The
Bright and Morning Star
By Pastor F. M. Riley
August 25,
2010
“And he that overcometh, and keepeth My
works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
And he shall rule them with a rod of iron;
as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received
of My Father.
And
I will give him the morning star.”
Revelation 2:26-28
“I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.”
Revelation
22:16
Introduction
The Psalmist David, by Divine Inspiration, wrote many centuries
ago, “The
heavens declare [are declaring] the glory of God; and the firmament [expanse] showeth [is displaying] His handiwork,” Psalm 19:1
It is now a documented fact that as the
earth turns on its axis the two darkest hours of the night come shortly
before the dawning of the day. Usually
this period of extreme darkness occurs from approximately 3 to 5 a.m. in
the Spring and Summer months, and from 4 to 6 a.m. in the Fall and Winter
months. This can be observed by anyone
willing to arise early in the morning.
Through most of human history the claim was
made that “the darkest hours of the night
come just before the dawning of the day.” People often repeated this saying as an
encouragement to themselves or to others who were suffering severe problems in
their lives. This saying was passed down through the generations of human
history to those of us living today, still regarded by many as just “an old wives tale.”
Well guess what…?? Since satellites were placed in orbit around
the earth beginning in 1957, this “old
wives tale” has been proven to be absolute truth. This two hour band of extreme darkness
which precedes the dawning of the day as the earth turns on its axis, has been
observed and photographed by satellites in space thousands of times since
1957. So the passing of time and modern
technology has proven that “the darkest
hours of the night” do actually and literally “come just before the dawning of the day.” This is now an established and well documented
truth. For more details on this subject, request my study entitled “The Two Hours.” It will be sent free upon request.
The Morning Star
It is also a fact that the
Lord God of Heaven has so arranged the orbits of the planets in our solar
system that there is always a planet that serves as a “morning star.” This
truth can be documented by anyone rising early in the morning before the
dawning of the day.
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Just
look toward the East and there is “the morning star” in the night sky,
outshining and brighter than any other star in the heavens at that time of
morning. This “morning star,” which is most
often the Planet Venus [but occasionally
other planets], catches the very first rays of the rising Sun well before
the Sun appears on the eastern horizon, and thereby becomes the brightest
“star” in the early morning sky. Significantly, the “morning star” always begins
to brighten in the night sky just BEFORE the two darkest hours of the night.
Now let’s consider the “spiritual
significance” of these two documented facts…..
The Lord’s promise to the Overcomer
In
the spiritual realm the Lord Jesus Christ Himself promised, “And
he that overcometh…….I will give him the morning star,” Revelation 2:26-28.
This
statement of our Lord raises two questions which need answers…..
First…….Who is an “overcomer”?
This question is answered explicitly and plainly in 1
John 5:4-5, “For whatsoever [whosoever] is born of God overcometh the world:
and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
Who is he that overcometh the world,
but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”
I
haven’t changed a thing in these verses.
The exact same Greek word which is translated as “Whosoever”
in verse 1 is also translated as “whatsoever” in verse 4. Take your Concordance or Lexicon and
look it up for yourself. Strong’s No.
3956. The Greek word in both places
literally refers to a person;
not to a thing.
Every true
believer is an “overcomer”! Could it be stated any plainer? No, your
“works” did not [and do not]
have a thing to do with you “overcoming the world.” Receiving Christ as your Savior by “faith”
has everything to do with it.
Read John 16:33 and Ephesians 2:8-9. This promise of the “overcomer”
being given “the morning star” is then a promise to every true believer. Those who are “in Christ” by “faith”
have already “overcome the world.” Glory to God! Praise the Lord!
Second…….What
is “the
morning star” from a “spiritual” viewpoint? We know what it is in the natural realm, but
what is the “spiritual” significance of “the morning star”? Wonderful question!
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself answered this
question in Revelation 22:16 when He explicitly stated, “…I
am the root and offspring of David, and
the bright and morning star.” What an expression! The Lord Jesus Christ explicitly identifies
Himself as “the bright and morning star” which He promised to give to the “overcomer”
in Revelation 2:26-28. But
exactly what did the Lord mean by saying that He is “the bright and morning star,”
and what is the spiritual and prophetical significance of His promise to
the “overcomer”? Let’s see…..
