Chosen to Serve

January 16, 2011

Lesson: Acts 9:1–22

Key Verse: Acts 9:15

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Introduction

The book of Acts is a revelation of the Holy Spirit’s work with people, with the souls of those who have transgressed, repented, and believed. There are also the souls of those who rebel and forever know the wrath of God. The preaching of the gospel and the growth of the God’s congregations should be as visible today as it was then. There is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, today, as it was when the darkest of hearts came to know Jesus then.

One of these souls was Saul, whose name was changed to Paul. His threats would be changed to witness. His persecution would turn to the love of the brethren. And what a love it was. Paul expressed his darkness, saying, “For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it” (Gal. 1:13). He declared the light which pierced the darkness as that of the grace of God: “… when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace” (Gal. 1:15). This divine transformation of the soul resulted in God’s glory: “And they glorified God in me” (Gal. 1:24).

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Who art Thou?—Acts 9:1–7

Saul was a Pharisee “breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord.” He went to the high priest requesting letters of introduction to the Damascus synagogues that he might root out those found in the way of Christ, to “bring them bound unto Jerusalem.” After his conversion, Paul testified to his desire to harm the Christians, especially in Jerusalem: “and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them” (Acts 26:10–11).

As Saul came near the city of Damascus, a light shown suddenly from heaven. He heard a voice speak to him, saying, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” Is not the church of our Lord Jesus Christ His body? You cannot reject the body without doing harm to the Head. Saul must also learn that to persecute Jesus is to reject Him as the Messiah sent from the Father. Jesus said, “He who rejects me, and does not receive my words, has that which judges him” (John 12:48).  Also: “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad” (Matt. 12:30).

Sovereignly, God reaches down from His throne of grace and lays hold upon His chosen servant. He will not only save Saul but use him for His glory. Saul would become Paul with much thanksgiving and rejoicing. The heart of Saul is being humbled. No longer being able to direct his wrath against Jesus, he quietly asks, “Who art thou, Lord.” Paul is convicted of his sin and then moved to repent: “And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.” The word of the Lord will not return to Him empty, it will accomplish what He wishes to accomplish. The Lord seeks to save.

Saul confesses his new found faith in Christ as his Savior and Master, saying, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” To which the Lord answers, “Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.” As with every newly born-again Christian, Saul must wait to hear what his discipleship will include. For we not only grow in the Word of God, but we also serve in that Word. As Saul was used with the gifts given him of the Lord, so must we wait on Him and see what gifts will be ours in the service of the King.

Discussion: How do the wicked persecute Christ today?

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Lord’s Disciple—Acts 9:8–12

Saul rose from the earth; he opened his eyes and was unable to see anyone. Those who were with him “led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.” There he stayed for three days “without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.”

Meanwhile, in the city of Damascus, there was a disciple whose name was Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, saying, “Ananias.” He replied, “Behold, I am here, Lord.” Again, a servant of the Lord Jesus finds peace when called upon in a vision. The heart of the disciple is prepared to hear from the Lord. Ananias hears his Lord: “And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.”

When the Spirit of God gives us a new birth, by which we know the love of the Father, and saving work of Christ on our behalf, we become disciples of His Word; we know who is speaking to us. We become obedient disciples, as Ananias did in obeying the Lord as where to meet Saul. The Lord is, at the same time, working in the heart of Saul, for He is telling Saul about Ananias. As we become faithful witnesses to the Gospel, the Holy Spirit is already working in the hearts of those to whom we may speak. Ananias is told that he is to be an instrument of healing; Saul would receive his sight. The Lord sovereignly acts in the lives of His saints. What a glory these saints beheld as they were bought face to face with their Savior.

Discussion: What does it mean to be a disciple of Christ?

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Sight Received—Acts 9:13–20

Ananias speaks his heart, for he has heard of the evil this man Saul had accomplished among the saints at Jerusalem, and the authority he carried from the chief priests in order to “bind all that call on thy name.” The assurance that the Lord gives to Ananias is grounded in this one particular fact, that the Lord has chosen Saul to be an instrument of obedience in His hand. The Lord says to Ananias: “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: For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.”

Paul was to be a chosen vessel or instrument in the hand of the King of kings. So Ananias, another chosen disciple of Christ, went to Saul; and, putting his hand 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 Spirit.” Immediately he received his sight, and was baptized. Saul was united with Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit, now made a saint, set apart as the servant of the Lord.

Saul, soon to be called Paul, later defended his commission as an apostle of Christ, saying that it was through Ananias that he received the command of the Lord: “The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard” (Acts 22:14–15). It was Jehovah, the triune God, who chose Paul to see Jesus and hear his voice and to testify to all men of what he had seen and heard. And so Paul preached Christ.

We must also see our calling as having a divine source as well as having a divine nature. It is not that we have chosen to serve, but that our Savior has chosen us to serve Him. We are not volunteers, as if we can claim the time and place of our service. Neither are we observers, looking for others to do what ought to be done. The Lord has placed us in His body, the church. We are not all ears or hands, but, with the talents and gifts and time, etc., that the Lord has given us, he places us in His body to do what He wants to be done. We are to exercise our calling with the strength and obedience that He has gracious given us.

Discussion: What does it mean to receive a calling from God?

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Paul Preached Christ—Acts 9:20–22

Saul had breathed out “threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord.” The Lord would meet Saul on the road to Damascus and would breathe into him the breath of life. As Saul, soon to be called Paul, would write, “that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4). On that road, the voice of the risen Lord spoke, saying, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” The risen Lord had chosen him to be His apostle. The risen Lord spoke to His disciple, Ananias: “Go thy way; for (Saul) is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel.” Ananias put hands on Saul, to let him know that he had been set apart by the Lord for the preaching of the Gospel, saying, “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 Spirit.”

Saul now preached Christ “that he is the Son of God.” In persecuting the Christians, Saul was denying the death and resurrection of Jesus; thus repudiating the truth that He was God’s Messiah. He had met the risen Lord. He now heralded, proclaimed vociferously that Jesus was the Messiah, the anointed Savior. He also clearly affirmed in his preaching that Christ Jesus was a partaker of the divine nature of God. Saul, who once went to the chief priests for letters of approval to bind the Christians for destruction, now preached Christ. Saul increased in strength, confounding “the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is the very Christ.” Trained well in the Scriptures, and by the Spirit of God, Saul brought forth arguments and proofs from God’s prophecies, fulfilled in Christ Jesus. He spoke the “wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 2:7), a revealed mystery of heaven. He summed up his wisdom in these words: “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”

Discussion: What does it mean to preach Christ?

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Lessons are based on the International Sunday School Lessons for Christian Teaching, copyright © 2010 by the Committee on the Uniform Series.