Grace Upon Grace Pt. III
Notes
Transcript
Intro:
Intro:
So we have been going through the Acts 9 for the last few weeks and we have been focusing on the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, or Paul the Apostle.
We’ve looked at the man God chose to transform. A man who was attempting to reach God based on his works, a man who was persecuting the church. And as we started chapter 9, we looked at all the evil that this man was doing
He was on a completely wrong path, with the assumption that he was doing what was right.
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
So Saul was on this path that was according to ways of the world, being directed by satan
And while on this path, Saul thought that he was getting closer to God yet the reality is that he was getting further and further away from God.
And what we opened up with in chapter 9 was , the parables in Luke 15, specifically the parable of the lost sheep. How a shepherd who has 99 sheep but losses 1, will go out looking for the 1 lost sheep who has lost his way, who has taken the wrong path.
and the point that Jesus was teaching on this was that just as this shepherd is concerned with the one lost sheep, so God is concerned with the one person who is lost and on the wrong path, the person who is walking according to the course of this world.
And we have been looking at this play out in the life of Saul. How an individual can be so lost in their way of thinking, a person can be so lost in the evil they do, and this person can be written off by all the people around him, yet we have seen that no person is too far from God.
God desires to reach out to all people and to draw them into a personal relationship with him, no matter how far they may have gone.
We see God in his grace reaching out to Saul, and correcting his way of thinking, correcting his way of living, correcting the path that he was on. The correction was not a sign of anger, but a sign of love. God loved Saul way to much to allow him to stay on the path that he was on.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
So after we see that we all once walked on a path of destruction … there is a “ But God”
But God who is full of mercy, which is not giving us what we deserve and , and who loves us...... made a way for us to live a new life in christ by the blood of Jesus. This is the grace of God.
it is by the Grace of God that an individual can be taken from his destructive path and be placed on a new path walking in step with God.
Transition
This is a true reality for you and me even today, that God loves you and me too much to let us stay on the perverted , twisted road we may be on. His desire is to bring us back into a right standing with Him. And at times , corrections are needed.
For Saul we have seen that he came to a point where he came to the end of himself. Jesus revealed himself to him, basically asking.....” Are you finished fighting against what i am trying to do in you?”
Are you finished going down the road that you are on? And Saul would come to the end of himself and would surrender his life to Jesus and would be placed on this new path by the grace of God.
Question
“are you finished yet”
This question was a big that Saul would have to answer. And this is a question that each one of us have either had to answered or will have to answer. A person who has not come to the end of himself, will still be living for himself. And a person who is living for self, cannot be living for God.
Transition
We saw God use a man by the name of Ananias to bring sight to Saul, to baptize him with the Holy Spirit an and to baptize him with water, making a public indentification of what God had done in his heart.
a man who came face to face with the question
“ Are you finished fighting against what i am trying to do in you?” and he made a decision to die to self in order to live for God. And the baptism in water was a public statement of this question being answered.
He was saying , yes for me to live is Christ
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
And so today we pick it right up after the great conversion of Saul. He is all in now following Jesus.
I. Saul Begins the Ministry (v. 20-30)
A. Saul Preaches in the Synagugoe (v. 20-21)
We see that Saul “ Immediately” began to preach Jesus in the Synagogues
You remember that Saul was a Pharisee, of the strictest sect of the law, and he studied under the rabbi , Gameliel . So he would have been invited and allowed to speak in the synagogues, which is where the jews studied the law.
and we are told that Saul took this opportunity to begin to teach about the Jesus, and how he was the Son of God.
See Saul would focus his preaching on proving that Jesus was the Son of God. In that culture to say that someone was the “son of”, meant that you were ascribing the persons character, their nature, their position, their possesions to the son.
so to say , That Jesus is the Son of God, was to say that Jesus was God, he shared the same nature, the same character, the same power as God.
and you remember that this was one of the things that the Jews and the religious leaders could not believe, that Jesus was the God.
But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, “I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!”
Jesus said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy! What do you think?”
They answered and said, “He is deserving of death.”
Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands, saying, “Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?”
And so you see that one of the main issues that the Jews and the religious leaders had with Jesus was that he was saying he was the Son of God, because this meant that he was God.
And what he taught was contrary to their beliefs and the practices that they kept.
This is the message that Saul focused on , he had personally experienced Jesus, he had heard the voice of Jesus, he had been transformed and changed and had personally recieved the grace of God. Jesus is God and he was preaching this very thing.
Transition
now this blew everyone away in Damascus, because they had all about Saul, a defender of the Jewish law and Jewish tradition. He was the one who was zealous to destroy the faith of those who believed in Jesus, and now here he is, preaching the very name of Jesus and declaring the very thing that he was trying to stop.
