Arise! Jesus Will Shine on You

On the first Sunday of October, a Communion Sunday, the message was brought by a guest, Rev. J. Robert Venish. He thanked Pastor Abilash and his family and the brother who had arranged his visit, and greeted the church in the name of Jesus. God, he said, had carried us wonderfully through the first nine months of the year, and He would lead us through the new month as well. Then he took up the first reading of the morning and preached from its opening line.

"Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you." - Isaiah 60:1 (NKJV)

"எழும்பிப் பிரகாசி; உன் ஒளி வந்தது, கர்த்தருடைய மகிமை உன்மேல் உதித்தது." - ஏசாயா 60:1 (TAOVBSI)

The order of the verse matters. We arise, and the Lord makes us shine. He is the God who causes His people to shine, and whenever we rise up, that is what He does.

The Young Man Who Could Not Rise (எழும்ப முடியாத வாலிபன்)

The week before, the preacher had met a young man of twenty-six. He had studied up to the tenth standard and stammered when he spoke. "Pastor," he said, "everyone calls me mad. Everyone mocks me." The ridicule had broken him so badly that more than once he had gone to take his own life, and each time Jesus had brought him back alive. "But I cannot rise. I cannot speak like others, I cannot work like others. Will you pray for me?"

The preacher asked him his name, his age and how far he had studied. He answered every question clearly. "Then who told you that you are mad? Did Jesus say so?" The world may belittle you in many ways and push you down into low thoughts and heavy depression. But it was the Lord who gave you to this world, and the Lord who gave you wants to make you shine and to lift you up. So do not take a wrong decision. Go to Jesus instead and ask Him: Lord, why did You give me to this world? Why did You give me to my parents? Ask for His purpose, and let His will be done in your life.

Many of us carry problems, weaknesses and illnesses of our own. What we hoped for does not happen, and we begin to ask why we should go on living when even a small thing will not work out for us. We think negatively and act negatively. Into that, the word of God says that He is the God who makes you shine.

Light is noticed most where it is darkest. Switch on a bulb in a room that is already bright and you hardly see the difference. In a dark room, even one candle seems brilliant. The Lord who brought you into His house and made you His child does not want you lying curled up where you fell. He wants you to rise.

Why We Cannot Rise (ஏன் எழும்ப முடியவில்லை)

So we have to ask honestly: why can I not rise? The prophet gives the answer a chapter earlier.

"Therefore justice is far from us, nor does righteousness overtake us; we look for light, but there is darkness! For brightness, but we walk in blackness!" - Isaiah 59:9 (NKJV)

"ஆதலால், நியாயம் எங்களுக்குத் தூரமாயிருக்கிறது; நீதி எங்களைத் தொடர்ந்து பிடிக்காது; வெளிச்சத்துக்குக் காத்திருந்தோம், இதோ, இருள்; பிரகாசத்துக்குக் காத்திருந்தோம், ஆனாலும் அந்தகாரத்திலே நடக்கிறோம்." - ஏசாயா 59:9 (TAOVBSI)

I cannot rise because there is darkness all around me. I cannot see where to step, so I stay down. And the same chapter names what that darkness is.

"But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear." - Isaiah 59:2 (NKJV)

"உங்கள் அக்கிரமங்களே உங்களுக்கும் உங்கள் தேவனுக்கும் நடுவாகப்பிரிவினை உண்டாக்குகிறது; உங்கள் பாவங்களே அவர் உங்களுக்குச் செவிகொடாதபடிக்கு அவருடைய முகத்தை உங்களுக்கு மறைக்கிறது." - ஏசாயா 59:2 (TAOVBSI)

Where Jesus is not at work in a life, that life is dark. He wants to work in us, and what stands in His way is the sin we are still holding. We are called to walk as children of light, and sin is the darkness that keeps the light out.

