If we'll turn your Bible back
to where the brother read there in Luke 4. Like to read this passage one more
time again in verse 14. Luke 4, verse 14. And Jesus returned
in the power of the Spirit unto Galilee. And there went out a
frank fame of him through all the region around about. And
he taught in their synagogues and being glorified of all. And
he come to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as his
custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day
and stood up for to read. and there was delivered to him
the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book,
he found a place where it was written. The spirit of the Lord
is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the
poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he
gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of
all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he
began to say unto them, This day is a scripture fulfilled
in your ears. You know, this day and age that
we live in, there's many that preach about a man named Jesus
in this world. But I like to always remind myself
of the Lord Jesus that the Scriptures talk about. If you would, hold
your place here and look at Matthew 1. Verse 18. It says, now the birth of Jesus
Christ was on this wise, when as his mother Mary was his spouse
to Joseph, before they come together, she was found with child as a
holy ghost. Then down in verse 21 of the
same chapter, and she shall bring forth a son, and they shall call
his name Jesus. for he shall save his people
from their sins. Now all this was done that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet
saying, listen to this. This is the Christ of the Bible.
Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a
son and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted
is God with us. You know, our Lord Jesus, he
started his earthly ministry when he was about 30 years old.
Second Corinthians 5.19 says that God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and
hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. The word of
reconciliation means the restoration of friendly relations. You know,
in Adam's sin, all the seed of Adam, they died spiritually,
and we were separated from our holy God. But we were reunited,
and that was made possible through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
You know, the word world does not mean that Christ effectively
bore the sins of every person and reconciled every son of Adam
by his death. If that was true, everybody would
be saved. But he reconciled the world in
a sense that he redeemed a people out of every crime and kindred
and nation. and not only the Jews only. Our
Lord Jesus Christ says in Matthew, thank not that I have come to
destroy the law, the law wasn't weak, the flesh was weak. For
the prophets I have not come to destroy, but to fulfill. And
the Lord Jesus Christ, he is our substitute, he's our representative,
he's our mediator. with God, where he said in John
14, Christ Jesus said, I am the way. He didn't say that there
was other ways, that is the only way. He said, I'm the truth,
he's the only truth, and he's the life. I like that way it
says over in the book of John, he says, and this is a record
that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his
son. He that hath the son hath life,
and he that hath not the son of God hath not life. But God's
word says in Ephesians 1, 4, according as he, speaking of
God, hath chosen us, his elect, in him, speaking of the Lord
Jesus Christ, before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love. If you will, in
chapter 4, in verse 21, he says, And he began to say unto them,
this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. This prophecy was
prophesied somewhere around 700 years before Christ spoke it.
But before we go to the book of Isaiah, something that needs
to be noted is, look at verse 14 and 15 in this chapter. And
Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit unto Galilee. And
there went out a fame of him through all the regions around
about. And he taught in their synagogue,
being glorified of all. The people in Galilee, they accepted
his message and they glorified him. And then when he went to
his hometown in Nazareth, look at verse 18 in the same chapter,
verse 28 in the same chapter, and it says, and all they in
the synagogues, when they heard these things, were filled with
wrath and rose up and thrust him out of the city and led him
into the brow bow of the hill whereon their city was built,
but they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through
the midst of them went his way. You know, that's what the gospel
is. The gospel, either a man will
accept it, or he'll either love it, or he'll hate it. And that's
the way it is today. And there's so much false teaching
going on. But let's look at Isaiah 61. That's where our text is going
to be. Isaiah 61. Well, we read the first three
verses. I'm going to read this because it goes right along with
Luke 4. It says, the spirit of the Lord
God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good
tidings unto the meek. He hath 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 unto them that mourn
in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
mourning, and garments 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. You know, that's what
it's all about. It's not about us, but it's about
Him, that He may be glorified. You know, the Word of God says
here in verse 1, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. You know,
the Lord used the force of Isaiah to speak these words, but these
were the words of Christ because He applied this text unto Himself
in Luke 4.18. You know, why does God need the
Spirit of God? Is not God one? Yes, but in three
persons. I like what he says in John 5.7,
where there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father,
the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. And
no man can explain this. And anybody thinks that they
know everything that there is to know about God. Romans 11.33
says, Oh, the depth of the riches both
of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. How unsearchable are
his judgments and his ways past finding out. Our Lord Jesus Christ
was 100% God and he was 100% man. He had two distinct natures. He had a divine nature and he
had a human nature. Hebrews 4.19 says that, for we
have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings
of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we
are, without sin. And that brings me comfort, because
whenever I go through things in this life, I know that he
knows what I'm going through. For God to be just and justifier,
God had to become a real man, a man that fulfilled the law
of God perfectly. And Christ took all the justice
that the law could to hand him, and he shed his blood, and he
died under the wrath of God for the elect. No one took his life.
