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by Sandy Shaw
Acts 9 is so rich - in reality - in what is real - in testimony - in how the grace of God moves and intervenes and transforms men like Saul and Ananias.
We see how Jesus Christ can surprise a man who is NOT a disciple as well as a man who is a disciple. Chapter 9 teaches us how we come into the Church - into the Kingdom of God - and something of what we can expect after we come in - as it speaks about ministry and witnessing and suffering - the need to have a trusting friend - and taking risks. So much!
This violent, wounding, furious man has met Jesus Christ. He is in the process of being tamed. He has met Ananias who has befriended him and he is being nurtured in the essentials of The Christian Faith - concentrating upon priorities. This is a rich seam.
Acts 21:16 tells us that Ananias says to Saul - after Saul receives back his ability to see - "Get up - be baptised - and wash away your sins - calling on his name." But staying in Chapter 9 and at verse 20, this new young disciple of Jesus Christ goes out preaching. He goes into the synagogues of Damascus, proclaiming and preaching that Jesus is The Son of God. This was NOT what he had initially planned to do on his visit to Damascus.
O, how Jesus Christ can change people radically. I wonder what the religious authorities said back in Jerusalem when this news reached them? God can change what man thinks can never be changed. Jesus can deal with what people think no-one is able to deal with. It is in the light of these truths that we continue to minister, looking to Jesus to intervene in various lives and situations. The people are amazed and surprised, BUT, not everyone believes. Not all come to faith even when an anointed Saul preaches Christ. He grows more powerful and he baffles The Jews.
Here we see in operation something of this picture that faith is like a muscle. The more we exercise it, the stronger it becomes. But, SOON he is in trouble. Some Jews planned to kill him. Just a few days after he came to believe in Jesus Christ, he, the former persecutor, is facing real persecution. And, Saul has to escape over a wall at night, under the cover of darkness, in a basket.
That may sound 'romantic' - suffering for Jesus - fleeing because of your faith - but there is nothing 'romantic about it. It is sore, and painful, and costly. Here is another reason for having close friends in the local Christian Fellowship. Not only do we require friends in times of weakness and blindness, but also in times of persecution, when we need someone to help us over a wall in a basket, when we have to escape.
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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