FRCC Harp & Bwl Ministry Revelatin 1: The Beauty f Jesus 1 RESOURCES marks material included in fllwing ntes 14 and his eyes were like blazing fire. Revelatin 1:14b Jesus Eyes f Fire: Fear f Gd and Intimacy with Gd, BY MIKE BICKLE [Transcriptin, Vide, and Audi available nline] Part 1 Part 2 Excerpts frm Jesus Eyes f Fire, Part 1 THE TWOFOLD DIMENSION OF HIS EYES OF FIRE 14 His eyes [are] like a flame f fire. (Rev. 1:14) When Jesus std befre Jhn with eyes f fire, Jhn fell like a dead man, as we read in Revelatin 1:17-18. There are tw practical applicatins t Jesus eyes f fire: the mre we grw in the revelatin f His eyes f fire, we grw in the fear f Gd, but we als mature in ur intimacy with Gd. Firstly, His eyes speak f His ability t see everything. The implicatin f understanding this, even a little, really affects the way we relate t Gd in a very pwerful way. The mre I understand that His eyes are n me, the mre I walk in the fear f the Lrd. Secndly, the mre we understand this, the strnger r the mre mature my intimacy with Gd is. We see that He sees us, that He feels what we feel, that His eyes are always n us, that we mve His heart. And He mves ur heart as well. The cnnectin is in the knwledge f His eyes being n us. THE OMNISCIENCE OF JESUS & THE PURIFYING POWER OF HIS EYES Jesus is mniscient, meaning He pssesses all knwledge. Everything there is t knw, He knws it. There is n fragment f infrmatin that He des nt pssess. He sees the full truth abut everything, all the time. He sees thrugh everything in the same way that fire penetrates metal. His eyes f fire penetrate t the cre reality and the truth f everything that exists. He sees everything that is gd and everything that is evil, withut any distrtin at all. He sees behind the scenes and belw the surface. The implicatin is that He has n distrtin f truth, nne whatsever. He has n wrng infrmatin; He has n partial infrmatin; He has n biases based n His wunding. A human judge, even thugh he may try his best t judge impartially, is affected by his wn dysfunctins as a human, his wn wundings, his wn biases, his wn partial r wrng infrmatin. But n implicatin f the truth escapes the knwledge f Jesus; nt even the smallest implicatin Frerunner Christian Church www.frerunner.cc
FRCC Harp & Bwl Ministry Revelatin 1: The Beauty f Jesus 2 escapes His knwledge. He sees the whle thing. Jesus takes careful ntice f everything and everyne, gd and bad. Knwing this equips us t walk in the fear f Gd and in intimacy. Fire is nt nly pure, it als purifies in the natural realm. When there is any defilement in metal, yu put it thrugh fire and it becmes purified. If there s defilement in water, yu put it thrugh fire, and that s ne way f bringing purity t it. Jesus eyes f fire are nt nly pure, but they purify us. PSALM 139 DAVID S SECRET TO CONSISTENT LOVE David is speaking in Psalm 139. This is ne f the secrets f David s life: David understd that the Lrd s eyes were n him. Truly this is ne f the great secrets f the pwer f his cnsistent lve. If we understd mre f what David understd, ur lve wuld be mre cnsistent. Gd understands ur thughts frm afar. 2 Yu knw my sitting dwn and my rising up; Yu understand my thught afar ff. (Ps. 139:2) Basically, David is saying, Yu knw what I m thinking; even when the thught is being frmed in me, Yu can see it. Gd cmprehends ur paths. 3 Yu cmprehend my path and my lying dwn, and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Fr there is nt a wrd n my tngue, but behld, O LORD, Yu knw it altgether. (Ps. 139:3) Many times we dn t cmprehend ur paths. Smene may ask us, Why did yu d that? Yu reply, Well, t be hnest, I dn t knw why I did it. But David said abut the Lrd, He cmprehends the path, hw I m walking and where I m ging. We dn t always knw why we d what we d, but we certainly dn t knw the implicatins f where it s ging t bring us. We might, a little, but the Lrd cmprehended the implicatins f the decisins David was making tday and where they wuld take him. Gd is acquainted with all f ur ways, mtives and thughts. 