Something interesting was said a few days ago to me. I have heard it a few times but this time, I really have been thinking about it deeply. A man told me to be a missionary here in the U.S.; it is harder than going to other countries where the gospel is received without any doubts. I totally agree- I find that most people here in the U.S. know the name of Jesus and believe they know Him but have not experencied His transforming power. During a prayer meeting, it was really on my heart to study Saul’s (Paul) encounter with the living God. Saul was a religious leader; he was zealous for God and knew the word of God. His life was devoted to God.
I want to focus on the fact that Saul was religious and zealous. He really loved the word of God and thought he was doing the will of God. All the while he was Gods enemy, killing Christians and imprisoning them.
Acts 9:1-9 (MSG) 1-2 All this time Saul was breathing down the necks of the Master's disciples, out for the kill. He went to the Chief Priest and got arrest warrants to take to the meeting places in Damascus so that if he found anyone there belonging to the Way [Christians], whether men or women, he could arrest them and bring them to Jerusalem. 3-4He set off. When he got to the outskirts of Damascus, he was suddenly dazed by a blinding flash of light. As he fell to the ground, he heard a voice: "Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me?"
5-6He said, "Who are you, Master?" "I am Jesus, the One you're hunting down. I want you to get up and enter the city. In the city you'll be told what to do next."
7-9His companions stood there dumbstruck—they could hear the sound, but couldn't see anyone—while Saul, picking himself up off the ground, found himself stone-blind. They had to take him by the hand and lead him into Damascus. He continued blind for three days. He ate nothing, drank nothing.
1. I believe this is the first thing a religious person needs to do, even if they are completely out of the will of God. They need to study the word faithfully, seek God with all their heart, and be zealous.
Deuteronomy 4:29 (NLT) But from there you will search again for the Lord your God. And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him.
While he was in pursuit to kill Christians, he had an encounter with Jesus. A light from heaven flashed around him, and he fell to the ground. Then he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting (harassing and troubling) Me?
Saul did not know who it was, but Jesus identified Himself. When Saul got up, he was completely blind and could not see. Then Saul was trembling and dumbfounded- he asked, “Lord, what do You desire me to do?”
2. After his encounter, Saul became completely surrendered to the very thing he was trying to stop: Jesus! He did not realize he was working against God. A true encounter with God will completely change you! It does not leave you the same.
Jesus then gave Saul instructions. He told Saul to go to a man named Ananias. Ananias was three days away and during the trip, Saul did not eat or drink anything.
3. Saul fasted for the three day trip to Ananias. Fasting is powerful it is a form of seeking God. It is a blow to wickedness and it brings clarity to hard situations. It makes you weak and that is when God says He is strong.
2 Corinthians 12:10 (NKJV) Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Acts 9:10-16 (MSG) 10There was a disciple in Damascus by the name of Ananias. The Master spoke to him in a vision: "Ananias."
"Yes, Master?" he answered.
11-12"Get up and go over to Straight Avenue. Ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus. His name is Saul. He's there praying. He has just had a dream in which he saw a man named Ananias enter the house and lay hands on him so he could see again."
13-14Ananias protested, "Master, you can't be serious. Everybody's talking about this man and the terrible things he's been doing, his reign of terror against your people in Jerusalem! And now he's shown up here with papers from the Chief Priest that give him license to do the same to us."
15-16But the Master said, "Don't argue. Go! I have picked him as my personal representative to non-Jews and kings and Jews. And now I'm about to show him what he's in for—the hard suffering that goes with this job."
I want to focus on the fact that Saul was religious and zealous. He really loved the word of God and thought he was doing the will of God. All the while he was Gods enemy, killing Christians and imprisoning them.
Acts 9:1-9 (MSG) 1-2 All this time Saul was breathing down the necks of the Master's disciples, out for the kill. He went to the Chief Priest and got arrest warrants to take to the meeting places in Damascus so that if he found anyone there belonging to the Way [Christians], whether men or women, he could arrest them and bring them to Jerusalem. 3-4He set off. When he got to the outskirts of Damascus, he was suddenly dazed by a blinding flash of light. As he fell to the ground, he heard a voice: "Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me?"
5-6He said, "Who are you, Master?" "I am Jesus, the One you're hunting down. I want you to get up and enter the city. In the city you'll be told what to do next."
7-9His companions stood there dumbstruck—they could hear the sound, but couldn't see anyone—while Saul, picking himself up off the ground, found himself stone-blind. They had to take him by the hand and lead him into Damascus. He continued blind for three days. He ate nothing, drank nothing.
