FRCC Harp & Bowl Ministry — Revelation 1: The Beauty of Jesus REVELATION 1:14b . . . and his eyes were like blazing fire. Revelation 1:14b RESOURCES I), marks material included in following notes Jesus ' Eyes of Fire: Fear of God and Intimacy with God, BY Mike Bickle [Transcription, Video, and Audio available online] {[ Part 1 Part 2 — Excerpts from "Jesus' Eyes of Fire," Part 1 — THE TWOFOLD DIMENSION OF HIS EYES OF FIRE ...His eyes [are] like aflame of fire. (Rev. 1:14) o When Jesus stood before John with eyes of fire, John fell like a dead man, as we read in Revelation 1:17-18. o There are two practical applications to Jesus' eyes of fire: the more we grow in the revelation of His eyes of fire, we grow in the fear of God, but we also mature in our intimacy with God. ■ Firstly, His eyes speak of His ability to see everything. The implication of understanding this, even a little, really affects the way we relate to God in a very powerful way. The more I understand that His eyes are on me, the more I walk in the fear of the Lord. ■ Secondly, the more we understand this, the stronger or the more mature my intimacy with God is. We see that He sees us, that He feels what we feel, that His eyes are always on us, that we move His heart. And He moves our heart as well. The connection is in the knowledge of His eyes being on us. THE OMNISCIENCE OF JESUS & THE PURIFYING POWER OF HIS EYES o Jesus is omniscient, meaning He possesses all knowledge. Everything there is to know, He knows it. There is no fragment of information that He does not possess. He sees the full truth about everything, all the time. ■ He sees through everything in the same way that fire penetrates metal. His eyes of fire penetrate to the core reality and the truth of everything that exists. He sees everything that is good and everything that is evil, without any distortion at all . He sees behind the scenes and below the surface. o The implication is that He has no distortion of truth, none whatsoever. He has no wrong information ; He has no partial information ; He has no biases based on His wounding. ■ A human judge, even though he may try his best to judge impartially, is affected by his own dysfunctions as a human, his own woundings, his own biases, his own partial or wrong information. ■ But no implication of the truth escapes the knowledge of Jesus; not even the smallest implication Forerunner Christian Church www.forerunner. cc FRCC Harp & Bowl Ministry — Revelation 1: The Beauty of Jesus 2 REVELATION 1:14b escapes His knowledge. He sees the whole thing. Jesus takes careful notice of everything and everyone, good and bad. o Knowing this equips us to walk in the fear of God and in intimacy. o Fire is not only pure, it also purifies in the natural realm. When there is any defilement in metal, you put it through fire and it becomes purified. If there's defilement in water, you put it through fire, and that's one way of bringing purity to it. ■ Jesus' eyes of fire are not only pure, but they purify us. • PSALM 139 - DAVID'S SECRET TO CONSISTENT LOVE o David is speaking in Psalm 139. This is one of the secrets of David's life: David understood that the Lord's eyes were on him. Truly this is one of the great secrets of the power of his consistent love. If we understood more of what David understood, our love would be more consistent. o God understands our thoughts from afar. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. (Ps. 139:2) ■ Basically, David is saying, "You know what I'm thinking; even when the thought is being formed in me, You can see it." o God comprehends our paths. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. (Ps. 139:3) ■ Many times we don't comprehend our paths. Someone may ask us, "Why did you do that?" You reply, "Well, to be honest, I don't know why I did it." But David said about the Lord, "He comprehends the path, how I'm walking and where I'm going." ■ We don't always know why we do what we do, but we certainly don't know the implications of where it's going to bring us. We might, a little, but the Lord comprehended the implications of the decisions David was making today and where they would take him. o God is acquainted with all of our ways, motives and thoughts. ...And are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. (Ps. 139:3-4) ■ Our ways include out motives, my thoughts, and the implications of our actions. ■ David says, "You know it altogether. You know what I meant to say when I said it, but I didn't say it very clearly. You know everything that I intend to say and what I mean to say. You know my words altogether." ■ Of course, the Lord knows us far better than we know ourselves . That is why we can trust Him. That is one reason why we trust His leadership more than we trust our own leadership: He knows us far better than we know ourselves. