The Lord showed me from Luke 4:19 (a quotation of Isaiah 61:2 by Jesus in a synagogue in Nazareth) that this year — 2009 — will be “the acceptable year of the Lord”.

Luke 4:18–19
18“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

The word “acceptable” in Hebrew (in Isaiah 61:2) is the word ratson, which means “delight, favour and acceptance”. The year 2009 is going to be a year of delight, favour and acceptance from God! In Greek (in Luke 4:19), it is the word dektos. According to Thayer, a reputable Greek scholar, dektos denotes the most blessed time when salvation and the free favours of God profusely abound!

What Makes 2009 So Special?

From the time that Jesus died and rose again, it’s been more than 2,000 years of “the acceptable year of the Lord”, as Jesus is still healing and saving people. So what makes 2009 so special?

The acceptable year of the Lord is mentioned in Isaiah 61. In Isaiah 60, we find this passage:

Isaiah 60:1–3
1Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. 2For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. 3The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

Isn’t deep darkness covering the earth now? Economic forecasts are all doom and gloom. Big companies which no one thought would ever collapse have gone bust and shocked the nations. People are fearful of new strains of viruses, increased terrorist activities, global warming and natural disasters.

So you are living in a time when you can apply the next chapter — Isaiah 61 — for this year. Despite all the negative forecasts in the world, fear not and don’t be dismayed! The glory of the Lord will rise upon you. You will shine and people will flock to churches for answers! This year is going to be a time when salvation and the free favours of God profusely abound!

It’s Not A Free Favour If You Have To Merit It!

My friend, free favours are blessings you don’t deserve. Even if you have messed up big time, you can still expect free favours from God this year because they are unmerited and undeserved. If you have to merit them, then they are no longer free favours! So be bold, ask God for a favour: “God, can you do me this favour? I need…”

Let me say it again: The year 2009 is going to be a dektos year of the Lord. It is going to be a great year of profusely abounding favours. Not only that, you will see more salvations — in this church and all over the world! Can you say “Amen” to that?

Believe God And Say ‘Amen’ To His Glory!

“Amen” comes from the Hebrew word aman, which first appears in the Bible in Genesis 15:6: “And he [Abraham] believed [aman] in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” Aman means “believe”.

So when you say “Amen” to good news preached, you are saying “I believe the message”, “I have faith in God’s word” or “So be it unto me” — and there is power in that.

In 2 Corinthians 1:20, the Bible says that “all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us”. All the promises of God are for us to say “yes” and “Amen” to because you are in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30)!

When we say “Amen” to God’s promises, God gets the glory “through us”. We say “yes” and “Amen” so that the promises may be fulfilled in our lives to the glory of God!

Jesus Is The Reason We Can Say ‘Amen’ To Blessings

In the Old Testament, the Israelites could not say “Amen” to blessings. After they had entered the promised land, God divided the 12 tribes into two. Six tribes were instructed to climb Mount Gerizim, while the other six climbed Mount Ebal. These two mountains face each other. The tribes on Mount Gerizim pronounced the blessings on all who obeyed the law, and those on Mount Ebal pronounced the curses on all who broke the law. (Deuteronomy 27:11–28:13)

When the curses were pronounced, the people had to say “Amen”. For example:

Deuteronomy 27:16–17
16‘Cursed is the one who treats his father or his mother with contempt.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ 17‘Cursed is the one who moves his neighbour’s landmark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

Yet, when it came to the blessings, there were no Amens. I asked the Lord why this was so. He told me that in the Old Testament, they could not say “Amen” to the blessings as Christ had not yet come. All of God’s promises are in Christ yes and in Him Amen. Thank God that for us today, Christ has come and redeemed us from the curses of the law! (Galatians 3:13)

Loving Life And Seeing Good Days

What is the opposite of saying “Amen” to the blessings of God? It is speaking in line with the evil or negative reports of the world. My friend, if you want to love life and see good days full of the free favours of God this year, refrain your tongue from evil!

1 Peter 3:10
10For “He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil…

“Evil” here refers to not speaking in agreement with God’s words, or speaking in line with the evil or negative reports of the world. If I say that the Lord has told us that this year is going to be a great year full of His free favours and you say, “You must be kidding me,” that’s speaking evil!

The Israelites could not enter the promised land of Canaan because they gave an evil report. God had said that He had given them the land. But instead of agreeing with God and possessing the land, they spoke evil by saying that they were not able to possess the land. (Numbers 13)

My friend, choose not to believe negative news reports and cynical coffee shop talk. If your colleague tells you that this year is going to be bad and that you might get a big pay cut or lose your job, don’t say “Yes”. Believe God’s Word and His promises, and speak in line with His words. Say, “It’s going to be a good year for me, full of the free favours of God!”

Say ‘Amen’ To All That Jesus Offers

Let me finish by bringing you back to Nazareth in the New Testament. When Jesus was in a synagogue on a Sabbath day, He read this portion from the book of Isaiah:

Luke 4:18–19
18“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Then, He closed the book and said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21) The people of Nazareth had a golden opportunity to have everyone in their city healed and delivered. They could have had the greatest revival known in the history of man because Jesus Himself was there to fulfil all that was written in that portion of the Scripture!

But He waited and waited — and there were no Amens. Instead, the people said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” (Luke 4:22) They naturalised Him and even wanted to kill Him. They tried to push Jesus off the cliff, but they could not kill Him who had no sin. He walked through the midst of them (Luke 4:28–30), away to where there would be an Amen to all that He had to offer.

Will you say “Amen” to all that Jesus offers you? Today, He stands before you saying, “This is going to be the acceptable year of the Lord, where salvation and My free favours profusely abound in your life.” Beloved, shout “yes” and “Amen”, and catch the fullness of this blessing!

This article is excerpted from the message
The Power Of The Amen preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on 28 December 2008.
© Copyright Joseph Prince, 2008. All rights reserved.

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