[0:00] I do appreciate Graham's help though, amen. Isaiah chapter 61, verse 1. This is a very exciting passage of scripture. We're coming down to the very end of the book of Isaiah.
[0:12] We're in last days. What God's doing at the very last as the rapture and the tribulation and the second coming and the millennial kingdom are getting set up. You're going to know that over the next couple of services.
[0:24] Read with me if you would Isaiah chapter 61 and verse 1. And the spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek.
[0:36] He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn, to appoint them that mourn and sign, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.
[1:07] I pray God tonight that you would excite us and motivate us as you show us your great plans and your work and your plan for Israel and what you're going to do. And I pray God that you'd help us to know that you're a God who keeps your word.
[1:20] If you kept your word for Israel, you'll keep your word for us. And we can be awful thankful for that, that you are a God who never can lie. And we'll give you praise for all in Jesus name. Amen. Now, if you're reading that, you probably noticed, you probably recognize pretty clearly, this is a New Testament passage of scripture, but it's not.
[1:38] It's an Old Testament passage of scripture. And so I want you to go with me first down to verse one and just look at it. And I want you, if you make a note somewhere, I want you to remember with me something you studied in the Bible a long time ago, and I want to remind you of it, and that is the year of Jubilee.
[1:54] And basically what's going on here, this is like a reminder of what their year of Jubilee was. That's when the, that's when the, the man of God stepped forth and preaches and, and binds up and announces liberty and announces the opening of the prison to them that are bound.
[2:11] That's the year of Jubilee. And you might not know a lot about that, but you want to. Here's the way it works. And the nation of Israel, every seven years, the seventh year, they were supposed to lay off the land.
[2:23] They were supposed to trust God. And after seven years of, after seven sevens, that was 49 years, the 50th year was the year of Jubilee, seven sets of seven.
[2:34] And that year belonged to the Lord. This year was his year. And the true purpose of that was exactly what Graham just talked about. Did you know from the very beginning, God's been wanting to say to you, you're not in charge.
[2:48] You don't own things. You're not doing things. It's my stuff. I do what I want. And so in the 50th year, what was going to happen was God was saying, I'm in charge of the whole earth. I own the land.
[2:59] I own the people. I own your life. I own your living. I own everything about you. And I need to remind you of that. God dictated what they could do with their land.
[3:10] They might sell, but the buyer was never really the owner. So when you sold your land, everybody in Israel was given land by tribes. And when they sold their land to another person, that guy could own the land for a maximum of 50 years.
[3:23] At the end of 50 years, that land got given back to the original owner. So nobody ever got to keep ownership. And if you said, I bought that land, God said, wasn't your land to give out? Wasn't your land to sell? Belongs to me? Return it to the guy that owns it.
[3:34] Because I'm in charge. We need to be reminded of that. If you think that's true, say amen. And then he also used that year as a year to declare his people clean. People were given their freedom.
[3:45] Debts were gone. Land was returned to the owner. And God said, it's a year I want you to rest. God worked a miracle. Everything about living in Israel was a miracle. They worked six days and took a day off.
[3:57] And God took care of it. They worked their fields six years and took a year off. And God said, I'll give you enough harvest. And the last year, the number six year, you'll have enough harvest to live all year number seven and all year number eight until you get your money, until you get your harvest.
[4:11] Because I'm God and I can do that. And I want my people to enjoy rest. So he gave his people rest. It was a year that would cause them to trust God. Because everybody knows you can't trust God.
[4:23] Everybody knows you got to take care of number one. And if you don't take care of number one, you won't have enough. And that's why when he gave them manna and he said, you get to pick up enough manna for one day. And what did all the Americans do?
[4:34] They all went out and got two days worth and it bred worms and stank. Because God was saying, I want you to know I'm in charge and you can trust me. I'll take care of you.
[4:45] The year of Jubilee was a way to test their obedience. Will you obey God? They didn't, by the way. Everything will get restored. Everybody will be, there's hope because you get your land back.
[4:56] There's hope because if you were poor and sold into slavery, you got your freedom back. There were advantages. No rich people got to own all the land. Because you can imagine for 50 years, the rich guys were gathering up all the land and getting all the power and it's all going to be there.
