Luke 10.17-20 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 unto 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.
Here we read about the 70 disciples returning from a time of ministering. They are filled with joy, because the devils were subject unto them in the Name of Jesus Christ. They were rejoicing in the power and authority that The Lord gave to them. Jesus swiftly and lovingly reproves them. Their joy was misplaced. How easy it is for God’s people to have a misplaced joy.
It is a tremendous blessing to know that in The Name of Jesus, the forces and powers of darkness are dismantled and defeated. However, that God has given unto us this power is not the cause for us to rejoice. Our cause of rejoicing is because our names are written in heaven. You see beloved, when Jesus tells these seventy disciples that nothing shall by any means hurt you. The “you” that Jesus is talking about is the real you; your inner man; your eternal soul. The enemy can torture your body, but they cannot touch your soul. Thus, Jesus reminds these saints that the real cause of joy should be because their names are written in heaven. What joy there is in knowing that we are heaven-bound souls! Paul wrote about two women that labored with him in the gospel, along with Clement also, and with other my fellow laborers, whose names are in the book of life. The letter to the Hebrews addresses those who are the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.
Revelation 21.27 says, And there shall in no wise enter into it (New Jerusalem) any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Reader, do you know if your name is written in that book? We can know. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. Repent of your sin and believe on The Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sin. Rejoice in His saving grace that places our names in the glorious book of life.
