Abundant Life Christian Fellowship - Everett, WA

Did you ever have to go back to a place where you really didn't want to go? Sometimes God takes us back to face a few things that we would rather not face. Sometimes there are things that we should go back and face, but it's to late. If people are gone, or have died, or the opportunity has passed, then we may have to simply go forward while facing them internally and in different external forms.

Last week, Saul had to slip out of Damascus at night because there were some Judeans who were plotting to kill him. This leads to him going back to Jerusalem.

Let's look at our passage.

The Jerusalem church is cautious

Luke does not tell us exactly what leads Saul to go to Jerusalem. I believe that he is being led by the Holy Spirit, which is a theme throughout this book, as well as the whole Bible.

According to Galatians 1:15-21, this is happening about three years after Saul's amazing conversion outside of Damascus. The people in Jerusalem would know that something odd happened to Saul, since he never came back with prisoners. Also, the rumors would have also been circulating that he had become a Christian.

When Saul arrives in Jerusalem, he finds that the Jerusalem is very cautious. We are told that he "tried to join the disciples..." This term is most likely talking about the general believers that still remained in Jerusalem following the persecution led by Saul earlier. At this point, the term "apostle" and the phrase "The Twelve" was being used of those closest ones who walked with Jesus.

These Twelve were unique because they bore the responsibility to establish what Jesus taught in a faithful manner that people could trust. It is interesting that Jesus did not write any of his teachings down, neither did he baptize any of those who followed him. It was the 12 disciples who became apostles who baptized followers in the name of Jesus, and who laid out the teachings of Christ. Jesus did this on purpose. God can do everything without us, but He doesn't want to do that.

You were designed to work with God and have Him work through you. This is an important point because, if we were designed that way, we will have trouble living life without Him. I like to use a catamaran as an illustration. These small boats with a big sail are functional because they have a large counter-balance that hangs off to one side. They can cut through the surf at amazing speeds because they are light and generally stable. However, if you take off that counter-balance, you will find it very difficult to do much sailing at all. Your sail will be "bowing" to every little wind that comes along. This is us without the stabilizing presence of God within our soul. You may look like you are sailing to a world that has redefined what it means to sail, but the truth is that you are unable to accomplish that for which you were created.

We do not know how Saul's conversion affected the persecution. Did it end, or continue?

Saul would naturally not have any Christian contacts of his own, since he had been dragging them to jail, but he may have been given some names from the believers in Damascus. Yet, he finds the church skittish of him in general. They do not believe that he could have truly been saved. Their fear of what Saul had done in the past made it harder for them to believe the miracle that Christ had done in Saul's heart.

It is easy in our experience as the American Church to accuse these early believers of being judgmental and even unchristian. However, if your life and the life of your loved ones was on the line, you might think differently yourself.

The Jerusalem church, like any other persecuted churches down through history, would have developed careful ways. Though we should be willing to die for Jesus, we are not told that we should try and make that happen. I talked about these matters in my sermon series entitled, "Lessons from the Underground Church." When the lives of your loved ones are on the line, you do church differently. Many people today are walking out through miles of jungle to a secret meeting place so that they can honor God and worship Him with other believers, as His Word commands.

Which brings up an American issue. If you need church to look a certain way, or be a certain way, in order to participate, then you are in a bad position. You really need to take hold of that attitude and square it away with Jesus. Take that attitude out, throw it on the ground, and stomp on it. Get on your face before God and say, "God, change my heart!"

We have lived in a blessed land, and yes, praise God for it! Yet, we know that the most blessed people throughout history have spent that blessing mostly on their fleshly desires. They squandered it. If God took out blessings away, would you even be a Christian? If even a small amount of blessing is removed, we are often unable to take it.

Be very wary of this attitude building in your heart. Some might complain that the Bible doesn't say we have to walk out into the jungle in order to be saved, and faithful to God. No, it doesn't. However, those are the kinds of things that faithful believers do. We will want to obey the command of our lord to worship God together, but they don't want to see their loved ones killed. So, they choose not to meet at their house and not to worship loudly. This is the response of faith to the Words of Christ. Don't play a game like the hypothetical questioning person above. Take up your cross, and follow Jesus. These are the words of our Lord Jesus.

Thus, there is a true need for caution in persecuted, underground churches. This is the testimony of the Church down through the ages. The "authorities" will use the conversion process in order to infiltrate the group and spy out who all is involved. Many a time, a person has lied saying that they believed in Jesus, but they were only worming themselves into the group. William Tyndale was ratted out this way, and later put to death for daring to translate the Bible into English.

Just as "loose lips sink ships" cautioned the WWI and WWII generations, and "loose tweets sink fleets" cautions the modern era, so Christians were not quick to divulge there meeting places and members.

Of course, Saul could be offended by this, and accuse them of not being Christian. However, he doesn't do that. How dare they question whether he is saved or not! Please note that Saul doesn't need anybody to stroke his ego and tell him that he is a Christian. He has a relationship with Jesus. If you have a relationship with the One who went to the cross for everyone, then you will be able to carry a cross for your spiritual brothers and sisters. Saul knew that he deserved every slammed door that he received. Many of them had lost loved ones because of him. He did not deserve a place in their midst. Instead, you go to your knees and pray for your brothers and sisters that God will heal their hearts and help them to know that you truly have changed.

