Please turn to the book of Acts, chapter 9. Acts, chapter 9.
We begin with verse 6.
But rise, and enter into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
And the men that journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing the voice, but beholding no man.
And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw nothing; and they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
And he was three days without sight, and did neither eat nor drink.
Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and the Lord said unto him in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.
And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go to the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one named Saul, a man of Tarsus: for behold, he prayeth;
And he hath seen a man named Ananias coming in, and laying his hands on him, that he might receive his sight.
But Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard from many of this man, how much evil he did to Thy saints at Jerusalem:
And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call upon Thy name.
But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel:
For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.
And Ananias departed, and entered into the house; and laying his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, Who appeared unto thee in the way which thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mayest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
And straightway there fell from his eyes as it were scales, and he received his sight; and he arose and was baptized;
And he took food and was strengthened. And he was certain days with the disciples that were at Damascus.
And straightway in the synagogues he proclaimed Jesus, that He is the Son of God.
Let us pray. May the Holy Spirit breathe upon His written Word, persuade us, make us believe, and make that Word real in each of our lives. We look to Him that the spirit of wisdom and revelation may be given to us, that we may truly know Him. We shall give You all the glory, in the precious name of our dear Lord Jesus. Amen.
We mentioned last night that it is of tremendous importance—yes, of eternal importance—that we, as God’s people, see the heavenly vision.
God gave the heavenly vision to the apostle Paul. That vision transformed his life. It also became his testimony, and we believe it is the will of God that everyone who belongs to the Lord should see that heavenly vision which the apostle Paul saw.
It shows us the way in which we should go. We must press on toward the goal, even if we must bear the cost and sacrifice everything. It gives us strength to endure, that this heavenly vision may become our vocation.
Only if we see the heavenly vision and contemplate the estimation of the goal will we have strength to endure to the very end. And it is this heavenly vision that unites us as one people.
So, dear brothers and sisters, it is our prayer that we are not merely talking about the heavenly vision, but that, by the grace of God, every one of us may see it.
What is this heavenly vision? As Saul approached Damascus, a light from heaven shone upon him. Dear brothers and sisters, I believe this light was the Shekinah glory of God.
In that glory, he saw the Righteous One. The heavenly Father revealed to him that the One Whom he persecuted was not only the Righteous One, but the Son of God. He is the Heir of all things.
This is the same One Who is now at the right hand of God. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. God highly exalted Him to be Lord of all.
He is the Master of everyone. He is Lord. Jesus, the Son of God, is the Master of Saul’s life; He is my Lord, and He is your Lord.
We understand that He is our Saviour. He came into this world to save us, and we receive Him as our personal Saviour. Thank God for that. But, brothers and sisters, at the same time, He should be the Lord of our lives.
To know Christ for me is one thing. But only when we see Him as Lord and surrender our lives to Him do we truly know what it means for Christ to be Lord over us.
I heard of a young man who, when he was seventeen years old, knew that Jesus was the Saviour. He knew that he must receive Him as his Saviour, but he had a problem.
He was a young man with his whole future planned out. He was a brilliant person and could have been successful in any field. His future was very much in his mind.
When he heard the gospel, on the one hand he was touched. He knew that he must receive Jesus as his Saviour. But on the other hand, he realized that, if he received Jesus as Saviour, he must also surrender his life to Jesus as Lord.
So he struggled. While he was praying, the Lord showed him the blackness of sin and the greatness of the blood of the Lord Jesus. He was constrained by the love of Christ to receive Jesus as both Saviour and Lord.
From that time onward, Jesus was not only his Saviour, but also his Lord. This is the heavenly vision. We need to see Jesus as our Lord, be constrained by His love, and yield ourselves freely to Him.
Then Saul saw something more. He saw that Jesus is not only the Lord, but that all the believers in the Lord Jesus are members of His Body.
