Acts 9 - 3/26/17
Turn with me this morning to Acts 9. We have been working our way through the book of Acts, a transitional book in the NT that records the spreading of the gospel as the church is formed. Jesus told his disciples that they would be witnesses in Jerusalem, then to Judea and all Samaria, and then to the uttermost parts of the earth. In Acts 2 we see the gospel going to Jerusalem - the disciples are gathered in the upper room, waiting for the Holy Spirit. Peter stands up on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes, and thousands are added to the church. Then the gospel goes out to Judea and Samaria. We saw the examples of Stephen reaching out to the Hellenized Jews and Philip the evangelist traveling throughout Samaria, going from city to city sharing the good news of Jesus. We read in Acts 8:40 - Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea. That brings us to chapter 9, where we find the next wave of the gospel - the uttermost parts of the earth - which indicates all the regions of the Gentiles. And the key character we are going to see is the Apostle Paul. We saw him back in chapter 7 at the death of Stephen - at that time he went by the name of Saul - and he was there giving approval for Stephen’s stoning. Today, we see the story of Saul’s conversion, calling, and change.
Read Acts 9:1-9 - Pray
The first thing we see this morning in the story of Paul is
• His Potential - Paul is a type A, driven personality. He is a work-aholic. He is a man who is always taking action. I don’t picture Paul sitting around looking for shapes in the clouds. He is a man on the go. And that is one of the reasons why he has such great potential. Paul is “zealous” for God. He has great zeal, great passion, a great fire in his heart.
When you look at a group of kids and think which one might be the best servant of God, it is not necessarily the quiet, shy boy who doesn’t do anything wrong - often it’s the biggest troublemaker, the one always dreaming up new pranks to do. But it takes God getting hold of his heart and changing him.
God saw great potential in Saul. Before his conversion he is not acting like a Jewish rabbi, wanting to debate different views about the Torah - instead he is more like a terrorist. He is so passionately convinced these Christians are a cult, teaching things that contradict the bible, that no only is he opposed to them - he even goes so far as to get permission to track them down and bring them back to Jerusalem to face the consequences.
Remember we saw in chapter 8 that a great persecution came on the church and the disciples were scattered, taking the gospel with them wherever they went. Well, Paul wasn’t happy about that. It says in verse 2 that he wants to go clear up to Damascus to bring them back. That doesn’t mean a whole lot to us, until we start comparing a map.
Damascus is 175 miles from Jerusalem. And Paul didn’t have an automobile - he didn’t even have a motorcycle. So he is either traveling on foot or possible by horse or mule, the distance from here to Fort Wayne, IN or here to Sandusky, OH to corral all these Christians. Why would Saul spend weeks of his life to travel a couple hundred miles to round up those who believed differently than he did? First, because Saul was such a sincere believer in God. He was so passionate about his belief that he didn’t want others “blaspheming” his ideas he didn’t want them starting other churches, and he didn’t want Rome having to get involved in any way. Because Jerusalem was the mother church of Judaism, the synagogues throughout the region would all comply with Paul’s letters giving permission to imprison these followers of Jesus. So Paul was passionate. But then we also need to consider
• His Problem - Even though he was sincere, he was sincerely wrong. He was passionate, but he was passionate about his tradition. You can wholeheartedly believe something, but not believe the truth. Paul was rounding up these Christians and killing them because he thought they were teaching heresy, even though Paul was the one who was mistaken about the truth.
The Jewish culture was one that elevated “tradition” over truth. Jesus constantly was condemning the Pharisees for their failure to see and acknowledge the truth. Jesus says in Matthew 14 - And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? Paul writes in Romans 10 - Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
That was the problem with Paul and with the Jews - they saw their “righteousness” in the many “good works” they did. Paul even mentions his claim of righteousness as a Jew: If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. If there was ANYONE who could claim they were righteous because of the things they did, it was Saul. But that was the problem. Because, as Paul later came to find out, a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. . . by observing the law no-one will be justified.
