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Acts | Chapter 9

9:1-19a

“Pursuing the pursuer (a)”

I.) Intro.

II.) Vs. 1-9 The causes of conversion


Intro.

At the request of my doctor I went to see a dietitian recently who told me all the things I am no longer suppose to it. Now, I know that what she said was truth & I know that what she was saying is for my benefit & not hers, but still it has been difficult for me so far to change my eating habits. You see I happen to like dairy products & pastries, even though they are not good for my health. It got me to think about how difficult it is for us to change in any area from what we like to what we disliked! Take your sport’s teams; if you are a Dodger’s fan & have always been then it is next to impossible for you to become a Giant’s fan. Or if you have always liked Target & disliked Wal-Mart you will not switch. You see we human’s do not like change or conversion, we resist it passionately. No place is that more prominent then in the area of what a person believes to be true. A person is not easily converted in any area of their lives especially in the area of what they believe. I admire people who have the fortitude to examine what they hold  as truth. I’ve always believed that if what we say we believe is truth then it can stand examination & if it can not stand the examination then it is not truth. I’ve applied this principal to my faith in Jesus & have never been disappointed by what I have found. In fact quite the opposite, I’ve always grown more in love with God & His Word then before. We have before us today an opportunity to look at one of the most remarkable conversions ever recorded. It is my prayer that in looking at Saul’s change that perhaps we to will look at what we believe & follow as truth even if it means that we have to stop eating donuts!


Vs. 1-9 The causes of conversion

Now this is the first of three times Paul’s testimony is recorded for us in Acts, (22:1-26 at Paul’s defense on the steps of the Antonia fortress in Jerusalem & Acts 26:4-18 before Herod Agrippa II in Caesarea.) Paul will become one of the greatest Christians that have ever lived but that is not the way he started out. No, in fact he started out as the greatest enemy the early church had seen. In Philip. 3:4-9 Paul describes his life before Jesus this way, “If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.”

  • By birth a Jew
  • By citizenship a Roman
  • By education a Greek
  • BY GRACE A CHRISTIAN

What happened? What brought such a change in Paul? Was this change brought about by his search for the meaning of life? Was it set up by some tragic event & he was looking for a easy way out of? Was he some how dissatisfied with his own religion that he went searching for something else? Not that those can’t be the answer for some, they are simply not the answer here! Before we can look at the causes of conversion we need to rule out what were NOT the causes of conversion!

Vs. 1-2 Luke sets the story of Paul’s conversion up by showing where his heart was. You will recall that in Acts 8 we were introduced to Saul with these words, “Now Saul was consenting to his (Stephen’s) death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.” In his own testimony Paul describes his actions prior to his conversion this way in chapter 22, “I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today. I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.” Further more in Acts 26 he says, “I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme.”

Now we are told that he is, “still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.” Do you see that?

  • Paul was not looking for a change of his faith, he was looking to persecute the Faith! His opposition was growing against Christianity.
  • We know this because at first we see him just consenting to Stephen’s death.
  •  Then after Stephen’s death we are told that he made, “havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.” 
  • Then he graduates to, “persecuting this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.”  
  • Next he tells us that he, “punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme.”
  • Finally, Paul reveals that he became, “being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities. While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests.” His purpose in going to Damascus was, “to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished.”

You get this?

  • Paul was not searching for truth he believed he possessed it to the degree that he was hunting down the opposition & having run out of them in Jerusalem he is now ready to travel 140 miles to find some more!
  • Vs. 3 His discovery of Jesus had nothing to do with his quest & it had everything to do with God hunting him down. Do you see that? Paul is traveling towards Damascus & he is almost there ready to arrest Christian’s when he himself becomes arrested. It was if you will sudden & unexpected.

Now I realize that this flies in the face of what many of us expect when speaking of how we became Christian’s.

  • Here’s my point: The journey to Jesus varies greatly but the transformation is the same. Perhaps you have always had some belief in Jesus & later on gradually it becomes solid. Or maybe you had a traumatic event in your life that caused you to seek comfort or some answers. Or maybe your like Paul you hate Christianity & you take every opportunity you can to make the little do gooders life miserable. The journey is not as important as the destination! God has & does use as many different things as there are people to bring them to the truth of His Son.

Ok then what led Saul, (Paul), to faith in Jesus & how does that relate to my situation?

Now this may blow your minds a bit but this is Paul’s testimony of what happened so hang on:

