Dear Christian friends:

A German king went with his army to stop a rebellion in a faraway part of his kingdom. After he conquered the rebel army the king set a candle on top of the archway gate that led to the castle where he stayed in that city. The king lighted the candle and announced to all the rebels that those people who come and surrender their weapons and swear to be true to Him will receive mercy and pardon, but his offer of mercy and pardon will continue until the candle is burnt down and out. After that those who did not surrender will be caught and killed.

The king limited the time for the rebels to receive pardon and mercy, until the candle burned down, a few hours, perhaps one-half day. Every valuable offer is limited in time. When the May Co. or the Broadway Store or Barker Brothers Furniture have a sale, the offer is limited in time, perhaps one week or maybe only three days.

This is true also of the most precious offer of all time - God's offering salvation through Jesus Christ His Son. God's offer to you and me is time-limited.

In our text Jesus impresses that on our minds:

God's offer in Jesus Christ is the most valuable offer of any.

In our text Jesus tells about God's precious offer. On the Sabbath Day, as was His custom, Jesus went into the Jewish Church. The Ruler of the church asked Jesus to read the lesson from the Old Testament Scriptures. Jesus read these words from Isaiah the prophet: "The Spirit of God is upon Me, because God chose Me to preach the Good News to the poor people. God sent Me to tell people in prison that they are free, to tell blind people that they will see, to bring happiness to sad people, to announce the time that the Lord God will save His people." (Isaiah 61:1-3)

Then Jesus closed the book, gave it back to the Ruler, and He sat down. All the people in the church watched Jesus. Then Jesus said, "Today these writings of the Prophet happen exactly."

Jesus means to tell the people, "Isaiah prophesied about Me. I am God's Son, the Messiah. God chose Me and gave Me His Spirit. God sent Me to preach the Good News that I am your Savior."

In Jesus Christ God offers us most precious blessings: forgiveness of all our sins, and because we have forgiveness of sins we have peace in our mind and heart; love and praise for God and not afraid anymore to go and talk to Him in prayer; hope for future because we are not afraid of death anymore; we know we will go to be with Jesus in the heavenly home.

Truly, God's offer in Jesus Christ is the most precious offer you can hear or see. But we must accept it, and believe it! God's precious offer has a time limit.

Today is the time to accept God's precious offer in Christ Jesus.

In our text we see how Jesus told the people of Nazareth they must accept Him today. He said to them, "These Holy Writings of the Prophet happen exactly in Me today." (V. 21) "Today I am God's chosen One, your Savior, stand before your eyes."

But the people of Nazareth refused to accept Jesus for their Savior that day. They said to one another, "How can He be the Savior? He is Joseph's son. We have known Him since he was a little boy. He's only a man like us. He can't be God's Son." (V. 22)

The people of Nazareth thought Jesus was a liar and that He was mocking God. They even tried to kill Him. (V. 29)

He came to His home town people, and His home town people refused to accept Him. (John 1:11)

Today Jesus stands before you and says to you, "All the Holy Writings of the Old Testament happen exactly in Me. God has chosen Me and given Me His Spirit. He has sent Me to preach Good News to sinners, to free the prisoners, to open the ears of the deaf, to give eternal life to those who are dying, to announce His mercy and pardon to all."

Today Jesus God's Savior stands before your eyes. Don't refuse Him like the people in our text. They were lost eternally.

Today is our day of salvation. Let us accept Jesus Christ for our Savior and rejoice in Him. Let us also work hard and give our offerings to help support the preaching of God's Good News, so that many others can hear God's precious offer in Christ Jesus and perhaps accept it before the limited time is ended.

Also let us, each one of us, be busy telling other deaf about Jesus Christ their Savior. Many deaf have not yet heard God's offer in Jesus Christ. They are still sad in their sins; they are in Satan's prison; they are blind and deaf to the Good News; they are still in spiritual darkness and death.

Remember, the time is limited. People die quickly, suddenly often, and their time to hear God's offer is ended. If we delay to tell someone and think in our heart, "No rush: Plenty of time tomorrow or next week or next month, we may be surprised and fooled. The person we intended to visit and tell is moved away or has died and it is too late!

Here is a story to impress this on our minds. One day Satan called his angels to a meeting. Satan said to his angels, "We must think of a good plan to lead the people away from Jesus. Can anyone think of a good idea?" The devil's angels thought and thought. Then one evil spirit said, "I have a good idea. Let's go to all the people on earth and tell them that Jesus is only a man that He is not God's Son."

But Satan answered, "Some people will believe that lie, but many will not. We need a better plan than that."

Another evil spirit said, "I have an idea. Let us go to the people on earth and tell them that the Bible is only fables, that it is not really God's Word."

But again Satan did not think that was a good enough plan. He said, "Some people will believe that lie, but most will not. We must think of a better plan than that."

After a while another evil spirit raised his hand and said, "I have a good idea. Let's all go to the people on earth and tell them that the Bible is God's Word and that Jesus Christ is God's Son and that He died on the cross for their sins and that He arose on the third day, but let us tell them they have plenty of time, unlimited time to accept Jesus Christ."

Satan shouted with joy! "That's it! That's the perfect plant Tell them they need not hurry!"

God's precious offer in Jesus Christ is limited in time. Today is the time to accept! Today is the time to support the preaching of the Good News Offer. Today is the day to tell someone else about Jesus Christ.

The Bible says, "Today is the day of salvation. Today, if you wish to hear His voice, harden not your hearts." (V. Hebrews 4:7)

AMEN!