We pray that you just bless, pass from here with your spirit, Lord, allow him to preach
boldly and clearly, Lord.
And I also pray that you give us ears to hear the preaching, Lord, and give us understanding
of the words being preached, Lord.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Okay.
We're in Revelation chapter number seven this evening, or I'm sorry, Revelation chapter
number one.
Look down at your Bibles at verse 14.
It says, his head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes
were as a flame of fire, and his feet like a defying brass, as if they burned in a furnace,
and his voice as the sound of many waters.
And he had in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged
sword, and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
And what I want to preach on this evening is what Jesus looks like, what Jesus looks
like.
Now, obviously, Revelation chapter one, we see a pretty detailed description of what
he looks like in his glorified, transfigured state.
And we're going to get into that later on in the sermon.
But turn with me, if you would, to the book of Acts chapter 17, if you will, Acts chapter
17.
And then we're going to go to Exodus chapter 20.
Exodus chapter 20, you know, obviously, you know, in the age of the internet and social
media, you often see misguided Christians using an image of Jesus when they post verses,
or they want to post some spiritual phrase, or whatever it may be.
And what do they do?
They make a mistake of actually trying to put an image of Jesus Christ on that post,
on that image.
You also see this in movies, right?
You know, you have movies of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and they will portray Jesus
as this skinny, you know, tall, pale-faced, long-haired, hippie kind of guy.
And that's not what Jesus Christ looks like at all.
You say, well, how do you know?
Well, first and foremost, we don't know exactly what Jesus looked like, okay?
The Bible doesn't give a detailed description of what He actually looked like while He was
here on this earth.
But before we get into that, let me just explain that we should never make an image of Jesus.
We should never make an image of the Godhead, period, right?
The Bible says in Deuteronomy chapter 4 verse 15, take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves,
for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb
out of the midst of the fire, lest ye corrupt yourselves and make you a graven image, the
similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female.
So what is the Bible telling us here?
It's saying, hey, you don't know what God looks like.
You've never seen Him.
And if you try to make a graven image of the Godhead, whether that's God the Father, God
the Son, or God the Holy Spirit, you're actually corrupting yourself.
You're actually corrupting yourself because of the fact that the Bible strictly commands
us never to make a graven image of the Godhead, period.
Deuteronomy 16, 21 says, thou shall not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar
of the Lord thy God, which thou shall make thee.
Neither shalt thou set thee up any image which the Lord thy God hateth.
So the Bible is actually saying that God hates it when people try to make an image of God.
You say, well, you know, pastor, that's actually referring to false gods.
You know, these graven images is actually referring to false gods, not referring to
the true and living God.
Well, here's the thing, no one knows what God looks like, so whatever image they make
is a false god.
Even if they claim for it to be the God of the Bible, Jesus Christ, the Savior, the Holy
Spirit, they don't know what He looks like, so they're creating an image out of their
own heart.
It's a false god.
Okay?
And make no mistake about it, the Jesus Christ of today and the images that you see on the
internet or in movies, that's a false god.
And most of the time when you see a Jesus like that, it often has a corrupted message,
something that's not biblical, something that does not line up with the word of God.
Leviticus 26 one says, ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up
a standing image, neither shall you set up any image of stone in your land to bow down
unto it, for I am the Lord your God.
You know, the Catholic church would do well to read that verse, where he specifically
says, hey, don't make graven images, neither rear up a standing image.
Well, but what do you see when you go to a Catholic church?
You see a standing image of the Virgin Mary, a standing image of a morbid, crucified Jesus
Christ right there dead center in the middle.
That's exactly what you see in the Catholic church.
That's what you see in an Orthodox church, right?
It says don't bow down to it.
Well, we're not bowing down to it.
We're just, you know, we are showing it respect.
You know, what's the word that they use?
Venerate.
We're just venerating, Mary.
It's the same thing.
And we need to use God's definition of what the Bible says, what bowing down means and
worshiping means.
Venerating, if you're bowing down and worshiping and praying unto the image, God considers
that worship.
It doesn't matter if you change the word, okay?
Now look at Acts 17, verse 28 says,
For in Him we live and move and have our being, as certain also of your own poets have said,
for we are also His offspring.
For as much then as we are the offspring of God, we are not to think that the Godhead
is like unto gold or silver or stone, graven by art and man's device.
So look, the Godhead cannot be put into art or man's device because of the fact that God
says no one has ever seen me.
And look, yes, while people were here on this earth during Jesus Christ's ministry,
they beheld the word of God with their own eyes.
They felt Him, they saw Him, but still the Bible specifically tells us that we should
make no image of Him, even if you saw, even if you knew what He looked like.
