The Dawn of Western Civilization - the conversion of Paul - he was instrumental in founding western civilization - it’s no exaggeration to say, no Paul, no Western civilization - straight line from Paul to St. Augustine to Martin Luther to John Calvin to our Founding Fathers - no Paul, no United States of America -
1] Saul breathing out threats and murder - means his hatred for Christianity and the truth was deep in his soul - went to the high priest and got extradition warrants so could drag any Christians he found all the way back to Jerusalem
3] Getting close to Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven shone around him, it was so intense it binded him and knocked him off his horse - blinded him for 3 days, he closed his eyes when the light hit him, but when he got up and opened his eyes couldn’t see anything for three days - this was the parallel in Paul’s life to the death and burial of Christ - as if for three days of pitch blackness he was entombed in the earth, in silence and isolation, until on the third day he emerged, whole and set on his mission
4] Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Who are you Lord? So Paul knew that whoever was talking to him was the Lord, was his Lord, was somebody he acknowledged as his lord and his master - just didn’t know who he was
I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting - notice how closely Jesus identifies with us - Jesus says you do something to one of my followers, you are doing it to me - here’s the good news: when we are mistreated for our faith, Jesus takes it personally, he is personally disturbed, personally troubled - it affects him personally - know how when somebody mistreats your child, you take it personally? Quickest way for them to turn you into their enemy is pick on your kid - even worse than if they had done it to you -
ILL: Ahmaz: Afghani immigrant - very slight build, easy guy to pick on - kind of glommed on to J.D., hung around with the baseball team - walking down the hall, J.D. sees a group of guys standing over somebody and laughing - got closer, saw that one of the guys was doing an elbow drop on him - a move in professional wrestling where you get the guy down on the canvas, you drop on him with your elbow and hit him right in the solar plexus - now Ahmaz was a good natured kid, tried to laugh it off, but J.D. could see the pain in his eyes - really torqued him off he took the guy that had done that to Ahmaz, grabbed him by the lapels, shoved him up against the lockers, and said you ever want to touch Almaz again, going to have to go through me -
Rise, enter the city and you will be told what you are to do - when God calls us, says I’ll tell you what I want you to do each step of the way - but I’m not going to tell you the whole megillah because it would freak you out - ILL: Martin Luther, if I’d known what was getting into when I nailed the 95 theses to the door, you couldn’t have dragged me into it with a team of 20 horses -
Imagine if you knew in advance every bad thing that was going to happen to you, every betrayal, every heartbreak, every disappointment, God shows you that, says still want to sign up, you might say no way - God knows we need to develop the character he wants us to have, no other way, adversity is the school for character, so reels it out to us one adversity at a time so don’t get overwhelmed -
Was told to go to the Street called Straight - still there today, you can walk on it - and find a guy by name of Ananias - Lord calls Ananias, he says, Here I am Lord - Lord says want you to go home of a guy named Judas - there’s a guy named Saul, you know the guy locking up Christians everywhere he finds them, still breathing out threats and murders against people just like you, want you to lay hands on him in my name so he’ll be able to see again -
Ananias says, Here I am Lord, Lord says Rise and go, But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” - and that would include me - Lord, too risky, don’t want to get anywhere near that - could be harmful to my health
But wait a minute, hold the phone - now the words “Lord” and “But” do not belong in the same sentence - Ananias argues with him, finally Lord says 15] I’m through arguing with you, just go -
15] He is a chosen instrument - lit vessel - now a vessel is something you pour something into and then pour it back out - Lord says this is how I work - I recruit an empty vessel, an ordinary human being with an empty soul, empty spirit, and I pour myself into him, I fill him with my presence, my Spirit, my power - then put him in situations where I can pour myself out through him, pour out the resurrection life that I have imparted to him to others -
Chosen vessel of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel - Paul gets to thinking hey this isn’t a bad gig - talking to kings, I can get down with this program, then Lord adds, I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name - Point anything worth doing for the Lord at some point is going to cost us, at some point there will be pain and suffering that’s a part of it -
So Ananias goes to Saul - he’d been without food or water for 3 days - now you can go 40 days plus without food but you can’t go more than 3-4 days without water - so things were getting desperate for Saul - So Ananias lays his hands on Saul, and something like scales fall from his eyes and he was able to see, rose and was baptized, took food, was strengthened -
APPL: Saul was a hard case - intelligent guy, a brilliant guy, a talented guy, but he had a stone cold heart toward Christ - you may know somebody like that, you might even have been somebody like that, may even have somebody like that in your family - well, don’t give up, don’t give up hope - if the Lord can humble a man like Paul, he can humble anyone - never give up asking Christ to reclaim someone you love - we’re going to pray for those people we love, so keep them in your mind’s eye while we pray
The Dawn of Western Civilization
Amen. Yes. We must never, never, never give up praying for folks! I'm convinced that if we truly believed in hell, we'd be much more passionate about intercession and evangelism!
Amen! I enjoy your writings because your personality comes out. I couldn't even begin to imagine being blind by our God for 3 days.