Messed Up: Paul's Problem ⎸ Pastor Jordan D. Waage ⎸ Messed Up - Part 4

ep 23 final: Welcome to the Faith Alive Sermon Podcast. This is a replay of a past sermon from Faith Alive Church. Whether you missed it, want to hear it again, or share it with someone you know, we're glad you're here. This sermon is by Jordan D. Waggy, lead pastor at Faith Alive Church. So happy that you're here with us here today. If it is your first time here, no, I don't always wear this pumpkin color orange here, but it's fall, it almost feels like, which is crazy. Anybody loving fall weather, yes? Okay, more than I thought. Who's not ready to be done with summer? All right, about half and half. We got we got split in the congregation here. That's all right. That's all right. But we did want to say thank you so much for being here. If you're new with us, my name is Pastor Jordan. I have the privilege of leading this church alongside my wife and who likes to smash windows in. And she's the best. And both in person and online online. Thank you so much for joining us. And I want to jump right into the message here today, but before we do, I I I I do think that the presence of God is in this place. I do believe that the Holy Spirit of God is moving at Faith Alive Church, not just today, but has been and will continue to do so. And woe to us if we don't and aren't sensitive to the moving of the Holy Spirit. And I feel prompted even in this moment to pray. Can we pray? Can we stand in this place? And can we pray? Holy Spirit of God, you are welcome here in this place. I want to hear you, Faith Alive family. Can you speak it out here today? Holy Spirit, thank you for being here with us. We invite you into this place. We ask that you would give us direction. We ask that you would speak directly to our hearts. Lord, for those that have walked into this place hurting and broken and Bound by oppression and depression and anxiety, whatever it may be, Father, we pray that you would eradicate it by the power that you have. Holy Spirit of God, would you give us direction? We pray right now that every word that proceeds from my mouth would be your words, not my own. Lord, we pray that with every scripture passage that we read, that it would be alive and active in our lives, that we would apply it. In our own lives, so that Lord you get the glory. We thank you, Jesus, for you came to this earth and you died for us so that we could have hope and a future. Let us never forget your sacrifice, Lord Jesus. And we pray these things in that name. Somebody say with me, Amen. Amen. And give God some praise as you're seated here today. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. For the past several weeks, we have been talking and in a series called Messed Up. We've learned and we've talked about how we're all a little messed up. We've found out or remembered that we've messed up in the past. We might be messing up in the present. We might mess up in the future. But God's grace is greater than our screw ups. His grace is greater than our screw. Mess ups and we've spoken about a couple of characters in scripture that that really epitomize what a mess looks like, right? We've talked about Peter. Peter was the epitome of a mess. Would you agree? Denied Jesus three separate times when Jesus needed him the most, but God's grace is greater and God used him. To further the gospel and to become one of the most prominent voices in Scripture. We talked about Matthew just last week. We talked about this tax collector, yes? Someone who is employed by the Roman government to pad his pockets with his own people's money. He was a traitor to his own people, yet God's grace is greater, and God used him as one of his four main gospel. Writers, how amazing is that the transformation that has taken place in these lives. But you know that we cannot talk about transformation without talking about Paul the Apostle. Perhaps one of the greatest transformations that we see not only in scripture, but of all time. Would you agree? Saul, this man who was a terrorist, this man who was bent on hunting God's people. Down, yet a man that God uses to be the most prominent writer in the New Testament, wrote the most books in the New Testament. What does that say for us? Well, let me tell you: if he can use Peter, if he can use Matthew, if he can use Paul, he can use you two. So if you're in this place, if you walked into this house and you feel that you Have nothing left to give, like you're just a consumer, that you're just a church goer. Let me tell you that God has more for you. God has great things in store for you. You are not broken, you are not unfixable. God is here and He wants to speak to you. Anyone believe me in that place, in this place? Thank you, Jesus. We're going to talk about Paul today, who was then. Saul before his transformation. And I'm gonna use those names interchangeably. but we're gonna try to focus on Saul because we're gonna talk about his conversion. So would you turn with me in scripture to Acts chapter nine? Acts chapter nine. If you do not have your Bible with you, shame on you. Just kidding. You didn't