The Coming of the Lord
By J.B. Stoney
I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. - Revelation 22:16-17
MY desire in these lectures has been to set forth the grace and calling of The Bride, and now I finish with the testimony which marks the church at the close, which you get in these two verses. The true heart is arrested and influenced by Christ's communication, "I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star." This is your prospect; "The root and the offspring of David" intimates that He is the King; and "the morning star," that the day is at hand:the morning star is the harbinger of the day. To Thyatira, which is Romanism, when corruption had begun, the promise to the overcomer is "To him will I give power over the nations." There is now a distinct change in the nature of the rewards, concluding with "I will give him the morning star." Now the morning star is not an independent manifestation, it obviously refers to the day. I admit that the morning star includes the rapture; but it is specially connected with "the day." The morning star naturally attracts you to the day, and when the morning star is vividly before you, it is not your own benefit from the rapture which engrosses you, but that the day when Christ shall reign is at hand. It is. the prelude of the day, as Peter writes, "Until the day dawn, and the daystar arise in your hearts." Anyone acquainted with natural things, or who has travelled by night, knows that the appearance of the morning star is hailed as the intimation that the day is at hand. Surely your gain will be great when the morning star appears, when Christ rises from the Father's throne. Then the rapture will take place; His own, blessed be His name, first share in His glory. But as far as I know the rapture is not spoken of but in 1 Thessalonians 4; though, as in John 14:3, the gain to us is prominent. Even in 1 Thessalonians the great subject is "the day."
Now the first point I insist on is that Christ, "The root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star," is your hope. The church has failed as the "candlestick," that is, as the recognised lightbearer among men. I know there is a great attempt in Christendom to be acknowledged as the candlestick; there are large buildings, called churches, ringing of bells, and other religious demonstrations, all to regain a lost position, and some devoted servants of Christ seek to be acknowledged -- as has been said, trafficking upon the toleration accorded by the mere professors. A distinction forfeited is never restored; but John prepares the church for Christ. The church visibly is a ruin, yet the remnant is ready for the Lord, "The Spirit and the bride say, Come." The remnant is part of the original, and is distinguished by the special grace of the original. I gather this from Scripture. Until you know and accept that the church has failed as the "candlestick," you are not occupied with the "morning star," looking for the Lord to come according to His own communication. Hence in the closing churches the kingdom is brought prominently before you. To the church in Philadelphia Christ appears with "the key of David," the rejected king. And consequently to Laodicea, when the assembly is characterised by pretension and lukewarmness, the reward to the overcomer is that he shall "sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." First you are arrested by the Lord's communication, "I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star." You have before you the day of Christ's glory, not merely the relief which will be vouchsafed to you at the rapture. At the rapture we shall all be caught up to "be for ever with the Lord," but subsequently we shall all stand before the judgmentseat of Christ prior to our appearing with Him. Hence we read of the servants, "That when he shall appear we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming." Limiting the coming of the Lord to the rapture has tended to foster laxity in walk. The grace at the rapture is most touching, that the Lord, the moment He takes to Him His great power, descends from heaven with a shout, and with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God in order to liberate His own; He is thinking of them first, and hence we read in Philippians 3, "According to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself."
It is very striking that as soon as Christ takes to Himself His great power to reign, the first wave of that power is to gather all His own unto Himself in bodies like unto His body of glory from Adam downward. That is the rapture. The Thessalonians were very zealous; they had "turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven"; they did not know of the rapture before this epistle was written. They had thought that their fellow-Christians who had died would not have part with them in. the kingdom. Hence the apostle tells them that the first demonstration of Christ's power will be with reference to His own. "The dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them." The morning star may indicate that great event, but you must bear in mind that the morning star refers to the day, or otherwise you will not understand the figure. The first demonstration of that day is for our great benefit; but no true heart could limit the day of Christ's glory to his own immediate benefit. "The day of Christ "is when He appears in glory, and no blessing can be consummated or anything be in its right place until Christ is in His place. That He should come is the one desire of the bride.
Next, you are looking for Him to reign. Hence in John 21 we read that John was to tarry "till I come." Now when the Revelation was given, everything was ready for the Lord to come. The Revelation was written to the seven churches. You should read it as one letter, then you will be impressed with the state of things here, but that the grand issue or denouement will be that the Lord will reign; the Lord will take to Himself His great power and reign. Hence your place with Him in His kingdom will be determined by the way you are for Him here during His rejection. It is important that you should be looking for Him to come and reign.
In Luke 19 we read, "A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return, and he called his -- ten servants and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come." They were to be rewarded when he returned according to the measure in which they had gained by trading, as they had turned his gifts to good account. Note that in Thyatira, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, the rewards to the overcomer are connected with the kingdom; and the least place is given to the Laodicean. The overcomer in Thyatira receives a much higher place. "To him will I give power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron." If the Laodicean overcomes it is said, "He shall sit with me in my throne " -- not ruling. The youngest believer will be with Christ to share with Him in His glory. I am pressing on you that your hearts should be set on Christ's coming to reign, because you are in the place where He was rejected. Hence you are not thinking exclusively of joining Him in heaven, but that He should come and reign.
In the Lord's supper you announce His death "till he come." No doubt the rapture is preliminary, but the prominent desire is with reference to Christ Himself. The tendency with us all is to be pre-occupied with our own benefit; but as your heart is true to Him you are not thinking of your own relief merely; your eye is fixed on the morning star as the harbinger of the day when Christ will have His right place here. If you look at Revelation 4 you will see that the saints are with Christ in heaven. He has not demonstrated His rule yet; but they are with Him and ready for Him; they had been caught up together to meet the Lord in the air; the rapture has taken place. No one can truly say, "Come," but the bride, because she has present affection for Him, the first love has been revived. The candlestick has been removed; but love for Him has been so revived that you want Him to come; you are not looking for a restoration of the candlestick, but that He Himself should come. Hence you read in Matthew 25, the last appearance of the kingdom of heaven, "Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom," but "while the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept." There was an awakening at midnight, "Behold the bridegroom." Five were wise, and five were foolish; there were as many false as there were true. The imitators were as many as the real -- a terrible state of things! Could anything depict the character of this day more than that there should be as many foolish virgins as wise ones going forth to meet the Bridegroom without any divine power! They had the form of godliness, as Paul predicted (2 Tim. 3); but they denied the power thereof. Here doubtless John's ministry comes in.
