Ananias: A Devout & Ready Man | Acts 9:10-19 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh | Maranatha Shabiba 2024

I have to admit that it is extremely difficult to dedicate a series on the life of the apostle Paul and not have to talk about his conversion? How do you talk about Paul and not talk about his testimony? And that is not personal opinion. I believe the weightiness of the Bible leans toward the fact that his testimony is something to be greatly considered. It's not a secondary or tertiary idea.

And the reason why we can say that is because Paul's testimony in the book of Acts is not mentioned just once, not just twice. It is recorded for us three times. Surely, this emphasis given to us by the Holy Spirit is meant to convey that his conversion is of weighty significance. And one of the reasons for that significance is because he was not one of the original 12 disciples who walked with Christ, who ate with Christ, who was with Christ during his three year ministry. But he would play a vital role in establishing the foundation of the church.

And so the origins of his encounter with Christ and his experience of the resurrected Christ had to be unmistakable, had to be undeniably clear for the sake of his credibility as an apostle who would lay down so many important truths that you and I are experiencing and learning and are walking in today. So his story is part of scripture. And because it is part of scripture, not only does it hold historical value, but the same Paul, who we're learning about, said that all scripture has been, what, breathed out by God. Because it's been breathed out by God, it is absolutely useful for the man of God to be complete, complete and ready for every good work. And guess what?

Paul's testimony is part of Scripture. And so we can look to his testimony for practical truth, for personal, applicable things in our own walk with the Lord. And so I wanna encourage you, though we're not gonna explore every single detail about his testimony today, what a thrilling thing it would be to take the mentions of his testimony and do a comparative study. You'll find it narrated in Acts chapter nine. You'll find it given by the Apostle Paul's own words in Acts chapter 22 and also in Acts chapter 26.

But many of us in here, have studied the Word of God, I assume, have grown up hearing about Paul, surely. And so we're very familiar with his Damascus Road experience. When he was on his way with permission from authorities to persecute the church. We all can really recite that testimony, that part of it at least, but I wanna consider a part of his testimony that is often overlooked, an ingredient, a fragment of his story that is mentioned two times out of the three times that the testimony of Paul is mentioned in the book of Acts. It deals with a person, a person who played an integral part in his genesis of the Christian journey.

That person is named Ananias. Ananias. Ananias was a man who played a very crucial role in Paul's beginnings as a believer in Jesus Christ. And many of us know again that Acts chapter nine story of Paul meeting Jesus in a very humbling way, but I'm not sure many of us realize how important and how many things you can learn from Ananias, who is part of his story. So I encourage you to come to Acts chapter nine with me, and let's go to verse 10.

Verse one to nine is the report of his personal experience of Christ, but that's not the whole story. And I know we're here to talk about Paul, but intertwined with Paul's story is this man, Ananias. So let's read here in verse 10 where we read, 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 Straight, 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 his 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 priests to bind all who call on your 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. There's no debate of the incredible role that Paul played in the life of the church, And understanding his importance would make us think that the person who would be used by God to direct Paul as a baby in Christ, to nurture Paul, to instruct Paul would also be some body of great significance. So here's just me thinking, okay.

If there's gonna be any person who's going to go to Saul, who now will become Paul in a few chapters, it has to be a a big guy. It's gotta be a Peter, maybe John, James. What about Philip, the evangelist who in a chapter before saw revival in Samaria and who was transported supernaturally after seeing that Ethiopian eunuch come to Christ. Couldn't the Lord transport him from Caesarea here to Damascus and meet with Paul? But God doesn't do any of that.

God doesn't send an apostle. He doesn't send a teacher, a pastor, an evangelist, a revivalist. No. All we read here in verse 10, now there was a disciple, a disciple at Damascus. Nobody of prominent position, nobody of great talent, no miracles necessarily associated with his name before this time, just a disciple.

