ACTS 9:1-18 LET GOD TURN YOU 180 DEGREES2016 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Acts 9:1-18 Let God Turn You 180 Degrees

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2016. Well, this evening we're going to be looking at the first half of Acts chapter 9 and looking at a really powerful account of

of Saul of Tarsus who is against the church and persecuting the church, but then God gets a hold of him and he is transformed by the Lord. And so that's going to be an amazing thing for us to consider this evening as we look at Acts chapter 9. And so we'll begin by reading together verses 1 through 9. So Acts chapter 9 verses 1 through 9, it says this in verse 1.

Verse 4.

Then he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, who are you, Lord? Then the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads. So he, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what do you want me to do?

Then the Lord said to him, Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do. Verse 7. And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. Verse 8.

As we look at Acts chapter 9 this evening,

Again, we're looking at this conversion experience that Saul went through, that he had an encounter with the Lord on the way to Damascus. Now, this isn't the first time we've seen this man named Saul. We were introduced to him earlier in Acts chapter 7 as he was witnessing conversion.

the martyrdom or the murder of Stephen for his faith in Jesus Christ. And then in Acts chapter 8, we see Saul leading the charge of persecution against the church. And God sees this man Saul fighting hard against the church and decides, that's the guy I want to get a hold of. That's the guy I want to turn around and change his life.

I was thinking about it this way. You know, there's a lot of talk about the number seven being God's favorite number. You know, it's a popular number in the Bible. But maybe I'd like to make an alternate suggestion. And that is 180 is God's favorite number. As we see in the life of Saul, a great turnaround. And so the title of the message this evening is, Let God Turn You Around.

180 degrees. God loves to turn us around and understand that when he turns us around, it's because we're backwards. And so he likes to turn us around to get our life straight, to get our life right, to get our hearts right, to get our minds right, to get us back on track in what is correct, what is accurate, and what is best for us. And so he loves to turn us around and understand that when he turns us around, it's because we're backwards.

And Saul, on this rampage against the church, is in rebellion against God. And God says, I want to turn your life around, Saul. I want to change you completely. And then even as we look at Ananias in the following verses, in the latter part of the message this evening, even Ananias, who was a certain disciple, who was a follower of Jesus,

the Lord turns his heart and causes him to be in line with the will of God as well. And so I'd like to encourage you this evening to let God turn you 180 degrees. That there are those times in our life, there are those areas of our lives where we're completely in the wrong direction, completely in the wrong place, and God wants to do a great turnaround for us.

So we're going to look at four points this evening as we work our way through Acts chapter 9. The first point is found in verses 1 through 5, and that is that God is reaching the most rebellious.

Saul stands out in the New Testament as an example of the worst of the worst. And it's valuable to consider Saul in those terms. Saul often presented himself in those terms in the letters later on. He would call himself the chief of sinners later on in his letters. He would call himself and say that he was not worthy to be called an apostle. And he would say that he was not worthy to be called an apostle.

He would declare that he is, you know, the lowest of the low, lower than all the saints because of his behavior before Christ. And so what we see here in Acts chapter 9 is a really important thing, kind of a banner, like an example that God holds up to say, look what I can do with any life, with a life even the worst of the worst can be turned around and changed.

It's important for us to recognize this because there's many times in our lives where we are looking at perhaps ourselves or perhaps people around us and thinking there could never be a real change. Many times we get kind of into that mindset and we just kind of, you know, decide ahead of time that, well, that's just how it's always going to be. They could never be reached with the gospel, even if they did it, you know, there wouldn't be that big of an impact on

But what we need to understand is that the worst of the worst, the most rebellious, God is actively reaching out to them. And we see that example here with Saul. Let's look again at verse 1 and 2. It says,

And asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

And so now we're kind of checking back into the account of Saul. We took a break in chapter 8 and looked at Philip and his ministry in Samaria and to the Ethiopian eunuch and the various things that Philip was involved with. But now we come back to the account of Saul here in chapter 9 verse 1. And as we are reintroduced to Saul, it says that he's still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.

So we kind of checked out of the account for a little bit. We kind of followed this other story with Philip and now we're coming back in and the first thing we find is that, well, it's still going on. The persecution against the church is still happening. In Acts chapter 8 verse 3, it tells us that Saul made havoc of the church, entering every house and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.

So Saul began in Acts chapter 8 making havoc of the church, dragging people to prison, seeking to cause them to blaspheme the name of Jesus and turn away from Jesus. And some time has passed since then, but Saul is still at it.

