Navigation the Journey series
#1 Transformation not just Participation
Damascus road experience
Introduction- Good morning and welcome to Rosedale!
Prayer-
This morning we will be starting a series called ‘Navigating the Journey.”
What I hope we will see is that we only have an appointed time on this earth.
The time between our first breath and our last breath.
We will then immediately spend eternity either in heaven with the Lord our Hell separated from Him.
What we do between the dashes determines where it will be.
There is a false hope that all go to heaven and that a loving God wouldn’t send anyone to Hell. Part of that is true, we send ourselves there by not accepting the gift of salvation provided by Jesus Christ on the cross.
We do not all go to heaven- if we did then there would have been no need for Jesus to go to the cross and die for our sins.
In this series, I hope we can see that from beginning to end, there are some pivotal points in our journey of life where we make critical decisions that will affect eternity for us.
To die and never make a commitment to Christ is to say to the Lord that we have no need for Jesus and that what he has done is of no value to you.
Heaven is made up of people who have made a relationship with Christ- those who have asked Him into their lives intentionally- not perfect people none of us are perfect. But they are people who know that the only way to get to heaven is through Jesus Christ- there is no other way!
So let’s start this journey, it may seem boring but each one of us is born into this world. That really is the start for each of us and from that point on, the journey of each of us is a little different but we must get to the same markers in life and commit to Jesus.
Most people believe that we are born good people and some go bad- we are not a piece of sushi that is good when you eat it right away and spoiled and rotten if you don’t keep it in the refrigerator.
We are born sinners because of the “sin nature.”
We are not good people headed down a path. We are sinners because of the fall of Adam and Eve and are all in need of a savior to redeem us.
A lot of people believe that there are many ways and avenues to get to heaven- Jesus Himself said that there is only one way and that is through Him.
Obstacle number one is to believe that you are not too bad! You are better than so and so that is why the Lord will somehow let you into heaven. We are not in comparison with each other, we are in comparison with a holy God and none of us measure up when placed against the holiness of God.
Obstacle number two is that we feel we have excuses for why we have not come to Christ. Some say at a later date and play Russian roulette with their life and hope at the last minute before they take their last breath that they will make it right with God or that God will somehow forgive them and give them a “get out of jail free” card. That the good we do will outweigh the bad and you will be let in.
Obstacle number three is that they have been hurt by someone in the church and that will be their get out of jail free card. The church did not hurt you, human sinful people hurt you and we are all hurtful people able to hurt others if we are not carful and sensitive to others.
Jesus very clearly tells us that it is better to receive him as lord at a young age when you are able to put your faith in him before you put your faith in your stuff or your money or what family you were born into.
Sometimes being born into a religious family is not a guarantee because you have heard so much about God that when you are old enough to make your own decisions, you can’t wait to break away.
Religious people without a relationship with the Lord are people who believe that they can earn their salvation by works, by their education, by what family they are born into.
Just because you are a preacher or preacher’s kid does not guarantee a mansion in heaven, it is done by a relationship and no other way.
The text this morning is about Saul of Taurus, the Pharisee who hated Christians! Who did everything humanly possible to stop the movement of God.
It was at a point of his life that God spoke to him in an extra-ordinary way to get his attention. What he did and how he responded has changed the lives of many and he completely made a 100% turnaround.
I am one that believes we all struggle with our relationship with the Lord or have dry spells at times but when you have an encounter with Jesus you will not forget it. You may or may not remember the dat but you will remember that it changed your life.
Saul could not ever tell anyone that He did not know it was the Lord that spoke to him on the Damascus road on his way to persecute Christians. He had a choice and so do each of us.
Acts chapter 9:1-19 read clearly
Saul had a transformation- in the midst of him living a life against the Lord, he encounters the Lord and a decision had to be made.
You cannot have an encounter with the Lord and stay idle- without response. Without response is a rejection of His presence.
“Suddenly a light from heaven flashed, he fell to the ground and heard a voice.”
Now, I have to admit, that not all have that kind of an encounter with the Lord, but I believe that Saul who later becomes Apostle Paul did because He was the one to who set the gospel in motion around the world. You notice that those who had come along with Saul did not see anyone but heard what was going on.
I believe Saul fell to the ground out of reverence and not out of being pushed to the ground.
He is seeing a light and He hears a voice with authority speak and call out his name - In Scripture, the Lord usually calls a name to get their attention and realize who is calling them.
Isaiah, standing in the throne room of God hears the voice of God calling out “whom shall I send” and Isaiah saying, here I am Lord. Send Me! Most times when the Lord calls, there is a response of here I am, send me- In Saul’s case, it was the Lord speaking to Saul and asking him why he continues to persecute the Lord-“Saul, why do you persecute me”? Saul’s response is “Who are you Lord”
That seem strange, but how many times have we not known that the Lord is trying to say something to us?