If you were in that situation, how would you know what to do with a guy like Saul? The answer is not in building some religious sounding, but actually natural, wisdom. Persecuted churches must not develop a law that says we never let outsiders in. And, neither should we build a false principle that says that the church must always accept the people who come to them. Making protocols, or decrees, like these is really a childish level of being a Christian. We can remain children and simply follow the human wisdom we think is fit, or we can seek God and hear from Him on the subject.

Believers in such situations do need to be cautious, but they also need to be taking their caution to the Lord in prayer. In the context of a regular prayer life, this will become as natural as breathing. If you remain a spiritual child, then you will make childish decisions. Saul takes it in stride because he is not a child spiritually. He has a strong relationship with Jesus. He doesn't need them to never make a mistake in order to love them and serve them.

The apostles accept Saul

Notice that Saul is accepted by the church in Jerusalem, even though it started out rocky. God used the mature individuals in the church to recognize that the Spirit of God was working in Saul. They led the church in embracing him. So, it actually worked like it was supposed to do, regardless of some bumpiness on the road.

God spreads His gifts. Just as the two-year old is not put in charge of the security of the house because there is a dad who can do that much better, so it is in God's spiritual house. God gives elders who have been faithful over a long period of time, and who have learned through many spiritual experiences the ways of God. They help watch out for the body of believers as protectors, but also as those who have discernment in matters such as this situation with Saul. Be thankful for the elders that God has placed in your life, and don't be too quick to cast off their wisdom.

Remember, you will not be a child forever. I remember when I was in my early twenties that my grandparents and my dad all died within three years. It felt like the roof had been torn off of my life. I couldn't talk with my dad or grandparents about things I was facing. It was harsh. You are exposed to life and you are thinking to yourself, "I'm not ready." However, God is always with us and fills in what is missing in our lives.

I say that to encourage you to enjoy these years of having mature believers around you. Soak up what they have learned, and keep growing in the Lord. The day will come all too quickly where you will need to be the mature one for others. And, believe me, this isn't as fun as we may think it is. Maturity means doing the duties while others play. However, there is a joy in such duties that no amount of play can replace, a joy of relationship with the Lord!

The answer in tough situations like Saul's is for everyone to be focused on relationship with Jesus. This is why Barnabas steps up. He has enough maturity to take Saul to see the apostles.

Now Barnabas was introduced in Acts 4:26. His birth name is Joseph, but the Greek spelling often dropped the "ph" and spelled it Joses. Barnabas is actually a nickname that the apostles gave to this Joseph because he had sold some of his property to care for widows and the poor in the church. Barnabas means "son of encouragement." This is a Hebrew way of saying that Barnabas is a chip off of the old block. In this case, his mother, father is encouragement.

True to his nickname, Barnabas "somehow" runs into Saul and takes him to the apostles. He is not just a wealthy donor. He is a true worker for the Lord, of which this is just one thing. I believe that the Holy Spirit is involved in this development. Saul was running into shut doors, and it may have felt like God was telling him to leave. However, Saul kept humble and kept waiting. God eventually brought Barnabas to him. Don't let yourself become so discourage by obstacles that you forget about God. He has a reason in letting those obstacles remain. Wait upon Him for His answer. God was bringing Saul to Barnabas. He just needed to stay faithful.

Saul is brought before the apostles and relates his story of conversion. This leads to him being accepted into the group. Saul is not under "trial." However, it is only natural that he should make the case for the reality of his conversion. It is in Galatians 1:18 that we are told that not all of the apostles were present. Peter and James the brother of Jesus are the ones he met with. It also tells us that he stayed with Peter for 15 days.

We are not told that Peter and James make an official pronouncement. Instead, it just states the reality of his acceptance. Peter's association with Saul would be enough for the others, particularly those who had come to faith in Jesus through Peter's ministry.

Though we are not told how Peter and James knew to accept Saul, they knew the only way that matters, by the help of the Holy Spirit.

Saul ministers in Jerusalem

Saul very quickly does what he does best. He begins to speak to his fellow Judeans about Jesus. This is going to end in an attempt on his life, just as things had ended at Damascus. We don't want to be judgmental of Saul, but there was something about this man that ticked off his Judean brothers. I believe it has something to do with the phrase, "he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord."

Is there any other way to represent Jesus, but boldly? Of course not! However, this boldness shows that the Holy Spirit was powerfully upon Saul.

It is good for us to pray, "God, I don't want to be a coward. Help me to be bold!" There is a bit of coward in all of us, okay so there is a lot of coward in all of us. We can be really strong as long as we have a group or system around us. These are the things that we surround ourselves in the natural to make us feel powerful. Yet, if you strip those things away from such people, you will find a very scared person at their core. These things in the natural are like a kind of natural armor we use to protect ourselves instead of leaning upon Jesus Christ.

