Go: Disciples Making Disciples – Week 4

All right. Good morning, guys. Good morning. It's good to see you today. Thank you for joining us for worship. My name is Jason, if we haven't met. I have the privilege here of serving as one of our pastors and elders, and it is great to be together. Again, thank you for being here. Thank you for choosing to worship with us. If you've been with us lately, you know that our current sermon series has been about our job as disciples to go. Go and make disciples, specifically, and this series comes out of Acts chapter 1, verse 8, where Jesus said, "You shall be my witnesses, both in Jerusalem and all of Judea, Samaria, and even to the end of the earth."

And so last Sunday, Pastor Scott preached about when the gospel first reached the Gentiles, and that was great, such a good word. This morning, we're moving on, and today, Jason, where are we going to be? We're going to be in Acts chapter 9, and so why don't you go ahead and turn there with me now. Acts chapter 9, starting in verse 1. As a reminder, during this series, we've been observing how Jesus is building his church, and today in Acts 9, we see the final promise unfold.

Today, we get to see the conversion of the man that Jesus will use to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth. And this is such a great passage. This is perhaps the most dramatic Christian conversion in all of scripture. This is a great passage. We're talking about Saul of Tarsus and his conversion to Christ. And if this is a name that's familiar to you, Saul begins our passage as an enemy of Jesus, and it ends with him proclaiming that Jesus is the Son of God.

It's remarkable. Saul begins the passage, he's actually hunting Christians, and it ends with him standing with Christians. Honestly, it's amazing. It's a miracle that we're seeing. We're seeing a God at work story unfold. Today, we're going to see that God's grace doesn't erase Saul's past. The grace of God actually gives him a totally different future, a new future, a great future. And today's passage, I'm just going to tell you guys, it's a word of hope.

I hope that this is a word of encouragement for each and every one of us here today. Jesus doesn't just forgive sinners and then leave us traveling in the wrong direction. He confronts us. He stops us. He humbles us, and he gives us a new purpose, and then he sends us out as his witnesses. And so, I tell you what, before we get started, why don't we first pray together? Can we do that? Let's bow our heads before the Lord. Father in heaven, oh, it's so good to be together again.

And, Lord, thank you. Thank you for this time of worship. Lord, thank you. Thank you. We're so happy to be here. Thank you, God, that we live in this great nation, this great land. Thank you that we can have a Bible in our hands, all of us. What a treasure. And God, we're here this morning with needy hearts, your Word in our hands. God, as only you can, help us see the glory of Christ in this passage. Show us the grace that confronts sinners, the grace that humbles proud hearts, and the grace that redirects our lives, and the grace that sends us out as witnesses.

Search our hearts, oh Lord, strengthen our faith, and help us hear and obey your Word. Meet with us now, we pray. In Jesus' good name, amen. Amen. All right. Here we go. Big idea this morning is grace not only forgives us, but grace also redirects us. Grace not only forgives us, but also redirects us. That's what grace does. And that's really what we're going to see here in Acts chapter 9. We're going to be covering the first 20 verses or so. Today, we're going to see that Jesus is alive, Jesus is reigning, Jesus building his church, Jesus keeping his word, and nothing can stop grace, and nothing can stop the spread of his gospel.

It's really remarkable. And if I could just encourage you before we get into this, it's nice to be reminded of what our God is able to do. And so I don't know if you're here today on a winning streak, or maybe it's a losing streak. Maybe you're discouraged. Maybe you're bothered. Maybe you're troubled in some way. Maybe you're anxious. Maybe you just had a great answer to a prayer, or maybe you're just kind of wrestling with God about something right now.

I don't know where you find yourself today, but allow God's Word to meet with you. Today, we're going to see what our God is capable of. We're going to see a miracle unfold before our very eyes, and we're going to hold up high God's Word. We're going to see his grace unfold before us, and it's remarkable. And maybe if you're here this morning, you're like, "I don't know if I feel it." There's just so much I'm telling you that we can be giving God thanks for today.

