So this morning we continue in our The Jesus
Church series through the book of Acts, and I'm
very grateful for Brother Truman for filling
in last week and doing an amazing job. preaching
the story of the early church's persecution and
how they scattered, but their scattering didn't
stop the movement. It didn't slow the movement
down. It actually increased the impact of the
kingdom in the first century. So thank you, Truman,
for that. And now I want to tell you a story
about a man. who really did change the world.
So in 1985, the board of one of the most innovative
companies on earth looked at the man who had
co -founded the company, who started this thing
in a garage, this visionary behind the whole
thing, and they looked at him and they forced
him out because he was too difficult to work
with. He was too uncontrollable or unpredictable.
One board member actually described him as a
relentless zealot who got an idea in his head
and didn't care what anybody else thought. We
know some people like that, don't we? Well, they
looked at this man and they realized what they
had on hand and they said, we can't work with
this. So they forced him out of the company that
he built. This man's name, if you didn't already
figure it out, is Steve Jobs or was Steve Jobs.
And the company was Apple. And most of you in
your hands or in your pockets or in your backpack
have a iPhone. Maybe on your wrist, you have
a Apple watch or you have a Apple computer or
an iPad. Like you've got a Apple product somewhere
in your belongings. Well, unless you were just
like anti -good technology and then you don't
have an Apple product. But Steve Jobs was the
mastermind behind all of this. And we look at
him today and we see this man who was a genius.
Like everybody just had to know that this guy
was a genius. He was an innovator. He was a top
-notch technological mastermind. But in 1985,
the people that were closest to him, they saw
him as a liability. And they saw him as a risk
for their company. They saw him as a nuisance
that needed to be gotten rid of. Well, a little
over a decade later, Apple finds themselves on
the brink of bankruptcy. Their products aren't
selling like they thought they should, and people
just aren't really buying the vision of Apple.
And so can you guess the solution that the board
of Apple had? They would go crawling back to
Steve Jobs, begging him to come back and save
them. And he did. And eventually, he rebuilt
his company into one of the most valuable technology
companies in the history of the world. Apple
changed the game for everyone. And here's the
point in telling you that story. The people making
the decisions back then, in 1985, the ones that
were doing the evaluating for Apple, they saw
jobs as a net negative to their cause. But ultimately,
he proved to be the greatest net positive, arguably,
in tech history. You see, history is full of
these types of stories. You have the record executive
that tells a young band in Liverpool that guitar
bands or guitar groups are on their way out.
Can anybody guess what band that was? The Beatles.
And we know what happened there. Or maybe a newspaper
editor firing a young cartoon artist because
he lacked imagination. Can anyone guess who that
was? Walt Disney. See, what I want you to hear
this morning is that God specializes in using
the people that everybody else has written off.
God specializes in using the most unlikely people
for his purposes. Now, Disney and the Beatles
and Steve Jobs, God did not use them in like
a ministerial way. And that's not what I'm saying.
But I want you to hold on to those types of redemption
stories, those types of underdog stories. And
I want you to see that those types of stories
happen in the kingdom of God more often than
not. So hold on to this idea as we get into this
lesson that God specializes in using the unlikely.
And nobody in the New Testament proves that.
Really, nobody in Scripture proves that greater
than the man we're going to focus on today, and
that is the man that was standing there approving
of and aiding in the murder of Stephen, as you
all discussed last week through Brother Truman's
sermon. The man that was behind that. The man
that was watching, that was helping in that murder,
that martyrdom, was a man named Saul. Standing
right there approving of the killing of Stephen
was this young man who, if you would have asked
everyone in the early church, if you took a poll
on who would be the least likely to ever follow
Jesus, who would be the least likely to ever
join the church, they would have said Saul. They
would have looked at Saul and said, there is
no doubt that guy is the most unlikely to become
a follower of Jesus Christ. But in Acts chapter
9, we get to see God prove. that he is a better
evaluator of talent than anyone ever was. So
I want you to look at Acts chapter 9 with me.
And for my church members here or regular attendees,
if it's underlined, you know you need to read
along with me so that I make sure you're awake,
okay? And if you're a visitor, I'd love if you
read along with me too, okay? Acts chapter 9,
starting in verses 1 through 2. But Saul, still
breathing threats and murder against the disciples
of the Lord, went to the high priest and he asked
him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus,
so that if he found any... belonging to the way,
he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. So we
read that this morning to help illustrate just
who Saul was. Luke in verse 1 is tying him to
the death of Stephen back in Acts chapter 8.
