Ⅱ
Christ's faithful followers are shining and living stars, those who follow Christ as the shining and living Star to be His duplication—Dan. 12:3; cf. Gen. 22:17:
Ａ
The living stars follow the heavenly, living, up-to-date, and instant vision of Christ as the centrality and universality of God's economy—Acts 26:16-18.
Ｂ
The living stars are those who bless God's people; the more we praise the Lord for God's people and speak well of them in faith, the more we put ourselves under God's blessing—Num. 24:9; Gen. 12:2-3; 22:17.
Ｃ
The living stars give heed to the prophetic word of the Scriptures”as to a lamp shining in a dark place” so that Christ as the morning star rises in their hearts day by day; if we give heed to the word in the Bible, which shines as a lamp in a dark place, we will have His rising in our hearts to shine in the darkness of apostasy where we are today, before His actual appearing as the morning star—2 Pet. 1:19; John 6:63; Rev. 2:28; 22:16; 2 Tim. 4:8:
１
In the principle of the morning star, a Christian should rise up early because the early morning is the best time to meet the Lord (to fellowship with God, to praise and sing, to pray-read the Bible with the ministry, and to pray to the Lord)—S. S. 7:12; Psa. 5:1-3; 57:8-9; 59:16-17; 63:1-8; 90:14; 92:1-2; 108:2-3; 143:8; Exo. 16:21.
２
He will secretly give Himself as the morning star to those who love Him and who watch and wait for Him so that they may taste the freshness of His presence at His coming back after a long absence.
Ｄ
The living stars enjoy and are filled with the sevenfold intensified Spirit to make them intensely living and intensely shining for God's building—Rev. 3:1; 4:5; 5:6.
Ｅ
The living stars are the messengers of the churches, those who enjoy and experience the pneumatic Christ as the Messenger of God and as the fresh message from God so that they can dispense the fresh and present Christ into the people of God for the testimony of Jesus—1:16, 20; 2:1; Mal. 3:1-3.
Morning Nourishment
Rev. 2:1 …These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand…2 Pet. 1:19 And we have the prophetic word made more firm, to which you do well to give heed as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
Not only is Christ Himself the star, but also His followers, the shining ones in the churches, are stars. In Acts and the Epistles the leading ones were called elders, but in the last book of the Bible they are the stars. Now it is not a matter of title or position but a matter of shining. All the leading ones of the local churches should be shining stars. In the beginning of the New Testament there was mention of only one star in the heavens, but at the end of the New Testament there are seven stars in seven local churches. In every local church there is a star; in every local church there is something shining, leading people to the right way. (CWWL, 1970, vol. 1,”New Testament Service,” pp. 286-287)
Today's Reading
In the Bible we see how we may not only follow the star but even become one of the stars. There are two ways: first, by the Bible, and second, by the Spirit.Second Peter 1:19 gives us the first secret….We have the prophetic word, the Bible. However, the prophetic word is not the star; the Bible is not the star….Since we have the prophetic word, we need to give heed to it, we need to pay full attention to it, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in our hearts. The word used for star here can be translated into English as”phosphorous.” This star is something as phosphorous, bringing light in the darkness….The Bible should not simply be words in black and white; it should not be dead letters. We should give heed to the words of the Bible until something as phosphorous rises within us—that is, Christ as the morning star.
Sometimes we may take the Bible, read it, and feel that we receive nothing. Other times, however, when we open our heart and give heed to this prophetic word, something within is shining, rising, dawning, breaking through. While we are pray-reading the verses of the Bible, there is a sense deep within of enlightening, of shining, and this shining creates a love toward the Lord Jesus. We feel that He is so lovable….Many times by this shining we are beside ourselves with love to the Lord Jesus. That is Jesus coming to us as the dawning day, as the morning star rising in our hearts…. Many times when I was with this holy Word, something has risen within me like the daybreak. Oh, it is wonderful! The situation may not be bright, the surroundings may be full of darkness, but something within is enlightening, shining, filling with glory.
In the days of the magi, the seeing of the star was a miraculous occurrence, but today to see the morning star is only normal and should be our regular experience. Day by day we need to have the morning star rising in our heart. Today, therefore, the star comes from the living word…. First, we have the word; second, by giving heed to the prophetic word, we have the morning star rising in our heart. If we will simply go along continually with this inner, rising star, we will consistently be in the Spirit.
In 2 Peter we have the prophetic word, but in Revelation 3:1 we have the seven Spirits….The hand of Jesus holds not only the seven stars but also the seven Spirits. This means that the seven Spirits are one with the seven stars, and the seven stars are one with the seven Spirits. If we have the living word as the morning star rising within us and we are one with the seven Spirits, eventually we will become the stars. We not only have the star shining within us, but by looking to the star and following in the Spirit, we become the stars. (CWWL, 1970, vol. 1,”New Testament Service,” pp. 287-289)
Further Reading: Life-study of Matthew, msg. 7; Life-study of Revelation, msgs. 9,14; CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 1,”Elders' Training, Book 11: The Eldership and the God-ordained Way (3),” ch. 1