The Word Made Plain

Narrator (Male): Welcome to The Word Made Plain with Senior Pastor Tony Clark of Calvary Chapel Newport News in Virginia. Currently, Pastor Tony is teaching a study in the book of Acts. Please open your Bible to Acts chapter 9, verses 20 through 25.

Tony Clark: All right, let's dive into the Word of God together. Turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter 9. We're going to be looking at verses 20 to 25. Father, thank You so much for this time we can study Your Word, sit at Your feet, and learn from You. We pray that Your Holy Spirit would teach us, lead us, and guide us into all truth. Lord, I pray that the secrets of our hearts would be revealed today, and Lord, that we would get our lives right with You. Show us the way, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Acts chapter 9, looking at verses 20 to 25. This is what we do: we go verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book through the entire Bible. On Sunday mornings we find ourselves here in the book of Acts, and on Wednesdays, we're in the Old Testament, going through the book of Judges and just having a fabulous time going through the Word. The title of this message is "I'm Perfect For The Job."

Now, there are many of you who have gone into job interviews telling potential employers, "I'm perfect for the job." Well, maybe you are. But when it comes to doing something for God's kingdom, you may not be a perfect fit because just like 1 Samuel 16:7 says, "Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart." We can fool potential employers with our outward appearance, but we can't fool God because He is looking at our hearts.

This is what we are going to see in the life of Saul. Because of his Jewish background, he thought that he would be a perfect candidate to reach the Jewish people. Let's see how it turns out. Look at verses 20 to 22. "Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. Then all who heard were amazed, and said, 'Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?' But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ."

In these verses, we see Saul thinking purely on a human level. He felt that he was custom-made to be a witness to the Jews. He was educated by the greatest Jewish scholar of the day, Rabbi Gamaliel. He was a religious leader, one of the Pharisees, and a member of the Jewish Supreme Court called the Sanhedrin. This is why he immediately preached Christ. Notice where? In the synagogues, according to verse 20. Don't always think that your background and your upbringing, nor your education, makes you a perfect fit for a certain ministry.

It can be, but not all the time. I say this because God may want to use you in a totally different way. Naturally looking at this, Saul was the perfect person to go and minister to the Jews. But God said, "Nah, no, Saul. You might be tempted to take the credit for the work I am calling you to do for Me, or rely on your own natural resources, and talent, or education. So, I'm going to do something different through your life. Why? So the glory will go to Me," God would say.

On the other hand, Peter would have been a perfect fit to go to the Gentiles. He was from Galilee, which was a Gentile area, but God sent him to the Jews. Paul would have been perfect for the Jews, but God sent him to the Gentiles. God may do the same thing in your life. You never know. Something else I want to bring to your attention is what Saul did when he was born again. Notice how verse 20 says, "Immediately he preached Jesus Christ."

This is the heart of preaching, teaching, and talking to other people about spiritual things: it must be centered around Jesus Christ. Paul said, in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 23, "We preach Christ and Him crucified." When Paul understood that Jesus was the key to unlocking all of the Old Testament Scriptures, he didn't hesitate to preach Jesus Christ to the Jews. However, who was his primary ministry to? The Gentiles.

We know this from verse 15, when Jesus told Ananias that Saul was a chosen vessel of His to bear His name before the Gentiles primarily, to kings secondarily, and the children of Israel lastly. When you have been saved by the grace of God, you must tell others about your experience. It's like having a dreadful terminal disease and you were cured. You want to tell everyone else who has the same disease how you were healed. You can't keep it quiet for such wonderful news as you being healed when you see everyone is afflicted with this disease.

When you've been cured, you can't keep that to yourself. Verse 21 says, "All who heard Saul were amazed, and said, 'Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?'" The Jews in the synagogue were amazed. The Greek word for amazed is *existemi*. It means to be put out of your wits, astounded, to be beside yourself. They were blown away because they were expecting for Saul to come and to arrest these Christians, but instead, he came there preaching Jesus to them.

They hated Jesus and Christianity so much that they would not even say His name. Notice how they said in this verse: "Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name?" They wouldn't even say the name of Jesus. They just said "this name." They said it with disdain or derision. We are living in such a time because on certain TV shows, the name of Jesus is censored. If someone says it, it is bleeped out like it's a curse word.

