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Starts partway through Conrad's welcome. Ends after the closing prayer.
Relationships that you guys are savoring up the sun, savoring up the summer because relationships are so pivotal and so key. And I'm so blessed to be a part of a church that values relationships, not just with our families, but families to families as the church family. So once again, welcome everyone. We're glad that you're here. The part of the family that is Living Oaks Church. We've been in this series over the past nine or so weeks in the book of Acts.
We've been going through the book of Acts, kind of chapter by chapter, but selecting select passages in the book of Acts so that we can go in it and we can do little deep dives. Not just theological deep dives, but applying them to our lives, applying them to our personal circumstances as well. Today we find ourselves in a very pivotal and famous section in the book of Acts, in Acts chapter 9. If you have your Bibles, please turn to Acts chapter 9, verses 1 through 19 is what we'll be looking at.
And it's the passage where Saul meets Jesus on the road to Damascus. We're going to make that make sense in a few moments. We'll look at it, we'll apply it to our lives. But as you're flipping there, as you're settling in, I want you to think of this cultural aphorism which we've probably all heard before and that is the only consistent thing in life is that things change that's right the only consistent thing in life is that things change we deal with change on a daily basis change is constant in our lives change happens you know in massive moments change happens in minor moments but regardless the only consistent thing in life is that things change
You know, I heard it said once and I actually have thought about this long and hard and I think it to be true is that people actually don't resist change. They resist loss. You see, if I were to win the lottery, that would be a big change in my life, but I'm not going to resist that change, right? However, if there was something negative to happen, maybe a crash or something like that to occur, Well, then I would feel an acute sense of loss and I would be resistant to that.
I would not want that happening to me. People don't just resist change, they resist loss. And again, change is a part of our daily lives. Some of us love change. Some of us love change for change's sake. Some of us put away the summer fashion and then on to the fall fashion. That's change. And then some of us just love to be consistent, right? We love to eat at the same restaurants. And in those same restaurants, we love to sit at those same tables.
And at those same tables, at those same restaurants, we order the same food. You know who you are, right? I have a question. Maybe a show of hands, maybe not. But I kind of know the answer looking around the room here. Is who, week in and week out, attending Living Oaks Church, sits in the same seats or within the same vicinity of like five seats? Raise your hand. Not at all. Not at all. We're all creatures of habit, right?
Not us. Because change at times can be hard for us. We don't like the loss associated with it. Yesterday was August 1st. Hard to believe it's August, which means my first day at Living Oaks Church was August 1st in 2021, which means five years celebrated, five years being at this church. My wife and I moved up from Orange County, you know, five years ago and there was a lot of change involved with that.
We moved up here with zero kids. Big change. We moved up here five years ago. We've had three kids. We've lived in two homes, which means that me and my wife have had approximately one date night this whole time. It's been busy. There's been a lot of change and yet change is a part of our lives. I just detailed to you change that is circumstantial. Change that comes from situations, circumstances, little moments.
But in those five years as well, there's been a lot of spiritual change. There's been wilderness and oasis seasons. There's been a lot of relational and relationship changes that we've had to make, right? Moving from Orange County to Thousand Oaks, Ventura County. There's changes that happen mentally, there's changes that happen spiritually, there's changes that happen circumstantially. You know, sometimes change is really hard.
We resist that change. Change takes effort. Change takes energy. And sometimes we wonder if change is even worth it at all. This morning I'm here to share that change is indeed worth it, and change can be the best thing that ever happens to your life. Today we're looking at a passage of people encountering Jesus. Having an encounter with Jesus. And once they have that encounter, their lives, their circumstances, their relationships, their eternity is changed forever.
I don't want to be talking about change today, you thinking about a sense of loss. We'll talk about that later. But change could be the best thing that ever happens to us when we encounter Jesus. Jesus. That's what I've titled this message, An Encounter with Jesus. We'll be looking at Acts chapter 9. Before we get into the context and the details, let's just pray one more time. Heavenly Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday and today and forever.
The only consistent thing in life is that things change, but that's semi not true because you are unchanging. You do not change. There is no shadow or variation due to change in your life. You show up the same way yesterday as you do today and as you will tomorrow. We take hope in that. We take confidence in that. And I pray that as we look to your word together this morning, that you'd fill us with that hope and that you would continue to encourage us to have those encounters with you.
So Lord, go before us in this time together. In Jesus' name, and everybody said... So this morning we are talking about a famous person. We are talking about a man named Saul. Now if I say the name Paul, I'm talking about the same person. We'll talk later in the message about the names Saul and Paul. But if I do slip and I do say Saul and I do say Paul, I'm talking about one person. But today the text talks about this man named Saul of Tarsus.
