"Rise and Shine" (Isaiah 60)

just thinking as we prepare to get into our study this morning I don't know if this has worked this way for all of you this year's Bible reading plan has really spoken to me in some great personal ways and I have been amazed week after week that there's at least one of those five readings that speaks with tremendous relevance that I bring before you on Sunday morning and I've been thinking that throughout the weeks of this year the circumstances and the times that we have been through I have a greater appreciation for the wisdom of God who has directed us in those readings knowing our days ahead before that they were lived out and knowing that we would need certain passages at certain times again and again I have been reminded of his leading in that I am reminded of that again today and I'm encouraged by that so I have a greater appreciation of the infinite wisdom and sovereignty of God as I've considered how a reading plan has gone throughout this year so having said that I'd like to ask you to turn in the Old Testament to the book of Isaiah chapter 60 I guess I've also thought in in what I would share in sermons I might not have picked out any other way the passages that I have been picking out if it were not for the plan that we're following Isaiah 60 might not been a passage that I would have naturally gravitated to but I am so glad I've been drawn to it and that we can share from it this morning verse 1 arise shine for your light has come and the glory of the lord has risen upon you arise shine rise and shine i heard that phrase a lot growing up I used to love to sleep to about 10 or 11 o'clock in the morning when school was out during summer vacation and that didn't always work well with a dad who liked to get up early and I don't know how many times I would hear such thing as you're going to sleep till noon which I probably would have or get up you're burning daylight because he had things to do and things he thought I ought to do and so I remember hearing that probably most of us at some point or the other probably especially back in childhood have heard that phrase then rise and shine you go to camp usually on the program that lists the activities and the first thing is rise and shine at 7:00 a.m. or whatever time it is that they have set I think I know what it means to rise that the business of shining I'm not quite sure I always understood but when I read this verse I wonder is that where the phrase rise and shine came from was what Isaiah said about a rise and shine arise shine for your light has come and I don't think Isaiah is just talking about the morning that it's time to get up for that reason there's a special significance in prophetic words to people that desperately needed to hear what God said through this prophet the message that we read in this chapter these were promises made to a very weary and defeated people if you were to go back and understand the setting and the circumstances with the people of Israel the people of God they had been disobedient as they had been so many times in their experience in their lives but in a particular time of disobedience God's punishment was upon them they were taken off into exile to babylon taken away from their homes and away from their homeland and i pause and i linger there for just a little bit because just that fact alone is hard for me to understand i cannot fathom what it would be like to be forcibly dragged from my home and dragged from this land that i'm familiar with you know i mean start to think about what they've been through these were the circumstances so imagine that that you are dragged out of your house you were dragged away from this land that you love and enjoy taking off to another land forced into another lifestyle forced to live where you don't want to live those are the circumstances of the people of God the backdrop up against which Isaiah writes these words things could not have been any worse for them in fact if you back up a chapter 2 chapter 59 kind of hate to read these words because they are depressing but I want us to get our minds around their circumstances however bad we have at the point is they had it worse but sometimes we can relate to these words verses 9 to 11 at chapter 59 therefore justice is far from us and righteousness does not overtake us we hope for light but behold darkness for brightness but we walk in gloom we grope along the wall like blind men we grope like those who have no eyes we stumble at midnight at midday is that the twilight among those who are vigorous we are like dead men all of us growl like bears I like that moans sadly like doves we hope for justice but there is none for salvation but it is far from us Wow I read those words I think they had it bad like I say sometimes we might think we got it bad we might relate to that say yeah things aren't so great and I kind of groan and I kind of relate to those words those were the dismal circumstances of the people of God when Isaiah wrote what we read in the opening verses of chapter 60 again arise shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you for behold darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the people's but the Lord will rise upon you and his glory will appear upon you nations will come to your light and Kings to the brightness of your rising it's a phenomenal promise to people who were down and out who have it incredibly bad Isaiah under inspiration of God says yes but there are better times coming there is brightness and there is light it's going to come back to you amidst the darkness and amidst the gloom this whole chapter and this whole section in Isaiah it's really a prophecy of God's future plan for the nation of Israel and the city of Jerusalem in particular and so again while things were dismal and bad as they've ever been God says a bright spot is I got good plans for you good things out there yet in the future and so it's really a kingdom promise because time and again we read in Scripture that God has a plan for the nation of Israel and Jerusalem to be the very centrepiece of the coming kingdom of God that we all long for and that we focus on so much there is the promise of that light as he refers to the coming kingdom but there's more to it than that the promise of light has something to do also with the