Don't read your Bible too fast, please, unless you miss marvelous insights about the heart of God. Doesn't it warm your heart to know that the Lord, when he recruits people to be used, does not bypass ordinary disciples. He's not automatically magnetized towards those who are known with notoriety, with significant public gifts. No. He he even looks for men like this, Ananias.

And the only thing associated with his name in the scriptures is that he was a disciple. You know why that's encouraging? We're all disciples. We're all disciples. And as we study and admire the testimony of one of the greatest leaders in the church, you and I are also, in reading his testimony, discovered that God that God uses lesser known believers to do significant things.

And this is something to encourage you. And when the Lord recruits people, he does not look for what you and I look for if we're going to look for somebody of great purpose. And I remember looking at this and thinking about different people who've been used by God that have really shifted history, and we know them. We read their biographies. We are inspired by their stories.

Books have been written about them, but but we never consider the people who played a role in their lives that we'll never hear about on this side of eternity. And I stumbled upon the testimony of a person that you've heard of, I'm sure, John Bunyan. You've probably read his book, Pilgrim's Progress. If you haven't, it's one of the most read books in all of human history, and it is certainly the most popular Christian allegory of all time. A brilliant man.

They said of John Bunyan that if you cut him, he would bleed out the Bible. He loved the word. He knew the word, and God used them to make an impact, in the kingdom of God to this day. But what's so incredible about John Bunyan was not just his writings, but the events leading up to his own conversion. And you can find this in great detail.

One of my favorite episodes in John Bunyan's life is that when he was still a tinker have you ever heard of the word? A tinker was somebody who, by way of profession, would fix people's pots and pans. And so they would travel from town to town with utensils, and they would knock on people's doors and ask if they would have any of their kitchenware fixed. And so John Bunyan, before he was an author, before he was a preacher, he was a tinker. And one day, he finds himself in a specific place, and he encounters in Bedford a group of women, three or four women who were sitting at the front door of one of their homes.

And they were talking, and he was nearby. Unfortunately, for some, when three or four women get together and talk, it's dangerous. But that wasn't the case here because when John Bunyan walks by, he he heard these women who were poor, unnamed, discussing the things of God. And this attracted Bunyan because he never heard people talking about things like this. Things about God saving their souls, heaven, the bible, what they read.

And John Bunyan, he he wasn't a person who grew up in the church and had some kind of knowledge of these things. He he was an atheist at heart, very rough upbringing, but something there was a fragrance in the air that drew him to to just draw a little closer and lean in. And we're told there that he didn't really understand what they were talking about, but he interpreted that they were speaking from a place of joy. And he realized that they were speaking of another world, and that made an impact on this man, John Bunyan. That was just one link in the chain that would eventually cause him to be bound to Christ.

Four poor unknown women who were talking about the love of their hearts and a man in the neighborhood heard them, and that would be used to push him closer to the foot of the cross. God uses nobodies. But just because God uses nobodies which we rejoice in, it doesn't mean he uses anybody. You can say that Ananias was a nobody, but he wasn't just anybody because there are standards in which God looks for when he recruits. And, thankfully, he doesn't look for talent, looking he doesn't look for prestige, he doesn't look for pedigree, but he does look for something.

And we're told, not in Acts nine, but again in the parallel account of Paul's testimony, something about Ananias as Paul talks about his own conversion that's worth looking at for you and I to see. Look at this here in Acts chapter 22. Turn there with me, would you? And this is when Paul speaks about his own testimony. Look what he says about Ananias in verse 12.

I want you to take note of two things that will secure us as candidates for God's service. The first thing, which is not included in the two, but it's automatic, is you need to be a disciple. But there are two additional things, and they're found here in Acts 22 and the other one back in Acts nine. Look at verse 12. Paul speaking, and one Ananias, a devout man, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there.

So what was it about Ananias? Number one, he was devout. What does it mean to be devout? It means to be pious. This man was holy.

