A Light from Heaven

The more public Jesus is in your life, the more supernatural you'll see. Dr. Tony Evans says it works like snowflakes.

You'll never see the amazing details from a distance. He's not going to show himself supernatural to somebody who's not committed to Him. This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. The transformation of Saul and Paul is one of the most pivotal moments in church history.

Dr. Evans will talk about that powerful story today as he explores the cost of standing firm in faith and the miraculous ways God works through those who are committed to Him. Let's join him in the book of Acts. In chapter 9, we're now looking at the conversion of Saul who becomes Paul. We're introduced in verses 1 and 2 to Saul, his pre-conversion name bringing death threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He's on a rampage against Christianity, executing believers.

He's become a religious bounty hunter. In verse 2, he requests permission from the officials in the synagogue at Damascus that if we found anyone belonging to the Way—the Way was a name that they used for Christianity, Jesus being the Way—men and women, that He might bring them to Jerusalem so that they can be tried and imprisoned. So as he was traveling and approaching Damascus, verses 3 to 9, an event happens. A light from heaven, verse 3, flashes around him.

According to Acts 26, verse 13, the light was more brilliant than the sun, and it blinds him. And he hears a voice from heaven in verse 4, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? He says, who are you, Lord? He says, I am Jesus who you are persecuting.

Please notice something. To persecute God's people is to attack Jesus, because He didn't do anything directly to Jesus. He was after Jesus's people.

But guess what? We are His body. So an attack against Christians is a direct attack against Jesus, because Jesus has so identified with us as His physical extension on earth. You attack His people, you attack Him. So Paul is now confronted with the Jesus who he has been persecuting, His message and His messenger. I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told to you what you must do. So he is struck down supernaturally by God.

The people traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but not seeing anybody. Now the reason why he could hear Jesus is, guess what? Jesus is alive. He's risen from the dead. He's ascended into heaven. So Jesus is alive. That's why he's hearing Jesus. The other thing is, Jesus is alive, but guess what?

He's still speaking. Saul gets up from the ground, and his eyes are open, but he could see nothing, verse 8. And he had to be led by his hand and brought to Damascus. In Damascus, there is a guy named Ananias. God tells Ananias in a vision, go up to the street called Straight and inquire in the house of Judas a man of Tarsus named Saul is praying. He's there praying. And you're gonna lay hands on him so he can regain his sight, verse 12.

Well, Ananias says, I don't agree with that. Lord, verse 13, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name. And you want me go talk to him? Say, what?

Okay. But the Lord said to him, yep, go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel, for I will show him how much he must suffer for my name's sake. So here you have God sending somebody to his enemy because he's scared to death to go to Saul because of the reputation. The Lord speaks to him and gives him direction and Ananias, even though he doesn't want to do it, obeys.

He departs because sometimes the Lord tells us to do stuff we don't want to do because he's got something bigger that he's up to that we don't realize. So he goes and says, the brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road, verse 17, by which you were coming has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Immediately they fell from his eyes, something like scales, and he regained his sight and got up and was baptized, took food and was strengthened. So God used Ananias for him to get back his sight and to launch now Saul into this new direction in life suddenly. Now if there was anybody who you didn't think would be converted, it would be Saul, given what he was doing, which shows the glory of God, the grace of God, the mercy of God, even to the most wicked. Verse 20, immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogue, saying, he is the son of God.

I guess so. You just went through what he went through, being blinded, hearing a voice from heaven, being sent this person who takes the scales off of your eyes. So when God does something out of the ordinary, it's because he's up to something out of the ordinary.

So when God does something that is not normal, then there is an abnormal reason for it. All those who heard were amazed and saying, is this not? He who went to Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests? But Saul kept increasing, proving that this Jesus is the Messiah. Well, that does not win him friends, because verse 23 says, in many days that elapsed, the Jews plotted together to do away with him.

So they wanted to get rid of Paul because he was carrying too much influence based on the influence he already had. Their plot became known, and they were watching at the gates day and night so they might put him to death. The disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket.

You have a couple things going on here. First of all, if you're under a threat, it's okay to escape, and he escapes in a large basket. He comes to Jerusalem, and he was trying to associate with the disciples, but they were all still afraid of him because this is all new. But my boy Barney, verse 27, Barnabas, he's the encourager, he took him in, brought him into the apostles, and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and they give him that, and he was with them moving about. He had some people who could vouch for him now, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. So his witness did not stop, and as he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews, Greek-speaking Jews, but they were attempting to put him to death, so he's still facing his persecution.

And when the brethren learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him to Tarsus. So the church throughout Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, and it just continued to increase, because the church increases during times of persecutions. You go to some countries in the world, China, where Christianity is basically outlawed, and you've got the underground church. Millions of people are becoming Christians in the persecution. And by the way, it's during those times you know who the real Christians are, you know, because then they're not just cultural Christians. They're not just going to church.

They're serious. So he now switches in verse 32 to the end of chapter 9 to Peter and two events in Peter's ministry. So he's showing you what's happening as the church expands and explodes. And by the way, just a note, if you've never been persecuted because of your faith, and that can happen on a whole lot of levels. You can be talked about. You can be rejected.

