Atos 9
R.C. Sproul · Citado em PreceptAustin
Atos 9
Sproul writes, “Resisting the lordship of Christ is not only sinful, but it is stupid, because God has raised Him from the grave, placed him at His right hand, and given Him all authority in heaven and on earth and has called every person to bow the knee before Him. To resist Him is foolish.” Notice Saul initially skirts the charge of persecution! Matthew
Atos 9
Sproul adds that Saul "met the eternal High Priest, who will never retire or abdicate His office by dying as all the lines of high priests in Israel had, one after another. Their term was limited, but the High Priest changed the orders, gave a new commission, overruled the high priest in Jerusalem, and gave Paul a whole new mission, which he began to carry out immediately." (St. Andrew's Expositional Commentary – Acts) All who call on Your Name - "All who call on your Name" is another phrase that describes believers in Jesus, recalling that Name stands for the person and all that is true about that person. (Acts 2:21, 9:14, 21, 1 Cor 1:2 = "all who in every place call on the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ", cf Amos 9:12, Acts 15:17, 22:16). This phrase is also part of Paul’s plea to Israel from Joel 2:32+ in Ro 10:9-12,13+. Peter uses Joel 2:32+ in his sermon in Acts 2:21+ promising "that everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved." Notice the mysterious balance -- on one hand God calling men and on the other men calling on God. Acts 2:39 speaks of "as many as the Lord...shall call to Himself" and Acts 2:21 which promises that "everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved." God's ways are incomprehensible. All means that no Jew who believed in Jesus was immune to Saul's ire (cf Acts 9:21+). Of course one of those who called upon the Name of Jesus was Ananias. Dear reader have you called on the Name of the Lord and been saved by grace through faith? Rich Cathers on Ananias' reluctance - Ananias has some VERY GOOD reasons why not to obey the Lord’s call. He might be thinking, "But Lord, I’msomebody that calls on Your name. He might have ME arrested!" Lesson: Excuses are just excuses Illustration To make it possible for everyone to attend church next Sunday, we are going to have a special "No Excuse Sunday." Cots will be placed in the lobby for those who say, "Sunday is my only day to sleep in." Murine will be available for those with tired eyes... from watching television too late on Saturday night. We will have steel helmets for those who say, "The roof would cave in if I ever came to church." Blankets will be provided for those who think the church is too cold, and fans for those who think the church is too hot. We will have hearing aids for those who say, "The Pastor speaks too softly," and cotton for those who say he preaches too loudly. Score cards will be available for those who wish to list the hypocrites present. Some relatives will be in attendance for those who like to go visiting on Sunday. There will be 100 TV dinners for those who cannot go to church and cook dinner also. One section will be devoted to trees and grass for those who like to seek God in nature. Finally, the gym will be decorated with both Christmas poinsettias and Easter lilies for those who have never seen the church without them. The problem with excuses, whether they’re good ones like Ananias’ or bad ones, they’re still excuses. And they keep us from the wonderful plans that God has for our lives. If God has been the one leading you to do something, what ever could you be fearful of? Acts 9:15 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; (NASB: Lockman) KJV Acts 9:15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and Ki, and the children of Israel: Go Exodus 4:12-14; Jer 1:7; Jonah 3:1,2 a chosen Acts 13:2; Jer 1:5; John 15:16; Ro 1:1; 9:21-24; Gal 1:1,15,16; 2 Ti 1:11; 2 Ti 2:4,20,21; Rev 17:14 to bear Acts 21:19; 22:21; 26:17-20; Ro 1:5,13-15; 11:13; 15:15-21; 1 Cor 15:10; Gal 2:7,8; Eph 3:7,8; Col 1:25-29; 1 Ti 2:7 and Kings Acts 25:22-27; 26:1-11; 27:24; Mt 10:18; 2 Ti 4:16,17 Acts 9 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries ANANIAS CHARGE TO GO But - Term of contrast. In essence the Lord "cut off" Ananias in mid-sentence and changed direction. In other words the Lord changes the direction back to Saul and in this context the contrast actually functions somewhat like a term of explanation. Note that Jesus shows great patience with Ananias and does not rebuke him, but instead presents additional truth that precedes His command to "Go." As