[5:10] As God said, every 50 years, I reset the clock. So in 1900, all the land goes back. In 1950, all the land goes back. So you buy the land in 1901, just like Hong Kong goes back to China, your land goes back.
[5:22] And we're living in that spiritual year, by the way, of Jubilee. A spiritual year. You know what's happened to us? We've been set free. How many of you have been set free from slavery? That's what happened. How many of you have had your spiritual debt canceled, paid?
[5:35] Jesus did that. How many of us are living in the acceptable year of the Lord? We've been saved. We've been given joy instead of ashes. We've been anointed with oil, which is what he says here. But the passage, that inference is there.
[5:47] That's the year of Jubilee, which was a great thing. You know, God never wanted his people to be money hungry, money grabbing, land grabbing, people that own everything and take advantage of other people.
[5:58] That was never God's plan. And that's probably pretty hard on your little capitalistic heart, but it's exactly what the Bible teaches. How about an old me if you can't say amen? Second thing, look if you would at Luke chapter 4 and verse 16.
[6:12] We know without a doubt that that passage of scripture was written about Jesus. We know that because Jesus told us it was. Look if you would in Luke chapter 4 and verse 16. There's some wonderful passage, wonderful passage scripture.
[6:25] We're going to scan it real quickly if you open your Bible there. And the Bible says in 4, 16, he, Jesus came to Nazareth where he'd been brought up. And as his custom was, you know, he had the, he had the custom of going to the synagogue.
[6:38] It was like, hey, it's Saturday. I'm going to go check in on worshiping God the Jewish way. It ought to kind of be your custom to be in God's house when God's word is preached.
[6:49] We ought to be God's people. Say amen. Pay attention when you're here. Make it your custom to be here for God and to focus. And in verse 17, they open the Bible and he opens the book of Isaiah.
[6:59] And he finds the passage of scripture, which by the way, was probably quite a bit of work because he had to roll that scroll and get around to it. And he finds the passage of scripture and he says, he reads where it says, the spirit of the Lord is upon me.
[7:12] I want you to skip all the way down to verse 19 now. And in verse 19, he makes a break from the passage of scripture. He quotes Isaiah or he reads Isaiah and he stops short of reading the prophecy.
[7:24] Look at verse 19. He said to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And then look what he did. He closed the book. He stopped. And if you got your Bible open there and you're looking in the passage of scripture, Isaiah 61, 2, he was to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and to day of vengeance.
[7:45] But Jesus stopped. He said, I'm here to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And he sat down. Everybody in the room is looking at him. What's he doing?
[7:56] How does he have the nerve to read that? And they're all looking at him to figure out why did you read that passage of scripture? And what do you want to say? And in verse 21, he said, well, today y'all just saw that fulfilled. 21, y'all just saw it.
[8:09] I just read it. I just told it to you. That's me. I'm doing the talking. I love verse 22. It's probably one of my favorite verses you'll look at tonight. In verse 22, everybody that watched it and heard it wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth.
[8:26] Underline that. They said, man, he's sweet. Man, he is kind. Man, he is good. And if you go back over that passage, which we will in just a minute, you'll realize Jesus could have come saying, God hates you.
[8:39] God's going to burn you. God's going to kill you. You're already predestined to go to hell. But instead, when he got through, they went, wow, what sweet words.
[8:50] What gracious words. What grace-filled words. He stopped short of saying the day of vengeance. Now, if you would go back with me to Isaiah chapter 61 and verse 1.
[9:02] Before we go on, I want to just stop real quick and show you the Trinity in Isaiah 61.1. So many people want you to doubt that God's three persons. He's God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.
[9:14] And then they'll say to you, it's not in the Bible anywhere. But we stumble across it all the time when we read the Bible. It's just there in front of us. And in Isaiah 61, the Bible said, then the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me.
[9:29] Spirit, Lord, me. God the Father. The Spirit of God has anointed me to preach the tithes. He has sent me. Jesus will say that in the New Testament.
