When Jesus released His mission statement to the folks gathered in the synagogue in Nazareth that Sabbath, there is one aspect He stressed twice:

“To proclaim liberty to the captives…and to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” (Luke 4:18)

 

LIBERTY. FREEDOM. DELIVERANCE.

 

These are very close to Jesus’ heart. Proof? He did exactly what He declared as he carried out His mission on the earth.

 

He proclaimed liberty to the captives, as he did to the paralytic in Mark 2:5 “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

 

The very first miracle of Jesus recorded in the gospel of Mark is that of a demon-possessed man who is set free by Jesus with a stern rebuke: “Be quiet, and come out of him!” (Mark 1:25).

 

The gospels provide us with ample evidence that Jesus set many free from demonic oppression.

 

In Mark 5 Jesus meets a naked deranged man who was possessed by so many demons (Legion) that he could not even be restrained physically by shackles and chains. When he declares liberty with these simple words: “Come out of the man, unclean spirit!” (v. 8) the man was seen“sitting and clothed and in his right mind.” (V. 15)

 

Ditto in Mark 9 with a boy who convulsed and foamed at the mouth. All Jesus had to do was to say: “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!”and the boy was set free!

 

Clearly He demonstrated that Freedom, Liberty & Deliverance were more than words in a manifesto. They became reality when Jesus confronted any evil spirit.

 

When Peter summarizes the ministry of Jesus to the people gathered in Cornelius’ house, he says: “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” (Acts 10:38)

 

Even healing is an act of setting at liberty those who were oppressed. Jesus himself illustrates this in Luke 13 when he heals the “bent-over” woman with these words: “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.”

 

When the Pharisees object to him healing her on the Sabbath, Jesus points out how they do not hesitate to take care of their animals on the day of rest and then asks rather pointedly: “Should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”

 

The multitudes whom Jesus healed are ample proof that Jesus came to set at liberty those who are oppressed, amen?

 

Not only did Jesus set the captives free, he gave us his disciples “power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.”(Luke 9:1). When the seventy came back from their mission, they reported: “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” (Luke 10:17)

 

Perhaps we do not always recognize demonic oppression in our midst today, but isn’t it true that there are many in our spheres of influence who need to be set free and experience liberty?

 

Whether they are bound by an addiction, a religious spirit, financial burdens, a demon, a generational curse, an ungodly belief, traumas from the past, guilt, shame, ______________ (fill in the blanks),

 

Or they are literally kept captive by others—a pimp, a sex trafficker, a drug lord, an authoritarian family member, an overbearing boss, a totalitarian regime, an economic system, _____________ (fill in the blanks)…

 

We are called to “heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons.”(Matthew 10:8), “to proclaim liberty to the captives…and to set at liberty those who are oppressed.”

 

Confident that “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:18), let us therefore decree this day that “CAPTIVES ARE BEING SET FREE IN JESUS’ NAME.”

 

May I suggest that you add decrees that make this more specific, as directed by Holy Spirit? e.g. I decree that ________ is being set free from drugs, Freedom is coming to the people of North Korea, etc.