Back to School August 12, 2012
Introduction:
A This week many of us will be sending kids back to school, or going back to work as teachers.
a This is a passage about Saul going back to school.
b Just like many of us or our kids, grandkids, people we love.
B Saul was saved instantly, but his journey to becoming the Apostle Paul took some time.
1 Saul was highly educated.
a Growing up in Tarsis (Roman Providence) he learned about Greek philosophy, pagan religions.
b When he was old enough, he studied at the feet of Rabbi Gamaliel.
c Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin and card carrying member of the Pharisee Party.
d He was a member of the Sandhedrin in Jerusalem.
aa Comprised of high priests, former HP.
bb members of prestigious families which H.P. came from.
cc Elders of groups.
dd Scribes (Lawyers)
2 God sent him back to school (3 actually) and taught him some things.
C I want us to go back to school today and see what & how God wants to teach us.
I God will school you at the school of solitude.
A Many God has used in incredible ways in/for the Kingdom spent enormous amounts of time alone with Him.
1 Saul had been converted and then (Gal. 1.18) went to Arabia for 3 years!
18 Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days. Gal 1:18 (NASB)
a In Arabia he practiced personal evangelism and had a tremendous season of personal spiritual growth.
aa 16 to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, Gal 1:16 (NASB)
bb For 3 years Paul had an opportunity to be taught of the Lord.
b He spent it in prayer, study, meditation and met w/ the Lord alone.
c He went into the desert old school Saul (bitterness, hatred, scared); Came out tender hearted Apostle Paul.
aa Went in w/ the law of the O.T.; Came out with the book of Romans in his heart.
bb God used the University of Solitude to form Saul to Paul.
2 Moses is another alumnus from the U. of Solitude.
a You can divide Moses life into 3, 40 year segments.
aa 1st 40: Pharoh’s house
bb 2nd 40: Arabian Desert (Same desert, 3,000 before Paul)
cc 3rd 40: Leading the children of Israel to the promised land.
b What was the most important part of his life? The desert! (The 3rd wouldn’t have appeared w/o solitude of Arabia)
aa Remember the last thing he did before he left Pharoh’s house? Murder (took things into his own hands.)
b God took him to the desert & sandblasted the pride out of him.
3 We know little about Jesus years between12-30, we know they were years of obsecurity, solitude (Prayer, study, mediation)
a He didn’t just show up, “He world, I’m here! I’m availble for revival meetings, healing crusades, etc.!”
aa The first thing He did in his ministry was go to the desert for 40 days (praying/fasting), whipped the devil personaly before going out & telling others how to do the same.
bb Mark. 1.35 (Everyday!)
35 In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there. Mark 1:35 (NASB)
b The Messiah got alone, solitude, with the Father . . . every day.
B I thank God for my formal education but the things that really matter I have learned directly from God, when all alone, that have made the biggest diff. in my life.
1 Through Solitude God brought the Apostle Paul out of the bitter Saul.
a The lawgiver Moses out the of the murder Moses.
b Let God do a radical spiritual surgery/deeper work in your soul in your places of solitude.
aa Have daily prayer, study, meditation in solitude.
bb Solitude is not loneliness.
cc (Loneliness is the word we use to describe the pain of being alone, solitude is the word we use describe the glory of being alone.)
2 When you get to the point where you find that all you have is God you’ll discover that He is all you needed, need, will ever need.
C In one region of Africa, the first converts to Christianity were very diligent about praying.
1 In fact, the believers each had their own special place outside the village where they went to pray in solitude.
a The villagers reached these “prayer rooms” by using their own private footpaths through the brush.
aa When grass began to grow over one of these trails, it was evident that the person to whom it belonged was not praying very much.
bb Because these new Christians were concerned for each other’s spiritual welfare, a unique custom sprang up.
b When ever anyone noticed an overgrown “Prayer path,” he or she would go to the person and lovingly warn, “Friend, there’s grass on your path!”
c Friend, today is there grass on your path? (Solitude)
2 They say the longer you put off going to school, the harder it is and the less likely you’ll go.
T.S.: After Paul graduated from the u. of Solitude, he then took an advanced course at the U. of Suffering.
II God will school you @ the school of suffering. (Acts 9.22-25)
22 But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ . 23 When many days had elapsed, the Jews plotted together to do away with him,24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were also watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death;25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket. Acts 9:22-25 (NASB)
A When Paul returned to Damascus from Arabia he was a marked/wanted man.