The Day of Christ…..
Many years ago I made a
meticulous study of the “days” mentioned in the Bible. In
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the
course of that study, just as the inspired Word says to do, I “divided” the
different days set forth in God’s Word into their respective categories, 2
Timothy 2:15. The divisions were made strictly according to the term
used in the Word itself, paying special attention to the context and the words
used in the Hebrew and Greek texts. What
an enlightening study!
Most of the time the word “day”
as used in the Bible simply refers to a regular day of 24 hours, Genesis
1:5; 1:8; 1:13; 1:19; 1:23; 1:31. But
there are also many places in God’s Word where the word “day” is used in a
symbolic and prophetic sense to represent a specific “day” or “period of
time.” It is this latter use that I want
to call to the attention of our readers…..
The Word explicitly states in Romans
8:17-23 that we true believers, right along with the whole creation,
are “…waiting
for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body,” 8:19; 8:22-23.
Paul obviously had the this same
truth in mind when he wrote in Romans 13:11-12, “And that, knowing the
time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is
our salvation nearer than when we
believed. The 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.” According to the inspired Word, “the redemption of our body”
will occur on the “the day of redemption,” Ephesians 4:30. Every true
believer has been “sealed” by the Holy Spirit until
that day. See also 2 Corinthians 1:22 and Ephesians
1:13-14. But exactly when
is “the
day of redemption”? A simple
answer to this question is that it is the same day as “the
day of Christ.” Proof? Gladly!
The expression, “the day of Christ,” occurs
exactly five times in God’s Word.
“5” is the Bible number for “grace.”
The exact same Greek words
are used in all five occurrences in the Scriptures. Notice carefully what is said each time this
expression is used in the Word…..
(1)…….“Who shall also confirm you unto the end,
that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ,” 1 Corinthians 1:8.
So the “day of our Lord Jesus Christ” is “the
end” of the believer’s time here on this earth and is also the day
that we believers will be found “blameless.” No, this is not just “my opinion.” The Greek word translated as “end”
in this passage is the word, “telos.” This Greek word literally means “end; termination; the limit; result;
outcome; finish; goal; uttermost.” See
Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, pages 619-620, Strong’s No. 5056. This is then obviously speaking of the very
day when we true believers will stand before Christ in our glorified bodies
made in fashion “…like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is
able even to subdue all things unto Himself,” Philippians 3:20-21. When will that be? Sure sounds like the “day” when Christ raptures
His people to glory to me. Well…??
(2)…….“Being confident of this very thing, that He
which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus
Christ,” Philippians 1:6.
This Scripture confirms the previous passage
in that it explicitly states that the Lord who began His work in us “…will
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” What
day would that be? The Lord Himself said
that He would be with His disciples until “the end of the world [aion…age],”
Matthew 28:20. Surely every true believer knows that we are presently
living in “the dispensation of grace” which will end with the rapture of
God’s
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people. This then again points to the “day
of Christ” as being the time of the rapture.
(3)…….“And this I pray, that your love may abound
yet more and more in knowledge and in
all judgment [understanding];
That ye may approve things that are
excellent; that ye may be sincere and without
offense
till the day of Christ,” Philippians 1:10.
This passage again points to “the day of Christ” as being in the future,
but it also emphasizes that the believer is to live in a manner approving the “things
that are excellent” and being “sincere and without offense” until
that “day.”
Why is the statement in this verse explicitly admonishing the believer to live
a Godly life “till the day of Christ”? This
appears to suggest or imply something special is in store for the true believer
when “the
day of Christ” arrives. What is
it?
(4)……. “Holding forth the word of life; that I may
rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither
labored in vain,” Philippians 2:16.
This
passage makes it explicitly clear that “the day of Christ” is the time when
God’s people [Paul in this instance]
are going to “rejoice” over the race that they have run in the service of
the Lord Jesus Christ during their life time spent on earth. Then this “rejoicing” “in the day of Christ” obviously
has to be referring to the rewards given to God’s people at the “bema”
judgment immediately following the rapture of God’s people. Why do I make this claim? Because the very same Apostle Paul who wrote
this epistle to the Philippians, also said in 1 Thessalonians 2:19, “For what is our
hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are
not even ye in the presence of our Lord
Jesus Christ at His coming?” This
again connects “the day of Christ” with the rapture of God’s
people.