2. Saul Confound the Jews (v.22)
We see that Saul here, increased all the more in strength. And in the original language what it is talking about is being filled with power.
Saul increased in spiritual strength by the continual filling of the Holy Spirit. Paul would make reference to the importance of being filled with the proper influence in Ephesians.
And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,
the original language speaks about be being filled, or to keep being filled with the Holy Spirit, rather than to be filled with the influences of other things.
we see that Saul’s spiritual strength came from the filling of the Holy Spirit.
Transition
now this strength that Saul recieved was to be used to confound the Jews. or to perplex the minds of the Jews.
Saul was bringing captive the minds of the Jews with the truth that Jesus was ....
The Son of God
The Messiah
the very two things that til this day, still make the Jews crazy. They cannot believe that Jesus is God and they do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the mission of Jesus, how he came to die for the sins of the world and bring redemption .
this is the very truth that Saul was persecuting people for, it is the very truth that he is now preaching, and the Holy Spirit was allowing him to use his religious up bringings, his knowledge of the old testament and the law , and his spiritual gifts to confine the minds of those who heard him.
Transition
Now between verses 22 and 23 most comentators believe that there is a gap of 3 years.
For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
So Paul himself tells us his story here. After his time in Damascus preaching Jesus , the Lord called him to go to the desert of Arabia. And he stayed there for 3 years. This is a time where many believed God began to prepare him as a vessel to be used by God.
Transition
See the neat thing that we see is that Saul had great ability, he had great knowledge, ability to speak..... this was evident in the confining of the Jews with truth.
Yet what we see is that God would take him to be alone with him for the next 3 years to prepare him for the work he had called him to do.
See great ability is not enough. Great talent is not enough, great desire is not enough, a great background is not enough to be used of God. There has to be preparation in the life of a person.
See what God told Ananias and Saul is that he would be a great vessel in the hands of God. That he would be a tool in the hand of the master. But in order for a person to be a tool or a vessel that is useful in the hands of the master , preparation is needed.
God’s Vessels
See there are a couple of things that are necessary for a person to be a good tool in the hand of a skilled master.
A Surrendered Vessel
God is looking for vessels, for people that are surrendered to him. That are not fighting against his direction, against his will.
can you imagine being a carpinter trying to build a house and every time you tried to use a hammer it would fight against you, or jump out of your hand
that would be crazy, you and i would throw that hammer away and grab a new hammer that would not fight with us.
“Woe to him who strives with his Maker!
Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth!
Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’
Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’?
it would be rediculas for the thing that is made by the master , to fight back and argue as to why he was made.
in this same way, God is looking for vessels that are in complete surrender to him, that are seeking to fulfill his will. He is looking for people like you and I that will be will to surrender our lives, our wills, our desires to the Lord, to our master...... it is only then that he can begin to use us as he intended.
2. A Useful Vessel
not only is the Master looking for surrendered vessels but his is looking for useful vessels. He is looking for a tool that is useful to him for the task that he is doing.
Again if i was building a house and i needed a hammer, and if i reached into my tool box to get a hammer and all of a sudden the hammer was missing the head, or was missing the handle, or if it was damaged, it would be no good to me.
i would need to use another hammer that had all its pieces, and that was not damaged.
this same thought process is what God is looking for. He is looking for a person who is useful , a vessel that has not damaged itself or defiled himself with the things of this world.
But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.
The thought here is that God is looking to use people like you and me, but we can bring things into our lives that will make us vessels of dishonor. make us dirty unable to be used for Holy things.
You want to know why many people are not used by God today? It is because they have dirtied themselves with things of the world..... relationships, drugs, alcohol, porn, bad habbits...... these things make us defiled
God is not concerned with talent or ability, he desires Holiness.
Transition
So giftings and talents are not enough. A person has to be prepared by God, there has to be a surrendered heart, there has to be purity, and many times a person is taken to what feels like a desert of not being used , in order so that God can work out some of these issues.
this is why sometimes as leaders we may ask you to still down from serving for a bit, we see things that are not right, we can see some issues, and we may ask you to sit down from serving not because we are mad or we don’t like you, but because we do care about you, we want to see you work out those issues with God alone, just like we see God working and preparing Saul here.
B. Saul Escapes Death (v. 23-25)
So after many days- or after the 3 years that Saul has been in Arabia, he then comes back to Damascus. And it is obvious that there are harsh feelings against Saul at this time .
In Damascus the governor, under Aretas the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to arrest me; but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands.
Saul addresses his situation here in Damascus in 2 Cor. That the governor had a garrison guarding the City looking to arrest him. Many believe that during his time in Arabia he might have been preaching Jesus there , and he may have gotten a bad reputation for that , so when he returned they wanted to arrest him
either way, you see that he finds out about the arrest and is let down in a basket through a window and he is able to escape.
