Concerning the Vision

Reflections about the nature and scopes of the heavenly vision.

Eliseo Apablaza

Readings: Isaiah 55:8, Romans 11:33.

The expression 'heavenly vision' is very significant, because the word 'vision' has to do with 'seeing', and we know that man, by nature, is blind. The blind person of John chapter 9 represents spiritually, all of us in our natural condition.

And then, if we add to this noun the adjective 'heavenly', then we make things even more difficult, because anyone who does not have spiritual vision how could they have on top of that, a heavenly vision? So, when we speak about heavenly vision, we are speaking about things that are outside of our natural scope.

Something beyond flesh and blood

And how is it that sinful men and women can say that they have seen something heavenly? God's intention, and the heavenly vision, is much older than us. God had his purpose before the creation of man. God formed a plan, and he has been carrying it out in a precise and conscientious way. He has determined the times, the stretches, the epochs, in the development of this plan. Before us there were many men and women who, in their time, ran the course of their race, and who were faithful to the vision.

James says that we are like a fog; Peter says that we are like the grass; Job says that we are like a passing shadow. That is man. So, to speak about the heavenly vision means to speak about things so great and so high that we must not be presumptuous about them.

When we read those brothers who were before us, we realize that they saw rather more. And we read their writings, and sometimes we preach inspired by what they wrote, and it could seems that by only reading them and then preaching, the vision is already there. But we forget how much they suffered, how much they had to die to themselves, how much brokenness they had to experience because of the vision.

The heavenly vision is not simply something that we read through the writings of others, or that we listen to through the testimony of others. It is something that we have seen from God and that is written in fire on our hearts; it is something that is tested in the day of difficulty; it is something that is submitted to many contradictions. Therefore we must keep a very humble attitude before the Lord, so that in His grace he might grant us to really see His will.

The heavenly vision brings loss in the earthly plane

Now then, when God decides to grant His vision - the heavenly vision - to men, first He has to clean. And in this cleaning that he does, in this sweeping, He takes away things that seemed beautiful to us, in such a way that not a trace remains of what was there before.

When we look at Moses' life, or at Paul's life, we realize how deep and thorough was the cleaning which God did. Moses had been brought up in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and possessed the best education of his time. An example of the wisdom of the Egyptians are these pyramids that are still standing today. It is very probable that, for being a " son of the daughter of Pharaoh", Moses would have had access to the secret knowledge, the knowledge of the elite.

But: can you imagine if at the time of constructing the tabernacle in the desert, Moses had said to the Lord: "Lord, why don't we make the tabernacle in the shape of a pyramid?"

What shall we say about Paul? Paul had been taught at the feet of Gamaliel, one of the principal rabbis of his epoch. Nevertheless, it was necessary for Paul to go so far as to regard all these things as garbage, for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus.

You who have seen something of this heavenly vision: how much loss has it brought you? How many things has God had to sweep out of you? Now, if you find that nothing has been swept, and if it is that you have not lost anything, perhaps it means that you have not received much of this heavenly vision. Because the heavenly vision is incompatible with earthly visions.

The heavenly vision brings loss in the earthly plane. When you have seen something, by grace, there in the heavens, then the things of the earth start losing their sheen. Then professions, qualifications, businesses fall to one side. If we are not ready to lose, we will not be able to win in God.

This heavenly vision captivates us, catches us. This vision hunts us, just as the prey is caught by the hunter. God has hunted us with an arrow that is like a harpoon, because it leaves us attached to Him. This vision that he has put in your heart is never going to leave you alone to devote yourself freely to other things. The Lord got you with his arrow, and he will not let you go.

This is a vision that soaks through us deeply, that gets into our bones, into the very core. After we have seen Jesus: could we accept a substitute? After we have seen something of the church: can we accept an imitation of her? If it was something of ours, then we might replace this vision with another one: but it is the heavenly vision!

The heavenly vision brings implicitly a call

The vision brings, implicitly, a call. When God called to Moses from the burning bush, he told him that he needed him to do a work. When the Lord called Paul, on the way to Damascus, he also told him that he needed him for something. The contemplation of this vision does not leave us with arms folded. It moves us to action, shows us a task that has to be accomplished.

The vision calls us, summons us, and makes us responsible for it. The more we see, the more responsible we are. If we should not see anything, God would not ask anything of us. One of the things that always makes me tremble is this thought: "I am responsible for what I see".

How will we invest our days here until we die? How will we use our strength, our intelligence? What use will we make of the experience that we have, of the years that we have covered with the Lord? What use are we making of the resources that we manage?

Judging by the way we handle our resources, sometimes it gives the impression that the heavenly vision has not captivated us sufficiently. The use that we make of our resources is not proportional to the heavenly vision. How responsible are we being for what we see?

