This is the testimony of the apostle Paul. He was a Pharisee, and he persecuted the believers of Jesus Christ.
Whereupon as I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests,
at midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them that journeyed with me.
And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying unto me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? It is hard for thee to kick against the goad.
And I said, Who art Thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.
But arise, and stand upon thy feet: for to this end have I appeared unto thee, to appoint thee a minister and a witness both of the things wherein thou hast seen Me, and of the things wherein I will appear unto thee;
delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom I send thee,
to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in Me.
Wherefore, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:
but declared both to them of Damascus first, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judaea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.
Dear heavenly Father, we do want to thank Thee for loving us so much as to give Thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus, to us.
We thank Thee for His redeeming love. We thank Thee for His full salvation. We thank Thee for the privilege of coming together to read Thy Word and to hear Thy voice.
Lord, prepare our hearts. Open our spirit, that we may really hear Thy voice as Saul heard it on the way to Damascus. We pray that this will bring a great transformation to our lives, that we may truly live for Thy glory. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
The Lord seemed to impress upon my heart this testimony of the apostle Paul. He was a persecutor of Christ and His followers, but then, on the road to Damascus, he was given a heavenly vision.
That vision transformed him from a persecutor to a believer—and more than a believer, to a herald of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It is the prayer of my heart that every one of us will see this heavenly vision. Unless we see this heavenly vision, we do not know where we are really heading, and we do not know how to live our lives on this earth. We do not know how we can serve the living God.
So, to me, I feel this heavenly vision is so important. It is not something that we may see physically, as Saul or Paul saw it; but at least, with our spiritual eyes, we all need to see this vision.
Unless we see this vision, our lives will not be transformed, nor conformed to the image of God’s Son. We all know that it is God’s purpose, even before the foundation of the world. God has a purpose for each and every one of us, and that is the reason why He created us in the first place.
He created man with a definite purpose, and that purpose is that we all may be conformed to the image of His beloved Son. That is the eternal purpose of God for all of us, and that is what we need to really seek after.
Now Saul, as he was on the way to Damascus to seize believers and bring them to Jerusalem to be condemned, was zealous for his Jewish tradition. He thought that Jesus must be persecuted, that the followers of Jesus must be punished. He did it with zeal and with sincerity.
But God knew his heart. Even though what he did was wrong, God knew that his heart really desired to know the truth and to follow the truth.
So, on the way to Damascus, the heaven opened to him. It was at midday, but a light brighter than the midday sun suddenly shone upon him. He and those journeying with him were all smitten to the ground.
As he was prostrate on the ground, he heard a voice—a voice from heaven—saying, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goad.”
It was not an accusing voice. It was not an angry voice. It was a most sympathetic, most gentle, most loving voice: “Saul, Saul.”
Saul did not know God, but God knew him. Saul did not know Jesus, the Son of God, but Jesus, the Son of God, knew him well. He even called his name: “Saul, why do you persecute Me?”
“Do you not know that, if you are doing this, you are kicking against a goad?”
Now, I wonder if especially the young people this morning know what that means. In the old days, people did not have tractors. They used horses, mules, and oxen to pull the plough.
They put an ox under a yoke, and then the farmer guided that animal to plough a field. But, you know, animals sometimes are very wild. They have their own thoughts. Not only do human beings have their own thoughts; even animals have their own hearts.
When the farmer was ploughing with an ox, he wanted a straight line. But the ox might look around and see something that attracted him, so he would try to veer off.
When he was doing that, the farmer had an instrument called a goad. It was a sharp instrument, and the farmer would use that goad to touch the leg of the ox. Of course, the farmer did not want to hurt the ox. He just gently touched it to remind the ox, “You have a master. You cannot do what you want to do. You have to obey the master, and you are doing the work of the master.”
But the ox did not understand. So what would the animal do? The animal would kick back. When it kicked back, what happened? It hurt itself.
That was not the thought of the farmer. It was the animal’s mistake, but the animal hurt itself. After a few times, he learned, and then he would plough the field under the control of the farmer.
So what our Lord Jesus was saying to Saul was, “Saul, you think that you are your own master, but you are created to serve the Master. You are not the master; the Master is God. God has a plan for you, and He wants to use you to fulfil that plan. But you do not understand. You want to have your own way, and that hurts.”
No doubt, when Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian faith, was put to death, Saul was standing by watching. He approved of it.
