Sent for God’s Mission by Pastor Michael Leong

Isaiah 61 does not arrive overnight. Isaiah’s long road through warning, judgment, repentance, surrender, and perseverance gives weight to the words good news, healing, freedom, restoration, and hope. The road to restoration never bypasses the refining work of God. God often prepares His people through difficult seasons before bringing them into the fullness of His purposes.

Ezekiel shows how costly obedience can be. God did not merely ask Ezekiel to preach the coming destruction of Jerusalem. God asked him to live it out through strange signs, public humiliation, scarcity, and finally the death of his beloved wife. The prophets suffered not because they had missed God, but because they had heard from God and obeyed. The calling of God does not exempt His servants from hardship, because obedience itself can bring sacrifice, opposition, rejection, and betrayal.

The paradox of the Christian life holds suffering and privilege together. Christ’s servants can be hard pressed but not crushed, sorrowful yet rejoicing, burdened yet strengthened by God. The path may be costly, but it is always rewarding because God gives supernatural strength and unmatched purpose in the middle of the battle.

Isaiah 61 points beyond Isaiah and Ezekiel to the ultimate Servant. Jesus stands in Nazareth, opens Isaiah’s scroll, reads of the Spirit’s anointing, and declares that the Scripture has been fulfilled. Jesus alone is the Messiah, the One sent to proclaim good news to the poor, bind up broken hearts, bring freedom, and restore what sin has ruined.

Jesus stops at “the year of the Lord’s favor” because His first coming inaugurates salvation, not final judgment. Isaiah sees the year of favor and the day of vengeance like two mountain peaks that appear close from far away. God’s unfolding plan reveals the great valley between those peaks. Christ has come as the suffering Servant, and Christ will return as the glorious King.

The church now lives between the two peaks. The door of salvation remains open, but the day of vengeance will come. The Spirit fills God’s people not merely to dwell in His presence, but to carry His presence into the world. The mission begins through prayer, meals, friendship, service, simple conversations, and faithful presence wherever God has placed His people. The King is coming, the mission is urgent, and the question remains: are they willing?

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Obedience can carry a heavy cost Ezekiel’s life shows that hardship does not automatically mean that a believer has missed God’s will. The prophets bore painful signs precisely because they heard God and obeyed Him. The cost of obedience should not be romanticized, yet neither should it be mistaken for abandonment. God can make costly faithfulness a living witness to His truth. [10:50]
• 2. Jesus alone fulfills Isaiah’s promise Jesus does not merely repeat Isaiah’s words. Jesus stands as the promised Servant, anointed by the Spirit and sent to accomplish salvation. Healing, freedom, restoration, and good news find their deepest source in Him alone. The church proclaims what Christ has already secured through His death and resurrection. [16:40]
• 3. The present age is God’s favor The gap between the Lord’s favor and God’s vengeance reveals patience, not delay. Christ’s first coming opens a real window of grace in which sinners can hear the gospel, turn to Him, and receive forgiveness. Christ’s future judgment gives eternal weight to the church’s present opportunity. The open door should produce urgency without panic and compassion without compromise. [22:48]
• 4. The Spirit sends God’s people outward The Spirit does not fill believers merely for private comfort or spiritual experience. God gives His presence so that His people can carry Christ’s good news into broken places and ordinary relationships. A meal, a friendship, a practical need, or a faithful conversation can become an entrance for the gospel. God often begins kingdom work far from a platform.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [03:28] - Arriving at Isaiah 61
• [04:36] - Restoration Requires Refining
• [05:52] - Ezekiel and the Cost of Obedience
• [10:50] - Suffering Because He Obeyed
• [12:48] - The Ultimate Servant Revealed
• [13:44] - Jesus Reads Isaiah in Nazareth
• [17:20] - The Year of Favor and Vengeance
• [20:33] - Living Between Two Mountain Peaks
• [23:21] - The Church’s Urgent Mission
• [25:49] - Mission Begins in Everyday Life
• [30:16] - The Door Is Still Open

