Turn to the book of Acts.
Acts 22, verses 1 through 16. I will read it in English first, and my brother will read it in Chinese.
Brethren and fathers, hear ye the defence which I now make unto you.
And when they heard that he spake unto them in the Hebrew language, they were the more quiet: and he saith,
I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, even as ye all are this day:
And I persecuted this Way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.
As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and journeyed to Damascus to bring them also that were there unto Jerusalem in bonds to be punished.
And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and drew nigh unto Damascus, about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.
And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?
And I answered, Who art Thou, Lord? And He said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.
And they that were with me beheld indeed the light, but they heard not the voice of Him that spake to me.
And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.
And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.
And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well reported of by all the Jews that dwelt there,
Came unto me, and standing by me said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And in that very hour I looked upon him.
And he said, The God of our fathers hath appointed thee to know His will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice from His mouth.
For thou shalt be a witness for Him unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.
And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on His name.
Let us have a word of prayer.
Our Lord, we want to praise and thank Thee for gathering us together here this morning. We thank Thee for Thy precious promise.
Thou hast promised us, “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in their midst.” We thank Thee for giving us the assurance that Thou art here with us.
We do realize that we are all standing on holy ground. We thank Thee for bringing us into Thy very presence.
Lord, we want to hear what Thou hast to say to us. We are not here waiting to hear sermons; we are here waiting to hear Thy word.
We want Thy word to be living and real in our lives, that we may live for Thee and for Thy glory.
We commit this time into Thy hands, trusting Thy Holy Spirit to do His work. It is all for Thy glory. We pray in Thy precious name. Amen.
Thank God for gathering us together this morning. I do realize that every time we have the opportunity to meet together, it is the mercy of God.
We all know that our Lord Jesus is coming soon. He may come at any time. Hopefully, He will come while we are gathered here. What glory that would be!
But He knows us. He is patient with us. He loves us, and He wants to prepare us for His return, that when He comes back, we can meet Him with joy.
So this is the reason why we are here this morning.
Now, I would like to share with you something which is very familiar, but very basic. It is this matter of the heavenly vision.
We know that the heavenly vision transforms the life of a person. Before he received that vision, he was Saul the Pharisee. But after he had received that vision, he was transformed into Paul the apostle.
So that heavenly vision is a life-transforming vision. We believe that it is the same vision that God wants every one of us to see, because we all need that transforming vision.
Of course, we are all different. Not only are our features different, but even our souls are different. God loves variety. Of the billions of people, no two persons are exactly alike.
That is true not only of our outward features. So far as our soul is concerned, we are all different, because our soul also has a shape. We call it temperament.
Every person is different in his or her temperament. For this reason, our experiences are all different. Because we are different people, we experience things in different ways.
But the principles behind our experiences are the same. So we would like to use Saul’s experience to help us.
By the grace of God, we could gather here because the Lord Jesus came to us and saved us. We all have the same experience in principle, though the way we experience salvation is different.
In our spiritual experiences, the same thing happens to us. We experience each thing according to our special temperament, but behind it the principle is just the same.
God has called us with a high calling. Brothers and sisters, we are all called by God. Do not think that only a few are called to serve Him.
Everyone whom God has foreknown, He has called. And whom He has called, He has justified. But to be justified is not enough; it is only a beginning.
Whom He has justified, He will sanctify. And whom He has sanctified, He will even glorify.
When you read 2 Peter 1:3, you find that God has called us according to His own glory and virtue.
God has not called us according to our need. Yes, we have need, because we were dead in sins and transgressions. We had no hope and no God. We were children of wrath.
But God had mercy. By His great mercy, He came to us in salvation to meet our need. But, dear brothers and sisters, we need to remember that God does not call us according to our needs.
God has called us by His glory and by His virtue.
How can we describe God’s glory? Nobody can really understand what God’s glory is, because He is too glorious. His glory is beyond our apprehension. Our God is glory itself.
But when He calls us, He is calling us according to His glory. In other words, if we find ourselves saved, of course we are very happy.
Just like one brother says, “If my two feet can be inside heaven, I am satisfied.” But, brothers and sisters, you may be satisfied, but God is not satisfied.
When God calls us, He calls us according to His glory. Unless He is able to bring us into glory, He is not satisfied.
He also called us according to His virtue. Can we understand what God’s virtue is? We know a little bit, but nobody knows how great His virtue is, because He is virtue itself.
When He calls us, He wants us to be conformed to His image—not just barely saved, but saved to such an extent that God can look at us and be satisfied.
So, brothers and sisters, do not be satisfied too early. God will never be satisfied with us until He looks at us and sees Himself.
And this is God’s calling.
According to the calling of God, God wants us to see the heavenly vision. He wants to enlarge our horizon.
