Submit your life to God’s purpose

Jacob Winters

Acts • Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

Acts 9:1–22

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Transcript

Introduction

Good morning brothers and sisters, church family. It is so good to be with you once again on this Lord’s Day. If you would please go ahead and open your bible’s to Acts chapter 9. Our main text today will be Acts 9:1-22…... we are going to jump right in and begin with prayer, will you please pray with me.

Scripture

If you would all please rise for the reading of God’s Word today. The words to the scripture will be on the screen, please read along with me as we are reading. When I am done I will say “this is The Word of The Lord” if you will all please respond with “Thanks be to God.” Let’s Practice that for a secondFirst, let’s pray.

Father, we thank you for who You are and what You are doing to us in this place. Father, we ask this day as we are about to participate in the reading of Your word, that you refine us with it Father, Your Word is truth, and we thank You for that truth. Make us, build us, shape us, rearrange us in a way that conforms us more into the image of Christ. Help us be a people that are totally on mission for you and your kingdom, seeking to fulfill both you great commission and the great commandments (to love You and love people). Help us put aside anything in our lives that hurts or hinders us from doing so; because we want to know You and want You to be known by others around us. We also ask this day, as we are about to participate in the reading of Your Word Father, that you would take any distraction that we may have away. Take it as far away as it could possibly go, because we want to see, know, understand, and apply whatever it is that you are trying to tell us. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.

9 Now Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest 2 and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he traveled and was nearing Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him. 4 Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul said.“I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the sound but seeing no one. 8 Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing. So they took him by the hand and led him into Damascus. 9 He was unable to see for three days and did not eat or drink.

10 There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.”“Here I am, Lord,” he replied.11 “Get up and go to the street called Straight,” the Lord said to him, “to the house of Judas, and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, since he is praying there. 12 In a vision[a] he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and placing his hands on him so that he may regain his sight.”13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And he has authority here from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for this man is my chosen instrument to take my name to Gentiles, kings, and Israelites. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”17 Ananias went and entered the house. He placed his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road you were traveling, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”18 At once something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized. 19 And after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Saul was with the disciples in Damascus for some time. 20 Immediately he began proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues: “He is the Son of God.”21 All who heard him were astounded and said, “Isn’t this the man in Jerusalem who was causing havoc for those who called on this name and came here for the purpose of taking them as prisoners to the chief priests?”22 But Saul grew stronger and kept confounding the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

Context

This week, we begin chapter 9 in our journey through the book of Acts. As you will recall, last week we finished going through the evangelical trips that Phillip went through, as he went through Samaria, then met the Ethiopian Eunuch and then was brought north until he reached Caesarea. You will also recall how at the very beginning of the chapter, we were briefly introduced to the man Saul, who we would today know as Paul, the apostle. Remember that Saul was present at the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian Martyr and one of the 7 that was chosen in chapter 6. Since this, Saul (who was a learned man). In fact, in the book of Philippians Paul/Saul would describe himself as, “circumcised the eighth day; of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law, a Pharisee; 6 regarding zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless.

Saul of course had many things wrong in the zeal of his faith. As you will recall, Jesus warned his followers not to be like the Pharisees, who worshiped other things than God. They worshiped being seen and admired, and as is the case here with Saul, worshiped God’s law, and not God Himself, lest he would have recognized Jesus as the Christ and would not have participated in the murder of Stephen and the harassment and persecution of the saints.

This is a mistake that isn’t just one that the pharisees of old made and do. It is a mistake than many today make as well; worshiping the wrong thing. Worshiping the things that God created, instead of worshiping Him. We call that idolatry, and Christians of all walks of life and levels of maturity have to be on constant guard against them/it and regularly examine yourself to see if you have anything that you are submitting to rather than God, rather than Christ’s Lordship in your life. Saul, in our text today, learns this and in a great big way. So, let’s look at his example and learn from it. Let’s take a dive in and From the text I want you to see how you must have and be these things as you submit your life to God’s purpose.

Message

The First thing than you must have is: An Encounter with Jesus

9 Now Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest 2 and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he traveled and was nearing Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him. 4 Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul said. “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the sound but seeing no one. 8 Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing. So they took him by the hand and led him into Damascus. 9 He was unable to see for three days and did not eat or drink.

Saul continues in his zealous and misguided and wrong deeds, and request permission to go as far as Damascus (almost 200 miles north) and arrest Christians, those following Christ, which the text reads as “the Way.” It’s almost like he had a warrant for their arrest and likely had armed soldiers or guards with him. As he led his group of men, going along the road to Damascus, something very different happened. Out of nowhere! A bright light from heaven came upon him and addressed him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Saul then, not knowing what was going on, but knew that he was in the presence of the divine asks, “Who are you Lord?” What followed, would have struck Saul’s very being. Why? Because the one that answered, the one that he knew was divine said that He was Jesus….. Jesus then tells him to go into the city, and wait to be told what to do. Meanwhile, the men with him were astounded themselves, hearing the sounds but not seeing anything. This experience left Saul blind and frantic, so much that he had to be led by hand all the way to Damascus; and their and in that state he would remain for 3 days and was so shaken that he did not eat or drink all that time.