This vision that the Lord has given us is reaching many brothers in other places, but I believe that we are still not doing enough to make this vision spread further, so that this word runs through other places and reaches other areas that still have not been reached.

May the Lord help us, because we need to make a unanimous effort to be able to go further afield. Where the vision is not, we have to share it; where it is already, we have to confirm it in the heart of our brothers. If it is that they are tired, if it is that they are afflicted, if it is that they have been tested, they need - just as we also need - a brother nearby to say to them: "Yes brother, you are believing the right thing. Keep on going!" Several brothers from other countries have come to say that to us. And we also have to go to them to say to them the same thing. We need to reinforce this vision, and to encourage each other; we need to act responsibly.

There are many places that demand our attention and our presence. What will we do? What is it that the Lord Jesus does as high priest? Let us do the same thing as priests of God. Let's take all these places, all these people, on our heart and on our shoulders, to intercede for them, so that the Lord may grant us in his grace to go to them and to share what we have received from Him.

When the Lord shows the vision to Isaiah, the prophet sees all his defection, his sin. But after he is purified, at that time, the Lord says: "whom will I send, and who will go for us?" And Isaiah says: "Here I am, send me". Here there is a call and there is a response. Isaiah answers, and then the Lord entrusts to him the mission.

Isaiah does not say: "I'm going", but "Send me", and that means putting oneself at the disposal of God so that he can say "now", or "tomorrow", or "the following year"; "in this way" or "in that way". It does not mean to go running out to do what one thinks that God wants done, but to put oneself at his disposal. So there has to be this sense of responsibility before the call, and the disposition to be sent.

Brother, we would like to challenge your heart, so that this night you might respond to the Lord: "Send me". The Lord is calling us, is showing us a vision of his glory, of his intention. He is showing us the fields white for the harvest. God needs to send; will we be able to say: "Send me"?

Now, perhaps you say: "I have not felt that God is sending me to do the work". But, did you know that the Lord can have you as someone who "holds the rope". You know William Carey's story. He felt called to go to India. One time, in a conversation with other pastors and ministers, he said to them: "If you hold the rope, I'll go down the well". And the Lord gave Carey suitable men who held the rope for twenty or thirty years, while he was serving in India.

Therefore, we can all say: "Send me"; we can all get ready; some to go, and others to hold the rope. We believe and affirm the unity of the body of Christ, that we are one in the Lord. So therefore, if in this corporate man, some go and others hold the rope, it is as if we all go.

You remember the principle that David established in Israel's wars. Before, only those who went to battle had a share in the booty; those who remained with the baggage didn't touch anything. But David said: "The same part of the booty that belongs to those who go to battle also belongs to those who stay taking care of the baggage". And that turned into law into Israel. From there stems a spiritual principle that has validity today. In God's battles, those who go at the head and those who continue supporting from behind receive the same reward. Those who hold the rope receive the same reward as those who go down to the well.

We are all responsible, and we all have to make the best investment.

Obedience allows the vision to go on increasing

Each time that we obey, the heavenly vision increases. When Abraham went out of Ur of the Chaldees, he did not have a very clear vision. We know that, because he stayed in a place called Haran. He thought that this was the good land to which God was calling him. And he thought, also, that he could take with him his family, when God was calling him to leave his land and his relatives. For that reason God had to call him again in Harán, and say to him: "Abraham, you have not yet arrived; there is one more stretch".

I would like to say to you, on behalf of the Lord: "Brothers, you haven't arrived yet; there's still a bit further to go". What we have arrived at is not everything. We have to continue advancing; the vision is wider than what we are seeing today.

The same thing happens with Moses. God called from the burning bush with the aim of getting the people of Israel out of Egypt. Nevertheless, as we read the book of Exodus, we realize that God had another wider purpose still; because not only did he want to get his people out of Egypt, but he wanted to take them to a higher reality. To lead them out of Egypt might have meant merely that they turned from being a people of slaves to a wandering people. Therefore, when He takes them to the mount, God says to Moses that he wants to live in the middle of his people, and shows him the tabernacle. When Moses saw the burning bush, he did not know everything to which God was calling him. He saw a part of the whole, but not the whole thing.

Brothers: how many things will the Lord still have prepared for us? What was our vision ten or twenty years ago? Do you realize that it was very small? I'm not saying that today it is complete, but at least it has increased a little. And there yet remains much more.

Obedience extends the vision. Let's look at Joseph for a moment, and let's see the scope that the vision can have. His life is an example of this. When Joseph came to Egypt, he went through many difficulties, but he became governor in Egypt. Joseph received all the honor and glory that a man could want in the world. Nevertheless, when he was dying, he said to his children: "God will surely visit you, and then you will take my bones up to the land that God will give to you".

