Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] I want you to stand as we honor the reading of God's word. Luke 4:18. We'll read two passages of scripture.
[00:00:12] Luke chapter 4:18.
[00:00:15] Some of you may know this passage by heart. It says this. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.
[00:00:23] He has anointed me. This is Jesus speaking. He has anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken, brokenhearted. To proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind. To set at liberty those who are oppressed. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
[00:00:46] I want you to jump to Deuteronomy if you have your Bible. That's in the Old Testament. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy chapter 16 and verse 15. You can follow along here on on the screens as well. Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses. Because the Lord will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice. Three times a year your male shall appear before the Lord in the place which he chooses. At the feast of unleavened bread, at the feast of weeks and at the feast of tabernacles. They shall not appear before the Lord empty handed.
[00:01:29] This Trinity Church is God's word.
[00:01:33] We believe it to be true. You may be seated.
[00:01:38] I don't know if you see right away what the connection between these two passages are, but I promise you they are connected and we're going to look at this together.
[00:01:48] I love the depth of the Word. I agree. I love what we do with JBQ and these young people who are developing a love for the Word.
[00:02:00] What a treasure to sow into young people. And if you've not yet discovered the love of the Word of God in the depth there in the Word of God, it's alive, it's living and active. And this text is a proof of it. Part of the reason I had to replace my Bible. Not only is this an awesome Bible, but but I have preached out of Luke chapter four in a particular Bible, the one that I've carried around for years, that literally it's torn up in about three different places because I preached out of Luke chapter four.
[00:02:28] The Spirit of the Lord is upon me more than any other passage in the Bible.
[00:02:34] But still, I'm getting new revelation on it still the Lord. I mean, I don't think I'm exaggerating to say I've probably preached out of that text between three and 400 times. It was part of the message that I would carry everywhere, that I would travel, I would preach out of that verse of Scripture. And still the Lord is showing me new things in his word. Jesus, what's going on here is at the beginning of his ministry. He's quoting Isaiah, chapter 61, and he's declaring, all of these things are about to happen. All of these things are going to be made manifest through the ministry of Jesus. And I need you to understand. God has a calendar.
[00:03:15] Do you know this? Dates matter to God.
[00:03:18] The calendar matters to God. He said, three times a year.
[00:03:23] All generations for all time are to recognize. And then he names the three feasts. We read that a moment ago. The Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles, or the Feast of Trumpets.
[00:03:38] And I want to show you these verses, just so you know I'm not making it up. Exodus 12:14.
[00:03:43] This day shall be to you a memorial. You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout all generations. You shall keep it as a feast, as an everlasting covenant.
[00:03:57] Leviticus 23 says the very same thing. It outlines those three particular feasts or festivals, and it says it's to be a lasting ordinance for all generations to come. That includes you, and that includes me.
[00:04:13] And you might be wondering, oh, I don't remember the last time I celebrated the Feast of Trumpets, or I don't know about what is the Feast of Unleavened Bread. I don't know if I participated in that. And don't worry, you probably have been participating in some of these things, and you don't even realize it, because calendars matter to God.
[00:04:37] The Feast of Unleavened Bread we would also call Passover.
[00:04:43] And this was to commemorate the time when God led Israel out of Egyptian slavery.
[00:04:49] They were to, you know the story. They were to apply the blood of a lamb that had been shed over the doorposts. And in the middle of the night, the angel of Death would come. It was going to move all throughout Egypt. But if it saw the blood of the Lamb applied to the doorpost, it would pass over that household.
[00:05:10] And we understand that God, in His infinite wisdom and his acknowledgement of certain calendar dates, he chose the very same festival, the very same week, to be the very same time that Jesus Christ himself would lay down his life as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. He would shed his blood so that you and I, when we believe on him, his blood is applied to our lives. And when death Eternal comes to us. It must pass over as we have moved into eternal life.
[00:05:47] Calendars matter to God.
[00:05:49] Dates matter to God. And you must understand that everything in the Old Testament is pointing to Jesus anyway.
[00:05:58] Everything in the Old Testament.
[00:06:01] So secondly, we mentioned the Feast of Weeks.
[00:06:06] This was to commemorate the time that Moses went up on the mountain and he received the Law of the Lord, what we now recognize as most of the Old Testament, the Ten Commandments. This came out of an encounter with the Lord. He gave the law inscribed on stones.
