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^4-8 Out to sea again, we sailed north under the protection of the northeast shore of Cyprus because winds out of the west were against us, and then along the coast westward to the port of Myra. There the centurion found an Egyptian ship headed for Italy and transferred us on board. We ran into bad weather and found it impossible to stay on course. After much difficulty, we finally made it to the southern coast of the island of Crete and docked at Good Harbour (appropriate name!).

^9-10 By this time we had lost a lot of time. We had passed the autumn equinox, so it would be stormy weather from now on through the winter, too dangerous for sailing. Paul warned, “I see only disaster ahead for cargo and ship—to say nothing of our lives!—if we put out to sea now.”

^12,11 But it was not the best harbor for staying the winter. Phoenix, a few miles further on, was more suitable. The centurion set Paul’s warning aside and let the ship captain and the shipowner talk him into trying for the next harbour. (The Message)

‘The season for navigation with sailing vessels was drawing to a close, and Paul counseled delay, but his words were unheeded. The man who knew God was wiser than the men who knew the sea.’ F.B. Meyer

As we seek to discern the best path through life, we do well to listen to the counsel of wise, people who are in touch with God. In setting Paul’s warning aside, the Centurion put the ship, and everyone on board, in great jeopardy. (We will see even more about how bad things got next time).

Proverbs 11:14: “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety”.

A man who was in a recruitment process, which would involve him leaving a large church, in order to head up a different kind of ministry, asked permission to speak to one or two people whose opinion he valued. In doing so he quoted the above Proverb.

I remember someone saying in years gone by that, if we cut ourselves off from feedback we are stifling the opportunity to grow.

”My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” (James 1:19)

 As soon as arrangements were complete for our sailing to Italy, Paul and a few other prisoners were placed under the supervision of a centurion named Julius, a member of an elite guard. We boarded a ship from Adramyttium that was bound for Ephesus and ports west. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, went with us.

³ The next day we put in at Sidon. Julius treated Paul most decently—let him get off the ship and enjoy the hospitality of his friends there. (The Message)

Jilly and I heard a man preach recently about encountering Jesus in the ordinary, in the everyday. He made the point that although the Lord wants to meet with us, to show us His presence, this is regularly experienced in and through others. Occasionally, people will have a dramatic, personal encounter with Christ (as Saul did), but more often than not His presence is ‘mediated’ through other people. Quoting a theologian, he called it ‘Mediated Immediacy’.

Reading today’s passage, and reflecting on it, I thought of that sermon. Paul, on his difficult journey to Rome, met with times of unexpected kindness. Here, Julius was, perhaps, the surprising instrument, and, of course, his friends in Sidon were also. Again and again the Lord comes near to us in the love and kindness of others. May we always have eyes to see Him. Surely, we live in the goodness of God.

‘The we indicates that the good physician, Luke, had rejoined the party. Separated from Paul by the Apostle’s imprisonment, he now accompanied him on the ship to Rome. The centurion was indulgently disposed toward Paul. He may have been one of the brilliant crowd who had listened to Paul’s last address. It was a most merciful Providence that placed the Apostle with such a man. He showed exceptional kindness in releasing Paul on parole at Sidon, that he might visit his friends, and, no doubt, provide himself with necessaries against the stormy and hazardous winter voyage.’ F.B.Meyer

But Agrippa did answer: “Keep this up much longer and you’ll make a Christian out of me!”

²⁹ Paul, still in chains, said, “That’s what I’m praying for, whether now or later, and not only you but everyone listening today, to become like me—except, of course, for this prison jewelry!”

^30-31 The king and the governor, along with Bernice and their advisors, got up and went into the next room to talk over what they had heard. They quickly agreed on Paul’s innocence, saying, “There’s nothing in this man deserving prison, let alone death.”

³² Agrippa told Festus, “He could be set free right now if he hadn’t requested the hearing before Caesar.” (The Message)

A refrain of an old hymn goes:

‘For you I am praying,
For you I am praying,
For you I am praying,
I’m praying for you.’

It is a song, by Samuel O’Malley Cluff, about praying for lost people. The last verse says:

‘ When He has found you, tell others the story,
That my loving Saviour is your Saviour, too;
Then pray that your Saviour may bring them to glory,
And prayer will be answered- ’twas answered for you!’

It seems that, in effect, King Agrippa quipped, ‘Do you think you can make me a Christian in such a short time?’ Paul’s answer was that whether it took a short or long time, his prayer for Agrippa – and everyone in the room that day – was that they would come to share his faith (but not his chains).

We are faced with the privilege and responsibility of praying for unbelievers. For whom are we praying?

That was too much for Festus. He interrupted with a shout: “Paul, you’re crazy! You’ve read too many books, spent too much time staring off into space! Get a grip on yourself, get back in the real world!”

^25-27 But Paul stood his ground. “With all respect, Festus, Your Honour, I’m not crazy. I’m both accurate and sane in what I’m saying. The king knows what I’m talking about. I’m sure that nothing of what I’ve said sounds crazy to him. He’s known all about it for a long time. You must realize that this wasn’t done behind the scenes. You believe the prophets, don’t you, King Agrippa? Don’t answer that—I know you believe.” (The Message)

Since Paul’s day, many other believers have been charged with madness. Such accusations appear, to those who make them, useful tools to push away the uncomfortable truth. Well, if we are crazy, it’s a glorious insanity. Anyway, the uncomfortable truth cannot be so easily swept away. As Paul asserted to Agrippa, the events surrounding the life, death and resurrection of Jesus were well known in the ancient world. They were ”not done in a corner”.

