In Isaiah 61:1 (NKJV) Isaiah says, "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound…"
Though these are words spoken by God's servant Isaiah, the words take on greater meaning when Jesus, in Luke chapter four, reads from this section during His visit to the synagogue in Nazareth and closes His reading with the statement, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke 4:21). Thus, He applies the verses to Himself.
I propose for your consideration that this was Jesus’ mission to reach humanity and we as Christians can adopt it as our own vision from the Master.
Jesus says in Luke 4:18, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me…" --Well, God has given us His Spirit:
(John 14:16 NKJV) "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever;
(John 14:17 NKJV) "the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
Jesus also says: "…because He has anointed Me …" God has also given us His anointing
(1 John 2:20 NKJV) But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.
(1 John 2:21 NKJV) I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
The anointing refers to the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer (cf. John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13). You need not ask God for His anointing--if you are a Christian you already have this anointing.
Why did God give us His anointing? Why did God give us His Spirit? Six reasons:
(1) Jesus said that God has anointed Him to "…preach the Gospel…" God has also called us to preach the Gospel:
(Mat 28:19-20 NKJV) "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
(2) God has indwelled us and filled us with His Spirit and sent us out to preach the Gospel to the poor. These aren't those who are financially poor. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who are poor in spirit" Jesus is referring to those who are spiritually bankrupt and need the Lord.
(3) We like Jesus are also sent for the healing of the brokenhearted. “Brokenhearted” comes from the Greek word that means: to crush completely, i.e. to shatter--break (in pieces), broken to shivers; to bruise.
Because of personal sin and the circumstances that come as a result of living in a sin-cursed world, people are crushed; their lives are shattered; they are in pieces and bruised. Our mission is to present Jesus as the Potter of Jeremiah 18:4 who desires to put one’s life together again.
(4) Like Jesus, we are sent to proclaim liberty to the captives…
People without Jesus Christ are held captive by sin. They are held captive by the devil. Like Jesus we are charged with proclaiming liberty to the captives. Paul writes to Timothy telling him:
(2 Tim 2:24 NKJV) …a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient,
(2 Tim 2:25 NKJV) in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,
(2 Tim 2:26 NKJV) and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.
(5) We are also sent to proclaim recovery of sight to the blind…
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:
(2 Cor 4:3 NKJV) But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
(2 Cor 4:4 NKJV) 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.
People are blind because of sin. They are blind because Satan has blinded their minds.
They know nothing of the forgiveness of God
They know nothing of the love of God
They know nothing of the peace of God
They know nothing of the power of God
They cannot see, they are blind—God has called us to proclaim recovery of sight to the blind.
Jesus says it this way:
(Mat 5:16 NKJV) "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
We are sent to preach the Gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the recovery of sight to the blind.
(6) Lastly, we are sent to set at liberty those who are oppressed…
This is different than the earlier "proclaiming liberty to the captives…" "Proclaiming liberty to the captives” is like yelling "The building is on fire!" This is the good old-fashioned preaching that declares to sinners, "You are in sin but Jesus saves!" and "You are in bondage but Jesus delivers!" and "You are in the slave market of sin but Jesus can set you free!"
But "setting at liberty those who are oppressed" is different. This is more than standing and declaring the good news. It is more than standing outside a burning building and yelling "The building is on fire!" it is rushing in and rescuing someone who is too fainthearted or maybe even too dumb to get out.
Jessica McClure, the 18-month baby who fell in a pipe well some 15 years ago. It would be one thing to yell, “The baby has fallen into a well.” But what happened was that they spent 58 hours going down into the well and rescuing her.
This reminds me of the words of Fanny Crosby, “Rescue the perishing, care for the dying; Jesus is merciful, Jesus can save.”
Like Jesus, we are sent to set at liberty those who are oppressed. For some God calls us to go in and get them! This is what foreign missions are about—leaving your comfort zone, entering into a strange land and setting at liberty those who are oppressed.
