The Pilgrim Path---Acts 26: 12 – 24

“In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. At midday, O king, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had 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.’ And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 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, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles---to whom I am sending you 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.’

“Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: 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.”

And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.”

“…YOU ARE OUT OF YOUR MIND”

The Apostle Paul gives King Agrippa, Queen Bernice, and Governor Festus, a quick word on his encounter with the resurrected, glorified Jesus of Nazareth (The Living Christ). Would like to have seen their faces. It is a nail-biting tale. Light from heaven. Voice from the skies. Life-altering commands from Jesus---the only One who delivers from Satan’s power and “provides” forgiveness from sin (v. 18). All coming through the sole instrument of “faith” in God’s Holy Son. WHY would we give our “all” to HIM? This Jesus---- suffered the penalty for our sin (v. 23) and came back from the dead---“proving” HIS sacrifice was accepted by the Father---and that HE can keep all who rely upon Him---forever! Festus cannot help but say, “Paul, you have lost your mind…”

Well, my friends---No one believes this message---unless the Holy Spirit applies the benefits of Christ’s Redemption to their heart. We are obligated to tell them the truth---in as “understandable” a manner as we can---but the Spirit must bring it home. Sow the Word. Pray and press on. And expect a few people to question your mental stability---if you love Jesus more than any other (and believe Him above all others).

Paul had not lost his mind---Paul now had a “right mind”----through the power of the Gospel. We pray this for others. As Jonathan Edwards used to say, “all grace is wrought in the human heart by the knowledge of God.” We share the truth---and pray the Divine Comforter will work it into the fabric of hearers--- for their eternal benefit!

Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter One/ Section 5

We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the church to an high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scripture. And the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole(which is, to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man’s salvation, the many ither incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God: yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.

From Samuel Rutherford: Blessed were we if we could make ourselves masters of that invaluable treasure, the love of Christ; or rather suffer ourselves to be mastered and subdued to Christ’s love, so as Christ were all things, and all other things our nothings, and the refuse of our delights. O, let us be ready for shipping against the time our Lord’s wind and tide call for us.

Grace and Peace in Jesus, the Only Redeemer of broken and wretched souls, Pastor Jason