WEBVTT 00:00:02.060 --> 00:00:04.940 And we'll open our Bibles to the ninth chapter 00:00:04.940 --> 00:00:09.460 of the book of Acts. To the passage recounting 00:00:09.460 --> 00:00:12.039 the conversion of Saul, which we have had suggested 00:00:12.039 --> 00:00:15.140 to us this morning already in the dramatic reading. 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:28.280 Acts chapter 9. Now Saul, still breathing threats 00:00:28.280 --> 00:00:30.820 and murder against the disciples of the Lord. 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:34.600 went to the high priest and asked for letters 00:00:34.600 --> 00:00:38.380 from him to the synagogues at Damascus so that 00:00:38.380 --> 00:00:42.119 if he found any belonging to the way, both men 00:00:42.119 --> 00:00:44.820 and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 00:00:45.899 --> 00:00:48.619 And it came about that as he journeyed, he was 00:00:48.619 --> 00:00:51.719 approaching Damascus and suddenly a light from 00:00:51.719 --> 00:00:55.460 heaven flashed around him. And he fell to the 00:00:55.460 --> 00:00:59.100 ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:03.829 Saul. Why are you persecuting me? And he said, 00:01:03.990 --> 00:01:07.590 Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, 00:01:07.650 --> 00:01:11.010 whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter 00:01:11.010 --> 00:01:13.269 the city, and it shall be told you what you must 00:01:13.269 --> 00:01:16.969 do. And the men who traveled with him stood speechless, 00:01:17.170 --> 00:01:20.909 hearing the voice, but seeing no one. And Saul 00:01:20.909 --> 00:01:23.709 got up from the ground, and though his eyes were 00:01:23.709 --> 00:01:26.569 open, he could see nothing. And leading him by 00:01:26.569 --> 00:01:29.250 the hand, they brought him into Damascus. And 00:01:29.250 --> 00:01:32.569 he was there. Three days without sight, and neither 00:01:32.569 --> 00:01:38.750 ate nor drank. Now there was a certain disciple 00:01:38.750 --> 00:01:42.829 of Damascus named Ananias. And the Lord said 00:01:42.829 --> 00:01:46.030 to him in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, 00:01:46.049 --> 00:01:50.209 here am I, Lord. And the Lord said to him, Arise 00:01:50.209 --> 00:01:53.790 and go to the street called Straight, and inquire 00:01:53.790 --> 00:01:57.469 at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named 00:01:57.469 --> 00:02:01.959 Saul. For behold, he is praying. And he has seen 00:02:01.959 --> 00:02:05.040 in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:06.959 his hands on him, so that he might regain his 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:10.699 sight. But Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard 00:02:10.699 --> 00:02:14.240 from many about this man, how much harm he did 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:18.319 to thy saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:20.939 from the chief priests to bind all who call upon 00:02:20.939 --> 00:02:25.280 thy name. But the Lord said to him, Go, for he 00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:28.979 is a chosen instrument of mine. to bear my name 00:02:28.979 --> 00:02:32.300 before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of 00:02:32.300 --> 00:02:35.639 Israel, for I will show him how much he must 00:02:35.639 --> 00:02:39.300 suffer for my name's sake. And Ananias departed 00:02:39.300 --> 00:02:41.900 and entered the house, and after laying his hands 00:02:41.900 --> 00:02:45.780 on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who 00:02:45.780 --> 00:02:48.000 appeared to you on the road by which you were 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:51.360 coming, has sent me so that you may regain your 00:02:51.360 --> 00:02:54.870 sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And 00:02:54.870 --> 00:02:56.889 immediately there fell from his eyes something 00:02:56.889 --> 00:03:00.189 like scales. And he regained his sight, and he 00:03:00.189 --> 00:03:02.710 arose and was baptized. And he took food and 00:03:02.710 --> 00:03:05.650 was strengthened. Now for several days he was 00:03:05.650 --> 00:03:07.729 with the disciples who were at Damascus. And 00:03:07.729 --> 00:03:10.729 immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the 00:03:10.729 --> 00:03:15.110 synagogue, saying, He is the Son of God. And 00:03:15.110 --> 00:03:17.430 all those hearing him continued to be amazed 00:03:17.430 --> 00:03:20.789 and were saying, Is this not he who in Jerusalem 00:03:20.789 --> 00:03:24.389 destroyed those who called on this name? and 00:03:24.389 --> 00:03:26.289 who had come here for the purpose of bringing 00:03:26.289 --> 00:03:30.569 them down before the chief priests. But Saul 00:03:30.569 --> 00:03:33.409 kept increasing in strength and confounding the 00:03:33.409 --> 00:03:36.550 Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that this 00:03:36.550 --> 00:03:40.650 Jesus is the Christ. And when many days had elapsed, 00:03:40.650 --> 00:03:43.349 the Jews plotted together to do away with him. 00:03:43.909 --> 00:03:46.389 But their plot became known to Saul, and they 00:03:46.389 --> 00:03:49.789 were also watching the gates day and night so 00:03:49.789 --> 00:03:52.610 that they might put him to death. But his disciples 00:03:52.610 --> 00:03:55.030 took him by night and led him down through an 00:03:55.030 --> 00:03:57.750 opening in the wall, lowering him in a large 00:03:57.750 --> 00:04:01.669 basket. When he had come to Jerusalem, he was 00:04:01.669 --> 00:04:04.669 trying to associate with the disciples. They 00:04:04.669 --> 00:04:06.849 were all afraid of him, not believing that he 00:04:06.849 --> 00:04:10.210 was a disciple. But Barnabas took hold of him 00:04:10.210 --> 00:04:13.009 and brought him to the apostles and described 00:04:13.009 --> 00:04:16.310 to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, 00:04:16.410 --> 00:04:19.529 that he had talked to him, and how at Damascus... 00:04:19.819 --> 00:04:22.959 He had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. 00:04:23.500 --> 00:04:26.759 He was with them moving about freely in Jerusalem, 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:29.579 speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. 00:04:30.019 --> 00:04:32.939 He was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic 00:04:32.939 --> 00:04:35.839 Jews, but they were attempting to put him to 00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:38.699 death. When the brethren learned of it, they 00:04:38.699 --> 00:04:42.000 brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:48.459 to Tarsus. Powerful moving drama grips. The text 00:04:48.459 --> 00:04:52.800 that we have read, religious zeal, the supernatural, 00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:58.579 intrigued to murder, daring escapes, combined 00:04:58.579 --> 00:05:02.560 with the conversion of an angry persecutor into 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:07.060 an ardent preacher to make this an exciting drama 00:05:07.060 --> 00:05:11.079 in the book of Acts. What is in the making here? 00:05:11.939 --> 00:05:16.720 The answer to that is an apostle of Jesus Christ. 