A MILLION CANDLEPOWER - Reinhard Bonnke
When the apostle Paul was preaching in Troas, “there were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together” (Acts 20:8). The Bible writers have a way of saying that kind of thing and yet conveying a spiritual truth. There were two kinds of light there: the oil lamps and the Christians who filled the
room.
To be a believer is to be a source of light. “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord” (Ephesians 5:8). Believers are stars; unbelievers are black holes, from which light never escapes. Faith makes us “children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom [we] shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15).
A Christian needs a church just as a candle needs a flame, a tree needs soil, and a light bulb needs a socket. Without a flame, a candle cannot burn; without soil, a tree cannot grow; without a socket, a light bulb cannot shine. Neither can you.
Without fellowship, a Christian can neither stand, nor grow, nor shine.
Jesus does not put you on the shelf. He has a special niche in mind for each one of us in His house. He said, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14)— single lamps, but also many lights, joined together. A single lamp, according to Jesus, was to be placed on a lampstand so “it gives light to all who are in the
house” (verse 15). One candlepower for one house. But He spoke of many lights together: “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden” (verse 14). A city does not have one candlepower but a million
candlepower. When Christ said, “You are the light of the world,” it was a plural “you.” He brings many lights together, people mingling and joining together, flame with flame.
The “city set on a hill” is a church. In Troas, there were many lamps together,because it was a big room. The world is a big place and many lamps are needed.
A hymn says, “you in your small corner, and I in mine,” but we face more than a few dark corners; ours is a dark planet. The whole globe needs light. There is no light where there is no faith in God.
Spiritually, the world today is like Genesis 1:2–3: “Darkness was on the face of the deep….Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. Today, God is still saying, “Let there be light.”
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)
After Christ rose from the dead, the disciples began brightening up the world with the light of the gospel. We should do the same. The establishment complained that they had “filled Jerusalem with [their] doctrine” (Acts 5:28),
and later, it was said, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too” (Acts 17:6). That is exactly what God said He would do. Psalm 146:9 says, “The way of the wicked He turns upside down.” The way of unbelief is upside down, but God turns it the right-side up. That is my job and yours. We are
God’s agents for putting a topsy-turvy world upright.
- Reinhard Bonnke (Faith The Link With God's Power)
- JESUS SAVES TV
When the apostle Paul was preaching in Troas, “there were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together” (Acts 20:8). The Bible writers have a way of saying that kind of thing and yet conveying a spiritual truth. There were two kinds of light there: the oil lamps and the Christians who filled the
room.
To be a believer is to be a source of light. “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord” (Ephesians 5:8). Believers are stars; unbelievers are black holes, from which light never escapes. Faith makes us “children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom [we] shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15).
A Christian needs a church just as a candle needs a flame, a tree needs soil, and a light bulb needs a socket. Without a flame, a candle cannot burn; without soil, a tree cannot grow; without a socket, a light bulb cannot shine. Neither can you.
Without fellowship, a Christian can neither stand, nor grow, nor shine.
Jesus does not put you on the shelf. He has a special niche in mind for each one of us in His house. He said, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14)— single lamps, but also many lights, joined together. A single lamp, according to Jesus, was to be placed on a lampstand so “it gives light to all who are in the
house” (verse 15). One candlepower for one house. But He spoke of many lights together: “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden” (verse 14). A city does not have one candlepower but a million
candlepower. When Christ said, “You are the light of the world,” it was a plural “you.” He brings many lights together, people mingling and joining together, flame with flame.
The “city set on a hill” is a church. In Troas, there were many lamps together,because it was a big room. The world is a big place and many lamps are needed.
A hymn says, “you in your small corner, and I in mine,” but we face more than a few dark corners; ours is a dark planet. The whole globe needs light. There is no light where there is no faith in God.
Spiritually, the world today is like Genesis 1:2–3: “Darkness was on the face of the deep….Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. Today, God is still saying, “Let there be light.”
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)
After Christ rose from the dead, the disciples began brightening up the world with the light of the gospel. We should do the same. The establishment complained that they had “filled Jerusalem with [their] doctrine” (Acts 5:28),
and later, it was said, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too” (Acts 17:6). That is exactly what God said He would do. Psalm 146:9 says, “The way of the wicked He turns upside down.” The way of unbelief is upside down, but God turns it the right-side up. That is my job and yours. We are
God’s agents for putting a topsy-turvy world upright.
- Reinhard Bonnke (Faith The Link With God's Power)
- JESUS SAVES TV
A MILLION CANDLEPOWER - Reinhard Bonnke
When the apostle Paul was preaching in Troas, “there were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together” (Acts 20:8). The Bible writers have a way of saying that kind of thing and yet conveying a spiritual truth. There were two kinds of light there: the oil lamps and the Christians who filled the
room.
To be a believer is to be a source of light. “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord” (Ephesians 5:8). Believers are stars; unbelievers are black holes, from which light never escapes. Faith makes us “children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom [we] shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15).
A Christian needs a church just as a candle needs a flame, a tree needs soil, and a light bulb needs a socket. Without a flame, a candle cannot burn; without soil, a tree cannot grow; without a socket, a light bulb cannot shine. Neither can you.
Without fellowship, a Christian can neither stand, nor grow, nor shine.
Jesus does not put you on the shelf. He has a special niche in mind for each one of us in His house. He said, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14)— single lamps, but also many lights, joined together. A single lamp, according to Jesus, was to be placed on a lampstand so “it gives light to all who are in the
house” (verse 15). One candlepower for one house. But He spoke of many lights together: “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden” (verse 14). A city does not have one candlepower but a million
candlepower. When Christ said, “You are the light of the world,” it was a plural “you.” He brings many lights together, people mingling and joining together, flame with flame.
The “city set on a hill” is a church. In Troas, there were many lamps together,because it was a big room. The world is a big place and many lamps are needed.
A hymn says, “you in your small corner, and I in mine,” but we face more than a few dark corners; ours is a dark planet. The whole globe needs light. There is no light where there is no faith in God.
Spiritually, the world today is like Genesis 1:2–3: “Darkness was on the face of the deep….Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. Today, God is still saying, “Let there be light.”
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)
After Christ rose from the dead, the disciples began brightening up the world with the light of the gospel. We should do the same. The establishment complained that they had “filled Jerusalem with [their] doctrine” (Acts 5:28),
and later, it was said, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too” (Acts 17:6). That is exactly what God said He would do. Psalm 146:9 says, “The way of the wicked He turns upside down.” The way of unbelief is upside down, but God turns it the right-side up. That is my job and yours. We are
God’s agents for putting a topsy-turvy world upright.
- Reinhard Bonnke (Faith The Link With God's Power)
- JESUS SAVES TV
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