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, 1 cannot attain it. (Ps. 139:6) Forerunner Christian Church www.forerunner. cc FRCC Harp & Bowl Ministry — Revelation 1: The Beauty of Jesus REVELATION 1:14b ■ "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me" (Ps. 139:6). David said, " — "it is high," he says, "I can't even get hold of this. I can't attain it." ■ Of course, one thing we ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us is to show us what He sees, and to show us the implications of what He knows. David said, "It is too wonderful; it is awesome. The implications are wonderful. I can't get hold of the fullness of it," but, Beloved, we are on the journey to understand these eyes of fire. o What Jesus thinks about us is precious to us if we get our minds around it. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand. (Ps. 139:17). ■ He says, "How great is the sum of them!" Jesus has so many thoughts about you. Did you know that Jesus has more thoughts about you than the number of grains of sand on the seashore? David grasped that. He didn't grasp the fullness of it, but he had a fundamental revelation of the eyes of the Lord. ■ When this touches us, it anchors our life. It makes us steady in our efforts to love God, because so often in our efforts we're coming up short, but He sees even in the little ground that we gain. ■ David could see the power of that, because he saw that God understood the ground he was gaining. One of our big challenges is that our labors are small. We do our little service and we're reaching to love God, but it doesn't seem like we get very far. So our increase looks really small and sometimes not at all. But the Lord sees the truth about what is in your heart in the good way, not just in the bad away. • THERE IS NO CREATURE HIDDEN There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. (Heb. 4:13) o All things are naked, meaning He sees the behind-the-scenes truth of every situation in life. Nothing can be masked or altered. The truth of it cannot be hidden from Him. He sees it as it is with no covering. o It is Him to whom we give an account. We give an account of our life to a man who is fully God and fully Man. His name is Jesus. • THE FEAR OF GOD IN JESUS' FIERY GAZE o His eyes see our failure. This produces the fear of God in us. The fear of God is the awareness that God sees everything. The more I'm aware He sees everything, the more I have the fear of God in my heart, and the more I am careful because I know it matters. ■ If you know He sees you and that it matters to Him, then it matters to you. You become more careful because you know it matters to Him. ■ The small things matter to Him, even the small reaches of my heart when I say, "Lord, I want to be Yours. I feel dull and sluggish, but I want to give myself to You. I want to be fully Yours today." It matters to Him. When I know that, then it's worth reaching to Him because it matters to Him. • OUR SOUL'S DESIRE, THE REFINER'S FIRE But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire Forerunner Christian Church www.forerunner. cc FRCC Harp & Bowl Ministry — Revelation 1: The Beauty of Jesus 4 REVELATION 1:14b And like launderers' soap. (Malachi 3:2) o In Malachi 3:2, the prophet Malachi links purity with fire, because fire purifies. It purifies metal; it purifies water; it purifies various elements. o Malachi 3 is about the end times. Of course the principle of the refiner's fire is true throughout history, but when Jesus reveals His glory, it says in Malachi 3 that He — meaning the Messiah — will manifest it as a refiner's fire. o The refiner's fire isn't just a negative. It's not just, "Ouch, that hurts." You hear people say, "I'm going through the fire... ouch!" There is an "ouch!" dimension to the fire, but there is a purifying and impartation dimension to the fire, too. • THE REMEMBRANCE OF HIS EYES o In His eyes He sees and remembers everything we do in love towards Him, even the weak love we show Him. o The fact that He sees and remembers what we do makes every single day relevant. It makes every hour of every day relevant. Nothing is wasted. No hour is boring when we understand that He sees and remembers even the small giving of our self to Him, even the small offerings of love. They move His heart. This makes every day important, whether anyone else sees what you're doing as important or not. o The very fact that He sees and remembers crowns your life with glory. He sees you right now. The reaching of your heart moves Him and He records it. o You will never have a day that is unimportant. Never. o He sees our burdens; He sees our pain and our struggle. This is one aspect of walking in intimacy with Him, knowing that He is with us in all that causes us pain and struggle. • THE PRAISE THAT COMES FROM GOD "... the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and reveal the counsels of the heart. Then each one's praise will come from God." (1 Cor. 4:5) ■ Beloved, when the Lord reveals the godly counsels of your heart, the longings and the setting of your heart to do right, He will affirm you. He will praise you, which means that He will point it out in an affirming way. I think this will be the most surprising thing on the last day. ■ Many believers live with such an awareness of their brokenness that they