ARISE AND SHINE
STUDY TEXT: Isaiah 60:1-5
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
4 Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.
5 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.
- In this portion of the scriptures there are four things that are evident which we are going to look at:
1. There is proclamation to arise and then shine.
2. There is a provision for your rising and shinning.
3. There is a purpose for your rising and shinning.
4. There is a prophecy surrounding your rising and shinning.
1. THE PROCLAMATION TO ARISE AND SHINE
- There is a divine commandment for you to arise and thereafter shine. God is never pleased when His children are stagnant and are not making progress.
- His will for everyone that believes in Him is to rise and make progress in every facet of their lives.
- Let us see the possible initial situations before the proclamation to arise and shine:
1. In a fallen position. Micah 7:8
Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.
- It is possible to fall into sin, error, or failure. Whichever is the case God is willing to draw you out so that those positions will only be temporary and are not meant to be the end or the final state of your life.
2. In a dead situation. Ezekiel 37:10
So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
- God has a plan to raise you up from you up from the state of spiritual death, and any thing that is dead in your body or your life can be raised back to life by the power of His Spirit. I prophesy after the order of Ezekiel that the power of the Holy Ghost come upon you and raise up to life whatsoever is dead in your body in Jesus name.
3. In a confused situation. Acts 9:6
And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
- There are sometimes that one will be confused and know not what to do or the right step to take. God is telling you today to arise from the state of your confusion and receive divine leading and direction in Jesus name.
- It is the devil that will want to keep you in confusion, because a confused soul is a captured soul, but God says to you ‘arise and shine’
4. In a sitting situation (idleness). Acts 9:10-17
And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.
11 And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,
12 And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.
13 Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:
14 And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.
15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.
17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.
- Whenever one is idle and doing nothing profitable to the Lord and His kingdom, he or she is living below the purpose of God for his or her life.
- There is something you can do for the Lord, stop sitting idle in your local assembly, discover a need and make yourself available for it as you depend on the strength and power of the Holy Spirit.
5. In a sleeping situation. Spiritual and physical Acts 12:1-7
Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.
2 And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.
3 And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.)
4 And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.
5 Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.
6 And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.
7 And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.
- When the church was sleeping spiritually, they suffered greatly from Herod, but when they rose to pray there was supernatural deliverance, not only for Peter but for the whole congregation.
- We need heaven-sent revival upon the church today so that we can rise to the task of the
kingdom and be effective and victorious over the kingdom of darkness.
6. In a fearful and reluctant situation.
- Most people God called for any specific assignment in the Bible were usually fearful and reluctant in the first instance, but through the help of God and His encouragement, they were able to do great exploits for the Lord that they could not imagine they could do.
- Men like Moses, Gideon, Jonah, Joshua, and including the entire apostle Jesus called in the New Testament.
- God is saying to you to drop your fear and break up your reluctances so that you can rise up to do whatsoever He has called you to do. You are not going to do it by your wisdom or strength, but by those of His.
7. In a lazy and slothful situation.
- The major problem of some believers is that they are lazy, and this is having a negative effect in their spiritual lives and in one way or the other affecting them even in other aspect of their lives.
- It is the will of God that you arise from laziness in every area of your life and be diligent and remain fervent in the Spirit.
- Without arising, shinning will not be possible, as we have seen in our text.
2. THE PROVISION FOR YOUR RISING AND SHINNING
- Your light has come, and the glory of God is risen upon thee. You are not left alone to make the progress on your own, infact you can not even succeed on your own, because without Him you can do nothing.
- All you need to do is to arise and seek for the help He has made available for you to make necessary progress in every area of your life.
- Jesus is the light shinning upon us, and until He shines on us, there is no way we can shine
- Our shinning is a reflection of his light. That is why He described Himself as the Light and called us the light of the world. It is as we receive the light from the source that we can then shine it to the darkness of the world.
- When God appears for us, his glory will be seen upon us. We will see ourselves doing the unusual things, but we must remember to return all the glory back to Him.
- Attempting to shine without his light and glory will bring: failure, shame, disappointment and falsehood. Zechariah 4:6
6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
- The seven sons of Sceva attempted to shine without the light of God upon them, and their authority was questioned and they were disgraces by evil spirits.
3. THE PURPOSE FOR RISING AND SHINNING
- There is a divine purpose for your rising and this is for you to standout and show forth the glory of God, so that other people may come to know the Lord through His marvelous works in your life. The reasons include:
1. Darkness covering the earth.
- The whole world lies in darkness and God desires that there be separation of all His chidren from the worldly principles and standards. 1 John 2:15-17
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
2. Gross darkness covering the people.
- This world is full of wicked people practicing all forms of wickedness against mankind and against God and His words, so God desires that there be separation of the children of the kingdom from wicked people. Psalms 1:1-3
- Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
4. THE PROPHECY SURROUNDING YOUR RISING AND SHINNING
1. Gentiles coming to the light.
- Ye are the light of the world. When you begin to shine the unbeliever will be attracted to God and His kingdom through your life.
- This is the purpose for which you are created and called. Your life must win souls to the kingdom of God, not only through your preaching but much more through your living right according to the will of God.
2. Kings shall come to the brightness of thy rising.
- Your rising and shining is not only to attract mere men but also people in the high position of honour and authority.
- The life of Philip attracted the Ethiopian Eunuch to the kingdom of God; likewise Paul was able to win Governors to the kingdom of God during His days.
- You are not to be intimidated by men of high position in the society, all of them need the gospel of peace, and they can have it only through your rising and shining.
3. All that belong to thee shall come to thee.
- You have a wonderful promise that you will have all that belong to you; either they have been stolen, destroyed or delayed. I pray that this come to fulfillment in your life speedily in Jesus name.
4. Enlargement on every side.
- You will also not be limited on any side, but the Lord will enlarge your coast and expand your territory.
- His word says little flock should not be afraid because it is the will of God to make it a greater kingdom. I prophesy divine enlargement in every area of your small beginning in Jesus name.
5. Riches of the gentiles to be given to thee.
- The riches of those who refuse the gospel and rejected God will be transfer over unto you as a child of the kingdom.
- We need proper understanding of these promises over our lives as children of God and we should believe them that they are being fulfilled in our lives if we can remain faithful unto God in all areas of our lives.
- God says to you today arise from whatsoever is your situation unto a greater height where you begin to shine, fulfill His purposes for your life and enjoy His blessings to the fullest.
