(3) The cheer Christ imparts. — Light is cheering ; all light is, and not least that of the morning star. It cheers by its present light and beauty, and by its prophecy: "The day cometh." Christ's aim when on earth was always to impart cheer. To the paralytic, laid a wreck at His feet, He said, " Son, be of good cheer ; thy sins are forgiven." To the woman who touched His garment and feared she might be chid for presumption. His reply was, " Daughter, be of good cheer ; thy faith hath made thee whole."
1 R. C. Trench. ^ "w. M. Ramsay.
REVELATION xxii. i6 407
To the storm-tossed disciples in the dark night, He, appearing as their Morning Star, exclaimed, "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid." To St. Paul in prison, looking anxiously out on the future. He said, "Be of good cheer: for as thou hast testified concerning me at Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome." To all disciples in all trouble that arises. He says, " These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye may have peace. In the world ye have tribulation : but be of good cheer ; I have overcome the world." And thus, to the end of time, for all His people, He has the word of cheer and the power to work it.
H I once said to an old sick-nurse, " You must have often seen the morning star ? " " Yes," she said, " and it was always a cheering sight ; and then, a little after, the larks would begin to sing, and I thought they were praising God; and when I looked at the buds on the trees and the grass twinkling with the dew, it just seemed as if all nature were full of His presence." Perhaps it is in sickness, or when watching with the sick, that the morning is most longed for and tokens of its coming most welcome. Jonathan Edwards tells of a sickness he had when a youth, shortly after his conversion, and how, when he saw those that watched with him looking wistfully out for the morning, it brought to mind the psalmist's words : " My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning." " And then," he says, " when the light of day came in at the window, it refreshed my soul from one morning to another ; it seemed to be some image of the light of God's glory." ^
(4) The hope Christ inspires. — The morning star is the star of hope. When we see it in the sky we know that morning is near, light will grow, the sun will soon be up, the day begun. Christ is in this sense also our Morning Star. With reference to the life to come He is so ; and with reference also to the life that now is. We get light when we first believe on Him, the light of a full salvation ; if not all of it at once in possession, all in sure hope. But there is more light to follow— light of truth, of holiness, of joy. Christ is ever pointing forward, beckoning us on, saying, "Ye shall see greater things." It is the property of the morning star to be the day's harbinger. Other stars rise and shine and set, and leave the darkness still behind them. They belong to the night ; ^ R. Cowan, The Weakness of God, 284.
4o8 CHRIST'S WITNESS TO HIMSELF
and night wraps her mantle around her own children that cannot pass beyond the sombre shadow. But the morning star is not a child of night but of the day. With Christ as the Morning Star the victory over darkness is decided from the first, and night can never resume her ancient empire. If we abide in Him, and let His words abide in us, our light will grow. Difficulties will be overcome, temptations vanquished, sin subdued, consolation in Him will more and more abound. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord. His going forth is prepared as the morning.
^ In ancient times it used to be imagined that the morning star was different from the evening star; we know, of course, that the two are simply different manifestations of the same planet. So the words of the text gain a fuller meaning. The star that shines at the day's dawn shines also at the day's close. That which has been our beacon of hope and blessing in life's day, will be with us in all its brightness at life's evening, when, in God's mercy, we pass into a state of clearer light, the light not of lamp or sun or star, but the unveiled glory of the Lord God Himself.i
f Sept. 18, 18Jf9: This morning early I had awakened and looked out. It was about four o'clock. The morning star was shining directly before our window in a bright sky. One part of the window was misty with frost, the other clear, and through the clear part the star shone most beautifully. I thought of Christ's words, 6 acrnp 6 'kafM'Trphg 6 TpuTvog (Rev. xxii. 16). Christ is all this in this world to me till the day break. I fell asleep, and when I next awoke the sun was shining through my room. Shall it not be thus at the Resurrection? Our shadowy views of Christ are passed, and now He is the Sun of Righteousness.^