The Heavenly Vision — Stephen Kaung

Will you please turn to the book of Acts, chapter 26, verse 19. Acts, chapter 26, verse 19. Whereupon King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.

Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, as we gather here together in the name of Thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, we know that Thy presence is here with us. All we ask of Thee is Thou will put away any veil that may be upon our heart, that we may behold the glory of the Lord and be transformed from glory to glory according to His image as by the Lord the Spirit.

So Lord, we just ask Thee to grant us this morning the spirit of wisdom and revelation to the full knowledge of God. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen. We do thank the Lord for giving us this time to be together.

I feel that it is such a privilege for God's people to be together. It is good that we may be together in the presence of our God, to encourage one another in the Lord, because we are living in a very special time.

I believe, brothers and sisters, we all have a sense in our spirit that the coming of the Lord is very imminent. It is nearer, probably, than what we think. As the scripture says, it is at the doors. And because the coming of the Lord is so near, the morning is coming, but the night also comes.

So in a sense, we are living at the darkest of the night, before the day dawns. And it is very difficult during that hour for us to be in the presence of God. We must be kept watchful, alert, prepared, in tune with God and His purpose.

I was reminding of the Apostle Paul. Before his martyrdom, he wrote to Timothy. And there in 2 Timothy chapter 4, he says, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith.

What a fight the Apostle Paul had fought. He told us that he fought with the wild beasts in Ephesus. He fought against the unbelieving, idol-worshipping Gentiles. He fought against the Judaizers, who tried to the truth of the Gospel.

He fought against the evil forces in the world. He fought against sin, flesh, and the world. We find that the Apostle Paul, he fought with all that God had given to him. He received many wounds, but he fought on.

He was a good. He had run the race. On the road to Damascus, the Lord put him on that race. It was a marathon, an obstacle race. And yet you find the Apostle Paul, he ran with patience, with endurance.

Now if we read 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and chapter 11, you will find that how he ran that race. In many perils, in hunger and dishonor, problems and difficulties, with patience and endurance. He could declare towards the end that he had finished the race.

And then of course we know how he has kept the faith. The faith that was once delivered to the saints. He had not given up any of the faith, but he had kept them all. The Apostle Paul declared towards the end of his life that he had fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith.

Fighting the Good Fight in the Last Days

Now brothers and sisters, a less severe fight to fight? Do we have an easier race to run? Or do we have less faith to keep? Our days were the days of Paul. Say that they are the same, probably we can say our days are even more difficult.

Because we are approaching the end. And as the end is closing in, the days become more and more difficult. But then we need to ask ourselves, have we fought the good fight, finished the race? Or have we kept the faith?

Are we a good warrior for the Lord? Do we run with patience to the end? Have we compromised with the faith once delivered to the saints? So I think it is very urgent, very essential for us to consider together before the Lord, how can we fight the good fight?

Finish the race, keep the faith in these last days. The secret enables Paul to do so. There is such a secret, we would like to learn it. I will use one sentence to sum up the life and ministry of the Apostle Paul.

I think it is that sentence that we read in the beginning. There you will find he said King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. I testify before King Agrippa that he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.

That explains him. That explains his life. That explains his ministry. That tells us he is able to fight the good fight, finish the race, the truth. So this morning we would like to consider together before the Lord on this matter of the heavenly vision.

Vision as Spiritual Direction and Purpose

I do not know if some of you brothers and sisters are tired of hearing the word vision. We talk about vision, mention about vision so many times that probably we are a little bit tired of it. Now you can call it whatever you want to.

If you do not like the word vision, call it revelation. Or if you do not like the word revelation, call it purpose. If you do not like the word purpose, call it ambition. And if you do not like the word ambition, call it dream.

You know you may call it whatever you want to, but brothers and sisters you cannot escape it. Because this is the most fundamental, essential, vital, critical in our lives. In the natural world no one can succeed without a vision.

A man has no vision, has no dream, no ambition. He is a drifter with the current. He has no aim in his life to his life. A man without vision is a loser. He never succeeds. Body nothing. Unknown. Area in the world.

Whether it is political, economic, educational or even religious. A person does not have a vision, does not have a dream. He is a loser. Now if this is true in the natural world, how much more true it is in the spiritual?

And that is the reason why we find the wisest man in the world, Solomon, he wrote in Proverbs 18, another verse that we are so familiar with, without vision the people, Lance told us, that the word perish in Hebrew simply means untie the knot.

And let the hair just fall down. Now that is in Hebrew. Without vision people cast off restraint. No discipline, no direction, no purpose. Because of this, very very true. In the spiritual world it is essential that we have vision.

