Join Sharon Otts on a profound journey as she unfolds Jesus’ Manifesto and Mandate, an inspiring sermon focused on liberation from spiritual bondage. With a deep dive into scriptural passages, Sharon reveals the authority and mission of Jesus as He confronts the works of the devil. From binding the strong man to setting captives free, learn how to apply these powerful truths in your life. Let this sermon inspire you to walk in the freedom and authority that Jesus provides, reclaiming what the enemy has stolen.
Greetings, friends and new listeners, and welcome to the program. I’m Sharon Otts, thanking you for joining us today on The Sound of Faith, because we know faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. I’m excited to bring you today’s message, Jesus Manifesto and Mandate, because it’s a true devil-chasing sermon. A manifesto is a public official declaration of a person or group’s beliefs, mission, and plan of action. And Jesus said Satan’s manifesto is to steal and to kill and to destroy, and the evidence is all around us. But Jesus was manifest to destroy the works of the devil, and he was sent with heaven’s authority to carry it out in Jesus’ manifesto and mandate. My God, you don’t have to beat yourself up anymore. You don’t have to regret and have remorse over all your sins and the mistakes that you’ve made in the past. And if you could go back and do it again. Yeah, all of us, if we could go back and do it again, knowing what we know now. See, that’s the difference. Knowing what we know now, we’d all do it differently. Amen? But you can’t go back and undo that. But through the blood of Christ, he can undo all of the bad that come out of it. All of the bad things that came out of it. All the product of it. That’s his manifesto. He came to restore our joy. Our peace. Our hope. Healing if you need healing. Amen. He came to break every chain. See, that’s another way we could, the definition of this word means to undo, to unbind, to untie, to unloose, to break the chain. He came to break the chains of bondage, sin, and sickness, and addiction, all of those things. He came to set us free, to liberate us. Amen? He said, this is my manifesto, and this is my mandate. To destroy the works of the devil. What you and I have got to learn to do is we always got to determine the source of something. When something is occurring, we’ve got to determine the source of it. Okay? Satan’s come to steal, to kill, and to destroy. Anything that falls in that category comes from Satan. Amen. Not from God. Amen? He is the author of life. He is the author of healing and peace. Amen? But Satan is always giving God a bad rap. Coming around telling us what God has done to us. Amen? If it falls into those categories, we’ve got to determine the source of it. And when we know the source is Satan… then we know we are not under his authority. And Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil in our lives. Amen. Let’s turn to Mark. Hold your place and John will come back, but let’s turn to Mark the first chapter and verse 21. And they went into Capernaum and straightway or immediately on the Sabbath day, he entered into the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at his doctrine, for he taught them as one that had authority and not as the scribes. And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit or a demon. And he cried out, saying, Let us alone. What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, or shut up. And come out of him. And when the unclean spirit had torn him and cried with the loud voice, he came out. He came out of him. So what is happening here? Jesus goes into the synagogue in the city of Capernaum. And this is very beginning of his ministry because this is Mark, the first chapter. See, Mark dispenses with all of the other stories about the wise men and the shepherds. He just gets right to Jesus’ manifesto. He just skips all that and he starts right away with Jesus out there. performing and acting on his mandate. So Jesus goes into Capernaum, and the word Capernaum, the very name of Capernaum, Caper meaning city and Nahum meaning healing. A city of healing. And this is where Peter lived and had his house. So he goes into the synagogue and he teaches. He’s already got everybody on the edge of their seats. They’ve never heard anybody teach like this before. Now the scribes knew the scriptures inside and out because they were the copyist. They’re the ones who wrote them down. So it’s not that they didn’t know the word. They just didn’t have the authority. Amen? And so he preached with authority. And now after he’s preached and the people are astonished, here is a man who’s got a demon in him in the middle of the synagogue and he shouts out, Let us alone! Notice the plural pronouns. Us. And what do we… Now, does that mean there was more than one demon in him? You think so? I see a lot of people saying yes. Well, let me tell you something. It’s that he had an unclean demon, and Jesus cast out the unclean spirit. So it was only one demon, but he was speaking on behalf of the kingdom of darkness. Amen. He was speaking in the authority of Satan’s manifesto. And not only that, the devil is a liar. So he likes to bluff you. We’re a lot of demons in here. You better let us alone. You better get scared right now. You better watch out. It’s a lot of us here. Amen. And what do we got to do with you anyway? Jesus of Nazareth. Amen. And here’s the part that I