SUNDAY - AUGUST 30, 2026 "Light vs. Dark" Acts 26:12-23

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Acts chapter 26, verses 12 through 23 is where we will be today.

Acts 26:12–23

As you turn there, you know, every good story seems to have a plot line of good versus evil, light versus darkness.

Everyone, even last week, we we talked about the Star Wars saga.

And even in that, in Star Wars, there's a light side of the force, a dark side of the force.

Even in secular thought, in secular, uh, and in secular philosophy, there's always a light versus darkness.

And it seems like in good stories and things we hear that there's this eternal battle between light versus dark.

But let me tell you, while there is a battle, there is a war going on right now of light versus darkness, it is not an eternal battle.

It is not an eternal battle.

Satan, it is not a battle between God and Satan for all eternity.

Hear me.

Satan was created.

He does not carry or wield the power of God.

And a day is coming.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus, where God will make all things right and there will be no more darkness.

So in that time, before that happens, what we need to do, like what Paul is doing, is tell people how to move from darkness into light.

In Acts chapter 26, where we where we were last week in the first 11 verses, Paul stands before uh Herod King Agrippa, and he is proclaiming the hope that is within him, which was the hope of Israel that the Messiah was coming.

Acts 26 · chapter mention

And Paul's hope is that Jesus was, is, always will be the Messiah that was promised throughout the old covenant to the people of Israel.

Jesus is that Messiah.

He is that hope.

But before Paul turned to that hope, he tells us at the end of the passage that we were in last week, the last three verses, verses 9 through 11, he talks about how he had traveled to cities to persecute believers, even to foreign cities, and that's really where we pick up today.

In the passage today, Paul shared his conversion experience with King Agrippa.

He shares how God brought him from darkness into light.

And we may ask, how does Paul's, how does Paul's conversion experience, how does that help us?

Well, while our testimony may not be exactly like Paul's, it may not look like Paul's in any shape or form or fashion, at the same time, just as God moved Paul from darkness into light when we believe in Jesus like Paul, we are moved from darkness to the light.

So the challenge for us is the same challenge that we had last week, which is the challenge that Paul gives to the people directly in verse 20 when he says this repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with your repentance.

Our challenge today is to repent, to turn to God, moving from darkness into light and keep, perform deeds that keep that hold to our repentance.

So today what we're going to be looking at is how Paul moved from darkness into light.

So I invite you, if you are able this morning, to stand with me as we give honor to the reading of God's Word.

Acts chapter 26, we'll begin reading in verse twelve.

Acts 26 · chapter mention

In this connection, I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests.

At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me.

And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

It is hard for you to kick against the goads.

And I said, Who are you, Lord?

And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting, but rise and stand up on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me, and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.

Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.

For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.

To this day I have had the help that comes from God, so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing that but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass, that the Christ must suffer, and that by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light to our people and to the Gentiles.

Let's pray together.

God, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for how you have revealed yourself to us through it.

Help us today.

God, through your word to encounter you, to see you, to know you, to believe in you.

God, we pray that you will move us from darkness into light.

Jesus, it's in your name that we pray.

Amen.

So we'll begin by we'll we we want to look at how Paul moved from darkness into light.

Well, the first step that Paul took to move from darkness into light was actually not a step that he could take, it was not something that he could do, it was something God did.

God called Paul into the light.

See what was happening.

Paul was traveling from Jerusalem to Damascus to persecute believers.

He was on his way to persecute the church.

And on the way, about midday, there shone a great light, brighter than the sun, and all of those fell on the ground.

All those saw Saul at the time and all those with him fell on the ground.

And the Lord spoke to Saul from the light and said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

It is hard for you to kick against the goads.

And Saul, at this moment, being blinded, said, Lord, who are you?

Who is this speaking to me?

What are you doing?

Who is this?

And then Jesus responds, I know we just read it, but can I read it to you again?

Jesus responded and said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

But rise and stand up on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness to those in which you have seen me, and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.

Now, as we God called Paul, there's a couple of things that I want us to see us see when God first appeared to Paul here.

It tells what Paul says is about midday I saw on the way a light from heaven brighter than the sun.

Now, this is the third time in the book of Acts that we have seen Saul's conversion experience, Paul's conversion experience.

We saw it back in in Acts chapter 9, we saw it, but it was not it was not Paul telling the story, it was Luke describing what happened to Paul.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

It was Luke telling us what happened.

And at that point, Luke never mentions the time of day, he never mentions how great the light was or anything like that.

He just gives the basic bare minimum facts, just says, hey, we was going to Damascus, light came, boom, that.

Now, the next time we see Saul's conversion experience is in Acts chapter 22, and Paul is telling the Jews what happened in Acts 22.

Acts 22 · chapter mention

He is giving a defense before the Jews of what happened to him and why he was proclaiming Jesus is the Messiah.

