In this study we see the Lord Jesus, commissioning, healing, and empowering Saul. Although we are not apostles like Paul, there is a tremendous spiritual lesson for all of us here.

Teaching Notes:

Conquered By Christ:  Part 2

Acts 9:10-30

When is the last time you shared your testimony with someone? When you did share your testimony, what did you focus on? Did you focus on how you realized Christ was the truth, and how you made your decision to follow Him? It’s interesting to see how Paul referred to his conversion.  Gal.1:15-16 “But when He who had set me apart, even from my mother’s womb, and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me.”  Phil.3:12 “I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.”  God set him apart from his mother’s womb, God called Him, God was pleased to reveal His Son in him, Jesus laid hold of him. 

            Last week we saw how Jesus laid hold of him, and called him. Christ conquered Paul by his grace. He suffered long with him, revealed Himself to him, and then subdued His stubborn will. He entered Damascus as a Great Conqueror of the Christians, but when Jesus got done with him he is humbled, convicted, condemned, guilty, broken, blind, and fasting in a home in Damascus. Today we are going to see how Jesus continues to work in his life by Commissioning, Healing, and Empowering him.

1.  The Commissioning of Jesus:  9:10-16

The Person God Used To Deliver The Commission:  Ananias, a certain disciple. That is all we know of him from Acts 9. The only other information in the Bible we have about him is Acts 22:12 “And a certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there.”  He was Jewish, devout, well spoken of, and a Christian. He had a good reputation, not just in the Church, but also in the Jewish community. Nothing more than this is known of him. In fact, we would have never heard of him at all if it weren’t for this incident. He stepped onto the stage, said his few lines, did his tiny act in connection with this whole mighty drama, and went offstage never to be heard of again. He was one of the Lord’s quiet unsung heroes.  He’s like most of us, just regular, ordinary believers who are not famous or well-known, but just faithfully serve the Lord in relative obscurity.  This Nobody, this unknown disciple was the one God chose and used to heal Saul of blindness, fill him with the Spirit, baptize him, and give God’s commission to him. Wouldn’t you like to be that guy? You could say, “I baptized the apostle Paul! I healed Paul of blindness and it was through my prayers that God filled him with the Spirit! Besides that I was the guy that relayed God’s mission to him.” Throughout history there have been multitudes of faithful believers who were never known on earth, but are famous in Heaven. They are not the Spurgeons or Whitefields, or Moodys or Billy Grahams, but they go on quietly doing the work of God when nobody notices. I encourage you to be one of them. No one knows the name Edward Kimball today, whereas everyone knows the name D.L. Moody, but there would never have been the world famous evangelist D.L. Moody without his Sunday School teacher Edward Kimball leading the boy to Christ.  Be faithful where you are at, do what God has called you to do, and leave the results to him. I remember John MacArthur once saying that he focused on the depth of his ministry and left the breadth of his ministry to God. 
The Means God Used To Reveal The Commission:  God used a vision, actually 2 visions. He gave one vision to Ananias and another one to Saul. God was preparing Saul to receive Ananias’ ministry while He was preparing Ananias to minister to Saul. 

            Saul’s Vision: vs.12.  God gave Saul a vision in which he saw a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight. Interestingly, even though Saul was blind, he could still see this vision. It’s interesting that Jesus tells Ananias that he is praying. What was Saul praying for? Probably forgiveness of his many great sins including his self-righteousness and cruel persecution, that Jesus would reveal to him what he was to do now, power to exercise whatever service Jesus called him to. He was probably also praising Jesus for granting him mercy. The very mouth that had breathed out threats and murder was now breathing out praises and prayers to God.

            Ananias’ Vision: His vision was extremely specific. God called him by name. Then he gave him the address to go to – Straight Street which is still in existence today, the name of the homeowner – Judas, the name of the person staying there – Saul, and the contents of the vision Saul had just received. It left no doubt in Ananias’ mind that it was from the Lord, and exactly what the Lord was calling him to do. 

            Ananias’ Argument:  Lord, this is like asking a criminal to walk up to a policeman and give himself in, or a mouse to walk up to a cat. You’re asking me to go on a suicide mission! If I do what you’re asking me to do, I’m going to be bound and imprisoned and may end up dead! But the Lord would not be persuaded. He simply replied, “Go.”

            Notice also the phrase “all who call on Your name.”  There are many different titles for Christians given in this passage:  disciples (9:26), saints (9:13), brothers (9:17), those belonging to the Way (9:2), but the one that intrigues me most is in 9:14 “all who call on Your name.” This same phrase appears in our Figher Verse for today – Rom.10:13 “For whoever who will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” It also appears in 1Cor.1:2. As soon as He calls us, we start calling on His name. Would it be an accurate title for you? Are you one who calls on His name? Is prayer a priority for you? Is it the habit of your life to call on His name? Is it as instinctive as breathing?

            There may be times in your life when God will communicate with you through a vision or dream. That’s not His usual way of communication, but it is one way He uses from time to time.
The Substance of the Commission:  When I used the word commission, I’m referring to the Mission or Job Jesus gave Saul. What was his job description? Well, we have it 3 different times in Acts:  9:15-16; 22:15; 26:16-18. Let’s focus on the version here in Acts 9:15-16.  This Commission comes in 2 parts:

            1.  Bear Christ’s Name:  This implies a verbal proclamation of Jesus, His Person and Work. It would include the truths that He is the long promised Messiah, Son of God, Savior of the World, and Lord of the universe. It would include the fact that He lived a perfect life, died a substitutionary penal death, rose victoriously over death, ascended to the Father’s right hand from where He intercedes for His people, and will come again to judge His enemies and reward His followers. In ch.22 and 26, Paul is called to be a “witness.” So, Jesus is calling Paul to preach Christ. To whom? Gentiles, kings, and sons of Israel.