You know why it's bleeped out? Because of the breaking of the third commandment, which says you shall not use the Lord's name in vain. To use the Lord's name in vain is to take that name, that precious holy name by which we're saved, and you bring it down to a level to describe your disgust, or your frustration, or your anger. This is called blasphemy. Therefore, normally when people on TV use the name of Jesus, it's in a blasphemous way. It's used like a curse word. That's why it's bleeped out.

But it's a violation and a breaking of the third commandment. I told you when we started studying this book that we would see the same things happening in the book of Acts occurring in our time. Did their attitude discourage Saul? No, because verse 22 says, "But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ." The Greek word for confounded is *syncheo*, and it means to throw into disorder or to be perplexed.

Just like Stephen did in chapter 7, Saul defeated them in a public debate that left them in a state of disorder and perplexity. They couldn't disprove his claims that Jesus is the Christ. I'm reminded of what Jesus said in Luke 21, verse 15: "I will give you a mouth and wisdom that all of your adversaries would not be able to contradict or resist." This is exactly what was taking place in Saul's life. Something else I want to point out is how Saul increased all the more in strength.

A person who is truly born again will be constantly increasing in their walk with the Lord. Colossians 1, verses 10 and 11, says that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Then verse 11 says, "Strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy." I have to ask: does this describe your Christian walk? Are you increasing in the knowledge of God and your desire to read and study the Word of God?

Is your life fully pleasing to God? Does God look down on you like He did with Jesus when Jesus was being baptized? He came up out of the water and the Bible says that the heavens were opened. He said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I'm well pleased." Does God look down upon you and upon me and say, "Oh, this is my beloved son or daughter, in whom I'm well pleased"? Or is it more closely like Hebrews 11, verse 16: "Therefore God was not ashamed to call them their God."

I just wonder: is God ashamed when He looks down upon our lives that we call Him our God? Is He ashamed when He looks upon you? You call yourself, "Oh, I'm a Christian, I'm a believer," and He looks at your life and He's ashamed that you made that claim. I wonder about that. Saul was increasing. He was increasing all the more in strength and knowledge, too, because he confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus. I'm just wondering: are you confounding the people on your jobs because you're able to give biblical answers to their questions about Christianity?

This is what being born again looks like. We are increasing in strength and in our knowledge of God. We're growing more like Jesus Christ. I say this because I'm going back to the scriptural reference Matthew 3, verse 17, when John the Baptist baptized Jesus. The Father said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I'm well pleased." So the more we become like Jesus, the more we will live a life fully pleasing Him, or being well-pleasing to God like Colossians 1:10 says.

Look at verses 23 to 25. It says, "Now after many days were passed, the Jews plotted to kill him. But their plot became known to Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him. Then the disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall in a large basket." For you students of Scripture, most scholars believe that there is a gap of three years in between verses 23 and 24. This is the time that Paul describes for us in Galatians 1, verses 17 and 18.

It says, "Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia"—the Arabian Desert—"and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days." What did Saul do for three years in the Arabian Desert? He enrolled in a three-year course taught by Jesus Himself, where every symbol, every sacrifice, every feast day and picture in the Old Testament pointed to Jesus Christ.

After three years, Saul had his DD degree. You say, "What is it, Doctor of Divinity?" No, it's Doctor of the Desert. That's what degree he had. Once he received his DD degree, he came back to Damascus and basically said, "Wait until you hear what I have to say to you now. How all of the sacrifices and feast days and Old Testament Scripture point to Jesus Christ." After this time, verse 23 says the Jews plotted to kill him. God exposed their murderous plot and it became known to Saul, according to verse 24.

They watched the gates day and night to kill him. Saul talks about this in 2 Corinthians 11, verses 32 and 33, that says, "In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king was guarding the city of the Damascenes"—Damascenes are the people of Damascus—"with a garrison, desiring to arrest me; but I was let down in a basket through a wall and escaped from his hands," which is the same thing that is said to us in Acts 9:25. "Then the disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall in a large basket," so he escaped.

This is amazing. How was Saul able to handle the rejection of the Jewish people? How was he able to endure people wanting to kill him? It was because of his time in the Arabian Desert. I'm here to tell you that all of us, all of us need a DD degree. All of us need an Arabian Desert place to be taught by the Lord, a deserted place to hear the voice of God and learn from Him away from the noise of this world.

