Another Divine Appointment
Acts 9:1-31
July 22, 2012
A couple of weeks ago we saw what we called “A Divine Appointment”
We witnessed the salvation of the Ethiopian Eunuch
And the main thing we learned was that
Philip did not save the Eunuch, God did.
• Philip didn’t convict his sin…
• Philip didn’t cause him to seek God…
• Philip didn’t make him read Isaiah 53…
• Philip didn’t push him to be baptized…
God did that.
In fact, Philip didn’t even know about the Eunuch, or where he was.
If it hadn’t been for God telling Philip to take the desert road and join the chariot, Philip wouldn’t even have known what was going on.
And the point that we made that you and I must understand is that
Salvation is the work of God, not the work of man.
There is a severe corruption that wormed its way into the church
Thanks to the Bible-notching evangelist.
(Those men who manipulate, and guilt, and coerce people
to walk an aisle and “make a decision”)
• One obvious problem is that many people were ushered into the church who were never actually saved, they only agreed to come forward and go to heaven.
(we have seen the fall-out of a carnal Amercian church)
• The other problem (more often undetected) is that it changed evangelism.
People began to equate evangelism with what those guys were doing.
Evangelism became the art of
• Theological argument…
• Emotional persuasion…
• Eloquent speech…
• Passionate manipulation…
And the average believer said, “I can’t do that”
And they were right.
Furthermore the massive RESULTS fostered by those types of preachers
Only succeeded in making the average believer feel INEFFECTIVE.
And before long evangelism began to fade
Out of fear of inability and ineffectiveness.
AND THIS IS SO TRAGIC
You may not realize this, but evangelism
Is one of the most natural effects of genuine salvation that occurs.
When people truly get saved…
When the Holy Spirit moves into a life…
Natural changes just occur.
• They hunger for the word
• They love prayer
• And they naturally share what has occurred in their life
(You will see this in the salvation that takes place in our text here)
And that is why the fading of evangelism is so disheartening.
By their phony manipulation and grandiose displays
These huckster preachers have actually suffocated
One of the most natural effects of genuine conversion.
And that is why we loved that story of Philip and the Eunuch.
We learned that salvation is not up to us.
God is busy drawing the elect to Himself.
We don’t know who they are, but He does.
And all He asks of us is that we be willing to follow His leading
To share the truth with those He is working on.
It is called “A Divine Appointment”
Well if you enjoyed the story of Philip and the Eunuch, then you are in for a treat, because tonight we get “Another Divine Appointment”
We get another instance in which God saves a sinner
And includes a believer in the process.
It is easy evangelism.
Ananias is about to hang the biggest evangelistic skin on his wall ever,
And as you will see, it really doesn’t require that much effort.
So tonight let me remind you of what I told you a couple of weeks ago.
Evangelism is not the art of you being so convincing that sinners End up believing what you say and following your commands.
Evangelism is when we are available to God,
To be used to share the truth of Jesus
With a heart that He has brought to conviction.
And with that, let’s look at this next divine appointment
There are 5 things I want you to see as this story has more information than the story of Philip and the Eunuch.
#1 THE DIVINE CONFRONTATION
Acts 9:1-9
This is part of the story that we didn’t get to see in regard to the Eunuch.
By the time we were shown the story, the Eunuch was already humbled, already brought to conviction, and was already ready for someone to share the truth.
We weren’t told what caused him to seek.
But in this story we are told.
And you remember Saul don’t you?
He was that extremely ambitious man who had determined to leave his mark on the world, by stomping what he saw as a false religion.
He was going to be a hero of Jewish history (or so he thought)
But on this day he was about to be confronted.
And let me break this one down a little more to make sure we see things properly.
1) SAUL’S FLESH (1-2)
It is important you understand what Saul’s intentions and desires were.
It is safe to say that Saul had absolutely no intention of joining the church
• There is no hint of confusion from him.
• There is no hint of conviction from him.
• There is no hint of guilt.
• There is no hint of sympathy.
Saul has no intention whatsoever of cutting the church any slack.
He is “still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord”
And he has “asked for letters from [the hight priest] to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.”
We are clear on what Saul wanted.
To put it another way, Saul was not looking to be saved.
Agreed?
2) SAUL’S FLASH (3-6)
So Saul is now on the way to Damascus and “suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice”
Saul didn’t cause this, Saul didn’t want this.
Someone else initiated this incident.
The voice said, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
This is a definite confrontation, but it isn’t of Saul’s making.
Someone else is confronting Saul.
(5) “And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”
By the way, Saul knew who He was, that’s why he called Him, “Lord”.
Furthermore Saul had heard all about Him.
But the answer none the less.
“I am Jesus whom you are persecuting”
And take a moment and glory in the beauty of that statement.
Jesus is here affirming that He is the head and the church is His body.
He didn’t say, “I am Jesus and you are persecuting My people”
He said you are persecuting me.
An assault on the bride is an assault on the Groom as well.
