Will you please turn to the book of Acts—Acts 26. We are beginning with verse 1.
Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself.
Then Paul stretched forth his hand, and made his defence:
I think myself happy, King Agrippa, that I am to make my defence before thee this day touching all the things whereof I am accused by the Jews:
Especially because thou art expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.
My manner of life then from my youth up, which was from the beginning among mine own nation, and at Jerusalem, know all the Jews;
Having knowledge of me from the first, if they be willing to testify, that after the straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
And now I stand here to be judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers;
Unto which promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. And concerning this hope I am accused by the Jews, O king!
Why is it judged incredible with you, if God doth raise the dead?
I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
And this I also did in Jerusalem: and I both shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death, I gave my vote against them.
And punishing them oftentimes in all the synagogues, I strove to make them blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto foreign cities.
Whereupon as I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests,
At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them that journeyed with me.
And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying unto me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? It is hard for thee to kick against the goad.
And I said, Who art Thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.
But arise, and stand upon thy feet: for to this end have I appeared unto thee, to appoint thee a minister and a witness both of the things wherein thou hast seen Me, and of the things wherein I will appear unto thee;
Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom I send thee,
To open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in Me.
Wherefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:
But declared both to them of Damascus first, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judaea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.
For this cause the Jews seized me in the temple, and assayed to kill me.
Having therefore obtained the help that is from God, I stand unto this day testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses did say should come;
How that the Christ must suffer, and how that He first by the resurrection of the dead should proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles.
And as he thus made his defence, Festus saith with a loud voice, Paul, thou art mad; thy much learning is turning thee mad.
But Paul saith, I am not mad, most excellent Festus; but speak forth words of truth and soberness.
For the king knoweth of these things, unto whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things is hidden from him; for this hath not been done in a corner.
King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.
And Agrippa said unto Paul, With but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian.
And Paul said, I would to God, that whether with little or with much, not thou only, but also all that hear me this day, might become such as I am, except these bonds.
Let us have a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, we are in Thy presence. Will You please reveal Thyself to us, as Thou didst reveal Thyself to Thy servant?
Lord, we need to see what Thou hast given him to see. Give us that revelation, and make us obedient to it. We just commit this time into Thy hands. We trust Thy Holy Spirit, Who alone is able to do this work. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
This evening, we want to consider together before the Lord all the revelation given to Paul the apostle.
One thing is very clear. We see in Paul’s life a very clear picture of one who does not have revelation and one who has revelation.
Paul was Saul before he received revelation from above. We notice how he lived and what he did. Then afterwards, when the Lord met him on the road to Damascus, his whole life was transformed, and his ministry was transformed.
So, brothers and sisters, first of all, we would like to see the contrast between one who lives in tradition and one who lives by revelation.
In Philippians 3, the apostle Paul gives us a picture of what he was before he met the Lord. He had many things worthy to be proud of.
In verse 4 he says that he had confidence in the flesh. If any other man thought to have confidence in the flesh, he more. He was a typical specimen of the best tradition in the world.
He said, “As to circumcision, I received it the eighth day.” We know that when Abraham was ninety-nine years old, God commanded him to circumcise all the males of his family. It was to be a sign that they were chosen by God.
Abraham himself was circumcised when he was ninety-nine years old, and Ishmael was circumcised when he was thirteen years old. But Isaac was circumcised when he was eight days old. So Saul was circumcised on his eighth day. He was of God’s chosen people.
He was of the race of Israel. He did not come from Esau; he came from Israel, because it was Israel who inherited God’s covenant, not Esau.
He was of the tribe of Benjamin. Even though Benjamin was the youngest one, yet we find in history that when the ten tribes were separated from Judah, Benjamin stuck with Judah. So they were in the right line of God’s blessing.
He was a Hebrew of Hebrews. He came from a Hebrew family. His father and mother were Hebrews, and he was a Hebrew of Hebrews.
As to the law, he was a Pharisee.
In Acts 22, when he gave his testimony to the people in Jerusalem, he said in verse 3 that he was a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, brought up in Jerusalem at the feet of Gamaliel, and educated according to the exactness of the law of their fathers.
So here he says, “As to the law, a Pharisee.” The law here is more than the law of Moses. It is the law of their fathers.
In other words, added to the law of Moses, through the generations many rabbis began to interpret the law of God. These interpretations, explanations, and applications of the law of God became the law of their fathers.