Today, we're going to be studying a great passage. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Next Sunday, come back. We're going to be going through summer Psalms together. We're going to be studying a Psalm each and every Sunday. What a treasure. Let's go. All right? Be here next Sunday for that, 10:00 a. m. In addition to that, have you guys heard about next weekend? What's happening in our country? What's taking place? Birthday! 250, how about that? Another great opportunity to give God some thanks- ...

right? This summer. Praise the Lord. Let's go. And not to mention that, how about World Cup, anybody? Hello! You guys tuning in, you guys watching this, what a great time to give God some thanks. Let's go. Five weeks from now, six weeks from now, we're going to be celebrating our 10th anniversary as a church. Can you believe it? Let's give God some thanks. He's good. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Let's go. And ladies, this one's for you. I know the humidity doesn't do much for your hair.

I know the heat doesn't do much for your hair. But I actually heard last night there was a birthday party. Ladies, I heard that the humidity is actually great for your skin. Let's go. All right? So much to give God thanks for. And not to mention, notice here in verse one. My first point this morning is Jesus confronts the sinner. This is so good. Notice here in verse one, "Now Saul," it says, "still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest."

Notice the word still. Do you guys see that? Now Saul still. Saul is still breathing threats and murder. You guys see that? And by way of context, you guys, I trust, are familiar enough with Acts to know that Stephen, the first martyr in the church, has been killed. The church has been scattered. We've looked at this in recent weeks. Men and women have been imprisoned. But Saul is not satisfied. He's still going strong. Luke says he is breathing threats and murder.

Vivid language. And if Saul is unfamiliar to you, let me just give you a little bit of background on him. Saul was from a town called... Anybody know? Tarsus. Tarsus, that's right. Tarsus. Jason, where's Tarsus? Tarsus is located in basically the corner where Asia Minor meets Syria. It's kind of north of Israel. I've actually been there, and it's actually pretty nice, believe it or not. It hasn't changed much since Saul lived there. And we're told in the New Testament that Saul's father, did you guys know this?

He was a Roman citizen, and a Jew, and a Pharisee. Additionally, we're told that Saul was born into the tribe of Benjamin, which means he's a Hebrew, he's an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, and keeping with Jewish tradition, every boy had to know a trade, which actually is a pretty great idea. And, so Saul apparently learned the trade of, do you guys know? Tent making. Tent making, that's right. And so at the age of 13 or so, Saul was packed up by his parents, sent off to Jerusalem, where he studied under a great teacher.

Anybody know his name? Gamaliel. Gamaliel, that's right. You guys are good. And so this teacher was not an ordinary teacher. He was a brilliant man. Saul learned from the best of the best of the best, and we're told in Galatians that Saul grew up and he actually excelled above all of his peers, above all of his contemporaries in Judaism. And so he's very studious, he's very smart. He's had a great education. He has the best resume. He is a man of privilege.

And so when he grows up, he became a man who was zealous for persecuting the church. And a couple of weeks ago, we mentioned that in Acts 7, when Stephen was being executed for his faith in Jesus, we find out there that he was stoned. And the people that are stoning him threw their coats essentially at Saul's feet. Saul, I would imagine maybe he's saying, "Faster, faster, throw harder, throw harder, keep throwing." And you get the point. And so now in verse two, it says, "He asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem."

And so here we see that Saul has a plan. He has authorization. He has letters. He has authority. He's essentially on a holy mission. He believes that he is serving God, and honestly, that's what makes men like Saul so frightening. Because he's not merely angry, he's a religious fanatic. And like a lot of fanatics, he's completely wrong. And that should sober us, shouldn't it? Because sincerity is not the same as truth. Zeal is not the same as faithfulness.

That was Saul. Saul believes he's defending God, but in reality, he's actually fighting against God. And with that, I'm curious, has anybody ever... You guys know at the mall, there's the escalators. Has anybody ever tried to go up the escalator when it's coming down? You guys kind of have the picture? Kids, don't do it. Just ask your dad how that went after church. Not a great idea. And so you guys have the picture, the escalator's coming down, and you're on the other side.

