All the Kingdoms

Scripture: Luke 4 v 1 - 8: "And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
 2  Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
 3  And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
 4  And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
 5  And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
 6  And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
 7  If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. 
 8  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."

After Jesus' baptism in the Jordan He was full of the Holy Ghost, Who led Him into the wilderness where He had to fast and pray for forty days.  Jesus was now ready to meet and defeat the Prince of this world. It is an important procedure for us to follow - be saved; be baptised; be filled with the Holy Spirit and be led to fast, then you can defeat the enemy.

In verse 5 the devil took Jesus up a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world.  All You have to do to get them, said the Devil, is bow down and worship me.

Notice that Jesus did not disagree that all the kingdoms of the world were under Satan's control or ownership, instead He answered him with "Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve."

Jesus knew that through His death on the Cross and resurrection as He stated in Matthew 28 v 18: "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in Earth." But in the wilderness Satan was telling Him, I can spare you all the pain and agony of taking on the sin of the world if you submit to me and worship me. You want the kingdoms that's what You will get in exchange for Your submission.

Satan was acknowledging that the only person on Earth who was a threat to him was Jesus. He had greater power and authority than the Devil. Demons were already trembling at the presence of Jesus. It would only get worse when His disciples were given power to heal and cast out demons.

Thereafter all born again Christians had the potential to do likewise when the power of the Holy Spirit came upon them. This was the ultimate threat to Satan's control of the world - that we would rise up in the power of God and block him at every turn.

His only weapon left is bluff, lies, rumour and more lies. But if we fall for those lies we are trapped back into his power where he can exert fear and control over you through His kingdoms of sin, alcohol, sex, drugs, gambling, sickness, fear, rejection, bitterness, feuds, war, hate, famine, money, death, worry and doubt.

Satan's biggest ever con is that he is a myth that does not exist except in man's imagination.  He keeps that stoked through Hollywood, comics like Casper the Friendly Ghost, and real magic.  Jesus never denies the Devil's existence.  To the contrary Jesus did everything possible to make sure he could no longer remain incognito.  

However the sophistication of modern life pooh poohs the very idea of a real actual Devil using demons to destroy mankind. Until we find ourselves in a situation that is dire and needs immediate deliverance from evil spirits, we will shy away from getting involved with weird and freaky nonsense.  When we do have an actual confrontation and deal with it as Jesus taught us, it is a great victory.  I have been involved in helping people in bondage for nearly forty years and it is the most beautiful experience on this planet to see the oppressed set free.

Jesus has won the supreme victory for us and its not enough to just accept our salvation, we must use it effectively so others may stop being victims and become victorious over every circumstance. We must walk the walk and talk the talk in the glory of His resurrection, wherein we were transformed from a death sentence to everlasting life. Let us be glad and rejoice in it!!

Jesus was confronted with having all the kingdoms of the world on a platter if He would give His authority to Satan.  Spare Yourself the Cross and give me Your power.  Of course Jesus came to take back Earth from the Ruler of Darkness and give him his eviction notice.  Lease is about up, Devil, never to be renewed.  He knows he has but a short time and is desperately trying to gather in the souls of men with which he can torment our Father.  

We have the authority of Jesus now to challenge Satan for those souls he is destroying.  We need to quit amusing ourselves with every distraction and start doing the work to make all the kingdoms of this world into the kingdom of God on Earth.


Prayer: Father God open our eyes to see and understand the great victory that was won for us 2000 years ago. Let us put away childish things and walk in newness of life, making up for lost time and challenging the defeated, weaponless, armourless devil with the name of Jesus Christ and the power of His Blood. In Jesus' name. Amen.