The Jesus Church: Finding the Church of Jesus in the Book of Acts | Donovan Rillion | The Unlikely Church

So this morning we continue in our The Jesus

Church series through the book of Acts, and I'm

very grateful for Brother Truman for filling

in last week and doing an amazing job. preaching

the story of the early church's persecution and

how they scattered, but their scattering didn't

stop the movement. It didn't slow the movement

down. It actually increased the impact of the

kingdom in the first century. So thank you, Truman,

for that. And now I want to tell you a story

about a man. who really did change the world.

So in 1985, the board of one of the most innovative

companies on earth looked at the man who had

co -founded the company, who started this thing

in a garage, this visionary behind the whole

thing, and they looked at him and they forced

him out because he was too difficult to work

with. He was too uncontrollable or unpredictable.

One board member actually described him as a

relentless zealot who got an idea in his head

and didn't care what anybody else thought. We

know some people like that, don't we? Well, they

looked at this man and they realized what they

had on hand and they said, we can't work with

this. So they forced him out of the company that

he built. This man's name, if you didn't already

figure it out, is Steve Jobs or was Steve Jobs.

And the company was Apple. And most of you in

your hands or in your pockets or in your backpack

have a iPhone. Maybe on your wrist, you have

a Apple watch or you have a Apple computer or

an iPad. Like you've got a Apple product somewhere

in your belongings. Well, unless you were just

like anti -good technology and then you don't

have an Apple product. But Steve Jobs was the

mastermind behind all of this. And we look at

him today and we see this man who was a genius.

Like everybody just had to know that this guy

was a genius. He was an innovator. He was a top

-notch technological mastermind. But in 1985,

the people that were closest to him, they saw

him as a liability. And they saw him as a risk

for their company. They saw him as a nuisance

that needed to be gotten rid of. Well, a little

over a decade later, Apple finds themselves on

the brink of bankruptcy. Their products aren't

selling like they thought they should, and people

just aren't really buying the vision of Apple.

And so can you guess the solution that the board

of Apple had? They would go crawling back to

Steve Jobs, begging him to come back and save

them. And he did. And eventually, he rebuilt

his company into one of the most valuable technology

companies in the history of the world. Apple

changed the game for everyone. And here's the

point in telling you that story. The people making

the decisions back then, in 1985, the ones that

were doing the evaluating for Apple, they saw

jobs as a net negative to their cause. But ultimately,

he proved to be the greatest net positive, arguably,

in tech history. You see, history is full of

these types of stories. You have the record executive

that tells a young band in Liverpool that guitar

bands or guitar groups are on their way out.

Can anybody guess what band that was? The Beatles.

And we know what happened there. Or maybe a newspaper

editor firing a young cartoon artist because

he lacked imagination. Can anyone guess who that

was? Walt Disney. See, what I want you to hear

this morning is that God specializes in using

the people that everybody else has written off.

God specializes in using the most unlikely people

for his purposes. Now, Disney and the Beatles

and Steve Jobs, God did not use them in like

a ministerial way. And that's not what I'm saying.

But I want you to hold on to those types of redemption

stories, those types of underdog stories. And

I want you to see that those types of stories

happen in the kingdom of God more often than

not. So hold on to this idea as we get into this

lesson that God specializes in using the unlikely.

And nobody in the New Testament proves that.

