Making ourselves ready for the Lord's coming
Message Three
Making Ourselves Ready for the Lord's Coming by Giving Heed to the Prophetic Word as to a Lamp Shining in a Dark Place Until the Day Dawns and the Morning Star Rises in Our Hearts
Scripture Reading: 2 Pet. 1:19; Psa. 119:105, 130; Rev. 2:28; Mal. 4:2; 1 Thes. 5:4-6
I. It is crucial for believers to give heed to the prophetic word—2 Pet. 1:19a:
A. Prophecies are matters that God requires us to know, and believers should give heed to them—1 Pet. 1:10; 2 Pet. 3:2; Luke 1:70.
B. The Lord Jesus charged us to understand the prophecies; this clearly shows that the believers must pay attention to the prophecies in the Bible—Matt. 24:15; cf. Dan. 9:24-27.
C. If the church does not pay adequate attention to these prophecies, many believers will inevitably lose faith, be deceived by lies, be destroyed because of a lack of that knowledge, and forget the Lord's coming by not being watchful—Hosea 4:6; 1 Thes. 5:4-6; Matt. 24:42; 1 Pet. 5:8.
D. If the believers do not have the prophecies in the Bible, they will fall into darkness—Acts 26:18; John 12:35-36; Eph. 5:8-9:
1. The present age is the nighttime—Rom. 13:12; 1 Thes. 5:4-8.
2. When the Lord Jesus comes, the day will dawn (2 Pet. 1:19c), and the next age, the kingdom age, will be the daytime.
II. Peter likens the word of prophecy in the Scripture to a lamp shining in a dark place—v. 19b:
A. This indicates that this age is a dark place in the dark night (Rom. 13:12), and all the people of this world are moving and acting in darkness (cf. Acts 26:18).
B. The prophetic word of the Scriptures, as the shining lamp to the believers, conveys spiritual light that shines in their darkness (not merely knowledge in letters for their mental apprehension), guiding them into a bright day, even to pass through the dark night until the day of the Lord's appearing dawns—2 Pet. 1:19b; 2 Tim. 4:8; 1:12.
C. Before the Lord as the sunlight appears, we need this word as light to shine over our footsteps—Mal. 4:2; Psa. 119:105, 130.
D. If we give heed to the prophetic word in the Bible, which shines as a lamp in a dark place, we will have Christ rising in our hearts to shine in the darkness—2 Pet. 1:19b.
III. We need to give heed to the lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in our hearts—v. 19c:
A. The Greek words rendered "dark place" may also be translated "murky place," a place that is squalid, dry, and neglected.
B. The day is a metaphor illustrating a time coming that will be full of light, as a bright day dawning, with the morning star rising, before its dawning, in the hearts of the believers, who are illuminated and enlightened by giving heed to the shining word of prophecy in the Scripture:
1. This will cause and encourage the believers to earnestly seek the Lord's presence and be watchful so that they will not miss the Lord in the secret part of His coming (parousia), when He will come as a thief—Matt. 24:27, 42-43; 2 Thes. 2:8.
2. This metaphor must allude to the coming age, the day of the kingdom, as a day that will dawn at the appearing (the coming) of the Lord as the Sun of righteousness, whose light will shine to break through the gloom of the dark night of this age—Mal. 4:2.
C. The morning star appears in the darkest hour, prior to dawn—Rev. 22:16b; cf.?Num. 24:17; Matt. 2:2, 9-10:
1. This indicates that Christ will appear as the bright morning star in the darkest time, prior to the end of this age—Rev. 22:16b.
2. The Lord's appearing as the morning star and His appearing as the Sun of righteousness will not be at the same time—2:28; Mal. 4:2:
a. The morning star appears before dawn, and the appearing of the sun occurs after the dawning of the day.
b. As the Sun of righteousness after the dawning of the day, Christ will appear publicly to all the people on the earth—v. 2.
c. As the bright morning star before the dawning of the day, He will appear privately to the overcomers who are watching, preparing, and waiting for Him—Rev. 22:16b.
d. He will secretly give Himself as the morning star to those who love Him and who watch and wait for Him that they may have the priority to taste the freshness of His presence at His coming back after a long absence—2:28.
D. When we give heed to the word of the Scriptures as to a lamp shining in a dark place, the condition within us will be like the day dawning and the morning star rising in our hearts—2 Pet. 1:19c:
1. Figuratively, the day dawns refers to the coming age of the kingdom as a bright day dawning—cf. Matt. 13:43.
2. Concerning the types of Christ, the entire Bible begins with Him as light and ends with Him as the morning star—Gen. 1:3; Rev. 2:28; 22:16b.
3. The morning star refers to Christ who, in the darkest hour of the night, prior to the dawning of the kingdom age, will secretly rise in the hearts of those who love His appearing—v. 16b.
4. If we continually give heed to the shining word of the Scriptures, we will have the kingdom as the day dawning in us and Christ as the morning star rising in our hearts before His actual appearing as the bright morning star—2 Pet. 1:19; Rev. 2:28.
5. Christ as the morning star will be given to the overcomers as their first reward; we need to make ourselves ready for the secret appearing of the Lord as the morning star—vv. 28-29.