When Paul tells that story in Acts chapter 29, he does say, he adds the fact that it was noon.

Okay?

And all he says was that it was a great light in Acts chapter 22.

Acts 22 · chapter mention

But now, as we come to Acts chapter 26, and Paul is telling this story again, here's what he says.

Acts 26 · chapter mention

It was at midday, and a light appeared brighter than the sun.

He is giving a very detailed account here of what is happening.

Why would Paul be doing this?

Because here, Paul is telling people how to move from darkness to light.

And he wants them to know, listen, and understand how bright this light must be.

Understand it.

It's midday noon.

How bright is it at noon?

You ever been outside at noon?

I mean, it's pretty bright.

So at noon, a light appeared to Saul to the point that he and all those who are with him fell to the ground.

That light was brighter than the sun.

Can you imagine a light brighter than the sun?

That's what is happening here.

And Paul is telling people hey, we want to move from darkness into the light.

I'm telling you about a light that is brighter than the sun.

The greatest light that you can imagine, the sun.

I'm telling you about a light that is brighter, that shines brighter than the sun.

His name is Jesus of Nazareth, who Paul was persecuting at the time.

If you want to move from darkness to light, here is a light that is brighter than the sun, and here's what's happening.

That light that is brighter than the sun is calling Saul.

He's calling him.

He's calling them, though, understand this, while he is still Saul.

He's still a sinner.

He's on his way to persecute the church.

Listen, it's not something that Paul, that Saul says, you know what?

I'm gonna clean up my life so God will call me.

I'm gonna get things on track and get things right so I can follow God.

Nu-uh.

That's not what's happening.

That's not what he says.

While he is still Saul, Paul writes about it in Romans chapter 5, verse 8.

Romans 5:8

Here's what he says.

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

While we are still sinners, Christ died for us.

God is calling Saul just as he calls us.

And if we are going to move from darkness to light, it is a work of God in our lives.

We must be listening to Him.

He calls Saul.

There's another little phrase here that Paul uses telling this story here in Acts chapter 26 that's not used in the other two stories.

Acts 26 · chapter mention

He says, Saul, Saul, Jesus says, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

It is hard for you to kick against the goads.

What does he mean by that?

Why would he use that here and not in the other times?

Well, some of the commentaries that I read said Paul probably used it here because it was kind of a, that was a Roman proverb.

Again, he's speaking to a very Roman audience who would have understood the proverb.

Do you get it?

Let me see if I can explain it.

A goad is like a cattle prod.

It's got a point on it.

And so to get cattle to move, they would poke them with this prod.

And what happens though, if if if you're poking that cow and it decides to come back or kick against you, do you know what's going to happen?

It's going to get injured more.

It's going to get hurt more.

The point is going to go further into them.

It's going to cause more damage to them.

It's going to hurt them more.

And what Jesus is telling Paul is Paul, fighting against me as you are fighting and persecuting me, as you are running from the call on your life, as you are doing that, you are fighting the goads.

You are only hurting yourself.

See, Paul writes in Galatians chapter 1, verse 15, he says this about his call.

Galatians 1:15

He said, But but when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, Paul understands that God has is working and calling him, and he is only hurting himself as he fights against God.

And hear me as you run from God, as you fight what God is doing in your life.

You are only hurting yourself.

Don't fight against the goats.

Don't fight against that pride.

Don't work against it.

Trust in our Savior.

Then as God calls Paul here, he gives him two tasks, two things that he wants him to do.

We see that down in verse 16.

But rise and stand up on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and as a witness.

There's two things that Paul is, that God is calling Paul to do.

The first of those is to be a wit a servant.

John Polehill, one of the commentaries that I read, he wrote one of the commentaries that I read, he writes this about being a servant.

He was first to be a steward.

The New Testament word there could also be translated as steward.

In some translations, it's translated that way.

Paul was called to be a steward.

The word emphasizes his relationship to his Lord.

He was to be one who served his master and was faithful to his master's commission.

To serve the Lord.

Listen, and we are called, like Paul, we are called to serve the Lord.

That's why Paul even writes back in Galatians, where we just were in Galatians chapter 2, verse 20, Paul writes this, for I have been crucified with Christ.

Galatians 2:20

It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

And the life I now live, I live in the flesh.

In the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

It is Christ who lives in us.

When we have moved from darkness into light, it is Christ who is now living within us, and we are to serve him.

We are to serve the call that has been placed upon our lives.

We have been to, we are, we are to follow the command of our master, follow the command of our Lord.

To walk in light means we serve God.

The call on Paul's life was to be a steward of the call that was placed upon him.

Hear me today.

As believers, the call on our lives is to be stewards of what God has called us, what he has brought us to.

We are walking in the light.

We are in relationship with God, and we are to be stewards of that relationship by serving our master.

