Shine

The Light Shines

I have a word for you today. This is the last sermon I will preach in 2019 and as I was meditating and praying on that the Holy Spirit reminded me of how many times recently I’ve heard people say that 2019 has been a horrible year. They cant wait till its over.

Nativity epicenter

That being said

I felt like the Holy Spirit is wanting to confirm and reaffirm to our hearts today, that no matter what it looks like, sounds like, or feels like, he is at work in the earth.

I felt like the Holy Spirit is wanting to confirm and reaffirm to our hearts today, that no matter what it looks like, sounds like, or feels like, he is at work in the earth.

 God is still moving.

still saving. healing. delivering.

God is still working miracles, signs and wonders. 

Now I know l would be foolish to act and talk, and pretend like everything is wonderful, and that it’s perfect, and that we have no problems, and that our country is doing fine. 

That would be ridiculous, because the truth is, our country is in a mess.

 The truth is, there is a great darkness that is coming upon the land.

 The truth is, people are becoming increasingly more evil and wicked.

But that shouldn't be a big shock to us if we read our Bibles.

Isa Ch 60 is really the beginning basis of our sermon today…the chapter in its entirety but theres no way i can read the chapter to you and no way you would stay awake.

So our first talking point today is

Darkness

Isaiah 60:1–3 NLT

1 “Arise, Jerusalem! Let your light shine for all to see. For the glory of the Lord rises to shine on you. 2 Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth, but the glory of the Lord rises and appears over you. 3 All nations will come to your light; mighty kings will come to see your radiance.

So the Bible is very clear that two things are happening at the same time,

 "there is darkness and there is light."

 But that has always been true, that's not anything new. 

The portion of Scripture the Holy Spirit brought to my heart was this... 

In the KJV

KJV In the beginning was the word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

John 1:1–3 NLT

1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.

John 1:4–5 NLT

4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

John 1:

Verse five says; and the light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not. 

So let me zero in there for a minute, "The light shineth" that word shineth or Shines, is in the present tense: that means it is happening now. 

That means it happened then, it's happening now, and it's going to continue to happen.

 It is an action word. "The light shineth" The light shone. The light is shining. 

The light will continue to shine.

I feel this is what the Holy Spirit wants to bring to our attention today, because it is so easy to become engrossed, overwhelmed and discouraged by the darkness.

 *The Bible does not say darkness is not present.

 *The Bible does not say that darkness does not exist.

 *The Bible does not say that evil is not present, or that evil is not active in the earth.

As a matter of fact the Bible is very clear on the fact that we have an adversary. 

Be sober, be vigilant for your adversary the devil goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 

The Apostle Paul tells us that we are at war with principalities and powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual wickedness in high places. 

And Jesus tells us that the thief comes to steal, kill, and to destroy.

The battle is real, our enemy is real. 

The Bible does not try to minimize the fact that there is darkness. The Bible does not teach us to ignore the darkness and it will have no affect on us.

 The truth is, the Bible teaches us that there is darkness and the darkness is very active, and the darkness is very heavy and oppressive.

**Yoda book

In , the prophet said, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people.

The word gross can be defined as thick and dense, and unseemly, shameful, heavy, oppressive, and degenerate. 

How many know that, that Scripture is being fulfilled right now.

Darkness is covering the earth, and Gross darkness is covering the people. 

The prophet Isaiah said... 

"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"  

Isaiah said there is a people who will pull their sin along with a rope like a cart.

 "Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:"  

I really don't take any pleasure at all in talking about the darkness, the evil and the perverseness that is rampant in the world today, but the Bible says it.

 *The Bible says it so we will not be deceived.

 *The Bible says it so that we will be alert and aware of the presence of darkness and evil.

*The Bible says it, so that we will recognize the contrast between darkness and light, between good and evil. 

Which brings us to our second point.

Light

1. Arise 

2. Shine 

3. Thy light is come 

4. The glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. 

Yes there is darkness, but it's no big deal. 

The big deal is, your light is,, and the glory of the Lord will be seen upon thee.

