Will you please turn again to Acts, chapter 26? We will read a few more verses this morning, beginning at Acts 26:13 and continuing through verse 23.
This is Paul’s testimony:
At midday, O king, I saw in 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 goads.
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.
Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, we offer the words that Thou hast given to us back to Thee, and ask Thee, Lord, that Thou wilt bless Thy Word. Break it and distribute it to us, that we may be filled; that Thou mayest be glorified; and that Thy will may be done among us on earth as it is in heaven. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
Yesterday morning, we shared together on this matter of the heavenly vision. The heavenly vision is not optional; it is mandatory. In other words, as God’s people, we must have this heavenly vision, because without this heavenly vision, we perish.
Without this heavenly vision, we cast off all restraint. We become a people without discipline. Without this vision, we will be divided and scattered. There is no unity; there is no cohesion among God’s people.
It is this heavenly vision that gives us purpose and meaning. It is this heavenly vision that satisfies God’s own heart, and only that vision can satisfy our longing heart. So, brothers and sisters, it is essential that we, as the redeemed of the Lord, do have this vision.
It is a vision related to the eternal purpose of God. It is not a small thing. It is a vision of Christ as all and in all. It is a vision of the church as the body of Christ, the fullness of Him who filleth all in all.
But God does not give such a vision merely for us to contemplate, meditate upon, and think about. Our God is very practical. The reason why He gives such a vision to His people is because He wants to work out something for His glory.
Now, brothers and sisters, we have to see that this heavenly vision is not merely something objective. There is an objective aspect of that vision which God has given to us in Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit. It is something that we need to see with our inner eyes.
But this vision is more than something objective for us to view from afar. It is also very subjective. That is to say, when this vision is given, it draws us into that vision. It makes us part of that vision, and we cannot help but become involved fully and completely in that vision.
Vision is given for vocation. If it is not for vocation, then there is no meaning to that vision. So, dear brothers and sisters, we have to come to see that a heavenly vision is given to be our vocation.
We remember the case of the Apostle Paul. When he was on the road to Damascus, he was given the heavenly vision. And when this heavenly vision was given, it had to be accepted by faith, and it resulted in commitment and ended in commission.
It is not something vague. It is not something abstract. It is something most practical, and it touches our very life upon this earth. It revolutionizes our life. It revolutionizes our ministry. It is for a vocation.
Probably, we have the thought, “How glorious it will be if we are given such a vision.” And it is true, because this heavenly vision is a glorious thing in the universe. There is nothing more glorious than seeing the purpose of God concerning Christ and concerning His church.
It lifts us up out of ourselves and out of this world, delivers us from this earth, and makes us heavenly-minded. It truly brings us into His glory. That vision is most glorious.
But, brothers and sisters, at the same time, this heavenly vision is most terrible.
You remember the story of Jacob. He did have a spiritual desire. He desired spiritual things, even though he was a carnal man. He tried to attain spiritual reality through carnal means, and of course we know he could not.
Because of this, he was so disciplined that he had to leave home and wander in the wilderness. There, at night, he laid his head upon a stone as his pillow. I think you can hardly describe a more pitiful and tragic scene than this: worn out, he laid his head upon the stone and fell asleep.
But then, at that time, God revealed Himself to him. He saw a ladder connecting earth and heaven. God was at the top of that ladder, and Jacob was lying at the bottom. Angels were ascending and descending upon that ladder.
And God said to him, “I am the God of thy father. I am with thee. I will perform all that I have promised to thy father Abraham, and to Isaac,” and so forth.
Jacob woke up. And do you know what he said? Oh, he did not say, “This is wonderful. This is marvelous.” No. His reaction was, “This is terrible. This is a terrible place, because this is the house of God, the gate of heaven.”
Why was it so terrible? It was terrible because he found himself so unfit, so unworthy. He found himself so far from what the vision was, and he knew it was a terrible thing.