Jesus had such a place. In Mark 1, verse 35, it says, "Now early in the morning, having arisen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary, deserted place; and there He prayed." Jesus had a deserted place to get alone to be with the Father. Do you have such a place? Do you have an Arabian Desert place in your home where you can go and close off the world? You can be quiet at His feet and in His presence, and hear His voice, hear Him instruct you, hear Him tell you things that you could not hear with all the noise and mess that goes along with this world.

Now, I know some of you moms are saying, "Deserted place? With the kids, I have a disaster place." With the toys and laundry and diapers to change, dinner to cook—for those who still cook dinner. Some of y'all fool around and y'all have Wendy cooking for you. Maybe your deserted place is nap time. Well, that is the time I cook or clean. Hold on, wait, wait, hold on. Don't allow the enemy to use the necessities of the day to be a constant excuse to keep you from spending time with God.

He loves you and wants to spend time with you. I've been saying this for 20 years. Never ever—please keep this in mind—the Lord never ever gave you children for you to backslide. That's not the purpose He gave you children. I know that having children and being a wife is hard, especially if you're a single mother. But God's calling is His enabling. What He has called you to do, He will give you the power and the strength to do it. Men, we must help our wives out more so she would have some time to get away to be with God.

If she doesn't come apart to be with Jesus, she will fall apart by life's daily activities. How is it that there is a cry, "I don't have time to get with God because there's all the activity going on," but we find time to be our kids' taxi? We go to their games and practices and games out of town and games in town and games around the corner. We got time for all that, but when it comes to time for God, I don't have time for that. Don't you know I have kids? Don't you know I got to cook, I got to clean?

Why is it that when it's time for you to be a taxi or go to some game or practice, you're not bringing up, "I got these sort of things to do"? But it's only when it's time for church and God are those things come up. "You know, I'm so busy, I got a lot to do." Why is it that you don't have a lot to do when it comes to practice and taking them to games and running them around and fooling around? You got to take them to go pick up his friend or her friend, and you got to take them to the movies and got to come back, you got to go and pick them up. But we don't have time for God's stuff.

I find that just fascinating to me that whenever it comes to the things of God, we got the excuses. Tithing, "Oh, well, you know, we got bills, I got bills to pay and got things to do." But though we see you smiling on a cruise ship or at some vacation spot. Why is it that we always got excuses when it comes to God? Why is that? But though we do whatever we want to do. I just find that amazing. Saul is about to go back to Jerusalem. He just escaped for his life. He just escaped being killed in Damascus.

Oh, how the tables have turned. He was coming there to do some killing, now they want to kill him. Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. But God was protecting him. So they let him down on the other side of the wall—they had homes on top of the walls—and let him down in a large basket. He escapes. Now he's going back to Jerusalem. The rumors were going around about him. Can you imagine? He's going around on a crusade killing Christians and now he's preaching Jesus.

How did they receive him once he got to Jerusalem? Well, you got to wait until next week. I couldn't squeeze it all in. But there are some things I want to conclude with. "I'm perfect for the job." Well, you may be, or you may not be. Your background or upbringing may actually disqualify you for what God has for you. This is why Jesus said in Matthew 13, in verse 57, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and his own house."

You would think, "Well, I would be perfect to go back to where I grew up to start a church or do ministry because I grew up there. I know the people, the people know me." Well, that's the problem. Because the context of Matthew 13 is Jesus going back to His hometown to preach and they were offended at Him. This thing being offended is not new. They were offended at Him and they started saying, "Is this Joseph's boy? Don't we know his brothers and sisters?" And it says, "And they were offended."

So our backgrounds may or may not make us perfect for what God has for our life. It may, but it may not. So stay open and sensitive in prayer and the Word of God to what God has for your life. He could have tailor-made you for the ministry He has for you, or your background could totally disqualify you because God knows you. That when God begins to work, you would take the credit for it. So He says, "Let me do something totally out of their comfort zone, so the glory will go to Me," God would say.

Not so you can touch the glory and say, "Of course God is doing this great work. I'm from this area, so hey, God can work in a mighty way. Of course He's doing this work through me. I know the people, the people know me." Disqualified. We also saw how Saul immediately preached Jesus when he was converted. If you never talk to people about spiritual things, maybe you're not truly born again. Because this is a characteristic of being born again. As you heard me say many times, one beggar telling another beggar where he found bread.

You can't help but to talk about it. If this is you, come for prayer. Because if you're truly born again, you can't help but to tell others about your experience. You can't keep quiet. There's no way you can. And if you're not talking to people about spiritual things, you just can't help it.

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