Heavenly Vision: Have You Put Your Candle Out?
Table of Contents
Heavenly Vision: Have You Put Your Candle Out? No. 1
The writer awoke one morning about 2.30 a.m., feeling the sentence of death upon him in a very remarkable way. With great difficulty he arose and lit his candle. He lay down again, and thought surely he was about to depart. After a time he became fully conscious that it was God speaking to him, and that the felt sentence of death on him was for some purpose. Suddenly the glory of the heavenly vision in Acts 26 burst upon him. As he lay, the brightness of that glory became so great, and the reality of that light surpassing all created light, that he looked at his candle, and said, I am ashamed of you. There is no need of you in such a scene of light: so he got up and put his candle out. There was no need of manufactured or created light.
He would now pen down a few of the thoughts given on that remarkable morning.
It was at midday a light was seen above the brightness of the sun. How bright that light. Yes, brighter than the brightest created light in midday splendor.
Who was the man that saw this light? Saul, the mad persecutor, the greatest Pharisee and the greatest hater of Christ on earth. There is no hatred against Him like religious hatred. Saul thought he was doing God service; but his heart was filled with enmity against the disciples of Jesus. He says, " 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." Several things were common to them all. They all saw a light; they all fell to the ground; they heard a voice; they heard a voice and they did not hear. Compare this with Acts 9; 22 But only one could say," I heard a voice speaking unto me." Well might Saul exclaim, " Who art thou, Lord” And never was surprise greater than when he heard that reply, " I am Jesus whom thou persecutest." When the brethren of Joseph heard the words, " I am Joseph," their surprise could not have been greater. The glory of Joseph fades away when compared with the glory of that light and that voice speaking from heaven.
Peter speaks of the majesty and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, " For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice, which came from heaven, we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount." (2 Pet. 1:17, 18.) That was a voice to Him. But now this voice is from Him; He speaks in the brightness of that glory that blinds the eye to all of earth. He does not say, I am God, or Christ, or the Lord; He was truly all these; but He says, " I am Jesus."
Let us mark this. A man speaks from the excellent glory; a man from heaven. It is He who was once a babe laid in a manger of the inn; Jesus, Immanuel, God with us; He who, at the age of twelve, sat amongst the doctors at Jerusalem. It is the Jesus of Bethany; the Jesus of Sychar’s well; the Jesus of Gethsemane; the Jesus who said to His loved disciples on the night of His betrayal to death, "Let not your hearts be troubled." It is that Jesus who was mocked, spit upon, smitten, scourged, rejected by men. Jesus, nailed to the tree, bearing our sins; made sin; forsaken of God whilst the dark billows of divine wrath due to us rolled over His soul. He who said, " Lo! I come to do thy will, Ο God;" that Jesus who said, " It is finished." The work which God gave Him to do was finished never to be repeated. It was that Jesus who was raised from the dead for our justification; that Jesus who ascended above all heavens. Yes, that " I AM Jesus," now speaks to a poor deceived Pharisee, chief of sinners, at midday, in brightness above all created light.
Hearken to those amazing words from the Jesus who speaks from this excellent glory. Once He had said, "I will build my assembly." He did not say, I will build a church or an assembly, but " my assembly." That was a wonderful new revelation. He has now built, He now has that which He calls " my assembly." Do you know that there is on earth, that which Jesus can call " my assembly "?
On the morn of His resurrection He said something further, " Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; to my God, and your God." This was very wonderful—what never could have been said before that morning. Disciples were now brought into the same relation to the Father, and to God, that He the Son was in!
But now what He speaks from heaven is still more wonderful. He asks, " Why persecutest thou me?” I must let you know, Saul, there is not a saint on earth that you persecute but that saint is part of myself. Not now " mine " only, but even still nearer—"me" This was the great truth afterward more fully revealed to Paul, and through him to us in the Epistles to the Colossians and the Ephesians. So far as we know, there have been only two men, as we say, converted by this great fact revealed direct from the glory; and these two were perhaps the greatest Pharisees that ever lived. The one at the beginning, and the other in these: last of the last days—at the end. We will look at the latter by-and-by.
