're here today
and you've never heard about this.
Throughout the Bible,
there are about a dozen references
to a book that God has.
Specifically,
a book in which the names of his people
are written.
We first hear about it in the days of Moses
and the Exodus.
The people of Israel sinned against the Lord.
They created this golden calf idol
and began to worship it.
And God was very upset.
And Moses kind of comes into the gap
and he tries to intercede for the people
and bargain with God in a sense,
using his own life to save them.
In Exodus 32, we read this.
Moses says to God,
But now please forgive their sin.
But if not,
then blot me out of the book
that you have written.
And the Lord replied to Moses,
Whoever has sinned against me,
I will blot out of my book.
So we hear about this book
that God has
much later on in the days of Daniel,
the prophet.
We hear mention of this book again
and names that are written in it.
Daniel's being told in a vision
about what will happen in the distant future.
And this is the words
that are being spoken to Daniel.
At that time,
Michael,
the great prince who protects your people,
will arise.
There will be a time of distress
such as has not happened
from the beginning of nations until then.
But at that time,
your people,
everyone whose name is found
written in the book,
will be delivered.
Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth
will awake,
some to everlasting life,
others to shame
and everlasting contempt.
So there, again,
there's this book
that God has
with names written in it.
And it seems connected
to who will be delivered,
who will be saved,
and to who will rise
to everlasting life,
and who will rise
to everlasting contempt.
It's mentioned again
in Philippians chapter 4,
verse 3,
and this is just kind of
casually offhand
as Paul is speaking
to the Philippian believers
in the church.
He's talking about
disagreements that they've had.
And he says,
yes, I ask you,
my true companion,
help these women
who've been fighting
with each other
since they have contended
at my side
in the cause of the gospel,
along with Clement
and the rest of my coworkers,
whose names
are in the book of life.
Paul seems to use it
to refer to those
who have salvation
through faith
in Jesus Christ.
And then finally,
in the very last book
of the Bible,
God gives a vision
to the Apostle John
about how everything
will come to an end.
And it's a mysterious vision.
It's kind of like a dream
that's full of symbols,
and those symbols
correlate to future realities.
And in this vision,
there are about six mentions
of the book of life.
And it's called
the Lamb's book of life
because of the Lamb
in John's vision
who very obviously
represents Jesus.
He is the Lamb of God
who was slain
to atone for His people's sins.
And at the very end
of Revelation
comes the final judgment.
It talks about
the final judgment
of all the living
and the dead.
And John tells us
what he sees
in Revelation 20,
verse 12.
He says,
I saw the dead,
great and small,
standing before the throne,
and books were opened.
Another book was opened,
which is the book of life.
The dead were judged
according to what they had done
as recorded in the books.
The sea gave up the dead
that were in it.
And death and Hades
gave up the dead
that were in them.
And each person was judged
according to what they had done.
Then death and Hades
were thrown into the lake of fire.
The lake of fire
is the second death.
Anyone whose name
was not found written
in the book of life
was thrown into
the lake of fire.
These are sobering words.
This book of life
has names in it.
And whether or not
your name is written
in the book of life
corresponds to whether
you are thrown
into the lake of fire
or not.
The implication here
in this passage
in Revelation
is that all are found guilty.
When the books
are opened up
it's seen that
we have all sinned
against God.
We are all guilty.
But those whose names
are not written
in the book of life
they get what they deserve.
And those whose names
are written
in the Lamb's book of life
are spared.
Well what happens
to them?
If we keep reading
in Revelation
the next chapter
talks about
a new heaven
and a new earth
and a new city
of Jerusalem
where God will live
with his people forever.
It reflects
those who will
the language we use
is go to heaven
or enter the kingdom.
And
it's a picture
of a glorious city
where there is
no more sadness
pain
or death
where God will live
in close relationship
with his people
forever.
And it says there
in Revelation 21
verse 27
nothing impure
will ever enter
that city
nor will anyone
who does
what is shameful
or deceitful
but only those
whose names
are written
in the Lamb's
book of life.
And so the book
of life
is God's
register
of those
who truly
belong to him.
Those who have
faith in him.
It reflects
those who will
as I said before
go to heaven
or enter
the kingdom.
The names
there are
those who will
rise from the
dead to eternal
life with God.
The names
there are
those whose
sins have been
forgiven because
they trusted
in the Lamb
of God
who died
to atone
for them.
And so
back to
Jesus
and his
conversation
with the 72
do not
rejoice
that the
spirits
submit to
you
but rejoice
that your
names
are written
in heaven.
Far more
important
than what
these
disciples
were able
to accomplish
and the
authority
that they
had
and the
victory
that they
experienced
as they
had all
these
encounters
with the
demons
far more
important
is the
reality
of where
each
of them
stands
with God
and whether
their names
are written
in heaven
in the
book of
life.
When you
compare the
two of
those things
side by
side
the things
that they
did
versus
where they
stand
with God
one is
not worth
rejoicing
over
and one
is.
And I
think Jesus
is being a
little bit
he's using
hyperbole here
to make a
point of
course they
were right
to celebrate
that the
demons
submitted to
them in
the name
of Jesus.
