Bringing God’s Healing to the Oppressed (Luke 4:18-19)

(The transcript of a sermon titled “Bringing God’s Healing to the Oppressed”, preached at the People’s Church (Assembly of God) in Colombo, Sri Lanka.)

Our main theme over the recent past has been “Completing the Commission”. We are called to fulfill the Great Commission. On this topic, we’ve been dealing with Luke 4:18-19, focusing on the model that Jesus proclaimed over His own ministry. Let’s look at those verses: 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”

In these two verses, we find five statements that the Lord shared that day. Last week, I mentioned how Jesus walked into the synagogue in the town of Nazareth, which was a small village with probably a few thousand people. As Jesus entered, it appears that the person in charge of the proceedings gave Him a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. It seems clear that Jesus looked for the specific passage which He read that day. He then sat down and said, “The scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”

Let’s break these verses down. On the first Sunday of this series, we preached on the topic of “Preaching the Good News to the Poor”. Last week, we talked about “Releasing the Broken and the Bound”. I hope that as you went out last week, you reached out to somebody who was bound in some addiction or situation, and you ministered to them.

Next week, we’ll be declaring “The Favor of God” over people’s lives. Today, we will talk about bringing God’s healing to people and about freeing the oppressed. That’s what I would like to share with you—the third and fourth parts of the mandate that Jesus proclaimed upon His own ministry, as prophesied by Isaiah hundreds of years earlier. 

We are called to go out and minister God’s healing and touch the lives of those who are oppressed and spiritually blind. There are many people around us who need that. When I was a young boy, I needed that. I remember my own life at six months of age when I started my journey as a chronic asthmatic. I went through many years of pain, suffering, and sleepless nights, struggling with serious complications, visiting hospitals and doctors, with very little solace and improvement. 

I remember the many visits to doctors where they gave me medication and kind words, but my situation did not change much. I’ve also talked to many people who have battled oppression and sometimes they just can’t see a way out of their situation. But we, as God’s people, are called to proclaim healing to the sick and freedom to the oppressed—not because of our power, but because of the resurrection power of Jesus.

This morning, while preparing, I sensed three words in my spirit- suicide, superstition, and sanity. I realized the Lord was telling me that there are people here battling these issues who really need a touch from Him. We are called to pray for God’s healing upon such people and to pray for those who are oppressed.

When Jesus walked into the ministry that God called Him to as shown in the Gospels, He literally entered a minefield of demonic activity. In the Old Testament, there aren’t many mentions of demonic activity, but as the Gospels begin, demons started to manifest everywhere. Jesus delivered everyone from the oppression of the evil one, and today as well, such people are around us.

Let’s look at Luke one more time: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me… the blind will see and the oppressed will be set free.” That was what Jesus did during His ministry, and He gave that same mandate to His disciples. Matthew 10:1 tells us that Jesus called His 12 disciples together and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness. What a powerful mandate! When they went out and ministered in His name, they saw the promised results. They were greatly excited over this.

We have the privilege and opportunity to carry this message to the world. Today, I challenge every one of you that when you see someone who needs prayer for healing, lay hands and pray. It is the Lord who heals. When you encounter someone battling oppression, reach out and pray. Many people are dealing with demonic oppression in our country, and we are called to deliver them from these forces, not in our strength, but in the power of Jesus’ name.

So, why should we do what God has called us to do? There are three reasons I would like to share today.

1) First, because the Spirit of the Lord is upon us to bring healing.

When the Holy Spirit comes upon us, there is tremendous authority, anointing, and power. We remember that when Jesus was baptized, the Spirit descended upon Him like a dove. The Spirit of the Lord is upon His servants and all healing and peace come from above, from the throne of grace. Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.” We must realize that we can move in the power of God’s Holy Spirit when we step out to minister to people. 

Illustration: 

There’s a story about John Wesley, a man who had a great anointing in his ministry. Wherever he preached, there were many conversions and incredible transformation. One day, as he was preaching in a town, two young men had planned to stone him and chase him away. But as they got closer to aim their stones, the anointing on Wesley was so powerful that his face glowed with the glory of God. Startled, they listened to Wesley, and soon the stones fell off their hands. 