Saul's Earthly Ambition and the Heavenly Vision

The Apostle Paul, the Apostle John, the Apostle John, before he became Paul, he was saw. You know this man saw was a man with vision. Even in the worldly sense, he was a man with dream, with ambition.

He wanted to be the Pharisee of the Pharisees. He wanted to be the Rabbi of the Reddings. And because of this you find how he put himself into this task. He was young but way ahead of his contemporaries.

And he was on his way to become what he wanted to be. A man with ambition. But then on the road to Damascus, the heavenly vision. Why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goats.

And Saul said, Lord, who are you? And the voice said, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecuted. Then Saul said, Lord, what should I do? Brothers and sisters, there on the road of Damascus, you find two visions in collision.

Saul the Pharisee, he had a vision, an ambition, heaven opened, the light came upon him, a heavenly vision came to him in collision with his earthly vision. It finished Saul and created Paul. The heavenly vision came, unavoidably, your earthly vision.

You have received the heavenly vision. And yet you can continue on your course. Do what you have planned to do. Be what you want to be. Then brothers and sisters, you have every reason to doubt if you have received the heavenly vision.

Because whenever the heavenly vision comes, it always destroys the earthly vision. You can never be the same. You can never do what you plan to do. It changes your direction completely. Or it changes the very character of what you are involved in.

So drastic, so revolutionary. You know, brothers and sisters, as our brother mentioned last night, we are Christians. Not what is a Christian. A Christian is a new creation, passed away. Behold, all things have become new.

And all things are of God. You know, regeneration, new birth is a great revolution. It revolutionizes your whole being. You cannot be what you were before. Because you are a new creation. Now brothers and sisters, does such revolution come into your life when you believe in the Lord Jesus?

How unfortunate it is, you look back to the day when we are saved, a little bit of your direction, but it doesn't change your course. Look into the word of God. You find that people of faith are people with vision.

Biblical Examples of Faithful Vision

Noah received a revelation that a flood was coming. It showed him the ark. And because of this revelation, it revolutionized the life of Noah. For 120 years, he became a ship builder. He was the first ship builder in the world.

Because before his time there was no rain upon this earth. The vegetation was moistened by the moisture, the dew. But there was no rain. And yet here you find Noah. He spent 120 years building that ark.

He became the laughing stock of the world. People would come and say, Noah, what are you doing? What are you building that strange structure? Nobody has seen such a thing before. And he said, I was building an ark for the flood.

Now where is the rain? They never know what rain was. And he became a preacher of righteousness. He taught people to repent, to enter into the ark. He didn't succeed. He saved only his own family. But brothers and sisters, that made Noah what he was.

Think of Abraham. The Lord of glory appeared to him. And because of that, he went on in the herd of Chaldea, walking his familiar ground, being with his disciples. He had to go out, not knowing where.

But he knew God was calling him. And he would have lived a life of pilgrim and stranger, living in tents. Think of Moses. He saw the invisible one. He had to go with the Lord, bearing his reproach. Brothers and sisters, think of the apostles in the early days.

When the Lord called them, they left everything and followed the Lord. Not just physically, because many people saw the Lord physically at that time. But we find, as in 1 John 1 .14, he said, we have contemplated his glory.

We have seen his glory. Even the glory of an only begotten with his Father. And brothers and sisters, when they saw the glory of the Lord in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, they had to leave all and follow him.

The same was true with the apostle Paul. The Lord met him and changed his course. Now it is true, I remember when I was a high school student. Thank God many fellow students got saved. But I have a very close friend, my classmate, and we tried to preach the gospel to him.

And you know what he said? He said, if God will give me a vision like he gave to Paul, then I will believe. Unfortunately, so far as I can remember, that never came. He was killed in Hong Kong when the Japanese came in.

He may not be given exactly the same form, the same manner of that heavenly vision. Do not expect that. But brothers and sisters, there is only one heavenly vision in the scripture. God has only one heavenly vision to give.

It may come to different people in different forms and different ways, according to our conditions. But brothers and sisters, it is the same vision. The scripture does not give us two visions or many visions.

Now there are, as Paul said, concerning many visions and revelations in 2 Corinthians 12. But that is given the details. So far as the supreme overall vision from heaven is concerned, brothers and sisters, there is only one.

And one only. Saul, the better sacrifice. Saul, the ark. City with foundations. Moses, Saul, the tabernacle, the temple, in the temple, highly lifted up. Daniel saw the coming king. Isaiah saw the golden land stand with two olive trees standing by, pouring into that land stand gold.

Peter saw a white sheet coming down from heaven and heard a voice, kill and eat. Paul saw that heavenly man, that universal man, that Christ, the head in heaven, his body spread all over the world. John saw the seven lampstands with the Son of Man in the midst.

