All right, let's open our Bibles
to the book of Luke, chapter four of Luke's Gospel. Luke chapter four. I'll begin reading with verse
sixteen, Luke four, sixteen. And he came 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 unto
him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book,
he found the 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 he 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 this scripture fulfilled in your ears. Our Lord closed
the book and sat down. It was a custom then to stand
up to read and sit down to preach. And all the eyes of those in
the synagogue were fastened on him when he began to speak. And he said to them, this day,
is this scripture fulfilled in your ears while you are present
And while God speaks, this scripture is fulfilled in your ears. Now, if we can discover what
this scripture is saying, and what our Lord is saying here,
we have the Lord himself declaring unto us his ministry, declaring
unto us his gospel, his message. and his redemptive work. Now
this is not just another sermon for me to preach and you to hear.
This is, as our Lord said, the fulfillment, the fulfillment of that glorious
promise given to Abraham and his seed. This is the fulfillment
of their faith, of their This is the Messiah. This is the Lord
Jesus Himself, whom the fathers saw in promise and picture, whom
they embraced in type, whom they believed in heart, and before
whom they died in faith. This Scripture, this promise,
this prophecy, is fulfilled in your ears and in my ears." Now, let's open to the Scripture
where our Lord opened in Isaiah 61. They handed Him the book,
and He opened it deliberately to Isaiah chapter 61. And that's when he read and that's
when he declared, this scripture, this promise, this prophecy is
fulfilled in your ears. Let's listen. Let's listen to
the Lord. He says in verse one, Isaiah
sixty-one, the spirit of the Lord God is upon me. Now the spirit of the Lord God
had been on many men before. the Spirit of God was upon Abraham,
the Spirit of God was upon Moses, the Spirit of God was upon Abram.
In fact, every high priest and every servant taken from among
men is ordained of God in things pertaining to God, and he gave
them his Spirit. But this And several times in the book
of Hebrews it says, but this man, but this man, the Spirit
of the Lord God has been upon many men, but this man is counted
worthy of more glory than Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Abraham,
all have been put together. This man is counted worthy of
more glory than all of them. But this man, because he continueth
ever, hath an unchanging priesthood. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sin for ever, sat down on the right hand of
God." That's who, that's who he's talking about himself. This
man, this man is the mediator of the everlasting covenant.
This man, Jesus of Nazareth, is the fulfillment of every promise
established on better promises. The Spirit of the Lord God is
upon me without measure. Watch his next statement. The
Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because he hath anointed
me to preach good tidings to the meek." You know, there are
three offices in the Old Testament. There was God's prophet, like
Moses, and God's priest, like Abel, and God Almighty's king,
like David. And different men held different
offices, but no man ever held the same three offices at the
same time, except one. This man. This man. He's God's prophet. He's God's
priest, like Melchizedek. He's God's king. And Moses wrote
of him in Deuteronomy 18. I want you to turn to that. In
Deuteronomy chapter 18. 18. Deuteronomy 18, verse 18. The Messiah, the Lord Jesus,
is that prophet, that prophet of whom Moses wrote here in Deuteronomy
18, verse 18. Start with verse 17. Deuteronomy
18, 17. And the Lord spake unto me, They
have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise up
a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee, Moses. And I'll
put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all
that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass that
whosoever will not hearken unto the words which my prophet shall
speak in my name, I will require of him." He hath anointed me
to preach the gospel, glad tidings to the poor in spirit, good news
to the guilty, mercy for the miserable, and salvation for
sinners. John Flavel once wrote four mighty
facts. All that God has for sinners
is vested in this man. Christ Jesus. Secondly, all the
blessings are ours through faith in this man, Christ Jesus. And that faith comes by hearing
the words that this man spoke. And this man speaks to us by
his Spirit, his Spirit. He that hath ears to hear Let
him hear. Read on. The Spirit of the Lord
God is upon me, because he hath anointed me, ordained me to preach
glad tidings to the meek, and he hath sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted. David was called the sweet psalmist
of Israel. And in several places in the
book of Psalms, David uses this phrase, broken in heart. He says, the Lord is not unto
them that are of a broken heart. And the Lord saveth such as be
of a contrite spirit. In Psalm 51, David said, the
sacrifices of God are broken spirit. A broken and a contrite
heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Well, why is David broken-hearted? Why is David of a broken heart? He's well physically. He's prosperous. David has about everything that
a man could possibly have. Why is he broken in heart? Why
does he have a contrite spirit? Let's read it. Psalm 51. Psalm
51. Let's read why David has a broken
heart. He says here in Psalm 51, verse
1, have mercy upon me, O God. Have mercy upon me. According
to Thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of Thy tender
mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly, throughly
from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin. For I
acknowledge my transgressions, my sin is ever before me. Against
thee and thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight,
that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear
when thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity,
in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth
in the inward parts, In the hidden part thou shalt make me to know
wisdom, O God, purge me, purge me with thistle, and I'll be
clean. Wash me, and I'll be whiter than
the snow." David could say with us, my sin, oh, the bliss of
that glorious thought. My sin, not in part but the whole,
is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord is
well with my soul. Brokenhearted. The Spirit of
the Lord God is upon me. He has anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor in spirit. He sent me on a mission to heal
the brokenhearted sinner, those that have contrite spirit. Now let's see the next line. He has sent me to proclaim liberty
to the captives." Captives? Opening a prison to them that
are bound. Liberty to the captives and opening
a prison to those that are bound. What's this talking about? Well,
I want you to turn to the book of John, chapter 8. And I think
I have a good explanation here of what our Lord's talking about
that I can pass along to you. John chapter 8. Let's listen
to it. John chapter 8, verse, let's
start with verse 32. Now, He has sent me to preach, to proclaim liberty
to captives, those in bondage. Opening a prison to them that
abound. All right, listen to this. In John 8, verse 32. The Lord Jesus said, And you
shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free. Set
you free. Set the captive free. And then
these people answered Him, verse 33. These men arrogantly answered
our Lord and said, they said to Him, We be Abraham's seed. We were never in bondage. We
were never in captivity. We were never bound to any man. How do you say you shall be free? Never in captivity, never in
bondage. Could one of them say, I was
never in captivity to my human nature and my pride? and my envy, jealousy, never. I have never been a captive to
my flesh, to lust, covetousness, never. I've never been a captive
to the law, while it says, cursed is everyone that continueth not
in all points of the law. Never been, never been a captive.
Never been in bondage. Never been in bondage to Satan. Who said? I take them captive
by me at my will." I take them captive by myself
according to my will. Never been in captivity or bondage
to a sick and dying body? Never in bondage? How does our
Lord answer? Verse 33, they said, we of Abraham's
seed, we've never been in bondage to any man. How do you say you
shall be free? The Lord Jesus answered, verily,
verily, truly, truly, surely, surely, I say to you, whosoever
commits sin is the servant of sin. You ever sin? Then you're a servant of sin.
Whosoever commits sin, is a servant in captivity to Satan, to his
evil nature, and to himself. And let me tell you, he said,
verse 35, and the servant, the servant of sin, abides not in
the house of God forever. But the Son does. The Son of
God is without sin. The Son of Immaculate Holiness. He abides forever, but not you
and not me. not who are captives of sin and
our evil nature. But, listen, verse 36, but if
the Son make you free from sin, from transgressions, from iniquities,
from evil, you'll be free indeed. They didn't have any answer for
that. Whosoever commits is a servant of sin, and the servants of sin
do not abide in the Father's house. But if the Son, this Man, this
blessed Savior, makes you free, sets you free by His blood and
righteousness and holiness and love, you're free forever. Free from the law, happy condition. Jesus has bled and there's remission. Let's read on. He says, I came to proclaim liberty
to these captives, open the prison to them that abound, and I've
come to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. What's this
talking about, the acceptable year of the Lord? Well, I want
you to turn to Isaiah 49. Isaiah forty-nine, the acceptable year of the Lord. In Isaiah forty-nine, verse eight,
the Father speaking of our Savior. Isaiah forty-nine, verse eight,
Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time I have heard in a day of
salvation have I helped thee, and I will preserve thee, this
man we're talking about now, and I'll give thee for a covenant
of the people to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the
desolate heritage, that thou mayest say to the prisoners,
to those in captivity and bondage, go forth. If the sun make you
free, you'll be free indeed. Go forth to them that are in
darkness. Show yourself. They shall feed
in the way, and their pasture shall be in all high places. And they shall not hunger nor
thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them. For he
that hath mercy on them shall lead them even by the streams
of water shall he guide them. In an acceptable day have I heard
you." This points also to the year of Jubilee. You remember
the Jews had their Sabbath, and then on the seven years of Sabbath,
on the fiftieth year, Moses proclaimed the year of Jubilee. And at that
time, Every slave was set free. At that time, all property which
had been sold or lost was returned to the owner. And all the debts
were paid in full, and the people had for one year rest and peace. But in Christ, we're accepted
forever. All debts are forgiven. All slaves are set free. and
all property lost in the fall has been returned. You know,
we use the word, I accepted Jesus. I've never been too fond of that
word. The Scripture talks about receiving
Him. The Scripture talks about embracing
Him. They embrace the promise. The Scripture talks about believing
on Him. But the acceptance is on His
part. We are accepted in the Beloved. In a day, in acceptable time,
I've heard Him, and I've accepted you. In the Beloved, accepted
am I. Risen, ascended, and seated on
high. Washed in His blood, saved by
His grace. With the redeemed ones, I'm accorded
a place. In the Beloved, God's marvelous
grace causes us to dwell in that wonderful place. God sees my
Savior, and then He sees me in the Beloved, accepted and free. I came to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord. Behold, today is the accepted
time. Today is the day of salvation.
