Will you please turn to the book of
Acts, Acts chapter 26 verse
19.
Acts chapter 26 verse 19.
Wherefore, whereupon King Agrippa, I was not disobedient
to the heavenly vision.
Whereupon King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to
the heavenly vision.
Proverbs, Proverbs
29 verse 18, the first part.
Proverbs 29 verse 18.
Where there is no vision, the people cast
off restraint.
And in some version it said, the people
disintegrate.
Or in another version it said, the people
perish.
Let's have a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, as we continue in thy presence,
we look to 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
will be pleased to reveal thy Son to
us in a fuller way.
And 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 that
whereupon, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to
the heavenly vision.
In other words, this heavenly vision explains Paul's
life as well as his ministry.
And you remember that this testimony of Paul
is recorded three times in the book of
Acts.
In chapter 9, Luke records the incident.
And then in chapter 22, Paul bore this
testimony before the Jewish people in Jerusalem.
And then again in chapter 26, he gave
his testimony before King Agrippa and the Gentiles.
So altogether you find even 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 thrice, that means something
to us.
In other words, it is not something for
us to neglect.
Put it in 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 just 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 Apostle Paul saw on
the road to Damascus, I think it is
important for us to consider what is heavenly
vision.
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 really is fully
occupied with.
And with that objective, you're 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 that all his children should
have.
It is even more than what you find
in Acts chapter 2, when the Holy Spirit
shall come, the young man shall see visions,
and the old man shall dream dreams.
And there you'll find the visions is in
plural number.
In other words, they are all visions that
belong to heaven.
But these are visions, not the vision.
In other words, 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.
And that vision includes all the various visions,
even from heaven, that we may receive.
Now, brothers and sisters, in my travel, as
I contact brothers and sisters in various parts
of the world, there is no lack of
vision, even heavenly vision, in small letter.
Now, what I mean is this.
Some people have the vision of evangelism.
And certainly we find there are people who
are so taken up by such vision, and
God used them mightily in evangelizing.
And there are other people who have vision,
say, 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.
And because of that, you find that visions
even divide God's people.
Now, actually, these visions are part of the
heavenly vision.
But unfortunately, because we do not see the
whole, and we only see the parts, and
in a sense, people find their emphasis are
so different, and they differ from one another.
So what we need is, we need to
see the heavenly vision that the Apostle Paul
saw.
And in that vision, you find God will
raise the people to fulfill that vision in
its various parts.
But with that vision, visions will not separate
us.
Actually, 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.
Now, it is true that the Apostle Paul,
on the road to Damascus, he 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.
Because in his own testimony, in Galatians chapter
1, verse 16, he said, it pleased God
to reveal his Son in me.
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, God's purpose to us.
And 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.
And that's the reason why the Apostle Paul,
when he was sharing with the efficient believers,
immediately he gave himself to prayer, praying that
God will give, grant a spirit of wisdom
and revelation to the full knowledge of God.
Why?
Because in spiritual things, without revelation, we are
completely strangers.
Even in this matter of our salvation, we
may know all about the gospel, and we
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.
And we need to receive revelation, and we
need to live in the vision.
So, this is what is meant by the
heavenly vision that 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 chapter
3, he told us his past.
Now, the Apostle Paul, before he became the
Apostle, he was Saul, the Pharisee.
And Saul had a glorious past.
Why?
Because he said in Philippians chapter 3, that
he was circumcised on the eighth day.
Now, we know this is something very important
to the Jewish people, because in Genesis 17,
God made a covenant with Abraham.
And the sign of that covenant is circumcision.
And God commanded Abraham that all the children
born, sons born, should be circumcised on the
eighth day.
But we know that Abraham himself was circumcised
when he was 99.
And Ishmael was circumcised when he was 13.
But when Isaac was born, he was circumcised
on the eighth day.
In other words, this has much to do
with God's covenant.
It is the proof that he was the
covenant people of God.
He had the privilege to enjoy all God's
promises in the covenant.
And Saul, he was circumcised on the eighth
day.
Not only that, he said, he was of
the race of Isaac.
In other words, he is not of Israel.
In other words, he is not of Esau.
He is of Jacob, because Jacob continued in
the line of God's covenant right.
So he was of the race of Israel.
