MOSES LUSHIKU OF DR CONGO 34

THE MYSTERY OF THE MORNING STAR

Shalom to the whole world and to the lovers of the Word of God. Church of God, Shalom.

We are talking about the morning star. This is a promise from God to one of the seven churches in Asia, the church of Thyatira.

Rev 2:18, 28 Write this to the angel of the church in Thyatira... I will give them the morning star.

Beloved, the scriptures say in Proverbs 16:4, The LORD hath made everything for His own purpose, Yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

God does everything for a purpose. God promises us a star. What is the purpose of this morning star? We want to enter more into the prophetic understanding of this morning star. The morning star has been the subject of many expository sermons and teachings but I would like to delve into the prophetic understanding of the morning star for the edification of the Church of Christ.

Let us pray: God of glory, this is the moment when we want to share Your word. We want the prophetic anointing to come down on our listeners so that this anointing will bring much enlightenment, much light for us in the Church that we may be edified and become strong and sanctified. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ which is a wonderful name AMEN.

Dear beloved, Jesus promises to give the Church, a star or rather, the morning star.

Before going any further, let us talk about Abraham before we go to the depths of the revelation. God told Abraham to come out and it was a night that Abraham went out. God said to him, "Lift up your eyes and look at the stars, such will be your posterity.”

Gen 15:5 Then God led Abram outside and said, "Look at the sky. See the many stars. There are so many you cannot count them. Your family will be like that."

And that's how this prophetic story begins. Abraham our father came out. He looked up and he saw the stars. But, strangely enough, the stars symbolize the children of Abraham.

How do we explain the words of Satan when he said that he will ascend his throne among the stars of God?

Isaiah 14:13 For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north;

What happens between the devil and the stars? In the book of Revelation, we see the devil, the dragon, the ancient serpent, using his tail to cast down one-third of the stars of heaven.

Rev 12:3 And another sign was seen in the heavens. And behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads! 4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and cast them onto the earth.

But the stars also symbolize the Children of Abraham. The stars also symbolize the angels of course.

Abraham raised his eyes, and saw his posterity as images of the stars. Romans 9:8 so it’s not Abraham’s actual children who are counted as God’s children, but only those children of God’s promise who are considered his true descendants.

How do we explain the actions of the dragon and his devils who managed to cast down a third of Abraham’s posterity? How can Satan have authority over the children of Abraham, the children of God’s promise? Beware, a little dragon was able to drag a third of the stars. Is there no protection for the children of Abraham from the dragon?

Yes, this is where we have to get serious with our profession as the children of Abraham as we have been shown the casting down of the Children of Abraham by the tail of the dragon.

Looking in the Bible, we read in Matthew 1:1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Jesus is the son of Abraham. If Jesus is the son of Abraham, He is also one of the stars that Abraham saw that night, Jesus said in John 8:12, I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.

In the timeline of the birth of Jesus, there are two generations: the generation before Jesus and the generation after Jesus.

The Scriptures say in Revelation 22:16 I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify these things to you over the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.

Jesus is the Bright and Morning Star. For the generation before the birth of Jesus, the vision of Abraham seeing the stars of heaven is a prophecy of the Bright and Morning Star. For the generation after the birth of Jesus, Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Bright and Morning Star.

So before the fulfillment of this prophecy, those who were looking for this fulfillment were not the Christians but the believers. They were believers who did not receive the promise yet as this prophecy could only have value and fulfillment with the coming and presence of Christ. Scriptures said in Hebrew 11:13 These all died by way of faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off. And they were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

But unlike the believers in the Old Testament times who believed but did not receive the promise, we Christians in the New Testament times are privileged to receive the promise and the fulfillment of this prophecy if we believe in Jesus.

However, we must take note that the children of Abraham were in a covenant with God. But in spite of this covenant, beware, the devil can have power over us. That is why we see people under the Old Covenant suffering from defects and infirmities although they have the covenantal promise of health and healing.

