Acts 26 is also set against the background of the Jewish religion. In verse 17 the Lord said that He would deliver Saul from the people unto whom He would send him. The word “people” in this verse does not refer to mankind but to the Jewish people, the religious people. In the Jewish religion there was a young man named Saul who had a strong will and who was faithful to that traditional religion. He was very zealous for the religion and tradition of his forefathers. While he was on the way to damage the church, doing his best to persecute it, the Lord Jesus appeared to him and knocked him to the ground. Saul asked, “Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutes!” (Acts 26:15). The background here is not that of paganism but of the typical religion. Saul was zealous for God according to the traditional religion, but he was persecuting the church of Christ and opposing God’s economy. Although he was so zealous for God, he did not realize that he was part of the greatest deviation from the central line of God’s revelation.
After Saul had been knocked down, the Lord called him, saying, “Rise, and stand upon thy feet: for 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” (Acts 26:16). Often the Lord knocks us down and then tells us to rise up. At these times the Lord may say, “Don’t lie there—rise up. If you rise up, I will make you a minister and a witness, not a religionist. I will make you a witness of what you have seen.” The Lord seemed to be telling Saul, “You have seen Me speaking to you from the heavens. Now go and witness to people of this. Witness to the priests, the elders, and the scribes. Formerly, you said that I was killed and buried, but now you must witness to the fact that I have been resurrected and am now living in the heavens.”
In verse 16 the Lord told Saul that he would be a witness both of the things which he had seen and of the things in which the Lord would appear to him. The Lord said that He would reveal other things to Saul, not in the way of teaching, but by means of His appearing. In whatever the Lord appeared to Saul, Saul was to witness of that to the people. This is not a teaching, a doctrine, or a religion; it is absolutely a revelation of Jesus. All that the apostle Paul later ministered was something in which the Lord had appeared to him. He was not taught by the Lord; rather, he had revelation that came from the Lord’s appearing. After his experience on the way to Damascus, Saul could say, “I have seen the living Jesus in the heavens. I will go tell people of what I have seen. My seeing comes from the appearing of this living Lord. He charged me to minister those things in which He has ministered to me, and He even promised to appear to me again and again. Every time He appears, I see something. Then I go out and witness to people about what I have seen.” Being a witness is not a matter of teaching and knowledge, but of appearing and vision. The things in which the Lord appears to us are the things which we must minister to others.
In Acts 26:18 the Lord charged Saul, “To open their eyes that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the authority of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and a portion among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me” (Gk.). This is the work that you young people should do today. Do not preach the traditional gospel of Christianity. Rather, open the eyes of this generation that they may turn from darkness to light. The first thing we must do is to help others to see. In order to do this, we ourselves must have the vision and see the heavenly things. We must see the things concerning Christ, not by being taught, but by having Christ appear to us. After you have seen the vision, you need to contact people, telling them that Jesus has appeared to you and that you have seen Him. Do not preach the low, traditional gospel. Many who have received this poor gospel are still blind and in darkness. Do not teach people religion—open their eyes that they may turn from darkness and Satan to light and God. By turning in this way, they will be released from the evil power of darkness, which is the authority of Satan, unto God. As a result, they will receive forgiveness of sins and a portion among those who are sanctified. All the saved and forgiven ones are saints, and all the saints have a portion (Col. 1:12). According to Colossians, the portion of the saints is simply Christ Himself. Christ has been allotted to us, and we all share a portion in Him. What is our portion? It is neither the heavens nor the earth but Christ. Thus, Christ is the common portion of all the saints. Unbelievers do not have a positive portion. Their portion—the lake of fire—is negative. Our portion—Christ—will consummate in the New Jerusalem. Those who turn from Satan to God will not have a portion individually but corporately and collectively with all the saints. This means that they will have a portion among those who are members of the church life. We cannot have such a portion alone; we can only have it among the saints, among those who are sanctified by faith.