The Spirit of the Lord is Upon Me

Silicon Valley Reformed Baptist Church

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Good morning church. If you have a Bible, please turn to Luke chapter 4

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Starting in verse 14. We're gonna be reading this morning

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Luke chapter 4 14 to 22 When you have that, please do stand for the reading of God's Word Again Luke chapter 4 starting verse 14 here ye this morning the

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Word of the Lord and And Jesus returned in the spirit and the power of the

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Spirit of Galilee and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country He taught in their synagogues being glorified by all he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up as He was as was his custom.

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He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day. He stood up to read The scroll of the

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Prophet Isaiah was given to him He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written

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The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor

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He has set me to proclaim Liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind and set at liberty those who are oppressed

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And to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor He rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him and he began to say to them today

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This scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing He's and he and all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth and they said

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Is not this? Joseph's son This is the word of the

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Lord. You may be seated Gracious father.

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We do come before you asking and pleading the mercies of your son Jesus upon the hearts of your people

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Asking Lord that you would be gracious this morning to illuminate in our hearts and our minds the teaching and the proclamation

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Of this good news at the spirit of the Lord was indeed upon The servant of the

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Lord even Jesus Christ our beloved Savior that the Lord Jesus was anointed with power from on high to proclaim that only the truth and the majesty of The of God the

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Father but also Lord to bring liberty to those who were held captive we ask the

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Lord now that you would illuminate our hearts and our minds with this good news of liberty of the proclamation of the good news

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That Jesus Christ is King and it is indeed the year of his Jubilee and we ask these things in his name.

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Amen brothers and sisters last week we encountered the

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Gospel of Luke chapter 4 it begins with this climactic face -off between the

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Lord Jesus Christ God the Son and Satan the enemy of the faith and what we see that what resulted from that Face to face with that powerful contention between the

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Son of Man and the Son of Darkness Was that what overcame the temptations?

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Was Jesus operating in the fullness of the Spirit as it says in Luke chapter 4 verse 1 and Jesus Full the

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Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness God's Spirit working in Christ was able to overcome the

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Obstacles set forth by the enemy and now in this next leg of the of the story

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We see that Jesus now coming out of the wilderness out of the waters of baptism is now going

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To begin to fulfill his ministry it says in verse 14 and Jesus returned in the power of the

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Spirit to Galilee and A report about him went throughout all their surrounding country several months ago there was a

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Movement that started at a college. I think it was in Kentucky the

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Asbury Revival and everyone was talking about this for about three weeks Because it's very exciting.

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It was very new It was very fresh and if it had it not been me mentioning it to you just now you would not have remembered that event that Revival that came and swept through this college for about three weeks

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Notice the difference between true revival and That which is often fleeting in modern

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Christendom when Jesus returned After coming out of the wilderness

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Having been baptized by John the Baptist He returned in the power of the

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Spirit and a report about him went through all the surrounding country the the mere mention of Jesus Was beginning to sweep through all the country so that his name was being magnified and glorified

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And it says and he taught in their synagogues being glorified by all You see

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Jesus led a true revival he led a true movement that was based upon the power and anointing of the

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Spirit and not just the fleeting emotion of religious fervor

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And it's interesting in this day and time That many many of us would like to be caught up in religious fervor when we look at American history

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Americans America's history is littered with so -called revivals and so -called religious fervor

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We see in the Great Awakening in the 1700s of Jonathan Edwards the true spiritual waking that happened around that time with the

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Puritans Then we see the counterfeit about a hundred years later in the 1800s 1820s about the 1818 60s

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You have all these false movements is what's called in American history. The great second great awakening

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And it was a second great awakening to false teaching. You have the rise of Adventism You have the rise of Mormonism.