3 And are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Fr there is nt a wrd n my tngue, but behld, O LORD, Yu knw it altgether. (Ps. 139:3-4) Our ways include ut mtives, my thughts, and the implicatins f ur actins. David says, Yu knw it altgether. Yu knw what I meant t say when I said it, but I didn t say it very clearly. Yu knw everything that I intend t say and what I mean t say. Yu knw my wrds altgether. Of curse, the Lrd knws us far better than we knw urselves. That is why we can trust Him. That is ne reasn why we trust His leadership mre than we trust ur wn leadership: He knws us far better than we knw urselves. 6 Such knwledge is t wnderful fr me; it is high, I cannt attain it. (Ps. 139:6) Frerunner Christian Church www.frerunner.cc
FRCC Harp & Bwl Ministry Revelatin 1: The Beauty f Jesus 3 Such knwledge is t wnderful fr me (Ps. 139:6). David said, it is high, he says, I can t even get hld f this. I can t attain it. Of curse, ne thing we ask the Hly Spirit t reveal t us is t shw us what He sees, and t shw us the implicatins f what He knws. David said, It is t wnderful; it is awesme. The implicatins are wnderful. I can t get hld f the fullness f it, but, Belved, we are n the jurney t understand these eyes f fire. What Jesus thinks abut us is precius t us if we get ur minds arund it. 17 Hw precius als are Yur thughts t me, O Gd! Hw great is the sum f them! 18 If I shuld cunt them, they wuld be mre in number than the sand. (Ps. 139:17). He says, Hw great is the sum f them! Jesus has s many thughts abut yu. Did yu knw that Jesus has mre thughts abut yu than the number f grains f sand n the seashre? David grasped that. He didn t grasp the fullness f it, but he had a fundamental revelatin f the eyes f the Lrd. When this tuches us, it anchrs ur life. It makes us steady in ur effrts t lve Gd, because s ften in ur effrts we re cming up shrt, but He sees even in the little grund that we gain. David culd see the pwer f that, because he saw that Gd understd the grund he was gaining. One f ur big challenges is that ur labrs are small. We d ur little service and we re reaching t lve Gd, but it desn t seem like we get very far. S ur increase lks really small and smetimes nt at all. But the Lrd sees the truth abut what is in yur heart in the gd way, nt just in the bad away. THERE IS NO CREATURE HIDDEN There is n creature hidden frm His sight, but all things are naked and pen t the eyes f Him t whm we must give accunt. (Heb. 4:13) All things are naked, meaning He sees the behind-the-scenes truth f every situatin in life. Nthing can be masked r altered. The truth f it cannt be hidden frm Him. He sees it as it is with n cvering. It is Him t whm we give an accunt. We give an accunt f ur life t a man wh is fully Gd and fully Man. His name is Jesus. THE FEAR OF GOD IN JESUS FIERY GAZE His eyes see ur failure. This prduces the fear f Gd in us. The fear f Gd is the awareness that Gd sees everything. The mre I m aware He sees everything, the mre I have the fear f Gd in my heart, and the mre I am careful because I knw it matters. If yu knw He sees yu and that it matters t Him, then it matters t yu. Yu becme mre careful because yu knw it matters t Him. The small things matter t Him, even the small reaches f my heart when I say, Lrd, I want t be Yurs. I feel dull and sluggish, but I want t give myself t Yu. I want t be fully Yurs tday. It matters t Him. When I knw that, then it s wrth reaching t Him because it matters t Him. OUR SOUL S DESIRE, THE REFINER S FIRE But wh can endure the day f His cming? And wh can stand when He appears? Fr He is like a refiner s fire Frerunner Christian Church www.frerunner.cc