And finally he saw the new Jerusalem, the holy city, descending. Are they different visions? A progression there. God revealed that vision to the world. Step on the living, better sacrifice, to the holy city, the new Jerusalem.

You can see how it develops, how it grows. Brothers and sisters, now we have the full vision revealed to us in the word of God. So to us today it is not a matter of how full that vision is. It is a matter of how much.

The vision is there. How much do we see it? It is true even in the life of the apostle Paul. That vision grows in his life. The framework, the outline of the heavenly vision. He saw Christ the head with a body that covered not only Jerusalem, all the cities of Judea, even Samaria, even Damascus.

And because he was faithful he saw. Therefore you find throughout his life that vision grew, that vision developed. And brothers and sisters, this must be true with us today. We need first of all to see the outline of that heavenly vision.

We need to have a vision of the framework of it. And then, if we are faithful, the Lord will fill in all the details and make it full. Now what is that vision? We want to put it in very plain words. That heavenly vision is none other but Christ.

Christ and His Church as the Heavenly Vision

And his church. The earthly vision. No matter what kind of vision you see, or you have, or ambition, or dream. You dream. In essence, the heavenly vision is Christ and his church. In essence, the earthly vision is man and his own self.

We want it to be like God. We want it to be like God. We want it to make himself. I wonder if you have heard of Nimrod. Nimrod was the first empire builder. He led a rebellion to build the tower of Babel.

For what reason? To make man a name. God built man. You must have heard of him. He built the revelation that God had given to him and explained to him by Daniel that he was just the gold head. He wanted to be the whole man.

Ambitious. The earthly vision. No matter what your dream is. No matter what your ambition is. It comes down to one thing. You, man. When you think of the heavenly vision, how different it is. Heavenly vision delivers us from the earth.

Heavenly vision finishes man. It finishes you. Oh brothers and sisters, if you do not have that heavenly vision, you are still earthbound. You are yet self-centered. Lifted out of this earth. But when the heavenly vision comes, so drastic, it kills the natural man.

And that's the reason why people have not received the heavenly vision or tried to escape the heavenly vision. Because it finishes your earthly vision. If you want to continue your own course. If you want to be what you plan to be.

Then, avoid the heavenly vision. If you will forgive me, I will mention our dear brother Watchman Lee. When he was a young man in school, he was very brilliant. He had lots of plans. He planned his future.

He wanted to be something. Somebody and to do something. And very likely he would succeed. And one day he heard the gospel. When he heard the gospel, he knew it was true. He was a sinner. He knew that Christ was the Saviour.

But he couldn't believe. Because it cut across his ambition. That if he should accept Jesus as his Saviour, he had to accept Jesus as his Lord. He had to give up himself. He had to give up his plan. He had to give up his earthly vision.

Ambition. He capitulated to Christ. He couldn't do that. He struggled over this matter for a few days. Until one day, the love of Christ. And he gave up himself. The Lord changed his course. Instead of being that which he wanted to be, he became a poor preacher.

Even his professor one day looked at him from top to bottom. Shook his hand. What a pity. You could be somebody. But look at yourself now. Brothers and sisters, this is heavenly vision. The whole Bible is just Christ and His Church.

Brother Neely told us, he said, if you see Christ and His Church, the whole Bible is. And how true it is. The Old Testament are types, shadows, representations. But where do you find the antitypes? Where is the substance?

Where is the reality? Now when we read the Old Testament, if all we see are some biographies of some great men and women, or some history, especially history of the children of Israel, or all that we see are just prophecies and songs, praises.

If these are all that we see in the New Old Testament, brothers and sisters, you miss the point. You live in the shadow. You do not have the substance. And the shadow passes away. You live in the types.

You are not in the reality. In God in the New Testament, we find that a mystery of God is opened up. And there you find so plainly Christ and His Church. Gospels show us Christ. Acts show us the Church, the history, the story of Christ and His Church.

The Epistles explains, teaches, tells us what Christ is and what the Church is. And the book Revelation consummates in the New Jerusalem, where Christ is all and in all. Brothers and sisters, here you find in the New Testament, it is so clear.

But unfortunately, when people are reading the New Testament, all they see is just some war stories, some war histories, some religious organization called Christianity that seems to be able to spread teachings.

Brothers and sisters, what a pity that we do not see Christ and His Church in the Bible. And no wonder we cannot fight the good fight. You know, brothers and sisters, as a matter of fact, if you do not have that heavenly vision, you have no fight to fight.

You have no race to run. You have no faith to keep. Heavenly vision puts you in the fight. And that is the reason why you find there are many Christians who do not know what spiritual warfare is. There is no warfare.