Pray for Jesus to be the spiritual surgeon who cuts out the cowardice from your heart because we can do bold things, and talk big, but it isn't the true bravery that comes from God. Even courage and boldness can be perverted from the good that God intends in them. We can boldly follow the wrong purposes. So, these virtues need to be purified in prayer before God. "God, I want to be bold, but for your things, and in the right way! God, I want to be courageous, but not in sin. I want to be courageous for You!" This is the kind of prayer we need to pray.

So, Saul speaks boldly in the name of Jesus for God's purposes, like Stephen did just three years before this. Notice that he debates with the Hellenists, the same group Stephen had trouble with. I could let this slip by, but it is significant that Saul disputed with them. Luke told us during Stephen's story that the Synagogue of Freedmen were from many areas including Cilicia, where Saul's hometown of Tarsus is. I believe Saul focused on them because he knew them best, and may have counted many of them as friends. They needed to hear the gospel. Yet, the dispute becomes very heated.

There is a time to walk away in disputes, like when you are about to lose your cool. This is a spiritual thing. We are not told how they do it, but there is an attempt to kill Saul, or at least a plan is started.

This sinful part of natural man is always with us. They tried defeating his arguments about Jesus first. When that didn't work, they retreated to simply shutting him down for good. There is nothing wrong with disputing with people in order to show them truth, but a Christian must always keep an attitude of peace about them. The world resorts to bully tactics. Today it is shouting people down in public, or cancelling them online. Though we may not agree with another person, we should not let rage and anger drive the bus of our actions.

Of course, in Stephen's case, the "authorities" always cloak themselves in a cloak of morality, and the color of law, as an excuse for simple weakness of argument.

Again, God's people should never rely upon the sinful works of the flesh to accomplish the will of God. Spouting venomously against others online, or in person, using intimidation, or manipulating the group behind another person's back, all of these are wrong and not of the Lord. It goes without saying that flat out murder is wrong as well.

After this, Saul is sent to Tarsus and there is peace in the region. This seems to be a decision by the church, "the brethren." Of course, we have already been told that God's plan is for Saul to minister among the Gentile nations. However, it was important for Saul to come back to Jerusalem where he had spent his adult life training under Rabbi Gamaliel. It was important that Jerusalem know that Saul of Tarsus was indeed a Christian, and the same thing is most likely needed at Tarsus, explaining why he goes there next.

We may want the story to be that a person is saved, and all their friends and family are saved too. That sometimes happens, but is not always the case. We can be too quick to think that we have done something wrong when people don't respond in faith. However, remember that the Lord himself was crucified by the people he witnessed to. Did he fail? We don't want to use that as an excuse. We must wrestle through this issue before the Lord in prayer. Lord God, help me to become better at witnessing for you!

The churches in the region had peace and were edified. We know that there continued to be difficulties. Perhaps, the persecution wasn't quite as bad. However, for the believer, peace is never about having no troubles. Peace is about having the strong assurance that the God of the universe is with you and working all things to your good. This is the peace that passes all understanding, and internal peace.

Make sure you are focused on being used of God and then trust His leading. If you are doing this, then you can rest in it. This is not a resting of inactivity, but an inner attitude that knows you are saved, and God is using you to save others! Amen.

Saul Goes Back audio

Email Article |

Print Article | | tagged

Acceptance,

Caution,

Ministry,

Persecution

Monday

Mar132023

The Acts of the Apostles 39

Pastor Marty

Monday, March 13, 2023 at 9:44PM

Subtitle: Saul Preaches at Damascus

Acts 9:20-25. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on March 12, 2023.

We have come to the point where Jesus has dramatically saved the life of Saul of Tarsus. Last week, I mentioned how he was prayed for by Ananias and received his sight. He was also water baptized and filled with the Spirit too. This put Saul on a different trajectory than his namesake, King Saul.

It is a wonderful thing when a person is confronted with Jesus, and they surrender to him in faith. Saul's complete about face. May God help us to see hungry people seeking Jesus and finding him. May we be a people who are still excited about the amazing grace of Jesus in our lives.

Let's look at our passage.

Saul is a new man in Christ Jesus

We can talk about becoming a new man in the natural. Maybe we find some kind of regimen that will whip us into shape and revamp our life physically. Of course, even if you really do well at that, it is still a losing battle. In the end, you are mortal and cannot stay ahead of death.

Yes, scientists are working hard to overcome the mortality issue. Even if they are able to conquer death, so to speak, science cannot fix sin in the heart of people. A laboratory may be able to lobotomize a man, but they cannot fix his soul and heart. Science can create technical solutions to issues, but it can't tell you if you should deploy them or not, whether it is good or bad.

Without something outside of us to which we are accountable, our "morality" will be like the waves of the sea, wishy-washy. Perhaps we will be moved by the group one way, until a new majority shows up and the waves moves another direction. This is true and good now. No. Now this over here is true and good, ad infinitum. Whether it be a majority group, or a tyrant, this crazy world of changing truths falls woefully short of creating true change in a person's heart.

Saul becomes a new man spiritually rather than naturally. He can actually see the reality of his life and the life of people around him because he is truly listening to the Creator of the universe. If we needed proof of Saul's conversion, we see it in the activity following his healing and conversion.