FRCC Harp & Bwl Ministry Revelatin 1: The Beauty f Jesus 4 And like launderers sap. (Malachi 3:2) In Malachi 3:2, the prphet Malachi links purity with fire, because fire purifies. It purifies metal; it purifies water; it purifies varius elements. Malachi 3 is abut the end times. Of curse the principle f the refiner s fire is true thrughut histry, but when Jesus reveals His glry, it says in Malachi 3 that He meaning the Messiah will manifest it as a refiner s fire. The refiner s fire isn t just a negative. It s nt just, Ouch, that hurts. Yu hear peple say, I m ging thrugh the fire... uch! There is an uch! dimensin t the fire, but there is a purifying and impartatin dimensin t the fire, t. THE REMEMBRANCE OF HIS EYES In His eyes He sees and remembers everything we d in lve twards Him, even the weak lve we shw Him. The fact that He sees and remembers what we d makes every single day relevant. It makes every hur f every day relevant. Nthing is wasted. N hur is bring when we understand that He sees and remembers even the small giving f ur self t Him, even the small fferings f lve. They mve His heart. This makes every day imprtant, whether anyne else sees what yu re ding as imprtant r nt. The very fact that He sees and remembers crwns yur life with glry. He sees yu right nw. The reaching f yur heart mves Him and He recrds it. Yu will never have a day that is unimprtant. Never. He sees ur burdens; He sees ur pain and ur struggle. This is ne aspect f walking in intimacy with Him, knwing that He is with us in all that causes us pain and struggle. THE PRAISE THAT COMES FROM GOD... the Lrd cmes, wh will bth bring t light the hidden things f darkness, and reveal the cunsels f the heart. Then each ne s praise will cme frm Gd. (1 Cr. 4:5) Belved, when the Lrd reveals the gdly cunsels f yur heart, the lngings and the setting f yur heart t d right, He will affirm yu. He will praise yu, which means that He will pint it ut in an affirming way. I think this will be the mst surprising thing n the last day. Many believers live with such an awareness f their brkenness that they dn t have any esteem fr the lve they have. They dn t cunt the lve; all they d is cunt the failure. They cunt what cmes up shrt and dn t esteem the setting f their heart, but the Lrd des and it mves Him. He sees the yes in yur spirit even befre yu walk it ut in yur character. He sees the cry t grw in greater lve. He sees every mvement f yur heart t lve Him. THE SUBTLE STIRRINGS OF OUR HEART TO LOVE Sme f yu undubtedly did things tday that grieved the Spirit. When yu did that, whether tday r yesterday, yu said, Oh Lrd, this is nt what I want. The Lrd says, Oh, that tuches Me. He sees that mvement f yur heart and recrds it in His bk. D yu knw the way yu mve Him? D yu knw that every time yu repent f cmprmise, it mves Him and He recrds it in His bk? Jesus sees ur desire t bey Him befre it is manifest in ur character in a mature way. Frerunner Christian Church www.frerunner.cc
FRCC Harp & Bwl Ministry Revelatin 1: The Beauty f Jesus 5 The revelatin that a sincere believer is beautiful t Gd, even in ur weakness, causes us t pen ur spirit and run t Him instead f running frm Him. THE UNNECESSARY BURDEN OF CONDEMNATION Many believers feel such a sense f cndemnatin, when they stumble. Even thugh they have repented, they feel like it s mre apprpriate t put themselves n prbatin fr at least a few days. They feel like they ught t feel miserable fr a while after all they did. If they feel miserable fr a few days r a few weeks, then it balances the scre ut. That is abslutely bad dctrine; it s deceptin. If we understand that we are beautiful t Him even in ur weakness, then we learn t repent when we have failed, call it sin, declare war n it, and stand back befre the Lrd, ready t run twards Him. When we d that, we pen ur spirit in cnfidence instead f drawing back in shame. We gain nthing by wallwing fr a few weeks r a few mnths in shame. That is what the devil wants us t d. He wants us t clse ur spirit and think, I am s bad. I am