[00:06:23] But there were prophecies, Ezekiel and others prophesied about a time when God would pour out his Spirit and that he would, instead of inscribing the law on tablets of stone, he would inscribe the law on the hearts of men.
[00:06:39] And did you know that God, in His infinite wisdom, in his acknowledgment of dates in times, he chose to do that very thing, the pouring out of the Spirit of God on Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks.
[00:06:54] This was the very same window, the very same time that God poured out His Spirit. And now you and I live with the joy of the leading and the conviction and the instruction and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Yes, we love the Ten Commandments. I believe in all 10 of them. They're all very good.
[00:07:13] But I also don't need to memorize or bring this before my eyes every day, because how many understand every day of our lives? Holy Spirit says, don't do that. Don't say that. Don't go there. Go this way. Do this. Love this person.
[00:07:29] Calendars are important to God.
[00:07:31] Calendars matter.
[00:07:33] The third festival is the Festival of Tabernacles, or other translations in other places would call it the Feast of Trumpets. Everybody say trumpet.
[00:07:45] Now, this is. That was not everybody. Everybody say trumpet.
[00:07:50] There we go.
[00:07:51] Everybody online say trumpet.
[00:07:55] That was a test. Most of you passed it. I think one or two didn't, but that's okay.
[00:08:01] Usually, the Feast of Trumpets lands somewhere in September or October. And there's a lot of cool stuff that would happen during that time of year when the Feast of Trumpets would begin. It would literally begin with a trumpet. They would stand and they would sound this trumpet. They would blast this trumpet, and it would initiate a week of reflection and a week of repetition, repentance. And so if you go to Israel still today, around this time of year, you'll. This. This trumpet will go, and then people will begin to look inwardly. They'll. You'll. You'll find people sitting by bodies of water and searching their own hearts. And lives. Lord, have I done anything that has grieved you this year? Is there anything that. That I need forgiveness of? The reason they'll find water is because in the Bible, Psalm 103, it says that he would remove our sin as far as the east is from the West.
[00:08:56] In Micah 7:19, he said that he would take our sin and cast it into a sea of forgetfulness. And he says in Hebrews 8:12, that God will remember our sins no more. And so this time of year, they would come and they would bring their sin before the Lord and say, lord, would you take my sin and cast it into the sea? Forget about it, Lord. Wash it away. Cleanse me. And then at the end of this week is a date that we call Yom Kippur. Don't let these phrases turn you off and tune me out, please. This is very important, and you're gonna see this is relevant to us today.
[00:09:31] What would happen is at the end of the week was the one time a year where they would offer an atonement sacrifice for the sins of all the nation, all the believers of God. One man, One time a year. They would. It was a beautiful process. They would bring in a goat, and they would lay hands on the goat and PR that the sin would be imparted to the goat, which is where we get the phrase scapegoat. They would impart the goat sin to the goat, release it, banish it into the wilderness. It's a picture of deliverance. Beautiful. And then they would take this spotless, perfect lamb, and they would offer the lamb as a sacrifice, spilling its blood. And the priest would go into this most holy place. Only one time a year would come before the Lord himself as an intermediary, as a standing, as an advocate, as a high priest and mediator between God and a sinful people. And they would stand there on the mercy, before the mercy seat, where they would appeal to God's mercy, and God, in his kindness, would give mercy and forgive people.
[00:10:35] This was all a part of the Feast of Trumpets.
[00:10:40] And as we look at these various things, I mentioned that these dates are significant. The Easter falls on Passover, and Pentecost falls on the Feast of Weeks. But what is happening during the Feast of Trumpets or Tabernacles?
[00:10:59] Well, there's a lot of verses about the return of Jesus that incorporate verbiage of the trumpet. First, Thessalonians 4:16 says, the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, with the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Anybody excited about that day?
[00:11:25] The trumpet of the Lord? Dead people coming out the grave. Hallelujah. And we will meet the Lord. Matthew 24. Jesus own words, verse 31. He says that he will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. First Corinthians 15:51. I tell you a mystery, Apostle Paul. Not all shall sleep, but we shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
[00:11:58] For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. Ooh, that's exciting. You know the book of revelation, more than 20 references to trumpets.
[00:12:11] And so, you know, every once in a while, I'd be riding my bicycle home from school, and you hear like a tornado siren go off, and you start looking around wondering, is this the moment?
[00:12:22] Or you walk into the house and nobody's home, and you think, I've been left behind.