Look at Exodus chapter 20 and verse number 1, it says,
And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee
out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me, and thou shalt not make unto thee any graven
image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above.
Now look, no one's going to deny that this is also including God, right?
It's including angels, it's including God, anything that's in heaven above.
Now obviously, the exception to that rule would be the chariobims that were on the mercy
seat in the tabernacle, right?
Because God sanctioned that to be done.
At that point, because God makes the rules, that's okay.
But anything else other than that, God does not sanction it, He does not approve of it,
and He says don't make any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven
above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.
There goes your fish, Christian symbol on your bumper sticker, you know, on your vehicle.
You know, there goes the dove picture that you have, sticker that you have on your vehicle.
God says don't make any of those images.
And look, it's interesting that you can have so many clear verses about not having images,
yet Christians today during Christmas will have an altar scene of animals, of baby Jesus,
of Joseph, and they have these graven images in front of their lawn or in their house on
top of their fireplace or wherever it is in their house, even though the Bible specifically
says don't do that.
Where do they get it from?
They get it from the Catholics, okay?
It's wrong.
Now go to Romans chapter number one, if you would, Romans chapter number one.
What did Jesus, what did He not look like first, okay?
First of all, I want to explain to you, while He was here on this earth, I want to talk
about what Jesus Christ did not look like.
Number one, He did not look like Caesar Borgia, right?
He did not look like Caesar Borgia, and I don't care if I'm mispronouncing His name,
I'm saying that the American name, Borgia, Borgia, whatever, okay?
Caesar Borgia was the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI in the 1500s, and this guy
was a very wicked individual, he had a lot of power, he had a lot of influence, and it
was during that time that Leonardo da Vinci, that little faggot artist, right, created
an image of Jesus Christ based upon his close friend, Caesar Borgia.
That's actually where it comes from.
And the claim that the modern depictions of Jesus was based upon Caesar Borgia was introduced
by a novelist by the name of Alexander Dumas, who argued that due to the fact that Jesus
Christ was Jewish, it really didn't sit well with the Catholic church because obviously
during that time, Jews weren't really that popular in the European countries because
of their rejection of Jesus Christ and their predatory lending practices, they were thrown
out of many countries and people detested them, even Catholics, who were off in their
doctrine, off on salvation, even they did not like the Jews, okay?
And so, you know, because they had such a detest for Jews, they figured, well, we want
to change Jesus, we wanted to make him look less Middle Eastern and more European, okay?
And this is where that comes from.
So the idea was to create an image of Jesus that was more European-like.
Now here's the thing, even 800 years before that, before Borgia was born, you had icons
of Jesus Christ resembling Caesar Borgia even in the sixth century, okay?
You say, well, then that disproves the fact that, you know, Jesus Christ was, you know,
basically made after Caesar Borgia.
No, it just proves that all of these are false gods and false idols.
It doesn't matter if 800 years before there was a guy who looked exactly like Caesar Borgia,
they're both wrong.
They're both not Jesus, you know?
And look, this is how you can tell if it's Jesus or not, does he have a man-butt?
All of these icons from the Orthodox Church have Jesus Christ, you know, in his hair and
a ponytail, split down the middle, looking like a queer, looking like a sickly queer,
just as pale as ever, and this is what they think Jesus Christ actually looked like.
And look, many Christians, even today, still adhere to that.
You know, they love these movies and, you know, you have the Passion of the Christ.
I mean, come on.
The guy in the Passion of the Christ, seriously?
The guy is a Caucasian, he's a white guy, and you expect me to believe that's Jesus
Christ?
The guy has long, flowing hair.
But that's not what it is.
You know, that's not Jesus Christ.
That is a false portrayal.
They're obviously not following the Bible because they're creating an image of their
own heart.
And, in fact, look at Romans 1, verse 21, it says, because that when they knew God,
they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations,
and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the uncorruptible
God into an image made like unto corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts,
and creeping things.
So here's what you have.
You have the Catholic Church and all its bastard children in the initial part of the verse,
made like unto corruptible man.
And then you have Buddhism and all these other false religions, Hinduism, to the birds,
four-footed beasts, and creeping things.
So God just covered the entire spectrum of false idols that can be made of God, right?
The first being made like unto corruptible man, look, Caesar Virgil was a corruptible
man.
That guy was a pervert, okay, a full-blown pervert that they used to try to portray what
Jesus looked like.
Now, look, if you don't agree with that, if you say, well, that's not historical, well,
it doesn't matter.
Either way, it's still wrong.
It's still wrong, the image is still wrong, the portrayal is still wrong, the depiction
is wrong, because it's not biblical.