When the Lord said, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?” He was showing Saul that to touch a believer is to touch Christ, the Head. Saul saw the universal Body of Christ, a Body that fills the whole earth.
This is the heavenly vision. It delivers us from ourselves and brings us into a fellowship that is universal.
This is the essence of the Church. It is not an issue of organization. It is not a doctrine, an opinion, or merely something we understand mentally. It is a spiritual reality.
God must reveal it by His Spirit in our spirit. We must be able to say, “Once I was blind, but now I see.” When we see, it changes our lives, changes our relationship with others, and gives us purpose.
The vision Saul saw on the road to Damascus was not complete. That is true, because the vision continued in the city of Damascus.
How do we know? Remember Saul’s first question: “Who art Thou, Lord?” The Lord answered, “I am Jesus.” Immediately Saul realized that Jesus Himself was Lord.
Then Saul asked a second question: “What shall I do, Lord?” This is very significant.
Saul had been a person who controlled his own life. He knew what he wanted to do, and he directed other people. But now he surrendered himself to Jesus as Lord.
“Lord, You are my Lord now. What do You want me to do?” Probably this was the first time in his life that he asked such a question. He had always known what to do. But now he said, “I do not know what to do. You must direct me. Show me what I should do.”
He fully expected the Lord to tell him right away what he should do, and he would have done it with all his strength. But the Lord did not tell him everything immediately.
The Lord said, “Rise, and go into Damascus, and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.” This was a great test.
Saul had surrendered his life to the Lord. Yet the Christian life is not merely a private relationship between an individual and the Lord. There should not be an isolated spiritual life in which a person says, “It is only the Lord and me. I do not need anybody else.”
That may sound very spiritual, but it is not the Lord’s way. The Lord has joined us to the Body.
On the road to Damascus, Saul had just acknowledged Jesus as Lord. Now the Lord was going to test him: “Are you willing to obey My direction, even when that direction brings you into relationship with other believers?”
You have seen the Body of Christ. Are you willing to let other people have a place in your life? Are you willing to have fellowship and relationship with the saints, or do you want to remain independent?
The vision will be tested. Otherwise, it will never become our vocation.
The heavenly vision is glorious. It shows Christ in heaven and reveals the universal Body of Christ. But when anyone sees the glory of God, that vision does not lift him up in pride; it brings him down.
Paul was lifted up to the third heaven, but the same revelation humbled him. Daniel was a faithful man, yet when he saw the vision, he said that his comeliness was turned in him into corruption. He fell upon the ground.
The heavenly vision is so glorious that it clearly shows us who we are. We are far from the reality. We need the tremendous work of God to bring us into the reality of the vision the apostle Paul saw.
The Church is a heavenly, spiritual reality. All the spiritual principles concerning Christ and the Church are heavenly and spiritual. Yet, dear brothers and sisters, spirituality is most practical.
What God has shown us as spiritual and heavenly must become practical in our lives.
The heavenly vision Saul saw on the road to Damascus was only one part. There was another part that he had to see in the city of Damascus.
Saul rose from the ground, but his eyes had been blinded by the glory of the light. He was in a pitiful condition. For three days he was without sight, and did neither eat nor drink.
Meanwhile, in a vision, the Lord appeared to a disciple in Damascus whose name was Ananias.
Ananias was not a famous person. He was an ordinary disciple, largely unknown in the record of Scripture. He appears only once in Acts 9. But he knew the Lord.
The Lord told him, “Go to the street called Straight. In the house of Judas you will find a man named Saul of Tarsus.”
Ananias replied, “Lord, I have heard of this man. He was a famous man. I have heard from many what evil he did to Thy saints in Jerusalem. He has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call upon Thy name.”
Ananias did not know what had happened on the road to Damascus. He understood that Saul had come to seize the believers. “Lord, do You want me to go to him and lay hands upon him?”
The Lord said, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel unto Me. He will bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
Thank God for this little man, Ananias. Without further question, he obeyed the Lord.
