When the Spirit of the Lord is upon us and he anoints us, we follow Jesus.

We follow him in the release of captives, the recovery of sight to the blind, and the giving of liberty to the oppressed,

as long as the acceptable year of the Lord lasts.

And when it's over, and it may be soon, then the day of vengeance and the day of reward will come,

and the tables will be turned.

I think it's easy to forget that the Spirit's work in the world has a very specific direction,

one that's not vague, not abstract.

And John Piper says when the Spirit rests on God's people, it moves them in the same direction

Jesus moved.

I'm your host, Dan Kruver. In this episode of

Light and Truth, John Piper opens Luke 4, verses 16 to 21 to explain why the Spirit sends us out

to bring the freedom and mercy of Christ while the Day of Grace still continues. This message was originally delivered at

Bethlehem Baptist Church on March 25, 1984. In Luke chapter 4, verses 18 and 19, Jesus reads from

Isaiah 61.

And then he sits down, he looks around, and he says,

today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

Now, they may have thought, well, here's another John the Baptist.

Somebody who's announcing that the Messiah is almost here,

the kingdom is at hand one day,

very soon there's going to be this grand liberation.

Romans are going to be gone and the new age will be here.

That's not what Jesus meant.

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