Go to Isaiah 53, if you would, Isaiah 53.
But here's the thing, people want to depict Jesus Christ as being just this chiseled feature,
you know, with cheekbones, and just handsome, and good-looking, and this Pantene Pro-V hair,
and just looks very desirable, like, wow, yeah, that would be my Savior, wouldn't it?
You know?
That's what I'm talking about right there.
Oh, that's interesting, because that's not actually even what the Bible says that He
even looked like.
They didn't say that He was handsome or comely.
What does the Bible say?
Look at Isaiah 53, verse 1, who hath believed our report, and to whom is the armor of the
Lord revealed?
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground.
He hath no form nor comeliness.
What does that mean?
He wasn't handsome, okay?
He wasn't good-looking.
Whatever people would deem as being a good-looking man, the Bible says He wasn't.
He was not physically comely.
Now, look, obviously He was beautiful, because He's the Son of God.
From a holiness perspective, you know, He was beautiful, but from a physical perspective,
the Bible tells us here, He has no form nor comeliness.
And when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.
Think about that.
The Bible says He wasn't beautiful, no one would even desire Him, you know?
He didn't have those types of features.
He was humble, you know?
Even to the point where, look what it says in verse 3, He is despised and rejected of
men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and if we hid as it were our faces
from Him, He was despised and we esteemed Him not, the Bible says.
You know, when He came on this earth, no one really looked upon Him as a king.
No one really desired Him, and in fact, He came into His own and His own received Him
not.
They expected more of a man with physical prowess, that's not what He had, He had spiritual
prowess.
You know, He's the Son of God.
But yet, look up, Google, you know, images of Jesus Christ, and every time you see something,
you'll see a comely man, you know, a comely person with light skin, tall, long hair, it's
a corruptible version of Jesus Christ, okay?
So what did He not look like?
Well, number one, He didn't look like Caesar Borgia, okay?
Number two, He didn't wear a dress, and that's what you commonly see in these images, right?
These long, flowing robes, you know, where He's just dressed in a woman's garment, you
know, that's false, that's not correct.
Every modern image of Jesus depicts Him having a long robe or a dress.
Now go to Luke chapter 20, if you would, Luke chapter 20, let me just remind us that dresses
pertain to women, amen?
Pants pertain unto men.
And look, if you come to our church, ladies, and you're wearing pants, well, get on board
and put on a dress, amen?
And make it modest, by the way, not form-fitting, amen?
You know, be modest, be holy, no wearing pants, that is a garment that pertains unto men.
The Bible tells us in Deuteronomy 22, 5, the woman shall not wear that which pertain to
a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment, for all that do saw an abomination
unto the Lord thy God.
Leonardo da Vinci, you are a stinking devil for creating an image of Jesus Christ with
a long dress, because he specifically says that's an abomination.
Now I'm not even in agreement that he made an image of Jesus Christ, but to add insult
to injury, he makes them with a long dress.
Oh it's a long robe, that was the custom back then, you guys were talking about that earlier,
right?
People try to bring that up.
That was a cultural custom, though the cultural custom, and by the way, let's say it was a
cultural custom, don't matter, God says it's wrong.
Let's say there is some culture out there where you got a bunch of guys, you know, 2,000,
3,000 years ago that would wear dresses, okay then they're faggots, they're queers, doesn't
make it right, God still says that that's wrong and that's an abomination, and you have
people today that try to justify that, you know, the people in Scotland, they wear the
little kilts, people in Hawaii, they wear the little dresses as well, there's all types
of cultures like that, it's wrong, it's wicked, it's an abomination according to God, and
it's even more wicked to think that Jesus Christ would wear a dress, or a long robe.
Now here's the thing, now that he's glorified, yes, he's wearing a long robe, and in fact
the Bible specifically says in Revelation chapter 1 that he had a long garment, but
why is that?
Because he's the king, he's the king.
When he came to this earth, he was not physically taking on a throne, he was working, and he
was a king, so there's only two people who should wear these things, and one of them
is a king according to the Bible, long robes, okay, soft clothing as the Bible would put
it.
Now I don't believe he's wearing a dress, I still believe he's wearing breeches under,
but he does have a long robe.
Look at Luke chapter 20, by the way, isn't it ridiculous that it's so crazy that people
will just completely negate everything that Jesus said, and make him out to be things
that are completely in opposition to his teaching.
Look what it says in Luke 20, 46, beware of the scribes which desire to walk in long robes.
Oh, but it's okay for Jesus to wear it, right?
Except for Jesus.