brightness of God's Sun who would rise up from the people of Israel as well if you looked ahead into verse 6 in Isaiah chapter 60 there's an interesting things said about that they will bring gold and frankincense you all read that somewhere else you heard about that somewhere else sounds to me like a reference to the wise men bringing those precious gifts to the Christ child and so a part of the brightness and the light that was in the future for them was the fact that God's son would arise out of the midst of those people chapter 9 of Isaiah verse 2 says the people who walk in darkness will see a great light those who live in a dark land the light will shine on them very special verse because that I believe refers to the light of God's Sun coming in fact in Matthew chapter 4 verses 16 and 17 that very prophecy is quoted when it says the people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light and those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death upon them a light dawned and from that time Jesus began to preach and to say repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand the brightness the light for the people of God the people of Israel was the son of God appeared in their midst and I just love that describing the beginning of his ministry that the people saw a great light they they eyeballed the Son of God the the brightest light of all in a sense and also when they were looking upon that light it says synonymous with that that he began to preach the message of the kingdom of God so the true light for the people of God back then was the son of God appearing on the scene and declaring and demonstrating the message of the kingdom of God certainly the ultimate of the great light it all comes down to us today as we think about this imagery of light and brightness we are those who have seen the light of Christ we have seen him as the son of God we know that Jesus is the Christ and we also recognize this great kingdom of God message you know that I can't talk about him without talking about the kingdom because they go hand in hand that is the good news of Scripture it's great news that he appeared and offered his life as a sacrifice but it's phenomenal news that he came on to the scene through his miracles and through his healings to declare and to demonstrate there's something else coming there's a great day coming there's a kingdom that will come through the Christ we are those who have literally seen the light we see the Christ and we see his message and so is those who have been enlightened in a very real sense we're called to live the lifestyle of those who live in that light I'd like you to jump ahead the Ephesians chapter 5 for just a bit the visions the fifth chapter like to look at verses 6 through 16 in that passage again it's it Ephesians chapter 5 verses 6 through 16 the Apostle Paul writes to us he says let no one deceive you with empty words for because of these things and we pause for a moment onto these things the previous verses he talks about an ungodly lifestyle because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience so he challenges therefore do not be partakers with them for you were formerly darkness used to live that way you were formerly darkness but now you are light in the Lord walk as children of light for the fruit of the light consists of all goodness and righteousness and truth trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness but instead even expose them for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret but all things become visible when they are exposed by the light for everything that becomes visible is light for this reason it says awake sleeper and the rise from the dead Christ will shine on you therefore be careful how you walk not as unwise men but as wise making the most of your time because the days are evil deeds of darkness that's why the wrath of God will eventually come and we are told very clearly those who practice such things can expect the wrath of God on Judgment Day and so Paul appeals to us to step away from that instead arise and shine in Christ and reject those practices and embrace the lifestyle of the people of light we are light in the Lord as Paul says and so therefore we are to walk as children of light that's as basic as it gets but how very very important it is we need to be reminded of that from time to time if I profess to belong to the one who is light then it behooves me to walk in a light lifestyle to live the kind of lifestyle that is consistent with that practice so we are the enlightened ones therefore we are to walk as children of light so again we go back to Isaiah when he says to us arise and a shine those are two action words and I think when we are called upon to arise and shine even as the people of Israel were called upon to do that we the people of God cannot and must not live passive lives that's what I walk away with when I read those words arise rise up and to shine means that we live an active lifestyle that pleases our Lord one writer says arise we need to cease walking with the world we are mission oriented we need to arise from compromise with the world and to strive for the glory of God's kingdom I say amen to that that's right that's what I understand about a rise from what Isaiah the prophet says to us if I am to arise I rise up from walking the way of the world we rise up from walking the way of the world the world has a mindset the world has a way it wants us to walk we rise up and say we're not going to go that way we're not going to walk that way we are a mission oriented people we rise up away from compromise with the world and as that writer says we strive for the glory of God's kingdom we're all about the king and about the kingdom and so we rise up to walk in that way to be obedient to that mission that is set before us I hope you notice what we print on the cover of the bulletin week after week it's more than just a good saying this is the mission that we are oriented towards teaching training living the kingdom message we the people of God rise up for that mission and that purpose that's what I believe we are about it is our objective to constantly teaching directly and indirectly to be teaching the kingdom message training the next generation training all that are willing in the ways of the