Really, nobody in Scripture proves that greater

than the man we're going to focus on today, and

that is the man that was standing there approving

of and aiding in the murder of Stephen, as you

all discussed last week through Brother Truman's

sermon. The man that was behind that. The man

that was watching, that was helping in that murder,

that martyrdom, was a man named Saul. Standing

right there approving of the killing of Stephen

was this young man who, if you would have asked

everyone in the early church, if you took a poll

on who would be the least likely to ever follow

Jesus, who would be the least likely to ever

join the church, they would have said Saul. They

would have looked at Saul and said, there is

no doubt that guy is the most unlikely to become

a follower of Jesus Christ. But in Acts chapter

Acts 9 · chapter mention

9, we get to see God prove. that he is a better

evaluator of talent than anyone ever was. So

I want you to look at Acts chapter 9 with me.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

And for my church members here or regular attendees,

if it's underlined, you know you need to read

along with me so that I make sure you're awake,

okay? And if you're a visitor, I'd love if you

read along with me too, okay? Acts chapter 9,

Acts 9 · chapter mention

starting in verses 1 through 2. But Saul, still

breathing threats and murder against the disciples

of the Lord, went to the high priest and he asked

him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus,

so that if he found any... belonging to the way,

he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. So we

read that this morning to help illustrate just

who Saul was. Luke in verse 1 is tying him to

the death of Stephen back in Acts chapter 8.

Acts 8 · chapter mention

And this wasn't someone who was just curious

about the church. It wasn't someone who was seeking

a connection to this Jesus guy. This was someone

who was determined to take down the church of

Christ. His mindset, his mission on this earth

was to destroy everything connected to this man

named Jesus. And so in verse 2, it shows us that

he was actively trying to secure arrest warrants

so that if he found any that were connected to

Jesus, if he came across any disciples of Jesus,

he could arrest them. He could hunt them down,

take them to jail, and possibly kill them. But

I want you to look at what happens next in Saul's

story in verses 3 through 6. Now as he went on

his way, he approached Damascus and suddenly

a light from heaven shone around him and falling

to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him,

Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he

said, who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus

whom you are persecuting, but rise and enter

the city and you will be told what you are to

do. See, Jesus stops Saul dead in his tracks

and he asks him, Why are you persecuting me?

Why are you trying to take me out? Why are you

trying to end what I have started? Why are you

persecuting my people? And I just want to stop

and I want us to make a note of the fact that

Jesus identifies with his scattered children.

He identifies with his children that are being

hunted down. He identifies with his children

that are being chased into hiding his people

that are being murdered, his people that are

being arrested. He identifies with those people,

not only because he lived it, but because his

church is his bride. And as you maybe have been

told when you got married, that you and your

spouse are now one. Jesus and his bride are one.

So if you persecute his children, you persecute

him. Just like he says, whatever you do for the

least of these, you've done to me. Whatever you

do to his church, he identifies with. And so

he looks at Saul and he says, for you to attack

them is to attack God. And as he's accusing Saul,

he has him so shook. that Saul is on his knees

referring to this great light and this great

voice as Lord. This man who was so tough, this

man who was so qualified, so knowledgeable, so

capable, this man who probably felt like and

everybody thought he had everything figured out,

he is now at a loss for words and he can't even

stand up because of the power and the might of

Jesus. And I feel like that is a lesson in itself.

But even with all this power and might that Jesus

has, he doesn't look at Saul and punish him.

He doesn't strike Saul dead. He doesn't do that.

He doesn't crush him like he probably should.

Instead, he gives Saul instructions to go into

the city, to receive guidance. Essentially, he

tells Saul, I'm not going to hurt you. I just

want you to go be discipled. I want you to go

find out about my son, Jesus. I want you to go

find out about this gospel message. I want you

to go and become one of the very people that

you have been persecuting. See, in this scene,

we see Jesus humble Saul to his knees, and then

he commissions him. And the tension there that

we need to sit with for a moment is this, that

sometimes we're so perfectly comfortable with

God saving good people. You know, like we might

pray, that person, they are such a good man.

I just hope that they will get baptized because

it would be a shame for that good person to go

to hell. Or we may look at someone and we say,

yeah, they're a good person. It makes sense that

they're a Christian. Or yeah, they were always

a good person. It makes sense that they became

a follower of Jesus. But we get uneasy and sometimes

we even get offended when God saves the very

people who have hurt or who have threatened us.

