Vision
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| In loving memory of my father Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023 |
Many years ago I found myself drawing a diagram, which reflects the maturity pattern of every believer. Now you cannot see my diagram but think of the face of a watch or clock, starting at 12 a.m.
Of course all of the entries in that diagram speak of the spiritual realm. In the diagram that the Lord gave me, everything starts with the Word of God. The Word of God is always both the starting place and the ending place. He is the Alpha and the Omega and He is everything in between.
Try to visualize "The Word of God" being with the hands of the clock straight up ... at 12 o'clock. With the hands of the clock going clockwise, at 1:30 we have "vision" followed by hearing at 3 o'clock. Then at 4:30 we have "faith" followed by obedience at 6 o'clock. At 7:30 we have righteousness, followed by holiness at 9 o'clock. Then at 10:30 we see "the word made flesh". Then the cycle repeats at 12 o'clock.
There are three sets of pairs ... vision and hearing, faith and obedience, and righteousness and holiness. It should not be surprising that all of these pairs are found in the book of Romans, which contains the general, basic doctrine of the Christian life. But the important aspect is that the Word must become flesh within us. "Christ in you, the hope of glory." That diagram reflects the maturity pattern of every believer.
Vision and hearing are twins which go together in many scriptures. In almost all of scripture, vision comes before hearing. This is also true in the natural realm. We SEE lightning before we hear the associated sound. If a supersonic jet aircraft passes overhead, we SEE the plane before we hear the sonic boom. The speed of light is much faster than the speed of sound.
We need to emphasize the importance of vision. Vision is the first aspect on the road to maturity. Without vision, the people perish; without vision, we can never get to step 2.
One of the major verses about vision is found in Proverbs 29:18,
Where there is no vision, the people perish. We might add that where there is little vision the people are weak and sickly and many sleep (1 Corinthians 11:30). Why are many weak and sickly and many sleep? The answer is found in 1 Corinthians 11:29 ... not discerning the Lord's body.
Now, who is "he that keepeth the law?" Only one Man has ever been able to keep the law ... the Man Christ Jesus. Likewise only one Man can ever live the Christian life... the Man Christ Jesus. There are a multitude of "commandments" in the New Testament ... many spoken by the Man Jesus Christ. For example, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." That is a commandment! Do you know any believer, past or present who is perfect? "Happy" can be translated as "blessed."
It is vital that we understand that ALL things come from God. No man can see the Lord or the ways of the Lord unless He opens our spiritual eyes. No man can hear unless the Lord gives us spiritual ears to hear. From Deuteronomy 29,
From Verse 2, all Israel had seen glimpses of the glory of God with their natural eyes. They had seen many miracles from the hand of the Lord, not the least of which was their deliverance from their captivity and bondage in Egypt.
Why did the Lord not give all Israel a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear? Because of their hard heart, their murmuring and complaining, because they were idolaters, because they tempted Christ, because they lusted after evil things, because they committed fornication ... in other words because they no longer trusted the Lord but were only self-seeking.
When Paul was apprehended on the road to Damascus,
Here again we see that vision precedes hearing. Paul saw the blinding light and then heard the voice of the Lord. Jesus had the same experience. He SAW the Spirit of God descending upon Him and then He HEARD a voice from heaven.
I have searched the scriptures rather carefully and I have found only one place where hearing seems to come before seeing, where Paul tells the saints at Philippi,
Why is the order in this one verse exactly reversed from all of the others? In all of the other verses vision precedes hearing. If you go back and re-check the diagram that the Lord gave me, everything starts with the Word of God, then vision and hearing, then faith and obedience, then righteousness and holiness, and finally the Word becomes flesh within us. The important aspect is that the Word must become flesh within us. "Christ in you, the hope of glory." The order is that way because that order reflects revelation from the Spirit of God to us and within us ... how the word becomes flesh. But Paul in Philippians 4:9 speaks of the way of teaching ... from man to man, not revelation from the Spirit. So Paul starts with those things which the Philippians have learned. This represents Paul's personal understanding of the gospel, and few would argue about the depth of Paul's understanding of the gospel. We learn from good teachers before revelation of the Spirit sheds light in our hearts. It is very important to understand that all of our teaching, some good, some not so good, is for naught unless the Spirit of God anoints that word and reveals to us the significance. Some times we may receive revelation from our Father BEFORE any man teaches us. In general this happens much more with true apostles and true prophets, but we dare not limit God.