1 He was lowered over/down the wall (embarrassing, humiliating.)
a This incident was only a foreshadowing of the suffering that was to come (Acts 9.15-16.)
15 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;16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name's sake." Acts 9:15-16 (NASB)
b 2 Cor.11.23-28, tells us of the 195 strips, beaten, left for dead, shipwrecked, thrown in prison, cold, hungry, thristy, etc.
23 Are they servants of Christ?—I speak as if insane—I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death.24 Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes.25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep.26 I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren;27 I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure .28 Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. 2 Cor 11:23-28 (NASB)
c They say the measure of Character is what it takes for you to quit . . . Paul must’ve had a lot.
aa I’ve heard people quit church for all kinds of reason . . .
bb money, didn’t shake my hand, not friendly, too friendly, give me the ministry I wanted, didn’t like the preacher . . . Paul would’ve stuck it out!
2 What God had to teach him was taught (& only learned) by suffering.
a Not pleasant, not nice . . . necessary.
b Suffering is never pleasant, nice . . . necessary.
B Christian, God looked down from heaven and saw you as a diamond in the rough.
1 Right now He’s knocking off our rough edges.
a hammer & chisel don’t feel good, pleasant . . . necessary!
b He puts us through the trails of suffering to burn out impurities to makes us a better product.
2 Sculpture took a block of marble and chiseled a horse. How? I saw the horse in the marble and I took everything away from it that didn’t look like the horse.
3 It is in this school we’ve learned our best lessons . . God’s chipping away @ some of us today.
1 Suffering isn’t fun, necessary to take off our rough edges.
2 Pray: Lord, help me learn what I’m supposed to learn thru this suffering so I don’t have to repeat it.
III God will school you @ the school of seasoning (Acts 9.26; Gal. 1.18)
26 When he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. Acts 9:26 (NASB)
18 Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days. Gal 1:18 (NASB)
A God sent Paul (after solitude/suffering) to Jerusalem.
1 Acquainted (see) is used over 1,400 in Scripture, but here and only here is it used it this way (Gk. Historeo) which is were we get our word “history.”
a Paul went to Jerusalem to do a “history” on Peter.
aa Peter, tell me everything that happened.
bb Paul wasn’t there when Jesus had an earthly ministry, raised the dead, feed 5k, arose.
b For 15 solid days he sat w/ Peter & got the whole story.
aa Paul became Peter’s protege’.
c We all need someone who has more exp. than us, who has been @ it a while, been there, done that all will give the t-shirt they got.
2 Peter pulled Paul up a level, shared with him the ropes, HE SEASONED Paul.
B Christian, you need a discipler, a ministry partner to be accountable to . . . someone more seasoned.
1 Another thing . . . be here every time the doors are open.
a God has great things to pour into you three times a week right here!
b You cheat yourself if you chose to forego the seasoning process.
2 I’ve been blessed with several mentors who have allowed me to stand on their shoulders (several decades of experience.)
a To have someone season you . . . you must admit you don’t have all the answers, room for improvement.
b Allow others to pour themselves into you.
c You seek out a mentor . . . they don’t seek you.
C Unfortunately, the epitaph of many a man is well expressed in the words "Died, age 26; buried, age 64." If you stop learning and growing today, you stop ministering tomorrow.
Conclusion:
A We’ve looked at three places God takes us back to school.
1 U. of Solitude
2 U. of Suffering
3 U. of Seasoning
B What school do you need to study more in today?
C BULLET each RULE
In Bill Gates’ new book Business @ The Speed of Thought, he lays out 11 rules that students do not learn in high school or college, but should.
He argues that our feel-good, politically correct teachings have created a generation of kids with no concept of reality who are set up for failure in the real world.
RULE 1 - Life is not fair; get used to it.
RULE 2 - The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
RULE 3 - You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won’t be a vice-president with a car phone, until you earn both a high school and college degree.
RULE 4 - If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn’t have tenure.
RULE 5- Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping, they called it opportunity.
RULE 6 - If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
RULE 7 - Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills; cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents’ generation, try "delousing"the clothes in your own room.
RULE 8 - Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades; they will let you try as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
RULE 9 - Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.
RULE 10 - Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop to go to their jobs.
RULE 11 - Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.
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