Transcript: God's Sovereignty Over Satan: Finding Strength in Weakness

Music Music Today we are establishing the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ is most powerful and has been given all rule and authority in heaven and on earth. We read in Luke 10, verses 17 through 20, as our opening text to establish this fact. Verse 17, the 70 returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. And he said to them, I saw Satan falling like lightning, like a flash from heaven. And behold, I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions and physical and mental strength and ability over all power that the enemy possesses, and nothing shall in any way harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are enrolled in heaven. Now we need to understand what snakes and scorpions figuratively mean in the scripture. Snakes in the Greek dictionary, New Testament, number 3789, it means that it's through the idea of sharpness, of vision. A snake, figuratively, as a shy, cunning, and artful, malicious person, especially Satan, known as a serpent. For instance, Ezekiel chapter 2 verse 5 through 7 declares, And they, whether they will hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house. Yes, they shall know and realize that there has been a prophet among them. And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, be not afraid of their words, though briars and thorns are all around you, and that you dwell and sit among scorpions. Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. And you shall speak my words to them, whether they will hear or refuse to hear, for they are most rebellious. Now, looking at the scripture where Jesus speaks about scorpions and serpents, which are snakes, He spoke about that in Luke 10, verses 17 through 20. And he also speaks about thorns in the New and the Old Testament. So we need to understand these figurative terms for these as well. So just in quickly going over them, we see that thorns in the New Testament, according to the Bible Dictionary, is a symbol of false prophets. according to Matthew 7, 16. You will fully recognize them by their fruits, Jesus said. Do people pick grapes from thorns, figs from thistles? So thorns in the Old Testament was a figurative word that described a painful thorn in Ezekiel 28, 24, and it really needs to be understood as a smarting sting figurative of the hurts of paganism. So reading that, Ezekiel 28, 24, there shall be no more briar to prick the house of Israel or a hurting thorn of all those around them who have treated them with contempt. And they shall know and understand and realize that I am the Lord God, the sovereign ruler who calls forth loyalty and obedient service. In Micah, chapter 7, verses 3 and 4, the word declares, Both their hands are put forth and are upon what is evil to do it diligently. The prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters his evil desire. Thus they twist between them the course of justice. Verse 4, the best of them is like a briar or a thorn. The most upright or the straightest is like a thorn hedge. The day of your watchman, even of God's judgment and your judgment, has come. Now shall be their perplexity and confusion. Now the term here, the most upright, like a thorn, in these verses, refers to the corruption of the nation, which was so great that even the most upright injured all who came in contact with him. In Job 5.5, the scripture tells us, take it to a place of thorns, and that means that even a thorny hedge does not prevent evildoers from taking food from an orphan. The way of a sluggard is as a hedge of thorns, and that means that he's full of almost insurmountable obstacles. Proverbs 15 verse 9 The way of the sluggard is overgrown with thorns. It pricks, lacerates, and entangles him. But the way of the righteous is plain and raised like a highway. The sluggard, because of spiritual hunger and growth, gets entangled in many problems and trials and spiritual warfare. To be overgrown with thorns is figurative of desolation. In Proverbs 24 verse 31 The scripture says, And behold, it was like all overgrown with thorns, and nettles were covering its face, and its stone wall was broken down. The crackling of thorn bushes under a pot is symbolic to which the laughter of fools is compared. The fools and wicked are often compared to thorns. Now, dried cow dung was a common fuel in Palestine in its day. its slowness in burning makes the quickness of a fire of thorns most graphic as an image of sudden end of fools We read that in Psalms 118 verses 10 through 13 All nations the surrounding tribes compassed about me but in the name of the Lord I will cut them off They compassed me about, yes. They surrounded me on every side, and in the name of the Lord I will cut them off. Verse 12. They swarmed about me like bees. They blazed up, are extinguished like a fire of thorns. In the name of the Lord I will cut them off. Verse 13. You, my adversary, thrust sorely at me that I might fall, but the Lord helps me. Thorns and thistles are symbolic of the false prophets. Now, in looking again at our title, which is God holds all power over all things, and we can add to that and say, even though Satan is temporarily the prince of the power of the air of this world, And our purpose in this message is to establish the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ is most powerful and has been given all rule and authority in heaven and on the earth when he said to his disciples in Luke chapter 10 verse 22. All things have been given over into my power by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son may choose to reveal and make him known. Repeating again in Luke chapter 10 verses 17 through 20, The seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. And he said to them, I saw Satan falling like lightning flash from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions and the physical and mental ability over all power that the enemy possesses. And nothing shall in any way harm you. Verse 20, And nevertheless, do not rejoice in them that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are enrolled in heaven. In verse 18, Jesus said, I saw a saint and falling like lightning or a flash from heaven. In other words, the fall was very sudden and factual and apparent of the power that Jesus had then and as the very word of God and now in this present day. Let's also not miss who the authority comes from, as Jesus tells his disciples in verses 19 and 20. He says, Behold, I have given you the power and authority to trample upon serpents and scorpions and physical and mental ability over all power that the enemy possesses, and