don't have any esteem for the love they have. They don't count the love; all they do is count the failure. They count what comes up short and don't esteem the setting of their heart, but the Lord does and it moves Him. ■ He sees the "yes" in your spirit even before you walk it out in your character. He sees the cry to grow in greater love. He sees every movement of your heart to love Him. o THE SUBTLE STIRRINGS OF OUR HEART TO LOVE ■ Some of you undoubtedly did things today that grieved the Spirit. When you did that, whether today or yesterday, you said, "Oh Lord, this is not what I want." The Lord says, "Oh, that touches Me." He sees that movement of your heart and records it in His book. Do you know the way you move Him? Do you know that every time you repent of compromise, it moves Him and He records it in His book? Jesus sees our desire to obey Him before it is manifest in our character in a mature way. Forerunner Christian Church www.forerunner. cc FRCC Harp & Bowl Ministry — Revelation 1: The Beauty of Jesus 5 REVELATION 1:14b ■ The revelation that a sincere believer is beautiful to God, even in our weakness, causes us to open our spirit and run to Him instead of running from Him. o THE UNNECESSARY BURDEN OF CONDEMNATION ■ Many believers feel such a sense of condemnation, when they stumble. Even though they have repented, they feel like it's more appropriate to put themselves on probation for at least a few days. They feel like they ought to feel miserable for a while after all they did. If they feel miserable for a few days or a few weeks, then it balances the score out. That is absolutely bad doctrine; it's deception. ■ If we understand that we are beautiful to Him even in our weakness , then we learn to repent when we have failed, call it "sin," declare war on it, and stand back before the Lord, ready to run towards Him. When we do that, we open our spirit in confidence instead of drawing back in shame. ■ We gain nothing by wallowing for a few weeks or a few months in shame. That is what the devil wants us to do. He wants us to close our spirit and think, "I am so bad. I am so bad..." The Lord says, "Lift your chin up and look Me in the eyes. Let's talk. I love you. I have already forgiven you. Run towards Me. Do you not see how I feel? Do you not know what I see when I see you?" • THE DAY WILL REVEAL OUR WORKS For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. (1 Cor 3:11-13) o This is talking about their life work and all their acts of service. The fire of Jesus' eyes is testing it. o Some people get the wrong idea that each man's work is tested by how big the work was or how famous they became through the work. The shocking thing is that on that day "the work will become clear," and it will be clear how important the little things are to Jesus. Many people can't see with clarity the importance of what they're doing. The Lord says, "I write it all in My book. All of that will become clear and evident on that day." o I think what will shock us is how important and how big the little things are. You will receive a reward; your life will be revealed. o Many people have the image that what is big is good. Big can be good, if it is the will of God, but remember that 99.9 percent of the Body of Christ in all of history has only done small things. That is the will of God, and that is good. They will be rewarded in a very surprising, very big way when they stand before God. • "NOT UNJUST TO FORGET ANY OF OUR WORK" 10 For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. (Heb 6:10) o He remembers the labor of love which you have shown in His name. His eyes of fire see it, and the fire can penetrate to the truth of it. He doesn't see the smallness of it and say, "Oh, forget it; it's only a small thing." His eyes of fire see the truth of it. o "God is not unjust to forget any of our work." This includes the love you show towards Him when you serve Forerunner Christian Church www.forerunner. cc FRCC Harp & Bowl Ministry — Revelation 1: The Beauty of Jesus 6 REVELATION 1:14b others. Jesus said, "Assuredly I say to you, if you give a cup of cold water, I will never forget the smallest deed that you do" (Mt. 10:42, paraphrased). • THE FREEDOM OF KNOWING THAT HE SEES o When we understand that He sees, then we are not compelled to make sure everyone else sees. The more I understand that He sees, the less I'm compelled to tell you all that I'm doing. On the other hand, when I don't think that He sees, then I have to make sure you see. o When we know that He sees, then we don't have anything to prove because it's already being proven before Him. This is such liberty . It's a liberating feeling to know that it's already been proved in the secret place. Not just your private prayer life, but also the secret things you do in service have already been manifest to Him. o We don't have to make sure everyone knows, because He knows. This gives us power in our spirit. • THE GREATNESS REFLECTED IN HIS EYES o He sees our greatness. The Lord sees your greatness far more than you do. He sees who you are to Him and