DAILY STUDY OF ACTS
MESSAGE SIXTY-EIGHT
THE PROPAGATION IN ASIA MINOR AND EUROPE
THROUGH THE MINISTRY OF PAUL AND HIS COMPANIONS (34)
WEEK 31 – THURSDAY
Bible Reading: Rev. 1:12-13a; 4:1-2; 5:6
Read and Pray: “But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you," (Acts 26:16)
A WITNESS OF THE THINGS IN WHICH WE SEE CHRIST
In verse 16, the Lord Jesus said to Paul: “For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you” (IBB-Rev.).
Thus, the expression “in which” appears twice. Here, Paul says that the Lord appointed him a minister and a witness of the things He had revealed to him and the things He would yet reveal. Although that is the meaning Paul intended, it is not how the matter is presented. Instead, this verse speaks of the things in which Paul had seen the Lord and the things in which the Lord would still appear to him.
Acts 26:16 indicates that Paul did not receive the revelation of things without seeing Christ; rather, he received the things in which he saw Christ. In other words, Christ did not reveal things to Paul that did not have Himself as their content. This is why Paul was a witness of the things in which he had seen the Lord. In all the visions he had, he saw Christ. Furthermore, he would be a witness of the things in which the Lord would still appear to him.
Here, the Lord seemed to be saying to him: “In all the visions and revelations you will receive, I will appear to you.” This means that if we only have visions and revelations without seeing the Lord, what we see is vanity. We do not agree with studying the Bible in a merely theological way. Those who study it this way may learn theology, but they do not see Christ. There is a great difference between studying the Bible to learn theology and studying it to see Christ.
When Paul was on the road to Damascus, Christ revealed certain things to him, and in them, Paul saw Christ. The Lord indicated that He would reveal more things to him, and in them, He Himself would appear to him. Thus, Paul not only saw the things themselves but Christ as the One who appears in all those things.
In your experience, you might say that you received light from the Lord or had a vision or revelation. But you need to see whether Christ appeared to you in that light, vision, or revelation. In the supposed light, vision, or revelation, did you see Christ?
Sometimes brothers came to me excited about some supposed new light they had received. For example, once a brother said: “I praise the Lord because today in the morning fellowship I saw a new light.” When I asked about this new light, he said: “I was enlightened to see that I should cut my hair short.” Then I asked what the meaning of this light was, and he said that cutting his hair short would make him cleaner. To this, I replied: “What is wrong with having slightly longer hair? The Nazirites in the Old Testament had long hair. Then, at the end of their vow, they shaved their heads, and in this way, they were purified. It seems that your way of cutting hair is not as good as that of the Nazirites.” I spoke to him this way about the light he claimed to have received from the Lord because the so-called light was devoid of Christ.
In any light we receive from the Lord, we need to see Christ. Christ must appear to us in whatever we see in the form of illumination, vision, or revelation. If we have a vision without seeing Christ, that vision means nothing. Likewise, if we study the Bible and gain knowledge of the Scriptures without seeing Christ, that knowledge is vanity. We all need to learn to see Christ in the things revealed to us.
I appreciate the expression “in which” used twice in 26:16. The Lord first said, “of the things in which you have seen Me.” Then He also said, “of the things in which I will yet appear to you.” Here the Lord was telling him: “I will not only reveal some things to you, but in them, I Myself will appear to you.”
The book of Revelation is an excellent illustration of the Lord appearing in the things revealed to the apostle John. John had several visions, but in them, the Lord Himself appeared to him. Consider the first vision in Revelation, the vision of the golden lampstands. Regarding this vision, John says: “Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man” (Rev. 1:12-13a). In seeing the lampstands, John saw the Lord walking among them as the High Priest caring for the lamps.
In another vision, the Lord showed John God’s universal administration. Regarding this, John says: “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, ‘Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.’ Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne” (Rev. 4:1-2).
John also said that in this vision he saw “in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth” (Rev. 5:6). Again, in the things revealed to him, he saw the Lord.
In principle, our experience today should be the same as that of Paul and John. Suppose in your study of the New Testament, you claim to have some understanding of Ephesians 5. However, the crucial question is this: Do you see Christ in Ephesians 5? If you only see the matter of the husband loving his wife and the wife submitting to her husband without seeing Christ, then your understanding is very poor, even vain.
You may know certain biblical teachings, but in them, Christ has not appeared to you. May we all learn the importance of seeing Christ in the things we claim to see and know in the Word. Our consideration of the expression “in which” in Acts 26:16 can help us see the way to study the Bible. When reading it, we need to spend time on matters like this. If we spend time considering the expression “in which” used twice in Acts 26:16 (IBB-Rev.), we will realize how wonderful it was for the Lord to say to Paul that He had made him a minister and a witness both of the things in which he had seen the Lord and of the things in which the Lord would yet appear to him.
Enjoy more: Hymn 185
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