And this wasn't someone who was just curious
about the church. It wasn't someone who was seeking
a connection to this Jesus guy. This was someone
who was determined to take down the church of
Christ. His mindset, his mission on this earth
was to destroy everything connected to this man
named Jesus. And so in verse 2, it shows us that
he was actively trying to secure arrest warrants
so that if he found any that were connected to
Jesus, if he came across any disciples of Jesus,
he could arrest them. He could hunt them down,
take them to jail, and possibly kill them. But
I want you to look at what happens next in Saul's
story in verses 3 through 6. Now as he went on
his way, he approached Damascus and suddenly
a light from heaven shone around him and falling
to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him,
Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he
said, who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus
whom you are persecuting, but rise and enter
the city and you will be told what you are to
do. See, Jesus stops Saul dead in his tracks
and he asks him, Why are you persecuting me?
Why are you trying to take me out? Why are you
trying to end what I have started? Why are you
persecuting my people? And I just want to stop
and I want us to make a note of the fact that
Jesus identifies with his scattered children.
He identifies with his children that are being
hunted down. He identifies with his children
that are being chased into hiding his people
that are being murdered, his people that are
being arrested. He identifies with those people,
not only because he lived it, but because his
church is his bride. And as you maybe have been
told when you got married, that you and your
spouse are now one. Jesus and his bride are one.
So if you persecute his children, you persecute
him. Just like he says, whatever you do for the
least of these, you've done to me. Whatever you
do to his church, he identifies with. And so
he looks at Saul and he says, for you to attack
them is to attack God. And as he's accusing Saul,
he has him so shook. that Saul is on his knees
referring to this great light and this great
voice as Lord. This man who was so tough, this
man who was so qualified, so knowledgeable, so
capable, this man who probably felt like and
everybody thought he had everything figured out,
he is now at a loss for words and he can't even
stand up because of the power and the might of
Jesus. And I feel like that is a lesson in itself.
But even with all this power and might that Jesus
has, he doesn't look at Saul and punish him.
He doesn't strike Saul dead. He doesn't do that.
He doesn't crush him like he probably should.
Instead, he gives Saul instructions to go into
the city, to receive guidance. Essentially, he
tells Saul, I'm not going to hurt you. I just
want you to go be discipled. I want you to go
find out about my son, Jesus. I want you to go
find out about this gospel message. I want you
to go and become one of the very people that
you have been persecuting. See, in this scene,
we see Jesus humble Saul to his knees, and then
he commissions him. And the tension there that
we need to sit with for a moment is this, that
sometimes we're so perfectly comfortable with
God saving good people. You know, like we might
pray, that person, they are such a good man.
I just hope that they will get baptized because
it would be a shame for that good person to go
to hell. Or we may look at someone and we say,
yeah, they're a good person. It makes sense that
they're a Christian. Or yeah, they were always
a good person. It makes sense that they became
a follower of Jesus. But we get uneasy and sometimes
we even get offended when God saves the very
people who have hurt or who have threatened us.
And I'm not saying that as a judgment. It's just
an observation that I want us to understand as
we go into this next part of this story. That
sometimes... When God decides and when God chooses
to use the unlovable, when God chooses to use
the unlikable, when God chooses to use the blue
haired, tattooed up, piercings everywhere person
for his good, when God chooses to use the guy
that looks like he probably belongs in a bar,
maybe belongs under the bar, when we look at
those people and we say, how in the world is
God using them? It's because that's what God
has always done. God chooses to use. He specializes
in using the unlikely. So hold on to that as
we go into this next part of the story. Verses
10 through 12. Now, there was a disciple at Damascus
named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision,
Ananias. And he said, here I am, Lord. And the
Lord said to him, rise and go to the street called
Straight. And at the house of Judas, look for
a man of Tarsus named Saul. For behold, he is
praying. And he has seen in a vision a man named
Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that
he might regain his sight. You see, in Acts,
we've seen God send the church into these dangerous
places, these dangerous situations, and each
time I find myself wondering how they did it.
I think about the apostles that are in jail and
how instead of giving up and renouncing Jesus,
they just pray for boldness. I think about the
church witnessing the martyrdom of Stephen, and
instead of going into hiding and instead of giving
it up and saying, that's it, I'm done, I can't
handle this, they actually go and they keep advancing
the message. I look at them and I say, how in
the world do they do this? I sit there and I
think there is no way that I could possibly do
it. Especially like right now, Ananias, he doesn't
know this guy Saul except for the bad things.
He doesn't know that Jesus humbled him. All he
knows or for all he knows is that Saul is going
to be waiting there with an army ready to throw
stones at him. For all he knows, Saul is going
to be there with handcuffs, ready to take him
into prison to be sentenced to death. He does
not know that Saul has had his life shook. And
we're not out of line to think that way either.