So let's do the deep dive before we look at Acts 9. Let's read everything. I've scoured the scriptures, everything that we know about Saul of Tarsus until this point. Are you ready? It's a really short slide, so go ahead and throw it up. In Acts 7:58, it says, And witnesses lay down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. Okay, so this is like an implicit reference. Stephen, the first martyr, as we know it,
was martyred, and those who were stoning him laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. This is like seemingly implicit. It seems like he's like, yes, I approve of this, of what's happening here. In Acts chapter 8, verse 1, the implicit is made explicit, and Saul approved of his execution. Okay? We're getting a picture of who this man Saul is. And then in chapter 8, verse 3, it says two verses later, it says this.
But Saul was ravaging the church and entering house after house. He dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. So what was once implicit then becomes explicit and now is systemic, right? This is a part and pattern of Saul's life. This is who Saul is. This is everything that we know about this man today. Up to this point, he is set in his ways. Let's read chapter 9, verse 1 through 2. We'll get into our text.
But Saul, same person, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus so that if he found any belonging to the way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. So with our context in chapter 7, chapter 8, and the first two verses of chapter 9, we are confronted and we see two different ways.
We see Saul's way, his pattern of life, his living, but we also see those belonging to the way. We see Saul's way, we see the way. What is Saul's way? Well, he's binding on men and women. Well, he's still now breathing threats and murder. He's looking to drag people off to Jerusalem for imprisonment. He is persecuting Christians, or as we know now today to be called Christians. This was Paul's way.
This was his modus operandi. And where did it come from? I don't think it just woke, he woke up overnight and said, I'm going to start doing this. I think his way became deeply ingrained in him, whether it was his background, right? He was born and raised Christian. As a Jew, we'll look at his background in a little bit. But he was born this way. He was educated under Gamaliel. So perhaps his education contributed to his way, his way, his mode of conduct, his modus operandi, his MO.
Regardless, Saul was set in his ways. But there's another way here that's being talked about. And it's called the way. Those belonging to the way. What is the way? Well, simply speaking, the way was one of the earliest ways of speaking about Christians or those who belong to Jesus Christ. Literally speaking, the way could be referring to like the way of salvation or the way of life. Simply put, the way.
Jesus in John chapter 14, verse six says, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No one comes to the Father except through me, but through me. I am the way. So you have Saul set in his ways, and you have Jesus and the way. Let's step out of our text really quick. Let's look at ourselves personally. Introspect just a moment. We all have our ways, right? We all have our ways, and you know where those ways come from?
Our backgrounds, our education, our upbringing, our finances, our closest relationships, our conversations, the news that we watch. We have our ways and we justify those ways. We think of those ways being good and true. Otherwise, we wouldn't hold those ways. If we thought we were wrong, we would probably end up changing our ways. I'm convinced here that Paul... Saul thought he was not the antagonist of the story.
I'm convinced here that Saul thought himself to be the good guy. I think that Saul thought himself to be the one who was righting the ship. I don't think Saul woke up one day and said, yes, I'm going to be the Darth Vader character. I'm going to be the Dracula, right? I don't think he woke up thinking he's going to be the Thanos of the Bible attacking the way. But... He was just following his way. And whenever there's an intersection of one way and another, one way has to give.
We all have our ways. We all have our ways. But when those are confronted by the way, we are the ones that must change. Isaiah 55 talks about this. In the book of Isaiah, God is addressing people and their waywardness. And I have a screen, the text on the screen that I just want to read to you. This is what happens when two different ways collide, and one of those being God's way. Here's what it says.
God is saying, let the wicked forsake his way. And the unrighteous man, his thoughts, let him return to the Lord that he may have compassion on him. And to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. And then here's where the rubber meets the road. The conflict of ways. For my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are my ways your ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than yours.
And my thoughts than your thoughts. You know, it is human nature to For me, dare I say for you, for us to think that our way is good and true and right. It is really hard for us to change our ways sometimes. We have a phrase for this, right? You can't teach an old dog what? New tricks, new ways. It's hard for us. Saul was, if anything, was very set in his ways. Proverbs 14, 12, I think is a really appropriate phrase.
proverb for this moment, which talks about how there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way, this road, this conduct, and it leads to where? Death. So we have this conflict. We have Saul's way, and we have the way, and they are meeting head on a collision course right this very moment. It's human nature for us, and I think it's important for us to be introspective About our ways.
We'll have a moment in our service in a little bit of time where we're going to just reflect on that. But I just want us to get in the mindset and thinking, yeah, we have our ways. My wife's way and my way, sometimes they come into conflict. Neither of us are necessarily right or wrong. It's just she brushes her teeth differently than I do. Her nightly routine is slightly different than mine. We do things a little differently.
