Please turn to the book of Acts, Acts 26:19.
Wherefore, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:
Also, Proverbs 29:18, the first part:
Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint;
In some versions it says that the people disintegrate, or, in another version, that the people perish.
Dear Lord, as we continue in Thy presence, we look through Thy Holy Spirit to quicken Thy Word to our hearts. Lord, we acknowledge that without Thy revelation, we are utterly helpless and hopeless.
But we do praise and thank Thee that it is Thy good pleasure to reveal Thy Son in us. So, Lord, we pray that this morning Thou wilt be pleased to reveal Thy Son to us in a full way. We want to give Thee all the glory. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
The Lord seems to put into my heart this matter of the heavenly vision. You know, this is the testimony of the apostle Paul. He testified before King Agrippa, and he concluded, as it were, his testimony by saying, “Wherefore, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.”
In other words, this heavenly vision explains Paul’s life as well as his ministry. You remember that this testimony of Paul is recorded three times in the book of Acts. In Acts 9, Luke records the incident. Then, in Acts 22, Paul bore this testimony before the Jewish people in Jerusalem. Again, in Acts 26, he gave his testimony before King Agrippa and the Gentiles.
So altogether, you find that in this book of Acts, this testimony that Paul gave is recorded three times. Now, we know that when God speaks once and twice, and even three times, that means something to us. In other words, it is not something for us to neglect.
Put it another way: this testimony of the apostle Paul is supposed to be our testimony. This is the will of God—that the heavenly vision is not only given to Paul. The heavenly vision is, through Paul, given to all of us today.
Now, before we go into this matter of the heavenly vision that the apostle Paul saw on the road to Damascus, I think it is important for us to consider what the heavenly vision is. We are not talking about earthly vision.
You know, in this world, if you want to succeed in any area, you need a vision, or you need a dream. You need an ambition. You need something that you are really fully occupied with, and with that objective, you are able to succeed in whatever field you may be in.
But we are not talking about earthly vision. We are talking about heavenly vision. In other words, there is the heavenly vision that God desires all His children to have.
It is even more than what you find in Acts 2. When the Holy Spirit shall come, the young men shall see visions and old men shall dream dreams. There you find the word visions is in the plural. In other words, there are visions that belong to heaven, but these are visions, not the vision.
There is the heavenly vision: that vision which is from heaven, that vision which is all-inclusive, that vision which is concerned with the eternal will of God. That vision includes all the various visions, even from heaven, that we may receive.
Now, brothers and sisters, in my travels, as I contact brothers and sisters in various parts of the world, there is no lack of vision—even heavenly vision in a small letter. Now, what I mean is this: some people have the vision of evangelism.
Certainly, we find there are people who are so taken up by such a vision, and God uses them mightily in evangelizing. There are other people who have a vision for education—Christian education—and God does use these people to help many people.
So you find that in the Christian world there is no lack of vision in the small letter. By that, I mean that there is a vision of a part of the whole. People see visions, but the great lack among God’s people today is the vision.
In other words, we may have visions, but we do not have that heavenly vision. Because of that, you find that visions even divide God’s people. Actually, these visions are part of the heavenly vision, but unfortunately, because we do not see the whole and only see the parts, people find their emphases are so different, and they differ from one another.
So what we need is to see the heavenly vision that the apostle Paul saw. In that vision, you find God will raise people to fulfill that vision in its various parts. But with that vision, visions will not separate us. Actually, they will enable us to work together and complement one another.
Now, by vision we do not mean something that you see with your naked eyes. It is true that the apostle Paul, on the road to Damascus, saw with his naked eyes, but because of this, his naked eyes were blinded.
But on the road to Damascus, actually, he saw something more than physically. In his own testimony, in Galatians 1:16, he said that it pleased God to reveal His Son in him. In other words, it is something inward, not just something outward.
When God gives revelation, then we receive vision. It happens in our spirit. The Spirit of God will unveil God’s heart, God’s mind, God’s will, and God’s purpose to us. When the Spirit reveals, then in our spirit we receive the impression, and by the grace of God He gives us understanding to know what is being impressed upon our spirit.
