Walk Through the WORD – Acts 9-10

Walk Through the WORD – Previous Posts

Acts 1-3
Acts 4-6
Acts 7-8

Today our walk through the WORD takes us to Acts 9-10. Join us as we walk together through the Word of God–to better know Him and make Him known, to gain strength for the journey as we grow in our faith, and to join our hearts in unity as the body of Christ.

In yesterday’s study, we saw Stephen stoned, the followers scattered, the Gospel preached to Samaritans and Ethiopians, and a young man named Saul devoted to wiping out the people of the Way. Today we’ll learn that our God is able to take even His enemies and turn them into mighty warriors for His kingdom.

Walk Through the WORD – Acts 9-10

Read: Acts 9:1-42
Key Points: 

{vss. 1-9} Saul continued to threaten and persecute Christians, even going to the high priest for letters to attend synagogues in Damascus (Syria) to find members of the Way (John 14:6)–both men and women–to take them as prisoners. But an encounter with Jesus not only blinded him temporarily, but also began the process of making him a new creature in Christ. In this bright-light moment, Saul identified the Lord of the Old Testament (whom he was determined to serve) with Jesus (whom he had persecuted through His followers). Those with Saul heard the sound, but didn’t see anyone. When Saul peeled himself from the pavement and opened his eyes, he saw nothing. Now blinded, he had to be led by hand into Damascus, where he didn’t eat or drink–either from fear, conviction, depression, fasting, or a combination of all. Throughout his later writings and testimonies, Paul describes this conversion experience as the sudden (1 Corinthians 15:8; Philippians 3:12) supernatural purposes of God (Galatians 1:15) and an act of new creation by God (2 Corinthians 5:17). He also acknowledged it as an act of mercy (1 Timothy 1:13) and vision of the Lord (1 Corinthians 9:1). Most importantly, the event became a powerful testimony of God’s work in his life, even as he stood before kings (Acts 22:4; Acts 26:12).
{vss. 10-19} It brings great comfort to me that true followers of Jesus are scattered around the globe. Proved over and over again in my life, there is nowhere we can go and not find spiritual family. What a blessing! It was no different for Saul. In the very city where he was living without sight, there lived a Christ-follower named Ananias (not to be confused with the Ananias of Acts 5:1). In a vision, God called him to go to the very house where Saul was staying (and praying!) and lay hands on him to restore his sight. Unfortunately, Saul’s reputation for persecuting Christians had proceeded him, a fact that Ananias was quick to point out. God’s command didn’t change. In fact, when He said “Go!” this time, it was an emphatic statement. The Lord followed the command with the news that Saul would be God’s chosen instrument to carry His name to the Gentiles and their kings, as well as to Israel. (How sad that Israel had to be included in the missionary efforts!) This whole scenario serves as a reminder that God can and does move in powerful ways, but we’re the ones who have to say “yes.” And honestly, we should live out our faith ahead of time by agreeing to say “yes” to God, no matter what. Sometimes what we sense God saying doesn’t make a lick of sense, but remember, our job is to trust Him and not lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). Ananias was obedient, which resulted in Saul receiving both spiritual and physical sight through the power of the Holy Spirit. Ananias became an unimpeachable witness to the power of God in Saul’s life, a fact that Saul/Paul made evident in his personal testimony (Acts 22:12). An important lesson from this passage is that God uses believers in the same way today to help others receive spiritual vision. Our job is to say “yes” to God ahead of time, be willing to go and do what He commands, and to touch others with His good news through the power of His Spirit.
{vss. 19b-31} Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. I’m sure he was eager to hear their experiences with his newly-found Lord. And I love that the passage says “at once.” Yes, new believers have much to learn at the point of their conversion. But all of us can simply bear testimony to what God has done in our lives from the moment of our new birth. So the man who once entered synagogues with sinister motives, now entered to share Jesus as the Son of God. Wow! What a transformation and testimony to the power of our Lord! The people, of course, were completely baffled, but the Bible says that Saul  proved that Jesus was indeed the Messiah He claimed to be. Those of you who have read previous blog posts in the PROOF blog series, my novel Crossroads, or the Bible study entitled Believe & Know  understand how important this is to me. Skeptics to our faith demand proof. And there is not one thing wrong with that! What is wrong is when we as believers aren’t prepared to give a reason for the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15) or unable to defend our beliefs with the capital-T truth! Anyway, back to our story of Saul. The hunter soon became the hunted, but Saul’s followers lowered him out of the city in a person-sized basket. We know from the writings of Paul that somewhere during this time, he went to Arabia (Galatians 1:17-18). Three years elapsed before he went to see the disciples in Jerusalem. They were understandably afraid of him trying to infiltrate their ranks for the purpose of betraying them to the religious authorities. But a disciple by the name of Barnabus took him to the apostles. After hearing his conversion story, Saul was able to stay with them and preach boldly in Jerusalem. But as mentioned in another post, evil always attacks good. Paul soon had to escape by returning to his hometown of Tarsus. Thankfully, a time of peace followed for the early church. “It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.“
{vss. 32-43} Now the story in Acts moves back to Peter and reveals two specific miracles the apostle performed in the name of Jesus within Judea. In Lydda, he healed a paralytic name Aeneas. In Joppa, he brought a female saint by the name of Dorcas (also called Tabitha; both names mean “gazelle”) back to life. Both these miracles resulted in many coming to believe in the Lord. Peter also spent more time in Joppa with a tanner named Simon. Why was this small detail important? Because many aspects of the tanning process would be unorthodox to a Jew. Could it be that already the Lord was preparing Peter for what lay ahead with Gentile believers? Apparently so, because in the next chapter we see that very scenario developing for Peter.


