It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks
Acts 9:5 “And he (Saul) said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.”
Acts 26:13-14 “At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me.
And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.”
Twice in scripture, this little illustration of the means…”the pricks” or goad…. that God used on Saul/Paul to awaken him to his unbelief….is told.
(Let me just say here….that there were many scriptures….of which Saul/Paul knew….which were fulfilled all around him.
John the Baptist coming to lead the nation to repentance…to prepare a way for the Christ. Malachi 4:5-6
The many miracles, which Jesus performed for three years
Acts 1:22 “…which God did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:”
The illegal arrest and trial of Jesus….secretly at night. How wrong he knew that was.
The sign that was hanging above the cross:
“…Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews..” John 19:19-20
The resurrection, testified by so many.
The day of Penacost where simple fishermen became bold and spoke in many languages of the Christ of God….and so many were saved!
And finally, Stephen’s testimony and death….how righteous he was….and forgiving! Acts 7:56-60)
All of these spoke to Saul/Paul that Jesus Christ….who was crucified….and raised,….was the Son of God!
Yet what stopped him from turning to the Lord?
Unbelief.
1 Timothy 1:13, 16 “Who was before a blasphemer, and a prosecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting.”
Paul, in his many letters, speaks of belief as the transforming power of God….in the lives of men and women…( Acts 16:31, Romans 10:9, 1 Cor. 1:21, 1 Thess. 2:13) ….
Ephesians 1:19 “And the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power,”
And he writes of unbelief as the damaging wrecking-ball…which keeps men lost and far from God.
2 Corinthians 4:4 “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, Who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
Jesus said to Saul/Paul….when His light had knocked him down to the earth…
….“It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.”
This pricks is a goad….or a long stick which was used to keep oxen moving forward.
Often when they were prodded, they would kick back, trying to injure the one using the stick….
…and this is what the Lord is accusing Saul/Paul of:
“You are trying to kick Me….because I have been prodding you with all these scriptures….which you know….being fulfilled before your eyes. You want to close your eyes to that light…and hope these things are not so….but they are.
You have been persecuting Me, as you persecute My believers….for they show, even in their suffering and death….the reality of their profession that I am the Son of God in them.”
Again, I want to say that twice this phrase is used…as a witness (Duet.19:15)…
…..and that is because God does the same to us.
He gives us light….from scripture…read, heard, seen. He gives us light from the testimonies of believers. He gives us light in all the things going on in the world.
He gives us light that keeps prodding us into His Way….till we “hear” and “see” Him.
How far,…or for how long He will “be mercifully longsuffering” (2 Peter 3:9) is different with each one….
….but as Jesus said to Saul/Paul…
Acts 26:16 “….for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose…”
(and there is a Purpose for each of us….in the Light of God.)
The Purpose to know….
…….and to show the Light of the glorious gospel….of Jesus Christ:
Acts 26:18 “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Me.”
2 Corinthians 4:6 “For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
Colossians 1:12-13 “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son:”
To believe(John 1:12)… is to put the full weight of our existence upon Christ Jesus.
Will we finally “see” the light that the Lord is showing us….and believe Him?
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 