In Tight Places

Acts 9:6-8

And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

God has such a sense of humor here. I am not sure how you cannot yet see it. What must be done was Saul's bodily service unto Jesus' calling. From the letters unto the churches, the much hardship, and the frequent travels, Saul was there for it all. This is enough to make you wonder, how much love it takes to make a man do this. Guilt would certainly motivate one to write many letters. A sense of responsibility would send him on more travels. But the love of God makes him endure the impossible as if it were nothing. This I am confident we will soon see. There is a revealing of God in this text here rarely seen elsewhere in Scripture. It speaks of the mystery of God's understanding and love for Saul. It was such that even before Saul knew Christ, he was loved and as one accepted in the beloved in Ephesians 1:6. See, God may have seen Saul under the fig tree of John 1:48. But Saul had not yet seen God. When he does, he will love him for the rest of his life. This raises the question of who exactly taught the newest apostle Saul. See, God would have him even when no one else would. God would keep him like no other. God would speak with him as with no one before. You want to know what came of this situation, but a divine teaching, healing, and deliverance ministry. The administrator of such was Christ himself and coauthored by Saul.

You might speak all you please of how God has forced you to do this thing or that. God forces none for even he is as a gentleman. He only called and Saul answered unto him that spoke. This is why you must not refuse him that speaks in the latter writings. Otherwise, you do so at your own risk – unto your own peril is more like it. It is like those signs warning cave divers not to continue for fear of lack of oxygen and tight spaces. Those that ignore them may find themselves becoming soap mummies. Had Saul not served the Lord, it is highly likely that his self-appointed destruction would soon be complete. See how gracious Jesus is in this offer. He is essentially saying, 'do whatever you want, but come now and work for me.' Here is salvation and deliverance appointed from what Saul understood not. Again, there is yet another thing to see from the text. The "kicking against the pricks" spoken of is a technical term. It is one used in a select group of situations. For instance, its' uses can be seen in cave diving, chocolate factories, and religious fanatics. However, with this phrase, the Lord brings down an apostle for himself. Let me help you understand it better. What does he do but find a man puffed up and filled with himself out on a journey. He pricks him spiritually as one would with a needle. Saul is thrown to the ground; the demonic spirits guiding him are let out allowing Jesus in. We will see more of these pricks for the master's use soon on this journey.

And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.

I suppose these men would be rendered temporarily speechless. I would be too if a man spoke to me in the Spirit and left. There are several miracles or manifestations shown here if you will. There is a miracle to be found in these religious leader's speechlessness. I do not know how much you know about such kinds, but they are almost never speechless. In fact, their presence is usually given away by their tongues. By their speech you will know them according to Matthew 7:15. There is a spiritual fruit of a life which comes from the mouth and tells much about what is in a man. Herein we see they knew it to be Christ all along. For Romans 1:20 says that his eternal power and Godhead were written upon their hearts. Now they are without an excuse, and it is not even judgment day yet. The point I am trying to make is that their mouths were stopped because they had no excuse for the sort of things they were doing. Now they can say nothing; their power over Saul had been broken. It is almost like God said, 'he's mine now.' Then came the signs and wonders of the Spirit baptism as at the baptism of Jesus in Matthew 3:16-17. Now I know some of you heard the words Spirit baptism just now and are making some rather funny faces. Yes, that is actually a real thing. Saul himself would speak of the experience later in 2 Corinthians 12:2. It speaks of being caught up into the third heaven. If you remember, the only criteria for being an apostle was a witness to the Lord.

Unlike the other disciples who had to pray and wait for their anointing on the day of Pentecost, Saul's happened instantly. The moment he called Jesus Lord, the power fell. This is because before Pentecost in Acts 2:3, the Spirit had not yet been sent from on high. When the Spirit was sent on that day, God once more dwelt with man. Thus, Saul was caught up and received power from on high at about the same time. Some of you might be feeling rather amazed right now. But see, God is doing this thing. It is better for you to say nothing than to sin against him. Which brings us to our second miracle recorded here. The text says that "Saul arose from the earth." Now I am sure this is what some of you will call 'being slain in the spirit.' Now I am not sure that I know anything about that personally. Nor have I received teaching concerning it. So let us leave that in the Lord's hands as his work, alright. It is important to see the miracle is found in what happens next. When Saul opened his eyes, he saw no one. I am not sure which of the two miracles is the greater. Here we see service to God versus service to man. But how many know that when you serve God, he will arrange even the men to lead you to where you ought to be. See, Saul was seeking what he could not find. God was seeking what did not want to be found. For it is at Damascus that the two will run into each other. We talk a lot in the church about when your purposes and your promises meet up with your destiny. That is all a lot of nonsense. Saul certainly met up with his destiny at Damascus. But Damascus was just a place appointed where the Lord wanted him. Without all this, Saul likely never would have found it on his own. But how many know of Damascus as the place where the lost and the found meet.