On the road to Damascus, Saul alone saw the vision. The men who travelled with him were frightened, but they did not understand what was happening. In the city of Damascus, however, Saul found a brother.
As far as the practical side of the Church is concerned, Saul needed Ananias. Dear brothers and sisters, the Church is universal. It is the Body of Christ, and all believers in Christ Jesus belong to that one universal Body.
This is a spiritual reality. In one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, and were all made to drink of one Spirit.
This is what the Church is. The Church is heavenly in origin and spiritual in nature. Yet the Church becomes a witness and testimony to the Lord on earth.
Remember Peter’s vision. He was on the housetop praying, and he saw a great sheet coming down from heaven. It contained all kinds of creatures.
Peter said, “Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything common and unclean.” But the Lord showed him that he was not to call common what God had cleansed.
This was a vision of the Church. It came down from heaven, and it included all whom God had received. We must not allow tradition to keep us from receiving those whom God has received.
If we only see the universal Church in an abstract way, we may become merely visionary. But in Damascus, Saul was given the practical vision of the Church when God brought him into contact with a local brother—Ananias.
Ananias went to the street called Straight and entered the house. It was not Saul who laid hands upon Ananias; it was Ananias, an ordinary brother, who laid hands upon Saul.
What does the laying on of hands mean? In the Old Testament, hands were laid upon the sacrifice. In the New Testament, the apostles laid hands upon people. But what does this act mean?
Laying on of hands means identification. When you lay hands upon a person, you are saying, “I identify with this person.”
Ananias was a member of the Body of Christ in Damascus. He represented the Church in Damascus. When he laid hands on Saul, Saul entered into the fellowship of the Body of Christ.
Two enemies, who could not have seen each other except in fear, were now united in one Body. This was the work of the Lord.
Can you imagine how Saul must have felt at that moment? “You were my enemy, yet you call me your brother.” The grace of God had made this former enemy a brother in the household of God.
I believe there is nothing sweeter than the name brother. Would you rather be called by some other title? We are all brothers.
We have received sonship through Christ Jesus. Therefore, we are brothers and sisters in the household of God. Why do we seek to be called by other names? Why are we not satisfied with that sweet name, brother?
There is no discrimination in the Body of Christ. When we are joined to the Body, we are introduced to one another through the Body.
The first person Saul saw after his blindness was healed was a brother. For the first time, this man—who had regarded the followers of Jesus as impostors and enemies—heard someone call him, “Brother Saul.”
A brother! A brother! Oh, dear brothers and sisters, when you see another believer, whom do you see? Do you see your brother? Do you see Christ in your brother?
Or do you look at your brother and see only his faults? Instead of seeing Christ in him, do you see only what displeases you?
When you take your place in the Body of Christ, when you live in the fellowship of the Body, healing comes. Saul received his sight, was filled with the Holy Spirit, took food, and was strengthened.
And do you know what he did? He was with the disciples. He was not merely alone with the Lord. He was with the disciples, proclaiming that Jesus is the Son of God.
From the very beginning, Saul’s testimony was not merely individual. God brought him into the practical side of the universal Church.
When Saul later returned to Jerusalem, the disciples were afraid of him because he was so well known as a persecutor. Yet the Lord continued to teach him the meaning of fellowship with the saints.
So, dear brothers and sisters, what is the heavenly vision? It is Christ as Lord in heaven, Christ as Head of the Body, and the Church as His Body on earth.
We must learn to be members of the Body. We must give ourselves to one another in the fear of Christ.
We believe this is the heavenly vision, and we believe this is what the Lord wants us to see.
May the Lord have mercy upon us. May He open our eyes so that we may see Him as Lord, see His Body, and take our place in His testimony on earth.
The Lord has called us to be His Body today and to be His testimony on earth. One day He will return. Until then, may we go and testify for Him in worship, in fellowship, and in obedience.