You're trying to go up the wrong way. You guys tried this? Moment of truth here in church. Anybody tried this? Yeah, we kind of all tried that probably at some point. At first, what do you guys think? It's like, "I think I can do it," right? "I'm pretty sure I can do it." Right? Is that what you guys think? "I think I can do it." And so you start walking, and you know that's not going to do it. And so then you start jogging, and you realize, yep, jogging's not going to do it.

It's going to take an effort. That's what it's going to take. It's going to take a sprint here in the mall today, and I'm going to have to go all out if I'm going to get to the top. And yeah, you guys get the idea. And of course, the people on the other side are there. What are they thinking? They're thinking, "What a knucklehead." That's what they're thinking. But you don't mind because you're going to get to the top, right? And for a lot of us, we kind of understand that picture.

And the problem is not a lack of effort. You can be trying really, really hard, but the point is, if you're going in the wrong direction, you're not going to get where you want to go. And in a lot of ways, that's what Saul is doing today. Saul, not lacking effort. He's trying really, really hard. He's working hard. He's sincere. He's zealous. But the problem with Saul is he's going the wrong way. And you see, the great thing about grace is that grace doesn't say, "Try harder."

That's not what grace says. Grace doesn't say, "Work more. Get up earlier. Try harder." That's not what grace says. Grace doesn't say, "Move faster." Grace says, "You're moving in the wrong direction." And sometimes the most gracious thing that Jesus can do is to stop us and show us that our effort cannot make a wrong direction right. Now, notice back here in verse two, it says something interesting. Did you guys pick up on it when I read it a moment ago?

Did you guys notice it? "And asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any..." Did you guys notice? "Belonging..." Do you guys see this? "Belonging to the Way." Huh. Yeah, the Way. Well, what do we know about the Way? Do you guys remember when Jesus said that, "I am the..." Way. He's the way, the truth, and the life. That's right. And during his ministry, over and over, Jesus isolated Christianity as the only way to God, right?

And Jesus said it is a narrow way and few will find it. Do you guys know the way this morning? And are you a part of the way? Are you on the narrow way today, or are you on the broad road that leads to destruction? Which way are you going? Which way are you on? Are you on the broad road this morning that leads to destruction? Which way are you headed? Some of you can maybe connect with Saul in some ways, doing your best, heading in the wrong direction.

Saul was on the broad road. Many, many people are on that path today. Does that describe you, your life, your way, your story? And sure, maybe you're not looking to destroy people's lives like Saul did, but maybe like Saul, you kind of think those who are following Jesus are a little bit foolish. In the next few verses, Saul will meet Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life, and his life will forever be changed. It's remarkable. It's really a God at work story.

And here's the amazing thing about this passage. If you could've seen Saul the morning of verse three, you would've said, "That guy is never getting saved." All right? Never. That guy just doesn't get saved. I know guys like that. They're never getting saved. He's Ivy League educated, essentially. Probably had more money than he knew what to do with. That guy's never getting saved. In fact, I know what Jesus said. Jesus said, "It's easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven."

Most commentators believe this man, Saul, had more money than he knows what to do with. This guy's not getting saved. He's heading in the wrong direction. Do you guys know anybody like that? We all know people like that. The point of the passage is that from God's perspective, no one is too lost to be found. It's grace. Notice there in verse three, "And as he was traveling, it happened..." What happened? "It happened that when he was approaching Damascus, suddenly..."

You guys see this? "A light from heaven flashed all around him." Suddenly. Keep in mind, Saul is not searching for Jesus. Saul is not reading his Bible. Saul is sent on his way to arrest Christian, and then Jesus interrupts him. And, I don't know, maybe as you read that, you're like, "Gosh, what did Saul do to deserve divine intervention? I wish I could have some divine intervention. I've never had it. What makes him so fortunate? Why is he so lucky?

What makes him so deserving?" Do you guys know the answer? The answer is nothing. Salvation is of the Lord. That's what makes it grace. Grace finds Saul while Saul is still in rebellion. Isn't that how it works? Grace does not wait for Saul to calm down. Jesus confronts him on the road. And listen, church, this is one of the great truths of salvation, right? Here's how it works. You and me, we do not find Jesus because we just are smarter than the average.

