“I will give him the morning star.” And who is it that sees the morning star? He who watches while it is night. All see the sun in its brightness; but those only who are not of the night, yet knowing that morally it is night, and are looking for the morning star rise, and those only, see the morning star, and get it as their portion. They are children, not of the night, but of the day, and therefore look they for the day. When the star rose that hailed Jesus, who was born King of the Jews, there were Annas and Simeous waiting for the consolation of Israel. And who were Anna’s friends in that day of darkness? Simply those who were looking for redemption in Israel, and to them she spake of Him. In them was made good that word in Malachi, “They that feared the Lord spake often one to another.” We see they knew each other, and they enjoyed the comfort in spirit by the truth of Jesus of what follows in the prophet: “To you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings.” These were a poor despised few, who were but little known, and less cared for; but they were “waiting” for redemption in Israel, sensible of the ruin and of the evil, because alive to God’s glory and to the privilege of being His people. In them, feeble as they were, we find a much brighter mark of faith than we do in Elijah when he was calling down fire from heaven. They were not setting the temple right, but were speaking together of God’s thoughts. Elijah was setting outward things to rights, but had not faith for inside things. In God’s unfailing grace to the remnant he had no just confidence.
Law was the measure of his apprehension; but the Annas and Simeons had the secret of God in their souls (“The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant”), and were walking in the narrow and silent path of faith; not setting the temple right, but speaking to all that were waiting for consolation in Israel. But were they content with the state of things? No; but in separation from evil they waited for the consolation of Israel, which could alone set the evil right. And just so it is in our day, the Christian cannot change Jezebel, nor can he be mixed up with the mere temple worshippers, the so-called religious systems of the day. He walks, while leaving them to the judgment of the Lord, far from violent attacks upon them, in quiet separation from all the evil, patiently waiting and watching during the long dark night of sorrow for the morning star of the day of glory. “To him that overcometh will I give the morning star,” and this morning star is Christ Himself. And He is in this way known to those who, though in the night, yet are not of the night, being children of the day. The morning star is gone before the world sees the sun, before the sun rises, before the day appears. But before the sun rises, there is the morning star for those who are watching in the night. The world will see the sun; but the morning star is gone, so far as the world is concerned, before the sun rises. So we shall be gone to be with the morning star before the day of. Christ appears to the world; and when Christ shall appear, then shall we also appear with Him in glory.
There are three passages which refer to this morning star, to which it is important to refer you. In 2 Peter 1 he says: “We have also a more sure” (that is, confirmed) “word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well to take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the daystar arise in your hearts.” Israel’s prophets had prophesied the full day of blessing on the earth, saying, “Arise, shine, for thy light is come.” “A king shall reign in righteousness.” And their testimony was confirmed to the disciples by the vision on the holy mount. They prophesied, too, of events coming on the world which marked out its judgment in all its forms of rebellious will and power, of Nineveh and Babylon, and the beasts which should arise upon the earth of Jerusalem and its portion as departed from God; and judgment was thus pointed out, so that there was a warning light which, in the midst of the darkness of this world itself, gave a light which recalled him that gave heed to it to avoid the crime of human will which led on to divine judgment. And this they did well to take heed to, until the daystar arose in their hearts, because it was the light in a dark place. But the daystar itself was something yet more excellent.
