Today I want to add fuel to the fire of your heart so that you are a living example of what is described in Isaiah 60, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Raquel Quiroz da Costa Arrais, is the author of The Call to Arise and Shine,the 2019 Women’s Ministries Emphasis Day sermon resource packet. Raquel Arrais serves as the associate director of women’s ministries at the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. She was elected to this position in 2005.
“Arise” - Christians need to 'get up'
1)It has often been said that actions have consequences.
2)For every action there is a reaction.
3)In the book of Acts we are repeatedly exposed to an “action” – the resurrection of Jesus.
a)We find that God designed this action to create a “reaction” in the lives of people.
b)The resurrection is not just a fact; it is a call to arms for the saved.
4)Tonight I want to study a little word that is often translated “arise.”
5)We heard this term read from Acts 9:6.
a)Paul was on the road to Damascus, hoping to persecute Christians in that city.
b)Jesus met him on the road stopped him.
c)Saul fell to the ground, was blinded, and wanted to know what to do.
d)Jesus told him to “arise” and go into the city and there he would learn what he had to do.
6)“Arise” in Acts 9:6 has the sense of “arise” or “get up.”
7)Tonight most of our passages will come from the book of Acts.
a)As you turning to Acts 2 le me share a few of the other places that use this word.
b)In Mt. 9:9 we find that Matthew “arose” and followed the Lord (the same word).
c)This was before the resurrection of Christ.
d)If men like Matthew started working for j before the resurrection, what about now?
8)Peter’s mother in law was healed from a very bad fever.
9)She then “arose” after her illness and got busy with the tasks she needed to do (Lk. 4:38-39).
10)Our study starts in Acts begins with Acts 2:24 – READ
a)Peter told his Jewish listeners Jesus had “arisen.”This was part of the first gospel sermon.
b)It was also part of many of the sermons that followed.
c)Before we look at more sermons in Acts, let’s notice more things about this one.
d)Verse 30 – READ – the KJV is especially clear.It says “raise up.”
e)Peter used this word again just a few words later.
f)Verse 32 has the term a third time – READ
11)A major point in the first sermon about Christ was that Jesus is no longer in the grave.
12)A lot of religions are based on a leader who died and who is still in the grave.
13)People follow Muhammad, but he is dead.Some still follow Hitler, but he is dead.
14)Joseph Smith still has a following but his body is in the grave.We can list leader after lead.
15)Jesus is a living savior and that makes Christianity unique.
a)Peter continued to use this word as we see from the next chapter.
b)Acts 3:22 – READ
c)Peter said the resurrection was actually a matter of Old Testament prophecy.
d)In other words, the Jews should have been expecting it.
e)God had given them advance notice about the Messiah.
16)Sometimes when a leader is “raised up” he does evil.
17)Jesus was raised up to “do good” – verse 26 – READ
18)Jesus has risen from the dead and He wants to bless all people with forgiveness of sins.
19)This is why we refer to the “gospel” of Christ (“gospel” means “good news”).
a)Luke tells us there were some people who are not all that enthused about the Lord’s work.
b)Even now there are those who wish Jesus were still dead.
c)Some hate the idea of a resurrected Christ.
d)In Acts 5:33 we are told about some people who hated this message so much they wanted to kill preachers.
20)Before this happened a man “stood up” – Acts 5:34 – READ
a)This man could have been a modern politician.
b)He tried to smooth things over.He was not interested in truth; he just wanted to make peace.
c)This is precisely what many in our world do today.
21)Today we have people who smile and still try to tell people “everything is okay.”
22)These smooth talkers say things like:“Christians have some views that are just a little too extreme.
23)With some spit and polish a person eloquent with words brushes aside what the Bible says.”
24)Men and women still “stand up” to try to lessen the force of the gospel.
25)There are people (men and women) who are very, very good at this type of thing.
26)They have been trained and trained very well.
27)For Christians, it is our job to not let that happen.
28)Jesus has been raised up and it is our job to stand up for our faith.
a)God tells us and most of us know others are willing to stand up for what they believe in.
b)Acts 5:36 – READ
c)We do not know all the details about this man.
d)He seems to have gained quick popularity and then fallen by the wayside.
e)He stood up, but not for long because his house was founded on the sand.
f)A similar thing happened with someone else – verse 37 – READ
29)As Christians we need to realize that all types of people are going to “stand up” in our world.
30)When it comes to what people will believe in, the Christian faith has competition.
a)We have completion from other religions—false religions.
b)The world sets before the entire population false gods.There are false value systems.
c)In our world the side of good is literally arrayed against the side of evil.
d)On the side of evil, there are many different forces.
e)Our job, if we are a Christian, is to stand up for the risen Christ.
31)God wants His people to “arise” and be the kind of people the Bible describes.
32)This is what Philip was told in Acts 8:26.
a)There was a man who had gone to Jerusalem to worship; he was returning home.
b)The Holy Spirit told Philip to “arise” and go see this man who had worshiped.
c)Here was a fellow who was interested in religion but he did not know the truth.
d)A Christian was told to go -- arise, get up, meet this fellow.
