Acts of Faith: Saul becomes Paul
Notes
Transcript
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Happy Mother’s Day
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Happy Mother’s Day
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Intro
Intro
What does it mean to be the sent people to God? For the first seven chapters, which we have been looking at, we only see the gospel in Jerusalem and Judea, but because of the execution of Stephen and then the persecution that ensued, the great body of Christians in Jerusalem were scattered. As they went out, for the first time the church finally became a church in mission, which is what Jesus always wanted them to be.
The term mission, by the way, comes from the Latin word that means to be sent. The word mission today is almost everywhere. Everybody has a mission statement. Every organization has a mission statement. People create personal mission statements. But I think in English, originally, the word mission really belonged to the Christian church. So the question comes up …
What was the mission of the earliest church?
Keller, T. J. (2013). The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive, 2012-2013. New York: Redeemer Presbyterian Church.
Organic Mission - Notice that it says everyone was scattered with the exception of the top clergy! Everyone who were scattered were preaching the word!
Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
Acts
Opening Prayer
Message
Message
What if something you think is true is not? When would you want to know? Would you want to know?
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.
Context - Who Saul is and was at this point in our journey
Character study on Saul.
We are brought back to the persecution found in that we opened up with.
Saul is a member of the Pharisees (the ruling class of Jews)
Saul is from a respectable family, with full Roman citizenship within the Empire.
Zealot shows up in His zeal to Christian extermination
Zealot
a person who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their religious, political, or other ideals.
• (Zealot) historical a member of an ancient Jewish sect aiming at a world Jewish theocracy and resisting the Romans until ad 70.
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.”
Acts 9:
Divine Interaction with Jesus
There are two charistics that mix well with this understanding of Divine interaction
Bright light expressing the divine nature of God’s Glory shining all around. and the Communally held understanding of God can be seen, so it is not surprising the effect that the light has on Saul, causing blindness.
“Who are you, Lord?” drives how an understanding that this was an interaction from above, but unsure who was speaking and why?
The Revalalation from Jesus himself was signifiagent
What was this so significant to Saul?
Saul never wanted to not please God, the realization that he was persecuting the very Divine he thought he was defending was more than he could bare.
Many stories have been told: Demanding punishment before the guilty party is determined. Tell a story...
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.
Acts 9:7-9
Just stunned unable to do anything...
Acts: An Introduction and Commentary h. The Conversion and Call of Paul (9:1–19a)
no doubt still overcome by shock and probably by penitence as the enormity of his action increasingly dawned upon him
Everything he thought was true was false. The truth literally had overcome him
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.”
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.”
Acts 9:10-
Clearly God had set Saul aside for a purpose. What was this purpose?
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.
Acts 9:17-
Ananias is faithful even though the ask does not make any sense.
Divine Healing
A new believer
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.
Acts: An Introduction and Commentary i. Paul Begins to Preach (9:19b–31)
Luke emphasizes how Paul was no sooner converted and called to be a witness to Jesus Christ than he began to fulfil his commission
Acts 9:20-
“At Once” - eutheos (at once, immediately, without delay)
A process of growth
“Yet Saul grew” - enedynamoo (strengthen, become stronger)
The is a process of moving from point A to point B. The point her is that the journey or more specifically the mission begins now!
EUTHEOS!!!
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.
Acts 9:
Helping grow the Church
Application
Application
The truth is worth investigating. Before you dismiss Christ all together is it not worth you time to determine for yourself.
What does God’s pursuit of Saul mean for us and our understanding of God pursuing us?
When it comes to the mission of God, we learn a little about what it means to be actively engaged in His Missions. The time table for serving and getting to know Jesus is immediate. Gifting looks different, but service does not!