That is the reason why the apostle Paul, when he was sharing with the Ephesian believers, immediately gave himself to prayer, praying that God would grant a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of God. Why? Because in spiritual things, without revelation, we are completely strangers.
Even in this matter of salvation, we may know all about the gospel and may be able to preach it, but without revelation from above, we are not born again. We do not receive life.
So, brothers and sisters, from the very beginning of our Christian life to the very end, you find it is a matter of revelation. It is a matter of vision. We need to receive revelation, and we need to live in the vision. This is what is meant by the heavenly vision that the apostle Paul tried to share with us all.
Now, before Paul saw the heavenly vision, we all know his past history because it is recorded in the Word of God. Even the apostle Paul himself, in Philippians 3, told us his past.
The apostle Paul, before he became the apostle, was Saul the Pharisee. Saul had a glorious past. Why? Because he said in Philippians 3 that he was circumcised on the eighth day.
Now, we know this was something very important to the Jewish people. In Genesis 17, God made a covenant with Abraham, and the sign of that covenant was circumcision. God commanded Abraham that all the sons born should be circumcised on the eighth day.
But we know that Abraham himself was circumcised when he was ninety-nine, and Ishmael was circumcised when he was thirteen. But when Isaac was born, he was circumcised on the eighth day. In other words, this had much to do with God’s covenant. It was the proof that he was one of the covenant people of God, with the privilege of enjoying all God’s promises in the covenant.
And Saul was circumcised on the eighth day. Not only that, he said he was of the race of Israel. In other words, he was not of Esau; he was of Jacob, because Jacob continued in the line of God’s covenant.
So he was of the race of Israel. Not only that, he said he was of the tribe of Benjamin. Now, of the twelve tribes of Israel, only Benjamin was born in the promised land. All the other sons were born outside the promised land.
Furthermore, so far as his education was concerned, he said he was a Pharisee. He was trained as a Pharisee. Now, today we may have thoughts about the Pharisees, but in the old days, the Pharisees were looked up to by all the Jewish people because they were people who specialized in the law of God.
They not only studied the law, but they kept the law in great detail, according to the traditions of the rabbis and the fathers. Saul was trained as a Pharisee. He was trained at the feet of Gamaliel, and Gamaliel at that time was the greatest rabbi in Israel. He was the grandson of Hillel, and Saul was trained under him.
He also testified that he was a Pharisee of Pharisees. In other words, he was a true Pharisee. He was not like the other hypocritical Pharisees. He meant business with the Lord, and he was real.
So far as the righteousness of the law was concerned, Saul was blameless. He was such a good man. He kept all the laws, so far as he understood. So far as zeal according to Judaism was concerned, he was so zealous for Judaism, for the Jewish religion, and for the traditions of the fathers, that he persecuted the followers of Jesus.
These were his credentials. He was a Hebrew of Hebrews, even though he was born in Tarsus of Cilicia, which was a Gentile city. Yet in his family, they spoke Hebrew. Therefore, he was a Hebrew of Hebrews, a bona fide Hebrew. These were his background and his tradition.
Now, as a young man, he was different from the other young men. Other young men might seek the things of this world and be ambitious for the world, but this young man was different. His ambition was in religious things. He sought religious things—or, put it another way, he sought things spiritual, heavenly, and eternal.
That was the intention of that young man, and I think this made him most unusual. Even in our days, you find that very few young people really seek after eternal things. Most young people have their ambitions set upon the things of this world. He was such a promising young man.
He was pious. He was righteous according to the law. He was moral. He was religious. And he served God.
He said he served God by persecuting the followers of Jesus. Why? Because according to the traditions of the fathers, Jesus was considered by them to be an impostor of Judaism. So they crucified Him, and those who followed the Lord Jesus were also considered impostors.
So you find that this young man tried his very best to wipe out the so-called sect of the Nazarenes. He thought he was serving God, but he was in darkness—in total darkness.