Who then was this Saul? He was a most religious young man. He was doing what he thought was pleasing to God. He says, " If any other man thinketh that be hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more.... an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee [that is, of the most religious sect of the Jewish religion]; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law blameless." (Phil. 3:4-6.) But when he heard the voice speaking unto him, he found he was the mad persecutor and the chief of sinners. What a change of mind! All that he had esteemed was now as dung, compared with the excellent glory of that One who spoke to Him.
Now mark that Saul's conversion was the effect of this, as he says," I heard a voice speaking unto me." Did that voice speak in wrath and terror to that stricken soul? No, He said, "Γ am Jesus," I am the Savior. He spake to him as Savior, not now as judge. The brightness of that light, yea, the glory of that light, made all darkness here below. He was like the queen of Sheba—there remained no spirit in him. He had no appetite for this world's food. He must go three days without light and food. He must henceforth find his all in resurrection. No! Jesus did not appear in judgment; He will by-and-by. But He says, as it were, I will take you Saul, my greatest enemy, and make you my brightest witness on this earth.
Speaking here, Paul does not tell the earthly side of his remarkable conversion: how Ananias was sent to him, and how he was bid to arise and tarry not, but be baptized, and wash away his sins, calling on the name of the Lord. Here in chapter xxvi. it is the heavenly side, solely the heavenly vision. There is an earthly side of conversion, and there is a heavenly side. On this earth, and before men, by his baptism he entirely changed sides. In the sight of men he thus washed away his sins, like the 3,000 on the day of Pentecost, being baptized in the name of that Lord he had hated and persecuted; and thus took his place amongst those he had formerly persecuted.
But on the heavenly side, sins are not washed away by the water of baptism; but by the blood of God's dear Son. Believing God, who raised Jesus up from the dead, who was delivered for our iniquities, and was raised from among the dead for our justification; by faith we are justified, and have peace with God. It is important to keep distinct the difference between the heavenly and the earthly aspect of forgiveness of sins. Let us in this scripture keep before us the heavenly. Before, however, we go on to the commission to Paul to minister what he had and should afterward receive, let us pause, and ask ourselves a few questions.
Paul says," I heard a voice speaking unto me" You may have sat for years under the preaching of the gospel, and heard, like others, a voice from heaven; for the gospel is from heaven. But can you say at such a time in such a place, " I heard a voice speaking unto me "? Though the voice was heard by all, and all felt in a general way; yea, all fell to the ground; you may also have felt a power under the word, and even fallen unto the ground, and yet be a stranger to Christ. Have you ever really heard a voice, the voice of Jesus speaking unto you? " Verily, verily, I say unto YOU, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." What, Jesus in the bright glory of that light speaks these words το me! Can I doubt them? Not if I can say, I heard Him speak to me—" a voice speaking unto me." Hearken to those words as from the excellent glory, spoken to you. Again He says, " Peace be unto you;" and shows you His hands and His side. Do you hear the voice speaking unto you from heaven? Oh, to have the ear open to hear every word of Jesus, as His voice speaking unto me. Well does the writer remember that voice speaking to him about fifty-three years ago; when having for months sought salvation by works and sought in vain, coming home as a boy one rainy night in a dark lane, his heart sank in despair, and he fell to the ground with his face in the mud, and cried, " Oh Lord, it is all over, I can do no more.' It was then he heard a voice speaking unto him, " It is finished." Yes, the work he tried to do, and could not, was all done. Jesus had done it all, long long ago. If you really can say, I heard His voice speaking to me, you will never doubt His word. No, you will say, I have heard the words of Jesus. I believe God that sent Him, and He says I have eternal life. He says I shall not come into judgment; He says I am passed from death unto life. I believe Him; He has made peace by His blood on the cross; that peace He gives to me; I believe Him. Oh, has He spoken to you? He spoke peace to me, but He did not speak to me as He did to Saul, of that wondrous mystery, " Why persecutest thou me?” But whether it be that wondrous mystery, or peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall never be able to really understand or enjoy either unless we can say, " I heard a voice from heaven speaking unto me." We will next look at the commission of the heavenly vision.
