“Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:” [Acts 26:19]

“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” [Proverbs 29:18]

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” [I Thessalonians 5:21]

“Paul turned to the Gentiles, away from the Jews, God's heritage. A time come where he had to do it. They talked against him; but he made that famous word, "I was not disobedient to the Heavenly vision." And may I say that same thing, brother, see, the vision of today, see, the vision of the promise of today, the Holy Spirit in--in the land today. God promised that in this day He would pour the Holy Spirit out upon us.” [Paradox, Bakersfield CA, 64-0206B

“If Jesus told the disciples to go do this, and they went and done something over here different, and yet God blessed it, and all through the Bible... Now, did they do what Jesus told them not to do? If they did, they disobeyed, and God will never honor disobedience . If He would, He would've honored Eve and stopped the whole thing in the beginning. When God says anything, He's got to keep His Word; He's sovereign. So then either Peter made a mistake... "Oh," said, "that's what the apostles said," One fellow said, "That's what the apostles said; I'm going to do what Jesus said." Well, if the apostles did what Jesus told them not to do, then what? And if the apostles which wrote this Bible, Paul wrote all of these, and Paul was the one made them be rebaptized again. And if Paul wrote this, biggest part of this New Testament, then what kind of a Bible have you got written that you're trying to read?”[Questions And Answers, Jeffersonville IN, 54-0515]

“I think that everybody should have an ultimate. And every great achievement that's ever been achieved, there has been an absolute behind it. No matter what it was, it's had an absolute behind it. And every person in order to achieve something has to first have the absolute. And that's the final wind back through this, that, back through the other, till you come to that absolute, or the "amen," or the ultimate of what you're... You got something you have to tie to, in other words. It's the final tying post to every achievement. It's somewhere; it might wind through many different things till it gets to that tie post; but there is the "amen" to all of it. There must be such a thing. You cannot go on through life without having one.” [Absolute, Jeffersonville IN, 62-1230M]

“Oh, in time of sickness if we could only tie ourself to that absolute. Job knowed that he had done Jehovah's bidding, and he had faith in what he'd done, because Jehovah required it. If we can just do that... Jehovah required a burnt offering for his sin. And Job, not only for himself, but for his children, had made a burnt offering, and that's all God required. Oh, you might say, "I wish that's all He required today." It's less than that: just faith in His Word. And you--if you make His Word your Absolute, you can... Any Divine promise in the Bible, you can tie your soul to it. No matter how much the waves whip you around, you're still tied: your Absolute.” “Then when he come to the spot when that absolute held, then finally he begin to feel the string tighten up that'd been running loose, bouncing around. But it begin to tighten up, and the Spirit come on him; and he stood up, being a prophet, and he said, "I know my Redeemer liveth." Amen. See? He'd tightened up to his absolute; he'd come in contact. He'd knowed that he'd done what was right, and someday he had to pull to It. "I know my Redeemer liveth, and at the last days He stands upon this earth. Though after the skin worms destroys this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." He knew then; then his absolute anchored.” [Absolute, Jeffersonville IN, 62-1230M]

“And how the enemy in every way that he can will try to get you away from that absolute. Right as they started out of Egypt, they got cornered right in the neck of the--of the Red Sea: mountains on either side. Come up through a valley and there's the Red Sea. No way to escape over the hills, no way to escape this way, and Pharaoh's army coming this way. What a place to stand. See how the devil gets you in a place where you don't know what to do? But remember, if you're tied to that absolute, that's got it. Moses knowed that God promised him that "You'll worship on this mountain when you bring them out. And I'll come down by your hand to deliver them and place them over in that other land." He stayed right with it. And God sent a east wind and blowed out the waters out of the bottom of the sea, and they walked across on dry land: an absolute.” [Absolute, Jeffersonville IN, 62-1230M]