As they listened, one young man turned to the other and said, “Hey, this is not a man; this is a god.” They listened to his sermon and were touched by the Word of God. 

After preaching, Wesley moved amongst the people, shaking everyone’s hand. As he shook hands with the two young men, they were still impacted by the anointing they first noticed on him, and now by his humility. The other youth then turned to his friend and said, “He is a man after all. But he is a man like God.”

2) Secondly, Jesus can heal people because He can set us free from all our past hindrances; things we went through when spiritually blind.

Many people are still battling their past, and some of you may be struggling with traumas of the past you can’t overcome. Let’s be sure, God wants to set you free.

David said in Psalm 25:7, “Do not remember the rebellious sins of my youth. Remember me in the light of your unfailing love, for you are merciful O Lord.” The Apostle Paul, in Philippians 3:13-14 proclaimed, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me…” 

We should not be living in the failures of our past. Just like in a game of sports, we are often tempted to replay moments of past experiences to remember what happened then. It’s like we’re going on rewind to replay the things of the past that happened in our lives—things that people did to us, negative statements people spoke over us, failures we made, and maybe sins that messed us up. Maybe we are still living or stuck in those days. 

I remember such nights in my life. I used to stay up all night at times, struggling for breath due to my asthmatic condition, not knowing if my next breath would even come – gasping for breath. One day, I remember someone told me that it’s a very bad omen if you hear a cat screaming at night. We believed in such silly superstitions at that time.

So, one night, as I was gasping for breath, all of a sudden a cat began to scream. I really thought it was the last day of my life! But you know something? God had other plans! He set me free from the power of horoscopes, witchcraft, and charms, and brought me to His glorious salvation. 

And God has great plans for your life too. He is not limited by what you went through in the past. He wants to bring you out of that and use you for His glory in the days ahead to set the oppressed free. Yes, that’s what He wants to do through your life. Today, I stand before you as a man who received total healing from chronic asthma. I’m not talking about somebody else’s experience; I’m talking about my own experience which is so real to me.

Let’s look at God’s healing for a moment. In James chapter 5, which is one of the earliest books in the New Testament. James wrote to God’s people: “Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well.” (Vs. 14-15). So, whatever challenges you have in your life, whether it’s sickness or oppression in any form, God can touch you, and Jesus can release you from that today. 

Healing has been a benchmark of God’s people throughout history. When the people of God came out from Egypt and came to the Red Sea, God opened it up marvelously, even as the Egyptians were coming to get them. But guess where they ended up? They ended up in the desert of Shur, and it says they were without water for three days (Refer Exodus 15:22-27). 

I know what that means. Every time the water board tells us there’s going to be a disruption to the water supply, we all get worried. We save up and fill buckets, or maybe we install a water tank. I once lived in a house in the city of Kandy when I was ministering there, where we didn’t have regular water on the taps for about six months. It was a tough time for us. We had to carry barrels often to find water. It wasn’t easy at all. 

So, here they were, three days without water, and then they came to a place called Marah. At last there was water, much water, and they drank it. But the water was so bitter that they spat it out. That very place, Marah, means bitter. They started complaining, murmuring against God, calling out Moses. How often do we do that? We find something to complain about. But God told Moses to take a piece of wood, (which I believe was symbolic of the Cross), and throw it into the bitter water. God healed the water and the bitter water became sweet.

I once heard a pastor by the name of Mac Brunson make this statement: “The bitter waters of Marah were sweetened with a piece of wood; similarly, the bitterness of life is only sweetened through the Cross of Jesus Christ.” Let’s get back to the Cross every day. Let’s look at the Lord who gave His life for us and receive the healing He has for our lives. We are also supposed to take it out and share it with others. 

“The bitter waters of Marah were sweetened with a piece of wood; similarly, the bitterness of life is only sweetened through the Cross of Jesus Christ.” – Pastor Mac Brunson

3) Thirdly, and finally, the Lord also wants to free people from oppression.