33)Today Christians can think, “I should arise and do that good work.
34)“I need to do that.There is an opportunity and I should take it.”
35)Sometimes—maybe more times than not, a person does not arise (go).
36)One of the greatest words in our vocabulary should be “arise” – get up and go.
37)When someone needs seen, contacted, or help is needed, we should be among the first to go.
38)It may not be easy, fun, convenient, or quick.If we are a Christian, we go.
a)In Acts 9:11 we find a man named “Ananias” – he was the Christian who taught Paul.
b)God told this brother to “arise” and go see Saul of Tarsus.
39)Ananias did not think God’s idea was all that wise.
40)He said he had heard stories about Saul.
a)God told him to “arise” (go) and God meant go.
b)There are going to be times when we may not be very comfortable “arising.”
c)God did not say “go” when we feel like it.”
d)He did not say “go” if we are comfortable with the job.
e)God simply said go (arise) and this is our commission.
41)Peter is certainly a good illustration of this point.
42)He was asked by some people to “arise” and go offer some assistance (Acts 9:39).
43)It seems he did that without question.
a)In Acts 10, where we again find our word, we see a different picture of Peter.
b)He was told to “arise,” kill, and eat some food that Jews had been forbidden from eating.
c)Peter did not want to do that.He refused.
d)Three times he refused to do kill and eat the food put before him.
44)Today we can be as stubborn as Peter was when it comes to doing the will of God.
45)We may have an opportunity to do something and we let it go.
46)A second chance comes along and we still do not respond.
47)A third opportunity may come.God’s patience with us can wear thin.
48)Like Peter we finally need to get “on the stick” and “arise.”
49)Acts 12:7 uses this same word and applies it to a time when Peter was in prison.
a)An angel showed up to free Peter.
b)The angel said “arise quickly.”
c)I wonder why “quickly” is in the text.
d)There could be several reasons.This verse reminds us of an important fact.
e)People sometimes reason they will get around to something “someday.”
50)Much of God’s word can be and must be done quickly.
51)Many opportunities are lost if people delay.
52)People we want to reach may move, die, and some may lose interest with time.
53)It would be great to have people arise and they would be active in good things.
54)Sometimes people “arise” and do things that are not all that good.
a)A sad reference in Acts that uses “arise” is Acts 20:30.
b)Paul was speaking with some elders at Ephesus.
c)He said a time would come when things would decline.
d)False teachers would “arise” from within the eldership.
e)What a local congregation should seek for is good men who will “arise” in its future.
f)It should work so it is training future deacons, Bible class teachers, elders and preachers.
g)At Ephesus Christians who taught false doctrine would spring up.
55)Religious error can come from outsiders or insiders—in either case it is deadly.
56)If false teachers arise, other sound Christians need to arise to stop it in its tracks.
57)Error is like poison; it will kill God’s people.
58)If a congregation is teaching the truth, it will be teaching Acts 22:16.
a)This passage says “arise” and be baptized - confession and washing sins away are also mentioned.
b)In order to become a Christian a person must do some things.
c)Faith, repentance and confession all have a part in salvation.As mentioned this morning so does baptism.
d)We have invitations because they give people a chance to “arise” and respond to God’s word.
59)More than 100 times “arise” occurs in the New Testament.
60)It is an important word because it calls people to obey the commands of God.
61)Tonight, are we someone who has “arisen”?
62)We have chosen in the past to respond to the call of the gospel.
63)Each day we try to continue “arising” and doing the will of God.
64)If this is not the way our life is being lived, tonight God calls on you through His word to “arise.”
“Arise, Shine, for Your Light Has Come” (Isaiah 60:1-6)
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.”
“Arise and shine”? Are you kidding me? On a Friday night? In January? On a dark and cold night, with snow on the ground? “Arise and shine”? Heck, it was hard enough to arrive on time, much less “arise and shine”! “Arise and shine.” After the week I’ve had? Yeah, Pastor, why are you dragging us out here on a Friday night in January anyway? I don’t know of many other churches that are having services today.
And that’s unfortunate. Because having church on Epiphany used to be more common than it is today. Many churches have dropped having Epiphany services on Epiphany, which is always January 6, regardless of the day of the week. Instead, these churches transfer Epiphany to the Sunday before or the Sunday after, or they even ignore it altogether. If they transfer it to a Sunday, then whatever was on that Sunday gets bumped from the church year. And if they ignore Epiphany altogether, then they’re ignoring a major festival in the church year, one that has been celebrated in the Christian church for many, many centuries–in fact, one of the earliest festivals to be observed. And that’s a shame. Because the themes of the Epiphany festival are so important and so joy-giving. And they’re summed up in that opening verse from Isaiah 60: “Arise, Shine, for Your Light Has Come.”
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.” Isaiah wrote these words 700 years before Christ, but he’s talking about Christ, ultimately. And Isaiah is saying this to God’s people, to Israel in the Old Testament, and to the church in the New Testament. That’s us. God’s word to us tonight is this: “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.”
