"A Simple Presentation into The Book of ACTS" - Chapter 9, Part 2 - Bro. John "Ernie" Perez

Continue this journey with us as Bro. Ernie takes us deeper into "A Simple Presentation into the Book of ACTS".  Get your notebooks ready!!!!

Saul of Tarsus had papers to arrest believers, a reputation for violence, and zero interest in becoming a disciple. Then Jesus meets him on the road, and everything changes. We sit down with Acts chapter 9:17–31 and slow-walk the moment where Ananias steps into a dangerous assignment, lays hands on a blinded enemy, and says the words that still hit like thunder: “Brother Saul.”

From there, we trace what happens next in the book of Acts: scales falling, healing, being filled with the Holy Ghost, and the immediate shift from persecutor to preacher. We connect the dots to Paul’s own testimony in Acts 22 and the pattern he later follows in Acts 19, digging into why the name of Jesus, water baptism, and Spirit-filled living show up together so consistently in early Christian discipleship. If you care about biblical theology that stays close to the text, this study is for you.

We also bring the passage into the real world. What do you do when fear and politics crank the temperature up? We talk about praying for enemies, including Muslims and hostile voices, to have their own Damascus Road encounter with Jesus, and we challenge ourselves to live as citizens of the kingdom of God first, even when the culture feels shaky. If this helped you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find Simple Discipleship Unfiltered.  (*Recorded 3/9/2026)

Ways to Give at www.m3mi.org...Thank you for your seed!  :)

Transcript

Welcome And Opening Prayer

SPEAKER_04 0:12

Hey y'all, welcome to Simple Solarship Unfiltered. I'm your host, Sister Diamond. Thank you so much for joining me on this journey today. So happy a train. Let's see what Jesus has to say today. Hey, welcome to Simple Discipleship Unfiltered. I'm your host, Sister Diana. Thank you so much for joining us today around the table as we glean in God's word one more time. Everybody have a good weekend?

SPEAKER_05 0:50

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 0:51

Yes. We're short a few today, but but uh, you know, I I just you know, can you just I know this is unusual. Can you just brother Ernie? I'm gonna say Uncle Ernie, Brother Ernie, can you just uh lead us in a little prayer real quick, just to invite the Holy Spirit to come be with us, Lord Jesus.

SPEAKER_06 1:12

We want to honor you today. We want to honor your name. We want to be submitted to you and your purposes. Fully yielded, Lord, that you would have your way in our hearts. You promised that where two or three were gathered together in your name, you would be there in the midst of them. We know that that's the manifestation of your spirit, Lord. We just ask that above all, Lord, you get glory for your name. Let your spirit lead us and guide us to the place where the name of Jesus is elevated. We already know it's the name above every name, the only name given among men under heaven whereby we must be saved. It's the healing name, Lord. Whether it's physical or emotional or spiritual, it's the healing name. We thank you, Lord, that you would see earth, which is no more than like a grain of sand on an ocean beach, Lord, and we live on it, and then you would see us. So as we are in your presence today, get glory for your name. Let us be led by your spirit, and we will be careful to give you all the praise, all the glory, and all the honor. In the matchless and mighty name of Jesus, we pray.

SPEAKER_04 2:53

Amen. Amen. Amen. Good, good prayer. All right, to my left, I have uh brother Ernie Press.

SPEAKER_06 3:00

Good morning.

SPEAKER_04 3:01

Across from me is Sister Ann. Good morning, Sister Patty, Sister Audia, Sister Helen. Good morning. All right, y'all. We're ready to go. Thank God for just the wonderful, beautiful weather. We thank him for protecting us from all the storms that have been coming. We're touching into our spring times. But God has been good. Thank you, Sister Audia, for letting us use your home. We're ready for our new podcast room to be ready, and so we should have that hopefully in the next week or so. But Brother Ernie, we've been talking about a simple presentation of the book of Acts. We started chapter nine, and we're about to continue part two of that. Correct. So we're ready to go.

SPEAKER_08 3:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 3:43

All right.