It's not just a short phase that he was going through. It's not just he had a bad week and so he took it out on the church that week in Acts 8, verse 3. But now some time has passed and Saul is still on a rampage against the church, wrecking havoc in the church, not satisfied with

that all the Christians have left Jerusalem. Remember back in Acts chapter 8, it tells us only the 12 were left in Jerusalem. The rest of the church was scattered throughout all Judea and Samaria. That wasn't enough for Saul. He wasn't happy. Okay, all right, we got those Christians out of Jerusalem and that's good enough. But he's continuing to scout out, to find out, to chase down those who are followers of the Lord and

It says that he's breathing out threats and murder against them. He's really upset, persecuting the Christians with great violence, with great venom. Again, seeking to cause Christians to blaspheme and to turn away from the name of Jesus and putting Christians to death. The worst of the worst. Saul was radically opposed to God in this. Now, of course, in his mind, he was absolutely convinced that he was doing God's work.

But even though he was absolutely convinced that he was doing God's work, he was actually opposed to the work of God and to what God wanted to do. And so he's fighting against God and God is reaching out to him. We'll see that as we get down later in a couple of verses. But God's reaching out to this man. It's amazing as we look at this account, the love of God. It's amazing to consider the grace of God.

That God would not just, you know, look at this guy Saul and say, you've done horrible things to my followers. There's no hope for you. But God doesn't do that. He doesn't write him off. Instead, he is reaching out to him.

Well, Saul, still upset, still fighting against God, still pursuing the Christians, he goes to the high priest and he says, hey, can I get your authority, letters from you? I want to go to Damascus. Now, Damascus was about a 147-mile journey north of Jerusalem.

So you can see there on the map, Samaria, we saw Philip there. He spent some time there. That was, you know, all within the region of Israel, all the way up to Caesarea Philippi. That's still part of Israel. Damascus, though, is in Syria. And so...

the Christians have spread out from Jerusalem because of the persecution. And it seems like Saul's even gone into, you know, the surrounding areas, but now he wants to go all the way to Damascus. He wants to go as far as Damascus and bring back Christians from Damascus to Jerusalem. Dave Guzik says this was at least a six-day journey. And Saul's willingness shows how committed he was to this cause.

He wants to make this six-day journey to Damascus. It's kind of like, you know, all the Christians have been run out of town. Hunting is no fun anymore. You know, he's not catching anything. So he's going to go up to Damascus and find some fresh meat and get some new blood as the Christians have gathered there in Damascus.

He's on a rampage against the way, it says in verse 2. He says, if they found any who are of the way, that he would bring them bound to Jerusalem. It's a reference to Christianity. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And so he's against this idea. He's against Jesus. He's against those who follow Jesus. And so he heads out to Damascus to accomplish his mission. But God has a different plan. Verse 3 says,

As he journeyed, he came near Damascus and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? As Saul is on his way to kill Christians, to bring them back bound to Jerusalem, God intervenes and Jesus reveals himself to Saul.

He comes near Damascus, so he's near the end of the journey, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. This is an incredible revelation that Saul has, an encounter with Jesus Christ. Throughout the rest of the scriptures, we see this referenced as an appearance of Jesus to Saul. And so it's not just a vision, it's not just a bright light, but here Jesus is connecting with Saul in a very real way.

And he falls to the ground and he hears a voice. Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Jesus is talking to Saul and he says, you're persecuting me. You think you're persecuting the church, which he was. He was making havoc of the church. That's what it tells us in chapter 8.

But Jesus so identifies with us, the church. He says, when you're persecuting the church, you're persecuting me. It's an attack on me. Why are you doing that, Saul? In verse 5, it says, Saul says, Saul says,

We don't know all the details of what was happening in Saul's head and in his heart during this time, but he asked the Lord who he is. You know, it could be that he's just perplexed, confused, as you could imagine, if a light, you know, shone around you suddenly and you started hearing voices, you'd be looking around, you know, who's talking to me? We don't know exactly what Saul knew and what this encounter was exactly like, but we

But he wants to know, identify yourself. Who am I talking to? Who's talking to me? And Jesus reveals himself. I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. Again, revealing himself as Jesus, the one who was crucified and resurrected, but also identifying with the church and saying, when you're fighting the church, when you're fighting the followers of the way, the followers of Jesus, you're persecuting me.

You're assaulting me. I am Jesus. And then I think it's really interesting what Jesus says at the end of verse five. It is hard for you to kick against the goads. And here's really where we get the point. Point number one here is that God is reaching the most rebellious. As Jesus says, it's hard for you to kick against the goads. He's saying, no.

I've been at work in your life already, Saul. This isn't really our first encounter. I've already been at work in your life, and you've been fighting against that. The idea of kicking against the goads, we talked about it a couple chapters ago as well, but kicking

Just to refresh your memory, the goad was a sharp object, a sharp stick. Usually it would be like a, you know, a wood staff or something with a metal end or a wood that was carved to a point. And the farmers would use this when they were plowing the fields with their oxen.

