ALL Eyes On Me!!

Acts 9:1–18 NKJV

Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 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. As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” 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.” So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank. Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.” Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.

Have You Ever Been Given Something To Do By God But Your Flesh Didn’t Want To?

Some Of The Most Controversial Things Done In the Kingdom, Came From someone taking a risk that no one else dared to do..

Some Of The Most Controversial Things Done In the Kingdom, Came From someone taking a risk no one else dared to do..

Have you ever found yourself doing something with a great conviction and find out you where wrong?

Acts 8:3 NIV

But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

Have you ever found yourself doing something with a great conviction and find out you where wrong?

What If The Way you see things are Wrong, What would it take for God to get you to see what he see’s?

Galatians 1:13 NIV

For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.

Galatians 1:3 NLT

May God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Galatians 1:23 NIV

They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”

G

Acts 26:10 NLT

Indeed, I did just that in Jerusalem. Authorized by the leading priests, I caused many believers there to be sent to prison. And I cast my vote against them when they were condemned to death.

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series: Acts Saul the Enemy (9:1–2)

The hostility to Christianity of pre-Christian Saul presents both challenge and hope to any non-Christian. The hope is that if God can turn the fiercest opponent of the Lord into his most willing servant, he has the ability to save anyone. The challenge is not to be deceived by self-satisfaction. Saul was quite content with his life spiritually. But God’s sovereign grace arrested him.

Is It possible that all eyes are on you, waiting to see if you have been truly converted..

1. Paul’s Conversion to Christianity was an epic event, he went from being a jewish rabbi to the Most influential Apostles writing 13 of the twenty seven books of the New testament.

1. Pauls Conversion

I. Paul the enemy had hateful opposition to the disciples of the Lord and threatens them with Imprisonment and Murder.

II. Paul isn’t just known for making threats, he helps bring about executions.

III. Saul takes action: He goes to Caiaphas (4:6) and receives letters of introduction to the synagogues in Damascus, some 140 miles northeast. He seeks to enlist their aid, or at least permission, to arrest any fugitive Hellenistic Jewish Christians and return them to Jerusalem for trial

Saul takes action. He goes to Caiaphas (4:6) and receives letters of introduction to the synagogues in Damascus, some 140 miles northeast. He seeks to enlist their aid, or at least permission, to arrest any fugitive Hellenistic Jewish Christians and return them to Jerusalem for trial

iV. The hostility to Christianity of pre-Christian Saul presents both challenge and hope to any non-Christian. The hope is that if God can turn the fiercest opponent of the Lord into his most willing servant, he has the ability to save anyone.

The hostility to Christianity of pre-Christian Saul presents both challenge and hope to any non-Christian. The hope is that if God can turn the fiercest opponent of the Lord into his most willing servant, he has the ability to save anyone. The challenge is not to be deceived by self-satisfaction. Saul was quite content with his life spiritually. But God’s sovereign grace arrested him.

The challenge is not to be deceived by self-satisfaction. Saul was quite content with his life spiritually. But God’s sovereign grace arrested him.

2. Saul’s Encounter with Christ: Saul travels to Damascus at midday, he experiences the divine presence: a light and voice from heaven addressing him.

I. He is knocked Off his beast and falls to the ground..

Saul’s Encounter with Christ

II. The voice gives the divine perspective on Paul’s activity. With a repeated address the voice asks, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Jesus identifies with his disciples, his body

III. Kicking Against the Pricks: fighting against God’s will only hurts yourself. ( “It is futile for you to resist your destiny (of becoming My apostle)

The voice gives the divine perspective on Paul’s activity. With a repeated address (compare ; ; ; ; ) the voice asks, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Jesus identifies with his disciples, his body

“It is futile for you to resist your destiny (of becoming My apostle

Goad—(Heb. malmad, only in ), an instrument used by ploughmen for guiding their oxen. “The goad is a formidable weapon. It is sometimes ten feet long, and has a sharp point.

Goad—(Heb. malmad, only in ), an instrument used by ploughmen for guiding their oxen. Shamgar slew six hundred Philistines with an ox-goad. “The goad is a formidable weapon. It is sometimes ten feet long, and has a sharp point. We could now see that the feat of Shamgar was not so very wonderful as some have been accustomed to think.”

In , a different Hebrew word is used, dorban, meaning something pointed. The expression , “It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks”, i.e., against the goad, was proverbial for unavailing resistance to superior power.

III. For Saul the physical effects are devastating. Getting up from the ground, he opens his eyes and discovers he is blind! Led by the hand into the city, he neither eats nor drinks for three days.

For Saul the physical effects are devastating. Getting up from the ground, he opens his eyes and discovers he is blind! Led by the hand (; ) into the city, he neither eats nor drinks for three days.

A. But the spiritual effects on Saul will last a lifetime. The spiritual significance of a Jewish rabbi’s being physically blinded by the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ is not lost on Saul or Luke

4 Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

Major themes in Luke–Acts are God’s final salvation as a recovery of sight to the blind and as a light to the nations

But the spiritual effects on Saul will last a lifetime. The spiritual significance of a Jewish rabbi’s being physically blinded by the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ is not lost on Saul or Luke (). Major themes in Luke–Acts are God’s final salvation as a recovery of sight to the blind and as a light to the nations

Major themes in Luke–Acts are God’s final salvation as a recovery of sight to the blind and as a light to the nations

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series: Acts Saul’s Encounter with Christ (9:3–9)

As Saul meditates on the light during those three days of darkness, then, the greatness of the divinely promised final salvation available only in the last person he saw must become more and more clear and precious

B. Saul meditates on the light during those 3 days of darkness, What is Saul to make of his blindness? It is not a punishment nor an indication of divine disfavor nor simply a concrete proof of the vision. An acted parable, it shows Saul the spiritual bankruptcy of his pre-Christian condition.