Exodus 15:26 He said, “If you listen carefully to the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to His commands and keep all His decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.”

Exodus 23:25 Worship the LORD your God, and His blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you.

That is why Jesus said in Luke 13:16, "And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?"

This daughter of Abraham had been bound for 18 years by Satan although she was one of the stars seen by Abraham in the sky. If the dragon can bind that daughter of Abraham in Jesus’ time for 18 years, he can continue to bind the children of Abraham, the stars in the sky, today.

In this episode, we see a star of heaven (a daughter of Abraham) loosened from the grip of Satan by the Bright and Morning Star, Jesus. In Revelation 12, those third of the stars of heaven that were overcome by Satan and cast down were those who were not abiding in the Bright and Morning Star, Jesus.

The Bright and Morning Star yearns to gather the stars of heaven under His wings to protect them from the tail of the dragon. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! (Matthew 23:37)

Our prophetic ministry has the role of warning all the children of God that to enter into the inheritance of God, it is necessary to abide in Jesus Christ, the Bright and Morning Star. We can be in the things of God to claim the blessings of Abraham, the blessings of the New Covenant, to claim that we are sons and daughters of God’s promise but when Christ, the Bright and Morning Star is missing in our lives, the devil will have power over us because it was given only to Jesus, the posterity of the woman to crush the head of the serpent. This power was given only to Jesus as Genesis 3:15 says, And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.

So without Jesus, the devil has an impact on us. That's why in the ministry, that's why in our preaching we have to show that Jesus is the Seed that crushed the head of the serpent and to be safe from the tail of the dragon, it is necessary to belong to Jesus. We can be the stars of heaven but yet be in the dark. We can belong to Abraham but yet be vulnerable in a world of darkness if we do not have Jesus.

In earthly terms, a star is somebody who is famous and who is a celebrity adulated by millions. But you could be a famous person but without Jesus, you will be at the mercy of devils. Those stars that symbolize the Children of Abraham are easy to be dragged from heaven to earth if they are in darkness and do not have the Bright and Morning Star in them.

Many Children of Abraham are in darkness without realizing it.

1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

1 John 2:9 He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now.

1 John 2:11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness, and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Revelation 12 speaks of the time of tribulation coming on the Church. Those third of the stars of heaven that were cast down to the earth by the tail of the dragon are those Children of Abraham who are in darkness and do not have the Bright and Morning Star shining in them and they will go through the great tribulation.

Rev 12:4, 12 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them onto the earth...Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and in the sea! For the Devil came down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has but a little time.

We come to the question now, how do we increase the brightness of the Morning Star in our spirit man? We go to Peter and his declaration of Jesus as the Son of God. Peter answered in Matthew 16:16, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Then Jesus answered in verses 17-18, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter [petros, a piece of rock], and upon this rock [petra, a mass of rock] I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

When Simon Barjona got one piece of revelation of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus called him Petros, a piece of rock. A piece of rock was imparted into Peter’s spirit man. However, it is not enough to be a petros or to have only one piece of revelation as we see that Satan could easily throw a thought into Peter’s mind and Jesus rebuked him in verse 23 But He turned, and said to Peter, Get you behind Me, Satan: you are an offense to Me: for you mind not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. The gates of hell easily prevailed against Peter because he had only one piece of revelation. Later, we see Peter was wavering and even denied Jesus three times. He was not a strong petros. Likewise, Christians or the Children of Abraham who have very little revelation of Jesus, very little impartation of the Morning Star in their spirit man will easily be cast down by the tail of the dragon.

It would take many petros, many pieces of revelation to build the petra, the mass of rock, upon which Jesus would build His Church. The Christian must constantly read, study, meditate, feed on Jesus, His Names, His Character, His Words to accumulate much revelation of Jesus until inwardly he becomes a petra, a mass of rock. Such constant study and meditation on Jesus must be done in the Spirit as Jesus said in John 16:14 [The Holy Spirit] shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall shew it unto you.