what you're going to be. He sees that very clearly right now. o When we see what He sees, it affects us. He knows our future. He knows where we're going. That gives us direction and hope. • THE FIRE OF GOD'S THRONE o God's throne is ablaze with fire. Everything around God is ablaze with fire. It's not surprising to us that His eyes are full of fire, because it's all around Him. There is a river of fire coming out of His throne. There is a sea of glass before the throne in Revelation 4, filled with flaming fire. Seraphim are high-ranking angels; the word seraphim means "burning ones." o Jesus' eyes of fire are emphasized three times in the book of Revelation. o God's fire does two things. Firstly, it imparts the good, the holy love of God. Secondly, it also removes that which is unholy, that which hinders love. Therefore, His fire, the purity in His eyes, imparts the good and removes the bad. o This isn't just figurative that His eyes are like fire. It is part of the reality of His personhood . ■ Of course Jesus can reveal His full glory, or He can appear with His glory restrained and diminished when revealing himself to a human being. So He can appear to you without His glory being fully manifest, but when His full glory is being fully revealed His eyes are like fire. o The Scriptures tell us often to seek His face, but when we seek His face we encounter His eyes. Though in our lives right now we cannot see His face in the direct sense, we are gazing at His face . I tell you, His eyes are like fire. It is in that posture that He imparts to us good things, the love of God. It is in that posture that He empowers us to remove the things that hinder love in our life. • THE DESIRE IN THE FIRE OF HIS EYES o His eyes of fire reveal His desire. In His eyes of fire there is desire that warms and tenderizes us. In His eyes we understand that He sees our failure, and this causes us to walk in the fear of God. We also understand that He sees our longings to love Him. Forerunner Christian Church www.forerunner. cc FRCC Harp & Bowl Ministry — Revelation 1: The Beauty of Jesus REVELATION 1:14b o He sees the immature longings that are not fully developed; He sees what I call the budding virtues . He sees our longing; He sees the "yes" in our spirit . While it is barely being formed, He sees it, and that gives us confidence because He honors what He sees. That gives us confidence when we stand before Him, even in our weakness. • THE BURNING DESIRE OF JESUS, THE JEALOUS BRIDEGROOM o This fire in His eyes, by the Holy Spirit, warms our hearts; it tenderizes us. It makes us open and receptive to Him in a far greater way. o I love to be quiet, close my eyes, and say, "Lord Jesus, I want to gaze into Your eyes. Release the fire of Your desire and touch me." It's one of the prayers that I pray: "Release the fire of Your desire. Let me see how You feel when You look in my eyes. Let me look into Your eyes and let me feel what You see when You look into my eyes." ■ He is more than a healer; He is more than our Master; He is the jealous Bridegroom. He will not relent until He has all of us. He is a jealous God; it says it in Exodus 34:14. You could say, His name is Jealous Desire. His jealousy is pure, holy love. • THE MUTUAL EXCHANGE OF RAVISHED GLANCES 6 Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is as strong as death, jealousy as cruel as the grave; its flames are flames of fire, a most vehement flame. (Song 8:6) o Song of Solomon 8:6 is about the eyes of Jesus locked into us. It's our eyes and His eyes developing a more continual connection. For it's in that posture of being fixed on Him that we receive the most from Him. o Nothing is more powerful than the love of God when we yield to it and stay fixed on it. There is no pornography, bitterness, addiction, or dysfunction more powerful than His burning eyes, His fiery heart. Many waters can try to quench it, but there is a supernatural fire that the water of sin or persecution cannot overpower if we yield to this fire. o Stay steady. Stay with it. Go hard after it. When you stumble and fall, repent, push "delete," and get right back in the race within the hour, going hard in confidence and in love. Don't wallow around for a few days or weeks licking your wounds with condemnation. Repent, push "delete," and jump right back in the race as a wholehearted lover of God. It's the only way to live. • THE BAPTISM OF FIRE o His eyes of fire impart desire. In Luke 3, John the Baptist spoke and said, "At this time, Jesus will baptize you with fire." This is a good fire; it's a holy fire. o In the upper room in Acts 2, 120 people were praying and seeking the Lord for ten days and Jesus baptized them with fire. ■ This is way I see this it: Jesus set His gaze upon that prayer room, and the fire of God fell on them, giving them courage and supernatural power at the heart level. These cowardly men became bold. Men and women stood boldly because they had a supernatural fire of God empowering their heart and empowering their love. 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