And I'm not saying that as a judgment. It's just

an observation that I want us to understand as

we go into this next part of this story. That

sometimes... When God decides and when God chooses

to use the unlovable, when God chooses to use

the unlikable, when God chooses to use the blue

haired, tattooed up, piercings everywhere person

for his good, when God chooses to use the guy

that looks like he probably belongs in a bar,

maybe belongs under the bar, when we look at

those people and we say, how in the world is

God using them? It's because that's what God

has always done. God chooses to use. He specializes

in using the unlikely. So hold on to that as

we go into this next part of the story. Verses

10 through 12. Now, there was a disciple at Damascus

named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision,

Ananias. And he said, here I am, Lord. And the

Lord said to him, rise and go to the street called

Straight. And at the house of Judas, look for

a man of Tarsus named Saul. For behold, he is

praying. And he has seen in a vision a man named

Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that

he might regain his sight. You see, in Acts,

we've seen God send the church into these dangerous

places, these dangerous situations, and each

time I find myself wondering how they did it.

I think about the apostles that are in jail and

how instead of giving up and renouncing Jesus,

they just pray for boldness. I think about the

church witnessing the martyrdom of Stephen, and

instead of going into hiding and instead of giving

it up and saying, that's it, I'm done, I can't

handle this, they actually go and they keep advancing

the message. I look at them and I say, how in

the world do they do this? I sit there and I

think there is no way that I could possibly do

it. Especially like right now, Ananias, he doesn't

know this guy Saul except for the bad things.

He doesn't know that Jesus humbled him. All he

knows or for all he knows is that Saul is going

to be waiting there with an army ready to throw

stones at him. For all he knows, Saul is going

to be there with handcuffs, ready to take him

into prison to be sentenced to death. He does

not know that Saul has had his life shook. And

we're not out of line to think that way either.

At least if we are, then so is Ananias. But I

want you to look at this encounter between Ananias

and God in verses 13 through 14. But Ananias

answered, Lord, I've heard from many about this

man, how much evil he has done to your saints

at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from

the chief priests to bind all who call on your

name. So Ananias is just like us. He thinks about

Saul and he thinks about the danger. He says,

look, I've heard about this guy. I know the bad

things he's done. It's kind of like there was

a guy that I grew up with. We graduated high

school. He started getting into some trouble

and he's had a pretty rough life the last couple

of years. And the other day I saw on Facebook

that he was going to be teaching a Bible study

at a church I'm connected to. And I was like,

huh, of all the people to be teaching a Bible

study. And so I'm talking to my youth minister.

I'm like, you know what this guy has done? And

it's funny, I'm thinking this, and then I read

this story between, you know, Ananias and God,

and I'm thinking, that's exactly that. I've heard

about this guy. I know what he's done. I know

where he's been. I know what kind of person he

has been. But remember, God specializes in using

the people that we think we know about. So we

get to verse 15. But the Lord said to him, Go,

for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry

my name before the Gentiles and kings and the

children of Israel. Can you believe that? That

God is going to use this murderous man. That

God is going to use this enemy of the church,

that God is going to use this man whose mind

was hell bound to destroy everything that Jesus

had ever desired to build. God's going to use

that man. He's going to use that man that the

church sees as an enemy to become what we believe

is the greatest missionary of all time. And something

I want you to note is that the Greek there actually

means chosen vessel. This jar, this container

that God is going to fill with a message to go

pour out to all nations, all creation. The reason

I find that important is because a vessel doesn't

contribute anything to its own usefulness. Like

a cup doesn't earn the right to hold water. A

cup doesn't earn the right to carry my coffee.

No, a vessel's value is determined by what gets

poured into it and who decides to use it. I've

got a favorite coffee cup. It is not my favorite

coffee cup because it looks cool. It does look

cool. It's a Braves coffee cup. But that's not

why it's my favorite. It's not my favorite coffee

cup because it's strong enough. It's not my favorite

coffee cup because it feels good. You know why

it's my favorite coffee cup? Because it holds

more coffee than any cup I have in my cupboards.