 Literally, there will be such radiance about you that the lost, the Gentiles, and even the kings of the Gentiles, will come to the brightness of thy rising.

 "We are saved to shine, not whimper and whine."

I think it is very easy for us to become overwhelmed by the darkness,

 but when I read Isaiah chapter 60 only one verse even speaks about darkness, that is verse two. 

Verse one, and from verse three on, is speaking about the glory of God, and the effect, and the influence, and the impact of the glory of God through the children of God.

 I read this chapter over and over, before it hit me... this is not about darkness, this is about light, and the glory of God.

Many times our humanity causes us to see only the negative even if the positive heavily outweighs it.

We can see that truth in so many aspects of life…work, home, church....

As I said, I’ve heard so many people talk about 2019, how horrible it was and how they are just ready for it to be over.....

 The word the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart for you today was just three words. 

The light shines.

The light shineth. 

The light shineth. 

listen I even fell into the bashing of 2019.....then for the second time since moving to lufkin a girl chose to take my last name.

the Light shines......and the darkness cannot comprehend it.

Praise God, if I didn't say anything else in the rest of this sermon that would be enough to drive away depression and discouragement, and hopelessness. The light shineth.

3. Who is the light

Who is the light?

 Well of course, first of all the light is Jesus. 

John said that Jesus is the light of the world. John said Jesus came to the world as a light into the darkness. 

You see, darkness was present when Jesus got here. 

Jesus came into the darkness. (Jesus invaded the darkness) 

Darkness represents everything that is evil, and perverse, and deceptive, and destructive. 

Darkness represents everything that we typically try to avoid. 

The only people that really like darkness are the people whose deeds are evil.

The Bible says,

"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."  

*Jesus came to a dark world. 

*He came to a hostile environment.

 He came to a planet that was under the dominion, and oppression of the kingdom of darkness that was holding the entire human race in the captivity of darkness. 

The devil was abusing and oppressing the whole human race.

So here we see this picture of a world in darkness. 

For 400 years there had been no word, no voice of God.

 It was as though God said: Ok I see your self-will and rebellion. 

I see that you don't want to hear my voice, so I'll quit talking. 

So he did. For 400 years God didn't say anything to anybody.

No prophets were speaking. The world became a very dark place. 

Can you imagine what condition our country and our world would be in if God stopped talking for even 50 years? 

For 400 years Prophets had lockjaw, they had nothing to say because God wasn't talking. 

Then John says this: "The Light" not a light, not a reflection, but "The Light" shineth in darkness.

Let me say it this way, The Light, penetrated, and invaded the darkness.

The light didn't come to mingle with the darkness, or co-exist together. 

The light came to displace, replace, and obliterate the darkness. 

closing

music…I dont have the energy to write something funny so just press play

As I said... 

Darkness symbolizes everything evil, and wicked, and perverse, and destructive. 

Every sickness. 

Every disease. 

Every mental disorder.

Every emotional disorder. 

Every thief. 

Every liar. 

Every fornicator. 

Every pedophile, and every child molester. 

Every evil, rebellious action falls under the category of darkness. 

And the Bible says, the light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not.

 One definition of the word "comprehend" means, to understand. 

But another definition (the one that fits this scripture) comes from the greek word "katal-lambano" and means to seize, and to lay hold of, to overcome, to capture, to overtake. 

So John is saying, yes there was darkness, there is darkness, but the darkness never-has and never will be able to take hold of, or capture, or overtake the light.

I don't care what that darkness is today... I have been instructed to declare to you; “the light shineth.” 

The light shineth... and the darkness never has and never will, comprehend, or apprehend, or overtake the light. 

Yes, first of all we are speaking of Jesus, but now the narrative shifts, and now it's Jesus talking, And Jesus is talking about us, and he says... 

*Ye are the salt of the earth. 

*Ye are the light of the world; a city that is set on a hill can-not be hid. 

If you read Isa ch60 it has a promise in it, a blessing. For those who let their light shine no matter whats around them God blesses them in absolute divine abundance.

The Light Shineth in 2019 and it Shineth in 2020 you just have to choose to Finish strong and Let it shineth through you.

Fin

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