It is only when the Christian has become a petra, a massive rock of revelation, that he has the fullness of the Bright and Morning Star in him that the gates of hell shall not prevail against him, that the tail of the dragon cannot cast him down to earth during the time of tribulation.

Luke 5: 4 Now when he had left speaking, he said to Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5 And Simon answering said to him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net. 6 And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net broke.

Peter toiled the whole night and caught nothing. Jesus came in the morning and told Peter to let down his nets for a catch. Peter caught a great multitude of fishes. This is a prophetic sign that without Jesus, without His word, we won’t be able to catch fish, that is, to win souls. Jesus is the Bright and Morning Star that reigns over the darkness and the fruitless toil of the night. Without the Bright and Morning Star dominating the darkness, soul winners will not succeed in winning souls. Jesus said in John 15:5, Without Me, you can do nothing.

The Bible said in Hebrews 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

This is the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Old Testament, we didn't win souls. In the Old Testament we only had believers. What kind of believers? The difference is that the believers are without mercy and they took stones to throw at the adulterous woman. In John 8:4 They say to Jesus, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what say You? Verse 7 says, So when they continued asking Him, He lifted up Himself, and said to them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

This is the Old Testament, this is the law of Moses. Whenever they caught someone committing a sin deserving of death, they threw stones at the sinner. Why would they do that? They were commanded to do so under the Old Covenant. They condemn sinners. They do not win souls. But under the New Covenant, we're the fishers of men, we are soul winners, we are harvesters, we are ministers of reconciliation, we are intercessors to save souls. We don’t put anyone to death for infringing the commandments.

That's why even the Flood in Noah's time was prophetic. The flood came and the fishes didn't enter the ark. Why didn't Noah take in the fishes? Because Noah’s time was still night, prophetically speaking. At night, the Church is not going to win souls yet. That night Peter was not going to catch the fishes yet. Peter’s toiling at night is a picture of the Old Testament. Under the Old Testament, believers do not go out to win souls.

Beloved in the Lord. Here Jesus initiating Peter to fruitful fishing is the prophecy of the Church to an early morning fishing. Jesus initiates Peter to fish in the morning, because Jesus is the Bright and Morning Star. The star symbolizes the ministry. Jesus brings us to a new way of ministry so that we can win souls under the light of the Bright and Morning Star and at His word.

When Paul wrote in Colossians 1:13, He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, this verse not only mean salvation but also applies to ministers of the Gospel for moving out of fruitless night time ministry to doing fruitful ministry in the light of the Bright and Morning Star.

Before Christ came, the Children of Abraham were under the Law of Moses and through the law, they came to know what sin is as Romans 7:7 says, But if it had not been for the Law, I would not have known what sin is really like.

The law made them conscious of sin but they could not keep the law as they ought to. They were indeed stars who shone with knowledge of the law but were still in the darkness of the night for failing to keep the law.

Paul says (Rom. 7:6) that the law held us in bondage. It did so by putting us under a curse because of our failure to obey it perfectly (Gal. 3:10). Peter refers to the law as "a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear" (Acts 15:10).

This is also exemplified in the case of the Samaritan woman who told Jesus in John 4:20 Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

Those Samaritans go to the mountain to worship but they do not think that worshipping God and having sinful lives would be a contradiction. Darkness had fallen on the Samaritans such that they think it was deemed acceptable to worship God while engaging in sinful activities. The Samaritan woman was living an adulterous life but she was going to the mountain to worship God like her fathers did. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 6:14, How can light live with darkness?

This is the picture of the generation of the Children of Abraham before Christ. They had the light of the Law but they were still in darkness. Thus, Jesus, the son of Abraham comes to inaugurate the new generation in the light of the Bright and Morning Star.

Jesus is the son of Abraham according to Matthew 1:1, The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Jesus as the son of Abraham was one of those stars that Abraham saw in Genesis 15:5. In fact, Jesus said in John 8:56, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw and was glad. Abraham rejoiced because among the many stars he saw that night in Genesis 15:5, he saw that one star was unusually bright and that this star would be the Bright and Morning Star.