If you have ears to hear, hear. And a heart that's broken, believe,
and come to Christ. Amen. Well, let's look at the
next. He tells us what He came to do, what He came to accomplish. He came to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord. And look at verse two. and the
day of vengeance of our God. I don't know how to handle this,
but I'm going to try. I came to proclaim the day of
vengeance, God's vengeance, the vengeance of God. Turn to Romans
3. Let's look at this scripture.
Romans chapter 3, verse 5. Verse five, chapter three of
Romans, verse five. Let's see what Paul says about
this day of vengeance. Romans, chapter three, verse
five. But if our righteousness commend
our unrighteousness, if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of
God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh
vengeance? is God unrighteous who taketh
vengeance? I speak as a man. But God forbid,
for then how shall God judge the world? If God is unrighteous
to take vengeance, then how is he going to govern the world?
How is he going to judge the world? The scepter of his kingdom
is righteousness and truth. How is God going to judge the
world? if he doesn't take vengeance,
if he's not righteous and true, holy and judgment. Well, let me see if I can help
you. The day of vengeance, when our Lord says here that this
day he came to proclaim the day of vengeance of God. The day
of vengeance was the day that God made all the transgressions
of all his elect to meet on the head of Jesus Christ. God took
vengeance from Christ because of us. That's right. God's vengeance
and God's justice was satisfied when Jesus Christ took all our
sins on his head and paid for them. And God's vengeance is
appeased and satisfied. How shall God be holy and reverent
if he does not put away those who defile, and those who do
not believe, and those who continue in their transgressions? How
is God going to be holy and reverent? He is holy and reverent when
he crucified Christ. We've exacted from the death
of our Lord all that we owed. and paid in full. Now, what about
these that still have judgment and condemnation upon them? Well,
John answered in Revelation, listen, And there shall in no
wise enter into that kingdom anything that defiles, anything
that worketh abomination, anything that maketh a lie, Only those
whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. God, the
day of God's vengeance, Christ proclaims when God Almighty satisfies
His righteousness and holiness through Christ. And when God
Almighty is pleased to separate from His kingdom, from His person,
all who defile. I want you to read a scripture
in Psalm 96. Psalm 96. Psalm 96, verse 9 through
13. Listen to this. Psalm 96, verse
9 through 13. Now given to the Lord, given
to the Lord to glory do His name. Bring an offering. Come to His
courts. Oh, worship the Lord, verse 9.
Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Here before him,
all dear, say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth. The world
also shall be established, that it shall not be moved. He shall
judge the people righteously in Christ. Let the heavens rejoice,
let the earth be glad, let the sea roar and the fullness thereof. Let the fields be joyful, and
all that is therein and then shall all the trees of the wood
rejoice before the Lord. For he cometh, he cometh to judge
the earth, and he'll judge it, he'll judge this world in righteousness
and truth." In Christ, or in himself. That's right. He will
judge the earth in righteousness and truth. He must. Is God unrighteous
who takes vengeance? No. God is God. That's why He's
God. And that's why He takes vengeance.
