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• The authority of His voice silencing all others     "His voice was as the sound of many waters."    Revelation 1v15

The apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthians observed that there are many kinds of voices in the  world and none of them without significance; but there is one voice above all others that will drown out the garbled voices of men .   For many thousands of years the voice of Jesus Christ has been silent in this earth.   He came briefly to tell us the truth of God; He gave His life to save the human race; His voice will not remain silent for ever, and all shall hear it above all other voices upon the earth.   Even the dead shall hear it, "the hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation"-John 5v28.   Stand at the base of the Niagara Falls and try speaking to someone and your voice will be drowned out.   In a very real way this will happen to all of us when  "every mouth will be stopped"-Romans 3v19.    Psalm 29v3 says "the voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth; the Lord is upon many waters.   The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty."   The vision of Ezekiel in chapter 43v2 says, "And behold the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and His voice was like a noise of many waters".   Hebrews chapter 12v26 describes it perfectly, "Whose voice then shook the earth; but now He hath promised saying, yet once more I shake not the earth only but also heaven."   Revelation 14v2 "And I heard a voice from heaven as the voice of many waters and the voice of great thunder."   Revelation 19v6  "And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude and as the voice of many waters and as the voice of many thunderings, saying Alleluia for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth."

It is the roar of battle, the mighty authority of the Lord taking visible control of the earth.   The voice that was silent before His tormentors at the cross, will be heard above every other voice in the great day of His glory.  The prophet Amos said in chapter 1v2,  "The Lord will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem."   That voice in all its authority will silence every other voice.  Readers should look at 2nd Samuel 2v8-16.  A quote from the beginning and end of it will suffice, "then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook because He was wroth....the Lord thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered His voice....."; Isaiah the prophet envisaged such a day (chapter 41v1),  "keep silence before Me, O  islands; and let the people renew their strength; let them come near; then let them speak, let us come near to judgment."  

Job, the man who knew the heavy hand of God upon him said these words, "Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like Him?"   The Psalmist David says,       "the Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the highest gave His voice; hailstones and coals of fire.  Yea, He sent out His arrows and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings and discomfited them.  Then the channels of water were seen and the foundations of the world were discovered at Thy rebuke oh Lord, at the blast of the breath of Thy nostrils"-Psalm 18v13-15.   Again in the Psalms 46v6, "The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: He uttered His voice, the earth melted."  

We do well today to hear the still small voice of the Holy Spirit bringing us to salvation in Christ; rather than being exposed to the wrath of the One whose voice will drown out all others. 

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• The all-conquering subjugation of His power   "...and His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace".   Revelation 1v15.

The usage of brass or bronze/copper in the bible is symbolic of divine judgment.  The well known scripture,  "And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron" is metaphoric for divine judgment on people-Deuteronomy 28v23   The altar of sacrifice both in the tabernacle and the temple was made of brass.   This depicts divine judgment upon sin, because the fire was never to be extinguished.  The laver before the holy place was also made of brass, and is symbolic of self judgment, since no priest could enter the holy place without washing at the laver.  

The "feet" in scripture have to do with authority.  The expression "under His feet" speaks of  absolute authority given to man (Psalm 8v6) at the beginning of creation.  The writer to the Hebrews quotes this Psalm in chapter 2v5-8 saying,  "Thou hast put all things in subjection under His feet: for in that He put all in subjection to Him, He left nothing that is not put under Him."   The writer applies this to Christ who will fulfill what Adam lost because of sin.   So the picture here is of one with absolute authority and power exercising judgement on the world.

All matters concerning the earth are even now under the control of Jesus Christ.  Psalm 47 predicts this "for the Lord most high is terrible; He is a great King over all the earth.   He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet."   The dominion of the earth has been passed to Christ "when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.   For He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet"-1st Corinthians 15v24-25.   The feet of Christ are burning, they are active in judgment.  Not only can He see all things, but He can change all things.  His judgment on the church (chapters 2/3), and in the world (chapters 6-19) is live.   Where necessary, He will act and nothing will oppose Him.  This was prophesied by Daniel in chapter 10v6  "His face was as the appearance of lightning, and His eyes as lamps of fire, and His arms and His feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of His words liker the voice of a multitude."

• Concerning the churches     His feet are walking in the midst of the seven golden lampstands.  He commends, He controls, He commands, and where necessary He condemns.  Revelation 2v5 "Repent or I will remove the lampstand"  Revelation 2v21  He says to the people at Thyatira that He would bring into their midst illness, tribulation, and even death, if they did not mend their ways. 
• Concerning the world at large   Revelation 6v8 "The fourth part of the earth were slain".   Chapter 9v15 "The third part of the earth were slain."  Chapter 19v20 The world rulers , "the beast and the false prophet" were banished to eternal doom.   Chapter 20v10  Satan and all his followers were banished,   Chapter 20v12-15   All the unregenerate dead banished.  

