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Prayer: Lord, we trust in Your precious blood. May Your blood cleanse us. We long to live in fellowship with You. We do not want any sin, any evil, or anything that is contrary to You to veil our inner being; we do not want to lose Your light, miss our fellowship with You, or forego our enjoyment of Your presence. Lord, be our sin offering and trespass offering. We do not want to have some religious activities or busy outward works while missing Your inner presence and not touching You. Lord, in such a training, keep us so that we would remain in fellowship with You and that we would touch Your heart’s desire and Yourself. We want to know not only the objective words in the Bible but Your subjective work within us, the work which You are doing in the church today. Lord, be gracious to us and speak to the depth of our being. We want to be taught and encouraged, but more than that, we want to know Your way and be preserved by You, gained by You, and sustained by You. May You grow within us, daily softening us so that we would be truly mingled with You and be in one fellowship with You. May there be genuine growth within us, and may there be a broad pathway within us that will open all the doors in us.
Lord, in our sojourn on this earth it is unavoidable that we come short and are defiled all the time. Do forgive us of all our shortcomings. Cleanse us of all our defilements. Save us, and remove all filthiness so that our mind, heart, and spirit, including our conscience, would be clear. Lord, may our fellowship here be a pure flow, clear as crystal, without any shadow or covering. Grant us an open sky; remove all the veils. May both the speaker and the listeners be in one spirit. Whatever we would cover, may all of us touch the same thing, and may all of us get into it and pursue after it in spirit. Lead us into Yourself to receive Your cherishing, care, and supply so that we may experience the genuine growth. Lord, guide us to speak the same thing. We have no preconceived decisions; we only want to move according to Your Spirit. Speak to us again and again the words that are in Your heart. Amen.
In this chapter we will first consider the kind of vision that a servant of the Lord should possess.
Among the serving ones, the two most important groups of people are the elders and the co-workers. According to the Bible, a servant of the Lord must be governed by a vision. We have been speaking about this point for many years. From the first day the work began here in Taiwan, we have been speaking about vision. Over twenty years ago, this matter affected some young people. They felt that they had seen the vision, and they called themselves “the vision group.” They condemned the elderly saints for not having any vision.
Whether or not a person understands a certain biblical term is an important matter. Even when a person understands a term, it is very important to know if he understands it correctly and accurately. Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint.” This means that without a vision, the people will become loose, like wild horses in their untamed state. The clearest instance in the New Testament where the word vision is mentioned is in the case of Paul. In Acts 26:19, while he was defending himself before King Agrippa, he uttered this word: “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.” In order to understand the meaning of the word vision, we must understand the context of Paul’s speaking in verses 4 through 23.
Prior to verse 19, Paul said that he was once a zealous Judaizer, being zealous for the religion and traditions of his forefathers. He was so zealous that he could not tolerate any different teachings or beliefs among his fellow Jews. Yet at that time there was a group of Christians whose words, teachings, actions, and works were different from the ordinances and the very root of Paul’s Jewish religion. Paul’s native town of Tarsus was at the crossroads between Asia Minor and Syria; it was a hub of communication and a historically famous academic town, a city of culture. In Tarsus there was a Greek school where Paul received the highest education. At the same time he joined one of the strictest sects of Judaism and became a Pharisee, sitting under the most famous teacher, Gamaliel. We can see that Paul was a learned, ambitious, active, and aspiring person.
While he was yet a young man, he received authority from the chief priests in the Jewish religion to put many believers into prison. He even cast a vote to condemn them and to put them to death. Many times he persecuted the believers in the synagogues and compelled them to blaspheme. He was exceedingly enraged at them and persecuted them as far as the Gentile cities. He even requested a letter from the chief priests and took the lead to put into bondage all those who called on the name of the Lord. But while he was on the way to Damascus, the Lord met him and said to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads” (v. 14). Paul asked, “Who are You, Lord?” The Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you persecute” (v. 15). Then the Lord told him that He had chosen him to be a minister and a witness both of the things in which he had seen Him and of the things in which He would appear to him. He would send Paul to the people and the Gentiles to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God that they might receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith. After testifying of these things, Paul concluded by saying, “Therefore...I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision” (v. 19). When Paul was serving God in the Jewish religion, he was serving by tradition, not by vision, but from the day the Lord met him, called him, and chose him on the way to Damascus, he became a man with a vision. From that time onward, his service was governed by that vision.
Concerning the word vision, our emphasis is not on its Old Testament meaning but on what Paul said in Acts 26:19. Of course, we can never ascertain a truth in the Bible by one verse alone. Every truth in the Bible requires the entire Bible for its explanation. This is like the various organs of the body; none can survive alone. They need the entire body to act as their support. In the same way every truth must have the entire “body” as its support. The entire Bible is the whole “body,” the supporting structure. In order to understand what the word vision means, we must consider the entire Bible.