  1. Vs. 3 CONTACT: “suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me.” Conversion is always the result of a human being coming in contact with the true & living God! Paul is heading full steam ahead in full belief that what he was doing & the reason for it was based upon truth. When all of the sudden not because of anything to do with him God revealed himself to Paul. Paul had a encounter with God. Now with that said let me trip you out further as scripture says that, “He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being.” So in other words God has been wanting to reveal Himself to you all along, so much so that He has been right next to you all along. Christianity is not about some intellectual pursuit & mental gymnastics. The circumstances of your contact with Him maybe quite difference but if you are a Christian here today you are one because He made contact with you. Not buying it? Remember John 3:16-17? “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” Do you see that? Jesus says that His coming into the world was based upon love & that those whom He came into contact would believe on Him & by saved to everlasting life! Without this no person becomes a Christian! In fact nothing had brought about conversion in Paul, not all of his learning, not even perhaps the teaching of Jesus or the preaching of Stephen all they had done was increase his resolve against the truth instead of for it. No it’s not until he has contact from God that Paul becomes a Christian. Now I like the fact that at this time Christianity was being called “The Way”. In fact 6 times in Acts this term is used to describe those who had been converted. You see when God makes contact with humans & they follow Him it always changes the WAY they live! More on that a little latter.
  2. Vs 4-5a COVICTION: “he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Paul thought all along that he was defending God & in so doing he was persecuting those who went against the truth. Instead Jesus asks Paul to search his heart, “What are you doing Paul & why are you doing it?” Despite his sincerity, zeal & since of following God’s will, Jesus asks him, “What is behind what you are doing, what’s your motive!” Oh don’t miss this because most of the world holds this dearly, believing that what matters the most in truth is that we hold it with great passion. But in one short encounter Jesus asks not whether he believed what he was doing was right but why was he doing it! Further more in verse 5 in Jesus 2nd question to Paul it is evident that for some time he had been resisting the conviction upon his own heart. You see a goad is a sharp metal prod at the end of a stick that a farmer would use on a young ox to help guide him. For an ox to kick against the goad would be to further inflict pain upon it’s self. “Paul I’ve been guiding you to myself & instead of you seeing Me you have been doing injure against your own self.” How foolish we are to resist the work of God in drawing to himself, but we do we resist the work of the Holy Spirit. To the revelation of God to mankind comes the need for us to respond. I believe that is the greatest quest any human can go on & it starts with this question, “Who are You, Lord?” This question reveals conviction does it not?
  3. Vs. 5b–6 CONVERSION: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads. So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Paul learns several important things right here that leads to his conversion.
  4. He learns that Jesus whom he believed was dead was alive. Paul had thought it ridicules that anyone believe that a dead man who had died a criminals death on a tree which was a sign of being cursed could be the Messiah. But with this new revelation Paul finds out that Jesus became the cure for the curse of the earth.
  5. He learned that what God had for man was a relationship & not a religion. Though Paul persecuted the Church Jesus was forever connected with the Church through a relationship.
  6. He learned that no amount of religious zeal could change the truth of God & in the end to resist Him was futile.

  Folks, conversion does not take place without these words, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Have a person get saved & their life is not right they are living together or something. When they find out that this contrary to what God’s word says they will respond, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Find out as a Christian that some behavior of yours is not what God intends for you & what is the response we must have? “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Wherever true conversion is at you will always find these words in the heart of the one converted. It will not matter what it is if you or I is converted we will always respond the same. You see I became a Christian 20 years ago & I did not treat my wife as Jesus would & I knew it. So I asked Him “Lord, what do You want me to do?” There are far to many folks who would have Him to be their savior but not their Lord. Folks, He is no savior unless He is Lord & if He is Lord then that means you are no longer in that position. My life no longer is my own!

  • Vs. 6b-9b CHANGE:  There is no conversion without change. How humbling most of this had been for Paul, he had come on a mission to arrest & put to death Christians. Instead Christ had arrested him & he had died to self. The first sign of this is that Paul has to obey the Word & follow what Jesus says. You see he humbly submitted which shows already a heart of change. For three days he stayed in a strangers house pondering what had happened to his life.

So there you have the Paul’s conversion, how about it have you had an encounter with the living God that brought about conviction which led to conversion which has now led to change? Look out over the history of the Church & you will see those four things over & over again. You see I’m here today not because I figured out the truth, no I’m here today because God in His great love for me in just the right time revealed His Son to me. And 20 years ago I came under conviction of the truth of Who He is & this led to me acceptance of Him as my Lord, which led to a change in my life!   


9:9-19a

“From big shot to basket case (part a)”

I.) Intro.

II.) Vs.  9-19a The consequences of conversion


Intro.

Several weeks back I said that every conversion to Christ has three important aspects to it:

  • The Spirit of God
  • The Word of God
  • The servant of God

You will not be able to find a person in heaven that has not been personally touched by each of these three. Now with that said I have no problem in saying that the weakest link of these three is the servant of God. Paul speaking to the Roman’s says, “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” But just prior to saying this he said, “how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” How does one become a servant of God? I mean we have seen Stephen, Philip & today we shall see Ananias, but just what is the process that transforms human beings into useful instruments in the hands of the Spirit of God for use in bringing the Word of God? Well fasten your seatbelts the answer my surprise you! Because it is not education, experience or personal enterprise but rather failure. It is often the things that we look back on as our biggest disappointments in life that qualify us as His servants. I started to listen to a tape by a fellow Calvary pastor who quoted the top 10 ways that you know that you are pastoring a small church, here are the top seven:

  1. When the pastor’s wife is sick attendance has dropped by 25%
  2. To distribute communion you say, “Will the usher please come forward.”
  3. Your first visitor in months comes when five families are missing & your teaching on tithing.
  4. The pastors favorite Bible verse is “Where two or three are gathered together.”
  5. When the Phone # for the pastor & the Church is the same.
  6. When you need to speak to the worship leader, Sunday school coordinator, & Church treasure all after the service but you can’t because your wife stayed home sick.
  7. When you count pregnant women in attendance figures as two instead of one.

Now we can all laugh at these but the truth is that it hurts. I can still remember the days when all that showed up at the dance studio for Sunday morning was the Shcroders & my family. This past Thursday in the Bible study in Mariposa all that showed up was Jim, Dell & myself. We had a great time but there was a time when that would have crushed me. All of this is vital in the making of a servant of the Lord, as it brings you to the end of self. 


