Arise and Shine
(week 38/05)
Olubi Johnson
Mark 4:20-23 NKJV: But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty and some a hundredfold.” 21 And He said to them, “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? 22 For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. 23 if anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Here, the scripture tells us that God wants us to bear fruit a hundred fold and so become light to our world and generation:
Isaiah 60:1-3 NKJV: Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. 2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; But the LORD will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. 3 The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.
God wants His glory to shine in this hour through the church.
The day and hour of the fulfillment of these scriptures is upon us, but how do we experience it?
By bringing forth fruit a hundred fold: by perfecting the love of God in our lives since love is the fruit of the spirit (Ga.5.22; 1 Cor. 13.4-8).
The gross darkness of terrorism, immorality, violent crime, natural disasters, open homosexuality that is presently assailing our generation can only be dispelled and overcome by the supernatural shining of the glory of God through a church that has perfected the love of God.
The glory of God is the manifest presence and power of God that even unregenerate men can see: like the cloud of glory and pillar of fire that led Israel in the wilderness (Ex. 40. 38); the fourth man in the fire with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Dan. 3.24-30); the tongues of fire that sat on the disciples on the day of Pentecost (Ac. 2.2-4); the glory manifested when Jesus turned water to wine (Jn. 2.11) and greater works than these as Jesus promised (Jn. 14.12) and such like as prophesied in
Isaiah 40:3-5 NIV: The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth; 5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
It is this type of manifestation that will shut the mouths of skeptics and cause heathen Kings like Nebuchadnezzar, to honour our God and so allow the gospel of the Kingdom to be preached in all nations (Mt. 24.14).
Now, the way of the Lord is the way of love, since God is love (1 Jn. 4.8). It is through this way of love that the glory will be manifested for it is the most excellent way of manifesting the gifts of the Holy Spirit that Paul spoke of in
1 Corinthians 12:31-14:1 NIV: And now I will show you the most excellent way. 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child; I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
14:1 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.
So the challenge of the hour now is to “Arise and shine” by perfecting the love of God by the Word and the Spirit.
