Monday, April 24, 2017, 9:47 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “My Jesus, I Love Thee.” Speak, Lord,
your words to my heart. I read Acts
9:1-20 (NIV).
Murderous Threats (vv. 1-2)
Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous
threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him
for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who
belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to
Jerusalem.
Saul, later called Paul, was
a religious man. He was a Pharisee, so he knew the scriptures (the Old
Testament). He was devout in following what he believed was right. But, he was
misdirected. Sometimes people can be very sincere in what they believe, yet be
sincerely wrong. He thought he was following God by persecuting and murdering
Christians, because he thought that the teachings of Jesus were against God,
and against his Word. But, again, he was wrong.
The Jews, by and large, did
not accept Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah of Israel, and they rejected
Jesus’ claims that he was God, their Lord. They didn’t like it that he healed
people on the Sabbath, that he didn’t follow the traditions of the elders, and
that he confronted them with their sins. So, they hung him on a cross to die,
thinking they had put an end to him. But, then he was resurrected from the
dead, appeared alive to his followers over a period of 40 days, and invigorated
his disciples to follow him in ministry after he left this earth. So, they also
rejected his followers, as well as they rejected the gospel of our salvation,
for they believed it was wrong.
A Light from Heaven (vv. 3-6)
As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light
from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to
him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.
“Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
When Paul (Saul) gave his
testimony of his conversion to King Agrippa, he told him how Jesus had spoken
to him while he was on his way to Damascus, which is where he was headed to
persecute more Christians. Jesus asked Saul why he was persecuting him (Jesus),
for truly by persecuting Christ’s followers, Christ’s body, it was the same as
though he was persecuting Jesus Christ himself. Saul’s response was to ask who
was speaking to him, to which Jesus responded by telling him that it was him,
and that it was him who Saul was persecuting. And, then the Lord said:
Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to
you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will
see of me. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am
sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light,
and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of
sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.
So, even though Saul (Paul)
was a persecutor of Christians, who hunted them down in order to bring charges
against them, and even though he approved of their murders, and even though he
thought he was serving God in all of this, and that he was doing what was
right, Jesus Christ had other plans for him, to turn him around, and to use him
for his glory. This is called “grace.” Jesus Christ turned a persecutor and a
murderer of Christians into an apostle of Christ and a minister of the gospel
of our salvation from sin. And, Paul penned the words of God in about half of
our New Testament books, too.
And, this grace is the Good
News of the gospel of Christ. In other words, believing in Jesus Christ is not
just about escaping hell and going to heaven when we die. It is about being
turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that we
can receive forgiveness of our sins. It is about leaving our old lives of sin
behind us, being transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God, and being
born anew of the Spirit of God to new lives in Christ Jesus to be lived to his
righteousness. This grace is not a free license to continue in sin without
guilt, but it teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and
to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we wait for Christ’s
return (Tit. 2:11-14).
A Chosen Instrument (vv. 7-16)
The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless;
they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but
when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into
Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The
Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.
The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on
Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In
a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to
restore his sight.”
“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports
about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem.
And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who
call on your name.”
But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my
chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to
the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
Not one person is beyond the
saving grace of Jesus Christ. God is not willing that any should perish, but
that all should come to repentance. Jesus died for the sins of the whole world.
No matter what someone has done, or even for how long they have lived the way
they have, there is always hope. We should never write another human being off,
and, thus, consider the person doomed, for we never know what God has planned
for people’s lives. He doesn’t choose like humans do. He chooses on the basis
of his love and on the basis of his marvelous grace, not on the basis of human
performance.
We should also not be afraid
if God leads us to talk with someone we feel is against God, or is even a
persecutor of Christians. If he wants us to speak to kings, we should be
willing to go, and to say whatever he has given us to say. We should never
shrink back from saying whatever our Lord wants us to say to any individual,
either out of fear of what that person might do to us, or out of a personal
belief that someone is beyond the grace of God, because, at one time, we all
were separated from God and destined to perish in our sins, and if it had not
been for God’s grace, we would not be where we are, either.
Yet, following our Lord in
obedience, and in surrender to his will for our lives, in being his witnesses,
may mean that we will also be hated and among the persecuted, and we may be
called upon to die for our faith in Jesus Christ, too. Yet, we must be willing
to go through whatever our Lord requires of us, knowing that he will be with
us, and that he will see us through everything which he has planned for our
lives. So, we need to trust him fully.
He Could See!
(vv. 17-20)
Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing
his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you
on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and
be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something like scales fell from
Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after
taking some food, he regained his strength.
Saul spent several days with the disciples in
Damascus. At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of
God.
Ananias walked by faith and
not by sight. He believed God, even though everything in the natural had told
him that this was not a good idea. And, he went to Saul (Paul) believing God to
do a miracle in his life. And, that miracle did happen. We all should have such
faith as this and believe God for miracles of his grace in people’s lives, and
be obedient in sharing Christ with whomever the Lord puts in our paths.
The result was that Saul was
translated from death to life. He was born anew of the Spirit of God, and not
only were his physical eyes cured of his blindness, but his spiritual eyes
were, too. His eyes were now open to hear and to receive whatever the Lord
Jesus had for him to be and to do. And, at once he began to preach that Jesus
is the Son of God. This is grace! This is love, i.e. it is God’s love for us in
saving us from our sins and in giving us new lives to be lived for him and for
his purposes and for his glory! And, it is our love for him, in return, in
desiring to follow him in obedience, too.
My Jesus, I Love Thee
William R. Featherstone / Adoniram
J. Gordon
My Jesus, I love thee, I know
thou art mine;
For thee all the follies of
sin I resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my
Savior art thou;
If ever I loved thee, my
Jesus, 'tis now.
I love thee because thou hast
first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on
Calvary's tree;
I love thee for wearing the
thorns on thy brow;
If ever I loved thee, my
Jesus, 'tis now.
In mansions of glory and
endless delight;
I'll ever adore thee in
heaven so bright;
I'll sing with the glittering
crown on my brow;
If ever I loved thee, my
Jesus, 'tis now.
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