Vs.  9-19a The consequences of conversion

Vs. 9 I find it interesting that, right on the heals of meeting the Lord, Paul experiences personal humility. In all his years of life he had been operating in pride but really he was in darkness. So the Lord strips him of himself & he has to be led to a house where he sits in the dark & does not eat or drink for three days. Man don’t you think that was a great time of personal reflection & brokeness? It was a time where Paul was taking inventory of his life & all his accomplishments. In his letter to the Philippians’ he recalls them this way; “If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus.” Do you see that? Paul in some strangers house blind sitting there realizing all that he counted as important mile stones, things that made up how he felt about himself he realized were worthless. In fact he says they were nothing more then a manure pile! 

            Hey have you ever taken stock of your lives accomplishments? Do you ware them proudly around. Would you be nothing if they were taken from you? What are we if what we identified with, apart from Christ, is taken from us? Now what’s cool is that during this time of darkness Jesus was imprinting Himself upon the heart of Paul. You see Paul had been so full of himself that the image of Jesus could never take. So the Lord has striped him of the confidence he had in himself, & there on the road to Damascus Jesus has exposed his heart to the Light of the glory of God in the person of Jesus.

In Matt. 11:28-29 Jesus says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” All of the Christian life is divided into two stages of development seen in these verses.

  1. “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”: This is how we become Christians we come to Him, as He has revealed Himself to us. There are not words added to this like, “when you get your act together.” No, you come to Jesus right where you are with all your problems & He promises he will give your heart rest.
  2. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” You become a Christian by “coming to Jesus” but you learn to walk by “taking His yoke upon you & following Him.” A yoke is a piece of wood that hitch’s up two oxen to pull a load. So if we are to take His yoke means that we are to submit to His leadership, His Lordship over our lives. Folk’s we will not begin to live the Christian life until we do this.

Vs. 10 Here we have a great example of a man who was willing to take Christ’s yoke upon him, Ananias. Now what do we know about this servant of the Lord? All we are told of him in this passage here is that he was a “certain disciple”. Well in Acts 22 as Paul retells his conversion story he describes him as, “a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there.” So God sends not a apostle, evangelist, pastor or deacon to Paul, no he sends an everyday common ordinary believer. Is that not great? Folks, God is not looking for “big shots” just folks who will follow & obey.

Vs. 11-12 Here is where it gets interesting. God gives Ananias a vision at the same time Paul is having one but lets take a look at the information the Lord gives to Ananias.

  1. He tells him when to go: “Arise & go”
  2. He tells him where to go: “to the street called Straight & inquire at the house of Judas.”
  3. He tells him what to do:  “…put your hands on him so he might receive his sight.”
  4. He even tells him who:  “Saul of Tarsus.”

Don’t you always want this kind of information from the Lord when you are praying? But there is one piece of information that the Lord did not give him, “why”.

Vs. 13-14 Why would the Lord ask Ananias on this suicide mission? It is kind of like wondering why kamikazes wore helmets & mean what’s the point! Immediately we see that Ananias was not so thrilled with the new direction the Lord was sending him in. In all of the information that the Lord gave Ananias there is one thing that He did not tell him specifically, THAT SAUL IS NOW PAUL BECAUSE HE HAS BEEN CHANGED. Can you imagine what was going on in the mind of Ananias as he had heard the Word of the Lord? You see according to Ananias conversation with the Lord here Saul was notorious; they knew all about his persecuting Christians in Jerusalem, they had even heard how he had gotten the paper work to come to Damascus to do the same. Let me put Ananias thoughts into the way I would have said this. “Let me get this straight Lord, You want me right this moment to get up & go into a guy’s house I’ve never met, put my hands on the number one Christian killer in the world who so happens to be blind so that he can see who it was that just prayed in the name of Jesus that he might receive his sight.” “Lord, You are God, & I my life does belong to you & you did say that he has been praying & all but are You sure of this?” All the Lord said was he has been praying that was the only indication that Saul had been changed. By the way this is the first time in the N.T. that Christians are called “saints” & you now what they are done so with out the Popes blessing, without any miracles. No they are saints because God says so! 

Vs. 15-16 But the Lord had made no mistake. It is interesting to note what Ananias’ name means in light of this mission he was being sent on. If you guessed, “protected by God” you got it right. Is that not irony at it’s best? Now the reply from the Lord would have helped a great deal as Ananias learns, even before Paul knows that the Lord has plans for him. Now the word of the Lord about Paul gives us great insight on how God sees His servants. He calls him a “chosen vessel”, is that not great? Long before there was anything worthy in Paul to chose God calls him a chosen vessel of mine! You see God sees not what we are but what we will become in Him! I like to watch a little show called “Junkyard wars”. Now they take two groups of folks with some complicated plans for some device & have them make it & the team that makes & wins the race or what ever is declared the winner. Last week they had to make dragsters & race them, another time it was a thing that launched pumpkins. But the thing I like is that the show takes place in a junkyard. These folks make things out of junk that work according to the design. That’s what the Lord does with us. “Ruined & broken people is why died on Calvary” the song goes.

            Well Ananias is given the threefold ministry of Paul’s witness:

  1. Gentiles: Paul was going to be called to those outside of the Jewish world that he so loved. He was being called to those that worshiped idols.
  2. Kings: He was going to be called to those who were the powerful, mighty & influential people. If you will he was being sent to the Up-n-outs instead of the down-n-outs. 
  3. Children of Israel: He was to speak thirdly to his own people. Now Paul is going to spend many years struggling with the order of his call.

