Transformative Grace: The Journey of Saul to Paul
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Saul has arrived in Damascus but he is a transformed man from the soul that had left Jerusalem who was breathing out murderous thoughts against the church. He's had that dramatic conversion experience on the Damascus Road, and as the result of the brilliant light that surrounded him, he was temporarily blinded, and so they had to lead him into Damascus. [00:01:42]
And so Ananias was hesitant. Have you ever had the Lord speak to you and you were hesitant about, "Lord, is this really you? Could you really be directing me to do this?" and questioning the leading that you feel that the Lord might be placing upon your heart. Ananias was questioning the Lord, and he had heard about Saul. [00:03:33]
He is a chosen vessel unto the Lord. Jesus had said to his disciples in John 15, "You have not chosen me, that I have chosen you, and ordained that you should be my disciples, and that you should bring forth fruit, and your fruit should remain." Now Jesus is saying, "Follow us, you really didn't choose me." [00:04:34]
Paul's calling and ministry was to go to the Gentile world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was the Apostle of the Gentiles, writing to the Galatians, and as he is affirming to the Galatians his call and his apostleship, Paul had a problem in that wherever he would go and establish churches, there would be those fellows that would come in behind him. [00:06:55]
Paul's first and earnest desire was to take the gospel to the Jews. In fact, even when Paul went to the Gentiles, his practice was to first go to the Jewish synagogues. Whatever city he would come into, he would go on the Sabbath day to the Jewish synagogue and begin to reason with them out of the scriptures because he had a heart for the Jews. [00:20:15]
He began to realize that unless God opened the heart of a person to see the truth, no, even though it was so clear and so obvious, it takes that work of God's Holy Spirit to open the mind and the heart of a person to understand and receive, for the natural man does not understand the things of the spirit, neither can he know them. [00:22:21]
The Lord told Ananias that he was going to show unto Saul the great things that he would suffer for the Lord's sake. And so here the Lord is laying out for Ananias the things concerning Saul. He was a chosen vessel, and that he was to bear the name of Christ to the Gentiles, to Kings, and to the Jews. [00:28:34]
Paul did suffer great things for the sake of the Gospel. He wrote to the Romans in chapter 8, "As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." To the Corinthians, he gave a list of the things that he suffered for Christ, talking again about those who had followed after him. [00:29:09]
And so Paul is talking to them and he said, "Are they Hebrews? Well, so am I. Are they Israelites? Well, so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? I am too. Are they ministers of Christ?" He said, "I speak as a fool, I am more in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, facing death more often." [00:31:22]
And so Ananias went his way and entered into the house that is the house of Judas there on the street called Straight, to the present day that street is there as I mentioned. And he comes into the house and he puts his hands on Saul. Now remember Saul is blind, but the Lord has spoken to him and this is quite new for him. [00:35:19]
And he calls him brother Saul, probably the first time he had ever been called brother Saul, but a brother now in Christ Jesus. He is now a part of the family of God. He is in the Brotherhood of the Believers in Christ, and you know oftentimes our spiritual bonds become deeper and greater than our physical bonds. [00:36:59]
And so Paul arose, it says, and was baptized. This is the experience that Paul is no doubt referring to when he wrote to the Philippians and he said, "Those things that were once important to me, and I counted as assets, those things I counted lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, for whom I suffered the loss of all things." [00:46:52]
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And so Ananias was hesitant. Have you ever had the Lord speak to you and you were hesitant about, "Lord, is this really you? Could you really be directing me to do this?" and questioning the leading that you feel that the Lord might be placing upon your heart. Ananias was questioning the Lord, and he had heard about Saul. [00:03:33]
He is a chosen vessel unto the Lord. Jesus had said to his disciples in John 15, "You have not chosen me, that I have chosen you, and ordained that you should be my disciples, and that you should bring forth fruit, and your fruit should remain." Now Jesus is saying, "Follow us, you really didn't choose me." [00:04:34]
Paul's calling and ministry was to go to the Gentile world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was the Apostle of the Gentiles, writing to the Galatians, and as he is affirming to the Galatians his call and his apostleship, Paul had a problem in that wherever he would go and establish churches, there would be those fellows that would come in behind him. [00:06:55]
Paul's first and earnest desire was to take the gospel to the Jews. In fact, even when Paul went to the Gentiles, his practice was to first go to the Jewish synagogues. Whatever city he would come into, he would go on the Sabbath day to the Jewish synagogue and begin to reason with them out of the scriptures because he had a heart for the Jews. [00:20:15]
He began to realize that unless God opened the heart of a person to see the truth, no, even though it was so clear and so obvious, it takes that work of God's Holy Spirit to open the mind and the heart of a person to understand and receive, for the natural man does not understand the things of the spirit, neither can he know them. [00:22:21]
The Lord told Ananias that he was going to show unto Saul the great things that he would suffer for the Lord's sake. And so here the Lord is laying out for Ananias the things concerning Saul. He was a chosen vessel, and that he was to bear the name of Christ to the Gentiles, to Kings, and to the Jews. [00:28:34]
Paul did suffer great things for the sake of the Gospel. He wrote to the Romans in chapter 8, "As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." To the Corinthians, he gave a list of the things that he suffered for Christ, talking again about those who had followed after him. [00:29:09]
And so Paul is talking to them and he said, "Are they Hebrews? Well, so am I. Are they Israelites? Well, so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? I am too. Are they ministers of Christ?" He said, "I speak as a fool, I am more in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, facing death more often." [00:31:22]
And so Ananias went his way and entered into the house that is the house of Judas there on the street called Straight, to the present day that street is there as I mentioned. And he comes into the house and he puts his hands on Saul. Now remember Saul is blind, but the Lord has spoken to him and this is quite new for him. [00:35:19]
And he calls him brother Saul, probably the first time he had ever been called brother Saul, but a brother now in Christ Jesus. He is now a part of the family of God. He is in the Brotherhood of the Believers in Christ, and you know oftentimes our spiritual bonds become deeper and greater than our physical bonds. [00:36:59]
And so Paul arose, it says, and was baptized. This is the experience that Paul is no doubt referring to when he wrote to the Philippians and he said, "Those things that were once important to me, and I counted as assets, those things I counted lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, for whom I suffered the loss of all things." [00:46:52]
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