FIVE GREAT LIGHTS: PART THREE

by pastor Sonny Islas of SHINE BRIGHT Church

FIVE GREAT LIGHTS: PART THREE

So far, we’ve covered lights 1 and 2.

The 1st light was - The Light of Creation. Where God has made Himself known through creation.

The 2nd light was – The light of Conscience. Where God has made Himself known through our conscience. God created us with an internal knowledge of right and wrong.
The five great lights are as follows (for each one of these LIGHTS, we will include a hyperlink to the corresponding teaching that pastor Sonny gave at SHINE BRIGHT Church):

1. THE LIGHT OF CREATION.
2. THE LIGHT OF CONSCIENCE.
3. THE LIGHT OF CONDEMNATION.
4. THE LIGHT OF COMMANDMENTS.
5. THE LIGHT OF CHRIST.

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TRIUMPHANT TRILOGIES – JOHN 12,13 & 14: Examining JOHN 13 – Part 1 of 2

Examining JOHN 13 – Part ONE

From chapter 11 on, we are witnessing the Passion Week of the Christ. From Chapter 13 here, it starts going into “high gear” because it’s only hours away until the LAMB of GOD is slain for the sins of the world from the foundation of the world.

1 PETER 1:19-21
19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you 21 who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

HEBREWS 9:25-26
25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another-- 26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

REVELATION 5:5-6
5 But one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals." 6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

Being omniscient and possessing foreknowledge, long before Adam and Eve were ever created, before the Almighty ever said, “Let there be light…” He saw the predicament and peril of humanity because of the fateful choice our First Parents made and decided from the halls of eternity to offer Himself up as a sacrifice for the sins of the world.

As one Bible expositor put it, “GOD allowed Man to enter a situation from which he couldn’t rescue himself, but what would require the death of GOD in order to redeem him!”

This was quite literally the sublime, supreme passion of GOD to bring His creation back to Himself at His cost, and none at all for the redeemed.

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The RIGHTEOUS and the REBELLIOUS: PROVERBS 24:15-16

Humanity can be divided into two camps; everyone on this planet belongs to one or the other – there is no third category. They’re either a member of the Righteous or the Rebellious.

The Rebellious are the wicked, the haughty, the destructive regarding life; they are the Truth rejectors, they are the Light haters, they are the Bible despisers, devoted to darkness, they reject Christ and His Word maliciously. The rebellious are destined to destruction. And we saints were once members of this camp, to one degree or another!

The Righteous are the wise, the humble, the devoted to life; they are the Truth receivers, they are the Light lovers, they are the Bible disciples, dispellers of darkness, they receive Christ and His Word joyfully. The righteous are destined to glory.

The wonderful thing is that the rebellious can change camps at any time in their lifetime. All they need to do is repent of their sin, turn to Christ and by faith believe the Gospel, surrendering themselves to Jesus by making Him their LORD and Savior.

In the two verses we’ll be looking into tonight, we’ll learn quite a few things about both camps.

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The G.E.P.C Study – GALATIANS 6: Part 1 of 2

Going Through Paul’s epistles to Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, and Colossi

INTRODUCTION: The nature of our awesome GOD favors restoration over retribution. He would much rather render righteousness to a person than render ruin upon a person. We know this to be true because mankind was not slain in the Garden of Eden for their sin; rather, it was the Son of man who was slain after the Garden of Gethsemane, and afterwards raised in resurrection righteousness from the Garden Tomb (PS 85:11).

Isn’t it interesting how our need and provision of salvation revolves around these gardens? Remember what our LORD told us?

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FIVE GREAT LIGHTS: PART TWO

As a way of reminder, these Five Great Lights are ways in which God has so graciously revealed Himself. And these five ways in which God makes Himself knowable is what leaves everyone without an excuse (ROM 1:20b) on Judgment day (HEB 9:27).

The five great lights are as follows (for each one of these LIGHTS, we will include a hyperlink to the corresponding teaching that pastor Sonny gave at SHINE BRIGHT Church):

1.THE LIGHT OF CREATION.

2. THE LIGHT OF CONSCIENCE.

3. THE LIGHT OF CONDEMNATION.

4. THE LIGHT OF COMMANDMENTS.

5. THE LIGHT OF CHRIST.

Read more!

ONE NATION UNDER GOD

French writer Alexis de Tocqueville [Tok-uh-veal], after visiting America in 1831, said,

“I sought for the greatness of the United States in her commodious harbors, her ample rivers, her fertile fields, and boundless forests—and it was not there. I sought for [this greatness] in her rich mines, her vast world commerce, her public school system, and in her institutions of higher learning— and it was not there. I looked for it in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution—and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great!”

LISTEN to the audio teaching at the SHINE BRIGHT Church YouTube Channel here!

Our President Elect has had the motto ever since his first term back in 2016, MAGA – Make America Great Again. And certainly, by his policies he may do a lot to restore to us our economy, our political process, our social structure, the cleansing of corruption found in our government, academic halls of learning, our mainstream media and national identity.

But can any of these things restore goodness to America?

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