At least if we are, then so is Ananias. But I
want you to look at this encounter between Ananias
and God in verses 13 through 14. But Ananias
answered, Lord, I've heard from many about this
man, how much evil he has done to your saints
at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from
the chief priests to bind all who call on your
name. So Ananias is just like us. He thinks about
Saul and he thinks about the danger. He says,
look, I've heard about this guy. I know the bad
things he's done. It's kind of like there was
a guy that I grew up with. We graduated high
school. He started getting into some trouble
and he's had a pretty rough life the last couple
of years. And the other day I saw on Facebook
that he was going to be teaching a Bible study
at a church I'm connected to. And I was like,
huh, of all the people to be teaching a Bible
study. And so I'm talking to my youth minister.
I'm like, you know what this guy has done? And
it's funny, I'm thinking this, and then I read
this story between, you know, Ananias and God,
and I'm thinking, that's exactly that. I've heard
about this guy. I know what he's done. I know
where he's been. I know what kind of person he
has been. But remember, God specializes in using
the people that we think we know about. So we
get to verse 15. But the Lord said to him, Go,
for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry
my name before the Gentiles and kings and the
children of Israel. Can you believe that? That
God is going to use this murderous man. That
God is going to use this enemy of the church,
that God is going to use this man whose mind
was hell bound to destroy everything that Jesus
had ever desired to build. God's going to use
that man. He's going to use that man that the
church sees as an enemy to become what we believe
is the greatest missionary of all time. And something
I want you to note is that the Greek there actually
means chosen vessel. This jar, this container
that God is going to fill with a message to go
pour out to all nations, all creation. The reason
I find that important is because a vessel doesn't
contribute anything to its own usefulness. Like
a cup doesn't earn the right to hold water. A
cup doesn't earn the right to carry my coffee.
No, a vessel's value is determined by what gets
poured into it and who decides to use it. I've
got a favorite coffee cup. It is not my favorite
coffee cup because it looks cool. It does look
cool. It's a Braves coffee cup. But that's not
why it's my favorite. It's not my favorite coffee
cup because it's strong enough. It's not my favorite
coffee cup because it feels good. You know why
it's my favorite coffee cup? Because it holds
more coffee than any cup I have in my cupboards.
And so it is my favorite coffee cup because I
know I can fill it. with as much coffee as I
need to get through a Saturday at home alone
with my toddlers. And so God looks at Saul and
he says, Saul, he's not earning the right to
be my child. He's not earning the right to be
my chosen vessel. He simply is my chosen vessel
because I know that I can do something really
special. I can maximize his potential. So a vessel
is not valuable because of who it is or what
it's done. It is valuable because of who decides
to pour what in it. And Saul, he had the pedigree.
He had the training. He had the notoriety, he
had all the status, but none of that was why
he was valuable. His value came when God chose
to fill him and use him. All credit goes to God
in whatever success Saul is gonna have. And the
same could be said for all of us, right? Any
success we have, any good things we do are only
because of the grace and goodness and power of
God. So now watch what Ananias does in verses
17 through 19. Ananias departed and entered the
house and laying his hands on him, he said, Brother
Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the
road by which you came has sent me so that you
may regain your sight and be filled with the
Holy Spirit. And immediately something like scales
fell from his eyes and he regained his sight.
Then he rose and was baptized and taking food,
he was strengthened. Ananias was obedient to
God. Ananias, even though he was doubting, even
though he wasn't so sure about the Saul guy,
even though he didn't know what this might hold
for him, he was obedient to God. He goes and
he does exactly what God commissioned him to
do. He lays hands on a man that just a few verses
ago he was terrified of, and he says these two
words that to me are pretty powerful, and I hope
you noticed them. He says, Brother Saul. Brother.
The man that just killed. one of the first deacons,
the man who has been trying to arrest your people,
the man who has been trying to pour water on
this fire that God has lit, that man, the man
we would call enemy, that man is now family.
And I want you to think about the people sitting
next to you in the chairs that we have here.
There's all kinds of backgrounds. There's all
kinds of differences of opinion. There's all
kinds of choices and preferences. There's all
kinds of religious leanings. There's all kinds
of socioeconomic differences. There are all kinds
of dividing lines that outside of these walls,
the world says, these make us enemies. But inside
these walls, God takes the enemy and says, we're
now family. And family takes care of each other.
And so Ananias does what family does and he lays
hands on Saul. And because of this new family
connection and because Ananias was obedient to
God in healing and restoring, Saul finds healing.
