th1b.taylor
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[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:1 Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:2[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Stephen is dead now and Saul feels that it is his mission in life to stamp out this new movement. While some feel we have next to nothing to learn from history, this, in many places the condition of the Church today. As a Christian today, the religion being sold as the religion of peace studies to learn from the Qu'ran and it is recorded in this holy? Book, one hundred and sixty-four times that the Islamic, a.k.a. the Muslim, is to exterminate the Jewish believer and the People of the Way, Christians![/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Ah! But when we read these passages we are comforted to know that just as Jesus handled the situation with Saul and the Sanhedrin. That is not a guarantee that we willo not be slaughtered! But it does teach us that, in the end, God will have His way![/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:3[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:4[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him,[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]"Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:5[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" And He [/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]said,[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]"I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:6[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do."[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]We must learn to be good servants and we must learn to do so whole heartedly! In Vietnam there were a few Helicopter Crews that nobody had any use for and eventually were grounded or ended up flying V.I.P.s, where they were safe.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]As a Killer Spade I was the servant of the men on the ground and when things went wrong, their lives depended on me and my Chopper. We brought them hot food, coffee, ammo and carried the wounded to the hospital when everybody else refused to land in the middle of the gun fight.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]In the same, exactly the same, manor the lost man's life depends on the Christ follower. We need to stand up and be counted.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:7[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:8[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:9[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Just as Jesus blinded Saul, so must we allow Him to do for us! When we look to the L[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]ORD[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif] for our very lives, we are blinded to the things of this world and we gain the Spiritual Perspective. When D. L. Moody was, once, in London he was conversing with the local pastor and asked what he was staring out the window at?[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]He asked the pastor to look out and tell him what he saw? The gentleman looked out and told him he saw cabs, men and women but asked Moody again, what did he see? Mr. Moody told him he saw all those sinners down there on their way to Hell. [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]That is the perspective of the Man of God.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:10[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord."[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:11[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]And the Lord [/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]said[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif] to him,[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]"Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying,[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:12[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]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."[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:13[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem;[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:14[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name."[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:15[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]But the Lord said to him,[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]"Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:16[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name's sake."[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:17[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:18[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized;[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:19[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]and he took food and was strengthened. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus,[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:20[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]and immediately he [/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]began[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif] to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God."[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Like Saul, the saved are radically saved. It is popular, today, to jerk Matt. 7:1 out of it's context to hush the Christians mouths. But if we go back to Matt. 5:1 and read forward to the end of chapter 7 we get the context and learn that we are not to be stupid but rather we are to judge others by the same standard we wish to be judged by.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Just like Saul, as he became Paul, when I was saved I wanted everybody I met to go to Heaven with me. That will never happen but in the last three verses of Matthew we are instructed to teach, just as Paul did.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:2[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Stephen is dead now and Saul feels that it is his mission in life to stamp out this new movement. While some feel we have next to nothing to learn from history, this, in many places the condition of the Church today. As a Christian today, the religion being sold as the religion of peace studies to learn from the Qu'ran and it is recorded in this holy? Book, one hundred and sixty-four times that the Islamic, a.k.a. the Muslim, is to exterminate the Jewish believer and the People of the Way, Christians![/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Ah! But when we read these passages we are comforted to know that just as Jesus handled the situation with Saul and the Sanhedrin. That is not a guarantee that we willo not be slaughtered! But it does teach us that, in the end, God will have His way![/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:3[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:4[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him,[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]"Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:5[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" And He [/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]said,[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]"I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:6[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do."[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]We must learn to be good servants and we must learn to do so whole heartedly! In Vietnam there were a few Helicopter Crews that nobody had any use for and eventually were grounded or ended up flying V.I.P.s, where they were safe.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]As a Killer Spade I was the servant of the men on the ground and when things went wrong, their lives depended on me and my Chopper. We brought them hot food, coffee, ammo and carried the wounded to the hospital when everybody else refused to land in the middle of the gun fight.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]In the same, exactly the same, manor the lost man's life depends on the Christ follower. We need to stand up and be counted.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:7[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:8[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:9[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Just as Jesus blinded Saul, so must we allow Him to do for us! When we look to the L[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]ORD[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif] for our very lives, we are blinded to the things of this world and we gain the Spiritual Perspective. When D. L. Moody was, once, in London he was conversing with the local pastor and asked what he was staring out the window at?[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]He asked the pastor to look out and tell him what he saw? The gentleman looked out and told him he saw cabs, men and women but asked Moody again, what did he see? Mr. Moody told him he saw all those sinners down there on their way to Hell. [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]That is the perspective of the Man of God.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:10[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord."[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:11[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]And the Lord [/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]said[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif] to him,[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]"Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying,[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:12[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]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."[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:13[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem;[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:14[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name."[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:15[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]But the Lord said to him,[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]"Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:16[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name's sake."[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:17[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:18[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized;[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:19[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]and he took food and was strengthened. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus,[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Act 9:20[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]and immediately he [/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif]began[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif] to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God."[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Like Saul, the saved are radically saved. It is popular, today, to jerk Matt. 7:1 out of it's context to hush the Christians mouths. But if we go back to Matt. 5:1 and read forward to the end of chapter 7 we get the context and learn that we are not to be stupid but rather we are to judge others by the same standard we wish to be judged by.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Just like Saul, as he became Paul, when I was saved I wanted everybody I met to go to Heaven with me. That will never happen but in the last three verses of Matthew we are instructed to teach, just as Paul did.[/FONT]