Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint.
— Proverbs 29:18
Brethren and fathers, hearken. The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran,
and said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee.
— Acts 7:2-3
By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out unto a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
— Hebrews 11:8
Lord, we praise You. In Your sovereign grace, You gather us unto Yourself. We believe that in all You do, You have a good will behind all Your dealings.
So we join our hearts together and look unto You. We pray that You will speak to our hearts according to Your will. We pray that You will give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation.
Unless Your Holy Spirit works, we cannot enter into all that You want to bring us into. Therefore, we seek You. Remove the veil that is in our hearts so that we may see You face to face.
Not only speak to us, but reveal Yourself to us. Bring us to where You want us to be, that You may accomplish Your purpose. All the glory be unto You. In the name of Jesus, amen.
Thank God that He has gathered us unto Himself on this occasion. We believe that God has a purpose behind it. We pray and hope that during these next few days we will have a prayerful, seeking heart before Him, and that during this weekend we will indeed meet the Lord Himself—and that the Lord will meet us as well.
I believe God will do His work among us and prepare us to meet Him face to face. May the Lord deliver us from merely touching His word outwardly. May He bring us into the reality and truth of His word.
The burden for this conference is vision, worship, and service. These three things are inseparable.
If there is no vision, there will be no worship, and there will be no true service. Today, there is much worship and service without vision. Yet vision issues in worship and service, and worship and service prove that there is vision. These three aspects are inseparable.
My burden is upon the matter of vision.
Often, when we mention the term vision, we have the feeling that it is something mystical, vague, or unreal. We may think of it as something that merely affects our minds or emotions.
It is true that vision is heavenly and spiritual. Vision is supernatural. But vision is also most real and most true. Though it is heavenly, it touches the earth. Though it is spiritual, it can be experienced and expressed through our daily living.
Do not think of vision as something remote or vague. Vision is heaven touching the earth. It is spiritual, but it is worked out on earth.
We want to use a person in Scripture to illustrate this matter of vision. That person is Abraham. In the life of Abraham, we see what vision was to him and what vision can do in a person.
In these three morning sessions, we will consider Abraham’s life in three portions. The book of Hebrews mentions Abraham three times in a particular way. These three mentions allow us to see three aspects of his life:
Through these three aspects of Abraham’s life, we can see how vision is worked out in our lives. This morning, we will concentrate on the matter of vision.
Scripture tells us that Abraham resided in Ur of the Chaldees. Ur was a place of idolatry. Archaeological remains from that site have been discovered, and tradition tells us that Terah, Abraham’s father, was an idol-maker.
Abraham was brought up in an idolatrous environment. In those days, people had departed from the true God and were worshiping false gods.
Possibly, as a young man, Abraham considered the universe and concluded that there must be a Creator of all these things. Though unseen, there must be One who created the universe. This young man had a truth-seeking heart.
There is a tradition concerning Abraham and his father’s idols. One time, when Terah was going away, he told his son to take care of the idols in the house. After his father left, Abraham broke the idols into pieces.
When Terah returned and saw their condition, he asked Abraham, “What happened? Who did all this?”
Abraham replied, “After you left, all these idols fought with one another. The condition you see now is because they fought with each other.”
Why do we worship false gods and idols? God saw what was in Abraham’s heart. Abraham was seeking the true God.
Acts 7:2 tells us that, while Abraham was still living in the midst of idolatry, the God of glory appeared to him. This revelation began Abraham’s life of faith.
This is the beginning of our spiritual and heavenly way of life. Even if we have a heart that seeks truth, without vision we are still groping in darkness. It is only when God reveals Himself to us that we begin to see light.
The Scripture says that the God of glory appeared to Abraham. The revelation of God Himself is the vision of which we are speaking.
Vision is not an ordinary kind of sight. Vision is God revealing Himself to us. In the universe, God is the greatest mystery. No one can truly know God, because He is too great, above us, and beyond our understanding—unless God reveals Himself to us.
No one on earth can know Him truly apart from His revelation. But thank God: He delights in revealing Himself to us. Our God is a God who speaks to us.
Without His revelation, we would remain forever in darkness. But praise God, He reveals Himself.
In Genesis 16, when God met Hagar and spoke to her, her response was that God was the One who saw her. God is indeed the God whom we can truly see. He is a God who desires to reveal Himself to us.
When He reveals Himself to us, we begin to see light, and we begin to know who He is. This is the beginning of true spiritual life.
What does vision mean? Simply speaking, vision is when God reveals Himself.