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You have the rise of Christian science. You have all the rise of these false Counterfeit religious movements

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Jehovah's Witnesses also come out of that tradition in American history all things that were not founded upon the power and anointing of the

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Spirit of Holiness And we look at Jesus we see the footprint of true spiritual revival and Jesus was operating in the power of the

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Spirit just as he was in chapter 4 verse 1 when he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for a time of testing

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Now here's the key brothers and sisters true revival stands the test of time

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It stands a test of time Just as Christ stood at the test of temptation and the test of time itself

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For we're about 2 ,000 years removed from these events and here we are Proclaiming it unto you reading from Holy Scripture declaring to you the words of our

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Lord and Savior Jesus Christ even this morning You're following along in the insert in the notes that was given to you this morning by one of our attendants after the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness he returned in the power of the

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Spirit and News about him spread You see it's only when we have true reliance on God's Spirit To overcome temptation that we receive a more godly power and reputation

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Jesus was operating in the Spirit. Therefore because he was in the Spirit. It could be said that he was being glorified by all

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Because the job of the Holy Spirit is to point to Jesus Christ To point hearts to point men and women to faith in Christ And this is why then it is said that he came to his hometown to Nazareth Where he had been brought up and as it was the custom according to verse 16

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He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day. He stood up to read now. How exciting would that be?

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Now, you know if you were a member of the synagogue in Nazareth, you probably knew about Jesus you probably remember

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Jesus as as As a child he was that kid who was just too perfect The goody two -shoe, you know, we all know those types, right?

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And and he was the kid that was perfect in every way And so when he came back to the synagogue, how would he likely have been received?

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He went to the synagogue. He stood up to read so he was obviously one of Reputation because he was first of all allowed to read in the synagogue, which was a place of honor which was a place that was only distinguished for those who were qualified to come and do the reading and It says he was given a scroll in verse 17 the scroll of the

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Prophet Isaiah was given to him He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written

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I just wanted to have you picture this scene for a moment. Have you seen paintings? Maybe you've seen that illustrated in movies of this grand scene where Jesus is entering the synagogue.

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He comes to the front interestingly enough oftentimes synagogues didn't have a

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Center or a pulpit like we do but instead their place was in the middle of the congregation

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Not at the back or front. They were usually placed in the middle in ancient synagogues

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And so you have the Lord Jesus Christ coming into the synagogue being handed the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah.

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He unrolls the scroll Now with great anticipation people are likely wanting to know what he's about to read

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Back in those days scripture didn't have chapter and verses. This is a more modern invention thanks to The modern printing press but he was given the scroll he goes and he searches and he finds

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The right scripture for the right occasion And what does he do?

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he reads these incredible words of the Prophet Isaiah The spirit of the

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Lord is upon me do you see the theme starting all the way back in verse 4 and Jesus full of the

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Holy Spirit what precedes that in chapter 3 prior to the genealogy is the baptism of Christ Where you have the manifestation of the

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Holy Trinity the Father's voice booming from heaven declaring This is my son the spirit of holiness the sending bodily in the form of a dove upon the

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Christ the Messiah who is being baptized by John the Baptist and upon this

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Christ upon this Person is coming upon the spirit of power

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So that in verse 14 after he overcomes the machinations of the devil

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He is now returning and operating in the power of the Spirit in Galilee going to Nazareth Declaring the good news that the spirit of the

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Lord the spirit of Yahweh the spirit of Jehovah Has come upon his servant that prophecy is being fulfilled brothers and sisters one of the

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Exciting things about the scriptures One of the exciting things about this point in the narrative of Luke is that Jesus is demonstrating that Bible prophecy is not only

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Reliable but it is true and it was happening before the very eyes of those to whom he was ministering to one thing that I don't want us to overlook is the

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Custom that Jesus observed here in verse 16 when he went to Nazareth He as it was his custom went to the synagogue on the

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Sabbath day and he stood up to read If you're following notice, I want you to notice this Jesus was faithful in his attendance

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Jesus was faithful in his attendance You know, it's often interesting when I look at religious movements and so -called revivals in America It's often led by people who are not very faithful in their attendance

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To a local church Oftentimes these are individuals who are often very critical of the church whose