[00:12:29] Anybody relate to this?
[00:12:31] I don't think my kids have this fear. I think it was something that came out like 80s 90s kids. We had all these weird human videos and we had all these, you know, last one left behind was a real big deal. And I'm just telling you guys, if. If the idea of the rapture in the return of Jesus makes you fearful, you've probably been taught poorly on what this whole thing is going to look like first. Thessalonians 4:18. The apostle Paul is. He lines out what this is going to look like, even mentions the Antichrist and how the church is going to operate is powerful. And at the end of it, he says, encourage one another with these wor.
[00:13:11] If you don't get encouraged and excited as you think about the return of Jesus.
[00:13:15] I mean, we grew up with this kind of fear. I mentioned it before, but I never Forget the day 911 happened. I'm in public school, and my mom comes and picks me up. I mean, we're watching the events of 911 happen on the TV screens.
[00:13:31] And I get a page from the main office.
[00:13:37] Jacob, would you come down to the office, please? So I go down to the office, and your mom's waiting out outside, and she's out there, she's left work, and she throws the door open. Get in the car. The end times are here.
[00:13:49] Like, okay, so we go. I mean, we still had our Y2K shelter set up downstairs with all of our evaporated milk and all of our, you know, you know, no expiration Mac and cheese that probably.
[00:14:04] Anybody know what I'm talking about?
[00:14:09] Like, mom, are you just gonna sit down here and drink powder milk? Is this what we're gonna do?
[00:14:15] I'm excited about the return of Jesus. I'm excited about this last day revival. I'm excited about what God's gonna do.
[00:14:24] And so the ministry of Jesus, he shares this vision out of Isaiah. Now, the reason I share this about calendars and dates, you're gonna see there's something significant that's happening.
[00:14:33] But everybody that Jesus was ministering to would have been very well aware and would have participated in all three of these festivals. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
[00:14:44] He ends his declaration. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, Liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, Liberty to the oppressed. But then he says this phrase, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
[00:15:08] To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. This is a phrase that is directly connected to one event that happened 50 every 50 years. And this was the event that the Bible calls Jubilee.
[00:15:24] Everybody say Jubilee every 50 years. If you don't know how to spell jubilee, it's right behind me. Very big. Every 50 years, they would celebrate jubilee with a sound of a trumpet.
[00:15:38] Debts would be forgiven, slaves would be released, lands would be returned, and this was a huge celebration. Just imagine. Imagine you're in debt and you get over your head and you have a piece of property that your family has owned for generations.
[00:15:55] It was your parents before you, and then your grandparents, your great grandparents. This has been handed down through generations. But for whatever reason, you come into financial trouble and you end up losing that piece of land.
[00:16:06] Imagine, things are extremely dire in this culture in this day and age. What would happen is that a creditor could come to your house, and if you were unable to pay, if you didn't have land, they could actually take one of your children, cause them to be slaves, working for them and their household. But once every 50 years, this trumpet would sound, and it was a mark to everybody. Jubilee has arrived.
[00:16:34] The land that you had lost now came back into your possession.
[00:16:39] Family members that had been enslaved or family members that no longer belong to you were now able to come back home.
[00:16:47] Freedom came to the people. This is Jubilee. Everybody say jubilee.
[00:16:53] This would happen once every 50 years during the Feast of Trumpets.
[00:17:01] This would happen during the Feast of Trumpets. And this is what Jesus was referencing when he said this is the acceptable year of the Lord.
[00:17:11] Calendars matter to God.
[00:17:14] Do you realize that this Saturday we are celebrating 250 years as a nation?
[00:17:24] We are celebrating the anniversary. We're looking at five 50s. Essentially. We already know that five is grace and it's grace multiplied. And imagine God's grace upon our nation. For jubilee, we're looking at five 50s, five fold Jubilee, the nation of America.
[00:17:49] Not only that, but we're celebrating this year 50 years as a church.
[00:17:55] Our anniversary is coming up in a couple months. You already see banners about 50.
[00:18:00] We got Bibles that have 50 on it. Why?
[00:18:04] Because 50 years ago, the Lord put it in people's hearts to start a wonderful church. Right? We were at Newman just this last week where this church began.
[00:18:15] And we were over there, they were doing.
