Radical Life Support

Rick is a non-traditionalist, rock-n-roll, evangelist who likes to stir things up. And Robin is a traditional, choir member, encourager who does not like to rock the boat. They come together to challenge and discuss how to live a radical life for Jesus.

All Episodes

Radical Life Support

Jesus is Deliverer

December 11, 2020 • Rick and Robin Moe • Episode 68

Deliver or deliverance means the action of being rescued or set free, to liberate, release, ransom, redeem, and save. This was Jesus’ mission. His entire ministry was a ministry of deliverance.

But what did Jesus come to deliver us from? What was so wrong that the Son of God had to come to earth in human form to deliver us from it? The answer is sin. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve sinned and from that point on, every person born was born with a sin nature. And this sin separates us from God. But God so loved the world that He sent Jesus to deliver us from our enslavement to this sin nature. He took away all of our sins on the cross and those who put their faith and trust in Him are freed from this sin nature and will have eternal life. Only by the Atonement and shed blood of Jesus Christ are we delivered from sin.

What can we say Jesus is like from this? Some people say that Jesus wasn’t all about sin, He was about love and acceptance of everybody. But sin was the very reason why He came. The bible also says that without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness of sins. We needed forgiveness. He knew very well that He was coming to deal with sin, once for all. To say that Jesus wasn’t about looking at and dealing with the sin in people is a wrong view of Jesus. When the woman was caught in adultery, He rescued her from death, loved her, but then told her to “go and sin no more.” Jesus was not shy about addressing the sin in people’s lives. Whenever the disciples said or did something wrong, He loved and forgave them but He immediately admonished them for their lack of faith or corrected them for their wrong thinking or challenged their pride and prejudices. He even told Peter once, “Get behind me Satan…you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” The bible says Jesus knew what was in the heart of man. He did not let sin go unaddressed. He didn’t wink at it, ignore it, or pretend it didn’t exist or wasn’t so bad. Sin had to be dealt with, there is no getting around it. Sin separates us from God and Jesus came to deliver us from sin so we could be in right relationship with God. On the cross all the sin of the world was placed on Him and His death is what truly showed His love for us.

Jesus can only deliver because He is master over and has power over all things. When Jesus was on earth, it says that He had compassion on the crowds and He delivered many people from various problems, heart-aches, and difficult situations. For example, he delivered people from physical danger and disaster, basic needs like hunger, financial crisis, from a difficult life, mental illness, physical handicaps, and spiritual ruin.

Ps 37:40 says, “The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; He is their stronghold in time of trouble. The Lord helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in Him.”

David knew where his help comes from and he always expressed his honest feelings in times of trouble as Ps 70:5 says, “I am poor and needy; come quickly to me, O God. You are my help and deliverer; O Lord, do not delay.” David always went to the true source of power with petitions for deliverance. So, go to the one who can deliver you. Don’t go anywhere else. Go to Jesus. He is the complete Deliverer for every circumstance. Not only did He come to completely deliver you from your enslavement to sin but He is always with you to deliver you from anything trouble that may stand in your way.

Intro to Attribute

Deliver or deliverance means the action of being rescued or set free, to liberate, release, ransom, redeem, and save. This was Jesus’ mission. His entire ministry was a ministry of deliverance.

Jesus reveals He is Deliverer in the Word.

There are many correlations in the Old Testament made between Moses and Jesus and serving God’s people as Deliverer is one of them. God sent Moses to deliver the Israelites from slavery. God sent Jesus to deliver us from slavery of our sin nature.

Peter quoted Moses’s prophecy of the coming Messiah in Acts 3:22-23, saying, “For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything He tells you. Anyone who does not listen to Him will be completely cut off from among His people.’ Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days.” Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of Moses’ prophecy.

