“Extreme Makeover”
Acts: 9:1 9b-31
Saul has now experienced what you and I might term as an extreme makeover. You’ve seen that program I am sure ... in a recent episode they took a house that looked like this ... in very poor condition and literally in a matter of days they turned it into a house any of us would be proud to live in. A complete makeover.
In a matter of a few days this is exactly what has happened to the man we now know as the apostle Paul. The word the Bible uses for this is the Greek word metanoia. The English word is repentance. It means at least two things (1) to have a change of mind. We thought one way ...now our thinking has changed. (2) it was also used as a military term as soldiers were marching in one direction they would do an about face and would turn and walk in the opposite direction.
This is what had happened to Saul of Tarsus. Walking on the road to Damascus a light shone on him causing him to be blind for 3 days. He had just left the stoning of Stephen for which he was clearly responsible. No doubt God was dealing with him. Stephen had such a powerful testimony because even as they hurled stones at him just before his death Stephen was crying out Father forgive them, they do not know what they are doing. With this on his mind God speaks and Saul is ready to listen.
3 days later the scales fell from his eyes ... his eyes are opened now to the truth. He turns his life over to Jesus and is immediately baptized. Saul does not waste time. At once he starts preaching. Clearly he is a changed man. Saul was certainly not a stranger to the synagogue. With his background as a Jew Saul had been to the temple many times ... Now he is going to the temple to tell everyone that Jesus is the son of God after all. In fact this is the starting point of his ministry.
1. When God calls us we must start right where we are. However we must not stay where we are. Discipleship means growth. Just as a baby is not born full grown .. although I did read this week of a baby boy born in Indonesia who weighed in at 19 pounds. Here is a picture of the baby alongside one of normal weight. But this is of course unusual. Growth is actually a slow process. It takes time. It takes nurturing. We make mistakes along the way ... but God tells us we have to begin right where we are.
Every one of us have what we might call a circle of influence. For some the circle is very large, for others it may be small but we all have one. God has placed people in your path that perhaps only you can reach because of your connection with that individual. We call this friendship evangelism. It is the way I have learned to help people come to Christ and I have found it to be effective.
Here is how it works. We start with someone with whom we are already acquainted. We know them. They know us. They trust us. This is a key issue. The greater the trust lend the more likely they are too accept your testimony. We can place these relationships in 4 categories (1) Friends (2) Relatives (3) Associates and (4) Neighbors. These are our FRANS. Then once we lead this person to Christ we then must see that they are placed in a group where they can be discipled and can grow in the faith. Like this baby we saw, we cannot leave them alone and expect them to survive. Everyone who has been born again and becomes what Paul later calls a babe in Christ ... they need to be nurtured in the faith.
So each of us must start right where we are and we must allow our F-R-A-N to start where they are.
2. When God calls we must not forget our roots. However we must never allow them to control us or hold us back. We cannot expect everyone to share our new convictions. Just as it took time for us to come to Christ they need time as well. This is an area where we must be careful. There is perhaps no bigger obstacle than spiritual pride that can prevent someone coming to Christ.
Listen to what the scripture has to say about pride ...
Proverbs 11:2. Proud men end in shame.
Proverbs 13:10. Pride leads to arguments.
Proverbs 16:5 pride disgusts the Lord.
One version says, first pride, then the crash, the bigger the ego, the harder the fall!
I think we get the picture. Stay away from pride. It will ruin your witness.
Now all of us have roots. We have people who have influenced us, who have helped shape us into the person we are today. For me personally I went through a radical lifestyle change in my early 20’s and as a result not all of my friends understood this change. But I had made a full commitment of my life to Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord and I was determined from that point on that I was not going to go back. You see God wants us to learn from the past, not to live in it. When Israel was stuck in the past, God said to them Isaiah 43:18 (NIV)
"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. God wants us to learn the lessons of the past but he also wants us to keep moving forward. You see when we are consumed by the past we then have very little interest in the future.
John Claypool tells the story of a thunderstorm years ago that swept through Southern Kentucky at the farm where his ancestors had lived for 6 generations. There was an old pear tree that had been there for about as long as anyone could remember. His grandfather really hated to see the tree destroyed... he had climbed it as a young boy and had eaten the fruit it provided, most of his life.
A neighbor came by and said I’m really sorry to see that your pear tree blew down. He said yeah me too because it was really a part of my past. The neighbor said well what are you going to do? He paused for as moment and said well I’m going to pick the fruit and burn what’s left. That’s the best way I know to deal with many things in our past. Learn the lessons, enjoy the good and then move on to the future.
For Saul ... v. 21 ...what did he do? He grew more and more powerful ... v. 22.
3. When God calls us there will be days of persecution. Fortunately there will also be days of peace and contentment. If we expect our walk as believers to be pain free, no problems, no tests, trials or tribulations, then we will be sadly disappointed.
V. 23 persecution ... v. 26
v. 27 peace .... v. 31
1st Peter 4:12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.
John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
Now knowing this why is it that we sometimes/often give up so easily. What if God given up on Saul? We would be missing about ½ of the NT ... the early church would not have been as strong and we would have lost his influence. You see many times we quit too easily.... on most everything in life. We live in a world of quitters. We have this saying “when the going gets tough the tough get going.” But it really doesn’t describe people today. A more accurate description is “when the going gets tough, we look for an easy way out.” And we seem to quit in the areas that matter the most.
We quit in the workplace. It’s surprising how many people will quit their jobs and then blame God for not providing. Families quit on each other. Parents quit on their children and children quit on their parents. People quit on the church. The church is God’s instrument to reach this world but I don’t need to tell you that the church is full of people who are less than perfect. Most tragic, people quit on the Lord. They quit on Jesus. You and I live in a very complex world. Pressures from every direction. And at times we feel like we cannot take it any more. We just want to be rescued from our problems. We pray to be rescued. We get others to pray for our rescue. And if aren’t rescued it is just easier to just give up!
Two war stories. It was at the end of the first day of the Battle of Shiloh during the Civil war that the Union army had suffered some major setbacks. General Grant was met by his chief engineer whose name was James McPherson who said, General, things look bad. We have lost half of our artillery and a third of our infantry. Our line is broken and we are pushed back to the river. General Grant made no reply so McPherson asked him what he intended to do. He said what to do? Reform the lines and attack at daybreak. And they defeated the Confederate troops the next morning. Not so fortunate for those of us who live in the South. :)
But the point here is this ... No one is defeated until he gives up. When we give up we are really saying that we want God to quit working on us and through us. But if God is working through us, it may be hard, we may be weary but know this .. we cannot lose!
The Duke of Wellington returned to England after defeating Napoleon at Waterloo. He and his men were praised for their perseverance ... for their ability to stay at it until the battle was won. The Duke said the army of Napoleon were men of great courage. In my opinion, he said, my men had 5 minutes more courage and perseverance than Napoleon’s men. And that is what brought us victory. Just 5 more minutes of not quitting made the difference.
What or who have you given up on? Family? The church? Your job? The Lord? A friends who needs the Lord? Aren’t you glad He didn’t give up on you and me?