[9:40] My Father sent me. There's your Trinity. I look, if you would, in Isaiah chapter 61 and verse 1. And notice the ministry of Jesus in our lives. Because though this is an Old Testament promise, and we're going to go back to it if we get time tonight.
[9:54] And we're going to see how it works in Israel. It's also for us. And it was also very true because he lays out the ministry. And then Jesus said, this is about me. So look, if you would. But he says he came to preach good tidings, good news.
[10:09] Can I just remind you, you got a message of good news? Did you realize Jesus stood up in front of those people and he read this passage of Scripture and he stopped and he said, y'all have seen it fulfilled. And he said, I'm here to give good news.
[10:21] I'm not here to say, God hates you. I did not come into the world to condemn the world. Because the world's already condemned. I came into the world to save the world. So Jesus is here with good news. Jesus came to bind up the brokenhearted.
[10:34] Isaiah chapter 61 and verse 2. Jesus came to say, let me set you free. Not a one of us ever has to be a slave to sin. Not a one of us has to say, I can't defeat drunkenness.
[10:47] I can't defeat pornography. I can't defeat the pride and the arrogance in my life. I can't have victory over sin because we've been set free. Look at what your Bible says. He said, proclaim liberty to the captives and opening of the prison to them that are bound.
[11:02] And guess what he came to preach? The acceptable year of the Lord. We're in a daze right now where the Lord God is letting the gospel run and letting people be saved. And people all over the world can hear the gospel and be saved.
[11:16] And look at the beauty of what he does. Verse 3. He gives beauty for ashes. Beauty for ashes. Sin destroyed us. Sin left us burned.
[11:27] Sin left us defeated. Sin left us in the floor. But he gives beauty for that. We were mourning and Jesus gives us the oil of joy. We were heavy and we get the garments of praise.
[11:40] And here's why. I hope you'll mark this in Isaiah chapter 61 and verse 3. That he might be glorified. Would you take your Bible and open that? He said, do all that. That Jesus, that God might be glorified.
[11:54] But in the ministry of Jesus, he stops and divides it because there's two comings. He came the first time as a suffering Savior. He came the first time to seek and save that which is lost.
[12:07] He's coming another time to bring judgment on the earth. He came that first time and born in a manger, born in a stable.
[12:18] He comes the next time to sit on a throne and to rule and reign. And the verse says, the day of vengeance of our God. The day of vengeance of our God.
[12:28] That's the second coming. That's the tribulation period when the whole world, probably half of the world's population will be killed in less than seven years. This world will suffer like it's never suffered before.
[12:40] The day of vengeance. If you want to know what's going to happen, hang on to chapter 63. And we'll get around to that in a day or so. But we still live in the acceptable day of the Lord.
[12:53] It is our opportunity to preach the gospel till Jesus comes. You know, are allowed to walk up to people and say, there's still time to be saved. Today is a day of salvation.
[13:05] Now is the accepted time and you can be saved. We must work because we know that the day of vengeance is coming soon. Hell is moving. Death is coming.
[13:16] People are going to die and they're going to go to hell. And go back with me to Isaiah chapter 61 and verse 3 if you would. Isaiah 61 and verse 3. This is written primarily to Israel.
[13:27] There's application to us and we know that from the New Testament. But Isaiah is a preacher in the Old Testament. And Isaiah is preaching to the nation of Israel. And Jesus will take that passage out of Scripture and apply that to himself, which means it definitely means that.
[13:43] But now we go right back to the passage of Scripture and Isaiah keeps on preaching. Look at what it says in verse 3. To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion.
[13:54] Do you have your Bible open? Underline that. Mourn where? Mourn in Zion. You got your Bible open? Go to chapter 62 and verse 1. So you know context because we're Bible students.
[14:07] In chapter 62 and verse 1, For Zion's sake I will not hold my peace. For Jerusalem's sake I will not rest. Primary application.
[14:17] They have just returned from the captivity. Their land is being rebuilt. But this is going to take it so much further than just returning from 70 years of captivity. This is going to take it so much further than any of that.
[14:28] Look at Isaiah 61.6. He's going to name Israel. Look at this. Israel who doesn't love God. Israel who has turned her back on God.