Jude puts it this way:
(Jude 1:22 NASB) And have mercy on some (or convince), who are doubting;
(Jude 1:23a NASB) save others, snatching them out of the fire…
Sometimes the unsaved need to be snatched from the fire of hell. This is the kind of drive and determination that you and I must have to reach the lost.
This was Jesus' mission and it became our vision.
It is not our mission; it is our vision. We have already been given a mission. We know it as the Great Commission: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…
If you and I obey the Great Commission we will see our vision, which is Jesus' mission come to pass.
If we: Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations
Then: The Gospel will be preached to the poor
The brokenhearted will be healed
The captives will be set free
The spiritually blind will be able to see
Those oppressed by the devil will experience freedom
But sadly, the church has veered away from doing what we have been commissioned to do. The church, particularly in the United States, has forgotten the command of our Lord in Matthew 28.
In the United States you will find a lot of Christian stuff:
* Christian music
* Christian plays and skits and movies
* Christian theme parks
* Christian schools
* Christian communities
* Christian trips and cruises
* Christian diets
* Christian candy
* Christian toys
* Christian Bibles, books and magazines
* Christian stores
* Christian radio, TV and cable networks
* Christian web sites
* Christian Yellow Pages
* Christian conferences and workshops
* Christian lines of designer clothes and jewelry
* Christians in politics
* Christian doctors and lawyers
These things have their place but in reality most Christians are only duplicating the world activities under the guise of ministry. I would say that much of these activities are not genuine ministry but only “business” because they are weak at bringing to fruition the Luke 4:18 vision for the church.
Only the Gospel accomplishes the mission of Jesus described in Luke 4:18. Only the Gospel brings to reality Jesus’ vision for the church. Many have tried and are trying other things but only the Gospel works and brings forth eternal changes.
Let me tell you something else: Jesus did not commission His church to start business. He didn’t even commission us to start ministries. He commissioned us to "make disciples of all nations."
Ministry is only a means to an end. The “end” or goal of ministry is to “make disciples.”
There is a lot of ministry that the church is doing these days:
* Get people jobs ministry
* Get people off welfare ministry
* Provide before and after school care for children ministry
* Get people off drugs ministry
* Feed the homeless ministry
* Daycare ministry
* Get people to vote ministry
* Unwed mother ministry
* Help men to become responsible fathers ministry
Did you know that these so-called “ministries” are being accomplished by secular organizations?
For example, there are secular organizations that are trying to teach men to be responsible fathers. Let's say that you were successful in getting a dad to provide for the needs of his family and to spend time with his children--what do you have? A dad providing for the needs of his family and spending time with his children!
This is all well and good but what impact have you made for eternity? I am declaring to you this evening that many of our churches are successful in:
* Getting people jobs
* Getting people off welfare
* Getting people off drugs
* Feeding the homeless
* Getting people to vote
* Assisting unwed mothers
* Helping men to become responsible fathers
And many of our churches are successful in these things--but all they are getting in return is employed, drug-free, well-fed voters who are responsible mothers and fathers that will one day go to a Christ-less eternity because no one ever confronted them with the Gospel message that says that they are lost in their sins without a relationship with Jesus Christ!
If you and I are not intentional in declaring that Jesus died for sin, was buried and raised from the dead we are not doing ministry, we are just performing a church activity.
If you and I are not presenting the Gospel message in our ministry it is not ministry it is just social service.
Many of our churches have become like the YMCA and the Red Cross, both once vibrant, Christi-honoring, Bible-based, Gospel-spreading Christian organizations, that have degraded into nothing more than philanthropic, social service institutions that have lost the vision.
Have you caught the vision? Jesus' mission is our vision. Our mission is the Great Commission to "go and make disciples of all nations…"
If you and I obey the Great Commission we will see our vision, which is Jesus' mission, come to pass. A vision is something that we would like to see come to pass. If you and I carry out the Great Commission then our vision, which was Jesus' mission, will come to pass.
If we: Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations
Then: The Gospel will be preached to the spiritually poor
The brokenhearted will be healed
The captives will be set free
The spiritually blind will be able to see
Those oppressed by the devil will experience freedom
