Atos 9

Atos 9

Morgan - A chosen vessel unto Me.—Acts 9.15 How unexpected, and how surpassingly wise are the elections of God. "Saul breathing threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord": "A chosen vessel unto Me." Saul was a man of Tarsus, a Hebrew of Hebrews, and withal a free-born citizen of Rome. All his earliest years had been spent in the atmosphere of Tarsus, a city which was Greek in its out-look. He had been educated religiously, in the straitest of sects, that of the Pharisees. Through all his life, whether in Cilicia or Judaea, he had moved in the liberty of Roman citizenship. His youth had been clean: as touching the righteousness which is in the law he was blameless. He was free from all hypocrisy, and intense in his devotion to what he believed. This man was the chosen vessel of the Lord, to bear His name before Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. This is perhaps the supreme instance in the New Testament of how natural gifts and capacities are possessed by the Spirit, and made the media through which witness is borne to Christ. All those elements which made him the most powerful antagonist of Christianity became the forces which created the power of his protagonism. It was a critical hour for the Church. In the affairs of men critical hours are hours of uncertainty and therefore of peril. In the economy of God they are hours of victory for He finds the man; and His gifts and callings are without repentance, for His wisdom is final and unclouded. C H Spurgeon on The Completeness of Paul's Conversion - Is it not beautiful to see how Paul forgot all his old Pharisaism? All the hard words and bitter blasphemies that he had spoken against Christ, they have all gone in a moment. What strange changes will come over some beings in an instant! One of my students who has been a sailor has preached the gospel for some long time, but his English was far from grammatical. Having been in college some little time he began to speak correctly, but suddenly the old habit returned upon him. He was in the Princess Alice (sunk in 1878 with loss of over 650 lives) at the time of the lamentable catastrophe, and he escaped in an almost miraculous manner. I saw him some time after, and congratulated him on his escape, and he replied that he had saved his life but had lost all his grammar. He found himself for awhile using the language of two or three years ago; and even now he declares that he cannot get back what he had learnt. He seems to have drowned his grammar on that terrible occasion. Now, just as we may lose some good thing by a dreadful occurrence, which seems to sweep over the mind like a huge wave and wash away our treasures, so by a blessed catastrophe, if Christ should meet with any man tonight, much which he has valued will be swept away! You may write on wax, and may make the record fair. Take a hot iron and roll it across the wax, and it is all gone. That seems to me to be just what Jesus did with Paul's heart. It was all written over with blasphemy and rebellion, and He rolled the hot iron of burning love over his soul, and the evil inscription was all gone. He ceased to blaspheme, and he began to praise. R C Sproul on Chosen Instrument - A fundamental principle of the law of economics is this: the single most important cause of increasing productivity is better tools. Only 3 percent of Americans today are farmers, yet they feed not only all of America but much of the world. Why is it that the American farmer can produce so much more food than farmers from other countries? It is not because the American has a higher IQ or a better physique or more information about agriculture. It is because the American farmer has better tools. The American farmer has a John Deere tractor, whereas farmers in other countries have a plow that is pulled behind a mule. A farmer working with a tractor and all the harvesting equipment we have in America today can vastly outproduce a farmer working alone with primitive tools. Karl Marx understood this, and he said that productivity increases when better tools are invented. He also understood the principle that whoever controls the tools controls the game. I learned that when I was a youth playing baseball on the sandlots of Pittsburgh. Before we had organized sports, we used to meet together at the ballpark. We arrived with all the necessary equipment—balls, bats, gloves—and we’d pick teams and play ball. We had no umpires, so whoever witnessed a play from the best angle would make the call. When there was a close play at first base, the first baseman would say, “You’re out!” while the runner would claim he was safe. The argument would continue until the runner would say, “It’s my bat, so I say that I’m safe.” In other words, if the game was going to continue, it would have to go the way the one with the tools said. That is why Marx wanted the state to own the tools, so that it could control the means of production. It is by the improvement of tools that production increases, and the greater the productivity, the greater the basic level of living for the people. The more shirts produced, the lower the cost per unit. The lower the cost per unit, the more people can afford them. The same principle applies to food. Increased production means lower prices; lower prices means wider distribution. This is elementary, but we tend to forget it from time to time. The