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In this chapter we will fellowship concerning something higher and deeper. According to the standard of the New Testament revelation, those who serve the Lord are persons who have seen the heavenly vision. This is true of every person who is saved by grace.
The testimony that Paul gave to King Agrippa in Acts 26 shows the heavenly vision. Paul was a Pharisee according to the strictest sect of Judaism (v. 5), and being zealous for God, he did many things contrary to the name of Jesus by persecuting Christians, including Christians in foreign cities (vv. 9-11). However, as he was journeying to Damascus with authority and a commission from the chief priests to capture those who call on the name of the Lord, a light from heaven shined around him (vv. 12-13). This was the Lord’s personal appearing to Paul. In that appearing the Lord said He was sending Paul to the Gentiles “to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith” (v. 18). Then Paul said to King Agrippa that he “was not disobedient to the heavenly vision” (v. 19). From Paul’s defense to King Agrippa, we see that his life was divided into two periods. In the first period he was zealous for God according to his natural concept in Judaism. In the second period he served the living and true God according to the heavenly vision.
In the New Testament we cannot find another person as zealous as Saul of Tarsus was for God. In Philippians 3 Paul spoke of himself in this way: “As to zeal, persecuting the church; as to the righteousness which is in the law, become blameless” (v. 6). He gave his life for Judaism, being a zealot for the traditions of his forefathers (Gal. 1:14). He was not an idle person, nor was he indifferent. However, one day he saw a heavenly vision that captured him. No one preached the gospel to him; rather, the Lord Jesus appeared to him personally from heaven and preached the gospel to him (Acts 26:14-18).
In his youth Paul was educated in Greek culture; he was further trained at the feet of Gamaliel in the strictest sect of Judaism. He knew the law in the Old Testament as well as the traditions of his forefathers. He also knew “how to serve God.” Not only so, he was a Hebrew born of Hebrews and a bona fide Pharisee (Phil. 3:5). Such a proud and outstanding person did not consider fishermen, such as Peter and John, to be persons of importance. Hence, no one was able to deal with him. This forced the Lord to appear to him in person. Throughout two thousand years of church history, this might be the only instance when the Lord, having passed through the process of incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, appeared in person, from heaven, to a man and preached the gospel to him. Hence, when Paul later spoke of this incident, he referred to it as “the heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19). At that time a great light from heaven shined around Paul, and immediately he fell to the ground. Then a voice from heaven spoke to him (vv. 14-18). That speaking became a vision. Paul not only heard the gospel, but he also saw the heavenly vision. This caused him to fall to the ground.
In principle, we also should have Paul’s experience. We may be engaged with a certain matter and occupied by it, but at the appointed time the Lord will come to meet us. Perhaps, as we are pursuing an education and are about to obtain a degree, the Lord will come to meet us. Or perhaps when our business fails and we despair of living, we will meet the Lord. Our meeting with the Lord is our experience on the road to Damascus. Sooner or later we need to experience being met by the Lord.
One of our co-workers met the Lord in a Buddhist temple. Before his salvation he opposed Christianity. One day as he passed by an old Buddhist temple, he saw a copy of the Bible on the table used for offerings. He picked up the Bible and read Psalm 1: “Blessed is the man / Who does not walk / In the counsel of the wicked, / Nor stand on the path of sinners” (v. 1). The more he read, the more he was touched. Then he wept, repented, and confessed his sins. He met the Lord there, and as a result, he believed into Him and was saved. Every serving one cannot deny the fact that he has met the Lord at one point on the journey of his human life.
Even after believing for many years, it is not uncommon to have some questions about the existence of God, because He can neither be seen nor touched. We may wonder where the Lord is. Even I have doubted at times. I have been speaking to people about the Lord for sixty years, yet there are times when I ask myself these questions. It seems that I know, but it also seems that I do not know. One thing I know for sure is that as I was traveling in my human life, the Lord met me one day. I cannot deny this. Every serving one has to see a vision at least once and allow that vision to direct his entire life. It may seem that some were confused when they chose their spouses, and others may regret their choice of occupation. However, eventually, when we take everything into account, we must admit that it is the Lord who has directed our lives.
Proverbs 16:9 says, “A man’s heart devises his way, / But Jehovah directs his steps.” I have experienced many ups and downs in my life, so I understand human life. Nevertheless, I must bow my head and worship the Lord for His ways. It may seem that we are the ones who have chosen the way we have taken in life; however, it is altogether foreordained by God.
We have a desire to serve the Lord, but this is not because of our zeal. It is not because we see the poor and the sick in human society and are stirred up to love and serve them. We go to people because the Lord has called us. He calls us with the heavenly vision, and He sends us to preach Him as the gospel. The Lord has not only ordained us to be His representatives. Even more, He has commissioned us to be His dispensers, and He desires that we would become vessels filled with Christ. The Lord is sending us out so that the Christ within us may be dispensed into others. Formerly, we were fallen sinners, but now God’s mercy has uplifted us to be His children. Every saved one should be a full-timer. After the church in Jerusalem was persecuted, all the saints were scattered, except the apostles (Acts 8:1). The scattered believers went out to preach the gospel, to dispense Christ to others. Were they full-timers? We should say, “Yes, they were all full-timers.”