That's not it. That's not how it works. It's not because we're clever. The way that it works is Jesus comes for sinners. He seeks, He confronts, He awakens, He stops, and that's what He's doing here. He did it to Saul. He's done it to me, and He's done it for many of you, and I pray, all of us. He's a good God. Now, notice what happens next in verse four. Oh, man. "Falling to the ground. And he heard a voice saying to them..." You guys see it? "Saul, Saul..."

This is very interesting. You guys see it? "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" It's Jesus speaking. Don't miss what Jesus is saying. "Why are you persecuting me?" Saul thought he was persecuting Christians. Jesus says, "You are persecuting me." And this tells us something about our Lord's relationship with the church, that Jesus identifies with His people And when his people suffer, Jesus is not distant. And there's something going on here in verse four, I think, that'll blow your mind.

Here's a question. Question is, who's the last person before verse four to see the resurrected Christ? Do you guys know? Who was the last person? Anybody know? Stephen. In Acts chapter seven, verse 54, it says this, "Now when they heard this, they became furious in their hearts, and they began gnashing their teeth at him." The him is Stephen. "But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God," and who? "Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

And he said, 'Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.' " How about that? Well, fast-forward in our passage, Saul was blinded by the light, and that means Saul was the next person to hear from, see our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. How about that? What's very interesting is in the next verse, in verse 57, Stephen prays. He cries out to God. It says in verse 57, "But crying out with a loud voice, they covered their ears, and they rushed at him with one accord.

And when they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him. And the witnesses laid aside their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul." Verse 59, "And they went on stoning Stephen as he was calling out and saying, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' " And he's dying. Verse 60, "Falling to his knees, he cried out with a loud voice." What does he say? He says, "Lord, Jesus, do not hold this sin against them." And having said this, it says he fell asleep.

He died. Those are Stephen's last dying words. He says, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." Well, guess what? God answered Stephen's prayer today in our passage. Today, God honors Stephen's final dying wish because God's grace comes for Saul. Now, notice here in verse five, back to the passage, "And he said, 'Who are you, Lord?' " Blind. "And he said, 'I am Jesus, who you are persecuting.' " Now, in that moment, I have to imagine everything for Saul came crumbling down.

Can you imagine? Everything that he had built his life on up to this point, his entire worldview crumbling. Saul believed Jesus was dead, Saul believed the followers of Jesus were dangerous, and now the risen Jesus speaks from heaven. He says, "I am Jesus." Everything Saul thought he knew was overturned in this one moment, and isn't that what grace does? Grace tells us the truth about Jesus. Grace also confronts the lies that we believe, and that confrontation is not God being mean.

That's God being merciful and kind. Because when Jesus stops Saul, it's because he wants to save him. Now, let's move on. Secondly, here's my second point this morning, verse six and following. Jesus humbles and redirects the sinner. This is Saul's story. And honestly, this is probably your story. I know it's my story. He says in verse six, "But rise up," this is Jesus speaking, "and enter the city, and it will be told what you must do." Now, if you recall, Saul began his journey by giving orders, right?

Saul begins by being the man in charge. Is he in charge now? No. He used to give orders. Now, he's receiving orders. You guys see that? Saul began the journey with his own plan. Who determines the plan now? Jesus, right? Have you guys learned that for yourself? Have you guys learned that? Jesus gives the plan. He began this journey under the authority of the high priest. Now, he's under the authority of Christ. And so what's happening? Jesus is humbling Saul and redirecting him.

This is grace. Verse seven, "And the men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice." Isn't that interesting? "Hearing the voice, but seeing no one." That's interesting. Saul's companions heard the voice but saw no one. In Acts 22, Saul, who becomes the Apostle Paul, will later tell of this account, and he spoke of the men seeing the light but not understanding Jesus' voice. And so obviously, this is an objective event that was not a matter of Saul's imagination.