So Saul had potential, but he had a problem, like many today, he was trusting in his “good works” - but good works never save anyone! Often we see people’s problems and so we overlook their potential; God sees the potential in people, and so He solves their problems. Let’s never let a person’s actions keep us from seeing what they CAN BE once Christ changes their hearts. Next notice
• His Prey - look at verse 2 - and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. Notice the description of these early Christians - he doesn’t call them disciples, Christians, or believers, but rather followers of “the Way.” It is a good reminder for us of what set these early Christians apart. It wasn’t just what they believed - but that they actually lived out what they believed in their life. The things they learned on Sunday they applied to how they lived on Monday.
The church has far too many people who can tell you all the right answers in Sunday School, but if you went to work with them on Monday they wouldn’t look any different than the unsaved people they work with. Christ wants, as one church puts it, “fully devoted followers” - those who will be like Jesus in every area of their life. This morning, evaluate yourself, are you a follower of the “way” - do you live like Jesus? Or do you simply follow the teaching - do you just “know” the truth. God’s truth is meant not to give us INFORMATION, but to give us TRANSFORMATION! God wants us each to live just like Him! The next thing we see about Saul is
• His Prodding - The story of Paul’s conversion is actually given three times in Acts - here, in chapter 22, and again in chapter 26. The three accounts all agree, but some have more details than others. It is shortly after noon, Saul is traveling along, a light knocks him to his knees, and he hears the voice of Jesus speaking to him. But if you are using the KJV you will find an extra phrase inserted here in verse 5 - NIV: “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. KJV: And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. So does this extra phrase mean we can’t rely on the scriptures? No, because it actually IS in the NIV - but it is mentioned in the account in Acts 26:14 - We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ So the NIV doesn’t have it here, but it IS part of the story. The KJV editors probably added it because in was mentioned in the later accounts.
So what is a “goad” or a “prick” - we need to think about ranchers handling cattle. When they are trying to move a large herd of cattle, ranchers will use “cattle prods.” In years past, they used pointed sticks to poke the behind of the cows and get them moving. Today they use rods that have an electrical charge - they “zap” the cows to get them moving. And the principle here is that God had been trying to move Paul from his faith in his tradition to faith in a relationship with the living God.
A Scout master once was determined that his Scouts would be ready for their next merit badge, so he ordered that each of them be ready to report about a good deed they had done before the next meeting. When they gathered at the next meeting, the Scout master asked the first boy, “What was your good deed?” The first Scout replied, “I helped a little old lady cross the street.” “Very good,” said the Scout master, and he turned to the next boy and asked, “What was your good deed?” The second Scout replied, “I helped him help the little old lady across the street.” “I see,” said the Scout master, and he turned to the next boy and asked, “What was your good deed?” The third Scout replied, “I helped those two help the little old lady across the street.” Frowning now, the Scout master asked the fourth boy what his good deed was. The fourth Scout replied, “I helped the other three guys help the old lady across the street.” “Now, look here,” the Scout master said sternly. “Why did it take four boys to help one little old lady across the street?” The fourth Scout replied, “Because she didn’t want to cross the street.” That’s where prodding comes into play. God had to prod Saul, but Saul kept kicking back.
What’s interesting is that this phrase of “kicking against the goads” is actually found in a work by the Greek playwright Euripides. So Jesus might actually be using a popular phrase of the day. It’s like a Christian today telling someone to believe in Jesus: He’s the real thing. We don’t need to be afraid of using things in the culture to point people to Christ. Whether it be social media or popular movies or tv shows - we can use many starting points to jump off on spiritual discussions with others.
But Jesus is telling Paul that Paul had been kicking back. God had been trying to guide him. I imagine that Paul probably heard Jesus in the synagogues teaching. After all, if Paul was a student of Gamaliel, and we see Gamaliel mentioned in the gospels, Paul was probably there as a witness of the ministry of Jesus. Then we see Paul again at the stoning of Stephen, which means he would have been there as Stephen went through his sermon pointing out the hardness of heart of the Jews. Through all of this Christ had been trying to steer Saul to the truth, but Saul had been kicking back.
It leads us to ask the question: What does it take for God to get our attention? For those with sensitive hearts, it just takes a quiet impression by the Holy Spirit. For others, the “goodness” of God leads us to repentance. But for others, it takes much more extreme measures. For Saul, Jesus had to knock him to his knees! And sometimes for some of us, God has to knock out all the other supports we hold on to and put us in a place where we have no other recourse but to cry out to God for his help. God has been prodding Paul. Next we see
• His Praying - vs 10 - In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered. The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.