With that heavenly vision, He is able to lead us into the vision. The heavenly vision is to be in you, and you are to be in that vision. That is transformation. That is the will of God for us.
Brothers and sisters, I am never tired of talking about the heavenly vision, because that heavenly vision is the eternal purpose of God. It is His eternal purpose concerning us.
We need really to see it in our spirit, and not only to see it, but to enter into it.
I hope you are not tired of hearing about the heavenly vision. Let us review it and review it and review it, until we become part of it and it becomes part of us.
Now let us look at what happened to that man called Saul. Saul of Tarsus was the best specimen of human beings. You can hardly find any person as good as Saul of Tarsus.
He had such a good background. He was a Jew, and he was a Hebrew of Hebrews.
What does that mean? It means that in his family they spoke the Hebrew language. Even though he was not born in Jerusalem, he was born in Tarsus; yet in that family they used Hebrew. So he was a Hebrew of Hebrews.
He was circumcised on the eighth day. He was a kosher Jew.
When he was young, he went to Jerusalem and became a student of Gamaliel, who at that time was the greatest rabbi. Saul was his student.
Not only that, but he became a Pharisee. Today, when you hear the word Pharisee, you may think negatively. But, brothers and sisters, in history there were never more than two or three thousand Pharisees at one time.
It was a very strict Jewish sect. They made their life the study of the Bible, and they were supposed to keep every letter of the Word.
Even so, most Pharisees were hypocrites. Yet this young man was a true Pharisee. He tried his very best to keep every letter of the law.
Young people are usually seeking for the world, but this young man was seeking for heaven. He devoted his whole life to seeking God, and he kept all the traditions of the fathers.
At that time, the Jewish tradition was the best of all traditions. That is the reason why many Gentiles admired their traditions. This young man was faithful to all the traditions of the fathers.
He was a very zealous person. He put his whole life into it. How did he express his zeal? He persecuted the followers of Jesus.
According to Jewish tradition, they considered Jesus a traitor. That is the reason why they tried to get rid of Him, and they wanted to get rid of all the followers of Jesus.
So this young man was so zealous that he persecuted the followers of the Way, not only in Jerusalem but even in Gentile cities.
How can you find a better specimen of human beings? In his own thinking, he thought he was serving God. But he was in darkness.
So far as our natural man is concerned, before God there is nothing good. Even this best specimen of human being lived in darkness. What a tragedy. What a pity.
Just as you find in Ephesians 2:1-3:
And you did He make alive, when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins,
Wherein ye once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the powers of the air, of the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience;
Among whom we also all once lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
So far as our natural man is concerned, this is our condition.
But thank God. God knew the heart of Saul. He did not look at the appearance; He looked at the heart.
Even though by appearance Saul was on the wrong track, his heart was right before God. Because of this, God showed mercy to him.
Saul received letters from the high priest to go to Gentile cities, capture the followers of the Way, bring them to Jerusalem, and condemn them.
While he was on the way to Damascus, we often say that the love cord of God is very long. God will allow you to go as far as possible before He pulls you back.
Saul was on the way to Damascus, on the way to persecute the followers of Jesus. But before he arrived, at noontime, suddenly a light came from heaven, brighter than the noonday light, and it shone upon him.
He was smitten by that light, and he fell to the ground. The people who were with him saw the light and were frightened, but he was the only one who heard the voice.
Then he heard a voice from heaven: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”
Brothers and sisters, he heard a voice from heaven, and that voice came from One who knew him. God knew Saul before Saul knew Him. God knew him through and through.
God said, “Saul, Saul.” Saul did not know Him, but God already knew Saul. The voice said, “Why do you persecute Me?”
It was not an angry voice. It was a voice full of sympathy. God was saying, “Why do you persecute Me? When you are doing that, you are kicking against the goads.”
Do you know what is behind these words? They tell us that everyone who comes into the world is supposed to do God’s will.
We are not born without any reason. We may not know the reason why, but God has a reason for bringing us into this world.
Whenever a person is born into this world, he is born to do the will of God.
We are all like animals, such as an ox or a horse. We are under a yoke. God has put a yoke upon us.
For what purpose? The yoke is put upon the animal so that the animal may till the ground and do the bidding of the master. The animal is not supposed to live for itself. There is a purpose behind it.
Whenever a person is born into this world, he or she is under the yoke of God. God has work to do, and He is using human beings to do the work.
Everyone is born with a purpose. We may not know that, but this is a fact: you are born with a vision. You are born to do the work of God. You are born under the yoke of God.
The animal has a wild nature. It wants to do its own will. It is in the yoke and is supposed to till the ground, but when it sees something that interests it, it goes aside.
If that happens, the furrow will not be straight, and the work cannot be done.
