10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 And the Lord said to him, “Rise up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.” 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And he laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord sent me—that is Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming—so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he rose up and was baptized; 19 and he took food and was strengthened. Acts 9: 10-19 LSB
Acts 9: 10-19 Ananias
V. 10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias - Damascus is in Syria, and we just left off with Saul being confronted by Christ as he was approaching the city to arrest Jews who had been born again. He was blinded, now fasting and waiting for this Ananias. Ananias' name means "Jehovah is gracious", and fitting since he will be the first teacher and brother in Christ to come to Saul. There are others with this name in the Bible, like the husband of Saphira, but what a contrast.
Jack Arnold has an interesting note in his introduction - Acts 9:10-31 is filled with things which mark a new creature in Christ. This section of Scripture is a fascinating study of the experiences and activities of a new Christian. It is also a sobering study on some of the pitfalls and lessons a new Christian must learn before he can be effective for Christ. As a new Christian, Paul still had to grow in grace and wrestle with ignorance, prejudice and sin in his own life. We shall find that it took years for him to come to the place where he could be an effective instrument for Jesus Christ....(focusing on Saul as a new creature in Christ Arnold divides this chapter accordingly)...New Acquaintances (9:10-11a) New Communications (9:11b-12) New Purpose for Living (9:13-15) New Burden (9:16), New Power (9:17) New Commitment (9:18) New Communion (9:19a) NEW LESSONS FROM CHRIST (Acts 9:19b-31) Need for Fellowship (9:19b) Need for Right Knowledge (9:20-21) Need for Humility (9: 22-25) Need for Patience (9:26-27) Need for Dependence (9:28-29) Need for God's Will (9:30-31) (Paul, The New Creature) - PA
V. 11 Go to the street called Straight - I wonder if it's a narrow street. So Ananias receives his marching orders, the place to go, and the man he is supposed to meet. Look at this carefully, Saul is praying, Ananias has no knowledge of Saul's encounter with God, or the work that God was doing on him, we don't know these things. We are sent with the gospel, and it is never your great speaking, your fame, nor argument that wins a soul. It is that God has gone before you, that He has broken through the surface and met with the soul.
4. Why he was to go. Because the Master was there already. God had inspired the prayer of the blinded persecutor, and now he was about to answer it by Ananias. Where God has ploughed we are to sow. Of that preparation you know but little, but your own duty is clear enough. 5. What he was to do when he found Saul; he was to lay his hand on him. There is a great deal in the touch of an earnest man. If you stand half a mile off from a man, and throw the gospel at him, you will miss him; but if you go close to him, and lay hold upon him, and show that you have an affection for him, you will, by God's blessing, lead him in the right way.(The Good Man Ananias - A Lesson for Believers) - C.H. Spurgeon from PA
V. 12 He has seen in a vision - Saul is expecting you. He has been prepared to receive what you have to say. Now, I don't have visions like this, but I do have the gospel, which is the power of God to salvation, and I do meet people, though I don't know if God has tilled there as yet, but I pray for such an opportunity. I have this promise as well:
…10For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return without watering the earth, making it bud and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, 11so My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it. 12You will indeed go out with joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.… Isaiah 55: 10-12
V. 13 I have heard from many about this man - And rightfully so, this is Saul of Tarsus, and his name is not synonymous with friend of Christians. "God, in case your omniscience is somehow not all knowing, just so you know, this is a bad man, openly hateful to Christians, not even a wolf trying to hide amongst the sheep, he is a dragon that has been breathing out flames of murder toward your people." The people that Saul is hunting are most likely religious refugees from Jerusalem. Ananias is going into shepherd mode, protect the sheep, and this is a known enemy.
V. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name - "Jesus, please hear me out, our local government won't even help us here." Many of the prophets felt the same way, Elijah felt like he was all alone in the world, the last man standing. Jeremiah was tired of bringing God's words to a people who didn't want to hear it, but they obeyed, regardless of how the situation appeared.
…9If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail. 10For I have heard the whispering of many: “Terror is on every side! Report him; let us report him!” All my trusted friends watch for my fall: “Perhaps he will be deceived so that we may prevail against him and take our vengeance upon him.” 11But the LORD is with me like a fearsome warrior. Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and will not prevail. Since they have not succeeded, they will be utterly put to shame, with an everlasting disgrace that will never be forgotten.… Jeremiah 20: 9-11
V. 15 Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine - God knows the kind of man Saul is, I am, you are, and yet He is that powerful to save. There are some moralist, like Saul, who are very hard to reach because they live upstanding lives, follow the laws and work hard. You have the same problem of pride as a moralist as you do when you are a drug addict, a sloth, and a fornicator, but you say, "I am not an addict, a sloth or a fornicator", so you think you are good by what you do or don't do. No matter who is saved it is a work of God and not theirs. The good is no longer to be seen and approved of by men, but born of love for the One Who saved you. He is going to be the Apostle to the gentiles, the very opposite of his prior company or concern. His story will parallel that of Peter's throughout Acts, and he will write a great portion of the doctrinal work, correction and exhortation found throughout the New Testament. He will be used to sharpen both his students and contemporaries, even correcting Peter for the glory and sake of Christ's church.