If this was to become true, how much must be done in his life? It is terrible, brothers and sisters.
Yet, terrible as it was to him, he accepted it, even though he did not understand it fully. We know how, after that vision, he still bargained with God. God said, “I am with thee,” and he said, “If Thou art with me.” God said, “I will bless thee with all the blessing of Abraham,” and he said, “God, if Thou wilt give me clothes to wear and food to eat, and keep me safe and bring me home, then I will make Thee my God.”
He still bargained with God. He did not understand fully what that vision was. Yet, brothers and sisters, on the other hand, he did accept it. He put up that stone to be a pillar, poured oil upon it, and said, “If God should fulfill all this, I will make this the house of God.”
On the one hand, he saw that it was a terrible thing because he found himself so far away from that vision, and he knew that making him fit for the vision would take a long road. Yet he did commit himself to God and allow God to work it out in his life, to make him the house of God.
He poured oil on the stone. In other words, symbolically, it means that by the power of the Holy Spirit, it shall be done.
Because he accepted that vision with faith, however imperfect that faith might have been, and because he committed himself to God’s hand, we find that from that day onward the hand of God was upon that man.
For twenty years, God worked in that life, trying to break him down and remake him. But he was such a strong person that it took God twenty years, and a man of similar nature, to deal with Jacob, until finally God broke him and transformed him from Jacob to Israel, a prince with God.
Whenever the heavenly vision comes upon a person, the first reaction is, “How unfit, how unworthy I am.”
You remember the prophet Isaiah. He was a prophet; he was prophesying. If you read the first few chapters of Isaiah, you will find what a strong prophet he was. How he denounced sin. How he announced judgment to God’s people, as if he were above the people.
And yet, in Isaiah 6, when King Uzziah died, he went into the temple, and in a vision he saw the Lord upon the throne, high and lifted up. His train filled the temple, and seraphim were there crying, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.” There was smoke, and there was shaking.
This strong prophet cried out, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.”
You know, there is no member of the body of a prophet stronger than the lips, because he is a spokesman of God. He uses his mouth; he uses his lips. That is his strength. Yet, brothers and sisters, when he saw the Lord upon the throne, his strength turned into weakness. He discovered how unclean his lips were. He was not fit to speak for God.
It is only people who have no vision who feel they are fit to speak for God. If you see God, you dare not speak. You know how unclean your lips are.
But thank God, he was cleansed by the fire from the altar. From that day onward, he became the spokesman of God to His people.
The same thing happened with the prophet Ezekiel. In Ezekiel 1, when the glory of the Lord appeared to Ezekiel, he fell down. He could not stand anymore.
The same thing happened to Daniel, the beloved of God. You remember in Daniel 10, when the Lord appeared to him in glory, he fell down as one dead. He said, “My comeliness was turned in me into corruption.”
We know Daniel was the beloved of God. He was such a perfect man. In the Bible, a few persons are mentioned without any fault—not that they had no fault, but it was not mentioned—and Daniel was one of them. Yet when he saw the Lord, his beauty turned into corruption.
Dear brothers and sisters, if we say that we have seen the heavenly vision, and yet it only makes us think we are worthy and fit, instead of seeing our unworthiness and total unfitness, I wonder whether we have truly seen the heavenly vision.
The first reaction that comes to a person who has seen the Lord is to find himself so unworthy, so unfit. He has to fall down as dead, and he has to rely upon the Lord to raise him up from the dead.
Wherever a vision comes, it demands obedience. Do not think a vision is given just to make you feel good. Do not think a vision is given just to make you think that you are more spiritual than other people, and that is the reason why you are given this vision.
Remember: whenever the heavenly vision is given, it demands our obedience.
The Apostle Paul could testify, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.”
I wonder why he used double negatives. Why did he not say, “King Agrippa, I was obedient to the heavenly vision”? It would have been much simpler to say that—more positive. But no, he said, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.”
