"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you" (Isa. 60:1).
Posted : 31 Oct, 2011 05:17 AM
There are those whose lamps of Christian profession will not go out when the Lord appears. They are his own chosen, redeemed, and called people. Their light, on account of manifold infirmities, may often have burned but dimly through life. But there is vital religion in the soul�the golden precious oil of grace�flowing from Jesus into their hearts, and this can never be extinguished.
Many were the hostile influences against which their weak grace had to contend; many were the trials of their feeble faith; but the light never quite went out. The waves of sorrow threatened to extinguish it; the floods of inbred evil threatened to extinguish it; the cold blasts of adversity threatened to extinguish it; and the stumbling of the walk, the inconstancy of the heart, the declension of the soul, often for a while weakened and obscured it; but there it is, living, burning, and brightening, as inextinguishable and as deathless as the source from which it came.
The grace of God in the heart is as imperishable, and the life of God in the soul is as immortal, as God himself. That light of knowledge enkindled in the mind, and of love glowing in the heart, and of holiness shining in the life, will burn in the upper temple in increasing radiance of glory through eternity. The divine light of Christian profession, which holy grief for sin has kindled, which love to God has kindled, which the indwelling of the Holy Spirit has kindled, will outshine and outlive the sun in the firmament of heaven. That sun shall be extinguished; those stars shall fall; and that moon shall be turned into blood; but the feeblest spark of grace in the soul shall live forever.
The Lord watches his own work with sleepless vigilance. When the vessel is exhausted, he stands by and replenishes it. When the light burns dimly, he is near to revive it. When the cold winds blow rudely, and the rough waves swell high, he is riding upon those winds, and walking upon those waves, to protect this the spark of his own kindling. The light that is in you is light flowing from Jesus, the Fountain of life and light (Ps. 36:9). And can an infinite fountain be exhausted? When the sun is extinguished, then the moon, deriving its faint radiance from him, will be extinguished too�but not until then.
Who is it that has often fanned the smoking flax? Even he who will never quench the faintest spark of living light in the soul. "For it is you who light my lamp; the LORD my God lightens my darkness" (Ps. 18:28). And if the Lord lights it, then what power can put it out? Is not his love the sunshine of your soul? Is he not himself your morning star? Is it not in his light that you see light, even the "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6)?
Oh, then, "Arise and shine; for your light is come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you."
by Octavius Winslow, 1856 (edited for
today's reader by Larry E. Wilson, 2010)
"Wake, awake, for night is flying,"
the watchmen on the heights are crying;
"Awake, Jerusalem, at last!"
Midnight hears the welcome voices,
and at the thrilling cry rejoices:
"Come forth, ye virgins, night is past!
The Bridegroom comes; awake,
your lamps with gladness take; Alleluia!
And for his marriage feast prepare,
for you must go to meet him there."
Zion hears the watchmen singing,
and all her heart with joy is springing;
she wakes, she rises from her gloom:
for her Lord comes down all-glorious,
the Strong in grace, in truth Victorious,
her Star is ris'n, her Light is come!
Ah, come, thou blessed Lord,
O Jesus, Son of God, Alleluia!
We follow till the halls we see
where thou hast bid us sup with thee.
Now let all the heav'ns adore thee,
and men and angels sing before thee,
with harps and cymbal's clearest tone;
of one pearl each shining portal,
where we are with the choir immortal
of angels round thy dazzling throne;
nor eye hath seen, nor ear
hath yet attained to hear what there is ours.
But we rejoice, and sing to thee
our hymn of joy eternally.
(Philipp Nicolai, 1599; tr. by Catherine Winkworth, 1858 1863)
