ABOVE THE DEVIL WHERE YOU BELONG

December 16, 2001 pm
MF Blume

Luke 22:14-20 And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

This is a very interesting series of words from Jesus Christ.

His Last Supper, of bread and wine, was shared with His disciples the night before He was crucified.
The hour that came, in verse 14, is the suffering of the cross that was upon Him.
It was time.
Time to die for the sins of the world.
His hour had come.

He said He would not eat again with them nor drink the wine again with them until the Kingdom of God shall come.

There is another verse in Luke that tells us when the kingdom of God shall come.

Luke 11:20 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.

A sure sign of the Kingdom of God arriving is the casting out of the devil.

The devil has a kingdom, too.
His influence of evil abounds wherever his kingdom is strongest.
But Jesus Christ had power to cast out the devil and withdraw the devil's kingdom, replacing it with His own Kingdom.
And He also gave that power to His disciples.

Matthew 10:7-8 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

Notice that Jesus tells them to preach of the Kingdom coming when He tells them to cast out devils.

His disciples had a part in bringing the Kingdom of God.

I believe He was talking about a definite event that was to come.
But I want to apply this to each of us today as well.

You need the Kingdom of God to come to your life.

And just as Jesus said He would drink the wine with them again when the Kingdom came, your experience of having the Kingdom of God come to you involves drinking the wine with Jesus Christ.

The following verse says the same thing about the wine and bread.

1 Corinthians 11:26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

He is coming.

And until then, we eat the bread and drink the wine with ourselves/.
However, when He comes, when the kingdom comes, we eat and drink it WITH HIM AGAIN!
There is something there about eating with JESUS and drinking with JESUS that is special and beyond just eating and drinking amongst ourselves.
And also, this refers to a specific event, but I am bringing this down to each of us as individuals.

You need to eat and drink with Jesus!

By the way, what does the bread and wine represent?

Jesus said the bread is His body and the wine is His blood.
And they remind us about His body broken on the cross in death where His blood was also shed.
So they remind us of the cross.

As we turn to Revelation 12, keep in mind that Jesus said He would eat and drink with us when the Kingdom comes, and that His bread is His body and His wine is His blood.

Revelation 12:1-5 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

Talk about the birth of Jesus!

Everyone is thinking about the birth of Jesus this time of year.

But look at what is connected with the birth of Jesus!

The devil was in the heavens.

He was OVER HUMANITY, so to speak.
He was over and we were under.

And this child speaks of the Lord Jesus.

He was caught up to the throne.
Between His birth and His ascension to the throne was an old rugged cross.
He only ascended after He died and resurrected again.
He ascended into Heaven.

If His birth does not bring you to the cross, you have a powerless faith in Jesus.

And look what we read after this.

Revelation 12:7-10 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

THE KINGDOM CAME!

Satan's power OVER mankind was thrown down, the devil was cast out of heaven, and THE KINGDOM CAME.

Jesus said that He would drink with us when the Kingdom comes.

The fellowship with Him of bread and wine occurs when the Kingdom Comes.
And the Kingdom comes when the devil is cast out.
Here the devil is cast out and the Kingdom comes.
And we are also going to find in this series of events a reference to the blood.

Here it is:

Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB is mentioned.

The blood is represented by the wine.
And we read the BRETHREN overcome the devil by having something to do with Jesus' blood!

And something to do with the blood is something to do with the cross!

Its no coincidence that He said He'd drink the wine of His blood with us when the kingdom comes, and that the kingdom comes when the devil is cast out.

Its no coincidence that Rev 12 speaks of the devil cast out and the kingdom coming and the blood of the lamb.

God is trying to tell us that when we really appreciate the cross and what He did for us when He shed His blood for us, we will feast with Jesus and drink the wine of His blood with Him – or really appreciate His death for us on the cross.

And after reading all about Jesus on the throne, and a war in heaven where the devil is cast out, and the kingdom of God coming, we read THE BRETHREN – the PEOPLE OF GOD OVERCAME THE DEVIL BY THE BLOOD.
The people of God had something to do with the fall of the devil.
The victory was attributed to the people of God!

But we read that it was a result of the Lord Jesus rising to the throne!

Which is correct?

Did the Lord Jesus win the victory or did the people win the victory?

ANSWER: BOTH.

People, when He died for you, He won the victory FOR YOU so that you can say YOU WON THE VICTORY!

DID YOU HEAR THAT ?

People, when He died for you, He won the victory FOR YOU so that you can say YOU WON THE VICTORY!

BUT YOU NEED to drink the wine.

That means you need to really appreciate the cross, because the wine represents His blood.
And His blood was shed on the cross!
Understand why He did what he did for you.
Enjoy the blessings of what he did for you.
Its not automatic.
You have to appreciate it and do something about it.
You have to BELIEVE IT FOR YOURSELF.
You have to put the person in your shoes into this picture.
And tell the devil to get out of your life and down from above your head, and assume the position over Him where you belong.

Mankind was created to have dominion, and not be enslaved and kicked around.

Genesis 1:27-28 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

You know what you have when you are faithful to church and call yourself a Christian, but everything goes wrong and you do not have real victory in your heart?

You just have religion.
Your just religious.
You do not have the real relationship with you and Jesus.
You are not drinking the wine WITH HIM.
You are not really opening your door and letting Him come in to sup with you so that you can be an overcomer.

And when the devil rises up over your head, and you are under his influence and things are going wrong in your life, your family and your nerves(!), the tables need to be turned.

There needs to be a change of positions.
You need to come to a position of being OVER the devil, instead of having the devil over you!
You need to get hold of the real thing.
The real religion.

Every person who has not been baptized in Jesus' name yet, and filled with God's Holy Ghost is beneath the devil.

And they need to rise to be with Jesus!
Be seated with Him above all enemies.

Ephesians 1:20-22 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

Ephesians 2:5-6 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Give your everything to Jesus, and be seated with Him.

Put the devil under you.
When you unite to Jesus, You're seated with Him high above all enemies.
And the devil comes below your feet.

But I've also seen christians whipped by the devil.

They're under his influence and everything goes wrong in their lives.
They need to realize where they belong.
Jesus is seated on the throne up in heaven.
And they need to appreciate what He did for them on the cross in His death to set them free.
They need to drink the wine with Him.
They need to see the Kingdom of God come into their lives in full force once again.
And by doing that, Jesus victory becomes THEIR VICTORY!
And the devil is thrown down while the Kingdom of God comes!

Revelation 3:20-21 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Notice that we first read of SUPPING WITH JESUS.

Eating bread with Him again, and drinking wine with Him again.
AND THEN AFTER THIS WE READ OF OVERCOMING.
To Him that overcometh.
In other words, …to Him who drinks wine with me again.
…To him who appreciates what I did on the cross with me again.
…To him who sees the kingdom of God come to them.
…To him who casts out the devil from over his head.
…To him that realizes what the blood of Jesus, the wine, was shed for them for…
TO HIM THAT OVERCOMETH WILL I GRANT TO SIT WITH ME ON MY THRONE AS I OVERCAME AND AM SAT DOWN WITH MY FATHER IN HIS THRONE.

We see Him overcoming in Revelation 12:5.

The devil stood before the woman as he was ready to be born to devour and destroy him.
But when the devil sought to destroy Him, HE OVERCAME.
He came to a position of being OVER.
And the devil was thrown down.

Jesus rose from the dead when He ascended into Heaven above the dragon!

When the devil seeks to devour you and rises over your head and puts you beneath his power, YOU NEED TO RISE TO BE WITH JESUS.

You need to OVERCOME the devil.
You need to ascend to be with Jesus seated on the throne where you belong!