One of the Greatest Miracles, Salvation

BIG IDEA: Jesus provides the greatest miracle of all, Salvation, but more than that.

Last week one of the miracles we discussed was the healing of the leper.

Contracting leprosy more or less ruined your life during the times of Jesus . Once one contracted leprosy, their life was ruined forever. Generally, there was no recovery, there was no grace, there was no forgiveness.

• Once a leper, you were no good for much of anything, no matter what you had done in your life, it was erased by one tragic disease.

• We discussed that Leprosy is still with us today, Hansen’s Disease

As per data of 2019, Brazil, India and Indonesia reported more than 10 000 new cases, while 13 other countries (Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Philippines, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka and the United Republic of Tanzania) each reported 1000–10 000 new cases. Forty-five countries reported 0 cases and 99 reported fewer than 1000 new cases.

• Leprosy was one way one’s life could be ruined.

• Have you ever messed your life up to the point you felt like a leper? You thought life was over, that you were scared for life, that you were no longer of any use to anyone.

• Have you ever felt that you have done something that you cannot recover from?

• Today we are going to examine the calling of Saul, who became Paul. It would seem that Paul did some things in life that would disqualify from of being able to be used by God.

• If you do not hear anything else I say today, hear this one thing, in the hands of Jesus, no matter what you have done, you can be forgiven, restored and can be used by God to make a difference in life.

When we consider the miracles of Jesus we typically think about the Gospels, of course we know in the four gospels there are 33 miracles recorded in Matthew, 31 in Luke, 27 in Mark, and 10 in John. They include:

48 Healings

19 Exorcisms

17 miracles of Nature, i.e. walking on water, calming water, etc.

8 Provision

4 Communication (transfiguration and silencing demons)

2 Judgment

and of course 4 records (1 per gospel) of the Resurrection.

However today, I want to go to a different miracle, a miracle that is officially recorded in literature as a miracle of Affliction. After the resurrection typically people may not think about Jesus performing miracles directly, instead they see the apostles, the early church, and the Holy Spirit performing the miracles (all of course are in God’s power and will) but Jesus has 3 more miracles recorded where He is the agent of the miracle. First is in Acts 1 when He ascends to heaven.

The other two, are both in Acts 9 and that is where I want to focus our attention today. In Acts 9 we see a miracle of salvation, it may not look that way in the beginning and certainly many in the early church did not consider this particular miracle to be something that Jesus would do. Technically they are recorded as a nature miracle (appearing to Saul) and an Affliction miracle (making Saul blind).

I like to think more of this as: The Encounter phase of salvation for Saul of Tarsus.

Acts 9:1–9 NIV

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 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. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

Jesus chose Saul for this personal encounter, Jesus still chooses us and He is seeking an intimate encounter in our lives.

We see a miracle recorded in the texts as a miracle of nature, the appearance of our Savior to Saul. God still uses these appearances He just does it different in every persons life, and that is a miracle of salvation.

Understand what salvation actually is, I think sometimes we dismiss this as something simple and it is not. If we are all sinners, we have all fallen short and still fall short of the Glory of God, what is our price to pay? Death

Matthew 19:16–26 NIV

Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” “Which ones?” he inquired. Jesus replied, “ ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’” “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

As we know Jesus paid the price. Do we really appreciate that each day though? Honestly, do we see this as a miracle each day that we wake up? Andy Pursley our newest associate superintendent of the NW District has a saying that he signs emails with and apparently says every day he comes into the office, “We get to do this”. Think about that for a minute, we get to do this. That is a miracle, God has chosen you and I to be able to do this, to walk in His grace, to be blessed with His forgiveness, to benefit from the cross of suffering, but to live in the glory of resurrection.

Everyday we should be looking at our day as “we get to do this” because Jesus performed a miracle in our lives and hearts. That is where it begins, but as human beings sometimes we forget the beginning and focus on where we are and what is not right more than where we are going and the blessings in our life.

Like I said though, this is just the beginning though.

Consider Saul at this point, he was a pharisee that was bent on the destruction of the Church as it was forming.