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:21.420 one who would be commissioned by Christ himself 00:05:21.420 --> 00:05:26.899 personally to represent him, to speak with authority, 00:05:27.220 --> 00:05:33.199 to establish his church. The Apostle Paul is 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:37.040 the greatest of the apostles, I think. He is 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:41.259 the apostle of the church, and he himself calls 00:05:41.259 --> 00:05:46.209 himself the apostle to the Gentiles. Why, we'll 00:05:46.209 --> 00:05:49.709 see as we move on through the book. Across the 00:05:49.709 --> 00:05:54.910 stage of events in our text come four main characters, 00:05:55.009 --> 00:05:59.550 each of whom has a vital part to play in the 00:05:59.550 --> 00:06:03.290 unfolding drama of what God is doing in the world. 00:06:04.629 --> 00:06:09.629 The first person is Saul, Saul of Tarsus. He 00:06:09.629 --> 00:06:13.939 is in the part of the enemy. He comes to Damascus 00:06:13.939 --> 00:06:17.980 with an intention to destroy the church of God. 00:06:19.480 --> 00:06:25.180 The second part is that of Jesus. Jesus the Lord, 00:06:25.300 --> 00:06:32.839 who intervenes to convert the enemy. The third 00:06:32.839 --> 00:06:36.120 part is played by Ananias. He is in the part 00:06:36.120 --> 00:06:40.300 of the disciple of Jesus, who brings the induction 00:06:40.300 --> 00:06:44.329 to Paul. for him to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:06:45.110 --> 00:06:48.769 And finally, there is the main character, Barnabas, 00:06:48.769 --> 00:06:53.029 who plays the part of the friend, who brings 00:06:53.029 --> 00:06:57.990 an introduction on behalf of Saul to encourage 00:06:57.990 --> 00:07:02.689 him. Now let's study about those four main characters 00:07:02.689 --> 00:07:05.449 and the parts they play in this drama. The first 00:07:05.449 --> 00:07:09.110 is Saul, who is the enemy. He is pictured in 00:07:09.110 --> 00:07:13.709 the text as a wild animal, an animal that has 00:07:13.709 --> 00:07:16.930 gotten the taste of blood and is wildly going 00:07:16.930 --> 00:07:20.970 after his prey. Or to put it a different way, 00:07:21.029 --> 00:07:26.730 we see him as a soldier organizing a foray to 00:07:26.730 --> 00:07:31.129 capture his enemies, the Christians in Damascus, 00:07:31.350 --> 00:07:34.750 and to bring them back to Jerusalem in bonds 00:07:34.750 --> 00:07:39.930 so that he might... deal with them. He is planning 00:07:39.930 --> 00:07:45.670 to destroy the work of God. He, of course, was 00:07:45.670 --> 00:07:48.829 not the first. He certainly was not the last 00:07:48.829 --> 00:07:54.350 who attempted to destroy the work of God and 00:07:54.350 --> 00:08:00.050 who himself had a change. The account of Saul's 00:08:00.050 --> 00:08:02.870 conversion is recorded three times in the book 00:08:02.870 --> 00:08:07.199 of Acts. In addition to this text, chapter 22 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:11.639 and again chapter 26. That tells us how important 00:08:11.639 --> 00:08:17.100 this is to what Luke wants to communicate to 00:08:17.100 --> 00:08:24.480 us about the early church. What is in Saul's 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:29.360 mind as he travels that road to Damascus? Certainly 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:34.279 he is seeking out Christians. desiring to put 00:08:34.279 --> 00:08:38.840 them into bonds, perhaps even to kill them. He 00:08:38.840 --> 00:08:43.000 sees this sect of Christianity, those who follow 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:46.240 Jesus the Nazarene, as an offshoot of Judaism 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:50.620 that needed to be dealt with sternly, put away, 00:08:50.860 --> 00:08:55.159 destroyed. He intends to be the instrument of 00:08:55.159 --> 00:09:00.080 God to do that. But I believe as we study the 00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:03.440 New Testament, We find that there are some things 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:06.080 going on inside of Saul that are not mentioned 00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:11.019 in the narrative of Acts 9. Saul is in a struggle 00:09:11.019 --> 00:09:13.220 as he marches down the road toward Damascus. 00:09:14.299 --> 00:09:18.200 I believe that there are three strains of thought 00:09:18.200 --> 00:09:24.220 that are flowing through his mind. He seeks to 00:09:24.220 --> 00:09:28.580 suppress them. He wants to drown these things 00:09:28.580 --> 00:09:32.230 in his zeal. to destroy the church, but he can't. 00:09:34.009 --> 00:09:38.029 The first strain of thought in his mind is his 00:09:38.029 --> 00:09:43.350 memory of Stephen's death scene. I believe the 00:09:43.350 --> 00:09:47.129 Apostle had a difficult time putting that out 00:09:47.129 --> 00:09:52.009 of his mind, for he was the one who was in charge 00:09:52.009 --> 00:09:55.070 of that execution, so it would seem from the 00:09:55.070 --> 00:09:59.570 account earlier in Acts. And yet he heard this 00:09:59.570 --> 00:10:04.309 one that they killed pray for his executors and 00:10:04.309 --> 00:10:07.269 asked the Lord to forgive them for their deed. 00:10:08.490 --> 00:10:11.950 I don't think Saul could get away from the prayer 00:10:11.950 --> 00:10:19.730 of Stephen. It plagued him. In Romans chapter 00:10:19.730 --> 00:10:22.470 7, and I'd like you to turn there, I think we 00:10:22.470 --> 00:10:24.889 have another strain of thought going through 00:10:24.889 --> 00:10:35.179 his mind. In this text in Romans 7, Saul later 00:10:35.179 --> 00:10:38.320 called Paul recounts for us what was going on 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:42.639 in his heart in his days before he was converted. 00:10:44.500 --> 00:10:48.539 I believe that what he says in verses 7 and 8 00:10:48.539 --> 00:10:53.600 of Romans 7 gives us some insight into a spiritual 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:57.320 struggle that he was having. He's talking here 00:10:57.320 --> 00:10:59.860 about the law and its relationship to the believers, 00:10:59.960 --> 00:11:01.879 but he says this, What shall we say then? Is 00:11:01.879 --> 00:11:05.779 the law sin? May it never be. On the contrary, 00:11:05.899 --> 00:11:10.379 I would not have come to know sin except through 00:11:10.379 --> 00:11:14.940 the law. For I would not have known about coveting 00:11:14.940 --> 00:11:17.320 if the law had not said, You shall not covet. 