As to such law, he was a Pharisee. He was brought up in the exactness of the law of his fathers and became a Pharisee, because a Pharisee was one who was very strict—the strictest—so far as the law and tradition were concerned.
As to zeal, he persecuted the church.
In Acts 22:3, he said that he was zealous for God. But in Galatians 1:14 he says:
And I advanced in the Jews’ religion beyond many of mine own age among my countrymen, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
Outwardly he was supposed to be zealous for God. He thought he was zealous for God. But actually, he was zealous for the traditions of the fathers—very zealous, to the point of persecuting the church.
As to the righteousness which is in the law, he was found blameless. He was a true Pharisee, not a hypocrite. He tried to keep all the laws, all the letters of the law.
So far as outward, external keeping was concerned, he was righteous. He was blameless. This is the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. Saul had all this righteousness.
Before he was met by the Lord on the road to Damascus, he lived according to the best tradition of his fathers. We are told that Jewish tradition, at that time, was the best tradition the world had ever known.
He had advanced more than his contemporaries in Judaism.
Now, brothers and sisters, Judaism at one time, before it became Judaism, was actually a living faith. God appeared to Abraham, and Abraham obeyed God. God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses.
So we find that in the beginning it was a living faith. It came from God. It was a revelation.
But gradually, this revelation began to degenerate into a dead creed—a system, a religion.
It was no longer living; it was dead. It was letter, and the letter kills. It was no longer Spirit, which gives life. It became something all external.
There was a lack of that inner life and inner power. It became a tradition—the tradition of the fathers.
Even though in that tradition there was the law of God, and there was something that originated from God, these things were overwhelmed and covered by tradition and the traditions of the fathers.
At the time of our Lord Jesus, people would rather keep the traditions of the fathers than obey the law given to them by God.
Saul the Pharisee was a typical specimen of Judaism. He lived according to the best of traditions, and while he was living in that tradition, he thought it was his duty to wipe out the name of Jesus.
So he persecuted the followers of the Lord Jesus, and he thought he was serving God.
Brothers and sisters, how dangerous it is if we live according to the tradition of men and do not live in revelation.
Christianity, at the beginning, before it becomes Christianity, is something living. It is a revelation. God reveals His Son to us.
This revelation is so transforming, revolutionary, and powerful. It is something that you have never seen before on this earth.
We read the beginning of the book of Acts and find that, in the early days, those who believed in the Lord Jesus were transformed. It was not an external thing to them. It was real—really dynamic and powerful.
But gradually, after one generation passed to another generation, these teachings were kept, but the inner life, the life, was gone.
We have the old wineskin, but the new wine is gone. It becomes a form, a system, an ism, a religion—perhaps better than other religions—but nevertheless, it has become a religion.
It becomes a tradition handed down from generation to generation. It is second-hand, third-hand, and perhaps more. But there is not that living touch, that living revelation, that dynamic life.
How many of us live according to the best of so-called Christian tradition?
Outwardly, we keep all the rules and regulations. On the Lord’s Day, we go to church, spend an hour there, and are entertained. Maybe some—not many—try to do a little service for God.
But, brothers and sisters, when we live under tradition, how blind we are.
We may be very zealous. We know people who are very zealous for their tradition. They will defend their tradition more than they defend Christ.
You cannot touch their so-called Christian tradition—their own tradition from the fathers, handed down through the generations. They will defend it fearfully, fight for it, and even die for it. But they will not die for Christ.
They think they are serving God, but actually they are doing God a great disservice. How terrible that is. And we do not know it, because we are in darkness.
Brothers and sisters, is your so-called Christian life based upon the tradition of Christianity? Is there any revelation in your life? Are you living according to revelation, or are you living according to tradition?
Saul was a perfect specimen of one who lived according to the best tradition of his time. Yet he was an enemy of the real God, while he thought that he was zealous for God.
You know, in Acts 6 and Acts 7, Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit, witnessing and testifying for the Lord.
Evidently Stephen was a Hellenistic Jew—that is, a Jew born and reared outside the promised land. His contact was probably mostly with Hellenistic Jews, so he was witnessing to these Hellenistic Jews concerning our Lord Jesus.
Towards the end of Acts 6, we find those of the synagogue of the Hellenistic Jews arguing with Stephen. When Stephen preached Jesus, they argued with him.
I wonder whether Saul was one of those who argued with Stephen. The Bible says that among the people of that synagogue were those from Cilicia, and we know that Tarsus belonged to Cilicia.
No doubt Saul was in Jerusalem, and he was so zealous for his tradition that he could understand what Stephen said. So I think probably he was one of those who argued with Stephen.