Now, I know that in the Hebrew language, sometimes you use a double negative to make something more emphatic. That is true. But personally, I believe there must be something more.
Is it not that Paul, very deeply out of his experience through many years, found that obedience was simply not in him? On the contrary, he found that disobedience was in him.
In other words, the very nature of the old man is disobedient. From the first man, Adam, when he disobeyed God, it seemed that in the very blood of Adam there was disobedience. We who are the descendants, the seed of Adam, discover that within us there is that seed of disobedience.
Disobedience is not merely an occasional act. We discover that disobedience is deeply implanted in our very natural life. It is easy for us to disobey; it is very difficult for us to obey.
Even in this world, you will discover that when a child begins to talk, the first thing for him to do is to say, “No.” It is very difficult for a child to say, “Yes.” Why? Because the very spirit of disobedience is in that natural life.
Unless we see this, we are not delivered. We have to acknowledge that in our spirit—that is, in fallen man—there is the very spirit of rebellion, the very spirit of disobedience, especially when we come to the things of God.
Some people may be quite obedient outwardly, but it may not be true inwardly. If you find it hard to obey even in the natural sense, how much more difficult you will find it to obey God, to obey that heavenly vision.
So I do believe that the Apostle Paul discovered this in his own life. Now, do not think that it was easy for Paul, having seen such a glorious vision, so that obedience became something natural to him. Not so.
If you read Paul’s writings, you will find again and again that he said the mind of the flesh does not understand the things of God. The carnal mind cannot accept God’s will because it is folly to him. The man of the flesh cannot please God.
Brothers and sisters, these are not merely words. These are experiences. Out of his own experience, he discovered that in him—that is, in the flesh—there is no obedience.
That is the reason why, I think, he said, “I was not disobedient.” Naturally, he would have been disobedient to the heavenly vision. But supernaturally, he was not disobedient.
Oh, brothers and sisters, the heavenly vision demands obedience. But remember: in you there is no such thing as obedience, especially when you come to the heavenly vision.
Why? Because with the heavenly vision comes the cross.
It is the cross that converts that vision into vocation. If there is a vision given and there is no cross, you become a visionary. But God does not give a vision to make you a visionary. God gives you vision that it may become a vocation to you.
In order that it may become a vocation, you find that with the vision comes the cross. Therefore, it is terrible.
Think of our Lord Jesus. He is the heavenly vision. But for Him to be that heavenly vision, even before the foundation of the world, He was the Lamb slain.
When He came into this world, it was not easy as it was for us when we came. He had to empty Himself. He was God. He was equal with God. He received all the worship, adoration, praises, and service of all the angelic hosts. It was His right.
Yet, brothers and sisters, in order to complete that vision, He had to empty Himself. It is true that He could never empty Himself of His deity, because even though He became man, He was still God. But He emptied Himself of all that surrounded His deity: His honor, His glory, His rights, and His authority.
He laid down everything. He emptied Himself in order to become a man. Brothers and sisters, that is the cross.
As a man, how He denied Himself. If there is any man who did not need to deny Himself, that was our Lord Jesus, because even His human self was pure, sinless, and perfect.
Yet He denied Himself to the point that He said, “I can do nothing of Myself. I can say nothing of Myself.” He said, “Your time is always ready; but My time is not yet come.” You find that His whole life was a life of the cross.
He denied Himself to the point that He entered into death, even the death of the cross. Brothers and sisters, we can never fully understand what He suffered, how much He suffered throughout His life. We can never fully understand how much suffering He endured upon that Calvary cross.
He not only suffered physically; He suffered spiritually. He had to give up everything. He had to lay down His life. He had to cry out, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”
Yet, brothers and sisters, it was through the things which He suffered that He learned obedience.
Our Lord Jesus learned obedience while He was on earth. As God, obedience was not in the vocabulary of God. God never needs to obey; God commands. So our Lord Jesus, as Man, as the God-man, had to learn a new lesson. He had to learn obedience. How? Through the things which He suffered.