absolutely love. Have you come to destroy us? See, the devil says, let us alone. You know, that demon had been hiding in the synagogue all that time, right under the noses of the religious leaders and the chief priests. Amen. That demon had been hiding there all along, and they had never discerned that demon was there. Or if they had discerned that demon was there, they never tried to do anything about it. They were too busy playing church. Amen. Amen. The devil said, let us alone. The devil likes to hide in church. The devil likes to work undercover. The devil likes to work incognito. Amen. And I’m telling you, there are a lot of churches today that are giving the devil his wish. They just leave the devil alone. Just leave him alone and let’s go on and have church. You know, let’s just have church. Everything’s wonderful. They don’t bother to identify the devil, and they sure don’t bother to cast him out. How many churches do you know of that deal with demon spirits, that deal with deliverance? How many do you know that deal with deliverance? Because that’s what deliverance is. Amen? It doesn’t mean necessarily the demon is going to fall on the floor and foam at the mouth. You deal with people that are bound, and a lot of times there’s a spirit there. They may not be possessed, but they are surely oppressed. And I’ve known many people that are obsessed in their minds. And when they’re obsessed in their minds, and you tell them every scripture that pertains to their situation, they can recite them, they can all of that, and they still have this obsession. It’s time to take authority over a demon spirit. it’s time to rise up and cast the devil out. If you’re reading the Bible and you’re reading the scriptures and you wrote them all over the walls of your house and your mind is still filled with all of that fear and doubt and unbelief, it’s time to cast the devil out. You’ve got to evict him. But how many churches do you know that deal with that? I mean, are all the demons gone? Have all the demons left the earth? I don’t think so. I think they’re on the loose. But they’re getting very little opposition from the church. Amen? Demons should not feel at home in church. Demons should not feel comfortable in the house of God. amen they said let us alone we’ve been comfortable we’ve been coming to this synagogue forever and we just come in here and nobody bothers us Nobody bothers us at all. Amen. But when the anointing, the spirit of the Lord that is upon me, for he hath anointed me to set the captive free. When that anointed one walked in the synagogue that day. The Geiger counter went up in that demon measure. Amen. That demon came in contact with the anointing. And that demon could not hold itself any longer. It could not play possum any longer. It could not hide under cover any longer. It cried out. We know who you are. You’re the Holy One of God. Have you come? To destroy us? Yes! Yes! Absolutely! Exactly! That’s exactly what I’ve come to do. I’ve come to destroy you. Because this is my manifesto. For this purpose was the Son of God manifested. To destroy the works of the devil. You got it right. I’ve come to destroy you. And they cried out. He put on a little show toward the man. I take that to mean that the man probably convulsed and writhed a little bit. You know, and a loud voice. The devil will try to put a show on. You know, the last thing he does before he vacates, the last thing he does before he’s evicted is try to put on a show. Amen? I remember growing up when I was a kid, I don’t know how many of you remember A.A. Allen’s meetings, but he used to have a demon ministry where he cast demons out. And he would sell the actual… communications that he had on you could buy it on records back then and he would he would be casting the devils out and the devil would say i hate you and brother alan would say that’s good i never found a devil like me yet and then the devil you know he would let he would just do it for a little while and then the devil would start saying we’re not coming out we’re not coming out And then when Brother Allen had his, got to that point, I don’t know, it was between him and the Holy Ghost, whenever he had his point and he was ready, the last thing the devil would say is, we’re not coming out. Amen? And that’s what the devil did here. He cried with a loud voice and he carried on and he made a show. Amen? And then he came out. because Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, and he wasn’t going to leave the devil alone. Did you hear what I said? He wasn’t going to leave him alone. He came to heal sick people. And when he saw people that were blind, he wasn’t going to leave the devil alone. He’d say, come out. When he saw people that had leprosy, he wasn’t going to leave the devil alone. He would lay hands on them and say, be clean. Amen. And when he believed that it was premature and not a person’s time, and he saw a young man who died leaving his widowed mother with nobody, he didn’t leave the spirit of death alone. He hadn’t paid the price yet. He hadn’t paid the price yet on the cross. But he took his authority and said, rise up. Amen? He didn’t come to let the devil alone. You know, people won’t admit it, but people are afraid of the devil. They won’t say that. Of course they won’t say that. They’re a Christian, so they wouldn’t say that because they know that’s antithetical to what the Bible tells who we are in Christ. But the fact is, is people