Joseph was big, rich, and powerful in Egypt. Nevertheless, he had his gaze fixed further afield, on eternal things. He had his vision set the good ground. How wide was Joseph's vision! In the same way, our gaze, our vision, is heavenly, and it is fixed a long way beyond the things that surround us.

The vision sustains us

In these days, one of us said: "We have to raise the banner and sustain the vision". That being true, I would like to say something that could seem contradictory, but it isn't. It is only a paradox, one of the many paradoxes that the gospel has: The vision is what sustains us, we don't sustain the vision.

How many times in our heart have we been deserters like John Mark; or like Demas, lovers of the world; or like Diotrephes, loving first place; or like Saul, being too obstinate and rebellious. The Lord has excused us and the vision has sustained us. We cannot presume to do the great honour of sustaining God's vision. God is very persistent; he will carry onwards his work. The Lord is the one who sustains us.

You have read that when Paul, after his conversion, tried to preach in Damascus and in Jerusalem, the brothers took him back to Tarsus, his own land, as if saying: "Look, Paul, it's better that you go to Tarsus, because you are causing many problems here". Surely, Paul felt quite bad, and perhaps he doubted his call, because it was like putting him in silence. But later on Barnabus went to look for him so that he might seve in Antioch. The Lord, who had called him, who had showed him the vision, in his time, brings him back again.

Sometimes we too have been taken into silence, and have been on the verge of succumbing. Because this is too big for us. Sometimes the burden gets too heavy. Sometimes our soul proves to be so hard, so complicated, that we go so far as to think: "I will not serve; I'll only go this far". Nevertheless, when we come to this point, we realize that it is God who is sustaining us, it's the vision that sustains us and not we who we sustain the vision.

Let's look at David. It was a very exciting moment when David was anointed king. He was a young man. But you don't find him reigning immediately, rather he appears playing the harp for Saul. And later he is in the field, taking care of his father's sheep. Then, one wonders: what was the point in Samuel anointing him as king, if the king is taking care of the sheep? David could have wondered legitimately: "Perhaps it was all a prank. I am a king, but I am here taking care of my father's sheep, while my brothers are in the war. I am here just as the smallest of all ..." Sometimes it seems that God forgets us, leaves us, and it seems that everything is a lie. Nevertheless, God is very persistent. Then, God brings us back again, takes us, raises us, and returns us to the path.

There is a phrase in 1 Timothy 1:11 that has encouraged me often: "... According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which has been entrusted me". Notice the phrase: "... that has been entrusted to me". Another version of the Scriptures says: "... to which I was entrusted". The finished phrase might be translated this way: "... according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, to which I was entrusted".

Who sustains whom? Is it Paul who sustains the gospel, or is it the gospel that sustains him? We were entrusted to the gospel. It is He who supports us. Blessed is the Lord!

Every heavenly vision points at Christ and the Church

To end with, I would like to say that every vision points at Christ and the church.

When Abel received the revelation about the gift that he should offer, he was speaking in advance, without knowing it perhaps, about Christ in his perfect expiatory gift on the cross. When Noah received the vision about the ark that he had to construct, he perhaps without knowing it, was prefiguring Christ, because only in Christ do we escape from the judgments that come on the world. When Abraham was called to the ground of Canaan, he did not know - although it is possible that he had known - that this good land was speaking about Christ. And that's why he could not remain in Haran, because he had to advance towards Christ.

Moses was not called only to lead Israel out of Egypt, but to build the tabernacle, which is Christ and his church. David was not called only to win and establish a kingdom, to create songs and to invent many musical instruments. He was called to receive the design of the temple, and it was delivered to his son Solomon; and in the design of this temple, David is speaking to us about Christ and the church.

Isaiah, when he saw God's glory, perhaps did not know it, but the one whom he saw was Christ. (Jn.12:41). When Peter saw the vision of the linen sheet, he saw the Jews and the gentiles being as one in the church, and for that reason he could enter Cornelius's house, and later go to Antioch.

God's vision always has the aim of showing us something about Christ and the church. When Paul saw the Lord Jesus, he saw the heavenly Man. He saw Jesus exalted, glorified - the Head - and then in Ananías he touched the body of Christ.

And when the Lord shows John the revelation of the book of Revelation: what does He show him, but Christ, being received above in glory, receiving the place of preeminence, the authority to open the book and to undo the seals, so that in the act of undoing the seals of that book the end of human history could be known. We know how human history ends. Whatever the circumstances in this world, we know that God will carry forwards His purpose, and that The Lord Jesus Christ will reign with his church.

May the Lord allow us to return from here with a clearer heart, with our spiritual eyes opened wider, with the vision more defined in our heart, and with a greater surrender of our heart; so that the Lord can carry on, in our days, with what He has planned for Himself. Amen.

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