And not only that, he said he is
of the tribe of Benjamin.
Now of the 12 tribes of Israel, only
Benjamin was born in the promised land.
All the other sons were born not in
the promised land.
And 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 bad thought about
the Pharisees, but you know in the old
days, the Pharisees were looked up to by
all the Jewish people, because they were a
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 of the fathers.
And Saul was trained as a Pharisee.
He was trained under the feet of Gamaliel.
And Gamaliel at that time was the greatest
rabbi in Israel.
He was the grandson of Helio.
And Paul, Saul was trained under him.
And 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 made business with the Lord, and he
was real.
So far as the law was concerned, 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.
And so far as the zeal according to
Judaism is concerned, he was so zealous for
Judaism, for the Jewish religion, for the traditions
of the fathers, that he persecuted the followers
of Jesus.
And these were his credentials.
He was a Hebrew of Hebrews, even though
he was born in Tarsus of Cilicia, which
was a Gentile city.
And yet, in his family, they spoke Hebrew.
Therefore, he was a Hebrew of Hebrews, a
bona fide Hebrew.
Now these were his background, his tradition.
Now as a young man, he was different
from the other young men.
The other young men might seek the things
of this world, were ambitious for the world.
But this young man, he was different.
His ambition was in religious things.
He sought religious things.
Or put it another way, he sought for
things spiritual, heavenly, eternal.
That was the intention of that young man.
And I think this made him most unusual.
Now even in our days, you'll find that
very few young people really seek after eternal
things.
Most young people, their ambition were all 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 as an imposter
of Judaism.
So they crucified him.
And those who follow the Lord Jesus were
also considered as imposters.
So you find that this young man, he
tried his very best to wipe out so
-called the 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 of the tradition of man
is darkness.
Only that which is from above, only that
which is from heaven, from God, there's light.
Now if we live according to the tradition
of the world, the tradition of the fathers,
even if it is the best, it is
total darkness.
So this young man, he meant well.
He was sincere, but he was in total
darkness.
And he didn't know it.
He was so zealous for God.
He not only persecuted the believers in Jerusalem,
in the Jewish cities, he even asked for
documents, official documents from the chief priests that
he would go to the Gentile cities and
seize believers of the Lord Jesus and brought
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, allowed him to
even go to Damascus.
And he almost arrived at that city.
And 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.
And he was afraid that I might fall
into the river because as boys, you know,
they are active.
So he tied me with a rope around
my waist and he hold it.
So wherever I go, I was under his
control.
Now, you know, God's rope of love is
very long.
He will allow you to go so far,
but as far as he allows.
So here you'll find God's cord of love
began to tighten up.
And there, before he reached the city of
Damascus, at noontime, suddenly a light from heaven
shone upon him and those with him.
And that light was so powerful, brighter than
the sun, so powerful that they were all
being hit and prostrate upon the ground.
And there he heard a voice.
Now, brothers and sisters, God look upon the
hearts.
By all outward appearance, this young man was
doing such a havoc, sin against God.
But God knew his heart.
His heart was sincere.
But he was misled.
He was blinded.
And because of this, God's mercy came upon
him.
Now, I saw Paul himself later on testify.
He said, I did all these things in
ignorance.
I didn't know that.
And God upon, look upon his heart and
drew him back.
You know, the first thing that entered into
our life is light.
You remember in Genesis chapter 1, when God
began to restore this earth to make it
habitable?
Because the earth was filled with darkness.
And the first day, God said, let there
be light and light be.
And when the light shines, what happened?
It shows all the things in darkness.
It reveals.
Light reveals.
So, brothers and sisters, you'll find in the
life of this young man, the first thing
that came upon him was light.
A heavenly light shone upon him.
He was smitten to the ground.
And I believe that light enlightened him to
show him all the darkness that he lived
in the past.
And he heard a voice, Saul, Saul, why
do you persecute me?
It is hard for you to kick against
the gods.
Now, brothers and sisters, is that heavenly voice
an angry voice?
A condemning, judging voice?
No.
That heavenly voice is full of tenderness, full
of sympathy, full of love, full of mercy.
Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?
It is hard for you to kick against
the gods.
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 didn't know Him.
He knew God in his mind, but he
didn't 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
my mother's womb, God has set me apart.