Jesus had given him his mission in at least one vision, if not two. He didn't need any more proof. Of course, we might complain that God hasn't given us a vision. However, God has given you enough evidence to believe upon Him. Don't play the game of withholding your faith from Him because He hasn't given you a particular experience. Yes, He loves you, but He's not playing games.

Saul is no longer a student of Rabbi Gamaliel of the school of Hillel. He is now a follower of Rabbi Yeshua!

We are told that Saul "immediately" preaches Jesus in the synagogues. That word can mean in the next second, but it also allows for context. If he was saved on a Tuesday, then it would mean that he preached in the synagogue that Friday/Saturday. Thus, immediately can mean at the next available opportunity.

The emphasis of his preaching is the amazing reality that Jesus truly was the Messiah, or Christ. Jesus was the one that they had been waiting for God to send. God had promised that an Anointed One would come and deliver Israel, but even more, he would be a redeemer of Israel. These prophecies in the Old Testament stated that one from the line of David would not only fix Israel, but even the nations. However, they had been under the domination of foreign powers for over 586 years. It is hard to keep the faith that God is going to save you that long.

He also emphasizes that this Messiah was also the Son of God. If you pay attention to the words of Jesus, then you will notice that Jesus actually emphasizes Son of Man regarding himself, rather than Son of God. It is true that these words have a layer of meaning that is essentially "human" for the former and "divine" for the latter. Yet, there is more going on here than that.

The phrase "Son of Man" is not a denial of the divinity of Jesus. Rather, Jesus is using a phrase that is also a technical phrase from Old Testament prophecy, particularly in Daniel 7. For example, if I use the word "rapture" in a church setting, many Christians will immediately think of prophecies in the New Testament that speak of a catching up of believers to be with Jesus in the air. However, a non-Christian may hear that word and only think of a poetic use of ecstatic joy and delight. Of course, they wouldn't be wrong that this is part of its meaning, but they would be missing the critical theological significance. The same is true with the Son of Man.

In Daniel 7, we have the Ancient of Days, God, seated on His throne with other thrones around him. The final beast-empire of the earth is slain before Him and the government taken from it. Next we see "And behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him." Notice that the great powers of the earth are described as beasts though comprised of men. They are beasts of men ruling in a beastly way. However, this one who is like a human receives a kingdom from the Ancient of Days that never ends. Thus, his heart and his rule will not be beastly, but human, i.e., it will have the proper relational love that should exist in any governance.

Yet, there are some powerful things signaled in the text. This one like a human rides the clouds to the Father. This is no mere mortal. Biblically speaking this is language used of God, or the gods. It is considered divine activity. Jesus emphasized this in Matthew 26:64 when he responded to high priest. They understood the connotation that he was making and accused him of blasphemy. On top of this, we have the fact that his kingdom is everlasting and the peoples of the earth will "serve" him, a word used of service to a deity.

So you see, Son of Man is not contradictory of Son of God. In fact, it actually embraces the phrase Son of God and adds to it prophetic significance. Jesus was revealing that he was that strange, unique God-man that Scripture revealed.

I know that I took some time with this, but this is what Saul is preaching. Jesus is the Son of David, but even more, he is the Son of God. He has a divine origin. We see this in the way the Gospels treat the origin of Jesus. Matthew, Mark, and Luke focus upon the human origin of Jesus in their story without denying his divinity. In a sense, they write their accounts as it was experienced. He was born, ministered, and then we figured out who he was! John, however, begins with a focus on the eternal origin of Jesus. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...and the Word became flesh (human) and dwelt among us..." This is Jesus spoken of from God's experience, stepping into the world and taking on an additional nature of a human. Of course, we may wonder how that is possible. The answer would be that God created humans in a way that made it possible for Him to take on our nature. Who'd have thunk it? This is His artistic flourish as the Creator.

Saul is preaching to believers in the Father. They worship Him with songs, readings, and prayers. However, they don't know His Messiah, and that He had come to save them. They didn't know the Father's salvation yet. If there is one thing we should learn from the Old Testament, it is this. All people, even religious people, who have the truth of God in their hands, need a spiritual transformation. The same thing can happen to them that happened to the nations at the time of the Tower of Babel. They had been exchanging truth for a lie, little by little, until they cooperated with Nimrod. God judged it and handed them over to those "gods" they were seeking. Over the centuries, and millennia, they became so dark that they were cutting hearts out of live victims for their so-called gods.

The people who heard Saul preaching about the Messiah having come were amazed at the idea, but the real source of their amazement is Saul's complete turn around. He was fighting against them one day, and then became one of their strongest proponents the next day. This is just how radically Jesus can change, transform, a life. Or better, we could say that Jesus is able to save even the chief of sinners!