And so this happened, God was coming after Saul, and Saul was blinded by the light. Everyone was speechless as Saul was confronted by Jesus, who is the way, he's the truth, and he's the light. The light that blinds Saul. Verse eight, "And Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing. Leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus." And talk about a reversal, huh? Saul left Jerusalem, chest puffed out, confident, powerful, in control, and he now enters Damascus blind and dependent, being led around like a child.

It's a big reversal. It's very humbling. The man who came to take others captive has now been taken captive. And I guess in some ways, this kind of reminds me of our last move as a family. Gretel and I moved a couple years ago. Are we kind of all on the same page that moving, it just hurts a lot, right? It just hurts a lot. Moving is not easy. It just hurts. And we sold our house. It was a two-story house, and we kind of thought that was cool when we first moved into it, but when we moved out of it, we were completely over it.

And maybe like your house, we had a lot of furniture upstairs, including not one, but two full-size sofas. And it always seemed like a good idea to have two sofas upstairs until it was moving day. And then we realized, yeah, we should have thought that through on the front end. And I got a slide here that kind of shows us that day trying to move the sofa. And we got ourselves in some trouble that day, guys. And when you try to move a sofa through the doorway, it just doesn't fit, and so you're kind of left there.

At first, you're confident, and you and your buddy are like, "Well, just tilt it. Just tilt it a little bit." Then you're grunting, and then you realize, "No. Yeah, that's not going to work." And so then you turn it sideways. Huh? It'll probably go through sideways, right? And it never goes through sideways. And then they're like, "What if we turn it counterclockwise and try it from another..." And that doesn't do it either. And then they're like, "Well, you go high and I'll go low, and then we can get it, right?

And then you'll get it through the doorway." And it's always right about then, have you ever noticed this? That's when your back goes out, right? And so now your back is out and it's just a painful process. And your wife, it's about that time, she says, "Hey, maybe we should just take the legs off," right? But you're committed, and you're full of confidence and probably pride at this point, and you're like, "No, I'm not taking the legs off. We're going to push it through.

That's what we're going to do. We're going to push it through today." And you try to push it through, but it doesn't go through. And so you just end up leaving the sofa in the house, and you move without it. That's what we did. True story. And so the people that got our house got two sofas, and now it's their problem, right? It's now their problem. And isn't that what Jesus does with Saul? Saul has a plan in Damascus. He has his root. He's got his authority.

He's got his plan. He's got his outcome. And Jesus stops the entire operation. And Saul cannot simply make just a small adjustment or tweak and then continue. It's like his entire plan has to change, and that's the way God works, isn't it? Grace does not help Saul force his old life through the doorway. That's not the way that it works. Grace makes him set it down and follow Jesus in an entirely different direction. Now, notice here what happens in verse nine.

It says, "And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank." Can you imagine like the three longest days ever? No sight, no food, no drink. Well, what's he doing? He's sitting in darkness, thinking, reevaluating, waiting, possibly praying. Jesus just stopped him dead in his tracks. And now our Lord is dismantling his self-confidence that previously ruled his life. And by the way, this is not punishment. This is grace. This is a humbling grace.

This is a good, good grace. And this is obviously extraordinary, but honestly, isn't this pretty common? If you think about it, God often removes the things that we lean on so that we can truly depend on Him. Have you guys found that to be true? It's true. What has it been for you? Maybe this morning, what are you trusting in? What are you leaning on? What are you turning to for your refuge, for your comfort, for your security? For Saul, it's his education, maybe his pedigree, his background, his religious preparation in life, maybe his family.

All of those are false refuges. They're taken away. Can you relate? And so what does Saul have now? He's got nothing. He's got nothing except the words of Jesus. And the thing is, grace does not merely change Saul's direction. Grace changes the one who controls Saul's life. Have you guys learned that yet? That's the heart of conversion. Isn't this true? Conversion is not adding Jesus to the life you already have. That's not it. That's not it. Conversion is surrendering to Jesus as Lord.

Jesus doesn't say, "Saul, keep your plans. I would just like to improve them a little bit." That's not how it works. And maybe this morning, that's what you're trying to do, but I'm just telling you, that's not what's happening here. That's not what Jesus says. In a short time, Jesus will tell him, "Rise, go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." Have you guys learned that there are some things in which we are told that we must do, right?