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Favorite preachers are only those the ones that they can see on YouTube or they can hear on the radio and there are those who are very critical of the church and who are not faithful who don't have a custom of being regularly part of a local church and having that accountability and It's often those who who are the loudest critics of the church who thinks that they're the ones who are going to be leading a so -called revival

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Brothers and sisters revival isn't gonna happen outside It's gonna happen inside If you want to see where revival starts it starts in the heart

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It starts when God by his spirit moves and works in you

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Moves and works in your homes moves and works in your family moves and works at your job moves and works in your church

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This is how revival starts now I don't like using this term over and over again

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But it is a term that is used often in Christendom today this term of revival, but I want to contrast how

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Jesus operates Because he is the standard for spiritual revival and Jesus was faithful in his attendance at the synagogue as was his custom

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This was his custom Was to be faithful to going to the synagogue or church

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Church is just a interesting angle word, which just means congregation sometimes when we read the scriptures we tend to delineate or distinguish between the congregation of Israel and the church that we see in the

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New Testament But really the word just means the same means assembly means congregation And so Christ was faithful to his congregation

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Christians must also make it our aim to not forsake the gathering and reading of Scripture Because that is the custom of many to forsake the gathering of ourselves now it depends on your walk of the

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Lord right now as to Whether you have a godly custom or an ungodly custom a

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Godly custom of regularly meeting is a good thing. It is what Christ said. This is the standard that he set in his own life

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Yet there is a custom that is unholy that is ungodly and that is to forsake the gathering ourselves as we see in Hebrews chapter 10 verses 23 and 25 and where we are incited not to forsake the gathering of ourselves as many have grown accustomed to But to continue to draw near to love to incite to love and good works as the day

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Itself is drawing near what day? Well brothers and sisters are two days that the scriptures point us to There's a day

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There is the day when we meet him face -to -face And all of us will have to give an account and there is today

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Where it is instructed do not harden your hearts as in the days of rebellion but instead yield to the instruction to the guidance of the

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Spirit of God as Christ was led by the Spirit of God it led him to having godly customs

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Godly arrangements in his life So then should we also follow in the footsteps of our

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Savior? But not forsaking their gathering of ourselves and in and also just as importantly the reading of Holy Scripture Jesus went to the synagogue as was his custom and he read from the

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Scriptures No wonder then we were also instructed to his brothers and sisters in Christ by the church by the

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Scriptures not to forsake the gathering and also not to forsake the reading of Scripture as If it becomes a custom in our lives it would lead us to spiritual emptiness

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The Lord Jesus Christ on this solemn occasion in Nazareth Starting in verse 18 as it is written

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He quotes from the prophet Isaiah and he reads these words from the prophet. The Spirit of the

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Lord is upon me The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.

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I want you if you can turn to Isaiah chapter 61 we're gonna look at verse 1 and 2 the prophet

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Isaiah receiving the word from the Lord regarding the year of Jubilee the year of favor and It says the

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Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted

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To proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound to proclaim

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The year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our

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God To comfort all who mourn I want to read verse 3 as well and to grant to those who mourn in Zion To give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes the oil of gladness

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Instead of mourning the garment of praise Instead of a faint spirit that they may be called oaks of righteousness the planting of the

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Lord that he may be glorified what a precious and Exciting prophecy we see here from the prophet

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Isaiah Imagine then one in the first century in the synagogue

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Maybe being familiar with this text of scripture read having it read to them hearing it read by Jesus Christ What would be their anticipation

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What would be their expectation of the fulfillment of these words? How would they think that this was going to come to fruition?

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How would they have perceived? This prophecy Well the exciting thing about this prophecy is that Jesus reading from the prophets

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Yeah, I want you following all the notes. You can write this in Jesus reads from the prophet Isaiah Where the

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Messiah would be? Anointed by the Spirit of God This is how

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Isaiah opens up this prophecy the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed Me the word anointed is much as Messiah the

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Messiah Christ He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor so then

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Jesus reads from the prophet Isaiah where the Messiah would be anointed by the Spirit of God to preach good news to the poor

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God foretold exactly what would happen and the prophet Isaiah is writing this 700 years before Christ Showing that must that the

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Bible prophecy would be fulfilled in the future would be fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ That God's Word God's promise that he would anoint his servant

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He would anoint him with the Spirit of holiness to preach good news to the poor Now some have asked me this question before maybe you may have a similar question

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Why is it that God is only bringing good news to the poor? What about the rich?