Although I have done many things in the past sixty years, I have stayed on the line of dispensing Jesus. The more I do His business, the more enjoyable He is. Someone once asked me when I will retire, and I said that I will retire when I finish the Lord’s business. No one can finish the Lord’s business in his lifetime. Hence, even in eternity I will still be enjoying Him. I hope that the young ones will have a proper understanding of what it means to be a Christian and a full-timer. As Christians and full-timers, we must be persons who dispense the Lord Jesus into people.
Many saints have told me that it is good to believe in Jesus but that I should not be so zealous about Him. Others have said that it is not a problem for me to be zealous but that I should not cause the young people to be so zealous that they waste their lives on the Lord. This is not up to me. It is the Lord Jesus who has attracted us.
One brother gave a testimony and said that when he was backslidden, he prayed and told the Lord that he would eventually return. Because he knew that he could not escape, he was simply asking for a temporary leave of absence. He said that in the Lord’s eyes one day of absence is nothing, because the Lord sees a thousand years as one day. He regards our leave of absence as mere seconds. However, it is possible for us to waste our lives in a leave of absence. We must see the heavenly vision in which the Lord draws us to follow Him.
We should not be influenced by tradition or by others who say that human society needs us. Human society does not need us; it needs the Lord Jesus. The people around us need us to dispense the Lord Jesus into them. Hence, our purpose is fulfilled only when we dispense Jesus into others. We are teachers in order to dispense Jesus. We are nurses or doctors in order to dispense Jesus. We conduct business in order to dispense Jesus, and even our retirement is in order to dispense Jesus. An older sister whose children are grown should not use her time merely for her leisure. We should all be full-timers who dispense Jesus in the morning as well as in the evening. We should even be dispensing Jesus in our dreams.
Some believers think that a person can serve the Lord full time either for life or for a temporary period of time. However, being full time is always for life. Does a person who is getting married negotiate with his spouse to be married for only two years? Marriage is for life. Likewise, believing into the Lord Jesus is not only for life but also for eternity. Even though there may be times when we have second thoughts, God chose us and called us, and this is irrevocable (Rom. 11:29). Hence, in whatever we do, we should not forget our calling. Our calling is not to get married or to make money but to dispense Jesus. A mother with eight children should still dispense Jesus into others. This is the heavenly vision we have received. We should be like Paul and say that we are not disobedient to the heavenly vision. Whether we are strong or weak, overcoming or failing, is secondary; only one thing is certain—we shall be dispensers of Jesus for our whole life.
The Christian walk and living are altogether in the spirit. Job 32:8 says, “There is a spirit in man.” The spirit of man is his center. We were saved in our spirit, and we gained an entrance into salvation through our spirit. John 4:24 says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.” A true worshipper of God is a person who is in spirit. Only when a person is in his spirit can he be sincere and truthful. Hence, a person is not genuine if his living and actions are not from his spirit. Even a two-year-old child is not genuine; we can see this in his scheming. I have an eight-year-old granddaughter who often plays tricks on me, an eighty-year-old man. People in society are always scheming. We give gifts to certain ones because we love them with a selfish intention. We even scheme about how to function in a meeting, and we testify with a specific intention that does not come from our spirit. Even our care for others should not be because they have a problem but because we are in our spirit. Only that which is from our spirit is genuine and real. Should we love people or hate them? The answer is that we should be in our spirit. The Lord Jesus said, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and moreover, even his own soul-life, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). This means that our emotions are directed by our spirit.
Some ask whether it is good to be meek. Without a doubt meekness is good. However, when the Lord Jesus came out to minister, the first thing that He did was to cleanse the temple. On that day He was far from being meek. He made a whip out of cords and drove the moneychangers and those selling oxen and sheep and doves out of the temple. He also overturned the tables of the moneychangers (John 2:13-16). When John the Baptist saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Offspring of vipers, who prompted you to flee from the coming wrath?” (Matt. 3:7). The Lord said the same thing to the Pharisees. He said that they were offspring of vipers (12:34; 23:33). These are harsh words. Would you be willing to say such a thing? This shows that the living and conduct of a Christian are a matter of letting the heavenly vision direct our life and of being in our spirit; we must do everything in our spirit.
I have been practicing following the spirit and walking according to the spirit for sixty years; however, I dare not say that I am successful. I still do many things that are not from my spirit but in my natural man, in my kindness, and in my self. Although Paul speaks many profound truths in the first sections of Romans, at the end he still tells us to live a life of the highest virtues (12:9-21). However, the key point to the Christian life is to walk by the spirit. Our human virtues should be the issue of walking by the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-25). Romans 8:4 says, “That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit.” A Christian should always walk according to the spirit. We should practice until in every situation, every hour, every minute, and every second, we are in our spirit. Then when there is a need for love, our love will be in the spirit, and when there is a need for meekness, our meekness will be in the spirit. This cannot be achieved in a short time. It will take a lifetime to learn.
May we all practice to not be disobedient to the heavenly vision and to walk according to our spirit.