[00:18:17] The police officers of Cedar Hill were putting on an event for kids. And they invited us to come and open the event in prayer and welcome the kids. And I'm just. I drove all around that campus. I don't know where they met. I don't know what happened. But I'm thinking 50 years ago, Trinity Church was right here on this campus. And right now we are on track to be completely debt free as a church campus and all of our campuses. We are literally going to step into the releasing of debt as a church on our 50th year as we celebrate jubilee this year. By the way, the Feast of Trumpets will land on September 13th, the Day of Atonement being September 21st. And I believe. I want you to hear me on this. This is not just some like, you know, hyper faith preaching or something like this.
[00:19:11] I believe that calendars matter to God.
[00:19:14] And I believe that we as a church and we as a nation. You talk about the synergy of this thing coming together. I believe you and I have a window of increased grace to step into the liberties connected with jubilee during this season. Right now you say, wow, that sounds great. What does that mean for me? I'm so glad you asked.
[00:19:37] What are the blessings connected to jubilee? I'm going to give you three. Just very quickly. Number one, I want you to write this down. If you're taking notes. Liberty and freedom.
[00:19:48] Liberty and freedom. These are the blessings connected to jubilee. We're stepping into jubilee. Hallelujah. And you can be a part of it. Liberty and freedom. I mentioned the freedom from slavery, but you'll notice that Jesus references this idea in Luke 4:18. He came to proclaim freedom to captives and liberty to the oppressed.
[00:20:13] Freedom to captives and liberty to the oppressed. Now, at a glance, these ideas sound very similar.
[00:20:21] Both are in bondage, both are in chains, both are enslaved.
[00:20:27] But the reason that you are captive is different from the reason you would be oppressed. And I'm going to explain that. Captive is a term meaning you're in prison, you're in jail. You are captive because you are guilty.
[00:20:47] You are captive because of crimes that you did commit.
[00:20:52] So the same thing exists in the spirit. I think we, you know, people think to themselves, I can compromise, I can live in sin. And no, nobody knows. And it's not a big deal. I'm not hurting anybody. But, friend, it is a big deal.
[00:21:06] The enemy's always looking for a hook in our lives, a place. You know, Ephesians 4. 27 says, give no place, no topos, no foothold, no hook. Give. Don't. Don't give him an inch in your life, because he'll take a mile.
[00:21:21] Give the devil no place.
[00:21:25] We understand. I mean, sin is pleasurable.
[00:21:29] Sin feels good. That's why people sin.
[00:21:33] It makes me feel good.
[00:21:35] It's my comfort, it's my retreat.
[00:21:39] It's my safe place. But even the Bible acknowledges this. In Hebrews 11:25, Moses, it says, he chose to share in the oppression of God's people.
[00:21:51] Rather than enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin, he would choose the life of a slave. Praise God, the Lord delivered him. But he would choose that life over the fleeting pleasures of sin.
[00:22:08] And that's the nature of sin.
[00:22:10] Somebody in my household, I won't tell you who, but it was one of the women in our household recently got a bug bite.
[00:22:19] And, you know, it was one of these bug. I think it was an ant, I don't know, but it was on their foot, and this thing began to swell up and they started scratching. And I'm like, don't scratch.
[00:22:32] But it feels so good.
[00:22:35] And they're scratching. Anybody ever done this? I think we've all done this. And they're scratching it. Oh, it feels so good. And then. And then as soon as they're done, you know, a few minutes later, they're, like, sitting there about to cry. I think I overdid it.
[00:22:49] And they look and it's like, yup. Sure enough, the foot's bleeding. And, man, they scratch that thing way down, way down.
[00:22:56] But even they said, it's like sin. It was pleasurable for a moment, but now I'm paying the price.
[00:23:05] And that's exactly. I know it's a silly illustration, but that's exactly the way sin works. Instant relief, instant pleasure. Instant satisfaction. But before you know it, you're in trouble.
[00:23:20] You can't stop. You're stuck. You're addicted.
[00:23:23] You're destroying lives around you. It's the nature of sin. Will cause destruction in this life and eternal death in the next.
[00:23:32] We must deal with this. But I have good news.
[00:23:37] Part of jubilee, the acceptable year of the Lord and the ministry of Jesus. He came to set those who were captive free.
[00:23:48] He came to set us free. Colossians 1:13 says, he delivered us from the power of darkness, and he's conveyed us into the kingdom of his Son, of the Son, of His love, in whom we have redemption. He paid the price through his blood and the forgiveness of sins.
[00:24:07] Someone say, thank you, Jesus.
