Embracing the Struggle: Saul's Journey of Transformation
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Starting your faith journey is an adjustment. Learning how to pray, learning to be consistent in your church attendance, learning how to give, learning how to be a part of a grow group or a ministry. All of these are those early stages that we all go through if we're trying to get our faith journey started. And it's not always easy. Scientists say that it takes more energy to move a heavy object like a stalled car than any other time. Once that car is started, it can keep going. But it takes a whole lot of energy to get it going. You know this. Anything that's new, takes energy to get started. [00:03:30] (43 seconds)
Truth of the matter is that many of you in this room, when you look back over your story, you can relate because who you are today is a function, is an equation based on what shaped you early in your life. Some of you today, you can't go a day without thinking about what your mother taught you, what your father taught you, what your grandparents taught you, when they wouldn't let you do a job just half way. Because they said, one of these days you got to work somewhere and I want you to be able to do a good job. [00:06:10] (32 seconds)
Here's the big idea of today's message, friends. Getting started is not always easy, but it is educational. You're going to learn a whole lot getting started. It's not always easy, but there are so many things you're going to learn. We lean in now to the beginning of Saul as he gets started. You know in your Bibles last week we talked about Saul as last week Saul comes to faith and accepts Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. And now that he has given his life to Christ and been baptized and said he wants to follow Jesus, now he's getting started. And we'll find a few lessons right here out of this early season out of his life that will shape the rest of his life. And the rest of his ministry because getting started may always be easy, but it will be educational. [00:06:51] (52 seconds)
God and his sovereignty gives Saul three years in Arabia so that Saul can get ready for the future. The future that lies ahead of him. Listen, friends, don't doubt God because God has called you to prepare before he takes you where he wants to take you. Friends, if you don't prepare well, you won't last long. If you let God prepare you in the early years, he will position you in the latter years. But you've got to embrace your season of preparation. [00:10:26] (35 seconds)
That's the title of his whole message. He keeps preaching this same message. Jesus is the Son of God. Your Bible says he is proving. What that implies is that because he was a scholar in the Old Testament, he had grown up under it, understood it. He is now applying all of the Old Testament Scriptures now to the life of Jesus Christ and proving to each and every person that Jesus is the Son of God. He wants them to understand this because it is this truth that has changed his life. It is this truth that they have been waiting for a Messiah already. All of these years, and now Paul shows up and says, listen, the Messiah that you're looking for was not a political leader. He was a spiritual leader, and he was Jesus Christ. [00:11:42] (56 seconds)
I love that Saul raises this to be so important because when you read Saul's letters, I mean, Paul's letters, you keep finding him talking about Jesus. Can I show you too? Look at Colossians chapter 1. Look at Colossians chapter 1. I want to give you, these are letters that he will write later on in his ministry. But I want you to see how central Jesus as the son of God is to his writings. Colossians chapter 1, let me read for you verses 15 through 20. Look at what he says about Jesus. Look at this. The son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities. Look at this. All things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body of the church. He's the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God, who pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, or by making peace through his blood shed on the cross. Do you see the beautiful picture? That he paints of Jesus Christ? Because when you know he's the son of God, it changes everything. [00:13:46] (91 seconds)
This is what he's trying to help us to see. Not only, friends, is that the priority of Jesus, but thirdly, there is the persistence despite doubters. You get to verse 21, and it says, all those who heard him were astonished, because they keep, they're watching that word astonished means be beside yourself. It means to be struck out of your senses. And here's the issue. They're looking at Saul as he's preaching, and they're saying to themselves, number one, they're saying, isn't he the same one who raised havoc in Jerusalem? [00:17:03] (35 seconds)
Here's my word to you, friends. They're sitting there doubting Saul, but Saul doesn't take time to try to validate their doubts. Saul keeps being Saul and lets them try to deal with their own doubts. Here's the deal, friends. Let them doubt. You keep doing. [00:22:36] (22 seconds)
I said, let them doubt. You keep doing what God has called you to do. You let them question. You keep conquering. You let them keep rehearsing. You keep remaking your present and your future. You cannot stop your life to try to validate yourself to every single person that wants to try to measure you by who you used to be. That's not what God calls you to do. God says, you go do what I've called you to do and let me do the validating. Let me handle all the doubters and the haters and the naysayers. Don't worry about them. You move forward and watch God validate you by doing the work he's called you to do. I love it. I love it. He says, let them doubt. You keep doing what God has called you to do. You will always have people that doubt the change in your life. Doubt the progress that you made. Doubt the reason and motivation behind you while you're doing it. You cannot have a press conference for doubters because even if you gave a press conference, it wouldn't be enough for them because they always go down. You do what God has called you to do and let God be the one to deal with everybody else. [00:22:56] (72 seconds)
There is this, there is this, this persistence, despite the doubters. But here's the next one, friends. There also is the protective hand of God. I mean, you're going to see it right in the text. There is this protective hand of God. You see it right there in verse 23. After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him. And when you see this, friends, there's a, in other words, what happens is there's a, they're hearing Saul preach Jesus, and they're not, they don't really want to hear that. They're not, they're not, they're not, see, whenever you preach the gospel, the gospel is offensive. [00:25:49] (37 seconds)
So while they are planning his destruction, what happens is they have a leak in their operation. Something, something. They're back there setting it up. They are watching him come in and out. They can't kill him in the city. They got to wait for him to leave the city, but he hasn't left the city yet. So they are watching the gate. They got a plan. They are plotting, but they have a leak in their situation. Somebody is a plant. Somebody is getting everything they plan keeps getting leaked out. Friends, I want you to know this is not a coincidence. This is God's providence. [00:26:41] (39 seconds)
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