Declare Your Jubilee

Luke 4:16-21

16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives

and recovering of sight to the blind,

to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

PRAYER

I came here today with a word for everybody who has asked some version of the question, “How am I going to get out of this?”

It is a word of release:

DECLARE YOUR JUBILEE!

The devil is reacting already…the flesh is pushing back.

This can’t be real.

Can’t be real for you.

You don’t deserve it.

We live in a culture that does not believe in release

You have to earn forgiveness

You have to meet certain conditions to get released

You do the crime. You do the time.

God is not operating on the wisdom of this world.

In this text in Luke 4; Jesus reveals the mission statement for His earthly ministry: TO OPEN THE TIME OF JUBILEE

The History of Jubilee traces to this moment we just read about.

God commanded it (Leviticus 25), but Israel never observed it

Isaiah prophesied (In Isaiah 61) that Messiah would fulfill it

Jesus reads it and declares “Today, this scripture is fulfilled”. He fulfills the Jubilee

We know because He stops in the middle of the verse 2 of Isaiah 61:

to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn

There is a comfort of vengeance (nobody gets away with anything)

But, vengeance comes later. Now is the time for favor

It is our job to carry Jubilee forward.

(John 20:21) As the Father sent me into the world, so I am sending you…

THIS IS PROJECT THAT JESUS CAME TO INITIATE, AND IT IS THE PROJECT THAT WE CALLED TO PURSUE…TO PULL THE REALITY OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD INTO THE OUR LIVES AND INTO OUR WORLD

Jesus has opened the Jubilee for us. But, what is The Meaning of the Jubilee?

Jubilee is a RELEASE

From sin

From all of the manifestations of sin

YOU CANNOT BE RELEASED IF YOU CANNOT LET GO

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

THOSE WHO WERE WINNING DID NOT LIKE TO SEE JUBILEE COME AROUND

Letting go is hard. But, you gotta let it go.

The purpose of the release is a return (to the places and things God designed for you)

If Jubilee is this good…and it is available to me because of the cross, how can I begin to experience Jubilee in my everyday life?

That will be the focus of this sermon series.

In 7 sermons, over the course of the next 10 weeks, I we are going to investigate what it means to experience Jubilee in whole of our lives (hearts, minds, bodies, relationships, finances, and mission)

But, today I want to talk about The Initiation of Jubilee

We are not opening up Jubilee

(the Catholic door),

we are stepping into what Jesus Christ has opened already (by revelation, under the unction and prompting of the Holy Spirit)

Jubilee begins with an announcement.

Le 25:8–10: 8 “You shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. 9 Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. 10 And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants.

The priests were to go throughout the land putting everyone on notice that Jubilee is here.

The Levitical priests were to proclaim it in Leviticus.

Isaiah, prophesying about the Messiah, proclaimed it.

Jesus, standing in His office of our Great High Priest, proclaimed in Luke’s gospel.

Where are the priests today?

1 Peter 2:9

YOU ARE a chosen generation, a royal priesthood…

As a priest in your home…church…neighborhood…nation…you can declare the Jubilee.

Jesus’ jubilee is permanent and perpetual, but we have to declare it in our lives.

Netflix website is hosted on the server 24/7

But, you don’t get to watch anything unless you navigate to site and login.

Proclamation is key, But before the proclamation, is a sound.

The trumpet in Leviticus

The voice from heaven in Luke

The literally meaning of the word Jubilee, describes the sound released when you blow a ram’s horn

I want us to release a prophetic sound in this room

This is the sound of Jubilee

Yes, we have more to study

But, we are going to receive it by faith today

This is the sound to put everybody on notice

Sound for your soul

Sound to put the enemy on notice

Sound to put your flesh on notice

Sound to put the atmosphere and the creation on notice

I’m stepping into my Jubilee!

The first application (and most important) of Jubilee is freedom from bondage to sin and freedom from the consequences of sin.

Jesus died on the cross to pay for your sins.

He rose on the 3rd day in victory over death, hell, and the grave…to make a way for you to receive eternal life.

Receive it by faith.

As we begin this journey, I want extend the hand of fellowship…if you are looking to be connected to church community, we welcome you here.