Where upon as I went to Damascus with authority
and commission from the chief priests… nothing could have been
further from the mind of Saul of Tarsus, then conversion, when
he rose and settled his caramel that morning. He would have
scorned the idea with oats and curses. One fixed idea controlled
him, and that was to arrest as many Christians in Damascus as he
could. Nothing could have been further from his mind than the
idea that he was wrong in his beliefs and behavior; that he was
an active and guilty enemy of God, that Jesus of Nazareth was in
very truth the Son of God, and that, at the very moment, He was
not only very much alive but was actually preparing to come down
from heaven to confront Saul face to face. 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 all were falling to the Earth, I heard a voice
speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul,
why persecutest by me?
It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
This was no private hallucination. It was the Lord from Heaven,
the Risen, Ascend Christ, Jesus of Nazareth. (Acts
26:13-14) But rise and stand upon thy feet: for I have
appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and
a witness….(Acts 12:16).
“Now get up,” the Lord said unto Saul, I want to tell you what I
have in mind for you. He was to be a minister, a messenger, and
a mediator. You are to be a fearless worker. (Acts
26:17-18).
Paul was to go to the regions beyond. All his
insular, rabbinic Pharisaic, and Judaistic pride and prejudice
was to be crucified. His field was the world: 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. (Acts
26:18)
Now we see how the Lord sees us. He sees us as
spiritually blind; secondly, the Lord sees us as satanically
bound. Paul, “first I am sending you to open their eyes and turn
them from darkness.” That is exactly what had happened to Paul
himself on the Damascus Road, as, bathed in dazzling light,
aware of the lovely face of Jesus, he had listened to His
gracious words, enthralled by His tender voice. Then to turn
them… from the power of Satan unto God.” We must never minimize
the power and authority of Satan over the lives, beliefs,
actions, words, and destiny of the lost. The Lord never does.
People are Satan’s captives. He is the prince and
god of this world, the “Prince of the power of the air, spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience (Ephesians
2:2). He holds people captive with lies and with lusts. The
world is his lair. He is the dragon, a murderer from the
beginning, and the father of lies; and the human race lies in
his lap. That is the way the Lord sees us- a much different view
than we have of ourselves. We need to be turned from “the power
of Satan” to God.
Now we see how the Lord saves us. He saves us by
giving us freedom: “to open their eyes… to turn them.” The power
to do that is inherent in the gospel. The Lord Jesus was
manifested, “that he might destroy the works of the devil”.
(I John 3:8)
The Lord saves us by giving us forgiveness: “That they may
receive forgiveness of sins.” The Lord saves us for fulfillment:
“That we may receive…. inheritance.” Salvation is far more than
forgiveness. We become children of God, joint-heirs with Jesus.
We have a Salvation that cancels our past, provides for our
present, and fills the future. It is a full salvation, which
gives us exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.”
(Ephesians 3:20)
The Lord saves us by giving us fellowship; “That
they may receive…. inheritance among them which are sanctified:
He makes us members of a new community. The Lord saves us by
giving us focus. “Sanctified by faith that is in me.” This new
life does not come about by chance. It is not the product of our
own good resolutions or determined efforts. Whereupon, O King
Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision. He
flung himself wholeheartedly into the new cause. He gave himself
holy to the glorious one who now owned all the passion of his
heart, all the greatness of his mind, and all the purpose of his
will. He was now as zealous to spread the gospel as he was to
stamping it out.
The conversion of Paul was a revolutionary event;
“I was not disobedient.” He was faithful in his preaching, he
was fundamental in his preaching, and he was factual in his
preaching.” What stung Festus was Paul’s insistence on the
resurrection of Christ. To Festus that was nonsense. Once A man
was dead, he was dead. Festus told Paul he was laboring under
the power of some strong delusion. He was mad, but Paul said I
am not mad… most noble Festus. But I speak forth the words of
truth and soberness.
Festus was a newcomer but Agrippa was at home. He
could not help but know about Jesus of Nazareth. For three and a
half years Jesus preached, Crossing and re-crossing the country
from northern Galilee to Jerusalem. He had taught God’s Word in
an unforgettable way. Who, having heard them, could not forget
the parable of The Prodigal Son or The Sermon on the Mount? He
had electrified the country from end to end with remarkable,
numerous, and spectacular miracles. People by the scores had
been healed, thousands had feasted on loaves and fish
miraculously multiplied from a little lad’s lunch; demons
recognized Him and fled before His command; the dead had been
raised. Jesus’s illegal trial and crucifixion, His burial in the
tomb of the wealthiest and most influential Jew in the country,
and His resurrection wrapped the country. He has the power to
save anyone!
Pastor, Rev. Dr. Cullian W. Hill