Not long after the church was
established in Jerusalem a great persecution arose that scattered the
disciples abroad. The opposing Jews wished to stamp out the religion of
Jesus Christ, and they expected persecution to accomplish their desires.
But the dispersion of the church meant the increase and growth of the
Lord's cause.
In the work of persecution no name is
more prominent than the name of Saul of Tarsus.
"He made havock of
the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women
committed them to prison" (Acts 8:3).
He was not content to persecute the Lord's disciples in his own city,
but went even to strange cities. On a mission of persecution we find
Saul, with some companions, on the way to the city of Damascus. As they
neared the city, there was a great demonstration. In the language of
Saul himself, we have it related this way:
"And it came to
pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about
noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light about me" (Acts
22:6).
With respect to this heavenly light,
the questions are often asked, "What was its purpose? Why did this light
shine about Saul?" Some have thought it was evidence of his salvation
and they have often insisted that such has been experienced by them.
This, however, is a mistaken idea. The light did not shine around Saul
as an evidence of his salvation. Neither did it appear for the purpose
of saving him. I know that this heavenly light led, even directly, to
his conversion, but that was not the purpose of the light. To understand
the purpose of this light, we must keep some divine statements in mind.
These may be found in the following:
During the personal ministry of Christ
He selected a number of men to be His witnesses to the uttermost parts
of the earth. These He called "apostles." While the two words, of
course, are not synonymous, they are applied to the same men. Apostles
are those who are sent. Witnesses are those who testify of things they
know from what they have seen. But the two words are so used of the same
men that we almost think of them as interchangeable terms.
The apostles were to go into all the
world to preach the gospel, and in so doing they were to testify
concerning Christ. Hence, Peter declared,
"Him God raised up
the third day, and shewed him openly; not to all the people, but unto
witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with
him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the
people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the
Judge of quick and dead" (Acts 10:40-42).
There can be no doubt that the witnesses here mentioned were the
apostles whom the Lord had chosen, and to them the Lord declared,
"Ye shall be
witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria,
and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8).
But for a man to be a witness of the
Lord he must be qualified, and an essential qualification for a witness
was that he must see the Lord after His resurrection. How could one
testify that God had raised up Christ from the dead unless one saw Him
after His resurrection? The necessity of this is shown in the
proceedings by which one was selected to take the place of Judas. Judas
was one of the apostles — one of those chosen to be witnesses.
Therefore, someone who could testify of the resurrection of Christ was
selected to be his successor. The divine record says concerning the
matter,
"Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that
the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of
John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be
ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection" (Acts 1:21-22).
As a result, Matthias was chosen. He could be a "witness of the
resurrection" because he had seen the Lord after His resurrection — he
was with them until the Lord was taken up from among them. No one then
could be an apostle — a witness — unless he had seen the risen Lord.
Keep this in mind as we study Saul.
The divine record tells us in plain
words the purpose of that light — if we understand what caused the
light. Jesus appeared to Saul as he neared Damascus. When He appeared,
it was a glorious appearance. The glory of Jesus was so great that Saul
was stricken blind.
"And when I could
not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that
were with me, I came into Damascus" (Acts 22:11).
It was at this time that he saw Jesus, and His glory was so great that
the physical eyes of Saul could not endure it.
Let us read the purpose of this
appearance of the Lord. Was it to give proof of Saul's salvation? What
was its purpose? When Saul reached Damascus and there waited for
information that had been promised him, we learn the Lord sent Ananias,
a disciple in that city, to him. Here's what he said to Saul when he
arrived: "The
God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will,
and
see that Just One,
and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. For
thou shalt be his witness
unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard" (Acts 22:14-15).
How could Saul be His witness without seeing Him? He could not.
If we need it to be made any plainer to
us, it is made so in
Acts 26.
Reading verse
16, we find the language of Saul
as he later rehearses the matter, giving the Lord's words as they were
spoken to him:
"But rise, and stand
upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose..."
Here we have it. The Lord is actually telling the "purpose" of His
appearance to Saul —
"I have appeared unto thee for this purpose."
For what purpose? To save him? To prove he was already saved? No. For
what purpose then?
"I have appeared
unto thee for
this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness
both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the
which I will appear unto thee."
The light was caused by the glory of
the Lord. It shone in splendor because the Lord was there. The light
appeared because the Lord appeared, but the Lord appeared to Saul to
qualify him as a witness for Him. He must go out to testify of the risen
Christ as an apostle to the Gentiles. Consequently we later hear Paul
emphasizing his apostleship by a series of questions:
"Am I not an
apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?" (1 Cor.
9:1). He
had
seen Jesus. He saw Him near Damascus, and was therefore qualified to be
an apostle — a witness. For this reason the Lord appeared to him. This
was the purpose of the light.
No such demonstration ever occurred in
the conversion of any other man. There is a reason for it. All the other
apostles had seen the Lord while He was on the earth. They also saw Him
after His resurrection and before He ascended. No later appearance to
them was necessary. But Saul did not see Him after He arose, and he had
to see Him at a later day in order to testify. No witnesses have been
chosen since Saul was chosen, and no such light has ever occurred in the
conversion of any man since. There is no need for such today, for
witnesses are not now being selected. It will not occur in your case.
