REJOICE ALWAYS!

(1): THE RISE AND FALL OF SATAN

(Luke 10:17-20)
Intro A farm family came home from church one day to find their mule
kicking up his heels and having a fine time on a great day. Watching that, the
little boy said, Dad, Heimes not a Xn, is he? Why do you say that? Bc
hes way too happy! Well, I hope we dont leave that impression of our
faith. Truth is, we ought to be joyful or get out the way. Dour is a bad
advertisement for the grace of God!
A joyless Christian is an oxymoron like jumbo shrimp, airline schedules,
bug-free software, brave politician, socialist worker, and sugarless dessert.
Heres a quote: If you are not allowed to laugh in heaven, I dont want to
go there. Mark Twain? Nope. Martin Luther a depression-prone Reformer,
who still knew that joy should be at the core of any true believer. But life so
easily overwhelms us. So how do we keep the joy front and center? Thats the
issue as Jesus disciples report back after completing their brief mission.
Lu 10:17-24 shows joy as the believers badge. It prepares us to follow Gods
command, Rejoice always (I Thess 5:16), and Rejoice in the Lord always;
again I will say, rejoice. Thats a high % of time! Always! Paul wrote it
while in prison! Here Jesus rejoices along with His disciples -- despite His
heart being heavy anticipating the death awaiting Him in Jerusalem. He
knows whats ahead, yet this is the only place in the gospels where it is said
that Jesus rejoiced. V. 21, In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit.
This isnt the Disneyland me-centered kind of joy that most of us seek. This is
much deeper than that. Joy is a lifestyle lived above the circumstances not
in denial of them. Jesus points us toward 4 things to fill our lives with joy.
I.

Rejoice in Serving Others

V. 17, The 72 returned with joy. Returned? From where? From their
appointed mission of serving others by preparing the way for Jesus!
Submission to Jesus plan led them to discover amazing and unexpected
things about how God could use them, and it brought them great joy. They
were getting their first taste of the fact that life lived in surrender to God is
not a dull, lifeless, drab affair, but is, instead a fulfilling, joy-filled adventure.
As believers, His agenda becomes our agenda to love God and love others.
At times its hard, tedious, challenging and painful, but its never boring. And
it fills us with the joy because we are doing what we were created to do.
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Many see this commitment as onerous; in truth, it is the only way to a divine
joy that overcomes nightmare circumstances. Turn to John 17. Knowing that
He will soon die, then be resurrected and return to heaven, Jesus pours out His
heart-felt request for His followers. V. 13, But now I am coming to you, and
these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in
themselves. Jesus is saying, I want my joy to be in you! Great! So what in
the world that brings joy? V. 14, I have given them your word, and the world
has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the
world. Or in the words of Lu 10:3, I am sending you out as lambs in the
midst of wolves. Thats a head-scratcher, isnt it? Here are words that will
give you the joy I have. Full joy. Real joy. You are going to be hated and
persecuted. So where is the joy in that?!
How did Jesus take joy in persecution? I can tell you exactly. Turn to Heb
12:2, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated
at the right hand of the throne of God. Was the cross joyful? Hardly! The
cross was the cost of getting to the joy. He endured the cross in anticipation of
the joy He would have in providing salvation to all who believe. He lived
above the hard things of His mission, anticipating the benefit to come.
And now Hes sending us on a healing mission to a broken world. His aim
for us is not primarily a great 5-year retirement! We have a greater mission. It
wont be easy; it requires putting ourselves out for others, but it is the only
means of having great joy, divine joy, life-above-the-circumstances joy. Jesus
says in John 15: 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love,
just as I have kept my Fathers commandments and abide in his love. 11 These
things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may
be full. Where is joy found? In obeying Gods will for your life! In finding
your unique mission of service and doing it.
Many of us have little joy because we have no mission. Were still trying to
find, invent, create our own joy. Our motto is, I know best. But we dont
know best. And we will never experience the joy that God intends until we
seek, find and obey His will for us. Whats our mission to others, not self? C.
S. Lewis says, If you never want your heart broken, give it to nobody.
Wrap it up in a little coffin of selfishness. Then it will never be broken, but it
will become so hard that joy cannot penetrate it at all. Joy is found in reaching
out. It is hard; it is messy; it is time-consuming and sometimes, it is heartbreaking. We can avoid all that by refusing our commission. But without
mission, theres no joy. A little pleasure, maybe, but no deep-down joy!
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Its a paradox: The more we live for ourselves, the less joy we will have. The
harder you strive for your own pleasure, the further away it gets. Joy comes
from serving others in Jesus name joy youve never imagined.
II.