C. Saul Comes to Jerusalem (v. 26- 30)
So Saul comes to Jerusalem after 3 years and we are told that the disciples did not believe that he was converted. This is understandable. They probably thought that Saul had this entire thing planned considering his past, and that this was a plan to deceive the disciples and to arrest them
Transition
Last week we talked about (2) different perspectives of the same person. How people can misjudge people based on what they have heard or what they think of them, and God views people completely different. He views them as His children with great potential.
We see a man named Barnabas come back into our story. And i love this guy, he is one of my favorite characters in the bible. What you see is that this man Barnabas views Saul with the same lens that God sees him with, not with what he has done, or by his failures...... but he sees the great potential in this man in the hands of God.
He steps in and speaks on Saul’s behave and tells them of all the things happened to Saul. How he had seen the Lord and how he had preached Jesus.
This mans character and words must have been respected and trusted because they accepted Saul and let him join them.
He spent time in Jerusalem preaching Jesus and he disputed with the Hellenists, or with Greek speaking Jews. And again we see that there is a plot to try to kill him.
We are told that he is sent to Caesarea and then to Tarsus, his hometown.
Transition
Now Saul would spend some time in the area of Tarsus. We don’t hear about Saul or Paul for some 10-12 years later in Acts 11:25, when Barnabas goes up to Tarsus to get Paul to go to Antioch , and at this point his ministry really takes off.
its in these 10-12 years that God lays a foundation in the life of Paul that would be useful to him , in acomplishing God’s great plan. God was still preparing him
II. The Church Prospers(v. 31)
what we see here is a quick snapshot of the condition of the church at this time. Remember that the church is still under threat and persecution and yet we are told that the church is healthy and prospering. And we are given insight as what was evident in a healthy church and these things are the same things that are evident in the life of a healthy christian walk.
It is a good check list to look at our own lives as we look at this, and see where i am .
A Healthy Church
Filled with Peace
the people were under threat and persecution and we are told they had peace. This speaks both of peace with God and the peace of God. This is a staple in the lives of a prospering church, that in the midst of chaos and confusion all around, the proper perspective of God , allows them to have peace. We saw that take place here at this church during Covid.
while the world was freaking out, we had peace and were doing life as normal, not because we didn’t care, or because we were reckless, but because we trusted in the God who created everything. We trusted that he was in control of everything, and that brought peace to us.
2. Edified
the word edified speaks of being built up like a building. The church at this time is being built up, there was constant growth. This is key in the life of a church , in the life of a believer , there has to be constant spiritual growth. If a church or you and I come to a place where we stop growing spiritually , we are in a stand still, and staleness can take place.
unable to move forward. The word of God and teaching of the word of God is what builds us up.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
3. Walking in the Fear of the Lord
the people had a fear of God. This is not talking about a scared fear of what God may do to them, but that word is talking about having honor or respect for God. They had a proper view of God, the reality that God is everywhere and sees all things.
this reality would cause them to live in such a way that honored God. They would stay away from willful sin, for things that would polute their lives.
When a person fails to walk in the fear of God, a few things happen. He or she beings to indulge into things that are not pleasing to God. They begin to allow things into their lives that are sinful, most of the times it is things that they would never do in front of their parents, or infront of authorities , specifically in front of God.
There is a lack of respect for God. Lets face it , if God was visible with us everywhere we were , there are alot of things that we would not do. And the reality is that God is with us everywhere, the only difference is that we cant see Him. A person that has the proper fear of God is aware of who God is , and therefore lives a live that honors God.
4. In the Comfort of the Holy Spirit
they walked in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. In the leading and the rest of the Holy Spirit.
5. They Multiplied
The result of this healthy church was that people multiplied, people got saved.
There was reproduction , you and i are able to know when a fruit tree is healthy , is that it will produce fruit. This is the same in the life of believers, you can tell that a person is in a right relationship with God when you begin to see the spiritual fruit coming out of their lives ( Gal. 5)
Transition
And the important thing to see from this is that , all things are needed for a healthy church, for a healthy christian walk. If you take one of these things away and have the others, you and i will still lack in our walks.
This is a great check list for our spiritual life.
Question
Am i .....
Finding Peace in my life or am i confused and fearful ?
Growing Spiritually?
Walking in the fear of God?
Finding direction and comfort in the Holy Spirit?
Bearing spiritual fruit in my life?
(v. 32-34 )
Peter Heals Aeneas
we have this man who has been paralyized for 8 years and Peter tells this man , Jesus Christ heals you, arise and take up your bed.
neat that the healing of this man was a big witness as we see that all who were in Lydda and Sharon turned to the Lord
(v.35-43)
Peter heals Dorcas