s bad... The Lrd says, Lift yur chin up and lk Me in the eyes. Let s talk. I lve yu. I have already frgiven yu. Run twards Me. D yu nt see hw I feel? D yu nt knw what I see when I see yu? THE DAY WILL REVEAL OUR WORKS 11 Fr n ther fundatin can anyne lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Nw if anyne builds n this fundatin with gld, silver, precius stnes, wd, hay, straw, 13 each ne s wrk will becme clear; fr the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each ne s wrk, f what srt it is. (1 Cr 3:11-13) This is talking abut their life wrk and all their acts f service. The fire f Jesus eyes is testing it. Sme peple get the wrng idea that each man s wrk is tested by hw big the wrk was r hw famus they became thrugh the wrk. The shcking thing is that n that day the wrk will becme clear, and it will be clear hw imprtant the little things are t Jesus. Many peple can t see with clarity the imprtance f what they re ding. The Lrd says, I write it all in My bk. All f that will becme clear and evident n that day. I think what will shck us is hw imprtant and hw big the little things are. Yu will receive a reward; yur life will be revealed. Many peple have the image that what is big is gd. Big can be gd, if it is the will f Gd, but remember that 99.9 percent f the Bdy f Christ in all f histry has nly dne small things. That is the will f Gd, and that is gd. They will be rewarded in a very surprising, very big way when they stand befre Gd. NOT UNJUST TO FORGET ANY OF OUR WORK 10 Fr Gd is nt unjust t frget yur wrk and labr f lve which yu have shwn tward His name, in that yu have ministered t the saints, and d minister. (Heb 6:10) He remembers the labr f lve which yu have shwn in His name. His eyes f fire see it, and the fire can penetrate t the truth f it. He desn t see the smallness f it and say, Oh, frget it; it s nly a small thing. His eyes f fire see the truth f it. Gd is nt unjust t frget any f ur wrk. This includes the lve yu shw twards Him when yu serve Frerunner Christian Church www.frerunner.cc
FRCC Harp & Bwl Ministry Revelatin 1: The Beauty f Jesus 6 thers. Jesus said, Assuredly I say t yu, if yu give a cup f cld water, I will never frget the smallest deed that yu d (Mt. 10:42, paraphrased). THE FREEDOM OF KNOWING THAT HE SEES When we understand that He sees, then we are nt cmpelled t make sure everyne else sees. The mre I understand that He sees, the less I m cmpelled t tell yu all that I m ding. On the ther hand, when I dn t think that He sees, then I have t make sure yu see. When we knw that He sees, then we dn t have anything t prve because it s already being prven befre Him. This is such liberty. It s a liberating feeling t knw that it s already been prved in the secret place. Nt just yur private prayer life, but als the secret things yu d in service have already been manifest t Him. We dn t have t make sure everyne knws, because He knws. This gives us pwer in ur spirit. THE GREATNESS REFLECTED IN HIS EYES He sees ur greatness. The Lrd sees yur greatness far mre than yu d. He sees wh yu are t Him and what yu re ging t be. He sees that very clearly right nw. When we see what He sees, it affects us. He knws ur future. He knws where we re ging. That gives us directin and hpe. THE FIRE OF GOD S THRONE Gd s thrne is ablaze with fire. Everything arund Gd is ablaze with fire. It s nt surprising t us that His eyes are full f fire, because it s all arund Him. There is a river f fire cming ut f His thrne. There is a sea f glass befre the thrne in Revelatin 4, filled with flaming fire. Seraphim are high-ranking angels; the wrd seraphim means burning nes. Jesus eyes f fire are emphasized three times in the bk f Revelatin. Gd s fire des tw things. Firstly, it imparts the gd, the hly lve f Gd. Secndly, it als remves that which is unhly, that which hinders lve. Therefre, His fire, the purity in His eyes, imparts the gd and remves the