What More Does the Lord Have To Do
Minister Cedric A. Portis
Cedque8@cs.com
Acts 9:1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
Acts 9:2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
Acts 9:3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
Acts 9:4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Acts 9:5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
Acts 9:6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
Acts 9:7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
Acts 9:8 And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
Acts 9:9 And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.
Acts 9:10 And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.
Acts 9:11 And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,
Acts 9:12 And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.
Acts 9:13 Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:
Acts 9:14 And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.
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 kings, and the children of Israel:
Acts 9:16 For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.
Acts 9:17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.
Acts 9:18 And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.
Acts 9:19 And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus.
Acts 9:20 And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.
Acts 9:21 But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?
Acts 9:22 But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ.
Saul, was a man who hated the church. He hated Jesus, he hated Christians and he hated anything that had to do with Christianity. Because of his hatred, he did everything within his power to destroy it.
And that is his intent as he gets his arrest warrants and begins his trip to Damascus.
It is important for us to note that Saul was moving against Christ Himself.
The scripture tells us that Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. Let put a little perspective on this.
Jerusalem was about a 6 day walk from Damascus. And he was so full of rage that he was going to spend 12 days walking in addition to how many days it took to round the Christians up.
Now there is on phrase that I must call your attention to and if you read to fast you will miss it. In verse 2, he says “that if he found any of this way.” What does “this way mean”
Christians in this day were called "those belonging to the Way." That indicated what others saw in these early Christians. They saw that they were different; they had a different way of life and to use the phrase that is common today yet is very descriptive of this word, they had a lifestyle about them that was different.
These Christians were characterized, not by self-centeredness, not by the philosophy of "me first, as the world is, but they were characterized by love and acceptance and understanding and tolerance. Many have heard the remark quoted frequently about the early Christians, "How these Christians love one another."
That is what impressed the world of the first century.
They called them, "those belonging to the Way," the way of love. There was something about them that reminded them of Jesus, who was himself "the Way, the Truth, and the Life."
Let’s look at this man Saul. Who is he and where did he come from. He was born in the Greek city of Tarsus and learned at the Jewish synagogue there. This means that he could relate to the Greek people. He was the son of a strictly orthodox Jewish father, a son of a Pharisee.
He himself was a Pharisee. So, this means he has had a deep love and appreciation for his Jewish faith and could easily speak to people who were rooted in Judaism.
He was educated as a rabbi by Gamaliel in Jerusalem. That means that he could relate to educated people.
He spoke Aramaic and Greek. That meant that he could speak to people in their own language.
He was a Roman citizen through his father. It saves his life at one point. It also causes the other Roman citizens to listen to him.
His was not just a "go-to-church-every-week-and-mind-your-own-business" kind of belief, his was a passionately active kind of belief.
He was passionately serious about his belief in God.
He knew the Scriptures backwards and forwards.
He studied the Scriptures daily and applied them to his life.
Jews of those days all knew the Scriptures well, but Saul was way above average because he was college educated by the best professor in the world.
He believed in God and was active with his faith—but he was wrong; he did not know God!
Saul was a religiously active person who was dead wrong about his beliefs about God.
It can be a frightening thing when people think they know the Bible and may even think they know the difference in right and wrong, but they don’t know God.
You see, Saul had a religion – but he didn’t have a relationship.
The religion of Saul was an inherited religion. It was one he had learned from his father. He grew up in a Pharisee’s home. He was taught the life of a Pharisee as a child. As he got older, he sat under the teaching of the most influential Jewish teacher’s of his day. It wasn’t long before Saul knew all of the laws and ordinances of Judaism. There was one problem, Saul knew Judaism, but he didn’t know God. That is the downfall of an inherited religion.
A quick lesson here for us as parents. It is important that we teach our children the doctrine of Christianity. It is important that we help them understand the morals and ethics that go with our faith. But it is far more important that we introduce our children to Jesus Christ. If our children grow up believing that Christianity means going to church every Sunday, learning all of the right songs, praying the right prayers and standing for the right things, then we are failing as parents.
If our children equate Christianity with just being against Abortion, Premarital Sex, Drugs and Alcohol, and all of the other taboos of our day, then again we have failed them. We don’t want our children to inherit our religion; we want our children to meet our Savior.
Saul had a wonderful religion, but he missed have a wonderful relationship with God. In some ways it might seem unlikely for God to choose Saul to be one of the major leaders of the church,especially since he originally wanted to eliminate the Christians. However, we see that God uses his background. Nobody else has quite the background he has.