This man was blameless. This man had true character, and he stands in contrast to another Ananias. This is not the same Ananias of Acts chapter five. Acts chapter five, it was Ananias and his wife, Sapphire. Remember those two?

They came into church thinking that they can lie. And Ananias and Sapphire, seeing Barnabas give this charitable gift, thought, wow. I mean, look at all look at all the people who were moved by Barnabas' generosity. Let's do something like that. And so they they faked it.

They They pretended to give everything when they actually gave some. And so Ananias walks in, and he lies to ultimately God, and he's stricken dead. And his wife comes later on later on, and he's she's confronted by church leadership. She lies as well. And that church service became a funeral service.

But this is a different Ananias. Listen, he doesn't have a position. He didn't possess anything significant, but he did have a praiseworthy reputation, so much so, listen, He wasn't just well spoken of by the Christians. What did Paul say? Well spoken of by all the Jews.

The Jews. The Jews were enemies of the early Christian movement, and yet we're told here that they were well spoken. They they were speaking well of this man because he was no hypocrite. He was consistent. No matter what context he was found in, whether people loved him or hated him, they they could not deny that he was a devout man.

He was committed to the thing that he said that he believed in. And the example of Ananias here teaches that none of us should expect to to be recruited by the Lord if we are not first committed to maintaining and pursuing Christian character, Christian character. But the extent of his faithfulness doesn't just end here. Go back to Acts chapter nine. Right?

He's a devout man. But when you look at the main text, you see the extent of his faithfulness. In Acts nine, look at verse 13. This is when the Lord said, I want you to go to Saul, and this is his response in Acts nine thirteen. 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 priests to bind all who call on your name.' Look at the first few words of verse 14.

And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind. Here, well, Damascus. So Ananias realized it was on headline news in the church that there is this Saul of Tarsus coming to Damascus to eradicate Christianity in this region. He is coming to harass the church. So Ananias was aware that he was on dangerous territory, and yet he didn't move.

Isn't that what we get from this? And here he has authority, but that didn't didn't diminish his dedication. His devotion was not deterred. It was not diluted. And so you have this disciple, yes, but oh, man, did he love Christ?

He was willing to be arrested for Christ. He was willing to die for Christ surely, so he was devout according to the law, yes, But this law was so real to him. It was so good to him. It was so cherished by him that when there was persecution against it, he was willing to dig his heels in Damascus and stay put. A disciple.

Simply put, a disciple who is devout, who loved the Lord, who loved God's law, who loved Christ to this extent. And so listen. That's what you would have to be encouraged by because you you can achieve this. You can walk in this. Businessman, mother who stays at home with her children, you can be devout.

And as you walk in that devotion to the Lord, you make yourself a greater candidate for his service. But it's not just that. There's a second thing. He was devout, but he was also ready. So look here at verse 10 again of our main text.

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. Here I am, Lord. What a response for your name being called.

Here I am, Lord. Now you would think, well, that would be the obvious response if you're visited by Christ in a vision. Right? What else are you gonna say? I don't believe that this is just a spontaneous submission.

I believe that Ananias had this yieldedness in his heart instilled in him. How do we know that? Because we just learned that he was a doubt devout man according to the law. And so he was already committed to the written word of God so that when God came in a supernatural way, he came to a man who already was willing to do all that the Lord said. And you have many people who want experiences with the Lord.

They want subjective kind of ecstasies and and testimonies. But here's a question for you. How responsive are you to what God had already told you in his word? How does your heart move according to what he has said already in the scriptures? Because you and I have no reason to expect anything more if what we've been given is not honored and loved to begin with.

So Ananias was devout according to the law. God saw a man that when the word was heralded, when it was read, when it was studied, his heart was ready to do anything that the Lord said. And so this man would receive further instruction because he was a ready man. Some of the greatest servants in the scriptures have been people who responded like Ananias did when they were visited by the Lord. Abraham, here I am.

