“THE MESSAGE RECEIVED”
LUKE 10:17-24

I. Introduction
Sometimes we make telling others about Christ far more difficult than it needs to be. And because we do, far too many Christians avoid it. We don’t do it because we don’t think we know how. Then we excuse ourselves by saying we don’t have “the gift.” But where does the Bible teach that evangelism is limited to those who do have “the gift,” or to the so-called professionals? The Bible teaches no such thing. But that doesn’t stop countless believers from saying, “I don’t need to say anything. That’s the pastor’s job.”

Well, it is one of the pastor’s jobs. But it’s one of your jobs, too. All of God’s people are called to tell others of Christ. No Christian is exempt. You don’t need to take a class on personal evangelism. You don’t need to read books on how to share your faith. And you don’t need to devise some new method for engaging people in conversation about Jesus.

The reason I know you don’t need to do those things is because Jesus didn’t do them. But you say, “I’m not Jesus.” That’s true, but the twelve apostles didn’t take classes, or read books, or try to develop some clever means to get people interested in the gospel. But you say, “I’m not one of the Twelve either.” That’s true as well, but the seventy whom Jesus sent out in Luke 10 didn’t take any Sunday school classes on evangelism, or read any books on the subject, or learn the latest catch phrases either. They were simply ordinary Christians who were empowered by the Holy Spirit.

And that’s what each one of us is – an ordinary Christian empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Neither the twelve apostles, nor the seventy Jesus sent out, nor you nor I, ever saved anyone. The Holy Spirit does that. It is the Holy Spirit who is with you when you tell someone about your Lord and Savior. So what else could you possibly need?

Jesus didn’t give the seventy any special training. He didn’t give them a polished mes-sage. He didn’t give them a three point sermon or a four point gospel tract. All He gave them was the truth about Himself and the good news of the gospel.

The seventy went out and told people that the kingdom of God had come in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth. The message they had is the message the Bible has always had. Peo- ple are sinners. They’ve broken God’s Law and will be judged because of it. But people can be saved from the wrath to come and God’s certain judgment if they will repent and put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation. That was the message. It still is.

You don’t need training for that. You simply need to care about the lost and tell them what God has done for you. That’s what the seventy Jesus sent out did. It was no more complicated than that. As I said, we make evangelism way more difficult than it needs to be. And so, we don’t do as much of it as we should. And we miss out on so much joy.
Salvation is about joy. There is joy when you lead someone to saving faith in Christ. Just remember that while you may plant a seed, or while you may water a seed someone else has planted, it’s only God who brings about the fruit of your labor. He has humbled me with the blessing of experiencing the joy that comes with seeing someone receive Christ and begin a journey that will never end. I hope that’s been the case, or soon will be, for each one of you as well. There is great joy in that.

Then there is great joy in the one who comes to saving faith. As the new believer begins to grow in the grace and knowledge of his Lord and Savior, his or her joy will increase. So then, the one whom God saves is joyful. And the one to whom He gives the privilege of leading another to salvation is joyful. But there’s even more. There is joy in heaven. Jesus speaks of it in the parable of a shepherd and his lost sheep.
Luke 15:5-7
5 “And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6 “And when he comes home he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’
7 “I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”

Eternal joy is one of the realities of heaven. The pain, sorrow, and sadness of this life will be forever washed away. In describing eternity future the Apostle John says this…
Revelation 21:4
4 “He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; (these) things have passed away.”

The joy of salvation and the reality of heaven are spoken of in the benediction we will read to close the service this morning. They are the last words of the NT before we see Jesus as He now is in the Revelation.
Jude 24-25
24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,
25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever.

Both the OT and NT speak much of Jesus’ sorrow and grief while He walked this earth. But today’s passage is special because it gives us insight to Jesus’ personal joy.
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II. Review
What has just taken place in Luke’s gospel? What is it that leads to the joy that we find expressed first by the seventy evangelists Jesus has sent out and then by the Lord Him-self?
In Luke 9:57-62 Jesus was rejected by three different men who had said they wanted to follow Him. But when they found out He required them to leave the things of this world in order to follow Him, they all walked away. They refused to leave this world behind.

