Acts 9:1 Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest
2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.
4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"
5 And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads."
6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, "Lord, what do You want me to do?"
Taking ownership with God.
Can you remember the last time you washed a rental car?
]Can you remember the last time you made the bed after spending the night at a hotel?
• Probably not.
• People don’t wash rental cars.
• People don’t make Hotel beds
• Why? The motivation of ownership is missing.
• The same principle is true in church & with God.
Until we feel a degree of ownership, we are going to treat the church & God like we treat a rented car or a hotel room.
The things you feel passionate about & love are the things in which you identify yourself with & feel a certain degree of ownership..
• In the school we attended ……… I got a block T
• In our family
• In our sports
• In our cars
• In our neighborhoods
• In our faith
These are things in which we take ownership in.
It is important concerning the things of God that we…
1. see God as the primary owner
2. that we “buy into” what he is doing (or be convinced)
3. That we become partners in what he is doing.
It is essentially seeking & knowing Gods heart & asking him to give you the same heart.
When you have the heart of God you will…
1. rejoice when others are joyful
2. be sorrowful when others are full of sorrow
3. Anticipate what God will be doing next.
Somebody told me just last week that after years of serving God they have finally discovered the art of anticipating God or expecting God.
What are you expecting?
• Are you expecting to meet with God this morning? If you are, I guarantee you, he will meet you
• Are you expecting to help someone in some way this week?
• Are you expecting to see that lost soul saved?
• Are you expecting to see our church grow?.....oh come on!!!!!
Are you anticipating?
Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait (expect) upon the LORD…
• shall renew their strength;
• they shall mount up with wings as eagles;
• they shall run, and not be weary;
• and they shall walk, and not faint.
Anticipation comes when the heart of God is revealed to you.
• God may not have in his heart for you to begin an evangelistic crusade under a large tent.
• But he may have in mind for you to break out of a shell & speak out for him.
• God may not have in his heart for you to stand on a milk crate in the center of town
• But he may have in mind for you to offer yourself for your church.
You see God is and will be setting directives for our church….are you going to buy into what he’s doing?
• There was a night when I was just 12 years old that brother Walt trumbo spoke at a revival.
• I’ll never forget the anointing & the passion that he spoke.
• I neglected to respond to the alter call.
• However I was miserable the rest of the night.
• Mom & dad were changing into their night clothes
• I walked in their bedroom & asked if my mom could come & pray with me beside my bed.
• I got saved that night!
• Because the power of God was on me & I bought in to what God & Bro. trumbo proposed to me!
You see you have to be sold on what God is passionate about.
• Bob Pierce founded World Vision over forty years ago.
• His heart of compassion was born out of the suffering he saw during the Korean War.
• As a young minister moved by the pain he witnessed in innocent children, Pierce wrote in the flyleaf of his Bible…
"Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God."
• When he returned home with a broken heart he knew what God wanted him to do.
• Godly ambition begins with a heart that is broken by the things that break the heart of God.
In our text this morning we read about a guy who didn’t buy into what God was doing but was more concerned about his own progress.
Acts 9:1 Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest
2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
• Saul was a devout Pharisee.
• A man who knew the Law as good as anyone.
• The first 5 books of the bible was his standard for living.
• I believe with all my heart Saul did what he thought was right.
• He was sincere.
• I believe he had a form of godliness but he denied its power which was Christ.
• I believe he did what he thought was right.
The only problem was that he put to death anyone that didn’t live the way he lived.
The word said he breathed threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord,
• Everything that came out of him was threats and murder.
• It came from him as often as the breath he exhaled.
You know whatever you breathe out is a byproduct of what you breathe in.
• The person whose always sour
• Has a bad disposition
• Got an attitude
• Is pessimistic
• Is onry
• Cannot be pleased
….is a person who is breathing in some bad stuff.
But if you’re a person who has…
• Joy on their lips
• A pleasant attitude
• “we can do it” posture
• “look what God is doing” attitude
• word of encouragement
….that person is intaking something that’s empowering them to minister.
What you take in will influence what comes out.
It’s kind of like the,”what goes up must come down” principle.
We have to resist taking in….
• Lies of the enemy
• Message of the world
• Gossip
• What we see with our earthly eyes
We have to take in Gods…
• blessing
• Discipline
• Word
• Directives
• People
• & when you do, you will be a well-spring of blessing to everyone you meet.
Saul was breathing out murder & threats against the church.
• But God wasn’t threatened
• God didn’t zap Saul
Jesus decided to come down a pay a personal visit because he had something in mind….or something in heart.
3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.
4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"
What a haunting & confrontational question posed to Saul…….
"Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"
Jesus confronted the issue head on.
It wasn’t the person, “Jesus” that he was persecuting but it was his body…the church.
I believe the triune God met Saul that day.
I believe the father, son & Holy Spirit were all there.
& the son was the one who posed the question because it was the son who Saul had a problem with & he was taking out on the church.
5 And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads."
A goad was literally…
• A cattle prod.
• It was about 8 ft. long
• Had a sharp point
• And as the oxen moved along there would be times the oxen would stop & the driver would use the goad to get moving again.
An oxgoad is kind of a crude way to describe Gods divine leading.
I prefer….
• Gentle hand
• Beckoning whisper
• Tender pull
• Soft voice
• Not an old splintery pointy stick.
But I’ll tell you; sometimes we need that kind of inspiration.
The oxgoad only takes effect when it’s kicked against.
Jesus isn’t constantly pocking us forcing us in a certain direction.
However when you bring yourself under the lordship of God & you trust him to lead you….if you decide to turn, stop or rebel against it, there is no denying the fact that you will bring pain upon yourself.
Ask…
• Adam & eve (don’t eat)
• Moses (water from a rock)
• David (Bathsheba)
• Jonah (speak to Nineveh)
• rich young ruler (deny self & follow)
• Judas (Desire for money)
He said, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads."
• If the ox was stubborn, there would be times where the ox would buck or kick the stick which would do no damage to the goad or to the farmer…..
The only one that was going to come out of it bloody, hurting & damaged was him.
The question, “why are you persecuting me?” now takes on new meaning.
Jesus wasn’t asking in a defensive, hurtful way.
He was pointing out that it was…
• pointless
• Futile
• Self destructive.
When we go our own way & neglect to seek the heart of God…..
It is…
• pointless
• Futile
• & it is self destructive.
Within all of the drama of seeing the bright light & hearing Jesus himself speak, Saul is now ready to ask the question God wants to hear…
6 So he, trembling and astonished, said……
"Lord, what do you want me to do?"
Saul finally bought in to what God was doing.
Let’s stand this morning
• I would ask that you allow God a voice within your heart
• God impressed this upon my heart this morning to share this word to us
• I believe that if you want to see Gods full potential in your life, you need the Holy Spirit to cast his light on your life & expose all of the ways in which you might be kicking against Gods direction for you.
• Saul would later go through a transformation & end up writing a majority of the new testament simply because he was able to say with a pure heart,
• “Lord what do you want me to do?”
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