The Book Of Acts | No Stopping The Great Commission (November 15th, 2020) - Mike Armstrong

All right, we can grab our Bibles now and we can get them turned to Acts chapter 9 as we continue along in this great uh book in the New Testament.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

Now, um perhaps you've noticed this, but there are uh some things in this life that uh once they start, there's no stopping them.

Have you noticed that before?

Like, for example, uh growing up or getting older.

You know, when your kids were born, you know, there's there's part of you, you know, when they're fresh babies, you just kind of want them to stay like that forever, don't you?

They're so adorable and they're so cute.

But of course, we know that doesn't work that way uh at all.

They they grow up, you know, and they get older and at times they move on, they get married, and all of that.

There's just really no stopping that.

Uh, how about something like the flu?

I mean, we're kind of in flu season.

Remember when you can just get the normal flu?

Uh, along for those days, but uh the flu is one of those things.

Once it starts, uh you can't really stop that.

You've kind of just gotta let it run its course.

Maybe there's some meds that you can take to make it slightly less terrible, but for the most part, um, it's gonna have its way with you.

Uh, maybe for you, when you think about something that um once it starts, there's no stopping it.

It's it's leaves, you know, dropping from the trees in the fall.

Uh, once that begins, it's really just a matter of time.

We know this before the trees are bare, the fall colors are gone, and a new season uh is here.

Now, I say all of this because over the last few weeks, of course, we've been looking at the Great Commission.

And one thing's for certain with that, too.

Okay, there's simply no stopping it either, right?

There really isn't.

Now, uh, why is that?

Well, it's because it's it's God's sovereign plan to redeem his creation, right?

It was this plan that he put into motion um even before uh creation began to save us, to build his church, and to use people, imperfect people uh like you and I to make it all happen.

And that's certainly what we see here in the story of Paul's conversion and uh Ananias' involvement in that, which we're gonna look at here today, uh, to really find encouragement and to kind of light that fire up within us again as we're reminded that what God has been doing all through the book of Acts, he is continuing, he's still doing it today.

The Great Commission is every bit alive and at work as it was back then in our day, in our world.

And so let's read this now and we'll see uh what I'm talking about here in chapter 9, starting in verse 1.

Follow along.

It says this, but Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

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.

The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice, but seeing no one.

Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing.

So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus, and for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

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 strait, 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 hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.

But Ananias answered, Lord, I have 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 priest to bind all who call in his name.

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, for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.

So 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.

God, as we read your word, Lord, we're while we stand in awe at what you have done in the life of Saul, Lord, and for those of us who know and have a good handle on the rest of the New Testament, Lord, we see that you not only saved this guy, but you um put him to the task of making disciples and seeing your church built up, Lord.

Uh, here we see Saul begin his journey, his relationship with you as he's saved.

And Lord, uh, he continues in the great commission work as you lead him by your spirit, Lord.

And as we think about these things, we marvel.

And at the same time, Lord, we're reminded that uh this very work that you're doing in Saul's life, you have done in many of us.

And Lord, the work that you are doing in Ananias' life or you did in his life, Lord, you are still doing with us.

And so, God, I pray that we would not just look at this as a nice story from a long time ago, but God, I pray that we would see it as an encouragement and uh to for us to press on and to be motivated to continue to make disciples for the glory of God.

And so, Lord, um, as we might have maybe individually here stalled out in some ways or gotten sidetracked or distracted or or put the brakes on in terms of our obedience in this, Lord, I pray that you would bring conviction where needed.

Lord, I pray that you would again urge us and encourage us and show us that, Lord, this is uh what we have been called to and this is our purpose in life.

And so, Father, um, do what it takes in our hearts, do what it takes in our lives to get us on board with what you are doing, Lord.

We thank you that there is no stopping the Great Commission.

Lord, we thank you that there is no stopping you.

Lord, we we pray that our hearts would love this, we wouldn't be scared of that, we wouldn't hesitate, we wouldn't be in fear.

Lord, I pray that we would learn from this today, Lord, and you would use our church mightily and in this city and in this country.

We pray this all in Christ's name.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, here we go, jumping right into the first thing here today.

Just two points.

Here's the first one.

There's just no stopping the Great Commission, right?

Which is really to say there's no stopping God Almighty.

There's no stopping him from doing what he has purposed to do, right?