Read: Acts 10:1-48
Keypoints:

{vss. 1-7} More proof that God-fearing believers are everywhere and in many different occupations and positions of influence. Here we are introduced to Cornelius, a centurion who lived in Caesarea. He was known for fearing God, giving generously to the poor, and praying to God regularly. In a vision, he saw the angel of God, who told him that his prayers and gifts to the poor had come up to God as a memorial offering. Nothing we do for God goes unnoticed in heaven. Cornelius was give specific instructions on going after Peter in Joppa. He immediately rounded up two servants and a soldier to do just that.
{vss. 8-23} Around this same time, we see God at work in Peter’s life as well. The apostle had gone up on the roof to pray. He grew hungry and fell into a trance, where he saw a large sheet full of animals lowered to earth, and a voice told him to eat. Peter was horrified. Many of these animals were considered unclean. The voice responded with the news that God had made them clean. The vision repeated itself three times. (Peter seems tied to that number, huh?) Immediately afterwards, the three men sent by Cornelius arrived. Prompted by God’s Spirit, Peter visited with them and then went with them to the house of Cornelius–a God-fearing man, but also a Gentile, who, like the animals in Peter’s vision, were unclean in the eyes of devout Jews.
{vss. 23b-47} This passage is especially important to the spread of Christianity. At this point, the new faith was still closely associated with Judaism. But God was doing a new work of bringing all men to Himself, something that Peter and the Jewish believers who accompanied him were soon to learn. Cornelius tells his part of the story and asks Peter to speak to them about what the Lord has revealed. Acts 10:27 tells us there was a large gathering, and we already have learned that Peter was one to take advantage of opportunities to preach to crowds. First, Peter reveals that God has shown him that He doesn’t show favoritism, but accepts anyone from anywhere who fear Him and do what is right (Deuteronomy 10:17; 2 Chronicles 19:7). Twice Peter uses the words “you know.” The story of Christ was too big not to be known, especially in this part of the world. Peter reveals that he and others were witnesses, just as Christ had told them in Acts 1:8, and tells them that his God-given job was to preach and testify that Jesus was the judge of the “living and the dead.” Though this could refer to physical life and death, I believe it also true spiritually. As judge, Jesus will judge both those who belong to Him (the living, to whom He imparted spiritual life) and those who don’t (the spiritually dead, who refuse to believe). Those who believe in Christ receive forgiveness of sins through His name. (See The Fragrance of Crushed Violets for a Bible study on the topic of forgiveness.) Immediately the Holy Spirit fell on those who heard the message, which completely astounded the Jewish believers. God’s work through Christ wasn’t just for the Jews, but for all men. The new believers and recipients of the same Spirit were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.



Walk Through the WORD Wrap-Up

Prayerfully consider the following questions, and feel free to add your thoughts and answers in the comment section:

What can we learn from the story of Saul’s conversion about the ways in which God works? How is this relevant to us today?
How important is it to you to say “yes” to God prior to His leading to speak or act on His behalf?
What specific stories in the Bible reveal God leading His people in a way that didn’t seem to make sense? Why do you think He does this?
Why is it important for us to be able to prove the validity of our faith? Why is it important for others?
Why is it important for the church to live in fear of the Lord?
What are your thoughts on how God uses our experiences today to prepare us for tomorrow? Can you think of specific people in the Bible (other than Peter) where God did this?
How does knowing that our prayers and work for God becomes a memorial offering impact you?
What should be our response in knowing that Jesus died–not just for the chosen nation of Israel–but for all men, including us?

All Posts in Our Study of Acts:

Acts 1-3
Acts 4-6
Acts 7-8

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