The Year of the Lord's Favour

Rev Gideon Lee

I welcome all of you to church and I saw on Facebook how so many of you celebrated your reunion dinner. Got chicken got pork got fish. Some had curry, some had steamboat and roasted duck. Why didn't they invite the pastor? (laughs)

My family is back in Klang. They drove back on Friday and the traffic was smooth. But coming up to Penang was really jammed. This is the first trip for Jayden and thank God he slept all the way. My mother cooked the best dishes and her Hong Bak is the best in Malaysia. I'm trying to get my wife to learn to cook like my mother's Hong Bak. Today after service I'm flying back for more. I have not had my Mee Suah and eggs.

Luke 4:14-21
Jesus Begins His Galilean Ministry
14 Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. 15 And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
16 So 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 to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “ Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Luke 4:22
So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph's son?”

Note verse 14, Jesus returned to Galilee. And is verse 18, he quotes from the book of Isaiah.

Isaiah 61:1-3
Chapter 61
The Good News of Salvation
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.”

As we celebrate the lunar new year today, they all say that this year is the year of the snake. More specific it's the water snake. I don't know if it's better last year which is the year of the dragon. This is one of the Chinese Zodiac sign. And it says those that are born in the year of the snake is wise, calm and very understanding people. But they can also be very treacherous and won't hesitate to double cross you. They seems to get along very well with the rabbit but not the dog.

You probably may be asking why is pastor talking about all these things? Does pastor believe in all these? In a word no. And we must understand that no matter what culture is, it must be aligned to the word of God.

My children goes to a Chinese school and they are exposed to all these. So we must know if it is aligned to scripture. So she asked me what year am I born in. And I told them the year but she said no, my friends told me I was born in the year of the Monkey. Then she asked me what year am I born in? That's when I took the opportunity to teach her.

I told her you are not born in the year of the Monkey because I do not expect you to behave like a monkey. I told her you are born in the year of the Lord.

I want to tell each one of you, you are born in the year of the Lord and this is the year of The Lord's favour. We read this in the book of Isaiah and we want to know what it means.

Isaiah was not writing about something new as it was last mentioned in the book of Leviticus. The Lord told Moses to observe the sabbath year every seven years. The Israelites were given a pattern to follow. In the seventh year they are to give the land a rest. Let the land be and whatever the land produce you can take from it but don't work the land.

Seven is a very special number. I am not here to promote any 4-D number so don't go to the Magnum shop after service. Seven is a very significant number in the bible. There was a preacher who wrote about it in a book called Biblical Mathematics. What is more significant than seven? Seven times seven, 49, where the Jews got the concept of the Jubilee on the 50th year.

When Isaiah was writing this portion of the scripture he was referring you to the year of Jubilee. It was a great time of celebration. Why? What happened on the year of Jubilee?

Well, all your debts are forgiven. On the 50th year your debt is supposed to be cancelled. If you sold a property, the property comes back to you. All slaves are to be set free. For the Jews, it's a year of great rejoicing.

Actually, all these was pointing to the coming of the messiah. It talks of God's grace and forgiveness. Isaiah expounded a little bit more about what it means.

It was nothing compared to the year of the Lord's favour. God was giving the Israelites something more to look forward to than just the year of Jubilee.

This is where Jesus comes in. Jesus in the temple said, this day this scripture is fulfilled. Do you know what Jesus is saying? You do not have to wait 50 years to have your debt forgiven or your sins to be forgiven. Jesus is saying today this scripture is accomplished and you can have the Lord's favour every day of the year.

In the words of Isaiah there is freedom for prisoners. You have the ability to break away from all that that hold you in bondage. You can be set free from your sins. Such as alcoholism, lust, greed. And all these is possible because of Jesus.

It also says the oppressed shall be released. The bible says we are once slave to sin. But know the blood of Jesus frees us. We are also promised to be released from our debts. Again, Isaiah is not talking about our worldly debt. The bible says the wages of sin is death.

I am so glad I do not have to wait 50 years to experience God's favour. We can experience it every day every year. That's why I say this is not the year of the snake but the year of the Lord's favour. I am not bound by all these things. Jesus has set me free and I can enjoy the freedom in abundance that God had for us.

How do we experience this?

The first thing that stands out is that Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. So may I suggest to you, in order to experience the favour of the Lord you need to be filled in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Is your Christian life boring? If it is there's probably something wrong. Is your Christian life filled with power and every day fresh? If you want to experience the favour of the Lord you need to be a person led by the Holy Spirit.

If you ask me how to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, it is a secret. It is so secret secret that I will only tell you because I am your pastor. Of course after I tell you it's no longer a secret. How? It comes from prayer. It is not the kind of prayer like "Father I thank you for the food". It comes with an earnest prayer to God. It is a prayer that comes from waiting upon God. It is not so that you feel nice but to make you more effective and that you will be bold to preach the word and to pray for the sick.

That is how you preach deliverance and freedom to the captives. That's how you proclaim the year of the Lord's favour. Under the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit.

Second is this. The people were listening intently to Jesus. They were giving Jesus full attention. The second secret is this. Have you given God all your attention? Is He number one in your life? I want to challenge you this morning. He must be number one in your life. Not your boyfriend or your girlfriend. Not even your husband or wife or children. If Jesus is not Lord of all, then He is not Lord at all.

When we go new year visiting, please put Jesus first. What would Jesus do if He is offered a beer? Or what if He is asked to play a game of mahjong. Huat arrrr! What do you do? Never mind la, this is Chinese New Year. Very simple but often overlooked. Make sure Jesus is number one is your life.

I am coming to my third point. Last but not least, you noticed that the people were filled with amazement and they praised God. They said isn't this the son of Joseph? They were not saying this in a cynical way. Joseph was a carpenter. If you are in a high society you may be learned. But here the son of a carpenter not only could read but expounded scripture. They praised Jesus.

Here is the secret. If you want to have the year of the Lord's favour, praise Jesus. Be thankful to God. If you remember to thank God for everything more of His blessings is on the way. I do this with my children. When my children ask things from me what do you look for parents? Whether they are grateful to you.

Youth let me tell you a secret. Learn to be thankful for what your parents have done for you. You know what happens? When they come to me again, I'd love to do it for them because they know how to be thankful. Once you are a thankful person, God is going to do more in your life.

The bible says count your blessings. Name them one by one. How do I know that we are thankful? Whatever God did for you, you give the glory back to God with testimonies. If you have one to share please come and see me. If you write to me I'd want to put it in the bulletin. We are blessed to be a blessing. The more we are thankful, God is going to do things to bless you because you know how to be thankful.

You too can experience the year of the Lord's favour is to have Jesus in your life. Maybe some of you are visitors and you don't have the Holy Spirit in your life. Jesus says I am the way, the truth and the life. No other religious teacher can say that. Jesus says in me you have life, the truth and the truth will set you free.