A Chosen Instrument

A Chosen Instrument

Introduction

• I don’t know about you, but I personally believe that Daylight Savings time is of the devil.  An invention of Satan to torture mankind.
• If you have your Bibles…
• Last week we left off our story with Saul and Jesus facing off.  Jesus shows up in a bright light, and puts him on the ground.  He blinds him. 
  • Imagine what that must have been like… 
    • early thirties, strong, healthy, in good shape, his entire life ahead of him… a bright future, but in an instant it is all taken from him.  No more running, No more journeys, no more temple, no more career, no more sight.
  • “I’m blind. Is this the rest of my life? What does this mean? What should I do?”
    • God is mirroring his physical condition to match his spiritual condition.
• Saul vs Jesus, Who won? JESUS WON.  
  • Jesus tells Saul to go into Damascus to await further instruction.
• He doesn’t eat or drink for 3 days.
  • Two possibilities for what is going on here.  
    • 1. Shock, Distress, Anxiety, 
    • 2. Repentance.  Genuine, heartfelt repentance.
      • It says that he is praying for 3 days.

Acts 9:10-19

Jesus Pursues Us Before We Pursue Him

• • Saul was not on a “journey to Jesus”.  He wasn’t looking to meet Jesus, or talk to Jesus, or pursue Jesus.  His heart wasn’t open, his mind wasn’t seeking. If Christ had not shown up on that road, Saul would have spent the rest of his life persecuting and destroying the church.
    • Do you see the power of God’s sovereign mercy? Do you see it in this text?
      • Christ saved Saul, and Called Saul as an act of mercy.  A show of Grace.  He could have struck him dead in the middle of the road.  But instead he Redeemed him and called him to a new life.  He does the same thing for you and I.
  • Friend, before you ever pursue Jesus, Jesus pursues you. Before you ever desire Jesus, Jesus desires you. Before you ever seek Jesus, Jesus seeks you. I’m so glad that the story is told rightly because it shows how awful Saul was and how wonderful Jesus is, amen? I mean, Jesus is coming to save his enemy. How many of us come to save our enemy? He comes for his enemy.
    • 1 John 4:19 – We love because he first loved us
  • Apply
    • he is pursuing us as he did Saul, that he is loving us as he did Saul, that he is forgiving us as he did Saul, that he saving us as he did Saul, that he is changing us as he did Saul
    • John Newton, was born in London in the 1700s. He was a man who eventually became a pastor and a lover of people, but before that, by his own confession, he was a wicked man. His heart and his life were characterized by anger and cruelty and rage and sin. He was a slave ship owner and captain, and he would abuse and mistreat those that served him.
      • Until, much like Paul, God got ahold of him and changed his life.  He ended up writing the famous hymn “amazing Grace”  

• Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.

• • • • In some hymnals, people have changed the words, “Wretch like me”, to “saved and strengthened me” or “saved and set me free.” If You do a little research why it was changed, you’ll find out it is because some churches didn’t like the concept of being wretches that needed to be saved. That’s too humiliating.
      • But the Bible says that we are all wretches that need to be saved. Our transgressions are many…
        • Romans 3:11-12 – “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
  • Paul’s story is your story, is my story.  He pursued us long before we ever started pursuing him. 

Jesus Calls Each of Us To A Work

• Vs 10-13
• Ananias is a man who appears just once in the entire Bible.  You will not hear from him again.  He is likely a local guy who converted to Christianity recently, But God used him to save, baptize, and lay hands on Paul, the greatest missionary in the history of the world.
  • This should remind us that God uses small acts of obedience to make a big difference in the world. 
    • Spurgeon’s Conversion
• Here I Am Lord
  • This guy is ready to serve!, “And the Lord said to him, ‘Rise.’” “Yes, sir, Lord.” Here he goes. “‘And go to the street called Straight.’” “Right away, Lord, street called Straight, all right. GPS, street called Straight, all right.” “‘And at the house of Judas, look for a man of Tarsus named Saul.’” “Uh, who did you say? What did you say his name was?”
• The Street Called Straight
  • If you were to go to Damascus today, the street called straight still exists.  At one end of the street is the place where Ananias had this encounter with Saul.  Remember church, these are not just fairy tales, these are real events in real places, verified and recorded for us by a real historian and doctor.   
• A man of Tarsus named Saul
  • He’s so afraid that he hesitates to obey the Lord.  Instead, Ananias tries to correct God.
    • From the outside, we see this as foolish, but we do the same thing all the time.  When we do not like how God is dealing with us, or our circumstances, we take it upon ourselves to set Him straight and suggest a more excellent way.
• Vs 15 – GO!
  • I once heard a preacher say, “Everybody loves to hear Jesus when He says, ‘Come to Me, all you who are burdened and heavy laden and I will give you rest” But nobody wants to hear Jesus when He says, “GO”, because that is where the Christian life becomes difficult.
    • Saul is over at Judas’ house, go see him.
      • Isaiah 6:8 – And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