They could not overcome Stephen because he was full of the Holy Spirit and the wisdom of God. So finally they brought him before the council and accused him with many false witnesses.
Again, we do not know whether Saul at that time was a member of the council. Some say he was too young to sit in the council. Some say that because he was never married, he could not be in that council. But we do not know.
Anyway, they gave Stephen an opportunity to defend himself. Instead of defending himself, he was actually defending Christ.
He was telling them, “You who outwardly seem to fear God, yet all your history tells that you rebel against God. You rebel against the law of God, you kill the prophets, and now you have murdered the Just One.”
When these people heard it, they were pricked in their hearts. They could not stand it. They put their hands upon their ears and rushed out to stone him to death.
While they were doing that, Stephen looked up and saw the heavens opened. He saw the glory of God.
He said:
Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.
They cast stones at him. Saul stood by, watching their clothes. He did not do that dirty work at that time; he was watching.
He must have heard what Stephen said. Before Stephen died, Stephen said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he said, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” And he went to be with the Lord.
Saul was a true Pharisee. According to the righteousness of the law, he was blameless. But when he heard and witnessed how Stephen died, no doubt it reached his conscience.
In Acts 8:1 it says, “And Saul was consenting unto his death.” He consented to kill Stephen. Yet he saw how Stephen died, and he heard what Stephen said. It must have pricked his conscience.
In order to quiet his conscience, in order to silence his conscience, tradition was so powerful in his life. Even after seeing and hearing such things, though his conscience was pricked, tradition was so strong and had such a hold upon him.
Instead of yielding to the voice of his conscience, he tried to silence his conscience.
In Acts 8:3 it says:
But Saul laid waste the church, entering into every house, and dragging men and women committed them to prison.
He was not gentlemanly at all. As our brother said, he was mad. In order to kill his conscience, he had to become mad.
The voice of conscience is strong; it is persistent. In order to challenge it, cover it, and stop it, he became a mad person. He dragged men and women and put them into prison, killed them, and forced them to blaspheme.
In Acts 9:1, Saul was still breathing threatening and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord. He was persistent. He was faithful to his tradition.
He tried to convince himself that he was doing the right thing, that he was serving God. He persecuted the disciples of the Lord not only in the land of Judaea, but also in Gentile cities.
So he received letters from the high priest to go to Damascus, a Gentile city, to seize the disciples—the people of the Way—and bind them, bringing them to Jerusalem to be punished.
But thank God, while he was on his way to Damascus, suddenly at midday a light brighter than the sun came down from heaven upon him.
That light was so powerful that he and those who were with him all fell to the ground. Then he heard a voice: “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? It is hard for thee to kick against the goad.”
Brothers and sisters, the Lord allowed him to go so far, but no further. The course of the gospel is love.
“Saul, why do you persecute Me?” It was not a voice of accusation. It was not an angry voice. It was a voice of love and compassion.
“Saul, why do you do that? You do not know what you are doing. You are doing the impossible. Do you not know that you are kicking against the goad?”
Our brother has already mentioned the farmer. When he is ploughing his field, he puts an ox under a yoke, tied to the plough. Then the farmer ploughs the field with that ox.
Sometimes the ox has its own ideas. Perhaps it is wild and unbroken. When the farmer is ploughing, the furrow has to be straight, but the ox may want to go to the right or to the left.
When it does that, the farmer uses the goad, a sharp stick, just to touch its leg. Of course, he does not thrust it into the ox’s leg. He gently touches it, so that the ox feels a little hurt. That is all.
I do not know how many times the ox resists the goad before it learns the lesson. But the Lord said, “Do you know what you are doing?”
Saul thought he was the master. He was the master of his own life and even over other people, because he was above other men. He was more advanced than his contemporaries.
He was going to be a great rabbi, perhaps the rabbi of Israel—a great master. But he did not know that he had a Master.
Now, is it not true? We all think that we are masters. We are free to do what we think is right to do. Not knowing, brothers and sisters, that no man is free.
God is our Master. The Lord Jesus is our Master. We do not know Him, but He knows us. The ox may not know its master, but the master knows his ox.
We do not know that we are under a yoke. We think that we are free.
God has a purpose in each one of us. When we come into this world, God has a purpose in each of our lives. He wants to use us to accomplish His work.
We are under His yoke, even though we do not know it and do not realize it.
