This week's Sermon @ First B Jackson February 2nd 2025
First B Jackson
2025-02-02

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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Ought to go in two different sermons, maybe. One of them is about Paul and then the other one is a meanwhile back at the ranch about Peter. Okay? And that's the way acts goes. There's a story that is unfolding and Luke is doing his best to tell you, this is how it happened.

This is how the church was started, born, and this is Jesus building his church and these are the things that happened. So, it's history. It's a great narrative. There are two kind of different stories this morning. So, if you remember the conversion of Saul, the conversion of Saul, we talked about last week and he left from Jerusalem and he's headed to Damascus.

It's probably a 120, 125 miles and as he's going there, he has the paperwork. He has the documentation and he is going there and he's going there to take anybody who is following the way, followers of Jesus. He's going to the synagogues in Damascus. There are about 10 of them at the time. He's going there with letters from the high priest to appeal to the local synagogues to get the people of the way out of there.

They don't want this message spreading and so, Paul, Saul at the time, Saul crabs those papers, he's heading up but he's blinded on the way and he's humbled. And it says at the end of the sermon last week that Saul stayed with those very believers that he went to drag back in chains. He stayed with them. He hung out at their house. We my goodness.

What's happened here? This is a humbled man. Jesus spoke to him directly. Jesus spoke to him again through Ananias and Stall Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days and immediately immediately when Jesus got a hold of him, when he recognized Jesus for who he was and when he recognized the church for what it was, the body of Christ. The continuing body of Christ.

Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Now, Saul was persecuting the church, the way. And immediately, when he got it, he began preaching, proclaiming the good news about Jesus in the synagogue. The highlight in the synagogues because we hear it often in the Pauline epistles where he says, first for the Jew, then for the Greeks, Gentiles, the outer most. And this is what he was saying, he is indeed the son of God.

I know all of your objections. I've got your objections. I understand them. I've been fighting your side for a long time. He is indeed the son of God.

This is what it's all about and all who heard him were amazed. You see a lot of amazement in the book of Acts. It's pretty crazy. We still see it and are amazed. Isn't this the same man who caused such devastation among Jesus's followers in Jerusalem?

He was present at the stoning of Stephen, held the coats but was completely in agreement. Isn't this that same Saul who was there and caused devastation among the followers of Jerusalem? They, all who heard him, they, didn't he come to here to arrest them and to take em and change to the leading priest, the news of his coming have gotten out ahead of time in Damascus. So, Saul's preaching, his proclamation of the gospel became more and more powerful. As he engaged the Jews in the synagogues, every objection that they were raised in the Holy Spirit is allowing for Paul, Saul to communicate back.

So, more and more powerful and the Jews in Damascus could not refute his proofs that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. This reminds me of Stephen at his before his stoning, it said, and they could not refute. These Jewish folks from Cilicia and from the outermost parts, they couldn't refute the synagogue of the freedmen, could not refute Stephen's gospel message, and now, these folks in Damascus, the Jews in Damascus, the synagogues, the ones that there were believers among them, but he's speaking to the Jews in Damascus. Couldn't refute his proofs that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, And after a while, some of those Jews, some of them plotted to kill him. This is a common theme in Acts.

It's a common thing. We've had threats against the apostles. We've had one of the deacons who was really lynch mobbed, murdered, and now they're plotting together to kill him, but they're watching for him day and by day and night after night at the city gate so that they could murder him, but Saul was told about their plot. So during the night, some of the other believers lowered him in a large basket through an opening in the city wall. This reminds me so much of this Sunday school.

I love this image. David c cook literature that we had when I was little was just this great cartoon page of what was happening and I was fascinated that a basket could hold a man. And they lowered him down over a wall. And that's that's not how he planned on leaving Damascus, is it? He planned on leaving Damascus as a conquering hero, dragging back prisoners back to Jerusalem where they'd be tried and probably found guilty.

He had seen it happen before. He was uttering threats. He was in a murderous rage when he left but when Jesus got a hold of him, there was peace in his heart and peace in his proclamation. When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, now how did he how did you think he was gonna come back? How did he think he was gonna come back?