In the hand of the farmer there is a goad. It is a stick with a sharp edge.
Whenever the animal tries to go away, the farmer uses the goad and touches its thigh—not to hurt the animal, but to remind the animal that it has a master.
But the animal is wild, so it kicks back. When it kicks back, it hurts. After several times, it learns its lesson.
This is what God was saying to Saul: “You are under a yoke, but you are kicking against the goads.”
When this young man was seizing people, he was seizing men and women and persecuting them. If you can imagine the scene, would this man’s conscience not be touched?
Remember, when Stephen was stoned, Saul was there watching the whole scene. He noticed the face of Stephen, like the face of an angel.
He heard the voice of Stephen: “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.” He heard Stephen’s prayer: “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.”
As a human being, how could he not be moved in his conscience? He must have seen something. He knew that this was real.
But he tried to bribe his conscience, and he doubled his effort to persecute. Again and again, God reminded him, but he was not listening.
Then who was hurt? God was hurt. God said, “You are being hurt.”
When Saul heard that voice, Galatians 1 tells us that he saw the Son of God. Even though his natural eyes were blinded, his inner eyes were opened.
Brothers and sisters, this is a transforming vision. This young man saw that heavenly vision, and that heavenly vision completely changed him.
What is that vision? That vision is nothing else but Christ Jesus Himself.
Saul had considered Jesus an impostor of Judaism. But now he saw that this Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. He saw the Son of God.
This vision of Christ completely changed him. Brothers and sisters, this is a vision that we need to receive.
Thank God, we see Jesus as Savior. That is wonderful. Because we have seen Jesus as our Savior, by the grace of God we are saved.
You know, I was brought up in a Christian family. My father was a pastor, and he loved the Lord. When he believed in the Lord Jesus, he was persecuted and almost became an outcast in his family. But thank God, he was faithful.
From my childhood, I knew the Lord in my mind. I never really doubted Him, but I did not feel that I needed Him.
I felt the world needed Him, but I, as a young man and a student, was too good to be saved. So I did not believe in Him. I had total blindness.
God began to work in my life. He began to reveal to me my sin. Nobody talked to me, but the Holy Spirit was working in me.
He began to allow me to see that there was no good in me. Brothers and sisters, as a young man of fourteen years old, for a whole year I sought the Lord, but I could not find Him.
But when I was in real desperation, He met me, and He delivered me.
It is a lifetime to know Him—not only in our lifetime, but through eternity to know Him. There is no end to knowing Christ.
The more you know Him, the more you are absorbed in Him. The more you surrender yourself to Him, the more you allow Him to work out His full salvation in you.
So, brothers and sisters, do not be content just by knowing Him as your Savior. Remember, this is only the beginning. The knowing of Christ is without end.
The more you know Him, the more you surrender to Him.
The reason why God’s people today seem to live their own lives is because they do not know Him enough.
But if, by the grace of God, we come to know that heavenly vision and begin to know Him more and more, then the more we know Him, the more precious He is to us.
The more your life will be transformed. You will be delivered from yourself and allow Him to be your life and your all.
It does not stop here. We find that Saul asked two questions.
The first question was, “Lord, who art Thou?” After he knew who the Lord was, then he asked the second question: “Lord, what shall I do?”
It is quite something that this came from that young man, because he was master of himself. He was a person to govern and not to be governed.
But now he began to realize that there was One to whom he was no match. There was One who was his own Master.
So he began to lay down himself and say, “Lord, what shall I do?”
In the past, he knew what he would be doing, and he was doing those things. But now he was completely in the hands of God.
He gave up his own right and handed it over to Christ. He did not know what to do now, so he said, “Lord, what do You want me to do? I am at Your disposal.”
Brother and sister, are you at the disposal of Christ? Or is life still in your own hands?
You have your plans. You have your ambitions. You know what you are going to do. But if you see Jesus as Christ, the Son of God, you will have to give up your right.
You have no right to live your own life, because in the first place, that life was given to you by God. When that life was given, it was for a purpose: to do the will of God.
Every one of us is born for the will of God, but only after we are born again are we on the way to the will of God.
Absolute surrender is the life of a Christian. If there is not that absolute surrender, you will never be able to live a victorious Christian life.
This young man said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”
He was fully expecting the Lord in heaven to tell him what to do, because he was a person who always gave commands. This was the first time he was going to listen to a command.
He felt that he had every right to hear directly from the Lord. It must have been a great surprise to him when the Lord told him, “You go to Damascus. Wait there. I will send someone to come to you, and what My will is for you will be told to you by that person.”
Do you know what is involved here? We think there is nothing more than the Lord and I. We hear people say, “The Lord and I—that is all I need.”