Saul’s Warrants And Damascus Road

Reading Acts 9:17 To 31

Ananias Calls Him Brother

Baptism And Washing Away Sin

Holy Ghost And One Baptism

SPEAKER_06 3:46

So I'm going to recap a little bit just from chapter nine. Last week we went through the first portion of the chapter, the first 16 verses, and we're going to cover 17 through 31 today. So our past lesson. Saul of Tarsus has received letters from the high priest, Caiaphas by name, to travel to a city, Damascus, in a foreign country, Assyria, for the purpose of arresting disciples of Jesus. One Bible commentary tells us that Damascus is about a six-day journey from Jerusalem at that time. So these letters, in effect, in our day, modern day, would be warrants. So he had warrants to go and arrest Jews who were worshiping Jesus. He would be visiting synagogues to find out which Jews had begun to follow Jesus Christ. And once he was able to identify these believers, these particular Jews, he had authority to arrest them and bring them back to Jerusalem for trial and sentencing. If you recall, Saul was wreaking havoc in the church. Men and women throwing them into prison. One part of the scripture said he was breathing out threatenings and slaughter. So it wasn't enough that he threatened just to incarcerate them, but slaughter meaning you could be put to death. You could be executed. Now, how exactly, this is a point of interest to me, how exactly did Caiaphas, the high priest, persuade the Roman governor to allow Jews to exercise this type of legal authority and arrest people when they were not violating Roman law and even see them executed. Now I thought about that, and I knew that Saul, you know, we know that he was a Roman citizen, but he's got legal authority to arrest Jews in a foreign country, not for violating Roman law, but for the believing in the fulfillment of Jewish prophecy that it is fulfilled in Jesus. So the thought of that just really had my attention. Now, on his way to Damascus, he had a personal encounter with the risen Christ. And this led to a sequence of life-changing events for Saul. Here he is, not far from the city, evidently, and he is blinded by a light that outshines the sun. This light knocked him to the ground. In daytime, the light was so bright it knocked him to the ground. We don't know if he was in a wagon, on a donkey, and a horse, walking, but it decked him. It brought him down. And he heard the voice of Jesus. And he didn't understand who it was when he first heard it. But he would come to the to the conclusion that he was listening to God. Now he knew Jesus Christ was the Son of God. He preached him as the Son of God. But he was seeing already to what extent, I'm not sure, but that God was in the Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. And he would later write about this. If we could just momentarily look at 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 4, Paul writing to the Corinthian church about people who are who are not saved, and he says, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not. Why? Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine in them. That is a huge revelation for Saul of Tarsus, who is now the Apostle Paul in the Corinthian letter. As we continue reading there, we'll go to verse 6. For God who commanded the light to shine out of the darkness has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. The Jew could not see the glory of God in any animal, in any statue, in any person, because that would be idolatry. That would be having another God. But Paul says about Jesus, that's what he saw. Psalms 115, verses 1 through 9. I know this is just a recap, but I thought we should look at these. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandment. Paul learned to do that. His seed shall be mighty upon the earth, the generation of the upright shall be blessed, wealth and riches shall be in his house, and his righteousness endureth forever. Now that's prophetic, for righteousness endureth forever, it has to be eternal. Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness. He is gracious and full of compassion and righteous. A good man showeth favor and lendeth, he will guide his affairs with discretion. Surely he shall not be moved forever. The righteous shall be an everlasting remembrance. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings. His heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord, his heart is established, he shall not be afraid until his desire, until he see his desire upon his enemies. He hath dispersed, he had given to the poor, his righteousness endureth forever, his horn shall be exalted with honor. That can be to me only the Christ. And I see Saul of Tarsus, who is highly educated. His teaching, the apostle Peter said of him, he he wrote in his letter that Saul writes some things hard to be understood, which people wrestle to their own destruction. That's not in your notes. That just came up in my head. Moses saying, There is none like unto the God of Jeshuron. Jeshuron being an affectionate name for God's kingdom. Who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky? The eternal God is thy refuge. And underneath are the everlasting arms. He shall thrust out the enemy from before thee and shall say, Destroy them. This is who the Jews are serving. This is who Saul worships as God. And when, you know, he asks the Lord, who are you? And he says, I'm Jesus, the one you're persecuting. Saul is persecuting the church, but Jesus takes that so personally, saying, You're persecuting me. Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? This Jesus, we we know that Saul is surrendered to him because he says to him, Lord, what will you have me to do? That's the posture of repentance. So Jesus then commands Saul to go into the city, and there, that's the city of Damascus. There he will receive further instructions. So the blinding light comes, he's knocked to the ground, everybody hears the sound of the voice, even they don't understand everything. Saul does. Then he's told, go into the city and you'll receive further instructions. Meanwhile, in Damascus, there is a faithful disciple named Ananias. And Ananias has had a vision from God and receives a command from Jesus, and he's told by Jesus to go and pray for Saul of Tarsus, so he'll be healed of his blindness. So he's told he has to be the one who prays for Saul, because Saul has seen this in a vision. But Ananias is far from eager to take on this assignment. You know, it's almost like he's saying, Jesus, have you seen the six o'clock news? Do you not know who Saul of Tarsus is? And the Lord tells him, You go your way, you pray for him. He's a chosen vessel for me. I'm gonna show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. Now, I want you to see this now. Paul is being called to be an apostle, he doesn't understand it all yet. But in the beginning of his calling, he's going to be advised, you are going to suffer greatly for the name of Jesus. But so great was his experience on the Damascus Road that he does not shrink back. It's just a reminder for those of you that think you are aspiring to Book of Acts ministries. All of us who are holding that aspiration that we will be functioning in the church today, like they were functioning in the book of Acts church. Remember how great things they suffered for the name of Jesus. Yes, they had times of revival. Yes, they had times of rest, but they had also great times of persecution. Lord, give us strength that we'll be just as faithful as they were, that we'll have the courage that they had. So now I'm gonna read verses uh 17 through 31, and then then we'll continue into part two of this lesson. Beginning with verse 17, Acts chapter 9, verse 17. And Ananias went his way and entered into the house, and putting his hands on him, said, Brother, Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales, and he received sight forthwith, and arose and was baptized. And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus, and straightway he preached Christ in the synagogue, that he is the Son of God. But all that heard him were amazed and said, Is not he this that destroyed, that that destroyed them which called this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priest. But Saul increased the more in strength and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ. And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him, but their laying await was known of Saul, and they watched the gates day and night to kill him. Then the disciples took him by night and let him down by the wall in a basket. And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he essayed to join himself to the disciples, but they were afraid of him and believed not that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. And he was with them, coming in and going out at Jerusalem. And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians, but they went about to slay him, which, when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him forth to Tarsus. Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified, and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost were multiplied. So, as is our habit, we'll go back now and we'll take these scriptures either one at a time or in groups of two or three, and then we'll we'll go through them and we'll talk about uh what we've just read. So, of course, the first scripture will be uh verse 17. And Ananias went his way and entered into the house, and putting his hands on him, said, Brother Saul, the Lord that appeared unto the Lord Jesus that appeared unto thee in the way as thou cameest, hath sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost. You know, Ananias called him brother. I don't know how long before that was 30 minutes, an hour, two hours. He was one of the believers that was afraid of him. And he even told Jesus, Lord, you're not helped. You're not understanding who this man is. But now he walks into the room, obedient, and says, Brother Saul, and here's the beginning of the fulfillment of these signs shall follow them that believe from the last chapter of the Gospel of St. Mark. So many people read that and say, only the apostles are gonna lay hands on the sick and them be saved. But as we read through the book of Acts, we're seeing the early church grow in its understanding and in its ministry. And here we're seeing someone beside an apostle lay hands on someone and their blindness is healed. And not only that, he received the Holy Ghost. So these signs will follow them that believe. And just remember, if you're in the group of them that believe, we need to believe this. We need to latch on to this. And though we have seen it, we have seen it in our lives, we have yet to see it on the scale that it was happening in the book of Acts. We've seen many miracles. We have, we've we've seen the dead raised, we've seen blind eyes opened, we've seen AIDS and other forms of cancer healed, we've seen these things. But not on the scale and the magnitude that is taught in the book of Acts. But remember, not many of us, especially here in the USA, have seen the persecution they've seen in the book of Acts either. We've not had to live up to our commitments to the same degree that they have. So Saul arrives in Damascus after three days in blindness while praying and fasting and waiting for further instructions from Jesus. A disciple of Jesus named Ananias braces Paul, comes in just like Paul has seen him in his prayers in the vision. Ananias has also seen Paul. God was Working on both ends. We talked about the fact that Ananias laid hands on him, Mark 16 and 17. These signs shall follow them that believe. And in Acts 4, verses 10 through 12, when the disciples are making the defense, because they are accused of wrongdoing, because the man at the gate, beautiful, in Acts chapter 3 was healed, making the defense, verse 10, be it known unto you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him does this man stand here before you whole. How important is it for us to believe there is power in the name of Jesus, and invoke and evoke that power in our testimonies, in our ministries. Speaking of Jesus, he says, this is the stone which will set at naught of you builders. Y'all didn't understand the prophecy. I'm clearing it up for you. It's Jesus. He has become the head of the corner. Finally, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. It's why we lay hands on the sick in Jesus' name, why we pray for people to receive the Holy Ghost in Jesus' name, why we water baptize in Jesus' name, why we petition the Lord in Jesus' name. Because we know there's power in it. Verse 18 of Acts chapter 9. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales. And he received his sight forthwith and arose and was baptized. Notice he didn't stand up and say, I believe. Somebody, Ananias, had evidently instructed him. Even though he'd been healed, this is what you need to do. Even though he'd met Jesus on the highway and repented and obeyed him. Now Luke writes the word immediately. Immediately scales fell from his eyes. I get the idea that people could see this. He didn't say it seemed like. Verse 18 again, and immediately there fell from his eyes, as it had been, scales. So something like scales fell from his eyes. And he received sight forthwith. Evidently, Luke has written a very brief account of all that's taken place in his writing. We know this because somehow Paul understood he needed to be water baptized, and evidently understood why, because there were no real questions. Saul would in the future testify to the words of Ananias and what happened to himself, to he saw, as he submitted to water baptism. And we can see his testimony regarding that. We're going to jump ahead a little bit in the books, but so that you can see that Paul actually did testify to this event. It's in Acts chapter 22. Paul has been assaulted in the temple because of false accusations. They wanted to beat him to death. There came such an uproar, it spilled out into the streets, and the Roman soldiers came because it was like a riot and they had to take control of it. And in Acts chapter 22, verses 1 through 16, he is speaking to the people, and he's giving his testimony. I'm going to read just a little bit of it. I'm going to start at verse 7. Saul says, And I fell to the ground. He's testifying to his persecutors. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And we know that. Not just anybody could Saul address as Lord. And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. What a revelation. And they that were with me saw indeed the light and were afraid, but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me, so whatever they heard, they couldn't call it a voice. And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise and go into Damascus, and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. Your calling is about to be explained to you. And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus. We just read that. And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews dwelt there, not Ananias an apostle, Ananias a devout disciple. He came unto me and stood and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked upon him. Does Luke really have to write that he laid hands on him in the name of Jesus? We're 22 chapters in. Don't we understand now how they lay hands on the sick? All right, so he came unto me. Ananias, a devout man, verse 12, according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews that dwelt there, came unto me and stood and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And that same hour I looked upon him. And he said, Here, Ananias is going to communicate the anointing. And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will and see that just one, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. You know, I find myself praying, Lord, lead me to those who want to listen. But the scripture says that he was a witness to all men. And now, this is what Ananias, he's saying, Ananias said this to me. So this is part of the narrative that's not written in Acts chapter 9. And now, why tarriest thou? What are you waiting for? Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins. Well, what happened on the road to Damascus? On the road to Damascus, he came to faith in repentance. Now he's told, as beautiful as that was, you need to wash away your sins in water baptism, calling on the name of the Lord, and the name of the Lord is Jesus. Then we find him in Acts chapter 19. We find him in Ephesus. He meets some disciples who were disciples of John. And he asked them, we're just looking at the first seven verses. He asked them, Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? He says that in verse 2. He said unto them, Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were you baptized? If you're disciples of John and you haven't received the Holy Ghost, tell me about your water baptism. That is of significant importance to him. That's the first question he asked when they say, We don't know nothing about the Holy Ghost. And he said, Unto what then were you baptized? Verse 3, they said, unto John's baptism. Then Paul said, Verily, verily, I'm sorry, then Paul said, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized. We could say they were rebaptized. That would be correct, because they'd already been baptized by John's baptism. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we see Saul of Tarsus, the Apostle Paul, baptizing the same way he was baptized. And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Ghost came on them, and they spake with tongues and prophesied. The men were about twelve. So if when Paul laid his hands on them, they received the Holy Ghost and spoke in tongues, then when Ananias laid hands on the apostle Paul to receive his sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost, it has to be the same Holy Ghost. There's only one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father who is above all through all and in you all. Even as you are called in one hope of your calling. We cannot make the gospel situational. The word of God is consistent. And in 1 Corinthians 1, let's look there. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, just a little bit here, verses 13 through 15, Paul writing to the Corinthian church. He got after them because they were saying, Oh, you know, I'm a disciple of Apollos, I'm a disciple of Paul, I'm a disciple of Cephas. So he asked them, Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Get this part of the question. Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? So he's saying, I know you were baptized in a name, you know you were baptized in a name. Was it Paul? That's that's almost a facetious question, right?