"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light." - Ephesians 5:8 (NKJV)

"முற்காலத்தில் நீங்கள் அந்தகாரமாயிருந்தீர்கள், இப்பொழுதோ கர்த்தருக்குள் வெளிச்சமாயிருக்கிறீர்கள்; வெளிச்சத்தின் பிள்ளைகளாய் நடந்துகொள்ளுங்கள்." - எபேசியர் 5:8 (TAOVBSI)

That is why Isaiah, speaking of the birth of Jesus Christ, describes a people in darkness.

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined." - Isaiah 9:2 (NKJV)

"இருளில் நடக்கிற ஜனங்கள் பெரிய வெளிச்சத்தைக் கண்டார்கள்; மரண இருளின் தேசத்தில் குடியிருக்கிறவர்களின்மேல் வெளிச்சம் பிரகாசித்தது." - ஏசாயா 9:2 (TAOVBSI)

Until Jesus comes into my life, my life is darkness. You may dress well and look well, live in a big house with every room brightly lit. None of that is light. If sin remains in your life, then however hard you work, however much you earn, however well educated or famous you become, that darkness will keep your life from shining, and you will live as if you were still sitting in the dark.

Shake Off the Dust (தூசியை உதறிவிட்டு எழுந்திரு)

Isaiah tells us how to rise.

"Shake yourself from the dust, arise; sit down, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion!" - Isaiah 52:2 (NKJV)

"தூசியை உதறிவிட்டு எழுந்திரு; எருசலேமே, வீற்றிரு; சிறைப்பட்டுப்போன சீயோன் குமாரத்தியே, உன் கழுத்திலுள்ள கட்டுகளை அவிழ்த்துவிடு." - ஏசாயா 52:2 (TAOVBSI)

You sit down on a chair somewhere and only afterwards notice it was dusty. When you get up, you do not just walk away. Without even thinking, your hand goes behind you and brushes the dust off. Or you are eating and sambar spills on your clothes. Brushing will not remove that. You take soap and wash it out, because a stain left on a good shirt spoils the whole thing.

We may be well dressed and look fine. But when there is sin and uncleanness inside us, we have to shake it off and wash it out. Only then can we rise and live as children of light. Dust comes off with a brush, and a stain comes out with soap and detergent. But what washes away sin? No soap or paste can do it. Only the blood of Jesus Christ.

"But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." - 1 John 1:7 (NKJV)

"அவர் ஒளியிலிருக்கிறதுபோல நாமும் ஒளியிலே நடந்தால் ஒருவரோடொருவர் ஐக்கியப்பட்டிருப்போம்; அவருடைய குமாரனாகிய இயேசுகிறிஸ்துவின் இரத்தம் சகல பாவங்களையும் நீக்கி, நம்மைச் சுத்திகரிக்கும்." - 1 யோவான் 1:7 (TAOVBSI)

Jesus is in the light, and I must walk in the light. If I am to walk in the light, there can be no darkness in me, and that darkness is sin. The verse does not say His blood cleanses some sins. It says all sin.

The son who arose (எழுந்து புறப்பட்ட மகன்)

Luke 15 tells of a father with two sons in a comfortable home. When the younger son reached his youth he quarrelled with his father: give me my share of the property, I cannot stay here, I am going to a far country with my friends. The father gave it to him, and he left everything and went. Out there the world looked like a good time. He drank and did whatever his heart wanted. Day by day the money ran down, until there was nothing left in his hand, and then his friends left him too. He had nothing to eat. He took the only job he could find, feeding pigs. Once he had been a rich man's son; now he herded swine, and no one gave him even food. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods the pigs were eating. That was how deep the hunger and poverty went. Then he came to himself.

"I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.'" - Luke 15:18 (NKJV)

"நான் எழுந்து, என் தகப்பனிடத்திற்குப் போய்: தகப்பனே, பரத்துக்கு விரோதமாகவும் உமக்கு முன்பாகவும் பாவஞ்செய்தேன்." - லூக்கா 15:18 (TAOVBSI)

The man who had lived among the pigs got up and set out and came home to his father.