And so what they would do is they would use the stick to poke the oxen as they were driving the oxen. They would use it to guide the oxen. Hey, you need to go this way. Or if they're going the wrong direction, you know, here's a little poke and, you know, make sure you know you're going the wrong direction. You need to stay straight and keep going the way you're supposed to go. And so it was a, it was an instrument that they used to keep the animal in check and keep the animal going the direction that they wanted it to go or it needed to go.

And so the idea here is Jesus says it's hard for you to kick against the goads is that I've been giving you a little prick here. I've been giving you a little pokes there. I've been indicating to you that you're going the wrong direction.

And sometimes what the oxen would do is they would kick against the goat. I don't want to go that way. I want to go this way. And the farmer would have the goat there. And in frustration, the ox would kick against the goat. But you understand if you kick a pointed object, that hurts you. It doesn't hurt the farmer, right? And in a similar way, that's the idea here. Saul has been kicking against Jesus. And Jesus is saying, this is hurting you.

It's not good for you. It's hurting you to fight against me, to fight against my plans and the direction that I want you to go. And so there's the indication here that God has been reaching out to Saul for a while. There's been some conviction in his heart. There's been some conviction going on in his mind and he's been fighting against it. He has a sense that Jesus is the way, but he refuses to accept it.

And in his refusal, he is fighting against the church and persecuting the church. But he's fighting against God's call in his life. He's fighting against God's reaching out to him. Sometimes we would consider the most rebellious as those that God's given up on. But I would suggest, as we look at the example of Saul, many times those who are the most rebellious are the ones who are kicking against the goads.

They sense the conviction of the Lord. They know that God is reaching out to them and they are fighting against what God wants. We might look at the most rebellious. We might look at who we might consider, you know, the worst of the worst, like Saul, and think, you know, God just wouldn't mind if they went away, if they were put to death. But we know from the scriptures, that's not God's heart. Remember 2 Peter 3, verse 9 says,

We like that verse for ourselves and for kind of, you know, nice people or whoever we might consider nice. But understand that God is not willing that any should perish. And that includes the Saul of Tarsus kind of people.

He's not willing that any should perish. His desire is that every person, every individual would come to repentance. God told the prophet Ezekiel, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. The worst of the worst. Even when we might find some pleasure in the death of the wicked, God never does. This is a great example of the extent of God's love and grace.

He desires that all come to repentance, including Saul of Tarsus. And he's been reaching out to him. He's been calling out to him. He's had the good out for a bit, convicting his heart, convicting him. And he is fighting against that, refusing to submit to Jesus.

But that's going to change as we go on here in verses 6 through 9. We have point number 2, and that is the most rebellious can be submitted to God. This is a 180 degree turn. Saul has been refusing to listen to the Lord. He's been refusing the prompts of the Lord. He's been kicking against the goads. But now he's going to turn around completely and surrender himself to the will of God. Verse 6 says,

So he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what do you want me to do? Then the Lord said to him, arise and go into the city and you will be told what you must do. Saul here is freaked out. He is trembling and astonished, it says. Now, I would really encourage you to try to picture how big of a deal this was for Saul because he is fully immersed in this idea that he is doing God's work and

in persecuting Christians. He is fighting against Jesus, thinking that, convinced that this is the work of God. This is what I'm supposed to do because I refuse to, you know, listen to what Jesus has to say. Think about where Saul's at. Not just because this is an amazing experience. Of course, having a bright light shown around you and, you know, a voice from heaven, that would be pretty amazing. But here as he experiences this encounter, he's

He's realizing everything that he has believed is wrong. His whole life is built on falsities. It's built on things that are absolutely the opposite of what reality is. Everything that he's been living is wrong. And the one that he's been fighting against so fiercely now is confronting him face to face and he's discovering Jesus is God.

Now, the one you've been fighting against is God, and now he's right in front of your face. You can understand Saul trembling and being astonished. And here in this moment, he's trying to come to grips with the reality that the truth is exactly the opposite of what he has insisted that it is. So he's trembling. He's astonished. And yet, in the midst of that, he's finally broken. In verse 6, it says, Lord,

Here Saul submits. Instantly, he surrenders to the Lord. He doesn't embark on a long, drawn-out argument, which Saul of Tarsus probably could have done. He was brilliant, well-educated, well-spoken. He probably could have quoted lots of verses and attempted to justify his position, his behavior, his actions, but there was no debate. There was no argument. He didn't

It was instant submission. Who are you? I'm Jesus. It's hard for you to kick against me, isn't it? Yeah, it is. What do you want me to do? He surrenders to the Lord. Even the most rebellious can be submitted to God. Even the most rebellious can be turned around. And here Saul responds well, not trying to explain away or excuse his actions. He simply says, what do you want me to do?

