Acts 9:1-9
"It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks"
Jesus seems to be saying that fighting against him
and his Gospel results in self-injury
In a cathedral in New York is a gallery that is
surrounded by a series of panels. Each panel represents a
Christian century and bears the name of the person who,
from the view of Christianity most profoundly influenced the
life and thought of their century. Concerning some of the
names that appear in these panels of honor there was much
difference of opinion; but when it came to the choice of a
name for the first panel of NT Christianity there was
complete agreement among those who were consulted.
Who was this man? Was He among those who were
first to receive Christ as Saviour? No! In fact He was once
violently opposed to Christ and bitterly opposed to the
Christian movement. He once made it his business to
persecute Christians and waste the church of God, but all
this was before His Damascus road experience. The part
which Saul played in the horrid work of persecution of the
early church is often underrated. However, if one would
study the verses that deal with Paul’s persecution of the
church, I am convinced that one would be astounded and
shocked at Paul’s cruelty. In his persecution of the Church,
Paul acted just as brutal as the Nazis, Communists, and
other vile people and nations in their barbaric treatment of
others.
It is no wonder the saints were hesitant to receive
Paul into their midst after His conversion.
This morning I want us to look at one part of Paul’s
conversion that is probably too often overlooked. It is found
in the words, "It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks."
In these words we have a suggestion of the conflict that had
been raging for some time in the soul of this persecuting
Pharisee.
Kicking against the pricks was a good way to describe
Paul’s problem. This figure of speech came from a practice
in eastern countries where farmers get oxen to do what they
are bidden. A prick was a nail anchored in the end of a stick
used to goad reluctant oxen along as they plowed. Deviation
to the left or right would result in some pain. Sometimes the
animal would kick at his master, and wound up kicking the
prick and injuring itself. Even a very stubborn ox would soon
get tired of this and settle down to work.
Jesus seems to be saying that fighting against Him
and his Gospel results in self-injury.
In our text it is as though Jesus was saying to this
proud Jew, "You are trying the impossible. You have been
trying to escape me, but you can’t. I am the answer to your
problem. I am the inescapable one. Paul, you are going to
have to deal with me."
Paul made some important discoveries that day on
the road to Damascus about the inescapable One whom he
was kicking against.
I. Paul discovered that if he ever wanted to
REALIZE righteousness before God, Jesus
was the only answer.
Paul had religion. He was saturated with religion. He
was a Pharisee who went to the temple to pray, fasted
twice a day, gives tithes of all that He possessed. He kept
the law and traditions perfectly as far as men were
concerned. "Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of
Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews;
as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal,
persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is
in the law, blameless."
How could a sincere man like Saul of Tarsus be so
wrong? The answer is simply that he was using the wrong
measuring stick. Saul of Tarsus was looking at the outside
and not the inside. He was comparing himself with
standards set by men, not by God. As far as obeying
outwardly, Paul was a success, but he was did not stop to
consider the inward sins of the heart he was committing.
There are sinful attitudes and appetites as well as
sinful actions. When he looked at himself or looked at
others, Saul of Tarsus considered himself to be righteous.
But on the road to Damascus, he saw himself as compared
with Jesus Christ. It was then and there that Paul changed
his evaluations and values, and abandoned works
righteousness for the righteousness that comes by Jesus.
Paul discovered that day on the road to Damascus
that if a man was going to be right with God, Jesus was a
must.
See Acts 13:38,39.
The greatest day in Paul’s life was when got over his
religion! Salvation is not religion; it is JESUS CHRIST.
See 2 Corinthians 5:21.
II. Paul discovered that if he ever wanted to
RECONCILE the lives of the Christians
whom he was persecuting, Jesus was
the only answer!
Paul observed that the people whom he was
persecuting were different. He had listened to their
testimony and watched their lives.
How could he explain it?
These Christians returned good for evil, blessing for
cursing, and love for hate. He had observed Christians
praying for those that despitefully used them and
persecuted them.
GOD IS NEVER HELPLESS IN THE BUSINESS OF
REDEEMING MEN SO LONG AS HE HAS SOME CONVINCING
HUMAN INSTRUMENTS OF HIS GRACE THROUGH WHICH
HE CAN WORK.
We all too often desire people to get saved, and yet
they have seen nothing in our life that would challenge
them.
The only way Paul could explain these people whom
he had so ruthlessly persecuted was simply Jesus. The
quality of their life sprang from Jesus.