The God of glory appeared to Abraham. When God appeared to Abraham, what Abraham saw was God’s glory. Before that, he was in darkness and shame. But when God’s glory appeared to him, for the first time he saw glory. In glory, he met God.
We know that glory is the manifestation of God Himself. When God truly reveals Himself to us, what we see is glory.
Glory is impossible to define, because there is no way to define God. Yet we can have a sense of His glory—of His character, His nature, and His being. When He reveals Himself to us, we begin to know something of God Himself.
We begin to know something of His nature, His compassion, His holiness, His righteousness, and His perfection. In Him there is no darkness. His love is perfect.
Vision is when we begin to see what is in God’s heart. It is when God opens His heart to us and tells us what His will is all about—what He delights to do and what He desires to gain.
All these things are included in vision. The Scriptures simply record that the glory of God was revealed to Abraham.
When Abraham began to see even a small measure of God’s glory, all the idols became nothing to him. Because he saw something of God’s glory, he began to live a separated life.
God spoke to Abraham and said, “You must leave your country and your relatives. Go to the place where I want you to go.”
When God begins to reveal Himself to a person, that person cannot remain where he was before. When God reveals Himself and we begin to see the true nature of all things, we realize that we had been groping in darkness.
In darkness, we thought that the things we sought were treasures to us. But when God’s glory enlightens us, we begin to see the true nature of things.
The things we once considered treasures become rubbish to us. They are not only without value; they defile us. This is the result of God revealing Himself to us.
Therefore, God said to Abraham, “You must depart from your country and your relatives. You must cut off your old relationships. You need to be separated. You must go where I want you to go.”
At that moment, Abraham did not know where he was going. God did not immediately tell him everything that He had prepared for him. Scripture says that Abraham went by faith. He left his country and relatives to go to the place God had promised, though he did not know where he was going.
Thank God. Though Abraham did not know where he was going, and though God had not revealed everything to him specifically, Abraham knew the God who had revealed Himself to him.
Faith is based upon the revelation of God Himself. When God reveals Himself to us, the result of that revelation is faith. By faith, Abraham left behind all that was old.
Brothers and sisters, we are all weak. Even though Abraham saw the glory of God and was told to leave his country and relatives, he was still a weak human being.
When we look at Genesis 11, we find that Terah took his son Abram, Abram’s wife Sarai, and Lot, and they left Ur of the Chaldees. But when they arrived at Haran, they settled there.
What does this show us? Even though Abraham saw God and desired to obey Him, a person who has seen a vision cannot remain where he was before. If you can still remain where you were before, it proves that you have not yet seen a vision.
Vision changes your position. You cannot remain in your old position. Abraham wanted to move forward, but at that moment he was still weak. He compromised with the flesh and bargained with his father.
We can imagine the conversation between them. Terah may have said, “If you walk this way, it is foolish. You are leaving your country and your relatives. Where are you going?”
Abraham may have replied, “I do not know where I am going.”
Then Terah may have said, “If you do not know where you are going, how can you go? You are abandoning all these things, and you have no knowledge of where you are going. This proves that you are a most foolish person.”
But Abraham could only say, “God has revealed Himself to me. I cannot remain where I am now. I must move forward.”
Because Terah loved his son, he eventually agreed to go. Yet this move was not initiated by Abraham. Scripture says that Terah made the initial move.
Terah had no vision. A person without vision cannot experience the power of vision. So they stopped halfway in Haran. Haran was a place between Ur of the Chaldees and Canaan, and Terah was not willing to go forward.
Haran was, in some ways, like Ur of the Chaldees. They left Ur, but they did not go very far.
We have no record of how long they remained in Haran. We only know that when Abraham was seventy-five years old, God led him forward from that point.
Terah was the father of Abram and his brothers. Scripture tells us that he died at the age of two hundred and five. We do not know how long they remained in Haran, but while they remained there, God could not speak to Abraham further.
When you have received vision but compromise with the flesh, you discover that the way will not work. Consider Paul. On the road to Damascus, when the Lord met him and he saw the heavenly vision, Scripture tells us that he did not consult with flesh and blood. He went into the desert, where he met the Lord face to face.
This is the difference between one who has vision and one who does not have vision. Someone without vision may walk with one who has vision, but only for a certain distance and only to a certain point.
A person without firsthand revelation receives things secondhand. Sometimes he receives willingly, and at other times he is merely influenced by his surroundings. One day, what he assumed to be real will break down.
