Those Eyes

2 Jun 2013

Dear Phyllis,

I have three things to discuss today, and I have no idea how in the world I will be able to get them in one letter.

First of all, at 6:00 AM this morning I was raving, “This has got to be the greatest moment of my life!” It was! Unquestionably, that was the greatest moment of my life. Andrew Murray points out that the three parameters of the OT Tabernacle are three levels of spiritual experience. There is the Outer court, the Inner sanctuary, and the Holiest of All – behind the Veil. In the Outer court we find the brass altar for the forgiveness of sin – which is salvation. In the Inner sanctuary we find the candle stick, the golden altar, and the table of show bread – which is service. But behind the Veil is the ark of the covenant covered by the mercy seat – which is the presence of the Lord. For 56 years that Veil has always been a problem for me. Ever since I have been saved I have read books, heard messages, and listened to testimonies longingly, feeling like there was something more for me. This morning I arrived. I am within the Veil.

No nothing new happened. It was just that the Lord opened my eyes to see things better. One night we were coming home from Bangkok on a night bus, and I was sound asleep. Pammy woke me up saying, “We are home. This is Chiang Mai.” Nothing new happened, it was just that I woke up and discovered that I was already there. I have been here for some time, but there was a new awareness of what Christ has done for me and where I am.

Andrew Murray explains that there are four points that the writer of Hebrews is trying to impress upon his readers – the Sanctuary, the Blood, the Living Way, and the Priest. He says, “The best of all is the Priest”. AMEN! What I discovered within the Veil is the Priest. Jesus is here who has done all for me. He is the one who brought me here. And He is the one who keeps me here.

No this is not a life-transforming experience. I don't feel like I just got the baptism of the Holy Ghost. I haven't had a Hudson Taylor exchanged-life experience. I am not a new man in Christ. I just had a real good time of devotions this morning. But there is a new awareness of the reality of what Jesus has done for me and where He has placed me. The road of how I got here is a long story. It lasts 56 years, and I won't go into that today. But at 6:00 AM I was raving, “This has got to be the greatest moment of my life.”

The second item I would like to share with you is what the Lord has done for us financially. For the past six months we have been in a financial furnace like I have never faced in my life. Pammy has a problem that is common to some women in being weak in handling money. This has been a huge issue ever since we have been married. All of our regular support comes from Japan. In November she had overspent so much that for four months we were unable to draw anything from our bank account in Japan. How we made it not being able to draw funds from our bank account is a story that I still haven't figured out. One miracle was, that shortly after we got in that desert there was an unusually large gift that came in from America. We have a US ATM card, but there is virtually nothing in that account. Support from the states is about once a year. At critical times, quite miraculously, the Lord did provide something from here in Thailand. I was relieved when April finally came and we were able to use our Japan ATM card. But then I couldn't find it. I had to write my friend in Japan and ask him to get us a new ATM card. Having just gone through a desert, we finally came to an oasis, but there was no bucket to draw the water. It has taken almost two more months to get a bucket. A month ago Neil wrote me that Hirota had gotten us a new card, and about three weeks ago Hirota sent me an e-mail saying the card was in the mail. But no card arrived. Day after day I pleaded with the Lord that that card would get here today. No soap. Last week we were bone dry. The refrigerator was bare. We had no bread, butter, eggs, vegetables, or fruit. I love fruit juice, but I have been drinking a lot of ice water imagining that it is fruit juice. When we were slam out, for the first time in months the directors of Annie's kindergarten showed up to thank me for making some wooden clocks for them three months ago, and asking me to come back to teach. They gave us an envelope with 2,000 baht ($60). Praise God! Friday I was at a meeting to discuss making some dendo material for Japan, and they had a time of special prayer at the end. Vaughan asked, “Bill, what can we pray for you?” I said, “We desperately need our Japan ATM card.” Saturday was another long day of disappointment. Then at 6:00 last evening the postman showed up with a letter from Japan. I kissed his hand. He must have thought I was nuts. But it is here and we can breath again. Praise God!

The third subject today is todays message. I mentioned in passing last week that I would be speaking today. I did. It was a message that has been heavily on my heart for some time. As I have shared, I am going through a 12 message series on the loveliness of Jesus from Song of Sol. 5:10-16. Today was the 5^thmessage. The topic was “The eyes of Jesus”. This subject takes us more into the soul of our Lord than anything I know. It has been said that the eyes are the window of the soul. This being true, it is by His eyes that we look deeply into the core of Jesus.

The eyes clearly tell us a great deal about what is inside a person. It is perfectly obvious when someone is raging mad, sad, or in love. A person doesn't have to say a word. The look in their eyes tells it all. There is something in the nature of an animal that tell us about who they are. The eyers of carnivorous animals and herbivorous animals are completely different. The eyes of a fox, lion, or wolf are radically different than a cow, lamb, or deer. The eyes of a hawk or eagle are different than a dove. My friend Miriam Reid one time had a visit from the devil. The devil physically appeared to her in the kitchen one day, and talked with her. I asked her, “What did he look like?” She said, he was beautiful. One of the most handsome creatures she had ever seen.' Then she added, “But his eyes. They were cats eyes like a tiger.” When she told me that, I replied, “Sister, you have seen the devil.”