But before Stephen died, he saw heaven opened. He even saw Jesus standing at the right hand of the throne of God, waiting to receive him.
Before he died, Stephen prayed, “God, forgive them.”
This young man Saul, being a Pharisee, was a good man, a gentleman. He could not help but have his conscience touched. He kicked against the goad, and he was hurt.
But instead of repenting, he doubled his energy to persecute the Christians in order to suppress a wounded conscience. You know how many people are doing that today?
But the Lord reminded him, “It is hard to kick against the goad. Do not hurt yourself. Repent. Return. Submit yourself, and do the work of God to fulfil God’s purpose for your life.”
Thank God, Saul said, “Lord, who art Thou?” Saul did not know the Lord Jesus, but one thing he knew: he knew that this must be One mightier than he was.
Because he was smitten to the ground, he recognized that the One who spoke to him was greater. He had to submit himself. He called Him Lord: “Lord, who art Thou?”
The voice said, “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.”
Immediately this young man Saul surrendered. He surrendered his whole life to Jesus, who is in heaven, and he said, “Lord, what should I do?”
“I used to know what to do. I was the master of my life. I even directed other people. But now, Lord, tell me what You want me to do. I am Yours, completely surrendered.”
The Lord called him to be a witness, to bear testimony for Jesus and the kingdom of God. From that day on, this young man was completely transformed.
He became Saul the apostle—Paul the apostle. Paul means little. He used to think of himself as Saul. You remember that Saul was the first king among the Jewish people. But now he called himself Paul: little. “I am nothing, but I am here to serve the Lord.”
To the very end, he could testify, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.”
So, dear brothers and sisters and friends, this is the vision that each and every one of us must see with our spiritual eyes.
What did Saul see in that heavenly vision? Basically, two things. Number one: he saw Jesus the Nazarene, the One whom they despised and whom he persecuted. He saw that Jesus was the Lord of all.
He called Him Lord: Lord of his life, Lord of the universe. That is the first thing he saw.
Now, dear brothers and sisters, we who have believed in the Lord Jesus, when we look back on our own salvation story, what did we see? We saw Jesus as Saviour.
We saw that He is the One who died for us on Calvary’s cross. It is by His shed blood that our sins are forgiven. It is because of His resurrection that we receive His life in us and become children of God.
Brothers and sisters, this is what we saw. But that is not enough. You need to see something more.
If we only see Jesus as our Saviour—“He saves me; thank God for this wonderful salvation”—we remain selfish and self-centred. “Christ for me. Everything is for me.”
We used to be self-centred, but even after we believe in the Lord Jesus, we may still be self-centred, perhaps even more so. Even God is for me; Christ is for me; everybody is for me. I am the centre.
Now, do you think that is the way a Christian should live? Certainly not.
What is the mind of God? The mind of God is that you not only see Jesus as your Saviour; at the same time, you should see Him as your Lord.
You receive Jesus, and at the same time you surrender your life to Him and accept Him as the Lord of your life. Let Him govern your life, direct you, and guide you, that you may live a life worthy of God.
That is what you should have. That is the heavenly vision that you must see.
Today, among God’s people, we often separate these two experiences. It is as if you first believe in the Lord Jesus, accept Him as your Saviour, and receive all the benefits. Then, after a number of years perhaps, you begin to realize, touched by His love, “Lord, I want to surrender myself to You and accept You as my Lord.”
Brothers and sisters, that is not what it should be.
It reminds me of our dear brother Watchman Nee. When he was saved, he was seventeen years old. He was a college student, very brilliant, always at the top of the class, very capable.
Even as a student, he already earned money by writing and sending his work to newspapers and magazines. He was paid, and he wanted to be rich, so he used that money for the lottery, hoping that he would be richer than ever. He was a brilliant person.
He was brought up in a so-called Christian family, but it was nominal Christianity—only nominal Christians, not real Christians. Brother Nee knew the gospel from his childhood, but he never believed.
Not until his mother was saved. That is another story. I knew his mother, because she treated me as her son—very strictly.
After his mother was saved, she was moved by the Holy Spirit to apologize to her son for what she had done to him. One day, she had beaten her son severely because of a broken vase. She thought it must be her son who had done it, and from that time Watchman hated his mother.
But when his mother was saved and came to him to ask for his forgiveness, that was never done in China. You know, the parents are always right. But she was moved by the Holy Spirit.
When she did that to him, he was greatly touched. There must be something.
