Acts 9 - Do You Live a Life Worth Persecuting?

Click Here to Read the Rest of Acts 9

Saul’s Conversion

9 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 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. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
We have seen in the first 8 chapters of Acts that Saul was a zealous Jew, who persecuted new Christian believers and was present at the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr.  Saul believed he was serving God by trying to stop the Christian movement.  Like other Jews he did not believe Jesus was the Messiah.  As he made his way up to Damascus, the risen Jesus appeared to him through a blinding light and in an audible voice.  Jesus said to Saul, "Saul, Saul why do you persecute me!"  Saul does not know who this is so Jesus clarifies by saying, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting." 
In what sense was Paul persecuting Jesus, as he persecuted the early Christians? First, though Jesus had risen from the dead, there was a sense in which he was still present through the power of the Holy Spirit living in his disciples. This was the same Spirit Jesus promised his followers who would come upon them at Pentecost.  This was the same Spirit who empowered the apostles to heal and cast out demons in the name of Jesus. It was the same Spirit of Jesus who lived inside of them.   
Therefore, when the Jews were persecuting the new believers, Jesus says they were in fact persecuting him.  By application you might infer that when people persecute you, they are persecuting the Jesus in you.  The reason they were persecuting these new believers was because they were doing the things Jesus commanded them to do.  As the world hated Jesus, it hated the disciples as Jesus had correctly predicted.  And some of them died for their new faith in Jesus. 
Do you have a life worth persecuting?  Let me explain.  If we live our lives with little or no evidence of Christ working through us, there is little likelihood we will be persecuted for our faith.  But if we are bold in our witness for Christ in word and deed, there is an increasingly likelihood we will be persecuted in our increasingly secular culture that is becoming more hostile to Christians.  While we shouldn't look for persecution for our faith, we shouldn't be suprised by it either.  As the apostle Peter said, 
"Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed." 1 Peter 4:12-13
  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Acts 22 - Paul Sees the Light

Image
6  “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.   7  I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me,  ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’  8  “‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.  “  ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth,  whom you are persecuting,’  he replied.   9  My companions saw the light,  but they did not understand the voice  of him who was speaking to me.  10  “‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked. “  ‘Get up,’  the Lord said,  ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do. This is the famous story of the apostle Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus.  Paul was going there to persecute Jewish Christians and throw them into prison and he meets Jesus is a spectacular way.  Not only is he blinded by a briliant light, but he hears the Lord's voice audibly.  And the Lord asks him, "Lord, Lord why are you persecuting me!"  Paul thought he was serving the Lord, but he was persecuting him b
Read more

Hebrews 6 - Have You Graduated From Elementary School of Faith Yet?

Click Here to Read or Listen to Hebrews 6 6 Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so. The author once again picks up with the theme of moving on to Christian maturity.  He teaches them to move on from the "elementary" teachings about Christ. What does he mean by that?  He gives clues by citing repentance, faith, cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, and teaching on the judgment and resurrection from the dead. We might call these the basics of the Christian faith. If you read through the Apostle's Creed, which our church confesses in our 8am service, it contains many of these core doctrines.  Click here to see the Apostle's Creed Written Around “When we consider the
Read more

2 Timothy 4 - Fight the Good Fight! Finish the Race!

Click Here to Read or Listen to 2 Timothy 4 4 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. Paul gives a closing charge to Timothy. First of all, he is to preach the word. God's Word speaks to all situations and seasons. The Word of God will sometimes correct us. Our lives can get of out alignment with God's will as outlined in
Read more