Also note that the Lord says that Paul’s ministry is going to one in which he is going to suffer for Jesus. I find it interesting that the Lord called one who had caused so much suffering to bear so much of it himself. Is this the way of the Lord to pay back what he had put others through? I don’t think so. No I think that Paul used his past failure’s to motivate him to endure the present. In other words Paul came to see as he would say, “our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” Why does God allow suffering in the life of the Christian? Turn with me for a moment & look at 1 Cor 13:4-8 in Paul’s definition of love:

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;

does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”  Do you see that? Right there in the opening statement “Love suffers long”! Suffering is an activity of love, it is when we don’t envy, don’t parade ourselves, not puffed up, behaving rudely, not seeking our own, that we are loving. But the very act of doing this requires us to suffer in not having what our flesh wants.   

Vs. 17-19 It ought to never cease to move our hearts when we read the words of Ananias to Saul, “Brother Saul”. Here it is Christians you want to know what you can do for your fellow Christians?

  1. Identify with them: (Call them your brother or sister) Ananias calls Saul his brother. Hey, no matter what wrong has been done you; no matter what mistakes we have made once there has been repentance was family!
  2. Draw near to them: (Demonstrate love towards them) Ananias put his hands on Saul. The human touch has been said to be the greatest instrument of healing ever.

How radical was this to Saul? Three days earlier he had been ready to kill Christians he had hated them. Yeh so? Well when you hate someone what reaction do you expect to receive back? But that is not what Saul received, no he is in a room for there days & in walks his first Christian that could clobber him back, I mean he is blind & all. Instead he hears his name but with a different word in front of it, “Brother”, then he feels the touch of love that releases him from blindness. You want to see the difference between Christianity & all other religions? Well there you have it. What was the out come of Ananias love? “Well it says that, “something like scales” fell from his eyes. Do you get it? Ananias love helped change Saul’s perspective. He had all these prejudices because of pride & they had so warped him that he could not see straight but the touch of the Lord & the touch of the Lord through a servant named Ananias changed his vision for ever. I think that it was most likely Ananias who baptized Saul then cooked & cared for him then introduced him to the other Christians there. Simply put the Church in Damascus acted like it was suppose to! Oh to God that we would become like this.


9:19b-31

“From big shot to basket case (part b)”

I.) Intro.

II.) Vs. 19b-31 Learning to fail perfectly


Intro.

Long before I was a pastor I was a goldsmith & reading this section of scripture reminds me of my days as an apprentice under the master as I was learning the trade. It seems that Ron, my boss, had a knack at recognizing & developing talent but it was not always easy to find the right people as he looked for two distinct things.

  1. People who had natural talents & abilities.
  2. People whom having those abilities had little or no experience.

It is the second one of these two qualities that always amazed me. One-day years latter I asked him why he looked for guys who had little or no experience, you see I thought it would be better to combine talent with experience. Here is what he said, “The problem is not in the learning but rather in the unlearning all the things they think they know. It’s just a lot slower process to convince them that the way they do things is not the right way to do things.” Over the years I have seen the wisdom of those words in many other fields other then jewelry. Why is it so hard to get people to unlearn what they have learned? That’s easy, PRIDE! For a person to relearn something they think they already know they must be convinced there is a better way in spite of how long they have been doing it, or how much treasure, training or tradition they have spent in doing it the old way. In other words we put far to much importance upon experience & not enough upon remaining teachable. So God allows us to remain in our pride & fail until we are ready to learn from the MASTER. That is what is before us today in the story of Paul’s life after becoming a believer. 


Vs. 19b-31 Learning to fail perfectly

Vs. 19b-21 Now look again at Saul & you we see some powerful truths:

  1. Vs. 19 There is a radical change in association: He gets saved & hangs around Christians, then when he finally goes back to those who use to be his buddies he does so to share Jesus with them. I’ve met a lot of folks who profess to be Christians who don’t hang around any of them. Their line usually goes like this, “I don’t have to go to Church to be a Christian!” And that’s true to a point, it’s not going to church that makes you a Christian it’s Jesus that does that but if he has done that then you will want to be around Christians. It’s like being a father & being a Dad you know? Having a child makes me a father but hanging around them & being a part of their lives makes me a Dad! May I be so bold as to say, you are who you hang with! Any professing Christian who prefers the company of the world to the company of the church is most likely still a part of it! 
  2. Vs. 20-21 There is a radical change in conversation: I like that immediately he is proclaiming Jesus as God & thus the Messiah. Now Paul has not had time to sort out all of his new theology, but what he does know is that Jesus is who He claimed to be, God the Son. And he does this with great boldness & zeal? Man this must have just blown their minds in fact we are told that they were amazed! Here is the man who had come to destroy all that professed the name that he was now doing.

Vs. 22  Amazement but not conversion? Here is where we are going to see that we are converted in a moment but change takes a lifetime! In the next 11 verses Luke compacts many years into them so what I’m going to do is fill in the blanks as given else where in scripture. In doing this I pray that you will be encourage in your own life as you will see that failure is what the Lord used to get Paul ready for service! Between verse 21 & 22 we see a big change in Paul found in two different words yet he is doing the same thing in the same city.

  1. Preached: In verse 20 Paul proclaimed the person & work of Jesus & the outcome was amazement.
  2. Proved: Literally this word means to “knit together”. So Paul began to knit together the Word of God so that he could prove the person & work of Jesus to the same group of people & the outcome was that they were confounded. This word confounded is most often rendered confused, but is also sometimes translated, “stirred, uproar or affliction”. Wow, how descriptive is this? Paul’s use of the Word of God left the Jews in Damascus “stirred in a mental uproar”.     

