Good Tuesday June second as we again come to God’s word to learn God’s will.
The message, repent and turn to God-
Paul is testifying before Agrippa and all in the theater located along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Paul shares that as he was on the road to Damascus to arrest followers of the Way, being around noon time the brightest that the sun would appear, that a light from heaven brighter than the noon sun knocked him and his soldiers to the ground, but then from the light the voice from God spoke to Paul in the Hebrew language. Exodus 3:2& 4 “And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Paul in sharing the experience how God called him to serve which is similar in a way God had called another to serve, Moses. Agrippa being a learned man of the Jewish religion would have been able to piece the two events as God being the source and God being the One both would obey and follow. So Paul testifies God the same God whom Moses spoke about and we all identify got his attention and called Paul into His service. Let’s read together from Acts 26:19-23 “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.” Paul spoke about a light so bright, that this light blinded his physical sight, like when someone is welding, the light being brighter than the natural light and without eye protection one can lose physical sight, or as when one looks up at the sun, and turns away, spots appear as a slight physical blindness occurs. Paul says I was in the midst of this bright light, God’s glory, and lost my physical sight, but I heard without any doubt from Jesus the Messiah and as Moses was sent, Jesus has sent me to share the message which I have and am doing before you. Paul tells Agrippa the message was simply this, “repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.” James 1:22 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Paul because he knows Agrippa has knowledge of Judaism, identifies Moses here, who predicted that the coming Messiah would suffer “that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.” Because the prophets along with Moses prophesized about this, what Paul experienced was this fulfillment of prophesy. Notice what the prophets again said, “He would be the first to rise from the dead.” Who? The Messiah the Christ and that person is Jesus as no other person, has risen from the grave. Just the truth, do you believe? Remnant