At the heart of the teachings of Jesus and his apostles, we have this idea of spiritual transformation. Saul would later write in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

I grew up in the Church, but I did not live for Jesus during my teenage years. My freshman year in college began with too much partying and running around. However, Jesus confronted me and I yielded to him. He radically changed my life. A friend that I used to run around with told me one day that he had talked to his mom about me. She told him that I was just going through a "religious phase." Well, here we are 35 years later, and I'm still going strong in this "religious phase," hallelujah! Listen, Jesus did not come to give us a "religious phase," even though some people approach it this way. He came to transform our lives. It is not enough to have the truth. It is not enough to look like you are following Jesus. Judas followed Jesus! But, when it really mattered, Judas betrayed the Lord Jesus with a kiss in the middle of the night. Let us not settle for having the right religion. We must be transformed by Jesus!

In verse 22, we are told that Saul increased in strength. Luke is showing us that God's blessing was upon Saul. He is not talking about physical strength, but spiritual. Saul made a 180 degree turn from fight God and His Holy Spirit to working with Them. This required spiritual growth. He grew in hearing the Holy Spirit and cooperating with Him. He grew in his ability to be convincing to others. Of course, his familiarity with the Old Testament would help. However, Saul would have to let go of a lot of rabbinical teaching, and some parts would be retained and redeemed by the mind of Christ.

Saul had lots of natural gifts. He could learn material, and was very industrious with lots of desire to move ahead, to prove himself. However, natural talents that are not surrendered to God's direction will get in the way. Later, Saul would say in Philippians 3:8 that all of his accomplishments in the natural were rubbish. They were meaningless if he didn't have Jesus.

The word in verse 22 for "proving" has the sense of knitting two things together. They believed in a coming Messiah, but they also believed that Jesus was poles apart from what Messiah would be. Saul's preaching brought those things together in people's minds and knit them together, each stitch a different point. Another way to see it is the knitting the person to the view that Jesus is Messiah. Either way, he was convincing people, proving to them, that Jesus is the Messiah.

Always remember that spiritual growth is the result of a living connection to Jesus that is lived out in faith. True spiritual growth is also always connected to the blessing of God.

The blessing of God is a multi-faceted thing. It doesn't look just one particular way. We have to be careful that we do not equate the blessing of God with everything going well, and getting all the stuff we want. In this land of plenty, it is easy to make the blessing of God be a very material thing. I have a nice, big house, retirement nest egg, lucrative business/job, etc. Saul is a blessed man, but remember the words of Jesus. "I will show him [Saul] how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake."

Let me just say this. To suffer for Jesus is a great honor and blessing. To be martyred for Christ is also great honor and blessing. You might have to put that one in the "To Be Believed Later" file. We should never try to make these things happen. Instead, we are following Jesus and letting him show us how we are to honor him and how he will bless us. The cross was the most blessed place in the universe, but it sure didn't look like it when it was happening. Remember that! Yet, your life doesn't have to look like that to be blessed. Trust Jesus!

It is like you see Jesus saying to you, "Come follow me!" and you really want to follow him. But then, you see him going to a cross, and your flesh is saying, "I'm not following that guy; He's crazy!" However, after the resurrection, you are like, "Crazy like a fox. Wow!" Even then, after such an emotional rollercoaster, you find yourself torn. Your flesh shrinks back from one who tells you to pick up your cross and follow him, and yet your spirit desires to come out after him.

It is one thing for Peter to ask Jesus to come out on the water when he saw him walking on it. However, no one was asking Jesus to come on the cross with him. They all hid, and Peter chief among them. God understand this about us, and works with us to bring to the place of faith and courage, where we can follow him by faith.

Verse 23 opens up with "Now after many days were past..." There is a lot more time in that phrase then we may assume. Galatians 1 gives some more details about this period. There we are told that Saul left Damascus to go into Arabia, and then came back. Three years transpires in this "many days." For perspective, we need to understand that Arabia is a very general term that basically means desert. If you left Damascus going south, southeast, you were basically in Arabia. If you kept going you could make all the way to the Arabian Peninsula. We don't exactly know where and how far Saul went into Arabia. He seems to be getting away to go out into the wilderness.

Regardless, it is about three years at the point that things change in Damascus. Saul is preaching and God is blessing him. However, the Jews of Damascus begin to plot to kill Saul. Now, it is one thing to be in a foreign land and they don't like you. However, this is Saul's own people. Yet, he had been just like them, not to long ago.

It is not that he isn't blessed anymore. The devil isn't stationary. He's working to neutralize the work of God. However, God isn't static either. God sees what the devil is trying, and folds it into His plan, which is not for Saul to die yet. Thus, the plot becomes known to Saul, though we are not told how. Jesus has more work for Saul to do. As the resistance against Saul increases, God is teaching Saul to identify with the sufferings of Jesus, to join him in those sufferings. This is a intimacy that we can experience with Jesus. Yes, suffering for Christ is a blessing, though our flesh does not believe it for one moment.

When Jesus miraculously supplied bread in the wilderness, the people were all gung-ho for him. But, later they cried out "Crucify him!" People are fickle. We cannot let ourselves be stuck looking at people and hoping that lots of them will embrace us. One day you may see great fruit, and then boom, the next day they are calling for your head, and that's okay, if God is with you.