SPEAKER_08 32:44

Yeah.

unknown 32:46

Yeah.

Saul Preaches Jesus As Son

SPEAKER_06 32:46

It wasn't Paul, it wasn't Cephas, it wasn't Apollos, it was in the name of Jesus. I thank God that I baptized none of you but Christmas and Gaius, lest any should say that I had baptized in my own name. So he obviously baptized in somebody's name, and in Ephesus he baptized in the name of Jesus. Verse 19, now going back to Acts chapter 9, verse 19. And when he had received meat, that's Saul of Tarsus, he'd been healed, right? He rose, was baptized, and an eyes had laid hands on him to receive the Holy Ghost. And when he had received meat, he was strengthened, he'd been fasting three days and three nights. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples, which were at Damascus. So he didn't jump up and run out right away. I don't know how long certain days is, but he evidently got some coaching. He evidently got some instruction, at least for the basics. Certain days recovering from his journey and to process the experience with Jesus, spending time with the disciples. Can you imagine the fellowship and the discussions that went on with the guy who was hauling people off into prison, men and women, some of them being executed, the first one being Stephen? What kind of conversation were they having with him? Verse 20. And straightway he preached to Christ in the synagogues that he is the Son of God. Was talking about this yesterday. Remember, Jesus is the only begotten Son of God. Adam is the created Son of God. But Adam begat sons and daughters in his own image. But Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, because he is the express image of God's person and the reflection of the eternal God who fills all time and space. The very next thing for Saul was to visit the nearby synagogues where he began teaching and preaching that Jesus is the Son of God. Remember who Saul is? He's going to talk about himself a little bit. He's going to testify to the Philippian church. In Philippians chapter 3, Philippians chapter 3, verses 3 through 6, Paul has been pushed into a corner by people pushing a law on believers that they don't need to receive. And he says, For we are the circumcision which worship God in the Spirit. Repeating something he told the Romans, the Roman church, a Jew is one who is circumcised in the heart, has praise of God and not of men. And have no, I'm sorry, worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if I want to brag, I can. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he trust in the flesh, if somebody else wants to brag about their lineage, I can do it more. Verse 5, circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, starts bragging about his lineage. I know I'm a Benjamite. Evidently, a bloodline Benjamin without mixed blood, the way he talks. And Hebrew of the Hebrews. Talk about you, a descendant of Abraham, the original Hebrew, as touching the law, a Pharisee. How many of you rose up to be Pharisees? Concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. Wow. In other words, there wasn't a Pharisee, a scribe, a Sadducee, a Levite who could come up to me and find something in my life where I was failing to keep the traditions and the laws. He is trusting that his reputation will back up what he's saying. Verse 21. But all they that heard him were amazed and said, Is not this he that destroyed them which called on the name, on this name in Jerusalem, that is the name of Jesus, and came hither for that intent that he may bring them bound unto the chief priests? Look at what they talked about him. Look at the reaction of the believing Jews who heard that Saul of Tarsus was teaching and preaching Jesus. They're asking them among themselves, is this really the same guy?

SPEAKER_07 38:04

Is this really the same man who's been terrorizing the people who believe in Jesus? The same guy who came here with warrants to arrest followers of the way, and here he is teaching us that this Jesus is actually the Christ.