He was highly educated, one of the most educated studying under Gamaliel in Tarsus, he was revered, he was in agreement with the killing of Stephen and wanted anyone who was part of The Way to be put to death.

He carried letters that held authority in this world, signed by the Sadducee Caiphais no doubt, who was given authority from Caesar himself to oversee the Jewish people as he saw fit.

Now I would call him an unlikely candidate for spokesman of the new church.

Think about it like this:

OK, you are God, you are taking applications to spread the Gospel of Jesus throughout the world.

• You are a little short-handed so you are in need of some help, particularly as you want to see the Gospel go out to the Gentiles.

• You are scouring the earth to find some help. There are many good people to chose from, but who does God pick?

• God is going to chose an unlikely candidate to carry out the work.

• I would imagine if we put 1000 people in a room who do not know anything about the Bible and gave them 5 resumes and asked them to pick someone to help spread the gospel, ZERO would choose Paul!

• Look at what is written about him.

• Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.

• Hello, I am Saul would you like to join the church, I KILL YOU!

• I do not know about you, but that sales pitch is not going to win me over.

• We first read about Saul in the Bible in Acts 7:58 at the stoning of Stephen. Then we read more about him in Acts 8:1-3

Acts 8:1–3 NIV

And Saul approved of their killing him. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

• That passage says Saul was in agreement with the killing of Stephen.

• The literal reading of Acts 9:1 is that with every breath Saul took, he was encouraged to persecute Christians.

• Saul lived to persecute the church. He was anxious to do it, he believed he was doing God’s will!

Now this is key, we would ask the question how could God use him, and honestly the answer is God could not use him in his current state. There had to be a miracle of salvation, conversion, change.

God has a plan to help

Acts 9:10–14 NIV

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. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

Let me translate, GOD, ARE YOU CRAZY?”

Now God replies to him in 15-16

Acts 9:15–16 NIV

But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

With tremendous trust, Ananias says okay. He knows that God is to be trusted, when He speaks into our lives and tells us to do something we do it. There is not a doubt, God will always provide all things and it will always play out as God intends it and it will always be for the Glory of God.

Acts 9:17–19 NIV

Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.

God did not plan on your doing it alone. When you were saved a plan was put in place, people were set on your path to intervene, direct, pray for, disciple you, etc. God has all things planned for our good.

What is sometimes so easily missed I think in the Word, and especially in the Book of Acts is how God develops people.

Peter went from being the denier to being the most prominent Apostle, he went from believing the salvation was for Jews to believing it was for all people, each step took time with Peter but God had a plan and put people in his life to help him get there.

Phillip went from being the lowest of the Jews, a hellenistic jew, waiting tables to being a the prominent missionary that first took the gospel to gentiles and jews alike.

Saul becomes Paul, perhaps the second largest figure in the New Testament next to Jesus Christ and the Trinity only. He authored 13 books of the New Testament under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, some would say 14 but Hebrews although originally ascribed to Paul was likely a different author. Paul became perhaps the greatest missionary to the Gentile world, rejected by his own lineage but embraced in the new lineage of Christ.

God can and will used the most unlikely or most despised for the most amazing things

One person can make a difference, if you ever wondered what can I do? One person makes the difference, maybe the one person you speak to is that person, maybe you are that person.

Acts 9:20–22 NIV

At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

People were ASTONISHED!

• GOD HAS A SENSE OF HUMOR!

• The very people Paul came to eradicate, are saving his life.

God provides a safe path to travel in troubled times.

Acts 9:26–31 NIV

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. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. When the believers 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 and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

• Paul was making a difference for God. As a matter of fact, he was so frustrating the Jews, they were going to kill him so the disciples lowered Paul in a large basket through an opening in the city wall.

We are born anew, that is born again, do not let anyone tell you that you are still the old sinner you used to be.

ACTION: Embrace the salvation that Jesus has given you for the miracle that it is, see the new you in light of Jesus in your life. Believe that God has a plan for your salvation and be faithful to it.