He may allow us to remain ignorant of it for a time, until the day comes when He tells us, “You are My ox. You belong to Me. I have a use for you. You are useful to Me. You cannot go your own way.”
Do you remember certain times when there is a little touch that makes you hurt? Your conscience bothers you somehow. But you kick against it, and you are hurt.
You do not learn the lesson. You still want to go your own way, and then there is another little touch. But eventually, you have to learn.
So do not be so foolish as to think that you can work against Him. Why do you not learn the lesson, obey, be meek, and follow Him?
Saul knew that he had met not only his match, but more than his match. Yet he did not know who this Person was.
He heard the voice. He had seen that Just One through Stephen’s testimony, but he did not know Him. So he said, “Lord, who art Thou?”
And the Lord said, “I am Jesus of Nazareth. I am the One whom you despised. I am the One whom you persecuted. I am Jesus of Nazareth.”
Brothers and sisters, this is revelation.
According to the tradition of Judaism, Jesus was to be despised. He was considered an impostor. He should be wiped out.
But in revelation, Saul saw that this Jesus of Nazareth—a city of no good, as they thought—this Jesus who was crucified, is none other than the Master of the universe.
Stephen had said, “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” Saul had heard it, but now he saw.
He saw that Man in glory. In that heavenly light, he saw that the Man in glory was none other than the Son of God, Who came into this world to be the Lamb of God in order to redeem the world.
As the Son of Man, He returned to glory and was anointed by God as Christ and as Lord.
Yes, He emptied Himself. Though He was equal with God, He emptied Himself of all the glory, honour, power, and dominion associated with God in order to become a man and take the form of a bondservant.
He was obedient to the Father even unto death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, the Father highly exalted Him and gave Him the name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.
Brothers and sisters, there Saul received a revelation of who Jesus is. This same Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, the Man in glory, the Lord of all, the Master of the universe—my Master and your Master.
Saul surrendered completely. He said, “Lord, what shall I do?” Now You are Lord. You are my Master. I am at Your disposal.
Dear brothers and sisters, we need such a revelation. It is not enough just to see Jesus as our Saviour.
We need to see that He is not only our Saviour; He is our Master. We are under His yoke. He has a purpose in our lives. He wants to use us to do His work.
Brothers and sisters, we are here not to live for ourselves. We are here not to do our own business. We are saved that we may do the work of God.
There is a purpose to our lives, and you do not find that purpose until you surrender to Jesus as your Master, as your Lord.
“Saul, why do you persecute Me?” “Who art Thou?” “I am Jesus of Nazareth.”
Saul never touched Jesus in person. All he did was persecute the followers of Jesus, those who believed in Jesus.
Yet he did not argue. Saul could argue. Not only before he was saved, but even after he was saved, he argued in synagogues and schools. He was a good debater.
He could have argued and said, “Now, Jesus, I never touched You. I could never touch You. You are in heaven, and I am on earth. Why do You say, ‘Why do you persecute Me?’ I never persecuted You. I persecuted Your followers.”
But, brothers and sisters, he did not argue. When you have revelation, you do not argue anymore.
In that heavenly vision, he not only recognized his Master; he saw a universal Man—a Man whose Head is in heaven and whose Body fills the earth.
How can you fight against that universal Man? Christ is the Head. All the disciples, all the believers, all the followers of the Way of Jesus, are members of His Body.
When you touch the saints in Jerusalem, you touch His Body. When you touch the saints in Judaea, you touch His Body. When you try to touch the saints in Damascus, you touch His Body.
Brothers and sisters, when somebody touches your body, what do you say? You do not say, “Why do you touch my arm?” You say, “Why do you touch me?” Because your body is you.
There is a unity between the Head and the Body. On the road to Damascus, Paul met a universal Man.
He recognized that Christ is the Head. He is Head over all things to the church, which is His Body, the fullness of Him Who filleth all in all. Saul may have seen it dimly, but he saw it.
Brothers and sisters, do you have this revelation?
Thank God, we are saved. We know Jesus as our Saviour. But, brothers and sisters, do you have a bigger vision?
Do you see a universal Man, whose Head is Christ and whose Body is all the believers throughout the centuries? It spans twenty centuries and covers all who belong to the Lord—those before us, those here now, and those who may come after us.
We all belong to that one Body of Christ. If anyone touches any little member of that Body, they touch the Head.
One Body, one Head—that is the church.
At the very beginning of his life under revelation, Saul was given a revelation not only of the mystery of God, which is Christ, but also of the mystery of Christ, which is the church.
