Jump Start # 680

Acts 9:6 “but get up and enter the city, and it will be told what you must do”

Our journey through the early pages of Acts returns us to the violent persecutor Saul. We last read about him at the beginning of chapter eight where he was chasing down disciples and putting them into prison. Luke returns us to this man. He has letters, written by the high priest, giving him authority to enter the synagogue at Damascus in search of more Christians. Saul is on a mission. He is obsessed with stamping out Christianity. He has made this a personal motive of his life.

Before he reaches Damascus, the Lord intercedes. A vision, bright lights and the voice of Jesus stops Saul. He is blinded. His comrades have to lead him into the city. The Lord revealed that Saul was persecuting Him. What a great statement that is. What we do to brethren, we do to God. Jesus showed this principle at the end of Matthew where He revealed that the feeding, clothing and visiting of the least of the disciples was doing that to Him. You can not speak ill of God’s people without speaking ill of God. We need to be reminded of this.

Our verse today is what the Lord told Saul. He was instructed to go into the city and then it would be told what he should do. Saul was not saved on that road. The vision did not save him. Talking to the Lord did not save him. Being blinded did not save him. He had to go into the city. There he met Ananias, a simple servant of the Lord. It was not one of the apostles. It was not Philip. It was Ananias. Saul was told that he was going to be a witness for Jesus. He was told to be baptized (22:16), washing away his sins.

We know this Saul as the apostle Paul. What a change that took place in his life. He had a complete change in what he thought about Jesus Christ. He had a change in what he thought about disciples. He had a change in what he thought was right. Killing Christians wasn’t it. Destroying the church was wrong. The very thing he tried to stop, he became. More N.T. books were written by Paul than any other person. He is studied, preached and modeled as an example of what Christians should be. He changed. He was willing to admit that he was wrong. He was able to see that what he had thought about Christ and the church was not right.

Saul shows us that one of the greatest enemies we face in our relationship with God is ourselves. Self can keep us from changing. Stubborn attitudes, pride, refusing to admit that we could be wrong all trip a person and keep them from coming to Christ. What Saul did was incredible. Here is a man who had letters from the high priest in his hand. Here is a man who the Jews were looking upon as a hero. He left all that. The pressure, the ridicule, and rejection would have been enormous. He stood alone. There must have been some who tried to talk him out of this. There must have been some who looked upon him as a traitor and would refuse any contact with him. In a strange twist of things, the persecutor became the persecuted. Throughout the rest of his life, Paul suffered from the attacks of Jews. They tried to kill him. They twisted what he said. They followed him and stirred up trouble after he left. His journey with Christ was hard, but it was one that he never regretted nor turned back.

Many of us stand in the shadows of this Saul. Not that we are persecutors, but we have heard things about Jesus, and His church. Maybe we pointed fingers and said things ourselves. Then we find ourselves faced with the reveal truths found in the Bible. The evidence is overwhelming. God’s way is sure and right. We find that not only are we not right, but we have opposed what was right. Like Saul, we are faced with huge decisions. For some, leaving what they thought was right brings enormous family pressure. Pride, stubbornness and unwilling to change will forever keep some on the outside. Fear of what others will say will keep some on the outside. But a few, like Saul, will see that the Lord is right. The will follow the Lord. It brings all kinds of incredible pressure and hardships upon them, but they, like Saul, will never look back.

Could that be you? The fun and games in the name of religion that some are involved in are so unlike what we read about in the N.T. Feelings has replaced faith. Fun has replaced worship. Having a great time has replaced God. Is this truly what we find in the N.T.?  Is the mission of the church taking care of the wholeness of man or is it getting people ready for Heaven?

Saul had a decision to make. What he thought was right, wasn’t. He had to change. That’s hard for many folks. It is necessary, if one wants to remain with God.

Roger