“I will give him the morning star” (Rev. 2:2828And I will give him the morning star. (Revelation 2:28)). And who is it that sees the morning star? He who watches while it is night. All see the sun in its brightness, but only those who are not of the night, yet knowing that morally it is night, see the morning star and get it as their portion. When the star rose that hailed Jesus, who was born King of the Jews, there were Annas and Simeons 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 spoke of Him. In them was made good that word in Malachi, “They that feared the Lord spake often one to another.” They knew each other, and they enjoyed the comfort 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, 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.
The Annas and Simeons had the secret of God in their souls and were 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 One who could alone set the evil right. And just so it is in our day; the Christian cannot change the so-called religious systems. He walks in quiet separation from all the evil, patiently waiting for the morning star of the day of glory.
This morning star is Christ Himself, and it is gone before the day appears, but it is there for those who are watching in the night. 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.
The Morning Star in Your Hearts
There are three passages which refer to this morning star, to which it is important to refer you. In 2 Peter 1:1919We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: (2 Peter 1:19) JND he says: “We have the prophetic word made surer, to which ye do well taking heed (as to a lamp shining in an obscure place) until the day dawn and the morning star arise in your hearts.” Israel’s prophets had prophesied the full day of blessing on the earth, and they did well to take heed to this, until the morning star arose in their hearts, because it was the light in a dark place. But the morning star itself was something yet more excellent.
The prophecies, indeed, are plain; their warning is clear. They guard me from being mixed up with the spirit of the world, whose judgment is announced. They are thus a light shining in a dark place, the night of this world’s history, during the absence of Christ. But the morning star is Christ Himself. He will be the Sun of righteousness to the world when He appears, but then there will be judgment. I can understand by the prophetical warning that this dark place is going to be judged. But “the night is far spent, the day is at hand” (Rom. 13:1212The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. (Romans 13:12)).
I want the morning star in my heart to cheer my soul through the long and dreary night, which is yet darker now than it was then. 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? One ray of the glory of Christ will at once wither up all the glory of this defiled world like an autumn leaf. My whole portion for time and eternity is in Christ; the morning star has arisen in my heart. I am separated from the world by affection, and not by fear.
To the Overcomer
In Revelation 2, Christ as the morning star is given to the overcomer, for the failure had become so pronounced that it could not be remedied. Yet the Lord could see, even in Thyatira, those who “had not known the depths of Satan” (Rev. 2:2424But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. (Revelation 2:24)) and who would be overcomers. They could not expect the evil in the professing church to be corrected, but they could look forward to Christ as the morning star.
We have the coming of Christ as the morning star as a distinct thing from the sunrise. 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. In Revelation 4, we have a most blessed and comforting picture of the position of the church. There are the 24 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; it is their worship that breaks forth in the full sense of the blessedness of Him who sits alone upon the throne.
Jesus the Morning Star
At the end of the Revelation we have the place of the star again (Rev. 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 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 the source of promise, and heir of it, as King in Zion), “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 Spirit 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 reacts 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. 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 Spirit. 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 of Christ
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. 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. 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 unsaved 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.
The Effect of Looking for Jesus
Now mark the practical effect of this looking for Jesus. It takes us clean out of the world up to heaven. There are plenty of things 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.
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. I shall leave them to be with Him. 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 above all, our hearts get into their proper place.
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. May the Lord keep us from idols, that we may not grieve 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. Darby (adapted)