Before God, we cannot follow tradition. Even though tradition may be orthodox, tradition is dead. It will not make us alive.
Everyone must receive a firsthand revelation. Strictly speaking, in spiritual matters there is no such thing as a second generation. In the things of the Spirit, everyone must be of the first generation.
All of us must see God personally. We must meet God face to face. We must personally hear His voice.
Even though we are full of weakness, thank God and praise God, we can be sure that God’s hand is upon us. He will not forsake us. He uses all kinds of ways and means to deliver us.
Abraham had no way to solve his problem in Haran. Then God began to work, and Terah passed away.
When Terah passed away, we come to Genesis 12. Scripture says, “Now the Lord said unto Abram.” God spoke to him again:
Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto the land that I will show thee.
— Genesis 12:1
God especially mentioned Abraham’s father’s house. At that particular point, Abraham was unable to deal with this weakness. But God, in grace, saw Abraham’s problem and reminded him again.
God said, “Get out of your country, your family, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you.” Praise God.
Sometimes, because of weakness, we do not move forward. We may fall into situations and problems that are impossible for us to solve. Yet in our hearts we understand that partial obedience is disobedience.
To obey, we must obey absolutely. Abraham found himself helpless, but thank God, God solved the problem. God came to lead Abraham forward.
In the matter of vision, the vision at the beginning is not the totality of the vision. When God’s glory first appeared to Abraham, God told him simply to leave his country and family and go to the place that He would show him. Abraham did not know where he was going.
But in Genesis 12, when God spoke to him again, God gave him promises and encouraged him:
And I will make of thee a great nation,
and I will bless thee,
and make thy name great;
and be thou a blessing:
and I will bless them that bless thee,
and him that curseth thee will I curse:
and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
— Genesis 12:2-3
We can see the abundance and riches of God’s grace. He understands our weakness, and He desires to encourage us. Through His promises, He encourages our hearts to move forward.
Thank God, Abraham moved forward. We see how God continually and step by step led him onward.
When Abraham arrived in Canaan, seven tribes occupied the land. But God revealed Himself to Abraham and said, “Unto thy seed will I give this land.”
At that moment Abraham had no descendant, because Sarah was unable to bear children. Yet God said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” Though the land was occupied, God promised it to him.
Here we see the enlargement of Abraham’s vision.
Later, because of famine in the land, Abraham went to Egypt. There we see his weakness again. But praise God, God delivered him, and Abraham returned to the land of promise.
Later, Lot and Abraham could no longer dwell together because they had accumulated much wealth. When they went to Egypt, they had also accumulated much wealth.
It is strange, but when we fail, we often accumulate more earthly things. These things become our burden and our problem.
This is a warning to all of us. We may assume that our earthly possessions are spiritual blessings from God, but eventually these earthly things may become our idols.
When Lot left Abraham, God appeared to Abraham again and said:
Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward and southward and eastward and westward:
for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for unto thee will I give it.
— Genesis 13:14-15, 17
In Abraham’s life, God kept enlarging his vision.
When we come to Genesis 15, we find that Abraham was afraid, and God revealed Himself to him. Abraham complained to God because God had promised to give him so much, yet he had no offspring of his own.
Abraham said that the servant of his house would be his heir. But God said to him that his descendants would be like the stars of heaven. God took him outside and said, “Can you number the stars in the sky?”
And he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him for righteousness.
— Genesis 15:6
God made a covenant with him to give him the land. The land occupied by the seven tribes would become Abraham’s inheritance.
In God’s vision, God promised Abraham two things: descendants and land. His descendants would be as the stars of heaven, though Abraham did not yet have even one child. The whole land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates, would be given to Abraham.
Yet at that moment, Abraham did not even have a foothold in the land. God gave promise after promise. Finally, God gave him an heir, a son, and Isaac was born.
Throughout his life, Abraham did not possess even a foothold in the promised land. When Sarah died, he had to purchase a burial place in which to bury her.
But because of the vision God had given him, and because of faith, Abraham saw what the natural man could never see.
Hebrews 11 tells us that Abraham was a sojourner in the land because he saw a city that had foundations, whose Architect and Builder is God.
For he looked for the city which hath the foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
— Hebrews 11:10
If Abraham had wanted to return to the place from which he came, he could have done so. But he was seeking a better country, a heavenly one, the place God had prepared for him.
What was Abraham’s vision? The vision God gave to Abraham was greater and more beautiful than the earthly land of Canaan. The reality was heavenly: the New Jerusalem. That is what Abraham saw. That was his vision.
