Luke 10:20 Commentary and Bible Study

Rejoice of course in souls saved; rejoice in successes of the gospel, but don’t rejoice in the authority and power given to you personally, and that the powers of darkness are subject to you, says the Lord Jesus. That might seem something so extraordinary as to carry you away with wonder – that demons, who are so much more powerful than you are, have, at your word, been made to cease their torment of a human soul, because of a gift that your Lord has given you – but that is not your biggest cause of rejoicing. These sign gifts are for the apostolic age only, and will be withdrawn; the majority of believers will never experience this. Don't make that the thing that means most to you. There is something much more wonderful that you have been given, something with eternal consequences which belongs to every believer. It is right that you should rejoice in that, for that joy will be your strength: your names are written in heaven beyond the reach of harm, and nothing can remove them from God’s book. He has made a choice which cannot be undone, and all of your future can be resolved into this simple expression: ‘your names are written in heaven.’ Who wrote them there? Not you, but the Lord. It was an act of his sovereign grace. This is a cause of unsurpassed joy. It is safe to rejoice in, because it is something that can never change. You may not know why God wrote your names in heaven, but they are there, and it is something entirely good. From your names being written there, come a whole chain of divine blessings, which will ultimately take you to be there where your names are written. How can God ever forget those whose names are before him? Eternal security is a cause of irrepressible joy, which compensates for all the trials of this present life. Your work for the Lord has that in view, and all that you do on earth will lead to heavenly and eternal triumph. Those souls that are saved are gathered in to the glorious eternity there. You will receive a prize, a reward, far, far beyond anything you could possibly deserve. In fact we deserve nothing at all. Our motivation in serving the Lord is to see souls won for him from every land and nation, and to be with him forever. These things will be ours at that great coming day, the final consummation of all things. We must be focused on that grand end.