Hail the conquering hero. He tried to meet with the believers but they were all afraid of him. We've been praying for this guy not to wreak the destruction he's trying to wreak since he left, but they were afraid of him. I think there's something here for us like an application point. I don't have application slide at the end today, but there's something here about fear.

They're afraid of it. Are you afraid of anybody that Jesus can redeem? Are you afraid that Jesus can't redeem somebody? Maybe that's a better way to put it. I meet with people from all stripes all over, and there are some of them that I I probably do think.

Can God really get this one? I'm having a meeting this afternoon like that. I don't want to be fearful. If if I see what God is doing. They didn't believe he had truly become a believer.

Now, if they believed he truly became a believer, what's the best way to sneak in? What's the best way to infiltrate? Right? Act like you're a believer. That's what they thought he was doing was play acting.

But then Barnabas, oh Barnabas. You remember Barnabas? Carl preached about Barnabas. He had Barnabas as the good example before Ananias and Sapphira are the bad example. And this was the passage that Carl was presenting.

All the believers were united in heart and mind, and they felt that what they own was not their own. They felt like they were entrusted with by God, so they shared everything they had. They apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God's great blessing was upon them all, and there were no needy people among them because those who own land or houses would sell them. Bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need. For instance, there was Joseph.

How many y'all remember Barnabas' name was Joseph? Yeah. I didn't. But isn't that great that you become known by your nickname when your nickname is son of encouragement? Yeah.

It's really really good. One of the apostles nicknamed Barnabas and it stuck. It means son of encouragement. Now, he was from the tribe of Levi which is the ministering tribe all the way back in the old testament and he came from the island of Cyprus. So there it is.

Israel as we know it today, those are current more current boundaries and Cyprus is right there in the Eastern Mediterranean. That's where he's from. Barnabas, Barnabas, the son of encouragement brought Saul with him to the apostles and he told them how Saul had seen the Lord on the way to Damascus just straight up narrative. We've already heard the story when it happened and then we heard it foretold again. We're going to hear it two or three more times but Saul just told him what happened and how the Lord had spoken to Saul.

Can you imagine how encouraging that would be? If you're a believer in Jesus and you're there and you're fearful about this guy. And then this encouraging dude says, when he spoke to him, said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And it was the believers that Saul had been persecuting. That would be encouraging for me.

Jesus considers me a part of his ongoing body. And let me tell you today, if you're a believer in Jesus, you are a part of his ongoing body. That's encouraging. I'm on the same mission that he was on. I had a professor, he's passed now in seminary and he taught a class called the mission of God.

The mission of God. There are a bunch of other things going on but the mission of God is a blessing for all peoples. He's a part of it. And how the Lord had spoken to Saul, he also told them that Saul had preached boldly in the name of Jesus and to whom he did it in the synagogue in Damascus. To whom and he preached, he did it to the Jews, and for the apostles and for the believers in Jerusalem, knowing that he had the courage in Damascus to go to the same congregations that he was going to and to speak the opposite side of the debate with boldness, also encouraging.

Endeared him to the apostles truthfully, so Saul stayed with the apostles and he went all around Jerusalem with them and he was preaching boldly in the name of the Lord and they saw it and he debated with some Greek speaking Jews but they tried to murder him. Now, Paul spoke Greek. I'm sure he spoke Aramaic and Hebrew and all kinds of stuff, probably Latin too, but he debated with some Greek speaking Jews and they tried to murder him. So when the believers heard about this, that the Greek speaking Jews tried to murder him, they took him down to Caesarea. They wanted to protect him.

He wanted to preach boldly in the name of Jesus, but when they heard about this, they said, man, it's probably better that you get out of here. This is a hotbed for you, and so they took him from Jerusalem to Caesarea maritime on the coast and sent him away to Tarsus, his hometown. Now that's up on the other side of Cyprus in current day Turkey, and that is the place where he had been brought up. He knew he probably had a library card. He knew every place in town.

He went to his old stomping ground. He'd blend in, I'm sure, but he had this new message, the the gospel was in his heart. You can go to Galatians one to see where he went from there but we're going to keep going. The church, the assembled body of Christ, the church triumphant as it's called in some places, is the continuing body of all believers who have put their faith in Messiah from all past generations. That generation and up to our day, the church.