But again notice there is no mention of conversion with his ministry, but still Luke tells us the reason for the change from:

  • Preaching that led to amazement
  • Proven teaching that led to confusion

That kind of sounds like how many of you feel after I teach, “amazed & confused”.

“Saul increased all the more in strength”. Now what Luke does not tell us is what caused Saul to increase all the more in strength or the length of time it took for this change.

All we know is that something took place between verse 21 & verse 22 that enabled Paul to do more then simply proclaim the truths about Jesus he was now able to prove them. Doing a little Bible investigation will lead you to Gal. 1:15-17. Here we have Paul’s words filling in the time frame of his own growth when he says, “I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter.”

So in between these two verse is some time (up to three year) that Paul went off into the desert of Arabia where he studied the Word with a new view of how Jesus was in every passage. When he comes back to Damascus he proves the person & work of Jesus. Paul was already a trained scholar now he pours over the scripture seeking out the truth about Jesus, you could say that he was getting his DD. No not his doctorate of divinity but rather his doctorate in the desert! Again Paul is preparing himself for service is this a bad thing? No it’s great, but that does not mean that you will have instant success. Do you ever feel like God owes you something when you are following His formula? I can only say that at times I have. “Lord, I just don’t get it I’m doing everything I can the way you want me to how come it’s still not working out?”

Vs. 23-25 Not only was the teaching non-effective it led the people to want to kill him. You see Paul had radically switched teams he was irritating his former team mates. So they plot to kill him & start hanging around the gate out of town so that when he would pass through they would kill him. It seems that the believers catch wind of the plot & one of them has a house on the wall & they let him down the wall at night in a large basket. This would not of drawn suspicion as this was the way they got rid of garbage. I wonder if Paul’s lack of success led him to the desert thinking, “Man if I just bone up on the Word for a few years then I’ll be able to prove that Jesus is who He claimed to be.”   

            Now I want you to think of this a moment from Paul’s perspective you were one of the leaders of the Jews until you received Jesus, then after you got saved you boldly proclaimed Jesus to your former friends & all this did was make them scratch their heads. So you go out in the desert for 2 to 3 years & study the Word so that you can now prove Jesus is Lord & all this does is make them made enough to kill you.

Lets see now Paul had all these things going for him:

  • Jesus: He had a personal encounter with the Lord & had even heard His voice.
  • The power of the Holy Spirit: Verse 17 informs us that the Holy Spirit was not only dwell IN him it was flowing through him.
  • The knowledge of the Word of God: He has t only devoted his life prior to Jesus to the Word of God he has now gone back & looked at those verse from the perspective of the Lord.
  • Boldness: Lastley he has the gumption to put the above three to action. 

That’s a winning combination, so why is there not success? Why is there failure instead? What is missing?

 Well where is Paul using the above combination? Verse 20 tells us in the synagogues. But where was it the Lord had told him to go through Ananias? To the gentiles first! Here where you see Paul is struggling with the same thing you & I do, Lordship. I mean Paul still wants to do things his own way, the way he sees as best. We as Christian’s battle this enemy daily don’t we? Paul’s a Christian but he is struggling with lordship issues. And what happens is that even with a relationship with Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, with a great knowledge of the Word of God, & boldness to share it? HE FAILS! Ready to win his countrymen to Jesus & show the world what he would do for his new master when bam falls on his face. It’s so bad that his Christian friends have to get rid of him at night like common garbage. Have you ever had an extremely embarrassing moment? Oh I’m not talking about the type of one that is an accident, no I’m talking about the kind of putting your foot in your mouth type. This was the most humiliating experiences in Paul’s life. How do we know? Well he tells us so!

Years later Paul retells this event in Damascus this way; (2 Cor. 11:30, 32-33) “If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity.  In Damascus the governor, under Aretas the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to arrest me; but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands.”  Did you get that? Paul says that this was his most embarrassing moment.

But look at how differently Paul sees it years later. Do you see that? Paul says to the Corinthian’s, “You want to know what the most important event in my life after receiving Jesus was? The greatest event in my life after receiving Jesus was the day I failed so bad that they had to lower me out of Damascus in a basket!” That was the beginning of real growth in Jesus in Paul’s life. Let me get this straight pastor the greatest event next to Paul’s conversion was the most humiliating experience in his life. Yeh, that’s what I said. You see that was the beginning of Paul unlearning everything he thought he already knew. Paul would further say in Philip. 3:7-8 “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” Not only the things he valued prior to Jesus was rubbish but he says, “Yet indeed I also count all things loss!”  That’s present tense, in Jesus now! You see all the things that Paul thought were so necessary to do what God wanted him to do were worthless apart from obedience & total reliance upon God. You see God doesn’t need you & I to do His work. No, He uses us for His service for our benefit not His!  But God is not finished with Paul yet as Luke hint’s at 26.

Vs. 26-30 You see right after being a basket case Paul decides to try to hook up with the rest of the disciples in Jerusalem. His buddies in Damascus have gotten rid of him so he thinks, “I’ll just hook up with the BIG church folks they will be real happy to see me!” Instead they are all-afraid of him & are doubting if he really is a believer. Again Paul’s words in Gal. 1:18-19 fills in the blanks as we are told that after, “fifteen days he could only meet Peter & James, the Lord’s brother.” Man, you talk about rejection, “You go & give the gospel & fall on your face so you seek out the leadership to get some comfort & they don’t even want to see you.” Ouch! 