Then he was asked to hear a lady doctor, Dora Yu. He went. The first night he went, he knew it was true. He believed Jesus is the Saviour of the world; there is no other way.
But he could not immediately receive Him. Why? Because he realized that once he believed in Jesus, he must surrender his life to Jesus—not only receiving Him as Saviour, but also as Lord. This he could not do. He had his own plan. He could not surrender himself.
He struggled for several days until one day he was in his room praying.
The Lord showed him the blackness of his sin and, at the same time, the redness of the blood of Jesus.
He was so overwhelmed by the love of Christ that he surrendered his life to Him.
So, for him, receiving Jesus as his Saviour and accepting Jesus as his Lord came simultaneously. This is what it should be.
Brothers and sisters, you who have believed in the Lord Jesus, accepting Him as your Saviour and experiencing His forgiveness and His lovingkindness, have you surrendered your life to Him and accepted Him as your Lord?
If you have not, you need to have a vision. “Why do you persecute Me? It is hard to kick against the goad.” Your life is running contrary to Him.
You need to repent and return, and accept Him as the Lord of your life. This is fundamental, basic to every Christian.
But this is not what I want to share with you this morning. This is the foundation, because without the foundation nothing can be built up in the spiritual world.
What I would like to share with you, dear brothers and sisters, is that in that heavenly vision there is a second part.
The second part is this: Saul heard the voice saying, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” “Who art Thou?” “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.”
Saul was trained as a Pharisee. Now, if you know what a Pharisee is, a Pharisee is one who is trained in logic, trained in thinking and analyzing.
If I were Saul, trained in that way, when I heard this voice, do you know what I would do? I would argue.
“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” Saul might have said, “I have never met You before. How can I persecute You? Now You are in heaven and I am on earth. I could not reach You. I have never persecuted You.”
Now, were you to argue like that, it would be very logical. But there is a heavenly logic.
Immediately, that young man Saul saw it: when you touch the body—any member of the body—you touch the head.
When someone touches you, what will you say? “Why do you touch my arm?” No. You say, “Why do you touch me?” Right? Because the head and the body are one.
So, when this young man persecuted the followers of Jesus, the Head complained, “Why do you touch Me? Why do you persecute Me? I and the body are one. We have one life. When you touch any of My followers, you touch Me. You persecute Me.”
Saul saw this in that heavenly vision. Brothers and sisters, this is something that we also must see in our spirit.
When you believe in the Lord Jesus, thank God, not only are your sins forgiven, but you have received His life. But do not forget: the life that you have received is the same life that every other believer has received.
In other words, we receive the same life. Outwardly, we are all different; inwardly, we are all the same. Our natural lives are all different, but our spiritual life is one.
It is neither you nor I; it is Christ Jesus. “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Brothers and sisters, do you not see that?
What do we mean by being born again? Being born again has two sides. On the one side, you are born again into the kingdom of God. You receive a new life.
But on the other side, you are born into the body of Christ. You know, that is what the Holy Spirit does. In one Spirit, we are baptized into one body.
That is what you find in 1 Corinthians 12:12:
For the body is one, and hath many members;
and all the members of the body, being many, are one body;
so also is the Christ.
You know, when you read the Bible, you have to be very careful. Sometimes we read the Bible so carelessly. No, you should read the Bible very carefully.
What do you hear in 1 Corinthians 12:12? There is one body but many members; many members, but one body. So also is the Christ.
The Holy Spirit is very special in His Word. Every word is refined, exact.
The body is one and has many members; many members, but one body. If I were to write the Bible, I would say, “So also is the church.” This is what the church is, because the church is the body of Christ.
But no—the Holy Spirit says, “So also is the Christ.”
What is the Christ? The Christ is Christ and His body—the Head and the body. That is the Christ.
Because every member of the body has His life. The life in the Head and the life in all the members of the body is Christ. So the church is the Christ.
Ephesians 1:22-23 says that God made Christ Head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who filleth all in all.
So, dear brothers and sisters, remember this: when you are saved, even though you are saved individually and personally, yet by the grace of God, in one Spirit He has baptized us into one body.
You are not alone. You are not merely an individual Christian. You are a member of the body of Christ, and He is the Head. You and those who believe in the Lord are one, and the body is one with the Head.
Now that is a vision. Do you see this? This is very important.
First, we need to see Jesus as Lord. Then we need to see that we are the body of Christ and that He is the Head.
The Bible never tells us how to join the church.