God has a way of taking our backgrounds, whatever they are, and making good out of them. We may have some great things about our backgrounds that have given us special skill and knowledge. Things we could be proud of. However, there may be things about our backgrounds that we are not so proud of. We may just soon forget, but God takes our background and uses it for HIS benefit.
You may have been addicted to drugs or alcohol, but what a testimony you have now that God has delivered you. And it could be a host of things from the past, stealing, lying, selfish, married to your job and forsaking your family, in an abusive relationship, maybe you ate too much or had a close relative die or what ever your situation use to be, you can testify now that I may not be what I want to be, but praise God that I am not what I use to be. I owe all that I have and all that I am to the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.
So, here is Saul with all of this background. A background that has led him to believe that the Christians are dead wrong about what they believe. He has gotten papers from the chief priests to bring Christians bound back to Jerusalem. As he is going, he is breathing threats of murder with hatred in his heart.
Then, suddenly a bright light shines around him and he is struck down. Then a voice cries out, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" He replies, "Who art thou, Lord?" "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
When Saul is knocked down by God, he does something that reveals his broken spirit. He asks two questions. They are probably the two most important questions we can ever ask God. They are;
Who are you? What do you want me to do?
The first question Saul asks is, “Who are you?”
This is a personal question. Please, God, who are you? Suddenly, Saul realized that this was not the God he knew. This was not the God that he had been serving. So he cries out, “who are you?” All of his years of training and in one brilliant second, Saul realizes that he doesn’t know God at all. God to him was some distant, far off God who had put the universe together – set it in motion and then left it to run its course. Yes, He had spoken to Abraham and Moses and few of the others in Israel’s past. Saul had learned that in his studies.
But to Saul, He was a theory. He was a list of do’s and don’ts. On the road to Damascus, Saul met a God he never dreamed existed and so he asked, “Who are you?”For that reason, not only is Saul’s question a personal question, it’s also a relational question. Not just who are you? Who are you to me? Saul wasn’t seeking just information when he asked Jesus that question. Saul didn’t want intelligence on what the light was and who was speaking to him. Paul wanted to know what this meant for his life. Is this it? Is this the end? Am I going to be destroyed or will you spare me? It was a question about Jesus’ character. It was a question all of us must ask.
Jesus response was, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.’
We need to understand the meaning of this answer. Saul understood it immediately. He had been persecuting Jesus for quite some time.
You recall that He had stood watch over the coats while Stephen gave his defense before he was murdered. Saul had heard the testimony of who this Jesus was. Time and again, as he had arrested and persecuted the followers of “The Way,” they had witnessed to him about Jesus. He knew immediately that everything he had heard was true.
Suddenly he understood what Stephen had said – that Jesus had died on the cross – that he had died for our sins – for his sins.
He understood that he had been resurrected three days later. He understood that without Jesus Christ as his Savior, he was not going to inherit eternal life. He probably didn’t have all of the theology down right away, but he knew that he was dead in his sins without a relationship with this Jesus.
I believe that it was at this time that Saul surrendered his life to Jesus Christ. Why do I say that? Because of the next question he asks Jesus.
What do you want me to do?
Immediately, Saul goes from a Pharisee to disciple and from persecutor to proclaimer of Jesus Christ. We see in his question a man who has surrendered his will to the Will of Jesus Christ. Lord, What do you want me to do?
That question is a question of Lordship.
It’s as if Saul is saying, “I have been leading my own life, doing my own thing. I thought I was doing your business, but I was wrong , now I only want to do your will,.” Tell me Lord, What do you want me to do?
Really, it is a faith question. Later, in writing to the Corinthians, Paul would say, “for we walk by faith, not by sight.” Whenever I read that, I wonder if that isn’t something that he learned immediately on the road to Damascus. The Lord took away his sight for three days. In those three days, all Saul could do was walk by faith. And he would be walking by faith for the rest of his life.
He begins immediately. Jesus tells him, “‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.’ Notice that at this point, Saul didn’t make any excuses: Can’t see, I’m confused, I don’t know all the answers and even though he must be led by the hand, he goes into Damascus, where he would begin a ministry that would lead him all over the known world.
Saul thought he was zealous for God while he was only zealous for himself and God had to find a dramatic way to get Saul’s attention.
Saul could not hear God speak to him as he read the Scriptures.
Saul could not hear God speak to him in church each week.
Saul could not hear God speak to him because he had his own system of beliefs that were preventing him from hearing and understanding the truth about Christ.
Christ had to flash a bright light from heaven to get Saul’s attention.
God was unable to get Saul to listen to him any other way, and God had to do something drastic in Saul’s life to get him to turn around understand the truth.