How much He suffered; how much He had to deny His holy self; how much He had to lay down His holy life. But from the things which He suffered, He learned obedience, and He became the Author of our eternal salvation.
One translation, and it is more accurate, says that He became the Cause of our eternal salvation. In other words, He learned obedience not for Himself. He learned obedience in His life for us, because He is going to give His own life to us.
In that life, there is the spirit of obedience. Brothers and sisters, we can never obey God. We can never obey the heavenly vision by ourselves. But thank God, today there is a possibility; there is a potential, because in the very life that we have received from our Lord Jesus when we believe in Him, there is obedience.
It is only by that life that Paul could say, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.”
Do not think that you can obey the heavenly vision. If anybody should think that he or she can obey the heavenly vision, or even make it work, you deceive yourselves. Either you have not seen the vision, or you have turned away from the vision and are building something else.
We have to humbly acknowledge that if God should, by His mercy, give us that heavenly vision, it is totally out of us and beyond us. It is something we cannot fulfill. But thank God, by that life, it can be done.
That heavenly vision either makes us or breaks us. When the heavenly vision comes to us, we find that it demands obedience. Yet within us—that is, in our flesh—we find rebellion. We find that we simply cannot obey.
We find that it demands too much, because it demands our very life. It demands all. We know that it means we have to deny ourselves, take up the cross, and follow the Lord, and we find that we cannot do it.
Brothers and sisters, if we try to struggle on our own, it breaks us. But if, by the mercy of God, we realize that we cannot make it but He can, then He will make us.
You remember, the heavenly vision is such a strange thing. On the one hand, it repels us; on the other hand, it attracts us.
Let me illustrate it. You remember the story of Peter. When he was brought to the Lord by his brother Andrew, the Lord looked him over. You know, in John 1, the word “looked” in the original means that the Lord looked him over, up and down.
Evidently, when the Lord looked Peter over, that look penetrated into Peter’s very heart. Peter was a very talkative person. He always spoke first; he never gave you the chance to speak first. Yet when he was brought to the Lord and the Lord looked him over, he was speechless.
He never uttered a word. The Lord said, “Thou art Simon.” You are Simon—weak as water—but you shall be Peter, firm as a stone. This is the power of the Lord.
The Lord called him when he was fishing, “Come and follow Me. I will make you a fisher of men.” He left his boat, left his net, and followed the Lord. Peter began to travel with the Lord and spend time with the Lord. That was in the very early days.
One day, when our Lord Jesus came to Capernaum, Peter’s hometown, Peter went fishing. Now, why did he go fishing? He had left his fishing net, left his boat, and followed the Lord for a short period. Now he went back to fishing.
But thank God, God did not allow him to catch a single fish. Now suppose he had succeeded.
In the morning, the Lord borrowed his boat to preach. The Lord said, in effect, “All right, if that is what you want to do, I borrow your boat; I will pay you the price.” So the Lord said, “Go out and put down the net. You will catch fish to pay for your boat, if that is the way you want to deal with Me.”
And you find a great haul of fishes. What was Peter’s reaction? Peter fell down before the Lord and said, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
Peter thought he could make it. He was attracted by the Lord, and he followed the Lord. He thought he could make it. But after spending time with the Lord, he discovered that he was unfit. He could not make it.
Because he found he could not make it, he felt it was better to slip out early. That is why he went fishing. But the Lord revealed His glory to Peter. The Lord is the Creator; He has command over the whole universe.
When Peter saw the glory of the Lord in that net full of fishes, his reaction was, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man.” Do you think you are fit for the Lord? Do you think you are fit for the heavenly vision? You are not.
You will cry out, “Woe is me. Depart from me, for I am a sinful man.” The heavenly vision repels you, and yet, on the other hand, it draws you.
