TOPIC:"The Jesus You Can't Get Away From"
"Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And He said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest" (Acts 26:14, 15).
Without doubt the Apostle Paul was the most dynamic and dedicated Christian of the first century. No man did more to spread the teachings of Jesus and emulate His life than this beloved follower of Christ. Paul believed in Jesus as his Savior and recognized His Lordship over his life. But that wasn't always the case! As we read this chapter of Acts we discover that Saul of Tarsus not only disbelieved what Jesus taught, but he violently persecuted with utmost zeal those early followers of Christ by having them thrown into prison.
Then one day that forever remained in his memory, when the light was brighter than the noonday sun, Paul was captivated by a heavenly vision of the risen Christ. The voice that spoke to him and the vision that appeared to him, penetrated to the depths of his soul. His conversion to Christ was so transforming and revolutionary, that from that time on he devoted the rest of his life to the Christ who had redeemed him.
Now it is the words of Christ in verse 14 that I want us to look at in this message: "It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." The New Living Translation renders it: "It is hard for you to fight against my will." Phillips has it: "It is not easy for you to kick against your own conscience." In these words we find one truth about our risen Lord which is too often overlooked. It is this fact: Jesus is inescapable. He is the Christ you can't get away from.
The prick referred to here was used to sting or puncture the animal. It was symbolic of Paul's conscience. In that conscience of his Paul continued to oppose Christ and hinder His work. He was like an ox pulling a plow who kicks its feet when the farmer hits it with a stick. And just as that ox kicks its feet in vain, so Paul is kicking in vain against Christ. Now says Jesus to Paul, "It's time to stop opposing me. It's time to stop fighting me. It's futile because no one can escape from me."
I believe there are some of you here today who need to face up to the truth that Jesus is inescapable. . . .