If you want to join an organization, there are certain conditions. If you fulfil the conditions, then you are privileged to join it. But how do you enter the church, the body of Christ?
You enter by being born into it, by being baptized into it.
It is not an outward organization that you join. It is an organism of which you become a part. This is what you are.
So I would like to share with you, brothers and sisters, a few points concerning the body of Christ. We are all members of one body.
We are different members, but one body. You know, I often think of Psalm 139:14.
I will give thanks unto Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:
Wonderful are Thy works;
And that my soul knoweth right well.
The psalmist tells us, “I thank You, Lord, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” My body is fearfully and wonderfully made, and for this I thank God.
Now, brothers and sisters, do you ever thank God that He has made you with a body that is so fearfully and wonderfully made?
If you think for a moment of your physical body, is it not wonderful? Every member of the body has the same life. Every member has its function.
They are all different, but they are all one. I cannot say to the ear, “I do not need you.” The hand cannot say to the foot, “I do not need you.” Nor can the foot say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body.” No, you cannot do that.
We are all different, and we are all one. Is that not wonderful?
It is so wonderful that it becomes fearful. I often think the word fearful here may better be translated awesome. We stand in awe, really in awe, before God.
Who can make a body, a human body, but God? Even today, with such advanced insight, people still do not really know everything about the body. We know a little about the body’s physiology, but we do not know all the intricate and wonderful workings together of this body. It is wonderfully and fearfully made.
We really need to take good care of this body.
But the Bible tells us there is a body even more fearful and wonderful than this physical body. It is God’s new creation, more wonderful than the old creation. It is the church, the body of Christ. Wonderful—and it is awesome.
First, imagine one thing. In the world, we have all kinds of distinctions.
If you read Colossians 3:11, it is speaking of the church, the body of Christ:
Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman: but Christ is all, and in all.
In the world, you have all kinds of distinctions, and here you have four illustrations.
The first is Jews and Greeks. In those days, the greatest racial distinction was between Jews and Greeks. The Jews considered themselves a very special race—God’s chosen people, the people of the covenant—and they looked down upon the Gentiles, represented by the Greeks at that time.
The Jews looked down upon the Greeks, but the Greeks looked down upon the Jews, because the Greeks were very cultured and civilized. They thought that the Jews were very backward.
There was such distinction and discrimination between Jews and Gentiles. They had nothing to do with each other. The Jews would not enter into the house of a Gentile, and they would not eat with a Gentile, because they thought the Gentiles were unclean.
But when you come to the church, the body of Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek. You find such distinctions in the world, but in the church you do not find them.
Why? Because in the church, Christ is everything and in all. Racial distinction is eliminated in Christ Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, I want to ask you a question. You are here: are you thinking of yourself as Chinese? Are you thinking of yourself as American?
If you are thinking of yourself as Chinese or as American, you are wrong. That belongs to the world. It does not belong to the church, the body of Christ.
When we come together, we lose that consciousness of racial distinction. We are conscious only that we are brothers and sisters in Christ, sharing the same life. That is what it is.
This is the heavenly vision that we need to see. We may have different languages, but that should not divide us.
We must learn to rise above all these distinctions and be conscious that we are in Christ, and Christ is in every one of us.
Here you find circumcision and uncircumcision. The Jews practised circumcision. It was a covenant God made with Abraham. The Gentiles were not circumcised, and because they were not circumcised, the Jews would have nothing to do with them.
In other words, in the world you have tradition—all kinds of tradition. But in Christ Jesus, it is gone.
We who believe in the Lord Jesus have a new tradition: the tradition of Christ Jesus.
When I was in New York in the early days, I was meeting with a group of brothers and sisters, mainly Caucasian Americans. All the brothers in responsibility were Americans, except me.
Oftentimes, when we were discussing church matters, something would come up and the brothers would say, “This is not our American way.”
So I often challenged them and said, “We are not here for the American way or for the Chinese way. We are here for Christ’s way.”
Now, brothers and sisters, this is something we have to overcome. You may have your traditional way outside of the church, but in the church it is altogether different. We seek to know the mind of Christ, and that is it.
Here you find barbarians and Scythians. It is very interesting. We do not know exactly who the Scythians were, but from what we do know, they were people who dwelt near the Black Sea area.
If you look into ancient history, you will find that the Scythians were considered the barbarians of the barbarians. Strangely, the distinction is not between civilized and barbarous, but between barbarian and more barbarian.
