From Darkness To Light

FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT

Acts 26:12-18

Acts 26:12 (NKJV ) “While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, 13 at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. 17 I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, 18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’

INTRO. In this passage, the Apostle Paul has been taken before Herod Agrippa II. Paul has been proven innocent of any charges made against him 4 times (before the mob, the Sanhedrin, Felix and Festus). Yet, Paul has been detained as a prisoner because Felix and Festus didn’t have the courage to do the right thing and let him go. So, Paul has appealed to Caesar because he had no other options.

Festus has a problem with Paul’s appeal. When a governor sent a prisoner to Rome, he had to send a report with the charges against him. Paul was innocent. Festus has nothing to write down. There were no witnesses against him.

Fortunately for Festus, Agrippa made a courtesy call to him. Herod Agrippa II was a Jewish man and Festus thought that maybe Agrippa could help him untangle the mess.

Festus was the superior to Agrippa. Agrippa was grew up in Rome. His sister, Bernice, came to Festus with him. Agrippa and his sister lived in incest. Bernice was also the sister of Drusilla, the wife of Felix the former governor.

Herod Agrippa I, this Herod’s father, was a terrible man. He beheaded James and imprisoned Peter. He’s the Herod in ch. 12 who decided he would have an “All Hail Agrippa Day” and was eaten by worms and died.

Herod Agrippa II was the grandson of the Herod of the gospels who killed all the male babies in Bethlehem after Jesus was born. His uncle was the one who had John the Baptist beheaded. His whole family heritage was rotten!

Agrippa II was Jewish in nationality but Roman in his perspective and background. In the Jewish war, which brought about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, Agrippa tried to stop the Jews from revolting. He was unsuccessful and when Titus Vespasian moved his troops against Jerusalem, he joined the Roman army and fought against his own Jewish countryman.

His wife, Bernice (Josephus tells us of this incest) was wicked. She first married her uncle at 13 yrs. of age and had two sons by him. Later she married a man named Marcus. But in between these marriages, she started the immoral relationship with her brother, Agrippa. There were other men she had flings with, and they all ended up dumping her because of her relationship with her brother. In fact, Titus Vespasian took Bernice as his lover, but when she got back to Roman, the talk was so bad that he dumped her, and she went back to Agrippa.

Why is Bernice always there? She is attached to Agrippa like the corona virus (an ugly disease); she is the symbol of his immorality. What a picture of moral darkness!

Paul gives his “defense” or “tells his story to Agrippa” for two reasons: 1) Because it is true, and 2) Because he wants Agrippa to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul was trying to get Agrippa into a position where he understood the Gospel and could make an intelligent decision for Christ. He wanted to bring Agrippa from darkness into the light of Jesus! So, Paul once again gives his testimony. Notice in coming from the darkness into the light, Paul says he was:

1. HALTED BY THE VISION v. 14a

Acts 26:14a And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me

Paul and all the men who were traveling with him from Jerusalem to Damascus all saw the light from heaven and they were stopped in their tracks! Sometimes God allows some drastic things to happen in order to get our attention. Has God ever used something drastic in your life to get your attention? For some of you, He’s using this corona virus. He wants you to come out of the darkness into His light.