Vs. 27 It’s none other then Barnabas that gets Paul into meets those two. The “Son of encouragement”, that’s what his name means,  hooks Paul up with two of the leadership in Jerusalem. Barnabas has sell them on what Paul has been doing to even get that much time.

Vs. 28-29 So we pick up the story in this verse where we are told that for those 15 days Paul with the two of them going in & out amongst them. Now I can’t prove it but I kind of think that he was eager to show them that he was made of for Jesus. So what does he do? Well he goes right into one of those synagogue’s where he had heard Stephen a few years earlier winning the debate against him & others & does the same thing that had cost Stephen his life against the Hellenists. And what results does he have this time in front of the leaders of the church? Again they want to kill them & what’s even worse is that the leadership who did not really want to meet with you have to get rid of you & send you away.

Vs. 30 Now when Paul retells this story in Acts 22:17-21 he says that he went into the temple to pray about this whole seen in Jerusalem. While there in the temple the Lord speaks to him & says, “Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.” “Paul”, Jesus says, “This is not working out you need to leave now!”  So what does Paul have to say after Jesus advise? Well it might surprise you to read Acts 22: 19-20 as Paul argues with the Lord & say’s “Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on You. And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.” Here is Paul’s argument, “Hey, look Lord I’m the right guy! Man I’ve studied all about You & I was the guy that argued against you at one time remember?” “You are letting go of a great opportunity by not using me!” But look at what Jesus says in response, “Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.” You see Jesus was trying to get Paul to the end of himself. Oh not for salvation but for sanctification, (set apart). Paul was trying to run his own life as a Christian & getting no where. Brother’s & sister’s here is where it gets real personal for you & I. Ambition & pride have no place in the Christian life they must die! You & I only live to be an instrument of the working of Jesus. Paul needed to learn not just the words of Jesus but the way of Jesus as well when he stated, “Without me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5). What can we do? NOTHING! Oh you may be a big shot in the eyes of the world, everybody may think you are all that but apart from Him all you will do is nothing. It was through these events that Paul began to see that pride & ambition must die, just as everything else had to die on that road to Damascus. You see it will take another 7 years for Saul “the big shot” to die & become Paul “the little man”. Saul who wanted to run the program to Paul who will follow the Lord!     

Vs. 31Now look at the last verse here. A young Paul in the energy of his flesh trying to do what he thinks God wants him to do & all that he is really doing is getting in the way of what God wants to do. So what do they do with him? Well they send him off to Tarsus, gentile country where he will remain for seven to ten more years & we won’t here much of him until Barnabas sends for him. And the Church was blessed to see him go & multiplied.

            So what do we learn from this passage? Well we learn that God does not need us our zeal, our education, our agendas & plans. No, He wants something far more difficult for us to give him, OUR COMPLET HEARTS & LIVES! Lord I’m not going to tell You what I want You to do according to my agenda, Instead It goes back to those first words uttered by Paul when he said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Jesus said it this way in Matt. 11:29, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” You see Paul had learned about Him now it was going to be time for him to learn FROM Him! So what happens over the next seven years? Well read Phil. 4:13 where he proclaims the essence of John 15:5 when he says to them,  “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Or go to Gal. 2:20 & read what he tells them where he says; “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Oh dear Christian if we will just see the work of God getting us to unlearn all that we think that we know we will come to know Him better then we ever thought imaginable & along the way we will turn the world upside down for Jesus! 

Chp. 9:32-11:18 Uncommon Peter

9:32-10:8

“Arise & make your bed”

I.) Intro.

II.) Vs. 32-35 The lame walk

III.) Vs. 36-41 The dead are raised

IV.) Vs. 42-10:8 The blind see


Intro.

As I was preparing this weeks study I came across a statement by John Stott that spoke to my heart. Summing up chapter 10 he said that “The principal subject of this chapter is not so much the conversion of Cornelius as it is the conversion of Peter.” I began to think about that statement in light of my week & this section of scripture that deals with the miracles of Jesus through Peter. As awesome as the work of Jesus is through the servant of his choice perhaps the greater miracle is His continual conversion in the lives of us who have experienced His love & power. In 2 Cor. 3:18 Paul explained this miracle this way, “And all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more.” (NLT)

Several times this week the Holy Spirit has confronted me about my pride & prejudices. As I was out to lunch, one of the brothers told me of an encounter he had with another young Christian from a different Church. As they were getting aquatinted the subject of where they went to Church naturally came up. My friend said that he attended Calvary Chapel to which the other fellow said that he had heard of it & that his pastor speaks very highly of our ministry especially referring to the verse by verse Bible teaching. Now as I was being told this while eating my sandwich I was nearly gagging. You see I don’t think much of the other fellow’s ministry especially his lack of Bible teaching & I have said as much. Now what convicted me was that while I may be teaching the Bible verse by verse this fellow pastor who does not do so was at least applying it! Ouch! Oh how thankful I am to the continual work of the Lord as we are told in Rom. 12:2-3 “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”        

Vs. 32-35 The lame walk

Vs. 32 After having spent several weeks looking at Saul’s conversion & failure we now move back to Peter. Over the next two weeks we are going to focus in on three Peter stories. Hey, you know what I’ve discovered so far looking through the book of acts? Yes this is the continual work of Jesus through His Church, but it is more of a story of His continual work IN His Church. Now that encourages me greatly, because here are Jesus’ men & they are just as prideful & stubborn as I am. The first miracle God does is one of?  