Why is it so important that our light has come? Because otherwise we would be sitting in the dark. Isaiah says so: “For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples.” This is talking about spiritual darkness, not about the fact that that we have limited daylight at this time of year. Spiritual darkness–being in the dark about God and about ourselves and what life is really all about. That is the natural condition of mankind since sin entered the world. We’re all just groping around in the dark, not knowing where we came from or where we’re going or which is the right path to take. Even if we know the right way to go, we keep wandering off the path and getting lost. That describes the spiritual darkness that shrouds sinful mankind.
Arise And Shine Sermon By Pastor Chris Oyakhilome
Look at how lost and clueless so many people are. Millions of people around the world. The Muslims, with their false God called Allah. Post-Christian Europe, which has become completely secularized and is suffering the consequences. Mormons, bamboozled by the false teachings of Joseph Smith. The people who follow false teachers like Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer. Atheists and agnostics and post-modernists, who have no interest in what they disparagingly call “organized religion.” They all have lost their way. They all are fumbling around in the dark. So much spiritual darkness to go around.
But they are not the only ones. Before we got so proud and haughty, let’s take a look at our own darkness. Israel of old was suffering the consequences of their own dalliance with darkness. They thought they knew better than what the prophets were preaching. They became like all the other nations around them, thinking they could go it on their own, without listening to God’s word. As a result, they were driven out of the land and taken into exile. The depressing darkness of the Babylonian Captivity fell upon the people, and they suffered from their own foolishness.
Arise And Shine Sermon Outline
We do that, too, don’t we? Even as God’s people, the church, we fall into the old ways, into the ways of the world. We tune out God’s word, warning us against wrong turns and dead ends. We listen to the siren song of the world, luring us to steer in that direction, and we end up crashing on the rocks. We indulge our flesh and our desires, even when we know it’s wrong. That’s dancing in the dark. That’s stepping out of the light and turning back to where we should not go. And we all do it.
Arise And Shine Forth Lyrics
We need to be called back to the light. And that’s what Isaiah is doing for us. His message reminds us of who we are and who it is that came for us: “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.”
Isaiah here is telling us that we have been called out of darkness and into the Lord’s marvelous light. We have been set apart, to belong to the Lord, to live as his people. We have an identity and a purpose in life. Do you know that? Do you see yourself, do we see ourselves, in that way? That we have a special calling, that we do not belong in the dark anymore.
How did this happen? Because of what the Lord has done. He sent his light to shine upon us. He is the light who dwells among us. Jesus Christ is the light of the world. A star led the Wise Men to where the child was, and they were overjoyed when they saw his face. Christ is shining out with the light of life, even on this dark night in January.
Arise And Shine Sermon Notes
In Christ, we see God for who he is for us. We see a gracious God in the face of Christ. Otherwise, we would not know God as he wants to be known. We would be lost, knowing that there must be a god or gods up there somewhere, and we would feel a sense of guilt and separation and even hatred or resentment toward God. But we wouldn’t know how to fix it. And we couldn’t, anyway.
So God comes and does the job for us. He sends his only-begotten Son, in our flesh, the little baby named Jesus. “Where is he who is born king of the Jews?” In a humble town, in a family of humble means, not where you would expect a king to be found. But there he is. Like he will be later, in another place you would not expect a king to be found–hanging on a cross, dying. And darkness covered the land as he died. Jesus will die for the sins of the world. The darkness falls on him, not us. But that light, his light: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Christ rises from the dead, and now he shines out with the light of life. New life and everlasting life, righteousness and resurrection, are yours in Christ.
The little child in the little town, humble and not what you would expect, yet he is the light of the world. And God directs some foreigners, some outsiders, to make a long trek to find him. For this Jesus is not just the king of the Jews. He is the king of all peoples, of all nations. He’s the king of the Gentiles, too. And God wants everybody to know it.
Arise And Shine Sermons
Isaiah saw this coming, the nations coming to meet the Messiah: “And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you. . . . A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the LORD.”
Arise And Shine Bible
This is a happy day! Epiphany is a joyous occasion. What a joy it is to know you have a Savior, when you’ve been sitting in darkness. This changes everything. Praise the Lord, I saw the light! And so did you. You’ve been enlightened by the Holy Spirit, given you in your baptism. The Spirit will lead you in the light, and back to the light, whenever you drift off the path. He does this by God’s word, which you need. A regular diet of Word and Sacrament–that’s what you need to stay healthy this year. The Feast of the Epiphany is a good start.
And so now this is your time to shine. You and I–we Christians shine like stars in a world of thick darkness. “Let your light so shine among men that they see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven.” Let people see Jesus in you and through you. With your deeds and your words. Are there people you know–friends, relatives, associates, neighbors–are there people in your circle of relationships for whom you could be a star leading them to Jesus? Leading them here, to the church, where Jesus is? Ask God to help you let your light shine. Not that you manipulate people. But that you manifest Jesus. So that you love and serve your neighbor with the love that flows through you as a Christian.
That, dear friends–that is how you “arise and shine,” even in a cold and dark January. “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.” Happy Epiphany.