Last words are important. They bear weight with generations of men. Frank Sinatra died after saying, “I’m losing it.” Blues singer Bessie Smith died saying, “I’m going, but I’m going in the name of the Lord” ¹. Jesus last words are crafted around the subject of authority. These words, found in Matthew 28:18, begin with, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore… Why must the church move in authority?

Authority lays like a behemoth at the universe’s foundation. It originates with God, the monarch of heaven. Heaven is a place of peace because it is a place of authority. No hellions remain within its gates.

Have demons ever attacked heaven? Did Paul see demon blood splotches on the gold streets when he visited there (2 Cor. 12:3)? Why hasn’t Satan, master of war, tried a frontal attack on the throne? What about the blitzkrieg of Poland, the guerrilla warfare of Vietnam, or the stealth of Iraq? What about some good old fashioned house-to-house fighting, you know, mansion to mansion? Why, he can’t even draw near the place.

The one time he appears in heaven, in the book of Job, he does so by himself. No escorts, no body-guards. Where were the mega minions he commands? Hot shots have emissaries, don’t they? Yet, the great head of Evil Inc. crawls into God’s presence alone. Ask yourself. Does the president of the United States travel this way?

Satan single-handed, inches toward God.

Is it hotshot pride? Or, maybe, just maybe, the dark hosts are not as unified as they want us to believe. Fear fuses the Demon Lord’s infrastructure. How else can you keep all those attention deficit demons on the same book? Like any treacherous Mafia family, there’s more in-fighting among them than they let on. Someone is always trying to knock off the godfather. It’s the way of mobs and the way of selfishness. So when, the head Mafioso makes his fellow imps an offer they can’t refuse, I think they do refuse.

Think about it. If someone told you the great plan of the ages was to storm God’s Throne, would you say “Oh sure”? How many military leaders were ‘oops shot in the back’ for such asinine thinking.  I mean would you do it? “Yes sir, step right up. Here’s your one time shot to be a hood ornament on God’s chariot.”

When Satan surfaces to tempt Jesus in the wilderness, you see the same story. He confronts Jesus alone. Here again, the music has an ailing note. Street gangs prowl the planet like hyenas. Hordes of bull jackals hunt for the intimidated. Why didn’t Satan circle Jesus with his posse? You know try to give him a signature beat down? Maybe pride, arrogance, overconfidence, maybe other reasons. When you get the birds-eye view though, you cannot help but feel the desperation in this meeting.

Desperation?

Yes, you know Satan slithers in darkness. His greatest impact occurs behind its iron curtain. Why does the shadow master break his normal routine? Why does he come out into the light of day?

Count his appearances in the Old Testament. Adam saw him. Job records him. Ezekiel and Isaiah reference him. Count it. Four thousand years, 1.4 million days, five accounts, that’s it.

Microscopic? Yes. Pick any Old Testament saint, anyone. Are you fond of David? Place him in a field near a tree. Maybe the oaks of Mamre where the Lord visits Abraham (Gen. 18:1). David has as much chance of seeing the tree stuck by lightning at the same time Hailey’s comet passes over as he does seeing Satan.

Yet, there he is trying to duke it out with Jesus in the desert. Maybe the botched assault on the babies of Bethlehem has something to do with it? Satan did not get his man thirty years before. I am sure you know Satan has all the precision of King Arthur’s catapult. God is a step ahead of him all the time. His laser guided foreknowledge trumps Satan’s medieval attempts over and over.

The battle begins.

Three temptations. Three failures. Three demon blood splotches and you know the rest.

Luke 4:13 (ESV)
13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Why was Satan creamed with such ease?

In Bethlehem, it was foreknowledge.
In the wilderness, it was faith.

Faith in the Word of God thundered through the desert air in the phrase “it is written.”

Different weapons, same result.

His Most Lowness beat down again by the Most High. See him slither back into the shadows for a more opportune time. Is a beat down ever opportune?

Here is what Satan didn’t factor in through all this. God owns a newspaper. CNN always needs a compelling headline. So what does Satan do? He volunteers for the front page of God’s paper with his attempted walk on the light side. God’s reporters Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, inspired by the Spirit of God, record the mega match blow by blow.

Satan’s defeat is archived in the Bible for you.

You have a record of it.
A pattern which you can follow.
What Jesus did, you can do.

Pull out the article.
Go over the tape.
Play it.
Fast forward it.
Play it again and again.
Run it at half speed. Full speed, twice the speed.
Over and over.
How Jesus defeated Satan is how you do it.

It’s how you keep the hellions, the cancers, and the carnality out of your gates.
Authority is yours. It’s a 40 caliber bullet in your gospel gun. Pull out your weapon. Aim and fire.

What Jesus did, you can do.

Call to Action:

God is waiting on you to say no to the works of the enemy. Rise up and use the authority Jesus gave the church to set the captives free.

Question: What testimony do you have were you used Jesus Name and drove out works of darkness? Please leave a comment in the comments section below or post a comment here at http://www.facebook.com/EmeryHorvath2