Jesus will save the lost, even those whom we assume are too far gone.

Maybe there are people that you are tempted to assume are too far gone.

So the storyline then, as we look at this, has shifted really from the gospel work that Philip had been doing uh back now to uh the person of Saul.

You remember him, right?

We were introduced to him back in the early part of chapter uh eight, where he was presiding over Stephen's execution and and he was dragging Christians off to prison and doing all of that.

So while Philip had gone off to Samaria, which is what we've been looking at over the last few weeks, uh this is what Saul had been up to.

Uh take a look with me again at chapter 9, verse 1, as we work our way through these verses.

It says, But Saul, a still breathing threats and and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

You know, you see that term there, the way, right?

That was a term uh given to early believers.

It was given to early Christians.

Um they were known as those belonging to the way of Jesus Christ.

Okay, so Paul, he's asking for uh permission, written permission, to incarcerate even more Christians uh when he finds them in Damascus.

Now, Damascus, for those of you who like to kind of get your bearings straight, that's 217 kilometers northeast of Jerusalem.

Okay, now verse 3, take a look.

It says, now as he went on, notice this, his way.

Okay, so you see the sharp contrast there with the way.

Paul is clearly, uh, if the Lord is going in this direction, Paul is going in the opposite direction, uh, just in terms of everything in his life.

Okay, so as he goes on, as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him.

Now, later in Acts chapter 22, Paul recounts this salvation experience and and mentions that this happened at about noon.

Acts 22 · chapter mention

All right, which which indicates for us that this light that shone around him must have been like just intensely bright, right?

If it if it outshone the midday sun.

Try and picture what kind of a scene that would have been, but keep going here, verse 4.

It says, 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?

Or who are you, sir?

That's the intention of the term Lord there.

And he said to him, he answers, he says, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

You think about that, it's quite a profound statement because it reveals really the intimacy and the connection that that Christ has with his followers, with his church.

Okay, as Christians are being persecuted, which has obviously been happening, and it's been happening at the hand and oversight of Saul, okay, it's it's it's meaning that Jesus himself is being persecuted when that happens.

Again, the close relation there that Jesus has with us.

You know, verse 6, the Lord gives Saul further instructions.

He says here, but rise and enter the city.

So this all happened just in the city's kind of outskirts.

It says, You will be told what to do.

The men who were traveling with him is Posse, they stood there speechless, hearing, uh hearing the voice, but seeing no one.

Now, again, in Paul's kind of later accounts, he he shares that he he saw a vision of Jesus in this moment.

Doesn't specifically say it here, but but that squares with what we're reading uh here in these verses.

Okay, he saw Christ, but these men saw no one, it says.

Okay, verse 8.

Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing.

So he's experiencing this blindness.

Says they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus, and and for three days he was without sight and neither ate nor drank.

Did you think about that?

Those three days would have been pretty heavy for Paul, right?

Giving him plenty of time to reflect and you think about it.

He thought he was doing the work of the Lord.

Right?

He thought that he was he was being zealous in a good way, and he thought that that Christians were in the wrong, and and in the in literally the flash of light, in the flash of a moment, he realizes I was wrong, and and he receives salvation from Christ.

And it would have given him time to repent and grieve the direction of his life and commit himself to following the Lord here and pray.

So, I mean, obviously, Paul's conversion is this is this shocking event, right?

This this transformation now from a Pharisee who was zealous for the ways of Judaism to now he's a Christian, now he's following the way.

I mean, it comes out of nowhere, it's it's it's dramatic.

Again, happens to a guy who could not have been going in a more opposite direction with his life.

I mean, completely lost in his sin and his pride, and and he didn't even know it, he didn't even realize, he can't see it, and and yet look what Jesus does here in this man.

He saves one of the greatest opponents the the church had ever seen at this point.

Now, whenever someone like Saul comes to saving faith, an ardent opponent of the faith, whenever that happens, and maybe for you you start to think about, yeah, other guys like Saul, people that you know, maybe you'd even include yourself as one of those people.

But perhaps you're thinking about somebody like a C.S.

Lewis, right?

A guy who was uh he was an atheist and he would argue with Christians, and he he taught at Oxford, and and as he you know gets deeper into that, he realizes I can't fight this anymore.

The evidence is all stacking up, and and and he becomes a theist, and then eventually he gives his life to the Lord Jesus Christ, and of course goes on to write many books that we all know uh and love.

