Text: 1 Peter 2:9
Ministering: Pastor Bukky Otono
Date: 12 March 2023
1 Peter 2:9 – But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Bless somebody and say: today, at the entrance of God’s word, receive His marvelous light!
There is light & there is MARVELOUS light! And last week, we loudly and boldly declared that we are marching forward. It was prophetic, we received the anointing to march forward, but we need light to know the way in which we should go. Not just any light, we need MARVELOUS LIGHT!
Not all light is the light of God in Christ Jesus; we must be specific about the ‘light’ we are saying daily that we are “I am the light of the world, my light must shine!” Which light? Or rather, whose light?
II Corinthians 11:14 – And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
Matthew 6:23 – But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Peter said “But YOU…” and before this, we read in v7 & 8 that he spoke of others who are disobedient and do not believe in Jesus Christ. And before that, in v4 yet others rejected Christ. Then he changes lanes and comes to you who have accepted Jesus to be your one true Lord and Christ, your Savior & Messiah, making you to believe in Him and be obedient to His teachings, by the Holy Spirit. Peter said, “But YOU…” – say he’s talking to me!
MARVELOUS LIGHT IS:
– DIVINE light (Gen 1:3-4*)
*God saw the light was good & because divine light is good light it cannot be associated with darkness, God divided that good light from darkness to establish the divine nature this light…JESUS!
The power of darkness is being divided & expelled from your life today, by the marvelous light of the Lord!
– light you MARVEL at
to marvel is to be in awe of, light that makes you wonder how wonderful, i.e. full of wonder, the Lord is. You marvel when something happens that you can’t understand and in trying to figure it out, you can turn your mind upside down (Rom 11:33 – o the depths of riches of wisdom & knowledge, His judgements unsearchable, His ways past finding out!)
>> TESTIMONY of tough past few months, unexpected setbacks (seemingly), little did we know HOW God would work it all out for our GOOD! Note: we didn’t know HOW, but we knew THAT!
- Rom 8:28 – And we KNOW that all things work together for good…
- Rom 8:38-39 – For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, principalities, powers, [… cancer, fibroid, depression, eviction from my house, being fired, disappointments, accusations…] can ever separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus!
– light that brings GLADNESS, JOY and HONOR
- Esther 8:16 – [after victory over Hamman and his clan] >> The Jews had light and gladness, joy and honour
- Isa 60:1 – Arise, shine for your light [originating from its divine source] is come & the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
- Glory, honour, gladness all lie within the Lord (1 Chro 16:26-27), all accessed through light
- Isa 60:3 – The GENTILES shall come to your light, And KINGS to the brightness of your rising.
- Gentiles – common, everyday people
- Kings – royal, elevated, decorated person
- e. EVERYONE comes to the brightness of your rising >>>>> HONOR!!!
Today and henceforth, by divine marvelous light, I see the world coming to your rising!
LISTEN: Marvelous light expressly expresses the hand & goodness of God in your life. There is instant and divine manifestation; this is the light that called an agitator out of darkness and in a life as Apostle Paul of Jesus Christ!
Today, by divine marvelous light, the goodness of God shall be obvious in your light! Right where you are, receive the MARVELOUS LIGHT of the Lord!
– [divine] light that DELIVERS from darkness
The song on my heart in this season of being renewed in the light of the Lord is: thank You for saving me, thank You my Lord
There are things I used to do that I no longer do, … say, think, feel, believe… no longer! I’ve been changed and I’m still changing.
I’ve known some of you for almost a decade and I see that change, the renewed mind, the transformation of character as you allow the Lord to perform surgery on your spirit by His Spirit. In the marvelous light of the Lord, we are saved from ourselves and never-ending options of works of the flesh that entice us back into darkness.
Every time you say NO to the works of the flesh (Gal 5:19-21 – sexual immorality that produces single parent homes!, immodesty, lustfulness, outbursts of anger!, quarrels!, division within the church or in your home i.e. divorce!), God is glorified that you are DELIVERED FROM THE WORKINGS/DROPPINGS OF DARKNESS THROUGH THE FLESH.
PDRO shared with us by counsel from the Holy Spirit that there’s a difference between being saved [confessing Jesus as your Lord & Savior i.e. heart to mouth] and being born again. What you confessed must travel from your mouth to become visible in your life through your changed character and actions to show forth for all to behold a new creature.
>> 1 Peter 2:9 – Marvelous light calls out of darkness! Delivers from darkness!
Darkness is a bastard; it blinds, such that you will sit (Matt 4:16 – the ppl which sat in darkness saw a great light; darkness kept them sitting & stagnant in life). Not your story in Jesus name! Right you are seated, God’s great & marvelous light is coming upon you!
Why does the Lord save & deliver us from darkness? For what purpose, to what end?
1 Peter 2:9 – …to *SHEW FORTH THE PRAISES of Him who called you into His light as His people!
SHEW FORTH THE PRAISES (KJV):
* NKJV – to proclaim the praises
* NLT – Show others the goodness of God
* ESV – proclaim the excellencies of Him
Right now, receive God’s marvelous light to step out of darkness and to show forth His goodness, His praises, His excellence, in the name of Jesus!
CONTACTING MARVELOUS LIGHT:
We contact marvelous light through:
- KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORD OF GOD
– the entrance of THY WORD gives light; it gives understanding to the simple (Ps 119:130)
– Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, And a light unto my path (Ps 119:105)
– Jesus – THE WORD that became flesh, quoted the written word saying “man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY WORD that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matt 4:4)
You must study the word of God to know God for yourself and contact His marvelous light!