Genesis 22. Isaiah says, whom shall we send? What did Isaiah say? Here I am, Lord. What?

Send me. You know what I love about that? He didn't even know what the job description was yet. Whom shall we send? I'll do it.

I don't know what it is, but I'm ready. Okay. Good. I want you to preach, and nobody's gonna ever listen to your sermons. How long, lord?

He asked later on. And then he did it. Here I am, lord. He was a devout man, and he was a ready man. He he maintained a posture of servanthood.

Whatever the lord would say, I'm gonna do it. Now I mentioned this so many times, but we are creatures of repetition. So I, like some of the apostles in their letters, am not ashamed to repeat certain things. David was a man after God's own heart. Is that not true?

Do you even know what that means, though? What does it mean for David to be a man after God's own heart? The Lord qualifies that the Holy Spirit tells us exactly what it means, and I want you to see it quickly before we come back to this text in acts 13. Look at acts 13, and notice here what the Bible says about David being a man after God's own heart in verse 22. And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king of whom he testified and said, I have found in David, the son of Jesse, a man after my heart.

If it's if it ended there, it could mean a million things what it means to be a man after God's heart. But we're told exactly what it means, who will do all my will. So if you wanna know if you're a woman, if you're a man who has a heart after God's heart, that will be recognized by how you respond to the revealed will of God. Whatever you discover, whatever is learned, whatever is new, whatever is something that you've forgotten about is now an object of remembrance, Are you willing to do it? Ananias was a man who was willing to do what the Lord told him.

So he was devout, and he was ready. But let's come back and realize that the Lord understood that this man, though he was devout, though he was ready, was a man still. Look at verse 11 of acts nine. He almost preemptively wants to reassure Ananias from this dangerous task that it's gonna be okay because he understands the reluctancy of any Christian concerning Saul and encountering him. And the lord said to him, rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas pause there.

Isn't that amazing? The Lord knows your address, and he knows the members of that household. But notice what the Lord tells Ananias to comfort him. He says, in the house of Judas, look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying. You know, the word behold is pause whatever you're doing and look at this for a second.

Behold, he is praying as though Paul praying was a spectacle, And he wants to blanket this man's soul, and he wants to console him. Out of all the things he could have said, he says, don't worry, Ananias. Paul is praying. Do you know why that's important? Because it tells us one of the one of the marks of true conversion.

According to Jesus, one of the indications that a person has truly changed is that they pray. But wait, wasn't Paul a Pharisee? He was a Pharisee. Didn't Pharisee Pharisees. So he was probably more inspirational among the Pharisees in his prayer life than anybody.

But you remember what Jesus said generally about the prayers of the Pharisees? Vain, self seeking, hypocritical. But now that Paul met Christ and his heart was changed, it's as though the Lord is saying, ah, now he's really praying. Now he is really praying. Charles Spurgeon said that prayer is the Holy Ghost's autograph on the heart of a regenerated soul.

And what I love about Acts chapter nine is you see the change in what Paul does with his breath. Say, what do you mean? Look at here verse one of Acts chapter nine. But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. That's how we find Paul in Acts before he comes to Christ, and then you read here in verse ten and eleven that he's no longer breathing threats.

He's breathing sighs of adoration and love and petitions to the Lord. When you meet Christ, one of the things that will happen in your life is that you will know a longing and a practice of communing with the Lord. Is born, one of the things that I'm sure doctors look for, I'm no doctor, but I know this to be true is one of the vital signs of a healthy baby is what? It cries. The baby cries.

The lungs are working. Right? It's no different in the new birth. If a person is born again and there's no cry, there's something not right. Something's wrong.

And so a born again person will supernaturally have this instinct to lift up their voice and seek the Lord. Will the flesh challenge that? Yeah. Will there be days where you don't wanna seek the Lord? I I I'm aware of that, but you can, at some point in the beginnings of your walk, recognize this shift that you now want to know the Lord and you know Him in this thing called prayer.