Many Christians have read the biography of Hudson Taylor. The writer told us clearly that while Mr. Taylor was young, he felt that he needed to go to China for the gospel. He first joined a mission and went to northern Fukien for the gospel. Later, while he was back in England on furlough, he went to the seashore one day to spend some time alone with the Lord. As he gazed at the ocean, he felt that his eyes were brought across the seas to catch a glimpse of the interior parts of China, and he saw four hundred million dying souls. He felt that the Lord was calling him to consecrate himself entirely to those people and to send the gospel to the interior of China. Right there he accepted this charge and commission. Such a charge and commission became Mr. Taylor’s “vision.” Immediately, he shared what he saw with the Christians whom he was acquainted with. Many responded to his word, and the China Inland Mission was formed. In the following forty to fifty years hundreds and thousands of people were sent to the interior parts of China to preach the gospel.
It is debatable whether what Mr. Taylor saw can be considered a vision of the age. Of course, the vast China needed the preaching of the gospel. From this viewpoint Mr. Taylor certainly received a commission, and it was certainly a vision. Yet it is questionable whether or not that is the vision that God has for this age. Concerning the matter of vision, we must come back to the Bible.
The Bible has sixty-six books. The Old Testament begins with God’s creation, or the creation of Adam, and spans four thousand years until the birth of the Lord Jesus. The first two volumes of Level One of Truth Lessons give us a description and an outline of the Old Testament. The purpose of such a description is to show us the various visions God gave to men throughout the ages. We have to see that in every age, God gives only one vision to man. In Adam is seen God’s redemption. In Abel is seen God’s way of redemption. In Enosh is seen man’s need for God and man’s calling upon Him to enjoy His riches. In Enoch is seen a redeemed one walking with God on the pathway of redemption. In Noah is seen one who walked with God and worked with God to build the ark to meet the need of that generation.
Then in Abraham is seen God’s calling, God’s promise, justification by faith, the living by faith, and the living in fellowship with God. In Isaac is seen the inheriting of grace and the rest and enjoyment. In Jacob is seen God’s selection, the transformation in life, and the maturity in life. In Joseph is seen the reigning aspect of the maturity in life. Following this, we see different things in Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and the judges. In Samuel we see the voluntarily consecrated Nazarite replacing the ordained priests, ending the age of the judges, and bringing in the kingdom age. In Acts 13 Paul mentioned this period of history and spoke of God’s leading of the Israelites out of Egypt. Through Joshua He led them into the land of Canaan and divided the good land among them for their inheritance. After this, He appointed judges from among them until the time of Samuel, at which time He ushered in David. This period lasted about four hundred fifty years.
We need to learn to interpret the Bible with the Bible. The life-study trainings emphasize life; they do not pay that much attention to history, genealogies, and dates. This is the reason that they give detailed explanations of the things of life but spend little time to explain history and dates. In Acts 13:20 Paul said, “After these things, for about four hundred and fifty years, He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.” There are at least two or three authoritative interpretations of this verse. It is difficult to ascertain the exact number of years in this case. However, since this period of time has much to do with the vision given at that time, we must study the matter in depth. How do these four hundred fifty years come about?
First Kings 6:1 says, “Then in the four hundred eightieth year after the children of Israel had come forth out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of [Solomon’s] reign over Israel...” The Israelites were in the wilderness for forty years. After this, Joshua led for twenty-five years. Then there was the time of the judges, which lasted until the time of Samuel. The four hundred fifty years that Paul speaks of in Acts 13:20 surely include all these events. David’s reign lasted forty years, and afterward there was the reign of Solomon. If we add up these numbers, we can see one thing: Paul’s word in Acts 13 does not take Saul’s years into account, because at the time he was king, there was a rival, which was David. We can say that during that period of time there was no properly appointed king from God to unite the whole nation of Israel. Strictly speaking, before the Israelites were united as one nation, they were still in the age of the judges.
Although Saul was appointed by God to be king, in God’s eyes his words did not count; only Samuel’s words counted. Samuel held the positions of both a prophet and a judge. At that time, outwardly Saul was king, but in reality, in God’s eyes, Samuel was still functioning as a judge. As for David, he was anointed early on, but at the beginning it was neither his words nor Saul’s words that counted, but Samuel’s words. Even after David became king, his first seven and a half years are not reckoned in Paul’s word concerning four hundred fifty years because at that time the house of Saul was not yet removed; Saul’s son Ish-bosheth was still king in Mahanaim (2 Sam. 2:8-11). In the eyes of God that was still the age of the judges.
Based on the above, we can make a clear conclusion: The age of the judges was terminated only after David became king over all Israel. David unified the entire nation of Israel and was officially recognized as king in Jerusalem. After this, there was no more confusion or disturbance in the land. This lasted for thirty-three years. According to 1 Kings 6:1, from the time of the exodus to the fourth year of Solomon were four hundred eighty years. Subtracting from that the last thirty-three years of David’s reign and the first three years of Solomon’s reign, we have four hundred forty-four years left. This somewhat matches Paul’s word in Acts 13:20: “For about four hundred and fifty years.” The difference between the two is only six years. This is the reason that Paul used the word about.
