Text: But you will be called the priests of the LORD; You will be spoken of as ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of nations, And in their riches you will boast. (Isaiah 61:6)
Question 32: But why are you called a Christian?
Answer: Because by faith I am a member of Christ and so I share in His anointing. I am anointed:
to confess His Name,
to present myself to Him as a living sacrifice of thanks,
to strive with a free conscience against sin and the devil in this life, and
afterward to reign with Christ over all creation for eternity.
Intro: Our name
“And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul; and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” (Acts 11:26 cf. Acts 24:5)
I. Isaiah 61
v1 anointing
v2 the day
v4 rebuilding
v5 peace
v6 priests
II. The change
Luke 4:14, 21
III. The apostle’s teaching
John
Peter
Application 1: Privileges
Who is our teacher?
Laity & clergy
Application 2: Purpose
to confess His Name
to present myself to Him as a living sacrifice of thanks
to strive with a free conscience against sin and the devil in this life
Application 3: Fainting
All this is promotive of the Lord’s mode of working, which is summed up in these words—“Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord.” Instruments shall be used, but their intrinsic weakness shall be clearly manifested; there shall be no division of the glory, no diminishing the honor due to the Great Worker. The man shall be emptied of self, and then filled with the Holy Spirit. In his own apprehension he shall be like a dry leaf driven of the tempest, and then shall be strengthened into a brazen wall against the enemies of truth. To hide pride from the worker is the great difficulty. Uninterrupted success and unfading joy in it would be more than our weak heads could bear. Our wine must needs be mixed with water, lest it turn our brains. My witness is, that those who are honored of their Lord in public, have usually to endure a secret chastening, or to carry a peculiar cross, lest by any means they exalt themselves, and fall into the snare of the devil. --Spurgeon