by Holbert Marie
The Lord has been really waking me up to a few scriptures. He said to me “Son who specifically had authority over demons in my name?” Of course, immediately my mind went to the seventy he sent out in Luke 10: 1-10 and it then picks it up as they return in Luke 10: 17-21:
17 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”
To which He replied.
18 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
And then added this additional statement lest they become cocky and prideful over their newly discovered ‘power’ (Jude 8-10).
20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
So, what are the keys to having authority over Satan and his demonic minions? Well, first we must understand who really has the power and authority? It is the Lord, Jesus and it is IN JESUS NAME that we have that power and authority. Apart from Him they (we) can do nothing (John 15:5). But we should also take note that those who did have power to trample over the evil one– with the promise of protection from any retribution the enemy would seek to bring against you– did two things.
A.)They were APPOINTED and SENT by the Lord (Luke 1:1) and
B.) THEY WENT with Faith in OBEDIENCE WILLINGLY and in His name, did what He told them to do (Luke 10:2-10); which was to both preach the Kingdom of God and then demonstrate the Kingdom. And a big part of that preaching and demonstrating His Kingdom involves going in as lambs among wolves, challenging, engaging and unlocking and opening ‘the gates of hell” and later – (after being filled with the Holy Spirit) – taking up the ‘sword of Spirit and the Logos’, “demolishing strongholds” (2 Cor 10:3-6).
It is really a pretty simple concept, you can train, prepare and equip yourself for battle, but until you actually engage against an opponent on the field, and beat them, you have no authority over that opponent. So, we see Jesus first Himself train, prepare, engage and then win, in Matt 4. He then begins to train, equip and prepare the 12 and then 70 and He then sends them out as kind of a pre-run, and they discovered that they had authority over the one who previously had authority over them.
We see in Luke 9 just before this that the Lord had rejected and culled some who said they would follow Him but were not fully committed. Others He asked to follow Him and they had other priorities. So these 70 that he sends out are not just randomly selected. They had answered a call, forsaken all and were willing to be trained, equipped and then OBEY and GO!
It is worth noting that these seventy did not just sit back in their safe comfort bubble, pray and worship and avoid conflict and confrontation! Similarly, the Lord did not call us to hole ourselves up in a monastery and just hang around Him 24/7/365 for the entirety of our lives, seeking to be “holy’ by avoiding conflict and confrontation! Let us also note that He did not call the seventy to hang around and fellowship exclusively with each other and those like them.
While He did/does call them and us to come away and spend time with Him, learn of Him, get to know Him and be renewed, and fellowship with one another; as He himself did with the Father. He ultimately also COMMANDED US TO GO IN HIS NAME, which was why He told them to tarry in Jerusalem so that they might receive the Holy Spirit who would endue them with power for the express purpose of GOING OUT AND BEING HIS WITNESSES in Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the World (Acts 1:8). And it is no different with us. He wants to send us out into the world to engage the enemy and the son’s of Satan for the souls of fallen and deceived men, women and children, and to those who are willing to, He will give them authority over all the works of the enemy, IF THEY TAKE IT!
Jesus himself did this, He came to do the works of His Father that He, Father, sent Him to do (John 5:36). If all He wanted to do was just hang around and fellowship with the Father and the Holy Spirit and party with angels, He would of never left heaven to become a man! He did this for His Father and for us, though we had rejected both Him and His Father. The whole of the law and prophets was summarized with the great commandment to Love God with all our being and to love others (Mark 12:29-31). He greatly desired fellowship and to come and to have fellowship and eat with us. (Luke 22:15)! That’s why He came and died and rose again, to make it possible, BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY WITH THE 12, the 70 or us, and thus why He sent out the 70 and why He still tells us to pray to the Lord of the harvest for laborers and we should not just pray for laborers, but be ready and willing to be one those laborers like these ‘seventy’. The truth is He wants to send out and give authority over the evil one to much more than 70. Moses understood this when Joshua was concerned that the Spirit of the Lord had fallen on 70 others, fearing it may dilute Moses’s authority, when he said. Num 11:29
“Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!”
