Acts 9
COMMENTARY:
: 4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutes you me? (1377 “persecutes” [dioko] means to run after, trouble, to pursue in a hostile manner, harass, follow in haste, seek after, or to chase.)
DEVOTION: One of the facts that most people who try to hurt Christians don’t realize is that they are not doing it to the person they are doing it to Christ. Christ takes the people who harass Christians personal. HE is the one who protects believer.
Saul was going around the country with the permission of the religious leaders to kill or imprison those who were followers of Christ. They wanted to end HIS church. They wanted to keep their place of authority in the Roman Empire. If the church grew their authority would end.
Now the LORD met Saul as he was headed to Damascus to collect more Christians to put in jail. He had a group of men with him to help him. The men heard nothing only Saul.
Jesus had a short conversation with him. HE used the illustration of an animal fighting against a sharp instrument to keep them working. Saul was working against something he would never win. Jesus was informing him to stop doing what he was doing and become a follower of HIM.
Those who fight against the gospel and those who present it are not fighting against human beings they are fighting against the LORD. They may kill those who are believers but the LORD will continue to reach people. They may criticize the teachings of Christianity but that will only hurt them.
Those who are not believers are fighting a losing war. They might win a few battles with some of the people they meet but they will meet the LORD one day and HE always wins.
CHALLENGE: Always remember that the LORD is in control of what is happening in this world. HIS message is true and many will fight against it but that doesn’t change anything.
: 16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake. (3958 “suffer” [pascho] means vex, passion, or have a sensible experience.)
DEVOTION: The conversion of Saul was dramatic. He was on his way to kill or imprison all those who were following Jesus. He had the letter in his hand from the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem. He was full of zeal for God. However, it was the wrong zeal.
Jesus met him on the way to Damascus. He had a vision of a light and a voice from heaven. He saw it but those who were with him didn’t. The LORD is unique in that HE can talk to someone in a crowd and the others don’t hear HIM.
Saul got up from this experience and was blind. The group had to lead him into Damascus. He fasted and prayed for three days. Finally on the third day Ananias came to him. Ananias told the LORD that he didn’t want to come but the LORD convinced him.
What was Ananias’ responsibility? He was to put his hand on him and he would receive his sight. Ananias was afraid. He knew that Saul could take him to prison. He did it anyway.
What else had the LORD reviled to Ananias? The LORD told him that Saul was a chosen vessel. He was going to bear Jesus’ name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. The LORD was going to show Saul all that he had to endure for his witness for the LORD.
In II Corinthians 11 we have a list of some of the things that Saul, who became known as Paul, had to endure as a witness for Jesus. The list is long. It is a hard list to read. If we had to go through all those things and knew it ahead of time – we would pass.
We see that Paul didn’t have a easy life ahead of him. Once we accept Christ as our Savior, we are not promised the “rose garden” life. It is a life that will make us grow more like HIS Son. This life includes pruning and chastening. Pruning is done to those who are bearing fruit but the LORD wants more fruit. Chastening is done when an individual walks the wrong way and the LORD has to get him back on the right track. It is only done to those who are followers of the LORD.
Today many pulpits don’t preach Christ because they believe all people are going to heaven. Or they believe that there is more than one way to get to heaven. Or they believe that there is no hell for eternity waiting for those who say “NO” to the gospel. The world of Christians is changing before our eyes. Those we thought were true to the Word of God are compromising with others. Christ’s teaching must come first before we can have fellowship with others. If there is no agreement on the basic doctrines of the faith – there can be no fellowship.
Our world is changing in the way it believes regarding the doctrines of the Bible. There are some who are trying to tell us that we don’t even know the author of some of the books of the Bible that the authorship seems plain. One church is saying that Solomon is not the author of the book of Ecclesiastes when it is introduced by these words “The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king of Jerusalem.” The Christian life is a challenging life. Are we ready for this life?
CHALLENGE: Continually review the basics of the Christian faith as taught in the Word of God. The twelve basic doctrines are covered in this devotional. Become a scholar of the Word!!!
: 20 And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that HE is the Son of God. (2784 “preached” [kerusso] means publish, proclaim, to be a herald, announce, or to make known.)
DEVOTION: Change is what the LORD expects of us once we become followers of HIM. Saul was the one who was willing to stand by while the other religious leaders stoned Stephen. He was the one who was willing to go everywhere to find those who were followers of Jesus and have them put in jail or killed.
He was a true Pharisee. He believed what they had taught him and showed it by his actions. He was faithful to their cause until he met the LORD on the way to Damascus.
Now he was in Damascus in the synagogues teaching that Jesus was really the Son of God. He taught the Jesus was the only way to heaven. He was a good preacher for the LORD.
When we become believers we are to do the same. We might not have the knowledge of a Saul. We might not have the strength of a Stephen who was willing to face the Sanhedrin like him but we can face those who are around us with HIS message.
There was an immediate change in Saul. Ours might take more time but we still need to change from representing our old way of living to the new way of living for Christ.
CHALLENGE: Change is never easy but it is necessary.
: 27 But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared to them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that HE had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. (3955 “boldly” [parrhesiazomai] means to use freedom in speaking, be free spoken, to grow confident, show assurance, assume a bold bearing, to speak honestly and straightforwardly, or to speak openly.)
DEVOTION: There always has to be someone who is willing to take a chance on a new believer. Saul was a new believer who was one who persecuted believers in his former life. The leadership in Jerusalem was not sure they could trust him. They thought he might be faking to find out who all the leaders were in the church in Jerusalem and then arrest them.
Along came a man by the name of Barnabas. He was an encourager. He saw Saul as someone who needed a chance to prove that his conversation was real to the believers of Jerusalem. He was the only one brave enough to bring him to the apostles and defend him before them. He believed in Saul and that was all he needed to convince others.
We need to take new believers under our wings and train them and encourage them. Too many fall by the wayside because there is no one who will take the time to encourage them. Barnabas encouraged someone who wrote most of the New Testament.
We can do the same for someone who may cause a revival in our time period. It took a Sunday School teacher who believed in a young man who was a shoe salesman to go to the store where he sold his shoe to invite him to come to know Jesus as his personal Savior. That man’s name is not known by many but the shoe salesman’s name is known around the world. Do you know his name?
CHALLENGE: We might be the one to help someone like him become a great witness for the LORD. Are we willing to encourage a new believer today?
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