He finds restoration. And ultimately, he becomes
a disciple because Ananias baptizes him. He does
the very thing. that we believe brings someone
from outside of the family into the family. He
does the very thing that we believe takes someone
from enemy of God to child of God. He does the
very thing that we believe takes someone who
is filthy, someone who is stained, someone who
is seemingly unredeemable, and it gives them
all restoration. So Saul... goes from enemy of
the church to family of God. He goes from enemy
to agent of kingdom mission. And I want you to
notice this all happens before Saul ever preaches
a sermon. It happens before he does anything
special. He's simply sitting and being discipled
by other disciples. And that's Ananias doing
what the church was meant to do. The church was
meant to go to the broken. The church was meant
to go to the enemy. The church was meant to go
to the outcast, to the bad person and disciple
them, to bring them into the family. Not look
at them and say, you're so awful. Not look at
them and say, you're bound for hell. Not look
at them and say, your life is a mess. Not look
at them and place judgment, but instead offer
healing. That's what the church was made to do.
And that's what Ananias did. He made a disciple
out of even the worst enemy. And that reminds
me of my own story. You know, as a kid from a
super dysfunctional family, a broken family,
I walked into this church building with a chip
on my shoulder. I walked through life with anger
and I walked through life with this hurt, this
mistrust. And then add on top of that all of
my hyperactivity and this aggressive nature that
I had, and you get this awful kid that would
be very easy to cast out. I think I've told you
before, I may be the only person I've ever known
to get suspended from church. I did. It wasn't
fun. But yeah, I got suspended from youth group.
But despite all of that, the church in Long Beach,
Mississippi treated me like the church in Acts
treated Saul. They looked at this enemy and they
gave me access to healing. They gave me access
to redemption. And they discipled me so that
God could use me for his purpose. I had my own
real life Ananias. In fact, I had several. And
they weren't ministers by trade. They weren't
Bible scholars. One was a parts counter rep at
a Ford dealership. Another was a retired Air
Force member. Another was an insurance salesman.
And then there was a nurse and even a school
bus driver. But all of these men acted like Ananias.
And they laid hands on me. They prayed over me.
They supported me. They trained me. They baptized
me. They were just ordinary saints that were
willing to obey God's call. to love the unlovable.
They saw this kid who fit the bill of Saul in
verse 13, this how much evil he's done, but they
knew what God wanted and they obeyed like Ananias
in verse 17. And now because of their obedience
to God, I stand before you proclaiming the gospel.
And I want you to think about the people in your
life that you know like that. The people that
maybe were your Saul, that you helped disciple,
or maybe you were Saul. And you had some Ananiases,
the people that didn't write you off, the people
that didn't give up on you, that didn't say you're
too far gone, you're too messed up, you're too
difficult to work with, the people that didn't
look at you and say, that is just a chunk of
clay that is far too hard to mold. But the people
that said, God wants me to disciple, so I'm going
to disciple. And now because of their obedience,
you are able to be an example. And you are able
to proclaim the gospel. So I want you to hold
on to that as we get to verses 20 through 22.
And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogue
saying, he is the son of God. And all who heard
him were amazed and said, is not this the man
who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called
upon his name? And has he not come here for this
purpose to bring them bound before the chief
priests? But Saul increased all the more in strength
and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus
by proving that Jesus was the Christ. The same
mouth that had caused serious harm and threat
to the church, the same one. that was going to
the chief priest trying to get warrants so that
he could arrest and kill Christians. That same
mouth is now in the synagogues proclaiming the
gospel, preaching the gospel, and the people
listening, they're astonished, they're confused
because they're thinking, is this not the guy
that just a few days ago we would have thought
would never preach Jesus, much less identify
with Jesus, and now Saul is in the synagogues
preaching. It's like the teacher that comes up
to me and says, I would have never guessed you'd
be a preacher. I would have thought you'd be
in jail by now. That is what they're looking
at when they see Saul. They are seeing someone
who makes no sense. They are seeing someone who
could only have the new life that he has by the
power of the Holy Spirit and the redemptive work
of Jesus Christ. This is only possible. All redemption
stories. are only possible because of God. In
fact, can we say that out loud like we believe
that to be true? This is only possible because
of God. I'm not strong enough. I'm not smart
enough. I'm not entertaining enough. I'm not
as good of a communicator as I probably should
be. I'm not qualified enough to just go and find
the most difficult person and transform them
into a preacher. And neither are you. The only
person who is able to do that is God. And I say
all of this to say, please, for the love of God,
stop disqualifying yourself. And stop disqualifying
others. Because God doesn't. God doesn't look
at you. He doesn't look at me and he doesn't
look at the people out there and say they are
too far gone. He doesn't look at us and say,
I can't work with that. There was a preacher
named Marshall Keeble and he used to say that
God was the physician who never lost a case.
