I SAW SATAN FALL
LUKE 10:3, 17-243 Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.
17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
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.
20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.
22 All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.
23 And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see:
24 For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
I don’t know who you are or where you’ve been or what you’ve done but the Supper that we believers will share this day is a participation in Christ and he will welcome you as he welcomes us. If you’re seeking something higher, something brighter and hope-filled, a life with adventure and honorable war we can commend to you our Lord Jesus. For though we’re often well aware of our sinfulness and our failures we know whom we have believed and are persuaded that he is able to keep what we’ve committed unto him against a coming glorious day!
To you who believe in the face of great trouble that you can’t avoid let me adapt something from Walsh, Boyens & Jackson. The day may come when our courage may fail and we forsake our friends and break the bonds of fellowship but it will not be THIS day! News may come from medical reports of rampaging disease that would drive lesser men and women to grovel in fear but they will not be THIS People for we will this day have Suppered with the Living Christ who conquered the grave.
A day may come when we will suffer losses in a great moral struggle and a weariness may come that will tempt us to give up the fight. But it will not be THIS day for we will this day have called on the name of the One who laughed as he saw the Satan fall from heaven like a lightning flash at the presence of his trusting and empowered People.
A day may come when the colossal strength of entrenched evil like some gigantic tsunami will thunder against our world and the earth may tremble and threaten to collapse beneath our feet—a day when faith is driven from us and despair of ever winning this war will frighten us into the unbelief that comes from weariness but it will not be THIS day for this day we will have eaten of the body and drunk of the blood of the ever-living Lord and fed by these, in his name and by his power we will have committed ourselves once more to engage these powers until we dance on their graves.
Within of us may be unholy hungers that devour our strength, a strutting pride that tells us that we have pretty well arrived, ahead of us may be days of weariness, of strength spent with no visible gain. If those days come they will not be like THIS day, for this is the day that the Lord has made, this is the day when the Stone the builders rejected was made the head of the corner and the foundation stone, this is THE LORD’S DAY, this is the day when life defeated death.
The thrill of this day will slip away in the midst of other day-by-day responsibilities, when sameness suggests emptiness but this day is the chief of days, the day that sets the tone for all other days. This day is the day that led and leads to other days—days when disciples come back from fighting beasts of many kinds, back with eyes shining and faces aglow with heavenly triumph and joy to say to the Lord: “IN YOUR NAME satanic and demonic powers tremble and grovel at our feet!” This is the day that leads Him to say, “Yes, do rejoice in that but rejoice in this—such victories mark you out as those whose names are written in heaven as God’s approved servants and beloved children.