kingdom of God living it trying to embody the kingdom message which means we embody the lifestyle of the King as well so we arise to that great purpose to arise as literally to stand up rise up o men of God one of the old hymns states and as the people of God we do we rise up in purpose we rise up to do that which God desires of us I'm reminded that God called Abraham long ago to arise and walk through the length and the width of the promised land according to Genesis 13:17 rise up and walk through the land that I have for you I think God calls us to do the same thing arise walk in my promises walk in what I have designed for you walk in the territory that I have for you the people of God God calls us to rise up to stand up in his promises to stand up in the promises through His Son Jesus Christ the great light that Isaiah the prophet talked about and so we rise up we rise up in the power of Christ in the name of Christ and his message concerning the kingdom of God I believe the Apostle Paul had a goal to rise up in Christ and in the power of his resurrection because when I think of the word arise I also think of Resurrection but I love the words of Paul in Philippians chapter 3 verses 10 and 11 you probably know them well Paul said this is my mission that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the Fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead Paul wanted to rise up Paul wanted to arise and Paul knew the promise was made that he would arise in resurrection but that was not enough for Paul any more that it should not be enough for each one of us sure we look forward to the resurrection I'm thinking this week in particular we've been reminded of how bright and important that is we've gone with two families through a time of breathing and we're reminded about resurrection and we loaned it to be able to rise up on that day to be changed and to be reunited with loved ones Paul I believe believed in resurrection certainly but that was not enough Paul wanted to know he said the power of the resurrection of Christ right now in his mortal life amen that's I won as well I believe in that promise I long for that day but I want the power of Resurrection today amen yet now what we the people of God want to be living in not just longing for but living in the power of Resurrection today so that's what I think it means to arise as we go back to Isaiah rise up in the power of the risen Christ which Isaiah probably only had a slight glimmer concerning but we know today that and we echo the words of Paul we want to arise and so we want to enjoy resurrection life now as we anticipate it in the future Isaiah said arise shine it is not just enough to rise We the People of God are called to also shine you are the light of the world the city set on a hill cannot be hidden nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket but on the lamp stand and it gives light to all who are in the house let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven Matthew 5:14 2:16 we are declared to be the light of the world again as Isaiah said to the people of Israel arise shine they were called to rise up and shine we are shining as the people of God we are declared by Jesus to be the light of the world and so therefore we set the light in such a way that the world will look at it and not say well what great people they are no it's not about our glory we let it shine in such a way that they see a consistent lifestyle and instead of saying how good you are wow how great God is and so they give the glory to God they glorify God because they see our light shining 2nd Corinthians 4 verse 6 for God who said light shall shine out of darkness is the one who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ and that a great verse God said light will shine out of darkness it takes us back to Genesis and we think about how original II the physical light would shine out of the darkness but that's merely an image of a greater light there is light that would shine out of the darkness of sin out of the humanity there would be the light that would shine forth in Christ and the light that shines in our hearts God has shone into our hearts the light he's given us a knowledge of his glory and knowledge of him and it's to be found in the face of Christ I'm so glad we live this side of the coming of Christ do you think of the prophets the people of God longing to know the times and the seasons longing to know who the Son of God would be 2,000 years on the other side of things we know that Jesus of Nazareth is the son of God and the light of God and we're privileged to see the details that they could only begin to glimpse at back in those days God has shown in our hearts as much as we were willing to let that light shine and accept it in God has shown in our hearts and so we have the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ and so then we are called upon to be light and let our light shine reminded that we can only shine our light as it has been shining in our lives as well we have no light within us nothing but darkness in our lives naturally but as God has shown his light through Christ into our lives we have a light that can be reflected and so I think we're more like the moon than the Sun the moon and it's brilliance is only reflected from the Sun and so it is with us we shine as we reflect what has come into our hearts and into our lives arise and shine I think that we are shining to talk about rising up and shining to say that the people of God in this room are not no not saying that in any way at all we are shining and I know there are specific ways people in this room are shining as we said a little bit ago I know we've been involved comforting and helping a couple of grieving families this week in specific ways we were shining as we did those things I know that there are deeds and acts of goodness that are carried out every week by people in this room deeds that are known only to the individual into God and by no one else that's how it ought to be we are shining as we do those things so the call to shine does not say we aren't the called shine is to say to us let us continue to be faithful to shine as we have been called to shine again we shine because we have not only a wonderful Savior but we have a bright future literally before us Daniel