A Slave For Christ Part 9
Scriptures: Acts 8:1-3; 9:1-8; 10-17; Galatians 1:14;
Introduction:
This morning before I go into the heart of my message, I want to share something with you that is rather appalling. Most of you know that I do not always stay up on all of the latest happenings around the world, but when I read about this person I was shocked. You have probably heard about this story, but if you have not, I would like to get you opinion on it.
There was man who had been responsible for the abuse and even death of some people associated with a certain religion. He committed crimes against these people and got away with them because of who he was associated with. He was never arrested or tried for his crimes even though he directly or indirectly caused the pain, suffering, and deaths of a lot of people. Now here is where the story takes a change; the man accepted Christ and was saved. After accepting Christ he believed that he was called into the ministry and became a minister of the gospel. Here is my question for you: could you listen to this man deliver the Word of God? A man who had harmed so many people and got away with it? If one of your family members had been killed or harmed by this man, could you accept him now as a brother in Christ? Would you read his books and support his ministry? Could he be your pastor? What I am asking is if you could forgive him and accept him as a child of God and servant of Christ?
We judge people by their action; things that they have done in their past or might be doing currently. Even as they begin to make changes in their lives, sometimes their past behaviors are so outrageous that we cannot separate their past from their present. This is the case of the individual I am talking about right now. If I told you his name all of you would know him. This man grew up in a religious family; a very strict religious family. His religious upbringing led him into the role he played in the persecution of others. Does knowing that he committed his crimes because of his religious affiliation make you more willing to hear the word of God from him? Are you able to see him as a brother now that you know he had a religious background? I ask these questions because sometimes when we hear that someone’s actions were motivated by their religious beliefs we tend to accept and understand even if we do not agree with them. What about you?
Friday evening I was watching a show on TV with my daughter Clarissa. The name of the show was “What Would You Do?” If you’ve ever seen the show, you know that it exposes people to certain situations to see how they would respond. In this episode they wanted to see how people would respond to seeing someone stealing a bicycle. The first “thief” was a Caucasian male. As he was trying to steal the bike, people just walked by; even as he took out his bolt cutters; a saw; and finally an electrical saw to try and cut the chain. When one or two people asked him if the bike belonged to him he told them no and kept working and they just walked off. They estimated that close to 70 people passed by him trying to steal the bike without saying a word or calling the police. The second “thief” was an African American male. He had no sooner stooped down beside the bike when a crowd of people gathered around him and accused him of trying to steal it. They immediately called the police and even forcibly tried to stop him. This all happened within minutes of him getting there with his tools. The psychologist that was examining the whole situation explained that even though people try to hide their inner feelings, it is within them that black is negative and white is not. When the people were asked to explain their reactions to the skin color of the thieves they said the color of the skin did not matter, but it was obvious that it did. The third thief was an attractive Caucasian female dressed in tight blouse and some tight hot pants. The men who passed by her immediately stopped to help her. Even when she told them she was stealing the bike, they did not care. One man was there with his wife. His wife was suspicious and tried to get him to see what was going on and he totally ignored her. He helped her steal the bike even when she confessed to him that is what she was doing. His wife was livid; especially when they interviewed him and e could not explain his actions but to say “I’m a man!” The only person to call the police on the third thief was another woman. All of the men could care less about her stealing; they just wanted to help her because of the way she looked. You can guess what the psychologist said about that.
I share this with you because when it comes to judging a situations or an individual, we all have something within us that that becomes the foundation of what we use to make the determination about who someone is or what is really happening in a certain situation. This is the case with the man I told you about. After he was saved, some were leery about him preaching the Word of God while others accepted him immediately. In some cases it depended on what they knew about his history and in other cases it did not. Some judged him on his previous actions while others accepted the change within him. The people he was close to before he accepted Christ rejected him after he accepted Christ. So I ask you again, with this information could you accept him as a brother in Christ? Would you read his books? Could you listen and accept the Word of God from his lips?
I. Paul Acceptance
The name of the man I am referring to is Paul who was also known as Saul. Saul was his Hebrew name and it meant “asked of God”. Paul was his Roman name and it meant “little”. Prior to his conversion he went by Saul. After his conversion he went by Paul. Can you understand why? As we talked about in Bible Study, a name means something. But let me get back on point, if you answered that you could not accept him and could not read his books then you’ve just removed half of the New Testament from your Bible. Everything that I told you about Paul is true. Today, we think about what he did for Christianity and we sometimes forget that he was not always a Christian or an apostle. Paul came from a position of authority and he chose to give it all up to become a slave. He became a slave for Christ and his transition was not easy or always met with joy. This morning I want to give you a little background on him and next week we will begin examining how he became a slave and what his transformation means for us.