            2.  Suffer for Christ’s Name:  In Acts 26:17 Jesus says, “delivering you from the Jewish people and the Gentiles to whom I am sending you.” This implies that these Jews and Gentiles would seek to attack Paul, but Jesus would deliver him. 9:16 – Yes Paul would suffer much, but the Lord would always deliver him, that is until he finished his mission, fought the good fight, finished the course and kept the faith. Paul gives a litany of these sufferings in 2Cor.11:23-29. 

            Even though we are not apostles of Christ like Paul was, yet our basic commission is the same as his:  bear witness to Christ and suffer for Christ. Mk.16:14-16 “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation”; Phil.1:29 “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.”  Did you notice how Paul put those 2 things together when writing to the church at Philippi? God granted that they would believe and suffer for His sake. You see, you won’t have to suffer for His name unless you are bearing witness to His name. If you aren’t suffering for His name, maybe it’s because you are not bearing witness to His name. The more we witness to His name, the more we will suffer for His name. 
2.  The Healing Of Jesus:  9:17-18. 

The Means Of Healing:  The laying on of hands. The first contact this saved terrorist of the church experienced was the kind touch of a fellow believer’s hand. The first words he heard from another believer’s lips were the lovely words, “Brother Saul.” This must have gone straight to his heart. He might have expected to hear, “You cruel and wicked persecutor! How dare you seek to destroy the church of the Living God. I call down anathemas upon you!” Instead, Ananias blessed his enemy, prayed for him, and did good to him.  Jesus often employed the laying on of hands in healing:  Mk.5:23; 8:23; Luke 4:40. He taught us to do the same – Mk.16:18.  Timothy received a special gift when elders laid hands on him. Believers in Samaria received Spirit when Peter and John laid hands on them. We should lay hands on one another when praying, especially for healing or an empowering of the Spirit.
The Timing Of The Healing: How long was it after Ananias laid his hands on Saul that he was healed? Immediately!  Right after his conversion. Often the Lord heals people right after their conversion. It’s not always physical healing. Just as Saul came to Christ broken, infirmed, and needy, so too we come to him broken, with all kinds of baggage from our past:  addictions, emotional issues, anger issues, profanity, sexual sins, etc. Often the Lord will heal and deliver us at the beginning of our Christian life of some of these more serious issues. 

The Purpose Of The Healing:  Why did God heal Saul? Why not just leave him blind? For one thing, Saul needed his sight to be able to do what God was calling him to do. Paul had to travel land and sea, all over the known world. This would be extremely difficult if not impossible if had no sight. 

            Why does God graciously heal and deliver us? There are many reasons, but one is because He has a job for us to do, and we need healing in order to do it. God is not primarily concerned with your comfort and happiness. He is primarily concerned with your holiness and joy in Him. 
3.  The Empowering Of Jesus:  9:20-30.  Not only did Jesus heal him, He filled him with the Spirit. 
Resulted In Bold Witness:  Notice 9:20. It’s interesting that the last words that came out of Saul’s mouth before his conversion are “Who are You Lord?” and the first words after his conversion are “Jesus is the Son of God!” Immediately he began to proclaim Jesus. Wait a minute. He just got saved. Shouldn’t he get disciple first, get some training, some grounding in the Word, maybe go to Bible college and seminary? Saul was unusual in that the moment Jesus called him to salvation he also called him to ministry. Why does God fill us with the Holy Spirit? Not so we can have an ecstatic emotional experience or speak in tongues. Rather, it is to empower us to be His witnesses! Acts 1:8.

            9:21 – all those hearing him

            9:22 – Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ

            9:28 – And he was with them, moving about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord

            9:29 – And he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews. 

Immediately after Saul is saved he begins to give a bold witness for Jesus Christ. In fact it’s so bold that it results in conflict, confrontation, and suffering. 

Resulted In Patient Suffering:

            9:23-27; 30.  Saul is so bold, that there are threats on his life, not only in Damascus, but also in Jerusalem. After the first threat in Damascus, Saul narrowly escapes by being let down in a basket in the wall. So, when he comes to Jerusalem, does he keep quiet so no more death threats come his way? No, he speaks out just as boldly there!

            Notice the “buts”.  9:24,25,30. Every time there is a plot to assassinate him, there is a Divine “but”. God delivers him every time people tried to kill him. Isn’t that what He promised? Acts 26:16-17.

            Remember the 2 Parts of Saul’s Commission:  Bear Witness to Christ’s Name, and Suffer for Christ’s Name. That is exactly what is happening here! Where did Saul get the power to bear witness and suffer for Christ’s name? He was filled with the Spirit. 
Life Application:

            Our Christian life mirrors Saul’s. None of us are apostles, but we have been given the same basic Commission (bear witness and suffer), accompanied by the Grace of Christ to complete the commission – healing and empowering. So, how are you doing? How serious are you about bearing witness to Christ? Serious enough to intentionally talk to your neighbors about Him? Serious enough to knock on their doors?  Serious enough that you will do it even if it means suffering for His sake? How many people have you talked to about Christ in the last week? Month? Year?  I challenge you to become intentional about bearing witness to Jesus. Make definite plans. Come out with us and go door to door sharing the good news. And when suffering comes because of it, don’t back down or give up, but patiently endure it for His sake!    
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