nothing shall in any way harm you. Nevertheless, don't rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are enrolled in heaven. Once a true believer in Jesus Christ understands what they do in his name, whether it is worship, prayer, praying for others, sharing or preaching his word, whatever and however it prospers, it is by his power and grace, just as he told his disciples when they came back so elated that the demons bowed at the mention of his name. Understand that even the enemy must admit Jesus is the Son of God. Remember in Luke's Gospel, in chapter 4, when Jesus was in the desert, and Satan said, if you be the Son of God, you need to understand this is not a supposition that Satan was making, but it was an affirmation. Satan knew who Jesus was. as the most beautiful of angels in heaven, known as Lucifer, whose name meant bright star. He lived in the eternal realm. He knew who his creator was. The fact here, when Satan challenged Jesus of his deity, this was the basis for the first of the three temptations when the evil one approach Christ. If you are the son of God, Satan argued. But Jesus answered him, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. In all of these three temptations, Satan wanted Jesus to disobey the Father's will by using his divine power and his own purposes. The 40-day period in the wilderness when Jesus was tempted by the devil, Jesus' first temptation to turn stones into bread was to use his divine power to satisfy his own physical needs. And the second, to jump off the temple, was to perform a spectacular feat so that people would follow him. The third was to gain possession of the world by worshiping Satan. One motive lay behind all these temptations. Satan wanted to destroy Jesus' mission. Because Jesus' death would destroy Satan's power, Satan wanted Jesus to pollute his life and ministry. The ultimate issue behind these temptations was idolatry. The real purpose of Satan's temptation was that he might be worshipped instead of God. Why was Jesus tempted by Satan? One thing, it was proof that the Father's approval was deserved. Jesus was indeed the beloved Son, who always does whatever pleases his Father. In John 8, verses 28-29, the scripture says, So Jesus added, When you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, you will realize and know and understand that I am he for whom you look, and that I do nothing of myself on my own accord or on my own authority. But I say exactly what my Father has taught me, and he who has sent me is ever with me. My Father has not left me, for I always do what pleases him. And we need to realize as well that in Jesus' temptations, he exposed the tactics of the enemy and revealed to us how we can overcome when we are tempted. This experience helped prepare our Lord for his present ministry as our sympathetic high priest, and we may come to him for help when we need to overcome the tempter. In Hebrews chapter 4 verses 14 through 16 Inasmuch then as we have a great high priest who has already ascended and passed through the heavens Jesus the Son of God let us hold fast our confession our faith of him Verse 15. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to understand and sympathize, and we have a shared feeling with our weakness and infirmities and liabilities to the assaults, the temptations, but the one who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning. Verse 16. Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace, the throne of God's unmerited favor to us sinners, that we may receive mercy for our failures and find grace to help us in good time in every need appropriate and well-timed help coming just when we need it. You see, the first Adam was tempted in the beautiful garden and failed, but the last Adam was tempted in a dangerous wilderness and succeeded. Just think about that. We have at our disposal the same spiritual means that Jesus used when he faced and defeated Satan. We have prayer. We have our Father's love. We have the power of the Holy Spirit. and we have the powerful word of God. It is written. Plus, we have in heaven our spiritual Savior who intercedes for us and who has defeated the enemy completely on our behalf. Satan brings temptations to bring out the worst in us. But, dear ones, God can use these difficult experiences we go through to bring out the best in us if we effectively live in his word and live it. Temptation is Satan's weapon to defeat us, but it can become God's tool to build us up. This is very apparent in the book of James when he says, Consider it, holy, joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in encounter trials of any sorts and various temptations. Verse 3, Be assured and understand that the trial and the proving of your faith brings out endurance and steadfastness and patience. But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be a people perfectly and fully developed with no defects, lacking in nothing. Verse 5. And if any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God who gives to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly without reproaching or fault finding and will be given him. Verse 6 Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering, no hesitating. For the one who wavers, hesitates and doubts is like a billowing surge out of the sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind. In the first temptation of Jesus, Satan suggested there must be something wrong with the Father's love, since his beloved son was hungry. Well, Satan wanted Jesus to use his divine power to satisfy his own physical needs. You know, in the years past, Israel hungered in the wilderness, and God sent them bread from heaven, so surely Jesus could use his divine power to feed himself and save his own life. but that would defeat his mission in coming to the earth. Remember, Jesus came to defeat Satan the devil for all of mankind and all that would be all the whosoever's would choose him as their personal savior. Remember also how Satan subtly used the same effect on Eve by in effect saying, God is holding out on you. Why can't you eat out of every tree of the garden? And if he really loved you, he would share everything with you. That was paraphrasing. But Satan's temptation to Jesus was even more subtle than that to Eve because he was asking Jesus to separate the physical from the spiritual. In our Christian life, eating for us is a spiritual activity of obedience. We are told to taste and see that the Lord is good. And we are also told to pour over the word of God by studying like the Bereans. Whenever we label different aspects of our lives, physical, material, financial, or