p. 5 | Arise, Shine

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jul 21, 1909

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 36, No. 28.

“Arise, Shine”

By *

ARISE, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” Isa. 60: 1. This wonderful command is addressed by our Lord to every son and daughter of God at this present hour. Every tendency in the Christian’s environment to-day seems to be to sit still, to be inactive in the work of the Master, to allow a spirit of drowsiness to possess the soul, until every effort at progress appears to be an impossibility, and the precious talents which Heaven has so graciously and abundantly entrusted to its children are being buried in the earth, hidden in the napkin of spiritual discouragement and faint-heartedness. With Gethsemane’s struggles right upon the church of God, a strange spirit of sleep, a death-like stupor, a marvelous, incomprehensible apathy, a fearful insensibility, is settling in gloomy midnight shades upon the souls of her children. How intense must be the activity of the enemy of all righteousness! Truly he knows that he has but a short time, and in furious wrath, employing his most crafty, hellish arts and deceptions, he goes about as a mad and roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, until the very elect, the precious heritage of Christ, are in danger.

But thanks be to our God, who has foreseen all this and in mercy provided a way of escape from the net, a remedy for the latter-day soul diseases that are threatening to sweep away to destruction men and women bought with the precious blood of the Lamb. Preceding the above command He assures His children once and for all, that “when the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” And then follows that wonderful promise: “And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord.” But let us listen to the still more marvelous manifestation of the divine good will brought to our view in the next sentence: “As for Me, this is My covenant with them, saith the Lord; My Spirit that is upon thee, and My words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, from henceforth and forever.”

With this unmistakable assurance of God’s abiding Spirit upon His children, there comes the admonition: “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” “Arise, shine!” What hopeful and comforting words to the despondent, downcast soul! How immediately it brings to our mind that Sabbath scene at the pool of Bethesda where lay the helpless sufferer of thirty-eight long, weary years, waiting, waiting for relief, and well-nigh given over to utter despair. How similar the message to this poor cripple, “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.” Notice the result: “And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked.”

Ah, he arose and shone physically. Realizing his helpless condition, and discerning in the voice of Jesus the mighty power of God, he obeyed, and was made whole. Thus it will be in our day spiritually. By His Spirit Jesus again is walking upon the earth, with His great heart of love drawn out toward suffering, sin-sick, despairing humanity. Again He is visiting the despondent, downcast, impotent members of His flock, asking each one in tones of tenderest sympathy, “Wilt thou be made whole?” and bidding them: “Arise, shine,”—rouse yourself from your lethargy, break the spell which Satan has cast over your soul; become a bright spiritual light in your Master’s cause; shed forth the beams of His love and glory to those that sit in the shadows of sin and despair. Then, tho “darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people,” “the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising,” for “the Lord shall rise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee.”

What a glorious prospect before every child of God. How it ought to rekindle hope and courage in the downcast soul. May the command “Arise, shine,” be heeded, and of every one who obeys the call it shall surely be a fact that God’s glory shall be seen upon him.