Ananias, you can go and see Paul, who was at this time known as Saul, and not have to worry about a thing. He's a changed man. Why? Because he's seeking me. He's inquiring of me.

He's communing with me. And I love this about the Lord because before Paul preached the sermon, before Paul established the church, before he made any disciples, he prayed. And so soon after his conversion, the God of heaven and earth heard him. He didn't wait for Paul to perform anything or to to build his resume and his rapport. No.

The moment he was changed, while he still had scales on his eyes, he was seeking the Lord and said, I hear that man. And he knows the exact GPS location of where those prayers are coming from. This thought moved me years ago when I was flying, and I looked out the window and I saw the city of Chicago as I was taking off to another state, and I began to see all these different homes and all these cars. And I thought to myself, how many people are here? Like, what does the Lord see from the heavens?

And yet when a man prays, he knows the exact house, the exact street, the exact room he's in. Behold, he's praying. He's praying. He's he's actually praying. Ananias, you can go now.

And so he's ready to go and meet this man because the pulse of a regenerating work of the Holy Spirit is identified by real praying being offered and not public prayer, may I add? This was Paul praying praying privately alone. And that's what we're supposed to learn from his conversion. With all true conversions, you will know desire to actually lean in and seek the Lord. So what happens?

Look at verse 13 now. But Ananias answered, Lord, I've heard from many about this man about how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. It's as though the moment he heard Saul of Tarsus, he didn't he didn't even hear the behold, he's praying part. Like, Saul of Tarsus gulped. That's all he heard.

It was ringing in his ear. The lord said, behold, he is praying. Saul of Tarsus. That's all I heard, lord. And here's what here's what encourages me about this man.

Was he devout? Sure. Was he ready? Absolutely. But he was human.

He had real fears, and we have to be merciful to him. Imagine the Lord visiting you and saying, I want you to go travel to this place, and one of the ISIS leaders is there ready for you to lay hands on him and give him instruction. So let's be kind to Ananias. Way of principle here, you have a man who has genuine hesitations and he's able to verbalize that and the Lord is so compassionate to hear him out. So even in our weakness and obedience, communicate your weakness, your your your reasons why the Lord is so much more tender than you can imagine.

So he says, Lord, I've heard many from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem, and and as we read earlier, he's here, and he has authority to kill us in a sense, that I hear Saul of Tarsus. And I must mention something here. This is just me because I can't ignore certain things that are brilliant in terms of nuggets of revelation. Look what he says here about the Christians in his region. Lord, I have heard from many about this man how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem.

This is the first time in the book of Acts the word saints is used to identify Christians. Do you know what the word saints means in original? It's the word hagios, and it means most holy thing. Most holy thing. And I wanna bring this up just just kinda as a just we're stepping over here a little rabbit trail, and we'll come back.

There are some actually, many in the world who believe that sainthood is only achieved by certain out of the ordinary remarkable Christians. But what you read here is that saints, that word is applied to all believers. All Christians are saints, not just a select few that you revere and, dare I say, do more than revere. All of them are saints, and then even in this, we have the qualifications for saintliness. What is it?

Look here. And here, he has authority from the chief priest to bind all who call on your name. So who's a saint according to the Holy Spirit? Any person who calls on the name of the Lord to be their righteousness. So we are saints by faith.

We are made the most holy by faith. What an amazing thing. Yes. You, you are a saint according to the scriptures. And so he says here, lord, are you sure this man is here to destroy us?

This man is here to harm us? And in this very same passage, we learn in Paul's conversion something about our conversion that we are also saints because of faith. And the Lord says, I'm sure. And he says in verse 15, go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. Look at that phrase there for a moment.

But the Lord said to him, go for he is a chosen instrument of mine. The idea of God sovereignly choosing makes some people very nervous, and it makes other people very happy. There is no doubt here that the Lord said, I have prepared for this man a certain task that he will walk in, that he will perform, that he will honor. And as much as God has appointed a will, not just for Paul, but for each of us, you have to also understand that that sovereignty does not nullify personal responsibility. So look at this phrase again.

