The Road Less Traveled
Notes
Transcript
Welcome to Youth Week!!!
Two Roads diverged in a wood, and I
I took the one less traveled by,
and that has made
all the difference
~ Robert Frost
We are going to talk about the Road less traveled today. The road that runs contrary to what everyone else in the world wants to travel right now.
Every single Indiana Jones movie is characterized by one thing. The Macguffin. The one item that they have to search for that will change everything. The second thing they are characterized by is the road to that item.
If you would ope up your Bibles of Bible apps to the book of Acts chapter 9
As we open up this story we find that the character of this story had major passion.
As we read on we find that the traveler on this road had passion for the wrong thing.
Saul of Tarsus, a Jew among Jews, born into the tribe of Benjamin, blameless according to the law and is a Pharisee with great zeal for tradition. Having sat under the wisdom and teaching of Gamaliel one of the greatest teachers among the Pharisees, Saul was quickly advancing through the rank and file of his own, a head above all the others.
Saul grew up in a city called Tarsus. It was a busy, diverse city in modern-day Turkey. His family was Jewish, but the city of Tarsus was always buzzing with people who believed differently than Saul and his family.
From a young age, he developed a sense of zeal for his faith.
He was dedicated to it and willing to defend it against those who spoke against it. But we find something interesting.
This man Saul, was filled with bitterness and hatred, breathing threats of death to those who followed a man called Jesus. He was a man with a mission, not of mercy but of punishment and pain.
I want you to understand something youth people. There’s a reason that Paul later on writes 1 Corinthians 13 in which he says in a nutshell, You can be the most religious, passionate, most intelligent person in the world. But if you don’t have love you are like a clanging cymbal.
With permission in hand he was ready to confront and rid Israel of those who were of the Way. With his mind unwilling to change and his heart filled with the challenge set before him, Saul stepped foot onto the Damascus road.
Little did he know that on this day he would not confront, but be confronted. He would not change others, but be changed himself. He would not challenge those of the Way, but the Way would challenge him.
So in Acts chapter 9 we read
Acts 9:1 (NLT)
Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest.
Saul didn’t just fight against the Jesus movement in Jerusalem.
Acts 9:1b–2 (NLT)
So he went to the high priest. He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and women—back to Jerusalem in chains.
Paul had an “End It Movement” of his own. He took a road trip to end the Jesus movement in a city called Damascus.
Damascus is about 150 miles north of Jerusalem. Google Maps says it would take about 5 hours to make that trip in a car today. Back then, though, it would’ve taken close to two weeks. That’s a long trip.
Here’s what happened on the way
Acts 9:3–5 (NLT)
As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”
“Who are you, lord?” Saul asked.
And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!
Traveling from Jerusalem to Damascus only intensified the situation. Saul with determination in his eyes set off for Damascus. No matter what stood in his way he would confront and either convert or convict. A face to face confrontation was sure.
Confronted by the Light Saul had expected the confrontation to take place in Damascus. But as he approached the city he was confronted by a light from heaven that caused him to fall to the ground.
And let’s face it Paul had not expected this
He wanted to take this spirtual movement and burn it to the ground.
He wanted to defend God’s name against the new movement that was saying that Jesus was truly sent from God and God raised Him from the dead.
Saul thought they were wrong on both counts: He thought that Jesus wasn’t sent from God and that God hadn’t raised Him the dead.
And then the same Jesus he thought was dead – the one who had been crucified for the crime of blasphemy against God – appeared to him and addressed him by name! “Saul! Saul!”
It made Saul pay attention. It made him start to rethink everything he thought was true about Jesus. Maybe he’d gotten it wrong. Maybe Jesus really was who he said he was.
Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus. He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink.
Saul was dazed and confused. And he couldn’t see! He got to Damascus but seemed to have lost his appetite. I imagine those were long days for him, spent in deep thought. Maybe the line about not eating and drinking for three days means he was fasting and praying:
· Was he going crazy?
· Had he hallucinated the whole thing?
· Could it really have been Jesus?
Some have tried to explain away this vision, they’ve said that maybe he had a heat stroke and fell to the ground, thinking he only heard a voice, still others say that he might have had an epileptic seizure.
This is because man will always try to explain away the supernatural of God with the natural. They get uncomfortable if there’s any talk of moving into the realm of faith.
Charles Spurgeon remarked that if Saul had epilepsy he wished all men in London would have epilepsy like that!