Saul had a plan (destruction of Christians) he felt that it was the will of God to destroy these people that are preaching the gospel, things of Jesus Christ.) Now after an encounter with the Lord, his plan changes, the path changes and he now is instructed on what is his new path under the Lord’s direction will be,.
The same leader who was leading God’s people to prison is now one who is lead himself (blind) to go await further instructions.
The scoundrel Saul is now being converted to the apostle Paul.
Saul was filled with hostility against God
Paul filled with the Spirit of God for the Lord.
There are some takeaways we can learn from Paul’s Damascus road experience.
There has to be transformation
Transformation is change- you cannot have a transformation without change.
I would go as far as to say that transformation is dramatic change, noticeable change- not half done.
There is a difference and it can be spotted by appearance and by actions.
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Roman 12
“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” Acts 3:19
“Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” Col 3:9-10
Saul is a man we’ve already seen a few times. He was there when Stephen was stoned, he didn’t actively participate in the stoning, but the Bible tells us that he agreed with the decision to put him to death. And then the Bible tells us that Saul began “ravaging the church.”
He would enter houses where Christians were meeting for worship and he would drag them off to prison. And now since his persecution of the church has caused the Christians to scatter outside of Jerusalem, he’s bringing the persecution to them where they are now.
He’s gotten this letter from the high priest and he’s taking it to the leaders of the synagogue in Damascus with the plan to do there just what he had been doing in Jerusalem.
But then, as we just read, a light from heaven flashed around him and he falls to the ground and hears this voice saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
Can you picture this? Saul is certain that he is doing what God wants him to do.
He truly believed that Jesus as the Messiah was harming the faith as it was handed down to the Jews by God through Moses. He sees himself as being on a mission from God. But then, the light, and the voice, and God himself, in the form of Jesus, speaks to Saul and says, “Why are you persecuting me?” Saul has the same reaction that I suspect all of us would have. He asks, “Who are you?”
Saul who later became Paul the apostle- changed everything about what he believed.
He changed direction.
He changed his path.
He changed how he thought and who was directing his path. He made a complete turnaround.
He repented and did a 180 degree turn. He may not have understood what happened at first because asking who are you! But the transformation happened as he heard the voice of God giving him direction and acknowledgement of who he was.
Unfortunately that’s too often our response when God calls us to do something. Too many people who claim to be Christians, and claim to be doing what God wants them to do don’t actually recognize the sound of his voice, so when he speaks to them they dismiss it, or they question if it’s really coming from God.
But Saul has some pretty convincing proof that it’s God speaking. The lights flash, he’s knocked to the ground, hears the voice, and when he gets up, he’s blind. So his men he was travelling with, who heard the voice, but didn’t see anything, lead him on into the city of Damascus and it says he was blind for 3 days and neither ate nor drank anything during that time.
Blinders need to come off
God has a plan and we do not always know the details.
Sometimes we are our worse enemy when it comes to faith and obedience to the words of Jesus for our lives. Scripture tells us that Saul got up after experiencing Christ and he was blind.
There was scales on his eyes.
He went for three days like that and the very men who came to help him persecute the believers was now helping him because he was blind.
I believe the three days he was blind is significant and that the blinders had to come off before he was able to see Jesus for who he was.
What blinders are in your life. False teaching that you just can’t get rid of?
Only holding unto scripture that back your behavior and not applying ones that would require change?
Obedience? Believing that somehow without change, without transformation that we can come into a heaven designed for those who have believed on Jesus and the cross.
That somehow it would all work out without me making change.
As I close.
I want you to see that God uses others to bring this conversion and transformation to Saul’s life.
Saul was to met a man named Ananius and Ananius is to met a man name Saul- Saul was to go to him and he would pray that the scales would come off his eyes. He is unsure of what is to happen. Ananius is to pray with a man name Saul and be obedient to what the Lord has called him to do. The problem is that Ananius has heard of Saul of Tarsus and knows what he is capable of and what he was doing to believers and had to trust the Lord to keep him safe while he prayed for Saul.
We all must be obedient and ready to serve.
We must understand that we all have a purpose and God does some amazing things in a time that we may not understand the part we play in others lives.
We see today that we never know what God will do and when He will make himself known to us.
We think sometimes we are doing what we are suppose to be doing and the Lord will put us on a different path- in fact, if we do not get onto a different path and accept what the Lord has done for us , we are on the road of destruction.
We must change our path before it is too late to change our path.
So on this journey, we must get off the path that we are on or we will die in our sins. We must be born again and transformed by Jesus. To stay on the path of destruction will not lead us to salvation. We all get opportunities to come to the fork in the road and the Lord allow us to respond to His calling of of our lives. we make the decision and we must live with the decisions we make. No one answers for us except us- we will not stand before God and say that we did not have opportunity to change and receive Him.
So how are things between you and the Lord this morning? What are you doing to make it a right relationship with Him?