[00:24:10] Jesus not only mentions freedom to captives, but liberty to the oppressed.
[00:24:17] Liberty to the oppressed.
[00:24:20] And you'll see the difference if you look at the King, James, in particular, that phrase. He says, to set at liberty them that are bruised.
[00:24:31] This is slavery, this is bondage that you didn't ask for.
[00:24:38] Some of the captivity we live in, it's our own fault. We made wrong decisions, we went down the wrong path, we made certain choices, and we live with the repercussions of those decisions.
[00:24:49] But every one of us also have areas of captivity, areas of slavery. You didn't ask to be abused.
[00:24:57] You didn't ask to be abandoned by a parent.
[00:25:00] You didn't ask to be depressed.
[00:25:03] You didn't ask for your neighbor to introduce you to sex in an inappropriate way.
[00:25:09] You didn't invite that trauma that came into your lives.
[00:25:13] But for some, somehow, in some way, the enemy who seeks to steal, kill and destroy, the devil who is like a roaring lion seeking to devour. He found an opportunity with you in a place of innocence and struck your life and is left a bruise left you in a place of bondage. I don't know why I think this way, and I don't know why I feel this way. And I don't know why I have these compulsions and I don't know why I have this propensity. But if you really begin to examine, you'll recognize I came from brokenness and the enemy sought an opportunity. And now I'm living captive.
[00:25:51] But I have good news for you, too.
[00:25:55] Part of the acceptable year of the Lord, part of this jubilee, this acceptable year of the Lord, is Jesus came to set at liberty, to set free not only those who are captive, forgiving your sin, but he also came to minister healing to those who had been bruised by the enemy.
[00:26:12] There is healing and there is freedom. First Peter 1:18 says, Knowing you are not redeemed with corruptible things, gold and silver, or your aimless conduct by tradition from your fathers, you can't give your way into freedom.
[00:26:26] Traditions, religion will not move you into freedom, but you are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and a lamb without spot.
[00:26:39] Hear me today, Church. Through the precious blood of Jesus, you can have freedom. Whether you're in bondage because of your own terrible decisions, he will forgive you and set you free. Or maybe you're in your situation because of things you didn't ask for, things you didn't welcome. He has come to heal you, cleanse you, redeem you, set you free.
[00:27:00] Someone say, thank you, Jesus.
[00:27:07] Now, the second blessing of jubilee is you'll see that there was restoration and there was blessing.
[00:27:14] Restoration and blessing.
[00:27:16] We mentioned already the forgiveness of debt and the returning of lands. This is the receiving of inheritance.
[00:27:24] And this is. I mean, this is amazing, you guys. If you lost a land, that land is coming back to you.
[00:27:31] And even as we've begun, I mean, when we began, can you imagine, with this idea of jubilee in our heart, I can't tell you how many testimonies we received of.
[00:27:42] I got a letter in the mail that all of my medical debt was forgiven.
[00:27:47] I received a letter in the mail. I got an email that all of my student loans were paid off.
[00:27:53] I just made the last payment on my home.
[00:27:55] We've been hearing these testimonies over and over, over and over as people begin to give and are reaping now the benefits of jubilee.
[00:28:05] This is incredible.
[00:28:06] People have begun tapping into this blessing, and God still does. This is generational blessings.
[00:28:13] You've lost something.
[00:28:15] You've dropped a calling. You've lost a land or a property. There's restoration that comes to the people of God through jubilee.
[00:28:25] So there's areas I look, it's like, my daddy's out there somewhere and he owes my mama child support.
[00:28:32] I'm like, Lord, I'm not expecting him to pay that. That was a brokenness that came through the enemy. And praise God, I've been healed. But I'm praying for that inheritance. Like, that's money. I don't care if it goes to my mom or it comes to me, but the devil sure not going to have it.
[00:28:50] I'm laying claim to that. Like, literally, I wrote this thing down. My wife and I, we took time to pray. She's had things that, you know, relatives have died and left her, things that end up getting taken and not left to her. Like, no, we're gonna lay claim to that. That's an inheritance. That was a generational blessing. That was supposed to come to you, that was supposed to come to me. That's supposed to go to our children. And somewhere along the way, some greedy person or some abandoning father, robbed of that, I'm laying claim to it.
[00:29:19] That's jubilee.
[00:29:21] I want you to think this way because I want you to begin to line out. Hey, you know, this was a business opportunity that got robbed from me. No, I'm taking it back. That's my inheritance right there.
