The Unending Quest of the Christian Life (Acts 9:1-8)

Introduction

There are some things in this life that you cannot stop doing without dying

Breathing (4 minutes)

Eating (2 months with water)

Drinking (3 days)

There are also some things in this life that we do on a daily basis with no end in sight

Laundry

Dishes

But there are also questions that we ask that never seem to have answers for them?

Why do we dream?

Will there ever be a cure for cancer?

Why is the objective of golf to play the least amount of golf?

But Paul asked 2 questions on the day of his conversion that I believe shaped his entire life from that moment forward. These were questions that he asked not just once, but every. single. day. of his life.

Pursuing the answers to these 2 huge questions turned him into the man we all knew him to be. And I believe if we follow in the footsteps of Paul on this Unending Quest of the Christian Life to answer these questions, we will find the true purpose of the Christian Life.

I. Paul’s Undeniable Conversion

The backstory of Paul

His training

His lineage

His consenting to Stephens death

He hated Christians and sought to arrest and even kill them

BUT God had other plans for Paul. God gloriously saved Paul on the road to Damascus.

The man who had once been the Church’s greatest enemy would now become the Church’s greatest ally!

Do you remember when God showed up in your life and gloriously saved your soul?

Give personal testimony

I wasnt an enemy of the Church in the way that Paul was, but i still needed the same salvation Paul got

I was dead in trespasses and sins, i was in darkness, i was a slave to the addictions and vices of my life, but Christ so richly freed me from that bondage! I became a new creature!

We ought to thank God every single day for the salvation that He has so wonderfully given unto us

But we also ought to realize the Christian life doesnt end at the moment of our conversion… it is only the beginning!

II. Paul’s Unending Quest (4-6)

Not only did Paul get gloriously saved at this encounter with the Lord, but he also asked 2 questions that he spent his entire life pursuing the answers to and I believe we as christians ought also to pursue the answers to

1. “Who art Thou, Lord?”

Paul not only asked this question in his conversion, but he spent the rest of his life on earth pursuing the answer to this question.

Who are you Lord? Not just meeting Him in salvation and being satisfied with that… but constantly and daily pursuing to know the Lord more in his life

How do i know this?

Philippians 3:7–14 KJV 1900

7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. 12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 1:10 “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;”

These things were written by Paul in a jail cell roughly 20-30 years AFTER his conversion, and he died not many years later… Paul spent his entire life pursuing the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ

It wasnt that Paul didnt know the Lord, it was that he didnt know Him ENOUGH! He craved to know Him more, He hungered to learn more of Him, He desired to pursue Him greater

Paul was constantly reaching forward (pressing toward the mark) to the goal of KNOWING HIM. But Paul didnt just want to know Him, he wanted to know the Power of His resurrection (the power of God that raised Christ from the dead), and the fellowship of His sufferings.

The Reward and the Cost of pursuing the knowledge of Christ

The Reward: When we pursue the knowledge of Christ, we will know the Power of God

The Cost: When we pursue the knowledge of Christ, we will know the fellowship of His sufferings

But Paul was not the only person who taught to constantly pursue the knowledge of God

Listen to what the Apostle Peter said in 2 Peter

2 Peter 1:2-3 “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:”

2 Peter 1:5 “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;”

2 Peter 1:8 “For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

2 Peter 3:18 “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”

Even Peter shared in this same quest of pursuing to know Christ more and more each day

ILLUSTRATION: Story of me getting to know Karsyn

It is the same with Christ… we must put in the effort to KNOW Him… it wont happen by accident!

How do we pursue knowing Him? Read His love letter to us (The Bible). Talk to Him. Fellowship with His people.

It is ok to admit you dont know the Lord as well as you should, were all in the same boat… but whats NOT OK is to ever stop trying!

2. What Wilt Thou Have Me to Do?

The 2nd question Paul asked during his conversion experience was again a question he spent the rest of his life pursuing and asking… What do you want me to do Lord?

Paul displayed a life of obedience unto the Lord all throughout his life after conversion

Paul immediately obeyed Christ and went to Damascus

Paul spent 3 years in the wilderness learning from Christ Himself (Galatians 1)

Paul then returns to Antioch and serves in that church for roughly 8 years or so

Paul surrenders to be a missionary in Acts 13

Paul obeyed the Holy Spirit in Acts 16:6-7 “6 Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, 7 After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not.”

Paul accepted and embraced his time as a prisoner

Paul repeatedly (not just one time) asked the Lord what HE wanted Paul to do. Notice that he didnt say “Lord, this is what i want to do, do you approve?”

i know ive done that many times! Lord help us!

Paul asked this question with a heart ready to obey whatever it was God wanted

I think we are better off not even asking the Lord what He wants if we are not prepared to do it

Another thing about this question is I believe it is often answered when we pursue the first question… if we are trying to know the Lord, He will show us what He wants us to do.

ILLUSTRATION: God calling me to go to NBT

It is ok to not know what the Lord wants you to do right now… but it is NOT OK to ever stop seeking to know what He wants!

if you make it a habit of consistently seeking what God wants you to do AND being ready to obey it… thats when He’ll show you the big stuff He wants you to do!

Conclusion

Paul was on an unending quest that began the day He trusted the Lord as his Savior.

I think too often we all forget that our Christian life did not end the day we got saved, it was only just getting started

We ought not ever stop pursuing the answer to these 2 questions

Who are You Lord?

What do you want me to do?

Are those not the questions that every man, woman, boy, and girl has deep down inside (whether they are saved or not)?

Who is God? and What does He want from me?

The Apostle Paul never stopped seeking the answers to those questions, and neither should we.