You can be not promoted. You don't look for it, but some people hate God so much that they hate his representatives. And so if you've never been persecuted because of your faith, it probably means you don't have a faith worth persecuting. In other words, you're not a public Christian. You're a secret agent Christian, because the Bible says those who live godly in Christ Jesus will have varying levels of persecution.

Not that you look for it, not that you want it, but it comes because of your identification with Jesus Christ. So Peter here is traveling throughout the region, and he comes across a man named Aeneas, verse 33, who has been bedridden eight years, and he's paralyzed. Peter says, Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you.

Get up and make your bed. Immediately he got up, and all who lived in Lydia and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. So guess what? God does a miracle in order to draw people to Christ. He didn't just do the miracle so that there would be a miracle. Jesus is not just out there flexing his muscles. He's using the miraculous to show people he's real.

To show people he's real. So you see, as the disciples are moving, and the kingdom of God is being advanced, Jesus is moving because Jesus is being made public, and the more public Jesus is in your life, the more supernatural you'll see. The less public Jesus Christ is in your life, the less supernatural you'll see, because he's not going to show himself supernatural to somebody who's not committed to him. And that's why so many believers see so little of the supernatural, because they're not committed enough for Jesus to entrust that much heavenly power through, in, and to their lives.

So if you want to see more of the supernatural, you've got to draw closer to the Lord, as we see illustrated here. We're just a verse away from one of the biggest breakthrough events in the Bible, and Dr. Evans will talk about its significance when he returns in just a moment. First though, I want to tell you about an enlightening resource that delves into discovering your divine calling— Tony's book, Kingdom Purpose. This transformative guide will help you uncover the unique role God has designed for you, empowering you to live a life of significance and impact. As our thank you gift for your generous contribution and support of the alternative, we're offering this book along with all 14 full-length messages in Dr. Evans' compelling two-volume audio series on the book of Acts. This sermon set takes you on a deep dive into the early church's journey, offering insights and inspiration for your own spiritual walk. To get all the details and make your request, visit tonyevans.org or call our 24-hour resource center at 1-800-800-3222. That's 1-800-800-3222. Let's get back to more now from Dr. Evans.

All right. Chapter 10. Cornelius is a Roman soldier. He's called a centurion, the combat unit of the Roman army. He's a gentile man, and he's a devout man. He fears God with all of his household, and he gave many arms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually. So he sees a vision. The angel of the Lord comes to him and says, Cornelius, calls him by name. He fixes his eyes. He sees much alarm. He says, what is it, Lord? Your prayers and arms have ascended as a memorial before God.

Okay, here's the deal. God will never ignore somebody sincerely pursuing Him. This is illustrated in Cornelius. People always ask, if you are sincerely seeking the Lord, the Lord will find you. You will be found by Him. He will not ignore a person who is sincerely seeking Him. So He's sincerely seeking the Lord, and God says, I see what you're doing. Your prayers, your arms, your giving, and it's ascended up to me.

It's gotten up to heaven. Now to spat some men and go to Joppa to a man named Simon—that's Peter—and he's staying in the house of a tanner named Simon. Now, we're told that in the end of chapter 9, verse 43, and Peter stayed many days in Joppa with a tanner named Simon. Now, a tanner is somebody who works with animal skins. That was unclean for a Jew to work with somebody with animal skins. That's unclean. Well, but he's now working with somebody because God is expanding—and he's getting ready to show him a whoppy in a moment—he's expanding Peter's racial horizon, okay?

Because some folk need their racial horizon expanded. So he tells Cornelius, send some guys to Peter. Tell Peter, come here. So they're on their way to the city. When they're on their way to Peter's house to tell Peter to come to Cornelius, Peter goes up to the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.

So he's about 12 noon. He's going up on top to have a time of prayer on his rooftop. Now, while on his rooftop, he gets hungry. He's hungry, wants something to eat, and he's desiring to eat. But while they were making preparations for his lunch, he falls into a trance, according to verse 10. He sees the sky open in this trance and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground.

They were in all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. So he sees this sheet with four corners coming down while he's in this trance. A voice says, Peter, kill and eat. You say you're hungry. I'm giving you some food. Eat.

Peter says, verse 14, by no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean. Okay. Again, a voice comes to him a second time. Remember I told you? Two or three witnesses. See?

A voice comes to him a second time because of what he's seeing. What God has cleansed no longer consider unholy. What God has cleansed, you don't have a right to judge by your previous standard. I know you were brought up this way. I know you were trained this way.

But once I give my assessment of it and say it's okay, how you were raised becomes irrelevant. This happened three times. Got two or three witnesses.

And immediately the object was taken up into the sky. So while Peter is perplexed, you know, he says he's perplexed, greatly perplexed in his mind, verse 17, what he might have seen. The men who had been sent by Cornelius had asked directions to his house. They're now at his gate. And calling out, they were asking for Simon, and who's called Peter.

Was he staying there? And Peter was still thinking about the vision. And behold, the men are looking for you. And so Peter comes.

