How Saul really became Paul

Saul the rest of the story

04-07-2019

Intro -

Welcome to maranatha

Last week we talked about a normal guy who has an encounter with the living God

Last week we saw how Saul was walking along thinking he was doing Gods work and thinking he was right with God

Because Saul had a head knowledge of God

Then Saul has an encounter with God

Last week we stopped the story there

Acts 9:17–19 NASB95

17 So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; 19 and he took food and was strengthened. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus,

Saul has an encounter with God

then the Disciple who has a personal relationship with Jesus and is obedient to Jesus comes and shares with Saul

Shares with him about what is going on

Saul is filled with the Holy Spirit and baptized and what

Church I think for far to long we have help the Sauls of the world come to Jesus

We have helped people come to Jesus and encouraged them to have a personal relationship with Jesus

And then we send them out right

Right I mean if we had stopped the story right there with Saul we would think that Saul is sent out and makes it on his own

At least church that is what we do

See last week we have baptized 6 guys who have had encounters with Jesus and given their lives to Jesus and started a relationship and been baptized

But now what is the rest of the story

See church we have an opportunity

We have an opportunity to disciple these 6 guys

See this wasn't the end of the story for Saul

See Saul doesn’t have an encounter with Jesus and then just all of the sudden become this knowledgable Christian

Saul doesn’t encounter Jesus and then just go and write the majority of the New Testament

Acts 9:19–22 NASB95

19 and he took food and was strengthened. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus, 20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” 22 But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

Saul stays with them for a while

During that time they begin to teach him about following Jesus

they begin to teach him what it means to walk with Jesus

They begin to teach him what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus

This is discipleship

They were doing life with him

Saul I bet was asking questions about what this would mean and how this is going to happen

Church the few disciples that were in Damascus were obedient to God because they had a personal relationship with Jesus

They begin to share what they know with Saul a new brother in Christ

Saul is not left on his on to handle things and figure this new relationship with Jesus on his own

If Saul who was responsible for the arrests and torture of many believers found help

then why church do we get so excited about people coming to Christ and baptizing them and then almost leave them on their own to figure things out by themselves

Acts 9:26–30 NASB95

26 When he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 And he was with them, moving about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 And he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death. 30 But when the brethren learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.

Again church this is just more example of what it means to disciple people after they come to a personal relationship with Christ

Saul was then brought to Jerusalem and you can only image everyone in the city

The disciples and apostles were for good reason a bit nervous and scared

But church understand we serve a God who is in the business of changing hearts

It shouldn’t surprise us that God has an encounter with Saul and changes his heart

It shouldn’t surprise us that God would choose to use Saul to change the world

Church this is the story over and over in the Bible

Shawn Carney said this a few days ago on Focus on the Family

And it was a true conversion. It - it’s not the way it always happens, especially in these circumstances with a clinic, you know, a pro-life group right next to an - an abortion clinic, that the director walks out and leaves, but it happens. And I think that we have to have the faith that it can happen. This is - this is a basic story right out of the Gospel. And we act so sophisticated when it comes to abortion, that, “You have your opinion; I have mine. We don’t need to talk about it. We’re not gonna change each other’s minds.” And that’s all nonsense. Uh, this happens and it happens because of a witness to truth and truth always converts hearts.

Church this is the God we serve and it shouldn’t surprise us that last week we baptized 6 guys and 2 men who have families

It shouldn’t surprise us when we go out to peoples houses and share the Gospel that we see people coming to Christ

These are opportunities to continue in the good work of the great commission

We are to continue to walk with them, to teach them and to share with them what we know

We are to love on them and to help them grow in your walk with Jesus

Now you might be sitting here asking how this happens

I am so glad you asked

But you and I are to love God and to love people

When we love people we start to spend time with them and to learn from them and to teach them things

1 Corinthians 3:1–3 NASB95

1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, 3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?

Church when we teach people things, it is like a baby an infant

we have to start small and continue to teach them things

But like infants we should start to see growth

But the churches today don’t see growth because we are not discipling new believers in Christ

We celebrate their decision and then let them figure it out on their own

Paul the writer of 1 Corinthians is explaining to the corinthians that they are still growing

He is going to continue with the basics and as they grow in the basics Paul will add more to is and dig deeper into the relationship with Jesus

But

because we fail to develop disciples

we have believers who should be teachers but are not and are still struglling with the basics

Hebrews 5:12–14 NASB95

12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

Church it is so important to your walk that you be discipled but a disciple

a disciple is someone maybe older but older in Christ, and is a teacher, not someone who still struggles with the basics

Someone who is growing in their own walk with Christ

Church we have a responsibility to disciple those coming to Christ

Those of you who are new in Christ, or still on milk you have a responsibility to seek out someone to disciple you so that you can grow and some day disciple someone else

Closing

I want to invite the band up

as they are coming up

I want you to be honest and ask yourself is you are on milk or steak

are you still struggling with the basics of a relationship with Jesus or are you chewing on deeper issues with your walk with Jesus

maybe you need to go to someone here today right now and ask them to disciple you

or maybe you are not discipling anyone and God is calling you to be available to disciple people

or maybe you are here today and do not have a personal relationship with Jesus and God is calling you to start your relationship today

I would invite to the front and someone will be down here to talk with you

They can share with you through scripture about how God can forgive you of your sins and give you a hope and peace