ASTONISHED!
Acts 9:18-31
INTRODUCTION
Hold up picture of antlion and ask – ‘What do you think this is?’
(AWAIT RESPONSES)
Hold up picture of antlion pits and explain that these are the traps antlions build to catch their prey.
Hold up picture of lacewing and ask – ‘What do you think this is?’
(AWAIT RESPONSES)
How can we tell the difference between an antlion and a lacewing?
(AWAIT RESPONSE)
That’s right we’ve just got to look at them to see the difference – don’t we.
You know, in thinking about the antlion becoming a lacewing we come face to face with one of the most extraordinary transformations possible. Antlion and lacewing - same creature - profoundly different! The way each moves, what they eat, where they live, how they look – no similarity at all and yet one and the same!
Did you know that when someone becomes a Christian, an even greater transformation takes place! Listen to what the apostle Paul says – and he should know because he himself experienced this transformation when he met the risen Christ on the road to Damascus: ‘Therefore, (says Paul) if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!’ (2 Cor 5:17) And the ‘new’ that has come is in the person of the Holy Spirit. Scripture teaches us that by God’s Spirit we are ‘born again’ and by God’s Spirit we are changed and by God’s Spirit we are kept and by God’s Spirit we are sealed. Transformed into the image of Christ.
We are told in the passage that John read to us a little earlier that Saul in his new found life was ‘astonishing’. Listen again to verse 21, ‘All those who heard him were astonished & asked…’ ‘Is this the same Saul?! – this man bears no similarity to the Saul we know!’
What was it that made Saul so astonishing? We noted a moment ago that we can distinguish at a glance the antlion from the lacewing (HOLD UP PICTURES). What do we see when we look at the metamorphosed Saul. Saul was more than metamorphosed – he now had the risen Christ dwelling in him through the person of the Holy Spirit. And Christ had Saul in Him – Saul was ‘in Christ’.
What made Saul look so different? How did they recognise the change? What was it about him that brought about such astonishment? The antlion (HOLD UP PICTURES AGAIN) had become a lacewing – let’s see if we can pinpoint the changes that occurred. We want to discover how we as fellow believers should look, in order to be astonishing to those around us. We want as Saul did to give a living testimony to the reality of Jesus.
The first thing Saul did was -
1. Make His Trust In Jesus Public?
Look at verse 18 - ‘... He got up and was baptised…’ Saul wanted it to be known that he was different because Christ had changed him. Saul hadn’t changed himself – the risen conquering Christ had created Saul afresh! Astonishing!
Saul immediately publicly proclaimed his allegiance to Jesus Christ. He wanted it to be clear that he now belonged to the King of kings. He had gone from being His enemy to being His obedient subject.
If it is your desire to be astonishing for Jesus ask yourself these questions: ‘Have I made it public that my life is all that it is because of Him?’ ‘Have I been baptised?’ ‘Have I been obedient to my Lord in this regard?’ ‘Or is Jesus in fact not my Lord at all for I have not really surrendered to Him!?’ You see baptism goes way beyond ritual – it symbolises submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. It proclaims that His death and resurrection are mine. It proclaims that in Him the antlion has become a lacewing.
Saul immediately identified himself publicly with the Lord in Whom he now trusted as his Saviour, and to Whom he had surrendered.
To be astonishing you must identify yourself with Jesus and obey Him.
The second thing Saul did was to:
2. Become ‘One’ With The Lord’s People?
We are told in verse 19 that - ‘... Saul spent several days with the disciples …’ And it is evident from verse 26 that Saul’s desire was to join with the disciples in Jerusalem aswell.
If we are to be growing in our walk with the Lord we need to be spending time with His people. We need to be being discipled. Do you belong to a small group? Are you meeting regularly with other believers?
To be astonishing you need your brothers and sisters in Christ.
A mark of the lacewing is that it spends time with other lacewings. And studies have shown that if it were to try and spend time with the antlion it would in fact be devoured by its own kin!
In pointing this out I am not saying we must isolate ourselves – what I am saying is this – Scripture teaches that we must spend time with our brothers and sisters in Christ in order to be seen as different when we spend time with those who do not as yet profess Him. Let them be astonished by Christ in you! Let them marvel because the antlion has become a beautiful lacewing!