Within the period of the time of the judges, which lasted approximately four hundred fifty years, was the reign of Saul, which lasted forty years. But God did not recognize him as king. The reason for this is that he did not serve as king according to a vision. Samuel, on the other hand, was recognized as a judge because he served with a vision. This can be proved by the fact that the age of the judges did not end until the termination of the ministry of Samuel. Of course, the final termination of the age of the judges began with the reign of David in Jerusalem. The period of proper kingship does not include the first seven and a half years of David’s reign. In God’s eyes the throne was empty at that time because there were still contenders for the throne, and the nation was under the turmoil of war. During those seven and a half years the Israelites did not serve according to a vision. Although both Saul and David (during his first seven and a half years of reign) were kings, the only one who served according to a vision was Samuel, who served as a judge.
We must be clear that in every age there is the vision of that age. We have to serve God according to the vision of the age. Consider the age of Noah. When we read the record of the Bible, it appears as if Noah’s family, including himself, his wife, his three children, and their wives, were the only ones who were serving God. Can we believe that at that time there were actually only eight people serving God, and the rest were worshipping idols and not serving God? Perhaps we have never thought about this matter. Whether or not others were serving God, one thing is certain: they were not part of those who built the ark. For this very reason their service was not recognized by God.
Some people might ask whether at the time that Noah was busily building the ark, there was not a single person on earth who feared God. We can deduce from historical data that at the time of Noah it is quite possible that the eight people in his one family were not the only ones serving and worshipping God. The ancient Chinese were serving and worshipping also at that time. Their way of worship was in many ways similar to that of men in the Old Testament. Confucius was five hundred years prior to Christ. He once said, “To sin against heaven is unforgivable.” In the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15, the prodigal said to his father when he returned home, “I have sinned against heaven” (v. 21). In ancient times both the East and the West considered “heaven” a symbol for God. The reason for this is that whenever men lifted their heads heavenward, they thought about God. We can assume that in the ancient times many people sought after God and had some knowledge of God. They served God according to the knowledge they had of God. Yet we must realize that though so many people were serving, only Noah’s family of eight served with a vision, and only their service was acceptable to God.
When Jesus of Nazareth came, He also served God, and a group of Galilean fishermen followed Him as His disciples. In the eyes of man, these Galileans were just like little naughty children. Outwardly, Jesus was a Galilean; He did not move away from Nazareth the first thirty years of His life, and He received no formal education in serving God. Yet at the age of thirty He started a ministry, and a group of “ignorant” people followed Him. Even some women ministered to His needs. They followed the Lord Jesus for three and a half years. What do you think the Pharisees, chief priests, scribes, and elders thought of them at that time? Among these men were fishermen, tax-collectors, and relatives of the Lord Jesus. There was even a woman who was once possessed with seven demons. Did they not seem to be children at play when they claimed that they were serving God?
At that time among the Jews, there was still a magnificent temple. It was built over a period of forty years. The Levites were divided into twenty-four orders and were offering sacrifices and ministering according to their orders. They were either taking care of the utensils, slaying the animals, or offering the sacrifices such as the daily burnt offerings and sin offerings and the weekly Sabbath offerings on the bronze altar. In the eyes of man, such services were certainly proper and dignified, but were they carried out under a vision? We are all very clear that the services of the priests in the temple were not carried out under a vision; they were carried out by tradition. It was the Lord Jesus and those who were following Him who were serving under a vision and whose service was pleasing to God.
The followers of the Lord Jesus were a blessed people. Among them was Peter, who was also a leader and one who took the lead to say foolish things. There was Mary the Magdalene, who was once possessed with seven demons. There was also the other Mary, who loved the Lord fervently and who broke the flask of alabaster worth over three hundred denarii to anoint the Lord Jesus. Outwardly, they were all blindly following the Lord because the Lord Jesus was the only One who had the vision. Peter, James, John, Mary, and all the others did not receive that vision. Yet they were clear that the Lord’s way was right and were determined to follow Him. When the Lord turned to the east, they followed Him to the east. When the Lord turned to the west, they followed Him to the west. When the Lord went to the sea, they followed Him to the sea. When the Lord went to the mountain, they followed Him to the mountain. When the Lord was in Galilee, they followed Him in Galilee. When the Lord went to Jerusalem, they followed Him to Jerusalem. They were resolved in their heart that as long as they followed the Lord, nothing would go wrong.
