Deeper Life #307

Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

—Luke 10:20

JESUS CHRIST EMPHATICALLY SAID YOU must not rejoice in successful service: “In this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you.” Only the preacher who lives contrary to true spirituality rejoices in the souls that are saved, the demons cast out, the cases healed.

Jesus says, “Don’t do it.” Don’t rejoice in successful service, but rejoice in your relationship to Him, “That your name is written in the Lamb’s book of life.” The disciples never understood Matthew 7 or Luke 10 until after the Resurrection; and neither will you and I, unless we receive the Holy Spirit.

Have you never seen an evangelist or preacher, used mightily of God in the salvation of souls, fall into the state of a castaway? This is how he fell—not in deliberate sin, but by deliberately and emphatically rejoicing in his successful service. This surely throws light on the essence of Satanic pride.

Prayer Thought: O God, I recognize the danger of self-importance. Help me to rejoice in You.

SUGGESTED READING: Luke 10:17–22