This is the Lord’s desire and what we see on the day of Pentecost. So, anyone can be part of ‘the seventy” if they answer His call, desire it and are willing to obey and go and engage.
[**Important note: Please notice I did not say ‘train’ here. Why? Well when Jesus set the man who had a legion of demons free, in the Decapolis region, he came and begged Jesus to come with and follow Him. Now if anyone would of needed some inner healing, training and equipping it would have been this man, yes? Yet, what does Jesus say to him? Mark 5:18-20And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him. 19 However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” 20 And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled. NKJV
Later, Jesus returned to Decapolis in Mark 7 and Matt 15 and found an open door and receptive crowd that had asked Him to leave earlier. I wonder why that was? — The point is you do not have to be an expert or a teacher of the scripture to be part of ‘the seventy.’ In fact. Jesus lifts up His eyes and thanks His Father when the 70 return: Luke 10:21-22
In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. 22 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”
Jesus sent him out right away and like the 70, he had nothing with him. We need to remember that the Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy (Rev 19:10) and that we overcome by the blood of the Lamb, THE WORD (Logos) OF OUR TESTIMONY and we do not love our lives unto death! (Rev 12:11)]
Jesus did the work of His Father and He tells His DISCIPLES to go and do likewise (John 14:12,13)! He did not ask us to do something that He Himself did not do or mentor and not just with words of teaching, but deeds of action. He did this with the 12 and then the 70. And when they were sent out, they went into the enemy’s strongholds and engaged. They didn’t just go hang and fellowship with their family and buddies in their comfort zones. In fact, at this time, they did not do this at all, however they were sent out in pairs and were given clear orders. It’s not good to be alone when in battle.
And what was the message that they took? It was repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand. (Jesus’s first message Matt 4:17) (look at where you are going, turn around and walk away from the death you are walking towards), and they proceeded to demonstrate the Kingdom of God through casting out demons and healing the sick. They preached Isa 61:1-2… To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
They did not preach a gospel of prosperity and blessing in this life, in fact they preached the opposite; “Sell all and follow, give it away, take up your cross and follow Him so that you can have treasure in heaven.” (Mark 10:21). They preached that the Kingdom of God is not of this earth. They preached that to gain your life, you must lose it. (Matt 10:39, Matt 16:35, Mark 8:35, Lk 9:34, Lk 17:33) They preached you must be ‘born again” (John 3:3). They preached that Jesus Christ is ‘the way the truth and the life and that NO MAN ENTERS INTO THIS KINGDOM OF GOD EXCEPT THROUGH HIM! (John 14:6) They preached that there is only one name by which a man can be saved, JESUS CHRIST! (Act 4:10-12) They preached to stop doing wickedness and ‘bear fruit of repentance’! (Matt 3:7-12) They were bold and would not be silenced, even under threat of punishment or even death (Acts 5:5-41). They did not try to please or placate anyone, except their Master and Lord! This is what Jesus had said to them in Matt 16:19:
….And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
That is authority, and power, He who has the keys has the authority over whatever he has the keys too!
However just before this He said — “on this rock (the confession of “you are the Christ — the anointed one of God — the Son of the Living God) I will build MY church (not Peter’s) and THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT. First the confession, then the engaging of the gates of hell and then keys to the Kingdom. As we know gates/doors aren’t mobile, they serve as entry/egress security points for buildings, homes, cars, a myriad of things, and also on prisons or forts – i.e. ‘strongholds‘. These are the two types of ‘strongholds’ the Lord came to demolish and ‘set the captives free‘ from – (Is 61:1,2, Luke 4:18) . The ‘gates of hell’ specifically are designed to either hold people captive under fear, deception and lies (prison, jail), or to keep them in arrogance and pride, blocking the Lord and His messengers of truth from entering in – (castle, fort). The seventy went humbly In HIS name with His authority as HIS ambassadors (ambassadors do not speak what ever they want, nor on their own authority either), His representative, and they started first unlocking and then opening the gates of Hell and they then begin binding and loosing and tying up ‘strongmen’. USING THE AUTHORITY HE GAVE THEM TO USE! Jesus confirms this in His final command to the disciples, in Matt 28:18-20
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to ME in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
So bottom line and to summarize, if we want to have authority over Satan and his minions (in Jesus name) there are some criteria we need to meet:
1) WE HAVE TO BE HIS DISCIPLE and In Luke 14:25-35 the Lord clearly tells us what this means and the cost of it (all should be counted as lost to be His disciple!)