The prophecies, indeed, are plain; their warning clear. They guard me from being mixed up with the spirit of the world, whose judgment is announced. In Revelation 1 read of unclean spirits like frogs going forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. If I do not even exactly understand who and what the frogs mean, still the grand import of the prophecy is evident; they are not the power of good; they lead the kings of the earth to the battle of the great day of God Almighty. It is thus a light shining in a dark place, the night of this world’s history on the absence of Christ. But the morning star is Christ Himself, as we see in Revelation 22 He is the bright and morning star. He will be the Sun of righteousness to the world when He appears; but then there will be judgment. The wicked shall be as ashes under the soles of the feet, as stubble, and the day of the Lord as fire. But the star appears to them that watch before the sun appears to the world; for as I can understand by the prophetical warning, that this dark place is going to be judged; that “the night is far spent, and the day is at hand;” yet so it is night now, whatever people may think. And I want the morning star in my heart (the hope of Christ before the day coming to receive the Church to Himself; for the morning star is given to them that overcome) to cheer my soul through the long and dreary night, which is yet darker now than it was then, but still far spent, as the darkness of the night always thickens till again the dawn of another day rise beyond on the other side of heaven, and the morning star appear to fix the eye of the watchful and waiting soul, and cheer the heart with a sure and certain hope. And what, then, do we want of the things of this dark place, which is now under judgment for having nailed God’s Son on the cross? Do not you, therefore, be seeking the riches, the honors, the power of this world on which Christ is coming to execute judgment. One ray of the glory of Christ will at once wither up all the glory of this defiled world like an autumn leaf. Do not you, therefore, go on mixing yourself up with the world, heaping up riches. What will you do with them when Christ comes? Remember the Lord is at hand. But do I keep separate from this world merely because it is going to be judged? Certainly not. My whole portion for time and eternity is in Christ; the daystar has arisen in my heart. I am separated from the world by affection, and not by fear.
We have the coming of Christ as the morning star, as a distinct thing from the sunrise; for when the sun rises upon the world, it will be for judgment. (See Isaiah 2, Malachi 4:13) But beside and before all this we have our portion in Christ; we are not of this world, we are redeemed out of it, and belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, and shall join Him on high before He is manifested for the judgment of this world; and, therefore, the thunders of judgment cannot touch us, because we are seated with Him in heaven, from whence the judgments come. In Revelation 4, we have a most blessed and comforting picture of the position of the Church. There are the twenty-four elders sitting on their thrones, round about the throne from whence the thunders, the lightnings, and the voices come; and they continue perfectly unmoved. But was this insensibility? Certainly not; for when God Himself in His holy character is mentioned, immediately they fall down and cast their crowns before Him; neither is this holiness the cause of any fear, when the living creatures proclaim the threefold holiness of Him who sits upon the throne; it is their worship breaks forth, and they fall down and cast their crowns before Him in the full sense of the blessedness of Him who sits alone upon the throne. Christ, then, is this morning star; and if the day has dawned, and the day star has arisen in our hearts, we know our association with Christ Himself, as within that place from which the judgment proceeds.
At the end of the Revelation we have the place of the star again. (22: 16) The Lord brings us back from the prophetic testimony to Himself — “I Jesus have sent mine angel”— “I am the root and the offspring of David” (this is in connection with His being source of promise, and heir of it, as King in Zion, Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies’), “and the bright and morning star.” But the moment He presents Himself as the bright and morning star, “the Spirit and the Bride say, Come; the Holy Ghost in the Church says, Come.” This response is what is connected with Himself; the mention of Himself attracts and awakens the answer of the Spirit. This is the character in which the Church herself has to say to His coming. God, in the love of His own heart, has associated the Church with Jesus, and the very mention of His name awakens the cry, “Come!” for it touches a chord which gives an immediate response; and therefore He does not say here, “Behold, I come quickly!” The question here is not when He will come, but that it is Himself that is coming. He does not speak of His coming— blessed though that thought is—but He reveals Himself; and this it is that awakens the response of the heart by the power of the Holy Ghost. We are for Himself, and shall be with Himself. It cannot be anything short of this, for He calls us “His body.” What a glorious place this is! Not merely wonderful, but glorious identification with the Christ of God! No explanation of prophetic scripture, however nice and true it may be, however useful as a solemn warning as regards this world, can ever take the place in the soul that is taught of God, of knowing its living union with a coming Jesus, of the present waiting for Himself. No mere explanation of His coming as a doctrine is the proper hope of the saint. That hope is not prophecy; it is the real, and blessed, and sanctifying expectancy of a soul that knows Jesus, and waits to see and be with Himself.