• A Chosen Instrument
  • Galatians 1:15-16 – But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone.
    • Saul’s life wasn’t random, His circumstances were not random.  God was masterfully orchestrating the circumstances of his life exactly how He wished them to go. 
      • Samson, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, Paul
    • God had set Saul apart for this work from before he was born.  I believe that he has a similar story for you.  That you would walk in His work that he has prepared beforehand. 
  • Now if you had asked me to choose who should go do this important work, I would not have picked Saul of Tarsus.  I would have thought that murdering Christians would have disqualified Saul from missionary work.  But apparently, in God’s economy, Grace is the only currency that matters.  
    • What makes you feel disqualified? Some horrible, embarrassing mistake from your past? Been in prison? Bad marriage? Continual struggle you have with the flesh?  

Apply

• Every Christian is called to something.
  • Men are called to lead their families in holiness.  Mothers are called to raise their children “in the Lord”.  Employers are called to set fair wages and prices for their services.  God has a work for you.  
• How do I know if I am being called into ministry?  3 Things you should ask yourself.
  • Am I Qualified?
    • 1st Timothy 3 – Above Reproach, Sober minded, Self-controlled, Respectable, Hospitable, Able to teach, One woman man, Not drunk, Gentle, does not seek out conflict, not materialistic, Mature in the faith, Humble, Well thought of by outsiders.
    • This level of Christian maturity is painfully difficult.
  • Am I Called?
    • Internal Calling and External Calling
      • Internal Calling 
        • A desire that won’t go away, 
      • External Calling
        • Through Leaders
          • This should probably only come from current leaders in the church.  It shouldn’t come from a mom or a dad, it shouldn’t come from someone within the church who thinks you are really nice and should be a pastor.
        • Through the Church
          • C.H. Spurgeon – The will of the Lord concerning pastors is made known through the prayerful judgment of His church.  It is needful as a proof of your vocation that your preaching should be acceptable to the people of God.
  • Am I prepared?
    • A call to ministry is a call to prepare.  Whether that means a small group leader, or a pastor, or a missionary to Cambodia.  You must prepare for ministry.  We will read that Paul traveled to Arabia and prepared for his ministry for 3 years.  
    • I cannot fully describe to you how much damage has been done to churches by well meaning, but ignorant and untrained pastors.  
      • I believe that this is why 70% of church plants fail. Because they have untrained pastors trying to get ahead of God’s call and do it on their own. 
    • Here at Celebration we believe that we must be raising up the next generation of pastors and church leaders through training and education. 
      • That is why we started the Pastoral Institute of the western slope. Training and residency program, provides pulpit supply, critique, and challenges leaders up to  the highest level of God’s call for them. 
        • Classes start this Fall (come see me if you have questions, or would like more information)

Sometimes, God’s Call Involves Suffering

• Vs 16
  • Saul would be called to difficult and dangerous places for the rest of His life.  He would travel endlessly.  He would be attacked and stoned, and lashed and beaten, and imprisoned, and drowned, and falsely accused.  
    • He walked into the JEWISH Synagogue in every place he went.  That is like walking into the den of the enemy and asking them to switch sides!
    • He knew suffering was coming from day ONE.  Yet he went anyway.  It’s like he knew that his life wasn’t his anymore.  It belonged to Christ.

• Willingness to go anywhere
  • Even Difficult and dangerous places
    • Ananias, who may have even known widows that were widows as a result of Paul’s persecution. Damascus and Ananias would have probably known orphans in Jerusalem, who were orphans because Paul was a part of the execution of their mother, but he says, “‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’”
      • Christian, don’t concern yourself with your friends group, or your job, or whether or not you are liked by that stranger on the airplane.  Do not worry about what comes after obedience to Christ.  Concern yourself with Jesus, and His calling for you.  And all these other things will be taken care of.  
• Once You are willing, and once you receive your calling from the Lord, the only next step is to do it.  
  • Decision time.  Response time.
    • This is not a one time question you should be asking, but a repeated one.  What does God want to do with me Today?  This Week? This Year?  
    • For Ananias, it was to heal Saul of blindness, For Saul, it was taking the Gospel to the Gentiles.  What is God calling you to Today?

Jesus’ Prayer/Stephens Prayer (Conclusion)

• Jesus Prayer on the cross – Father forgive them! For the know not what they do.
• Stephens Prayer as he was stoned by Saul – Father forgive them! They know not what they do.
  • The very man who Stephen prayed for, was saved and forgiven, just as Stephen has asked.  Your prayers work.