LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

SERMON

ISAIAH 61: 1-3

LIBERTY THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

BY

DEBORAH R.

SATURDAY APRIL 30, 2011

Deborah R.

HOMI 501-D06 LUO 201120

Sermon—Module 6

SERMON

ISAIAH 61:1-3

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” [1]

Today I would like to share with you three verses of Scripture written by Isaiah, a prophet of God. The book of Isaiah is the book in the Old Testament most often quoted in the New Testament of the Bible. Isaiah means “The Lord is Salvation.” Isaiah was a resident of Jerusalem who was married with two sons. He was a poet, statesman, orator, and was highly educated. God called Isaiah to prophecy in 739 B.C., and gave Isaiah visions for over a half a century. When Isaiah began his work, Israel was in the final stages of collapse. In 722 BC the ten tribes of the northern kingdom were captured by Assyria. The southern kingdom of Judah was heading down the same path. They were corrupt politically, socially, and in their faith. Just like the northern kingdom, Judah would be judged; but because of God’s covenant, she would be saved. “One day, out of Judah there would come the Servant of the Lord, the Savior, to redeem not just Judah but the whole world.” Isaiah predicted not only the judgment and salvation of Israel, then and now; but also the virgin birth of Jesus (Isa. 7:14); His rejection by Israel (Isa.53:3); His death with thieves (Isa.53:12); and the buried of Jesus with the rich (Isa. 53:9).

Isaiah lived with unclean people, people living in rebellion against the Lord. These people would not listen to Isaiah’s prophetic messages from God and the people were portrayed as “blind and deaf”. Isaiah was discouraged by all the wickedness on the earth, but God showed Isaiah a VISION that showed him clearly who GOD is and what He does. Isaiah was to tell the people that they needed to return to Him. The message was that they needed to change their ways or judgment was coming! God must be exalted; and that Israel’s primary sin was that they had put “man in the place of God and God in the place of man.” Sound familiar? That same message is the same for today as it was then.

Now let us go to the scripture of Isaiah 61:1-3:

1. The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to the captives,

And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

2. To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
3. To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called
Trees of righteousness,
The planting of the LORD,
That He may be glorified.

This section of Isaiah has salvation as its theme. The people of Judah are now in captivity by the Babylonians. Isaiah has been given the word that the Israelites must not give up; God will save them, He will send a servant, a savior, Jesus.

In verse one; The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me is one of the first times that the Trinity is represented, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The M in Me is capitalized indicating that Jesus was the one being anointed by the Spirit of the Lord God, not Isaiah. Verse one goes on to list exactly what Jesus is anointed to do:

(1) Jesus is to preach good tidings to the poor—
Preach means sharing the good news concerning the Son of God.

The word Tidings is used of any message designed to cheer those who receive it.
The message from Jesus will cheer the hearers of the Word of God.
Therefore, Jesus was sent to share the good news of God, that God had sent him to cheer the poor with the preaching of the Word of salvation.
(2) He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted.
This sentence tells us that GOD (He) anointed Jesus to heal the brokenhearted.
Heal means to “make whole. A healing can be a physical one and/or a spiritual healing. Therefore, the healing of Jesus can make us well in our physical bodies or in our soul. We now know that the mind and body are connected—that when we hurt in our hearts, our whole bodies can be affected. Isn’t it wonderful to know that we have a “Healer” and that He cares when our hearts are broken! When Jesus heals us, He takes our pain away.
(3) To proclaim liberty to the captives.
Proclaim also means to preach—Liberty means dismissal, release, or forgiveness.
Therefore Jesus was anointed by God to preach forgiveness of sins, release of the judgment for our sins, and the release of the captives. Captive can mean one taken by a spear, example the Israelites who were still held captive in Babylon; or captive can also mean one taken prisoner by sin.
(4) And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
The Greek word for the verb opening is ANOIGO and literally means of a door or gate; the noun ANOIXIS means metaphorically (representing) of a prison for those who are bound spiritually. Therefore, Jesus was anointed and sent to free us from the spiritual prison doors that hold us because of our sin. Only Jesus can free us from the hostile powers of darkness through Christ’s victory on the Cross. Only Jesus can open the prison door of hell, free us from Satan’s captivity, and give us a new life in Christ, now on Earth and forever in Heaven. All we have to do to receive His salvation is to Believe!
Verse Two begins with:

(1) To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.
Jesus came to preach the acceptable year of the LORD. God came to earth, taking on human flesh;” became an Infant; lived among us; and then died for us” (Spurgeon)
In Luke 4:16 tells us that Jesus went to Nazareth and in the synagogue on the Sabbath day, stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. (I will be reading Luke 4:18-19, 20-22, 24, 28-30).
When Jesus handed the book back and sat down, he was demonstrating the custom for a teacher to sit humbly to teach. Jesus was making the claim that He was the Messiah who fulfilled the prophecy.
When the crowd led Jesus to the hill to throw Him down over the cliff, Jesus demonstrated one of several miraculous escapes from mobs and premature deaths. Jesus was taken captive to be crucified only when God allowed it.