But when those come into conflict, there's no issue there because there's no right or wrong. But when our ways encounter God's ways, something's got to give. Well, we're going to see what happens because something will change here in a few moments and we're going to get into the meat of our scripture. So if you would look at verse three, we're going to go all the way down through verse nine here and talk about what happens on the way, on the road to Damascus.
So here's what it says. Now, as he, Saul, went on his way, he approached Damascus. And suddenly, a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, that is Saul said, who are you, Lord? And he said, that is Jesus, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.
The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and he neither ate nor drank. What we just read is was an encounter with Jesus. An encounter with Jesus. What is an encounter? An encounter is when two parties come into meeting space with one another.
Sometimes it's shocking, sometimes it's out of the ordinary, sometimes it's unexpected, but an encounter is when one party meets another party. You can have an encounter with an animal on a trail. Or in the ocean. Has anyone ever encountered an animal and been filled with fear? Has anyone ever encountered, you know, an event, something extraordinary that you saw? You can also encounter an adversary, an enemy.
There are many different encounters. Brief encounters, close encounters of whatever kind. First encounters, final encounters, you name it. But in encounters when two parties now meet, I would like to say that the more shocking the encounter, the more impactful it is on our ways. The more it will stick with us. There was a time where I was out surfing in Zuma Beach. I say this because I got to surf yesterday, which was so nice.
It was the best. Like I said, I'm not able to do that because of all the change in our lives. But my son looked at me and he said, Dad, will you take your surfboard? I want to watch you surf. And I'm like, yes, okay. I'll do that. So we went to the beach and I surfed, but I remember back in college at Pepperdine University, I was surfing on a very quiet, still morning, and the sun was just coming up.
It was very cold, and I was wearing wet suit boots, we call them booties, so I was wearing these little booty shoes. And I remember just being at peace and just sitting there and just waiting for the next wave. And I was sitting there floating, very still, very cold, and all of a sudden I felt something on the bottom of my foot. Ruh-roh. So I look and I look down and there is a massive dark object below me.
My size or bigger. I immediately panicked, almost fell off my surfboard and I just clambered and tried to get away from this thing. And it just happened to be a seal who was just looking at me and thought my shoes were a snack. I had an encounter with this and it really stuck with me. And now I know Don't mess with seals. They're big. They look friendly and cuddly. They got teeth. That encounter marked me.
Now, it didn't change my life. I still will go out there. But a spiritual encounter should mark us forever. This encounter with Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus will change Paul's life forever. The greater the encounter is, the greater the impact. Let's talk about this encounter in Acts 9 just for a moment. So this bright light shines and Saul goes to the ground and he hears a voice and the voice asks a purpose question.
Why are you persecuting me? What's the point? Why are you doing this? Jesus calls Paul to the mat. Explain yourself. Why are you doing this? Paul then retorts with no answer of his own, but asks a question. Well, Jesus said, why are you persecuting me? So therefore, the next question is an identity question. Paul says, why? Well, Paul says, who are you, Lord? And then the very next words out of Jesus's mouth is, I am Jesus.
Here's the one point that I want us to stick with. If you forget everything, if you forget any illustration or any of the context or whatever, I want you to think about this one thing. It'll be up on the screen. Is that an encounter with Jesus should change everything. An encounter with Jesus should change everything. This was an encounter with Jesus and it should change everything. Everything. We'll talk about the word everything in a few moments, but an encounter with Jesus should change everything.
This encounter with Jesus saw Saul dead in his tracks, put him on the ground, and now he can't even see. But he hears, and he hears who he's persecuting. It is Jesus. I am Jesus who you are persecuting. An encounter with Jesus changed everything. Now, while then Saul opens his eyes, he can't see anything. He is blind. We'll learn that he's blind for three days, as we just read. Three days he cannot see, and he neither ate nor drank.
This had a massive impact on his physical life and changes, but it also has a massive impact on his spiritual condition as well. I want us to think of something for just a moment. We'll see if you guys want to play along with this, but I want to invite you just for a moment to just close your eyes. We'll do it for like 15 seconds. My eyes are closed. Now just think, maybe you weren't thinking about it, but now I want you to think about it.
How vulnerable are you with your eyes closed? You don't know what facial expressions I'm making at you unless you're cheating. You don't know if there's a threat around you. You must now be led by the hand to where you need to go. Closing your eyes, to some degree or another, slows you down. It causes you to think about different things. You can open your eyes again. But this impact of Saul having closed eyes for three days would have been a massive shift
Because now he's alone with his thoughts. The last thing he saw was a bright light, and now he is vulnerable and, dare I say, open to be led. I want us to be like Paul here, like Saul here for just a few moments. Because the next time we will, when we get to it, we're just going to breathe through it. But the next time we hear of Saul, he's doing one thing. He's praying. He's praying. We haven't read that yet.
