At least we can say that no one had enough faith to believe it, even as Peter stood at the door, knocking to get in (12:12-17). Acts ix. Fifth, faith must take the text on face value, as it is written, and believe it as Gods inspired, inerrant, authoritative word. * [9:2] The Way: a name used by the early Christian community for itself (Acts 18:26; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22). In different contexts, preachers might want to draw specific analogies concerning those for whom the congregation should be praying even though it cuts against our grain to do so. He started to KNOW GRACE! What do Ananias actions, when asked in the passage to heal Saul, suggest about his feelings toward him? It was evidently a term used by the early followers of Jesus to denote their movement as the way of life or the way of salvation. F. F. Bruce, The Book of Acts, Revised Edition (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1988), p. 181. Our text presents Saul as a man who was not only running from God, but one who was actively opposing Him. 19and when he had eaten, he recovered his strength.*. 24 Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to (1 Corinthians 7:15, 17-22, 24).154. Not only does the narrator tell the story of Sauls transformation from persecutor to apostle in Acts 9, Saul himself re-tells the story twice when defending himself before persecutors (before the tribune in Jerusalem, Acts 22:1-21; and before Agrippa, Acts 26:1-23). 6:17; Phil. We will next seek to learn how this description of Sauls conversion fits into and contributes to the development of Lukes argument in Acts. Then, on the road to Damascus, he was blinded by a vision of Jesus. 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Then he turned to her body and said, Tabitha, rise up. She opened her eyes, saw Peter, and sat up.q Did God Judge Ananias and Sapphira for the same sin? to go lay hands on Saul (soon to be known as Paul) and restore his with his wife Sapphira, sold some property and agreed to hold back Upon hearing Peters words, Ananias fell to the ground and died. Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for, And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting, he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before, I will show him how many things he must suffer for My. WebAnanias went. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon (Isaiah 55:6-7; cf. 28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. He went on to write nearly half of the New Testament. It is the invitation for sinful Israelites to be saved, by repenting and calling on the name of the Lord for salvation: Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. 143 . Linking is encouraged, but republishing or redistributing, including by framing or similar means, without the publisher's prior written permission is prohibited. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. Nothing is more evident in the account of Sauls conversion than his radical reversal. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life (1 Thessalonians 4:7). There are two primary options for preaching from this text. (1) Sauls salvation was the salvation of a sinner. By divine revelation, Peter called out Ananias for lying to the Holy Spirit and to God. 21:29 (30); John 5:7; 12:21; 20:15; and should be so in John 9:36. 2 What was the decision of Ananias and Sapphira? . This man who had formerly cringed at the preaching of the gospel148 was now proclaiming the same message. Then a voice said to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?, Saul asked the voice, Who are you, sir?, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. The argument of the Book of Acts is essentially this: The expansion of the gospel through the church as it is empowered by the Holy Spirit. Ananias was afraid because he knew Sauls reputation as a merciless persecutor of the church. 18 According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes; he will repay the islands their due. Ananias was afraid because he knew Sauls reputation as a merciless persecutor of the church. In this approach, preachers are offering their congregation a chance to relate to Ananias dream that leads him to overcome his preconception of Saul (a correct but now outdated preconception), come to see Saul as someone God has called, and respond faithfully. This is a miracle, a miracle which is all of God, and all of grace. (9) On the road to Damascus, Saul did far more than to see a bright light and to hear a voice from heaven. For God has shut up all in disobedience that He might show mercy to all (Romans 11:25-32). When one looks at all the references to this event, it was, in fact, a personal appearance of the risen, glorified Jesus to Saul (cf. Sauls Baptism. He who had wanted to kill these saints now wanted to fellowship with them. Under the influence of this experience he gradually developed his understanding of justification by faith (see the letters to the Galatians and Romans) and of the identification of the Christian community with Jesus Christ (see 1Cor 12:27). He sent me so that you can WebThats when Ananias heard a word from the Lord. At first Ananias was afraid because he knew how Saul persecuted the Christians, but the Lord said