Maybe for you you think of a guy like like Lee Strobel, right?

Some of you have read the The Case for Christ and how he was an investigative journalist for the Chicago Tribune.

He was an atheist himself, his wife gets saved, and in this attempt to discredit Christianity, he decides I'm gonna go on a mission here to disprove it, and specifically I'm gonna I'm gonna disprove the resurrection, and so he he interviews all kinds of people and goes on this fact-finding mission, and after all of it, he realizes, wow, again, the evidence, I can't deny it, and he gives his life to the Lord.

Right?

We we hear stories like that, and and as we hear it, I don't know about you, but it it if it for me, it fires me up, and I'm sure it does that for you as we marvel in God's goodness.

Look what the Lord can do.

Look how the uh how God can transform lives, He can save.

He's so good to do that, which I mean is obviously a good thing.

Okay, but I think sometimes maybe you've noticed this in yourself, you know, mixed with that reaction of just marveling and being astounded.

And wow, maybe for you, somewhere in there is this is this mixture of this kind of disbelieving shock that someone has gotten saved like that.

Like, wow, I can't believe that guy became a Christian.

Right?

I can't believe she got saved.

I mean, I know what they were like before.

And I think sometimes maybe what's revealed a little bit in that in us is this attitude or or this mindset that frankly we can't afford to have as Christ followers.

Where we betray this kind of lurking viewpoint or this belief somewhere within us that some people, man, they're they they must be just too far gone to ever get saved.

Right?

Their sin is too great.

They they hate Jesus too much, they're too evil or or or too lost to ever come to Christ.

And and so when it does happen, it it shocks us maybe even more than than it should.

And perhaps what's also revealed in us, you know, behind that mentality that we sometimes have is that subtle yet yet extremely dangerous self-righteousness.

Where we don't really even realize it, but but when we're saying, wow, I can't believe that person got saved, we're in some ways kind of saying that, well, it makes sense that I did, though.

Right?

We think of ourselves as as better than than they were.

Like we're more lovable somehow, or or we were less evil or less lost.

Like that's why God chose to save me.

Or maybe it's that we think that we're we're smarter or or or just naturally more sensitive to the things of the spirit.

And and and so that's why we were able to see our sin for what it was, and and that's why we had the wherewithal to give our lives to the lordship of Christ.

Which I mean, at the end of the day, all of that though, I think we know this.

It's it's nonsense.

Right?

Our our sin was sending us to hell just as much as Paul's was.

Our spiritual eyes were just as blind as his were.

We were just as lost.

We needed Jesus to save us from all of it just as much as Paul did.

Look, at the end of the day, everyone's lost apart from Christ.

Right?

Meaning everyone's salvation, yours included, is a mind-boggling miracle of God's grace.

Right?

Where he opens up our blind eyes and and and forgives our wickedness and and regenerates us.

So if he's done it with Paul, right, and he's done it with me, and he and he's done it with you, who who's to say that he can't or or won't keep on doing it with people that we maybe think uh are are too far gone, right?

We we write them off too quickly.

The truth is that he will, and he does.

Remember, there's no stopping the Lord from saving people.

There's no stopping the Great Commission from happening.

It's it's in place.

Jesus will save the lost.

Don't don't ever assume that that someone is is is too far gone to be reconciled to their Maker.

It's never so hopeless.

No one is ever so lost and so out of reach that they can't be found and rescued by their loving God who is more than powerful enough to save.

So listen, as you kind of consider these things and you think about your own response to all of this, I think first of all, it's very appropriate that we would just express our worship and our and our gratitude to the Lord uh for saving us.

Would you do that?

I mean, even now as I'm talking and as we sing later and later this week and in conversations that we have and as we pray and as we read the scriptures, would you just take some time and marvel at what Christ has done for you?

Lord, thank you that you have saved me.

Thank you that you have have raised me from the dead spiritually.

Do you take the time to do that?

Do you go back and and and say, wow, that's incredible what God has done?

Do you tend to look at your testimony, especially if you grew up in the church, as like, well, it's kind of boring.

It's less awesome than a guy like Paul's.

It's less exciting than a person who lived the wild life and then dramatically got saved through this wild story that happened.

Listen, I guarantee you, and I've said this before, anybody with that kind of a testimony would gladly give their trade theirs for yours.