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What about the middle class? What about those who are well -off? Does God not care about them? Brothers and sisters.

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We are all poor We are all poor even the richest among us are poor in Comparison to the weights and the glory and the power of the one who came to save us

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Jesus Christ Because all the riches all the gold all the silver all the cowed on a thousand hills belongs to him

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Your wealth is not your own. It is his Your family is not your own.

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It is his your life is not your own. It is his it all belongs to him You are poor no matter how rich you think you may be and What this is actually speaking to is the condition of the human soul

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Spiritually we are all poor apart from Christ No wonder then

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Jesus says blessed are the poor in spirit Blessed are they why why are they those who are poor in spirit blessed?

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Because they shall be filled It is those who are poor Another translation of this it says blessed of the

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Sermon on Mount in Matthew 5 3 Where says blessed are the poor one translation says blessed are those who know their spiritual condition

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Blessed are those who know their spiritual condition who know that they are they have no Spiritual riches apart from Christ that spiritually we are all depraved and Are in need of the riches of Christ Reminds you of the scripture that says though he was rich speaking of Christ He became poor on our behalf so that we might in him become the riches of God in Christ That is the hope that we have that God has brought good news to the poor

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And that's you and that's me because apart from him. We are all poor This is why the

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Prophet Isaiah could say the Lord is anointed the Lord God The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the

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Lord has anointed me. What has he been anointed for? What would be the Messiah anointed to do he would be anointed to bring forth good news to the poor and here comes

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Christ The Son of Man at the right time in history being brought forth inaugurated by John the

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Baptist in his baptism And he comes proclaiming that only is the kingdom of God near but behold the kingdom of God is here

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Jesus is the inauguration of God's kingdom and this idea of the kingdom of God in the hands of Jesus Christ is

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The central theme of Luke's gospel it is under every layer of almost every narrative that Luke brings up That again

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Christ would come and proclaim good news to the poor is in beautiful fulfillment of Bible prophecy

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For that's exactly what Jesus comes to do when Jesus comes in his earthly ministry

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He comes literally to speak to the poor to those who are downtrodden not just those who are spiritually poor

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But also those who were particularly poor in his day and time he bypasses the powerful infrastructure of the day through the

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Pharisaical system and the Sadducees and the political system of Rome this political system of Herod He bypasses all those things and he goes straight to the people

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He goes straight to the people now if you studied history and you studied revolutions in history the

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Revolutions that have succeeded are the ones that appeal not to power but to people

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For better or for worse when we saw the communist revolution in Cuba or in China These were movements that inspired the working class that inspired the poor in the desolate but ultimately

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Disenfranchises them ultimately leads them down a road of destruction and and Destitution but what

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Jesus does is the opposite? He goes straight to the people those who are most oppressed those who are most hurt those who are most in need of hearing

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Good news And he lifts them up with the Spirit of God and with the good news that The kingdom of God is coming to undo the effects of the kingdom of man

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Jesus is the true Revolutionary, but not the revolutionary in the sense of how we see it portrayed in the 20th century or in the 21st century but rather he's a true revolutionary a true revivalist and that he comes to revolutionize and Revitalize the human soul

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And he does so from the inside out because the work of the Spirit isn't merely external but rather it's internal and the same internal work that was operating in Jesus can now operate in you and me as sons and daughters of the

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Most High God This is the good news That Christ has come to preach good news to the poor.