[00:29:31] That home that my parents got kicked out of. No, that was an inheritance, and I'm laying claim to that. This is the year of jubilee. There's an inheritance with my name on it, forgiving of debt.
[00:29:46] Maybe you've been in trouble, you borrowed too much.
[00:29:49] There's forgiveness. I believe we can tap into this. We can pray for this, we can believe for this. I mean, imagine what you could do if you didn't have to make a car payment, if you didn't have to pay a credit card bill, if you didn't have that medical or that whatever kind. Imagine what you could do.
[00:30:07] Anything you want.
[00:30:10] You guys aren't very excited about this one.
[00:30:13] Let's just move on.
[00:30:16] Kingdom economics. The Bible promises. Where do these declarations that we make so often come from? Proverbs 13:22 says that we have inheritances. Deuteronomy 28:12 talks about bonuses, unexpected surprises coming your way. Psalm 75, verses 6 and 7 talks about raises. You're going to be the head and not the tail. You should expect promotions in your life. Proverbs 8:12 talks about witty ideas and inventions. God just dropping inventive ideas into your heart. Deuteronomy 6, 10 and 11 talks about receiving houses that you did not build or work for. Joshua 24:13 talks about inheriting businesses that you didn't have to start. Malachi 310 talks about the Lord opening the heavens over your life and pouring out blessings so abundant you cannot contain it. Malachi 3 up 11 talks about how the devourer is being rebuked off of you and your finances. And Isaiah 60:1 says, the time of God's favor has come.
[00:31:18] This is jubilee.
[00:31:20] These are blessings that you and I can believe. For come on. God's bringing back what the enemy stole.
[00:31:28] He's restoring what was lost in the name of Jesus. Come on. He's breaking generational poverty in the mighty name of Jesus. And he's moving you into a flow of generational blessing. A righteous man, a righteous woman, leaves an inheritance to their children and their children's children and their children's children. Come on.
[00:31:49] This is jubilee. Everybody say jubilee.
[00:31:57] If I'm the only one getting blessed in this, that's okay. I hope you're getting blessed.
[00:32:02] The third blessing of jubilee is healing and rest.
[00:32:08] Mmm.
[00:32:11] Healing and rest.
[00:32:14] I'm thinking about my bed right now.
[00:32:17] Got in from that conference at 11 o', clock, and then I went to work. I had to finish a message.
[00:32:22] Everybody say rest.
[00:32:24] This was a year.
[00:32:26] This. This year of jubilee. One thing that would happen, this actually happened every seven years, but it would always land on jubilee. They would allow the land to rest for a year.
[00:32:37] And that's a crazy thought. You imagine you're a farmer, and the Lord tells you for an entire year, you're not going to plant, you're not going to harvest. You're going to let the land rest.
[00:32:49] And you might be thinking, how are we going to eat? How am I going to provide for my family? But this is what the lord says. Leviticus 25, same chapter, Jubilee, all of it. He says what? You say, what will we eat in the seventh year? Since we will not sow or gather in our produce? Now watch what the Lord says. I will command my blessing.
[00:33:10] Oh, my goodness. I will command my blessing in the sixth year.
[00:33:15] It will bring forth enough produce for three years.
[00:33:20] Not just two years, but three years. And I'm telling you, if you. If you will honor the Lord in rest, he will reward you.
[00:33:30] Just ask Chick Fil A.
[00:33:36] For real. Do you realize that Chick Fil a is more profitable than McDonald's and taco than Starbucks?
[00:33:44] I mean, that's great. They operate one day less out of an honor for the Sabbath. Truly.
[00:33:51] And God has so blessed them, we just think, well, I can do more with that day. I can't take a day off. Yes, you can.
[00:34:02] Honor the Lord. And he said, I will command my. I mean, that's strong word right there. I will command my blessing over you, man. I'm getting excited about this.
[00:34:17] Resting and getting more done.
[00:34:21] Hallelujah.
[00:34:22] And the reason he says you're going to let the land rest is for the land to be healed.
[00:34:30] Everybody say healed.
[00:34:33] You see, one of our core values is marketplace.
[00:34:37] We measure. We like to say we measure our success not by what happens on Sunday, but what happens on Monday through Saturday.
[00:34:45] What impact are we making in the community?
