Acts 26:13-1813At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. 14And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 15And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. 16But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; 17Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, 18To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. (Acts 26:13‑18); Philippians 3:7-217But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 8Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 10That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 11If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. 12Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 13Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 15Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. 16Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. 17Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. 18(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) 20For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Philippians 3:7‑21)
I would add one word, beloved brethren: and in doing so turn to these particular scriptures, because they furnish us with the divine instance of a man who apprehended what has been so blessedly set before us this morning.
We must each, I am assured, bow to the fact, that it is the change of place that tests us all; this is really the point, I may say, where the rub comes; I am confident it is the change of place that tests us all. And we may mark, if we trace the history of the people of God through scripture, that it was always so. This is strikingly seen in the two great parts of Israel’s history; in what followed their passage through the Red Sea, as well as what followed the crossing of Jordan. The desert followed the one, the land the other; in both cases there was change of place, and it was that which tested them: and though they had been the subjects of God’s power in such a wonderful way in their deliverance from Egypt, when they reach the wilderness we find them saying to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? for it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.” Again, when they crossed the Red Sea, and came to Marah, they murmured against Moses; and again, when the land was before them, it was the sight of that land through the report of the spies that tested them.
There is one thing in passing I would remark upon, and that is, I feel we ought to take to heart our proneness to dissociate ourselves from the state of the whole church of God. We must see and own, that we should be more answering to the mind of God, and of Christ, if we were in the habit of looking at it in its entirety: how the whole is affected by what is passing. If we look around, how unmistakable it is that a low and earthly character of position has laid hold upon the saints as a whole. If you came in contact with them as some do, not only those connected with national religion and dissent, but those also who are, so to speak, unattached, you would see the utterly earthly nature of the thing they are in. It is with them a Savior for earth; what they possess and support is entirely on the level of things down here. If this were apprehended in its force, we should the more readily see the truth of the words of our brother this morning. It is the condition the church is in, the low ground the church is on. We cannot dissociate ourselves from the effects of it. May we take it to heart, and in exercise and brokenness of spirit, come within the range of God’s voice here to-day.
One thing further came before me whilst listening to the remarks that have been made, that I am sure should be of immense comfort to us, and must be, if we are in the full power of it: and that is in reference to the Person who is in that new place to which we are brought. In these two scriptures which I have read, both Acts and Philippians, this is the grand reality which comes out so prominently and blessedly. In the former, the apostle relates the wonderful appearing of Jesus to him, what He said, and how he was commissioned by Him to be a minister to the Gentiles. In the latter (Phil. 3) we find the great practical effects of what took place in the apostle’s soul. The moment when this marvelous display of grace is made, is the very moment when the full rage and hate of Saul had reached its height. He had gone to the fullest extent to which it is possible for a man to go in the hatred of his heart to the Savior. In that moment the light came from the place—from heaven! What made the whole change with such rapidity? It was this: as he journeyed on the way to Damascus, a light shone from heaven above the brightness of the sun; far above all created or earthly light; and that heavenly voice addresses Saul in those words, “Why persecutest thou me?” And all this transpires at the very time when we could least expect it. What a wonderful reality it is that heaven comes in when you least look for it! At the darkest stage in that man’s history, this heavenly light, and this voice from heaven, comes in to assert the love of God’s own heart to claim that vessel for Himself. Saul of Tarsus is His chosen vessel, and he is fitted and displayed as such, by the revelation in him of this heavenly Savior. The light and the voice both come from heaven, and the effect and consequence of this is, that ever afterwards he is closely and distinctly connected with heaven, manifestly linked up with that spot from whence the light came. This is the simple history.
But there is another point of great beauty here, of which I would now speak. It is blessed and comforting to notice when it was that the apostle got back his natural sight. Under the effect of this heavenly vision he loses it, but he is brought into acquaintance with Jesus in glory. He was the pattern man “to those who should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting”; and therefore, there was a speciality in the display of God’s grace to him. The effect of the heavenly vision was that he lost his sight. When we think of his losing his natural sight under such circumstances to reach such immense gain, we are ready to say, how good a thing it would be for us to lose our natural sight! How often are souls balked and hindered in their perception and enjoyment of heavenly things by what the eye sees here! The attractions, the allurements and sweets of earth. How often earthly things are the real difficulty to heavenly progress! How true it is that there is a marked difference between earth and the world! Numbers are clear of the world—the age, the maxims and ways of the age; but it is the earth that turns them aside. Many a saint would shun the actual pleasures of the world, but for all that, have the heart detained by what is earthly; the natural eye and inward affections are so easily affected by objects down here, and often with an immense loss to the soul.
The apostle lost the power of sight for three days, “and neither did eat nor drink.” But that which is so blessed is the fact, that he gets back his natural sight, in connection with his reception of that heavenly power; the same moment that he gets the Holy Ghost, he receives his sight. What could be a more distinct intimation to him, as it were, from heaven, that, henceforth, Christ and His place were to be his all engrossing object and delight? Ananias comes to him, and in all the tenderness of the grace of the message that had reached his ear, he addresses him, “Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus that appeared unto thee in the way that thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost” (Acts 9:1717And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. (Acts 9:17)). What a word for Saul! Everything here passed from him! That blessed power which came down from heaven connected him with heaven where it came from, and with the One in heaven.
How true it was in Saul’s case, as expressed in the hymn:—
“And heavenly light makes all things bright,
Seen in that blissful gaze.”
That blessed power, the Holy Ghost Himself, had come down to dwell in him, and unite him to the Savior in glory; and so consciously was his soul ever after filled with the sense of these wondrous realities, that we find from those verses we have read in Phil. 3, that he had counted, and did count, all things loss for Christ. That living Person in glory had so found His way into that man’s soul and affections, that everything else was turned out; all the things he had grasped, up to that time, he let them go. He is severed from the power and attractions of everything here: counts it all dross and dung. Everything now that he has got is in heaven. Manifestly his whole condition and state is there, and he only waits with longing and expectant heart to be brought there. Oh! how truly he looked for the Savior, a heavenly Savior. Saul had known Christ after the flesh, but now, henceforth, he knows Him as such no more, the whole thing is changed, the old things are passed away. Beloved brethren! I would say, are we thus watching for the return of a heavenly Savior? Not only correct as to waiting, but, in true affection, watching?
I may just mention, that a short time since, in listening to a beloved brother, speaking of the Lord’s coming, he related a conversation that he had with an aged sister, who was one of the few now left of the little company, whose hearts God had opened to see the true position of the church, as separated, and watching for the One who is coming. She remembered well when these and kindred truths of God’s word were recovered to the saints of God, of course, as found in the blessed Scriptures; how, when they first dawned upon souls in their living power and reality, such was their effect, so really did they look for Christ, that they did not like to take a house even for a year! The positive daily expectation of the return of the Lord Jesus so filled the heart, that the thought of settling down here had no place. It was no mere acceptance of a doctrine, but such a reality, such a living hope, which laid hold of their hearts with such power, that the coming of the Lord Himself was directly before the soul.
Would to God that that truth, and what has been before us this morning, may lay hold of our souls in that living way to-day. Oh! that He may lead our hearts into a truer apprehension of our new place, and of our blessed Savior in that place, by the power of His Spirit down here. True enough it is, our hearts are too large (however much they may cling to things here) to find their satisfaction, rest, or joy here. Things here are all too little to fill our hearts, as the hymn says—
“No earthly songs can joy afford
Like heavenly melody.”
May God, by His grace and power, give the truth a firm grasp and hold of our hearts for His blessed Son’s sake.
From Occasional Lectures, (June, 1888) 3:18-25