It says, this at that time, the church then had peace throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria. We look at the map, Jerusalem surrounding areas, Judea, Samaria just north of that, Galilee just north of that. So far, that's what we heard of in Jesus' ministry except for over across the river in Decapolis. It's spreading from just like Jesus said it would by the way, in Acts one eight. You're gonna be my disciples in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts.

And it, the church, it became stronger as the believers lived in the fear, the reverence of the Lord. They were revering him. They wanted to do what he wanted them to do. They were open. They had received his spirit and they were ready to go forward with the mission that he had in their lives.

They became stronger as a believers lived in the fear of the Lord and with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it also grew in numbers. So, this is the historical record of how the church grew specifically for this paragraph or these few paragraphs that was about Saul and then meanwhile, back at the ranch, Peter. Peter, the apostle is what? Traveling from place to place. Now, we already have record of when the when the gospel is spreading in Samaria, Peter and John went up to Samaria and they preached all the way back down from Samaria and Judea back to Jerusalem and then Peter heads out again.

He's traveling from place to place. He comes down to visit the believers in the town of Lydda. If you've been current day Israel, if you've been to the town of Lod, L O D. I'm from Georgia, forgive me for that pronunciation. L O D is Lod and it is right there where the green star is.

Jerusalem is kind of this pink pen down below. Lydda, there he met a man named Aeneas. Now, what type of a name is Aeneas? Aeneas is a original it's a Greek name. It means praiseworthy or commendable.

It's also like very Greek and that it's the legendary son of Venus and hero of Troy in Rome. So probably not Jewish. Maybe, but kind of doubtful. Maybe. Peter said to Aeneas, this man he just met who's paralyzed for eight years.

Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up, roll up your sleeping mat. Does that sound like anybody else we know? Peter is following in the footsteps of Jesus and he is and God's instrument. Now, it's interesting that Saul, Saul, Saul, Saul, Saul who Jesus said, go Ananias and tell him, this guy is my chosen instrument for the Gentiles and everybody that Saul has spoken to in this chapter is Jewish.

And then Peter, who we think of as Peter. He's the he's a good Jewish boy, fisherman empowered by the Holy Spirit, the church grows in Jerusalem. A lot of it had to do with his preaching under obviously the Holy Spirit. Peter said to him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you, get up and roll up your sleeping mat. He was healed instantly and then the whole population.

This reminds me of Spanish because I think it's just a verbal thing. Could be the whole population. Absolutely every single person but when we say in Spanish that who was there? You know, who was there at the cowboy on Wednesday night? Everybody was there.

The whole population of Lida and Sharon saw Aeneas walking around. They've been watching him for eight years. He's paralyzed and they turned to the Lord. Amen. So that's from Lydda up towards Sharon.

Sharon's the whole plane. If there was a city, it'd be at the northern end of that orange circle right there or oval. And it says, now there was this believer in Joppa. Joppa is right there. It's not far from Lod or Lydda.

It's Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Jaffa, the airport is there in Israel these days. It's a real place and its proximity just a few miles from Lydda. These folks in Joppa, there was a believer there. This believer was named Tabitha. It's an Aramaic name.

Aramaic, Hebrew name, Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas, Luke tells us. Both of those mean gazelle, possibly also gracious, Tabitha, but named Tabitha which in Greek is Dorcas and she was always doing kind things for others and she was always helping the poor. Now, what had Aeneas done to get a healing? Nothing. He just laying there, sitting there.

Doesn't say anything about him or his personality, anything else. Tabitha, Dorcas is always doing kind things for others. She's always helping the poor. This reminds me of a whole different gospel story. Do you remember when in Luke seven, Luke's volume one, Jesus was returning to Capernaum and at that time, there's a highly valued slave of a Roman officer who was sick and near death and when the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some respected Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his slave, and they earnestly begged Jesus to help the man.

If anyone deserves your help, he does, they said. For he loves the Jewish people. He even built a synagogue for us, and it says that Jesus went. So that's the way it's she's always doing kind of things that sounds like she's worthy. Right?

If anybody deserves it, she does. Now about this time, she became ill and died. Well, gracious. We just got to know Tabitha and now she's dead. Her body was washed for burial and laid in an upstairs room.