Heavenly Vision: Have You Put Your Candle Out? No. 2
No, it was not to take vengeance on that persecutor that the glory of that light shone on Saul, and eclipsed the mid-day sun. It was not to plunge Saul into everlasting and deserved darkness, that he heard a voice speaking unto him. That voice spoke in tones like heaven's sweetest music. " But 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." Oh, precious Jesus, and is it thus Thy will that we should minister to others, and bear witness of the riches of Thy grace, in which Thou hast appeared to us? and also to tell out the grace upon grace, free favor upon free favor, mercy upon mercy, in which Thou wilt and hast appeared unto us? Yes, Lord Jesus; thus Thou takest up the chief of sinners, and thus Thou displayest the abounding of Thy grace!
Now was it not wonderful for the Lord of heaven to come down, as it were, to this earth again, in glory above the brightness of the sun, and thus reveal Himself to this chief enemy? Every true servant of Christ knows something of this direct commission from Christ. And in every true case of conversion it is Jesus speaking direct to the soul, in and by the Spirit. Others may hear a sound, but the word comes direct to the soul of the one saved, as though Jesus -actually was speaking from heaven. Only in this case, Saul was the chosen vessel through whom the Lord revealed the mystery, that every believer now was part of Himself—His body, the assembly—so that he was in great measure converted by this truth, that as a new creature he was what Christ was.
No doubt this was more fully made known to him afterward. He was chosen to be a witness: " Both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee."
What had he seen? Jesus in glory above all creation. He had heard to his amazement that they whom he persecuted were one with the glorified Jesus. This very Lord was Jesus whom he persecuted. He had seen that the despised saints on earth were one with the Lord of heaven; and he was chosen to take that place, and be a witness of it. Amazing grace!
And now he who had been the chief agent of the people of Israel in persecuting the saints, would himself need delivering from them, and from the Gentiles, unto whom he should now be sent. And such was the deep sense of the grace shown to him, that he never questioned the grace and mercy shown to the Gentiles, whom up to that moment he had viewed as dogs. The chief of sinners becomes at once the chief witness of the riches of divine grace. He who had opened his eyes now sends him to Gentiles sunk in wickedness and sin: " To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God." It was from darkness to light, from Satan to God. As he says long afterward, Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love." What a light the heavenly vision threw upon this world. Satan is its god, blinding the minds of them that believe not. The chief priests, his late employers, were led blinded by Satan. But he had seen One in glory above the brightness of the sun; He " who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of God and our Father." (Gal. 1:4.) With all their privileges, he had found that the zeal of the chief priests, yea, his and their very religiousness, was the direct slavery of Satan. What a discovery!
Has that same Jesus opened your eyes to see these things? Do you know that this age, from the murder of Jesus to His coming in judgment, is distinctly the age of evil?—that the age in which this world boasts, with all its priests, and all its zeal, and all its religion, is in total blindness and darkness, yea, under the power of darkness; and that it has rejected Christ, and accepted Satan as its god and prince? If you know this, it will explain to you all the misery and wickedness In this world at this time, so near the end of this age of evil, and especially the unparalleled wickedness of what calls itself Christendom.
This is the scene into which the true disciple and servant of Christ is sent, as a lamb in the midst of wolves. If a true Christian in that world, he must suffer with · and be hated with Christ. When Judaism was set aside, its temple destroyed, and its priests slain, Satan did not die. He remained, and he soon had his ministers as angels of righteousness, and himself transformed into an angel of light, and as such he deceives Christendom to this day. He has still his high priest, chief priests, and priests by thousands, all led by him, and his works they do. Oh how soon it could be said, " Where Satan dwells.” (Rev. 2)
Not one in his kingdom has the least idea what that kingdom is, and who are its subjects. Vast numbers think they are doing God's service, as Jesus said it would be during His absence; and so it is. Oh fellow servant of the rejected Jesus, hast thou seen the heavenly vision? Hast thou heard that voice speaking to thee? What is in the heart of that despised and rejected Lord? What sends He thee to do? " To open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God." And God, who used Saul, can use whom He will; yes, if He please, even thee and me. Oh the riches of His grace! Yes, He who called Saul,, and revealed His Son in him, chief of Pharisees-as he was, can also reveal Christ His Son in us, chief of sinners. From that day Christ was seen in him, and it was Christ, not himself, he preached to the heathen.