If Paul could only stamp them out then he would not
have to explain them! This was the reason Paul was
heading to Damascus on the day that He was born again.
The character and the life of the witnesses was one
of the things that Paul could not resolve himself from. It
was one of the pricks that was kicking against Paul.
These Christians were different from any people I
have ever noticed.
How could He explain them? The answer is only Jesus
whom thou art kicking against.
III. Paul discovered that if he ever wanted to
RESOLVE the inner turmoil in his heart and
soul, Jesus was the only answer!
See Acts 9:1. The little word "yet" implies something
more than just continuance. It suggest continuing in spite
of something. That something lay in the heart of Paul. That
something was the unrest in the soul of Paul.
Now with all their faults, the Pharisees of which Paul
was a member were still the Puritans of their day. The
opposing religious group was the Sadducees. They were the
liberals of that day. They denied the existence of angels,
the resurrection, and miracles.
According to verse 1 Paul went into the High Priest
who was a Sadducee and sought permission to seek out and
arrest all who trusted in this Jesus.
Paul wanted to exterminate those happy, singing,
aggravating Christians. He could not understand why he
hated them so much. There was great turmoil in his soul.
Isaiah 57: 20 But the wicked are like the troubled
sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and
dirt.
Isaiah 57:21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the
wicked.
In Isaiah’s picture we see the life of one that has
never been saved as one of unrest. In this image the Bible
is reminding us that a lost person is never really satisfied
and never knows real peace. A life without God never brings
a real and lasting satisfaction. A restless sea is a picture of a
troubled life.
Real satisfaction is not found in a place but in a
person. Real joy and happiness is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Though they may have a great share of prosperity, yet they
have no share in this inward, and spiritual, and everlasting
peace.
If Paul was ever going to resolve the void, vacancy,
turmoil, and unrest in his soul, he had to quit kicking against
Jesus. If Paul was ever going to be set free with that which
was enslaving, He was going to have to come to Jesus.
See Romans 5:1.
IV. Paul discovered that if he ever wanted to be
READY for death as as Stephen whom he had
watched die, Jesus was the only answer!
Stephen’s death lingered in Paul’s mind. I find when
he recounts his testimony that he mentions it. "I also was
standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the
raiment of them that slew him." Saul stood there
and beheld Stephen die. The martyrdom of Stephen, which
Saul witnessed, let unerasable scars upon his conscience,
and this conviction intensified his efforts to annihilate the
cause of his misery. To watch the home-going of Stephen,
to hear the inspiring prayer for his enemies, to witness the
happiness thrilling Stephen’s soul when he meet the Lord--all
were experiences beyond the comprehension of Saul.
The more he considered the possibilities of these
events, the more disturbed became his soul.
Now, little did Stephen’s fellow believers know that
Stephen was another corn of wheat falling into the ground
to die so that it might not abide alone. Little did they know
that it had fallen into soil that would provide a marvelous
harvest for Christ in the conversion and ministry of Saul of
Tarsus.
Stephen died with full assurance, confidence, and
complete peace. This haunted Saul. This bothered him. How
can you die with such peace? How can you have such
victory in time of death? What is the answer?
The answer is Jesus whom you are kicking against.
CONCLUSION:
Finally, one midday on the road to Damascus, Paul
realized that it was Jesus who he was kicking against the
whole time. That day Saul later named Paul, surrendered his
will to Him whom He had been fighting against the whole
time.
If any man is going to right with God, Jesus is the
answer. If one is looking for the answer to a Christian,
Jesus is the answer. If one desires freedom from the turmoil
in their soul, Jesus is the answer. If one wants confidence at
the time of death, Jesus is the answer.
A woman went to church one morning. A deep unrest
filled her life. She could find no comfort. While she sat there
in the pew, a bird came in at the open window and flew up
toward the ceiling. The windows near the top were closed,
and the poor bird in seeking to get out to the open air again
kept flying against one window after another.
In her heart the woman was saying, "Why can’t the
poor thing come down lower and see the open window
there?"
Finally, the bird grew weary and dropped to the floor.
As it did, it saw the open window, flew out, and soon was
soaring away into the blue. Then the woman said to herself,
"I have been like that. I have been trying to find peace in
the wrong places, but Jesus has a window open, and His
arms are beckoning to me. I will humble myself and seek
Him, and I shall find the light even as the bird found it."
This woman found her comfort by simply humbling
herself and coming to Christ.