In John 11 Lazarus was dying. When the Lord learned about this, He did not do anything. After two days the Lord told the disciples that He would go to see Lazarus. The disciples said to Him, “The Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and You are going there again?” (v. 8). The Lord answered, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going that I may wake him out of sleep” (v. 11). Verses 1 through 16 show that the disciples were truly following in a blind way. They were not at all clear what they were doing, yet they followed and went anyway. Perhaps in the eyes of men this is blind following, yet this kind of following pleases God, and this kind of following is done with a vision. They did not receive any vision individually, but the One whom they were following had the vision, and that was enough. As long as they were acting according to the One who had the vision, they were right in the eyes of God.
Today many Christians criticize us, saying, “You are too proud. How can you negate all the denominations and all the Christians and say that only you have the vision?” Some brothers and sisters on occasion have been asked by others, “You say that the pastors are wrong, the pope is wrong, and everyone is wrong. Are you the only people who are not wrong? Are you the only ones who are right in following what you are following?” I believe sometimes such winds would even cause you to question yourselves. However, if we are clear concerning the vision in the Bible, we will have the confidence to say that we are in fact those who serve by following a vision.
In the book of Acts, after the Lord’s ascension, Peter and later Paul continued to serve in the ministry. In Acts 5, while Peter was ministering, the Jewish synagogue rose up to oppose the apostles and put them into prison (vv. 17-32). But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison and, leading them out, told them to stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life. At daybreak the chief priests called together the Sanhedrin and asked for the apostles to be brought to them. When the officers arrived, they found the prison locked with all security and the guards standing at the doors, but when they opened the doors, they found no one inside. While they were utterly perplexed, someone came and reported to them, “Behold, the men whom you put in the prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people” (v. 25). Then the captain with the officers went away and brought the apostles to the Sanhedrin to be tried.
After the Sanhedrin listened to the apostles, they wanted to do away with them. One Pharisee, Gamaliel, a teacher of the law honored by all the people, stood up and said, “Withdraw from these men and leave them alone; for should this counsel or this work be of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them, lest you be found to be even fighters against God” (vv. 38-39). Gamaliel’s word was correct, but this does not mean that he had the vision. The only ones who had the vision were the apostles who were imprisoned and the simple ones who were following them.
In Acts 12 Herod began to persecute the church. He killed James and put Peter into prison. A large group of women gathered in the house of Mary, the mother of John, to pray for Peter. During the night an angel of the Lord opened the door of the prison and took Peter out. Peter went to the house of Mary and knocked at the door. A maiden came to answer (vv. 1-13). In the eyes of the Sanhedrin, the chief priests, and the Pharisees, these women were foolish. They would not go to the proper temple and would not abide by the tradition of their forefathers; they chose to follow a group of Galilean fishermen and mingle with them. Could it be that all their forefathers were wrong? Could it be that David, Isaiah, and all the others were wrong and that these Galileans alone were right? Moreover, they had even been imprisoned. Yet the women were still praying for them and following them. It seems that they were too foolish.
Here we see two groups of people. The larger group was the Jewish religionists. The smaller group was those who followed Peter and the other Galileans in a simple way. Both groups were serving God, but whose service was under a vision? I am afraid that we have never thought about this matter. We need to see that not only was Peter’s service under a vision, but even the simple ones who followed him were serving under a vision.
In Acts 11 Barnabas took Paul along with him in his service and brought him to Antioch (vv. 25-26). This was something done according to the vision. In chapter 13 we find that one day the Holy Spirit spoke to those who were serving in Antioch, saying, “Set apart for Me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (v. 2). Here the Scripture puts Barnabas first. This shows that he was the leader. In recording their journey, the Bible puts Barnabas’s name first and Paul’s name second. When they came to Pisidian Antioch, however, and the need arose for someone to speak in the synagogue on the Sabbath, Barnabas had nothing to say. At that time Saul, who was called Paul, stood up, motioned with his hand, and began to preach the gospel and pour out his speaking like a torrent (vv. 16-41). From that time onward, the Bible reverses the order of the two men; it begins to refer to them as “Paul and Barnabas.” This shows that at that time the vision turned to Paul.
In Acts 15 after Paul and Barnabas returned from the conference in Jerusalem, they had the burden to revisit the cities in which they previously preached and to see the brothers again. At that juncture Barnabas voiced his opinion; he wanted to bring Mark, his cousin, along with him. Paul disagreed, the two had a contention, and they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark and went another way, while Paul took Silas with him (vv. 36-40). From that time onward, the book of Acts has no more record of Barnabas. We believe that though Barnabas was still serving, his service was no longer governed by the vision. From that time the ones who were serving under the vision were Paul and Silas, the one Paul had chosen.
At the beginning of Acts 18, we are told that through his tentmaking Paul gained a couple, Aquila and Priscilla. Immediately they joined Paul in his vision and in his service. Thereafter, there were meetings in this couple’s house continually. When they were in Rome, the church in Rome met in their house. When they went to Ephesus, the church in Ephesus met in their house (Rom. 16:5a; 1 Cor. 16:19b). Paul praised them for risking their necks for his life (Rom. 16:4). Not only was Paul grateful to them, but all the churches in the Gentile world were thankful to them. The service of Aquila and Priscilla was a service that followed after Paul. Hence, their service was a service under the vision.