This part of the story reminds me of the prophet Jeremiah in chapter eleven of his book. Verses 18-22 describe a group of people in Anathoth who were plotting to kill Jeremiah. God reveals to Jeremiah what they are plotting and says that He will punish them. If you look at Jeremiah 1:1, you will see that Anathoth is Jeremiah's hometown, and it is filled with priests! This town of priests are secretly plotting to assassinate one of their local boys. Jeremiah had become the opposite of a hometown hero. Even more interesting is the fact that Jeremiah uses language that clearly borrows from Isaiah 53 (written some 100 years earlier). He was like a docile "lamb brought to the slaughter," and the people wanted to "cut him off from the land of the living." Jeremiah is basically looking at the mistreated individual of Isaiah 53 (who would eventually be Jesus) and says, "I can identify with that!"

Though some of the Damascene Jews were waiting outside of the city gates to kill Saul, God out-foxed them by making the plot known to Saul, and the Christians out-foxed them by letting Saul out of a window in the wall with a rope and a basket in the dead of night. Yes, great Saul who had marched to the city with strong men to arrest Christians was now sneaking out of the city by night.

We might think Saul should have walked out of the city daring them to try and touch him. Surely, God's angels would protect him. Perhaps, an army of angels would march out of the desert and escort Saul out of the city. How cool would that be? However, God delivers Saul with a much more humble method, which seems absolutely appropriate for a man who had had a big ego.

We must be careful that we are not presumptuous about how God should save us. Don't assume. Through prayer, seek God for the answer that He is giving, and not that one that your flesh is providing.

Perhaps you are hearing this and thinking to yourself, "That's a nice story, but stuff like that never happens for me. God didn't do that for me." Of course, you are not Saul in those circumstances. Even in that day, countless Christians could have complained that God didn't give them the visions that Saul had, or the mission that He gave to Saul. Don't give yourself over to envy and complaining against God. Stop looking at what God might be doing through others and being envious over it. Stop looking at what God isn't doing in your life and whining over it. Rather, turn to God in prayer and seek Him. Don't just seek Him to get visions and a cool mission. Seek Him because He is worthy to be found. Intimacy and relationship with Jesus is far more important, and yet, believe you me, He will give you plenty of tasks and you will see fruit, if you keep your eyes on Him!

Let's be a people pressing into Jesus in order to have intimacy with him, to know him better. Then, we will be a transformed person who is capable of being used to draw others to Christ Jesus. Only Jesus can tell you all the things that you have to go through for him, and only Jesus can prepare your heart to thrive in the midst of it!

Saul Preaches audio

Email Article |

Print Article | | tagged

Christ,

Monday

Mar062023

The Acts of the Apostles 38

Pastor Marty

Monday, March 6, 2023 at 5:57PM

Subtitle: Ananias is Tested

Acts 9:10-19. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on March 5, 2023.

Today we will look at a man named Ananias. He is obviously not the same as Ananias and Sapphira mentioned earlier in Acts.

There were two brave men in the story of Saul of Tarsus. We will meet the first one here today. A man who will be the first to hear the Lord say that Saul is changed and needs help from him, which takes a lot of trust. The second will be Barnabas. These men will help the early Church embrace a man who had been causing their loved ones to be executed.

People come to Christ from very different backgrounds. The movie Jesus Revolution is now in theaters, which portrays the Jesus movement of the 1970's. There were many hippies that were saved during that revival, and it was a challenge to the American Church. We can become used to a certain type of person being saved. When God saves someone out of left field, we can become fearful and "crusty." We can resist what God is trying to do in their life, instead of helping them.

Where does bravery come from? It comes from Christ. The test here is not so much about obedience, as it is about how much you trust Jesus. How much Jesus do I really have? I might discover that I don't have as much of Jesus as I thought I did.

So, what is the answer to that? Turn to Christ in repentance and seek him. Cry out to Jesus that you want more of him, and to become more like him!

Saul was a test to the Church when he was persecuting them. It tested them to see if they believed in Jesus enough to suffer for him. However, he became a different test to them when he surrendered to Jesus. It challenged the believers on just how much they would trust Jesus. Do you love Jesus enough to forgive him?

This is something that many Christians around the world have to wrestle with today. How do you love your enemy when they have caused loved ones to be killed? You can't, but Jesus in you can help you do it. I like how Paul confesses in Romans 7:18 that no good thing dwelled in him, that is in his flesh. However, the Spirit of God was dwelling in him, and that made all the difference.

I pray that we will believe in Jesus enough that we will be able to do anything that he asks us because we love him, and because he loves us.

Let's look at our passage.

The Lord speaks to Ananias in a vision (vs 10-16)

Saul has had a powerful confrontation by the Lord Jesus just outside of Damascus. He had the intention of dragging Christians back to Jerusalem for trial. However, now he was humbled and blinded by the power of Jesus. The men helped him into the city, where he proceeded to fast and to pray for what he should do.

I think the Lord let him sweat a few days because Saul needed to cry out to God in weakness before he could be restored.