" That they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified, by faith that is in me." Such is the good pleasure of Him who speaks to us from the glory above the brightness of the sun. Saul believed, and he said, " Whereupon, Ο king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision." He received his commission direct from the risen and glorified Jesus. What could man add to this? What would human ordination be worth to him? What the value of apostolic succession to him? Not worth a straw, as he carefully shows in Gal. 1 and ii. How many thousands have, as they think, this, and are in Satan's darkness and Satan's service, ever, so far as they have power, and in all places doing the works of their father.
Oh what light the heavenly vision throws on present things. But who treads in the steps of Paul? Who? He said he " showed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance." Of course they sought to kill him. There are many who think they are called of the same Christ; but only to preach to the unconverted. But Paul began with the religious world, and then the Gentiles. Who obeys the heavenly vision, as to the awful religious world of this day? Who has courage to declare (with eyes opened by the glory of the risen Christ) to the religious world that they must repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance? Do not the priests of this day need to change their minds, as much as the Jews did then? Do they not need to turn to God, from their imitation Judaism—from trusting in their masses and sacraments, and worship and prayers to saints and angels and the blessed virgin, and their opposition and persecutions? Oh that a voice might proclaim, like a trumpet, to Romanist, and Greek, and Protestant, Repent and turn to God from all these vanities. No doubt they will seek to kill the faithful servant who obeys the heavenly vision. It was so then; it will be so now. Neither Satan nor his children are altered at all. It is most sad that he deceives the children of God even, so as to be yoked with his abominations. The Lord grant that those that are His may awake from sleep and obey the heavenly vision. Surely this vision was needed by the mad persecutor; and it characterized his preaching to the end of his service.
It is a very interesting inquiry, What did Paul preach in order to produce this repentance, both to the religious world (the Jews) and also to the Gentiles? This will throw great light on what the servant of Christ is to preach now, both to the professing world, and also to the unconverted.
Before we look at this, for lie distinctly tells us, we will remind the reader that we said there had been two men, perhaps the greatest Pharisees that ever lived, and both converted directly by the Lord speaking from heaven, revealing to each of them that every saint on earth, or believer during this present period of His rejection, is part of Himself, the risen and glorified Christ. We have seen the one, Saul the Pharisee, the blameless religionist. (Phil, iii.) He was at the beginning. He it was whom the Lord used to reveal the mystery of the joint body—the one body of Christ, the church, or assembly of God.
A little more than fifty years ago, when Pusey and Keble and others were talking about salvation by sacraments and ritual and fasting, &c. a young man might have been seen practicing what they talked and wrote. He was described to the writer by one who knew him well, as a walking skeleton on two crutches, covered with big old clothes, living in an old cabin, worn near to death with fastings and watchings and labors for salvation, on the mountains of Wicklow. He fasted four days a week, and on the others ate very little more than a few potatoes. He was sincere and blameless, kind and charitable to a degree; but as yet a stranger to the grace about to be revealed to him. He had never yet seen the heavenly vision: he had never yet heard " a voice speaking to me."
Well does the writer remember him saying, “I was walking in (I think it was) Stephens Green, Dublin, when suddenly the scriptures came to my mind: ' There is one body,' ' We are-members of his body,' &c." This was the voice from heaven to him. "What," he said, "am I then a member of His body? Then I must be what He, the Head, is." He was dead with Christ and risen with Him—what Christ was—part of Himself. Peace flowed from the glorified Christ in heaven into his soul—peace that never could be lost, that never varied or failed until the day of his departure a very few years ago. It was the restoration of the long-lost truth of what the church is as the body of Christ.