And here we find Saul being a very good example for every one of us. This is the position that we all need to keep ourselves in. This statement here is one that we must make. Lord, what do you want me to do? I like what the commentator Albert Barnes said on this. He said, the first act of the Christian is

is to surrender his own will to that of God and to resolve to do what he requires. First things first, the very first step of the Christian is to surrender to the will of God. That's the very first thing for us. That's what Christianity is all about, surrendering to the will of God and to be resolved to do what God requires.

We must be submitted to the will of God. We must come to this place like Saul and say, Lord, what do you want me to do? That's the core of walking with Jesus. It's a surrender to his will. It's important, I think, for us to consider because many times in our Christian walk, our experience is that God only tells me to do things that I want to do already. You ever have that happen? God only speaks to me about things I want to hear about. He only encourages me to do things that I want to do and I enjoy doing.

And by living in that way, I can make myself comfortable and complacent and in a place where I am vulnerable to great trouble. Listen, if God only tells me to do things that I want to do, I'm in trouble. We'll see this as we look at Ananias as well, that God's going to be challenging us because we

We're not completed yet. The work in us is not yet completed. There's still areas that are out of line that need to be turned around 180 degrees. There are still parts of our hearts. As we believe in Jesus, we're forgiven entirely, but the work within us is just begun when we believe in Jesus. And so because of that, God's going to be calling us to

Well, do things that are not comfortable. He's going to be challenging us to turn and to do things that we don't like to do. And that's part of our walk with the Lord is keeping ourselves in that place saying, Lord, what do you want me to do? That my heart would continue to change, that my life would continue to change, that I would be transformed into the image of Christ. It's where we begin as believers and it's where we must continue as believers.

And so Saul says, what do you want me to do? And the Lord responds in verse six and says, arise, go into the city and you will be told what you must do. I like this because God knows exactly how much Saul can handle at this point. The Lord could have just spoken to him all kinds of things right there.

He could have unfolded the whole word of God to him. He could have, you know, just revealed the whole gospel. He could have, you know, drawn out the whole plans that God had for his life. He could have given Saul all kinds of stuff, but he just gives him a very simple step. Get up and go into the city and more instructions will come later. Then you'll be told what to do. Here's a very simple step.

I understand this is a rough day for you. You've had the shock of your life, you know, a crazy experience, an encounter with the Lord. So let me just give you a simple step. Just take this one step. Go into the city and wait there. Take a few days to process this encounter. Think about what's going on here. Think about how, you know, life is now going to be different. Take a few days to process this encounter.

And then I'll give you further instructions. Going on to verse 7, it says, So the guys who were with Saul...

They're there. They're in the proximity. They know something weird's happening, but they don't understand the voice. They don't really understand what's going on. And so they're just, they're speechless. They have nothing to say. And Saul gets up. He arises from the ground and he finds that he is not able to see. He's blind. This encounter with the Lord has left him blind and helpless. And it says, they led him by the hand and brought him.

into Damascus. Man, you see the humbling of Saul of Tarsus here. A great humbling has taken place. First of all, in his submission to Jesus saying, Lord, what do you want me to do? Go into the city. What the Lord tells him to do, he's unable to do on his own. Think about that. What the Lord tells him to do, he's unable to do on his own. This is all part of God's work in his life. The humbling of Saul.

Go into the city, but I'm blind. Well, that's why you have those guys there with you. Let them lead you. Oh no, that's kind of rough, Lord. I don't know if I can. They're going to take me by the hand. That's really humiliating. I'm Saul of Tarsus. I'm on the Sanhedrin. I'm not going to let them lead me by the hand. I'm just imagining things that might be going through my head if I was in Saul's shoes. Humbling of Saul, because that's the very first step for us as believers is

to be humbled, and to submit ourselves to the will of God. And God can bring even the most rebellious. Now notice, this is an instant change. It's an instant encounter. The most rebellious Saul of Tarsus encounters Jesus, and his life is now forever changed instantly. He's radically different, instantly submitting to Jesus, instantly letting others lead him by the hand because he's blind.

William Barclay, the commentator, says, he who had intended to enter Damascus with an avenging fury was led by the hand into that city, blind and helpless as a child. Helpless as a child. That's where God wants us to be. Helpless in his hands as his children. In verse 9, it says, and he was three days without sight and neither ate nor drank. And so he takes a few days. He's

just processing all this. God's giving him some time to let things settle, let things, you know, fall in place in his mind, let him understand. He knew the scriptures well, but now he has to kind of like reevaluate everything he's ever believed. He has to reevaluate all the conclusions he's come to. And so it takes some time for him to process these things in his mind as he has this encounter with Jesus. His whole world is instantly changed because

But there's a lot of dominoes that still need to fall. There's a lot of things that need to fall in place. And glorious things are happening right now because he's looking at Jesus and understanding forgiveness, understanding sacrifice, understanding all of these things that are the fulfillment of the law. But at the same time, here is Saul for these three days, blind without sight. And I imagine he's wrestling also with the torment of

what he's done in his rebellion against God and the horrors that he's brought upon the people of God. For the rest of his life, he will regret his behavior before Christ. He brings it up continually. He brings it up in every testimony he shares throughout the book of Acts. He brings it up in many of his letters. He is horrified over what he did before he encountered Jesus and how he treated people.