We may think that is very spiritual: this person wants only the Lord and nothing else. But, brothers and sisters, if the Lord had told Saul directly what he should do, do you know what would have happened to this young man?
He would have risen up and done the will of God independently, all by himself. He would not have cared to have fellow workers. He would not have had fellowship with any other believer.
And if he had acted in that way, he would have destroyed instead of built up the work of God.
So in the very beginning, you find that in this vision the Lord taught him a very valuable lesson.
Now you are saved. Now you know why you are here on earth. Now you know that you ought to serve Me. But remember, you are not the only one serving Me, because I am using many to build up My church.
Here you find that this young man learned another lesson, and he learned it from the very beginning.
If we do not learn it at the beginning, we will have to learn it later on. We need the Lord, but we also need one another.
The great apostle needed an unknown person to help him.
The Lord sent him to Damascus, and he waited three days, waiting upon the Lord.
Compare this young man with Ananias. Saul was a great man, and he would be a great person used by God in the future. But Ananias was comparatively unknown.
Of course, he was known in Damascus as a very pious person. But compared with this young man, there was no comparison.
But thank God for that unknown person, because God appeared to him and sent him.
Ananias said, “Lord, I have heard of this person. He is coming to persecute the saints. I am a target of his work. How can I go and see him?”
Saul could not see. If he saw Ananias, he would seize him. Ananias could not see Saul, because if he saw Saul, he would be caught by Saul.
Yet God did a wonderful work. God sent that unknown person to that well-known person.
Ananias went into the house and laid his two hands upon Saul.
Instead of Saul laying hands on Ananias, now you see the reverse: Ananias laid his hands on Saul.
What does the laying on of hands mean? In Scripture, it means being joined together.
So Ananias laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul.” You are no longer an enemy; you are my brother.
God sent me here to open your eyes, and more than that, to tell you what He wants you to do.
Because of this, Saul learned a most precious lesson.
What is the heavenly vision? The major part is Christ: how He is the Christ, the Anointed One of God, sent by God to finish a work—the work of salvation, saving to the uttermost.
He is God’s Man. That is His mission. But He is the Son of God. That is His person. He is equal with God.
He is the Heir of all things. All God’s thoughts are centered upon Him. This is Christ. This is the Son of God.
Again I will say, there is no end to knowing Christ. The more you know Him, the more you give yourself up to Him, that you may decrease and He may increase.
It will be until He becomes all and in all in you.
On the other hand, you also need your brothers and sisters, because God is using all of us to build up His church.
Even though our service may be different, the purpose is the same. The Lord said, “You are Peter.” You are a living stone, a piece of that massive rock.
The Lord is using people such as you to build you together into His church. This is His body, the fullness of Him.
All this is included in the heavenly vision. Even with this matter of the church, our understanding of it will be increasing.
Maybe in the beginning, you think only of your individual life. Even in your service, you are thinking on your own.
This was the way that I first began. After I was saved, by the grace of God, I was zealous for Him. I was still in high school, but we organized meetings and bands to go to the villages to preach.
I was serving God on my own. I thought that was what He liked me to do. I had my own plan of serving Him.
Well, thank God, He broke down all my plans. He put me in such an environment that He began to show me what His church is.
Brothers and sisters, we all learn this. We are all learners.
I think probably you have heard this story. There was a medical doctor, Dr. Kinnear. I knew him personally. He wrote a biography of Watchman Nee.
When he graduated from medical school, he had a bright future. But he felt the Lord called him to be a missionary.
Before he left London, Watchman Nee came to London, and they met together for about two weeks, I think.
Dr. Kinnear said, “Our brother, I am going to India to be a missionary.” He was to work with Amy Carmichael, a very famous sister. He asked Watchman Nee, “Do you have any advice for me?”
Brother Nee told him, “You need to wear a red letter L upon you.”
“A red letter L?” At that time in England, if you were learning to drive, you had to put a large letter L on your car. Then everybody knew you were a learner and would be careful of you.
So Brother Nee said, “You need to put an L upon you.”
As a missionary, you may think you are going to teach, but not knowing that you are going to learn. Your whole life is to learn.
We should put that letter L upon each one of us.
Thank God, we have heard a lot, but there is still quite a lot for us to learn. We are never tired of the heavenly vision because there is no end to it.
We are all learning and learning and learning until we see Him face to face. There we will learn even quicker.
May the Lord bless every one of you. Shall we pray?
Our Lord, how we praise and thank Thee. Thou lovest us, and Thou lovest us to the uttermost.
Thou wilt not be satisfied just by saving us, because Thou hast called us according to Thy glory and virtue.
Give us a humble heart, that we may always hunger and thirst after righteousness, and allow Thee to fill us to the fullest, to the glory of God. Amen.