To be honest I had to point out that there are two radically different views of the eyes of Jesus presented to us in scripture. In S. of S. 5:12 we see that, “His eyes are as the eyes of doves”. But in Rev. 1:14, “His eyes were as a flame of fire”. It is necessary that we accept a two-sided view if our Lord. Liberals and Joel Olsteen don't like to see both sides of God. But the same God who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son is also the God that said, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God” (Ps. 9:17). It is in fear of this lovely Lord Jesus that we are told someday everyone on earth will cry to the rocks and the mountains to fall on them to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb (Rev. 6:15-17).

The obvious explanation for the contrasting eyes of our Lord is that it matters who He is speaking to. To a criminal listening to an enraged judge pronouncing his death sentence, his eyes would appear as a flame of fire. But the same judge could go home and lovingly pick up his son or grandson. To the child his eyes would look like doves eyes.

The testimony that His eyes are as doves eyes comes from the Bride of Christ. It is not surprising that the Bride of Christ would say this of Jesus. There is something wrong with any relationship between two people deeply in love with each other that wouldn't say that about their lover. For any true believer this should be their testimony of Jesus.

I told the folks this morning that there are three Jesus. There is the man who walked on this earth 2,000 years ago. No doubt there were many who would say He had the eyes of a dove. Of all the creatures in the world a dove probably has the most innocent, harmless eyes of any. There is no glare in them. To the woman caught in the act of adultery in John 8; when the Pharisees caught her in the act and dragged her to the Lord demanding what should be done with her; He quietly replied, “Let him that is without sin cast the first stone”. They all took off. She was left alone with Jesus, and He told her, “Neither do I condemn you.” Oh my goodness, can you imagine the emotion that must have swept over that woman? Ten minutes later someone could have asked her, “What did He look like?”; and she might have replied, “He had the eyes of a dove.” To Mary, who sat at His feet and washed them with her tears, he must have looked like He had doves eyes. For those who knew Him, when they saw the benignness, the tenderness, and the lovingness in the eyes of Jesus no doubt the consensus would have been, “He has the eyes of a dove.”

That Jesus is no longer with us. He has gone home to be with His Father. But it is the same Jesus who presides over the church by His Spirit today. The Holy Spirit is nothing other than the very Spirit of Christ Himself. And when the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the river it is highly significant that the Bible tell us that He came as a dove (Mt. 3:16; Mk. 1:10: Lk. 3:22; Jn. 1:32). Just as the Lamb is the universal symbol of Jesus, the Dove is the symbol of the Holy Spirit. In speaking of Jesus today, how is it possible that the Christian could say anything other than He has the eyes of a dove? This is the very essence of the Holy Spirit. The Jesus that we deal with today still has those same dove's eyes that He had when He was here in the flesh.

But there is a third Jesus who has eyes like a flame of fire. I told the folks this morning that one thing I could promise them with no fear of contradiction; some day they will be called to stand before this Christ and look Him in the eyes. Rom. 14:10 warns that “we shall all stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ.” I said, “Some day you will have to look Jesus in the eyes and hear His judgment”.

When Dave was 12, some guests were staying with us and used his bedroom. One day the brother showed me a Playboy joke book he found under Dave's mattress. I told him to put it back and I would deal with that later. A couple weeks later I took Dave with me to my shop and talked to him about mercy. For an hour I spoke very tenderly about the necessity of being honest, and we could have mercy. I asked, “Dave, is there anything you need to confess to me? If you are honest there will be no problem.” He thought for a while, and replied he couldn't think of anything. After I had exhausted all resources of getting him to confess, suddenly I changed to be extremely hostile. I grabbed him by the collar and demanded, “Get in the truck! We are going home.” When he saw my changed behavior, suddenly he piped up and remarked, “Oh dad, there is one thing.” I roared, “Too late! Mercy has passed and judgment has come!” We went home and I pulled the Playboy magazine out from under his mattress and shouted, “What do you call this?” Oh my goodness he got a hard hiding.

I pleaded with the girls, “Today is the day of mercy. Later will be the day of judgment. Give your heart to Jesus now before it is too late.” I had everyone close their eyes and imagine they were standing before the Judgment Seat of Christ. Then I asked, “What do His eyes look like? The eyes you saw is how He will deal with you.” I told them that they could give their hearts to Jesus right there, right now. Or if anyone wanted to come to Christ, but didn't know how, I would still be at church at 1:00 and would be glad to talk to them. No one came, but it seemed that the Lord was talking to one girl who had tears in her eyes and she left early. To those who are His own people, Jesus has the eyes of doves, but to the lost they are a flame of fire.

Oh the amazing goodness of God. Thank You Jesus,                   

bill