Meanwhile, a believer in Damascus named Ananias also had a vision of Jesus. In his vision, Jesus told him to go meet Saul. How do you think Ananias felt about that? Well, we don’t have to guess:
It’s not exactly the job anyone would’ve wanted. It’s like, “God, when I told you I’d do anything for you and go anywhere for you, I meant that I’d do anything that was easy and go anywhere that was fun. I didn’t mean I would meet up with someone who wants to hurt me!”
But you never know what God might be up to in someone’s life. You might have a friend or a family member right now and they’ve checked out on Jesus. They’re not interested in that conversation. They don’t want to hear about Jesus. Keep praying for them anyway, because you never know what Jesus might be up to with them.
But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel.
Saul was going to go from sinner to saint, from persecutor to preacher. The enemy of Jesus would become the one who would spread the gospel of Jesus around the world.
It’s hard to believe it could happen. And maybe Ananias had his doubts, but he went anyway.
So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized.
In one road trip Saul’s life changed.
As I read this and studied this passage, a couple of things jumped out at me.
I. In Christ your direction changes.
You might say yeah Pastor Sam, we know he even changed his name to Paul.
Fun fact, Saul never changed his name. He just started using his Roman name.
In a day like today when everyone likes to change their name because their sexual identity changes we read this about Paul. Here’s the truth young people. Paul didn’t change his name and make Saul his dead name. He was already Paul to begin with, he just put his identity in the one who created him, not in his behavior, or sin, or self.
God got his attention and changed his direction. Young people, the world doesn’t have an identity problem. Your identity belongs to one of two. Your identity is in your father. If you are a believer your identity is in Christ, your creator, and savior, if you are not a believer, your identity is in your father the devil.
In speaking to the Jews that had drawn around him and he was speaking t them about freedom. He said this when they didn’t understand and said they belonged to Abraham, and that they had never been slaves to anyone.
For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.
The truth is young people that if you do not belong to the Father, you belong to the devil, your sin, makes you slaves to him.
But when you give your life to Christ you come to the know the truth, about yourself, your identity, and your purpose in life.
When you know Christ which is the way the truth and the life, you are set free. Free from the bondage of that sin that has a heavy steep price.
God got Saul’s attention and changed his direction. Not his identity. He was still Saul and Paul. And like I said earlier you belong to one of two. No God changed his direction.
Saul was breathing murder against the Christians.
Paul wanted to change the world for Christ.
When Jesus revealed who He was, Saul didn’t justify his behavior or say, I’m sorry Jesus this is just who I am. I can’t and won’t change who I am. He didn’t say that and just continue his crusade against the Christians, he simply got up, dusted himself off and God changed his life’s direction.
We need to quit emphasizing who we are and start emphasizing who He is! Who is He? We’ve made Him out to be most anything that fits our traditions, views and ideas of what we think He is to be. That Jesus is so far removed from the Jesus of the scriptures. Who is He? He is the Creator, He is the King!
Play that’s my King. (186) That's My King Dr. S.M. Lockridge - [HD: OFFICIAL] - YouTube
He is the Seeker and Saver of sinners.
He is risen and alive.
He is the giver of life eternal and abundant.
He is the Way, Truth and Life.
He is our righteousness.
He is the One who brings unity to His body.
He is the head of His Church
He is the Son of God
Young people, the world doesn’t have an identity problem, it has a direction problem.
And when you come across Jesus, and have an encounter with him, he changes everything.
My question to you tonight is this. What direction are you going? Are you going to continue living your life, pretending it’s just who you are.
Young people your sin isn’t who you are. There’s a difference with struggling with sin and making that sin your identity.
Everyone struggles with sin. It’s part of life. If you struggle with sin it just means your alive.
The problem comes when you make sin your identity. It’s who I am. no it isn’t you just need to change your direction.
What direction are you going?
Only you know the answer to this question. You can fool your parents. You can fool your teachers. You can fool your pastor. But you know the truth. Don’t make sin your identity. Don’t settle less and make compromises along the way? Jesus is the truth and the truth can set you free.
The Damascus road with Paul is only possible because Jesus, being fully God and full man died for your sins on that cross. What does that mean, he died on that cross because he wants to wipe your slate clean.
He personally carried our sins
in his body on the cross
so that we can be dead to sin
and live for what is right.
By his wounds
you are healed.
Once you were like sheep
who wandered away.
But now you have turned to your Shepherd,
the Guardian of your souls.
Which direction are you heading today? Are you paying attention to Jesus or ignoring Him?
It’s important, because there’s a connection between your attention and your direction.
Let’s bow our heads and pray.