Faithful and True

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.

Rev 19:11-13

This Rider on a White Horse is identified for us by several different names. The first is Faithful and True. It is in this capacity that he comes to judge and to make war, but all in perfect justice. There are just causes for the correction of evil and the punishment of evildoers, despite the campaign against capital punishment today. Our Lord comes to execute perfect justice in judging and making war. At last, all the wrongs done on earth will be made right; all the cheats and scams that we are familiar with today will be exposed and corrected; all drugs that blow the minds of people will be eliminated; all crime will be brought to an end; all hatred among mankind will cease, for Jesus comes to judge the earth and to right all matters.

Another name is one written on him that no one knows but himself. That unknown name is linked to the blazing eyes and the many diadems on his head. Blazing eyes speak of full discernment, penetrating knowledge. Many diadems speak of full authority. The two together picture omniscience and omnipotence, but each vested in a man. The wonder of Jesus is that it is as man that he manifests all the fullness of God, for he is both God and man. His name, his unknown name, reveals that. What this suggests is that no one knows the full extent of that mysterious union of God and man. All that is meant by that marvelous revelation, that there is vested in a man the full authority, power, omniscience and omnipotence of God, is something that no one fully knows. We shall be discovering new aspects of that throughout eternity. This is why heaven seems to be constantly breaking out with new praises and new wonders at what our Lord is like.

There is still another name: He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. That Word of God is associated with the robe dipped in blood and with the armies of heaven following him, as well as with the sharp sword that comes out of his mouth. The sharp sword that the prophet sees here, in the mouth of Jesus, is the Word of God. Have you ever been smitten by the Word of God? Some word from the Bible has caught your attention and awakened your conscience, and you are suddenly aware that God sees deeper into you than you thought he ever could. You become aware of how guilty we are. On the day of Pentecost, the Jews who were listening to Peter's great message, at the end were cut to the heart (Acts 2:37). They were smitten by the Word of God. So, here, there are those who will be killed by the sword which comes from the Lord's mouth.

Lord Jesus, I worship you as the One who is faithful and true. All your promises are kept. Help me to trust in you alone. Amen.