In the first case it was the beginning of 'the revelation of what the church is, and to Paul was given the blessed ministry of the revelation of the mystery. In the latter case, the Lord gave the blessed ministry of the restoration of that long lost truth. In both cases their peculiar conversion characterized the whole of their lives and ministry. Great are our privileges, and responsibilities, since the restoration of the truth of the church—the body of Christ.
(To he continued, if the Lord will.)
Heavenly Vision: Have You Put Your Candle Out? No. 3
We will now in conclusion look at that truth which the apostle preached, and which produced this wondrous change of mind, in turning men to God, both from the religion of the Jews, and from all the abominations of the Gentiles—which opened their eyes, turned them from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God; by which they received forgiveness of sins and inheritance among the sanctified, according to the words of Jesus "by faith that is in me." And by which great and small were shown that they must repent; they must abhor themselves, and the very things in which they had trusted, even as Paul himself did, and count them dung. Ah, Paul, if you were here now, you would have the same to do in this day to the great riders and chief priests of Christendom, and to all the small who follow them.
Well, the truth is the same; who will declare it as he did? And what is that truth? Briefly he explains it to the king Agrippa. " Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come: that Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should show light unto the people, and to the Gentiles." If we turn to another scripture we shall see his exact manner of preaching, as recorded by the Holy Ghost. " Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is the Christ/' (Acts 17:3.) And the effect of this preaching for three weeks may be seen in the letters Paul wrote to these Thessalonians.
In another scripture the effect of this truth is equally striking. He shows that those who believe this truth are accounted righteous before God. 'If we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Rom. 4; 5) Blessed as this is, it is far from being all. Indeed, everything is connected with the Person of Christ, dead and risen, and ascended to glory.
But it may be asked by some, Is not that the truth held by modern Christendom? Thank God, He has restored this truth again, and it is feebly preached by a few, little known except to be opposed. But if our eyes have been opened; if the light of the glory has shone into our hearts; if we have heard the voice speaking to us from heaven; if that light has so shone as to put our poor candle out—we shall then see in that light, that the truth preached by Paul, and the error preached now, are as wide apart as the poles.
The truth Paul preached was entirely from heaven. It was not of men, but of the Son of God from heaven—what He must do: that He must be engaged with the whole question of the salvation of lost sinners. And what must He needs do? Paul tells us He must needs suffer. He has suffered, bearing our iniquities—delivered for our offenses. According to the scriptures, bruised for sins. As our substitute, dead and buried; and there was the entire end of us judicially, so that we are reckoned dead and buried with Christ; no improvement expected in the old carnal man, but buried as dead—baptism being a figure-of this. (Rom. 6)
Before we go further, is this what a sinner is taught now? Is he told what has been done? or is he told to do? Is it what God is, and has done in the gift of His Son? And is he told what that Son has finished on the cross?
Paul preached forgiveness of sins through that once dead and now risen Christ; and assured all who, through grace, believed the message of God, that they were justified from all things. (Acts 13:38, 39.) And since God had raised Him from the dead who had died for their offenses; and having raised Him from the dead for the very purpose of their justification, they surely were justified by faith. There could be no possible mistake: therefore they had perfect peace with God. So that God was the justifier, and the work was finished by the Man who spoke to Saul from heaven. All is thus divine certainty, everlasting peace with God; and this was, and is, the effect of believing the truth as preached by Paul. We appeal in proof to every epistle he wrote.
If we now turn to the great or learned priesthood, take that large branch of what boastingly calls itself the Catholic Church, we are obliged to admit it curses the man that believes the above truth, preached by Paul. For proof of this,, we only need read the records of the Council of Trent.. If you doubt this, go to a priest and ask him what you are to do, so as to be quite sure, like the true believers in the church at Rome, that you are accounted righteous before God, and have peace with God.