Saul was blinded by Christ.
Christ physically blinded Saul to tell him that he was Spiritually blind as well.
that he wasn’t seeing the truth.
that he wasn’t seeing God.
that he wasn’t seeing Scriptures correctly.
that he wasn’t seeing the Way to God.
Christ blinded Saul to let him know that he wasn’t seeing what God really wanted him to do with his life.
Unfortunately, there are many people like Saul still today.
There are people who are spiritually blind who lash out and attack those who aren’t.
There are people who are spiritually blind who think they are doing God a favor by throwing a fit when others do things they don’t like.
There are people who are spiritually blind who will not stray from the old ways, tradition (this is the way we have always done it) never bothering to ask if this is what God wants.
There are people that before accepting change, God may have to strike blind or bring terrible adversity in their lives.
I get very concerned about people who are spiritually blind and think they’re doing God a favor by getting upset with people who are simply seeking Jesus Christ.
Paul was spiritually blind and Christ had to physically blind him in order to get his attention and I wonder what more does Christ have to do to get your attention.
Then, the Lord speaks to Ananias in a vision. "I want you to go to Saul. Right now he is praying and seeing a man name Ananias come to him and help him restore his sight." And with good reason, Ananias is just a little bit reluctant. He says to God, "Perhaps you haven’t heard, but this Saul is bad news! He’s been persecuting the people who call upon Your name in Jerusalem and now he intends to take us bound back to Jerusalem." Jesus just says, "Go. I will use him to speak before Jews and Gentiles and kings and he will suffer much for my sake."
Ananias is obedient. He goes to Saul and he says a wonderful thing. He doesn’t say, "Saul, who do you think you are going around and hurting my Christian friends?" He simply goes to him and says, "Brother Saul, the Lord has sent me to you." He doesn’t pass judgement on him or pretend to be better than him. He simply accepts him as a brother of faith and as part of the community of faith.
It says that something like scales fell from his eyes. He is filled with the Holy Spirit and is baptized. He has been physically and spiritually blind and now he can see!
There are several things I think we can learn from this story. There are several questions that come to my mind as I read it. The first one may not seem that major. It’s one of those unanswered parts of the stories that I often wonder about.
What happened to the men that are with Saul? It tells us that they hear the voice. They help Saul into town and then that’s the last we hear of them. I would like to think, with something so dramatic, that they became Christians as well. It doesn’t it tell us. Then, I got to thinking, they may not have. There are many people today who see God at work in powerful ways and yet continue to disbelieve. They see you being blessed through your obedience and call you crazy, but want deliverance. They see your calm in the midst of a storm, but they refuse to accept that your strength comes not from a drug, not from a bottle but from the Holy Spirit sent by Jesus Himself.
Another question I think this story confronts us with is: Do we really believe people can change? I would propose to you, that to not believe that people can change, your are missing a big part of the gospel message. It’s all about Christ coming into our lives and shaking us to the uttermost, to the core of our being and we’re never the same.
We may not have the kind of experience like Saul/Paul had, but we believe that God is continuing to work in our lives and make us into the people God would have us be. Maybe the reason this may be unsettling to us is because we may wonder, Can we change?
We have some destructive things in our lives and we can’t quite seem to shake them, sometimes even when we want to. But the message of the gospel is that we can change. God is in the life changing business.
It may not come all at once, but little by little as we open ourselves up to God’s work in our lives, we change. Paul has said in Galatians 2:19-20: "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
Here’s another question: What would have happened to Paul if Ananias hadn’t gone? I’m sure Ananias could have said, "That wasn’t a vision. It was something bad I ate. I don’t have to tell anybody about this. This will be just between me and God." It took a lot of courage and faith for him to go. If he hadn’t gone, it would have been a lot harder for Paul to be incorporated into the church. It was hard enough as it was.
Many were skeptical, but because he went and was claimed as a brother of the faith and discipled, he was able to do great things for God.
We need not just to go on a hunt to get church members, but to make disciples. What a tragedy to bring someone to church and never introduce them to Jesus.
Here’s another question: What would have happened to Ananias if he hadn’t gone? He would have missed a great blessing. He wouldn’t have seen the change of Paul’s life and his baptism. Beyond that, he would have been disobedient. I don’t know about you, but sometimes when God calls me to do something hard, I’d much rather do it than live with the knowledge that I was disobedient. When I get to the end of my life and I face God, I want to hear, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."
It can be a scary thing to go to some people and tell them about Christ.
There are some people who you think are going to make fun of you.
There are some people who you think are going to get angry with you.
But when Christ speaks to us and tells us to go, we must go.
