Rise and Shine

The only hope we have for this world’s suffering and woe is for Jesus’ Second Coming. This is my ardent hope. I daily pray for it, and I dream every night for it. I am trying to implement methods and projects to hasten Jesus Christ’s coming. I believe Jesus is the only answer for the problems of humanity.

As I travel to many different countries, especially to Asian countries, Korea, China, and Japan, I see many, many problems, tragedies, and sufferings, especially sufferings of the saints. Jesus Christ must come soon and we must do everything in our power to hasten His coming.

When I think about, talk about and pray about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, it always brings tears to my eyes, because when Jesus Christ comes, I will again meet people that I have been separated from through death, especially my mother. My mother has been very special to me. She was the one who brought me to Jesus Christ. Without her prayers I would not be here standing before you. I know that many have a yearning heart to be reunited with many people, especially family members.

When Jesus Christ comes, a shout of joy is going to fill the air of this earth. We will not be separated again. This reunion and fellowship will not be just temporary, but will be throughout eternity.

My heart especially suffers right now. Four members of our China staff workers – two pastors, our business manager, one young lady and one of the treasurers have received prison sentences; one for 10 years, two of them for 9 years, and the young lady for 7 years. I cannot see them or hear their voices again. They are locked into jail and from time to time I just receive their letters through some mediums. It just breaks my heart. We need the latter rain of the Holy Spirit soon so that we can finish the work and go home together, even with those poor people who are locked into jails, simply because they have printed millions of books, Spirit of Prophecy books, and truth-filled books, and scattered them into many, many different provinces in China. Simply because of their dedication of giving truth-filled books to the people, they are locked into jail.

I am the one who taught them about the truth, baptized them, and assigned them the work, so they are like my own children. I experience heartache every day when I think about them. I want Jesus to come, soon.

We do not have any might or strength of our own to hasten Jesus Christ’s coming, but God is going to do something for us so that we can rise and shine with His truth, throughout the world, so that all the inhabitants of the earth are going to focus on God’s people. Sooner or later we will be surprised that all the eyes of the world will give their attention to us. They will focus on the remnant of the woman, that small number of people of God, the true church. That time will come.

We are living in a very difficult time to draw the attention of the people to our messages. I have been an evangelist for many years and I find it more and more difficult to grab the attention of the people. Someday soon God is going to do something very special for you and me. We are going to arise and shine like never before and the people’s attentions, kings and presidents, queens, princes, royal people, common people, farmers, carpenters and everybody alike are going to give their attention to our messages. It will be at that time that we are going to really hasten Jesus Christ’s coming.

Isaiah 60:1–5 says, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.”

Do you really believe this prophecy is going to be fulfilled before our eyes in your future? I believe it with all my heart. Various ministries are asking donations for the support of outreach projects. But actually Isaiah says that the treasures of the world, the treasures of Egypt, are going to flow into our fund. There will be no more problem of financing. Our ministries and evangelism are going to be supported by the people who did not know this truth. I begin to see that many ministries, especially ours, are being supported by non-Adventists, non-believers. This is a miracle, and I can see the possibility of the treasures of the world are about to flow into us and support God’s work.

This prophecy will be fulfilled before our eyes, and I believe it with all my heart that the sons and daughters who left our houses because they were sick and tired of seeing formalism in our homes and especially in our churches, are going to come back. They will return to the church and to our homes. That is what the Bible prophecy says because they see God’s people arise and shine. They will say, “That’s what I heard when I was young. That’s what I expected when I was a young child. That is what I have been waiting for, expecting for, in my own homes and in my own churches.”

These prodigal sons and daughters, from all over the world, are going to stand up and say, “I am going back to my father’s house,” and they will come. Maybe they will wear ragged clothes, but we don’t care. They are going to stand and return to our homes and our churches. I am yearning for that day before Jesus Christ comes, when these wonderful promises of the Lord will be fulfilled. Now, he says, “Arise and shine for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” The glory of the Lord became our light. We are going to arise and shine because the Lord’s light became ours in our hearts. That light is “… the glory of the Lord.”

In Christ’s Object Lessons, 420, it says, “Christ does not bid His followers strive to shine. He says, Let your light shine.” Why do we not strive to shine? Because the glory of the Lord came upon us; it is not our light, but the light of the glory of God. It will shine throughout the world. This is a very important experience. We may call it the “latter rain” or “loud cry” experience. No matter what you call it, it is the same experience. We just arise, and the glory of God is going to shine throughout the world. [Emphasis author’s.]