Sad as this is, yet we cannot point in warning to the church of Rome alone, as utterly denying the truth which Paul preached. In thousands of scarcely Protestant places in this land, the truth as Paul preached it, is never heard; and if they possibly could, they would take care it never should be heard in their parishes. No, with them it is what you must do to improve your poor fallen nature. And you must go on improving it until you may hope to be fit for heaven! No, you must wait until the day of judgment! The Thessalonians heard the true gospel three weeks, and they had the full assurance faith gives, and were quite ready and waiting for the Son from heaven. But you may hear the false gospel all your lives, and die in uncertainty at last.
Is this true? You know it is. Are you, my reader, enjoying peace with God in unshaken confidence in the truth of God; or are you trying by baptism, or the incarnation, or the secret though idolatrous worship of, and supposed improvement of yourself by, sacraments, and holy days, and services—are you trying by these means, or any other means, to fit yourself for heaven, according to the errors, and commandments of men? If so, you know all is darkness and uncertainty. God will not allow you to even think you have peace with Him, or have eternal life, if you are looking to these delusions. Truly He was incarnate, but that was not to improve human nature, but, that He might in due time die to save them that believe. Oh, that the light may shine into your heart.
And we would also call attention to a most important fact. Not only must Christ needs suffer, but also rise from the dead. He died for our sins according to the scriptures. There was an end of our sins forever, never possibly to be remembered against us. God says it, " And their sins and iniquities I will remember no more." That is, as to the conscience before God. This does not set aside His chastening us when we sin, or the advocacy of Christ. But God deals with us according to His estimate of the blood of Christ. Therefore, as they have been laid on Him, they can be charged to us no more.
But not only has Christ died for us, we are reckoned dead with Him; so that both our sins are reckoned gone, and we also are gone. Dead with Him, buried with Him.
Now if this was "all, we should simply perish, just as Paul tells us in 1 Cor. 15 "And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith also vain." " And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins.
Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." All turns plainly on the resurrection of Christ. For again, He is not only raised for us, for our justification; but also we are raised up with Him. " If ye be risen with Christ." Clearly, we are neither justified nor risen with Christ, if He be not risen. " The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon."
Can you then look back to the cross and see your Holy Substitute in pure love, taking your place, bearing your guilt, and sins; yea, made sin. for you? He finished there the work of atonement. Was He delivered for your offenses? It is not here a question of your accepting that substitute, but has God accepted Him? Can there be a possible doubt? Has not God raised Him from the dead, and received Him up above all heavens? What, your once bleeding substitute seated on the right hand of the Majesty on high!
But still far, far more—you are accepted just as He is accepted. See how God hath blessed you in Him in the heavenlies. Language fails to show how the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has blest the whole church; every member of it " taken into favor in the beloved," " To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath taken us into favor in the beloved," &c. (Eph. 1:3-7.)
Do not, however, make that sad mistake, that this is your old nature improved, reconciled to God, or worse still, God reconciled to it. This error is the foundation cause of all errors. Ritualism is entirely based on it. No, the whole thing is entirely new, not a bit of the old mended. The doctrine that the incarnation was intended to be Christ permeating human nature, and then holy communion imparting still more of Christ, to improve humanity—all this is from the father of lies, utterly contrary to the word of God. Paul did not know Christ for that purpose, he says, "Wherefore henceforth, know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now, henceforth, know we him no more." To suppose that Christ in the flesh would save, or even benefit humanity, is utter folly. He must needs suffer, and rise again, or remain in His sinless purity forever alone. This is His own teaching. John 12:24: " Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone." "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature [creation]: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. And all things are of God," &c. (2 Cor. 5:16, 17.)
The more we study in the light of the heavenly vision, the gospel committed to Paul, the more distinctly we see that there is the same need for men to change their minds now, and turn to God from the errors of Christendom, equally as it was in the days of Paul May the same Lord who thus called Saul the persecutor, call many more to declare this long lost truth to great and small.
Can you, reader, say in reading this paper,. I have heard that voice speaking to me? Soon our privilege of witnessing for Him will be closed: may we be able to say, " I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision." C. S.