At the end of Acts 18 there appeared a man named Apollos. Was Apollos’s service under the vision? It is not safe to say that it was not, for “he was powerful in the Scriptures” (v. 24). He knew the Bible very well, but while he was ministering and working in Corinth, he created some problems. After he left, a division arose in the church in Corinth. Some said that they were of Apollos, and others said that they were of Cephas or of Paul. Another group of people thought that they were superior; they did not consider themselves as belonging to anyone. They claimed that they were of Christ (1 Cor. 1:12). Because of this problem, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 16:12, “Concerning our brother Apollos, I urged him many times to come to you with the brothers; yet it was not at all his desire to come now, but he will come when he has opportunity.” This means that Paul wanted to go to Corinth, and he wanted Apollos to go with him to solve the problem of division in the church in Corinth. The strange thing is that although Paul “urged him many times,” “it was not at all [Apollos’s] desire to come now.” The reason Apollos gave was that the opportunity was not there. This was why he would only come when he had “opportunity.”
Today we all have to admit that Paul was a very spiritual man. Since such a spiritual person had said, “I urged him many times to come to you,” we have to believe that his urging was not of the flesh but of the spirit. Perhaps some may ask, “Does this mean that Apollos was not spiritual?” Many would answer, “Of course, Apollos was spiritual. Otherwise, why would some in Corinth have claimed that they were of Apollos?” The Bible clearly says that Apollos was powerful in the Scriptures and was an eloquent man. Even Paul affirmed Apollos by saying that he planted but Apollos watered. It is difficult to say that the one who plants is under the vision but that the one who waters is not under the vision. Therefore, we can at most say that Paul was more spiritual than Apollos. We cannot say that Apollos was not spiritual and that he was not under the vision.
Today in Christianity, many Christians claim that they are spiritual, but they do not like to listen to others. Even if Paul were here, they might not listen to him. This attitude has found its way even to us. It seems that in a way we are also “spiritual.” Sometimes we have a feeling concerning a certain matter, but we can only say to the brothers, “I urge you to do this. Perhaps you can pray to the Lord concerning it.” Strictly speaking, this condition is not too normal. If we study the book of Acts and the Epistles of Paul, we can see that many times Paul pointedly told people to do certain things. In 2 Timothy 4, Paul directed people to do a number of things. He told Timothy, “Be diligent to come to me quickly...Take Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for the ministry. But Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. The cloak which I left in Troas with Carpus, bring when you come...Be diligent to come before winter” (vv. 9-13, 21). When Paul charged Timothy in this way, Timothy did not say, “It is not at all my desire to come now, because the weather is somewhat cold, but I will come when I have opportunity.” No, he acted accordingly, following Paul’s instruction.
In the same way, when Paul asked Titus to remain in Crete, Titus remained. When he asked Titus to come to him at Nicopolis, Titus obeyed. When he sent Titus to Corinth, Titus went accordingly (Titus 1:5; 3:12; 2 Cor. 7:6-7). In 1 Timothy 1:3 Paul told Timothy, “Even as I exhorted you...to remain in Ephesus.” Paul told Timothy to stay behind in Ephesus, and Timothy stayed behind. We cannot find a trace where Paul exhorted Timothy in the way of saying, “Timothy, for the sake of those who are teaching differently in Ephesus, I feel that you should stay behind and consider the situation. Please pray to the Lord to see whether or not this is the Lord’s will.” Nor can we find Timothy answering, “Good, I will pray and see. If it is the Lord’s will, I will stay behind.” Acts 17:15 says, “Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as quickly as possible, they went off.” Acts 18:5 says, “Both Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia.” They all obeyed immediately after they received Paul’s command. No one said, “Sorry, I have to pray a little and see if this is the Lord’s leading.”
We see clearly from the revelation of the New Testament that when the Lord Jesus was on earth, He was acting under the vision. Outside His leading there was no vision. Others might have been in tradition or knowledge. Gamaliel was very knowledgeable; he was very familiar with God’s principles, but he was not under the vision. His speaking was not under the vision; it was a speaking that was merely words of knowledge. After the Lord’s ascension it was Peter and his co-workers who were under the vision. We are not saying that Peter had one vision and John, James, and the other apostles had another vision. There was only one vision, which was the vision of Peter. This vision became the vision of his followers. When Paul was raised up in his ministry, he received a vision that touched the heavens, the earth, and Paradise (2 Cor. 12:2-4). Although Paul had many co-workers, no one saw any other vision. They all had one vision, which was the vision that Paul saw.