2. OBEDIENCE TO THE WORD OF GOD; of what use or good is the Word of God, if not applied or lived; John 1:14 and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory…
God’s Word is not for entertainment; it must be obeyed. Both the written word – God’s expectations for how to live a faithful life in Christ – and His ‘now’ Word in the form of rhema or real time instruction by the Holy Spirit for how, when and where to march forward to. You can’t just march forward aimlessly, ‘forward’ as a motion still has many directions – you must be directed in the exact way in which you should go.
I said before that darkness blinds, such that you will sit (Matt 4:16 – the ppl which sat in darkness saw a great light; darkness kept them sitting & stagnant in life). But even if you manage to stand to try to walk, darkness causes a person to stumble until they are eventually destroyed.
1 Peter 2:7-8* – they STUMBLE, being DISOBEDIENT TO THE WORD… >> why stumble? Because when you are bankrupt of the Word of God, you are living in spiritual darkness that manifests in your physical reality.
So, when you hear someone say I read this in the Bible and suddenly my life changed [I can never be… or I can do…], they are really saying now I see, a light has switched on in them.
The first Scripture that did that for me, changed my whole approach to life was Phil 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me. The Spirit of the Lord reminded me of this verse I had previously, but casually known. But as hubby and I were in the midwife’s office 38 weeks pregnant with the reality dawning on me that I would have to do a thing I had never done before, and I KNEW I couldn’t do it by myself
>> Obedience to God connects you to the source of this marvelous light
1 Jn 1:5 – God is light and in Him is no darkness at all
Psalm 27:1 – You are my light and salvation; whom shall I fear? [This confidence came from his connection to the source of the light!]
To enjoy God’s divine of light of defense, for all to see the results and marvel…you must be obedient to the Lord you want to have move on your behalf. Obedience comes by a broken spirit & a broken and contrite heart! (Ps 51:17)
David picked that as the sacrifice God wants most from us; it sets you as clay in God’s hands as the Potter of your life, to do with you as HE wills, because you’ve given God full and unlimited consent, a FOREVER “YES”. You become very sensitive and easily yielding to the Holy Spirit to follow Him fully!
E.g. Joshua enjoyed victory upon victory, because he painstakingly followed God’s every instruction. He must’ve sounded ridiculous to the people – march round a wall 6x, then on 7th day march round 7x. But to be a leader you must be ready to seem foolish to those you are leading – as long as they have enough faith to still do as you say, despite what they might be thinking. By the time the results of obeying God show forth there will be no contention anymore.
In Joshua chpt 6, Joshua did EXACTLY what God had told him, exactly when and exactly how and the last verse after the fall of Jericho reads:
So the Lord was with Joshua; and his fame was NOISED throughout the country.
Deliberate obedience is crucial to your walk with God. It prepares your heart to be rebuked and corrected if you’ve strayed. This same Joshua whose army defeated mighty Jericho in chpt 6, we saw on Friday’s service that by chpt 7, he suffered defeat at the hands of a small city Ai. Why?
Joshua 7:19-21 – someone in the Israelites’ camp SAW, WANTED, TOOK & HID of the accursed things; What are you hiding from God? Adam & Eve went into hiding, because they saw, wanted and took! What have you taken, done, said that you shouldn’t have?
Don’t think you can do what you like and cry for mercy later. Let’s not think we can blaspheme, fornicate, worship idols in pursuing money at all costs and by all means, mocking God & the name of Jesus by calling ourselves Christians while other cannot identify an ounce of Christ in us. God forbid!
LISTEN: the disciples never called themselves Christians, others saw them, saw Christlike behavior and called them Christians. They said these people must have spent time with Jesus, because they were just like Him.
Acts 4:13 – Intellectually, physically they classed Peter and John as unlearned and ignorant, but despite that the people MARVELLED and took knowledge of them that…THEY HAD BEEN WITH JESUS!!! It was not their smartness, brilliance; it was the contact they had with the Light of the world!
You, check yourself, who do you resemble? Who is teaching you and who’s character do you bear? When we quote “I bear on my body the marks of Christ”, those marks are His nature that tell of his kindness, love, longsuffering, gentleness, forgiving heart.
You are so big in presence, when you enter a room it swallows up the peace in the place. John said “He – JESUS – must increase, but I must decrease.”
A person called Achan (can manifest in your life as a spirit). And because of that spirit, covetousness, the desire to want what others have, can grow in you. Self-importance, self-aggrandizing, me first/only me behavior…
May the Spirit of the Lord help us to DECREASE for Jesus to increase!
Finally, when people know you for good because of the Christ in you, then you’re walking in MARVELOUS LIGHT. When we begin to show forth God’s goodness in the way we treat those that hurt us, those that are weaker than us (children, the elderly, the sick, the poor, the naked around you), THEN and only then shall heaven say – they that sat in great darkness have seen and now walk in the MARVELOUS LIGHT!
As you deepen yourself in Christ, yielding to the leading of the Holy Spirit, may you contact marvelous light!
People will see you and marvel the hand & goodness of God in your life!
You in turn will show forth the goodness of God by your NO to the devil & his works, and by your ‘FOREVER YES’ to the Lord’s instructions for life!
People may not have thought much of you so far, but because of you they will stand in awe to glorify your Father in heaven!
PRAYERS:
- Father of lights, today, call me out of darkness into Your marvelous light, in the name of Jesus
- Father of lights, I want to show forth Your goodness & Your excellence; may men see me and see You, may they know me and desire to know You in the name of Jesus
- Holy Spirit, help me & grow in me the desire to study, know and to do the will of God. This is my ‘forever YES’!
