Good day everyone. Welcome to another interesting episode of Forms and Patterns. How has your week been? I hope it has been great. We bless God for that. I'm so excited for the opportunity given to me by God to continue the series on forms and patterns that we began a few weeks ago, looking at The Dynamics of Ministry. And so, in this podcast, we will be considering: The Dynamics of Ministry Pt.3. And our focus is on The Minister as A Light. In the book of Isaiah 9 and I would like to read from verse 1-2, see what the Bible says.
“Nevertheless, the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed,
As when at first, He lightly esteemed
The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
And afterward more heavily oppressed her,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
In Galilee of the Gentiles.
2 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.”
May the Lord bless the reading of His word in our hearts in Jesus’ name. Very quickly, I want us to consider the latter part of verse one and then verse two. It says: “By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, in Galilee of the Gentiles…” to give us a scope to give us an understanding of the place and the people that this word imparted. It says: “the people who walked in darkness…” If we pause from there, I'm sure you're familiar with the phrase that says “the just shall live by faith”, the just, the righteous people, those who know God and follow God, those who worship God, the worshipers of God, they shall live by faith. Now what happens to the unjust, the unrighteous people?
So, they will walk, they will live by something else. The Bible says: we walk by faith and not by sight. Now, the Bible says the people who walked in darkness, we could consider these people as a set of people among the nations that walk by sight. They do not walk by faith; they walk by sight. And the Scripture describes their circumstance, the Bible says: they walk, they live because another word for ‘walking’ there is to live. It says: the people who lived in darkness. Another word we can use again is; the people who live by darkness, the people who are driven by darkness. Darkness therefore representing a state of ignorance, a state of oppression, a state of being incapable, being unable to alter the circumstance of your life.
The Bible says the people who walked in darkness, the people who lived under oppression. You remember again in Isaiah chapter 42:22 that the Bible says: but this is a people robbed and plundered. So, you could consider verse two to mean the people who were robbed and plundered. And see what the Bible says: the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Now the Bible didn't say they've seen great lights. The Bible says they've seen a great light. And one lesson we must learn from there is that it is possible for a minister, a man or a woman who has been sent by God for an assignment in a place among a people in a generation, to be a light for the bigger people, the bigger generation that he has been sent to and sent for.
You remember at the beginning of this series, we understood that the minister is appointed by God for the people not appointed by the people for God. It is God who appoints. It is God who makes a man, a woman His minister. Haven been appointed by God; you have been appointed into the ministry for the people. There is something about the people that you are expected to change, you are expected to ameliorate, you're expected to alter, you're expected to ease, you're expected to comfort. The Bible says: comfort, yes, comfort my people. And so, if you comfort the people of God, you function in the place of a comforter, you minister unto God as a comforter.
That is to show us that a people only require at least a minister, if the situation of a generation of the people of the land is going to change, is going to require at least one man, one woman. The Bible says: the people who walked in darkness as seen a great light. So, you must understand that prior to the emergence of that great light, they walked in darkness, they lived in darkness, they function in darkness, they were governed by darkness. But as soon as a great light appeared, see what the Bible says: “Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.”
What is the purpose of the light when the light comes? Let me read again that Isaiah chapter 42:22. It says:
But this is a people robbed and plundered;
All of them are snared in holes,
And they are hidden in prison houses;
They are for prey, and no one delivers;
For plunder, and no one says, “Restore!”
So, the man, the woman who speaks restoration over a people who are destined for destruction and doom is somebody who shines a light upon the people. And so, when light comes, hope comes, people can see clearly, people can have a picture of what is possible; they can have an idea of the days and the years ahead of them. And so, the minister therefore becomes a light; an example of possibility, a sample under God of what a life can be, if totally yielded to God, and yielded to the purpose of God in a generation. And so, the Minister of God, therefore becomes a light, as a light, he models the possibilities of God. Remember, the Bible says, with men, these things are impossible, but with God, all things are possible.
A minister has a responsibility of revealing the possibilities of God, to the people who are in darkness, who are in bondage, who are afflicted or oppressed, who are plundered, who are meant to become prey to their enemies. In the book of Hebrews, chapter one, verse seven, the Bible reveals something that is important for us to note. The Bible says: and of the angels He says: “who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire.” As a flame of fire, you function as a light. And so, if you are a minister of God, you must remember that God has raised you up as a light that must shine, a flame of fire that must burn.
When Jesus was describing John to the people, He said, when he was among you, he was a burning and a shining light. That’s to show us that part of the dynamics of ministry is that the minister is a light. The minister is a burning, a shining light, and as such, he is expected to show the people what God is able to do. He is expected to witness the faithfulness of God to the people. He is expected to witness the character, the attitude, the discipline of God. He is expected to show the people the desires of God. He is expected to show people what God loves.
Now if you look at Jesus, for a long time in Israel, He went from places and at different times, He kept telling the people what the kingdom of heaven is like. So, the people who were in darkness can now see the kingdom of heaven via the ministry of Jesus. And that’s what God has ordained us to do as ministers. If God has raised you up as a minister, there's something that God wants to show the people through your life, through your ministry, and so you must commit yourself to the ministry of light.
In the book of john chapter 1:1-5, we have something again to learn from. The Bible says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men….” That is to show us that men need light, men require light. Without the light, the true light, then men would remain in perpetual darkness, in gross darkness “And the light shines in the darkness…” the light functions in a moment and times when things are difficult for the people. The light functions when most men are oppressed, afflicted by other people and other creatures. And so, the light shines in the darkness.
In case you want to know you want to know where you are to minister, as a servant of God, the Word of God is you are a light that must shine in darkness. See what the Bible says, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend, did not understand it did not overcome it. And so, God has called you into the ministry of light. God has raised you up to be a light. So, if you are surrounded by darkness, don't give up. Don't think you have not been so called by God, you have been called, your calling is required, is necessary, even much more in darkness.
You remember the word of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, while I am in this world, I am the light of the world. And in another instance; He declared to the disciples that they were the light of the world. And so I want to admonish that we receive this ministry of light. If you have been called into the ministry, part of the dynamics of that calling is that you are meant to function as light, don't forget, while many people walk in darkness, while many people live by and in darkness, as a minister of God, you walk in the light, you are a servant of the light, you function in the light, you walk by faith, you live by faith, and by the life you live, many men, many women, many people, are able to see what is possible, what can happen to a man who is fully yielded to God and as you do that, the Lord will cause you to be ever shining, ever radiating in glory, in His court, in His Kingdom on the earth in the name of Jesus.
I believe we have been blessed by this Word, the Word of God to you and I is that we have been called into the ministry of light. And as such, we must function as light. We must become ambassadors of the light. And we must not be afraid of darkness knowing fully well that when there is no darkness, light is not acknowledged. So, while the whole world is covered with darkness, then we are most relevant.
Till the next time I bring you another episode on this series, THE DYNAMICS OF MINISTRY I want you to remain with God ever shining, ever burning in the fulfillment of the ministry that God has given to you and God will be glorified in your life. God be glorified in your ministry; your ministry will be model ministry. Your marriage will be model marriage. And everything about your life will witness the faithfulness and the possibilities of God among the nations in Jesus’ name.
Amen!
