“At 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. And 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. And I said, Who art Thou, Lord? And He said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. 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; delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send then. To 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. Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: but showed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.”―Acts 26:13-2013At 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. 19Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: 20But showed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. (Acts 26:13‑20).
IN these words the prisoner at the bar told the remarkable tale of his conversion. Perhaps you say, “The most remarkable conversion that ever took place.” Well, I will not deny that; but depend upon this, every conversion is remarkable, for do you not see that to get out of the grip of the devil, be brought to God, to come out of darkness into light, and be turned from the broad road, that ends in the lake of fire, to the narrow path that leads into the everlasting glory of Christ―that is remarkable enough, and that is what conversion really is.
God has His own way of dealing with souls, and if you have never been converted yet I would like to know why. Have you not heard the gospel? Have you never heard about Jesus, His death and resurrection? I would say to you, like Paul to his hearers, “This thing was not done in a corner.” You have heard about it; what you have made of it is another matter altogether.
Paul says in this chapter that he was on his way to Damascus, to do the devil’s work, but was arrested by a light from the glory, was smitten to the ground, and then heard a voice saying unto him, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.” That is to say, he had been touched before, and I should not like to say that you have never been touched before; if got, may God touch you now. You may never get another opportunity. If you have never had a twinge of conscience it must surely be seared with a hot iron from the devil’s furnace. If you have never been in anxiety about your soul, deeply dyed must be the sin in which your soul is steeped.
Saul had been pricked when he saw Stephen die. Read the tale in Acts 7. You did not see Stephen die, no―but you have seen some Christians live, you cannot deny that. You too have kicked against the pricks―your own conscience would accuse you, and when you are brought before the great white throne, to be an eternally condemned sinner, you will not be able to stand and say to the Lord Jesus, “Thou never gavest me a chance, a warning; Thou never prickedst my conscience.” You may tell lies in a preaching-room, but you will not tell lies at the great white throne.
Saul lets Agrippa know what had taken place―he had been kicking against the pricks, and the Lord said, “It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.” The idea is this. In the East they wrought in their fields with oxen at the plow, and in order to make the oxen go, the driver used a long pole, with a sharp goad at the end. The oxen did not like it, and kicked out, but that only drove the goad deeper in. You have not become happier, but more miserable, by kicking against the pricks. When the Lord met Saul he was in a great state of ferment in his mind. It is just before the morning that the night is darkest; and it is just before the moment of blessing that a man is worst, and most deeply steeped in sin―that is the moment that the Lord puts His hand upon him. Saul had the sense, I shall have to give in; and you will have to give in. You will have to call Jesus “Lord” sooner or later; better do it now in a day of grace, than in a day of judgment.
Fallen to the ground, Saul said, “Who art Thou, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest.” Blessed word. It was not, I am the Almighty, I am the Creator. No, “I am Jesus.” Saul knew something about Jesus, he had heard plenty about Jesus―so have you. You say, How was he persecuting Him? He could not reach Christ in glory. No, but he could reach His people on earth, and he learned that day the wonderful truth of the unity of the Church, and of the sacredness of the Body of Christ in touching Christians he touched Christ.
A Christian is part of Christ. Saul learned, in the moment of his conversion, about the Church, of which Christ was the Head. Then, broken down and utterly humbled, he says, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” His will is broken, there is a complete surrender. Have you never made a downright surrender to the blessed Lord? You had better do it now―do not put it off; do not miss the present moment. Accept Christ, bow down to Him. Saul gave in. Wise man! What a blessed thing it is to give in.
Then we are told what he was to do. “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” (vs. 16). The Lord says, I am going to put you into My service. It is a fine thing to change your master, if you have a bad one. But, you say, People will call me a turncoat. Never mind. I have never repented the day when I turned my coat; Paul never repented, and you will not. We were serving a bad master, till Christ met us, and, when we were turned to the Lord, we got a good one. I can give my Master a good character, and I can say to any man, young or old, Come to my Master; get to know, and then serve Him.
Paul says, “I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision” (vs. 19). What was to be his mission to the Gentiles? “To 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” (vs. 18). What an embassy, to be the messenger between God and man. I would rather tell you about Christ, than be the ambassador of the British throne to the greatest court on earth. All that must pass away, but the Lord’s servants will meet and praise Him in glory, when every earthly ambassador and every earthly court has passed away to let our Master in, when He comes to reign. Daniel tells us that the stone that fell upon the feet of the great image crushed all to powder, the wind blew it away, and then was set up the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Get into it today, my reader. You get to know the One who will be the King, as your Lord and Saviour now, and there is plenty of work for you to do, at His bidding.
What do men get when they turn to the Lord? “Forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified.” They leave the devil’s ranks, the black flag of damnation, and come into the ranks of the saved. They have left the hosts of the doomed, soon to be the hosts of the damned, and have come under the Authority of the Captain of salvation. Get, my friend, among the Lord’s hosts. I want your heart for Christ, I want you for the Lord. Tell me, will you decide for Him mow? Listen to Saul, as he unfolds his commission. The way you get all the blessing is by believing in Jesus― “by faith that is in Me.”
We are not told here what is recorded in Acts 9, that Saul went to Damascus, and passed through three days and nights of deep agony. Then Ananias was sent to him. The Lord knows how to meet an anxious soul in the most wonderful way. If you are really anxious you will soon get some word that will give you the sense that you belong to Christ. Ananias said, “Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou earnest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized” (vers. 17:18). He owned the Lord publicly. You do the same. Believe in Him simply and then confess Him boldly, for “if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Rom. 10:99That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9)).
I hope you will get waked up, if you never have been yet. Hollow profession of Christ will not do. You may have been a nominal Christian for many years, it is all of no use if you have not been brought to know the Lord―all that you have got will only drag you down. Paul could say, “I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.” Can you say that? Has the Lord spoken to you? Happy are you if you can say, “I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.
W. T. P. W.