Returning to Philippians 4:9, "Those things which ye have both learned, and received [accepted], and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you." Paul then speaks of the things that the Philippians have received in the way of accepted doctrine and teachings. But Paul goes further than that. He tells the Philippians to do those things that they have heard and seen in him. That is why Paul could say, "Follow me." His life exhibited what he taught. Unfortunately, there is a real lack of teachers and preachers today when it comes to Paul's last point. There may be many good teachers, but those teachers who PRACTICE what they preach are much more rare. A good teacher must demonstrate in action in his daily life the truth which he expresses in words. Now we know that NO man is perfect. When all we see of a teacher is his teaching ability in a formal meeting of believers, we tend to put that man on a pedestal. How does his life measure up in the day-to-day activities, particularly when things do not seem to go right for him? That is the true test.
I have never been overly impressed by what a person "knows." What impresses me is who they ARE or who they have BECOME. That requires much more effort. Fruit, of course, does not immediately appear in the life of a believer. First the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. First the blossom, then the bud, then the full fruit or flower.
In Old Testament times God raised up prophets to speak His word to His people. When the prophets spoke, it was largely (but not altogether) a word of exhortation or correction. We Christians today still do not like correction. That is called human nature. One example
I have been convinced for many long years that the Lord will soon unveil a prophetic company which will trouble all modern-day spiritual Israel; i.e. the visible church.
The Lord also used the Old Testament prophets, at times, to speak a word of comfort or encouragement to His people. The book of Isaiah has many such words of comfort. So it was, and is, the grace of God to raise up prophets to SEE and hear a word from the Lord and to warn or to encourage His people.
Have you ever noticed the first verse in five of the books of the so-called "minor" prophets? Five, of course, symbolizes the grace of God.
So five of these minor prophets were allowed by the Lord to SEE something that the Lord wanted them to convey to His people. In reality, all of the prophets in the Old Testament "saw" something of the Lord. Daniel saw the hand writing on the wall. Isaiah saw the Lord, in Isaiah 6. Ezekiel saw many things concerning the state of the chosen people of God. Job and Zechariah saw that which the Lord wanted them to see.
Many years ago I heard a minister of quite some maturity comment on the first 2 verses in Hebrews 1. When I say "quite some maturity," I mean that I personally saw the Lord use that man many times in a marvelous way.
That minister implied very strongly (although he did not bluntly so state) that prophets were only for Old Testament times. We did not agree then and we do not agree now. One good scriptural basis is in Ephesians.
Verse 13 definitely has not yet been fulfilled. We have not all come unto a perfect man. Therefore all of those five ministries are still available to man. If there are no longer apostles and prophets, then there are likewise no longer evangelists, pastors and teachers. Christians still argue whether Verse 11 speaks of four ministries or five ministries. We believe the answer is "five." Whereas all pastors should be "apt to teach," (1 Timothy 3:2), not every teacher is likewise capable of functioning as a pastor. How do I know? because I have personally known a very good teacher who never could function as a pastor, although he tried for many years.
I am reasonably certain that during the decline and apostasy of the tribes of Israel and Judah (which we find repeated over and over again in the Old Testament), the people almost NEVER believed that they were in apostasy. Therefore when the Lord sent them a prophet to jolt them out of their erroneous ways, the prophet was generally rejected, frequently jailed, and occasionally even killed. This was also true in New Testament times. John the Baptist was beheaded for speaking the truth. Stephen was stoned to death for speaking the truth. If we look at all of the original apostles, as well as Paul, only one of them escaped a violent death. That was John, who also was boiled in oil but survived.
Jesus Christ was crucified for speaking and BEING the Truth. Has anything changed today? NO!!! Is the church in a decline or apostasy today? in my opinion, yes. Why? Because of a lack of vision! Where there is NO vision, the people perish. Where there is little or a small vision, the people are weak and sickly. I am the first to agree that, "God hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son." But the scripture does NOT say that, "God hath in these last days spoken unto us ONLY by His Son." God speaks to us in a multitude of ways. The problem is in our vision and our hearing.
One of the major functions of a prophet is to help to expand and enlarge the vision of the people. Does that mean that a prophet is someone special? NO! It means that a person with the ministry of a prophet (which is quite different from the gift of prophecy) has been allowed to see more of God's ways ... has been granted, by His grace, a higher vision than other members of the body; for what purpose? to help to encourage other members of the body to come up higher. The prophet Isaiah speaks about "the burden of the valley of vision" (Isaiah 22:1). When you are in a valley, you cannot see too much. We need to rise up to the mountaintop to see more of the Lord and His ways.
