April 17, 2014–The Power of an Encounter with Christ

Day 38: Acts 26:1-32

Darren & Lydia Mar. 2014This is probably one of my favourite stories in the book of Acts.  Paul is standing before Governor Festus and King Agrippa and Bernice sharing his testimony of what God has done in his life.

He recounts in that instance one of the most powerful moments in his life.  He shares with the King how he was riding down the road to Damascus when a brilliant light surrounded him and from the light came a voice speaking to him, Christ the Lord.

I will tell you something right now.  There is nothing like encountering the brilliance of the character of Christ.  It transforms you in a moment and you cannot help but go back to the experience time and time again.  When people question you as to why you have this hope that is in your heart. you begin to tell them of the time you were going down the road to Damascus and Jesus spoke to you from the light.

There is an old song we sang growing up, “I saw the light, I saw the light, no more darkness, no more night.”

When Christ speaks to you supernaturally, the very essence of His words remain with you the rest of your life.  Years pass by since you first encountered His glory, but you cannot escape the power of that encounter, nor do you wish to try.

When I was hanging myself in the closet and God spoke to me, my life was changed forever.  When I had the vision of my future ministry and saw the glory of God rise upon many towns and people, I was completely transformed.  My desire in that moment became His and His alone.  No longer did I wish to walk my own path, but now my desire was to walk His.  His path was more precious than my path.  His path was eternal and I understood this in that moment.

I was in the darkest dungeon bound by the strongest chains.  I was like a dead man wearing grave clothes when Christ cried out to me.  I came out of that dead man’s tomb into a way of life I never imagined, but oh how rewarding a life He had in store for me!

I know that I shall speak to kings and to rulers in high places.  I know this because God has spoken it to me.  When I am there before them, I will tell them how I met God on the road to Damascus.  How His spirit spoke to me and the life that I live now.

I know that God is going to save nations.  I know that we will see many a multitude come to the Lord…all because He chooses to reveal Himself to each one of us from His cloud of Glory.

Is the message of Christ that firm within your being that you are willing to face even prison in order to preach to kings?  I don’t know if mine is, but my prayer in this moment is: “God, strengthen me to be a strength to many.”

I once read about a man who allowed himself to become a slave to win souls for Christ.  I wonder if we would we be as willing.

Paul the prisoner spoke with power to kings.  He didn’t have to be a prisoner.  He might have chosen a different course, but he was a slave to Christ.  Lord, help me also to become such a slave for your glory.

April 16, 2014–A Dead Man Named Jesus

Day 37: Acts 25:1-27

The Sams in IsraelGovernor Festus is trying to tell visiting King Agrippa and his Queen Bernice who this prisoner named Paul is and why he is being held captive. He expresses surprise that the charges levelled against him by the chief priests and the Jewish leaders were not as serious as he had anticipated. Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive.” (v. 19)

“A dead man named Jesus.”

That is how Festus views Jesus. A dead man. Just another rebel put to death by the Romans before he could disrupt the Pax Romana that they maintained with ruthless force and do any damage to the empire. Yes, Paul claims that this Jesus was alive. But obviously, Festus is not buying that story. After all, it is only a “claim!”

Oddly enough, nearly 2000 years later, the world is still full of “Festuses” who simply dismiss Jesus as no more than a dead man, just like the founders of other world religions. There are those who agree that Jesus was someone special, a wise teacher, a phenomenal miracle-worker, a great leader, etc., who still do not believe that anything happened beyond his death.

Sadly, there are even “Christians” in churches who do not believe that Jesus was raised from death. They believe that He continues to live through those who follow Him. They would describe Him as being “immortal” in this sense. But, as for Him being alive today…they’re not quite ready to go that far.

Yet, as the apostle Paul puts it in I Corinthians 15:14: “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” To get even more down to basics, without believing in His Resurrection, you cannot be saved! Here is Paul again: If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

The challenge that faces us is the same that the first edition of Church in the Book of Acts faced. You may recall this episode in Acts 17, when Paul was preaching to a non-Jewish crowd in Athens. As long as he was talking about God the Creator, no problem. Everyone was with him. But, as soon as he declared the truth about Jesus, here is what happened.

When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.”At that, Paul left the Council. Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed.” (vs. 32-34)

How do we “prove” to those who believe that the Christian faith is about “a dead man named Jesus” that he is alive today?

There are some who can do this via scholarly debate with persuasive logic and appeal to extrabiblical sources. However, for most of us, the best way is what we have been seeing in the book of Acts over the past 37 days. You guessed, it, signs and wonders.

Go back and read through the entire book of Acts and you will discover over and over again that it was signs, wonders and miracles that provided irrefutable proof that Jesus was indeed raised from the dead—whether it was the healing of the lame in Jerusalem (chapter 3) or Lystra (chapter 14), the raising of Tabitha from the dead (chapter 9), or the many others described in summary form (5:12-16, 6:8, 8:6-7, 19:11-12).

If Jesus is doing through Christians (little Christs) today exactly what He did when He was physically alive on this earth, then surely, He is no longer “a dead man named Jesus” who Paul, …………..(your name) and others “claim is alive”, but He is indeed alive. Today. Here’s the “in-your-face” proof.

Now it is their turn to respond–to sneer, to hear you again or to believe.