I was listening to Pastor Damien Kyle as he was kind of thinking about what that might have been like for Paul. Saul of Tarsus later becomes Paul, and he described it this way. He says, every time Paul would see a single mom in the church, he would have to stop and wonder, is she a widow because I killed her husband? Are those children fatherless because I put him to death or I put him in prison? Was that my doing? I mean, that's a heavy thing to think about. I'd never thought about it like that, and

it kind of haunted Paul, even though he was forgiven, even though, you know, there's grace, even though God forgave him, but at the same time, he would have the effects of his behavior with him the rest of his life. And so here's Saul for these three days. He's not eating or drinking as he's just processing the truths that are radically different. The damages that he's afflicted and inflicted upon the believers are

glorious things and horrible things, all settling in his mind and in his heart. God is turning his life around. And in the midst of this, Saul is responding well. Not running, not explaining or excusing his actions, but submitting, saying, Lord, what do you want me to do? Again, this is the position we all need to keep ourselves in, a place of submission to God. What do you want me to

to do. Dave Guzik says, few dare to really ask God this question, but when we ask it, we must ask it with submission and determined obedience. Are you willing to ask God that question? Lord, what do you want me to do? But are you willing not just to ask the question? It's often been said we like to ask God what his will is so that we can decide whether or not we want to do it. And that's not what Saul did. That's not what God wants us to do. God wants to turn us around.

And there's areas of our lives that need to be turned around. So would you be willing to say, Lord, what do you want me to do? With a commitment, with a determination ahead of time, whatever it is, Lord, I will do it. Well, let's move on to verses 10 through 16 for point number three. And that is God is speaking to reluctant disciples. And here we're going to look at another man in chapter nine here. His name is Ananias.

Now, unlike Saul, he is already a believer and reluctant might be too strong of a word, but you can see some little bit of discomfort in him as God speaks to him about Saul. Verse 10 says, Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. And to him, the Lord said in a vision, Ananias. And he said, here I am, Lord. There's a certain disciple in Damascus.

So Saul was on his way to Damascus. He's going to persecute the Christians there, take them back bound to Jerusalem. But God intervenes. And now Saul is there blind in Damascus. And God says, you're going to be told what to do. And how does he accomplish that? There's a certain disciple named Ananias. A certain disciple, not an apostle, not a deacon, not a great elder, not, you know, some, he calls on God immediately.

reaches out to and taps him on the shoulder, a normal Christian, just like you or me. And the Lord speaks to him in a vision. Now, last week in chapter 8, we saw God speaks in a variety of ways. Sometimes it's in a vision. Sometimes it's by an angel. Sometimes it's by the Spirit speaking to your heart. Sometimes it's by the Word of God. God speaks in a variety of ways. But here he speaks to Ananias in a vision, and he says, hey, Ananias, what's up?

And notice what Ananias responds with. He says, here I am, Lord. It's a good response. Again, as we saw Saul respond well, Lord, what do you want me to do? That's essentially Ananias' response as well. As God reaches out to him and says, hey, Ananias. He says, all right, yeah, here I am. Lord, you're the master. I'm the servant. Here I am. What would you like me to do is what Ananias is saying here. Very similar to the prophet Samuel in the Old Testament.

You remember in 1 Samuel chapter 3, Samuel was a young boy. He thought Eli was calling out to him because he heard his name in the middle of the night. He goes to Eli a couple times. Did you call me? No, I didn't call you. And finally, Eli realizes, oh, the Lord's calling you. Okay, next time you hear that voice, next time you hear your name called, just tell the Lord, speak for your servant hears. Here I am. Speak. I want to hear. I want to obey. I want to do what you've called me to do.

That's what Samuel does. That's what Ananias does. It's what you and I need to do as well. It's not only that Saul that needs to be submitted to God, but Ananias needs to be submitted to God and all followers of Jesus. We all need to keep ourselves in this condition, in this state. Verse 11, so the Lord said to him, arise and go to the street called straight.

and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus. For behold, he is praying. So here comes the instruction. He says, all right, here I am, Lord. And God says, all right, I've got a good task for you. Go down this street, make a left here, turn right there, go down that alley. Okay, there's the house of Judas. And ask for a man named Saul, Saul of Tarsus. And behold, he's there praying. Now, as you're thinking about Saul, again, I would encourage you to consider this.