  1. MOBILITY: First thing I notice is that since we last saw Peter in acts 8:25, (returning to Jerusalem preaching the gospel in the villages of the Samaritans as he went), he apparently kept up the practice as we are told here that he went through all parts of the country. Peter is being stretched beyond his nationalistic boundaries & it is becoming a practice. He is not sitting in some ivory tower in Jerusalem; no God is getting him to be mobile. Have you ever noticed how easy it is for us to fall into a rut? We go the same way to work day after day; in fact pretty soon we are saying the same things to the same people each day. “How’s it going bud?” Oh you know same old same old, & you?” “Yeh, pounding the old beet man, Yeh well see you tomorrow!” Did you know that the only difference between a rut & a grave is the depth? What’s cool is that God is moving Peter around, oh he is still doing the same work but God is getting him to move to different locations to do it. Folk’s if you find your Christianity boring it’s not God that has made it that way it’s you! You see when we refuse to allow God to work in our lives & stretch us beyond our little boundaries we become stagnate & paralysis sets in. In fact that is what this first miracle that Jesus does through Peter is all about, changing a man from being immobile to activity!

Vs. 33-34 Here are the facts of the story: God has gotten Peter mobile so that he is even traveling 25 miles away to a village called Lydda (Lida) which is in between Jerusalem & Joppa. Now today if you fly into Israel you will land at Ben Gurion airport & when you walk out of your plane you are in Lydda, which is 11 miles outside of Tel Aviv. And Peter has a different ministry other then preaching to unbelievers; we are told that he is ministering to the saints. While there he runs into a man named (A-nee-us) who we are told has been bed ridden for eight years because he is paralyzed. At the word spoken through Peter this man is instantaneously healed. For eight long years Aeneas has been in a rut, unable to live life as God has intended. He is bed ridden & he is suffering. Doesn’t relate to you?

Hey, perhaps you came to Church today spiritually much like Aeneas was physically. You’re suffering from a spiritual paralysis & your pew-ridden. There have been things in your spiritual life that you want to accomplish but you just can’t seem to get up & get going. Let’s be honest your in a rut & it’s getting deeper. You have perhaps even given up on the hope of one day feeling motivated to get up. Perhaps you have even begun to doubt the relevance of going to church. I mean you have been spending a lot of time thinking about God, the Bible & Church as it relates to the hereafter & now you are beginning to wonder what you are here after! “Maybe a little church hopping will get me up?” I heard Greg Lourie ask this question on his radio broadcast the other day; “What would Church be like if everyone was just like you?” If everyone had our commitment, would anyone show up?”

May I just say that it was not feeling or excitement that made Aeneas move? No, it was trusting Jesus! Look at what Peter has to say to us Aeneas’ who have fallen into a spiritual paralysis:

  1. “Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you.”: Do you see that? Aeneas did not need more & greater Church entertainment to get him up & moving. No, He needs a fresh encounter with Jesus. Man does that ever speak to me. In a Church age where we see spiritual paralysis all around us & the church trying to get folks into this program or that event just so that there is some movement, Peter brings us right back to Jesus! If your Christian experience has become boring than the reason why is that there is not enough of Jesus in it! Peter did not promote himself or anything else as the answer to what kept Aeneas from experiencing the fullness of life, not the answer was & is more of Jesus. Ask our youth, which just came back from camp, who it was that made the camp experience & their Christian life exciting & fresh?  Hear what Paul said in Col. 1:28 “everywhere we go, we tell everyone about Christ. We warn them and teach them with all the wisdom God has given us, for we want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ.” (NLT).
  2. “Arise and make your bed.”: Hey, I know a lot of mothers who have spoke these very words to their teenagers, but with little or no change! That’s not the case with Aeneas. Peter was saying hey man since you’re made whole you aren’t going to be needing that bed any more! You see Jesus is our motivation & in so being we are going to need to make some changes. Now notices that old Aeneas does not say, “Hey, Peter you know I think I’ll just keep the bed un made just in case!” The reason we feel in this rut to begin with is that we gave ourselves room to do just that! So Peter says get up & get out of the pew! Don’t look for any other motivation then Jesus & then just go on up by trusting in Him. It won’t be long that your Christian experience will be come alive. You will have a complete healing from pew paralysis.
  3. “So all who dwelt at Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.” : So here is the outcome of a person who is no longer paralyzed he has an immediate effect on all that come in contact with him. There is nothing as contagious as a Christian who is excited about their relationship with Jesus. Hey, brother’s & sister’s I don’t know about you but I want people who see me, want to turn to the Lord. Did you notice that it doesn’t say that Aeneas said anything? No, in fact it was that at one time they knew him as “anything but alive Aeneas”. You see you & I have no excuses this morning even if you have been glued to that pew for eight years or more today can be the day you get up & begin again to experience life in Christ as it is meant to be lived!

Vs. 36-41 The dead are raised

Vs. 36-38 Now we come to the second miracle. In Aeneas you have life but no movement, here you have no life at all. Tabitha or Dorcas as she was known in Greek was a beautiful servant, she was a women full of good works in Christ she had a wonderful ministry of making clothes for the widows in the Church. Her name means Gazelle & when you think of a Gazelle you automatically think of grace & beauty! That was what Dorcas was all about, but suddenly unexpectedly her service is interrupted, she fell sick & died.