He is a chosen instrument of mine. Right? K. But, again, there's two other places where Paul's testimony is mentioned, and I want you to look at Acts 26, and notice what Paul says about his response to this revelation that he has been given a task as an apostle. Look at Acts 26.

And look at verse 19. Actually, let's read beyond that. Let's go beyond 19, and let's just get the context here. Acts 26. Look here at verse 16.

This is the Lord speaking. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have prepared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness for the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from the people, from the Gentiles, to whom I'm sending you to open their eyes that they may turn from darkness sanctified by faith in me. Verse 19. Check this out. Therefore, oh, king Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.

Did God choose him for a work? Yes. Did God prepare for him a ministry? Absolutely. Did Paul have a choice?

You better believe it. He did have a choice, and he says here, I was not disobedient to that vision. Does God have a call for your life? Yes. According to Ephesians two ten, he has prepared for each of us a work that we should walk in them.

It's prepared, but you gotta walk in it. You gotta walk in it. And so Paul here says, I chose to walk in it. Was he knocked down by that vision? Did he have an amazing, incredible, supernatural experience of Christ?

Yes. With all of that said and done, he still was at a threshold, and he had to make a decision. Will I obey this, or will I turn my back on this? And he says to Agrippa, I'm gonna obey this, and I did obey this. I wasn't disobedient to this vision.

I think that's an important remark to make. He's chosen, but he has a choice. Look at verse 17 of Acts nine. So Ananias departed and entered the house, and laying his hands on him, he said, brother Saul, Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me to you that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. I wish there was a little, like, video clip of Ananias hearing from the Lord and the Lord saying, I know he's Saul of Tarsus, but go, go, go.

He's a chosen instrument of mine. What did this man look like? Did he walk? Did he walk around that street called straight a few times before he walked in? There's no sense of that.

He he obeyed. He obeyed the Lord, and he had this boldness, and he had this courage, and he walks into this place. And notice this, again, don't read your Bible too fast. What are the first words of Ananias when he meets Saul? Brother Saul.

Wow. Brother Saul. Just a few verses ago, he was like, This guy wants to murder us. He's changed. He's praying, and he believed that.

And when he saw Saul listen to this. Before Saul's eyes would even see, remember the scales would fall off his eyes after this. You know one of the first words he heard? A person that he was determined to kill calling him brother. So Acts nine twenty two twenty six really details for us the supernatural nature of Paul's conversion, but within it are other supernatural occurrences, including this one.

Paul experienced Christ in a miraculous way, but there's a miracle within the miracle in the story, and it's in the life of Ananias. Because what Ananias shows is what a relationship with Jesus Christ can do to us and how we view others. Paul teaches us how Christ can save anybody. Ananias shows us how we, because of Christ, can love anybody. Brother Saul, if you are a devout, ready man who loves the Lord, not only will you know potential moments of obedience and service that will exhilarate your life and bless others, but you will know a heart change in ways that you never thought was possible.

There is so much hatred in this world. It's nauseating. It's nauseating. And if it's gonna if it's gonna be anywhere, let it be out in the world, but God help us in the church. Only Jesus Christ can work in our heart so powerfully where you can look at the person who had governmental permission to hurt you and you say, you're my brother because of Christ.

Because you repented and put your faith, now you're my brother. You can't love like that without Jesus. You can't. And if you wanna see miracles in your marriage, miracles in your relationships, miracles even with your enemies, Listen, we're living in a world where Satan is creating a sense of divide unlike any other time in recent history. Because Satan knows if he can divide, he can conquer.