…46You did not anoint My head with oil, but she has anointed My feet with perfume. 47Therefore I tell you, because her many sins have been forgiven, she has loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” 48Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”… Luke 7: 46-48
1Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, and set apart for the gospel of God— 2the gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures,… Romans 1: 1-2
…21Does not the potter have the right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special occasions and another for common use? 22 What if God, intending to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the vessels of His wrath, prepared for destruction? 23What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the vessels of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory—…
…24including us, whom He has called not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles? 25As He says in Hosea: “I will call them ‘My People’ who are not My people, and I will call her ‘My Beloved’ who is not My beloved,” 26and, “It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ ”… Romans 9: 21-26
V. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for My name - There are people who think they are Apostles today, which comes from a very poor understanding of God's word, the desire for titles that inflate the ego, but they want money and comforts, and that is their understanding of Apostleship. Remember, the Apostles were the foundation, the pillars of the church, with Christ being the cornerstone. There is no new church, no new foundation, so no new Apostles. Besides, you wouldn't be interested in a call like Paul's or Peter's, who was crucified upside down. These men were imprisoned, hated by their own relatives and fellow Jews, poor and despised, battling constantly with "Super Apostles" who came in selling a gnostic gospel, attacking the word of God. There is so much of that today, and the ones who speak up against it, like John Macarthur, Justin Peters and the likes, are hated for it. If you are a true believer then you will desire sound teaching, you will not only love what Jesus loves, but you will hate what He hates. You will find enemies that call themselves believers, religious, and some who claim there is no God, but your call, the message, it never changes, it never conforms to this world.
…9For it seems to me that God has displayed us apostles at the end of the procession, like prisoners appointed for death. We have become a spectacle to the whole world, to angels as well as to men. 10We are fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honored, but we are dishonored. 11To this very hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.…
…12We work hard with our own hands. When we are vilified, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13when we are slandered, we answer gently. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world. 14I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you as my beloved children.… 1 Corinthians 4: 9-14
…23Are they servants of Christ? I am speaking like I am out of my mind, but I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death. 24Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea.…
…26In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers, 27in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure. 28Apart from these external trials, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.… 2 Corinthians 11: 23-28
Comment - Since all believers are in covenant with Jesus and identified with His Name, and will suffer for His Name's sake. (Read Jn 15:18-21, Mt 10:22) As an aside, this is not a popular preaching topic and I have seldom heard sermons on the fact that suffering is guaranteed if one is a genuine believer. As a result as a new believer when suffering for Jesus blindsided me, it greatly disturbed my faith. I had never been taught this important truth. If you are reading these notes, you are now responsible to heed and to teach this truth to those in your sphere of influences so that they are not surprised when the fiery ordeal comes upon them for their testing (1 Pe 4:12+). - PA
V. 17 Brother Saul, the Lord sent me - What a change wrought in Ananias, but Saul came with the highest recommendation. We should be hopeful for this change in others, not quick to lay on hands though, lest we share in someone's sin, but Ananias was given direct orders and could do this with a clear conscience, knowing that God had chose this man. Pray for the worst sinner you know and then watch their life if they profess Christ. We are told to look for fruit, not just words, so listen, judge their doctrine to see whether it is sound, and watch their life. Saul's is a wonderful life to study, someone in constant repentance, a man who was given to us to take us to greater depths in the understanding of our faith. How wonderful it must of been for Saul to hear Ananias say, "Brother". I have watched people become hopeful over the years, and mention a celebrity or a celebrity style pastor, at churches where a lot of people go, and someone will call me all excited about something that the person said, it sounded to them like they had a real change of heart. I say, "I hope so, but let's watch and see", and they get mad at me. They think themselves discerning because they felt moved by what the person said, that he quoted Spurgeon, or spoke out against a sin that much of the church was afraid to speak against, and to them I am just being a hater for even suggesting that we wait, question their doctrine, ask which Jesus they are referring to. It's actually our duty, even to question our own selves, examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. Now, one man I have watched for a time now is Costi Hinn, and I must say, at first the last name was a lot for me. Like Ananias, I would have some questions, like, "Lord, you do realize which family he comes from? They have used Your great name and made Christianity a byword among worldlings and religious alike, for teaching a gospel (prosperity gospel) that is no gospel, and taking money from some of the poorest people in the world." Yet listening carefully to how Costi handles the word, and watching as much of his life as I can see thus far, I am happy to call him a brother.
…15Be diligent in these matters and absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. 16Pay close attention to your life and to your teaching. Persevere in these things, for by so doing you will save both yourself and those who hear you. 1 Timothy 4: 15-16
V. 18 And he regained his sight - Now he has regained the sight of his eyes, but so much more.
…13We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at the end of what was fading away. 14But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed. 15And even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts.… 2 Corinthians 3: 13-15
…5For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us.… 2 Corinthians 4: 5-7
…62At midnight I rise to give You thanks for Your righteous judgments. 63I am a friend to all who fear You, and to those who keep Your precepts. 64The earth is filled with Your loving devotion, O LORD; teach me Your statutes.… Psalm 119: 62-64
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.