Deliverance

BEFORE defining deliverance, you need to understand that deliverance was designed for God’s people (Obadiah 1:17). 

The bible says in Obadiah 1:17, “But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.” 

When we talk about Mount Zion we are talking about the church of God,  which prophetically, we hear that in the house of God there shall be deliverance. Luke 4 is the first appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ in the temple or synagogue, where he quoted Isaiah 61, the Messianic prophecy. 

Luke 4:17-18, “And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. 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 hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised”. 

Now, we see the first announcement was, he was to heal the broken hearted and to preach deliverance. This was in the New Testament. When we read the gospels,  we discover that Jesus casted out more demons in the synagogue, which is now called the church. 

The subject of deliverance has caused a lot of confusion. There are some who say they don’t believe in it, others who totally hate it and others still who believe in it. It is because the subject of deliverance has been misinterpreted and it has caused confusion because of lack of balance. But we should not forget that it is one of the redemption rights for God’s people. 

Because of misinterpretation and lack of understanding on the subject, it has given the enemy joy to see God’s people being bound in certain areas of their lives, yet still going to church. We cannot deny deliverance because there are many Christians, ministers of the gospel, who are still under demonic captivity unknowingly. When Jesus died on the cross, he did not only die for our sins, he also died for our healing, our prosperity, our salvation and also our deliverance. 

So, if we can teach or preach about prosperity or healing, why not preach also on deliverance. If we can believe that there are some people who have got the grace to minister the gospel of prosperity or of healing, why not believe that there are some who are called to minister deliverance to the oppressed. 

What is deliverance? Deliverance is a process of expelling demons using the authoritative name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We see that because of these free TV channels that we watch many a times, we have seen some things that have caused people to hate deliverance. 

This is because of certain ministers of the gospel who make people to eat grass, drink petrol, and sit on women, all in the name of deliverance. They have actually tainted deliverance and this has made people to start to talk badly about deliverance. When you begin to talk about deliverance, you are portrayed as being unlearned because of what people have seen on TV. 

Anyway, deliverance is not a swearword. It is a good word because it speaks of salvation and of healing. When a lot of believers hear the word deliverance, they begin to have an attitude because of what they have seen or what they have heard. Jesus ministered deliverance. 

In the book of Luke 13:10,13,16, “And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity 18 years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, “Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God”. 

Now, we see that Jesus was preaching in one of the synagogues, the bible speaks about a woman who had a spirit of infirmity for 18 years and was bent over. This woman was not just bent over, the bible says she was a daughter of Abraham, meaning she was coming from the lineage of Abraham, the father of our faith. 

The bible says there was a spirit sitting upon her and she had been going to church for 18 years with the spirit sitting on her, until Jesus laid hands on her and the bible says immediately, she was made straight and glorified God. 

How many people in churches are quietly having such spirits and we say that one day things are going to be okay. We have heard some people saying deliverance was accomplished at the cross , which is true. Even prosperity was accomplished at the cross, healing was accomplished at the cross. But why preach about healing and prosperity, but when it comes to deliverance we say it is not necessary. Brothers and sisters, let us know that we are in this world and Paul in Ephesians 6 says, “we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and demons.” 

There are demons that can influence, control, limit and bind. And some  of the demons can stay quietly waiting for an opportune time. Jesus said (i) we shall lay hands on the sick and (ii) we shall cast out spirits. When we read in Luke 13:16 we see that this woman was a daughter of the covenant. 

We should understand that these spirits when given access they destroy the life of a believer, they limit, they introduce disfavour. So if deliverance is not initiated in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, a person cannot possess that which God has promised him or her. When we talk about deliverance,  it is a broad subject, but the greatest deliverance is knowledge, so fasten your sit belts. 

Why do I need deliverance? We need to understand that there are doors we opened even as Christians that allow access for the devil to operate. 

The three entry points are: 1. Covenant door – This is an agreement we do knowingly or unknowingly. 2. Ignorance – The lack of knowledge or education. Some books define it as unenlightenment. God says in Hosea 4:6 (KJV) ,“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” 3. Disobedience is the failure to obey. 

Romans 5:19 (KJV), “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Deliverance comes in three stages, Exodus 3:7-8, “And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know them and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.”