We've got to follow him.

Paul, God called Paul to tell people how to move from darkness into light, and one of those was to serve God.

The second task that God called Paul to was to be a witness.

Was to be a witness.

Now listen, this is no different from what Jesus told the disciples way back in Acts chapter 1, verse 8.

Acts 1:8

I feel like we've read it a whole lot, but let me read it to you again.

Acts chapter 1, verse 8.

Acts 1:8

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.

We are called to be witnesses.

Well, what does that mean?

Well, he tells Paul what it means to those things that you have seen me.

So what you have seen, we are supposed to tell about what we have seen in Christ.

Paul was supposed to tell about what God has done.

Exactly what Paul was called to do, exactly what he's doing right here.

As he stands before King Agrippa and all those in the room, he is telling what happened to him.

How God called him when he was on that road to Damascus, how God called him to be a witness, how God called him to be a servant.

Paul is just telling what has happened in his life.

And hear me, if we are going to be witnesses to the kingdom of God, that is what we do.

We tell about Jesus.

We tell about who Jesus is, we tell about the Jesus of Scripture, how he has revealed himself to us.

We talk about how he is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies.

We talk about how he came and he lived a perfect life on this earth, how he died on the cross, how he arose from the grave so that we may have life, so that we may enter into a relationship with him.

We tell about what he has done, we tell about who he is, we tell about how scripture reveals who he is to us.

We proclaim Jesus.

Telling you as you go to work, talk about Jesus.

As you go to school, talk about Jesus.

As you do the things that God has called you to do and in the places where God has placed you, talk about Jesus.

Tell about who he is and what he has done.

We are to be witnesses to the kingdom of God.

He called Paul to be a witness.

And here's why.

He tells him why that they should do this.

A couple of reasons.

One is so that they will turn.

So that they will turn to him.

So that they will turn from darkness to light.

See what he says in verse 18 to open their eyes.

So that they may turn from darkness to light.

Listen, we are walking in darkness.

Remember, we love to quote John 3 16.

We very rarely read the verses after that.

But John chapter 3, verse 19 through 21, Jesus says this, and this is the judgment.

John 3:19–21

The light has come into the world, and the people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their works were evil.

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his work should be exposed.

But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.

Listen, we we live in darkness.

And the judgment is when we don't believe in Jesus.

We remain in the darkness.

And we feel safe there and we feel good there because our works aren't exposed.

The problem is when we are there, we are kicking the goads and we are only hurting ourselves.

Where we need to be is in the light.

Now it can be painful.

It can be painful because our works are going to be exposed.

People are gonna know who we are for real.

God is gonna know for real who we are.

But what he does when we come into the light, it is there that we find forgiveness for our sins.

It is there that we meet Jesus who died so that we can be forgiven of our sins.

It is there that we meet Jesus who arose to give us his righteousness.

It is in his holiness.

We must move from darkness into light because darkness is the judgment.

The light is life.

We've got to move from darkness into light.

And Paul is, God is calling Paul to tell people how to move from that darkness into light.

But then he also says something interesting here that we don't like to think about.

He says this that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.

That they may turn from the power of Satan to God.

Now listen.

We don't want to admit.

I didn't want to admit it before I became a believer.

For those of you who are believers, you probably did not want to admit this.

For those of you who have never trusted Christ, you probably don't want to admit this.

Because you think you're a good person.

But hear me.

If you have not trusted in Christ, you are under the power of Satan.

That's what Scripture tells us.

In Ephesians chapter 2, verses 1 through 4, he tells us who we are.

Ephesians 2:1–4

Paul tells us exactly who we are.

He says this, and you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

We don't want to admit that.

We like to think that we are good people.

We like to think that our good outweighs our bad.

We like to think that we're okay.

But hear me.

If you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, you are a son of disobedience.

You are a follower of the prince of the power of the air.

You have no control over your life.

He is leading you.

You are dead in your trespasses and sins.

You are in the dark.

But but that's not where that passage ends.

The next verse begins with a but.

Listen to verse four.

But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ by grace, you have been saved.

And he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

But God, we were dead, disobedient, sons of disobedience, children of wrath.

But God calls us, he makes us alive through the power of Jesus Christ.

He makes us alive because Christ died on the cross for us and covered us with his righteousness because he arose and defeated that sin.

He defeated that death.

He gives us everything that we need to be in a relationship with God.

He gives us life.

He moves us from the darkness into the light.

And it is all by the grace of God.

Repent and turn to God.

Repent and turn to God and move from darkness to light.

And what He tells us we find there when that happens, that they may receive forgiveness of sins.

And a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.

When we trust in Christ, when we believe in Jesus, we find forgiveness.

Forgiveness for being sons of disobedience.

Forgiveness for being children of wrath.

And he sanctifies us.