You know, in the heart of Peter, even though he said, “Depart from me,” it was as if he were crying out, “Lord, if Thou art merciful to me, do not let me go.”
Then, if you turn to John 6, what a difference. After the Lord had fed five thousand with five loaves and two fishes, the people wanted to make Him king. The Lord retreated to the other side of the lake, and the people followed Him.
The Lord said, “Seek not the things that perish, but the things that are eternal. I am the bread of life.” When our Lord was saying these things, His disciples said, “This is a hard saying,” and many departed from Him.
The twelve disciples were there, and the Lord turned to them and said, “Would ye also go away?” If you do, you may.
What did Peter say? Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed and know that Thou art the Holy One of God.”
Brothers and sisters, that is the heavenly nature. If you see the heavenly vision, you have nowhere else to go.
Many times, I have tried to go away. But, brothers and sisters, if you still have an alternative, you have not seen the vision.
People who have seen the vision are finished with everything. They are stuck with Christ forever. There is no other place to go, no other one to whom they can go. He has captured us. We are caught forever.
This heavenly vision, when it comes to us, brings a temptation. On the one hand, we want to obey; on the other hand, we find it hard to live. During that time, brothers and sisters, there is a great temptation to compromise.
We try to compromise. Even with the father of faith, Abraham, we see this.
When the Lord of glory appeared to Abraham, the call came to him: “Depart from thy land, from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, and go to the place of My choice.” You find that Abraham obeyed. But how did he obey? He compromised.
If you read Genesis 11, you will find that it was not Abraham who went out first; it was his father Terah who brought Abraham out with his wife and with his nephew Lot. In other words, when God appeared to Abraham and Abraham desired to obey, he compromised.
He let his father take the initiative, and he brought Lot with him. They came to the land of Haran, between Ur and the promised land, and there he stopped. He compromised.
You know, when a vision is compromised, God becomes silent. During those days in Haran, God never appeared to Abraham again.
Now, brothers and sisters, is this your story? Once upon a time, God did appear to you. Your eyes were opened. You saw Christ. You saw that He deserves the first place. You saw the church, the fullness of Christ. You were attracted by it.
But then you considered your way, and you compromised. The result is that you fell into darkness.
It was only by the mercy of God that God opened the way for Abraham. God took away Terah, but then God appeared to him again and said the very same thing. No new vision; the same old vision.
Why? Because he had not obeyed. He had compromised. Oh, brothers and sisters, what a temptation it is to compromise what God speaks.
When God’s vision is compromised, you find that gradually it becomes dimmer and dimmer, until it becomes something of the past. You may be able to look back and say, “Five years ago, God appeared to me,” but you live in the past. You are not in the present, nor in the future.
Another thing: in 1 Samuel 15:22, God spoke through Samuel to Saul, “Obedience is better than sacrifice.”
There is another temptation when the heavenly vision comes to us. Our response to the heavenly vision may be to substitute sacrifice for obedience.
We are very clever. We do not want to obey, because we know that if we obey, we have to allow the cross to work in our lives. We want to keep our integrity. Therefore, we offer to God sacrifice.
“I will do this for You. I will do that for You. I will offer sacrifice to You.”
Let me use an illustration. Again, our brother Watchman Nee. You know, he grew up with the Chang family. From his youth, he fell in love with one of the Changs, Charity. They had a mutual agreement and understanding that they would become one.
Then Brother Nee was saved. After he was saved, of course, he was very concerned about Charity. So he tried to talk to her about the Lord and tried to lead her to Christ.
If he had succeeded, then, you know, the earthly vision and the heavenly vision would have gone in the same way. But God did not honor that.
Brother Nee bargained with God. He said, “Lord, if Thou wilt let me have her, I am willing to go anywhere Thou wantest me to go. I will serve Thee.” But our God does not seek a bargain.
So finally, our brother yielded. After he yielded, he changed his clothes, put on an old gown, made some paste, went out into the streets, and put up Scripture posters. That was his declaration: now she is dead to the world.