Assassination Plot And Basket Escape

Barnabas Opens The Door In Jerusalem

SPEAKER_06 38:27

Verse 21, we just read that. Well, verse 22, but Saul increased the more in strength and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is the very Christ. So the various reactions of the believing Jews, now Saul is walking in that, and he's learning more and more as he goes along. Verse 22, the more Saul walked with Jesus and studied the law and the prophets, which we call the Old Testament, the more powerful his ministry became. If you want there to be power to your testimony, to your witness, two things you got to do. The first one is give Jesus all the praise and all the glory and talk to people about how he has changed your life. That's the part that they can recognize. And for those who understand the word of God, you need to have an understanding of God's word, at least a minimum. So open up your Bible and read it. Study the Word of God. Saul of Tarsus, who was educated at the feet of Gamaliel, the most famous teacher of that century in Jewish law, studies it seems all the time. He was continually using the Old Testament to prove that the crucified and risen Jesus of Nazareth was indeed and is indeed the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah, the one that Hosea talked about in Hosea chapter 13, verse 4. Another one I didn't know I was going to say it. So you won't find it in your notes, so you better write it down. God speaking through the prophet Hosea to the rebellious people of God. Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt. Oh, so who's prophesying through Isaiah? Not just anybody. The God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, the one who said, I am that I am. And thou shalt know no God but me. Stop worshiping those idols. For there is no Savior beside me. The great I am is speaking to Hosea, the one that people call Yahweh, and saying, I am the only Savior Israel will ever have. So past, present, future, there's only one Savior. This is why we know that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, because Christ is the Savior, and he cannot be the Savior. Unless God is in Christ, fulfilling that scripture. Now, 23, verse 23. And after that many days were fulfilled, and the Jews took counsel to kill him. And I'm going to read through 25. And after that, many days were fulfilled. The Jews took counsel to kill him, but their laying await was known of Saul, and they watched the gates day and night to kill him. Then the disciples took him by night and let him down by the wall in a basket. So whenever Satan and his army cannot hide or cover or disguise the truth, the next thing you see is attempts to kill the minister, the messenger. If they cannot kill him physically, they will attempt to assassinate his character. So if you run into demonic resistance and they've chosen not to try to kill you physically because God just wouldn't give them permission. They'll go after your character. They'll lie. They'll make things up. You'll wonder, how can people say that? It's been inserted into their minds. And they can't tell the difference between their old thoughts, their own thoughts, and that which has been planted by the enemy. Now the Jews in Damascus set ambushes for Saul at the gates of the city day and night. Verse 24. But their laying await was known of Saul and they watched the gates day and night. These assassins were on a 24-hour call. They are really motivated to kill the apostle Paul. This means they had at least rotating shifts of assassins on duty. Now, as a result, verse 25, then the disciples took him by night and let him down by the wall in a basket. As a result, the disciples in Damascus organized an escape plan for Saul. They knew it was. His time. This time he was supposed to survive. It was not his time to die. And so they organized a plan. He was let down out of a window by the wall in a basket. This is how Saul was delivered. How God delivered him from the enemy and preserved his life that he might live to fulfill his ministry. You know, if you go back to Mark 16, where nothing will keep you from fulfilling the will of God, right? If you're walking in the will of God and God wants you to get something done, all the devil's in hell. Okay, stop it. Verse 26. And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he essayed to join himself to the disciples, but they were all afraid of him. But oh, verse 27, Barnabas. There's Barnabas again. This is the second time we're seeing Barnabas. Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. Why? Because Barnabas had stroke with the apostles. He had influence. His name was actually Joseph, but they gave him the nickname Barnabas, and he became known as Barnabas because he was the son of encouragement or the son of comfort. The son of consolation. His ministry was that powerful. Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. Barnabas could. And declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way. And that he had spoken to them, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. So Saul makes his way to Jerusalem where he assumes he will be able to join the disciples there. But the disciples, knowing his past reputation, they will not believe his testimony. So who appears in Luke's writing at this time? It is a disciple who is well known among the original twelve apostles, Barnabas. This man is first talked about in Acts chapter 5, verses 36 and 37. If you'd like to turn there, we'll read from it. See if I wrote that down right in my notes. I did not, I'm sorry. That's probably supposed to be Acts chapter. Yes, Acts chapter 4. I'm so sorry. That's gotta be corrected. 4 and 3 30 36 and 37. And Joseph, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, which is being interpreted, the son of consolation, a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, having land sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet. So we don't know that he sold all of his land, but Cyprus was a place where wealthy people lived. So he sold some property there, and he was known among the apostles. He is totally believable. So when he talks to the apostles about Saul's testimony, Saul is accepted. Verse 28, and he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem. Now Saul is in constant fellowship with the disciples in Jerusalem. His ministry is so powerful that Luke writes of Saul that he spoke boldly. He didn't just preach or teach. He spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus. And he disputed with the Jews who studied the, we would call it the Septuagint, who studied the law and the prophets. As recorded under the instruction of Alexander the Greek when the Great, when everything had to be transcribed into Greek. These Jews were so frustrated by Saul's teaching, they also decided they wanted to kill him. Then the disciples determined it was best to send him back to Tarsus. When they heard how he was disputing with the Grecians and how they wanted to kill him. Verse 31. Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified, walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost were multiplied. Look at that statement. The churches had rest. And let me tell you something. Paul was wreaking havoc in the church, right? So you know this was welcomed by them. I wonder how much else the conversion of Saul impacted the environment. Already, persecution begins to slow down when he gets redeemed and gets involved in the gospel. I wonder how hearing the sequence of events must have frustrated Caiaphas, the Sadducees, the Sanhedrin. Paul was their NBA number one draft, man. Yeah. All the believers in Judea, or I'm sorry, in Judah, Galilee, and Samaria were being grounded in the word of the Lord. It was a time for the church to become grounded in the word of the Lord. Take time to get yourself grounded in the word of the Lord. The fellowship was suddenly wonderful. You need to enjoy it while you have it. Note how the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Ghost are working together to bring spiritual reproduction. Fear of the Lord. God, we can't do this without you. Don't leave us, whatever happens. Yeah. In your presence, we are humbled. And we are comforted. So with that, we'll close out today's lesson. I thank you for your attention. I'm sorry for that error in your notes. You'll have to change that. The Lord bless you in Jesus' name.

