In Luke the 10th chapter, Jesus sent out seventy men to tell the people about the Gospel, the good news. He sent them out in twos and gave them special instructions before going. He told them that the harvest is great, but the laborers are few. He said that He was sending them out as lambs among wolves and He told them to pack light. He said, "Don't take a money bag, a sack or sandals." He gave them other specific instructions and then He told them to heal the sick.

Well, the seventy men went out in pairs and followed the instructions given by Jesus. The result was they had great success. In fact, they had such great success that when they returned to Jesus, the Bible says in Luke 10:17 that they returned with joy and excitement. They bragged to Jesus that even the demons were subject to them.

Then Jesus said to them in Luke 10:18-20, "I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Behold, I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

Here, Jesus gave authority to the seventy and then later in Mark chapter 16, Jesus gave authority over the forces of darkness to all who believe in Him.

Today many Christians are living lives less than what they should because they do not know their authority. They allow the prince of darkness to torment them and distract them. This should not be. We as Christians have been given authority over the forces of darkness.

On the other hand, there are Christians who have sought a closer walk with God. They have studied the Word and have come to the knowledge of the truth. They realize that they have authority over Satan and all his demonic forces, and they take this authority and are set free from the traps Satan sets for us.

But we must be careful with our authority. We must know the limits and not get goofy. When a Christian operates out of his own mind instead of the Word of God, he can create some real strange doctrines. And strange doctrines do not attract people to Jesus. Instead, it turns them away.

For example, the other day I heard a Christian praying. In the middle of his prayer he began taking authority over the works of the devil. He said, "Satan, I bind you in the name of Jesus and I cast you back to hell from whence you came."

Well, all the people standing around looked impressed. After all, this man had just sent Satan back to hell. Come on now. Let's get real!

We have not been given the authority to cast Satan into hell at this time. When we try to, we are overstepping the limits of our authority and our words are of no effect. Sure, saying things like "I cast you back to hell from whence you came" sounds real religious, but it's not biblical. We are not given authority to cast Satan into hell today. God will do that when it's time.

As Christians, we must know the fine line between taking authority over Satan and overstepping that authority. One way is of God. The other way is witchcraft.

Jesus gave believers authority over the forces of darkness. Let's use it properly.

Devotion 0068