And love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogue, and the chief
rooms at feasts which devour widows' houses, and for a show make long prayers, the same
shall receive greater damnation.
So these guys like long prayers, they like long robes, you know, they like to basically
have a pretense of being godly.
You know, Jesus did not wear a long robe or a dress at that point, for that matter, excuse
me.
You know, he wore pants.
And here's the thing is, you can study that, this is obviously outside of the scope of
the sermon, but you can study throughout the Bible, all men wore pants.
And even, it might not have been pants like this, okay, it might have been a little shorter,
but either way, they covered both thighs with a split down the middle, and you can obviously
tell this is, these are pants, these are breeches, or britches as people would often call them,
okay?
You know, how do you gird up the loins when you're working if you're wearing a dress,
if there's no pants under it, right?
I mean, these people need to think.
So what did Jesus Christ, what Jesus Christ did not look like?
Number one, he did not look like Caesar Borgia.
He did not wear a dress, and the most obvious one is that he did not have long hair, okay?
And what I mean by long hair, I'm referring to hair that looks like a woman, all right?
And you see this in non-denom liberal churches all the time.
I'm not referring to just the images that they make of Jesus, but just the men in the
church.
Hey guy, you know, chop off the man butt that's queer, that's faggoty, and it's not biblical.
You know, hey, if you have long hair, cut your hair.
You say, well, you know, how long is long?
I'll tell you how long is long.
When people start wondering, then it's too long.
And I don't even like going to that point.
Questionable is right here.
I'm like, I cut my hair at this point right here.
I did not go to the military.
I wasn't a part of the military or anything like that, but I did go to a church where
they had military hairstyle cuts, and initially I did not like that.
But after a while, it kind of grows on you, pun intended, right?
And I prefer to have it nice and short because it just looks like a man's haircut rather
than have it flowing and long and have people question if you have long hair.
The Bible tells us, doth not nature even teach you that if a man have long hair, it is a
shame unto him, the Bible says.
So take out the images, period, but let me just remind you that the image of Jesus Christ,
who Jesus Christ actually looked like and still does, you know, he didn't have long
hair.
Now here's the one thing that they do have right.
What is that?
The beard.
He did have a beard, right?
Jesus had a beard.
Now here's the funny thing, okay?
Because independent fundamental Baptist for some reason, I know what the reason is, but
it's just still ridiculous.
You know, they, it's like beards are sinful to them.
What are you, a liberal?
You're wearing a beard, shave that thing off.
You know, it's just like, you know Jesus had a beard, right?
And look, God made me, you know, in such a way that I grow hair on my face.
Are you blaming God for the fact that I can grow hair on my face?
Now obviously, you know, where that comes from is, you know, you have in the 60s, 70s
where they had the hippies and, you know, pastors would often preach against these hippies
and commies, and they were the ones who typically grew their beards, and this is why they would
preach against that, and they had such a disdain towards beards.
But even then, it's still not right.
They're fighting the wrong battle.
You know, fight against the ideology, fight against the corruption, the doctrine, not
the beard.
Okay?
And look, I've literally had people look down on, I mean, I used to go to church where like
if you even had a five o'clock shadow.
I mean, you're just like, you're not right with God.
And you know, I went to Bible college where they had that rule that you had to, you know,
stay clean-shaven.
And I remember like not arguing with some of the people, but just like, you know, it's
easy for you to say, you can't grow hair.
You're getting on my case for growing a beard.
Well, I grow beard in a couple hours, you can't grow one in a lifetime.
So you know, leave me alone.
And by the way, I'm not saying that if you don't have a beard, you're not right with
God or you're not manly, who cares about that, right?
But what I'm saying is this, is that to say that a beard is ungodly is just like, come
on.
You have to understand that Jesus Christ obviously had a beard, so is it ungodly?
And we can go, I can go on about that, but I'm not going to.
So we're never supposed to worship an image.
You know, the Bible says that they that worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth,
not in image.
Not bow down to an image of Jesus Christ or an image of the Godhead.
We worship Him in spirit and in truth.
Now let's get back to what Jesus Christ actually looks like now.
Now go back to Revelation chapter number one.
Revelation chapter number one.
As I mentioned, there's a couple of things that we need to understand.
And the first is this, is that the description in Revelation chapter one is describing Jesus
Christ in His glorified state.
And obviously, this is very supernatural because of the imagery that we're seeing here.
I believe that this is actually what He looks like, but I also believe that it's symbolic.
It has symbolic meaning behind it, behind His attributes, His divinity, His virtue.
And the image that we see here is not meant to be taken and to make a graven image because
that would be a violation of Exodus chapter 20 and many other scriptures.
