Friday, June 22, 2012

The 6-Fold, Spirit-Anointed Ministry of Jesus


Luke 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. 17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

Imagine the silence, the quizzical looks, the wonder of the audience as Jesus closed up the scroll, handed it to the minister and took His seat after reading this Isaiah passage. Wouldn't you love to have been there?

Early in His ministry, for which He had been preparing for the past 30 years, He gives this poignant head's up. These 6 things will be His focus. Nothing has changed in the resultant 1980 years. Our thrust should be what His was. The same Holy Spirit is available for the anointing of His servants in these latter days.

We must be all about:

1) Preaching the Gospel to the poor

2) Healing the brokenhearted

3) Preaching deliverance to the captives

4) Recovering sight to the spiritually blind

5) Liberating those who have been bruised

6) Preaching that now is the acceptable time for salvation

Nothing is said about golf courses, spas, fishing poles or 401k's. Nothing is wrong with any of these, but we must not de-emphasize our main thrust!

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