J.C. Ryle's Devotional Thoughts on the Gospel of Luke. Section 63. The Return of the Disciples. Luke 10, verses 17-20.

And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding, in this rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.

We learn from this passage how ready Christians are to be puffed up with success. It is written that the Seventy returned from their first mission with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject unto us through your name. There was much false fire in that joy. There was evidently self-satisfaction in that report of achievements. The whole tenor of the passage leads us to this conclusion.

The remarkable expression which our Lord uses about Satan's fall from heaven was most probably meant to be a caution. He read the hearts of the young and inexperienced soldiers before him. He saw how much they were puffed up by their first victory. He wisely checks them in their undue exultation. He warns there against pride. The lesson is one which all who work for Christ should mark and remember.

Success is what all faithful labourers in the gospel field desire. The minister at home and the missionary abroad, the district visitor and the city missionary, the tract distributor and the Sunday school teacher, all alike long for success. All long to see Satan's kingdom pulled down and souls converted to God. We cannot wonder at this. The desire is right and good. Let it, however, never be forgotten that the time of success is a time of danger to the Christian souls. The very hearts that are depressed when all things seem against them are often unduly exalted in the day of prosperity. Few men are like Samson and can kill a lion without telling others of it. Judges chapter 14 verse 6. No wonder that Paul says of an elder that he must not be a recent convert or he may become proud and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 6

Most of Christ's labourers probably have as much success as their souls can bear. Let us pray much for humility, and especially for humility in our days of peace and success. when everything around us seems to prosper, and all our plans work well, when family trials and sicknesses are kept from us, and the course of our worldly affairs runs smooth, when our daily crosses are light, and all within and without are like a morning without clouds. Then, then is the time when our souls are in danger. Then is the time when we have need to be doubly watchful over our own hearts. Then is the time when seeds of evil are sown within us by the devil, which may one day astound us by their growth and strength.

There are few Christians who can carry a full cup with a steady hand. There are few whose souls prosper in their days of uninterrupted success. We are ready to think that our own might and our own wisdom have procured the victory for us. The caution of the passage before us ought never to be forgotten. In the midst of our triumphs, let us cry earnestly, Lord, clothe us with humility.

We learn, for another thing, from these verses that gifts and the power of working miracles are very inferior to saving grace. It is written that our Lord said to the seventy disciples, Do not rejoice that the demons submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. It was doubtless an honor and a privilege to be allowed to cast out demons. The disciples were right to be thankful. but it was a far higher privilege to be converted and pardoned men and to have their names written in the register of saved souls.

The distinction here drawn between grace and gifts is one of deep importance and often and sadly overlooked in the present day. Gifts, such as mental vigour, vast memory, striking eloquence, ability in argument, power in reasoning, are often unduly overvalued by those who possess them, and unduly admired by those who do not possess them. These things ought not so to be. Men forget that gifts, without grace, save no one saw, and are the characteristic of Satan himself.

Grace, on the contrary, is an everlasting inheritance. As lowly and despised as its possessor may be, grace will land him safely in glory. He who has gifts without grace is dead in sins, however splendid his gifts may be. But he who has grace without gifts is alive to God however unlearned and ignorant he may appear to man.

Let the religion which we aim to possess be a religion in which grace is the main thing. Let it not content us to be able to speak eloquently or preach powerfully or reasonably or argue cleverly or profess loudly or talk fluently. Let it not satisfy us to know the whole system of Christian doctrines and to have texts and words at our command. These things are all well in their way. They're not to be undervalued. They have their use. But these things are not the grace of God, and they will not deliver us from eternal hell.

let us never rest until we have the witness of the spirit within us that we are washed and sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus by the spirit of God first Corinthians chapter six verse eleven let us seek to know that our names are written in heaven and that we are really one with Christ and that Christ is in us Let us strive to be epistles of Christ, known and read by all men, and to show by our humility and charity and faith and spiritual-mindedness that we are the children of God.

This is true religion. These are the real marks of saving Christianity. Without such marks, a man may have abundance of gifts, and turn out nothing better than a follower of Judas Iscariot, the false apostle, and go at last to eternal hell. With such marks, a man may be like Lazarus, poor and despised upon earth, and have no gifts at all. But his name is written in heaven, and Christ shall own him as one of his people at the last day. you you