It was then, in Luke 10:1-16 that Jesus chose seventy true believers. He empowered them to proclaim the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out demons. All who heard them, received the truth, and turned from their sin were saved. All who did not were lost. The Lord’s warning to them was dire indeed. He taught that those who heard the truth of the gospel and rejected it would suffer a more severe punishment than those who had never heard it. (comparative judgment) That brings us to this morning’s text.
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III. Text
In Luke 10:16 Jesus finished His instructions to the seventy. They’ve gone out and done what He has told them to do. We don’t know how much time elapsed between vv. 16-17 but while the seventy were gone God had given them enough success in their ministry so that upon their return they were on what you might call “a spiritual high.”
*Luke 10:17-24 (Please stand with me in honor of reading God’s Word.)
17 And the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”
18 And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like light-ning.
19 “Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall injure you.
20 “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”
21 At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You did hide these things from the wise and intelligent and did reveal them to babes. Yes, Father, for thus it was well-pleasing in Your sight.
22 “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”
23 And turning to the disciples, He said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see,
24 for I say to you, that many prophets and kings wished to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them.”

These men who had gone out with the gospel were filled with joy. Some of those to whom they had witnessed had come to saving faith, but as is always the case, many did not. So someone might ask, “How can you be joyful when so many who hear the truth reject it?” The answer is obvious, although it sometimes eludes us.
The true Christian finds his or her true joy in obedience to Christ, not in success as the world or many in the church today define it. You know how the world defines success – “bigger is better than smaller, faster is better than slower, newer is better than older, sooner is better than later, etc., etc.” But when it comes to salvation we need to remem-ber God is the One who does the saving; we do not. Therefore, when it comes to growing the church, we can take comfort in the fact that Jesus builds it; we do not.

The Puritans found their success in obedience to God by faithfully preaching the gospel and teaching the truth. They were not discouraged when no one responded or when they were outright rejected because they knew that those whom God had chosen would come to Him in His time and for His glory.

They knew that their task was to faithfully tell the truth and then leave the results to God. They knew that if they did that, God would accomplish His good purpose. They believed God when He said…
*Isaiah 55:11-12
11 “So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
12 “For you will go out with joy, and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, and all the trees of the fields will clap their hands.”

Our joy is not to come from our perceived successes, but from His. His Word, when you and I faithfully disseminate it, will accomplish His purpose. He will be successful. As a result of His success, you and all of creation itself will be filled with joy. And that is why we can be filled with joy even when someone rejects our message.

But this morning’s passage in Luke is not so much about the joy that comes when the message is rejected, but about the joy that is ours when the message is received.
*Luke 10:17
17 And the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”

I’m sure they were excited about those who received the message. I’m sure they were excited about those they healed. But v. 17 emphasizes their joy and excitement about their ability to cast out demons! This temporary power to perform miracles must have been a heady experience for the seventy. It certainly would be for us, wouldn’t it?

Who are the demons? They are the fallen angels who joined Satan when he rebelled against God. (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:11-19) They are God’s enemies and they are not to be trifled with. They hate the Lord Jesus and they hate us. They deceive the lost and empower false teachers to spread lies about God and pervert His written Word, the Bible. Their activities on earth peaked when Jesus was here.
That’s because Satan and his demons “pulled out all the stops.” They were bent on doing whatever they could to keep the Lord from completing His mission of providing our redemption. Obviously they failed, and in Jesus’ death and resurrection He defeated them. Neither Satan nor his demons can ever be redeemed, and both Matthew 25:41 and Revelation 20:10 tell us that one day they will all be cast alive into the final hell, the lake of fire, where they will be “…tormented day and night forever and ever (Rev. 20:10c).”

