Resurrection Encounters Part IX: A Remarkable Escape Acts 9:1-19 CBC June 10, 2007
The magician then said, "Sir, I am a professional. This is the Greatest Illusion. Besides, there are hundreds of witnesses, hit me as hard as you can right in the head with the hammer."
The man shrugged, did it, and the Magician went flying across the stage, hit the wall, and immediately fell into a coma. He was rushed to the hospital, and remained in the coma for years.
Ten years later, he came out of the coma, looked around, and said "Ta DA!!"
I have always been fascinated with magic and how they can make magical things happen. I have always found it interesting to read about Harry Houdini and his remarkable escapes from chains and locks while submerged under water. Last month at the block party we had the opportunity to witness the magical works of Steve Lindsay as he performed many marvelous tricks. And if you have signed up for lunch with us today you are in for a special treat as well as he will be sharing even more amazing tricks. And Steve if it is okay, let’s just put to rest this rumor that you are not going to make me disappear, right.
Well before we go and eat dinner together, I want us to look at a story in which we discover a man who makes a remarkable escape. It’s an escape that surpasses anything that Houdini could do or even David Copperfield or David Blaine. For it is a remarkable escape from a life of ruin to a life of freedom found in Christ. And it is an opportunity for all of us to look at our lives and discover if we need to make a remarkable escape from the chains and locks that are binding us together as well. So as we continue our study of Resurrection Encounters this morning I want us to look at the beginning of this remarkable escape and how you and I can experience a remarkable escape from the dangers of this life as well.
It is so important that we understand this remarkable escape that Paul will make. It is so important that Luke decides to record the story of how Paul escaped three times in Acts alone. I encourage you today to write down this ways that you and I can have a remarkable escape from the troubles of life.
The first thing that is needed in order to make a remarkable escape is:
1: We Must Identify Our Struggles (1-2)
Saul’s struggles begin very early in our passage. The very first verse of Chapter 9 shows how Paul felt about Christians. Now to understand this man named Saul, you must understand that he was a Jew. And not just any ordinary Jew. He was a smart Jew and he honestly believed that Christianity was getting in the way of Judaism and was a threat to Judaism and so he felt compelled to kill any Christians because he saw them as a threat to God and to Christianity. Now Saul was not just some deranged or craze person but was very religious, well educated, and ambitious person. He was passionate about his beliefs, he just believed in the wrong things. He was an up and coming star in his faith and he was one that said either believe in what I believe or I (Saul) believe that you should die. There was no wiggle room.
DO you really want to know what Saul was like? Let me share with you what Scripture first records about Saul. Flip over a couple pages to Acts 7 verse 58. Stephen the Martyr for Christendom was being stoned and we read that the executioners laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. So Saul was there to persecute Christians including Stephen. Turn over to Acts 8:1 and read what Luke has to say about Saul: Here, Saul does not just become a keeper of the clothes while the stone Stephen but chapter 8:1 says that he remained there and gave approval as to what they were doing and to Stephens death.
And it did not stop with that. Verse 3 of the same chapter tells us that after what Stephen had done, Saul was on a mission to destroy the church and went from house to house dragging people to prison.
So, he began his mission of persecuting Christians, and it consumed him.
It became his whole life.
All of us have struggles and if we are not careful they can cause not only us to suffer but others as well. For instance, it seems that I have a terrible struggle with telling good jokes. For some reason I just like silly corny jokes and I struggle because I can’t help but share them with others. For instance: did I tell you the one about the two olives. There were 2 magic olives on an olive tree. Than one day, there was a huge earthquake and one of the olives fell. Since they are magical, they can talk. The one still on the tree asks the other olive, "Are you okay?" The olive that fell responds with, "I’ll live." (Olive.... get it?)
Now that’s bad but there are other things that we struggle with that if not taken care of and dealt with will prevent us from being able to make a remarkable escape. When we allow our struggles to get in the way of our relationship with God it does not help us escape rather it just helps to dig the hole a little deeper or tighten the chains a little tighter. That is why it is so important to identify what our struggles are and be willing to remove them from our lives. So that we will be able to submit to the will of God.
