WITHOUT SIGHT, YET SEEING
When Saul fell to the ground, his eyes were opened. He thought he had clear vision before that. It was he who was leading others toward Damascus, but after he was smitten by the light from heaven, “they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus” (Acts 9:8). When he could no longer see where he was going, the heavenly seeing came to him.
It is a mercy if such blindness can come upon all of us. We are too clear about what we are doing and where we are going. We continue on our way, unaware that we are blind, smug in the assurance that we know everything.
“Where there is no vision, the people run wild” (Prov. 29:18, Heb.). For all his self-assurance, Saul of Tarsus had no vision and was running wild. It took the voice from heaven to rescue him. What he called the heavenly vision is the central point of the divine revelation. Though Saul was so well versed in the Old Testament with its commandments and outward ordinances, he did not see its central point.
The same is true of many Christians. They may be familiar with the Bible, but they miss its central point, the heavenly vision. If we mean business with the Lord, such a vision will assuredly come to us. Until this happens, like Saul of Tarsus we are blind, though our physical eyes have sight.
A HEART FOR GOD’S DESIRE
Saul in his blindness was persecuting Christ, yet we must admit that he did have a heart for God.
Are we seeking after what is on God’s heart? The heart is the focus of the body. We may have an arm cut off or our eyes snatched out, but we can still live. Once our heart is taken out, though, we are finished. We can easily touch someone’s shoulder or nose or hand, but it is not easy to touch someone’s heart. The same is true of the Bible. We may have seen a good many of its teachings, but the focus of the divine revelation, like our heart, is not easily seen. It requires a heavenly vision.
It is all too common for Christians to be burdened with what is good and scriptural—like going to the mission field to convert the heathen, for example—yet miss God’s deepest desire.
As you are going on your journey, look to Him to make you fall to the ground and say, “Who art Thou, Lord?”
WHO HE IS
Who is this little man from Nazareth? From that day on the road to Damascus Saul began to see who He is. As the years went by, Paul (no longer Saul) wrote a good number of Epistles to unfold the significance of this One. “Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest,” is God incarnate. He is the Redeemer who took away our sins. In His death He terminated the old creation. He resurrected to be Head of the new creation. Today in ascension He is Christ the Lord, Head over all things to the church. Those who believe in Him He makes members of His Body.
THE CENTRAL POINT OF THE BIBLE
The central point in the Bible concerns the Triune God and His relationship with man. As Paul tells us, it pleased the Father that all His fullness dwell in the Son (Col. 2:9). The Son, then, is the embodiment of the Father’s fullness. If we receive the Son, we have the Father, who is embodied in the Son. Why is the Father in the Son? It is so that the Son may enter into us, and with Him the Father. In this way the Father will have a Body to be the fullness of the Son.
That Body is the church, which becomes the fullness of Christ by taking in His riches. As we eat of Christ and experience Him, we become the embodiment of His riches. To be His fullness is to be His expression.
Seeing this central point of the Bible will keep us from running wild. Too many Christians are running wild in their preoccupation with doctrinal matters or in their zeal to do things for God. The vision that we are part of His Body and that He is the Head will safeguard us from all such distractions.
Do not turn your eyes away to consider the way chairs should be arranged in the meetings, whether guitars should accompany your singing, or whether your meetings should be loud or quiet. If I propose that you should have more guitars in your meetings, how will you answer me? Your reply must not be about guitars; you must answer me with Christ, or you lose the case. You must answer me with the heavenly vision.
(Life Messages, Vol. 1 (#1-41), Chapter 31, by Witness Lee)