The Scripture that spoke to him was Psalm 73:25:
Whom have I in heaven but Thee?
And there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee.
He could say, “I have no one in heaven but the Lord,” but he could not say before that he did not desire anyone else on earth except the Lord. But from that day onward, he was able to follow the vision that God had given to him.
Now, of course, I want to make you happy. After many years of separation, God in His sovereignty saved Charity, and finally they became husband and wife.
But anyway, brothers and sisters, what I want to emphasize is this: oftentimes, when the heavenly vision comes to us, we try to substitute sacrifice for obedience.
Do you think God wants our sacrifice? Do you think God really wants your service? Do you think your sacrifice can satisfy His heart if He does not have you, if He does not have your obedience? No. Obedience is better than sacrifice.
How often, when a person sees a vision, instead of being open to God in an attitude of obedience and allowing God to work out that vision in his life and then through his life, we hurry off and try to work it out ourselves.
Brothers and sisters, when you do that, what you create is a monster. But what God wants is obedience, not sacrifice.
The heavenly vision is very sensitive. By sensitive, I mean that it can easily be clouded, easily be lost, and easily be distracted into something else.
We find many of God’s people who do have a vision in the beginning, but then they are distracted into something else.
I would like to use an example. You know, a wheel is a tremendous invention. But in the Bible, you find that a wheel is also very important, especially in Ezekiel. You find a wheel within a wheel.
The heavenly vision is like a wheel. A wheel speaks of motion, the movement of God moving toward a goal.
The center of this wheel, the axle, is Christ. The circumference, the rim of this wheel, is the church. Then you find all the other things—whether they are truths or experiences, all the things found in the Bible—are the spokes.
They all center upon Christ and reach out to the church. Or, to put it another way, everything you find in Scripture, everything you find in life, every truth, and every experience are all spokes. They come out from Christ as the center and reach to the church as the rim.
That is the way the wheel moves. Everything you find is related to Christ, and everything comes out to the church.
But, brothers and sisters, our problem is that instead of seeing the heavenly vision as a wheel, we lose our vision of the center, or we lose the vision of the rim, and all we see is a spoke here and a spoke there.
Now, these spokes represent truth. I am not talking about false doctrine, but truth. These spokes represent spiritual experience, not merely something mystical.
Yet, brothers and sisters, whenever a truth is seen out of the context of Christ and the church, it becomes a thing by itself. It becomes a substitute for the heavenly vision.
How many people today are occupied with these spokes—not with Christ. All these spokes are balanced. How are they balanced? Because you have Christ on one hand and the church on the other hand.
When a truth or experience is out of the context of Christ and the church, you will find that it is either too short or too long. If the spoke is either too short or too long, you know what happens: either the wheel will break, or you will just jerk around.
That is what is happening today. Dear brothers and sisters, we need to center upon Christ. We need to have the church as the boundary. Then you find the church, which is the body of Christ, the fullness of Him who filleth all in all.
Sorry, my time is up. I have more to say, but I think remembering the Lord is more important than speaking. I do not want to be like Paul—fortunately, we are on the ground floor.
But I think it is more important to remember the Lord and to be quiet before Him for a short period. We all have to be quiet before Him.
Dear Heavenly Father, wilt Thou please, in Thy mercy, reveal that heavenly vision to Thy redeemed people? Wilt Thou please, by Thy grace, make us faithful, that we may, like our brother Paul, declare, “We are not disobedient to the heavenly vision.”
Wilt Thou please bring that vision to us and bring us into that vision? Wilt Thou please glorify Thyself in Thy beloved Son?
Lord, we offer ourselves to Thee. We are at Thy disposal. Do whatever Thou dost see fit with us. We acknowledge that we are totally unfit, but Lord, Thou art able to make us fit for that vision. For this, we are grateful.
We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.