00:11:18.539 --> 00:11:21.840 But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:26.009 produced in me coveting of every kind. Apart 00:11:26.009 --> 00:11:28.409 from the law, sin is dead, and I was once alive 00:11:28.409 --> 00:11:30.389 apart from the law. But when the commandment 00:11:30.389 --> 00:11:35.710 came, sin became alive, and I died. Paul is not 00:11:35.710 --> 00:11:40.570 saying that the law was sin or it was used for 00:11:40.570 --> 00:11:42.610 ill in his life. Indeed, he's saying just the 00:11:42.610 --> 00:11:46.529 opposite. The apostle is saying that God did 00:11:46.529 --> 00:11:50.649 not give the law to save or to sanctify anybody. 00:11:52.490 --> 00:11:55.769 By keeping the law, by keeping the Ten Commandments, 00:11:55.769 --> 00:11:59.570 no person can enter heaven, because none of us 00:11:59.570 --> 00:12:03.570 can keep it perfectly. Indeed, we have all broken 00:12:03.570 --> 00:12:06.129 all of the commandments, if not indeed at least 00:12:06.129 --> 00:12:10.009 in thought. Paul is telling us here that the 00:12:10.009 --> 00:12:15.450 law is actually God's spotlight, designed to 00:12:15.450 --> 00:12:18.750 shine into our darkened hearts to expose and 00:12:18.750 --> 00:12:24.340 reveal the sin. that is in us. But not only does 00:12:24.340 --> 00:12:29.779 it expose the sin, it agitates it. It actually 00:12:29.779 --> 00:12:33.659 becomes a beachhead in our lives, the law does, 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:38.720 allowing sin to enter in and cause us to sin 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:43.320 all the more. Paul said, I would not have understood 00:12:43.320 --> 00:12:46.279 what coveting was if the law hadn't said, you 00:12:46.279 --> 00:12:48.929 shouldn't do this, you shouldn't covet. They 00:12:48.929 --> 00:12:51.309 said, once I understood that, I coveted all the 00:12:51.309 --> 00:12:54.169 more. You may recall we studied this a couple 00:12:54.169 --> 00:12:58.509 of years ago. The idea is just like the sign 00:12:58.509 --> 00:13:02.169 that says, please do not walk in the grass. So 00:13:02.169 --> 00:13:05.029 where do you walk? Why not? What's wrong with 00:13:05.029 --> 00:13:08.649 this grass? We walk across it. Or the sign says, 00:13:08.909 --> 00:13:12.830 wet paint, please do not touch. I wonder if it's 00:13:12.830 --> 00:13:20.080 dry yet. Yep, it's still wet. When we have a 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:22.559 prohibition given to us, what does it do? It 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:26.720 strikes sparks in us out of curiosity or something. 00:13:26.899 --> 00:13:30.379 We want to try that. That's what Paul is saying. 00:13:31.159 --> 00:13:33.700 God said, Thou shalt not covet. What did it do 00:13:33.700 --> 00:13:35.399 in him? It caused him to covet all the more. 00:13:35.879 --> 00:13:38.620 My point is this. I think that as Paul was heading 00:13:38.620 --> 00:13:42.740 down the road to Damascus, he was under conviction 00:13:42.740 --> 00:13:47.570 of sin. According to the law and the righteousness 00:13:47.570 --> 00:13:50.730 of the law, as he said in Philippians 3, he was 00:13:50.730 --> 00:13:54.090 blameless. That is, outwardly, in all the rituals, 00:13:54.289 --> 00:13:58.429 he did all of the right things. But the law could 00:13:58.429 --> 00:14:02.389 not deliver him from his inward sin. It only 00:14:02.389 --> 00:14:07.629 exposed it and agitated it. And so as he was 00:14:07.629 --> 00:14:10.529 going down that road, outwardly he was righteous. 00:14:11.500 --> 00:14:14.179 He was doing everything right as much as he understood 00:14:14.179 --> 00:14:19.259 it. But inside, there was sin. And it was eating 00:14:19.259 --> 00:14:21.980 away at him. He was under conviction of God. 00:14:22.679 --> 00:14:26.240 He had studied the law, you see. He was a Pharisee 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:29.500 of the Pharisees. He knew it inside and out. 00:14:29.559 --> 00:14:32.419 And now the Spirit of God began to use the commandments 00:14:32.419 --> 00:14:38.059 that he studied to expose his own sin. That was 00:14:38.059 --> 00:14:42.580 the second strain going through his mind. As 00:14:42.580 --> 00:14:45.960 he headed toward Damascus. I believe that there 00:14:45.960 --> 00:14:48.120 is a third strain. This too is found in the book 00:14:48.120 --> 00:14:51.259 of Romans. And I'd like you to look at the 16th 00:14:51.259 --> 00:15:07.159 chapter. And verse 7. He says, Notice that. He 00:15:07.159 --> 00:15:09.899 lists other Jews in this text. So I don't think 00:15:09.899 --> 00:15:13.269 he's saying my fellow Jews. He's using kinsmen 00:15:13.269 --> 00:15:16.909 here in the sense of my blood relatives, family 00:15:16.909 --> 00:15:22.029 members, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners who 00:15:22.029 --> 00:15:26.330 are outstanding among the apostles, who also 00:15:26.330 --> 00:15:32.850 were in Christ before me. I think that Paul was 00:15:32.850 --> 00:15:34.870 troubled by something else as he headed toward 00:15:34.870 --> 00:15:39.129 Damascus, and that was that some of his own family 00:15:39.129 --> 00:15:43.669 had come to trust. In Jesus of Nazareth as the 00:15:43.669 --> 00:15:48.149 Christ. And he knew that if he followed the path 00:15:48.149 --> 00:15:51.330 long enough, persecuting believers, it was going 00:15:51.330 --> 00:15:56.909 to lead right back to his own family. I don't 00:15:56.909 --> 00:15:59.509 think he could understand why these good Jews, 00:15:59.889 --> 00:16:06.450 these ones who were his own loved ones, would, 00:16:06.549 --> 00:16:09.289 as he would view it at this point, turn from 00:16:09.289 --> 00:16:13.610 their faith. and follow after this Jesus, this 00:16:13.610 --> 00:16:17.889 false teacher, this sect, become Christians. 00:16:19.210 --> 00:16:23.690 That troubled him. He knew that they were good 00:16:23.690 --> 00:16:28.710 Jews. They were not half -hearted. But now, now 00:16:28.710 --> 00:16:31.429 they were Christians. He was plagued by that. 00:16:33.470 --> 00:16:35.970 I believe that all of that was churning inside 00:16:35.970 --> 00:16:40.720 Paul as he headed toward Damascus. He was hidden. 00:16:42.259 --> 00:16:44.899 He was unobserved by those around. All who looked 00:16:44.899 --> 00:16:47.379 at him said, what a marvelous example of a Jew. 00:16:49.620 --> 00:16:53.860 They applauded him for his zeal. But inside, 00:16:54.220 --> 00:16:59.620 inside, Saul knew differently. He was being eaten 00:16:59.620 --> 00:17:04.200 away by his inner struggles. I may be talking 00:17:04.200 --> 00:17:06.819 to someone right now who is similar to Saul. 00:17:07.940 --> 00:17:12.460 Outwardly, people see you as Mr. Wonderful, Miss 00:17:12.460 --> 00:17:17.920 Perfect. You've got it all together, those around 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:22.480 you think. You are zealous in your work for the 00:17:22.480 --> 00:17:24.920 Lord as best you understand it at this point. 