Do you see the church? Do you see that universal Man? Do you give yourself to that universal Man?
The Lord told Saul, “Go to Damascus, and there it shall be told thee what thou must do.”
When Saul opened his eyes, he could not see anything.
Dear brothers and young sisters, revelation, when it comes, always smites you to the ground.
If you say that you have a revelation of God, and you can stand on your feet and lift up your head with pride, you have not received revelation.
When you have a revelation and boast of it, hold it, or become proud of it, you have not received revelation.
Revelation always smites you to the ground. Every time in the Scriptures when there is a vision of Christ or God, when there is an appearing or revelation, people inevitably fall on the ground.
Even Daniel, the perfect Daniel, when he saw the Holy One, fell to the ground as dead. He said, “All my beauty is turned into corruption.” That is revelation.
In revelation, you see yourself. You abhor yourself. You hate yourself. You wonder why you are what you are. You repent in dust and ashes. That is revelation.
Also, when revelation comes, you may be blind for a while. People who are too clear, who can explain everything immediately and clearly, have not got it.
Usually, when a revelation comes, it blinds you. You do not see anything because you have seen the One.
Saul went to Damascus. For three days and three nights he was fasting, praying, and waiting.
The heavenly vision that came on the road to Damascus did not end there. Often we think that the heavenly vision Paul spoke of was only the vision he saw on the road to Damascus. That is partly true, but not the whole truth.
That revelation continued into the city of Damascus. There he was praying, and in a vision he saw a man named Ananias come in, lay hands upon him, and open his eyes.
At the same time, Ananias, a disciple of the Lord Jesus in Damascus, also saw a vision. The Lord appeared to him and said, “Ananias.” Ananias said, “Behold, I am here, Lord.”
He knew the Lord. He had a living relationship with the Lord.
The Lord said, “Go to the street called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one named Saul, a man of Tarsus. Tell him what I want him to do. Open his eyes.”
Ananias said, “Lord, I have heard from many concerning this man, what evil things he did to Thy saints at Jerusalem. I have heard what he came for. Actually, I may be his target. Are You sending me to him?”
The Lord said, “He is My chosen vessel. I have appeared to him for the purpose of making him a witness and a servant of Mine.”
Thank God, Ananias did not live by what he heard from outside, but lived by revelation from above. He went.
How fortunate that these two men met each other in vision first. Suppose they had met before they received vision—what would have happened? No doubt Saul would have laid hands on Ananias.
But they already saw each other in the vision. Brothers and sisters, what about us? Do we see each other in the vision first?
By that I mean: do we see each other as members of the Body of Christ? Do we see each other in Christ?
If we see each other in Christ, and then meet each other, my, what fellowship!
But if we meet each other before we see each other in Christ—or, to put it another way, if we see each other in the flesh—what will happen?
We will lay hands on each other, not in joining together, but in revenge and fighting against one another.
That is the reason why we should not know anyone in the flesh. If we know anyone in the flesh, we are enemies. We should know no one in the flesh; we should know each other only in the Spirit.
Then Ananias went into that house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul.”
How sweet is that word, “brother.” Enemies became brothers. Only the Lord can do that.
Ananias laid hands on him and said, “Saul, brother, the Lord Jesus, Who appeared unto thee, has sent me to open your eyes, that you may be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
He told him that he was the Lord’s chosen vessel, called to be His witness and servant, to suffer much for Him, and to announce Him to the world.
Saul’s eyes were opened, and the first one he saw was that little man, Ananias, present before him.
On the road to Damascus, Saul saw a universal Man, a great Man filling earth and heaven. But in Damascus, he saw a little man—Ananias.
In the Bible, this little man appeared only once—here. He was unknown, but he represented the Body, the church in Damascus.
All the spiritual principles of the universal church must be put into practice in the local church.
There in Damascus were some believers—poor, unknown, small—and yet they represented the Body of Christ in that locality.
Ananias represented the church. He laid hands on Saul. The laying on of hands means identification: “I am identified with you; you are identified with me. We are one.”
“Brother Saul, enter into the fellowship of the church, of the Body of Christ.”
Through this identification, not only with Christ but with the Body of Christ, his eyes were opened to see a new sight—to see his brother—and to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
When you are identified with the Body of Christ, the oil that anoints the Head comes down to the Body, even to the skirt of the garment. In other words, every member in the Body is anointed and filled with the Holy Spirit.
Immediately Saul joined himself to the disciples and began witnessing for the Lord.