Christ knows what He’s doing.
Even if the person doesn’t get saved and doesn’t respond the way Saul did, we must go when Christ says go.
How they respond is not our responsibility; our only responsibility is to be obedient.
There are also some who claim to know God, but are spiritually blind like Saul was and they tend to get very angry But I go because I love Christ.
I go because I know that He knows the whole picture and I don’t.
I go because I know that Christ can still penetrate the heart of anyone!
It doesn’t have anything to do with me.
Praise God Saul saw the light
And praise God, many whom God moves us to minister to, will see the light as well!
Praise God, the more we share the gospel with the more will see the light!
If we are obedient to share when Christ asks us to share, many will be saved by the power of Jesus Christ!
You see it wasn’t Ananias that converted Saul, it was Jesus!
Jesus has the power to save anyone!
He only wants us to go!
Ananias did not orchestrate this whole thing, Jesus did!
Ananias had nothing to do with the bright light on the road to Damascus.
Ananias wasn’t even praying for Saul to get saved-Jesus orchestrated the whole thing.
And we must remember that when we go, it really doesn’t have anything to do with us.
Christ’s ability to save has nothing to with our ability to speak.
Christ’s ability to save has nothing to with our ability to understand the Bible.
Christ’s ability to save has nothing to with our ability to persuade.
Christ has the power to save overcomes the fact that the person sharing the Gospel can’t read
Christ has the power to save overcomes the fact that the person sharing the Gospel has a speech impedement
Christ has the power to save and all He is asking us to do is go—just like Ananias!
Christ has the power to save!, We must believe it
Christ has the power to save! We must live by it
Christ has the power to save! WE must tell the world
It has nothing to do with our ability! Christ has the power to save!
Paul went from persecuting Christians to preaching to Christians.
Paul went from bringing death to sharing life.
Paul went from aiding the Jews to astonishing the Jews.
Paul certainly knew that of which he spoke when he wrote
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Corinthians II 5:17
When Christ gets a hold of someone, He will change their life!
When Christ works in a person’s life to save them, He will change them!
Christ will make them into a new person, just like He did Paul.
When Christ works in a person’s life, he works powerfully, just like He did in Paul.
All Christ asks us to do is go. He will orchestrate the whole thing.
He will give you the words to say. He will pour forth His power and His Spirit.
And when He converts someone, they will start moving with Christ.
They may not preach, but they will be changed and start moving with Christ.
Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever!
The same Christ that made such a dramatic change in Saul can do the same in your life!
If you haven’t seen a change in your life, then Christ isn’t there.
Maybe today your a religious person like Saul who is spiritually blind and think you’ve been doing God a big favor with you self-righteous attacks on others who are trying to follow Christ.
Perhaps today you need to come and ask Christ to open your eyes so that you may see!
Or perhaps you do have your spiritual sight and you need to begin making yourself available to Christ to be an Ananias in someone’s life. Or perhaps you need to ask Jesus to be the Lord of your life and let him change you like He did Saul and so many others. What response do you need to make to Christ today?
What more does the Lord have to do.
Illustration
There was a shepherd who lived in Ireland. And his granddaughter went to visit him. While visiting with him, she walked into a barn and saw a young lamb with its leg in a splint. “She wondered what had happened, she wanted to know. “Oh,” said the old shepherd, “he had a bad habit of running off, so the other day, I broke his leg.”When the old man told her that, she began to cry. “Why on earth would you do that”, she asked. “Well”, he said, “the little guy had a bad habit of running off. Every time he would do that, he would be in danger. He could fall off the edge of a cliff and kill himself, or a wolf or some other predator could find him, kill him and eat him. Every time he ran off, I would have to go find him. Then, I would set him with the rest of the flock only to have him run off again. So, I broke his leg. But, that’s not the end of it. After I broke his leg, I also mended it. I put a splint on it, all the while, I was talking to him, comforting him, consoling him. Now, I have to carry water in to him every day. Not only that, I have to feed him by hand. As I do, I continue to talk to him and comfort him. By the time his leg heals, he will know my voice. He will know that it is I who takes care of him. He will come when I call him. He will stay with me, no matter what. Now, I will be able to lead him, and the rest of the sheep will follow him. This lamb will one day be the best sheep of the flock – why, because the other day, I broke his leg. In order to break its will, I had to break its leg.” Often, for God to be able to use us, He must first break us. That is exactly what God did to Saul. He broke him, then He restored him. In that process, Saul discovered the true and living God who is Jesus Christ.
What more does the Lord have to do in your life for you to recognize who He is and ask the question LORD what do you want me to do.