the twelfth chapter verse three has been an intriguing verse to me for a long time and it talks about brightness and shining it says concerning resurrection day at least I believe that's what it's about those who have in sight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven and those who lead the many to righteousness like the Stars forever and ever the phrase those who have in sight I believe refers to the people of God those that have in sight on Resurrection Day will shine brightly it says like the brightness of the expanse of heaven will shine like the Sun if I understand that correctly and those who shine are those who leave the many to righteousness I often overlooked that phrase but that's an important phrase as well that we who have been enlightened are those who are active light bearers to others leading many to righteousness and so that brings us back to our prime mission that we are a people who evangelize and who make disciples because that's what the light said to us as the light bearers is to go out and to make disciples of all peoples and so that is a key part of letting our light shine again our motivation to be light bearers to let our light shine is the light which is to come later on in chapter 60 and Isaiah verses 19 to 22 to the end of that chapter some phenom promises about literally how bright our future is verse 19 Isaiah says no longer will you have the Sun for light by day nor for brightness will the moon give you light but you will have the Lord the Lord God for an everlasting light and your God for your glory your son will no longer set nor will your moon wane for you will have the Lord for an everlasting light then all your people will be righteous they will possess the land forever the branch of my planting the work of my hands that I may be glorified the smallest one will become a clan and the least one a mighty nation I the Lord will hasten it in its time and the age to come you want to talk about light they'll be light like we don't have a clue about today God Himself will be our light that is also mentioned in the last book you know full well revelation 2021 excuse-me talks about the fact that God will come and dwell in our midst and we are told that his light will be sufficient for us in the age to come so we know we have a bright future as the enlightened ones today we will as it says here possess the land forever tremendous promise to us who understand there will be a brightness on this earth like does not exist today we look forward to that brightness the brightness of renewal at the return of Christ the brightness eventually again of God's presence upon this planet and it will happen quickly because the very last verse God says I the Lord will hasten it in its time and I think that we look and say you know it's been so long the kingdom has not yet come we're still living in this present evil age when is it going to happen God's kind of slow about things God says I will hasten it in its time and what I understand that is that when it happens it will happen very quickly and I think that fits full well with what Jesus says at the very end in Revelation behold I come quickly we easily misunderstand that say I'm going to come back soon he didn't say I'll be coming soon I will come quickly when I come it unfolds with tremendous rapid nough so God when he brings that light to earth I will hasten it in its time it is up to us to be faithful and wait for that time to come again we have a bright future as the enlightened people of God our challenge is to let our light shine as we wait for that bright future to be a reality along the lines of what we've been talking about there is a story and I may have shared it with you before but I think it fits so well with these thoughts in this text it is a famous story about an incident that took place back during the colonial days of this country and I just want to read to you how one historian recorded it the 19th of May 1780 was a remarkably dark day candles were lighted in many houses the birds were silent and disappeared and the fowls retired to roost the legislature of Connecticut was then in session at Hartford a very general opinion prevailed that day that the day of judgment was at hand the House of Representatives being unable to transact their business adjourned a proposal to adjourn the council was under consideration when the opinion of one Colonel Davenport was asked he answered I am against an adjournment the day of judgment is either approaching or it is not if it is not there is no cause for adjournment if it is I chose a choose to be found doing my duty I wish therefore that candles may be brought I like that story because on the day that was an extraordinary day a very dark day I suppose it was easy for people to assume that the day of judgment was at hand and so be that the case this is not a normal business day let's adjourn and get on with other things but apparently there was one individual who had the right perspective and I think it is the kind of perspective that we the people of God ought to have as well see that the day of judgment or it's not either way it's time to be up and about what we're call to be up and about and so the desire was for candles to be brought in to let the light shine and I would say that fits our situation as well if we're approaching the Day of Judgment we believe that we are but regardless we are called to be consistently about being people of light as I as a --i said in chapter 60 verse 2 that we read a little bit ago darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the people's but the lord will rise upon you and his glory will appear upon you i think we would say this is a dark time in history that as we approach the end of the age it's going to be incredibly dark and so we see the day of judgment come do we decide to adjourn and do whatever else we want to do no we stay the course we do those things that are reported because we're called to arise and shine and to let our light shine and so that is the challenge for us today and every day as we look forward to the brightness of the age to come even as we face some dark days before that happens those are our marching orders and priorities amen

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Length: 29min 47sec (1787 seconds)

Published: Wed May 28 2014