Bible Reading

Isaiah 61:1-2
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;”
[03:28] [13:44] [17:20]

Luke 4:16-21
“And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.’ And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’”
[13:44] [16:40]

Ezekiel 4:1-17
“And you, son of man, take a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem. And put siegeworks against it, and build a siege wall against it, and cast up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it all around. And you, take an iron griddle, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; and set your face toward it, and let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is a sign for the house of Israel. Lie on your left side, and place the punishment of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their punishment. For I assign to you a number of days, 390 days, equal to the number of the years of their punishment. So long shall you bear the punishment of the house of Israel. And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the punishment of the house of Judah. Forty days I assign you, a day for each year. And you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against it. And behold, I will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed the days of your siege. And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer, and put them into a single vessel and make your bread from them. During the number of days that you lie on your side, 390 days, you shall eat it. And your food that you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; from day to day you shall eat it. And water you shall drink by measure, the sixth part of a hin; from day to day you shall drink. And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it in their sight on human dung. And the LORD said, ‘Thus shall the people of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.’ Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I have never defiled myself. From my youth up till now I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has tainted meat come into my mouth.’ Then he said to me, ‘See, I assign to you cow's dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread.’ Moreover, he said to me, ‘Son of man, behold, I will break the supply of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water by measure and in dismay. I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and look at one another in dismay, and rot away because of their punishment.’”
[05:52] [10:50]

Observation questions

1. What details in Ezekiel 4 show that God called Ezekiel not only to speak about Jerusalem’s coming judgment, but to publicly act it out?
2. In Isaiah 61:1-2, what specific needs does the anointed Servant come to address, and what actions is He sent to do?
3. What words from Isaiah 61 does Jesus read in Luke 4, and where does He stop reading? [17:20]
4. What does Jesus declare after reading from Isaiah’s scroll, and what does that claim reveal about His identity? [16:40]

Interpretation questions

1. Ezekiel’s strange signs were costly and humiliating, yet they communicated God’s warning to His people. What does this show about why obedience to God may sometimes involve sacrifice, misunderstanding, or rejection? [10:50]
2. Jesus says that Isaiah 61 is fulfilled in Him. Why is it important that Jesus is not simply an example of good news and restoration, but the Messiah who actually accomplishes salvation? [24:08]
3. Isaiah 61 places “the year of the LORD’s favor” and “the day of vengeance” together, while Jesus stops after proclaiming God’s favor. How does this help explain the difference between Christ’s first coming and His future return? [18:33]
4. If the present time is still the season of God’s favor, how should the reality of future judgment shape a Christian’s love, urgency, and willingness to speak about Christ? [22:48]

Application questions

1. Is there a difficult season in life where it has been easy to assume that hardship means God is absent or displeased? How might Ezekiel’s obedience reshape the way that season is viewed? [11:01]
2. Where is obedience to Christ currently costly—for example, in a relationship, workplace, family situation, or personal decision? What would faithful perseverance look like this week?
3. Jesus came to bring good news to the poor, healing to the brokenhearted, and freedom to the oppressed. Who in your everyday life seems especially burdened, wounded, or trapped, and what is one practical way to show them Christ’s compassion?
4. The door of salvation is still open. Is there a particular person for whom God is prompting you to pray or with whom you need to begin a more intentional conversation? What might be a natural next step? [23:00]
5. God’s mission often begins with a prayer, a meal, friendship, or meeting a practical need. What ordinary setting—home, work, studies, neighbourhood, or family—has God already placed you in as an opportunity for gospel witness? [25:49]
6. What distractions, personal ambitions, fears, or unnecessary conflicts may be keeping you from being available for God’s mission? What could it look like to lay one of them down this week? [25:36]
7. The Spirit empowers God’s people to carry Christ’s presence into the world. What is one specific act of service, hospitality, or gospel conversation you sense God inviting you to take in the next seven days? [30:16]