There is great controversy in Christianity concerning the matter of one vision for one age. However, God’s Word reveals to us clearly that in every age there is only one vision. At the time of Abel, Cain did not worship an idol, and he did not build a shrine. He was doing the same thing that Abel was doing, offering a sacrifice to God. Under the vision, however, Abel offered a sacrifice that was acceptable to God, but Cain offered his sacrifice apart from the vision. If you were born in the age of Abel, you would have had to take the way of Abel; otherwise, you would have been off from the vision and in the way of Cain. At the time of Enosh, one man was under the vision, and he called on the name of the Lord. Other people might have feared God according to other ways, but such fear was not according to the vision. In the same way, at the time of Noah there were more than eight people who feared God; there might have been a hundred or even a thousand people who feared God. They might not have sinned as others did; they might even have been serving in some way. Yet their service was not governed by a vision. Noah’s family of eight people, by serving according to Noah’s pattern, became servants who served according to a vision. What Noah saw became what they saw.
The vision that Noah saw was the vision of the ark. To man this was very peculiar and unthinkable. How can a person give up everything that he is doing and spend all his time building an ark? The building took one hundred twenty years (Gen. 6:3). During those one hundred twenty years Noah was, on the one hand, preaching the word of righteousness and, on the other hand, building the ark (2 Pet. 2:5). To others he was wasting his effort and his money; he was too foolish. When the one hundred twenty years were about to end, there was still no sign of any rain from heaven. Yet while men were saying “peace and security,” and while they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, the flood of destruction suddenly came, as birth pangs come suddenly to a woman with child (Matt. 24:38-39; 1 Thes. 5:3). In the end, only Noah’s family entered the ark and was saved.
We find the same principle in the New Testament. God’s work in the New Testament is to produce and build up the church. This vision was given to Paul. For this reason, once Paul came on the scene, Peter’s ministry faded away. When Peter was old, he said, “Our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them concerning these things, in which some things are hard to understand, which the unlearned and unstable twist, as also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction” (2 Pet. 3:15-16). This means that even the aged Peter had to submit to the vision of Paul. He acknowledged that Paul’s word was as precious as the Old Testament Scriptures and that believers should take heed to it.
Based on this, the names of all those who did not join themselves to Paul’s vision were eventually dropped from the record of the Bible. For example, Barnabas was the one who initiated Paul into the service, but because he contended with Paul, his name was eventually dropped from the Bible. Apollos was very capable at expounding the Bible, but 1 Corinthians 16 records that he told Paul that it was not at all his desire to go to Corinth and that he would go when he had opportunity. After this the Bible no longer mentions anything concerning him. Barnabas was zealous in his service, and Apollos was capable in his exposition of the Bible, but God did not use them anymore because their service was no longer under the vision. This is a very sober matter.
The Bible shows clearly that in every age God gives only one vision to man. We cannot find in the Bible that there were two visions in any age. What about those men who came after the apostles’ time? How did they serve God according to the proper vision? Today Paul is gone. If we are to serve God today, what is our vision? Today the inhabited world is much larger than at the time of Noah; there are more people today. There are more than one billion Christians all over the six major continents of the world. They come from different denominations, such as the Catholic Church and the Protestant churches. In the Protestant churches there are the Anglican Church, the Lutheran Church, the Methodist Church, the Baptist Church, and the Presbyterian Church. Among all these churches and all these Christians, who are the ones who are serving according to the vision? We can ask ourselves the same question: are we those who are serving according to the vision, and if so, what is our vision?
Concerning this matter of following the vision, many Christians do not act according to the truth. Rather, they act according to their own taste and preferences. Some join our meetings because they think that the brothers and sisters here are very zealous, loving the Lord, and that the messages are good. This is the reason they join our meetings. Formerly, they only knew about attending “Sunday morning services.” When they hear that we go to church meetings, they also change their terminology and talk about attending “church meetings.” However, very few believers are clear concerning what it is to meet and serve according to the vision. All of you here are elders and co-workers. It is important that you consider this matter carefully. What is our vision? What is the vision that is governing our service? We cannot answer this question in a general way with only some spiritual terminology. Our answer must be based on a solid foundation.
At the time of Abel, not a single book of the Bible had been written. It was fourteen hundred years after Abel, at the time of Moses, that the Pentateuch was completed. However, even at the time of Moses, God’s revelation was still in the process of development; it was not yet complete. The vision that Moses saw was not enough to completely govern those who came after him. When we come to the New Testament, we find Paul saying that he became a minister to the church according to the stewardship that God had entrusted to him for the completion of the word of God (Col. 1:25). Around A.D. 94, three decades after Paul’s martyrdom, the apostle John was raised up to do a mending work. He wrote the Gospel of John, the Epistles of John, and the book of Revelation. After these books were written, the revelation of God was fully completed. For this reason, at the end of Revelation John says that if anyone adds to the words of the prophecy of this scroll, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this scroll (22:18). This means that the apostle John’s book of Revelation completes the entire revelation of God. The book of Revelation is certainly the ultimate consummation of God’s revelation because Paul did not mention anything about the new heavens and the new earth, and Peter mentioned them only briefly (2 Pet. 3:13). Only the book of Revelation speaks about them in detail. This shows clearly that by the time the apostle John finished the book of Revelation, the biblical revelation had reached its ultimate consummation. This then becomes the vision and basis of our service today.