[14:39] Israel who rejected Jesus as their Savior. He's going to save them. Read the Bible. Romans chapter 9, 10, 11. He's going to save them. Call them back. And it says, look at what it says in verse 6. You shall be named the priest of the Lord.
[14:53] Underline that. Priest of the Lord. You're going to be the people that work between God and man. And man and God. And men shall call you the ministers of our God. That's what's going to happen.
[15:06] Let me skip down to the last part of the verse and we'll come back to the middle real quick in just a second. An everlasting joy. Now go back if you were in the middle of that verse. You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles.
[15:18] Y'all can't take this away from Israel. That Gentiles, that's the nations. That's all the non-Israeli people. And he said, you Jewish people are going to get all the riches of the Gentiles. All the nations.
[15:29] And in their glory shall you boast yourselves. What they bragged about, you get to brag about. Verse 7. Look at it. You shall have double. You shall have double.
[15:40] You shall possess double. I got big plans. You have been a beat up nation. You've been a despised nation. You've been a mistreated nation. You've been taken off into captivity. No one's liked you.
[15:51] But I got big plans for you. And I got everlasting joy will be unto you. Chapter 61 and verse 4. They return and they rebuild. They build the old waste places.
[16:02] The old waste. They raise up former desolations. And they repair waste cities. Israel will be served by the world. Right now the whole world just about hates Israel.
[16:12] They're all around them. They don't like them. I meet church people all the time. I meet some of you sometimes. They're like, we don't like them. And this is what God's going to say. There's coming a time. Watch this. Look if you would. 61.5.
[16:24] And strangers, foreigners, non-Israelis shall stand and they will feed your flocks. And the sons of the alien, the foreigners, they will be your plowmen and your dressers, vine dressers.
[16:35] And you will become the spiritual leader and spiritual center of the world. Priest and ministers. God will bless Israel greatly with the riches of the world.
[16:47] Look at verse 6 again. Eat the riches of the Gentiles. Glory, you'll boast. 7. Your shame. And for your shame, for the way you've been mistreated, you will have double.
[16:58] And it's not a temporary thing. Verse 7. Everlasting joy. I'm just about fed up with all these fake offerings y'all been giving me. I hate robbery for burnt offerings.
[17:08] I want you to do right. I want you to do right. And finally, everyone's going to realize that Israel is the nation of God. His people.
[17:19] Look at Isaiah 61.9. And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, among the pagans, among the nations, and their offspring among the people. And all that see them shall acknowledge them and say, they are the seed of the seed which the Lord has blessed.
[17:37] God's going to give Israel great joy. Chapter 61 and verse 10. And everybody will know they're God's people. Look at chapter 61 and verse 11. The Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all nations.
[17:52] So let me just tell you, Israel's day is coming. Israel's coming back. And in Romans chapter 11, he said, they didn't do right. I pulled them off and I stuck you in the vine.
[18:03] I stuck you into the vine and you're going to provoke them to jealousy. And don't you get to being real boastful because if I took them out, I can take you out. And then all Israel will be saved. And God's going to do these great and mighty things.
[18:15] You know what God's doing right now? He is giving us the opportunity to carry the gospel. We have the opportunity. Gentiles and Jews that form the church have the opportunity of carrying the gospel.
[18:26] But God has big plans to bring Israel back and to bring salvation and preaching. So you and I need to say, man, we don't have long. Let's use our time.
[18:37] I don't know when it's going to end. I don't know when God's going to say, that's it. You guys are off the field and the real team is back on the field. You, your replacements, you substitute step out of the way. God's people are going to step in.
[18:47] So let's do our job. Isaiah was supposed to keep preaching for Israel's sake. Look at Isaiah chapter 62 verse 1. For Zion's sake, for Jerusalem's sake.
[19:01] Isaiah chapter 62 and verse 2. The nations will see what God is doing. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness. All the kings thy glory. And they shall be called by a new name, which is the mouth of the Lord shall give you.
[19:13] And Jerusalem, you're going to be a crown of glory and a royal diadem. Jerusalem, you have been abused and mistreated. They were warned. If you don't honor God, all the way back in the books of the law, they were warned.
