to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
13 sermons cite this verse
… He preached a sermon from that text where he said, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to set at liberty those who are bound. And then he closed the book and he said, today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. In other words, I am the one that scripture is speaking about. They didn't like it. They got upset because he said that. They took him to the brow of the hill in Nazareth to throw him off. Now he comes back a year later. and it's like he wants to reach out one final time, this time with his disciples in tow. He comes back to Nazareth. A lot has happened in that last year. His fame has spread. He has made many disciples. The crowds are huge. Many people have been healed, but he has met in Nazareth with unbelief, Not doubt, unbelief. And you need to know there's a difference between doubt and unbelief. …
… and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. This is how it ends in Isaiah 61. And in Luke chapter four, verse 18, Jesus stands before his people and he quotes those verses. And he looks at them and he says, today the scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. Jesus says, I'm the good news to the poor. I'm the one that bounds up the brokenhearted. I'm the one that is gonna extend mercy to those in need. And the same grace that he offered his people in Isaiah 30, the same grace that he talks about in Luke 4 is available to you today. Grace for you in your time of need. waiting on him, trusting that he's protecting you, holding fast to it.
… the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, 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. Such a wonderful, wonderful verse, And really what he's saying is, he's saying, listen, the Holy Spirit is upon me. I know the Holy Spirit lives in us. As I've stated countless times through the years, the Holy Spirit is in me for my sake, but he rests upon me for yours. We have to understand that when the Spirit of God comes upon us, it's always for action. It's always for impact. It's always to change something. We've been privileged to step into the middle of an impossibility. We may not know what's supposed to happen. …
… to proclaim freedom for the captives. So cowboy fans. And release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all those who mourn and provide for those who grieve in Zion. I love this. To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. God's freedom in your life is not so that you can get recognition. It's so that God can get recognition. Knowing that we cannot set ourself free, we needed a greater man and a greater power to break the chain and set us free. And so I want to preach a message today. Write down the title. it's called Thank God I'm Free. Thank God I'm Free. And I don't know about you, but anybody get a little bit of that sense today? Thank God I'm Free. Come on, clap if you're free today. Free to clap. …
… and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. and I have this in brackets. You might remember this last week. There's a comma there in our English Bible. Jesus, when he was handed the scroll of Isaiah, when he commenced his earthly ministry 2,000 years ago in that synagogue in the Galilee, Jesus read that and this was the, listen, this is amazing. The day that Jesus was called upon to read on that Shabbat, that was not an accident. A male is given in a synagogue the reading, and depending upon the size of the community or the synagogue, that male may not be called upon again to read again. Depends. Or if he's going to read, he's going to read whatever the specific verse is or chapter for that day in every synagogue around the world. hmm it just so happens that on the day that Jesus is to read from his native town synagogue it happens to be the very passage of scripture that is speaking about himself and he stops at a comma he was supposed to keep reading he didn't he wound up stopping in his reading and the gospels tell us with that to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. By the way, aren't you glad he paused and handed that scroll back? Because what if he would have kept reading? And the day of vengeance of our God. Do you see that comma that's in the brackets there? …
… To set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Do you see why I have those little parentheses there around that period? You want to know why that's there? Jesus stopped reading. He wasn't supposed, I mean, he knew exactly what he was doing. But it keeps going. He stops like mid-sentence. He closes the book. Look what happens. Then he closed the book. That's weird. He closes the book and he gave it back to the attendant and he 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. Why? It's his first coming. That was his first coming. And here's what's amazing. He stopped at that period that you have in your Bible right there. If he would have kept reading, his next line would have been, and to bring the vengeance of almighty God. He stopped. He didn't keep reading. Why? Because the vengeance of the almighty God is coming at the end of the seven year tribulation period. …
… those who are oppressed to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord you may tell yourself I'm an American. I'm as free as I can be. You get asked if you're free this Friday, say I'm American. I'm free. Okay, I'm free. 250 years, let's go. Let's make it to 251. Okay, guys. You may tell yourself, I am not a slave to anything. But I have to tell you this. If God's word is not the measurement of your life, if God and who he is, his character, is not the standard by which you live by, you are enslaved to lies. And he wants to free you by Jesus. so let's close tonight we'll end in a chorus but let's stand if you're able and let's pray together and I want to pray against if we're believing the lie of self-reliance if we're believing the lie of image management if we're believing the lie of prioritizing opinions over obedience to God that he would correct our hearts and that he would convict us where we need to be convicted and comfort us where we need to be comforted let me pray for us Father we love you thank you for your grace and mercy thank you that you you lead us you call us that you give us the ability to choose you lord i pray over anybody in this room who has been believing lies who has been trusting the voice of the enemy that father they would trust your voice instead that in describing satan lord …