Abraham was in the land of Canaan, but he saw this vision. In comparison with that heavenly reality, the other things were as nothing.
God promised Abraham a son. But this son was not merely Isaac. Isaac was a type. In the life of Isaac, Abraham saw Christ.
In John 8:56, the Lord Jesus said:
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day; and he saw it, and was glad.
— John 8:56
What Abraham saw was not merely Isaac. God’s promise would be fulfilled in the line of Isaac, but the reality is the Lord Jesus. Christ is the promised Seed.
All God’s promises are fulfilled in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. This was Abraham’s vision. He saw through to eternity. He saw Christ, and he saw the city with foundations.
Because of his vision, Abraham was able to walk all the way through his life.
Today we are in New Testament times. Christ has already come. All the types have now been fulfilled.
The book of Hebrews tells us that everything is fulfilled completely in the person of Jesus Christ. What, then, is our vision today?
We do not need to remain in types. We are already in the day of fulfillment. Christ fulfills everything.
In Christ, we see God’s glory. We see what is in His heart toward us, and He shows us what He has been doing throughout the ages.
There is a mystery that was hidden through the ages. Before God created all things, He already had this will in His heart. He had a desire for what He wanted to gain for Himself. All His work moves toward this one goal—His eternal will.
This eternal purpose was hidden through the ages. God gave clues, types, prophecies, history, and many hints, but these things could not fully reveal the desire of His heart. Yet through all history, God was working toward His one goal.
Paul tells us in Ephesians 3 that this mystery, hidden in God’s heart, has now been revealed to His apostles and prophets.
Therefore, today we have no excuse for not knowing what God’s will is. We cannot fail to see this heavenly vision, because it is now an open secret.
God has already finished this work. In the person of Jesus Christ is all the fullness of God Himself. In His Son, we are made complete.
Praise God. All the heavenly blessings have already been given to us in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything that is of God is in the person of His Son.
God has given His own Son to us. Since we have God’s Son, we have all things. In Christ, we have the unsearchable riches of Christ Jesus.
These unsearchable riches of Christ are for us to experience. Praise and thank God.
God has provided for us a heavenly home, and this is the New Jerusalem. God Himself is building that city. It is not the work of man; it is God’s work.
God is building us into that holy city. In each of our lives, all the riches and fullness of Christ are to be wrought into us. We are being brought into that heavenly city, the New Jerusalem.
This is the heavenly vision.
Paul, on the road to Damascus, saw this heavenly vision. Heaven is nothing less than Christ and His church.
On the road to Damascus, Paul saw Christ. Before that, he knew nothing of Christ. He believed that Christ should be persecuted and removed, and he thought that he was serving God by doing so.
But on the road to Damascus, Paul saw that the Jesus whom he had been persecuting was now in heaven. God had made Him both Christ and Lord.
Paul fell before Christ, surrendered himself completely, and allowed Christ to become Lord in his life.
Paul also saw the Body. The Lord said to him:
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?
— Acts 9:4
When you touch a member of the Body of Christ, you touch the Head. Paul saw Christ and the church as one.
The whole Bible reveals this fact. What Paul saw was the same reality that Abraham saw in figure and promise. Praise God: God reveals Himself.
Today, if we indeed have a hungry heart, God will satisfy us. He will reveal this vision to us so that we may see what is truly in His heart. That is God’s glory.
This is the work that God desires to do in us. But we are living in a time when the coming of the Lord is very near. There is not much time left for us.
We need to seek Him diligently. We cannot be careless in our lives.
Faith is the only way. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. Therefore, we rise up and walk the way of faith.
The vision becomes our true vocation. I believe this is the work that God wants to do in us.
If today you are unclear about this heavenly vision, remember that God delights to reveal His Son in your heart. All you need to do is come to Him with hunger for Himself. He will reveal Himself to you.
We pray that during these days we will allow Him to reveal Himself to us and that we will all be brought into the reality of the vision.
O God, we thank You and pray. You have already sent Your Son to this earth, and on the cross He has accomplished Your will. We thank You that You have already revealed Your Son, Christ, in our hearts.
In Christ, You have also revealed the things You desire. We pray that the eyes of our inner being may become brighter and clearer. As we walk with You, may we receive brighter and brighter light.
We pray not only that we may see inwardly, but also that because of faith we may walk in obedience. Lord, we desire that You would gain what You desire to gain for Yourself.
All the glory be unto You. In Christ’s name, amen.