Stephen, a dedicated follower in the early church, gave a speech in Acts chapter 7. The essence was that time and again God sent prophets to Israel but they rejected them, didn’t obey the words they spoke from God, and many were killed. In verse 35, it says Moses “was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God Himself.” Israel originally rejected Moses as their deliverer just as the Jews of Stephen’s day were rejecting Jesus as their deliverer who was also sent by God. And unfortunately, Stephen’s point was proved because the Jews who were listening to Stephen stoned him to death. You know the old saying that some things never change, this is one of them. The Israelites rejected the prophets, Jesus was rejected while He was on earth, and people are still rejecting His message today.

In Rom 11:26, there is a quote from Is 59:20 which is a reference to the Messiah and says, “The deliverer will come from Zion; He will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” Many people are in spiritual and moral bondage and they are blinded to the ball and chains that hold them and weight them down. They need someone to take away their sins but they end up rejecting the very person who can deliver them from it, Jesus Christ. And they don’t have to do anything, it is a free gift that they won’t accept. Another prophetic word about Jesus is stated in Is 61:1 says the, “Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me… to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” Jesus quotes these verses in Luke 4:18 to state He is the deliverer mentioned and only He can provide freedom from bondage and forgiveness of sins. No one else can deliver you, His deliverance is complete and nothing more needs to be done.

Jesus reveals He is Deliverer in the World.

· Delivered from physical danger and disaster: Luke 8:22-25 tells how when all the disciples and Jesus were in a boat and Jesus fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake so that the boat was being swamped and they were in great danger. They woke Jesus up and said, “Master, Master, we are going to drown.” He delivered them from the storm by rebuking the wind and raging waters, the storm subsided and all was calm. Jesus is Master and has power over the weather and the physical earth.

· Delivered from basic needs like hunger: There are two stories in the bible where Jesus fed over 5000 people with a couple of fish and loaves of bread. Jesus shows here that He is Master of agriculture and animals and has the power to meet all of our needs.

· Delivered from financial crisis: Tax collectors came to Peter to get the temple tax. It appears they didn’t have the money at hand to pay it so Jesus told Peter, “Go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.” Jesus is Master over the economies of the world and has the power to provide for all your financial needs.

· Delivered from a difficult life: What I mean by this comes from a story in Luke 7:11-15 which tells of Jesus encountering a funeral procession while passing through a town gate. The dead person was the only son of his mother and she was a widow. It says that “When the Lord saw her, His heart went out to her and he said, ‘Don’t cry.’” He raised her son to life and it says, “Jesus gave him back to his mother.” To me Jesus delivered her from the difficult life she would have lived as a widow with no son. A woman back then needed a male figure or they would live in poverty. Not only did He show He was Master over death but He has the power to take the pieces of your life and put them back together.

· Delivered from mental illness: In Luke 8:26-38 it tells of a story of a man whose life was dominated by a legion of demons who were in him for many years. Roman legion consisted of 6000 men. After Jesus cast out the demons, it says the man “was in his right mind.” Jesus was not only the Master over demonic forces but He has the power to deliver us from mental torment and anguish.

· Delivered from a physical handicap: In Luke 13:10-16, Jesus healed a woman who had been crippled by a spirit for 18 years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. Jesus was compassionate to her and said, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” She immediately straightened up and praised God. Jesus is Master over all the cells in our bodies in that He has the power to heal any illness and repair any damage. He proved that with all the miraculous healings He performed on this earth.

· Delivered from spiritual ruin: What I mean by this is found in Luke 22:31 where Jesus tells Simon Peter, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.” Jesus, as Master, sitting at the right hand of God in heaven, is our intercessor with the Father. It says in I Cor 10:13 that “He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” With His power and enablement to resist temptation, ultimately our faith can remain strong through any test or temptation we face even if we fail like Peter did sometimes.

It is important to see that Jesus has all the power and authority. He is the one you should go to for deliverance and protection. Ps 33:17 says, “a horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.” This is true for so many other earthly things in this world like in our current day putting your trust in your retirement fund, the government, guns, or military forces. They are a vain hope for deliverance too. There are so many examples of a small band of forces defeating thousands of soldiers because God is on their side. Think even of small David who comes in the name of the Lord defeating Goliath. Sometimes we have a tendency to focus on the physical when the greater enemy is in the spiritual realm. When Jesus is on your side, you are the majority.