So, brothers and sisters, this tells us that even the best tradition of man is darkness. Only that which is from above, only that which is from heaven, from God, is light.
If we live according to the tradition of the world or the tradition of the fathers, even if it is the best, it is total darkness. This young man meant well. He was sincere, but he was in total darkness, and he did not know it.
He was so zealous for God that he not only persecuted the believers in Jerusalem and in the Jewish cities; he even asked for official documents from the chief priests so that he could go to the Gentile cities, seize believers in the Lord Jesus, and bring them to Jerusalem to be sentenced.
But while he was on the way to Damascus, it is very strange that God allowed him to go so far. He allowed him even to go to Damascus, and he almost arrived at that city. Then you find God stopped him.
You know, brothers and sisters, God’s cord of love is very long. I remember when I was a little boy, my grandfather took me on a boat ride. He was afraid that I might fall into the river because boys, you know, are active. So he tied me with a rope around my waist, and he held it. Wherever I went, I was under his control.
Now, you know, God’s cord of love is very long. He will allow you to go so far, but only as far as He allows. So here you find God’s cord of love began to tighten up.
Before Saul reached the city of Damascus, at noontime, suddenly a light from heaven shone upon him and those with him. That light was so powerful, brighter than the sun, that they were all smitten and prostrate upon the ground.
There he heard a voice.
Now, brothers and sisters, God looks upon the heart. By all outward appearance, this young man was doing such havoc and sin against God. But God knew his heart. His heart was sincere, but he was misled. He was blinded. Because of this, God’s mercy came upon him.
Paul himself later testified, “I did all these things in ignorance.” He did not know. But God looked upon his heart and drew him back.
You know, the first thing that enters into our life is light. You remember in Genesis 1, when God began to restore this earth and make it habitable, because the earth was filled with darkness. On the first day, God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
When the light shines, what happens? It shows all the things in darkness. It reveals. Light reveals. So, brothers and sisters, you find that in the life of this young man, the first thing that came upon him was light—a heavenly light. It shone upon him, and he was smitten to the ground.
I believe that light enlightened him, too. It showed him all the darkness in which he had lived in the past.
Then he heard a voice:
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? It is hard for thee to kick against the goads.
Now, brothers and sisters, was that heavenly voice an angry voice—a condemning, judging voice? No. That heavenly voice was full of tenderness, full of sympathy, full of love, and full of mercy.
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? It is hard for thee to kick against the goads.
This young man did not know God. By outward appearance, he seemed to know God. He was trained to learn about God, and he was even serving God, as he thought. But he did not know Him.
He knew God in his mind, but he did not know God in his heart. There was no direct relationship between him and God—no divine communication. He was in total darkness.
But God knew him all along. The apostle Paul later testified that even in his mother’s womb God had set him apart. Even before the foundation of the world, God had chosen him in Christ Jesus. Saul did not know that, but God knew him all along. God knew his name: Saul, Saul. And God called him.
Dear brothers and sisters, this is true of every one of us. Before we knew Him, He knew us all along. Before we were born, even in eternity past, He had already chosen us in Christ Jesus. Now, that is love—not because of what we are, but because of what He is.
Dear brothers and sisters, we need to worship Him, that He knew us even before the foundation of the world, and He did call us, even when we were in our mother’s womb.
God asked Saul a question:
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? It is hard for thee to kick against the goads.
Now, you know that in the old days, farmers used an ox, a donkey, or a horse to till the ground. They would put the ox under a yoke and tie it to the plow. The farmer would guide the plow, driving the ox or the horse.
But because the ox or horse has its own ideas, sometimes you find it refuses to follow the direction of the farmer. It may see something on the east or west, on the north, on the right or left, and it may go off.
Because of that, the farmer has in his other hand a thing called a goad. It is a sharp thing. When the ox tries to deviate or disobey his command, the farmer will use the goad and lightly touch the leg of the ox.
Now, the farmer does not want to hurt the ox, but just to remind the ox, “You have a master. You are not free. You are serving me.” So he will lightly touch the leg of the ox with that goad and make it feel it.