00:17:26.519 --> 00:17:31.859 But down inside of you, you are struggling. There's 00:17:31.859 --> 00:17:37.710 something eating at you. Secret way inside are 00:17:37.710 --> 00:17:43.250 thoughts that you are afraid to face, just as 00:17:43.250 --> 00:17:47.549 Saul was. I pray to God that before we leave 00:17:47.549 --> 00:17:51.130 here today, whatever those thoughts are, that 00:17:51.130 --> 00:17:53.789 you'll face them and begin to deal with them. 00:17:55.390 --> 00:18:00.730 That's what happened to Saul. Saul was enthusiastic 00:18:00.730 --> 00:18:06.910 in his persecution of the way. term is used five 00:18:06.910 --> 00:18:08.809 of the times in the book of Acts for Christianity. 00:18:09.430 --> 00:18:12.150 It was called by those early people the way. 00:18:13.349 --> 00:18:16.910 He was fanatic in his devotion to put out the 00:18:16.910 --> 00:18:23.869 flame that had started. You may help you to remember 00:18:23.869 --> 00:18:29.369 that when someone reacts to you bitterly or angrily, 00:18:29.369 --> 00:18:32.869 when you're seeking to witness to them, they 00:18:32.869 --> 00:18:38.839 are often facing what Saul was facing. They are 00:18:38.839 --> 00:18:41.500 facing some inner battles that they don't want 00:18:41.500 --> 00:18:45.720 to face yet, perhaps even the conviction of sin. 00:18:47.460 --> 00:18:51.779 Their harsh reaction to you, their defiant arguments, 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:59.119 their nasty words are only a cover -up for the 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:03.230 emptiness, the ache, and the pain. that they 00:19:03.230 --> 00:19:07.009 feel down deep inside. So don't react to them 00:19:07.009 --> 00:19:11.509 negatively. Don't point your finger at God and 00:19:11.509 --> 00:19:13.829 say, Lord, why did you get me into this fine 00:19:13.829 --> 00:19:18.089 mess? But rather say, Lord, thank you for allowing 00:19:18.089 --> 00:19:22.170 me to share with this person who by his angry 00:19:22.170 --> 00:19:26.450 reaction is telling me that down inside he's 00:19:26.450 --> 00:19:32.390 struggling with you. Let's move ahead now and 00:19:32.390 --> 00:19:36.750 look at the second main character, the main character, 00:19:36.869 --> 00:19:41.230 that is Jesus the Lord. We observe here an intervention 00:19:41.230 --> 00:19:46.470 on his part to convert Saul of Tarsus. Have you 00:19:46.470 --> 00:19:48.450 ever looked at someone in a lot of trouble and 00:19:48.450 --> 00:19:52.650 said, there but by the grace of God would be 00:19:52.650 --> 00:19:56.609 me? I suppose all of us have said or thought 00:19:56.609 --> 00:20:02.049 that at some point. and some of the missions 00:20:02.049 --> 00:20:07.470 in Chicago as a student there. I saw young men 00:20:07.470 --> 00:20:13.309 my age who were drunkards, had nothing in this 00:20:13.309 --> 00:20:17.289 world, dressed in rags, living in the streets. 00:20:18.589 --> 00:20:21.109 There were times when I said, but by the grace 00:20:21.109 --> 00:20:26.789 of God, I might be one of those sad, lost people. 00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:30.799 Well, as you look at this man marching toward 00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:34.380 Damascus, I want you to remember something. There 00:20:34.380 --> 00:20:40.059 but by the grace of God would be you. I don't 00:20:40.059 --> 00:20:42.619 know what road you were marching on on the day 00:20:42.619 --> 00:20:46.440 that Jesus Christ intervened in your life, but 00:20:46.440 --> 00:20:48.779 I do know the destiny of that road. It was hell. 00:20:51.740 --> 00:20:57.910 It was destruction. It was death. and the Lord 00:20:57.910 --> 00:21:01.710 Jesus Christ, by His sovereign grace, intervened 00:21:01.710 --> 00:21:05.970 in your life. No, it may not have been as it 00:21:05.970 --> 00:21:11.269 was with Saul, with a light from heaven, but 00:21:11.269 --> 00:21:13.650 He shined a light into your heart, bringing you 00:21:13.650 --> 00:21:17.190 to the awareness of your sin and your need for 00:21:17.190 --> 00:21:20.390 Him. You opened your heart and trusted Christ. 00:21:21.549 --> 00:21:25.519 Never forget. That that, too, was the intervention 00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:28.539 of Jesus Christ in a supernatural way in your 00:21:28.539 --> 00:21:32.039 life and your journey in this world. Some of 00:21:32.039 --> 00:21:35.880 you may still be on that journey. And Jesus Christ 00:21:35.880 --> 00:21:38.059 is knocking on your heart's door today, seeking 00:21:38.059 --> 00:21:41.200 to intervene. I hope that you'll let him in. 00:21:44.359 --> 00:21:46.480 Notice the particulars of Saul's conversion, 00:21:46.640 --> 00:21:48.619 which has been called, and I think accurately 00:21:48.619 --> 00:21:51.539 so, the most significant conversion in the New 00:21:51.539 --> 00:21:55.740 Testament. It was about noontime, according to 00:21:55.740 --> 00:21:58.160 chapter 22. By the way, each of the three accounts 00:21:58.160 --> 00:22:01.960 gives a few different details. They are not contradictory 00:22:01.960 --> 00:22:06.160 at all. They easily fit together if one looks 00:22:06.160 --> 00:22:09.440 at the text. We see in chapter 22 it was about 00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:12.299 noontime, the time of day when the sun would 00:22:12.299 --> 00:22:17.019 be at its peak in the sky at its brightest. By 00:22:17.019 --> 00:22:19.660 the way, the journey from Jerusalem to Damascus 00:22:19.660 --> 00:22:24.859 was and still is today about 150 miles. It would 00:22:24.859 --> 00:22:28.140 take a person at that time some six to eight 00:22:28.140 --> 00:22:31.740 days walking in order to cover that distance. 00:22:32.980 --> 00:22:35.880 This seems to have been the final day of the 00:22:35.880 --> 00:22:39.359 long journey. They are weary by this time. The 00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:43.079 sun is up there beating down on their heads. 00:22:44.079 --> 00:22:47.400 And as they are walking along about noontime, 00:22:47.440 --> 00:22:51.440 there is a light. In chapter 22, it says it was 00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:54.869 very bright. And in chapter 26 it says, brighter 00:22:54.869 --> 00:23:00.390 than the sun. That had to be bright. It's shown 00:23:00.390 --> 00:23:07.130 all around Paul and his companions. It was like 00:23:07.130 --> 00:23:12.549 the strike of lightning, except it didn't go 00:23:12.549 --> 00:23:16.950 away in a few milliseconds. I was watching the 00:23:16.950 --> 00:23:19.329 storm come the other evening, sitting out on 00:23:19.329 --> 00:23:22.900 the front steps, marveling. at the beauty of 00:23:22.900 --> 00:23:26.140 the lightning as it was flashing from cloud to 00:23:26.140 --> 00:23:29.839 cloud, stretching from horizon to horizon, absolutely 00:23:29.839 --> 00:23:36.079 gorgeous in its display of God's power. But however 00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:37.900 beautiful that lightning was, it was there and 00:23:37.900 --> 00:23:42.519 it was gone that fast. But this light, dazzling 00:23:42.519 --> 00:23:46.119 in its beauty, was like lightning that struck 00:23:46.119 --> 00:23:50.839 right next to Paul and it stayed there. It was 00:23:50.839 --> 00:23:54.799 brighter than the noonday sun in its brilliance. 