The imagery, though real, represents His character, power, and virtue.
So let's go through some of these, and I'm gonna make an application to each one and
what they describe, what they mean.
What does Jesus Christ look like now?
Number one, look at verse 14, it says, His head and His hairs were white like wool as
white as snow.
So first and foremost, we see His head and His hair are white like wool as white as snow.
Now there's a lot of things that this can actually be applied to.
Number one, obviously, is His holiness, right?
When Jesus Christ saves us and He cleanses us with His blood, we're made white as snow.
Our sins are covered, our transgressions are forgotten, they're cast into the deepest part
of the ocean, separated as far as east is from west, and it stems from the ultimate
source of holiness, the ultimate source of righteousness, which is Jesus Christ.
And that's typically what white represents in the Bible, right?
Cleanliness, purity, holiness.
But I believe this also speaks to His eternal sonship, okay?
Now why is that?
Well, He's gray-headed, right?
That's what it's referring to.
And gray-headedness is associated with being older, or as the Bible puts it, being ancient,
right?
Well, go to Daniel chapter number seven, if you will, Daniel chapter number seven.
So His hair and His head are white like wool as white as snow.
Now you have this really wicked organization, wicked.
It's called Israel United in Christ.
What's the other name that they have for them?
The Black Hebrew Israelites.
And they're like, Jesus is black.
Don't y'all know that Jesus is black?
They're just like, why do you say that?
Well, the Bible says that He had hair, His hair was white as wool.
That's nappy hair.
It's like, what?
Folks, wool, where does wool come from?
And who is He?
He's the Lamb of God who should take away the sins of the world.
So it's not, you know, this is just proof of His ethnicity right here.
He's in His glorified state.
And look, I don't believe there's going to be, obviously there's different nations and
tongues in heaven, but I don't believe I'm going to be brown in heaven.
I don't think those things matter anymore when we're in heaven.
Obviously we're of different nations and tongues, and there's going to be different peoples
in heaven.
But here's the thing, you think Jesus Christ looks like now the way He looked like when
He was here?
According to this description, you know, He would get a lot of attention when He was here
on this earth if it looked like that.
But to say that He was black because His hair was like wool, give me a break.
And then we'll see later on, they'll say, well, yeah, look at the description of His
feet.
You know, they're like, it's like, though it burned in the furnace.
So just His feet were black?
That's what it says.
So you know, Jesus Christ was half something half black because, well, not even half, right?
Because what is that, like 10% of His body was black?
Come on, that's ridiculous.
But this is what happens when you put the Bible into the hands of unsaved people and
more specifically wicked unsaved people like the black Hebrew Israelites.
It's all about race for them, right?
They want to make Jesus Christ black.
There's other people that want to make Him Hispanic.
There's other people that want to make Him Asian.
Folks, who cares?
Not only that, but He was from Israel.
He looked like a Middle Eastern guy probably.
I mean, is that crazy or what?
Now He's black.
Jesus was black.
And they literally have images of Jesus.
How many of you have seen the black Jesus?
It's the stupidest thing I've ever seen in my life.
It represents, it's a representation of something else.
The wool because He's the Lamb of God who should take away the sins of the world.
Wool that is white as snow represents holiness and purity and righteousness.
But it also speaks to His eternal sonship.
Look at Daniel chapter 7 verse 21, it says, I beheld them the same horn, made war with
the saints and prevailed against them until the ancient of days came and judgment was
given to the saints of the Most High and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
So gray hair or white hair is often represented or described for, is a description for people
who are old or as the Bible would put it, ancient.
And the Bible says that Jesus Christ is the ancient of days.
What does that mean?
Well, He is from old from everlasting, right?
He has no beginning, no end, but He is of eternity past.
He's always existed as the Son of God, by the way.
The Bible says in Job 12, 12, with the ancient is wisdom and in length of days, understanding.
So it not only represents His purity, His holiness, His righteousness, it represents
Him as being the Lamb of God because of the wool.
It represents Him as being the ancient of days because He is from everlasting.
But it also represents wisdom because people with gray hair according to the Bible are
supposed to be those who have wisdom, right?
They've been around the block, they've gained experience, they have prudence, they have
wisdom and the Bible tells us that the ancient has wisdom.
Well, who is the source of all wisdom?
Jesus Christ.
He is the head of the church and guess what?
He is the source of all prudence and wisdom and knowledge.
Not only that, but Proverbs 20, 29 says, the glory of young men is their strength and the
beauty of old men is the gray head.
Doesn't the Bible talk about Him being beautiful in His glorified state or just beautiful in
His godliness and His holiness?
Isaiah 4, 2 says, in that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious.