But if the ox feels stubborn, it kicks back. When it kicks back, it hurts. This is a way in which the ox begins to learn to be obedient to the master.
Our Lord Jesus was saying to this young man Saul, “Saul, Saul, do you know that it is hard for you to kick against the goads?” Now, what does it mean? It means that you are not free.
Do not think that you are free, that you are independent, that you are your own master. No. Everyone who comes into the world is yoked to the purpose of God. Our Creator is our Master.
We are created to do His will. This is God’s will and God’s purpose. We are not born for ourselves, to live our own life and do our own things. That is not God’s will. We are born to do the will of God.
We are all yoked to God’s work, to fulfill God’s purpose. That is the meaning of the creation of man. God created man in His own image and after His own likeness. Why? To give dominion to them—to rule for God, to do God’s will.
But unfortunately, we forget. We think that we are our own master and can do things according to what we want. Thank God, when we are doing that, He will lightly touch us with that goad. Have you ever felt that before?
So far as this young man was concerned, there was no doubt about it. Why? Because when Stephen was martyred, this young man was there, watching the clothes of those who stoned Stephen—probably in the capacity of an official person overseeing the execution.
Now, even before Stephen died, when he was questioned by the council, the Bible says his face shone like the face of an angel. No doubt this young man was there.
When they stoned Stephen, Stephen said:
Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
Brothers and sisters, he saw the heavens opened. Our Lord in heaven stood up, as it were, to receive him. Saul heard it.
When Stephen was dying, he prayed:
Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.
Saul, being a Pharisee, a true Pharisee trained in the law of God and a moral person, could not help but have his conscience touched. There was something there. It must have touched his conscience—not only slightly, but very deeply.
But tradition was so strong that he tried to silence the voice of his conscience by doubling his effort in persecuting the believers. You can see that in the Word of God. After Stephen’s death, persecution broke out, and Saul was the main agent in doing that.
He went into houses to draw men and women out. A gentleman would not do that. He forced people to blaspheme in the synagogues. He had lost his mind. Why? Because he tried to silence his conscience.
How strong tradition can affect us! This young man—God must have touched him again and again when he saw these Christians being persecuted and saw how they endured. His conscience must have been touched again and again, but he refused.
So our Lord Jesus said, “Saul, do you know it is hard to kick against the goads?” If you are doing that, what will happen? It will mean death. It was a voice of gentleness, tenderness, sympathy, and love.
This young man, Saul the righteous one, heard His voice. Do you know how he reacted? He said:
Who art thou, Lord?
For this young man to acknowledge somebody else as Lord was not easy, because he was his own lord. But now he found Someone mightier than he, Someone that he could not fight against.
He did not know who He was, yet instinctively he knew he had met his Lord. So he called Him Lord: “Who art Thou?”
And the Lord Jesus said:
I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.
Now, in the mind of this Pharisee, Jesus was an impostor. He was that humble carpenter of Nazareth. He was nobody. Saul did not know that this humble carpenter of Nazareth was the Lord of the universe.
To him, it was such a light. He never dreamed that such a thing could happen—that the One whom he persecuted as an impostor was his Lord.
I believe at that very moment, probably his whole life was like a picture before him. Everything was brought back to him. He repented and accepted Jesus as his Lord.
Brothers and sisters, this is the heavenly vision. Now, what is the heavenly vision? The heavenly vision is very simple:
Jesus is Lord.
Now, do we know that? Oh, we do. But do we really know that? We receive Jesus as our Savior. He is for us. But we refuse to accept Him as our Lord—that we are for Him.
Even if mentally we accept it, because we know He is the Lord of the universe and He is our Lord, dear brothers and sisters, are we like Peter? We call Him Lord, and yet we lord over Him.
When our Lord Jesus began to reveal to the disciples that He was to go to Jerusalem, be persecuted, die, and on the third day be raised again, Peter took hold of the Lord, shook Him a little bit, and said, “Lord, this shall never be unto Thee.”
