A Final Victory

A Final Victory

The Lord Jesus spoke this promise to his disciples when 70 from those He had appointed to do His work: to heal the sick and bring the message of peace to the people, returned amazed to see that the demons would submit to them when addressed in the name of Jesus.

Satan, our accuser, cannot stand any more before the throne of God and will never again be able to do so. Since Christ died on the cross, he cannot any more come before the Father as he used to do at Job’s time. His field of action is now restricted to the earth, where the Lord saw him falling unto like a lightning.

Although he is like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour, he has no more power upon us than the one we ourselves allow him to have. How and when do we give him power? When we do not act by faith. ” 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” , promised us our Lord. Do we believe His promise?

The prince of darkness may appear as an angel of light, but since he rebelled against his Creator in heaven he is nothing but a serpent, a poisonous reptile whose bite may be fatal if we do not know the antidote.

As we know, the children of Israel were bitten by serpents in the wilderness because they gave in to their lustful wishes and asked for food that God had considered wise to keep away from them, but they were healed as they looked at a brass snake hanging on a pole. That snake was a symbol of Jesus, who was made sin for us, crucified. Our sinful nature was crucified and everyone who believes it can say together with Paul, ” I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” Galatians 2:20.

The Lord gave us power to ” tread on serpents” and His promise is that nothing will by any means hurt us. What hurts us? Do we maybe hurt one another when we tell each other a certain truth? Paul asked the Galatians, ” Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? ” Galatians 4:16.

What is the truth? An important part of the truth is the one we are presenting today, that our enemy has been condemned to death, that our sinful flesh was crucified, that we were set free through the knowledge of Him who died for us and we can stop sinning.

What is then our problem? Someone may say, lack of faith, or love of sin. Even love of sin has to do with lack of faith. We do not believe that God’s plan for us, the product of His infinite love for man, which surpasses our understanding, is above everything. We do not believe that He is the only One who can make us happy, and therefore we delay our surrendering to Him.

The promise in the verse we are considering says, ” nothing shall by any means hurt you.”

When Paul was on the island of Malta, a snake bit him on the hand but he did not panic, he simply shook it off his hand into the fire and nothing happened to him. Paul’s experience with the snake can be considered a symbol of our experience with Satan, if we want to live according to the faith the Lord offers us.

Paul was travelling to Rome and the whole crew went through hard trials on the sea, which they overcame by faith after the whole crew prayed and fasted for 14 days. All this happened because the seamen did not listen to Paul’s advice not to leave Crete. In Acts of the Apostles we read that ” the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul.” Acts 27:11. But in spite of their stubbornness and trust in their own understanding, the Lord saved them. As they humbled themselves before the Almighty with prayer and fasting, two powerful weapons the Lord has given His people, their plea was heard in heaven and God’s arm was moved to compassion.

Malta was not part of their itinerary, but an emergency stop and the Lord had work for Paul there.

A dedicated minister, a man who lives his life for Gods glory, will never be jobless and every situation, either negative or positive, will be an opportunity for God to manifest His power through him. Gods faithful servant may go through many trials but at the end the Sun of Righteousness will shine in his life.

In Acts of the Apostles 27:20, we read: ” And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on [us], all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.” When a situation is desperate and the rays of the Sun of Righteousness seem not to shine upon us any longer, when the stars–the ministry–do not give any light, and we turn to the living God as our only hope, with prayer and fasting, we shall have the same results as the crew in the boat heading to Rome. ” But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, “For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island.” Acts 27:21-26. The Spirit of God led them to a place where there was much work for Paul to do in the name of His Saviour.

” And while the day was coming on, Paul besought [them] all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. ” Acts 27:33. They had all fasted for 14 days for their salvation, all together as one body, as long as the tempest lasted, while they did not see either the sun or the stars. They interrupted their fasting when ” the day was coming” , when they had some sign that their prayer was answered, when they received some light from heaven for their problem, when the Lord spoke to Paul through an angel. May this experience serve us as an example.

In darkness, in spite of the fear that had overcome them, they sailed forward and were led to the island of Malta. The devil, who is afraid of God’s faithful children because he knows they carry salvation in their hearts, did not manage to destroy Paul at sea. But Satan never gets tired, so when they landed on the island, he appeared in the form of a serpent that clung unto Paul’s hand. The old serpent that had deceived Eve in paradise, now wanted to prevent that hand that was going to bless so many people and heal them, from fulfilling its mission.

But the experience at sea had strengthened Paul’s faith in His Saviour. Paul knew what he was saying when he wrote, ” all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose,” in his epistle to the Romans 8:28.

Since Paul could not be intimidated by the devil’s attack, the inhabitants of the island were amazed to see ” the [venomous] beast hang on his hand,” and Paul who ” shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. ” Acts 28:4.

This is Satan’s ultimate fate, the one he chose for himself when he rebelled against the King of the universe in heaven. He will be burnt for all the sins he made us commit.

Jesus said to the adulteress, ” Go and sin no more.” He tells us the same thing today. If we walk by faith, we can do it. We have enough experience with sin to know it does not make us any happier; on the contrary, it robs us of our peace and joy.

Let us follow Paul’s example: every time the enemy clings to our hand, let us remember it is because the devil knows the Lord has a special commission for us, as he had for Paul in Malta, and he tries to hinder God’s plan. Let us shake him into the fire instead of falling prey to his shrewdness. Let us remember that the Lord gave us power ” to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy” and nothing shall by any means hurt us.
AMEN.