If you open your bible to the book of Acts, we will begin at chapter eight. If you recall, Paul (called Saul at this time) was present when Stephen was killed. The men who stoned Stephen laid their clothes at his feet. Let’s begin at verse one. “Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.” (Acts 8:1-3) We do not know when Paul started persecuting the church in Jerusalem, but we know he was a Hebrew and was born a Roman (his father had become a Roman citizen prior to Paul being born.) The fact that he was a Roman citizen will become important after he began his ministry. Paul was also a Pharisee. The Pharisees were a prominent religious party in Judaism and is the most frequently mentioned group in the New Testament. The Pharisees voluntarily took upon themselves a strict regimen of laws pertaining to purity, Sabbath observance, prayer and tithing. Paul was trained (taught) in the school of Gamaliel and set his mind on becoming as proficient as possible in the ancestral traditions of his people. In Galatians 1:14 while defending his ministry Paul makes the following statement “And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.” He was a man who had a zest for tradition and believed within himself that he had a right to persecute those who did not believe as he did. This is the man that Christ chose to be His slave. Look over to Acts chapter nine.
II. Paul’s Conversion
We will begin reading at verse one. “Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.” (Vss. 1-3)
This is how dedicated Paul was to his religion. Can you imagine what our world would be like if we all felt as strong about our religion as Paul felt about his? Paul was a slave to his religion long before he accepted Christ. He so believed in his religion that he was offended at the very thought that Christianity could weaken it. His persecution of the Christian church came out of his understanding that this “new” religion could weaken or at worse destroy what he believed. Remember, there were other religions besides Judaism at the time but there were not a threat. Christianity was a threat and had to be dealt with quickly and forcibly. Let’s continue reading at verse four.
“And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ And he said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus who you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.’ The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus.” (Vss. 4-8)
As he was on his way to Damascus, Paul had an interaction with Jesus. When Jesus spoke to him, Paul, unlike the disciples who had walked with Jesus, did not recognize who was speaking to him. When he found out, I am sure he had that feeling of “What have I gotten myself into?” Jesus told Paul to go into Damascus and he would receive further instruction. Maybe it was because he was blind or because he had heard a voice without seeing anyone, but Paul did not question what he was being told to do. He did not ask why; or how; or when. What he did was rise up and do exactly what Jesus told him to do. He became a slave in action immediately. Paul did not have a relationship with Jesus but he would quickly develop one.
Here is something we need to consider. Remember at the very beginning I asked you would you accept someone as a brother in Christ who had been abusing your family members? Remember your answers? Jesus knew that Paul would need some help and character references if he were to accomplish what he was to do. Jesus knew that the Christians were not going to reach out with open arms to the man who had been persecuting them. He knew that they would suspect him of trying to get close to the disciples so he would potentially kill them. Because this was a real possibility, Jesus used someone else to give credibility to Paul’s conversion. Let’s continue reading at verse ten.
“Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, ‘Ananias.’ And he said, ‘Here I am, Lord.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for 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.’ But Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name. But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.’ So Ananias departed and entered the house and after laying his hands on him said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Vss. 10-17)
Paul needed a credible witness to authenticate his conversion and Jesus had Ananias in place to do it. When Paul went to Damascus, he learned to pray to Jesus. He had never prayed to Jesus before, but he was a very quick study. While he was praying, He was told in a vision that Ananias would come and lay hands on him and he would regain his sight. So Paul was waiting for Ananias because he knew Jesus was getting ready to change his life. When Jesus called upon Ananias to go to Paul, Ananias had the exact same response that many of us would have – we would ask Jesus if he really wanted us to go. What would really be on our minds is how Jesus could even think of calling someone like him into the ministry. How many of you have heard of someone being called to do something and your first thought was, “I don’t believe it!” How could God use someone like him or her in that ministry? You see, we look at the outside and the history; God looks at the inside and the future. We can see beyond the present so we are clueless as to what God can do in someone’s life, regardless of their past sins and failures. Ananias listened to Jesus and he obeyed. He went to Paul, laid his hands on him and Paul regained his sight and was filled with the Holy spirit. He immediately began to preach Christ, amazing those that knew his background and angering those who once depended on him to persecute the Christians.
I will continue next week with Paul full conversion and acceptance of a life as a slave. Before I close this morning I want to encourage each of you. God has called me to do what I am doing and I am just a man. There is nothing special about me. I make mistakes; I get things wrong sometimes; and I sin from time to time. I am so far from perfect that I cannot be your example. When I deliver my message to you, do not receive it because it comes from me, because I am flawed. Go back and search it out for yourself. I am just the messenger and you can receive or reject what you hear from me. Your relationship with God is a private affair and what you do with His word is between you and Him. I want to encourage you to consider Paul as you think about whether God can use you. Many want to go through life as a private Christian; perfecting themselves without impacting the lives of others. God wants us to step out in all of our imperfections and touch the lives of someone else for Him. Are you willing?
Until next week, may God’s blessings be yours.