[00:34:48] I believe that if we have enough people walking in this jubilee reality, we're walking in Rest. We're walking in freedom. We're walking in healing. We're walking in the blessing of the Lord. You know what's going to begin to happen? It will literally penetrate and permeate the entire community around us. Your workplace is going to look different. Our community, our government buildings, our schools are going to change. I mean, this last week, not only did we open this police camp, I mean, we're getting invited. This blows my mind coming from Hawaii. I'm just telling you, prayer pushed far out. You didn't know showing up to city meetings if there was going to be some pagan chant going on, or should I say it, a drag queen opening up, or any of these. You never knew what you were going to step into in these community meetings. But the fact that our city council meetings are still opening up with prayer from God fearing pastors, the fact that our police officers are inviting prayer, the fact that, oh my goodness, the Bible is going to be taught in public schools in Texas.
[00:36:02] What's happening?
[00:36:04] Chaplains going out into the schools, orphans are finding home, people being evangelized at the World Cup.
[00:36:12] All of this is happening because some people have found freedom and we found forgiveness and we found purpose and identity. And we're walking in the blessing of the Lord and we're moving out into the community and it's healing the land.
[00:36:29] So how do we receive this?
[00:36:33] Two things that we must do. And then I, and I close with this. Everybody still with me?
[00:36:37] Everybody's still doing good. All right.
[00:36:39] How do we walk in Jubilee? Two things.
[00:36:43] Praise and poverty.
[00:36:48] I'll explain it. Praise and poverty.
[00:36:53] Praise.
[00:36:55] You must understand, Jubilee literally goes back to this entire idea of praise.
[00:37:04] In fact, Jubal, Jubilee comes from. This is a kind of a neat story. In Genesis chapter four, there was a father who had three sons.
[00:37:14] Jubal, Tubal and. What was the other one? Jabal. Jabal, Jubal and Tubal.
[00:37:24] For real. I mean, you do this kind of stuff too. I came up in a house with Jacob, John, Joel, Jeremy, Justin.
[00:37:33] We do this kind of Jabal, Jubal and Tubal.
[00:37:37] Now, what's interesting about these guys, this is Genesis 4. So this is like the beginning of humanity, okay? Beginning of humanity. And what happens is you have. You have Jabal. And the Bible says that Jabal was the father of all herdsmen and cattlemen. He was the first cowboy.
[00:37:58] He's a Texan, most likely. This is where Texans come from.
[00:38:02] He was a herdsman and cattle, they all came. He was the one who learned how to do this and who learned how to herd Cattle and livestock and sell it and buy it and trade it, and very, very great, profitable man.
[00:38:15] Tubal was a craftsman. The Bible says he was the father of all craftsmen. Iron working, in bronze working. He figured out how to bring metal out of the ground and how to forge it. Later on, he became an idol maker. So not a real good ending. But all craftsmanship goes back to Tubal.
[00:38:34] And then you have Jubal.
[00:38:40] Everybody say, jabal, Tubal.
[00:38:44] Jubal.
[00:38:48] Jubal. This is interesting. He was the father of all musicians, everything that came out of him. The Bible says that he created stringed instruments and he created wind instruments, instruments of tubes. And if you look at the definition of Jubal or jubilee, it literally means the clangor of a trumpet to blow of the trumpet's joy. Loud noise, rejoice, shouting, high and joyful sounding.
[00:39:21] This is literally what came from Jubal. He created instruments. And God has built on this idea. Now we have entire feasts and seasons that are built around this incredible idea of praise.
[00:39:37] This is how we're going to move into jubilee. Worship team, if you'll come.
[00:39:42] This is how we're going to move into jubilee.
[00:39:47] We must learn to praise the Lord in every circumstance of life.
[00:39:53] It's easy to praise when you're on the mountaintop. Oh, I just got that promotion. Oh, the inheritances, bonuses, raises, witty id. Oh, I got it. Praise the Lord.
[00:40:05] What about when you lose your job or you get the bad diagnosis, or you got trouble in your marriage, or a child is a prodigal?
[00:40:13] These are the moments that we must learn to praise the Lord. If we're gonna walk in blessing, if we're gonna walk in forgiveness, if we're gonna walk in freedom, if we're gonna walk in all of these that I've been outlining. You want rest in your home. You want healing for your land, for your home, for your business, for your body.
[00:40:29] We must learn to praise the Lord even when things are difficult.
[00:40:34] Just ask Paul and Silas. They're in the prison.
[00:40:38] In the book of Acts, Acts, Chapter 16 and Verse 16, Paul and Silas are there. They're in prison for doing good for the Lord.
