A Divine Appointment Acts 9:10-19

Introduction

Sometimes in our life God puts people in our lives that would change the trajectory of our lives.

Somewhere in our life God put someone in our life to bring us to where we are today. Some in this room might be first generation Christians, where someone might have invited you to church, maybe left a tract at your door, or you watched the way they lived and because of that you got saved and now you are in church.

I am a second generation Christian on my dads side. If you were to ask my dad how he was raised, he would tell you he was raised by wolves. If you were to ask him how he got in church, he rode the bus and someone took the time to care for him, and he had a friend, named Terry Chick, who is now the pastor of the church he grew up in, who became his best friend, and my dad stayed in church.

People like D.L. Moody who shook a continent for Christ, came to Christ because of his Sunday school teacher, named Edward Kimball, who cared enough about his soul to tell him the good news of Jesus Christ and he was saved!

If we were to have a time of testimony this morning I’m sure all of us could tell of someone whom God sent into your life that changed the trajectory of your life.

For Saul, who would later become Paul, that mans name was Ananias, who could’ve walked away from Saul just from the stories he would’ve heard, but instead trusted God and helped Saul get back on his feet.

This morning I want to look at three Characteristics to prepare us for a Gospel encounter as we stay on mission in our church.

Characteristic 1: Availability vs. 10

Someone once said “God isn’t so much looking for ability, but rather availability.”

As we are introduced to Ananias here in verse 10 we come to the first characteristic of preparation for a Gospel encounter; Availability.

Up until this point we have no clue who Ananias is, here in verse 10 we are given a few details about him

1st we know he was a disciple of Jesus

He could have been saved in Jerusalem or through the members of the church that had scattered because of the persecution that Saul was bringing on the church, or he might’ve been part of the scattering from Jerusalem, we aren’t told, but we do know he is a follower of Jesus.

2nd we know he was in Damascus

Damascus is still a thriving city, as it is the capital of modern day Syria. It is around 130 miles northeast of Jerusalem, so i’m sure that as they learned Saul was coming to Damascus they were preparing for him to cause “havock” as he did in Jerusalem.

The only other time Ananias is mentioned is when Paul is recounting his conversion in Acts 22.

As Ananias is in Damascus the Lord appears to him in a vision.

Immediately when the Lord calls out his name look at his response

Behold, I am here Lord.

He was available for whatever the Lord was going to ask him to do.

Often we find ourselves needing to know every detail, but faith is saying yes even when we don’t have every detail. Ananias offered his availability with no knowledge of what was going to be asked.

Do we have enough trust in the Lord to do that?

Think about some examples from the Bible of people who might not have had the most ability, but they were available and God used them in a mighty way.

Abraham- The father of the Jewish nation, didn’t have a son till he was 100 years old

Moses- Led the Israelites out of Egypt, in Exodus 4 Moses gives us a laundry list of why God couldn’t use him

David was just a shepherd who Jessie didn’t even see the need for him to come in from the field when Samuel came to call a new king.

Peter a guy who always talked before he thought and even denied Christ three times

God can use anyone who is available and he certainly used Ananias in the life of the apostle Paul.

Characteristic #2 Obedience vs. 11-17a

Immediately when God called out to Ananias, he answered Behold, I am here, Lord . He had no idea what he was getting himself into, but God was about to ask him to do something that he is asking us to do today as well.

God tells him to Arise or get up and go into the street called straight.

This would have been like main street in Damascus, that ran from the east gate of the city to the west gate of the city.

It would have been a street lined with different stands selling goods.

Then he tells him to enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus

The House of Judas would have been at the west end of the street.

I’m sure as the lord is speaking to him, he is in total agreement, until he hears the name Saul, making him a little skeptical and then the Lord tells him of Tarsus, and I’m sure his stomach sunk.

How many of you have been in a situation where a teacher or boss asked for volunteers before telling you what you were volunteering for? Sometimes you would be volunteering for something fun and other times you would be volunteering for something not enjoyable at all and you question why you volunteered at all.

I’m sure thats how Ananias felt at this moment, he is probably thinking to himself, What in the world have I done?

Saul’s reputation would’ve preceded his arrival to the city, so there was no doubt some fear in Ananias mind.

Then Jesus tells Ananias that Saul was praying, and while he was praying he saw in a vision that a man named Ananias coming into where he was staying, putting his hands on him that he might receive his sight.

Look at Ananias’ reply in verse 13-14

He tells God about Saul

He had heard from many people about Saul and the harm he had caused to the church in Jerusalem.

I’m sure the church their in Damascus had some who had fled from Jerusalem, and told the believers there of the persecution they had recieved.

I like what one commentator said about us “It is astonishing how patient God is with us. Here we have Ananias questioning his commission by telling God that he had heard terrible things about Saul — as though God did not know about all that! Often we argue with God as though we know better that He does. And God patiently lets us do it.

He then tells God what the chief priests gave Saul the authority to do.

Its like Ananias is saying “Lord, maybe its good he went blind. It might slow down his persecution towards us”

The Lord allows him to ask questions but then God tells him why he needs to go to Saul

He is a chosen vessel to bear The lords name to the gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”

God has a chosen plan and purpose for all of our lives and here Saul’s new purpose was to share Jesus with the world and God chose Ananias to go and take away his blindness and all he had to do was say yes

Then the Lord tells Ananias that he was going to show Saul all the things he must suffer for my names sake.

Paul recounts this in Acts 20:23.

After Ananias gets all his concerns at the Bible tells us he went his way and entered into the house, and laid hands on Saul.

Despite the questioning and the concerns, Ananias still obeys God.

This leads to our final point

Characteristic #3 Faith 17b-19

Ananias could have easily ran the other way after the Lord told him to go see Saul, but he had enough faith in God to go face the man who was know as an enemy of the church.

Notice he calls him Brother Saul. Despite reservations Ananias recieved Saul as a “brother”. If you have been saved we are brothers and sisters through Christ. Ananias was recognizing Saul as his brother in Christ.

Ananias tells him that Jesus who appeared to Saul also appeared to him and told him to come so that he could regain his sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

As soon as he did that the scales from Saul’s eyes were removed and he recieved his sight forthwith or immediately.

He then was baptized.

After the three days without food, Saul recieved meet and was strengthened, and spent some time with Ananias.

Because of Ananias faith in God’s protection, he went to Saul and laid hands on him and Saul regained his sight and as we will see next week Saul straightway preached Christ.

Conclusion

This morning we looked at three characteristics to prepare us for a Gospel encounter, It takes availability, obedience, and faith. Those three are very true, but the most important way we prepare for a gospel encounter is to have a personal gospel encounter first.

You must first know him before you can witness to others about Him. If you have never trusted Christ (his death, burial and ressurection) come this morning and we can show you from the Bible how you can be saved.

If your’e a believer this morning;

Hows your availability?

Hows your obedience?

Hows your faith?