One Paul meets Jesus, he is praying. We are specifically told why, but put yourself in Saul’s situation. You have been struck blind - you can’t see - what do you do? PRAY! If you just met Jesus and He told you that you had been persecuting Him, if you realized you had been guilty of persecuting the holy Son of God, you’d better believe you’d pray! Think about what would happen if God decided to enact vengeance! If you found out your whole life had been spent going down the wrong path, you’d pray. If you wanted to make a 180° life change, you’d pray. So that leads us to consider the question, How is your prayer life? Do you pray out of habit, out of ritual, because you know you are “supposed to” pray - or do you pray like your life depends on it? Many of us here today, if we are honest, would have to admit that we don’t pray “desperate prayers.” But we should. Next
• His Preaching - Look down in verse 19 - Ananias prays for Saul, he receives his sight, he receives the Spirit, he regains his strength, then it says, Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. The best time to encourage someone to be a witness is “right away.” Don’t ever think that you have to learn all kinds of bible doctrine to be a witness. You simply need to be willing to tell others what you have found to be true. John writes in his epistles and says We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. To simply tell others what you know to be true. Paul met Jesus, the Son of the living God - so as soon as he is strong enough, he starts preaching in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.
Don’t worry about memorizing a 10 step plan of salvation - just tell others what you know to be true. Like the man born blind in John 9 - the Pharisees want to grill him about Jesus - his response - Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see! The same words from the classic song of John Wesley - Amazing Grace - I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.
Now there is something very interesting here in this chapter that we often overlook. Sometimes we can be reading, and form one chapter or verse to the next there might be a span of months or years. That is what takes place here in Acts 9. There is a “break” somewhere here in chapter 9 - I put it between verses 21 and 22. Here’s why. When we get down to verse 26 it says When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. But comparing scripture with Scripture, When we see Paul share his testimony in Galatians 1, he says But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days.
So Paul says I was in Damascus - met Jesus - but didn’t go to Jerusalem, but went to the desert - then back to Damascus - then 3 years later finally made it to Jerusalem. But here in Acts 9:26 we see Paul coming to Jerusalem. So that means somewhere here in Acts 9 is a break of three years.
Saul has been in Damascus, then went to Desert Seminary to be personally taught by Jesus. Imagine Saul, who was a Pharisee and knew the OT inside out, now rereading it and seeing prophecy after prophecy of Jesus - suddenly seeing all these OT prophecies and symbols and allusions in a new light. That’s why when he returns to Damascus, I see verse 22 after this time. It declares, Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ. When Saul first believes he declares Jesus is the Son of God. But after being taught by Christ, now he powerfully declares Jesus to be the Christ, the Messiah, the promised anointed one of God.
What does Saul use to prove this? The OT! How familiar are you with the OT? Sure we like the Psalms, we like the book of Proverbs, but could we point out OT prophecies to others and show them Jesus in the OT?
After 3 years of Desert Seminary, Paul is back in Damascus, but the Jews are out to kill him and the believers let him down out of the city by a basket. Vs 23 - After many days had gone by, the Jews conspired to kill him, but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.
This seems like such an obscure story - why include this in the passage? But this really was quite an important episode in the life of Saul. I might even venture to say it was a major turning point.
Here is Paul, this brilliant scholar who is able to debate the scriptures and reason with others so that beyond a shadow of a doubt they are convinced of his truth. And it would be natural for Saul to think “Who better than me for God to use to reach the Jews!” Why, I am born a Hebrew of the Hebrews I've got the background, the breeding, the ancestry to do this job right. I've got what it takes. I was circumcised on the eighth day. I've been raised as a Pharisee, the strictest sect in all Israel. I know the Old Testament from beginning to end, from Genesis to Malachi. I've been raised on it. I had considerable standing among the rulers of the Jews; they accepted me. I even persecuted the church. Who is better equipped than I to reach this nation of Israel?"
And Paul tells us in his letters there was a great, eager hunger in his heart to reach his own people. In Romans 9 he says, For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. He is passionate to reach them, and he thinks he sees what God is doing. "God has called me to be the one. I've got all the equipment that it takes. I've got all the background, all the training, all the provision necessary to reach this stubborn people. A seminary graduate with a Doctor of the Desert degree, feeling called now to go into Damascus and, with the power of his intellectual might, just to wipe out all the opposition before him and to convince these stubborn Jews that Jesus is their Messiah. And he does. He is unbeatable in debate. He proves from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.