Saul’s experience here, reminds me a lot of and experience that Peter had. I’m sure you all know this story, and our Wednesday night children’s teachers will have it very fresh in their memories, because we taught it to the children just a few weeks ago. At Peter and James and John’s first experience with Jesus, He showed them who He was, what kind of power and authority He had/has and that even the worst of sin can and could be forgiven by Him. Peter’s response, in that moment, as he was pulling in so much fish into his boat that it started to sink, was a good one. He fell on his knees, recognized Christ for who He was and in the same time recognized and for he (peter) was, a sinful man not worthy to be in God’s Presence, saying, “Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Jesus then told him, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Peter had this unique experience with Jesus, and left everything he had to follow Him.

Know this believers, to have a life that is submitted to Christ, a required step is that you have some sort of encounter with Him. Now, every person’s encounter with Him is going to be different. You may have seen and understood Christ sitting on your mom or dad’s or grandparents lap as they read you the Bible. You may have had it at a VBS as a child. You may have it, like myself in your 20s. You may have had it in a tragedy. And everything in between, In this encounter, you must understand (as Peter and Saul did) that you are born a wicked and evil person, stuck in separation from God because of your Sin and will remain that way until you accept Jesus’ perfect and final sacrifice as your own sacrifice for your sin. This is a must for all believers at all levels of faith, if you haven’t passed this basic building block, then you are not a believer, you are not redeemed, either you are pretending to be or (like Saul) you are worshiping some sort of false God. When you accept Christ’s Sacrifice, then before God the father you are made pure, you are made holy, you are no longer covered in dirt and grime, but you are in wonderful clean and perfect clothes. This is a gift, and one that we don’t deserve, yet it is offered to us, out of joy and affection and admiration of our loving, faithful, all powerful, creator and redeemer God, we respond and become our next point:

A disciple of Jesus.

To be clear here, a disciple is anyone who is both a learner of and a follower of Jesus. Meaning that disciples learn about Jesus, follow Him, do as He does, and think as He thinks. Now granted, no person in this sin sick world will ever be perfect, but each and every one of us are to do our honest best, not our second or third best, but our absolute best to do these things. In the text we see a man, a disciple, in that city named Ananias. God told him to go and find Saul and lay hands on him, to pray for him and heal him. Ananias, as I’m sure most of us would, would have thought that God was mistaken (and oh how often does God show us that we are mistaken about Him?)….. Ananias questions this, because he knew that Saul was a cold-blooded killer and murder and persecutor of the saints, yet Ananias hears God and does just as The Lord had directed him. God reveals that this man, formerly a great enemy of the Kingdom of God will soon be it’s greatest advocate, it’s greatest missionary. So, Ananias, finds him. And notice how he addresses him, he addresses him as brother. He addresses him as an equal, seeing and knowing that at this time, Saul was a believer and follower of Christ, even though this meant his whole world was shaken, and that he was equal (Saul and Ananias) in that they were both disciples of Christ. From here, Ananias, lays hands on Him, and Saul is filled with the Holy Spirit and his blindness is gone, now able to see. In response he affirms his faith with Baptism and begins to eat and drink once again.

It must have seen absolutely crazy to the early church, that Saul, the enemy would become a brother. I don’t know if anyone else had this moment in their faith lives, but I can recall learning this and being shocked by it as a new Christian, having just read it in my bible around the age of 20 or 21. In fact, I remember thinking, “Wow, a murder of Christians becoming the guy who wrote half the New Testament and went to all of these places and witnessed to all these people, only God can do that. This God really is worth following and it is correct to worship Him.” Reading this, as a new Christian fortified my faith, and it caused me to go about my day in amazement, telling everyone I came across that day about how Paul was Saul and once persecuted and attacked the church.

This man, Saul, was now a disciple. As unlikely and otherworldly as that may seem. Non-the-less it is true. You may be thinking to yourself, and if you are having this thought, it is a correct thought, “You think Paul becoming a disciple is odd, to me it’s even more odd that I WOULD BE A DISCIPLE OF JESUS, that I would be a true follower of God. If people knew who I am or who I was, they wouldn’t believe it either. The things I have done, the rebellion in my heart, is so great that this is a miracle.” To that, I say, Yes. Yes it is a miracle, yes it is a miracle that each and every one of us are disciples of Jesus, because each and every one of us have a debt, a rebellion, a wickedness that was so great, that only with God and His work of Jesus Christ’s death on the cross to forgive us could we ever be made to stand before God. It is a miracle! And one to be very very thankful for, because to truly submit your life to God’s purpose in your life (the only purpose that matters) means that you must be A disciple of Jesus. Once you are this it also means that