Jesus is going to send Ananias. Let's note that Jesus could have healed Saul on the spot. He doesn't have to use somebody, but in his wisdom, he has determined to use a Christian. There is something good, something perfect, in the grace of Jesus coming through the very group that Saul had persecuted. It is good for Saul, but also for the Christians. Talk about shame, and talk about anger. "Ananias, come be a blessing to this man who has caused so much pain among believers!" "Saul, I have a blessing for you, but you have to bear the shame of facing the people you persecuted!"

Can I be a blessing to a person like this, someone who has been the source of so much pain? Can I swallow my pride and let God minister to me through whomever He chooses? I know that I am working both sides of this at once, but I want us to see that much of life is God working both sides. We just become wrapped up in our side of the issue, and don't see the other.

Whomever God uses in your life, quit looking at the person. It was never about Saul, and it was never about Ananias. It was about Jesus who is being faithful to us, even through imperfect people.

Ananias is introduced as a certain disciple in Damascus. This was a common name among Hebrews and means the grace, mercy, or favor, of Yahweh. It was also connected to the idea of a gift because a grace of God is essentially a gift of God, i.e., you don't deserve it. Ananias would be a precious grace to Saul of Tarsus.

It is important to know that though our name may not be full of such meaning, Jesus does have purpose and meaning for our life. All Christians are called to be the grace, and the mercy, and the favor of Jesus into the lives of others.

We are told that it is a vision. Of all the passages that involve heavenly interactions with men, there are some that emphasize an actual physical presence (whether God or an angel). However, a vision emphasizes that you see something, but others around you do not see it (if there are others around). A vision can be so real that you are not sure whether it was a vision or not. Paul mentions in 2 Corinthians 12 that he wasn't sure if he was actually caught up into the heavens or simply had a vision. The difference being that someone in the room with him would see him disappear in the first (physically caught up into heaven), but would think that he was in a trance in the second (it is happening in his mind). By the way, the difference between a vision and a dream is clearly the issue of being awake or being asleep. Dreams happen during sleep, and visions happen while you are awake.

Of course, skeptics can scoff at visions, but the proof is always in the life of the person who claims to have had one. Christians should not be chasing after visions, as if desperate to have one. In fact, there are people who are taking drugs in order to have a vision. There are people who make a living "guiding" such people. That's not how God works. It is how the occult works, and how false religions work.

The truth is that people have been fitted to interact with God. We generally do that through prayer, and a still small voice in our hearts and minds. However, we have been fitted by God for His communications in the forms of dreams, visions, and even physical manifestations. We could say that the still small voice is the most common, with the others scaling down to physical manifestations of angels, etc., being the rarest. Let no Christian scoff at God's ability to do these things.

I love the simple answer of Ananias, "Here I am, Lord." This is the classic good response when God speaks to you. We are to be a people ready to hear the Lord, and when He is done, ready to obey the Lord.

Jesus tells Ananias to go to the house of Judas who lived on Straight Street. Judas is the Greek form of Judah. Judah is most likely not a Christian. The most natural place for Saul's men to take him would be a leader of a synagogue that was loyal to the religious leaders of Jerusalem. Ananias is told that he would find Saul of Tarsus there, and that he was praying.

Of course, Saul is a religious man and has probably prayed many times before this. However, none of his prayers were like they were now. There is something different about his prayers now. He is a stripped man who knows that he is nothing before the God of heaven. It doesn't matter how good your prayers sound, how flowery they are and how smoothly they flow. Desperate moments help us to be real with God. We too often have a religious shell around our true self when we deal with one another. It even infects our approach to God. This life trains us to keep it up because that is our protection. However, for the Christian, Jesus is our protection. God help us to drop the shell, the mask, and be real with God in prayer. Saul is a humble man seeking God for his eyesight, and for wisdom for what to do now.

Ananias is told that Saul has had a vision too. He has seen a vision of a man named Ananias laying hands on him and praying for him to receive his sight. After the vision is over, Saul still has no sight. This is where our interactions with God are tested. I may believe that God is telling me something, but then I have to trust him. Like Moses, God can tell us a great plan of leading the people of Israel out of Egypt, and almost being destroyed by Pharaoh at the Red Sea, and yet miraculous deliverance from God. That's an awesome plan. I would like to see that movie, but will I tell everyone to pack their bags and follow me into the wilderness? Of course, Saul doesn't have to do much, but stay there seeking God. You are probably not surprised that this is where most of us fail, staying in prayer seeking God.

Of course, it is not Ananias who will do the healing, but Jesus. Both of them need to exercise faith for God's will to be done here. Whether we are praying for one another because God has told us in general to pray for healing, or we have a specific word from the Lord, we need to be faithful on both accounts, to pray for others, and to ask for prayer.

Notice the mercy of Jesus to this man who had been persecuting his people. Jesus doesn't want Saul to be lost, even after all he has done. This is God's love for those who are in the depths of sin and hatred. People who perish do so over the top of God's love and mercy towards them.

I'm not sure if Ananias is actually objecting, but he does ask God about this man Saul. He had heard about this Saul of Tarsus, and was making sure that he heard the Lord correctly. How could he pray for such a man. Is this the same man who has come here with letters giving him authority to take Christians back to Jerusalem in order to stand trial?