And so it is my favorite coffee cup because I

know I can fill it. with as much coffee as I

need to get through a Saturday at home alone

with my toddlers. And so God looks at Saul and

he says, Saul, he's not earning the right to

be my child. He's not earning the right to be

my chosen vessel. He simply is my chosen vessel

because I know that I can do something really

special. I can maximize his potential. So a vessel

is not valuable because of who it is or what

it's done. It is valuable because of who decides

to pour what in it. And Saul, he had the pedigree.

He had the training. He had the notoriety, he

had all the status, but none of that was why

he was valuable. His value came when God chose

to fill him and use him. All credit goes to God

in whatever success Saul is gonna have. And the

same could be said for all of us, right? Any

success we have, any good things we do are only

because of the grace and goodness and power of

God. So now watch what Ananias does in verses

17 through 19. Ananias departed and entered the

house and laying his hands on him, he said, Brother

Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the

road by which you came has sent me so that you

may regain your sight and be filled with the

Holy Spirit. And immediately something like scales

fell from his eyes and he regained his sight.

Then he rose and was baptized and taking food,

he was strengthened. Ananias was obedient to

God. Ananias, even though he was doubting, even

though he wasn't so sure about the Saul guy,

even though he didn't know what this might hold

for him, he was obedient to God. He goes and

he does exactly what God commissioned him to

do. He lays hands on a man that just a few verses

ago he was terrified of, and he says these two

words that to me are pretty powerful, and I hope

you noticed them. He says, Brother Saul. Brother.

The man that just killed. one of the first deacons,

the man who has been trying to arrest your people,

the man who has been trying to pour water on

this fire that God has lit, that man, the man

we would call enemy, that man is now family.

And I want you to think about the people sitting

next to you in the chairs that we have here.

There's all kinds of backgrounds. There's all

kinds of differences of opinion. There's all

kinds of choices and preferences. There's all

kinds of religious leanings. There's all kinds

of socioeconomic differences. There are all kinds

of dividing lines that outside of these walls,

the world says, these make us enemies. But inside

these walls, God takes the enemy and says, we're

now family. And family takes care of each other.

And so Ananias does what family does and he lays

hands on Saul. And because of this new family

connection and because Ananias was obedient to

God in healing and restoring, Saul finds healing.

He finds restoration. And ultimately, he becomes

a disciple because Ananias baptizes him. He does

the very thing. that we believe brings someone

from outside of the family into the family. He

does the very thing that we believe takes someone

from enemy of God to child of God. He does the

very thing that we believe takes someone who

is filthy, someone who is stained, someone who

is seemingly unredeemable, and it gives them

all restoration. So Saul... goes from enemy of

the church to family of God. He goes from enemy

to agent of kingdom mission. And I want you to

notice this all happens before Saul ever preaches

a sermon. It happens before he does anything

special. He's simply sitting and being discipled

by other disciples. And that's Ananias doing

what the church was meant to do. The church was

meant to go to the broken. The church was meant

to go to the enemy. The church was meant to go

to the outcast, to the bad person and disciple

them, to bring them into the family. Not look

at them and say, you're so awful. Not look at

them and say, you're bound for hell. Not look

at them and say, your life is a mess. Not look

at them and place judgment, but instead offer

healing. That's what the church was made to do.

And that's what Ananias did. He made a disciple

out of even the worst enemy. And that reminds

me of my own story. You know, as a kid from a

super dysfunctional family, a broken family,

I walked into this church building with a chip

on my shoulder. I walked through life with anger

and I walked through life with this hurt, this

mistrust. And then add on top of that all of

my hyperactivity and this aggressive nature that

I had, and you get this awful kid that would

be very easy to cast out. I think I've told you

before, I may be the only person I've ever known

to get suspended from church. I did. It wasn't

fun. But yeah, I got suspended from youth group.