… to let the oppressed go free to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Jesus goes to his hometown with a message that is neither neutral nor safe. And instead, it disrupts expectations. His hometown has heard what Jesus was doing in Galilee. The chesema, the gossip, it traveled fast. So I wonder if they're already skeptical of Jesus when he comes in. But then he teaches this. again in chapter 5 the Galileans experienced awe and healing but here the people from Nazareth experienced surprise offense and then they flat out dismiss him there is some surprise where did this man get these things where does this wisdom come from but then they're offended isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this the carpenter? What are they implying with this question? I think what they're asking is, who does this guy think he is? Isn't he just the carpenter? The word in Greek for carpenter can mean builder, day laborer, someone who works with stone, metal, or wood. In other words, Jesus was an artisan. Yet when we think of an artisan, we think of a fine craftsperson, perhaps like the carpenters working in the chapel. But what the people mean here is not necessarily an insult, but they're pointing out that Jesus is just ordinary. New Testament theologian N.T. Wright translates it this way. Isn't he just the handyman? Who does this guy think he is? Why are you acting like a prophet? You are going to get yourself killed by saying what you're saying. Stop it. …
… 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. Are you mourning today? 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. This is Jesus. This is our savior. This is the God of all coming in human flesh as a tiny little poppy seed. Being born into this world, living this life, dying on the cross, rising from the dead. to comfort all who mourn, to give them beauty for ashes, oil of joy for mourning, garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that we would be trees of righteousness. Why? So that he may be glorified. And that is what we are called to, to bring glory to our God, to bring glory to our King, to be the tree, to be the tree of righteousness. …
… anointed me to bring, what? Good news to the poor. He has simply proclaimed release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. He was a very different kind of king. So when he came, you know, his throne was a crown of thorns, right? He was glorified. He was enthroned on a cross. Before that, he went and spent most of his time with people who were broken or alienated or disenfranchised or people who were made to feel small and insignificant. He was concerned for the poor and the people who felt like they didn't have a place anymore. And he was constantly showing mercy and grace to people. And then he called his followers to be a part of a kingdom, a kingdom that resided in the heart, not with any earthly boundaries. And he called them to conquer, not with weapons, but instead with the power of love. Love even your enemies, he said. And this became his message, this call to love. And he is the source of our hope. Not President Trump, not President Biden, not whoever comes next, not Congress, not the Supreme Court. They're not the source of our hope. …
… the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. That's a reference to the year of Jubilee. Now, I know what you're thinking. all right you're losing me what's the point of all this what does this have to do with my life and this has everything to do with your life because with all this background in the old testament all of it very intentional jesus comes on the scene in the new testament and i want you to listen to how luke introduces us to him after jesus's birth and his growing up his temptation in the wilderness, this is how Luke introduces us to the ministry of Jesus. The very first thing that Jesus does in Luke's account. Watch this. Luke 4 verse 16. He came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of …
… to set at liberty them that are bruised, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And you can just imagine for people who felt like their lives were hopeless and there was really, you know, that many of them, many of them didn't have families here. Some did. Many of them were struggling to make ends meet. They felt like they were trapped in a life that they didn't want. And in some sense, not really loved by God. The people in the churches weren't interested in having these people show up. The people in the churches, you know, they didn't want to sit next to these folks. These folks couldn't pay the pew tax. They couldn't really afford to give anything. They were going to be contributing members. And so, you know, for the people in the churches, they were largely lost. For the church people, they were largely lost. But John Wesley came and said, no, you're wanted by God. You're wanted by God. I just want to say this to you. …
… that we were dead and made alive in Christ, that Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords, and he has come to bind up the brokenhearted, to set the captive free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Somebody shout, this is my year. I don't know what the first four months were like, but tell them, these next eight are going to be great. Praise the Lord. I want to share with you today from a passage of Scripture that I mentioned last week. When I mentioned it last week, I knew immediately that this is where we would start today, because something very special happened in the moment that I read Galatians 6-9. and this may be a scripture that you want to memorize you may need to quote this one back to the devil and you may need to quote it to yourself or you may need to give it to a friend who's fighting cancer but i really love this verse and i'm going to share with you today from galatians 6 9 at least that's where we'll start you're like oh short sermon only one verse do not be deceived Thank you. …