Jesus will begin by initiating the first generation of the Children of Abraham to shine in the morning and not wallow in darkness at night. Jesus comes to export the stars of the night to the morning. So, the night is advanced and we are now in full daylight. Jesus makes us see that we cannot shine while darkness is still in our lives.

This prophetic story continues.

There is a promise from God to one of the seven churches in Asia in the book of Revelation. Thyatira is the church where God promises the morning star. Rev 2:18,28 Write this to the angel of the church in Thyatira... I will give them the morning star.

And why Thyatira? What's the relation between Thyatira and this morning star?

There is a prophetic significance here again. We will understand the will of God in this prophecy. The name of this church Thyatira means “crushed” or “sacrificed.” In other words, Thyatira means one who is crushed to powder form to be offered as a sacrifice.

God promised to give the morning star to Thyatira. This city sells incense. Historically, Thyatira was a city where there were several traders that traded incense. Thyatira specialized in the production of incense. What was the role of incense? Incense symbolizes sacrifice.

God ordered Moses to use incense in the Tabernacle of Meeting in Exodus 30:34-36 And the LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight: 35 And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy: 36 And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy.

And God said it will be a sacred offering. A pure offering. See the prophetic significance of the incense in Thyatira? Since the incense was used by the priests, it is a prophetic type of Christ the High Priest. And why is the morning star promised to Thyatira? Because God finds the incense in Thyatira.

Let us study the connection between the incense and the sacrificial life of Jesus, the Bright and Morning Star and how we become the morning stars through the Bright and Morning Star.

The incense, as specified in Exodus 30:34, was made of a delicate blend of four different spices. Each spice had to be of equal quantity, exactly balanced. Jesus Christ is the One in whom mercy and truth, righteousness and peace are perfectly balanced. Jesus is the perfect picture of Psalm 85:10, Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed. Christ lives His holy life through the Church, as His Body. “Christ in us, the hope of glory.” Those who live in Christ grow in the manifold flavors of the four different spices of the incense, mercy and truth, righteousness and peace, holiness and love, and thus become a morning star.

Each spice had to be crushed to a fine powder before it was added to the incense. Christ was “wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities”. He was smitten, stricken, crushed. His perfect, sinless life was poured out. Those who die to self that Christ may live through them will shine as the morning stars. Gal 2:20  I have been crucified with Christ, and I live, yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me. And that life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith toward the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself on my behalf. 

The incense was burned on the altar in front of the Ark of the Testimony. Christ went through the fire of affliction in His sufferings and ultimately His death on the cross. Those whose faith in Christ is tried by the fire of affliction and suffering will shine as the morning stars.

The incense sent up a sweet perfume that entered the veil into the Holy of Holies, surrounding the Ark of the Testimony. Christ’s sinless life of obedience was as a sweet perfume unto God. In Christ, we become a sweet aroma to God as 2 Corinthians 2:15 says, For we are to God the sweet aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. Those who are the sweet aroma of Christ shine as the morning stars.

No strange incense was to be offered on the altar, nor was anyone to make for themselves the incense. It was to be holy to God. Jesus is the only Way to the Father, there is no other Name under heaven whereby man can be saved. Those whose faith is only in Christ, who have no other gods before Him and who pray only in Jesus’ Name will shine like the morning stars.

The incense was to be “perpetual before the Lord” (Exodus 30:8). This points to Jesus as our High-Priest “who ever lives to make intercession for us.” (Hebrews 7:25) We are commanded to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Those whose lives are a perpetual prayer unto the Lord will shine as the morning stars.

At the birth of Jesus, we see a star appearing. Before Jesus came, the Children of Abraham were like stars covered by darkness. When Jesus came, they will be initiated into stars that will shine with the light of the Bright and Morning Star. We will be given the morning star if the incense is burning in our lives. Thyatira has incense and because of this incense, God promised the morning star to her. This is the prophetic significance of those who burn spiritual incense in their daily lives.