will tiptoe around the devil and hope he doesn’t notice them and leaves them alone. And their manifesto is, if I leave you alone, then you leave me alone. But you see, you can’t trust the devil. He might say, okay, okay, and he’ll wait until you’ve got your guard down and then he’ll jump on you. You can’t let your guard down. Amen. You can’t let the devil alone when he’s trying to ruin and wreck your life and your family and your marriage and your kids and your grandchildren, your body and your finances. You can’t just sit there and take it off the devil. Jesus said, for this purpose was I manifest to destroy the works of the devil. Turn to Matthew 12. Matthew 12, looking at verse 14. Then the Pharisees went out and held a council against him. How they might… destroy him. How they might destroy him, Jesus that is, but when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence, and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all, because he came to destroy the works of the devil through sickness and and charged them that they should not make him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles. Now this is something now, because he was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel. He shall not strive, he shall not cry, neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. But a bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust. Stop here for just a moment and look at this. You see, he came to destroy the works of the devil. And one of my favorite verses in the Bible is Matthew 12, 20. And it’s actually in the book of Isaiah. And it says, So in other words, Jesus came to undo the works of the devil, and the devil goes around bruising people and crushing them. A reed is a very flimsy, fragile thing. How many know that? You know, it’s those tall, tall things that grow by the water. You know, folks, you can’t build anything with a reed. You can’t do much with a reed, amen? You can maybe use it for some decor, but you’re not going to use it for anything that has to have strength and has to support weight or anything like that. And it is so easy to bruise a reed. It’s very easy to do that. Amen? And, you know, if you want to pluck some up and have them in decor, if you just throw them in the back of your car, throw them somewhere in the house until you get around to it, you will find out when you go to use them, they’re going to be broken. And you say, oh, this one’s no good. Throw it out. But Jesus said, when I came and saw my people, when I saw them, they were like a broken and bruised reed. What someone else would say, it’s beyond repair. It’s no good. Just pitch it. He said, no, a bruised reed I’ll not crush. When you’re in your most broken and vulnerable state, when you feel like you don’t have any hope, what you’re facing has taken your hope and your joy. Jesus comes in that place. predicament. He comes in that situation and he heals you and makes you whole. No matter what your life has done to you, maybe because of poor choices you have made, doesn’t matter to the Lord. It doesn’t matter to the Lord. A bruised reed he’s not going to crush. The devil is a liar. He doesn’t say, except for these mitigating circumstances. He said, no, a bruised reed I’ll not crush and a smoking flax. What does that mean? It’s a candle that is burned down and the wick is almost gone and now it’s smoking. How many know that? It’s starting to smoke. He said, I am not going to crush that or put that little flicker out. If all you have is a flicker of hope, if all you have is one flicker of life, and it seems like it’s smoking, and it’s not going to last much longer, he said, when I come and find you in that situation, I’m not going to put the lid on and snuff it out. You know what I’m going to do? I’m going to breathe on it. I’m going to breathe on it. I’m going to breathe life into it. I am going to come and heal it and make it whole. That’s my manifesto. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust. I just got to throw that out here. And it’s not really that important to what we’re preaching about, but it came to pass. It really came to pass. You know what I’m talking about? What do we call ourselves? What do we call ourselves? I am a, say it loud, don’t be afraid, a Christian. How many call yourself a Christian? Amen. How many know we’re Christians? And who are we named after? Christ, Jesus Christ, we have literally come to trust in his name. I’m not ashamed to say I’m a Christian. But it was Gentiles who first started calling themselves Christians. Amen? It was Gentiles who first said, Hey, how about we call ourselves Christians? That’s my manifesto. I’m a Christian. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. I’m on his team. I’m working with him. I want to join him in destroying the works of the devil. Amen? Okay, let’s go on to, where are we? Read verse 22. Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind and dumb. And he healed him in so much that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed and said, is not this the son of David? Or is not this the Messiah? Because one of the signs of Messiah was that he would cast the devil out of someone that is dumb. He would loose the dumb tongue. But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, oh, this fellow does not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. And every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself. How shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Now pay attention to verse 29. Or else, how can one enter into a strong man’s house and spoil his goods except he first bind the strong man and then he will spoil his house? Folks, a thief will not break into an empty house. A thief doesn’t break into an empty house. There’s no treasure there. There’s no goods there. He’s going to break into a house that he knows has treasures. Amen. A lot of times they’re going to go into neighborhoods and they see what people put out in the trash. They put out a big box from a brand new large screen television. Ah, there’s a TV in there. Oh, they got a new, what do you call it, DVD player. They got all, oh, I see this box and that box. Amen? There are some thieves that their favorite time to burglarize is Christmas because they know all the presents are sitting under the tree. Amen? A thief doesn’t break into an empty house. He only breaks into a house that has treasures in it. And this is a word for someone here today. That’s why the devil is attacking you. That’s why sometimes we come under attack. And we look in our lives and we say, I’m walking in obedience. As far as I know, I’m walking in obedience. My conscience is pure. My conscience is undefiled. what’s going on here the devil wants the treasure in your house he’s the thief it’s what he’s come to do so when he comes under that attack he wants to come in but the only way that he can do that and we’re talking spiritually now the only way that he can do that is to bind us he’s got to bind us first before he can steal my treasure the devil can’t just come and steal your treasure He cannot just come and steal your Holy Ghost anointing, your Holy Ghost word of God. Oh, the things that you have in your spirit that you have received from the Holy One, the unction of the Holy Spirit that we have received of God that abides in us, teaching us all things, guiding and leading us into all truth, giving us revelation by telling us of things to come. John said in 1 John 2 and 20 and 27, the devil can’t just come and take that. He can’t take this treasure that we have in our earthen vessel, that it is the excellent power of God, not of us, but of his excellent power in 2 Corinthians 4, 7. He can’t just come and take it. We’re strong. He’s got to bind the strong man. He’s got to bind the strong man. Amen? And he doesn’t come all at once with this big chain. Because, I mean, when you see the devil coming with a big chain, anybody that has any sense at all is going to rebuke and resist him. He does like he did Samson. Well, let’s start off by, you know, just putting my hair in pigtails. That won’t hurt nothing. Well, next time, let’s put some string in it with the pigtails or whatever, the braids, amen? Until finally, he fooled around enough until what happened? He told the secret, which wasn’t just the hair. The hair was nothing but a symbol of his consecration. There was no power in that hair, because if it was, I’d let mine grow to the ground. It was the symbol of consecration. He broke his consecration. And when they cut it off, and he rose up to shake himself like he’d done so many times before, the spirit was gone. And Samson, that mighty hero, they mocked him, put his eyes out, and bound him. Amen? So Jesus said, you can’t steal the treasure… of a strong man’s house. You’ve got to bind him. Amen? But Jesus said, my manifesto, my mandate is for this purpose was I manifested to undo, to untie, to unbind those that are bound. Amen? And if you have anything going on in your life that’s a bondage, And you know if you do. You know if you do. Whether you are given to a spirit of fear and you allow fear to conquer you and it happens again and again. Whether you’re given to a spirit of, you might have an addiction. Maybe you keep falling into addiction. You mess up and you should be set free, but you go back and you drink and you take drugs or you get into things that are sinful that the Bible talks about. If you have any bondage at all. Amen. Jesus said, I came to loose you, to untie it and to set you free. Amen. Amen. What a devil chasing sermon. Jesus manifesto and mandate. Jesus said of Satan, the thief has come but to steal and to kill and to destroy. This is his one and only agenda, and he is working in great wrath knowing his time is short. 1 John 3.8 tells us what Jesus’ manifesto is. For this purpose was the Son of God manifest, that he might destroy the works of the devil. This means to undo. Jesus was manifest to loose us from the power of sin, bondage, sickness, torment, and to take back what the devil stole from us, to destroy the works of the destroyer. Because he was sent by his father with heaven’s authority, it was his mandate, and he went forth implementing his mission by the anointing upon the authority. The first time he walked into a synagogue, the demons and a man cried out, Let us alone now, Jesus of Nazareth. Are you come to destroy us? The answer is yes. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. You need to add this message, Jesus Manifesto and Mandate, to your spiritual library. Order SK189 on CD for a love gift of $10 or more for the radio ministry. Mail to soundoffaith, P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland. 21203 or go online to soundoffaith.org where you may also order on mp3s but to order by mail send your minimum love gift of ten dollars to p.o box 1744 baltimore maryland 21203 request sk 189 for jesus manifesto and mandate