Dear brothers and sisters, if in the heavenly vision all you see is that universal Man, it is still too theoretical. You may be floating in the air, but you are not established.
We need to see that universal Man, large enough to embrace all brothers and sisters all over the world.
Yet our revelation is not complete until we also see that little man. We must be identified with other believers, join ourselves with them in fellowship, and witness together.
The way our Lord views His church universal is through His church local.
This is the revelation that God gave to Paul at the very beginning. Thank God.
Brothers and sisters, this heavenly vision explains the life and ministry of the apostle Paul.
It transformed him from Saul the Pharisee to Paul the apostle; from the defender of Judaism to a witness of Christ; from tradition to revelation; from darkness to light; from unreality to reality.
How we need that vision. How we need to see this, brothers and sisters. We may have heard it, but only when we see it does it make such a difference.
Of course, throughout his life Paul received visions and revelations continuously. In 2 Corinthians 12, he speaks of visions and revelations.
On the road to Damascus and in Damascus, he was given a sketch, an outline, of the heavenly vision. Then, because he was faithful, the Lord filled in all the details.
We do not have time to go into all the references concerning the visions and revelations he received throughout his life.
But Paul said, “King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.”
Brothers and sisters, revelation is given sovereignly by God in His mercy. But revelation is never given merely for our speculative enjoyment.
God is a most practical God. When He gives revelation, revelation is always unto a purpose.
He does not give revelation to us simply for us to speculate, meditate, enjoy, or become proud that we know something others do not know.
Revelation is given for a purpose.
When Paul testified in Acts 26, he said that God appeared to him for a purpose. The purpose was that he was called to be a witness and a servant.
Brothers and sisters, when revelation comes, there is a calling there. Revelation is linked to vocation.
Revelation is to occupy us and make us occupied with it. Or may I put it this way? Revelation involves us. It involves our whole being.
Revelation makes us part of it. Revelation comes to us that we may enter into that revelation. It becomes our very vocation—what we are occupied with every day.
If revelation does not occupy us and become our very life and being, that revelation is wasted.
That is the reason why, when revelation comes, it requires obedience.
Brothers and sisters, when revelation comes to us, there is a calling there.
I do not know how to put it. Revelation must become our vocation, our life, our testimony, our service—our everything.
But for revelation to become a vocation, it involves conflict, warfare, suffering—or, to use one word, the cross.
Without the cross, revelation will gradually die. It will not be lost. Once you see, you can never unsee it. But it loses its vitality.
Instead of transforming you, it condemns you.
You have revelation. Remember, it is so heavenly that if you are not obedient to the revelation, eventually it becomes your condemnation.
But when revelation comes and you are faithful to the realization of that revelation, you will be involved in conflict.
Why? Because revelation is so different from what you are, what you know, what you love, and what you do.
It is so different that it demands the death of all that you naturally are and do.
If you think you have revelation and it does not touch you, touch your life deeply, turn it around, and put it to death, then you do not enter into that revelation.
You remember Paul. He said that he had a treasure in earthen vessels. He was pressed, surrounded, afflicted, and persecuted, yet not forsaken and never knocked out.
He said, “I bear in my body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus may be manifested.” He said, “I die daily.”
Revelation involves suffering. Look at what Paul went through. If you read 1 Corinthians 4 and 2 Corinthians 11, you find that this man went through such things.
He said, “Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is caused to stumble, and I burn not?” Revelation cost him.
The enemy is afraid of revelation. Remember when the Lord revealed to Peter, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church”? Immediately, Satan used Peter to say, “Lord, be kind to Thyself. This shall never be unto Thee.”
There is warfare involved. There is the cross.
The cross is the key to turn revelation into vocation.
The reason why people may receive revelation but never enter into it, live it, witness to it, become part of it, become its testimony and vocation, is that they do not deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow the Lord.
Revelation to such people becomes a tradition. You can talk about it, but it is the past; it is not the present.
To keep revelation fresh and living, you have to be obedient to the revelation you receive.
Thank God, Paul said, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.”
By the grace of God, he said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness”—not only for him, but for all those who love the Lord’s appearing.
Brothers and sisters, that is revelation. Revelation is costly, but it is worth it. It is the only reality: just knowing Him.
Dear Lord, we confess our inadequacy and our weakness. We cannot do anything.
May these weak words speak to each one of us. Open our eyes. Show us Thyself. Show us Thy church.
Make us really Thy people. Give us grace that we may, with Brother Paul, testify: “We have not been disobedient to the heavenly vision.”
In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.