Luke
4:17-21 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had
opened the book, He found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the
poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the
captives And recovery of sight to the
blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of
the LORD.” Then He closed the
book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of
all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today
this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” NKJV
Long before our Lord was born the Prophet Isaiah
Prophesied about Him and His mission on the earth. Isaiah like all the other
Prophets before him and after him wanted with his whole heart to see the One he
spoke about and to witness His hand of healing administered to the Jewish
people. Isaiah was just an ordinary man like us today but was obedient to speak
only the Word of the Lord as it was given to him. In this 4th
Chapter of Luke’s gospel, he records the time our Lord returned to His home
town of Nazareth and one particular Sabbath when He entered the synagogue. Our
Lord was given the Book of Isaiah and our Lord specifically opened it to the
passage speaking about the Messiah and His mission. The Prophet Isaiah said
that this One that the Holy Spirit would be upon would come to accomplish these
6 things:
The first would be to preach the gospel or good news
of salvation to those who have been brought to the point of being poor in
spirit. It is the inner man that needs to be mended or cured by the Great
Physician’s breath to revive and resurrect it from the deadness of sins
enslavement and controlling power. It was our Lord who said on another occasion
that, “He who commits sin is a slave to sin.” A
slave has no rights to make his own decisions. Therefore, a slave of sin is
never free to do that which is good or pleasing in the sight of God, he cannot.
The gospel preached to a slave of sin has power in it greater than sins and can
overcome sins yoke. As the Apostle Paul said, “Where sin did increase, grace
did increase much more.”
Matthew
5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs
is the kingdom of heaven.” NKJV
Secondly, The Messiah would come and heal those who
are broken hearted. You do not have to look far to find broken hearts they are
all around. We just recently witnessed another tragic terror attack the fruit
of our fallen world populated by people with sinfully sick hearts. Our Lord
Jesus Christ has come to scoop up into His loving arms all that are grieving over
loss of loved ones or sick physical bodies and wrap them up in His grace. Often
times such events like these things in a person’s life are the means by which brokenness
unto salvation occurs. When the heart is broken over loss some people likewise
become brokenhearted over the sin in their lives and are brought under
conviction which leads to salvation. It is because of the Lord’s mercies that
we are not consumed, but it is also by His very same mercy He allows our souls
to be beaten down with grief so much so that it becomes the means to lead to
our deliverance from sin.
2
Corinthians 7:10 “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to
salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”
NKJV
Our Lord has come to set the captives of sin,
darkness, and the devil free. It is His mission to seek out those that have
been bound by the devil as the Jewish woman was for 18 years until she received
a touch from our Lord and instantly she raised up from her bent down condition
in sin and walked uprightly as does every captive soul loosed by the healing
hand of our Lord Jesus Christ from sins bonds. Sin is a destroyer and not a
satisfier, yet many people live under the false illusion that sin will satisfy
always. Such addictions like alcohol, drugs, pornography, and gambling are all
the result of sin and they can never be classified as their own individual
diseases. Sin is the disease and these things listed are the symptoms of the sinful
heart imprisoned by sin but can be released by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Ezekiel
13:23 “Therefore you shall no longer envision futility nor practice divination;
for I will deliver My people out of your hand, and you shall know that I am
the LORD.” NKJV
Our Lord came to open the blind spiritual eyes of
men and women. The Apostle Paul tells us this, “But even if our gospel is
veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this
age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory
of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” The one Paul refers
to is the devil and it is for this purpose did our Lord Jesus Christ come into
this world to destroy the works of the devil and open the spiritual eyes of all
who are blinded by sins false allurement and vain promises that lead to death
and destruction.
John
8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the
light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the
light of life.” NKJV
All over this globe people are oppressed by God’s
enemy. People are oppressed under many different forms of sin. The most notable
or obvious are the sins of the flesh like drugs, sex, serial killing, raping,
fighting, stealing, and others, but there are also the sins of the spirit that
are not outwardly visible but equally oppressing like depression, anxiety,
greed, pride, guilt, hate, and others that bow down the soul. Our Lord has come
to liberate the oppressed soul and bring it out of the shadows into the
glorious light of freedom and victory in Jesus the Savior forever by His
redeeming blood as the song so eloquently states. It is the desire of our Lord
for these who are oppressed to cast or roll their burdens onto Him and let Him
sustain them and receive rest or repose from all that presses them down in
their souls.
Psalms
143:8 Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, For in You do I
trust; Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul
to You. NKJV
Lastly, our Lord came the first time and now sits on
a throne of grace ready to receive any sinner that comes to Him with any or all
of the above spiritually sick conditions and He will joyfully dispense the balm
of Gilead (grace and mercy) sufficient to heal, hold, and give a new habitation
free from the broken, oppressing, enslaving, and blinding impact that sin has
on the soul from the Mother’s womb.
2
Corinthians 6:2 For He says: “In an
acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is
the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. NKJV
“The kingdom of God is for the spiritually sick who want to be healed, the spiritually corrupt who want to
be cleansed, the spiritually poor
who want to be rich, the spiritually hungry
who want to be fed, the spiritually dead
who want to be made alive. It is for ungodly outcasts who long to become God's
own beloved children.” John MacArthur
If
you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this
from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear
Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I
believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from
the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn
from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control
of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...
Sincerely in Christ,
Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you
Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus
Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and
Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple
I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reader,
Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…
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