(2) And the day of vengeance of our God.
Jesus stopped reading before He came to this verse indicating that “the day of vengeance of our God” awaits the second coming of Christ. Day of vengeance represents God’s deliverance of Israel and His wrath on all who oppose Him. “For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand.” (Rev 6:17) The sixth seal will commence what the prophets call “the Day of the Lord”. God’s wrath will be poured out on the whole world.
(3) To comfort all who mourn.
Matthew 5:4 tells us “Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted”. Those who mourn over their sins and repent will be given comfort through forgiveness and salvation.
Verse three,

(1) To console those who mourn in Zion,
Jesus is to console those in Jerusalem who mourned for centuries and those who mourn now in Jerusalem. Jesus is the one who can comfort our souls and console those who mourn in Zion. Mourning begins in most hearts with regret over our past sins. Our heart mourns for our sins and to feel this is “a mark of Grace.” (Spurgeon) And if we have not felt our past sins, I pray that we feel them now. May we mourn for the pain that pierced our Savior for our redemption and salvation.
(2) To give them beauty for ashes.
Men in the East, at times of sorrow, would put upon their head a ring of ashes. The Lord tells us that He will replace the ring of ashes for mourning with a head dress of beauty. When we mourn the face is emaciated and the beauty is gone. When we run from the Word of God our sorrows mark our whole person. When we receive God; we find peace, we find a visible beauty-a beauty of the mind-a luster of spirit that shines upon His servants’ faces. When we accept the Lord, He heals us and He chases our grief away. He gives us Beauty for Ashes!
(3) The oil of joy for mourning,
In times of great joy, the people of the Orient poured rich, perfumed oils on their bodies. Oil was used to anoint the heads of guests at feasts in the days of Jesus. The oil made the guests feel at home and the oil sweetened the air all around.
The oil that Christ was anointed with was the Holy Spirit and we are anointed with the same spirit. The oil of the anointing of the Spirit will bring joy to the believer. The joy of the Lord is our strength. When we ignore the things of God, we soon mourn. Comforts of this life are nice, but we are not to let them become idols because they will become our joy. Rejoice in the Lord and you will have holy joy and peace which the Holy Spirit gives you.
(4) A garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.
Isaiah assured the Israelites that God would replace their spirit of heaviness with the garment of praise. Do not fear, turn to the Lord. If we ask God to forgive our sins, how thankful we are! We try to keep our heaviness to ourselves, but once saved we wish to shout the garment of praise and thanks to Christ for saving us. Our praise is like a garment displayed to others showing our transformation from sin to gladness. We are transformed from dark to light; from heaviness to praise, from mourning to joy.
(5) That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
When we decide to accept Christ into our lives, to forgive our sins and send us the Holy Spirit to dwell in us, we will be made like Oaks of righteousness. In other words, we shall be made strong and firmly rooted. God will give us the oil of joy and men will see God’s Grace in you. Spurgeon describes some believers “like wild crab trees than the Lord’s fruit trees.” To be trees of righteousness we shall have peace that passes understanding. When others are fearful of what tomorrow holds, we are confident in God’s protection. When illness strikes we can sing our song of Christ’s victory over death. “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you: when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon you.”
The message then and now is that Jesus Christ is our Savior and comforter. Jesus Christ has been anointed by God to preach the good news of salvation, to be our comfort and joy in a fallen world. The purpose of the Lord’s comfort, consolation, and salvation of His people is for His glorification!
God is sending His servant to remove all pain and suffering from this world. Upon His second coming, there will be no more sorrow, no more untimely death; no more covenant curses; no more futility and tragedy; no more limitation to God’s presence; no more disharmony in nature and no more effects of the Fall. We will be with Christ for all eternity.

Do you feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit in your heart today? Do you feel the call of Jesus today asking you to invite Him in? I believe in the Rapture of the Church and I also believe the Rapture can happen any day now. Please don’t wait until tomorrow to ask Jesus into your life and heart. Tomorrow might be too late. He is waiting for forgive you of your sins; to open the prison doors of your heart and soul; to comfort you; to console you; to give you beauty for ashes; to give you the oil of joy and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Only God and His mercy, grace, salvation and redemption can plant in you the Spirit of the Lord so that Jesus Christ will be glorified.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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