APPEALING TO A HIGHER POWER (PART 7)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen—that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to His own people and to the Gentiles.”

Acts 26:19-23

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

It was a Damascus moment, the day that Jesus struck Saul blind as he journeyed to the Syrian city with the intent of persecuting and arresting Christians. Three days later, when his vision was miraculously restored, Saul became Paul, the name change indicating that he was a different man, transformed by Christ and no longer led by sin but rather the Holy Spirit. As we finished yesterday’s message, we found Paul sharing the mission Jesus had given him. It was as follows:

“Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” Acts 26:16-18

Paul was to go and share the Gospel with Jews (his own people) and the Gentiles, opening their eyes as his eyes were opened to see that they were walking in darkness and the power of Satan. Once realizing their fallen state, Paul was then to help them see the Light (capital “L”) of the world who was none other than Jesus Himself (John 8:12) and understand that He was the only One who could sanctify them (make them holy) and forgive their sins, bringing them to salvation through faith in Him. ‘

Those were Paul’s marching orders from his new spiritual Leader. How did Paul respond to those orders?

We see in today’s message, the penultimate devotion in this eight devotion series. Look at his words again here as he continues to address King Agrippa who asked him to speak:

“So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen—that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to His own people and to the Gentiles.” Acts 26:19-23

Jesus told Paul what He wanted him to do and Paul did not disappoint. He showed absolute obedience and loyalty to his Lord by preaching that people needed to repent of their sins and “turn to God”, showing “their repentance by their deeds”. He did this first in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and Judea, before expanding his ministry to the rest of the world where the Gentiles resided. In doing all this work for the cause of Christ, Paul was only fulfilling “what the prophets and Moses said would happen” as he proclaimed how Jesus, the Messiah, “would suffer” and be the “first to rise from the dead” before bringing “the message of light (God’s gift of salvation through Him) to His own people (remember Jesus was a Jew) and to the Gentiles”.

Paul was just doing as his Lord had demanded. He was carrying out his divine spiritual duties given to him by the highest authority, Jesus Christ. And yet, he was treated like a criminal by the Jews who seized him in the temple courts of Jerusalem and tried to kill him, efforts that were as futile as they were wicked and evil because God was with Paul. He was with him just as much as He was with him in the moment, giving His servant the very words to speak to the Roman king and those gathered with him.

And with these words, Paul had given his testimony. He had told who he used to be (a persecutor and killer of Christians), the event that led him to change who he was (his Damascus moment with Jesus), and what he had done since he changed (shared the good news about Jesus wherever he went to help others find salvation through Him).

You know, we all have our own testimonies and we should be as bold as Paul in telling them to everyone who will listen. We need to profess who we were and the things we did as we walked in the darkness of sin under the power of Satan. We then need to talk about what life event or events led us to have our own Damascus moment (some may call this a “come to Jesus” moment today) where we made our choice to change and give our lives for Christ, just as He gave His life for us. Finally, we can talk about the work we have done for Jesus after choosing to follow Him, sharing how we put our faith into action.

We do this with the purpose of helping others follow our lead, to assess where they are and see that they need to change with the hope that they will make that choice and commit themselves to serve Jesus and help others come to their salvation through Him.

As for Paul, how would the King and his audience respond to his message?

We’ll start to look at this as we conclude this series tomorrow.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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