(5)…….
“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together
unto Him,
That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be
troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the
day of Christ is at hand,” 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2.
This is the fifth and final time that the expression, “the
day of Christ,” occurs in God’s inspired Word. Notice that in these two verses it is
explicitly connected with “our gathering together unto Him.” This statement is referring to New
Testament believers. This is
indisputable for anyone who is willing to take the Scriptures at face value for
what they actually and literally say.
There is then no question that this expression, “the day of Christ,”
refers to the rapture of God’s people which will occur just BEFORE the
terrible seven year Tribulation on the earth.
Further Verification
When a true believer receives the Lord
Jesus Christ as their Savior, the inspired Word both states and teaches that at
that instant they are “born again” [born from above…John 3;3-7],
“created” a new creation in Christ Jesus [2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15; Ephesians 2:10; 4:24; Colossians
3:10; James 1:18], and “…sealed unto the day of redemption,”
Ephesians 4:30. See also 2
Corinthians 1:22 and Ephesians 1:13.
In
view of what has already been presented, this latter statement makes it obvious
that “the
day of redemption” is synonymous with “the day of Christ.” In other words, both terms are
speaking of the “day” when the Lord Jesus Christ shall come to rapture all true
believers to glory.
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Now how does all of this “tie in” with the
Lord being “the bright and morning star”? I’m
so glad you asked…..
The Day of Redemption
I
have already pointed out in this study the sequence of events which occur on
earth every morning throughout the year.
Each morning “the morning star” appears in the night sky early in the
morning just BEFORE the two darkest hours of the night. These two darkest hours of the night come
just BEFORE the dawning of the day.
Just
as “the morning star” appears in the early morning sky, so the Lord Jesus
Christ will also appear in the heavens above the earth as “the bright and morning star” just
BEFORE the “two hours” [seven years]
of the Tribulation period. He will
appear in the heavens above the earth to every true believer, 1
Corinthians 15:23. His
appearance in the heavens above the earth will be the dawning of “the
day of Christ” and “the day of redemption” for every
true believer. How can I be so
certain about this? Simple…..
“When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then
shall ye also appear with Him in glory,” Colossians 3:4.
Instantly! One
instant on the earth; the next instant in the heavens “in glory” with
Christ! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
“Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not
all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed,” 1 Corinthians 15:51-52.
“For the Lord Himself shall descend from
heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of
God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we
ever be with the Lord.
Wherefore comfort one another with these
words,” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.
Conclusion
Folks, our Lord Jesus Christ is going to arise early in the morning sky
just BEFORE the two darkest hours of this wicked world’s night, and He is going
to do so in behalf of His redeemed New Testament saints. Praise the Lord! Glory to God!
Hallelujah!
In closing this study I want to emphasize
to every reader that we living today are swiftly approaching the end of this
present dispensation, and therefore the end of this world’s night. The terrible “day of the Lord” [the Tribulation], the two darkest hours
of this world’s night, is now staring humanity in the face.
Every reader has only days [or hours ? or minutes ?] left to prepare
to meet the Lord. Are you ready? Do you KNOW beyond a shadow of doubt that you
are truly saved by the grace of God? 1 John 5:13. Have you made your “calling
and election sure,” 2 Corinthians 13:5; 2 Peter 1:10? I want to meet every reader in glory
when our “Bright and Morning Star” appears in the heavens. Please don’t disappoint me!
May the Lord add His blessings to this
Bible study.
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NOTICE: Permission is granted to any true believer or Bible believing
Christian ministry to reproduce this study to share with others, or to quote
from it in context as written.
Please address all questions,
comments, and correspondence to: Pastor F. M. Riley, 184 County Road 108, Harrisburg, Missouri 65256.
My email address is: fmrglbd5@yahoo.com or
fmr7sngn@centurylink.net
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