From the time of the apostles until today, for two thousand years, all the servants of the Lord who serve according to the revelation of the Bible serve according to the vision. This is the standard and the basis of our service. After the apostles passed away, servants of the Lord were raised up in every age. They argued, fought, and debated over whose service should be considered the genuine and right service. The verdict on such considerations should be based on the standard of the revelation as revealed in the Bible.
Today God’s revelation is already put into writing. It is recorded in the Bible and is no longer something abstract. This is a very important matter. When the Lord Jesus spoke on the earth, He would say, “As the Scripture said” (John 7:38). Even while He was being tempted and was arguing with the devil, He said, “It is written” (Matt. 4:4, 7, 10). He did not speak according to any personal feeling within Him. This means that the divine revelation upon which He based His speaking is veritable; it is written in black and white and is not abstract at all. When He debated with the Pharisees, He quoted the Old Testament Scriptures. On the Sabbath day, when He took His disciples across the grainfields, the disciples picked ears of grain and ate. The Pharisees interrogated Him, and He answered, saying, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, and those who were with him; how he entered into the house of God, and they ate the bread of the Presence, which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, except for the priests only?” (12:3-4). During the final six days of His earthly journey, when He went up to Jerusalem and was questioned by the Pharisees, Sadducees, elders, and chief priests, He answered with the words of the Bible: “It is written...Have you never read?...Have you never read in the Scriptures?...Have you not read that which was spoken to you by God?” (21:13, 16, 42; 22:31). This shows clearly that the Lord argued and justified Himself according to the revelation that was written down at the time.
In the book of Acts, both the apostles Peter and Paul spoke in the way of a defense. The first message that Peter delivered on the day of Pentecost was a defense based extensively on the Scriptures. He quoted the prophet Joel and proclaimed that Jesus of Nazareth, whom the people had crucified on the cross, had been raised up by God. This was what David referred to in Psalm 16. Moreover, as David prophesied in Psalm 110, God had exalted this Jesus to His right hand. Paul also wrote his Epistle to the Romans in the way of an argument based on the Old Testament. Someone said once that in order to be a good lawyer, one has to study the book of Romans thoroughly because this book contains the most perfect reasonings and the highest arguments.
With the truth of the Bible as our guiding principle, we can study and examine all the denominations and sects that we find today. From this perspective Catholicism is far off the mark. Surely Catholicism is not governed by the vision. The Anglican Church takes as its head the queen, who may not be saved at all. It considers all British citizens members of the Anglican Church by birth, whether or not they are believers and have been baptized. This clearly shows that the Anglican Church is not under the vision either. If we examine and compare all the other denominations, free groups, and charismatic organizations, we will see that none of them is serving fully according to the complete biblical revelation.
We should ask how high is the standard of the revelation that these groups hold. For example, we cannot say that Catholicism is a hundred percent contrary to the biblical revelation. At least it acknowledges one God, and it acknowledges that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. In the Catholic Church there are some truths, but their standard is too low. In the same way, we have to admit that many people in the Protestant churches do expound the Bible. There are even Bible schools that teach people the truths of the Bible, but whether they see the revelation in the Bible and whether they are clear about God’s vision are other questions altogether. We cannot say that as long as people have the Bible, they have the revelation or are acting according to the vision. It is very possible that they merely hold the Bible in their hands; they have not realized the vision and revelation contained in the Bible. Hence, we have to recognize some basic principles. First, we must be governed by the revelation contained in the Bible. Second, the standard of such revelation must be sufficiently high; it must be up to the standard of the divine revelation.
The knowledge and discovery of divine revelation develop and advance with the ages. Today we are not in the age of Martin Luther. We are not in the age of Zinzendorf or the age of John Wesley. At the time of the Reformation in the 1520s, when Luther was raised up, anyone who wanted to serve under a vision had to join himself to Luther. In the seventeenth century anyone who wanted to serve under a vision had to join himself to Madame Guyon. In the eighteenth century anyone who wanted to serve under a vision had to join himself to Zinzendorf. Even John Wesley received help from Zinzendorf. In the nineteenth century J. N. Darby took the lead among the Brethren, and the vision was with him. In the twentieth century the vision came to us.
I am not “selling” myself here, but I would like to make a declaration. I began my relationship with the Lord’s recovery in 1925. I fully agreed with the Lord’s recovery, but during the first seven and a half years I was not in the Lord’s recovery but in the Brethren assembly. It was in 1932 that I officially joined the Lord’s recovery. Now, fifty-four years have passed. During the past sixty years, according to my observation and based on my knowledge of the Bible, my experience as a Christian, and my study of Christianity’s history and its present condition, I can say with full confidence that the Lord’s recovery is serving under the vision. There is no doubt about this.