You may have come to church today in real hardship, barely able to carry on. Then examine yourself. What is it that keeps me from rising, that keeps me from living free? The Lord says: shake off the dust and rise. Shake off the sin and rise. Go straight to Him and say, "Jesus, forgive my sin, wash me in Your blood," and the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse you from all sin.

What happens once I have risen? The preacher drew three things from the rest of the passage.

The Lord Will Rise Upon You (உன்மேல் கர்த்தர் உதிப்பார்)

"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." - Isaiah 60:2 (NKJV)

"இதோ, இருள் பூமியையும், காரிருள் ஜனங்களையும் மூடும்; ஆனாலும் உன்மேல் கர்த்தர் உதிப்பார்; அவருடைய மகிமை உன்மேல் காணப்படும்." - ஏசாயா 60:2 (TAOVBSI)

Until the day I rise, I live in darkness, with no light in my life, walking in the gloom. But on the day I shake off the dust and leave my sin and stand up, the first thing the Lord promises is that He will shine upon me. Look at how the verse puts it. The whole earth is dark. The people of the world cannot rise; they lie crippled in the dark. But because I have received Jesus and risen from my sin, the Lord has set me in the middle of that darkness as a child of light.

Light in Goshen (கோசேனில் வெளிச்சம்)

Israel went down to Egypt in the days of Joseph and remained there four hundred and thirty years. Then a Pharaoh arose who did not know Joseph. He saw that the Israelites were more blessed than the Egyptians and were multiplying faster than his own people, and he set out to crush them. He worked them hard and paid them nothing, until, as Scripture says, they found their very lives bitter. God sent Moses to Egypt to set His people free and bring them out to the land He had promised. Moses went before Pharaoh and said, let my people go, so that we may worship our God. But Pharaoh's heart was hardened.

So God sent the plagues: the water turned to blood, frogs filled the houses and the streets, then lice, then swarms of flies, disease on the livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and finally the death of the firstborn. Ten plagues in all. Yet in that same Egypt, in the land of Goshen, lived the people of Israel, and God kept every one of those plagues away from them. Sickness came on everyone in Egypt, but the Israelites in Goshen were well.

That is what happens when we know the Lord and live as children of Jesus. There will be trouble in the world. But He gives His children the victory.

"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." - John 16:33 (NKJV)

"என்னிடத்தில் உங்களுக்குச் சமாதானம் உண்டாயிருக்கும்பொருட்டு இவைகளை உங்களுக்குச் சொன்னேன். உலகத்தில் உங்களுக்கு உபத்திரவம் உண்டு, ஆனாலும் திடன்கொள்ளுங்கள்; நான் உலகத்தை ஜெயித்தேன் என்றார்." - யோவான் 16:33 (TAOVBSI)

So do not be afraid of anything. You may wonder what your future holds now that you have received Jesus, whether it has all become a question mark, who will look after you when you grow old. Do not fear. The One we hold on to is the God who made the whole universe and still keeps it, sustains it and feeds every creature in it. He will never forsake us.

"For this is God, our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even to death." - Psalm 48:14 (NKJV)

"இந்த தேவன் என்றென்றைக்குமுள்ள சதாகாலங்களிலும் நம்முடைய தேவன்; மரணபரியந்தம் நம்மை நடத்துவார்." - சங்கீதம் 48:14 (TAOVBSI)

If He leads us all the way to our last day, that is enough. And through Isaiah He says He will carry us the whole way.

"Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been upheld by Me from birth, who have been carried from the womb." - Isaiah 46:3 (NKJV)

"யாக்கோபின் சந்ததியாரே இஸ்ரவேல் சந்ததியில் மீதியாகிய சகல ஜனங்களே, எனக்குச் செவிகொடுங்கள்; தாயின் வயிற்றில் தோன்றினதுமுதல் உங்களை ஏந்தி, தாயின் கர்ப்பத்தில் உற்பத்தியானதுமுதல் உங்களைத் தாங்கினேன்." - ஏசாயா 46:3 (TAOVBSI)

"Even to your old age, I am He, and even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you." - Isaiah 46:4 (NKJV)

"உங்கள் முதிர்வயதுவரைக்கும் நான் அப்படிச் செய்வேன்; நரைவயதுமட்டும் நான் உங்களைத் தாங்குவேன்; நான் அப்படிச் செய்து வந்தேன்; இனிமேலும் நான் ஏந்துவேன், நான் சுமப்பேன், தப்புவிப்பேன்." - ஏசாயா 46:4 (TAOVBSI)

Human words sometimes deceive us. A person speaks sweetly and affectionately one moment and, in the next, turns angry and says terrible things. But God, who kept you safe in your mother's womb so that you were not lost there, is the same God who says He will carry you to your old age.

The son nobody counted (யாரும் கணக்கில் வைக்காத மகன்)

Saul, the first king of Israel, sinned against the Lord after only a short time on the throne, and the Lord regretted that He had made him king. Samuel grieved before God over it. Then the Lord sent him to Bethlehem to anoint one of the sons of Jesse. Samuel rose early, filled his horn with anointing oil and went to Jesse's house.

Jesse had eight sons, but when Samuel asked for the family to be gathered, only seven came. One was out keeping the sheep. Was he not Jesse's son too? We know that feeling. "My mother likes that one better, because he is fairer than me." "My sister always does what she is told, so she is the favourite." We say many things like that, and we think, why has only my life turned out like this? Jesse made all seven pass before Samuel, and the Lord chose none of them.

"And Samuel said to Jesse, 'Are all the young men here?' Then he said, 'There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.' And Samuel said to Jesse, 'Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here.'" - 1 Samuel 16:11 (NKJV)

"உன் பிள்ளைகள் இவ்வளவுதானா என்று ஈசாயைக் கேட்டான். அதற்கு அவன்: இன்னும் எல்லாருக்கும் இளையவன் ஒருவன் இருக்கிறான்; அவன் ஆடுகளை மேய்த்துக்கொண்டிருக்கிறான் என்றான்; அப்பொழுது சாமுவேல் ஈசாயை நோக்கி: ஆள் அனுப்பி அவனை அழைப்பி; அவன் இங்கே வருமட்டும் நான் பந்தியிருக்கமாட்டேன் என்றான்." - 1 சாமுவேல் 16:11 (TAOVBSI)

In the preacher's retelling, Jesse spoke of the boy as good for nothing, the one no one wanted. Samuel said, bring him. And when David came, the Lord said, "Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!" (1 Samuel 16:12). The light did not fall on the seven. The one his father and brothers had passed over was the one God anointed king. Why? Because whether he was in the wilderness or out with the sheep or on the road, wherever he went, David praised the Lord. He was the Lord's child, and so God let His light fall on him.

Are you grieving that among all the households you know, yours alone seems to be the poor one? There is one thing you have. The light of the Lord is in your life, and so you can arise and shine.

When Moses came down from the presence of God, his face shone.

"Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses' hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him." - Exodus 34:29 (NKJV)

"மோசே சாட்சிப் பலகைகள் இரண்டையும் தன் கையில் எடுத்துக்கொண்டு, சீனாய் மலையிலிருந்து இறங்குகிறபோது, தன்னோடே அவர் பேசினதினாலே தன் முகம் பிரகாசித்திருப்பதை அவன் அறியாதிருந்தான்." - யாத்திராகமம் 34:29 (TAOVBSI)

The people could not stand before him and speak, so Moses put a veil over his face. Do you think your life has gone dark? The Lord will bring you into the light. All you need to do is rise, and the first thing He will do is rise upon you.