The apostle Peter sounded a warning to all false teachers who were serving themselves and not the Lord  "Whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not"- 2nd Peter 2v3.

The picture here is of feet of bronze burning;  the One who took upon Himself the fires of divine judgment, but the One who will mete it out to all those who reject God's mercy.

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• The searing perception of His vision  "and His eyes are like a flaming fire"  Revelation 1v14.

In contrast to His own whiter than white perfection, human imperfection is exposed by those piercing, all-seeing eyes.  The bible uses pictures to illustrate its truth, and the government of God in this world is described as being "eagle-eyed" (Ezekiel 1, and Revelation 4).   Those magnificent creatures, who can soar to a height of 2,400 feet, and have peripheral vision of 340 degrees (the human equivalent is 180) and can see something as small as a rabbit from three miles away.  Also they can take in five colours at once whereas we can only take in three.  This supreme example from nature of perfect vision is used to describe the perceptive vision of the One who is judge of all the earth.   In Revelation 4v6 the living creatures are said to be "full of eyes before and behind."   In chapter 5v6 the Lamb is said to have "seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth."   From these eyes there is no hiding place.

Proverbs 15v3  "The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good."   Hebrews 4v13   No creature escapes His eyes; "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do."  Psalm 139v1-5... A summary would go something like this;  He knows us all, He searches us all, He knows all our movements, even to the smallest detail, He knows our thoughts before we think them and He knows all our habits and our ways.   He knows every word in our tongues, He knows our past, He knows our future.  His controlling hand is on our present.

In the gospel of John, the gospel symbolized by the eagle, we learn the all seeing perception of Jesus Christ.

• Chapter 1v42        He knew Peter's future
• Chapter 1v47        He knew Nathaniel's past and He knew his present.
• Chapter 2v24-25   He knew the hypocrisy of the people following Him. 
• Chapter 3v10        He knew the status of Nicodemus.
• Chapter 4v1          He knew what the Pharisees' thoughts.
• Chapter 4v16        He knew all about the Samaritan woman.
• Chapter 6v64        He knew his disciples were murmuring together.   

He knows all things about all men.  As Judge He requires no witnesses.  Isaiah 40v13-14   "Who has directed the spirit of the Lord, or being His counsellor hath taught Him?   With whom took He counsel and who instructed Him and taught Him in the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge and showed to Him the way of understanding?"  

Those all searching eyes are said to be "like flames of fire".   Fire in scripture invariably speaks of divine judgment (read the judgments on eight nations in Amos chapters 1 & 2).   He casts His penetrating eyes upon our lives.  This process is in place now and will continue until He has expunged the universe of all sin.   This characteristic of the Lord Jesus will not be a popular one, as we all love to think of Him as our loving Saviour and friend.   However we must take both sides of the coin and a simple reading of the following scriptures will make it clear that He is, at this very moment in time, and will continue to do, trying the hearts of all men.    Psalm 7v9;  Proverbs 17v3;  1st Thessalonians 2v4;  Revelation 2v18;  Revelation 2v23;  Romans 8v27;  and 1st Chronicles 28v9.   All of these say more or less the same thing and a quotation from Proverbs 17v3 will suffice, "The fining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold; but the Lord trieth the hearts."

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• The impeccability of His character   "His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow."         Revelation 1v14

The word "impeccability" comes from the process of removing someone from high office due to corruption.   What is being said here of Christ is that He is unimpeachable.   No one will ever be able to remove Him from office, the office of Judge of all the earth.   I believe that the expression "white as wool, as white as snow" is not so much the idea of maturity or eternality  (such as the Ancient of days of Daniel's prophecy); rather it has to do with the absolute purity of His entire existence such that no one can point the finger. This expression corresponds to Isaiah 1v18, "Come now, and let us reason together saith the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."  What is in view here is the sinless purity of Jesus Christ as He administers the office of Judge.  Let us now consider the testimony of some who witnessed His life and death, and who gave an unbiased view of Him.  

• The angels   At His birth, "that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God"-Luke 1v35
• The demons  In His life,  "Jesus of Nazareth, art Thou come to destroy us?   We know Thee who Thou art, the Holy One of God"- Mark 1v24 (and others)
• God  At the beginning of His public ministry, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased"-Matthew 3v17
• Pontius Pilate At his trial,  "I am innocent of the blood of this just person"-Matthew 27v24 
• The malefactor on the cross "We indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this Man hath done nothing amiss"-Luke 23 v41  
• The Roman centurion  After his death, "truly this was the Son of God"-Matthew 27v54
• Paul "He knew no sin"-2nd Corinthians 5 v 1
• Peter "Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth"-  1st Peter 2v22
• John "And ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin"-1st John 3v5.