‘All these things concerning Jesus were clearly foretold in the Old Testament. What had happened to Jesus during His lifetime was known by thousands of people. It was clear that Jesus was the Saviour described by the Old Testament prophets. King Agrippa believed the prophets; he would know that Paul was not insane. Let Festus ask him.’ Tom Hale

“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!”

 “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. (The Message)

It is perhaps enough for today, to share this challenging quote from F.B. Meyer:

‘We must not disobey the heavenly visions that visit us. When Paul in his dream beheld the beckoning Macedonian, he made a straight course for Europe. Sometimes, in obeying, the first appearances are discouraging, as when the missionaries, on landing at Philippi, met only a few women beside the little river; but the final results will justify the first stepping-out of faith.’

“One day on my way to Damascus, armed as always with papers from the high priests authorizing my action, right in the middle of the day a blaze of light, light outshining the sun, poured out of the sky on me and my companions. Oh, King, it was so bright! We fell flat on our faces. Then I heard a voice in Hebrew: ‘Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me? Why do you insist on going against the grain?’

^15-16 “I said, ‘Who are you, Master?’

“The voice answered, ‘I am Jesus, the One you’re hunting down like an animal. But now, up on your feet—I have a job for you. I’ve handpicked you to be a servant and witness to what’s happened today, and to what I am going to show you.

^17-18 “‘I’m sending you off to open the eyes of the outsiders so they can see the difference between dark and light, and choose light, see the difference between Satan and God, and choose God. I’m sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven, and a place in the family, inviting them into the company of those who begin real living by believing in me.’ (The Message)

How surreal must it have been for Saul of Tarsus to be having a conversation with the very Jesus he had been persecuting in going after His people. (He has described himself in verse 11 as ”a one-man terror obsessed with obliterating these people.”) Yet, the One who would now be his ”Master” had a special assignment for him. But before getting up on his feet to fulfil his calling, he first found himself flat on his face. This is where authentic Christian service begins, metaphorically if not literally. (It is also in this same spirit that it continues): with our lives laid down at the feet of the Master, Jesus. Everything else that is good in our varied ministries, whatever they may be, flows from this posture.

I notice that the Lord Jesus spoke with Saul in a language he could understand. This is a basic principle of effective evangelism. We have to communicate, not just talk. As someone said, there exists between the church and the world a ‘stained-glass barrier’, and we have to crash through that barrier and get our message across.

¹² “In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. ¹³ At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. ¹⁴ And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵ And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶ But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, ¹⁷ delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you ¹⁸ to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ (ESV)

Christian conversion is not only death to life; it is also darkness to light. On the way to Damascus, Saul literally ‘saw the light’: He met Jesus, ‘the light of the world’, and saw His glory – He whose face is brighter than the noonday sun in all its brilliance (Rev.1:16).

F.B. Meyer comments: ‘Nowhere else is there such deliverance from the glare and cross-lights of earth as is afforded by a vision of the face of Jesus, brighter than the sun at noon. To everyone there comes the opportunity of catching a vision of that face, sometimes reflected in a human one, as Paul first saw it in the countenance of Stephen. It confronts us when we go on forbidden paths, and summons us to arise and follow the life which is life indeed.’

Saul was now called to preach a message that would cause people to ‘see the light’ spiritually (18). In the light of Christ we come to see our need for forgiveness, and its glorious availability through faith in Him. We also recognise that we are in bondage to Satan, but Jesus can set us free.

The Way of Jesus, then, is:

• The Way of resurrection: death to life;
• The Way of illumination: darkness to light;
• The Way of liberation: slavery to freedom.

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” C.S. Lewis

So Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defence:

² “I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defence today against all the accusations of the Jews, ³ especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴ “My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. ⁵ They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee. ⁶ And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, ⁷ to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king! ⁸ Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

⁹ “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth.¹⁰ And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. ¹¹ And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities. (ESV)

You would not have wanted to meet Paul in his pre-conversion days. He was not a very nice man: at least, not to Christians! In this third, and fullest, account of his conversion in ‘Acts’ we are given more details than previously. We see the heights to which he was lifted, but also the depths from which he was hauled.

Paul’s question in verse 8 is so good. All the things we find difficult to believe In the Bible surely dissolve when we face the reality of God. If He truly exists then all things are possible.

Paul himself was (is) a visible demonstration that ‘’God raises the dead’’. One of the ways he describes conversion is as a resurrection (see, e.g. Eph.2:1-10). He had passed from death to life. This was his story, as well as his message.

‘Stretching out his hand, the Apostle began by congratulating himself on the opportunity of laying his case before the great-grandson of Herod the Great, whose elaborate training in all matters of the Jewish religion made him unusually competent to deal with the matters in debate. He asked why it should be so hard to credit the attested fact of the Lord’s resurrection. He granted that he himself had resisted the evidence when he had first heard it. Indeed, he had everything to lose if he accepted it. His fiery persecution of the Christians proved at least that he was an impartial witness. So he pleaded before that group of high and mighty potentates. What a contrast between their splendid robes and sparkling jewels, and the poor, worn, shackled prisoner! But they are remembered only because of this chance connection with Paul, while Paul has led the mightiest minds of subsequent ages.’ F.B. Meyer