Even when Peter was used of the Lord and was on that roof praying, he saw that vision: a sheet coming down from heaven, tied at four corners and full of four-footed creatures, creeping things, and unclean things.
A voice said:
Rise, Peter; kill and eat.
And Peter said:
Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common and unclean.
Three times. Brothers and sisters, is this our experience? Do we have the heavenly vision? Do we see Jesus as Lord in such a way that He is really Lord to us?
Then we do not challenge Him anymore. We do not try to set up ourselves as another lord, but we give Him absolute surrender.
Now, brothers and sisters, this is the heavenly vision, and this is something that we all lack very, very much. When the Spirit of God begins to examine our life, we discover that we are more our own lords than we allow Jesus to be our Lord.
This Lord of the universe is none other than the Son of the living God. It has pleased God to reveal His Son in me. Saul saw that Jesus is more than a man; He is the Son of God, and He is now exalted as Lord over all.
Now, this is the heavenly vision, brothers and sisters. We need that vision. To that vision, this young man gave full surrender, because in his second question he said:
Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?
He handed over his right to himself to the Lord Jesus. Brothers and sisters, have we done that?
But this heavenly vision is more than that. When this young man asked, “Who art Thou, Lord?” the Lord said, “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.”
Now, Saul was trained as a Pharisee, and the training of the Pharisees was such that they knew how to argue. They were trained in that way. Saul could very well have said, according to his training, “You say something wrong, because I have never persecuted You.”
Saul had never seen Jesus. He had never persecuted Jesus. Furthermore, Jesus was in heaven, and Saul was on earth. How could he reach Him? Saul had every reason to argue, “I have not done that.”
But he did not. Why? Because in that light, he saw something. He saw the body of Christ.
Brothers and sisters, he not only saw Jesus as the Lord, the Head; he also immediately saw the body of Christ. When he watched Stephen being stoned to death, he touched the body of Christ. When you touch the body of Christ, you touch the Head. You touch Christ.
All the men and women whom he had seized were members of the body of Christ, and the Lord said, “It is Me whom you are persecuting.” The ones for whose death he had cast his vote were members of the body of Christ, and the heavenly voice said, “Why persecutest thou Me?”
So, brothers and sisters, immediately you find a great revelation given to this young man. The first revelation is that Jesus is Lord. That is the greatest of all revelations in the world.
Next to it is the church as the body of Christ. Every believer is a member of the body of Christ. They are connected to Christ. They are parts of Christ. Whoever touches any member of the body of Christ touches Christ.
And Saul saw it. Oh, brothers and sisters, no wonder this became the ministry of the apostle Paul. How he talked about the body of Christ! From the very beginning, the Lord revealed that to him.
In other words, on the road to Damascus, he met a universal Man. He met that universal Man: the Head is in heaven, and the body covers the whole world.
Even Satan cannot fight against this universal Man. So our Lord Jesus said:
Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
To that universal Man, this young man surrendered. So, brothers and sisters, this is the heavenly vision. You can look at it. Of course, that is only the beginning of the revelation.
As Paul continued in following the Lord, more and more revelation was given concerning Jesus as the Lord and concerning the church as the body of Christ. That constituted his ministry.
Then, when Saul said, “Lord, what shall I do?” the Lord said:
Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.
So, brothers and sisters, this heavenly vision did not stop on the road to Damascus. It continued on to the city of Damascus. This we will share, God willing, next time.
Dear heavenly Father, we worship Thee because Thou hast Thy eternal will. In Thy eternal will, Thou hast included us.
Lord, we thank Thee that Thou hast made us part of that eternal will. It is Thy good pleasure to reveal Thy Son in us and to draw us into that eternal will, that we may do Thy will and glorify Thy name.
So, Lord, as we wait upon Thee, we pray that Thou wilt continue to open our understanding, shed Thy light upon us, and draw us closer and closer to that heavenly vision that Thou dost desire us to see and to enter into.
We give Thee all the praise and glory. In Thy precious name we pray. Amen.