Nations and Kings Will Come to Your Light (உன் வெளிச்சத்தினிடத்திற்கு ஜாதிகள் வருவார்கள்)

"The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising." - Isaiah 60:3 (NKJV)

"உன் வெளிச்சத்தினிடத்துக்கு ஜாதிகளும், உதிக்கிற உன் ஒளியினிடத்துக்கு ராஜாக்களும் நடந்து வருவார்கள்." - ஏசாயா 60:3 (TAOVBSI)

"Lift up your eyes all around, and see: they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side." - Isaiah 60:4 (NKJV)

"சுற்றிலும் உன் கண்களை ஏறெடுத்துப்பார்; அவர்கள் எல்லாரும் ஏகமாய்க்கூடி உன்னிடத்திற்கு வருகிறார்கள்; உன் குமாரர் தூரத்திலிருந்து வந்து, உன் குமாரத்திகள் உன் பக்கத்திலே வளர்க்கப்படுவார்கள்." - ஏசாயா 60:4 (TAOVBSI)

This is the second thing. When you rise, the Lord rises upon you, and then other people come looking for the light that is in you. Today you come to worship on your own. But once you have become a child of light, people who do not know Jesus will come and say, we want the light you have, and we will come to worship with you. Has the thought of your neighbours ever weighed on you? "I have come to know Jesus. I have the privilege of worshipping the living God. But these people still do not know Him; they are still in their sin. Lord, save them." Have you ever carried that burden?

Not only nations but kings will come. Imagine the District Collector of Tenkasi coming to visit your house. You would be thrilled, and the whole street would gather to see. If an important man visiting your home brings that much joy, think what it means that when Jesus is with you, people around you will see your joy and come looking for you, and even those who govern the land will seek you out.

A man of God in the city (பட்டணத்தில் ஒரு தேவனுடைய மனுஷன்)

From Dan to Beersheba, Samuel was known throughout Israel as a prophet. One day Saul, before he became king, was out searching for his father's donkeys. Two or three days passed and the donkeys were not found, and they came to the district where Samuel lived. Then Saul's servant spoke up.

"And he said to him, 'Look now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honorable man; all that he says surely comes to pass. So let us go there; perhaps he can show us the way that we should go.'" - 1 Samuel 9:6 (NKJV)

"அதற்கு அவன்: இதோ, இந்தப் பட்டணத்திலே தேவனுடைய மனுஷன் ஒருவர் இருக்கிறார்; அவர் பெரியவர்; அவர் சொல்லுகிறதெல்லாம் தப்பாமல் நடக்கும்; அங்கே போவோம்; ஒரு வேளை அவர் நாம் போகவேண்டிய நம்முடைய வழியை நமக்குத் தெரிவிப்பார் என்றான்." - 1 சாமுவேல் 9:6 (TAOVBSI)

A servant pointed to a prophet who carried God's light and God's anointing and said, he will show us the way. So Saul and his servant went looking for Samuel. When the anointing of the Lord is on you, people will come for the same reason: if we go to that house and they pray, things will come right; we are standing confused and do not know the way, but when they speak, it will be well with us. When light comes into your life, you do not stay lit up alone. You become light for the people around you, and they will come and say, let us pray together.

"Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."'" - Zechariah 8:23 (NKJV)

"அந்நாட்களில் பலவித பாஷைக்காரராகிய புறஜாதியாரில் பத்து மனுஷர் ஒரு யூதனுடைய வஸ்திரத்தொங்கலைப் பிடித்துக்கொண்டு: தேவன் உங்களோடே இருக்கிறார் என்று கேள்விப்பட்டோம்; ஆகையால் உங்களோடேகூடப் போவோம் என்று சொல்லி, அவனைப் பற்றிக்கொள்வார்கள் என்று சேனைகளின் கர்த்தர் சொல்லுகிறார் என்றார்." - சகரியா 8:23 (TAOVBSI)

If you have received Jesus, people who do not know Him will take hold of you and say, Jesus is with you, so we will come to church with you. Once you rise, you do not only shine yourself. Through you, many will come to the light.