2.) We have to be appointed and sent and then obey and GO to where He sends us (that could be your work environment, your school or could be some village on the other side of the world. He who is faithful with little will be faithful with much.) (Luke 16:10)
3.) We have to take up the armor of God and the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT (our only offensive weapon) and ENGAGE and realize our battle is against spiritual forces in the heavenly places. (Eph 6:10-18)
We always need to remember. THAT WE ONLY HAVE AUTHORITY IN HIS NAME (John 14;13, John 16:26), when we are walking in obedience under HIS authority. We then become His Ambassador, representative, with the full weight, authority, power and PROTECTION of HIS government that He is the head of (Eph 4:15). If you are not His disciple– (this is not about salvation, not all believers in Christ are disciples of Christ) – and do not go to where He sends you and then you do not engage, you will have no authority over the enemy! In fact, the opposite will be true. He, the enemy, will have you confined to a prison of fear of man, or fear of persecution, rejection, pain, or addicted to the comforts of the world and the lust the eyes (1 John 2:15-17) etc. and full of self-preservation! And Jesus clearly tells us to fear the living God and no one else. Luke 12:4-7
4 “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him! 6 “Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. NKJV
Even now the final call for my generation to make a choice is at hand and soon, by the end of the year if not earlier, a choice will be made. These ARE the days of Elijah and just like Elijah said. 1 Kings 18:21-22
And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word.
Judgement has begun and it begins with the house of God (1 Pet 4:17). And the truth is judgement is good. Better to be judged here, where we have a chance to repent, then be judged before His throne and have no further chance of appeal! No more love of the world and the things of it, no more Laodicea, no more Ephesus, no more middle ground trying to walk the ever-shrinking fence and ever widening chasm between light and the dark, between the world and the Kingdom. All will be forced to choose. Everything is coming down to this point in time for this generation for the US/Western/Greek church, for the age of the gentiles is coming to an end; and all the true prophets are in agreement. It is time to get right with God, and come out of Babylon, before the judgement begins in earnest and the fire is falling now and decisions will be made before the year is up.
One final, but poignant, point concerning Luke 10 and the 70. Jesus said this to His disciples during the last supper:
Luke 22:35-38
35 And He said to them, “When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?” So they said, “Nothing.”
36 Then He said to them, “But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one. 37 For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in Me: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’ For the things concerning Me have an end.”
38 So they said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” And He said to them, “It is enough.”
We see the Lord giving new instructions, again to His disciples, about being sent. The first time He sent them out they were somewhat limited, they had no sword because Jesus had not yet died and risen from dead and therefore He had not yet acquired the authority on earth that He had in heaven. There were to take no preparations or provision, AND NEITHER DID THEY HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT EITHER! He sent them with nothing, but in His name to prepare the way for His visitation, for it says that He sent them “before His face” specifically to the cities HE WAS GOING TO VISIT HIMSELF. (Luke 10:1)
However, He now gives them new marching orders, He now says to prepare, to take provisions, money bag – if you have one – and then a seemingly strange statement about selling your garment and buying a sword. At which point two swords are picked up with Jesus saying “IT IS ENOUGH.“
Well, I cannot say with assurance what he meant when He said ‘sell your garment’ but three things did come to mind:
1.) The garment is often used as a symbol of the flesh or natural man. We need to ‘sell’ or trade our garment of flesh; for His sword.
