He Came to Set the Captives Free

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It was Christ who exercised this leadership from his throne in heaven, and he continues to do so through providence and the inspired writings of those whom he gifted. Christ the Firstfruits For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, You have the invitation to come and enjoy the benefits of the anointing of Jesus. Thus He has given us an open cheque :

There is no absolute correlation between either wealth or poverty and spiritual well being. We know people who are financially poor and spiritually rich as well as poor people who are spiritually poor. Also, we know wealthy people who are spiritually rich and other wealthy people who are spiritually poor Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. This leadership ofChrist includes the work Christ has done through the agency of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus ascended into heaven, he was exalted to God's right hand. Peter says, "Having been exalted to the right hand ofGod, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured forth this which you both see and hear" (Acts 2:33).The simplest explanation of "he led captivity captive" (Ephesians 4:8) is to think of captivity as slavery. Paul thinks of the new birth as an enslavement to Christ when he releases us from enslavement to sin (Romans 6:6,16-18). When Christ died, was buried, arose from the dead, and ascended to the right hand ofGod, he set a host of captives free from sin and took them captive to himself. He continues to do so even today and until he comes again, "that he might fill all things" (Ephesians 4:10). Captivity in Redemption to open blind eyes and to bring out those who are bound from their cells, and those sitting in darkness from prison. Our text gives us more details about the mission. The mission of Jesus was to reach out to the poor, to deliver the captives, to restore sight to the blind, and to lift up the downtrodden. This mission is as relevant today as it was then. I. Preach the Gospel to the Poor

The captives, however, are not limited to people who are in spiritual darkness. Some believers are captives of oppressive forces. This, too, is a form of enslavement by Satan, for the oppressors are the servants of Satan. Some researchers estimate that there are more persecuted Christians today than ever before in the history of the church. This lines up with Paul’s teaching that Christ "was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures" (1Corinthians 15:4). Notice that Paul does not teach that Christ “descended into hell”. He says Christ "descended into the lower parts of the earth" (Ephesians 4:9). The descent that Paul has in mind is the fact that Christ died and was buried.

Stand Firm

The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him--the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. NASU

Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Introduction

The deliverance from Jesus is complete. He promised that if He sets us free we shall be free indeed. Take this Good News to the suffering people.