He seeks the things that the world is seeking. He is no different from the world. The world befriends him and he befriends the world. There is no fight. The enemy is not concerned about you. He can take his nap over you.

There is no direction. Vision gives us direction. Give us goal. Without vision there is no direction. You are like a child. Attracted by one thing at one time and the next minute, he is attracted by another thing and off he goes.

Compromise with the faith to save your skin. Heavenly vision who are in the fight. And who are in the faith. Vision gives us the strength to fight, the discipline to run, and the love. Brothers and sisters, I do not know how.

I just look to the Lord by His Spirit that He would really impress upon your heart that without vision you perish. Now what is vision? You say, well, if I have no vision then I am not saved. I have seen Jesus as the Savior.

Thank God for that. You are saved. But brothers and sisters, that heavenly vision is more than just seeing the Lord Jesus as your Savior. The heavenly vision is related to the eternal purpose of Christ.

You see Jesus as your Savior. You may even experience Him as your Comforter. You may even know Him as your Supplier. You still are lacking in the heavenly vision. Let me illustrate. The children of Israel, they were slaves in Egypt, allowed to live.

But by the blood of the Paschal Lamb, they were passed over. They did not die. The meat of the Lamb, they started their heavenly pilgrimage. They crossed the Red Sea, and to Moses, as it were, you find God, rain manna to them to feed them.

And from the smitten rock, a river followed them through the wilderness to give them water. But brothers and sisters, they are a people perish in the wilderness. Not in Egypt, but in the wilderness. They failed to enter into the Promised Land.

They didn't arrive. They didn't come into the purpose of God concerning them. And brothers and sisters, this is the same with us today. Thank God by the blood of the Lamb, our Lord Jesus, our sins are forgiven.

Thank God that He has given us eternal life. Thank God He answered our prayers. Thank God we were baptized unto Christ. Thank God He supplied our every need. We know Him as our Supplier, our Comforter.

But brothers and sisters, in spite of knowing all these, are we not still self-centered? Everything is Christ for me. He saved me. He supplied my needs. It's all me. Not until you see that heavenly vision, you are delivered from me.

You become Christ-centered. And therefore you find the heavenly vision is not just any vision of Christ, it is the vision of Christ and His Church in relation to the purpose. Yes, we are united with God in Christ, in His purpose.

Brothers and sisters, we remain babes in Christ. That heavenly vision is what Christ tells us what He is. What does He tell us about Himself? Of course, we can only try to sum up, otherwise we will have to start eternity from now.

Christ as First, Last, and Living One

There is one passage in the scripture that I feel will, in a sense, sum up what Christ is in the eternal purpose of God. And that is in Revelation chapter 1, verses 17 and 18. I am the first and the last, and the living one, and I became dead, and behold, I am living to the ages of ages, and have the keys of death and of Hades.

Now here you find our Lord Jesus. He declared Himself to His beloved disciple, the Apostle John. John was one who knew the Lord so intimately when the Lord was on earth. And yet you find when he saw the Lord in glory, he fell as one dead.

And then the Lord said, fear not, I will tell you who I am, what I am in the eternal purpose of God. Now John calls you the Lord Jesus as the Savior, no doubt about that. His Master. But the Lord Jesus said, I am the first.

I am the first. What does that mean? You remember in the epistles it said, it is God's will, in Colossians chapter 1 it said, it is God's will that Christ shall have the preeminence in all things. Now that is the will of God.

The will of God is that Christ should have the first place in all things. He is the priority. He is the beginning. He must be first in all things. All things in your life, be it in your personal life, your family life, your church life, or your social life, you find that Christ has to be first.

It is easy to say Lord, you are the first. But it is very difficult when it comes down to daily life. Is Christ really the first in your affection? First in your thought? In all things that you do? Have your plan?

And then ask him to put his stamp on it? Or do you allow him to show you his plan for you? Brothers and sisters, this is the heavenly vision. A person who has seen the heavenly vision, he has to let Christ be the first.

You remember in the gospels, how the Lord challenged his disciples again and again, unless you deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciples. If you love your father and mother, brother and sister, life and children, and even your own life more than me, you cannot be my disciples.

Why? You know this is not related to initial salvation. This is related to the heavenly vision. Christ has to be first. This is God's will. He has to be the last. The purpose of God is summed up in him.

God's plan is in him. He must be the last. In other words, does he have the last word in your life? The last word in the church? Well, in the early days you find the church in Jerusalem, when they have a problem with Antioch, they come together and discuss.