And the antidote to that is Christ so working in our hearts that we can look at others and call them brothers, sisters. Ananias went and he called them brother Saul, and he lays hands on him to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And he was filled with the Holy Spirit. Look what happens here in verse 18. 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. So there was no wasted time here. Ananias obeyed the Lord, and now Saul is ready to obey the Lord. And one of the first few things that you do when you wanna obey the Lord when you first get saved is, okay.

Where's some water? I gotta get wet and publicly declare my faith in Christ. But notice this interesting phrase here. We're told that he was strengthened. This is speaking about physical strength, but it doesn't end there with Paul.

When you read down here, you realize that there was another strength that he experienced. Look at verse 22. But Saul increased all the more in strength but Saul increased all the more in strength and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ. That's not speaking about a physical strength. That's speaking about a spiritual strength.

So, yes, I mean, he was he was detained and confined for a few days, so he needed some physical nourishment. But shortly after that, he he tastes, and he now invests in another kind of nourishment for his soul. He he was strengthened spiritually. And can I tell you why he was strengthened spiritually? Can I tell you why he gave that dedication to his spiritual strength and state and vigor?

Because Ananias told them something. See, Ananias is very brief here in acts nine, but when you go to acts twenty twenty two, he elaborated more according to Paul. And look what he says to to Paul in acts 22. Look at verse 14. And he said, the God of our fathers appointed to you to know his will, to see the righteous one and to hear a voice from his mouth.

That appointment that Paul had, yes, it was unique as as an apostle, but let me give you a thrilling thought this morning. We all have been appointed to know his will, every single one of us. And I wonder, like Paul, if you are investing in discovering that. See, Paul wasn't just focused on the material. Paul wasn't just focused on his physical condition.

Paul realized that there was something else. There was more to this life, and it's re going to require my participation, my willingness to know it. I've been appointed to know it, but it requires something for me to unfold it and to realize it. And so Paul asked two questions when he met Christ. And some of you have heard me say this before, but I I can never shake it off because what Paul asked when he met Christ is something that a true believer will ask when he meets Christ and will continue to ask, ask he as he walks with Christ.

And this is where we're almost ending in acts nine. Paul asked two questions. Excuse me. It's actually in this chapter in acts 22, so you don't have to go back and forth anymore. Look back here at verse eight of acts 22.

This is when Paul met Christ for himself before he encountered Ananias. The Lord meets him, stops him in his tracks in verse eight, and I answered here's the first question. Who are you, Lord? And he said to me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting. Listen.

When you first get saved, you will ask that same question. Not just in the moment, you will always ask it. Who are you, Lord? Can I ask you? Are you asking that?

Is there anything in your heart today, this weekend, where you say there is a yearning in my life to know the person of Jesus Christ? I know he saved me, but I I want to savor him now. I want to know who he is, how he thinks, how he feels, what's his will. Is there anything in you that says I'm on that journey? Or was it something of the past?

Was it something momentary, but it's dissipated and it's evaporated because you're now more concerned about strengthening your bank account more than anything else and strengthening your relationships that are not necessarily even godly relationships to begin with, strengthening your security and your provision to come, strengthening the future of this or the future of that. Here's a man who tells us that when you really meet Christ and taste of his glory, you will want to know more of him. You can't exhaust him. Who are you, lord? But that's not the only question.

Verse nine, now those who are with me saw the light, but did not understand the voice of the one who is speaking to me. And this is the second question of verse 10. And I said, what shall I do, lord? And the Lord said to me, rise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do. That's the second thing, Paul, is and that's the second thing a true believer will ask after he meets Christ.

Not just who are you, but what do you want me to do now? What's my purpose? What's my gift? What church do you want me to be a part of? Where do you want me to go?

Where do you want me to say stay? Lord, I've been doing this for this long. Do you want me to change? Lord, I've been serving in this way. Do you want me to shift?

What do you want me to do, Lord? And let me say this boldly. I know it's the morning session, but I can't help it. I'm sorry. If you have never asked, who are you, Lord, and what shall I do, Lord?