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He has sent He was sent to bind up the broken -hearted Friends Maybe some of us today are

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Dealing with some heartbreak. Maybe some of us today are dealing with some issues in our homes in our lives

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And I want you to know That salvation doesn't come From anyone else from your spouse from your children from your job

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Doesn't come from anything Externally that this world can offer but rather it will come from the only one who can truly bind up broken hearts and that's the

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Lord Jesus Christ and That's the one who I proclaim to you today who can break who can bind up the broken -hearted

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Jesus is the answer to broken heartedness And he has come for this purpose

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To bind up to heal the broken -hearted and to proclaim liberty to the captives

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Who are those captives? Well, first and foremost those who are captive to sin those who are captive to the fallen nature

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So you're following along in the notes the good news of the Messiah is liberty to the captives

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To proclaim liberty to the captives What can that mean well think of it in the sense of of war when there are those who are held captive prisoners of war and the

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Army comes and delivers them from captivity brings freedom to them and the opening of the prison to those who are bound this is the undoing of injustice, this is the undoing of Captivity and Jesus comes to proclaim liberty freedom to the captives.

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Now. This has a obvious spiritual sense all of us our sons prior to Christ our sons of wrath every single one of us

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Ephesians 2 says that we were all at one time objects of wrath

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Alienated from the promises of God alienated from the promises of Christ, but God being rich in mercy.

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What did he do? He made us who were captives captive to sin captive to the fallen nature he made us alive in Christ and Seated us in heavenly places in Christ.

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Not only does he make us alive Through the gospel through the proclamation of liberty, but he also seats us with Christ So not only does he raise you from the dead spiritually and he says does he breathe new life into through the spirit of holiness?

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But he seats you next to him you who were once an object of wrath

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You who were once a son of perdition a son of destruction We're now brought all made alive and brought near to Christ and seated next to Christ That's our inheritance as the children of God Such graces is unsearchable, you cannot even begin to fathom that God will turn to his enemies you and me in Adam and Seat us next to him as co -regents co -rulers with Christ This is indeed a message of good news of liberty to the captives meaning salvation

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For all those who are held captive by sin and death Paul writes this you don't have to turn there but Paul writes this in 2nd

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Timothy a powerful statement of the gospel from 2nd

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Timothy chapter 1 and verse 8 where Paul writes the following says therefore Do not be ashamed of the testimony about our

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Lord nor of me his prisoner So here's Paul actually a literal prisoner at this point of his ministry but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God who saved us and Called us to a holy calling not because of our works

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But because of his own purpose and grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began

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It's powerful witness and testimony of the sovereignty of God at play verse 10

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Which now being has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus who what?

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abolished death Abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel

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This is the message of liberty to the captives that God has brought forth

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Salvation from to those who have been called according to his purposes who have received his holy calling not due to works

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But because of his own sovereign decree and purpose Which he worked out and gave us in Christ before the ages began

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If you ever ask yourself, what's the what's that? What's at the heart of Calvin of Calvinism? What's at the heart of reformed theology?

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What's at the heart of the doctrines of grace and it's this that God's purpose and plan in Christ includes you and me

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That in Christ you were chosen before the foundation of the world for the excellencies of his own name so that the glorification of God's name

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You and I were included in this Holy Call Not by the works not by pedigree not by anything you can do or achieve

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But according to God's own sovereign decree and will God purpose all things

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So that Christ may ultimately receive the glory and God is glorified when he saves

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Sinners that he leads Captives free and he brings good news to the poor.

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God is glorified when the things of the when the mundane Day -to -day people of this world are turned upside down and are transformed to be like Christ To be people who operate in the spirit of holiness just as Christ was operating in the spirit of holiness

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The good news of the Messiah is liberty to the captives meaning salvation for all those held captive by sin and death

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This is the good news brothers and sisters That though we are fallen though we are

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Broken and mired by the fall of Adam and Eve We have hope of deliverance

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We have hope that there is one who has come to deliver us from sin and his name is

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Jesus and that by faith in him and Only by faith in him

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Can we obtain the inheritance of being called a child of God?

