“What could I do, King Agrippa? I couldn’t just walk away from a vision like that! I became an obedient believer on the spot. I started preaching this life-change—this radical turn to God and everything it meant in everyday life—right there in Damascus, went on to Jerusalem and the surrounding countryside, and from there to the whole world.

21-23 “It’s because of this ‘whole world’ dimension that the Jews grabbed me in the Temple that day and tried to kill me. They want to keep God for themselves. But God has stood by me, just as he promised, and I’m standing here saying what I’ve been saying to anyone, whether king or child, who will listen. And everything I’m saying is completely in line with what the prophets and Moses said would happen: One, the Messiah must die; two, raised from the dead, he would be the first rays of God’s daylight shining on people far and near, people both godless and God-fearing.” (The Message)

As we saw yesterday, Paul’s response was prompt and immediate. He was conscious that he could only do what he did in the strength supplied by God. What human would be equal to such a calling without divine aid? Verses 22,23 read like this in the ‘ESV’:

” To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: 23 that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

Paul was utterly convinced that what he had experienced and what he preached was the true fulfilment of all the great Jewish hopes. As we have noted before, this was the New Testament flowering of Old Testament buds – and Paul did not want to keep any of its beauty to himself. He desired to fill the world with gospel blooms.

PRAYER: ”Lord Crucified, Give Me A Heart Like Thine!
Teach Me To Love The Souls Of Dying Men,
And Keep My Heart In Closest Touch With Thee,
And Give Me Love, Pure Calvary Love,
To Bring The Lost To Thee!”