1. I believe this is the first thing a religious person needs to do, even if they are completely out of the will of God. They need to study the word faithfully, seek God with all their heart, and be zealous.
Deuteronomy 4:29 (NLT) But from there you will search again for the Lord your God. And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him.
While he was in pursuit to kill Christians, he had an encounter with Jesus. A light from heaven flashed around him, and he fell to the ground. Then he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting (harassing and troubling) Me?
Saul did not know who it was, but Jesus identified Himself. When Saul got up, he was completely blind and could not see. Then Saul was trembling and dumbfounded- he asked, “Lord, what do You desire me to do?”
2. After his encounter, Saul became completely surrendered to the very thing he was trying to stop: Jesus! He did not realize he was working against God. A true encounter with God will completely change you! It does not leave you the same.
Jesus then gave Saul instructions. He told Saul to go to a man named Ananias. Ananias was three days away and during the trip, Saul did not eat or drink anything.
3. Saul fasted for the three day trip to Ananias. Fasting is powerful it is a form of seeking God. It is a blow to wickedness and it brings clarity to hard situations. It makes you weak and that is when God says He is strong.
2 Corinthians 12:10 (NKJV) Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Acts 9:10-16 (MSG) 10There was a disciple in Damascus by the name of Ananias. The Master spoke to him in a vision: "Ananias."
"Yes, Master?" he answered.
11-12"Get up and go over to Straight Avenue. Ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus. His name is Saul. He's there praying. He has just had a dream in which he saw a man named Ananias enter the house and lay hands on him so he could see again."
13-14Ananias protested, "Master, you can't be serious. Everybody's talking about this man and the terrible things he's been doing, his reign of terror against your people in Jerusalem! And now he's shown up here with papers from the Chief Priest that give him license to do the same to us."
15-16But the Master said, "Don't argue. Go! I have picked him as my personal representative to non-Jews and kings and Jews. And now I'm about to show him what he's in for—the hard suffering that goes with this job."
Ananias was prepared for Saul before he got there. Jesus knew what Ananias needed before it took place. God does not allow things to happen unless he has prepared us for it. If we are to be missionaries in the U.S., then God has prepared us and we need to have confidence in that. Dealing with religious people can be scary, just like Ananias was scared. Many things run through your mind, but ultimately God does the work, we just do what He says.
When Ananias found Saul, Saul was praying.
4. Again, Saul was seeking God by praying. Prayer is imperative.
Acts 9:17 (AMP) So Ananias left and went into the house. And he laid his hands on Saul and said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, Who appeared to you along the way by which you came here, has sent me that you may recover your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
After Ananias found Saul, he laid hands and prayed for him, called him brother, and prayed he would receive the Holy Spirit.
5. God sent Ananias to Saul, a man Saul did not consider worthy. How often do we fail to hear from God because of the person He sends? You must not have any preconceived ideas of who or how God is going to move. Trust God like a child, with absolutely no doubting, believing everything His word says!
Acts 9:18-19 (AMP) And instantly something like scales fell from [Saul’s] eyes, and he recovered his sight. Then he arose and was baptized,19 And after he took some food, he was strengthened. For several days [afterward] he remained with the disciples at Damascus.
6. Ananias prayed for Saul that he could see. He also pyated that Saul would receive the Holy Spirit. We must be in constant prayer for those that are religous, that they may see clearly, and be filled with the Holy Spirit just like Ananias did for Saul.
After Ananias prayed for Saul, scales fell from his eyes and he received his vision, Christ’s commission to open the blind eyes and set the prisoners free is shown in this.
Jesus often told the religious people they were blind but Paul was delivered from pharasitical blindness. Saul had to experience true salvation and true vision before he could be sent amongst the gentiles to preach the gospel. He had to be blinded and filled with confusion for three days, just like Jonah in the belly of a fish. When a person is filled with confusion they seek God. After he received his sight back, everything became clear. He had experienced a miracle and now was totally sold out to Jesus, and the cause. He had changed and so did his name, he became Paul. The man who wrote 2/3’s of the New Testament, God used him powerfully!
The man of God that is reaching out to the religious people needs to be a man of (1)prayer to hear God, and a man of (2)obedience, no matter how scary it might be. If we do this, God is faithful to send us the blind, broken, and confussed. So we can pray for them and see miracles!
This study has helped me tremendously. I have a deep desire to see people changed like Paul was. There is nothing like the radical transformation of a person that has had an experience with the living God!!
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