He is the sinless impeccable Christ of God.   He said of Himself  as He neared the end of His life on earth, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me"-John 14v30.   No other human being since the creation of Adam until the end of time can ever say that.   Not one thing could He be accused of by the arch accuser of men.   No other person has the right to be the judge of the world.   He is, in the language of scripture, "white like wool".   In the language of the modern world He is "pure as the driven snow."   He is established as the judge of all men and no one will ever be able to remove Him.  His utter purity and sinlessness are without question.   For more than thirty years he walked through this sinful world and was uncontaminated by its toxic atmosphere.

The hymn writer Wylie McCleod has perfectly captured the thought:

"A perfect path of purest grace,

Unblemished and complete,

Was Thine, Thou spotless Nazarite,

Pure, even to the feet.

Thy stainless life, Thy lovely walk,

In every aspect true,

From the defilement all around,

No taint of evil drew.

No broken service, Lord was Thine,

No change was in Thy way;

Unsullied in Thy holiness,

Thy strength knew no decay.

The vow was on Thee—Thou didst come,

To yield Thyself to death;

And consecration marked Thy path,

And spoke in every breath.

Morning by morning Thou didst wake,

Amidst this poisoned air;

Yet no contagion touched Thy soul,

No sin disturbed Thy prayer.

Thus, Lord we love to trace Thy course,

To mark where Thou hast trod,

And follow Thee with loving eye,

Up to the throne of God."

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• The righteousness of His judgments: "girt about the paps with a golden girdle" chapter1v13.

The imagery is very graphic: here we have a judge with a heart!  The "paps" refer to women's breasts in the role of feeding an infant (Psalm 22v29;  Luke 11v27; 23v29.)    This is the most tender and loving occupation on earth, the nurture of a newborn.    There is no doubt that Jesus love for people surpasses all human love.

• His love for Israel           (Deuteronomy 7v7-10; Jeremiah 31v3)   "I have loved you with an everlasting love."
• His love for the church   (Ephesians 5v25) "Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it."
• His love for the world     (John 3v16)   "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son."

There is no one outside the scope of the love of Christ; indeed He is love, He is the essence of love, He is the fount from which all streams of love flow.   His love is superior to all human love (Romans 5v6-8).   His love knows no measurements (Ephesians 3v18)  "The breadth and length and depth of the love of Christ unknowable".

So surely none of us has anything to fear from such an One as this.   Surely His love will overcome everything else.  Surely the One who forgave, and taught forgiveness to all His followers will not punish anyone.  Surely a God of love will not banish people into hell.   Yes He will, and He must, because His love is not a soppy, sentimental, emotional kind of love, turning a blind eye to peoples' sins.  Absolutely NO!  His love is restrained with a golden girdle.   His love to man is only superseded by His love to God.   His expression of love to human beings is based on Divine righteousness. The teaching of Matthew 22 is very clear.  A lawyer, trying to trick Him asked Him a question, "Master which is the great commandment in the law?"  Jesus said unto him "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment."   #Jesus went on to say "the second is like unto it "thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.   On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets".

Notice the order; love God, love man.   These two cannot be separated, but the first takes precedence, "love God."    Jesus love to His Father God is His primary consideration and only when the demands of God are met in justice, can the love of God flow to sinful man    Would a mother feed her baby poison?   Neither will God offer toxic love to people.   Sin, the offending sin, must be removed; only then can He show His love.   Jesus tender love and compassion for all is restrained by the primary consideration of Divine justice.

A few examples will suffice.   In John 11v5 it says "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus."  However He held back rushing to their side because of the glory of God.   In Mark 10 v 20-22, Jesus dealt with a sincere young man who came running to Him and asking "what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?"   In v 21 it says "Jesus beholding him loved him"; however that love for the young man did not prevent Him telling him he must sell all his possessions because they had become a god in his life.   True love does not ignore sins and Jesus knows them all.   In Hebrews 12 there is a very strange love scenario.   There it says in v6 "for whom the Lord loveth  He chasteneth... and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth."   What kind of love is this?  The answer is clear in v10, "He for our profit that we might be partakers of His holiness."   God's love toward us is tempered by His hatred of sin knowing that sin is a destructive force in our lives.   A mother only feeds her baby with that which will bring health; so with God, and the writer goes on to say "no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness."

The One who sits on the throne, will exercise judgment upon all on the basis of Divine righteousness behind which is a true heart of love for all of us. Only when Divine justice is satisfied can Divine mercy flow. 