key is getting the tool, the instrument, that will increase productivity and then using it to its optimal value and production. The reason I segued into economics is that the principle we looked at is found in the language Jesus used to explain to Ananias what He was doing in calling the Apostle Paul. The term vessel means “instrument, implement, or tool.” Jesus had chosen Saul as His instrument to help cultivate the kingdom that He had planted. Saul hadn’t chosen Christ, but Christ had chosen him for His purposes—to bear His Name. Saul had come bearing papers of authority from the high priest to wipe Christ’s Name off the face of the earth, but Christ had stopped him. He gave Saul a new burden, to bear His Name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. (St. Andrew's Expositional Commentary – Acts) A New Creation Read: Acts 9:10-22 If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Early in my work life I had a coworker who seemed to delight in using God’s name as a profanity. He mercilessly taunted Christians who were new to their faith or who tried to talk with him about Jesus. On the day I left that job to move to another community and a new place of employment, I remember thinking that this man would never become a follower of Jesus. Two years later I visited my old workplace. He was still there, but never have I witnessed such a dramatic change in a person! This man, so antagonistic to faith, was now a walking, talking example of what it means to be a “new creation” in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). And now, more than 30 years later, he’s still telling others how Jesus “met him where he was—sin and all.” It occurs to me that the early Christians must have seen something similar in Paul, their fiery persecutor—a riveting example of what it means to become a new creation (Acts 9:1-22). What great hope both of these lives are to those who think themselves beyond redemption! Jesus sought Paul and my former coworker—and me. And He continues today to reach the “unreachable” and model for us just how we can reach people too. Lord, I want to learn to reach out to others and share Your love and forgiveness. Teach me and help me to step out in both faith and trust. For further study, check out Truth with Love: Sharing the Story of Jesus by Ajith Fernando at discoveryseries.org/hp141 No one is beyond the reach of God. The Restoration Business Read: Philippians 3:1-8 I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ. —nkjv Philippians 3:8 Adam Minter is in the junk business. The son of a junkyard owner, he circles the globe researching junk. In his book Junkyard Planet, he chronicles the multibillion-dollar industry of waste recycling. He notes that entrepreneurs around the world devote themselves to locating discarded materials such as copper wire, dirty rags, and plastics and repurposing them to make something new and useful. After the apostle Paul turned his life over to the Savior, he realized his own achievements and abilities amounted to little more than trash. But Jesus transformed it all into something new and useful. Paul said, “Whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ” (Phil. 3:7-8). Having been trained in Jewish religious law, he had been an angry and violent man toward those who followed Christ (Acts 9:1-2). After being transformed by Christ, the tangled wreckage of his angry past was transformed into the love of Christ for others (2 Cor. 5:14-17). When we turn our lives over to Him, He makes us into something new If you feel that your life is just an accumulation of junk, remember that God has always been in the restoration business. When we turn our lives over to Him, He makes us into something new and useful for Him and others. Are you wondering how to become a new person? Romans 3:23 and 6:23 tell us that when we admit we are sinners and ask for God’s forgiveness, He gives us the free gift of eternal life that was paid for by the death and resurrection of Jesus. Talk to Him now about your need. Christ makes all things new. Sphere Of Influence Read: Acts 25:1-12 He is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before . . . kings. —Acts 9:15 The book The Preacher and the Presidents chronicles the ministry of evangelist Billy Graham. Spanning presidents from Harry S. Truman to George W. Bush, Graham often had an open door to the White House. Yet despite his unusual sphere of influence, Graham repeatedly credited the grace of God working through him for his influence—not any personal talent he might possess. The apostle Paul was another believer who was called to witness to people in high authority. Christ said of Paul, “He is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15). In Acts, we read that Paul’s sphere of influence included rulers such as Felix, Festus, Herod Agrippa, and perhaps Caesar himself (Acts 24–26). But as Billy Graham would do centuries later, Paul pointed to the grace of God working through him: “Not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1 Cor. 15:10). You may not be called to proclaim the gospel to heads of state, but God has placed people in your life with whom He wants you to share His message of hope. Why not pray for opportunities for God’s grace to flow through you as a witness to someone in your sphere of influence? Lord, help me make my witness clear, And labor faithfully, So friends and neighbors turn to