In the study of God's Word we find many periods of time in which certain conditions are outstanding. Among these there are three which are of primary importance to us. Each one designates a particular time in which God administers particular precepts to particular peoples. These three periods of time are: The Acceptable Year of the Lord, the Day of Vengeance of our God, and the Day of Salvation.
"And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of Him through all the region round about. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. And 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 for to read. And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And He closed the book, and He gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on Him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." (Luke 4:14-21).
Notice that the Lord Jesus read from the book of Isaiah (Esaias), and after reading as far as " ... to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, ... He closed the book. .. " (v.20). We find this portion of Scripture in Isaiah 61:1-2. But when we read verse 2, we find that Jesus closed the book in the middle of a sentence. For we read in Isaiah 61:2: "To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn." and the sentence continues through verse 3.
The fact that the Lord Jesus closed the book in the middle of a sentence shows how accurately He handled the Word of God. By stopping at this point in the prophecy of Isaiah He established a distinction between two periods of time; the Acceptable Year of the Lord, and the Day of Vengeance of our God. By closing the book at this point, in this prophecy, He was able to make the statement recorded in Luke 4:21; "And He began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." It was indeed that time of the Acceptable Year of the Lord, but it was not yet the Day of Vengeance of our God.
Isaiah's prophecy begins with the words, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me." In Luke 4:14, we read that, " ... Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee." "And John (the Baptist) bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from Heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him" (John 1:32). Yes, Jesus was the one of whom Isaiah spoke; and His presence, among the people of Israel, constituted the fulfillment of that prophecy: but only, at that time, to the point at which Jesus closed the book.
This is the answer to what appears to be a problem with John the Baptist in Matthew . 11:2,3. There we read, "Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, And said unto Him, Art thou He that should come, or do we look for another?" This does seem to be inconsistent, for John bore record that he had seen the proof that Jesus was the one of whom Isaiah spoke. He said he saw the Spirit descend from Heaven and abide upon Him. Would he now be questioning that which he had previously confirmed? NO! John was not questioning whether Jesus was the one that the prophets said should come. Of this he was convinced. The question was concerning Christ's coming. Was this it? Or was there also to be another one; another coming of a different kind? (The Greek here is heteros). Jesus' answer indicated that there would indeed be another coming of a different kind. He told John's disciples; "Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them." (Matthew 11:4-5). All this constituted only a partial fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy; that which was connected with the Acceptable Year of the Lord. What yet remains to be fulfilled is that portion which is connected with the Day of Vengeance of our God; when Christ is " ... to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified." (Isaiah 61:2-3).
All the signs associated with the Acceptable Year of the Lord were fulfilled by the Lord Jesus and by those appointed by Him beginning with His ministry and extending through the time recorded in the book of Acts. Therefore, the Acceptable Year of the Lord lasted through the Acts period. But what is of primary importance here is that the Acceptable Year of the Lord, prophesied by Isaiah, was not extended to the Gentiles; it concerned only Israel. At the very time Jesus was proclaiming the Acceptable year of the Lord to Israel, He instructed His Apostles to "Go not into the way of the Gentiles .... But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils ... " (Matthew 10:5-8).
"Then began He to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But i say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee " (Matthew 11:20-24).
Here we find that The Day of Vengeance is now being proclaimed to the cities of Israel. But that day, and the things associated with it, were not fulfilled at that time. The reason for this is that at that time it was still the Acceptable Year of the Lord. Jesus was still doing the works associated with the Acceptable Year of the Lord, and He was still extending the invitation to Israel to enter into His rest, for He said, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:20-24).
The Day of Vengeance of Our God did not commence with its proclamation. Indeed it could not commence as long as it was still the Acceptable Year of the Lord. But, after almost two thousand years, the Day of Vengeance and the things associated with it have not yet been fulfilled. The fulfillment of the Day of Vengeance of our God awaits the other coming, the "second coming" of the Lord Jesus Christ as the righteous judge. Then would this indicate that it is still the Acceptable Year of the Lord for Israel?
"And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth" (Isaiah 49:6).
We have seen that both the Acceptable Year of the Lord and the Day of Vengeance of our God, and all that are associated with them, are peculiarly associated with Israel. But what about the Gentiles? In Isaiah 49:6, we find the wonderful truth that what Christ is going to accomplish with Israel, one nation, is only "a light thing" with God; for God has appointed Him also "for a light to the Gentiles," all the nations, "that Thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth." But we must know and understand that even this, as it was prophesied by Isaiah, awaits a future fulfillment; after the Day of Vengeance of our God, at the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In II Corinthians 6:1-2, Paul writes to Gentiles; "We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)" In the first part of verse 2, Paul quotes from Isaiah 49:8, Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee." And in the last part of ll Corinthians 6:2, Paul states that NOW IS THE ACCEPTED TIME, and that NOW is the DAY OF SALVATION. At the time Paul wrote this epistle it was the Acceptable Year of the Lord, and it had become the day of Salvation for the Gentiles. Here we find an overlapping of two periods of time, which does not appear according to prophecy. God would not delay His day of Salvation to the Gentiles, in spite of Israel's rejection of Jesus Christ. Yet He graciously extended His Acceptable Year to Israel for at least through the time covered by the book of Acts. But it is no longer the Acceptable Year for Israel. They are now reckoned among the Gentiles, and God's Day of Salvation.
The Day of Salvation, as it is proclaimed by Paul to the Gentiles, though it is not in exact chronological accordance with prophecy, is by no means contrary to prophecy. But God could not have brought His Day of Salvation to the Gentiles at that time under the prevailing conditions according to prophecy. Therefore, the Day of Salvation, as it is proclaimed by Paul to the Gentiles, is in accordance with a Divine Secret, which was revealed to Paul when God appointed him as the Apostle of the Gentiles. This Divine Secret is now revealed as the Dispensation of the Grace of God, which was given to Paul to be administered to the Gentiles, and is described in Ephesians 3:1-11.
Yes, Christ was made a light unto the Gentiles in order that He should be God's Salvation unto the ends of the earth. But when Christ was on earth among the people of Israel, He was "not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew15:24). Therefore, at that time, the Gentiles "were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers form the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God ... " (Ephesians2:12). Now if Christ is God's Salvation, then God's Salvation could not be sent to the Gentiles apart from Christ. The Day of Salvation began for the Gentiles when Christ, God's Salvation, was sent to the Gentiles, in spite of the prophesied conditions, though the instrument of Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles.
Therefore, NOW is the Accepted Time. Now is the Day of Salvation for the Gentiles. As long as Christ is among the Gentiles by means of the Church which is His Body (see Ephesians1:22,23, and Colossians 1:24-27) it will be the Day of Salvation. This Day of Salvation will end when Christ is no longer among the Gentiles; when the Church, His Body, is complete and we who are His are caught up to meet the Lord in the air (I Thessalonians 4:16-17). Then it will be the Day of Vengeance.
Christ, God's Salvation, has been sent to you! Christ died for your sins! But Christ also arose from the dead, victorious over sin and death, in order that you might have life, through faith in Him. This gospel of Christ is the power of God unto Salvation to every one believing it. This power has been extended to you. NOW is your Accepted Time. NOW is your Day of Salvation. If you have never seriously considered this, consider it NOW. Do not put it off! Tomorrow may be too late!
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Christ DIED, that’s HISTORY.
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Christ DIED for YOU SINS and Rose again that’s SALVATION.
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Romans 1:16, Romans 10:9-10 and 1. Corinthians 15:1-4
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