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It's only through faith in Jesus Christ friends It's not Jesus and something else as we learned this morning in our

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Sunday school One of the errors of Roman Catholicism is that they say rightly the gospel is about the resurrection of Christ But where they are is they say it's

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Jesus and the church. It's Jesus and Mary it's

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Jesus and Intercession for Saints, it's Jesus and all these myriads of other things where we stand on the truth of Scripture We stand on the historic profession of faith by the

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Reformers that it's Christ and Christ alone. Amen It's Christ alone

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We stand on that. This is the good news that it is Christ alone Who saves it is in Christ alone that you can be saved and it's

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Christ alone who actually saves Therefore as we look at this exciting time in Scripture in back in our main text in Luke chapter 4

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Jesus again quoting from the prophet Isaiah in verse 19 He's quotes this part of great interest to me to proclaim the year of the

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Lord's favor in other words this was referred to in ancient times in Leviticus chapter 25 verse 8 through 10 as a

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Jubilee and the word jubilee means a ram's horn a ram's horn trumpet and it is a

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Cycle of seven year cycles. So in the Bible you have the you you have

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Sabbaths You have the weekly Sabbath which in ancient Israel was on Saturday And it was the day of creation which

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God rested from his works You have that seven year or that seven day cycle of a week then you also have a yearly Sabbath or a seven years

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Seven year Sabbath, which was called the Shemitah in Hebrew This is

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Shemitah is a seven year cycle of sevens and then you would have Seven cycles of seven years which would bring you to 49 years and in the

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Bible. This is where property sold Due to debt would be returned to the original tribe or family

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And it was a time when all debt was to be wiped out totally. This is was called a jubilee

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It's times in which debts in Scripture were to be wiped out told now imagine if we had that system here

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That would be pretty great We'd be a pretty pretty great system In fact, we actually have a little bit of resemblance of that system in our own economic system for instance if if you ever had to Default on a payment or a debt you would be told that that would stay on your record for about seven years

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So it'll be on your credit reporting on your credit report for about seven years

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Where do they get that number from it's not arbitrary actually comes from Scripture It comes from an understanding of the seven year cycles that was ingrained in early

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American history and how we dealed with debts in our In our history as a nation looking to the scriptures for the answers

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And so you have here a declaration of a Jubilee the prophet Isaiah following the notes the prophet

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Isaiah also prophesied that the Messiah's appearance would be a year of the Lord's favor or a

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Jubilee, it's a year of the Lord's favor or a

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Jubilee Which is a time of liberty in the Old Testament Why because again the

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Jubilee the seven cycles of seven years 49 years were property sold Dude, that would be returned to the original tribe or family

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It was a time when all debt would be systematically wiped out. Everyone had a clean start

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No one had any debt anymore and then the cycle would begin again and continue for these cycles

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The observance of the seven -year cycles was also one of the reasons that led to Israel's destruction

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The first time in the hands of the Babylonians because they were not observing the seven -year cycles of Sabbaths They were not allowing one of the things that was required was that they were to allow the land to rest for a year

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And they were not following that Shemitah law. They were not following that Jubilee Therefore God when he wiped them out the first time by the hands of the

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Babylonians He took back the land for exactly the same amount of time in Which they had not been fulfilling their obligation and allowing the land to rest

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Therefore when it is said in Scripture that they were taken out of the land. It was for the purposes that the land may rest

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So the land may observe that Sabbath So the land may observe that Jubilee that the Israelites were not fulfilling the obligation for In the same way when we look at the at the prophet

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Isaiah when we look at the person and work of Jesus Christ we understand this that Jesus was to come as a

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Jubilee as one who was declaring the year of the Lord's favor, but it wouldn't just be one year

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It wouldn't be just one fleeting Jubilee Christ was inaugurating in his salvific work in his death in his life ministry death barren resurrection

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He was bringing forth a Jubilee that would never be brought to an end He was bringing forth the

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Jubilee of Jubilees namely salvation for all those who are held captive Salvation to those who are oppressed

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Salvation to those who are blind and salvation for the year of the

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Lord's favor This is the Jubilee of Jubilees When would this happen?

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When would this be fulfilled brothers and sisters? verse 20 of Luke 4

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He wrote up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him and He began to say

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Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing brothers and sisters

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What Christ is declaring is now is the year of Jubilee.