And that brings us to where we are today. Saul was struggling with hate and pride. The first verse does not paint him as the great missionary but a raging lunatic. His heart, mind is full of hatred and pride that it becomes his greatest struggle. But here is the thing that Saul was really struggling with. Paul was religious; he just did not have a relationship with God. He thought he was doing the work of God but he wasn’t in God’s will. And if we are not careful we can be the same way. We can be emphatic that Christ is a part of our life, but if we are not involved in a church or involved in deepening our spiritual growth, then is Christ really a part of our lives. We may think that we are doing the will of God but if we are not in the will of God then we might be far from what God wants us to do. Saul was heading down the wrong path, but Saul was about to experience a remarkable escape.
The second step in having a remarkable escape is to:
II. We Must Identify Our Escape
So Saul is on his way to Damascus. The reason for his trip is quite simple. He is going there to hunt down and kill any and all Christians he comes into contact with. But isn’t interesting that the hunter turns into the hunted. Verses 3-5 tell us of the most famous conversion story in the history. As Saul is making his way to Damascus, a light from heaven flashes around him and knocks him to the ground. And then there is a voice that says Saul Saul, why are you persecuting me and Saul answers by saying who are you Lord to which Jesus responded by saying I Am Jesus who you are persecuting.
There is so much that can be unpacked in those simple short verses. It was at that moment that Saul received a new perspective not just on Christianity but in life in general. But today let me just focus on several quick points. First God knows how to get your attention. Jesus meets Saul with such great a force that a light as bright as an atomic explosion shines around Saul and knocks him down to his feet. It was a good way for Jesus to knock Saul off his high horse and to get his attention.
And through that powerful demonstration Saul is silent as he hears Jesus ask Saul why he is persecuting him. In a voice that must have been as soft as a mouse, Saul utters the only words that he can think of: Who are you Lord. And as Saul hears the answer, it must have shaken him right out of his sandals.
Jesus responds by saying I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now friends that is a powerful sentence right there.
Several things happen in that one verse. First it shows Saul that Jesus is alive. It shows Saul that the one that he did not believe in is real. But not only that but if you will notice Jesus uses words that take us back all the way to the Old Testament. He uses the phrase I Am which goes back to when God was asked what his name was in Exodus and he said I am who I am. It shows that Jesus is the Messiah. He is the Savior and it proves that everything Saul thought about Jesus was wrong.
You want to talk about seeing things in a different perspective.
I remember when I was a child there was this ride at Kings Dominion called the Apple Turnover. It was this thing that looked like an apple and it turned over in a circle. You would get in there and it would go up in a circle. Well I realized that it is not a good thing to eat hot dogs and French fries immediately before riding that ride. I rode that ride that day and I’ll leave it like this. I left that ride a little souvenir.
Friends that day as Saul was blinded on the Ground, Jesus left Saul a little reminder of who Jesus real was. It must have been humbling for Saul as he encountered Jesus and it gave him a choice. As he lay on that ground he was given the opportunity to respond. He could either choose to hear from Jesus and to just ignore it and walk away blind and just chalk it up to some weird phenomenon or he could choose to hear and believe that this was Jesus and that he was who he truly said he was.
Friends, this is how it works with us. There have times in our lives in which we have basically been knocked to the ground and have discovered that Jesus is in our presence. And the question is how will we respond. Jesus does not make us into a robot and demand that we obey. He gives us a choice. Yet the choice should be pretty simple. After all it was with Saul. You have to go to Acts 22 where Saul recounts this experience and here his response to Jesus when he discovers who Jesus is. Saul responds by saying What shall I do.” With deep emotion Saul immediately submitted himself and his entire life to Jesus. Have you allowed Christ to penetrate your life? Are we willing to realize that Jesus is the only we that we can have a remarkable escape from the trials and tribulations of life. If so then we should be willing to look towards our Savior and say okay god what do you want me to do and be willing to get up and do it.
You see Saul went into Damascus a changed man. He had intended to enter Damascus with fury and hatred yet instead he was led into Damascus blind and helpless. Oh there is so much more that I want to say, but maybe this is a good stopping point for today. But don’t worry we will pick this story back up in a couple of weeks.
But if there is one last thing I can leave you with today, it is this: If you want to know what to do when we come to Christ it is to simply heed his words as recorded here in Acts 9: "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” It was in that moment that Saul was able to make a remarkable escape. For up to this moment Paul had been doing what He liked, what He thought best, according to His will. Yet from this time forward Paul would be a changed man and that is what needs to happen to us. Today if our lives are being centered on ourselves, then it’s time we change. It is time that you and I cease to do what we want to do and instead begin to do what Christ would have us to do. How thankful Saul must have been for the blindness that came into his life, for it was through that blindness that gave Saul the opportunity to experience Christ.