In Luke 4:18, Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…that the oppressed will be set free” After God healed the water at Marah, He proclaimed to the people: “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all His decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.” God wants to set us free from all oppression.

You know, today, there is severe mental pressure on people. Last week, we prayed for the young people of this church between the ages of 14 and 25. Many were blessed. We did it this morning in the Sinhala Service as well. Why? Because that’s the target area that the devil is greatly focusing on these days. Mental pressure is very real. I’m reading all the time about young people in the prime of their lives who are depressed, troubled, losing their sanity, getting bound, with some contemplating and even committing suicide. 

Many of us too may be battling some form of mental strain in our lives. Depression and heartbreak are serious problems today. We are called by God not only to be delivered by His power, but to bring deliverance to others in the name of Jesus. This morning, I’m going to invite Angie to come and share her story with you. After she does that, she will sing, and soon after that, we are going to pray for God’s touch upon everyone.

Anjie’s Testimony:

I want to thank God for the opportunity He has given me to briefly share what He did in my life just about six years ago. My second miracle child was born, and I call them my miracle children because I have two issues in my reproductive system that make conceiving very difficult. But God gave me two children without any struggle, and I thank and praise God for them. 

When my second daughter was born, life was good; I had two children, a wonderful husband, and nothing to complain about. Life was good. But a week or two after my daughter was born, I found that I was always sad. I was never happy. Those of you who have children know that children are a joy, but I didn’t feel any joy. There was no happiness or joy in my life at all. All I would do was feel sad and upset and get angry over the slightest thing. I would fly off the handle and scream at my little two-year-old. It was a difficult time, and I couldn’t understand why I was feeling this way. 

I gradually realized that what I was probably going through was postpartum depression. But with the stigma of society, I didn’t want to share it with anybody. I didn’t even want to tell my husband that I was probably in depression.

I struggled like this for many weeks; weeks turned into months, and I would cry myself to sleep some nights. I came to the point of thinking that if I ceased to exist, it wouldn’t matter. No one would miss me; no one needs me; no one wants me. It wouldn’t matter if I ceased to exist. 

This depression turned into what is known as psychosis because following these thoughts, I continuously wondered whether I should take my life. I would even think about how, when, where, what time—all of it. I tried to plan it out well. In a passing thought, I realized that my little children, my then eight-month-old and my two-year-old, needed me.

Along the way, I became angry with God. I had known God in the past and I had experienced His miraculous power. I had served Him faithfully in this church. But now I was angry with God because I told Him, “How is it that I am in this position after knowing You, serving You, experiencing You?” 

By then, because of the demands of my two children, I had convinced myself that I no longer had time to pray or read the Bible like I used to. So, my relationship with the Lord was strained anyway. I was constantly angry because I felt God had put me in this position. This went on for eight months, where the only thought in my mind was to take my life.

At that point, when this thought passed through my mind that my children needed me, I turned to God once again. I said, “Lord, I don’t want to be institutionalized; I don’t want to take medication, but I know that You can heal me. I am sorry for the way that I have acted in these past few months because I know that You are the only hope that I have.” 

When I turned to the Lord again, I can’t explain what happened. I know there are doctors here; I know there are psychologists, but I can’t explain what I went through. I know what I went through those eight months, and I know what happened after that: Jesus touched my life.

I am testifying here today because He healed me. He pulled me out of the clutches, the jaws of suicidal thoughts, and He once again placed my feet upon the solid Rock. It was not medication, it was not a doctor, it was not an institution that brought healing to my life. It was the faith that I placed in the Lord Jesus Christ that healed me. 

So today, I am standing here as proof that God can do the impossible. If you are here today and experiencing similar thoughts, going through similar things in your own life, understand that the God who did it for me, is the same God who loves and cares for you. He is able to do it for you.

This morning, the words of a beautiful song  I would like to sing go like this: “To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus; for my life is wholly bound to His. Oh how strange and divine, I can sing, “All is mine”, yet not I, but through Christ in me.” Even as I sing that song for you this morning, I pray that the healing of the Lord would flow into your own life as well.

Song followed by Prayer:

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