Being Fruitful
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Posted: May 27, 2023
Author: Coria Brock Romans 13:21, English Standard Version “Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.” |
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Throughout the Bible we are taught to learn and be aware of the times. Jesus once said to the Pharisees and Sadducees, “… You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.” (Matthew 16”3, NIV) We know that no one can know the time of the second coming of the Lord Jesus except the Father, yet we should also remember that Jesus desires for us to be aware of the signs of the times. So, what time is it? This is what I want to share with you. As we, lets pay attention to the following scriptures:
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me… to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God.” (Isaiah 61:1-2, NIV)
“And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him” (Luke 4:17, NIV)
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me…to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor…Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:18-21, NIV)
The words that were spoken in Isaiah 61 were prophecy, but the words Jesus spoke in Luke 4 were a statement. This leads us to the next step in understanding what the Lord wants us to recognize between the prophecy and the statement.
What is the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God? Jesus said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” It was fulfilled in the year of the Lord’s favor. Jesus was telling us that the year of His favor was taking place at that time. What was that favor? That all sinners could have His grace and receive salvation! But what was not fulfilled as He was standing in the synagogue? The day of vengeance of our God! What is the day of vengeance of God? Judgement Day! The prophecy spoken by Isaiah about the first and second coming of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah! So, what time are we living in now? We are living in the gap between the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of the vengeance of God.
Now that we have come to that understanding, the next question we should ask ourselves is, “What should we do in this time?” My dear friends, by His grace we have been offered salvation and now we must decide to receive His salvation, or stubbornly wait for His vengeance. If we chose to receive Jesus as our Savior, we also need to respond to His love by devoting ourselves to Him as our Lord. When we say yes to Him we also receive the promise that the Spirit of the Lord will come on us and anoint us to go and proclaim the Good News – the Great Mission that Jesus has given. (Matthew 28:18-20) No one knows the time that the Son is coming back, but now is the time for us to go and do what He commanded us to do. May those who have ears to hear and obey!