Even before the foundation of the world, God
has chosen him in Christ Jesus.
He didn't know that, but God knew all
along.
God knew his name, Saul, Saul, and God
called him.
And dear brothers and sisters, this is true
to 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's 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
are in our mother's womb.
Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?
God asked him a question.
It is hard for you to kick against
the gods.
Now you know that in the old days,
the farmer, they used ox or donkey or
other horse to till the ground.
So they will put the ox under a
yoke, and it will tie to the plow.
And the farmer, he will guide the plow,
driving the ox or the horse.
But because the ox or the horse has
its own idea, so sometimes you'll find it
refused to follow the direction of the farmer.
They may see something on the east or
the west, on the right or the left,
and they may go off.
And because of that, you know, the farmer
has in his other hand a thing called
goats.
It is a sharp thing.
And the farmer, when the ox try to
deviate, disobey his command, then the farmer will
use the goats and lightly touch the leg
of the ox.
Now, the farmer does not want to hurt
the ox, but just to remind the ox
that you have a master.
You are not free.
You are serving me.
And so he will lightly touch the leg
of the ox with that goats.
Make him feel it.
Make it feel it.
But the ox feels stubborn, so he kicks
back.
And it kicks back, it hurts.
You know, and this is the way that
the ox began to learn to be obedient
to the master.
And our Lord Jesus is saying to this
young man, Saul, Saul, Saul, do you know
that it is hard for you to kick
against the goats?
Now, what does it mean?
It means that you are not free.
Do not think that you are free.
You are independent.
You are your own master.
No.
Everyone that 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, God's purpose.
We are not born for ourselves, to live
our own life, to do our own things.
That is not God's will.
We are born to do the will of
God.
We are yoked to God's work, to fulfill
God's purpose.
That's the meaning of the creation of man.
God created man in His own image, 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.
We can do things according to what we
want.
And thank God, when we are doing that,
He will lightly touch us with that goat.
Now, have you ever felt that before?
You know, so far as this young man
was concerned, there was no doubt about it.
Why?
Because when Stephen was martyred, this young man,
he was there, watching the clothes of those
who stoned Stephen.
Now, in what capacity?
Probably as the official person to see the
execution.
And when Stephen, now even before he died,
when he was questioned by the council, the
Bible said his face shone like the face
of an angel.
And no doubt this young man was there.
And when they stoned Stephen, Stephen said, I
saw the heavens open.
The Son of Man standing by the throne
of God.
Brothers and sisters, he saw the heavens open.
Our Lord in heaven stood up, as it
were, to receive him.
And Saul heard it.
And when Stephen was dying, he prayed, Lord,
do not put this sin upon these people.
And Saul, being a Pharisee, a true Pharisee,
trained in the law of God, a moral
person, his conscience could not help but be
touched.
There is something there.
It must have touched his conscience.
And not only just a slight touch, but
even touched him very deeply.
But tradition was so strong, he tried to
silence the voice of his conscience by doubling
his effort in persecuting the believers.
And that you can see in the Word
of God.
Because after death you find persecution broke out.
And Saul was the agent, the main agent
in doing that.
Now why?
And he went into houses to draw men
and women out.
Now a gentleman would not do that.
And when these people, he forced them to
bless him in the synagogues.
Now he has lost his mind.
Why?
Because he tried to silence his conscience.
How strong is tradition?
Brothers and sisters, we do not know how
strong tradition can affect us.
And this young man, God must have touched
him again and again when he sees these
Christians being persecuted and how they endured.
His conscience must be touched again and again.
But he refused.
So our Lord Jesus said, Saul, do you
know it is hard to kick against the
good?
If you are doing that, what will happen?
It will mean death.
It is a voice of gentleness, of tenderness,
of sympathy, of love.
Why do you persecute me?
Brothers and sisters, this young man not only
saw the righteous one, he heard his voice.
And you know how he reacted?
He said, Lord, who are you?
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.
But he did not know who he was.
And yet, instinctively, he knew he had met
his Lord.
So he called him Lord.
Who are you?
And the Lord Jesus said, I am Jesus
whom you persecuted.
Now in the mind of this Pharisee, Jesus
was an imposter.
He was that humble carpenter of Nazareth.
He was nobody.
He did not know that this humble carpenter
of Nazareth is the Lord of the universe.