[19:26] If you don't honor God, he will not honor you. If you don't honor God, he will throw you away. If you don't do what you're supposed to as a nation, Israel, people will walk by you and shake their head and say, what happened to God's people? And you'll be called forsaken.
[19:38] But Isaiah says, I got hope for you. Look at verse 4. No more will you be called forsaken. No more will you be desolate. But now the Lord will delight in you. So Isaiah's like, man, I got to keep preaching this.
[19:51] Hope is coming. God's got big plans. I'm going to keep preaching. Look at chapter 62 and verse 6. I have set watchmen upon the walls, and they shall never hold their peace.
[20:02] Don't stop preaching to Jerusalem. You that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence. Don't rest till he establishes. So he do everything he said he was going to do.
[20:12] So Isaiah's like, guys, you watchful on the walls, preach. God's still going to use our people. Preach. You that still love Jesus, keep announcing that Jesus has plans to use us.
[20:24] If they ought to do that, how much should I do that? I know that the Lord's got plans. I know God's going to do stuff. I don't want to quit. I don't want to rest. Let me tell you how we do it.
[20:36] Isaiah chapter 62 and verse 8. They acted confidently because they knew God said it. You see, when you know God says it, you can act on it. Look at 62.8.
[20:47] The Lord has sworn by his right hand and by the arm of his strength, surely I will no more give your corn to the enemies. I will no more let the sons of foreigners drink your wine.
[20:59] I will no more let people take away what you've worked for. But they that gathered it will eat it. And praise the Lord, God's got big plans for you. Now, he said, y'all can stand and preach this because I'm not the one telling you to.
[21:11] The Lord has raised his right hand and said, I swear to you, Israel, I got big plans for you. I'm going to do things with you. Chapter 62 and verse 10.
[21:22] Go through the gates. Prepare the way of the people. Lift up a standard. Verse 11. The Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world. Say to the daughter of Zion, your salvation comes.
[21:34] God's people are going to be greatly blessed. They shall call them the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, and they shall be called sought out, a city, not forsaken.
[21:48] So real quick, two minutes. Here's what's going to happen. Israel's on the sidelines. She's been on the sidelines a long time because she disobeyed God and didn't honor God. And as a nation, God's put her on the sideline and God brought in the church and this church is busy trying to get the gospel around the world.
[22:05] And the nation of Israel is looking on and saying, according to Romans chapter 11, the nation of Israel is looking on and saying, how can God use them? We're God's people. And God said, you just keep doing it until they get jealous enough to start doing what they're supposed to do. And then one day they're going to wake up and say, I'm not about to let, I'm not about to let them Gentiles do what God meant for my people to do.
[22:22] And they're going to rise up and they're going to start doing the ministry and they're going to do that. And Jesus came that first time to die on a cross. He's coming the next time to rule on a throne. He came the first time to die the next time he's coming.
[22:34] And he's going to honestly just keep reading in Isaiah. There's going to be destruction. There's going to be, the whole world is going to be whipped because God's going to say, you people have been making fun of me. You people have been making fun of my truth and I'm not putting up with it.
[22:46] And he's going to set up this kingdom and put Israel in place. And all of a sudden, hang on, there's probably going to be even some geographical changes made on the globe.
[22:57] And Israel may just rise up even higher from the way the scriptures talk. And everybody's going to flow to Israel from all over the world to say, teach us. Now we won't be doing it because we'll be taken out of here. But the world will hear from Israel.
[23:10] You can know God. You can know God. We're on God's timetable. By the way, the whole year of Jubilee was to remind you, you're not so smart and you don't know everything and things don't belong to you.
[23:21] Things belong to God and you don't get to claim it. And we took it because God's allowed us to carry the gospel. But God's bringing back the nation of Israel to carry the gospel to the end. And we ought to say, man, like God, like Isaiah said, I can confidently preach because the Lord swore it, because the Lord raised his hand, because the Lord with his strength gave his word.
[23:42] And I know God's going to bless our ministry because it's his ministry. We're just doing his job, telling everybody about Jesus, telling them they can be saved. Father in heaven, I love you.