At the birth of Jesus, we also see those Magi prophets. In their bags there was incense. Whoever has the incense, has the right to have the star. That is why the stars were guiding the Magi because they had the incense. Isn't that the prophecy of Thyatira? God promised the morning star only to the church of Thyatira because she has the incense. Isn't that prophetic?

Daniel 12:3 Then the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

Take heed! In the spirit of revelation I proclaim this truth to open our minds. In the end times, those who teach righteousness will shine like the stars. But where there are stars, there will be incense. Where there is the teaching of righteousness, there is incense. The teaching of righteousness is what God is looking for at the end time.

The Magi came only because they saw the star and why did that star appear to them? It's because they had the incense. The Lord is calling us to burn the sacrifices of incense before starting any ministry. Ministries that have incense will have the star to bless the people. In the ministry of the priests, we have to see the incense. And if we have the incense, then we have a star. And the promise of the morning star is only given to those who have the incense.

Matthew 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2 Saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him. 3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

The king of the Jews has just been born. The Bible says that Jesus was born in the time of King Herod. Among the Jews, there were 2 kings. Among the Jews, there are two kingdoms.

The Magi entered Jerusalem. There in Jerusalem, they met Herod. It's prophetic because Herod is king and Jesus is king. So we open our eyes because we have two kingships.

The first one is in Jerusalem. But the second is in Bethlehem. Jesus is in Bethlehem. He's the king of the Jews. Herod is in Jerusalem. He's also king of the Jews. And we're going to see between the two that are in Israel, the two seeds, the seed of Satan and the seed of God, and both are in Israel at the same time.

The wise men came and said, “There is no star in Jerusalem.” They kept on going all the way to Bethlehem. And there they worshipped Jesus Christ because the star came over Bethlehem. So, the Magi went to Bethlehem. They knelt down. They worshipped the king of the Jews.

King Herod in Jerusalem, the City of Peace, represents those ministries today that claim to give peace. They preach prosperity and hyper-grace and bless me gospel. They claim to preach the Word of God. But just like Herod had no star, those many churches and ministries also have no star.

There are churches and ministers who promise us peace. These are people who promise us prosperity. These are people who give us hope. But they don't have a star over their churches and ministries.

There are many who say, “We're going to start a church.” But they have no star over them. Open your eyes. The war has begun. We're dealing with people who apparently bring us peace but they don't have a star.

That's why the true king of the Jews has come. He's in Bethlehem. The king in Jerusalem has no star. But the king in Bethlehem has the star. The first king came by the power of men, the Romans. The first king was commissioned by men, the Romans.

The other king was sent by God. The infant Jesus is over there in an open box in which hay and feed for animals is placed. He is the king in Bethlehem. In Hebrew, Bethlehem means the House of Bread. Jesus is the Bread of Heaven (John 6:50,58), the Bread of Life (John 6:35,48), the Bread of God (John 6:33). He is the food that transforms brutes to saints.

There is a star over there even if He's poor. A pastor may be poor but if he's got the truth, he has the fresh Word of God and manna from the Throne of God, a star is shining over him. He has the morning star because he is the incense burning at the Ark of the Testimony where God says, “I will meet with thee.” (Exodus 30:36)

The Magi came from the Orient, from the East. The east of Jerusalem, the east of Israel is Babylon. The Magi left Babylon to come to Bethlehem where the star is. If we are to have the morning star, we have to leave Babylon. We have to leave where the demons are. We have to leave Babylonian practices.

Jeremiah 51:45, "Get out of Babylon, My people! Flee to save your lives from the fierce anger of the LORD!

Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Revelation 18:21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down and shall be found no more at all.

Those without the morning star in their lives will be cast down to the earth by the tail of the dragon and finally meet their end with the destruction of Babylon.

Those with the morning star will go to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

NEXT: Moses Lushiku 35 The Fourth Angel Of Spirituality