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I have brought it I have inaugurated now is the year of the Lord's favor or As it is said elsewhere in Scripture Today if you hear his voice

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Do not harden your hearts Brother, when is the year when is the day or the year of the

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Lord's favor? Today while it is still called today Every day in which you have been given the gift of life

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Every day in which you have been awakened by the mercies of God and you have life and breath and vitality in your lungs

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That is the day in the year of the Lord's favor therefore turn to him

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Turn to him Daily turn to him even if you're a Christian turn to him if you're not a

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Christian turn to him Turn to him while it is still called today

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Because there is only again two days that truly matter today what you do with it and That day when you stand before him

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For several years. I was a counselor at an addiction treatment center a Christian treatment center in Edmonton, Canada And where we were minister to about 50 different men from all ages from 18 all the way to their 80s

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Who have been struggling with drug or alcohol dependency? And one of the things that said in the recovery community whether it's a a and a

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Celebrate recovery or the program that we were running in Canada is And it's something that we encourage as well

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As we would ask the question How long have you been sober and one of the common responses is?

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I've been sober for this long, but also just for today Just for today, which is a way of saying

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I Got through today. I Don't know what tomorrow holds. I don't know what tomorrow is gonna bring

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But for today, I've made it my aim. I've made it my choice. I've made it my decision That I'm gonna be clean and I'm just gonna take it one day at a time brothers and sisters

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Today matters What you do with today has implications for tomorrow

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What you do today with Jesus has eternal implications and Every day that we awaken we have to make that conscious decision

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Today, I'm gonna choose to follow Jesus Scary words for a

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Calvinist I know But it's true We have to choose daily to walk in him walk with him be in him be found in him

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Not having a righteousness of our own but a righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus Christ that you daily walk with him

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For what does God require of us, but to love justice and to walk humbly with our

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God? He calls you he beckons you to walk with him It is still called today brothers and sisters.

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God has given you life and Because of that life you must choose whom you will serve today and may you make it your aim

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As it says in Joshua 24 that as for me in my house today We will serve the

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Lord Walk in him know him Proclaim with him the year of the

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Lord's favor to all those who are around us that God's favor has now come upon the nations through the proclamation of the gospel

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That's what Paul says in 2nd Timothy chapter 1 verse 8 through 10 that God has brought to light

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Life and immortality through what the gospel the gospel you want life and immortality in your life

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It's through the gospel You want to bring forth a message of hope to those who are downtrodden to those who are oppressed to those who are captive to those who are blind

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Bring the gospel It's the only thing that can make blind eyes to see

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It's the only thing that can bring captive souls to freedom and Liberty It's the only thing that can bring life to those who are oppressed

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It is the good news gospel that the spirit of the

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Lord has come upon his servants and The spirit of the Lord is working now in us

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Who through faith in God's chosen servant the Lord Jesus Christ in his deathbearing

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Resurrection we too may have life and immortality through the gospel of Jesus Christ This is indeed the hour of salvation

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Now as Paul says in 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 Now is the acceptable time now is the hour of salvation

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Now is the jubilee of the year of the Lord's favor.

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Amen Just to close up of our notes here.

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All eyes were fixed on Jesus as he proclaimed

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That they were witnessing the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy Know this about Jesus dear friends

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Jesus is the embodiment of all the promises of God in the Old Testament Jesus is indeed the very climax of Bible prophecy the one of whom

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John the Baptist said Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world that this

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Jesus was indeed the last prophet of his people Jesus Brothers and sisters.

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He's a big deal. He is everything. He is the centerpiece of civilization

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He's the centerpiece of theology He's a centerpiece of all that we do

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Not even unbelievers can outrun his influence because every time they write on a piece of paper the date they're writing the date 2023 year of our

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Lord AD. I don't domino the year of our Lord 2023 years since the supposed birth of Christ you can't outrun him

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You can't outrun him Jesus's influence is everywhere Because everything centers around him and notice that even those in the synagogue that day

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All their eyes were fixed on him and they were amazed at what he was saying verse 22

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It says and all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth.