The magnitude of what's taking place in his life right now. God says, behold, he is praying. Contrast that to before. Saul was a Pharisee, a Pharisee of Pharisees. Do you remember how Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for their prayers?

They had long ceremonious prayers. They had prayers that they prayed for the people, you know, in the sense of they did it openly and publicly because they wanted the recognition and attention of the people. Jesus rebuked them for a lot of their patterns in prayer. He talked about the Pharisee who would pray and say, God, I thank you that I'm, you know, not a wretched sinner like Richard, and I'm not so terrible like Jeff, and I thank you, God, that I'm better looking than all the rest of the people. And there's the Pharisee, you know, just saying,

enjoying himself in this supposed prayer. And then there's the tax collector, the wretched sinner who says, have mercy on me, a sinner. And Jesus says, that's the guy who goes home justified. And so Jesus didn't have a lot of good things to say about the prayers of the Pharisees. But now Saul is praying. And the Lord says, behold, he is praying. For the first time ever, he's actually connecting with the Father. Through the mediator, Jesus Christ, he's able to have a real relationship with the Father. For the first time ever, he's praying.

For the first time ever, he's connecting with God. He's experiencing a relationship with God. Behold, he is praying. God calls attention to it. This is significant. This is something to consider. There is Saul of Tarsus. Behold, he is praying. Verse 12. And in a vision, he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him so that he might receive his sight. So here's the deal, Ananias. I already told him you were going to come. You don't really get a choice here.

I already told him it's you. You're coming. You're going to lay your hand on him and he's going to receive his sight. Now, I would ask you to consider God's ways here. Here you have Saul of Tarsus on the way to Damascus. He has this crazy encounter with Jesus. I mean, a radical conversion experience. One that's, you know, been paid attention to and made note of ever since. And yet, even with this crazy conversion experience...

God made sure to include a regular disciple. And it was part of his plan the whole time. Saul's going to encounter Jesus face to face. He's going to have this brilliant light. He's going to be knocked to the ground. But that's not the end of what I want to do. That's not the end of my ministry to Saul. I want to bring in Ananias. I want to let this guy be part of the work that I'm doing in Saul of Tarsus. I love how God works. It's important for us to consider how

God builds us into his plans. You're not where you're at just because, well, that's where you got. You know, that's how you got there. That's where you ended up. But God has your name in his plans. He's got you built in. He's got you set up for his work in people's lives and in his work around the world. Ananias, I already gave him the vision. I already told him your name.

You're going to go there. You're going to lay your hands on him, and he's going to receive his sight. Verse 13. And so here Ananias basically says, are you sure about this, Lord?

You know who this guy is, right? I mean, I've heard about this guy from many. I didn't hear about it just from one guy. Because if I just heard about it from one guy, okay, well, maybe, yeah, okay, I'll take your word over there. But I've heard about this from a lot of people. And your word says, you know, two or three witnesses, the thing is established. I've heard it from two or three people. Now, you're telling me something different. Now, again, I would say Ananias here is not being rebellious, but he is being cautious. He's like, are you sure? Is this really what you want?

I'm not suggesting that Ananias was in sin, but here's what I'm saying. There's going to be times where we have to double check with God because the things that he's asking us to do sound crazy because he's still doing the 180 in our hearts. He's still doing the work in us. He's still transforming us. He's incorporating us into his work for our benefit. And so there has to be times in our lives where God calls us to step out in faith, to do things that

I don't know if Ananias had a family, but his family, if he had one, would have looked at him and said, the Lord told you to do what? Now, that's not wise, Ananias. It's not wise to go seek out the great persecutor of the church. That's really foolish. God doesn't want you to do that. If he had a family, it would be easy to imagine his family saying that. But sometimes you need to do what God's called you to do, even if it sounds foolish.

And God's going to call you to do things that sound foolish. Now, that doesn't mean you should just be foolish. There's a difference. When God tells you to do it, it's not foolish because God's the one telling you to do it. And so I'm not suggesting we be reckless, but I'm suggesting that when we follow the Lord, when we say, Lord, what do you want me to do? That God's going to tell us what to do. We need to be willing to obey that even when it doesn't make sense to us or to others around us.

But it is okay to say, are you sure about that, Lord? I want to make sure because I want to follow you. I want to obey. But here's what I understand about this situation. And God responds in verse 15. But the Lord said to him, go, for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. The Lord says, yeah, I've heard all that too. Go. He's a chosen vessel of mine.

