There is no greater display of
God's mighty power in the natural realm in which men dwell than
the lightning which streaks across the sky with unbridled intensity
and uncontrollable majesty. Who or what can stand before
its awesome power? It creates all, in young and
old alike. Is it any wonder, then, that
the Lord of Glory should describe the casting down of Satan by
using this illustration? The Lord's disciples rejoiced
that even the devils were made subject unto His words spoken
by them. They had witnessed His power
over the demons which He had cast out prior to this, yet they
now marvel that even the same power was demonstrated when they
spoke in His authority. The Lord then tempered their
amazement by reminding them that Satan had no power at all, except
that which was given to him by the Lord, as he likened his demise
to the lightning which strikes and is no more. By nature, men
believe in competing forces of good and evil. Most religions
attribute the good to God and the evil they attribute to Satan.
To varying degrees, nearly all of them see this supposed competition
as not having a certain result. Many teach that unless man exercises
faith or the power of his thinking through some psychological exercise,
such as prayers, prayer circles, chain letters, or claiming victory
is either real or imagined, then God's hands are tied to prevent
evil from occurring and Satan will have a field day. The scripture
teaches no such ridiculous idea and sets forth in no uncertain
terms that the devil is God's devil. He has no power of any
kind except that which is given to him for a season, that he
might fulfill the purpose of God in whatever activity he is
assigned to perform. Just as swiftly as the lightning
flashes and is no more, so the power of Satan is but temporary
and passing away, according to the wisdom of God. While Satan
is personally opposed to all that God wills to do, he has
no power to thwart it, and therefore is no worthy foe, but rather
a pawn in the purpose of God and a creature made to fulfill
his exact design. Rather than being fearful of
Satan's devices or activities, our rejoicing is to be centered
upon the redemptive work of Christ for His elect, whose names are
written in the Lamb's Book of Life from before the foundation
of the world. As the Lord said, 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. No power that we have
been given, nor any mastery we may have over anything in this
world in which we presently dwell, no gifts or callings, no station
or benefit, can compare with the blessing that is ours in
hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ and being given faith to believe
in Him. It is interesting that in the
book of Job we are directly told that Satan is the instrument
in the hand of God to bring trials of body and mind upon Job. Yet
nowhere in the book does Job ever attribute those troubles
to Satan, but rather gives glory to God for all things. Though
Job was far from perfect in his understanding of the Almighty,
he did recognize that he was indeed an absolute sovereign
who held sway over both good and evil according to his will,
and he did confess that his hope of the resurrection was in his
Redeemer and not in his own perfections. As the scriptures use the illustration
of lightning to depict the destruction of Satan, so too do they use
the illustration of the lightning to depict the manifestation of
the glory of the kingdom of Christ. For as the lightning cometh out
of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also
the coming of the Son of Man be. The lightning which is seen
in a storm goes as quickly as it comes, yet the lightening
of the rising sun brings warmth and light and dispels the darkness
as it arises. Christ has come into the world
as the Savior of sinners. He dispels the darkness as He
is pleased to cause the light of the gospel to be shed abroad.
This is a light which cannot be ignored as He empowers it
to quicken the dead, causing the deaf to hear and the blind
to see. If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at 4the4 at windstream.net.