2.) Following this same theme, I am reminded that Jesus’s garment was ‘sold’ to the Roman soldiers as they cast lots for it at the cross. (Could this garment have been the one that Herod the usurper king put on Him?— Luke 23:11 John talks about a purple robe being put on Him and purple represents royalty) Jesus died to ‘sell his garment‘ and refused to take up earthly Kingship which was rightfully His. And we know that the gospel spread through the Roman army, even at the cross as the Centurion proclaimed, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” Mark 15:39. Later in Acts 10 the very first gentile believer, the ‘father of the gentile believers’ is Cornelius a high-ranking Roman soldier.
3.) The Lord could be telling them, and us, to sell our wedding/festive garments and trade it for a sword and amour for war. The Lord had been with them as a ‘bride groom’– and they partied a lot and Jesus was called out for it, being called a ‘wine bibber’ (Matt 9:14-17); remember His first miracle in John 2!? So now he could be telling them, ‘the parties over boys, (FOR NOW), time to trade it for a sword and go to war.‘ Yet even then He was about to send the ‘party’ into them, the New Wine, the Holy Spirit and to have that New Wine they had to get rid of their old garments (wine skin) and get new ones, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, purchased by the Lord’s selling of His garment (His body) at the cross. Yet this new wine was not just given so that they could party among themselves, but to be sent out, equipped and armed as His witnesses to Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the world. It was a time for war, for engagement with the ‘gates of hell‘, the enemy and He also could of been telling them, as He did directly in Acts 1, that He was not going to be coming in their life time (“It is not for you to know the hour or season ..”). The next time they (and us) were to wear wedding/festive garments is at the marriage supper of the Lamb, THAT THE FATHER WILL PROVIDE US based on our faith and obedience to His Son! Let us remember that Jesus said to the faithful son, who did not leave and stayed and served Him faithfully — “Son you are always with me, and ALL THAT I HAVE IS YOURS” (Luke 15:31)
Now concerning the sword, we know later Peter used that sword on a servant’s ear (John 18:10) and Jesus rebuked Him for using it and healed the servant’s ear saying, “those who live by the sword will die by the sword” (Matt 26:52). So, we know that Jesus was not referring to physical swords or physical violence when He said to “sell your garment and buy a sword”. So what is he referring to? This one is clear, I am sure He is referring to taking up THE SWORD OF THE WORD OF GOD; the only offensive weapon in the armor of God (Eph 6:10-18). It is two the edged sword of the Word of God that Jesus defeated Satan with in the wilderness – the Logos (Matt 4:1-11). And it is the Word of God that man should live by besides bread – the Rhema (Matt 4:4)! And it is not by coincidence that there are two swords to which Jesus says that this was ‘enough’. Similarly, there are two scriptures about the ‘Word of God’ being a sword. One is Eph 6:17-20
And take the helmet of salvation, and the SWORD of the Spirit, which is the WORD – Rhema – of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints — 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
The other sword of the word of God is: Heb 4:12-13
For the WORD—Logos– of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged SWORD, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
One sword represents the Holy Spirit “the sword of the Spirit”, which is hearing the specific and personalized word for your life the Rhema word of God – (you can search scripture high and low and you will not find any specific scripture that tells you to marry a person or go to a particular city. This is the Rhema word, where the Lord speaks to your heart through the Holy Spirit) the ‘sword of the spirit’ is also specifically praying in the Spirit (tongues 1 Cor 14:14,15) and (Rom 8:23-26) and it is operating in the gifts of the Spirit, the power or ‘works’ of God. (1 Cor 14:1-9)
The other sword represents Christ the LOGOS: John 1:1-4
In the beginning was the Word – Logos, and the Word – Logos – was with God, and the Word – Logos – was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
and John 1:14
And the Word – Logos – became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and TRUTH. NKJV
The Logos is the whole of scripture and it also Jesus the Living Word, which all scripture points to and culminates in the ‘testimony of Jesus’ – (Rev 1:2 and 19:10). Those two swords used properly by two or more submitted and skilled soldiers (2 Tim 2:15), is more than ENOUGH to unlock and throw open the gates of hell, defeat the enemy and set captives free and these sent, loyal and obedient disciples will hear their Lord and Master say. “Well done good and faithful servant” (Matt 25:20-23) and will be clothed in lavish wedding garments adorned as bride for the marriage supper of the Lamb!