My wife loves to work in the yard, with shrubs, plants, flowers, trees, and grass. The Lord has given her many revelations about our Christian walk from analogies in the yard. One such revelation she received had to do with how to keep the lawn (grass) healthy and get rid of weeds. We need to concentrate on feeding the roots of the grass because strong healthy grass will choke out the weeds. We don't need to concentrate on the weeds themselves. Likewise if we concentrate on the increase of Christ within, then the acts of the old nature will decrease.
Before the Lord apprehended me, I liked to play golf and I liked to play the card game of bridge. I was quite good at both. Then the Lord apprehended me. I did not "give up" anything. I just found that there were other things I enjoyed more, like reading the Bible, going to believers' meetings, worshipping the Lord, etc. So in terms of my desires, He increased and I decreased. However, if there are just too many weeds, then some action may be required to get rid of the weeds before planting grass seed. Consider what the Lord said to Jeremiah:
Note that four "negatives" come first. The kingdoms of man must come down before building and planting. The traditions of man must come down. The ways of man must come down. The works of man must come down. The plans and purposes of man must come down. So the Lord commanded Jeremiah to do 6 things. Which of those 6 things did Jeremiah actually do? NONE!!! There was no way that Jeremiah could do any of those 6 things. But Jeremiah did speak forth the word of God and the Lord did all of the work.
We will have more to say about Hebrews 4:12 in our next message, when we continue sharing about vision.
Until then, may the Lord continue to open our spiritual eyes to see who He is and what He is about in this hour.
1 In the beginning was the Word [logos], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.2 The same was in the beginning with God14 And the Word was made [or became] flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 1:1-2, 14
Try to visualize "The Word of God" being with the hands of the clock straight up ... at 12 o'clock. With the hands of the clock going clockwise, at 1:30 we have "vision" followed by hearing at 3 o'clock. Then at 4:30 we have "faith" followed by obedience at 6 o'clock. At 7:30 we have righteousness, followed by holiness at 9 o'clock. Then at 10:30 we see "the word made flesh". Then the cycle repeats at 12 o'clock.
There are three sets of pairs ... vision and hearing, faith and obedience, and righteousness and holiness. It should not be surprising that all of these pairs are found in the book of Romans, which contains the general, basic doctrine of the Christian life. But the important aspect is that the Word must become flesh within us. "Christ in you, the hope of glory." That diagram reflects the maturity pattern of every believer.
Vision and hearing are twins which go together in many scriptures. In almost all of scripture, vision comes before hearing. This is also true in the natural realm. We SEE lightning before we hear the associated sound. If a supersonic jet aircraft passes overhead, we SEE the plane before we hear the sonic boom. The speed of light is much faster than the speed of sound.
We need to emphasize the importance of vision. Vision is the first aspect on the road to maturity. Without vision, the people perish; without vision, we can never get to step 2.
One of the major verses about vision is found in Proverbs 29:18,
"Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."
Where there is no vision, the people perish. We might add that where there is little vision the people are weak and sickly and many sleep (1 Corinthians 11:30). Why are many weak and sickly and many sleep? The answer is found in 1 Corinthians 11:29 ... not discerning the Lord's body.
Now, who is "he that keepeth the law?" Only one Man has ever been able to keep the law ... the Man Christ Jesus. Likewise only one Man can ever live the Christian life... the Man Christ Jesus. There are a multitude of "commandments" in the New Testament ... many spoken by the Man Jesus Christ. For example, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." That is a commandment! Do you know any believer, past or present who is perfect? "Happy" can be translated as "blessed."
It is vital that we understand that ALL things come from God. No man can see the Lord or the ways of the Lord unless He opens our spiritual eyes. No man can hear unless the Lord gives us spiritual ears to hear. From Deuteronomy 29,
2 And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land;
From Verse 2, all Israel had seen glimpses of the glory of God with their natural eyes. They had seen many miracles from the hand of the Lord, not the least of which was their deliverance from their captivity and bondage in Egypt.
