(17) And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. (18) And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. (19) 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. (20) Notwithstanding, in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you: but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.
I beg the Reader to pause over these verses; not so much to observe the joy of the seventy at the success of their ministry, as to behold the Lord Jesus in this almightiness of character. We are not made acquainted when it was that Jesus beheld the fall of Satan. Whether before the foundation of the world, when Satan was cast out of heaven, see Jude 1:6; Revelation 12:7-12. or whether in the overthrow of his kingdom and influence, by Christ, and his Gospel in covenant promises, Psalms 89:19-23. And the power Jesus communicated to his disciples, opens to the view a very blessed contemplation. For is it not so to all his redeemed? Mark 16:18; Act 28:5; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Romans 16:20. But when the Reader hath paid all due attention to these scriptures, I would beg to call his notice yet more earnestly to what the Lord told his disciples, as opening to a much greater cause of joy, than even the devils being made subject to us through his name: namely, that the names of Christ's redeemed are written in heaven. Here, Reader, is a, subject of holy joy indeed; and which secures all the blessedness of the life that now is, and of that which is to come, see Revelation 13:8. Nothing can more decidedly prove that the choice of God to eternal life, is special, personal, and particular. Names written, implies persons known, and everlastingly secured. So that the Father's gift, the Son's purchase, and the Holy Ghost's work of grace, are the result of everlasting love; and render the event of salvation and happiness as a thing not liable to any doubt or uncertainty. See those scriptures, Jeremiah 33:13; John 6:37-40; Philippians 4:3; Revelation 20:12-15.