To him, it was such a light.
I mean, he never dreamed that such things
could happen.
That the one whom he persecuted as an
imposter is his Lord.
Now I believe at this very moment, probably
his whole life will be like a picture.
Everything will be brought back to him.
And he repented.
Accept Jesus as his Lord.
Now 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?
Sure 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 that, because we
know He is.
He is the Lord of the universe.
He is our Lord.
But dear brothers and sisters, are we like
Peter?
Call Him Lord, and yet Lord over Him.
When our Lord Jesus began to reveal to
the disciples that He was to go to
Jerusalem, be persecuted, and die, on the third
day He would be raised again, Peter took
hold of the Lord, shook Him a little
bit, and said, Lord, this won't happen to
you.
Even when Peter was used of the Lord,
and he was in that roof, praying, he
saw that vision.
A sheep coming down from heaven, tied on
four corners, and full of quadruples, and creeping
things, unclean things.
And the voice said, Peter, rise, kill, and
eat.
And Peter said, Lord, I cannot do that.
I've never done that 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, that we do not challenge Him anymore?
We do not try to set up ourselves
as another Lord, but we give Him absolute
service.
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 began to examine
our life, we discover that we are more
our own Lord 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.
He 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.
And to that vision, this young man gave
full surrender, because in his second question, he
said, Lord, what do you want 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.
Because when this young man asked, Who are
you, Lord?
The Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you
persecuted.
Now, Saul was trained a Pharisee.
And you know, the training of the Pharisee
is such that they know how to argue.
They are trained in that way.
And Saul could very well, according to his
training, said, You say something wrong, because I
have never persecuted you.
Saul had never seen Jesus.
He had never persecuted Jesus.
And furthermore, Jesus is in heaven.
Saul was on earth.
How could he reach Him?
So, Saul has ever reason to argue.
I haven't done that.
But he didn't.
Why?
Because in that light, he saw something.
He saw the body of Christ.
Brothers and sisters, he not only saw Jesus
the Lord, the head, he also immediately saw
the body of Christ.
Because when he watched Stephen being stoned to
death, you touch the body of Christ, you
touch the head, you touch Christ.
This is me.
All the men and women that he has
seized, they were members of the body of
Christ.
And the Lord said, It is me you
are persecuting.
The ones that he put his vote to
sentence them to death were the body of
Christ, were the members of the body of
Christ.
And the heavenly head said, Why do you
persecute me?
So, brothers and sisters, immediately you find a
great revelation was given to this young man.
The first revelation is Jesus is Lord.
That is the greatest revelation in the world.
And the next to it is the church
as the body of Christ.
Every believer is a member of the body
of Christ.
They are all connected to Christ.
They are parts of Christ.
And whoever touches any of the members of
the body of Christ, touches Christ.
And he saw it.
Oh, brothers and sisters, no wonder this becomes
the ministry of the Apostle Paul.
How he talks about the body of Christ.
Because 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.
The body covers the whole world.
Even Satan cannot fight against this universal man.
So, our Lord Jesus said, On this rock
I will build my church, and hades gates
shall not prevail against it.
And to that universal man, this young man.
So, brothers and sisters, this is the heavenly
vision in a nugget.
Now, of course, that is only the beginning
of the revelation.
Because as Paul continues in following the Lord,
more and more revelation is being given concerning
Jesus as the Lord and concerning the church
as the body of Christ.
So, that constitutes his ministry.
And then, when Saul said, Lord, what should
I do?
And the Lord said, You go to Damascus.
Wait there until I send someone to tell
you what I want you to do.
So, brothers and sisters, this heavenly vision does
not stop on the road to Damascus.
It continues on to the city of Damascus.
And this we will share, God willing, next
time.
So, let us pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, we worship Thee because Thou
hast Thy eternal will.
And in Thy eternal will, Thou hast included
us.
Lord, we thank Thee that Thou hast made
us parts of Thy eternal will.
And it is Thy good pleasure to reveal
Thy Son in us and to draw us
into Thy eternal will, that we may do
Thy will and glorify Thy name.
So, Lord, as we wait upon Thee, we
pray, Lord, that Thou will 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 in.
And we give Thee all the praise and
glory.
In Thy precious name we pray.
Amen.