This is referring to the millennial reign, okay?
Go to Proverbs 16.
So He is the source of all wisdom and this is why His head is as white as snow.
And look, the practical application that you can take from that is this, if any of you
lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and abraighteth not.
Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering, for let not that man think that he shall receive
anything of the Lord.
Before you go to your bank account, before you go to your doctor, before you go to any
earthly resource, we should go to God first and say, God, please give me wisdom and part
wisdom for this decision that I need to make.
Give me wisdom for this opportunity here.
Help me to have wisdom to know what to do in this situation.
But unfortunately, a lot of Christians don't do that.
They make hasty decisions.
They make all types of moves without asking God for wisdom.
Now, obviously, God gives us liberty, right?
He gives us the liberty to choose to do what we want within the confines of God's will.
But does that mean we don't need wisdom?
Absolutely we do, especially if it's an area of life that we're not experienced in, right?
We need the wisdom of God, therefore we ask of God to giveth to all men liberally Jesus
Christ as a source.
Proverbs 16, 31 says, the hoary head is a crown of glory if it be found in the way of
righteousness.
Hoary is referring to that white head.
And so, you know, this is specifically referring to, you know, ancient people or people who
are older.
They can be a crown of glory if they're saved, if they love the Bible, if they love righteousness.
They can be a crown of glory to people.
You know, there's people in our church who have a hoary head, and you know what?
They're our crown of glory because they have wisdom, they have experience, but you know,
the ultimate crown of glory is Jesus Christ.
Why?
Because he is the hope of glory.
Jesus Christ in me, the hope of glory, right?
He is the ultimate crown of glory that we receive.
You know, it was God who told Abraham, I am thy reward, thy exceeding great reward.
I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward.
Nothing crowns in the New Testament are described as rewards that we get.
Go back to Revelation chapter number one.
So he has the hair in his head, white as snow, like unto wool.
It depicts his holiness, his righteousness, his purity.
It describes him as being the son of God because it's as wool.
Not only that, but he's the source of all wisdom.
It comes from him.
Let's keep looking here.
Verse number 14 says, his head and his hairs were white like wool as white as snow, and
his eyes were as a flame of fire.
Do I see black people today with eyes a flame of fire?
Why do they...
See, they just cherry pick everything else, right?
I pick the wool.
We could say it's nappy.
Pick the feet because they're kind of black.
But what about everything else?
What about the eyes a flame of fire?
I've never met a human being with eyes a flame of fire.
I've never met any person with red eyes other than, you know, if they didn't sleep enough
or they're, you know, hung over or something like that.
But I'm assured that that's not what this is referring to.
But this is the agenda of wicked people.
They just pick and choose different portions of scriptures that fit their agenda, etc.
Let's talk about his eyes.
His head and his hair were white like wool as white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame
of fire.
Now, what is this talking about?
Well, this is representing his omnipresence, okay?
The fact that Jesus Christ is actually omnipresent because he's God.
Now hold your place or go to 2 Chronicles chapter 16, 2 Chronicles chapter 16.
Now here's the thing.
When it comes to fire, you know, it has two abilities, so to speak.
It has two purposes.
One, it can purify or the other can destroy, right?
Fire is meant to purify, to remove impurities, to remove all of the dross, to bring forth
a vessel for the finer, as the Bible would put it.
But it also is used for destruction, right?
So keep that in mind.
But when you think of Jesus Christ having eyes of fire, fire basically can just burn
through all of the, you know, all of the layers and really see the core of an issue.
So let me give you an example.
You know, God is able to just peel through our own layers of our being and see the inner
recesses of our heart.
He can just kind of peer through our words, our actions, and all the way into the heart.
In fact, the Bible says, hell and destruction are before the Lord, right?
How much more are the hearts of men?
So if God can see hell and destruction, which no man can see but him, how much more can
he see the inner recesses of our hearts?
He ponders our hearts.
He can see the motives of our heart.
No one else can, right?
But he can do it because he has eyes as a flame of fire, referring to his omnipresence.
He sees everything.
Look at verse 9 of 2 Chronicles chapter 16.
It says here, for the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth.
That's referring to his omnipresence, right?
He can run to and fro throughout the whole earth.
He sees, he's observing everything.
He sees everything.
He says, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.
So what is this referring to?
Is he just like sightseeing, looking at all the mountains and rivers and beautiness and
all?
No, he's looking for the perfect heart, which only he can see, right?
So this should show us that, and encourage us, motivate us to have the right motives,
to have a purified heart, because God can see everything, right?
And if we want God to show himself strong on our behalf, we need to make sure that we
have a pure heart.