But despite all of that, the church in Long Beach,

Mississippi treated me like the church in Acts

treated Saul. They looked at this enemy and they

gave me access to healing. They gave me access

to redemption. And they discipled me so that

God could use me for his purpose. I had my own

real life Ananias. In fact, I had several. And

they weren't ministers by trade. They weren't

Bible scholars. One was a parts counter rep at

a Ford dealership. Another was a retired Air

Force member. Another was an insurance salesman.

And then there was a nurse and even a school

bus driver. But all of these men acted like Ananias.

And they laid hands on me. They prayed over me.

They supported me. They trained me. They baptized

me. They were just ordinary saints that were

willing to obey God's call. to love the unlovable.

They saw this kid who fit the bill of Saul in

verse 13, this how much evil he's done, but they

knew what God wanted and they obeyed like Ananias

in verse 17. And now because of their obedience

to God, I stand before you proclaiming the gospel.

And I want you to think about the people in your

life that you know like that. The people that

maybe were your Saul, that you helped disciple,

or maybe you were Saul. And you had some Ananiases,

the people that didn't write you off, the people

that didn't give up on you, that didn't say you're

too far gone, you're too messed up, you're too

difficult to work with, the people that didn't

look at you and say, that is just a chunk of

clay that is far too hard to mold. But the people

that said, God wants me to disciple, so I'm going

to disciple. And now because of their obedience,

you are able to be an example. And you are able

to proclaim the gospel. So I want you to hold

on to that as we get to verses 20 through 22.

And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogue

saying, he is the son of God. And all who heard

him were amazed and said, is not this the man

who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called

upon his name? And has he not come here for this

purpose to bring them bound before the chief

priests? But Saul increased all the more in strength

and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus

by proving that Jesus was the Christ. The same

mouth that had caused serious harm and threat

to the church, the same one. that was going to

the chief priest trying to get warrants so that

he could arrest and kill Christians. That same

mouth is now in the synagogues proclaiming the

gospel, preaching the gospel, and the people

listening, they're astonished, they're confused

because they're thinking, is this not the guy

that just a few days ago we would have thought

would never preach Jesus, much less identify

with Jesus, and now Saul is in the synagogues

preaching. It's like the teacher that comes up

to me and says, I would have never guessed you'd

be a preacher. I would have thought you'd be

in jail by now. That is what they're looking

at when they see Saul. They are seeing someone

who makes no sense. They are seeing someone who

could only have the new life that he has by the

power of the Holy Spirit and the redemptive work

of Jesus Christ. This is only possible. All redemption

stories. are only possible because of God. In

fact, can we say that out loud like we believe

that to be true? This is only possible because

of God. I'm not strong enough. I'm not smart

enough. I'm not entertaining enough. I'm not

as good of a communicator as I probably should

be. I'm not qualified enough to just go and find

the most difficult person and transform them

into a preacher. And neither are you. The only

person who is able to do that is God. And I say

all of this to say, please, for the love of God,

stop disqualifying yourself. And stop disqualifying

others. Because God doesn't. God doesn't look

at you. He doesn't look at me and he doesn't

look at the people out there and say they are

too far gone. He doesn't look at us and say,

I can't work with that. There was a preacher

named Marshall Keeble and he used to say that

God was the physician who never lost a case.

He never looked at a case and said, I can't heal

that. He never looked at a broken bone and said,

I can't fix that. He never looked at someone

who was dealing with an addiction and said, I

can't treat that. He never lost a case and he

never will. So we have to stop disqualifying

people that God doesn't. We have to stop using

the past to make final verdicts on other people's

usefulness in the kingdom of God because it's

not our place. The only thing that matters is

who? and what God identifies as his chosen vessel.

And the vessel's job isn't to be impressive.

It's not to have a great resume. The vessel's

job is simply to be available, to be filled.