I chose him. All those things are true. He is the persecutor, but he's my chosen vessel. I'm going to do a radical work. He's going to bear my name before the Gentiles. So he tells Ananias to go. Again, God loves to involve us in his work. He's reaching out even to the most rebellious, the ones that we wouldn't think are reachable. He's reaching out to, and he will often use us

in that process, in that work of reaching people around us. He's a chosen vessel of mine, God says. Now this is truly a 180 degree turn, right? Here's Saul against the church, against the Lord. You're persecuting me, Jesus says. A 180 degree turn. He's my chosen vessel to bear my name. So it's not just

All right, he got saved. He's converted. He's going to stop persecuting the church. That's not a 180 degree turn. That's just a stop. But now what he's doing is he's going the opposite direction. This is repentance. Again, this is why I say, let God turn you 180 degrees. This is God's favorite number. He loves for us to repent, to turn from our ways that are not his and to turn and do the things that he has called us to do.

He was against the Lord. Now he is the chosen vessel to bear the name of the Lord. He says before Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel in verse 16, for I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake. Again, this is a 180 degree turn. He was causing people to suffer for the name of Jesus. And now he's going to suffer for the name of Jesus.

God is changing Saul's life radically, completely, turning it around so that instead of going backwards, he's going forwards. And that's what God loves to do. We need to let God do that. This is what we see happening in Saul. It's what we see happening in Ananias. God speaks to reluctant disciples. Again, I'm not saying that Ananias was sinful or rebellious here, but I'm saying that there are times as we're submitted to God that

that we're going to have to double check because the things that he wants us to do sound crazy. In some ways, I would say for myself personally, I'm living this out right now. I don't mean in any radical, like super awesome spiritual way, but you know, in the financial position that we are as a church and now, you know, I was looking for work and it seems like I've settled into something that God's using to provide, but

The method that God's choosing to provide is exactly what I said I wouldn't do. The things that I'm engaged in right now are the things I never wanted to be involved in. Doing, you know, technical website stuff, and I don't want to get into that. But I could say all these things confidently because Kim and I had this conversation six months ago, a year ago. She already knew. The Lord already told her. She was turning around 180 degrees way before I was.

She was saying, hey, I think maybe the Lord wants you to do this. Maybe, why don't you do this? Why don't you like look into this? Why don't you like try to get involved in this? And I was like, no way. I'm not going to do that. No way. And as I began to look for outside employment to try to, you know, find something that could meet our needs, I was looking in the direction of, okay, I want no responsibility. Just give me physical labor. Just let me push shopping carts. I

I don't got to make a lot. I just got to make enough to pay the bills. If I could just push shopping carts and not have to really think about, I could think about the message during the week while I'm working, you know, I could think. And so then after I'm done working, then my mind's still fresh for the ministry. And I didn't want to do anything mental. I didn't want to do anything that was taxing. Instead, what God has designed and orchestrated,

I'm having to double check because God, this sounds crazy. This is really different than I imagined. This is really different than I would have expected or planned. And yet God is setting things up and orchestrating things that makes it clear. He's wanting to go this direction. This is how our lives need to be. Now, I'm not saying every day has to be this way, but

But there ought to be that kind of submission to the Lord where there's those things that I didn't really want to go this way, Lord, but you're clearly calling me to go this way. And so, Lord, I'm going to be submitted to you and surrendered to you. He's speaking to us even when we're reluctant to go the direction that God wants us to go. But we can trust God. I think it's interesting to notice the difference. When Saul says, Lord, what do you want me to do? God says, get up and go into the town. Real simple step, very basic step.

Not much information, just one little task you can handle. When God talks about Saul to Ananias, he lays out the whole ministry for him. He lays out the whole book of Acts. Oh yeah, he's going to go, he's going to be, you know, a light to the Gentiles. He's going to bear my name. He's going to talk to kings and he's going to minister to the children of Israel. I mean, he's going to have a vast ministry. He's going to suffer a lot. I mean, he lays out the whole thing for Ananias. God had it all planned out.

But he gave to Saul the one thing that he could handle at that moment. We can trust God. He has it all planned out. Sometimes we get so tripped up by that one thing in front of us and we think, well, but what is about after that? You know, where's that going to lead? And what about then? God has it all planned out. We can rest in that and we can trust and know all we got to do is just do what God has set before us. Even though that requires great humbling and perhaps you can't do it because you're blind and you need someone to lead you by the hand.

Be obedient. Even when you're reluctant, overcome that. You say, are you sure, Lord? You want me to go talk to this guy? I don't know. He's kind of scary. God says, go. No, I want you to. I'm doing a work. God wants to turn us 180 degrees. And one of the ways that he does that is by involving us in the work that he's doing. Well, we finish it up in the last two verses of

our passage for tonight, verse 17 and 18. And here's point number four, disciples live changed lives. So as God is calling out for change, he's reaching out, he's working change in our hearts. Now we see that change lived out. Verse 17, and Ananias went his way and entered the house and laying his hands on him, he said, brother Saul,

What happens now? Ananias goes. He's reluctant. He's questioning. Are you sure, Lord? God says, yes, I'm sure. And so Ananias goes.