And he's looking for those who do have that heart in order to show himself strong.
The Bible says in Proverbs 15, verse 3, the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding
the evil and the good.
So you see there, look, he's looking everywhere.
He's omnipresent, and he's able to behold the evil that people do in order to hold them
accountable and destroy them.
But he's also able to behold the good that people do, and look, this should be an encouragement
to you that when you feel like you're not being thanked for the good works that you
do, you're not being recognized for the good things that you do or the good works that
you put in, don't worry, God sees it.
His eyes are as a flame of fire.
He sees it all.
He sees when you read your Bible by yourself.
He sees when you're praying by yourself.
He sees when you win souls to the Lord and no one's around.
He sees when you do a good deed.
He sees it all.
And if no one thanks you for the actions that you do and the works that you put in, don't
worry, God sees it.
Because his eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth.
But by the way, on the flip side, he sees all the evil that you do too, right?
He sees the sins that you commit when you're not in church, when you're at home, or whatever
it is that you're doing, he can see it all.
And his eyes are as a flame of fire.
He can send destruction before you if he so pleases.
Proverbs 16, 2 says, all the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs
the spirits.
And this should show us, you know, I was kind of having this conversation with my wife and
I was thinking to myself, you know, God can peel through the layers of my works to really
see why it is that I do the things that I do.
And sometimes we could even think we're doing good, like, you know, well, I think I'm pretty
clean.
I think I'm doing pretty good.
I think I'm serving the Lord, but the Lord pondereth the hearts though.
He's the one that really knows.
And I was kind of talking to my wife about this and I was thinking to myself, you know,
I wonder if we get rewarded for doing the works, but maybe we think we're doing right,
but maybe we don't have the right motive behind the works that we do.
And the Bible doesn't really make it clear whether that happens or not, and I think that's
on purpose.
Why?
Because God wants us to work and he wants us to constantly come before him and say,
Lord, try my heart, clean my heart, help me to have the right motives.
Maybe I don't have the right motives.
Lord, help me to have the right motives when I serve you, when I'm out sowing.
Help me not to do things to be seen of men.
Help me to do things because I love you and I love people.
I want to see people saved.
I want to disciple people.
So he kind of leaves that question mark in our lives, you know?
And look, and if you are a Christian who wants to be rewarded, you're going to think about
that and say, man, maybe I do need to clean up my heart.
Maybe I need to try my own heart.
I need to examine myself to make sure I have the right motives, you know?
Maybe I need to spend more time in the law, the perfect law of liberty.
Behold that glass, that mirror, right?
That reflects whether I'm doing good or not.
I need to purify my heart, and that's exactly how God wants us to live.
He wants us to live understanding that he's always watching.
And one thing that keeps us from committing sins or getting involved in things that we
all have to be involved in is knowing that God is always watching, you know?
Some of the godliest men in the Bible have said, I've sinned before thee.
Even though maybe they've sinned before something, you know, against someone else.
I've sinned against thee and thee only.
You know, Joseph said when he was tempted with Potiphar's wife, you know, how can I
do this great wickedness and sin against Potiphar?
No, sin against God.
Because he understood that though he was far away from home in the land of Egypt, God was
still watching, the eyes of flame of fire.
Proverbs 22, 12 says, the eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge, and he overthrows the
words of the transgressor.
He remembers everything.
He sees it all.
1 Peter 3, 12 says, for the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are opened
into their prayers, but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.
Go back to Revelation chapter number one, if you would, Revelation chapter number one.
So his hair and his head, white as wool, as white as snow.
We see his eyes as a flame of fire because it depicts his omnipresence.
He's able to see all things at all times.
And look, you know, this is why God's so mad too, by the way.
This is why God has so much wrath.
Why?
Because he sees the evil that you and I probably will never see.
He sees the habitation of wickedness.
He sees all the filth and the garbage and the sin.
He sees the kidnapping and the sex trafficking of children.
He sees the murders of innocent people.
He sees it all.
And that's why the Bible tells us the eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge.
What does that mean?
It means he will never forget these things.
As something that he saw, you know, 5,000 years ago or 2,000 years ago, according to
our timetable, some wicked thing that took place in those days, he hasn't forgotten that.
His eyes have preserved knowledge.
He remembers that.
You know, and look, there's people out there who've gotten away with murder.
You have the Zodiac Killer, for example.
How many of you know who the Zodiac Killer is?
Yeah, it's that group.
You know, he got away with murder.
And who knows?
Maybe he might have died.
We don't know.
And he got away with murder.
They never captured him, but that's okay because the eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge.
He remembers those deeds.