Could it be today that you want forgiveness without surrender? Could it be? Maybe today you want Jesus to remove guilt, but just leave my personal ambitions alone. Could it be? I think a lot of people say they want Christ as Savior, but they resist Christ as Lord. And here's the thing, Acts Chapter 9 will not allow that kind of Christianity. Notice what happens next, Verse 10. "Now there was a disciple..." Okay, this is interesting. Somebody new enters the account.

"At Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, 'Ananias!' " In a vision. And he said, "Here I am, Lord." And this man, he's a quiet hero in the Book of Acts. We don't know a lot about him. We know that he's not an apostle. He shows up briefly in Acts, and then he disappears. But you know what? He's a faithful disciple. Ananias was willing, and he was available, and there's so much that we can learn from this man. Every single one of us, if you're a follower of Jesus Christ this morning, let me just speak to you directly.

Every single one of you who are Christians this morning, you've been born again, you've been sealed with the Holy Spirit. God has given you specific gifts. Specific gifts from the Holy Spirit, specific ministries that the Spirit of God has designed for you to carry out within the framework of God's master plan. But here's the deal. It's only when you are available to the Lord that those things come to fruition. The willing people respond to God's call, and Ananias was willing, and he got the great blessing of participating in God's plan.

How about you? That's the adventure of faith, by the way, when we take the Lord at his word. And by the way, what Ananias is receiving in a vision right now is not an easy thing. He's heard of the reputation of Saul. He knows a fair amount about Saul, and he has a decision now. Is he going to act by faith? Is he going to obey? Is he going to believe? Is he going to trust? Is he going to do what Christ says or not? It's the adventure of faith. It's the same adventure that you and me are on.

Notice there Verse 11, "And the Lord said to him, 'Rise up and go to the street called Straight.' " He's giving him the address. "And inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he's praying." And so far, Ananias is pretty good with this, I would imagine up until this point. And he's just like, "Wait, wait, wait, wait. Did you say that I'm supposed to go talk to Saul of Tarsus?" Yep, that's him. Verse 12, "And he has seen in a vision a man..."

He's seen you in a vision. "A man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight." Jesus, why would you want this man to receive his sight? Honestly, I think if he's blind, Christians are better off, right? Verse 13, "But Ananias answered, 'Lord, I've heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.'

" In other words, do you know what you're asking? Do you know what you're asking? And we say this from time to time, don't we? God prompts our hearts. God's Word convicts us in some way. We know the Holy Spirit's compelling us, but instead of just doing it, we answer, "Are you sure? Are you sure? Maybe, God, you want to think about it a little bit. Let's just table that for a while. We'll come back to it." And we do that a lot, don't we? But what does our gracious Lord do?

He doesn't rebuke Ananias. Look what he says, Verse 15. You guys see what he says? "But the Lord said to him, 'Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine.' " What? "To bear my name before the Gentiles and the kings and the sons of Israel." And so Ananias, get going. Get going. Here's how this applies today. God not only demands our service, but he also wants us to move for him. Not later, not when it's convenient, now. "You know, Lord, I..." This is what we say instead.

"You know, Lord, I'd love to get involved. It seems like a good church. I'd like to start serving. I'd like to start serving and maybe even giving, I guess, or contributing in some way. I think I'm ready to be a part of the church. Sure, why not? And contribute in some way or somehow, but maybe not now. Not now. It's summertime or I'm kind of in a busy stretch with work. I was expecting it to slow down, but it's not slowing down, or I think we'll probably get involved, probably maybe when the kids grow up a little bit one day.

One day, God, I'll make it right someday. Not today, of course. Not today." But here's the truth. You guys up for hearing some hard truth today? Anyone? Who's up for some hard truth? This is for my good friend Cayman. Cayman told me before the service began that he's up for some hard truth today, and so because I like his style, I'm going to ask you guys a question. Who's up for hearing some hard truth today at church? Anybody? Why don't you go and ask your neighbor?