00:23:56.680 --> 00:23:59.059 The response on the part of all of them was to 00:23:59.059 --> 00:24:02.380 fall flat on the ground, begin to hug the stones. 00:24:03.099 --> 00:24:07.539 They were humbled before this light. And Saul, 00:24:07.619 --> 00:24:10.799 and only Saul, saw the person of Jesus Christ 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:15.660 in that light. He did not recognize him, of course, 00:24:15.799 --> 00:24:21.140 but he heard a voice from him. Jesus spoke in 00:24:21.140 --> 00:24:25.500 Hebrew according to chapter 26, verse 14. All 00:24:25.500 --> 00:24:28.200 of them, by the way, heard the sound of a voice, 00:24:28.279 --> 00:24:31.960 but only Paul was able to decipher the articulated 00:24:31.960 --> 00:24:38.599 words of the speaker. And the conversation as 00:24:38.599 --> 00:24:40.940 it's reconstructed from the three texts was something 00:24:40.940 --> 00:24:46.220 like this. Who are you, Lord? The word Lord can 00:24:46.220 --> 00:24:49.420 be used in the sense of sir. a polite address 00:24:49.420 --> 00:24:53.099 and there are those who take it that way here 00:24:53.099 --> 00:24:55.420 i have a hard time thinking that saul would say 00:24:55.420 --> 00:24:59.140 sir i think he recognized from his background 00:24:59.140 --> 00:25:01.440 his familiarity with the scriptures that this 00:25:01.440 --> 00:25:09.220 was a divine person who are you lord i am jesus 00:25:09.220 --> 00:25:16.259 whom you are persecuting and jesus said In chapter 00:25:16.259 --> 00:25:19.039 26, it's recorded, Is it hard for you to kick 00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:24.599 against the pricks, the goads? Interesting thought 00:25:24.599 --> 00:25:30.900 there. Jesus pictures Saul as an animal who's 00:25:30.900 --> 00:25:33.779 kicking against the sharp instrument poking him. 00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:39.440 As I grew up and we had animals that we would 00:25:39.440 --> 00:25:42.880 sell occasionally, we would get sharp sticks 00:25:42.880 --> 00:25:46.789 that served as goads. There is something about 00:25:46.789 --> 00:25:51.109 a steer that he knows when he's on his way to 00:25:51.109 --> 00:25:54.730 the market. You can give him to do about anything 00:25:54.730 --> 00:25:58.670 when he's just going to run around the pen, but 00:25:58.670 --> 00:26:00.910 when he knows he's going up that chute into the 00:26:00.910 --> 00:26:04.150 truck and eventually go to the butcher, there 00:26:04.150 --> 00:26:07.650 is some innate sense about that animal that he 00:26:07.650 --> 00:26:11.380 becomes more like a mule than a steer. You have 00:26:11.380 --> 00:26:14.039 to prod him and goad him to get him into the 00:26:14.039 --> 00:26:15.779 chute and then up the chute and into the truck, 00:26:15.819 --> 00:26:19.279 and you quickly close the gate. Well, it seems 00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:24.059 here that Saul was like that animal, being goaded 00:26:24.059 --> 00:26:29.160 by the conviction inside of him, kicking against 00:26:29.160 --> 00:26:32.519 it, battling, struggling within, not wanting 00:26:32.519 --> 00:26:36.559 to go that direction. But the Lord is dealing 00:26:36.559 --> 00:26:40.029 with him. It's hard for you to kick. against 00:26:40.029 --> 00:26:45.650 the pricks isn't it saul notice that his response 00:26:45.650 --> 00:26:49.809 was what shall i do lord in an instant of time 00:26:49.809 --> 00:26:54.690 he not only recognized who jesus christ is his 00:26:54.690 --> 00:26:59.349 divinity his deity but he recognized that he 00:26:59.349 --> 00:27:05.150 saul needed to obey him he jesus was saul's lord 00:27:06.849 --> 00:27:09.849 Jesus' response, as it is recounted here in this 00:27:09.849 --> 00:27:15.809 brief record in Acts 9, was, Rise and enter the 00:27:15.809 --> 00:27:17.789 city, and it shall be told you what you must 00:27:17.789 --> 00:27:24.750 do. So blinded, Saul was led to a house in Damascus. 00:27:24.789 --> 00:27:28.450 It was owned by one Judas. He lived on Straight 00:27:28.450 --> 00:27:32.289 Street. Straight Street was one of two parallel 00:27:32.289 --> 00:27:34.650 streets in the city that went from wall to wall, 00:27:34.809 --> 00:27:38.490 running east to west. Still today, there is a 00:27:38.490 --> 00:27:41.309 straight street in the city of Damascus in Syria. 00:27:44.210 --> 00:27:47.869 Saul suffered a severe traumatic shock to his 00:27:47.869 --> 00:27:53.670 system there on the road. The light blinded his 00:27:53.670 --> 00:27:56.670 eyes, may have left them permanently damaged, 00:27:56.710 --> 00:28:00.630 if in fact the thorn in the flesh that he had 00:28:00.630 --> 00:28:06.119 was an eye problem. But I believe the reason 00:28:06.119 --> 00:28:09.400 that for three days he was without food or drink 00:28:09.400 --> 00:28:13.099 was because of what happened inside him. Yes, 00:28:13.140 --> 00:28:15.500 it was shocking to go through the experience 00:28:15.500 --> 00:28:22.160 of being in the presence of God. But I believe 00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:24.259 that all of this began to settle into Paul's 00:28:24.259 --> 00:28:27.480 heart and he understood the staggering implications 00:28:27.480 --> 00:28:31.720 involved for him. He was going to have to rewrite 00:28:31.720 --> 00:28:38.259 his theology books. This one whose name he sought 00:28:38.259 --> 00:28:42.759 to wipe out of existence was now his God and 00:28:42.759 --> 00:28:47.759 his Lord. Everything was going to be different 00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:51.799 now. You're talking about a man who was sold 00:28:51.799 --> 00:28:56.839 out to what he believed. And he was now going 00:28:56.839 --> 00:29:00.640 to be no less sold out to what he understood 00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:06.240 regarding Jesus Christ. For three days, He took 00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:10.960 no nourishment, but simply tried to absorb in 00:29:10.960 --> 00:29:14.059 his blinded condition all that had happened to 00:29:14.059 --> 00:29:20.160 him. Enter main character three, Ananias, playing 00:29:20.160 --> 00:29:22.299 the part of one of the Lord's disciples. This 