There's multitudes of people who have gotten away with, you know, horrendous crimes.
And they think they got away.
They didn't get away.
It's okay.
The eyes of the Lord preserve the knowledge of those deeds, okay?
Let's finish up here.
Verse 15 says, and his feet liken to fine brass as if they burned in a furnace.
So what is this depicting here?
Well, first of all, it's depicting where he went to pay for our sins because his feet,
his whole body, obviously, went to hell for three days and three nights.
Jesus Christ went to hell for three days and three nights to pay for our sins, okay?
And that is an irrefutable point.
Now turn with me, if you would, to Psalm 18.
Go to Psalm 18.
Psalm 18, Isaiah 53 verse 9 says, and he made his grave with the wicked and with the rich
in his death because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth, yet it
pleased the Lord to bruise him.
He hath put him to grief.
When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed.
He shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
Now let me say this is that when thinking about his feet, they're like unto brass as
though they burned in a furnace.
Well, to a certain extent, they literally did, did they not?
With Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego.
He was in the burning fiery furnace, you know?
And a hair of their head was not singed, but his feet burned like unto brass, right?
But I honestly believe that this is actually referring to, that could be an interpretation,
but another interpretation is this, is that he went to hell for us.
The Bible says in Luke 12, 49 says, I am come to send fire in the earth, and what will I
if it be already kindled?
But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straight until it be accomplished?
You say, well, why the feet?
Why not his whole body?
Remember, this is symbolic.
Look at Psalm 18, verse four.
The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods among godly men made me afraid.
The sorrows of hell compassed me about, the snares of death prevented me.
This is obviously a prophetic Psalm of Jesus Christ.
David did not literally go to hell, right?
He is speaking of Jesus Christ who will go to hell later on in the future.
He says in verse six, in my distress, I called upon the Lord and cried unto my God, He heard
my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.
Then the earth shook and trembled, the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken because
he was raw.
There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured, coals
were kindled by it.
He bowed the heavens also and came down, and look what it says, and darkness was under
his feet.
This is, of course, in context of hell compassing him about.
We understand that Jesus Christ, according to the prophecies even of Jonah, as Jonah
was three days and three nights in the well's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days
and three nights in the heart of the earth.
It says, for thou has delivered my soul from hell in Psalm 56 verse 13, will not thou deliver
my feet from falling that I may walk before God in the light of the living?
Go back to Revelation chapter one.
So really this is depicting the fact that Jesus Christ went to hell.
His path took him to hell in order to basically taste death for every man.
That's what it's depicting there.
Now the last portion is pretty self-explanatory.
It says, in his voice as the sound of many waters, verse 16, and he had in his right
hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance
was as the sun shineth in his strength.
So obviously because he's the Word of God, he is that sword.
And the Bible talks about that the Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing even through the dividing of sunder of soul and spirit, joints
in the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart.
Now I believe this is literal.
I don't know how this is going to really look like when we see Jesus Christ, but I don't
think it really matters because at that point everything changes.
Even our perspective changes, and I believe he has a sharp sword that comes out of his
mouth.
I don't believe literally the way we think of a sword coming out of the mouth, right?
What I believe is that when he speaks, we know that's the sword of God.
It cuts.
It pierces.
It divides.
It's able to see the inner recesses of the heart.
He has power in his word.
So that's what Jesus Christ looks like.
People are so concerned with what he used to look like when he was here on this earth,
immediately negating the fact of what he looks like now, and really at that point,
honestly, it doesn't even matter.
What he represents matters even more.
If Jesus really wanted us to know, if God wanted us to know what his son looked like,
he would have described him while he was here on this earth.
He would have told us to make images of him.
He would have said, hey, make an icon, make an image, or don't make images of anything
else but my son.
But he didn't.
Why?
Because of the fact that he didn't want to happen to Jesus, what happened to the serpent.
If you remember the story of the serpent, people took that serpent and they began to
worship it.
That's not what God wants.
They that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word, and we're thankful for the symbolic meaning
of the image of Christ that we see in Revelation chapter 1.
Very powerful.
I pray also, Lord, to take these things into consideration, to recognize that you are the
source of all wisdom, Lord, that you see everything.
You ponder the hearts, help us to check our motives, to examine ourselves on a daily basis.
I pray also, Lord, that you help us to remember that as your feet were in a furnace, Lord,
that any furnace that we go through here on this earth, any tribulation that we experience,
that you're right there with us.
And you have the experience of being in a furnace and suffering with your people, Lord,
and you'll do it again when we experience that same tribulation in our personal lives.
We love you so much, Lord, and we thank you for these things in Jesus' name.