He never looked at a case and said, I can't heal
that. He never looked at a broken bone and said,
I can't fix that. He never looked at someone
who was dealing with an addiction and said, I
can't treat that. He never lost a case and he
never will. So we have to stop disqualifying
people that God doesn't. We have to stop using
the past to make final verdicts on other people's
usefulness in the kingdom of God because it's
not our place. The only thing that matters is
who? and what God identifies as his chosen vessel.
And the vessel's job isn't to be impressive.
It's not to have a great resume. The vessel's
job is simply to be available, to be filled.
And when God humbled Saul to his knees on the
road, Saul was there made available. And in your
life, where has God made you available? Has he
made you available? Maybe it's this morning.
Maybe you are being humbled to the point of availability
for God. I don't know, but what I do know is
that we do our best work. The unlikely, the unimaginable
is able to happen when we open ourselves up to
be filled with the Holy Spirit, to be commissioned
by God to go and do the work of the kingdom.
And so I want you to ask yourself right now,
where have you been telling God, not me? Or where
have you been telling God, not them? Where have
you been telling God, God, you could use anybody,
just don't use me. Because I don't really like
those people. Or I don't feel good enough about
my role in this plan. Or God, anybody but them.
Because they can't be the person that's going
to disciple others. You know their resume, God?
As if God doesn't already know. I want you to
imagine what it would look like to stop closing
the door on ourselves or to stop closing the
door on others because of our past. And instead,
we leave the door open for God to do incredible
work through whomever He chooses. Just imagine
what that would be like. And I want that to be
our mindset as a church family. In fact, this
lesson is titled, The Unlikely Church. Because
I want this church to be so full of people that
when the world looks at it, they say, there's
no way that those are the people that God would
use. There's no way that those are the people
that God would use. It's like if God takes the
introvert and puts him on stage and makes him
a preacher, or if God takes the person that just
has way too much anxiety to be in front of a
crowd of people and makes them a song leader,
if God takes the person that is kind of shy and
makes them a greeter, I want you to imagine what
it would look like for God to transform the unlikely
into the unimaginable. I want us to be like Ananias.
I want us to be people that say, God, I don't
know how you're going to work through them. I
don't know how you're going to use them. I don't
know how you're going to transform them, but
if this is your will, I will go. I'll lay hands
on them. I'll pray over them, and I will call
them brother. I will call them sister. I will
disciple them and bring them into the family
because it is your will. Can we as a church be
like Ananias? See, the church astonishes and
it amazes people when it's full of these unexpected
vessels. And that can only happen when the saints
take the risk of pouring into them. So let's
be a people that look around for the Saul's in
our community, that look around for the Saul's
in this room. Let's be a people that listen for
who God may be calling us to reach and pour into.
It may just be the person that you've already
written off. Remember Steve Jobs? The person
in that boardroom that the experts, the people
with all the information they looked at, their
most valuable asset, and they saw a reject, they
saw a mess, they saw an enemy to success, but
our God... specializes in restoration projects.
Our God specializes in restoring the reject.
He majors in ministering through the mess. He
has no problem turning the enemy of the kingdom
into an agent of success. And we need to know
that and live like that's true because we are
called to do the will of God. And if the will
of God is to bring all people into his family,
guess what we do? We bring all people into his
family. His will is to bring the worst of this
world into the best of his. And the church is
the best of God's world. And that is just for
right now. It's a foretaste of what is to come
because that truly will be the best. So like
Ananias, we seek, we serve the unexpected. Because
those are the very ones that God is going to
show his grace and his power to the world through.
In fact, Saul is so transformed by God's grace,
by God's power, that he changes his name to Paul.
And Paul goes on to be the greatest missionary,
church planter of all time. He writes over half
of the New Testament. Paul is viewed as the greatest
leader in church history besides Jesus Christ
himself. And who knows, maybe the next Paul is
sitting in this room right next to you. Maybe
there is a Saul sitting next to you that God
is just waiting for you to lay hands on and disciple.
Maybe it's you. And if it is, I want to invite
you to come, have hands laid on you. by the leaders
here and begin being discipled by some men and
women here that are modern day Ananiases. Or
maybe you're in this room and you need to be
like Ananias, but you're too caught up on who
people are or who people have been or where they
come from to really be obedient to God. Whatever
weight you're carrying this morning or whatever
is stopping you from being an agent of success
in the kingdom of God, the invitation is the
same for all of us. Please come as we stand and
as we sing.