Maybe it's not exactly 180 degrees here for Ananias, again, because he wasn't in full rebellion, but maybe it's 60 degrees. He's bringing his heart, he's bringing his life, his actions in obedience to God, in line with God's will. Saul went to Damascus to lay hands on Ananias, but now Ananias lays hands on Saul. And not in the same way that Saul meant to lay hands on him. And then notice what he says. He says, brother Saul.

Again, man, we need to like stop and just reflect. This is really radical. This is 180 degrees. Brother Saul. Ananias calls Saul his brother. Even crazy, insane persecutors are instantly brothers when they believe in Jesus. That's how radical this change is that God can do.

And this is the kind of change that God calls us to live out. He's expressing love for Saul, companionship with Saul, brother Saul. I don't know if I would have been able to treat Saul that way. I would have probably been more like Jonah. When God sent Jonah to Nineveh, he ran the other direction. That's the wrong 180 degree turn. He ran the other direction because he didn't want the Ninevites to be forgiven. He didn't want them to be saved.

So he ran the other way. Ananias demonstrates the right heart in going and saying, brother Saul, let me show you the love of Christ. You came here to torture me, but I'm gonna love you. This is the kind of radical life that God has called us to live, changed life. What if God sent you to your worst enemy? Would you be able to lay hands, not in a physical, you know, beat up kind of sense, but in a brotherly love and say, hey brother,

Hey sister, God sent me to you. Ananias absolutely believed what Paul taught in 2 Corinthians 5, 17. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Ananias believed this. Saul is a new creature. Old has passed away. All things have become new. And so he lays his hand on him and he says, brother Saul, he lives out this change. He demonstrates it in his actual life.

This is the way that we need to live. The Lord Jesus, he says to him, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me to you that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And then verse 18, immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once, and he arose and was baptized. So his eyesight is healed. He's filled with the Holy Spirit. And notice what Saul does. He arose and was baptized.

He arose and was baptized. What is that? That is his demonstration that he is going to live a changed life. That's what baptism represents, the changed life that God's done a work within. And so I'm going to live a new life on the outside. Incredible. What we see here in Acts chapter 9, God is reaching the most rebellious, the worst of the worst. But we find that even the most rebellious can be submitted to God.

God's speaking to reluctant disciples and even doing a work in those who are already walking with him. And then all of us together, the worst of the worst, as well as those who've been with the Lord for some time, we go forward living out the change that God is working in our life. It's a radical obedience to God. Our lives are substantially changed. Is your life substantially changed?

If you're going to be walking with God, if you're going to be living in submission to God, your life will be substantially changed. Again, I would ask you to consider if God only tells you to do things that you want to do already, then you're in trouble. You're not going to live a life that's substantially changed. But you need to be submitted to God because there's still many, plenty of opportunities for God to work a 180 degree turn in your life. There are areas of your heart that need changing. There are areas of your mind, there are areas of your life that need changing.

transformation. And God wants to do that. And he does that work by asking us to submit to him. If you would say, well, I am changed, but I just still act the same. Well, I would challenge that. Yeah, there's opportunity that we don't get perfect overnight. You know, we don't, and we'll see later on. We'll see next week. It's a process of a work that God's doing in Saul, but there needs to be change and we need to live out the change that

that God is doing in us. I'll close with one last thought from Jesus in Luke chapter six, verse 46. But why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things which I say? That's the problem. If we profess change and call Jesus Lord, but then we don't do it. We profess the turn, the 180 degree turn, but then we don't live it out. No, I would encourage you

Present yourself to God in a way that, like Saul, you say, Lord, what do you want me to do? Like Ananias, you would say, here I am, Lord. Whatever you want. And even if it's not comfortable for me, even if I'm reluctant, even if I'm not quite sure, I'm committed to be obedient to you. I'm going to do the things that you say. Let's pray. Lord, I pray for each one of us. Lord, there's areas of our hearts that you want us to do.

to scrub out, Lord, to clean out, to cleanse and refresh and renew and build up and strengthen. There's areas of sin that need to be turned from, Lord. There's areas of weakness that you want to make strong. And I pray, God, that you would help us to really submit ourselves to you. And Lord, it's really a matter of repentance, Lord, in these different aspects of our hearts and lives. And Lord, that's always a challenge for us in a lot of ways that

It's like fighting the same battle over and over. It's just for different things, God, that you're working in our hearts. I pray, God, that you would keep us in a place of humility, Lord, that we'd be willing to submit to you on the things that you are wanting to do in our lives. Lord, that we would be willing to be surrendered to your will, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us, no matter how foolish it might seem, Lord, that we might be willing to do the things that you tell us to do.

Lord, whether those be direct commands from your word or whether those be things that you speak directly to our hearts, help us, God, to let you do the 180-degree turn, do the great transformation that you desire to do in our lives. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

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