If you grew up with the quote-unquote boring testimony, I hate even calling it that.

You should thank God for that.

That is God's grace to you.

That He's spared you, that He has rescued you from a lot of things, that you haven't had to learn some of the difficult lessons.

I mean, that is something to marvel in and praise God for.

We should be expressing our worship and our gratitude to the Lord for these things, first of all.

Second of all, I think as we consider all of this, don't give up on the people in your life who seem like they're a million miles away from ever getting saved.

Don't do it.

Don't be tempted to.

Don't stop praying for your kids.

Man, they're really struggling.

And what we tried to teach them when they were younger, they they seem to have rejected and they're walking away from it.

Don't stop praying for them.

Don't stop praying for that black sheep sibling that you grew up with, and now they want nothing to do with you in your faith, and they don't even want to spend time with you around the holidays.

Don't give up on your aging parents.

Man, I've told them again and again, and I've tried to model Christ, and I've prayed for them so long for so long, and and but I'm just losing hope as they get near the end.

That listen, don't write off that miserable neighbor.

You know, the one who hates the way that you cut your grass and has no problem telling you that.

Don't give up on the on the coworker who seems to hold literally every opposite view that you hold about life, about politics, about everything.

Because listen, you you might not, you just don't know in any of these examples what the Lord might be doing.

That person might be, you know, on the way to Damascus, kind of like what Paul was here.

And and and and he could be a moment away from that, from that light shining, a moment away from the Lord reaching down and rescuing them.

And with all this, keep in mind here that the Great Commission it's an unstoppable.

plan here of gods that that you and I are are called to and really get to participate in.

And sure, the world is a it's a dark place.

I mean seemingly more so by the day.

But that will ultimately have zero bearing on what our Lord purposes to accomplish.

And use you and I to accomplish.

Which is really what this final thing is about here.

There's just no stopping the Great Commission.

Jesus will deploy the fearful even if we're reluctant to rise and go.

Okay, for this take a look at verse 10 as we're introduced to Ananias here.

It says now there was a disciple at Damascus, remember Paul's there now, named Ananias.

Okay later in Acts in chapter 22 verse 12 it describes him as a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there.

So Ananias is this guy who who loves the Lord he's a he's a Christian he he's got a solid reputation.

I mean even the Jews think well of him okay it says there still in verse 10 the Lord said to him in a vision Ananias and he said here I am Lord and the Lord said to him notice rise and go.

Okay rise and go to the street called strait now interestingly that street still exists today in Damascus the the the modern city has been built up on the ruins but that that street is still there.

So he says Rise and go to the street called strait and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul for before behold he is praying and is seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.

Verse 13 now but it tells you that Ananias is trying to put the brakes on this plan now of God's but Ananias answered Lord I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he's done to your saints at Jerusalem and here he has authority from the chief priest to bind all who call on call on your name but the Lord said to him so he doesn't he doesn't get halted by by Ananias's reluctance here he says go again right go for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name so the Lord has big plans for Saul here he may have caused suffering but his service to the Lord will also involve his own suffering something that acts and really the whole Bible never brushes off right that that carrying the name of Jesus to the world will involve difficulty and will involve hardship for us right a sobering thing to consider but it's absolutely true and something we all need to wrestle with verse 17 now it says so Ananias he obeys despite his reluctance despite his fear it says that he departed and entered the house and laying his hands on him he said Brother Saul he recognizes that he's a believer calls him brother 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 right and he regained his sight.

Okay so there's this physical happening here this event you know symbolizes you know his new ability to see and understand with spiritual eyes it says then he rose and was baptized publicly declaring his faith in the Lord and taking food he was strengthened.

Now I think there's maybe some comfort that you and I can take here as we read this that even a guy as highly respected and as godly as Ananias can show some hesitation here right as the Lord tells him to rise and go to Saul right fear and and this reluctance to take up the the the call of the great commission I mean those are common responses for all believers right we all have to we all have to contend with with that and and grind over that internally right that fear and that do I want to go and there's a cost to this and and and this will mean suffering for me right we all got to work through that like I mean on a human level here you can't even really fault Ananias for thinking are you sure about this Lord?

Like is this really a good idea?

Like this guy has been an absolute menace to your people to your to your purpose your cause you know not to mention that that Saul's got the entire you know clout of the religious counsel behind him.