“ "A man that served God and prospered, and everything, was fine." But Isaiah got his--his mind upon a man. And a man is a failure, to begin with. I don't care who he is. "He is born in sin, shaped in iniquity, come to the world speaking lies," so he's a total failure. I don't care if he's a bishop, pope, presbyter, or whatevermore he might be. He is a failure, to begin with, and don't never look to one. I don't care, "Though he moves mountains with faith, and though he gives all of his goods to feed the poor." Still, look at Jesus Christ. He is the One. Look to Him, not at some man. Find now that He was showing here what a servant of God must be, how he must be humble and reverent and in action. Go into action! Many of us can be humble, many of us can be reverent, but it's hard to get them in action. But now we notice that God was showing how He was preparing His servant, what he must be. Those Cherubims were, or--or Seraphims, was God's servants.” [Influence, Beaumont TX, 64-0315]    

“ "If thou canst believe!" Now, to achieve anything, you've got to set a goal and say, "This I believe," and tie yourself to it, and keep drawing, moving up closer to it, knowing that you've... it's there, knowing that there is something there that you're coming to.  Like it was said, the little boy with the kite, holding the string in his hand. He said, the man said, "What are you holding, son?" He said, "My kite." He said, "I don't see nothing but a string." He said, "But there's a kite on the end of it." The man looked up, said, "I don't see the kite." The little boy said, "Neither do I." He said, "Well, how do you know you got a kite?" He said, "I can feel it tugging at the end." Well, that's the way faith is. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." As long as you set your faith on it, and then anchor to it, you're coming to it. No matter if you can't see it, or not, you know it's there anyhow. You're tugging at it, and it's pulling you. And any man that's ever done anything worthwhile, has set a goal, and then been persistent, perseverant, to make that: great men.”[Perseverance, Phoenix AZ, 63-0113E]

“How the Christian world this morning needs that type of absolute. Those who treat creeds and traditions has tried to--with doctrine of men to disqualify God's Word to being the same yesterday, today, and forever. They need an absolute, an experience of meeting on a Damascus road, the living God Who can heal the sick, and raise the dead, and cast out devils: a genuine absolute. Paul knew that something happened; there was no one could take it away from him. Nothing else mattered; he was tied, and that was it. No matter what come, he knowed he was tied. Christ-centered life... Oh, the life that he had lived was a different life.” [Absolute, Jeffersonville IN, 62-1230M]

“And the Bible said, when his obituary was written, he said, "Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong, giving praise to God." Why? Did you ever think why? He was absolute, positive, and the only thing he had to do was separate himself from his people. And God never did bless him until he did it. He took his daddy; the daddy died. He took Lot; and when... After Lot separated from Abraham, then God come to him, said, "Now, walk through the land." Obedience , promise under conditions, always goes with God and His Word.” [Absolute, Jeffersonville IN, 62-1230M]

“How we could go through the Scriptures: Daniel, his absolute; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, their absolute; David, his absolute. Paul had one too, the one we are reading about. He had a Christ-centered call, and that was his absolute. That's the reason he wasn't afraid of what Agrippa would say. And Agrippa was a Jew, as we know. And so when--when he's standing before these kings and things, God had already told him he'd stand there. So he had an absolute. So he told exactly the heavenly vision. He said, "I'm not a--I wasn't dishonorable to it. I was--did not misjudge it; I didn't misbehave myself." But he held to, and was not disobedient; he carried it out to the minute, for it was an absolute. And any Christ-centered life, that's your absolute.” [Absolute, Jeffersonville IN, 62-1230M]

“And may many in here today, of old sainted people, who's come a long ways, may we catch a vision of the close appearing now of the Lord, the soon appearing, rather, of His coming. And may those who are not Christians as yet, may they accept Christ as their personal Saviour, this afternoon. And may those who are lukewarm, just as much as belonging to church and not a Christian in heart, may they become ashamed of themselves, and come, and make a full surrender, and receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. For we ask it in Christ's Name. Amen.” [I Will Restore, Des Moines IA, 54-0620A]

Our Bible Study Subject for March 2010: Obedient Unto the Heavenly Vision