00:29:22.299 --> 00:29:25.119 is the only record of him. He goes out of the 00:29:25.119 --> 00:29:27.680 record of Acts at this point, never to reappear 00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:31.589 in the pages of God's Word. This, of course, 00:29:31.650 --> 00:29:33.230 is a completely different man than we studied 00:29:33.230 --> 00:29:35.730 earlier. That man died under the judgment of 00:29:35.730 --> 00:29:42.349 God. Here we have Ananias, the disciple. He brings 00:29:42.349 --> 00:29:47.809 an induction to service to the Apostle Paul. 00:29:48.910 --> 00:29:51.190 He first has a vision, though. He is unaware 00:29:51.190 --> 00:29:55.650 of the events on the Damascus Road. Jesus tells 00:29:55.650 --> 00:29:59.349 him to go to this particular house. To minister 00:29:59.349 --> 00:30:03.269 to Saul, Ananias responded with apprehension 00:30:03.269 --> 00:30:05.890 notice in verse 13, Lord, I have heard many things 00:30:05.890 --> 00:30:10.049 about this man, how much harm he did to thy saints 00:30:10.049 --> 00:30:11.970 at Jerusalem. By the way, that's the only time 00:30:11.970 --> 00:30:16.029 in Acts the word saints is found. And here he 00:30:16.029 --> 00:30:18.529 has authority from the chief priest to bind all 00:30:18.529 --> 00:30:22.829 who call upon thy name. Lord, do you understand 00:30:22.829 --> 00:30:28.599 who this fellow is? And Jesus responds graciously 00:30:28.599 --> 00:30:33.700 to Ananias, and he says, Ananias, go. He is my 00:30:33.700 --> 00:30:41.160 chosen instrument, a vessel. And he will bear 00:30:41.160 --> 00:30:44.920 my name before the Gentiles. Notice the first 00:30:44.920 --> 00:30:47.799 group mentioned. That is significant for Paul's 00:30:47.799 --> 00:30:52.460 ministry. And kings, perhaps even later before 00:30:52.460 --> 00:30:56.819 the emperor in Rome. And the sons of Israel, 00:30:57.039 --> 00:31:04.180 the Jews, they are to be the objects of the ministry 00:31:04.180 --> 00:31:09.000 of this man whom I have chosen, says God, and 00:31:09.000 --> 00:31:12.640 I will show him how many victories he will have 00:31:12.640 --> 00:31:17.539 for my name's sake. Know what he says? No. He 00:31:17.539 --> 00:31:20.460 says, I'm going to show him how much he must 00:31:20.460 --> 00:31:24.279 suffer. For my name's sake. When did we get the 00:31:24.279 --> 00:31:27.500 idea that if one is a chosen instrument of God, 00:31:27.619 --> 00:31:33.960 he's never going to suffer? That he's going to 00:31:33.960 --> 00:31:36.859 be prosperous and healthy and victorious all 00:31:36.859 --> 00:31:40.819 of his life. If that's what you believe, then 00:31:40.819 --> 00:31:44.099 throw away your Bible. Because that is not what 00:31:44.099 --> 00:31:48.099 the Bible teaches. The greatest of the apostles 00:31:48.099 --> 00:31:53.299 of this age. suffered as much as any one of us, 00:31:53.400 --> 00:32:03.720 and more than most. The commission was delivered 00:32:03.720 --> 00:32:06.579 by Ananias. Ananias entered into the house and 00:32:06.579 --> 00:32:09.660 noticed he said, Brother Saul, what sweet words 00:32:09.660 --> 00:32:14.339 those must have been to this man. Brother. He 00:32:14.339 --> 00:32:16.759 says, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you has 00:32:16.759 --> 00:32:18.599 appeared to me. I've come that you might regain 00:32:18.599 --> 00:32:21.460 your sight. and be filled with the Holy Spirit. 00:32:22.759 --> 00:32:26.640 And immediately there fell from Saul's eyes something 00:32:26.640 --> 00:32:30.779 like scales. Notice that Dr. Luke records this. 00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:34.640 He's interested in it. The word for scales here 00:32:34.640 --> 00:32:38.819 was the word used for the scales of an alligator 00:32:38.819 --> 00:32:44.039 or crocodile or a snake, a fish. We don't know 00:32:44.039 --> 00:32:47.579 exactly what it means. What happened to his eyes? 00:32:48.589 --> 00:32:53.230 Was it a cataract that God put there and which 00:32:53.230 --> 00:32:57.589 God now removes? Perhaps it's like an opaque 00:32:57.589 --> 00:33:02.109 contact, as it would be described to us today, 00:33:02.250 --> 00:33:05.269 which suddenly pops out of his eyes. And the 00:33:05.269 --> 00:33:08.750 result is that he can suddenly see. And immediately 00:33:08.750 --> 00:33:12.230 he arose and he was baptized in obedience to 00:33:12.230 --> 00:33:17.109 the Lord, took food, and was strengthened. Saul 00:33:17.109 --> 00:33:19.750 is drafted here by the Lord Jesus Christ into 00:33:19.750 --> 00:33:23.289 service. It is interesting that later Saul says, 00:33:23.410 --> 00:33:25.730 I serve the Lord willingly, but he said, if I 00:33:25.730 --> 00:33:30.089 didn't, I would still have an obligation. Some 00:33:30.089 --> 00:33:33.190 of you got letters at some point in your life 00:33:33.190 --> 00:33:38.509 from one uncle named Sam. He said, greetings. 00:33:39.809 --> 00:33:42.950 Isn't that a kind way to start? We're going to 00:33:42.950 --> 00:33:45.630 describe to you that without your volunteering, 00:33:46.440 --> 00:33:49.579 You were being drafted into service. Now, my 00:33:49.579 --> 00:33:51.539 friend, that comes very close to what happened 00:33:51.539 --> 00:33:56.700 to Saul. Saul was not going down the road looking 00:33:56.700 --> 00:34:01.140 for an evangelist. He was not in a chariot reading 00:34:01.140 --> 00:34:04.200 Isaiah 53, waiting for someone to come along 00:34:04.200 --> 00:34:09.619 and explain the text to him. God simply intervenes 00:34:09.619 --> 00:34:11.960 sovereignly into his life, turns him around, 00:34:12.199 --> 00:34:15.730 and inducts him into service. Says, Saul, you 00:34:15.730 --> 00:34:19.789 are drafted, period. Later, Saul says, before 00:34:19.789 --> 00:34:27.489 I was born, God chose me for that. He calls himself 00:34:27.489 --> 00:34:31.150 in Romans 1, a bondservant of Jesus Christ called 00:34:31.150 --> 00:34:35.309 an apostle. 2 Timothy 1 .1, he says, an apostle 00:34:35.309 --> 00:34:40.349 of Jesus Christ by the will of God. He said, 00:34:40.369 --> 00:34:43.619 woe is unto me. if I do not preach the gospel. 00:34:43.800 --> 00:34:47.880 He was constrained by his induction delivered 00:34:47.880 --> 00:34:53.679 by Ananias from the Lord Jesus Christ to serve 00:34:53.679 --> 00:34:58.079 him. And then we have in these following verses 00:34:58.079 --> 00:35:02.659 the early years of his ministry. Notice that 00:35:02.659 --> 00:35:04.920 immediately he began to proclaim Jesus. Where? 