You know this this powerful religious machine just bearing down on the this early church here I mean that would have been as intimidating as it gets fear and and and that reluctance there is exactly what you and I would feel if we were in Ananias's shoes.

But again the Lord doesn't allow that hesitation to stop the mission to make disciples right and instead of just you know shutting down Ananias saying enough off with you go right he just graciously lets him in on the plan to use Saul and he's going to use Saul as his as his chosen instrument to carry Christ's name to the unbelieving world built right into that doesn't explicitly say this but built right into the Lord's command here to go, to rise and go is is the call to trust him.

I get it Ananias like this guy has been a thorn in the side of believers.

But you know what I'm I'm telling you to go and that's all you need to really hear right now.

You can trust me with the rest with how it all plays out I mean that's that's for us as well the Lord saves us to deploy us to deploy us in the Great Commission even if we're fearful of what might await us out there or when we sense that that reluctance or that hesitation maybe it's maybe it's objections in our minds or those or excuses not to do it.

Perhaps for you it's a desire for easier things comfort and and and you've got a mission to accumulate worldly possessions or worldly pursuits or whatever it may be.

Right at the end of the day none of that will stop the Lord from fulfilling his plan.

Right and I heard somebody say once the Great Commission is happening bottom line it's moving full steam ahead to its conclusion when the Lord sees fit so I so you and I we can either we can either jump on board with that as we're called to and enjoy the blessings and the fruit of obedience and faithfulness as Ananias does here or where we can resist the Lord we can we can say no and and miss out on the blessing while God uses someone else instead.

Now my concern for believers everywhere and maybe even some of us here is that too many are are more than okay with that we're more than okay with living in that place of of fear and and reluctance I'd rather be there than obey the Lord and and face the danger let someone else rise and go while I sit and stay so I really pose the challenge to you today church okay to you individually not not to your spouse and not to your parents if you're a young one not to the younger generation if you would consider yourself older not not to the person sitting near you in the row in front of you or behind you or the person at home no you I pose the challenge to you will you allow the Lord to deploy you to fulfill the Great Commission?

Will you do it?

Will you trust him with your fear?

Will you surrender to him?

Will you even repent if necessary of your of your reluctance to get involved now maybe you sense that in this challenge I'm kind of turning the screws on you a little bit but if I am trust me I'm turning it on myself just as much okay and men let me let me allow me to urge you the most men in the room men at home we need to lead our families in this we need to lead our wives we need to lead our kids we need to lead our church in this we need to lead our society and at the same time remember our motivation as we do right it's the gospel.

That's the motivation it's not it's not guilt.

That guilt will be long gone before we even get to the closing song today if that's what you're feeling right now.

Guilt is a lousy motivator for lasting change doesn't work allow the gospel to motivate you right allow Christ's sacrifice allow God's love for you to to to be the thing that drives you to a life of sacrifice and a life of love and a life of being on mission for others listen I'm gonna pray for us right now as Derek and the team come and if what I pray here resonates with you I would just encourage you to agree along with me in your in your spirit before the Lord as we re-engage here in the Great Commission as individuals, as as families and as a church let's pray.

God we do thank you for the call that you've placed on our lives Lord to go and make disciples to bring you glory in this Lord we thank you that it's it's clear there's nothing that we really need to wonder about in any of this we're told we're told to rise and go wherever we are whoever we come into contact with and so Father I pray that that we would indeed be faithful and obedient servants to you Lord as as we just experience the joy of our own salvation.

Father I pray that in any of our hesitancy in any of our fear if we've given into that if we've allowed ourselves to get distracted by the things of this world Lord I pray that you would forgive us Lord I pray that you would change our hearts Lord I pray that you would breathe new life into us and as a church Lord to be on mission to carry out the great commission Lord you are doing and I pray that our hearts would be to join you in it.

And God I pray that you would give us joy in the obedience of this Lord I pray that you would give us great great courage and boldness Lord I pray that we would see the cost as worth it because we get to be on the same page as you get to bring glory to Jesus.

And so God we would we give you permission to do what it takes in our hearts and in our lives to reorient us so that we would be mighty in your hands.

So God as we sing I pray that we would be filled with hope again Lord I pray that we would be filled with passion again Lord I pray that we would be filled with the love of Jesus Christ again Lord God continue to work in us continue to work in our church we pray all these things in Jesus' name amen