Christ Through what they hear from me. —Anon. The best place to witness is where God has placed you. By Dennis Fisher Acts 9:16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name's sake." (NASB: Lockman) KJV Acts 9:16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. NET Acts 9:16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." ESV Acts 9:16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." Wuest Acts 9:16 I will show him how many things it is necessary in the nature of the case for him to suffer on behalf of my Name. I will Acts 20:22,23; 21:11; Isa 33:1; Mt 10:21-25; John 15:20; 16:1-4; 1 Cor 4:9-13; 2 Cor 11:23-27; 2 Ti 1:12; 2:9,10; 3:11 for Acts 9:14; Mt 5:11; 24:9; 1 Peter 4:14; Rev 1:9 Acts 9 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries SUFFERING IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE For (gar) - Term of explanation. What is Jesus explaining? He is showing Saul what it will "cost" to be His chosen instrument! Ray Stedman is correct that here we come to "a word we do not like -- suffer. Yet the Christian life invariably involves suffering." Stedman then goes on to answer the question "Why is suffering a part of Christian life? Because, of course, suffering is the activity of love. It is love that bears hurt. Love suffers. It takes the blame, it takes the hurt, it is willing to endure. Anyone called to be a Christian must learn to suffer, must learn to love. Love is hurt in the process of loving. That is why, in this fallen world, love must always suffer. This man is called to enter into the sufferings of Jesus Christ because Jesus loves this world, loves fallen man and wants to redeem him. But he cannot redeem without being hurt in return. So this man is also called to be hurt. What a tremendously responsive instrument he became. How much he suffered in order that he might manifest the love of the heart of God for a lost and wicked world. When we are called to follow Jesus Christ, we are called to suffer. We have to forgive. That hurts, doesn't it? We do not want to forgive; we want to hold out and take vengeance. We want our ego to be fed a little and our pride satisfied. But God has called us to suffer and forgive. That is part of the Christian life. But finally, this man is not called to do this in his own strength: God never sends forth men at their own charges; he is called and equipped to do it. No one can manifest the suffering of Christian love without being filled with the Holy Spirit." (Acts 9:1-19 Beloved Enemy) I will show him how much he must suffer for My name's sake - Notice the verb must (dei) in the present tense describes suffering as a continual necessity or perhaps better phrased a continual inevitability! In his last words before he died Paul wrote about his suffering with an emphasis on God's purpose (2 Ti 2:9-10+) for which (FOR THE Gospel) I (present tense - continually) suffer hardship (kakopatheo) even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God (THE Gospel) is not imprisoned. 10 For this reason (HERE IS WHY PAUL IS WILLING TO SUFFER) I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory. And lest we think this suffering was limited to Paul, he himself reminds Timothy and all genuine disciples of Jesus of the inevitability of suffering writing... Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. (2 Ti 3:12+) 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+). Show (5263)(hupodeiknumi from hupó = under + deiknuo = show, make known the character or significance of something by visual, auditory, gestural, or linguistic means) literally means to show by placing under (as under one's gaze or before one's eyes) and so to show or instruct plainly, to set before one's eyes, to exemplify by words or actions. The idea is to direct someone’s attention to something and so to point out or make known. Steven Ger has an interesting comment - In what could be portrayed as "God's karma," the one who had caused such a variety of suffering would in turn experience an even greater variety of suffering (Paul provides a veritable shopping list of these personal miseries in 2 Cor. 11:22-33). (Twenty-First Century Commentary-Acts) COMMENT - Of course Ger does not believe in the Hindu doctrine of karma, but is using it metaphorically. He is using it in the Biblical sense of one reaps what they sow a principle Paul himself taught in (Gal 6:7-8+) See What does the Bible say about karma? and Is “you reap what you sow” biblical? Suffer (3958)(pascho) generally means to experience something, but clearly in this context means to experience or be subjected to something bad or unpleasant. Luke uses this verb 5 times in Acts and 4 refer to the suffering of Christ. It is thus fitting that in this verse pascho refers to suffering of Saul/Paul his disciple. Paul refers to another purpose of his inevitable suffering writing "I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church." (Col 1:24NLT+, cf Peter's attitude toward suffering for the Lord's sake - Acts 5:41+) Jack Andrews (Sermon) on Jesus' prediction of Saul's coming suffering - We do not serve a vindictive God. He is not waiting to get back at us. Saul didn’t suffer to pay debt for his past life. He didn’t suffer to be saved, but he suffered because he was saved. He suffered for the cause of Christ. He suffered persecutions for many because he bore the Name of Jesus all over the known world. John