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.
