Shalom, saints of God. We bless the Lord for another privilege in His presence to partake of His divine table. As we bring you the review of today’s sermon, we humbly implore that you read with an open mind, so that you may be blessed of God. Come with us as we expound on a new topic titled, “Let your Light Shine”.
Jesus Christ, who is the salvation of God, had a prophecy upon Him as regards His mandate, according to Simeon; Jesus was to be ‘a light to lighten the Gentiles’ and ‘the glory of the people of Israel’. Just as we know that God divided the human race to two: the Jews and the Gentiles, with both factions being beneficiaries of the salvation of God. However, with God’s divine plan for salvation intact, would Christ be accepted by the Jews, and subsequently Gentiles? We draw an inference from last week’s review, where we pointed out the similarities between the Prophet Moses and the Lord Jesus Christ. Moses, at his first coming, was rejected by the Jews. Turning away from them transiently, he found for himself a gentile bride. In like manner, Jesus was rejected by the Jews, thereby taking for himself a bride amongst the Gentiles.
But this process of Christ’s choosing of a bride amongst the Gentiles cuts across the seven church ages. The first of the church ages was through the Apostle Paul, the man who brought the message to the Gentiles. But again, did the people so much accept him? Did he preach what they wanted to hear? Because the word of God will not suit our human flesh, as we love to be pampered and not to be rebuked –The mainstream, people with itchy ears, love cozy messages that cajole them rather than messages that point them to the righteousness of God.
However, in the sovereignty of God, having his purpose that must be accomplished in the Gentile time, God sent his seven angels to the seven church ages:
Paul (Ephesus) → Irenaeus (Smyrna) → Martin (Pergamos) → Columba (Thyatira) → Martin Luther (Sardis) → John Wesley (Philadelphia) → William Branham (Laodicea).
God used these messengers for the purpose of taking out a bride for Himself through their messages in their respective ages.
Brethren, it is expedient for us in this dispensation to understand God’s master plan of salvation for the Gentiles, and this pathway He has chosen to take for himself a bride. For there is a purpose why God does what He does. He sends his messengers for a purpose, as God will not leave a generation without a voice (message), and it is important to find and accept that voice if we must be in the purpose of God. Without this, we won’t understand and subsequently provide a proper response to the question, “Are you a bride?“.
Explanation on the Light
In Genesis 1:16, God created two lights: the sun and the moon. The sun is the husband whilst the moon is the wife. The moon doesn’t have a light of its own, as it’s a non-luminous body that only reflects the light of the sun when it lies diagonally to it.
Superimposing this point on its spiritual relativity and significance, the Church (which is you and me) represents the moon with no light of its own, but depends on the Sun (the light of Christ) to reflect His light. Thus, until we choose to reflect the light of God we will remain in darkness. This we can see from the actions of the Jews towards the prophets God sent to them to reflect His light; they rejected Christ and have remained in darkness till now, as the light of the sun has rotated to the Gentiles, and is being reflected upon them. God did this (choosing a bride from amongst the Gentiles) by specifying a process, as highlighted above, and allotting a timeframe. Brethren, this timeframe allotted to the gentiles will soon end, because we are in the last dispensation (the Seventh church age).When the message came through Paul to the Gentiles, it was the day time, because it was the beginning of the message of salvation to the Gentiles. Gentiles are idolaters, which depicts darkness; but the light of God shone through them, illuminating their lives in the process. And this light of Christ has been moving from the first church age down right to the last church age, even the one we are in now. And guess what, we are no longer in the day time, we are in the night time, and the responsibility of shining the light at night is given to the bride!! Are you then shining? Are you reflecting His light, same way the moon is reflecting the light of the sun? Can the world see the light of Christ through you?
The world is in gross darkness, and the devil has taken over everything: politics, education, religion, etc. The only property God has on earth is His church (the bride). Though we claim to be the bride, are we not ashamed to shine His light to in this dark world? We are not supposed to blend with the world system, we are supposed to be odd to them, that’s your purpose, that’s my purpose – to shine the light! Don’t compromise because of money. You as a member of the body of Christ, this is your time to shine the light in the midst of darkness. From the way we live amongst our unbelieving friends, can we boast of reflecting Christ’s light? Selah.
The wedding garment
One key factor needed to reflect Christ’s light is the baptism of the Holy Ghost, i.e, the indwelling of the Spirit of God in you. Anything outside this is a waste of time, and your security is not guaranteed, as the Holy Spirit seals/guarantees our salvation in Christ. God is having intimacy with His bride through His word, and one inevitable thing you need to be a partaker of the marriage feast is the wedding garment, which is the baptism of the Holy Spirit! Without the baptism of the Holy Spirit, you don’t belong to God. You should desperately seek for until you have it, for that is what guarantees your staying in the marriage feast. The Spirit of Christ in you keeps your life under check from sin, and grooms you for the coming of your Groom.
Why Many Don’t Have the Holy Spirit
Listed below are reasons why many do not have the Holy Spirit:
- Unrepentant sins: God detests sin, get out of it, and work your way towards receiving His Spirit.
- Wrong water baptism: we have gone contrary to the laid down baptism formula, which is the immersion in water in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have substituted the name of Jesus Christ with titles of father, son, Holy Ghost.
- Iniquity: Iniquity is something that you know you’re doing, that you ought not to do, but you still won’t repent of it. This could serve as hindrance to you receiving the Holy Spirit.
- Cares of life: what do you prioritize in your heart: the need for the Holy Spirit or how to make it in life?
- Not allowing the eunuch to dress you: Only eunuchs know the heart of the king, and that is why they are placed in the position to dress the bride that is to come before the king, so that the bride will meet up the king’s standard. We read the story of Esther and how she was accepted after Vashti was rejected by the king. Esther yielded to the directives of the Eunuch of the king, knowing fully well that the Eunuch would definitely know what the king likes. She didn’t put on whatever she liked but she told the Eunuch “It’s whatever you give me…”. The Eunuch of God to us is the servant of God, the pastor after God’s heart. God has His shepherds that He has placed in the position to dress His bride who will be ready for the marriage feast, and neglecting them is neglecting your garment.
How do we reflect God’s light, when we are still yoked (or glued) to the world? How can we produce the fruits of the Spirit when we have refused to be dressed by God’s words coming from his chosen Eunuch?
Brethren, we must be ready, and we must do it now, we need the wedding garment to shine the light. We need oil in our lamp to shine the light. It is up to you, brother! You’ve got to make yourself right and ready for Jesus and His coming.
May God help us! Amen!