The Acceptable Year of the Lord

Reid Tait

January 2, 2010

Midland SDA Church

1.0 New Convert—10 commandments—20 chapter of Exodus

2.0 Lord’s prayer—Matthew 6:10-13 and Luke 11:2-4

3.0 We should know the scripture 2 Timothy 2:15—Rightly dividing literally means “cutting straight.”  The truths of the Bible must be rightly interpreted so that no part of the Scriptures will be set in opposition to the picture presented by the Bible as a whole.  Paul warns in Verse 14 about strive about words (word battles) to the profit, to the ruin of the hearers.

4.0 Christ Himself—example—He used the Scriptures constantly and quoted them accurately.  He knew where to find the passage which He wished to read which brings to mind the day in his home town, Nazareth.  When Jesus was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah 49:8, 9 and Isaiah 61:1, 2.  “It is thought that in the time of Christ the one asked to read the lesson from the Prophets and to preach the sermon, might choose the section to be read.  Jesus specifically asked for the roll of the prophet Isaiah.  Turn to Luke 4:16-22

5.0 What a fine New Year’s text.  “to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord or To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. The Message puts it this way “This is God’s year to act!”  To bring it home “all of 2010 is yours and my year to preach to tell the poor, brokenhearted, captives of sin, blind and oppressed of a risen savior who is soon to return to set us all free including our love ones who are at rest.

6.0 Some heard 2000 year ago Christ’s message and found they were living in the acceptable year of the Lord was that day in the synagogue in Nazareth.  Today is our chance to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord to our fellow sojourner on this earth.

6.1 Some locked in the prison house of sin, heard the gospel key turn that day in the iron door of condemnation walked out free in Christ.  By faith in Christ, those who were captives to Satanic lusts and passions were that day delivered from the chains of slavery.

6.2 Sick with the disease of evil, they were cured by the Great Physician, who alone can heal the broken heart. 

6.3 Blind to truth, they felt the touch of divine power and looked up into the face of love.

6.4 How did they respond—Luke 4:22 New Living Translation “Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips.”

6.5 There is part of Isaiah 6:2 that Jesus did not read.  Turn with me to Isaiah 61:2.  He stopped reading and closed the book and did not quote the next clause of the prophecy.  “and the day of vengeance of our God.”. That particular phrase was not yet due in its application—it was not time for that time yet; it was still in the future and it still is for us.  The interval between Christ’s first and second comings is the acceptable year of the Lord, the day of salvation.

6.6 NOTICE:  The acceptable time of grace is a year—the time of vengeance but a day.  How like God that is!—“not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance,’ 2 Peter 3:9.  Now is the time, now is the acceptable year.  No one needs to perish in 2010 or ever.  What does John 3:16 teach us?

6.7 When Fanny Crosby, the blind song writer, once visited the Jerry McAuley Mission, she asked if there was a boy there who had no mother, and if he could come up and let her lay her hand on his head.  Well, a boy came up, and she not only put her hand on his head, but—great heart as she was—she put her arms around the motherless little fellow and kissed him.  Then she went from that meeting and wrote the great soul-saving song Rescue the Perishing #367

6.8 And Now the rest of the story—When Mr. Sankey was about to sing this song in the city of St. Louis, he told the incident to his audience.  A man sprang us and said: “I am the boy she kissed that night.  I never could get away from the impression made by that loving act and I became a Christian”

6.9 Let us remember in this new year 2010 that it is an acceptable year of the Lord for soul winners—that no matter how far a person has gone away from God, still “Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter, feelings lie buried that grace can restore; Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness, Chords that were broken will vibrate once more.”

6.10 Mark 16:15 “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel”

6.11 Matthew 28:20 “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age.” 

6.12 It is good to remember the Savior is with us all the days of this new year, no matter what kind of days they may prove to be to your or to me.

6.13 Operation Salvation started at Pentecost and is still the order of the day for all Christians.  We need to be a link in the “chain-reaction evangelism.  This is the method that God gave at the beginning of the Christian church, and no better way to win men to Christ has ever been devised.  One Christian would win another, and that other person would win another, and right on. Link after link in the chain of personal work.  Christianity is a layman’s religion and we must all get busy at this nuclear evangelism, each one winning one until the gospel goes to “every creature.”

6.14 Suppose that at 2 p.m. you should tell two people about what Christ is to you and that within fifteen minutes they should tell two other and so on.  It is said that all the two billion people in the world would hear the message by 5 p.m.

6.15 According to Matthew 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations and then the end will come.”

6.16 How are we going to do it?

6.16.1 First Live the life

6.16.2 Second Study the Word

6.16.3 Third show loving interest

6.16.4 Fourth Pray—and don’t stop praying.

7.0 A gospel worker conducting a mission in Gloucestershire found a woman who was concerned about her spiritual condition, but who said she could not believe in Christ because she did not know how to believe.  The worker said, “Mrs. Smith, how long have you been Mrs. Smith?”

7.1 “Why,” she replied, “ever since I married Mr. Smith.”

7.2 “And how did you become Mrs. Smith?”

7.3 “Well, when the minister said, “Wilt thou have this man to be thy wedded husband?”

7.4 “You said,” the worker interrupted, “’I’ll see,’ or ‘I hope so,’ or ‘I’ll think about it’”?

7.5 “No,” she said, “I said, I will.’”

7.6 “Mrs. Smith, God is asking you, ‘Will you take My Son as your Savior?’”

7.7 “My!” she exclaimed, “is that all?—Is that all?  How foolish I’ve been not to do it before.  Yes, I will—I do take Jesus as my personal Savior.”

8.0 Faith is an act of the will in receiving Christ.  So, in winning souls to Christ this year, let us offer salvation to them in this simple Bible way.  John 1:12 says “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” English Standard Version or KJN But as many as received Him. To them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.”  BELIEVE—ACCEPT—How many have joined the Midland Church this year?  This year is  ”the Acceptable year of our Lord” to each of you.  Every day of our lives is the “Acceptable Year of the Lord”.

9.0 How better could we each personally make this new year an acceptable year of our Lord than to do all in our power to win others to Christ, through visitation, giving Bibles and Christian literature, invite our friends to Christian services, tell them of Good Christian Television such  as 3 ABN, take Bible correspondence course, or to attend a Christian school or college, help them with their burdens of sin guilt, and fear of not being forgiven.  Pray-pray and more prayer.  With that prayer action—visit—walk—talk—take the time.

10.0 Christmas should be everyday—new years should be every day.  Salvation is here today!  Today is the Acceptable Year of the Lord.

11.0 Man on bridge in Cincinnati, and thinks of the course of the river, how the water at which he is now looking will soon pass the bridge at Cairo, Illinois, into the Mississippi, and on down under the great bridge at St. Louis, and past Memphis, Vicksburg, New Orleans, and into the Gulf of Mexico, and at last into the Atlantic Ocean.  The man stops to think of the course of the river, but the river never stops a moment in the relentless flow toward the ocean.

12.0 And so the river of time flows between two eternities.  And even as we pause this morning to reflect on course of 2009 and the beginning of a new year 2010.  The great river of time and events flows ever onward.  Days of pain will make the stream seem to flow very slowly, and the days of happiness will make it seem to rush along, but its rate of flow is always the same, and never for a moment does it stop.

13.0 Friends there are just so many days, so many hours, so many minutes, so many seconds left in your life and in mine.  Let us make the best of them.  And what is that?—Let us give God and Jesus our friends and neighbors as precious pearls into the hand of God, and so make this year from today on, truly an acceptable year of our Lord.  Give your heart to God now.  Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, and the promise will be yours—“that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  Will you do it today?