Praying For Muslims And Enemies

SPEAKER_04 50:34

All right, all right, all right. We will. We will fix that. Because we do have handouts. So we tell people if they want to have the handouts that we're doing with this class, they'll be able to do that on the E3 channel. We'll we'll get that up there. But uh, you know, we're putting this all together for the School of Ministry so people can be licensed as ministers and have some, you know, some something to back some of the things that they're doing. But you know, one of the things I wanted that that end part that you were talking about just so hits home as we're going through all of this discussion about the rise of Islam and all of this. What about if we prayed for them? And Audia and I, I know we do when we pray, is that they have their Damascus Road experience with Jesus, right? Amen. I mean, because uh because it it's hard for us to imagine that people are like, you know, saying death to you and you're the great Satan and all that, that in your in your small mindset, you're just like just blow them all up, you know, just just get rid of all of them. But what if the heart of compassion that Jesus has as his those are his children, right? They must be. They are for God so loved the world. Right. So if if we get that heart of compassion that we learn to pray for the enemies like that.

SPEAKER_06 51:49

You know, I I I heard this lady, I her name is Brigitte Someone. I think she's Lebanese and she's quite the speaker. But she was making appeal to uh people in authority and audience. Her and she was saying that the overwhelming number of Muslims are not aggressive. But when you consider there's billions of Muslims, and only she said, people will very quickly tell you only 10% of them fall in that category. Yeah. She said, how many is 10% of billions? So so so we need to remember if you're dealing with Muslims, if you have Muslim, we're we're blessed to do business with with a Muslim man and his family for years. And when when we're in their place of business, we try to make it a point to pray over them and to tell them we're praying for you in the name of Jesus and we're praying for them to have revelation. Right. But how are they going to have it? And I know we don't want the call to Muslim prayer on our street streets, we don't want to be ruled by the Muslim Brotherhood. I get it. This country is going to resist that. Yeah. But we as Christians, our testimony has to be greater than that resistance. Because when when you look at the American Revolution, you look at the Civil War, you look at how hard Americans fought for what they perceived is right. World War I, World War II, Korea, you look at what Americans culturally are willing to sacrifice. Are we willing to testify for Jesus with that same intensity and integrity?

SPEAKER_04 53:49

Yeah. And there's such a line there. I mean, you know, honestly, you know, because it's fearful as a person, as a human, to see the radicals stand up and say, we're gonna take over your country. We're here, we're already here, and we're gonna take over your country. We see we're seeing that. We saw a big old presentation of that in downtown Dallas just last week. We saw a presentation of that all over New York City, and we've seen it in Michigan, we've seen it all this time. But we're close to Dallas, you know.

SPEAKER_06 54:22

So it's especially where media can take a hold of it.

SPEAKER_04 54:25

Yeah, and and when they say we are going, our our goal is to take you over. That's scary. We need to believe that.

SPEAKER_06 54:33

Right?

SPEAKER_04 54:34

We need to believe what they say. So what so there's such a line there where you don't want to get controlled by the fear of that that you forget of who you represent.

SPEAKER_06 54:43

We we have to remember who we represent. Right. I I had a couple of experiences early in my walk with God where one guy was threatening to cut me up. Another guy said to me, if you tell me again that I'm not saved, this is a big tough dude in Vietnam. The guy that everybody was afraid to mess with. He said, Um, you know, I'm gonna tear you apart, I'm gonna beat you down through the ground. And he's not anybody I wanted to fool with. But suddenly it rose up in me like speaking in other tongues, and I said, You can do whatever you want, but you cannot change God's truth, and you need God. Go ahead. Of course, afterwards I was wondering what in the heck is wrong with me. I didn't back up and I'd be talking to this guy, but it's too late. Jesus said, You will say it. You will say it.

SPEAKER_01 55:51

And you did.

SPEAKER_04 55:52

And that's where we want to pray. We want to pray they have that experience like Paul did.

SPEAKER_06 55:56

I mean, because we might be about to experience that in the USA. Yeah. And so it is all the more reason for us to humble ourselves before God under the mighty hand of God, that he might lift us up. Because if we are called on to suffer for the name of Jesus, we are to know it and embrace it. If we are called upon to defend the weak, we are to know that and embrace it. We are to know the difference.

SPEAKER_02 56:27

Right now they're having a revival in Iran. That's all that's awesome.

SPEAKER_04 56:31

It's exciting, yeah. Because I follow uh Robbie Dawkins, and he has a whole a big, huge church in Iran. That's just awesome. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 56:40

I mean also we need to pray for the man that's over this regime right now. Yeah. That he have a Damascus.

SPEAKER_04 56:49

No, he has kill everybody. I think that we need to pray for that person that they're selecting because it comes from the top, right? We always talk about the law of the list.