But none the less you see that God is intervening in Saul’s life.
And without any other explanation Jesus says, (6) “but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.”
• Notice there is not invitation…
• It really isn’t even optional…
I’m Jesus, you have been messing with Me, now it is time for you to listen.
Saul’s Flesh, Saul’s Flash
3) SAUL’S FRAILTY (7-9)
Now we see the result of Saul’s encounter with the Lord.
Just a moment ago he was full of power and arrogance,
Marching with his army.
Now look at him.
(8) “Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus.”
So much for the power and might of Saul.
Jesus just put Saul in his place.
And now Saul is at a place where he is willing to listen.
(9) “And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.”
My dad used to deal with horses like Saul on occasion.
They were unruly and distracted.
“That horse needs to have his attention got.”
(That indicated a few moments in the loading shoot)
I think it’s safe to say that Saul just had his attention got.
He is now fasting.
Not fasting to make God hear,
But fasting because suddenly food isn’t important.
And what we see here is that God intervened and confronted Saul.
And this is about a great a testimony to
The sovereignty of God over salvation as there is.
• Saul didn’t come looking for Jesus, Jesus came looking for Saul.
• Saul was dead in sin, but Jesus made him hear.
And this is salvation.
Titus 3:3-5 “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,”
Listen to what Jesus said.
John 6:37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”
John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”
John 17:6 “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.”
John 17:9 “I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours;”
John 17:24 “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”
2 Corinthians 4:6 “For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”
Philippians 1:29 “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,”
James 1:18 “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.”
I think you see what I mean.
• People are not saved because they went looking for God, or because they did anything to find it.
• People aren’t even saved because you or I did such a good job of evangelizing them.
People are saved when God saves them.
People are saved when God moves in their heart, convicts their sin,
Reveals His truth and brings them to Himself.
Saul has had that type of confrontation.
The Divine Confrontation
#2 THE DELIBERATE COMMISSION
Acts 9:10-16
This is where we actually started the story with Philip and the Eunuch.
Philip was given that peculiar command
To go down the desert road from Jerusalem to Gaza.
Well, the command we see here is not only peculiar, but also terrifying.
We see God calling Ananias and he said, “Here I am, Lord.”
That is the equivalent of Isaiah 6:8
Isaiah 6:8 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
That is what Ananias just said.
To a degree that is what we all said when we signed up to follow Christ.
That is certainly what we said when we signed up for Africa.
“Here I am, Lord.”
(Reporting for duty)
But Ananias was in no way ready for his personal marching orders.
(11-12) “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.”
When we talked about God sending Philip, we said it was because
God knew something that Philip did not.
And that is also true here.
God knew where He was at work, Ananias didn’t, until God revealed it.
But what a shock to find out that the person God was working on
Was none other than Satan’s highest ranking general.
God wanted to send Ananias to Saul,
For God knew Saul was broken and Saul was praying.
• We’re reminded that successful evangelists aren’t those with
better intuition.
• Successful evangelists aren’t those who can best read the sinner.
Successful evangelists are those who listen to God
And obey to go where He says even when it goes against intuition.
Now Philip instantly obeyed, but Ananias is more like me.
(13-14) “But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”
I think we can all understand his hesitation.
• In Ananias’ mind this was certain death.
• This was suicide.
• God was asking him to go and die.
HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO SEE
• Ananias was not eager, but God wanted to use him.
• Ananias was not confident, but God wanted to use him.
• Ananias was not optimistic, but God wanted to use him.
God didn’t want him to go and argue the faith…
God didn’t want him to go and refute Saul…
God only wanted him to go lay his hands on Saul and pray.
CAN YOU DO THAT?
Saul’s salvation was not dependent upon the abilities of Ananias,
But God did desire to use Ananias to bring about Saul’s salvation.
But Ananias is skeptical.
(15-16) “But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
What a statement!
Why did Ananias have to go?
Because “he is…chosen”
It reads like Saul didn’t have any say in the matter.
He was chosen.
And Ananias didn’t even have to preach hard, notice what God said, “I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
You just go and pray, and don’t be afraid he is one of Mine.
God was not asking Ananias to do anything but go and pray.
Evangelism isn’t that hard!
The Divine Confrontation, The Deliberate Commission
#3 THE DRASTIC CONVERSION
Acts 9:17-19
Can we just saw “WOW!”?
• Ananias went, Ananias prayed,
• Saul’s sight was restored, and he was baptized,
• With the spiritual desire behind him, Saul ate.
ARE YOU SERIOUS?
Wouldn’t you expect Saul to be little tougher convert than that?
This was Satan’s greatest general,
Now submitting to Jesus even in baptism.
Can you see, that only God could have done that?
There wasn’t enough “slick sauce” in the world
To help Ananias pull that one off.
But God saved Saul.
1 Timothy 1:12-16 “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.”
Notice in Paul’s testimony he never did mention Ananias.
God did it all.