In Exodus chapters 33 and 34, Moses sensed that God did not want to go along with them to the land of Canaan. I can just imagine the conversation between Moses and God. God might have said, “Well, Moses, I’ll send one of My angels to drive away all the Amorites and Canaanites from the land and let you settle down there, but I am not going to go among you lest I consume you in the way.”

Moses worried very much, and probably replied to the Lord, “Lord, I’m not one who volunteered for this job. You are the One who called me to lead this people to the land of Canaan. But in the middle of the ways, You said that You changed your mind and You are not going to come with us. This people is called by Thy name. If you let this people die in the wilderness, Your name is going to be dishonored. Lord, don’t You do that. Please come with us.”

Regardless of the exact conversation that occurred, God agreed to go with them, but Moses was not yet satisfied. He asked something humanity should not ask. He said, “Lord, show me Thy glory” (Exodus 33:18).

This request was accepted with a condition. God would put him in the cleft of the rock and cover him with His hand before passing by. God said that no man can live after he sees His glory. But for Moses He would do a very special thing, something never done before for any humanity.

In order to make the explanation short, the words of a beautiful hymn explains this experience. “Rock of Ages cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee.” What beautiful words. “Let the water and the blood, from Thy riven side which flowed” (Augustus Toplady, 1763). That is the symbolism of the Rock of Ages, Jesus Christ. There is a cleft left for us, the riven side of Jesus Christ. On His side, there is a place where the spear of the Roman soldiers pierced. In that cleft you and I can hide ourselves for that is our salvation. It is the only place we can go and hide ourselves and to behold the glory of God.

When Moses asked the Lord, “Show me Thy glory,” God responded, “I am going to proclaim My name, My goodness, before you.” In Exodus 34:6, Jesus Christ proclaimed His goodness, which is His character. “I am the Lord God, merciful, gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth” (literal translation).

His glory, His character, His name, and His truth—all are descriptions of the Lord. How can we really understand His character, His truth, His name, properly and how are we able to bear His glory and behold His character and His truth? We can rise and shine with His glory only when we go into the cleft, the cleft of the Rock of Ages and hide ourselves in Jesus Christ. When we truly understand that Jesus Christ was wounded so that we can be healed, why Jesus Christ stretched both His hands on the cross so that we can be saved, when we truly understand through the Holy Spirit, the meaning of the cross, the true sacrifice and love coming down from the heart of the Father, only then will we be able to understand His character.

When we truly understand and experience it as it is in Christ, then we will be able to behold the glory of God and experience it in our hearts. The presence of the Lord may be in us, and then we will have light. We will have a power that this earth has never seen and the work is going to be finished and Jesus will return.

We have about 600 Bible workers in our ministry and we are adding many more numbers in China alone. The director of colporteurs in China gave me this report. He said: “Pastor Kang, now we have covered all of the provinces in China with millions of books.” It is done already by the grace of God. Many of the workers went to jail for a few days and others for a few weeks and were released, but many of them have received sentences of many years. He told me that we covered just about all major areas and cities in China with our books, except Tibet.

With that report, I wept, not because our ministry has done something great, but because we have done something to hasten Jesus’ coming. I want Jesus to come soon.

I have been praying to God for many years, “Lord, You put that burden in my heart. You put that burden in our ministry as far as Chinese-speaking, Korean-speaking, and Japanese-speaking people are concerned. Help us to do something to make a dent so that we can hasten Jesus Christ’s coming.”

I do not preach a wishy-washy, mellow, soft message. If I do that I would be damned by the Lord. I preach the straight three angels’ messages of Revelation 14. I tell clearly what constitutes Babylon and the condition that leads to Babylon and how to come out of her. I preach about the seventh-day Sabbath and many listen. I also teach about the everlasting gospel. I have found out as an evangelist that you don’t have to argue doctrinal points. I did that for many years, but not anymore. I evangelize according to the blueprint laid out in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. I preach the everlasting gospel. When the people are touched by the Holy Spirit with that gospel, they realize that is what they have been searching for and that is what they have missed. When a person experiences the everlasting gospel, the state of death is easily accepted, as well as the seventh-day Sabbath, for their hearts are wide open.