Some times we are like Aeneas, alive but immobile there is no spiritual progress. Other times we have had great spiritual progress. God’s grace is seen & demonstrated but something unexpected has come into our lives that has caused death to come in instead. Now instead of the fruit of the Spirit we have coldness & a hard heart, we have become indifferent, & bitter, in fact we smell of death. That is what had happened to Dorcas physically she was cold, her heart was hard there was the smell of death. Circumstances had come upon her life that took away all the grace & love that was her life in Christ. Folk’s there are some people here perhaps like that right now! Oh you may blame it on something or someone but it’s true, life has gone out of you & you are in need of a miracle. I picked up an E-mail the other day that spoke about the things you learn as you are  getting older. Here are a few of them:

  • You started out with nothing, & you still have most of it left.
  • You can’t remember ever becoming absent minded.
  • You finally have your head together, but now your body is falling apart.

This now in, “Life is officially unfair!” The question I have for you has this taken the life away from you? Have grumping, & bitterness replaced grace & beauty ? Perhaps you can relate to what a reporter said after hearing of former president Calvin Coolidge’s death, she simply asked, “How could you tell?” 

Vs. 39-41 Now look at Peter he is available to serve ready to go where ever the need was. And when he gets there all the widows, holding up the clothes that she had made them, greet him. You the evidence is there of her past fruitfulness lives have been transformed by her ministry but death has taken it away. Look specifically at what Peter does here:

  1. Vs. 40 “Peter put them all out” : Do you see that? All of the past no matter what good had been done in Christ needed to be put outside. Oh, how many times I have ran into those who are dead spiritually & they start out by saying all the things they use to do for Jesus. They wave the clothes they made in Jesus, you know. Folk’s all of the great things done in Christ full of grace & beauty won’t have any bearing upon your condition now. In fact they were a hindrance. Why? Well because we often use our past successes as reason to stay in our present condition. Paul put it this way, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
  2. “knelt down and prayed.” : There has to be a humility & a surrender to the Lord in prayer. Life had been interrupted by death & the only way to get life back was by humility & dependence upon the Lord.
  3. And turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.”: Oh don’t miss this, he turned to the body the “flesh” & said its grace that brings life! It’s not past works or self effort, no it’s by come to him where you are & trusting Him afresh!

Vs. 41 Don’t you love the beauty of this passage as life comes back into her she sees Peter a brother who was demonstrating dependence upon the Lord & not self & that gets her to sit up. Then as he gives her his hand & helps her up his presents her alive to the body of Christ. So what is that? Well it’s all about discipleship & coming alongside a brother or sister who has fallen & giving them a hand up.

            Is that not great God can bring new excitement back into your dead spiritual life & restore like it once was. He can heal you of your bitterness & bring back that beauty that was once a characteristic of your life in Him.

Vs. 42-10:8 The blind see

Vs. 42-43 Now the effect this had was again incredible. Joppa was jumpen as again many turned to Christ. Hey, let me encourage a moment perhaps your down because grace & beauty has been replaced by griping & bitterness in your life. The Lord can use those failures to bring fruit you see Joppa knew that she was full of grace & beauty & they knew that life had been taken from her & her revitalized life brought even more fruit.

            And look what else happens this whole thing begins to help change Peter as well. Look the good old Jewish boy is now living with a tanner. You see because they worked with hides of dead animals they were outcasts. Not only that they did not smell to well. In a reference book I have called “The new manners & customs of Bible times” it says that the hides were soaked in water contained in oak barrels with sumac leaves. Then the tanner would rub the leather in dog manure. The tanner’s job was thought so little of that it was one of the few grounds for divorce if you were a Jewish woman. Now the tanner had to work near water & Joppa is right on the Mediterranean. Can you imagine the smell? I mean all the Holy Spirit had to tell Cornelius servant was to follow their nose! My point in this is that God is giving sight to Peter who has been blinded by prejudices against gentiles. You see 10 years has passed since Pentecost & Peter still has problems with gentiles.

Vs.1-8 Now look at this passage & you will see some things about Cornelius beyond his occupation. Oh, yes he was centurion, ruffly equivalent to our captain with a 100 men in his charge. Further more he was stationed  at the Roman capital of Caesarea. Look what Luke has to say about him:

  1. devout man = knows there is a God.
  2. feared God with all his household = has a deep respect for God & moral things.
  3. gave charitable gifts = Is a generous man, he is not just talking about religious things he seeks to practice it.
  4. prayed to God always = he spends a lot of time praying to God.

Wow, it would appear as though this guy is right on with the Lord. As admirable as all of these qualities are notice that he is still not a saved man! Oh he is religious, sincere, generous, lives a good life & even prays, but there is still something missing; he is not born again. All of those qualities reveal is that he has an open heart but he has yet to see Jesus. He is in prayer a 3:pm seeking the Lord about his blindness when the Lord sends an angel to get him to go to Peter. What? Why did the angel not just tell him to receive Jesus? Well because God wants Peter who is blinded by his prejudices to be the guy who opens the eyes of the heart of Cornelius. Now we will take this story up over the next few weeks but what great news this is no matter what your condition is spiritually today Jesus can help.

  • If you are like Aeneas & you are a live but pew ridden Jesus can get you up & out.
  • If you are like Dorcas & the world has taken away all His grace & beauty from your life then Jesus will breathe new life back into you so that you will be even more fruitful then you were prior.
  • Or if you are like Cornelius & are a good person religious but there is still something missing He will bring you from where you are searching to the light of the knowledge of His grace!