John MacArthur wrote:
“Church history is replete with accounts such as these, which highlight the marvelous power of the gospel to transform sinners. But no transformation is as remarkable, or has had such far-reaching implications for history, as the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. So significant an event was his conversion that Scripture records it no less than three times (cf. Acts 22:1-16; 26:4-18).
It is fitting that such a unique individual would have a unique conversion. Saul was by birth a Jew, by citizenship a Roman, by education a Greek, and purely by the grace of God a Christian. He was a missionary, theologian, evangelist, pastor, organizer, leader, thinker, fighter for the truth, and lover of souls. Never has a more godly man lived, except our Lord Himself.” (MacArthur Acts Commentary – pg. 264)
And so we get a very drastic conversion.
And this, by the way, is where the story of the Eunuch stopped,
But again we get more of the story regarding Saul.
The Divine Confrontation, The Deliberate Commission, The Drastic Conversion
#4 THE DEFINITE CHANGE
Acts 9:20-22
We weren’t allowed to see this with the Eunuch,
But we certainly get to see it with Saul.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
Did you spot the change?
• Saul went from persecutor to preacher.
• He went from denying to defending.
I love verse 20, “and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”
This man was different.
And everyone noticed.
(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?”
This guy is different.
And we all say “Amen”
We are those who believe that a person walking in spiritual light Should look a little different than one walking in spiritual darkness.
You could certainly tell with Saul.
(22) “Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ.”
We call that a changed man.
NOW WHO MADE THAT CHANGE?
God did.
It wasn’t Ananias who told Saul he had to go preach.
God did that.
And then there is one more thing we need to see.
#5 THE DEEP COMMITMENT
Acts 9:23-31
Even Simon could get baptized and hang around with Philip for a few days, but how will we know for certain if Saul is for real?
The answer, see what happens when his faith is tested.
(23-25) “When many days had elapsed, the Jews plotted together to do away with him, but their plot became known to Saul. They were also watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death; but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket.”
So it was all well and good with Saul right after being saved,
But now we see his metal get tested a little.
There is a plot to kill him and he has to flee for his life, in a basket no less.
Saul entered Damascus with an army and went out in a basket.
The question is how will he respond?
Well, first let’s squeeze him a little more.
(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.”
So you get saved in Damascus and have to escape a death plot,
You flee to the believers in Jerusalem,
But they won’t have anything to do with you.
Looks like a perfect opportunity to turn away from the faith.
BUT WE GET ANOTHER DIVINE APPOINTMENT
(Ananias was in Damascus, Barnabas was a God-send here)
(27-28) “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. And he was with them, moving about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord.”
And so Saul stayed the course and God provided.
He had been threatened with death, but he didn’t stop preaching.
But the testing still isn’t over.
(29-30) “And he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death. But when the brethren learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.”
And so Saul began his Christian walk with blindness, brotherly skepticism and two death threats, but it didn’t wreck his faith.
SAUL’S FAITH IS REAL
He endured hatred by the Jews and hesitation by the church.
Now the point is clearly made.
WHO DID THIS?
• It wasn’t the chief priest, he encouraged Saul’s rage.
• It wasn’t Ananias, he didn’t want to go.
• It wasn’t the church at Jerusalem, they wouldn’t believe him.
WHO DID THIS?
God did.
God is sovereign over salvation.
Now, what did Ananias do?
• He obeyed God and went to Saul.
• He prayed with him and for him and was allowed to witness one of the greatest
salvations the church has ever had.
And again let me get you to lower your anxiety level
In regard to evangelism.
It’s not about ability to manipulate and convince.
It’s about you and I being obedient to the leading of God
For only He knows who He is working on.
Now let me show you one more thing.
(31) “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.”
Now that verse is really significant.
See we read back in chapter 8 these words:
Acts 8:1 “Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.”
And on that day things looked extremely bleak.
But by the time we get to the end of chapter 9
We find out that God was in control all along.
Saul never threatened the church,
God merely let Saul loose for a time to send the church into missions,
But once God accomplished His purpose, even Saul was saved.
Can you step back for a moment and see
Just how sovereign God really is over the church?
• God started it.
• God grew it.
• God spread it.
• God protected it.
And now here in verse 31 we are right back to where we were
Before the persecution ever started,
Only now the church isn’t contained in Jerusalem,
It is in “all Judea and Galilee and Samaria”
Can I read to you again the statement of Jesus?
Matthew 16:18 “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”
Don’t get caught up in the importance of your own abilities,
And certainly don’t limit your obedience
Because you think you lack ability.
God is doing it.
The blessing is that He chooses to use us.
Now we may not all get tabbed to preach the sermon at Pentecost,
But can you go to a home and pray for a blind man?
Can you join a chariot and take Isaiah 53 and tell a person about Jesus?
And that is what God used to grow His church.
You don’t have to be a tent evangelist with every gimmick in the book,
Just trust God and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit
And see what God can do.
For here we have another divine appointment.