We need to rise and shine with the glory of God. When we truly understand the everlasting gospel, we understand the meaning of the cross.

The gospel power is the power of creation. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 24:14: “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Jesus said this eternal gospel is not wishy-washy and compromised, as has been preached by many Protestant as well as Seventh-day Adventist preachers. When the true gospel is preached as a witness to all the nations, then the end shall come. The essence of the three angels’ messages, which is the everlasting gospel, is understood intellectually and when we truly experience it in our hearts, we will always come to Jesus Christ with a contrite heart and with a humility. Lord, have mercy upon us and let Jesus Christ live in us. If Jesus Christ lives in us, the words we preach, the words we teach, are going to be so powerful that the Holy Spirit will persuade the people, will convert people and will convince people of the truth.

In speaking of those who will be saved, the Holy Spirit inspired Isaiah to write, “Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; Even every one that is called by My name: for I have created him for My glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him” (Isaiah 43:5–7).

You are made by His power for His glory. If you are called by God’s name, you must be created for His glory. The gospel power is the power of creation. When God says something, it is done. He said, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3), and there was light. It did not take any seconds. When God said, “Let there be sun” (verse 14), there was sun, dazzling bright and big, hanging in the sky and giving the dazzling bright light and energy, continuously preserved so that we can be preserved. That is the power of creation.

When we believe the gospel, when we believe Jesus’ death on the cross, something happens in our hearts and in our lives. Our guilt is gone and we are freed from the bondage and the power of sin. Because we are created and made by His power, we will be able to walk freely and become true overcomers of our sins and our sinful nature, which includes sinful impulses and all different kinds of temptations and evils coming from the devil. That is the people who are called by the name of the Lord. It is not our work; it is not by our own merits and strength, but by the grace of Jesus Christ.

This new creation includes true humility. Humility is more than just outward behavior and words. Humility is genuine when you feel that you do not have anything to boast about. That is true humility.

The Bible calls me a saint, but only through God’s grace. The Bible calls me righteous, but only by the grace of God. All I can say before God is, “I am a sinner and I confess.” When we become a people who are really touched by God’s creative heart, humbly united in the truth, we all are going to someday rise up and shine together before the world, no matter what kind of miracle power Satan brings. All will see the power of the gospel, and many of them are going to make their decision either for God or against. The probation is going to be closed and Jesus Christ will come. I know and I believe it with all my heart and that is why I give my life and everything that I have for this cause.

Revelation 14:6 and 7, the first angel’s message says, “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come.” And then the next sentence says, “And worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” It says to “worship the Creator.” Proclaim this gospel power, the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, of the cross. This is a creative power that creates salvation within. It is not by our own efforts and strength but by the power of God that we become new creatures, not only in intellectual understanding, but in our hearts, every day.

In The Desire of Ages, 409, it says,  “The religion of Christ is sincerity itself. Zeal for God’s glory is the motive implanted by the Holy Spirit. …” Jesus implants His motivations, His nature, within us. That is the gospel power. That is how we become righteous. We think righteously, we behave righteously, because we are implanted with the motivation of God’s nature, through the Holy Spirit.

“When we submit ourselves to Christ, the heart is united with His heart, the will is merged in His will, the mind becomes one with His mind, the thoughts are brought into captivity to Him; we live His life. This is what it means to be clothed with the garment of His righteousness.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 312.

“The sanctification of the soul by the working of the Holy Spirit is the implanting of Christ’s nature in humanity.” Ibid., 384.

The ancient Jewish people knew the truth intellectually in their minds but they did not understand the power of the gospel. Their knowledge was a curse to them. It is better not to know it than to know it and not truly understand it. Many Adventist families have been so cursed in our day—“knowing” the truth without truly knowing it.

There are two ways to understand the glory of God – one is through His gospel and the second, through an understanding of His truth. Jesus Christ is going to come soon and we have to do everything in our power to hasten His coming. It first has to start from the true repentance experience in our own hearts today.

We do not want to stay on this earth any longer. We want to go home. We must get ready today. We must rise and shine today.

 Pastor David Kang was the director of Light for Life U.S. Ministry operating out of Commerce, Georgia. His sermons are broadcast weekly on New York and Virginia Korean television stations. Pastor Kang passed away in 2016 awaiting the return of His best friend, Jesus to reunite him with those with whom he labored and tirelessly worked for while he could. He is sadly missed.