He laid it down for us. Look at verse 1 here of Isaiah.
It says, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord
hath anointed me to preach. John 3.35 says, The Father loveth
the Son, and hath given all things into his hands. If you will,
hold your place here and look at Psalm 45. Book of Psalm 45. In verse 6 and 7, it says, thy
throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of thy kingdom
is the right scepter, thy love of righteousness and the hate
of wickedness. Therefore, God, thy God, hath anointed thee with
the oil of gladness above thy fellers. Jesus of Nazareth is
anointed of God, appointed of God to be the surety, the representative
of his covenant people. He was sent to preach and to
die for the sins of the LA. God's word says to preach. Preach what? The good news and
the glad tidings. What is the good news and the
glad tidings? That Jesus Christ come into this
world to save his people. from their sins. In verse 1 of
our text, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord hath
anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek and to the poor.
The word meek here means submissive. When the word speaks of the poor,
it's speaking of the poor in spirit. What is a poor in spirit?
The poor in spirit is those that know, they realize who they are.
And then he realized that God has opened their eyes up as to
who he is, how holy he is, how righteous he is, how good he
is. And then when we, he opened their eyes up to who we are,
and we're sinners, from the top of our head to the bottom of
our toes, and we always will be as long as we're in this body.
And it makes us feel so unworthy, but it's not about us, it's about
him. He wanted, and the word, a pouring
spirit right here. And by that we realize, as I
said, the sin in our lives. And we realize, as I said before,
that we are guilty sinners before God. And we can do nothing and
know that there's not anything that we can do that will satisfy
the holy law of God. We're mercy baggers. And our
God come to preach good news to the poor and to the meek.
It says here in the middle of verse 1 of Isaiah 61, he hath
sent me to bind up the brokenhearted. You know, anyone that's been
around any time at all in this world right here, they've had
their heart broken, some more than others, over some tragedy
or loss of loved ones. But what we're talking about
right here is what I just mentioned. We grieve over the sin that we
know is in our bodies. And we look forward to the day
when that sin won't be there. If you will, look at Psalm 51. This was a man after God's own
heart. And this was David crying for mercy after he had committed
the sin with Bathsheba. He says here in Psalm 51, verse
1, David says, have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness. According unto the multitude
of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions, wash me thoroughly
from my iniquities, and cleanse me from my sin. He says, for
I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. I have to repent every day of
my life. Over and over I have to repent. Against thee and thee
only have I sinned. You know, sometimes I don't realize
that, you know, people may do other people wrong, but when
it comes to sin, we sin only against God. But he says, against
thee and thee only have I sinned, and then is evil in thy sight.
For thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear
when thou judgest. And then in that same chapter,
look at verse 17. He says, the sacrifices of God
are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. O God,
wilt thou not despise me? In Psalms 147, he says, he healed
the broken in heart and binoffited their wounds. And then in Psalm
34, he says, the Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken
heart, and save of such as be a concrete spirit. I thank God
for the promises that he has in the Bible for his elect. I
know that he won't break them. I can trust him. And we are to
look to Jesus, and we are to keep on looking to him. Whenever the spirit of a person
feels sorrowful pain in his heart over the sin against God, and
only God can heal a broken heart over sin, if you will, hold your
place here in Ezekiel 36. Verses 25 and 26. Our Lord is so good. He is so
long-suffering. He's so precious. He is the pearl
of great price. And He is our Lord and our Savior.
He is our Redeemer. Ezekiel 36, verses 25 and 26. He says, then will I sprinkle
clean water upon you, and you shall be clean. From all your
filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new
heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within
you. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh,
and I will give you a heart of flesh. We thank the Lord for his cleansing
blood. You know, there are many trials
and painful hardships that we go through in this life. But
if we would only turn to our Lord Jesus Christ, you know,
he says that the Lord is our rock. He's always there, and
he's always near. And I thank God that we have
the Spirit of God living within us. You know, it says here in
Philippians 4, it says be careful, that word means be anxious. It says be anxious for nothing,
and everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.