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series: Acts Saul’s Encounter with Christ (9:3–9)

As Saul meditates on the light during those three days of darkness, then, the greatness of the divinely promised final salvation available only in the last person he saw must become more and more clear and precious (Acts 26:18). And the role he is to play in becoming a light to the Gentiles must become increasingly evident (26:17).

What is Saul to make of his blindness? It is not a punishment (as Hamm 1990:70) nor an indication of divine disfavor (as Hedrick 1981:419) nor simply a concrete proof of the vision (as Haenchen 1971:323). An acted parable, it shows Saul the spiritual bankruptcy of his pre-Christian condition.

: “And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. 16 Now get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness. Tell people that you have seen me, and tell them what I will show you in the future. 17 And I will rescue you from both your own people and the Gentiles. Yes, I am sending you to the Gentiles 18 to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.’

“And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. 16 Now get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness. Tell people that you have seen me, and tell them what I will show you in the future. 17 And I will rescue you from both your own people and the Gentiles. Yes, I am sending you to the Gentiles 18 to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.’

3.. Ananias destiny collides With Saul’s

I. Ananias, a resident of Damascus and a devout disciple (22:12), is part of a “double vision” divine encounter (9:12) in which both he and Paul are made aware of the next step.

Ananias, a resident of Damascus and a devout disciple (22:12), is part of a “double vision” divine encounter (9:12) in which both he and Paul are made aware of the next step.

It’s beautiful thing when you Know how your ministry is to suppose help push someone else ministry.

II. He had to go to Straight Street. With great porches and gates at each end and colonnades for commerce running along each side, this fashionable address would be as well known in its day as Regent Street in London or Fifth Avenue in New York is today. He is to look for Saul of Tarsus in Judas’s house. To be converted means to move from self-centered independence to dependence on the Lord and interdependence with fellow disciples. Saul the convert needs the support and encouragement of the church. Today too the gospel witness should emphasize by word and deed that being born again is being born into the family of God, the church.

III. Ananias protests. He has concerns grounded in the convert’s past reputation. Saul was notorious for persecuting the Church. All the Lord has told Ananias is that this Saul is blind and praying. When Ananias puts that together with the harm Saul has perpetrated against the saints in Jerusalem, he is not sure he wants the assignment.

Saul’s mission in Damascus, with the authority of the high priests is to arrest all who call on [the Lord’s] name.

By negative example, at this point, Ananias teaches us that reluctant gospel messengers must not only love their enemies but also trust that the gospel has such redemptive power to truly convert anyone...

Is there anybody in here thats truly been Converted.. I mean God stopped you in your tracks, knocked you off your high horse, delivered you from the way you thought, the way you believed and the way you See things.

Yet in his mercy the Lord also tells Ananias Saul’s new status as my chosen instrument (; ; ), his new mission, to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel, and new relationship to persecution, to suffer for Jesus’ name. These new realities mean Ananias has nothing to fear from Saul.

I am convinced God can save anyone who wants to be saved...

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series: Acts Saul the Chosen Vessel (9:10–19)

The Lord does not directly answer Ananias’s misgivings; he simply repeats his command: “Go!”

See We have in the Church non-delivered folks, & delivered but not willing to help you get delivered folks. Saul was one and Ananias was the other..

The Lord does not directly answer Ananias’s misgivings; he simply repeats his command: “Go!” Yet in his mercy the Lord also tells Ananias Saul’s new status as my chosen instrument his new mission, to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel, and new relationship to persecution, to suffer for Jesus’ name. These new realities mean Ananias has nothing to fear from Saul.

Ananias obeys and performs his ministry to Paul. Laying hands on Saul, he declares that he has been sent by the Lord Jesus so that Saul may see again and be filled with the Spirit.

By negative example, at this point, Ananias teaches us that reluctant gospel messengers must not only love their enemies but also trust that the gospel has such redemptive power that a praying converted persecutor is a persecutor no more.

Saul’s mission in Damascus, with the authority of the high priests

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series: Acts Saul the Chosen Vessel (9:10–19)

Saul’s mission in Damascus, with the authority of the high priests

Larkin, W. J., Jr. (1995). Acts (Vol. 5, ). Downers, IL: InterVarsity Press.

King James Version Chapter 9

18 And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been escales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and fwas baptized

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series: Acts Saul the Chosen Vessel (9:10–19)

Saul’s mission in Damascus, with the authority of the high priests (either Annas and Caiaphas [Kistemaker 1990:329] or the high-priestly families [Bruce 1990:238]), is to arrest all who call on [the Lord’s] name.

Acts 9:18 NLT

Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized.

All the Lord has told him is that this Saul is blind and praying. When Ananias puts that together with the harm Saul has perpetrated against the saints (9:21; 26:10) in Jerusalem, he is not sure he wants the assignment.

ALL Eyes Are On You Sizing You Up To See If Your Really Authentic

What has happen since your conversion?

Saul saw the Light

Heard the Voice

Ask For Id

Feel Off His beast

lost his sight

excepted Jesus

Changed teams

Gained new vision

changed his name

kept his testimony

wrote letters to the Church

Won Souls...........for the kingdom...

Do me a favor push your neighbor and tell them GO..

Ananias protests. He has misgivings grounded in the convert’s past reputation.

He is to look for Saul of Tarsus in Judas’s house.

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series: Acts Saul the Chosen Vessel (9:10–19)

He is to look for Saul of Tarsus in Judas’s house. Tradition locates Saul’s abode at the west end (Lake and Cadbury 1979:102). Saul is praying, probably in preparation for his restoration