You've probably never met Christ. You haven't. You've heard about him. You've probably been moved by others who've spoken of him. You probably like the songs that sing about him, but you haven't met him if you've never asked who are you and you've never asked what do you want me to do?

Now let me qualify by saying it's possible for somebody to meet the Lord and be in a season in which they're not interested in those things, and that's where you need a fresh touch from the Lord to come back to those things being priority in your life. But if you've never inquired and you have the audacity to call yourself a born again Christian, reconsider. Reconsider. It's impossible. It's impossible to meet him and not ask these things.

Who are you, Lord? What do you want me to do? And that's what Paul shows later on, that this thing lived in him beyond Acts chapter nine twenty two, 26. Can I show it to you? Look at Philippians with me, please, And look at chapter three, and look at verse eight.

Unlike many who, as the years go by, lose interest in those questions, for Paul, it only intensified. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of their surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish. You know what that word rubbish is in the original? Dung.

If you don't know what dung is, look it up later. And count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith, that I may know him, verse 10. But, Paul, you knew Him. You met Him. You saw Him with your own eyes.

You heard Him with your own ears, but you don't understand there's more. There's so much more to know. Verse 10, that I may know Him. So listen. If Paul met Christ in such a significant supernatural way and still after years says, I'm still on this quest to know Him, what right do we have to be content where we're at and with Christ?

No right. The lovely believers here and I've already talked to a handful of people with amazing testimonies here, but I've yet to hear anybody who has a testimony like Paul's. It would actually concern me if somebody had a testimony like Paul's. With all the wonderful testimonies here, please understand that Paul trumps it all, and he he needed that testimony in order to be a true apostle. But listen to this.

He saw Christ. He heard Christ. He experienced a touch from Christ, and years down the road, he goes, I still need to know Christ. So why is it that we're content with our boredom with Christ? Something's wrong.

Something's wrong. That I may know, in verse 10, and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. And here's the humbling part. Look at verse 12. Not that I've already obtained this.

Not that I've already obtained this or I am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own. So this is a very straightforward, simple simple sermon. In the sermons to come, there's gonna be a lot of cross referencing, but I just want to ask you if you've been asking those questions recently. Who are you, Lord? What shall I do?

Because you, as a Christian, have been appointed to know who He is and to know His will. You know what's so amazing? After Acts nine, by way of narrative, you never hear of Ananias again. He disappears. But he is forever connected to the world evangelizing ministry of the apostle Paul, and also is he attached to the fact that he played a role in a man who would write most of the New Testament.

So knowing his will may not necessarily mean having this grand, spectacular, internationally recognized ministry. You might be a disciple who will be hidden in plain sight for most of your life, but have momentary times of obedience if you yield to him that can make an impact beyond what you can imagine. Do not disqualify or underestimate how you remaining devout and ready to do the will of the Lord can cause something that can change the world. Ananias is evidence of that. Ananias, Paul is praying.

You can go to him. And later, we're gonna discover the amazing prayer life of Paul that will surely add fuel to your fire in that same practice. Let's seek the Lord together, shall we? But we thank you for allowing us to get a glimpse of a man who did not deserve to be saved, but was wonderfully snatched from the domain of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of your beloved Son. But, Lord, we also thank you that in his story is another story of a man who is simply a disciple, reminds us that if we simply focus on our devotion and are constantly ready to do what you will, that you can recruit us at any moment to do wonderful things.

But, Lord, whether whether whether it's wonderful or not, help us simply be consumed with a personal, intimate passion to know who you are and to do whatever it is that you want us to do. Whether it's praised or overlooked, whether it's public or private, help us, Lord, find delight again in that pursuit. And so, Lord, we just ask that even this conference would be used as recalibration to asking, who are you, Lord, and to seeking you about what we shall do. And we trust that as we do that, you're gonna be faithful to answer. We love you, and we look to you, and we honor you.

In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. The praise name can come.