But that is yet future. During this age Satan and his demons remain the second most powerful force in all creation. So it is not surprising that the seventy would be amazed and excited about their power over the demonic forces they encountered as they went out with the gospel. But notice how Jesus responds to their excitement.
*Luke 10:18-20
18 And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like light-ning.
19 “Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall injure you.
20 “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”

Does v. 18 seem a little out of context? How does it relate to the excitement of the seventy? This has been a subject of debate among theologians. It could refer to Satan’s original fall from heaven as recorded in Isaiah 14:12 and Ezekiel 28:16. Or it may be speaking of Satan’s defeat by Jesus at His temptation in Matthew 4:11. Then again it might be about different aspects of his defeat such as when Jesus cast out demons, or it could be about the cross, or the resurrection, or Satan’s ultimate end in the lake of fire.

None of those possibilities are necessarily wrong, but the context and verb tense in v. 18 where Jesus says, “I was watching…” seems to describe the devil’s defeat as a continual process which goes on each time a lost soul is saved and snatched from Satan’s power.

In order to rightly understand Luke 10:19 we need to do what we should always do when it comes to interpreting Scripture. We need to see Jesus’ statement in its immediate con-text. Believers have spiritual authority over Satan’s evil. We are not to fear him because he’s already a defeated enemy. When you present the gospel, the devil may well blind the person you are speaking with, but he has no authority or power over you.

Here in v. 19 Jesus is using “serpents and scorpions” metaphorically. They aren’t literal. They’re metaphors for Satan and his demons. We understand this by making use of a second elementary principle of biblical interpretation. We are to compare Scripture with Scripture. When we do, we find that demons are called “the scorpions of the earth.” in Revelation 9:5. And in Revelation 12:9 Satan is called “the serpent of old who is called the devil…” Just remember this. When you tell someone about the Lord, a demon may well be there, but he cannot defeat the Holy Spirit who is in you.
A demon may blind the one with whom you are speaking, but you can be assured that it has no power over you! None! Listen Christian, you are in Christ and Christ is in you. There is no power that can touch you. (Note these two verses.)
2 Thessalonians 3:3
3 …the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.

1 John 4:4
4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them (the spirit of the antichrist); because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

In Luke 10:20 Jesus tells the seventy that the real reason to be joyful is not their power over demons, but that their names are recorded in heaven.

With regard to demonic activity the Bible tells us of many instances when God’s people have been attacked by Satan. There is no denying that. We know that God allowed Job to face such a trial. In the NT Peter and Paul faced trials too. Jesus told Peter…
Luke 22:31b-32a
31b “…Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat;
32a but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail…”

Paul also suffered from a satanic attack. The specifics are unknown to us, but the apostle did understand why he had to go through it.
2 Corinthians 12:7
7 And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me – to keep me from exalting myself!

Satan’s external attacks are real. They can cause both physical pain and mental anguish. But he cannot steal a Christian’s salvation or separate us from God’s love. I know these next two passages are familiar territory for many of you. But listen to them again and let them sink deeply into your heart. (You may want to make note of them for future reference.)
John 10:27-30
27 “My sheep hear My voice; and I know them, and they follow Me;
28 and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.
29 “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
30 “I and the Father are one.”

Romans 8:38-39
38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principali-ties, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to sepa- rate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Satan cannot take us back and we cannot be separated from God’s love. Truths like this are cause for great joy, are they not? In Luke 10:20 Jesus tells the seventy that their real joy should be found in these things – they can’t lose their salvation, and God’s love can’t be taken from them. They can rejoice because “…their names are written in heaven.”

Have you repented from sin and turned to Christ? Have you asked His forgiveness and trusted Him for your salvation? If you have, your name is written in heaven. And Jesus says you are to rejoice in that. When you go out with the gospel and it is received by someone, rejoice because your name is written in heaven. But when you go out with the gospel and it is rejected…rejoice because your name is written in heaven.
Philippians 4:4
4 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!”