[00:40:48] Most of us would be complaining.
[00:40:51] God, where are you? You've abandoned me. How could you, Lord? But that's not what they did. They began to praise the Lord. They began to lift him up, they began to honor him. And next thing you know, I just get this goofy picture in my mind. God heard their praise, and he starts tapping his foot. And next thing you know, that place start shaken. And next thing you know, Their chains are coming off and those prison doors are opening, and next thing you know, they're walking in freedom because of jubilee.
[00:41:19] They lifted their voice and began to praise the Lord.
[00:41:24] This works.
[00:41:26] Just ask King David.
[00:41:28] He's serving a king that is demonized, tormented by the devil.
[00:41:35] But the Bible says that he would call for his string, the instrument, and he would lift up his voice, a sound of jubilee, and peace would come to Saul.
[00:41:45] Peace would come to those tormenting that. That tormenting spirit.
[00:41:50] You got the devil hanging on your back, whispering lies, harassing you, tormenting you.
[00:41:56] Jesus, I love you. God, you are so good, and I bless your holy name.
[00:42:03] In fact, a couple weeks ago, several months ago now, there was a lady that began to manifest demons right here in this altar.
[00:42:14] We took her into the prayer room, and me and my wife and another, A couple prayer workers were there, and she was bruised.
[00:42:26] Abuse had happened. She didn't ask for it, she didn't open it. But, man, the devil had sought an opportunity.
[00:42:33] And she'd been walking in depression, heaviness.
[00:42:38] And we're praying for her.
[00:42:41] These demons are, you know, speaking through her, you know, spewing ugly hate. All of this. I don't know if you've ever seen demons manifest, but all of this is going on. And we came to this spirit of heaviness.
[00:42:54] We came to this. And the Bible says in Isaiah that I will give you.
[00:43:00] I will take the spirit of heaviness, and I will give you a garment of praise.
[00:43:07] And so we'd already cast out a couple demons, ended up being seven, that that needed to come out.
[00:43:14] But we came to this one. In this heaviness.
[00:43:18] You know what I began to do? I didn't even rebuke the devil in this moment.
[00:43:23] I just began to praise the Lord.
[00:43:27] I was. She's there, she's manifesting, and I just. God, I thank you for freedom and I bless your holy name. And we praise you. And I praise you for your creation in this beautiful young lady. I praise you for the way that the gifts that you put on her life. I praise you because she is fearfully and wonderfully made. And I just began to praise God and praise God for his creation in her. And did you know within just a few moments, all of those harassing, heaviest spirits that had been upon her were completely lifted off of her. Through praise.
[00:43:58] Through praise.
[00:44:02] Oh, you don't understand what happens. I know. I know the devil comes on strong, and I know there's moments you just. I. I just end it all here, man. My marriage is Over. I'm just gonna take my life. This addiction thing, this I'm hopeless. And friend, begin to praise the Lord. You may not see it as blatant as a demon manifesting right in front of you, but I'm telling you, if the devil's harassing you at all and you begin to praise the Lord, you begin to honor him. It's doing warfare in ways that you can't even imagine.
[00:44:39] Everybody say praise.
[00:44:46] I got some other things I want to share. I need to explain poverty to you. What the heck is poverty? You talk about all this blessing, inheritance. You're going to say poverty here? It is poverty of spirit.
[00:44:57] You want to receive from the Lord. Jubilee, his blessing, his favor. We must continue to acknowledge our need for him.
[00:45:07] Matthew 5:3 says, Blessed, blessed, blessed are the poor in spirit.
[00:45:13] Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Doesn't mean you need to give everything away and live poor.
[00:45:18] But you must continue to remain in a place where, lord, I have need of you.
[00:45:23] Because I can't do this on my own. I need you.
[00:45:28] That King David, in Psalm 34, he said, I sought the Lord. He heard me. He delivered me from all my fears.
[00:45:37] And it says in verse six, this poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him. King, King.
[00:45:46] This poor man cried out, this poor. This man has a kingdom. He has armies. He has followers. He has resources. He has weaponry and training. And yet he still recognizes when he's in trouble, when he needs blessing, when he needs breakthrough.
[00:46:06] I'm a poor man, and I'm coming to a God of infinite resource. I need you, Lord. I need you. And he cries out, and the Lord delivers him from all his troubles.
[00:46:20] Hallelujah.