Yet, the Lord overcomes his "objections" firstly by reiterating the command to go. Ananias may be surprised, but he needs to obey the Lord. Secondly, the Lord emphasizes to Ananias that He has a purpose in Saul through four statements loaded with God saying: "mine," "My Name," "I will," and "My Name's sake."

Jesus had chosen Saul to be a vessel of his just as much as he had chosen Ananias. You can choose to follow Jesus, but you cannot choose who else does so. Imagine two people who are saved in the same church, one a business man who dresses in a suit, and the other a homeless man. We could add drug addict to one of these, but it doesn't matter. On the day they become followers of Jesus, they become brothers. They come from very different worlds and may have reason to despise the other. However, we must always remember that the other person belongs to Christ. They will stand or fall before him, not me.

I can be found resisting and rebelling against God's purpose in another believer if I am not careful. I must always seek to please the Lord. The best way to do that is to remind yourself that you are quite capable of displeasing him. We must be humble and seek God's leading in all of our relationships.

Ananias goes to Saul (vs. 17-19)

Of course, Ananias obeys and goes to the house where he finds Saul of Tarsus. He then lays his hands upon him, which symbolizes the touch of the Lord, praying for him to be healed and to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

It is made obvious in the passage that Saul receives his sight. However, it doesn't mention about the Holy Spirit. However, we will see within short order that the Holy Spirit clearly came upon Saul as he began to minister powerfully in Damascus, and the rest of his letters bear testimony too. When the Holy Spirit dwells in and fills a believer, they will be empowered to follow the righteousness of Jesus, and they will be enabled to be a witness for Christ. Saul did this very powerfully.

Let's look at the healing. We are told that something like scales fell from his eyes. There are skeptics who would say something to the effect that there is a natural explanation and thus it cannot be attributed to God. Even if they could go back in time with modern equipment and show that the outer layer of Saul's eyes were damaged, and over the three days, his crying had softened the tissue causing it to fall off, it would still beg this question. How do you explain the visions by separate men who do not know one another, and the coincidence of the tissue falling off as Ananias prays for him? You are left with calling them liars. The evidence screams against this. By the way, I don't think it is rational to argue that the God who created the universe and put its "laws" into place is not involved if we can discover a natural explanation that only has a "miracle" of coincidence. God is always involved even in the very natural things of our life.

Sometimes God answers prayer immediately, as He did here. Sometimes it is answered over a period of time. God even tells us, "No," sometimes. But, it is always for our good. Saul is definitely healed in that he can see. Yet, there seems to be something residual with his eyes. He says in one of his letters that he prayed for God to remove a "thorn in his flesh." This was something wrong with his body that caused difficulty. Three times he asked and in the end God tells him that His grace was enough for Saul. Saul also says in Galatians 6:11 that he had written the letter by himself. They would know because of the large letters he had. The speculation is that his eyes may have excessively watered as a result of the bright light. This may have made him look like he had been crying all of the time, and made it hard to see. It is not that God couldn't heal him, but that Paul goes on to say in 2 Corinthians 12 that the Lord didn't completely heal him in order to keep him humble. It was for his good.

Seeing a little is better than not seeing at all, and I am sure that there was a lot of rejoicing when Saul realized that he could see. He had given nothing but pain to the believers of Jesus, and yet, now he was receiving joy from them in return.

Let us remember that God still heals today and believers need to pray for one another in general, but we also need to seek God and hear from Him on specific needs. That takes times of prayer and fasting.

Saul is then water baptized. No doubt, Ananias explained that this is what the Lord commanded. This demonstrates that Saul was dying to his old life focused on him and his career, and coming alive to a new life focused on Jesus and his purposes. Saul is now a Christian because he has believed upon Jesus with true faith. This religious Pharisee had received the precious gift of salvation. He was now truly clean inside and out.

Too many people settle for an outward form of godliness, but miss out on the power of the Holy Spirit to transform their life. Don't settle for only looking like a Christian, being a poser. Instead, truly put your faith in Him and be transformed by Him as you are led by the Holy Spirit.

We are told then that Saul stays in Damascus fellowshipping with the believers there. Of course, where else would he go? Going back to Jerusalem would not only be awkward, but it would probably end up with him on trial. Saul knows the Bible inside and out, but doesn't know it like he should. I am sure that he picked up rather quickly as the believers explained to him about Jesus and passages throughout the Old Testament, like Isaiah 53.

I want to end by emphasizing the test of obedience that Ananias had. The Lord gives us general commands in His word that test whether or not we truly love him. However, from time to time, the Spirit of God will make specific commands known to us. They may be about things in our life that need to change, that we need to pray for, or people we need to talk with. Let us pray for courage to be used of God in whatever way He sees fit. Carve out some room in your prayers and in your time for God to speak to you.

Even Saul could be saved. Don't let anyone say they can't be saved. If Saul could be saved, then anyone can be saved. Seek to let the grace of God give you the privilege of doing something that you don't deserve: introducing others to their Loving Father in heaven.

Tested audio

Email Article |

Print Article | | tagged

Tests,