You can discuss. But who has the last word? The Holy Spirit. In that, does all glory go back to him? All things are from him, through him, and unto him? To him be glory forever. Amen. Is that true? And all in between.

In other words, that's what the scripture said. He is all and in all. Brothers and sisters, that's the heavenly vision. He said, I'm the living one, the originator of life. Life giving is to do with Christ.

It has to be life. It is not just teaching or doctrine, however accurate they may be. It is not just form, however orthodox it may be. It is life. Is your relationship with Christ a life relationship?

Is the church relationship with Christ a life relationship? He said, I'm the living one. And that's what I am. And that's what I am giving. In him was life, and the life was the light of man. Brothers and sisters, anything that is not life is not of God.

It's not of Christ. It's tradition. Behold, I became dead. Why? That's the work of Christ. He came into this world to die. He did not need to die. He cannot die as God. But he came as a man to die, in order to save us more, to destroy.

He entered into death, he swallowed death with his life, and he came out in resurrection. And brothers and sisters, anything that has something to do with Christ, in that eternal purpose of God, has to be on the ground of resurrection.

Whatever is not on the resurrection ground is not in the purpose of God. It has to be on resurrection ground. And he said, I hold the keys of death and of Hades. His victory is so complete, that now he holds the keys of death.

Now this is the eternal purpose of God concerning Christ. This is what Christ is. And to us, do we know him? Do we catch a glimpse of what Christ is? Much greater than we think. Father used to say, you make Christ more.

And how true it is, we do. May the Lord enlarge our vision. And brothers and sisters, what is the church? In the eternal purpose of God? It is not just a gathering of the saints. Not to say it is a religious gathering of the world.

It is more than that. And I think another two verses probably can sum that up. Ephesians chapter 1, verses 22 and 23. "...all things under his feet, that is, under the feet of Christ, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all and in all.".

The Church as Christ's Body and Instrument

Brothers and sisters, the church is so much bigger than what people think today. Here that Christ is head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all and in all.

First of all, you find that, what is the church? The church is the body of Christ. Christ is the head, the church is his body. All the intelligence, all the control, all the wisdom, all the riches, all the directions in that head.

That head is joined with a body. In other words, that body is to inherit, is to contain all that the head is, and to manifest. Now that is the church. The head and the body are one. And that's the reason why the risen head said, So, why do you touch me?

Because he touched members of his body. There is a unity of oneness between the head and the body. The body contains all the riches of the head, and the body is under the headship. The body is to manifest all the glory of the head.

Today the world does not see the head, but they do see the body. And through the body they see. Now that is what the church is. What is the church? It says that God has made Christ head over all things to the church.

Christ is made head over all things to. Christ is not only the head of the church, he is head over all things to. What does it mean? I think it means at least two things. One thing is, Christ is the head over all things, and he is head over all things to the church.

That is, he has control, overcome, all things, and he gave that victory to the church. That the church may be above all things, that the church may find all things work together for good, that the church may subdue all things.

Christ is made head over all things to the church. The church is not only to enjoy all that Christ is as head over all things. And that is the reason why you find Paul in Romans chapter 8. There is the song of victory, the triumphant song.

Who can separate us from the love of Christ? God, which is in Christ Jesus. If God is for us, who can be against us? Is there anything in earth, under the earth, now or in the future, all things, that can separate us from God?

No. Because Christ is head over all things. And not only that, we become the instrument in God's hand to bring all things back. Because it is the will of God to sum up all things in Christ. That is. So brothers and sisters, you find, that is the heaven.

That heavenly vision ought to destroy any earthly ambition in us, ought to finish us as it were. That heavenly vision ought to uplift us to heaven. Ought to enlarge our capacity. And ought to humble us, seeing that how little we know of that heavenly vision.

But brothers and sisters, we need that framework, that outline. And if we have received that outline, then if we are faithful, God will fill it into fullness. Until we find truly, the church is the body of Christ, the fullness of Him, who fills all.

Prayer for a Fuller Vision of Christ and the Church

So may the Lord. Dear Heavenly Father, we do feel ourselves as little children, playing with pebbles by the seashore. We do not know how vast, how deep is the ocean. Or how we praise and thank Thee, because Thou art great.

And the heavenly vision, that Thou hast so graciously given to Thy church through the centuries, is beyond our, but we do praise and thank Thee, it is not beyond our reach. Thou hast given it to Thy church, and Lord, we want to see it.

We want to be involved in it. We want to be part of it. So Lord, to this morning, we just humble ourselves before Thee and say, Lord, give us vision. That we may see. We may see Christ. That we may be delivered from ourselves.

That we may be delivered from individualism. That we may be delivered into Christ and into the church. And to Thee be the glory. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus.