Absolute Truth – To Set At Liberty Those Who Are Oppressed

We have looked at absolute truth—the aletheia truth—and we see that Jesus has taught us we can know it and that we can be set free by it. It was His mission…it is the Christmas Story!

    “Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: you will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!’” (Luke 2:8-14)

Our precious Christmas story from Luke 2 is more than a babe being born to a virgin in Bethlehem; it is the fulfillment of prophecy. God told Satan in the Garden of Eden of the virgin birth:

    “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

God gave the first hint of the virgin birth because women do not have seed; they have eggs. It is man who has seed. Also the Prophet Isaiah declared:

    “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)

And of being born in Bethlehem? The Prophet Micah declared 2700 years before Jesus’ birth:

    “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” (Micah 5:2)

I want to go to the last six words in Isaiah’s prophecy: and shall call His name Immanuel. God with us. This was more than just a miraculous virgin birth and the fulfillment of prophecy. That alone would have been enough, however this was an invasion from heaven! Let’s go to my favorite Christmas story in Luke:

    “So 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 to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: ‘The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.’ Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’ So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, ‘Is this not Joseph’s son?’” (Luke 4:16-22)

Beloved do not miss this amazing scene being played out in Scripture; Jesus has just read a prophecy from the Scrolls of Isaiah, a prophecy longed for by all who call themselves Jews, and He proclaims that by their hearing this reading, the prophecy has been fulfilled. The crowd should have yelled hallelujah!!! Look with me at the the good news of salvation from Isaiah Jesus has proclaimed unto Himself; good news long awaited for:

    “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; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. And they shall rebuild the old ruins, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.” (Isaiah 61:1-4)

I added verses 3 and 4 because we are in such need of this good news; we as a nation…as a people…need such salvation.

Imagine if you will men and women serving in positions of leadership who look to God’s Word for guidance instead of taking a poll to determine what the people want. Well Bro Dave we are a democracy so what’s wrong with finding out what the people want?

First, we are not a democracy; we are representative republic. This means we hire, aka elect, representatives to serve more than just you and me; they are to do what is best for our nation.

Secondly, I do not and never will apologize for desiring a representative who is not only a self-proclaimed Christian, but also one who holds and lives by a Biblical worldview. And I am in good company doing so, for our first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, John Jay, said:

    Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.

Can you imagine Chief Justice John Roberts saying that today? I don’t think it is a stretch to say he would be impeached. He most certainly would not be confirmed had he stated our first Chief Justice’s words. I doubt seriously, in the present atmosphere, that anyone could get elected if he or she were to state such sentiment.

Why is that? It is because the Church will not prefer Christians for their rulers. Most pulpits across America are unwilling to state such, even though it is completely legal within the Internal Revenue Service’s rules. Oh but Bro Dave there is still the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to deal with.

Forgive me, but the ACLU be damned and I mean it literally! They are Satan’s enclave, his cowardly army who terrorize small churches and schools using Taliban-tactics of hit and run, pretending to be defenders of all religions. When will a new black-robed regiment rise up, not the worldly ecumenical “pie-in-the-sky” without any Holy Spirit power that Glenn Beck presented.

I am talking fearless lions of the faith who helped found this nation and such as the late Jerry Falwell, Adrian Rogers, and D. James Kenney who stood in the gap, and though at times made mistakes, they stood valiantly taking all the stinging arrows of the devil’s demons.

Can you imagine what could happen overnight should a great sweep of courage overtake the pulpits across America? Can you imagine what would happen if the gospel truth, the aletheia truth, the absolute truth, and nothing but the Truth were to be preached from the pulpits? Can you imagine if the peddlers of Christ and false teachers were to get saved and throw away their NTFV (New Touchy-Feely Version) Bibles and preached the unvarnished, unpolished, culturally offensive, personally convicting Gospel?

Can you imagine a pastor sitting himself under the sovereignty of Almighty God and his Savior of the world, the Prince of Peace and allow the anointing of the Holy Spirit cause him to proclaim such as Jesus: “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to tell you of the Great Physician who will heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD”?

The poor are not without money; they are without hope.

The brokenhearted are not only hurt from heartache; they are damaged by sin.

The captives are not in jail; they are in bondage to sin.

The blind cannot see because of a physical malady; they are blinded by sin.

The oppressed are not living under the boot of a dictator; they are crushed by sin.

When is the acceptable year of the LORD?

I say 2011 is as good as a year as any. Many are looking towards 2012; do so and you miss the chance for real liberty to sweep away the oppression that is overtaking our land.

Today is Christmas Eve and I am excited. My youngest daughter Becky is coming to spend Christmas weekend with us. We will talk with our oldest daughter Tiffany and her husband Ben and their sweet boy Benjamin. But we have an empty chair at our house. This is our fourth Christmas without Eddie.

Oh but beloved my family has experienced the supernatural healing of broken hearts from our Lord Jesus Christ because 10 years before he breathed his last breath on earth, Eddie accepted everlasting life and was freed from the wages of sin! And of course we grieved losing Eddie but we rejoice and perhaps are somewhat envious that Eddie celebrates Jesus everyday forever in glorious paradise, GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST!

Beloved, this is the Christmas Story! This is the meaning of Christmas! This is the absolute truth that sets at liberty those who are oppressed! Do not miss it this Christmas!

You who have refused Jesus year after year still have an unwrapped gift from Christ the God-Man. It is salvation. Baby Jesus is God with us, Immanuel, the Promised One.

Oh would you accept Him now!

Oh would our pulpits proclaim His aletheia truth across this land!

…I’ve gone on long enough.

Merry Christmas!

I love you all so; you are my great encouragement and my motivation for this ministry.

I wish you a very wonderful holiday season.

I wish you Jesus…

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2010 David Jeffers

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