Acts 9:1-2:
Meanwhile Saul, still drawing his breath hard from threatening and murderous desire against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 And requested of him letters to the synagogues at Damascus [authorizing him], so that if he found any men or women belonging to the Way [of life as determined by faith in Jesus Christ], he might bring them bound [with chains] to Jerusalem.
So this was the Saul that we looked at yesterday! His hatred for all who called on the Name of JESUS. and then spoke to others about Him, were at the very top of Saul's 'hit list'! Today we see just how quickly the Spirit of God can change the heart of a person when they come in contact with the LORD of lords! Verses 3-5:
3 Now as he traveled on, he came near to Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him, 4 And he fell to the ground. Then he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me [harassing, troubling, and molesting Me]? 5 And Saul said, Who are You, Lord? And He said, I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting.
Saul KNEW that this was a godly encounter because He called Him Lord! Then JESUS Himself introduced Himself to Saul, who had been blinded by the Light of His countenance! JESUS told Saul to go into the city (Damascus) and wait. Now the story gets SO exciting! JESUS spoke to a man in the city named Ananias to go and lay hands on Saul. Of course by now Ananias had heard all about Saul from others! He voiced his concerns to JESUS, but JESUS said THIS to Ananias in verse 15:
15 But the Lord said to him, Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of Mine to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the descendants of Israel;
You know the rest of the story, how Ananias called Saul brother, explained how the LORD JESUS had sent him there to lay hands on Saul so that he may regain his sight and be filled with Holy Spirit! How could Saul be filled with Holy Spirit when Holy Spirit was ONLY given to born again believers? Because at the moment of his encounter, Saul had recognized that this was JESUS, and called Him LORD! He WAS born again! HALLELUJAH! Verse 18 tells us this:
18 And instantly something like scales fell from [Saul’s] eyes, and he recovered his sight. Then he arose and was baptized,
I want to share one more thing with you about this, though! Something else happened to Saul at that moment that would set the course for Saul's (Paul's) entire ministry! In the Hebrew language, every name has meaning! When Rachel named Benjamin 'Ben-oni' , which means 'son of my sorrow', Jacob named him Benjamin instead, which means 'son of the right hand'. He did NOT want his son to bear a sorrowful, negative name for all of his life! So, knowing that every Hebrew knew the meanings of the names they heard, we can realize that at the moment of his introduction, Saul KNEW that Ananias meant "Grace of God"! For a little more fun, check out Paul's introduction to every Epistle that he wrote to the churches! You will see that the main thrust of Paul's ministry was presenting the Grace of God to everyone he encountered, because he, himself, had a life-changing encounter with the Grace of God! He would never forget that message! HALLELUJAH! now WE should never forget it either! AMEN! Here is Hillsong with "Grace To Grace":
Shalom in Him!