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But get this notice how How they quickly begin to question and they said is not this

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Joseph's son Is this not Joseph's son or to say don't we know this guy?

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Didn't we see him as a boy? Didn't we see his life and and he is saying these marvelous things

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Which actually leads me to think that Christ was likely as a kid probably very quiet Probably very meek humble

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Outside of the example that we have when he goes to the temple We don't have much about his life as a young child or as a young adult

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But the fact that they're asking themselves this question, isn't this Joseph's son? Likely means that they were astonished not just by what

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Jesus was saying But how he was saying it and there's a stark difference between Jesus prior

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To his baptism and after his baptism So much so that they were they were in stark contrast in asking themselves the question.

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Is this not Joseph's son? Though Jesus astonishes made the last part of our notes

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Jesus astonishes many some found reason to doubt By pointing out that he did not come from a prominent family some

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Some even today may echo the uncertainty that others in this scripture have towards Jesus.

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I Want to encourage you brothers sisters. Don't be caught in these chairs. Just marveling at the words of Jesus So that you miss the life of Jesus which produces life and liberty for you

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Don't allow the criticism of others For where you came from Or if you came from a different family or different region deterred you from being all that God has planned for you to be

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I'm gonna give you a quick example of this Several years ago. We lived in Wisconsin in a small community in Door County Now Door County has about 30 ,000 people in it throughout the year in the summer

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It balloons to over a hundred thousand because it's a vacation spot in Wisconsin. It's kind of the Cape Cod of the

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Midwest So we moved there in the winter time and as we're getting to know people people very friendly one question that we got

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Reoccurring time and time again is they wanted to know my last name. I found that to be kind of strange

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You know, we don't necessarily have to go by last name so much in today's day and culture But they really asked me for my last name and now to give it to them and and I finally came to realize

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Why they kept asking me for the my last name. They wanted to see if I came from one of the ten or so prominent families

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That everyone knew about in town. I wasn't in Olson. I wasn't a lot in Bach. I wasn't what from one of these prominent families that everyone knew about that everyone knows and said that's kind of how though they'll treat you in this in This small community is is they'll they'll accept you.

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They'll love you They'll welcome you in but if you're not one of these names, you'll never really be truly one of us.

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I Think Jesus is encountering some of this as well when they're asking isn't this not Joseph's son like we know this guy

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Doesn't necessarily come from the most prominent of families. He was a carpenter by the way Joseph not someone of great worth probably didn't have a great net worth probably didn't have a huge inheritance to leave behind for his kids and his family and Yet That doesn't deter

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Jesus from proclaiming good news to the captives You see the naysayers couldn't stop the cross

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Nor could it stop the empty tomb and neither will it stop the children of God who are living in the year of the

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Lord's favor so beloved I Give you this charge Go proclaim the year of the

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Lord's favor regardless of where you come from regardless of the color of your skin

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Regardless of how much money you got in the bank regardless of your outward circumstances Proclaim the year of the

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Lord's favor for today is That year and we are in that Jubilee.

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Let us pray We thank you Lord Jesus for ushering in this grand

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Jubilee This grand time in which our debt can be wiped away through faith in you

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That we can observe this Jubilee this favor this year of proclamation

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Not just on any given day or time or year, but even now and forever

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That through faith in you we now have this inheritance of having Liberty when we were once captive having eyes to see when we were once blind and being given a new heart and Being having then having been removed then the heart of stone which kept us

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Alienated from you We thank you that you have ushered in this day in time

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The ministry and power of the Holy Spirit in the lives of your people since on that great day of Pentecost the

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Spirit of God has come down and descended upon your people perpetually and We ask

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God now that you would help us to live in the power and reality of the Spirit individually

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So that we may bring favor to your name and proclaim Liberty Even now for it is now the hour of salvation help us

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Lord in our endeavor to be proclaimers of your kingdom to proclaim the excellencies of your worth and also again to proclaim

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Liberty as the children of God Living in the year of the Lord's favor, and we pray these things in your most holy and precious name