I think Aeneas was Gentile, I think, Greek and I think Tabitha was Hebrew. There are a lot of different things kind of point in that direction. This is one of them. The body was washed for burial, laid in upstairs room. That reminds me of a different gospel story.

There are a lot of these in here. They're reverberations of what Jesus has been doing but the believers, the believers, these are folks who had trusted in Christ. They heard that Peter was nearby, Lida. So, they sent two men to beg and please come as soon as possible like those Jewish emissaries. So, they earnestly begged Jesus to help the man.

They are begging Peter to come help. So, Peter returned with them. He was willing to be interrupted. That's the kind of application point right there. He was doing something else and things were going great.

I'm sure he was taking the opportunity to preach the gospel but he wasn't so busy that he couldn't go help. He returned with him as soon as he arrived. They took him to the upstairs room. The room was filled with widows who are weeping and showing Peter the coat. Look, she made me this coat and the other clothes that Dorcas had made for them.

Now, Peter asked them all to leave the room then he knelt and prayed as he had seen Jesus do. Turn into the body, he just said, get up Tabitha. Leap, you gazelle. Get up Tabitha. And she opened her eyes and when she saw Peter, she sat up.

And he gave her his hand and he helped her up and then he called in the widows and all the believers and he presented her to them alive and news spread through the whole town and many believed in the Lord. So, the gospel is spreading out and we see kind of the reaches of it going, oh, Damascus, it's there. Now, now we know Saul just set out from Caesarea to Tarsus. It's if it's not there yet, it's about to be, right? And then, this is not that far from Jerusalem, but the news spread through the whole town.

Many believed in the Lord and Peter stayed a long time in Joppa, living with Simon at Tanner Of Heaven. What a detail. Just like this is where he was. Good historian. This is what happened.

That's the end of the text actually. As I was considering this, and I'm praying over it, and thinking about it all week, I'm thinking, God is on the move. He is going ahead of us. He has steps that he is preparing the ground before we plant the seed. He's planted the seed in some places that we're supposed to go in water, and then in other places he has it ready for the harvest.

In Jesus name, we are the continuing body of Christ. I'm amazed by how fearful we can be when we know that the Lord is on our side. Do we really know it? Do we really believe that the Lord is on our side? Do we really believe that the gospel is to go forth to every tribe, tongue, and nation?

Do we really believe that that's the mission of God? And if we do believe that, are we on the mission of God? Mike Barnett, my professor. The mission of God, a blessing for all peoples. This area of Turkey where they went is mostly Muslim, mostly secular Muslim, mostly Muslim these days.

It is pre Christian again. It's ready for the gospel. The people that you meet in town today, if they're not Christian, they're pre Christian. God is going before you. You have no idea the circumstances of the lives of the people that you'll meet.

You have no idea of the interruptions that you will have this week. But I'd say if I were to take an application away from this, it is present what you know of Jesus. If you know him to be your healer, tell your story. If you know him to be your provider, tell your story. If you know the gospel, tell your story.

Be willing to do it. Be willing to be interrupted and help as many folks as you can. But always, always, always in the name of Jesus. Now, we come to the table right here. This is open table for anyone who has placed their faith in Christ.

Some of y'all placed it in Christ seventy five years ago and I know that. And some of y'all placed your faith in Christ in the last little while. I pray I pray that before the end of the day, there's someone who accepts him. I I pray it every day. That before the end of the day, Lord, would you get another one?

Would you pull somebody out of the kingdom of darkness and put them into your kingdom of marvelous light? This table is a celebration of the the live the life of Jesus, the death of Jesus, burial, resurrection of Jesus. This table is open to all who have believed. So I'll invite the ushers to come forward and the band is to play something. What are we doing?

We're going play something good. By the way, the plastic cups that have both juice and the wafer in them are gluten free. If you're not gluten free, don't worry about that. Let that pass. The oyster crackers are a representation of the body of Christ and will pass again the cup representing the blood of Christ.

It's an open table for all denominations. Anyone who has ever placed their faith in Christ. If you trust in him. Now, Paul does give an admonition not to take this unworthily. He says, that you need to know that you are at peace.

With others when you do this. If you have to let it pass for that reason, I understand you and I'm praying for you.