He goes down. He says, yeah, I'm the one you're looking for, verse 22. They said, Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man, well-spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, was divinely directed by a holy angel to send to you to come to his house and to hear a message from you. So he invited them in and gave them lodging. So God let him have a vision, using animals, about a new relationship he was to have with people. Peter said, I most certainly understand now, now that God is not one to show partiality.

So we're still dealing with this racial issue, because the Jews thought this is only for us. But in every nation, the man who fears him and does what is right is welcome to him. In every nation, anybody seriously looking for God will find him. Now God does that in a lot of different ways, but you can't, and we have missionaries who've gone to a mission to tribes where they never had a Bible, never had a church, never had a missionary, and they're already worshiping Jesus, because God did something supernatural to make his presence known in the midst of that people.

Now he will do that in those settings, supernaturally, because they don't have the normal mechanisms. So he does something outside of the norm, but he will not abandon any group or any person who is sincerely pursuing him. And he's not a respective person. The word which he sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all.

Okay? And you know of verse 38, Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit. And so he goes into this rendition about Jesus Christ, culminating in verse 40, God raised him up on the third day and granted that he become visible, not to all the people, but to the witnesses who were chosen before him by God. So it's about the resurrection. And of him, verse 43, all the prophets bear witness.

The whole Old Testament is really about Jesus Christ. All the prophets bear witness through his name. Everyone who believes in him receives the forgiveness of sins.

Okay? Everybody who comes to Christ is forgiven of their sins. While Peter was speaking the words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who were listening to the message.

And this is going to become very important moving forward. And all the circumcised believers, meaning the Jews, who came with Peter were amazed at seeing the Holy Spirit come on these folks, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been given out to the Gentiles also. Okay, let's look quickly at chapter 11. Peter comes to Jerusalem, and some of the Jews took issue with him, saying, you went to uncircumcised men and ate with them?

They couldn't believe you hanging out with those people. And Peter began speaking and proceeded to explain to them a orderly sequence, an orderly sequence. I was in Joppa praying.

I had a trance. So he goes through the story. He comes to verse 17. Therefore, if God gave to them the same gift he gave to us, also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I should stand in God's way? Okay, here's what this means. Racism stands in God's way.

So he says, I don't want to get in God's way, because I don't want God to move me out of the way. When they heard this, they quieted down. Good. And glorified God.

Good again. So now we have the birth of the church at Antioch, which now will become the dominant church, as opposed to Jerusalem, which had been the dominant church thus far. So those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose due to the death of Stephen speak the word to no one except the Jews alone. But we have some other men who come, and the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord. So we got people getting saved again. The news about them reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch, because now we got all this activity occurring. When they arrived, they witnessed the grace of God. He rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord. And he left for Tarshish to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch.

And for an entire year, they met with the church and taught considerable numbers. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. So here is where we get the word Christian.

It comes in verse 26. The church is established in Antioch, and now the disciples become known as Little Christs. Christian means Little Christs, little followers of Christ, miniature Jesuses. So you and I are supposed to be a miniature Jesus. In our attitudes, actions, character, and conduct, we're to be miniature Jesus, a replica of the real thing.

That's our goal, Christlikeness. So prophets came down from Jerusalem. Antioch told them about this famine that was going to come. Then, verse 29 and 30, and in the proportion that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brethren living in Judea. And this they did, sending it in charge of Barnabas and Saul to the elders. So they now provide relief in light of the predicted famine that was coming to Jerusalem so that the saints from Jerusalem would be supported during this difficult time.

So now look at this. Jerusalem didn't want to do anything to do with the Gentiles. Peter comes and says, no, you got to deal with the Gentiles, because God told me that, you know, he's not a favorite person, and he gave them the same thing he gave us. God starts a church over here in Antioch.

The church in Antioch doesn't look back at the church of Jerusalem and say, well, y'all ain't accept us back then, and y'all ain't treat us right back then, and you didn't even want us to be part of your church. So now that y'all having a hard time, tough. I hope y'all get through it. We'll pray for you. Uh-uh.

They said, no, we're not going to carry on resentment just because you had it. Dr. Tony Evans, with a challenge to live as little Christ in a world that often resists His message. Now, if you'd like to get a copy of today's lesson to review on your own or to share with a friend, it's available on CD or digital download as part of the special combo offer I mentioned earlier. All 14 full-length lessons from Dr. Evans' two-volume series on the Book of Acts, along with his transformative book, Kingdom Purpose, designed to help you find and follow your one-of-a-kind calling from God. They're yours with our thanks when you make a donation to help keep this listener-supported program coming your way. Just visit tonyevans.org to make the arrangements or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222 where team members are standing by 24-7 to help you. That's 1-800-800-3222 or online at tonyevans.org. Well, tomorrow Dr. Evans will give us some exciting examples of divine intervention meeting earthly challenges as he continues our study in the Book of Acts. From prayer to a prison break, we'll see how the Holy Spirit continues to orchestrate the unstoppable spread of Christianity and the miraculous ways God can work in our own lives when we trust Him. Be sure to join us.