you must be : A witness for Jesus

Saul remained in Damascus and likely learned from the disciples for some time. However, notice how the text doesn’t say, “after learning so much, or after a waiting period.” Instead, the text says that he immediately went and shared Jesus in the synagogues. He immediately went out and witnessed to others about Christ. This would have confused everyone, as they all knew who he was and why he had come to that city. And I’m sure it took some time for many to trust being around Him, but it seems that many must have come around as he kept staying with them and kept sharing Jesus with others, even to the point that the Jews their were confused and amazed or confounded about it, as the one he had formerly said was a “false messiah” he now boldly stood up and proved that He (Jesus) was and is the true messiah.

When I hear about this experience of Paul, I’m reminded of others in the bible. Now for a short time, before Jesus revealed himself to everyone that He was the messiah, he did not tell those that He had healed and performed miracles for, to tell others. But, after he revealed himself, notice that from their, he told people to go and tell everyone about what you have seen and what you know. Once such occasion happens in the 8th chapter of Luke, where a man is filled with many demons, so many that they called themselves legion. After driving the demons out of this man the text reads in verse 38 and 39 that, “38 The man from whom the demons had departed begged him earnestly to be with him. But he sent him away and said, 39 “Go back to your home, and tell all that God has done for you.” And off he went, proclaiming throughout the town how much Jesus had done for him.”

This was and is to be the norm, once Jesus heals you, once Jesus makes you well, which happens upon salvation, Jesus wants us to go and tell others about Him, anyone that will listen. Now, I know that we all know this, and I also know that we are all a little scared about this. To that, let me say, that having some kind of fear, is a good thing. Because it shows that you understand how serious the situation is, that each soul each person we face who is not a follower or disciple of Christ is facing eternal separation from God, but don’t let fear grip you in any other way. Don’t let fear of being brushed off, fear of saying something wrong, fear of looking dumb, or fear of making someone angry at you keep you from witnessing about Jesus; because weather they know it or not, their need is very great.

Another problem we might have, is that we don’t know if we fully understand. Don’t let that stop you either. I can tell you with full assurance that after years in seminary and having great older men that pour into me, I still do not fully understand, and I never will; and neither will you. All you have to know is this simple thing: the story about how you became saved and what changed after that and that all of that is possible for anyone who turns to Jesus to pay the payment for their great sin debt, which everyone through all of time has. Follow that with, once you do this, you are made blameless before God and will get to experience a restored perfect relationship with God once again. It’s simple, don’t try to muddy it up or make it too difficult, you can do this and better yet you (believer) have God the Holy Spirit to push you and give you the words you need when you are A witness for Jesus.

Conclusion

These are a few of the MUSTS as you submit your life to God’s purpose. You must have and encounter with Jesus, you must be a disciple of Jesus, and you must be a witness for Jesus. Ask yourself honestly. Have I had or done any or all or just a few of these. Believer, the call on you, the call for everyone as you submit your life to God’s purpose is to do all three of these. If you are missing any of them, find whatever that is that is keeping you back, and work on that. Turn to God and ask Him for Help, turn to your church family and ask them for help, and you will find that God is very gracious to give you all the help you need and then some, because he delights in seeing His children turn to Him and know Him and follow Him all the more. Are you ready? If so, lets go.

With all of that being said, I would be remised if I didn’t share the Gospel (or the Good News) of Jesus Christ with you today, for the benefit of both believer and non-believer in the room. This begins all the way back at the beginning, God created everything, and he created all things good. He gave His most treasured creation (us, mankind) the ability of free will, the ability to choose Him or rebellion. Man was deceived by Satan and desired to be like God and sinned (or rebelled against God). This brought the curse of sin and death into the world and it remains with us to this day; which separates us from God. God though, loved His creation (mankind) so much that He worked through history to redeem all mankind that would turn to Him from sin so that we can experience a full and perfect relationship with Him again. This was through the perfect and final sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the pay for sins. Accepting this free gift from God, makes you new and forgiven. All you have to do accept this free gift by repenting and believing in the Lord Jesus and you will get to experience the good side of God’s justice forever. So, now that you know this, you can no longer plead ignorance. I invite and urge you to respond today non-believer and apply this to every part of your life believers in the audience today.

With that, Let’s conclude. Brothers and Sisters, I love you all. During our last song together, if you need prayer, or want to talk more about Jesus, or have something you want to talk about, I’ll be here, don’t be afraid to come on down. Let’s pray. Father God, we thank You for who You are and what You are doing to us here in this place. May whatever it is that You are doing in each of heart here, continue as we leave go out into the world this week. Change us, mold us, make us, re-arrange us, that we can be both better lovers of You and better showers of You. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.

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