The Morning Star in an Age of Darkness
God has always had a people. Even during the dark ages there were those who overcame the darkness. Jesus promised them,
by William Earnhardt
And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations— ‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’— as I also have received from My Father; and I will give him the morning star. Revelation 2:26-28 NKJV
John Wycliffe has often been referred to as the morning star of the reformation. How wise God was not to send all the light all at once. I remember our dean at Oklahoma Adventist Academy waking us up early in the morning, before daylight, by flipping a switch that turned all of the lights on in our dorm rooms. Going from total darkness to total light was blinding! It hurt our eyes!
God knew after 1260 years of darkness not to turn all the light on all at once. As the morning star gently pierces the darkness before the sun gently rises, so God gently pierced the spiritual darkness with the morning star of the reformation, and gradually brought more and more light until “the earth was illuminated with his glory.” Revelation 18:1 NKJV.
Imagine if Jesus had told Peter when He first met him, “Come follow me Peter and you will die upside down on a cross.” Peter might have run the other way! So Jesus revealed truth little by little to Peter instead of giving him all the truth all at once. In the end Peter was prepared to give his life to Jesus.
We need to pray for the same wisdom when sharing Jesus with out friends. Sometimes we wonder why our friends can’t see plain Bible truth, but it may be God Himself who is shielding them from light that may be too overwhelming for them right now. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would “guide us into all truth.” John 16:13 NKJV. It is important for us to let the Holy Spirit do His job, and for us not to assume the responsibility of the Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit that brought a reformation out of the Dark Ages, is the same Holy Spirit that can bring our friends out of darkness too. The Holy Spirit may not want to use us as a blazing sun, but possibly as a morning star, gently piercing the darkness to prepare the soul for more light to come.
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