Let your requests be made known unto God. We'll go back to our
text in Isaiah 61. He stays here to proclaim liberty,
to proclaim liberty to the captives. Through the person, and the work,
and the blood, and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, he comes to
proclaim liberty to the captives. You know, in Christ, we're free
from the law. We're free from curse. And most
of all, think of this, we're free from the wrath of God, for
Jesus Christ took it upon himself. Romans 8.1 says, there is therefore
now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the spirit. For the law of the
spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made free from the law of
sin and death. The apostle does not say that
we are not condemnable, for there is still sin within us, and we
all know that. And all sin is condemnable, but
sin cannot bring us into condemnation. Condemnation, for we are in Christ,
and Christ has bore the penalty, the judgment, and the condemnation
for all of our sins, past, present, and future. And the flesh is
not our guide, we're a master. Christ is our Lord, and the Holy
Spirit is our guide. And we look to Christ, and we
keep on looking to Christ. John 8, 32 says, and you shall
know the truth, and the truth will set you free. What is truth? Jesus Christ, our Lord, is truth.
1 Peter 2, 24 says, this is speaking of our Lord Jesus here. who his
own self barred our sins in his own body on the creed that we
being dead to sin should live unto righteousness by whose stripes
ye are healed. And then here at first part,
the first one, the last part of verse one here of Isaiah 61,
it says the opening of the prison to them that are bound. I'm going
to tell a little story right here. Some of you probably have
heard it. I don't know what preacher I heard it from, but, you know,
we've been redeemed. We've been redeemed forever.
And I thank God for that. I thank the Lord Jesus Christ
for his blood. This little boy was walking down
the road, and he had a little cage in his hands, and it had
two little birds in it. And here come preachers the other
way. And he come up on the little boy, and he asked the little
boy, he said, Well, he got there, and he said, oh, I've got these
two old field birds. What are you going to do with
them? He said, well, I'm going to play with them for a while. And I guess when
I get done playing with them, I'll probably feed them birds.
Preacher looked at him and said, what do you want for them two
little birds in that cage? And he said, well, Preacher,
you don't want any of these old field birds. I mean, they're
everywhere. They ain't worth nothing. That's us. We're the
worms of Jacob, you know? And he said, yeah. The little
boy thought, and he said, well, I'll tell you what, I'll let
you have them for $2. The preacher said, here you go.
So he gave him $2, and the little boy went down the road. He thought
the preacher was silly for paying. It had been a long time ago.
He thought the preacher was silly for giving him $2 for them birds.
And when the boy got out of sight, the preacher let the little cage
down on the ground, and the little birds, they looked like they
were scared to death. He just reached down, he just opened
up the door. They looked up at him, seeing the door was open.
One flew out, and the other flew out. And they just started singing.
And the preacher said, it sounded like he was saying, I've been
redeemed. I've been redeemed. And we have. And that's something
that will help us get through each day of our lives, to know
that we have been redeemed from the wrath of God, from the judgment
of God, from the curse of the law. I thank God for that. And then somewhere here when
he talks about opening the prison, some say that that refers to
the bondage of sin and Satan. If you will, look at Ephesians.
Hold your place here and look at Ephesians 2. Now, when it comes to being a
sheep, when it comes to being a child of God, there's not nothing
in this world that we have to brag about except one thing,
and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. Chapter 2 of Ephesians. It says, wherein in time past
you Ye walked according to the course of this world, according
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit but now worketh
in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others. Then some see this as a bondage
to false religion. I live a few miles from here,
and there's three churches within a half mile of my house. And
every one of them is false religion. And it breaks my heart because,
I'll be honest with you, most people I'm around, most of my
family, they've been in it all their lives. But sometimes, you know, whenever
we look at that, a false refuge is a greater bondage and danger
than living a life of sin. Because it just is. And Paul says in Galatians 5.1,
he's talking to the Galatians here. He says, and be not entangled again with
the yoke of bondage. Bondage to what? The law. James
2.10 says that for whosoever shall keep the whole law and
yet offend in one point is guilty of all. And our Lord Jesus Christ,
the God-man, is the only man to keep the whole law, and he
kept it perfectly. If you will, we go back to Isaiah
62. Verse 2, it says, to proclaim
the acceptable year of the Lord. This is a year of jubilee. The way it was back in the older
times, every seven years, they would have a year of rest. And
after seven of those, which was 49 years, The next year would
be the year of Jubilee. And during that year, it would
be the year of the Lord. It said, every man sold into
slavery was set free, all property and family land was redeemed,
and all debts were discharged, and a year of rest was proclaimed.
