Acts 9:1-23

V 1-9

Acts 8:1-3

Paul has become the face of persecution within the church

Paul has been persecuting the church and has been one of its biggest opponents

He had this obsessive desire to end the early church movement It threatened the very structure of the Jewish hierarchy that he had spent most of his life studying to take part in

He wasn’t merely a cog in the machine nor was he a side piece Paul was one of the faces of early Christian persecution

George Washington to the American Army

MLK to the civil rights movement

Acts 8 opens with Paul not only taking part in the stoning of Stephen but scripture records him actually approving of it

Paul’s persecution of the church had lead to his desire to persecute all who stood against judaism even beyond the walls of Jerusalem

There is this blinding light that comes where a voice echoes from the light “Why do you persecute me?”

There were others on this very journey with him and they were as surprised as he was at what had taken place

They stood speechless and in wonder

He becomes blind for 3 whole days as a result of this heavenly encounter

Imagine taking a journey and then in the middle of it a bright light from the glory of heaven comes down and shows itself to you

What would you say? how would you respond?

V 10-14

Ananias is now tasked from a prophecy from God to go to this particular place and find one of the most hateful men in all of Israel

Like imagine getting the call from the Lord to go meet Paul, the chief persecutor of the early church

Ananias justifiably has apprehension to what he is being asked to do

“Do you know what you’ve tasked me to do? Do you know who this guy is?”

Yet Ananias still held fast to the purposes set before him. He knew what he was to do and he followed through

Application: God might ask us to do hard things that require us to act in faith. Are we willing to step out?

15-18

Scales fell from Paul’s eyes and he now went from being one of the most hateful persecutors of the church

He had received the Holy Spirit and was baptized immediately

It is proof of his conversion and his new identification as a follower of Christ

Think about how radical this transformation had to be for some people

This man was one of the last people you’d ever want to come into contact with

Yet this was God’s chosen instrument to help reach gentiles, jews, and Israelites

Application: God has a purpose for each of us