Luke (Program #56) – Jubilee (2 & 4)

There is a famous bell in Philadelphia of Pennsylvania with the inscription engraved on it from the Old Testament book of Leviticus, 25:10, which says “Proclaim liberty through out all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” In the United States this liberty bell is a traditional symbol of U.S. freedom. But the freedom refer to in the Bible is much bigger. It is referred to as Jubilee. The Lord Jesus proclaims this liberty for all mankind, when He announced in Luke 4:18-19, “the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He has anointed Me to announced the Gospel to the poor, He has sent Me to proclaim the release to the captives and the recovery of sight to the blind to send away in release those who are oppressed to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, the year of Jubilee.”

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Genesis (Program #25) – The Serpent, the Woman, and the Seed of the Woman (1)

Today we come to the first part of a two-part message, continuing with Genesis 3:15.  This is a really profound portion that we are going to be looking at today with the first proclamation of the gospel in the entire Bible.

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Luke (Program #20) – The Ministry of the Man-Savior in Galilee (11)

In the gospel of Luke, the Lord Jesus initiates His ministry with a visit to the synagogue in chapter 4 as He reads from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. He proclaims that His ministry is the fulfillment of the hidden but marvelous prophecy in the Old Testament regarding the Jubilee.   Chapter 4:14-19 “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. And reports about Him went out through all the surrounding region. And He taught in their synagogues and was glorified by all. And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and according to His custom He entered on the Sabbath day into the synagogue and stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to announce the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to send away in release those who are oppressed, To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, the year of jubilee.” As we fellowship now beyond just a proclamation, declaration of the Jubilee we come to its application in chapter 9.

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Luke (Program #19) – The Ministry of the Man-Savior in Galilee (10)

In chapter 4 of Luke as the Lord Jesus was initiating His earthly ministry, He stood as was His habit in the synagogues and read from the Old Testament book of Isaiah, “the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He has anointed Me to announce the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to send away in release those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, the year of jubilee.” This was the announcement, the proclamation, the declaration of the acceptable year of the Lord, the year of Jubilee.  When we come to chapter 9 as we are today on our life study from the gospel of Luke, we find that Jubilee not just proclaim and announce but apply and spread.

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Luke (Program #9) – The Preparation of the Man-Savior with His Divinity (8)

Here is a story we all know quite well – the story of an angel paying a visit to a humble virgin in a lowly city in a despised region.  “In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.  And he came to her and said, Rejoice, you who have been graced!  The Lord be with you.” (Luke 1:26-28) “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus.  He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of David His father, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:31-33)  This is the declaration of the arch angel Gabriel in the first chapter of the gospel of Luke.  But it is just one of many pronouncements concerning the preparation of the Man-Savior Jesus as recorded in Luke’s gospel.  We will look at several of these marvelous declarations today.

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Luke (Program #6) – The Preparation of the Man-Savior with His Divinity (4)

Luke 2:1-4 says, “And in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus for a census to be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census that took place when Quirinius governed Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, to David’s city which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David.” These words introduce the most well-known story in Scripture, that of the birth of Jesus. But it is significant to know that they refer back to a prophecy from the Old Testament prophet, Micah. Listen to Micah’s words written hundred of years before, “But you, O Bethlehem, Ephrathah, So little to be among the thousands of Judah, From you there will come forth to Me He who is to be ruler in Israel; And His going forths are from ancient times; From the days of eternity”. (Micah 5:2) Marvelous prophetic words fulfilled in this most well-known story but we will look at some of the more hidden significances that are unveiled here from the gospel of Luke.

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Luke (Program #2) – Introduction, Subject and Contents of the Gospel (2)

The New Testament is the most marvelous book, tremendous composition yet it is mysterious and beyond our natural comprehension as well. One perplexity is that it gives us four different accounts of the life of Jesus. Why four different accounts of one history? Well that’s because each account highlights a different aspect or facet of this most wonderful and marvelous person in the universe, Jesus Christ. What facet do we see in the gospel of Luke? Well, Luke than more all of the rest of the books in the Bible shows us Jesus Christ as the full, complete, perfect and genuine man. A man unlike any other.

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Luke (Program #1) – Introduction, Subject and Contents of the Gospel (1)

The New Testament begins with four different accounts of the life of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Matthew is profound presenting us with Christ as the king in His kingdom; John is mysterious, showing us Christ as the very God; but Luke though not as profound or as mysterious is altogether sweet and pleasant because Luke unveils Jesus Christ as a man. A man who is both sweet and pleasant because His living displays and expresses the very nature and essence of God lived out in His perfect humanity. This is not just a man but the Man-Saviour.

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Mark (Program #35) – The Preparation of the Slave-Savior for His Redemptive Service (9)

Just two days prior to His death the Lord Jesus gathered with His disciples in a small house in a tiny village of Bethany just outside of Jerusalem.

This little house, the house of a leper that Jesus had cleansed in the beginning of His ministry has become His dwelling place during His final days. Each night He would depart Jerusalem and return to this very humble and simple home. Now as the hours of His death approaches one of the great encounters in all the scriptures take place. Let’s read the account in Mark 14:1-8

“Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were two days away. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking a way to seize Him by craftiness and kill Him,  For they said, Not at the feast, lest there be a tumult by the people.  And while He was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as He reclined at table, a woman came, having an alabaster flask of ointment, of very costly pure nard, and she broke the alabaster flask and poured it over His head.  But there were some who were indignantly commenting among themselves: Why has this waste of the ointment been made?  For this ointment could have been sold for over three hundred denarii and given to the poor. And they were infuriated with her.  But Jesus said, Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a noble deed on Me.  For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you do not always have Me.  She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial.
And truly I say to you, Wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what this woman has done shall also be told as a memorial of her.”

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Mark (Program #15) – The Move of the Slave-Savior’s Gospel Service (2) & (3)

Mark chapter 6 presents us with 4 seemingly unrelated cases. To our shallow understanding these 4 cases seems to be merely 4 separate stories of events that took place during the Lord’s earthly ministry. However if we receive even a little enlightenment we can see that once again the sequence in the divine record of how these events are unfolded is really marvelous.  And that when taken together these 4 cases really are layers of meaning and significance.

So here are 4 cases, 2 negative and 2 positive. That individually show us the rejection, hatred and justice even martyrdom that typifies the world’s response to the gospel. But collectively they fill us with encouragement, conviction and even a renewed determination to go forth to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom to the whole inhabited earth.

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