laugh, so I feel bad. I didn't I didn't I didn't didn't mean to make you feel bad. It was a joke. It was joke. But if you don't have your Bibles with you, you can look on the screen. If you don't have a Bible, I do mean this in in all seriousness. If you do not have a Bible, we want to give you one. I don't mean that in jest. I don't mean that sarcastically. If you do not have one, we would like to get you one. We have plenty out there and we want to put one in your hands. There's something powerful about having a physical Bible to read out of. I don't know if that's just me, but I there's power in it. In Acts chapter 9, Saul was threatening God's people. He was threatening God's people so much so that he goes to the high priest. In other words, he goes to the person who is in charge, the person who has authority in that area, and he asks for his permission to go to a city called Damascus. At that city, Saul is requesting of the high priest the authority to take women and men out of their homes wherever they are, if they align with Christ Jesus, whom he called the way, and take them and imprison them andor kill them. Look at verse three. As Saul or Paul neared Damascus. He got the permission from the high priest and he goes to Damascus. He's headed that way and on his journey, suddenly, somebody says suddenly, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. Verse 4 says, he fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Who are you, Lord? Saul asked. I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting, he replied. Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do. Look at verse eight. Saul got up from the ground, the Bible says, but when he opened his eyes, he could see what? Nothing. For three days he was blind, the Bible says. For three days he ate nothing. For three days he drank nothing. Now If you know scripture, if you understand what's going on here, those three days are not talked about much in scripture. But I oftentimes, when I read this account, I think about what has taken place in those three days in Saul's life. Think about this Saul, who was instrumental in In the killing of Stephen, the stoning of Stephen, the first martyr of Christendom, of Christianity. Paul was there, Saul was there. And now he encounters the same God who is he who he was killing others for serving. He has an experience with that God. He is struck and blind in that moment. And for three days, there is something happening. Within him. See, I do believe that those three days is where Saul had the most transformation start to take place. Think about the guilt that began to take hold. Think about the conviction that started to take hold in this moment. Think about the guilt, the shame for the mess that he has created in the past. Why? Saul had an encounter with Jesus, and can I tell you in this place that if you have an encounter with Jesus, nothing is ever the same. Nothing is the same. As Jesus excuse me, as Saul continues this way, in Damascus we find A man named Ananias, he's a disciple of Christ, and Ananias receives a vision from Jesus. The Lord says to Ananias these words: Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. Verse 12 says, In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him and restore his sight. Now I want you to know that Saul Saul was known to the areas around them. Ananias knew who Saul was. There were accounts, there were things that he has done, things that Ananias had heard about. And so when he has this vision from Jesus, he says these words This man, Jesus, has come to arrest all who call upon your name. So what is Ananias saying here? Essentially, he's questioning whether God really wants to use this man for his glory. Is this the man that you really want me to heal? Is this the man that you really want me to restore, Jesus? Then the Lord says this to Ananias Go. This man is my what? Chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles. And to their kings and to the all the people of Israel. Then he says this in verse sixteen, I will show him how much he must suffer for my name. Man, we need to unpack this, yes? This is powerful language. This is powerful scripture. Let's go all the way back to verse one. The Bible says that Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's people. What does that imply? That word still implies that he had done it before and that he's doing it again. He's been a part of it before and he's doing it again. See, one thing that you have to understand about Saul is that he was passionate. He was committed to his cause. He believed that what he was doing, what he was pursuing, the persecution of Jesus followers, is exactly what he should be doing. It's exactly what a godly man. Should be doing. The problem wasn't that he was passionate. The problem wasn't that he was committed. The problem was that he was wrong. He was wrong. See, the Lord puts inside of you abilities, He puts inside of you giftings, but if you use them in the wrong way, God will check you. He will make sure that you move in the direction that you should move, but only if you let him. Here's what I want you