Here's what that means.

He makes us holy.

He takes his righteousness.

And because he died and arose and defeated sin, he takes his righteousness and lays it on top of us.

So now we are righteous because of what he has done for us.

And hear me.

That means nothing can take it away.

Because it's his work.

Because he places his righteousness on us.

And his light is brighter than the sun.

No darkness can overcome it.

We are his for all eternity.

Oh, repent and turn to God.

What Paul tells us in the next few verses is that's what he did.

He says, Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.

He moved from darkness to light.

And he went and he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogue.

And he proclaimed Jesus in the streets.

And he proclaimed Jesus before kings.

And he proclaimed Jesus.

What he says here from the smallest to the greatest.

He in verse he says, I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass.

He proclaimed that the Christ must suffer, and that being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.

He repented and turned to God.

And then he performed deeds in keeping with his repentance.

So where does that leave us today?

A couple of things.

One, if you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, today you need to repent and turn to God.

You are dead in your trespasses and sin.

You are an enemy of God.

But God makes us alive.

We need to repent and turn to Him.

If you are a believer.

When we repent and turn to God, here's what that means.

We were walking this way, we repent, turn to God, and now we walk this way.

And as we walk towards Him, we perform deeds in keeping with our repentance.

Love this morning, as I was reading the Bible recap, actually listening to it this morning.

As I was listening to it, Terry Cobble, who wrote it, she told a story about a friend of hers.

It was a friend who they had been praying for her.

She had been asking for prayers forever because she was a smoker and she wanted to give up smoking.

She felt like God was calling her to give up smoking.

She just couldn't do it.

Tried and tried and tried.

Then finally, one day after some time, Terry Lee met up with her and she had just cold turkey, just quit.

She asked her friend, she said, How did you do it?

And here's what she said.

It was amazing.

I wanted to hear something new from God.

She said, Every time I went into a Bible study or I heard a sermon, and I heard the word proclaim, I read my Bible, all I could hear was, you need to quit smoking.

You need to quit smoking.

You need to quit smoking.

And she said, I finally realized until I was faithful to the call God had placed on me then, I would never hear anything new.

You want to hear from God.

You want God to show you where you need to be.

Hear me.

You need to be faithful to what He's called you to do now.

You may say, Grant, I don't know what that is.

Let me tell you.

Can I tell you?

Can I tell you?

Here's a great place to start.

You will receive power after the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be his witness in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria to the uttermost parts of the earth.

There's a call on your life.

Are you being a witness?

Let's start there.

Let's start there telling people that we come in contact with.

Again, I'm not telling you you got to stand up here and preach behind a pulpit.

I'm telling you, as you go to work tomorrow, talk about Jesus.

As you go to school tomorrow, let's talk about Jesus.

Let's talk about what he's done in our lives.

Let's talk about how he moved us from darkness into light.

Let's talk about who he is and how he's moving in our church.

Let's talk about what Jesus is doing.

Let's be witnesses to the kingdom of God.

Let's start right there.

And as we are faithful to the things that God's already called us to do, guess what it does?

It opens up so we can hear a new word from him and where he's calling us to go.

Let's be faithful.

So this morning, if you are an unbeliever, here's the challenge.

Repent and turn to God.

If you are a believer, here's the challenge.

If you are not living where he wants you to be, if you're not keeping the call that he's told you to do, here's your challenge.

Repent and turn to God and perform deeds that keep with our repentance.

I'm going to pray for us.

We're going to stand and sing a hymn of invitation.

As we sing that hymn, if there's a decision that you need to make, we invite you to come.

If you've never trusted Christ, we invite you to come.

We'll pray with you.

There'll be counselors who can take you out and share with you how you can follow Christ.

If you have, but man, you're not keeping that call and you want to repent.

I challenge you.

I encourage you to come.

Let us pray for you.

Or maybe, if not, maybe you just need to come and kneel at these steps and pray and do business between you and God.

I understand you can do that at your seat as well, but listen, I challenge you to move.

To move.

Let Him work in you.

Repent.

Turn to God.

Performing deeds that keep with your repentance.

Let's pray together.

God, I thank you for today.

I thank you for the opportunity to hear your word.

Jesus, you came and lived and died and arose.

So that we can have life.

So that we can walk in light.

I pray for those right now who are living in darkness that they will repent and turn to you.

Walk in the light.

God, I pray for those who are in the light, but God, they're not keeping those deeds.

They're trying to turn back and do the old things.

God, I pray that today give them the faith that they need to walk in the light.

To repent and turn to God and perform deeds that keep with their repentance.

God, as you are moving among us, work as only you can.

Give us the faith that we need to respond.

Jesus, it's in your name that we pray.

Amen.

Thanks for listening to this week's sermon.

If you have any questions for our pastor, feel free to reach out at DeSotoHills.com.