And when God humbled Saul to his knees on the

road, Saul was there made available. And in your

life, where has God made you available? Has he

made you available? Maybe it's this morning.

Maybe you are being humbled to the point of availability

for God. I don't know, but what I do know is

that we do our best work. The unlikely, the unimaginable

is able to happen when we open ourselves up to

be filled with the Holy Spirit, to be commissioned

by God to go and do the work of the kingdom.

And so I want you to ask yourself right now,

where have you been telling God, not me? Or where

have you been telling God, not them? Where have

you been telling God, God, you could use anybody,

just don't use me. Because I don't really like

those people. Or I don't feel good enough about

my role in this plan. Or God, anybody but them.

Because they can't be the person that's going

to disciple others. You know their resume, God?

As if God doesn't already know. I want you to

imagine what it would look like to stop closing

the door on ourselves or to stop closing the

door on others because of our past. And instead,

we leave the door open for God to do incredible

work through whomever He chooses. Just imagine

what that would be like. And I want that to be

our mindset as a church family. In fact, this

lesson is titled, The Unlikely Church. Because

I want this church to be so full of people that

when the world looks at it, they say, there's

no way that those are the people that God would

use. There's no way that those are the people

that God would use. It's like if God takes the

introvert and puts him on stage and makes him

a preacher, or if God takes the person that just

has way too much anxiety to be in front of a

crowd of people and makes them a song leader,

if God takes the person that is kind of shy and

makes them a greeter, I want you to imagine what

it would look like for God to transform the unlikely

into the unimaginable. I want us to be like Ananias.

I want us to be people that say, God, I don't

know how you're going to work through them. I

don't know how you're going to use them. I don't

know how you're going to transform them, but

if this is your will, I will go. I'll lay hands

on them. I'll pray over them, and I will call

them brother. I will call them sister. I will

disciple them and bring them into the family

because it is your will. Can we as a church be

like Ananias? See, the church astonishes and

it amazes people when it's full of these unexpected

vessels. And that can only happen when the saints

take the risk of pouring into them. So let's

be a people that look around for the Saul's in

our community, that look around for the Saul's

in this room. Let's be a people that listen for

who God may be calling us to reach and pour into.

It may just be the person that you've already

written off. Remember Steve Jobs? The person

in that boardroom that the experts, the people

with all the information they looked at, their

most valuable asset, and they saw a reject, they

saw a mess, they saw an enemy to success, but

our God... specializes in restoration projects.

Our God specializes in restoring the reject.

He majors in ministering through the mess. He

has no problem turning the enemy of the kingdom

into an agent of success. And we need to know

that and live like that's true because we are

called to do the will of God. And if the will

of God is to bring all people into his family,

guess what we do? We bring all people into his

family. His will is to bring the worst of this

world into the best of his. And the church is

the best of God's world. And that is just for

right now. It's a foretaste of what is to come

because that truly will be the best. So like

Ananias, we seek, we serve the unexpected. Because

those are the very ones that God is going to

show his grace and his power to the world through.

In fact, Saul is so transformed by God's grace,

by God's power, that he changes his name to Paul.

And Paul goes on to be the greatest missionary,

church planter of all time. He writes over half

of the New Testament. Paul is viewed as the greatest

leader in church history besides Jesus Christ

himself. And who knows, maybe the next Paul is

sitting in this room right next to you. Maybe

there is a Saul sitting next to you that God

is just waiting for you to lay hands on and disciple.

Maybe it's you. And if it is, I want to invite

you to come, have hands laid on you. by the leaders

here and begin being discipled by some men and

women here that are modern day Ananiases. Or

maybe you're in this room and you need to be

like Ananias, but you're too caught up on who

people are or who people have been or where they

come from to really be obedient to God. Whatever

weight you're carrying this morning or whatever

is stopping you from being an agent of success

in the kingdom of God, the invitation is the

same for all of us. Please come as we stand and

as we sing.