to know. You can be sincere in your objective, but if it contradicts God's way, it's a detriment to God's kingdom. But here's what I love about God. In the same way that he used Saul, he can use you too. And this is the thing is that how Paul was passionate and committed to. To his cause, what he thought was right, God used exactly those things to further his own kingdom. Don't you tell me that our God ain't intentional. Don't you tell me that what you have inside of you, those those abilities, that charisma, that whatever it is that you are so drawn to and you are so good at, don't tell me that God didn't put it there. Don't tell me he ain't good. See, Saul was going the wrong way. He messed up, and the same thing that caused so much turmoil in the kingdom of God, God uses for his good. So wherever, how does this apply to you? Wherever you are in the mess, whether it's the past, whether it's the present, whether you think you're going to mess up in the future, God can and will use whatever got you there for his good. But only if you let him. Only if you let him. Don't wait for your road to Damascus moment. Don't wait for God to strike you blind before you start to align with what he wants to do in your life. Follow him now. Follow him now. Follow him now. Watch as Saul near Damascus, God intervenes. He interrupts his path, right? He strikes him down. He was on his way to fulfill the purpose that he thought he should be doing. Saul thought that he was going the right way. He thought he was on the right path. But watch this: God's greatest act of grace in Saul's life is when he interrupted that path. See, we might be walking along a path that we feel is the right path, but God might be putting roadblocks in your way to redirect you. He wants to reestablish a better course in your life. See, we think that we have it all figured out, don't we? Don't we? Don't be shy on me now. We think we have it all figured. We think that we know the best way to do it. Even though we know that God's way is the best way, we still think that we know. I find that so interesting. I'm just as much at fault, trust me. Lord, I think this is the way that we need to go. He's like, try it. But we think we know best over and over again. We try it our way. And over and over again, what happens? We fail. We fail. He corrects our course, not because he enjoys watching us suffer, but because you were made for greater things. He doesn't want the ability, the charisma, the whatever it is in your body, whatever he's given you to be used for the wrong thing. So he will course correct. And you have to abide in it. That door that was closed, that door that closed that you've experienced, or the conviction that you might feel is unfair, is God's grace leading you to a better place, a more prosperous place, a place that more importantly, you can be used as his chosen instrument. You are his chosen instrument. Listen, if God can use Saul, a persecutor of God's people, a detriment to God's people, he can use you too. He can use you too. When Jesus told Ananias, He is my chosen instrument. I want you to understand the magnitude of what Jesus is saying in that moment. This man, this Saul, who was the worst of the worst, who killed and persecuted Christians. God now elevates to chosen instrument. So wherever you are in your mess, I want you to understand this account. If God uses Saul, a murderer of his own people, of God's people, he can use you too. He can use you too. It doesn't negate his past. What he did was real, what he experienced real, his sin, his mess was real. But watch this God's grace, his call, his direction was and will always be greater. Will always be greater. So if you're in this house today and you think that God can't use you because you have messed up so badly, so badly that you could never come back from it, I want you to know that you are not too far gone, that God can till still use you. If he can use Paul, he can use you too. I want you to look at Saul's account. I want you to study it. I want it to dwell within you. Let it be your source of encouragement. That if God can use a man like this, he can use a woman like you, he can use a man like you. You're not too far gone. You're not too far gone. Don't limit God's redemptive. Don't limit him. He's greater than that. He's greater than that. Jesus continues to speak to Ananias. In verse 15 and 16, he says, This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim the name to the Gentiles and to their kings and to the people of Israel. Watch this in verse 16. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name. I need to stop right there because that. Verse has been working on me this entire week. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name. It was funny on Thursday when I was studying, I read that verse. I read it again, and then I read it again, and then I read it again, and I felt just this overwhelming sense of the spirit. I stood up and I started singing Jesus' name. I really did. I started walking all around the church. I started singing. Rich called me the singing pastor, which is an awesome title, by the way. But I just sang Jesus because it hit me so hard that it's it's not easy. It will never be easy. But what a blessing it is, watch this, to suffer for Christ. Man, I don't know how to put this feeling that I feel when I read verse 16 inside of you. But can you hear the passion in it? What a privilege it is to suffer for Jesus Christ. What a privilege it is that he has called us his chosen instrument. What a privilege it is that the devil finds us to be a threat. What a privilege it is to suffer for Jesus. Serving Jesus does not mean that everything's just gonna be sunshine and rainbows. You're not exempt from persecution. You're not exempt from opposition. You're not exempt from oppression. In fact, I've seen the opposite that when you are in lockstep with Jesus, it seems that there is opposition in a greater way. Hear me in this sometimes the devil. Doesn't like when you're in lockstep with Jesus. He does not like when you're successful in ministry. He does not like when the church grows. He does not like when you start studying scripture with your family. He does not like when you start praying for your children. He does not like when you when you begin speaking God's power and authority over your home. He does not like when you bring Jesus into your workplace. He does not like when you align yourself with Jesus. He does not like it. So he will do whatever he can to trip you up. He will do whatever he can to make you fail. He do will do whatever he can to question the calling that God has placed in your life. I do not say this to discourage, but to encourage because the fact of the matter is this: when God calls you, he calls you not to comfort, he calls you to commitment. Comfort, listen to me, says I will praise you when it's convenient, Lord. Comfort says, I will praise you in the presence of other believers, Lord, because I don't want to be seen lifting my hands. Comfort says I'll speak about you, Lord, but only when the person I'm speaking to agrees with what I'm already gonna say. But commitment, listen to me, says I will serve you no matter the cost. I will Will worship you no matter the cost. Commitment says I will honor you no matter the cost. Commitment says I will witness to your goodness no matter the cost. I will surrender to your direction no matter the cost. I will lead my family to you no matter the cost. I will be bold in your name no matter the cost. It may be uncomfortable, it may not be convenient. But stay committed, Faith Alive Church, no matter the cost, no matter the cost, when you choose to follow Jesus, when you align with Jesus. What a privilege it is to suffer in Jesus' name. Because Jesus is. he says he is, he does what he says he's going to do. It's not discouragement, it's encouragement. Wear it as a badge of honor that God is working in your life, and the devil's afraid of you. Each of these men that we've talked about for the last several weeks, whether it's Peter, Matthew, Paul. They failed, they were rejected, they were a problem, really. Yet God chose them. So you might feel that way. Maybe that's your story. I've messed up, Pastor. I've I've made a mess of things in my past. Maybe it's in my present. God's not looking at you and seeing your mess. God's looking at you and seeing his child. He wants to come alongside you and build you to the place that he knows that you can go. Bible says, Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. What does it say next? See, I am doing a new thing. God's gonna do a new thing in your life. Would you stand with me in the house today? There may be some in this house that still feel that way. Is just too great. It's too messy. I can't get past it. I can't move on from it. Maybe it's a messy past, maybe it's a messy present. But I want you to know that in the same way that God chose Saul, He's choosing you today. So what I'd like to do at this time, I got the boys playing behind me. They're gonna sing a song called Jesus Paid It All. Because here's the bottom line, here's the foundation of why we even come into this house. Jesus gave everything. For you. His body was broken, his blood was spilled, and eventually died because of his love for you. He took the penalty that we all deserved because of his love for you. So, this is what I want to do. If you're having trouble living in the past, living in the mess, whatever it is, and you need more Jesus. You need him to intervene. You need him to interrupt whatever path that you're on. I want you to come to these altars, even right now. Typically it takes one person to do this, one bold enough to do it. Thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus. Yes, yes, yes. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. You got a messed up past Hear me, God wants to set you free. God wants to set you free. Thanks for listening to the Faith Alive Sermon podcast. We hope this message encouraged you. If it did, be sure to subscribe or share it with someone else who may need it. If you want to get connected or reach out to one of our pastors, go to our website at faithalive.church. We'll see you next time.

Acts 9 · chapter mention