Now you think about that. Our Lord Jesus Christ has done
all of this for his people, whom God the Father had placed in
him before the foundation of the world. Our souls are free. Our debts have been paid. The
inheritance that we lost in Adam has been restored, and we have
entered into his rest forever. Hebrews 4 says, I remain there
for a rest to the people of God. Christ finished the work of redeeming
grace on the cross, and he completely satisfied the law and the justice
for his elect. Read verse 2 here, if you would,
in our text. It says, to proclaim the acceptance
of the year of the Lord and the day of union, and a day of vengeance
of our God to comfort them that mourn. It says a day of vengeance
of our God. Some say that this is talking
about when Christ hung on the cross. And whenever all of us,
I can't imagine. You know, they say that it's
a number that cannot be counted. And I can't imagine the sin that
was on Him. And then some say that it's also
people that won't believe. They refuse to believe. You know,
the Bible says in John 3, 36, he that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall
not see life, but the wrath of God abide upon him. And then
the last part of verse 2 here, they say to comfort all that
mourn. You know, we go through, we mourn over our sins, our crowds,
our afflictions. There's times that we get angry
with ourselves because we know that we're not the, or I know
that I'm not the person that I should be, you know, when it
comes to worship. But we find comfort in knowing
that it ain't about us, it's all about Christ, that He did
all, and He did it all. He said on the cross that it's
finished. In Isaiah 61.3 here, it says, God's people mourn over
our sin, but we see the beauty of Christ. What we have in Adam
is ashes, but what we have in Christ is beautiful. We have
his wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption
in Jesus Christ. We have so much to be thankful
for because he is our all and in all. It says here in verse
3, to anoint to them that mourn in Zion, he's speaking to the
church here, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the beauty
of Christ and the ashes speak of what we have in Adam. The
oil of joy for mourning and the garments of praise for the spirit
of heaviness that we might be called trees of righteousness
the planning of the Lord, that he might be that he might be
glorified. I'm just about finished. Turn
to Psalm 1, if you would please. First three verses right here
in the book of Psalm 1. Blessed is a man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of the
sinners, nor setteth in the seat of the scourgeful. For his to
die is in the law of the Lord, and his law doeth he meditate
day and night. And he shall be like a creek
planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit
in his season. His leaf also shall not wither,
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. He says that the creek
bringeth forth fruit. What is that fruit? Love, peace,
joy. goodness, temperance, faith,
meekness. You know, I pray that God may
manifest that in my life more so. But John, two verses that
blesses my heart so much. When we think about it, you know,
sometimes we get so tied up in this world and we worry about
things that's going on and everything, but everything's going just exactly
where our Lord wants it to go, because He's absolute sovereign
in Providence. But in John 3, 1 and 2, the Bible says, Behold,
what manner of love of the Father hath bestowed upon us that we
should be called sons of God? Therefore the world knoweth us
not, because it knew him not. Listen to this, Beloved now,
not when we leave this world, it says, Beloved now are we the
sons of God, and do not yet appear what we shall be. But we know
that when he shall appear, We shall be like Him, for we shall
see Him as He is. Can you imagine no sin, none
around us, no sin in us? I can't imagine what that would
be like. But I'd like to close, to go back to Isaiah 61. I'd
like to close with this verse right here. The Lord has done
so much, He is doing so much, and He is going to do so much
for His people. I'd like to read verse 10 of
chapter 61. And he has done this for his
people. He says, I greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be
joyful in my God. For he hath clothed me with he,
he, he, he. Religion say I, I, I. But the
Bible says he, speaking of Christ. I will greatly rejoice in the
Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God, for he hath clothed
me with the garments of salvation, and he hath covered me with the
robe of righteousness, as a bride adorned deck of himself with
ornaments, and as a bride adorned herself with her jewels. You
know, in the last part of that verse there, in verse 3 of our
text, that he might be glorified. That's what it's all about. That
our Lord Jesus Christ might be glorified. And I thank God for
him.