People think they are cultured, but in the sight of God they are all barbarians. Some are more barbarian than others. But in Christ, in the body of Christ, that is gone.
Culture and lack of culture do not remain as distinctions. You may be a Ph.D.; I may be an idiot. Thank God, we are all one. You cannot despise me, and I cannot envy you. We all belong to the Lord.
Here you also find bondman and freeman. At that time it was the Roman world, and during the Roman world there were slaves and freemen. Only Romans were freemen, and others had the privilege of becoming Romans either by paying a large sum of money or by doing something for the government and being given the right to be Romans.
Saul was born a Roman because of his family relationship, and he was privileged. The others were born slaves. This is social status.
But in Christ Jesus, these distinctions are gone.
When I was in India, in South India, I was living among Indians with such a strong caste system.
Even the maid in the home where I lived, when she saw that I washed my clothes, was surprised. As a maid, she would not wash clothes; there were people of another class whose work it was to wash clothes. The caste system was so strong.
But thank God, in Christ there is neither bond nor free. All these worldly distinctions are gone.
We are conscious of only one thing: Christ. We are His, and He is ours. We are one.
That is the first thing that I want to impress upon you.
The next thing is this: How can this body increase or grow up?
Will you please turn again to Colossians 2:19? I will read it in a positive way instead of the negative way, because the Colossians had a negative experience, but we want the positive.
Holding fast the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and bands, increaseth with the increase of God.
What is the growth of the body—the growth of the church? The growth of the church depends on two things. Number one: hold fast the Head.
Everything comes from the Head. The Bible tells us wonderfully that we are to grow up into Christ, because everything comes from Christ.
The church is the fullness of Him who filleth all in all. In other words, the body is the fullness of the Head. Therefore, for the body really to grow, you need to hold fast the Head.
When the body is separated from the head, it is no longer a body; it is a corpse. A body is supposed to be a living thing, and the only way for that body to be living is to be rightly connected and related to the head.
Even though we as members of the body are not all directly related to the head—the neck alone is directly related—yet all the other members are indirectly related. How is it that we are so intimately related? Because of the nervous system.
The nervous system goes through all the members of the body. The head gives a command, and immediately the impulse is related to every member of the body. If a member touches something, immediately the impulse goes to the head, and the head reacts. It is through the nervous system.
Thank God, this spiritual body has a better nervous system: it is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in every one of us.
We who believe in the Lord Jesus not only have the life of Christ, but also the indwelling Holy Spirit. The indwelling Holy Spirit is the nervous system of this body of Christ.
We all hold fast the Head through that spiritual nervous system. In other words, we need to learn to hear the voice of the Spirit within us in order to be related to Christ.
That is the way we can react and act coordinately instead of independently. We need to hold fast the Head. That is the secret. Every brother and sister, hold fast the Head. Let Him be Lord, and the Holy Spirit will make it practical in each of our lives and in our lives together. That is the nervous system.
Then, by the command of the Head, every one of us functions. There is no member of the body that is useless.
Some people say, “What about the appendix?” No, we do not really know exactly, but there is a theory. I do not know how true it is. In the early days, people ate raw things, and because they ate raw things, they needed the appendix to help them. I do not know whether that is scientific, but that is what I have heard.
In other words, every member of the body is important. It has its peculiar, special function. They all function coordinately together, not independently, and every one helps.
Love unites.
That is the way you find the body increasing with the increase of God.
So, dear brothers and sisters, when you come together, do not be passive. Do not be a spectator. You have your function to fulfil.
Be faithful to whatever God has given you. Function according to your measure of faith, and function coordinately together under the headship of Christ. Then you will see the body increase.
Increase with what? Increase with the increase of God. That is real increase.
People today want to see an increase in numbers. If you have a thousand, perhaps you want ten thousand. That is not necessarily increase. Increase is the increase of God. Is God being increased? That is real increase.
So, brothers and sisters, do not be disappointed or despair because of being small. If there is the increase of God, that is true increase.
May God bless every one of you. Let us pray.
Dear Lord, how we praise and thank Thee that Thou hast revealed Thyself to us.
Thou hast enabled us to see that Thou art truly our Lord, our Head, and that we are members of Thy body.
Oh, how we praise and thank Thee for taking care of the body, taking care of every one of us.
Do teach us that we may learn how to be members of Thy body under Thy headship, ministering and joining together, that God may be increased in us to the praise of Thy glory.
We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.