Rejoice in Subordination of Evil

How can you say evil is subordinated? Youre kidding, right? Let me show
you. V. 17: The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the
demons are subject to us in your name! Note: Jesus didnt mention casting
out demons when He sent them out as He did with the 12. They rejoice in a
power they didnt expect. Jesus will comment on that, but first He rejoices
with them: 18 And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from
heaven. Jesus shares their excitement of having power over Satans kingdom.
But while v. 18 is pivotal, it presents an interpretive problem. When exactly
did Jesus see Satan falling from heaven and why mention it here? There are as
many answers as there are commentators!
Lets take a side trip examining places where God speaks of Satan falling,
starting with Ezek 28:16. God says of Satan, In the abundance of your trade
(his great power and position) you were filled with violence in your midst (in
his heart), and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain
of God. This is that awful moment when sin entered Gods creation thru one
of his greatest angels, Lucifer. Somehow, this magnificent being got the idea
that he could dethrone God, and when that happened, God threw him out of
residence in the heaven of Gods presence him and 1/3 of the angels who
followed him (Rev 12:4). Why didnt He just destroy him instantaneously?
Only God knows the details, but clearly God uses even Satan to His glory.
Satan takes up a new residence. In Eph 2:2 Paul calls him the prince of the
power of the air and the god of this world (II Cor 4:4). Satan and his
fellow demons are now the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places
against which we wage spiritual warfare. His theater of operations thus
includes earth and its heavens, and the war of the ages is being fought at every
conceivable level moral, ideological, philosophical, theological and
supernatural. The first battle is Gen 3 where Adam and Eve fall for Satans
lies, fail the simplest of all possible tests, and sin enters the human race. From
then to now Peter says in I Pet 5:8, Your adversary the devil prowls around
like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. He is not now in hell, as
many think; he is taking as many as possible to his own horrible destiny.
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Turn to Rev 12 for another downward step of Satan. Rev 6-19 describes
conditions during a yet future 7-year period of time as history reaches its
culmination variously called the time of Jacobs trouble, Daniels 70th week,
and the Tribulation. A fascinating glimpse behind the scenes is given in Rev.
12:7 ff: Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the
dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and
there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The dragon is Satan (v. 9).
Michael and Satan are long-time enemies (Dan 10; Jude 9). Here, Michael,
Gods faithful archangel, casts Satan out of heaven for good. When? Some
suggest this is the same as Ezekiel 28, but it is not. Satan, while no longer a
resident of Gods heaven, has had access throughout history.
He reports to God in Job 1:6. And his current occupation is in Rev 12:10: for
the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and
night before our God. This very day, Satan is bringing charges. Fortunately
for believers, I John 2:1, But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Jesus answers every accusation against
believers by noting that they are covered by His death. Thus Paul can say in
Rom 8:33-34, Who shall bring any charge against Gods elect? It is God who
justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who diedmore than
that, who was raisedwho is at the right hand of God, who indeed is
interceding for us. While Satan accuses, Jesus defends interceding for us.
Satans facts against us are true, but Jesus perfect record has been imputed,
assigned to us. Were covered. Jesus insures no accusation sticks.
So when is this fall of Satan? The context of Rev 12 puts it near the middle of
the Trib the latter half of which is called the Great Tribulation by none other
than Jesus in Matt 24:21. As that time begins, Satan is denied any and all
access to Gods presence; he is now limited to the earth, not good news for
earth-dwellers. Rev 12:12: Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell
in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you
in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short! Knowing his time is
short, and being given greater license by God, Satan brings chaos to earth.
At the end of that time Jesus comes again and Satan is confined to the abyss
for 1,000 years. After that he is loosed for one last rebellion, but then he will