SPEAKER_06 57:01

USA is not perfect. We are fall and and uh some of the things that go on in in government turns my stomach. Of course. But right now, we have a president who allows people to pray for him. Yeah. Yes. And we can see that God has spared his life a couple of times. Yeah, yeah. It's evident God did this. He looks favorably on the church. And we're appreciative of that. But by no means should the church be content.

SPEAKER_02 57:32

Right. Right.

SPEAKER_06 57:33

We should be praying for this man, for our president, for his administration, for his family. We really need a revival in Congress for sure. You know, this thing where they just said, hey, let's bring it and and make it uh public law about all the sexual misconduct and where the money went and who the victims are so they can get justice. And Congress voted that down. Oh, it did. Yeah, we don't want that. Yeah, we don't want that part. You know, and that that that that that wasn't just uh a few Republicans and a few Democrats. Yeah. That was awesome. They'll be writing that down.

SPEAKER_01 58:08

In the same sense, they want the Epstein files released.

SPEAKER_06 58:13

But not about them.

SPEAKER_01 58:15

Exactly.

Kingdom Identity Over Fear

SPEAKER_06 58:17

This is the thing. As much as we love the USA, and you know, you you've heard me say I bleed red, white, and blue. Yeah. Yeah. But I am first and foremost a citizen of the kingdom of God. That's right. I'm not first a Republican, first a Democrat, first a libertarian, first an independent. I'm not even first a husband and a father. Yeah. I'm not first a minister of the gospel. I am first a citizen of the kingdom of God, his child and his servant. That's my first.

SPEAKER_02 58:52

It has to be our first. Yeah, it has to be.

SPEAKER_00 58:56

I listened to a Bible study this morning when I was getting ready. And the person on there said, before you go out and do battle, you have to put on your armor. You have to put on God's armor. And I just thought that was so powerful.

SPEAKER_06 59:15

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 59:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 59:17

Audio just, you know, these girls right here, they'll say, Oh, sister so-and-so says such and such. I said, I just told you that. I've been telling me. I got a podcast on it, you know. I got so mad. They get the revelation all of a sudden, and somebody else says it, you know.

SPEAKER_06 59:33

My son. My son used to go to the Potter's house. He was on the staff there for a while. And one day we caught T.D. Jakes uh teaching something on a on a TV or something, and I got so mad. And I told him and I told mama, I've been teaching this for 25 years.

SPEAKER_07 59:52

How come my congregation ain't that you know? What's going on with me? Where's my book at? Is T.D. Jakes that better looking? And that's what I'm saying. No, he was not.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:02

Man alive, you know. Uh his ministry's just blooming, you know. And and my son tries to be kind to me. He says, Dad, you still have the same spirit.

SPEAKER_07 1:00:12

Yeah, but I ain't got the same tithes and offerings. Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:19

Right.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:20

We all got to walk the path God gives us.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:23

We all got to do it. We all got to do it.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:24

And just know this if God is telling you something, you can be certain he's saying it to other people somewhere.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:31

That's right.

unknown 1:00:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:32

And so if it takes somebody else saying it that they get it, I guess I should be grateful.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:36

But yeah. I feel you. You feel it. I know. I know.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:44

Yeah. I'm telling my son or or my friends, you know, they were listening to these preachers who are renowned preach something.

SPEAKER_07 1:00:52

I did that. I preached that. I was pastoring six in Pacus Texas, and I brought that mess. I taught for six weeks on that. You know, there wasn't 25,000 people running out. Where were they, Jesus?

Tagline And How To Connect

SPEAKER_03 1:01:06

Right, right. I feel you, brother. I'm learning. I'm learning. I'm learning. Y'all, we enjoyed the day. Thank you so much for joining me. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:15

Thank y'all for being here today. Thank you, Sister Helen, over there. And so we're gonna end with our tagline as we always do. To go show some love, show some compassion, give mercy and go be Jesus today. Hey SDU family, if you have enjoyed this podcast today, would you please like, follow, and share our podcast link? And we would love to hear your feedback and your podcast topic suggestions. To do that, simply go to our website at www.m3mi.org, scroll to the more tab, and select contact us. Also, if SGU has been a blessing to you, you can also go to our website and select sow a seed. There are several ways that you can give, whether it's Zelph, Venmo, Cash App, or if there's an address to send a check or money order. All your gifts are tax deductible, and we thank you so much for sowing your seed with us. I want you to remember this. A wise person once said that a person has given you their time, they've given you their most precious gift because they can never ever get it back. Thank you for sharing this day with me. We love you, we'll see you soon.