00:35:06.300 --> 00:35:09.440 Notice that? He went right where his contacts 00:35:09.440 --> 00:35:12.780 were. right to where everybody knew who he was. 00:35:13.460 --> 00:35:16.239 You might think he would seek out some tavern 00:35:16.239 --> 00:35:18.659 or some other part of town where there might 00:35:18.659 --> 00:35:23.300 not be a Jew. No, he went straight to the synagogues 00:35:23.300 --> 00:35:26.159 where there were the faithful Jews who knew who 00:35:26.159 --> 00:35:28.719 he was and why he was coming to Damascus. And 00:35:28.719 --> 00:35:32.639 what did he say? Jesus is the Son of God. By 00:35:32.639 --> 00:35:34.300 the way, the only time you'll find that title 00:35:34.300 --> 00:35:37.659 for Jesus in Acts. It is a favorite title of 00:35:37.659 --> 00:35:41.849 Paul. as he's later called, he immediately began 00:35:41.849 --> 00:35:46.730 to proclaim the deity of Jesus of Nazareth. And 00:35:46.730 --> 00:35:49.210 what was the response? Well, those hearing him 00:35:49.210 --> 00:35:52.269 continued to be amazed. They were beside themselves, 00:35:52.769 --> 00:35:56.449 trying to understand how this man who tried to 00:35:56.449 --> 00:35:59.369 destroy the name would now come and preach the 00:35:59.369 --> 00:36:03.690 name. But Saul kept increasing in strength. The 00:36:03.690 --> 00:36:08.699 idea seems to be in spiritual strength. and confounding 00:36:08.699 --> 00:36:11.960 the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that 00:36:11.960 --> 00:36:15.360 this Jesus is the Christ. He had them in utter 00:36:15.360 --> 00:36:19.460 confusion because he would take the Old Testament, 00:36:19.519 --> 00:36:22.780 you see, and lay it out before them. Here are 00:36:22.780 --> 00:36:25.400 the prophecies. And then he would take the account 00:36:25.400 --> 00:36:28.420 of Jesus' life and put it right next to it and 00:36:28.420 --> 00:36:31.420 say, look, this proves that Jesus is the Christ. 00:36:31.599 --> 00:36:35.099 You know what? They couldn't answer him. They 00:36:35.099 --> 00:36:38.369 didn't know what to say. They were absolutely 00:36:38.369 --> 00:36:44.170 confounded, left speechless. The Apostle Paul, 00:36:44.289 --> 00:36:46.949 remember, was one of the most brilliant men who 00:36:46.949 --> 00:36:51.809 lived in that day. The brilliance that he once 00:36:51.809 --> 00:37:00.070 used in his study of Judaism, he now uses to 00:37:00.070 --> 00:37:04.429 prove the deity of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. 00:37:09.360 --> 00:37:12.619 Now you notice that verse 23 begins by saying, 00:37:12.719 --> 00:37:16.019 "...and when many days had elapsed." With that 00:37:16.019 --> 00:37:18.860 brief pen stroke, Luke writes off three years 00:37:18.860 --> 00:37:23.519 of time. In comparing Scripture with Scripture, 00:37:23.679 --> 00:37:25.780 and I'm thinking of Galatians chapter 1, this 00:37:25.780 --> 00:37:30.000 is the point at which Saul left Damascus and 00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:33.000 went down to Arabia for a period of up to three 00:37:33.000 --> 00:37:37.230 years. It seems that he was all by himself there, 00:37:37.289 --> 00:37:39.289 and while he was there, he received directly 00:37:39.289 --> 00:37:45.449 from the Lord revelation, which later he records 00:37:45.449 --> 00:37:51.090 in his epistles for us. He met with Jesus Christ. 00:37:51.190 --> 00:37:54.510 It was a lonely time in his life, humanly speaking. 00:37:54.750 --> 00:37:57.349 He was by himself. He did not go back to Jerusalem 00:37:57.349 --> 00:37:59.670 at this point. That is very important to remember, 00:37:59.849 --> 00:38:04.510 and we'll see why in a little while. Then he 00:38:04.510 --> 00:38:08.269 came back to Damascus directly from Arabia, and 00:38:08.269 --> 00:38:14.309 we pick up the story. Many days elapsed, the 00:38:14.309 --> 00:38:17.570 Jews plotted together to do away with him, and 00:38:17.570 --> 00:38:19.789 their plot became known. You see, they began 00:38:19.789 --> 00:38:24.050 to watch even the gates. The governor even seems 00:38:24.050 --> 00:38:26.989 to have been involved in this. He tells us in 00:38:26.989 --> 00:38:30.050 another place in 2 Corinthians. The governor 00:38:30.050 --> 00:38:32.590 of the city even was involved, trying to kill 00:38:32.590 --> 00:38:36.730 him, put him to death. And so his disciples took 00:38:36.730 --> 00:38:39.449 advantage of someone whose home was on the wall. 00:38:39.610 --> 00:38:42.469 Now the wall around Damascus was a broad thing. 00:38:42.929 --> 00:38:46.150 There were homes built on this wall. And the 00:38:46.150 --> 00:38:49.210 homes often would stick out over the edge so 00:38:49.210 --> 00:38:51.989 that they could have let down a basket very easily. 00:38:52.090 --> 00:38:54.349 This was a big basket, like you'd put hay or 00:38:54.349 --> 00:38:57.469 straw in. And they let him down, he escaped, 00:38:57.530 --> 00:39:00.619 and he got to Jerusalem. Now we have entering 00:39:00.619 --> 00:39:05.559 main character number four, Barnabas. When he 00:39:05.559 --> 00:39:09.340 got to Jerusalem, he repeatedly tried to associate 00:39:09.340 --> 00:39:12.940 with the disciples and the apostles there. But 00:39:12.940 --> 00:39:14.800 they were all afraid of him. The skepticism, 00:39:14.960 --> 00:39:19.260 you see, persisted. They did not know that they 00:39:19.260 --> 00:39:24.059 could trust this man. But Barnabas took hold 00:39:24.059 --> 00:39:27.599 of him, verse 27, and brought him to the apostles. 00:39:28.480 --> 00:39:31.599 and described to them how he had seen the Lord, 00:39:31.780 --> 00:39:35.860 had talked to him, and had spoken out boldly 00:39:35.860 --> 00:39:42.380 in Jesus' name. Here we have a friend, a man 00:39:42.380 --> 00:39:47.780 who sees a brother struggling. What was Saul 00:39:47.780 --> 00:39:51.960 struggling with? Acceptance. I would imagine 00:39:51.960 --> 00:39:55.900 he was a little discouraged at this point. After 00:39:55.900 --> 00:39:58.199 all, he had been commissioned by Jesus Christ 00:39:58.199 --> 00:40:02.179 personally, had met with the Lord personally 00:40:02.179 --> 00:40:06.300 in Arabia, and now he's back in Jerusalem and 00:40:06.300 --> 00:40:10.960 these birds won't receive him. So he is a man 00:40:10.960 --> 00:40:13.699 who is looking for his identity, trying to find 00:40:13.699 --> 00:40:17.480 out why they're not accepting him. And here comes 00:40:17.480 --> 00:40:20.480 Barnabas with his hand outstretched and he says, 00:40:20.579 --> 00:40:24.019 let me introduce you. He takes them into the 00:40:24.019 --> 00:40:26.820 presence of the apostles. And because of the 00:40:26.820 --> 00:40:30.800 recommendation of Barnabas, they all accept him. 00:40:34.539 --> 00:40:37.679 That's awfully important for you to do. Did you 00:40:37.679 --> 00:40:39.900 know that there are people around you who are 00:40:39.900 --> 00:40:44.599 looking to be accepted? Some are looking to be 00:40:44.599 --> 00:40:47.019 accepted into God's family. They've been truly 00:40:47.019 --> 00:40:49.059 converted. They may not know how to express it 00:40:49.059 --> 00:40:51.239 yet. They may not look like it. They may not 00:40:51.239 --> 00:40:54.920 even smell like it yet. But they're part of God's 00:40:54.920 --> 00:40:56.800 family, and they're reaching out. You need to 00:40:56.800 --> 00:41:00.320 reach out to them. If we may apply it to the 00:41:00.320 --> 00:41:02.239 church, there are people looking to be incorporated 00:41:02.239 --> 00:41:06.900 into this body. Reach out to those people. Reach 00:41:06.900 --> 00:41:09.659 out to them. Even though you may not know them, 00:41:09.760 --> 00:41:13.780 reach out to them. They need that at this critical 00:41:13.780 --> 00:41:18.469 point in their lives. I thank God that when I 00:41:18.469 --> 00:41:22.190 was a sophomore in high school and looking toward 00:41:22.190 --> 00:41:26.809 some kind of ministry, that there was an evangelist 00:41:26.809 --> 00:41:30.829 who came through our town who reached out to 00:41:30.829 --> 00:41:35.590 me. He did something that was very simple, actually, 00:41:35.630 --> 00:41:39.010 but it did something marvelous inside of me. 00:41:40.130 --> 00:41:42.730 He had to make a trip back to the West Coast 00:41:42.730 --> 00:41:48.639 from our home in Kansas. a little town, and he 00:41:48.639 --> 00:41:51.380 invited me to go along with him, take a three 00:41:51.380 --> 00:41:54.239 -week journey. I had not been beyond Colorado. 00:41:54.320 --> 00:41:56.340 I didn't know what was beyond the mountains. 00:41:57.280 --> 00:42:00.199 I'd never seen the ocean. He says, will you go 00:42:00.199 --> 00:42:03.119 with me? And as we went, I had the opportunity 00:42:03.119 --> 00:42:05.880 to share my testimony here and there, to preach 00:42:05.880 --> 00:42:09.940 to one youth group. I can't tell you what his 00:42:09.940 --> 00:42:15.440 reaching out to me did for me. Now, you may not 00:42:15.440 --> 00:42:18.980 be able to do all of that for someone, but you 00:42:18.980 --> 00:42:22.500 can reach out to them. Be a friend to encourage 00:42:22.500 --> 00:42:26.880 them. Be that kind of person. And don't forget 00:42:26.880 --> 00:42:29.760 children. Don't forget children when it comes 00:42:29.760 --> 00:42:33.340 to that. There are lots of little people around 00:42:33.340 --> 00:42:37.139 here who are looking up to you, just waiting 00:42:37.139 --> 00:42:43.789 for a glance or a word or a smile. And how much 00:42:43.789 --> 00:42:47.809 that attention can mean to one of those little 00:42:47.809 --> 00:42:52.130 children. When I was just a little tyke, there 00:42:52.130 --> 00:42:56.889 was a preacher in our church. I must have been 00:42:56.889 --> 00:42:59.570 nine years old. He had a son who was in seminary. 00:43:00.449 --> 00:43:03.130 I'm sad today to say that he is a pastor of the 00:43:03.130 --> 00:43:05.889 largest liberal Baptist church in the state of 00:43:05.889 --> 00:43:09.519 Kansas. But at that time, he was in seminary, 00:43:09.539 --> 00:43:10.880 and I didn't know what a liberal was compared 00:43:10.880 --> 00:43:12.679 to a rattlesnake. Today, I know they're very 00:43:12.679 --> 00:43:21.099 close. But I didn't know it then. And this fellow, 00:43:21.139 --> 00:43:26.059 just on a couple of brief occasions, said something 00:43:26.059 --> 00:43:30.800 to me, and it left an imprint on my life that 00:43:30.800 --> 00:43:34.039 God has used. Look for the little ones around 00:43:34.039 --> 00:43:37.980 here. They're so important. They're so important. 00:43:38.780 --> 00:43:42.500 Encourage them. Reach out to them. Well, that 00:43:42.500 --> 00:43:44.480 happened to Saul, and notice that he began to 00:43:44.480 --> 00:43:46.920 minister in Jerusalem, and once again a threat 00:43:46.920 --> 00:43:52.579 developed, and he had to be secreted out of Jerusalem, 00:43:52.699 --> 00:43:56.820 eventually went to Tarsus where he had grown 00:43:56.820 --> 00:43:59.980 up. You know how long he was there before we 00:43:59.980 --> 00:44:04.690 see him again? Ten years. You know, there are 00:44:04.690 --> 00:44:06.869 some of us who get very disturbed because we 00:44:06.869 --> 00:44:09.469 say, why isn't God doing something in my life? 00:44:11.130 --> 00:44:14.150 Why am I going through this time of waiting? 00:44:15.489 --> 00:44:21.909 Why do I seem to be in neutral now? Listen. Do 00:44:21.909 --> 00:44:24.210 you realize that in one chapter of the book of 00:44:24.210 --> 00:44:28.010 Acts, in between the verses, we cover 13 years 00:44:28.010 --> 00:44:33.309 in the life of Saul? Almost a quarter of his 00:44:33.309 --> 00:44:41.789 life in between the verses? Sometimes it is those 00:44:41.789 --> 00:44:44.610 waiting periods. It's those times when we don't 00:44:44.610 --> 00:44:47.989 think God is doing much. When we seem to be in 00:44:47.989 --> 00:44:51.050 neutral, when in fact God is doing his greatest 00:44:51.050 --> 00:44:56.730 work in us. So that he then might do some work 00:44:56.730 --> 00:45:04.760 through us. Don't be impatient with God. Rest 00:45:04.760 --> 00:45:09.539 in the Lord where you are. Serve Him where He's 00:45:09.539 --> 00:45:13.960 placed you. And trust Him to work out the calendar 00:45:13.960 --> 00:45:17.579 of your life perfectly. We must close. Let's 00:45:17.579 --> 00:45:22.360 bow together. Lord, there are so many applications 00:45:22.360 --> 00:45:25.300 that we see in our text today that need to be 00:45:25.300 --> 00:45:27.500 made to our lives. I pray that the Spirit of 00:45:27.500 --> 00:45:32.820 God would write those upon each one of us. Lord, 00:45:32.900 --> 00:45:35.199 I want to pray especially for those, your children 00:45:35.199 --> 00:45:37.980 here today, who, well, maybe some of them are 00:45:37.980 --> 00:45:41.659 impatient. Time is passing by and they're wondering 00:45:41.659 --> 00:45:44.300 what you're doing, why you're not acting. I pray 00:45:44.300 --> 00:45:46.820 that you will reassure them that you're in control. 00:45:47.340 --> 00:45:53.559 And may they settle into a position of faith, 00:45:53.800 --> 00:45:58.519 believing you, trusting you during this quiet 00:45:58.519 --> 00:46:12.119 time in their lives. I pray for those... Give 00:46:12.119 --> 00:46:15.960 them a hand to see them on their way in their 00:46:15.960 --> 00:46:20.820 journey with you. And Father, I also want to 00:46:20.820 --> 00:46:23.940 pray for that one or two or more here today that 00:46:23.940 --> 00:46:27.500 your spirit knows who, like Saul, is on a journey, 00:46:27.579 --> 00:46:32.590 on a journey to hell and destruction. I pray 00:46:32.590 --> 00:46:35.829 in Your grace, intervene in their lives today. 00:46:37.409 --> 00:46:40.309 I pray that You will reveal to them their need 00:46:40.309 --> 00:46:42.409 in the inner man and cause them to be able to 00:46:42.409 --> 00:46:46.409 face that, to repent and turn to Jesus Christ, 00:46:46.690 --> 00:46:50.710 Your Son, in faith, and to come out of their 00:46:50.710 --> 00:46:54.510 night and their bondage and their sorrow to Him. 00:46:55.789 --> 00:46:58.170 We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.