But what
he's saying
is that
compared to
that
that's
not even
worth
celebrating
compared to
the reality
the more
important thing
of where
you stand
with God
and if
your name
is written
in the
book of
life
that is
true cause
for joy.
almost
nothing
is as
important
as this
and maybe
this is where
some of our
brothers and
sisters have
lost a little
bit of
perspective.
Some are
out there
saying that
real maturity
in the
Christian life
is when we
come to have
faith like
these 72
guys such
that we
can now
cast out
demons and
go out
and do
miracles and
signs and
wonders in
the name
of Jesus.
And really
what they're
doing is
they're making
the things
that we do
for Jesus
into the
great thing
and where
we stand
with Jesus
is kind
of down
here and
it's less
important.
Jesus just
flips that
whole thing
upside down.
Far more
important than
what we might
do for
Jesus is
where we
stand with
Jesus.
Whether our
names are
written in
heaven,
in his
book,
work,
that's
what's
worth
rejoicing
over.
That a
person has
just gone
and cast
out a
bunch of
demons and
healed a
bunch of
people in
Jesus'
name in
comparison,
that's not
worth rejoicing
over,
says Jesus.
And now
we see why
as we look
at that
description
in
Revelation.
Revelation
the final
outcome for
those whose
names are
written in
God's book
versus those
whose aren't
is that's
there that we
see why this
is so important.
It's the
difference between
who belongs to
God and who
does not.
It's the
difference between
who will get
what they deserve
for their sins
and who will
not.
it's the
difference between
being thrown
into the
lake of
fire and
entering into
God's
glorious
kingdom to
live with
him forever.
The big
question is,
is your
name written
in heaven?
Is your
name written
in the
book of
life?
God's
name written
if you're
unsure about
it, I
just want to
put these
words of
Jesus in
front of
you.
This is the
message Jesus
proclaimed as
he went from
place to
place.
The kingdom
of God has
come near.
Repent and
believe the
good news.
And to
repent just
means to
turn away from
our sinful
life and to
turn to
God.
God's
It's a
relational
thing.
It means to
seek forgiveness
from him.
To admit the
things we've
done wrong and
ask for him to
forgive us.
That's all it
means.
The good
news, which I
say a lot, but
you can never
really rejoice
over it enough,
is that God
sent Jesus to
take the
punishment we
deserve for
all the sins
that we've
committed to
atone for
us.
That's what
his death
on the
cross was
all about.
It was a
sacrifice of
atonement.
The good
news of
Jesus is
that if we
simply trust
him and
believe in
him, we
will be
saved.
We will be
spared on
that day when
the books are
opened.
Our names
will be in
the book of
life.
Listen to
these words of
Jesus, some
of my
favorite.
He said,
Very truly, I
tell you,
whoever hears
my word and
believes him
who sent me
has eternal
life and will
not be judged
but has
crossed over
from death
to life.
Do you hear
the words of
Jesus?
Do you
believe God
and the
words that he
speaks through
Jesus?
If so, the
promise is you
have eternal
life.
You will not
be judged.
You will not
be condemned
on that day.
Your name
will be found
in the book
on that day.
Maybe you're
here and you've
known for a
long time that
your name is
written in
the book
of life.
Sometimes we
can get
fixated on
what's going
on in
our world
or the
troubles
that are
happening in
our own
lives and
we find
ourselves
down and
discouraged.
Jesus says
that this
is a reason
for rejoicing
that our
names are
written in
heaven.
If your
name is in
God's book
we're looking
forward to
heaven.
We're looking
forward to
being with
God forever.
we're looking
forward to
walking those
streets of
gold in
that glorious
city in
that wonderful
kingdom.
That'll be
the end of
all of our
troubles.
And it's
easy to lose
sight of that
sometimes isn't
it?
One way that
we can be
reminded of the
goodness of
heaven is
just to open
our Bibles
once in a
while and
flip to those
last two
chapters of the
book.
Revelation 21
and 22 and
just read what
Jesus said it
will be like.
If you're
feeling down or
discouraged I
want to
encourage you
maybe even
this week to
just open up
to those two
chapters and
spend some time
just reading and
reflecting on
what Jesus said
heaven will be
like.
And it
really is
cause for
joy.
to know that
because our
names are
written in
the book we
will be
there.
Let's
pray.
Father in
heaven I ask
that you would
work in each
of our hearts
and that you
would press
into our
hearts this
great question
of whether
our names
are in your
book and
that you
would speak
the truth
to us.
The truth
we need to
hear.
Give us
assurance and
comfort if
they are.
And give us
an unsettled
conviction if
they're not.
And a clear
understanding of
what we need
to do to
be sure that
they are.
Help us to
view everything
going on in
our lives with
this forward
looking faith in
what you
have promised.
Thank you
that you
have a
plan.
And that
you are going
to bring it
to pass and
that there
will be a
great victory
at the very
end of our
world story no
matter what
we face
today.
I pray that
you would
encourage all
of us that
you would
fill us with
joy.
We ask this
in your
son's name.
Amen.