3 The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles:4 Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day. Deuteronomy 29:2-4
Why did the Lord not give all Israel a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear? Because of their hard heart, their murmuring and complaining, because they were idolaters, because they tempted Christ, because they lusted after evil things, because they committed fornication ... in other words because they no longer trusted the Lord but were only self-seeking.
When Paul was apprehended on the road to Damascus,
3 .. and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?
5 And he said, Who art Thou, Lord? Acts 9:3-5
Here again we see that vision precedes hearing. Paul saw the blinding light and then heard the voice of the Lord. Jesus had the same experience. He SAW the Spirit of God descending upon Him and then He HEARD a voice from heaven.
16 And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him.17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased. Matthew 3:16-17
I have searched the scriptures rather carefully and I have found only one place where hearing seems to come before seeing, where Paul tells the saints at Philippi,
Those things which ye have both learned, and received [accepted], and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. Philippians 4:9
Why is the order in this one verse exactly reversed from all of the others? In all of the other verses vision precedes hearing. If you go back and re-check the diagram that the Lord gave me, everything starts with the Word of God, then vision and hearing, then faith and obedience, then righteousness and holiness, and finally the Word becomes flesh within us. The important aspect is that the Word must become flesh within us. "Christ in you, the hope of glory." The order is that way because that order reflects revelation from the Spirit of God to us and within us ... how the word becomes flesh. But Paul in Philippians 4:9 speaks of the way of teaching ... from man to man, not revelation from the Spirit. So Paul starts with those things which the Philippians have learned. This represents Paul's personal understanding of the gospel, and few would argue about the depth of Paul's understanding of the gospel. We learn from good teachers before revelation of the Spirit sheds light in our hearts. It is very important to understand that all of our teaching, some good, some not so good, is for naught unless the Spirit of God anoints that word and reveals to us the significance. Some times we may receive revelation from our Father BEFORE any man teaches us. In general this happens much more with true apostles and true prophets, but we dare not limit God.
But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him.
1 John 2:27
Returning to Philippians 4:9, "Those things which ye have both learned, and received [accepted], and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you." Paul then speaks of the things that the Philippians have received in the way of accepted doctrine and teachings. But Paul goes further than that. He tells the Philippians to do those things that they have heard and seen in him. That is why Paul could say, "Follow me." His life exhibited what he taught. Unfortunately, there is a real lack of teachers and preachers today when it comes to Paul's last point. There may be many good teachers, but those teachers who PRACTICE what they preach are much more rare. A good teacher must demonstrate in action in his daily life the truth which he expresses in words. Now we know that NO man is perfect. When all we see of a teacher is his teaching ability in a formal meeting of believers, we tend to put that man on a pedestal. How does his life measure up in the day-to-day activities, particularly when things do not seem to go right for him? That is the true test.
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Matthew 7:20
I have never been overly impressed by what a person "knows." What impresses me is who they ARE or who they have BECOME. That requires much more effort. Fruit, of course, does not immediately appear in the life of a believer. First the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. First the blossom, then the bud, then the full fruit or flower.
In Old Testament times God raised up prophets to speak His word to His people. When the prophets spoke, it was largely (but not altogether) a word of exhortation or correction. We Christians today still do not like correction. That is called human nature. One example
1 Kings 16:33, "And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him."1 Kings 18:17, "And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?"
I have been convinced for many long years that the Lord will soon unveil a prophetic company which will trouble all modern-day spiritual Israel; i.e. the visible church.
The Lord also used the Old Testament prophets, at times, to speak a word of comfort or encouragement to His people. The book of Isaiah has many such words of comfort. So it was, and is, the grace of God to raise up prophets to SEE and hear a word from the Lord and to warn or to encourage His people.
Have you ever noticed the first verse in five of the books of the so-called "minor" prophets? Five, of course, symbolizes the grace of God.
The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jereboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. Amos 1:1The vision of Obadiah ... Obadiah 1:1The word of the Lord that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. Micah 1:1The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. Nahum 1:1The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see. Habakkuk 1:1
So five of these minor prophets were allowed by the Lord to SEE something that the Lord wanted them to convey to His people. In reality, all of the prophets in the Old Testament "saw" something of the Lord. Daniel saw the hand writing on the wall. Isaiah saw the Lord, in Isaiah 6. Ezekiel saw many things concerning the state of the chosen people of God. Job and Zechariah saw that which the Lord wanted them to see.
Many years ago I heard a minister of quite some maturity comment on the first 2 verses in Hebrews 1. When I say "quite some maturity," I mean that I personally saw the Lord use that man many times in a marvelous way.