That's why He satisfied all that we required of us in Christ. All right, listen to verse 2
again. I came to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord, the day of vengeance of our God, and to
comfort all who mourn, to comfort all who mourn, to appoint unto
them that mourn in Zion, and to give them four awesome blessings. I want you to see this in closing. And to give them, to appoint
to them that mourn in Zion, and to give them beauty for ashes. What does ashes speak of? Take out the ashes. What does
ashes speak of? Sorrow. When Job was sorrowful,
he put ashes on his head. What does ashes speak of, Dad?
Dust to dust and ashes to ashes. But I came to a point for them,
not ashes, not dust, sorrow, and death. I came to a point
for them, is it? Is it? And when our Lord took
that deserted infant, applying his own blood, and said, it was
a time of love, and I took your part and blessed you, and I gave
you my beauty, and you were beautiful in my company. I'm going to give
them beauty for all the ashes. And then he said, I'm going to
give them the oil of of joy. Joy. And I'll anoint my head
with oil, and my cup runneth over. And I'm going to give them
the garment of praise, for surely goodness and mercy shall follow
me all the days of my life. And I'll dwell in the house of
God forever. And I'll give them, I'll give
them beauty for ashes, oil of joy for mourning, the garment
of praise for the Spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees
of righteousness." What are these trees of righteousness? I'll
tell you. Number one, we're the planting
of the Lord. Our Lord said, Every plant which
my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. These trees
of righteousness are the planting of the Lord. I'll be merciful
to whom I will be merciful. I'll be gracious to whom I will
be gracious. So then it's not of him that
wenteth or him that wenteth, it's of God that planted these
trees. Trees of righteousness, the planting
of the Lord. And secondly, they're planted
where? By the rivers of water. That's
what David said in Psalm 1, planted by the rivers of water. Oh, everyone
that thirsteth, come to the waters. Come and drink, and out of your
belly shall flow rivers of living water. This he said of the Spirit,
which they that believe on him should receive. Trees of righteousness,
planting of the Lord, planted by the rivers of water, and bring
forth fruit. Whose fruit? His fruit. They'll
bring forth His fruit in His season. And listen, and they'll
leave for never wither. Never wither. They'll never die.
Never wither. And whatsoever they do, it'll
prosper. It'll prosper. Why? All right,
listen. Here's the fourth one. He's going
to give us beauty for ashes, oil of joy, garment of praise,
and make us trees of righteousness, that God may be That's the way, that's when he
closed the book. That's when he closed the book. I pray give them, make them trees
of righteousness, that God may be glorified. But I looked up
just above that in Isaiah 60, just before our Lord this scripture
which our Lord read. And listen to this, what the
Lord says just before our Lord spoke those three verses. Verse
twenty, Isaiah sixty. The sun shall no more go down,
neither shall the moon withdraw itself. For the Lord shall be
thine everlasting And the days of mourning of thy mourning shall
be ended, and thy people also shall be all of them righteous."
All of them righteous. He's talking about Christ's people.
They shall inherit the earth, the land, forever. The branch of my planting and
the work of my hands that I may be glorified. That I may be glorified. And I'll do it in His time. Look at the next verse. A little
one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation. I, the Lord, I will hasten it
in His time. in the time of Christ. You see,
there was a time, there was a time appointed by the Father for our
Lord Jesus Christ to come into this world. There's a time appointed
by the Heavenly Father for our Lord Jesus Christ to die on that
cross. There's a time appointed for
Him to ascend to heaven and sit at the right hand of God, make
intercession for us. And there's a time appointed
for him to come back. And the Lord, he said, will hasten. He'll hasten it in his time. All that he promised will be
accomplished. And Paul said in I Timothy, which
in his time, the Lord will hasten it in his time. Which in his
time, God will show who is that Blessed only Potentate, the King
of Kings, Lord of Lords. All hail the power of Jesus'
name, that angels prostrate follow Him, and bring forth the royal
diadem and crown Him Lord of all. That's right, Lord of all. And every knee shall bow, and
every tongue shall confess." They will. In the day of God's
vengeance, either on Christ or on those who rebel, every knee
will bow and every tongue will confess that He's Lord to the
glory of God the Father. Let's sing that hymn as a closing
hymn this morning. All hail the power of Jesus'
name, that angels Prostrate Father, bring forth the Royal Ardent,
and crown him Lord of all. Mother of God.