He wins all the battles but he loses the war.
Because he faces opposition and has to be scurried out of the city. What humiliation! Here he was, he thought, equipped to win the day for Jesus Christ. He was going to show the world how much he could do for this new Master that he had found. But instead he finds himself humiliated, cast off, rejected, repudiated. His own friends finally have to take him at night and let him down over a wall.
The amazing thing is, many years later, as he is writing to the Corinthians and looking back over his life, he recounts this episode. He says, If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. . . . In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.
Of all the things in his life, to boast about the episode when he is lowered in the basket - why focus on that time? Because that was, I believe, the time he saw his need of following God’s plan for his life instead of trying to tell God how he was going to serve God. Remember the story of the potter and the clay? The clay doesn’t tell the potter what to make out of it - that is the potter’s choice. In the same way, God chose for Paul to have a different ministry. Instead of being the witness to the Jews, Paul was chosen to be God’s unique messenger to the Gentiles. That’s what he shares in the parallel account of this conversion story in Acts 22 - Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’” Then in Acts 26. Jesus appears to Saul and says - I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
Saul’s passion was for the Jews, but God’s plan was to use him to be his witness to the Gentiles. And I believe as Saul is let out of town in the basket, it humbles him, and he realizes that his success in ministry depends not on his ability, but on his availability, on his dependence of doing everything in the power of the Holy Spirit. He writes in Phil 3 - But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.
In Acts 22 Paul writes, “When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance and saw the Lord speaking. ‘Quick!’ he said to me. ‘Leave Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ Here the Lord appears to him, and says, "Paul, you don't belong here in Jerusalem. I don't want you to be the apostle to Israel; I want you to be the apostle to the Gentiles. Get out of this city. Nobody is going to listen to you here." You can imagine Paul saying, "Why, Lord," he is saying, "you don't understand anything. You don't seem to realize who I am. Why, I am the one who was persecuting the church with great eagerness and malice. I imprisoned people in the synagogues, and these Jews know how vigorously I opposed the church. And now that I am a Christian, now that I know that those whom I persecuted were right, the Jews will have to listen to me, Lord. You're throwing away your greatest opportunity here! I'm the one who will make a great impression upon them.
But God had other plans for Paul. Instead we see down in verse 30 - When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.
Why go to Tarsus? That was his home. Paul goes back home to take some time preparing for the ministry that God had in store for him, the ministry to the Gentiles. They sent him home, and for a period of from seven to ten years nothing is heard of the Apostle Paul. He is home, learning the essential lesson that God does not need his background, nor his effort. God allows him to be humbled, so that he might be exalted in due time. Finally, after a number of years, there is a spiritual awakening at Antioch. And the Spirit of God leads Barnabas again, the faithful encourager that he is, to go down to Tarsus and find Paul and bring him to Antioch. Paul comes back no longer boasting, no longer zealous with the wrong kind of zeal, no longer depending on his background and ancestry, no longer proud -- but humble and available. And then begins that mighty career in the power of the Holy Spirit, manifesting the life of Jesus Christ, that changed the whole Roman empire and, within a few short decades, had spread the gospel throughout that empire, had laid the foundation for its ultimate overthrow, had changed the course of history -- so that there is not a person alive on the face of the earth today who has not, in some way, been touched by the life of Saul of Tarsus. He learned the essential lesson: "Without me you can do nothing," so he says, "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me..." (Philippians 4:13).
Now we wouldn’t see all this just reading Acts - we need to compare scripture with scripture. But in all of this we see
• His Purpose - Paul had a plan, but God had a greater purpose. Someone once said, If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. Paul wanted to be the apostle to the Jews, but God chose him to be the apostle to the Gentiles, and as he is lowered out of town in the basket, he is humbled, and he learns that God doesn’t need his ability just his availability.
Today let’s learn from Paul, to not fight against what God is doing, but to join Him in His work. We don’t tell God how to use us, but we say as Isaiah, Here am I, send me. Let’s pray.