spiritual, we are bound to leave God out of areas where he rightly belongs. Jesus must be first in everything in our lives, dear one, or he is nothing at all. Matthew 6, verse 33 and 34 declares, But seek, aim at, and strive after, first of all, his kingdom and his righteousness, his ways of doing and being upright. And then all these things taken together will be given you besides. So don't worry about the anxious things of tomorrow. For tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own, sufficient for every day in its own trouble. When Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8.3 by saying, and he humbled you and allowed you to hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you recognize and personally know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word of God that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. You see, you and I need bread for the body, but we cannot live by physical bread alone. We also need food for our inner person to satisfy our spiritual needs. And as we read the word of God and meditate upon it, we receive spiritual health, vitality, and strength for our inner person or soul. And this charges and enables us to desire to obey the will of God. this is the power of God at work in the life and soul of every true believer in Jesus Christ who is obedient to do as they are instructed in the word of God our heavenly father has already promised to give his son all the kingdoms of the world but first he had to suffer and die in the book of Revelation chapter 5 verses 8 and 10 the word declares worthy is the lamb Now when he has taken the scroll Four living creatures and the twenty elders Fell down before the Lamb Each having a harp and golden bowls Full of incense Which are the prayers of the saints Verse 9 And they sang a new song You are worthy to take the scroll And open its seals For you were slain And you have redeemed us to God By your blood out of every tribe and tongue And people and nation and have made us kings and priests in our God, and we shall reign on the earth. You see, Jesus had to suffer for us first, before he was received into glory. The adversary offered Jesus these same kingdoms if he would worship him and would eliminate the necessity of his going to the cross. Satan always wanted to take God's place and receive worship, And we are seeing this big time in our world today. As the prince of the power of this world, Satan has a certain amount of delegated power and authority from God. In John chapter 12, verse 31, the word tells us, Now the judgment, the crisis of this world is coming on. Sentence is now being passed on this world. Now the ruler, the evil genius, prince of this world shall be cast out and expelled. John 14 verses 30 and 31. Jesus says, I will not talk with you much longer. For the prince, the evil genius, the ruler of the world is coming. And he has no claim on me. He has nothing in common with me. There is nothing in me that belongs to him. He has no power over me. Verse 31. But Satan is coming and I do as the Father has commanded me so that the world may know, be convinced that I love the Father and that I do only what the Father has instructed me to do. I act in full agreement with his orders. Rise. Let's go away from here. In verse 13, we see where one day Satan will be given the authority for a short time with the Antichrist, the man of sin, who will rule in the world for a brief time. Worship and Christian service to the Lord Jesus Christ is true freedom, and it leads to eternal life. But worship and service to Satan is horrible bondage that leads to eternal death. God's pattern is to start with suffering and end with glory, while Satan's pattern is to start with glory and end with suffering. In 1 Peter 5, 10-11, the scripture tells us, After you suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who imparts all blessing and favor, who has called you to his very own eternal glory in Jesus Christ, and himself will complete and make you what you ought to be, You see, Satan wants us to sacrifice the eternal for the temporary and take the easy way. But dear one, there is no shortcut in the Christian life. and there is no easy way to spiritual victory and maturity. If our perfect son of God had to hang from a tree before he could sit on a throne, then every disciple of his should not expect an easier way of life. Satan questioned the father's love when he tempted Jesus to turn stones into bread. He questioned his hope when he offered Jesus the world kingdoms this side of the cross. Satan questioned the father's faithfulness when he asked Jesus to jump from the temple and prove that God the father would keep his promise. Psalms 91 verses 11 and 12 declares, He will give his angels a special charge over you to accompany and defend you and preserve you in all of your ways of obedience and service. They shall bear you up on their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone. When we look at this, we see where the enemy attacked the three basic virtues of the Christian life, and that is faith, hope, and love. When a child of God is in the will of God, he can claim the Father's protection and care. But if he willingly keeps on sinning and expects God to rescue him or her, then this is called tempting God. We tempt God when we endeavor to force him or dare him to act contrarily to his word. It's a dangerous thing to try or test God's patience, even though he is long-suffering and a gracious God and Father. We have been establishing the fact that our God and Lord Jesus Christ is most powerful and has been given all rule and authority in heaven and on earth. I remind you of the scripture again in Luke chapter 10 verses 7 through 17, where the 70 returned rejoicing, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. And he said to them, I saw a saint and falling like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions and physical and mental strength and ability over all the power that the enemy possesses, and nothing shall in any way harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are enrolled in heaven. You see, dear listener, Jesus has given us everything we need in his love and empowerment as his children, as kings and priests of his kingdom on this earth as we journey onward to our heavenly home. We have the promises of God if we walk in faith. He has given us the insurance of saving faith and that it will be completed if we remain faithful and fight this great battle of eternal life with our helper called Holy Spirit, who has so graciously been given to us. Hold on fast to him and keep your eyes fixed on the author and finisher of your faith. .