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, Whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by Whom also He made the worlds; Hebrews 1:1-2
That minister implied very strongly (although he did not bluntly so state) that prophets were only for Old Testament times. We did not agree then and we do not agree now. One good scriptural basis is in Ephesians.
11 And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: Ephesians 4:11-13
Verse 13 definitely has not yet been fulfilled. We have not all come unto a perfect man. Therefore all of those five ministries are still available to man. If there are no longer apostles and prophets, then there are likewise no longer evangelists, pastors and teachers. Christians still argue whether Verse 11 speaks of four ministries or five ministries. We believe the answer is "five." Whereas all pastors should be "apt to teach," (1 Timothy 3:2), not every teacher is likewise capable of functioning as a pastor. How do I know? because I have personally known a very good teacher who never could function as a pastor, although he tried for many years.
I am reasonably certain that during the decline and apostasy of the tribes of Israel and Judah (which we find repeated over and over again in the Old Testament), the people almost NEVER believed that they were in apostasy. Therefore when the Lord sent them a prophet to jolt them out of their erroneous ways, the prophet was generally rejected, frequently jailed, and occasionally even killed. This was also true in New Testament times. John the Baptist was beheaded for speaking the truth. Stephen was stoned to death for speaking the truth. If we look at all of the original apostles, as well as Paul, only one of them escaped a violent death. That was John, who also was boiled in oil but survived.
Jesus Christ was crucified for speaking and BEING the Truth. Has anything changed today? NO!!! Is the church in a decline or apostasy today? in my opinion, yes. Why? Because of a lack of vision! Where there is NO vision, the people perish. Where there is little or a small vision, the people are weak and sickly. I am the first to agree that, "God hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son." But the scripture does NOT say that, "God hath in these last days spoken unto us ONLY by His Son." God speaks to us in a multitude of ways. The problem is in our vision and our hearing.
One of the major functions of a prophet is to help to expand and enlarge the vision of the people. Does that mean that a prophet is someone special? NO! It means that a person with the ministry of a prophet (which is quite different from the gift of prophecy) has been allowed to see more of God's ways ... has been granted, by His grace, a higher vision than other members of the body; for what purpose? to help to encourage other members of the body to come up higher. The prophet Isaiah speaks about "the burden of the valley of vision" (Isaiah 22:1). When you are in a valley, you cannot see too much. We need to rise up to the mountaintop to see more of the Lord and His ways.
1 Samuel 9:9, "(Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to enquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.)
One reason why the visible church is so lukewarm and content today is because of the lack of prophetic ministry within our churches.- John Yates
If we believe all of the reports from supposedly real Spirit-filled Christians, there must be hundreds of thousands of prophets in the United States today. I, for one, do not believe it.
- Erskine's comment. Don Murphy's comment.
My wife loves to work in the yard, with shrubs, plants, flowers, trees, and grass. The Lord has given her many revelations about our Christian walk from analogies in the yard. One such revelation she received had to do with how to keep the lawn (grass) healthy and get rid of weeds. We need to concentrate on feeding the roots of the grass because strong healthy grass will choke out the weeds. We don't need to concentrate on the weeds themselves. Likewise if we concentrate on the increase of Christ within, then the acts of the old nature will decrease.
Before the Lord apprehended me, I liked to play golf and I liked to play the card game of bridge. I was quite good at both. Then the Lord apprehended me. I did not "give up" anything. I just found that there were other things I enjoyed more, like reading the Bible, going to believers' meetings, worshipping the Lord, etc. So in terms of my desires, He increased and I decreased. However, if there are just too many weeds, then some action may be required to get rid of the weeds before planting grass seed. Consider what the Lord said to Jeremiah:
See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
Jeremiah 1:10
Note that four "negatives" come first. The kingdoms of man must come down before building and planting. The traditions of man must come down. The ways of man must come down. The works of man must come down. The plans and purposes of man must come down. So the Lord commanded Jeremiah to do 6 things. Which of those 6 things did Jeremiah actually do? NONE!!! There was no way that Jeremiah could do any of those 6 things. But Jeremiah did speak forth the word of God and the Lord did all of the work.
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
We will have more to say about Hebrews 4:12 in our next message, when we continue sharing about vision.
Until then, may the Lord continue to open our spiritual eyes to see who He is and what He is about in this hour.
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