There is another reason we can rejoice. Our Lord and Savior is rejoicing as well. After He says the things He has said in Luke 10:19-20, Jesus turns to His Father.
*Luke 10:21-22
21 At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You did hide these things from the wise and intelligent and did reveal them to babes. Yes, Father, for thus it was well-pleasing in Your sight.
22 “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

In these two verses Jesus’ prayer expresses His joy. He rejoices in His Father because He is seeing God’s perfect will worked out in His ministry on earth. The gospel is going out. God’s elect are receiving it and being saved. At the same time others are rejecting it and walking away. But either way, whether it is received or it is rejected, the gospel is proclaiming God’s love, His kingdom is being built, and He is getting the glory due Him.

In v. 21 Jesus praises God for revealing these marvelous truths to those whom God has chosen to receive them. Human wisdom and intelligence can’t comprehend them. They can only be understood when God, by grace, and through the power of His Holy Spirit, supernaturally reaches down inside us and opens our hearts to receive these eternal truths. Only then can Jesus be received by faith. And only then can a person be saved.
Ephesians 2:8
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of your-selves, it is the gift of God…

Human wisdom and intelligence have their place. In and of themselves they are neither worthless nor evil. But no human wisdom or intelligence is able to lead a person to Christ. So Jesus praises God that, “…(You hid) these things from the wise and intelligent and (revealed) them to babes…it was well-pleasing in Your sight (Luke 10:21b).”
Do you see? God takes pleasure in this. It brings Him joy. Listen to the Apostle Paul.
1 Corinthians 1:18-20
18 For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

Yes! He has! The gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing. So you can rejoice, Christian! Your name is written down in heaven.

Now look at Luke 10:22. Jesus says, “All things have been handed over to Me…” All things means all things. That includes our salvation. Here is wisdom the world fails to comprehend and much of the professing church refuses to believe. Who can be saved? Who can understand these things? Let Jesus answer that question v. 22. “…anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

The Lord is saying, in no uncertain terms, that the only way any man, any woman, or any child will ever understand these things and be saved is if Jesus wills it. What does that say about man’s so-called free will? Jesus and Jesus alone, by the power of His spirit, will reveal the truth of His Father to each and every one of those whom He has chosen from eternity past.
Ephesians 1:4a-5
4a …He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world…
5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.

Someone says, “How can I know if I’ve been chosen? How can I know if I’ve been pre-destined to salvation?” Repent. Repent. Put your faith in Christ and you will discover that you have been chosen, that you are one of the elect, and that you were predestined to salvation. God is sovereign in the affairs of men. What a staggering truth this is!
*Luke 10:23-24
23 And turning to the disciples, He said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see,
24 for I say to you, that many prophets and kings wished to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them.”

These words of Jesus are directed to true believers only. They have no application for anyone else. You have been privileged to see and to understand these eternal truths about the gospel and salvation. You have been privileged to see and to understand the reality of Satan’s ultimate defeat. You are blessed and should be filled with joy.
Jesus says that the OT saints wanted to see and hear what you and I have seen and heard. Think of it! Think of what God has revealed to you because you have received the mes-sage of the gospel.
*1 Peter 1:10-12 (spoken to us in the church)
10 As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry,
11 seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.
12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven – things into which angels long to look.

God has revealed all of this to you because you have received His message of salvation.
Are you filled with joy because of it?
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IV. Conclusion
Let me conclude with this. In Luke 10:22 Jesus has said that He decides who will be saved. That leaves a massive hole in our understanding of God’s love for man, doesn’t it? How can He choose some and not others? And if He does, how can He hold people accountable for their sin if He didn’t chose them, if they are not among the elect?

Doesn’t John 3:16 say that, “God so loved the world…”? It doesn’t say, “God so loved the elect.” And what about our free will? What about that?

Next Sunday we will take a short detour out of Luke’s gospel and take the time to look into this great dilemma. We’ll consider the doctrine of election, what it means, and how it relates to all of us.

~ Pray ~