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• The dignity of His office "clothed with a garment down to the foot."   Revelation 1v13

It is not a very popular subject, and therefore it is readily avoided, but it is a major teaching of New Testament revelation.   All judgment concerning this universe has been given to Jesus Christ.  Mostly people think of Him as Saviour of men, not the Judge of men.   He is the same meek and mild Jesus who taught unlimited forgiveness, and who cried on the cross in the face of human treachery "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."   This is how the world at large wants to think of Him-they do not consider Him to be judgmental, far less the Judge of the whole world.   Yet it is absolutely true as the following scriptures will confirm, that this is the high office that was prophesied of Him and according to the vision is now a fact.    

• John 5v22  "The Father judgeth no man but hath committed all judgment to the Son:  that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father.  He that  honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which has sent Him."
• Acts 10v42  "And He commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is He which was ordained of God to be the Judge of living and dead."
• Acts 17v30-31 "God now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: because He hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead."
• Romans 2v16 ".....in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel."
• 2nd Timothy 4v1"I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom; preach the word."
• Jude verses 14-15 "Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgement upon all."
• Revelation 19v11 "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called faithful and true and in righteousness he doth judge and make war." 
• Revelation 20v11-12 "And I saw a great white throne and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.   And I saw the dead small and great stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the book, according to their works."

Clearly the Man of Calvary is now the Judge of all the earth.  The apostle Peter in his first epistle chapter 4v17 points out "for the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God?   And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where will the ungodly and sinner appear?"   This is in line with the teaching of the book of the Revelation, which presents Christ as Judge in the church before He acts as Judge in the world at large.  The judgment upon His believing people is not of a penal or eternal nature; rather is it a refining process to bring them to eventual practical sanctification. The prophet Jeremiah sheds further light on this in chapter 25v29 "For lo I begin to bring evil to the city which is called by my name and should ye (my people) be utterly unpunished?    Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts."   What the Lord is saying here is that He views sin in His people in the same light as He views it in the unbelieving world at large.  Although in Christ we are judicially freed from sin and no eternal judgment will ensue, nevertheless the Lord will visit His people over the matter of their sins.  This much is plain across the biblical spectrum.   It is solemn teaching, but in the matter of sin God is no respecter of persons and we will all suffer the consequences.   This calls for believers (as encouraged by Peter) to be very careful as to how we live on earth as Christians-  "And if ye call Him Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear"- 1 Peter 1v17; It is a matter of some concern today that many of God's people seem to have lost a sense of the fear of the Lord, but we can be sure He is dealing with it.

        

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"And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 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 unto fine 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".            Revelation 1v13-17.

What John saw was glorified humanity, destined for universal dominion.   There now follows a nine fold description of the One whom John had only known before as the babe of Bethlehem, the peasant preacher from Nazareth, and the rejected Christ.   Now, He is no longer in humiliation, but in exaltation, in supreme splendour.   The opening observation, "clothed with a garment down to the foot" gives us a clue as to the meaning of "the vision."   A full length robe was only worn by dignitaries such as kings, priests, prophets, and judges.   The context must decide to which of these it refers.   A reading of the details of the vision, and also of the rest of the book of Revelation, makes it clear that what is in view is Christ as the judge of all the earth.

We focus firstly on the trend of the book

.
In chapters 2/3      He is the Judge of the church.
In chapters 4/16    He is the Judge of the whole earth.
In chapters 17/18  He is the Judge of the Babylonian system of religion and commerce.
In chapter 19         He is the Judge of all world rulers.
In chapter 20         He is the Judge of Satan and his demons.
In chapter 20         He is the Judge of all living during the millennial kingdom.
In chapter 20         He is the Judge of all the unregenerate dead.

When we read the book of Revelation from that viewpoint, the whole story with its solemn imagery begins to make sense.  There now follows nine details of the One who will bring everyone into judgment at the end of time.  

• His dignity- the dignity of His office.     "Clothed with a garment down to the foot."
• His equity-  the righteousness of His judgements.     "Girt about the paps with a golden girdle."
• His purity-  the impeccability of His character.    " His head and His hairs were white as wool, as white as snow."
• His perspicacity-the searing perception of His vision.     " Eyes like a flame of fire."
• His victory- the all conquering subjugation of His power.     "His feet as fine brass as if they burned in a furnace."
• His authority-the awesome noise of His voice silencing all others.     "His voice as the sound of many waters."
• His sovereignty-His sovereignty control over all light bearers   "In His right hand He holds the seven stars."
• His intensity-the sharp edge of His tongue, countermanding all human arguments.     "Out of His mouth went a two-edged sword."
• His majesty-the majesty of His presence, eclipsing all lesser lights.     "His countenance was as the sun shines in his strength."

Each of the above need to be expounded in turn, but, together they present a picture of  supreme and perfect judgement.   Unfathomable knowledge, with unlimited experience, and absolute power all combine in the One who is to be the Judge of all the earth.   Jesus Christ is Lord; He is the Judge with absolute authority, who cannot be gainsaid, who cannot be deceived, before whom there is no appeal, and whose judgements are perfect and final.