Text Box: weekly sermon 6-10-07 DO YOU MIND? Last week we talked about prayer. Through prayer and communion with God, we become more obedient to His word. So let us look at some obedience, what it means to be obedient for God, and what disobedience or obedience can do. We will go through a few verses so grab a Bible and follow along with me. Look with me in Acts chapter 9. This is a familiar story for some of us. Well lets start back a bit, look with me in Acts 7:57. Here we find a man named Stephen. He was a man of God, a very obedient man who was a bold servant for God. We find Stephen here going to become a first in the Bible, that we are told of, he is the first Christian martyr after Jesus' resurrection. Meaning that Stephen is the first killed for preaching the gospel. So in chapter 7 we see that Stephen is being stoned, and while he is being stoned the Romans soldiers that were stoning him took off their robes and handed them to a man named Saul. Then we see in chapter 8 that Saul was not a good man. Basically he killed Christians for a living. Ok now to the real part of this message. In chapter 9 we find that this same Saul is on his way to Damascus to take letters to the synagogues. And while on his way there he was to bring back any of these so called Christians to be "disposed of". Well we know here that Jesus came to Saul and said that he was the same Jesus that Saul persecuted. Looking at verse 6 after Jesus has spoken to Saul, it says, "And he, (meaning Saul), trembled and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?..." We see a man, who hated Christians, and went immediately from a destroyer of Christians to, "what do you want me to do Lord?" This is, I would have to say, an immediate obedience, but this is also not the obedient one I was wanting to bring up, even though Saul became probably one of the most obedient in the Bible. Anyway, Jesus made Saul blind to punish him and to humble him. While Saul is blinded, he has a vision of a disciple that would come to him and restore his sight. This is where our story gets going. Look with me in Acts 9:10 "And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here Lord. And the Lord said unto him, arise and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight". Ok lets look at this for a second. Saul is a murderer of Christians, and it says back in the start of chapter 9, that Saul was "breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples..." So the disciples ALL knew Saul very well and that his job was to imprison and even kill Christians. So keeping this in mind, put yourself in Ananias' shoes, the Lord has just came and asked him to go to Saul and restore his sight. He has got to be thinking, this is the man that hates me, he was just there and cheering on the stoning of Stephen, and he is a Roman soldier with authority to dispose of all Christians, and you want me to do what Lord?? And in verse 13, we see that Ananias is saying to the Lord, Oh please don't make me go there and do this, I have heard all these bad things about him, and he will surely stone me as he did Stephen, or at least throw me in prison. The Lord told him, arise and go. At that moment Ananias got up and left. That is true obedience to God. I mean, how many of us would really go into the hottest of fire, just because God wanted us to. It takes true obedience to do something that is totally against what we think or want to do. And if we read on, then we see that, of course, Ananias did go to Saul, and touched his eyes, and cured his blindness, just as the Lord asked him to do, and guess what? He wasn't killed or even put in prison by Saul, or anyone. He was obedient to God and God took care of him. There are things that only God knows is going to happen. When God is sending us somewhere, He has a reason for sending us there. We may not be able to see the reason, but there is one there, and it will work out the way God wants it to work. Just as it says in Hebrew 5:8 "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;" Meaning that even Jesus, learned obedience to God, through his sufferings. So if our own saviour was to be obedient, why would we not be obedient also. And to finish out our story, if your not familiar, the Lord went to Saul, and changed his name to Paul. Paul is the one who wrote most of the New Testament. You go from Christian killer to one of the most published disciples for God. Now that is true obedience. And if you follow Paul's (Saul's) life, you see he would go through many tribulations, but stays strictly obedient to the reason we are all here, to spread the gospel, being a witnesses for Christ. One more verse that will put the seal on this, look with me at Romans 5:19 "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." As you can see, if we are disobedient to the will of our Father, then we cause nothing but sin, whereas our true obedience will cause many to be righteous. So back at the top I asked a question, Do you mind? Are you obedient? The first obedience is for you to make Jesus, Lord and saviour of your life. If you have never done this, then please say this simple prayer with me. Jesus come into my heart, be my saviour, and be the Lord of my life. Make me obedient to your word that I may be a witness for the Good News of saving grace of Jesus Christ. Amen. If you just said this little prayer, then we believe you have received the free gift of salvation, and we would love to rejoice with you on your new walk in your Christian life and send you a few things in this travel. With love in Christ, Pastor Stone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

               

                                             

The Christian Counter
The Christian Counter