meet his final destiny in hell which was created for him in the first place per
Jesus in Mt 25:42 -- not as owner, by the way, but just as any other pathetic
resident. This final fall is described in Rev 20:10, and the devil who had
deceived them (unbelievers) was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where
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the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night
forever and ever. Hes not there yet, but he is on his way.
And he is on his way because of the ultimate casting out of Satan found in
John 12:31-32, Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this
world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all
people to myself. When did that happen? 33 He said this to show by what kind
of death he was going to die. It happened when Jesus died. In taking our sin
upon himself, Satan was cast out for good! Just when he thought he had won,
he was nailed with ultimate defeat. Heb 2:14: Since therefore the children
share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things
(limitations of human existence), that through death he might destroy the one
who has the power of death, that is, the devil. Jesus was physically nailed to
the cross, but Satan was spiritually nailed to the cross, destroyed!
So if hes done, why do we still have to deal with him? Great question, and
the answer is because God is still using him for a time. His end is not in
doubt. Hes like Hitler in the early 1940s advancing thru France in the West
and to the gates of Moscow in the East. But then came Dunkirk and then the
defeat of Rommel and Lenningrad. A cartoon in the London Star showed
Hitler standing on tiptoe over Europe with his fingers just barely missing a
cloud in the shape of the word Victory. The cartoons title: It is always
just out of reach. After the D-Day invasion, it was just a matter of time. He
fought for another year, but the game was up. So it is with Satan. Beaten at the
cross. He cannot win, but hell take as many as he can deceive with him.
Dont be one.
Now, lets review. Satan lost residence in heaven the moment he sinned. He is
at present a defeated foe deprived of any chance of victory by the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. He will be cast into the lake of fire finally and
forever at the end of history. He is a 3-time loser. Being cast out is his past,
his present and his future. God turns every move he makes to His glory.
So, what does Jesus mean in Lu 10:18, I saw Satan fall like lightning from
heaven. Did He mean first time, last time or middle? The context and
grammar will help us. The 72 have returned joyous of power over demons.
Jesus says, Yes, I [was watching] Satan fall like lightning. The word saw
is imperfect tense -- continuous action in the past. I was seeing, or I was
watching. Watching when? The context answers! He was watching,
figuratively, every time a demon was cast out. The word fall is aorist tense
decisive, one-time action. Jesus is saying, I was seeing every act of casting
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out demons, every act of repentance. Each act was one more nail in Satans
coffin. I saw his career in miniature every time you won a spiritual victory
in my name. I saw him fall like lightning. That what Jesus was saying.
Isnt that incredible? Every act of obedience is one more nail in Satans
coffin. That is something to rejoice over, isnt it? The war is already won,
Beloved. It just remains for us to choose our side and become an instrument of
God in making good on the victory that Jesus won at the cross -- one life at a
time, one decision at a time, one victory over evil at a time, one resistance of
temptation at a time, one surrender to Gods will at a time. Are you in?
Conc Then lets rejoice, in the face of adversity, in the victory that is
already won. Neil Armstrong used to tell of a retired AF colonel named
Tommy Moe. Moe was shot down during the Vietnam War and spent 5 years
as a POW. The guards used to try to discourage the prisoners by telling them
that America had forgotten them; that America was done; that American had
even lost the space race. One day a fellow-POW got a letter from his mother -carefully edited to cut out any good news. But while they had been exacting in
eliminating any encouragement, the guards failed to look at the stamp a
stamp which featured the image of Neil Armstrong landing on the moon. Moe
told Armstrong, Your picture demonstrated that America had already won.
Just like Jesus has already won the far greater victory, casing out Satan. Were
under new management that has already won the war! It only remains for us to
fight our battles with the joy of victory in our hearts. Lets pray.