Hey, neighbor. Neighbor! Are you ready for some hard truth? Yeah. I know I am. Cayman's ready. Here's some hard truth, truth and love. God isn't interested in your someday. God is interested in obedience today, amen? You and I live in the present. Don't go to God and say, "Someday." Someday, someday, someday. Because God cares about the present, God cares about the now, God cares about the today. God doesn't want your service tomorrow. God wants our faithfulness today.

Now back to the text, verse 16. Ananias, here's what you got to know. Verse 16, "For I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." And here we're seeing that grace gives Saul a new mission, but it doesn't promise him an easy life. Verse 17, "Ananias departed, entered the house, and he laid his hands on him, and he said..." Picture it. Can you imagine standing before Saul of Tarsus? Right? Maybe waving your hand in front of him like, "Is this fake blindness, or is this real blindness?

Are you faking it?" No, he doesn't do that. He says, "Brother Saul." How about that? "Brother Saul, the Lord sent me." What? "That is Jesus. He 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." Stop there. How great is that? Wow, he did it. Ananias was obedient with the opportunity, a faithful steward of the call, shares the hard truth, the message with the man that was killing people for messages like this, refers to him as brother.

Maybe that's one of the most beautiful phrases in the passage. He doesn't call him, "Hey, enemy Saul. You got what's coming to you, didn't you?" That's not what he said. "You got a lot to answer for, don't you, mister?" That's not what he says. He says, "Brother Saul." You know what that is? That's grace. The man who came to Damascus to imprison is now welcomed into the family of God. That's grace. Notice here verse 18, last point, almost done, just a few more verses.

Third point, Jesus sends the sinner as a witness. Verse 18, "And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight. And he rose up and he was baptized." Oh my goodness, miracle. It says suddenly Saul sees, Saul rises, Saul is baptized. And by the way, in a room like this, I know that not all of us have been baptized as believers. This is a really good example to follow. Baptism is not private. It's a public declaration that I belong to Jesus.

That's what Saul is doing here. As we say here at the church, baptism doesn't save you, but if you are saved, you should be baptized as a believer, just like Saul. Two more verses, verse 19, "And he took food and he was strengthened. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus." Last verse, "And immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, 'Jesus or He is the Son of God.' " How about that? It's remarkable, isn't it?

Unbelievable. And it says immediately, and so it's a good observation, isn't it? How long did it take for Saul to begin sharing his faith? How long was it? It's immediately, isn't it? Did Saul know everything at that point? No, but he knew enough to speak that Jesus is the Son of God. Now allow me to illustrate because I'm sure you see where I'm going here. Most of us when we see this, we think, "Yeah, but you know that's the Apostle Paul, right?

I mean, yeah, he can do it, sure, because he's the Apostle Paul, but I'm not really like that. I'm not as bold as the Apostle Paul, and so..." Not so fast. Those are the things we say when we try to let ourselves off the hook. Have you ever noticed how quickly you and I become experts in something, and when we're really excited about stuff, how quick we are to share it with other people? Like, "I don't know. I don't know. I don't think I do that.

I don't know if I do that." Well, here case in point, a few years ago, do you remember when you got all excited about the new air fryer? I don't know how long it was. Was it five years ago, six years ago? I remember that Sunday you guys came in. You were so excited about your new air fryer. You haven't lived until you got a new air fryer in the house. You guys remember how excited you were about your new air fryer? On Saturday, you went to go pick it up.

You used it. You loved it. The next morning at church, you're an air fryer evangelist. Yep, I remember it. And you used it once and you reheated some pizza, and you were like, "Wow, life just changed because it's way better than the microwave." You guys remember that? And then on Sunday morning, you were talking, "Hey, hey, how's it going? How are the kids doing? Okay, good, good." "Your kids would be doing a lot better if you started reheating their food with an air fryer."

That's what you said, and that's how a lot of us are, isn't it? With new stuff, we just get excited. I remember back in January, you guys were so excited about that new diet. You guys remember you were talking about it, and you came in on church on Sunday, and you said, "I got two words that'll change your life." Two words. It's January 4th. What are they? "Intermittent fasting changes everything." Really? It works? "Yeah, I've been doing it for four days now.