Joseph's brothers at his feet (யோசேப்பின் காலடியில் சகோதரர்கள்)

We know Joseph's story well. His brothers sold him as a slave and he was carried off to Egypt, where he lay in prison. But a day came when God raised him to be ruler over the land. Then the very brothers who had sold him came looking for him, fell at his feet, bowed to him as lord, and begged for food. Sold as a slave at seventeen, he was raised to rule at thirty, and that was when his brothers came and bowed before him.

Because you received Jesus, your own brothers and sisters may have kept you at a distance. Your father and mother may have pushed you away. Your neighbours may leave you out of their weddings and funerals. It hurts. But a day will come, a season will come, when the Lord will let them see the light that is in you. When you know Jesus and rise, He does not only make you light. He uses you to lead those who do not know Him onto the path of light.

The Blessing of the Nations (ஜாதிகளின் ஆசீர்வாதம்)

The preacher closed with the third thing, from the verses that follow.

"All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together to you, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you; they shall ascend with acceptance on My altar, and I will glorify the house of My glory." - Isaiah 60:7 (NKJV)

"கேதாரின் ஆடுகளெல்லாம் உன்னிடத்தில் சேர்க்கப்படும்; நெபாயோத்தின் கடாக்கள் உன்னைச் சேவித்து, அங்கிகரிக்கப்பட்டதாய் என் பலிபீடத்தின்மேல் ஏறும்; என் மகிமையின் ஆலயத்தை மகிமைப்படுத்துவேன்." - ஏசாயா 60:7 (TAOVBSI)

The Lord will bring the blessing of the nations to us. We sometimes look at others and think they are doing well, while we, who have received the Lord and worship Jesus, still find some things hard. The Lord says that if you rise you will become light, and as you bring people who do not know God into that light, He will give you the blessing of those peoples too.

God blessed Solomon. He gave him the wisdom he asked for, and the riches and honour he had not asked for (1 Kings 3:12-13), and people from all the earth came to hear his wisdom. One day the queen of Sheba, having heard everyone speak of Solomon's wisdom, decided to see it for herself and travelled to his land. She did not come empty-handed.

"Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in very great quantity, and precious stones. There never again came such abundance of spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon." - 1 Kings 10:10 (NKJV)

"அவள் ராஜாவுக்கு நூற்றிருபது தாலந்து பொன்னையும், மிகுதியான கந்தவர்க்கங்களையும், இரத்தினங்களையும் கொடுத்தாள்; சேபாவின் ராஜஸ்திரீ ராஜாவாகிய சாலொமோனுக்குக் கொடுத்த அவ்வளவு கந்தவர்க்கங்கள் பிற்பாடு ஒருக்காலும் வரவில்லை." - 1 இராஜாக்கள் 10:10 (TAOVBSI)

She came to see a man who walked in the light, and she brought the finest things of her country with her.

You Must Rise (நீயே எழும்ப வேண்டும்)

There is one thing the Lord asks of you, and it is to rise. You have to do it. We keep hoping someone will come and lift us up, but that is not how it works. Ask yourself: where am I? What sin am I still in? Which circle of mockers am I still linked to? Which people am I still bound up with? What wrong things am I still turning over in my mind? Brush off whatever does not please God, shake it off completely, and stand up. When you rise, the Lord will make you shine.

You will not always be like this. You will not always be poor; you will not always be in tears. God has set a day. On that day we will not only be blessed; He will use us so that others are blessed as well. You will not come to church alone. Some will come with you and say, we are coming to worship the Lord with you. And God will fill you with the blessing of those very people.

So the response is a decision of your own: I will rise. I will not lie crippled any longer. I will do something for the Lord. In my life the Lord alone will have first place. Rise, and the Lord will shine on you.

The message ended in prayer that each one would be set free from sin and from everything that does not please the Lord, would arise and shine, and would be made a vessel of His light. The church then came to the Lord's Table.