Thirdly, Saul:
3. Preached Christ
Look at verse 20! – ‘At once he began to preach … Jesus ...’ Saul was compelled to preach Christ.
‘Charlie Peace, a criminal in England, on the day he was being taken to his execution, listened to a minister reading from the Word. And when he found out he was reading about heaven and hell, he looked at the preacher and said, "Sir, if I believed what you and the church of God say, and even if England were covered with broken glass from coast to coast, I would walk over it on hands and knees and think it worthwhile living just to save one soul from an eternal hell like that."’
(Ravi Zacharias, "The Lostness of Humankind," Preaching Today, Tape No. 118.)
When we come to know the Lord and put our trust in Him, we should waste no time in telling others of our wonderful Saviour and of all He has done for us and is able to do for them. We may not be outstanding preachers like Saul but all of us are able in some way to point people to Jesus.
Are you compelled to make Him known? It will astonish people if you are!
Fourthly Saul was:
4. Growing In The Lord?
Read verse 22. Saul knew his Lord so well and gave himself over to Him so fully that when people met Saul, they met Jesus! By his words and his actions he ‘proved’ Jesus to be the Christ! Astonishing!
Do I spend quality time in God’s Word? Do I spend time in prayer? Do I spend time in praise? Am I obedient to what God instructs? Am I serving Him and His people? Am I growing in Him?
Be astonishing! Get to know your Lord so well that He shines out of you!
So how can we know if we are getting it right? Well, I’d like to suggest three tests located in this morning’s text.
If you are astonishing for the Lord, you will:
1. Be Willing To Suffer Persecution For Him?
Look at vss 23-25 & 29. What a rough time Saul had right at the start of his Christian life! Jesus had told Ananias how much Saul must suffer for Him. And Jesus also tells us in His Word that we will more than likely encounter persecution as we are faithful to Him. For we live in a hostile to the gospel environment.
Persecution doesn’t have to be in the form Saul experienced it. It could come in the form of losing that job promotion. It could come in the form of ridicule. It could come in the guise of being rejected by the ‘in’ crowd. How ever it comes am I willing to embrace it with Jesus?
So the first test is – am I being persecuted or am I willing to be persecuted for Jesus?
Be astonishing – embrace persecution with the Lord.
The second test is:
2. How Do I Handle Being Misunderstood?
You see in the beginning Saul was misunderstood. But he overcame that through his words and actions.
How do I react when I’m not understood? Do I maintain the truth regardless?
For that is the second test of being astonishing.
The final test is this:
3. Am I Willing To Address My Most Difficult ‘Whatever’ Because I Trust Jesus?
Saul went back to Tarsus – am I willing go back and deal with my Tarsus? Make restitution? Share my conversion with my most non-sympathetic friend? Ask for forgiveness from someone I’ve hurt? Humble myself and confess something that nobody knows about.
Whatever my Tarsus is – am I willing to go there because of my allegiance to and trust in Jesus?
Let’s aim to astonish those we come across!
Conclusion
Jesus wants us to be astonishing followers of Him.
I’d like to leave you with a true story from the journals of Alexander the Great:
’Alexander the Great and a small company of soldiers approached a strongly fortified walled city. Alexander, standing outside the walls, raised his voice and demanded to see the king. When the king arrived, Alexander insisted that the king surrender the city and its inhabitants to him and his little band of fighting men. The king laughed, “Why should I surrender to you? You can’t do us any harm!” But Alexander offered to give the king a demonstration. He ordered his men to line up single file and start marching. He marched them straight toward a sheer cliff. The townspeople gathered on the wall and watched in shocked silence as, one by one, Alexander’s soldiers marched without hesitation right off the cliff to their deaths! After ten soldiers died, Alexander ordered the rest of the men to return to his side. The townspeople and the king immediately surrendered to Alexander the Great. They realized that if a few men were actually willing to die in such a fashion at the command of this dynamic leader, then nothing could stop his eventual victory.
Are you willing to be as obedient to the ruler of the universe, Jesus Christ, as those soldiers were to Alexander? Are you as dedicated and committed? Think how much power Christ could have in our area with just a portion of such commitment.’
(Edited from Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks by Wayne Rice. Copyright 1994 by Youth Specialties, Inc. Contributed by: David Yarbrough)
