If Luke, guided by inspiration, included three separate looks at what happened to Paul on the road to Damascus and his subsequent obedience to Christ, you would be inclined to believe it was important. From the actual events (Acts 9) to Paul ’s retelling of them before hostile Jews (Acts 22) to the apostle explaining it again to King Agrippa (Acts 26), we see what many consider the most dramatic conversion recorded in the New Testament. The fierce persecutor became a fearless proclaimer for that which he sought to destroy!
Each of the accounts is worth our study. But, in the third (Acts 26), as Paul stands before Agrippa, we note him saying that the heavenly voice of Jesus told him what the Savior intended to do for him and what He wanted Paul to do.
According to vs. 16, Paul would be made a minister and a witness of things he had seen and were yet to be learned. The Lord would provide deliverance from both Jews and Gentiles. Paul would labor in the midst of perils. See Acts 9:16 .
Paul would carry out a worthy mission. We find it in vs. 18. He would open eyes. He would find spiritual blindness in many. This would be due to ignorance, prejudice, or sinful living. He wrote of such in II Cor. 4:4, “whose minds the god of this age has blinded.” He would turn people from darkness to light. These were people who had their understanding darkened (Eph. 4:18). Only by leaving the world (darkness) and entering the kingdom of God (light) could they be saved. Col. 1:13 shows us Paul assuring the Colossian Christians that they had been delivered from the power of darkness. He would help people escape the power of Satan. From slaves of sin, he would help them be set free (Rom. 6:17 -18).
His work would lead people to rejoice in the forgiveness of sins and look forward to an inheritance greater than any physical amount could equal. We must smile as we read Acts 26:19, “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.” Perhaps thousands can rejoice in heaven because Paul accepted his assignment. Shouldn’t we do the same (Matt. 28:19 – 20)?
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