The bride alone hears the voice of the Bridegroom, which at once calls out the expression of her desire of His coming. To this He responds, assuring her of it, and then the revelation closes, leaving this as her own expectation, whatever He may have previously communicated to her concerning the judgment, to which she does not belong. The Lord Jesus is represented as departing Himself, and coming and taking His bride to be with Him. Then, when the world is saying, “Peace and safety,” sudden destruction cometh upon them, and they shall not escape.
Paul closes (1 Thessalonians 4) with these words, “So shall we ever be with the Lord.” And is that all? Yes, that is all; for to the heart that has learned to love Him He can say no more. Then he adds,“Of the times and seasons ye have no need that I write unto you.” Ye are the children of the day, you wait for that. No explanation of this as a doctrine can ever reach the heart. You cannot make a person understand a relationship; to understand it he must himself be in it. An unquickened soul may understand, in a manner, what prophecy means; but nothing short of the sense and taste of being connected with Christ Himself can give the desire of His own personal coming. And why? Because for this the relationship must be known. In Revelation 22:1616I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. (Revelation 22:16) the relationship is known, affection is awakened, and there is the immediate response. Take a case: A woman is expecting her husband; he knocks at the door; not a word is uttered out of his mouth, but his wife knows already who it is at the door; for it is he whom she loves that is there; and thus the natural feelings proper for a wife are awakened, when the chord is touched by that which acts on them. But then the link must be in the heart, the affection must be there to produce the response; the chord which vibrates with this blessed truth must be there to be awakened by it. There is such a consciousness of union with Jesus, through the power of God’s Spirit, that the very moment He is spoken of in this character the chord is touched, and the instinctive cry is, “Come!” No amount of intelligence merely will produce this. And what a difference between expecting the Lord Jesus, because He has made me and His saints a part of Himself and His bride, and looking for His coming to judge poor sinners. Now mark the practical effect of this looking for Jesus. It takes us clean out of the world up to heaven. If my heart is right in its affections for Him, I am looking, too, straight up on high to take notice of the things around me. Plenty of things there are around in the world, plenty of bustle and turmoil; but it does not disturb the blessed calm of my soul, because nothing can alter our indissoluble relationship with a coming Jesus, as nothing should divide us in hope.
To see this coming of the Lord Jesus for the Church changes the character of a thousand scriptures. Take the Psalms, for instance, those which speak about judgments on the ungodly, such as “the righteous washing their feet in the blood of the wicked.” We are not the persons who say this; it is the language of Jews, and of godly Jews too, who will be delivered through the rod of power smiting their enemies when all the tribes of the earth will wail because of Him. But do I want my enemies to be destroyed to get to Christ? Certainly not. I shall leave them to be with Him. (It is a sorrowful thought indeed, though we recognize the just judgment of God, that such judgment will be accomplished upon those who despise Him and His grace) But as for me, I am going straight up to Christ in heaven. My place is in Him while He is hid in God in the nearest and most intimate union. I belong to the bride, a member of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. When we have hold of this blessed center, Christ, and with Him, therefore, of God Himself, then every scripture falls into its proper place, and we get a spiritual understanding by the Holy Ghost of things in heaven, and our connection with them, and things on earth, and our separateness from them; and above all, our hearts get into their proper place; for, being set on Jesus Himself, we are waiting for Him. When He shall appear, we shall appear with Him in glory; but we shall be forever with the Lord.
May the Lord give us such an apprehension of redemption, and of our position in Him, as may so fix our hearts on Himself, that we may be daily walking down here like unto men that wait for their Lord, who has promised to come and take us to Himself, watching in the midst of a night of darkness, aware that it is the night, although we are not of the night; but watching and waiting for the day, having the morning star arisen in our hearts. May the Lord keep us from idols; and, above all, from aught that savors of Jezebel, that we may be in dread for fear of grieving Him in any of those things which have come in to spoil and corrupt that which He once planted so beautiful, to be for the manifestation of His glory in this dark and evil world.
J. N. D.