Ⅲ
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; Col. 1:17b, 18b.
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, 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
The Lord 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—1 Thes. 5:6; Rev. 2:28; 3:2-3; 16:15.
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—3:1; 4:5; 5:6.
Morning Nourishment
Rev. 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars…and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the messengers of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.Dan. 12:3 And those who have insight will shine like the shining of the heavenly expanse, and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars, forever and ever.
The star in Matthew 2 is only the beginning of this matter in the New Testament. If we go to the last book, the book of Revelation, we see two things concerning this matter. The first is that the Lord Jesus is the star, not the evening star but the morning star; second, we see that all the messengers of the churches are stars. Here we should realize that the messengers are not the heavenly beings but the spiritual people who take the spiritual responsibility in the church—they are the stars. In this book we have Christ as the morning star and those faithful followers of Christ in the churches as the stars. Now where is the star? It is so clear that the star today is in the church. (CWWL, 1970, vol. 1, “New Testament Service,” pp. 285-286)
Today’s Reading
At the beginning of the New Testament the star was outside of religion, but at the end of the New Testament the star is within the church. Have you seen these two ends of the New Testament?…Today the star is in the church and among the churches. The Root and the Offspring of David, the Son of God as well as the Son of Man, Jesus Christ as the morning star, is walking today among the local churches.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…All the leading ones of the local churches should be shining stars.
What does it mean to be a star? Daniel 12:3 gives the answer…The stars are those who shine in darkness and turn people from the wrong way to the right way. Now, during the church age, is the time of night. Therefore, we need the shining of the stars. None of the leading ones in the local churches should claim their position; they should not say, “I am one of the elders; you must recognize me.” If they say this, they are in darkness. We need brothers and sisters who shine; we need the shining stars. It is by the shining in today’s darkness that people receive the guidance and are turned from the wrong way to the right way. Anything that is wrong is unrighteousness; whatever is right is righteousness. Those who turn many to righteousness are the stars that shine forever and ever.
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.
About forty years ago, I was turned from the wrong way to the right way by this star in the local church. So many dear ones today can also testify to this fact; they can say, “Hallelujah, I have seen the star in the local church. It was the star in the church that turned me to the right way.”
How do we have the New Testament service? It is simply by following the star. And where is the star?…Today the star is in the local churches. The Bible ends with this word: “I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come!” (Rev. 22:16-17). Today the star is with the Spirit and with the bride. Where the Spirit is, there is the star; where the bride is, where the church is, there is the star. (CWWL, 1970, vol. 1, “New Testament Service,” pp. 286-287)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 1, “Elders’ Training, Book 11: The Eldership and the God-ordained Way (3),” ch. 1; Life-study of Revelation, msgs. 9, 14