Servant Dsiciple - Wednesday Bible Study
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And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 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. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
What do you think are some of the first qualities a person should possess before they can do God’s work properly?
Let’s read over today's scripture and see if we can begin to understand the apostle Paul’s conversion experience and his call to do more.
So we found in the first two verses Saul was going about his merry way, continuing to persecute Christians.
His current mission was simple, find all the christian he could, men women and children, bound them and bring them to Jerusalem.
I think one thing that's worth noting here is that even in Saul’s evil past their are still qualities that God can use.
For example, Paul’s drive to persecute the Christians was so strong that he would stop at nothing to achieve this mission.
Though he was using this quality for evil their is no doubt that our God knew he would use the same fire and drive to change the world for the Gospel.
Now another interesting thing to see here, after Saul was blinded by the light and he heard the voice of Jesus he asked the voice in verse 4 “who are you Lord”.
This insinuates to us that Saul knew very well who God was.
But today though these things are great to set the stage for us I want to look at something a little different.
I want to look at what it takes to follow God’s calling on us.
After all of the excitement that had taken place it had left Saul trembling and he asked Jesus a question, what was the question he had asked?
He asked him to “what will you have me to do?”
Think of that for a moment a man who had persecuted Jesus followers for years in fear says “what will you have me to do?”
It’s crazy to think how the table had turned for Saul in this moment.
But it did, in the middle of verse 6 we find Jesus’s response
Acts 9:6 (KJV 1900)
And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
Now I want to look at this for a moment.
When Saul asked that question Jesus could have looked at him and said something like.
“Saul I want you serve me, I want you to write my word, I want you to lead many to my name, I want you to assist my churches”
Now those are all things Saul did for Jesus, why would Jesus not just tell him the Big Picture and show him what He expected from him?
You see Saul had to prove Himself faithful, and just as importantly he had to serve God before he could work for God.
You think of the saying “you don’t jump in the deep end of the pool first”
You have to learn how to swim.
In the same way, Saul had to learn what it meant to serve God before he could truly do any of those things.
I want to take us to the Old testament for a moment and view Abraham as a seasoned man of God and how that interaction went comparison to Paul’s
And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
Now this calling was different as it wasn’t a calling of salvation.
What are some similarities of Abrahams call to sacrifice Isaac and Saul’s call to serve God?
Similarities (Both responded imideatley , both without question, both had some sort of action that was required)
Differences - (One was for conversion while another was for sacrifice, one was a test while the other was a call for salvation)
Both of these situations required something of the man in question.
Saul was to go to Damascus, while Abraham was to take Isaac and go to Moriah.
Both of these men had to follow in action and display their faithfulness.
I want to begin to work toward what this could teach us.
We all know that regardless of age, social status, or any other regard God has something for all of us.
We all have been given special gifts in order to build up His kingdom.
Yet, we can also see in these verses God is not willing to give us more responsibility until we can be faithful in the little things.
What do you guys think are requirements to doing God’s work God? (Be a servant first, be prompt, be dependable)
What we really have to begin to understand is that if we are going to serve God we first have to serve.
Jesus set this example for us in many places.
He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
For Jesus it wasn’t all about Him.
Even being the Song of God he made himself of no reputation.
Ill leave you with this final thought.
Our lord never asks of us what he would be unwilling to do.
When we see Abraham’s test we see a lot of similarities to one we all know to well, Jesus
God asked Abraham take your one and only son, Sacrifice him for me.
And you know what Abraham was willing.
The difference came in the ending as our God displayed Himself as a servant and followed through.