that Saul had a special ministry he must fulfill. Saul got help, though, from a man named Barnabas. Why was Ananias afraid of helping Saul? I believe that as Luke portrays Saul in Acts, it is as a prototype, a picture of Israel. His conversion was by far the most vital influence in Pauls life. Did Saul's many sufferings during his ministry for Jesus' name come as a surprise to him? 1:26); but for Saul the one who bore a human form identified himself as a historical person: `I am Jesus. Few of Sauls distinctive insights into the significance of the gospel cannot be traced back to the Damascus-road event, or to the outworking of that event in his life and thought. A man who, along * [9:20] Son of God: the title Son of God occurs in Acts only here, but cf. 17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak. He goes for broke. Ananias son of Nebedeus (or Nedebeus) was a high priest who, according to the Acts of the Apostles, presided during the trials of the apostle Paul at Jerusalem (Acts 23:2) and Caesarea (Acts 24:1). He was a man of great respect and influence, and thus he realized that his actions would have broad ramifications. You also know this person is a recognized hater of your faith, and wants little if anything to do with you. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children (1 Thessalonians 2:7). And when the Galatians began to depart from the true gospel, Paul rebuked them for turning from Him: I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel (Galatians 6). The longer I study Sauls conversion, the more convinced I am that his conversion is typical. gJi\!2LITShA%)&bqd=/)@Eg*tttpt @V6wCAp{GyAGG9h d=u3zDca{y:&0}=!P`XX z;g3 {~paveta +w . About three hours later, Sapphira arrived. The Lord Jesus appeared to Ananias in a vision. He also warned those who would corrupt grace, to make it a pretext for sin (cf. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life (1 Timothy 1:12-16). As he himself understood the heavenly voice which said to him at his baptism, You are my Son (Mark 1:11 par. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". Some of the Hellenistic Jews responded to the preaching of Saul as they had to Stephens preaching; they wanted to kill him (9:29). WebThe Conversion of Saul. (9) Finally, I believe that Lukes portrayal of Sauls salvation is typical of that of the nation Israel, which is still future. The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. Those things in which Saul would have formerly trusted for his standing before God, he saw in an entirely different light after God found him and saved him: 4b If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. . The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it . He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 22 For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lords freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christs slave. Web3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. This first account occurs when the word is first spread to the Gentiles. What do Ananias actions, when asked in the passage to heal Saul, suggest about his feelings toward him? Sauls salvation was focused on one thing and on one thing aloneChrist. Ironically, Ananias could have become one of Sauls targets of persecution for following the Lord Jesus. And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. To him be honor and might forever. 5 How did God use Ananias in the New Testament? The Creator of the universe specifying the name of a street and the house in one of His planets. To whom did the Lord communicate "in a vision"? Saul saw and heard the resurrected Christ. And if Sauls blindness led to his own conversion, at least the blinding of Bar-Jesus contributed to the conversion of the proconsul (and perhaps too his own conversionwho knows?). And Jesus took the persecution of Christians very personally. He constantly defended the gospel against those who would diminish grace and seek to pollute it with works. Get the BEST VALUE in digital Bible study as you prepare for Easter. 15:21). (4) More space is devoted to the process of getting Ananias to Saul than is devoted to getting Saul to Damascus and to the home of Judas. If there is one thing of which Saul is now convinced (by what he has so far seen and heard on the road) it is that whoever he is talking to is LORD. 129 By this time Saul has gained a reputation as the ringleader of the movement to make Christianity extinct. ACTS 9:27 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. To persecute them was to persecute Him. 11:2328; 12:710; Gal. Not everyone can be Paul, but we all can and should be Ananias. To establish the congregations identity with Ananias, the preacher might want to begin in the middle of the passage which actually looks back to Acts 8:1-3 (and 9:1). What Ananias didnt know is that Saul met Jesus on the road to Damascus. Saul seems to have been the instigator of the persecution of the church, which began at the death of Stephen in Jerusalem and worked outward from there. Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? WebAs Donald Davis notes, In case God has overlooked Sauls atrocities, [Ananias] takes occasion to issue a brief reminder.
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