bad. This isn t just figurative that His eyes are like fire. It is part f the reality f His persnhd. Of curse Jesus can reveal His full glry, r He can appear with His glry restrained and diminished when revealing himself t a human being. S He can appear t yu withut His glry being fully manifest, but when His full glry is being fully revealed His eyes are like fire. The Scriptures tell us ften t seek His face, but when we seek His face we encunter His eyes. Thugh in ur lives right nw we cannt see His face in the direct sense, we are gazing at His face. I tell yu, His eyes are like fire. It is in that psture that He imparts t us gd things, the lve f Gd. It is in that psture that He empwers us t remve the things that hinder lve in ur life. THE DESIRE IN THE FIRE OF HIS EYES His eyes f fire reveal His desire. In His eyes f fire there is desire that warms and tenderizes us. In His eyes we understand that He sees ur failure, and this causes us t walk in the fear f Gd. We als understand that He sees ur lngings t lve Him. Frerunner Christian Church www.frerunner.cc
FRCC Harp & Bwl Ministry Revelatin 1: The Beauty f Jesus 7 He sees the immature lngings that are nt fully develped; He sees what I call the budding virtues. He sees ur lnging; He sees the yes in ur spirit. While it is barely being frmed, He sees it, and that gives us cnfidence because He hnrs what He sees. That gives us cnfidence when we stand befre Him, even in ur weakness. THE BURNING DESIRE OF JESUS, THE JEALOUS BRIDEGROOM This fire in His eyes, by the Hly Spirit, warms ur hearts; it tenderizes us. It makes us pen and receptive t Him in a far greater way. I lve t be quiet, clse my eyes, and say, Lrd Jesus, I want t gaze int Yur eyes. Release the fire f Yur desire and tuch me. It s ne f the prayers that I pray: Release the fire f Yur desire. Let me see hw Yu feel when Yu lk in my eyes. Let me lk int Yur eyes and let me feel what Yu see when Yu lk int my eyes. He is mre than a healer; He is mre than ur Master; He is the jealus Bridegrm. He will nt relent until He has all f us. He is a jealus Gd; it says it in Exdus 34:14. Yu culd say, His name is Jealus Desire. His jealusy is pure, hly lve. THE MUTUAL EXCHANGE OF RAVISHED GLANCES 6 Set me as a seal upn yur heart, as a seal upn yur arm; fr lve is as strng as death, jealusy as cruel as the grave; its flames are flames f fire, a mst vehement flame. (Sng 8:6) Sng f Slmn 8:6 is abut the eyes f Jesus lcked int us. It s ur eyes and His eyes develping a mre cntinual cnnectin. Fr it s in that psture f being fixed n Him that we receive the mst frm Him. Nthing is mre pwerful than the lve f Gd when we yield t it and stay fixed n it. There is n prngraphy, bitterness, addictin, r dysfunctin mre pwerful than His burning eyes, His fiery heart. Many waters can try t quench it, but there is a supernatural fire that the water f sin r persecutin cannt verpwer if we yield t this fire. Stay steady. Stay with it. G hard after it. When yu stumble and fall, repent, push delete, and get right back in the race within the hur, ging hard in cnfidence and in lve. Dn t wallw arund fr a few days r weeks licking yur wunds with cndemnatin. Repent, push delete, and jump right back in the race as a whlehearted lver f Gd. It s the nly way t live. THE BAPTISM OF FIRE His eyes f fire impart desire. In Luke 3, Jhn the Baptist spke and said, At this time, Jesus will baptize yu with fire. This is a gd fire; it s a hly fire. In the upper rm in Acts 2, 120 peple were praying and seeking the Lrd fr ten days and Jesus baptized them with fire. This is way I see this it: Jesus set His gaze upn that prayer rm, and the fire f Gd fell n them, giving them curage and supernatural pwer at the heart level. These cwardly men became bld. Men and wmen std bldly because they had a supernatural fire f Gd empwering their heart and empwering their lve. Frerunner Christian Church www.frerunner.cc