It's changed my life forever." Wow. You don't say. All right. That's interesting. You said it. Why do we do that, Jason? It's because when we become convinced of something, we can't help but talking about it. Well, what's your point? Isn't that what we're seeing here? Saul's transformation is infinitely greater than anything he'd experienced before. The principle's the same. Saul meets Christ, his eyes are opened, he's baptized, he joins the disciples immediately.

He's proclaiming Jesus. Did he know everything? No. But he knows this, Jesus is alive, Jesus is Lord, Jesus is the Son of God, and he can't help but share the hope that he has. I think a lot of us stay quiet because we just don't think that we know enough. If I knew more, I think I would be more bold. But I'm not a theologian, and I don't have all the answers, and so if I just knew more, I'd probably share a lot more. And yeah, we should be learning.

Yeah, totally. We should be growing and understanding, absolutely. But if Jesus has saved you, then you know enough to say, "I was lost, and now I'm found." You know enough to say that. "I was guilty. Jesus forgave me of my sins." You know enough to say that. "I was going my own way, and Jesus redirected my life. Jesus is alive." You know enough to say that. Jesus is Lord, Jesus saves. You know enough to say that. Listen, church, today we're seeing that grace gives us a new direction, and that new direction is being a witness.

This is what we do. Jesus does not merely save us so that we can enjoy a private moment with God, just me and Jesus and my forgiveness. That's not it. He saves us, and then he sends us out, so we can make him known. And in Saul's case, Jesus will use his redirected life to help fulfill his promise to build his church. Saul will become the Apostle Paul, and he will carry the name of Jesus even to the end of the earth. The Apostle Paul will cross borders, he will travel to major cities, he will stand before kings.

Eventually, he will reach the heart of the Roman world. The persecutor who tried to stop the gospel would become one of the chief messengers to spread the gospel to the end of the earth. And so let's be honest, when it comes to the Apostle Paul, not all of us are going to travel to the end of the earth, but every Christian is called to bear witness, and that means each and every one of us have a job to do. It starts in our home, with our family, our neighbors, school, work, family, the person who asks us, "Hey, why are you different?

What's different in your life?" That's what grace does. Grace redirects our words, grace redirects our priorities, grace redirects our relationships, grace redirects our ambitions, grace redirects our purpose all to the glory of God. Amen. And so with that said, why don't we go and close our Bibles there? As I try to bring this home, let's remember how Saul began in Acts 9. He was moving towards Damascus with threats in his lungs and murder in his heart, Christians in his sights, and then Jesus changed everything.

Today, we saw that grace doesn't just forgive our past. Grace makes dead people alive, and then redirects our future. Only the gospel can do this. Only the grace of God can do this. Only the grace of God can take a sinner, as Paul would say, the chief of sinners, a persecutor of the church, and make him a preacher. Only the gospel can do this. Only the grace of God can take a man headed in one direction and turn him around and use his life for God's glory.

And so today, as we wrap up our sermon series called Go and Make Disciples, let's make sure as we go, that we would go with open mouths. As we go, let's make sure we're carrying the name of Jesus where he has scattered us. As we go, let's make sure that we are believing that no one is beyond Christ's reach, and as we go, let's make sure we remember the gospel will go forward because the risen Christ is saving sinners, redirecting lives, and sending witnesses all for his glory.

In Jesus' good name, amen. Let's pray together. Father in heaven, we do thank you for this morning. God, thank you that we were able to behold a miracle today, the chief of sinners coming to repentance and faith. God, we thank you that we've seen once again what you can do by the power of transforming people. Thank you for the grace that found Saul and changed his direction of life. Thank you for the grace that's come to so many of us as well. Thank you, Jesus, that you're faithful to confront, to forgive, to redirect, and to send sinners like us.

And so as we go, God, would we go with confidence in you, that you can take a life like ours and be glorified through it. May your grace not only comfort us, but change our direction, and that we could live purposeful lives for your glory. This we pray in Jesus' good name, amen.