Jesus reveals He is Deliverer in our hearts.

We need to believe that Jesus is our Deliverer today. His power to deliver is still available to us.

[Ps 32:7] “You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of DELIVERANCE.” Need to note here: God doesn’t promise that trouble won’t come; but that we would be protected from the trouble itself. We can know without a doubt that as II Sam 22:2 says, “the Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer.” He wouldn’t be called Deliverer unless there was something to be delivered from.

Let’s consider Paul’s story from [II Cor 1:8-10] regarding why trouble may come in our lives that we cannot take care of by ourselves. Paul says, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death.” Why would this level of trouble happen to Paul, he was such a faithful man of God. He explains why saying, “But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” Paul was in a position where God gave him more than he could handle but he was implying that it was a good thing. He goes on to say, that God “has DELIVERED us from such a deadly peril, and He will DELIVER us. On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to DELIVER us.” This is a statement of faith of past, present, and future deliverance. God’s deliverance in his situation was so amazing that Paul felt it was like being raised from the dead. But he didn’t blame God for the trouble. He saw his circumstances from a spiritual standpoint, and now we are all benefiting from hearing his story of deliverance and can see that if this happened for Paul it can happen for us.

You may find yourself in a position of needing to be delivered from something, you are in a position of weakness. You can’t get out of your situation on your own strength or you can’t see or figure a way out. You wonder if Jesus can handle your addiction, heal your broken heart, provide for your needs, or protect you. During your time of doubt and weakness is precisely the perfect opportunity where Jesus can display His power to you. In these moments, do not be afraid or worried, continue to be obedient, and just be still and watch Him work. Don’t be concerned about how Jesus is going to deliver you. Most of the time, when He wants to display His power in your life, He will deliver in a supernatural way where you know without a doubt that He is the Deliverer and no one else. Then we rejoice for who they are, our trust and faith increases, and we are assured that we are safe in their hands. You see, if you are a believer then you are a child of God and God cares deeply for you. Have the faith of a child that He will sing songs of deliverance over you as it says in the Psalm.

One thing we can do in times of trouble or while we are waiting on God to deliver is pray.

· In the Lord’s prayer, Jesus taught us how to pray in Matt 6:13, “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” In John 17:15, Jesus is praying to God and He asks that the Father would protect them from the evil one. So, we too can ask to be delivered from evil. In II Thess 3:2-3, Paul asks the Thessalonians for intercessory prayer saying “pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith.” But those of us who do have faith need to believe as Paul goes on to say that, “the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.”

· Jesus teaches us too as He prayed for His disciples in John 17:11 saying, “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me.” Jesus’ name has power to protect and deliver so pray in His name. Jesus’ power is adequate for every need. If you find yourself in a situation where the enemy feels like he is closing in, just rebuke him in the name of Jesus. “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” [Prov 18:10]

· We can pray for divine intervention like David did in Ps 140:7 which says, “O Sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer, who shields my head in the day of battle, do not grant the wicked their desires, O Lord; do not let their plans succeed, or they will become proud.”

David knew where his help comes from and he always expressed his honest feelings in times of trouble as Ps 70:5 says, “I am poor and needy; come quickly to me, O God. You are my help and deliverer; O Lord, do not delay.” David always went to the true source of power with petitions for deliverance. The bible says He hears the cry of His people, that is you and me. I John 5:14 says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” So, go to the one who can deliver you. Don’t go anywhere else. Go to Jesus. He is the complete Deliverer for every circumstance. Not only did He come to completely deliver you from your enslavement to sin but He is always with you to deliver you from anything trouble that may stand in your way.

Living a radical life for Jesus mean believing Jesus is Deliverer.