This is not all. During these fifty-four years that I have been in the Lord’s recovery, I have seen many people both in the northern and southern parts of China who had high moral standards and a noble character, who had learned deep lessons in life, and whose spiritual condition was good. When they passed through the Lord’s recovery or met with us for a few years and then left, invariably they found their spiritual service fading and faltering. This is an amazing thing. Those who have never touched the Lord’s recovery can still somewhat go on, but those who have come and then left invariably find their end less than desirable. There is not one exception. This proves that the recovery bears the vision that the Lord has entrusted to this age.
At the time of Noah the vision was to build the ark. At that time anyone who was not building the ark was not serving according to the vision. At the time of Paul the vision was to preach the gospel and to build up the church. Anyone at that time who was not serving according to this vision was off the mark. This included such men as Apollos, who was capable at expounding the Bible, and Barnabas, who was zealous for his service. What is our vision today? Today in 1986, our vision is also to “build the ark.” The way to build this ark is to preach the gospel, set up home meetings, teach the truth, and have everyone prophesy. All those who do not practice these four things are not serving according to the vision. Perhaps you expound the Bible, and perhaps you serve very zealously, but your service is not “building the ark.” Such service will not be acceptable to God.
I hope that all the brothers and sisters attending the full-time training will read this chapter so that they will see this matter clearly. We are not trying to dictate to anyone, and we are not congratulating ourselves behind closed doors. We are saying this based on the movement of history and the pure revelation of the Bible. Look around at the entire situation of Christianity today. Where are the revelation and the vision? We have the same Bible in our hands, but some people have no light even after they have read it a hundred times. In the Lord’s recovery, every page, every verse, every sentence, and even every word shine with revelation and light. I believe that outside the Lord’s recovery it is difficult to hear a word about Apollos like the one that is recorded in this chapter. The reason for this is that there is no light.
If we study the letter of the Bible, we may conclude that Apollos was not too deficient. In 1 Corinthians 3 Paul said that Apollos watered, but in the same verse he told the Corinthians that he was the one who planted (v. 6). Whether or not there is a waterer is not that important, but the planter is indispensable (cf. Mark 4:26-28). Although Paul was humble in pointing out Apollos’s distinction, in the same verse he added, “According to the grace of God given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid a foundation, and another builds upon it...For another foundation no one is able to lay besides that which is laid” (1 Cor. 3:10-11). This means that anyone who does not build upon Paul’s foundation is not serving according to the vision. In the eyes of man this is too presumptuous, but Paul was not apologetic at all. He said that he was a wise master builder. He had given everyone the blueprint of the building, and he was supervising the building work. The phrase master builder here is architekton in Greek. It denotes a person who has the blueprint and builds and supervises the building according to the blueprint. The anglicized form of this word is architect. We know that in construction, the only person whose word counts is the architect’s. This was Paul’s position. No one else’s word counts; only Paul’s word counts because he had the blueprint.
We see the same thing at the time of Moses. Moses received the pattern of the tabernacle from God, and he supervised the building work. Moses was the one who had the dimensions of the tabernacle and the ways to construct it with all the utensils. In the building of the tabernacle, only his word counted; no one else’s word counted. If everyone would have had his say in that work, I am afraid there would have been a hundred or two hundred different kinds of tabernacles. This is the situation with Christianity today. There are thousands of churches. Every one of them is different, and every one of them wants to build up its own group. The Anglican Church builds up its own church. The Presbyterian Church builds up its own church. The Catholic Church builds up its own church, and the charismatics build up their own tongue-speaking churches. Where is there a church that is built according to the proper pattern? There is none. No one is building according to the blueprint that Paul received; no one is building according to the revelation of the Bible. Everyone is building according to his own desire.
There is only one blueprint and one master builder in the proper, correct building. The only master builder is the architect who has the blueprint in his hand. This is true in every age. The Lord issues the blueprint, the revelation, and the utterance, and through one man He supervises and completes the building work. All those who do not build, speak, or serve according to the blueprint released by the Lord through that man are void of light and revelation and are not serving according to the vision. Today in the Lord’s recovery some are preaching and publishing messages. The portions in their messages that impart light, revelation, and the life supply invariably derive their source from this ministry in the Lord’s recovery. Other than those portions there is no revelation or vision in their writings.
Some have criticized us for not reading anything by outsiders or the denominations. But I would ask, why do so many enjoy reading the messages put out by this ministry? This ministry produces nothing but gold and diamonds. You can compare and see. For this reason, my dear brothers and sisters, today we are fighting the good fight for the truth. We are bearing on our shoulders the commission of this age. This is our vision. We need to be clear about this, and we need to serve God according to this vision.