We'll read it in just a moment. We're not going to touch on it when we get there. But right now, the next time we see a Paul, Saul, he will be praying. So I would love for us to pray for a moment. And I would love for us to pray two verses. I'll put them up on the screen and then I would again invite you to close your eyes and I'll read it slowly out loud to you. Because I believe an encounter with Jesus should change everything.
Here's a verse that I've prayed previously and I've prayed this week and I'll share it with you. It says this, it's David, I believe. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. And then he starts praying about his way. And see if there be any grievous way in me. And lead me in the way everlasting. Everlasting. An encounter with Jesus should change everything. And as we pray and as we invite this prayer into our lives, yeah, some of us, I mean, I feel like an old dog, but the Lord can teach us new tricks.
So if you want to close your eyes for a moment, feel free. If you want to keep them open and look at those lines, you can, but I will say them very slowly. Heavenly Father, search me, O God. Know my thoughts. My heart. Try me and know my thoughts. See if there is any grievous way in me. And lead me in the way everlasting. In Jesus name. Amen. We all have our ways. And let me tell you, I prayed this prayer this week.
And I'll be honest with you what exactly happened. Nothing. Nothing. I prayed this prayer this week and I started thinking to myself, hmm, what could be grievous? And I started kind of like stressing about this and maybe saying, oh, maybe this or maybe this or maybe this. Nothing immediately happened. But then last night, I'm telling you right now, I went to bed and I felt like the Lord revealed something to me.
Oh, man, I, you know, I... Here's a way. Here's a way in which I can be better. Not just be better, but here's a way where I can connect with the Lord on a deeper level. I was able, in that moment, being open earlier in the week, praying that prayer, and later on, the Lord, I believe, revealed something to me. I don't know if anything connected with you just there. I don't know if you said or heard something
But ultimately speaking, God's going to speak. And ultimately speaking, God will allow us to change our ways because of who he is. An encounter with Jesus should change everything. I talked about loss for a few moments. Let's talk about loss. So once again, people don't resist change. What do they resist? Loss. So this man named Saul grew up a certain way, had this background, had these behaviors, had these tendencies.
And those he outlines to the Philippians in chapter 3 of his letter to the Philippians. And it will be up on the screen. He talks about who he is. And he says, circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, the Hebrew of Hebrews, as to the law, a Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law. Blameless. Okay, that's a pretty good resume, right?
He talks about his ancestry, where he's from, where he's been, his background. He talks about his achievements and his accolades. I'm zealous. I'm a Pharisee. I'm a persecutor of the church. This is Saul. This is pre-Acts 9. Actually, this is Acts 9, 1 and 2. Proud Saul. Stuck in his ways. But here's what happens after the light. After the light. in all the things that happened. Was he resisting loss or was he embracing loss?
But whatever gain I had, I counted as what? Loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. He counts the past as loss in order to what? Gain Christ. Be found in him. He says, you know what? All of those things, those things that I do not want to change in my life, I will let go of. Because now there's something more exciting ahead of me.
A relationship with my Savior. For us, change is very hard. Change is very hard for me. Change is hard in relationships. Change is hard at work. Change is hard, of course, spiritually. However, as we... Change our position to what we can lose. Less look at what we're losing and more looking at what we're gaining. A relationship with our Heavenly Father. A relationship with Jesus Christ. A relationship with the way, the truth, the life.
A relationship with the bringer of hope, the source of our joy. A relationship with the one who is, was, is, and is to come. Oh man, that's going to change my perspective on what I'm losing, right? my focus will now be on what I'm gaining. So for us, an encounter with Jesus should change everything. Let's look to the last portion of our text here today. Little do we all talk about, there's two encounters of Jesus in this narrative.
Saul's the famous one, but there's also this man named Ananias, and that's what we're going to read really quick. Verse 10, Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias. And he said, here I am, Lord. And the Lord said to him, rise and go to the street called Straight. And at the house of Judas, look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. For behold, he is praying.
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. So once again, Paul is now praying. Can't see. He's not eating. He's slowed way down. He's praying. But Ananias answered after that exchange. He said, Lord, I'll add the word objection. Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem.
And here he has the authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name. But the Lord said to him, go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles. and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. So Ananias departed and entered the house and laying his hands on him, he said, brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Saul had an encounter with Jesus and it changed everything. Ananias also has an encounter with Jesus. And it changed everything. Ananias was a disciple. It says Ananias being a disciple. There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. What does a disciple mean? It simply means learner. And odds are if you're a disciple of Jesus, guess what? You've already had an encounter with Jesus. Now you are following him on the way.
If you're a believer or if you've walked with the Lord for a long time, think about when your first encounter with Jesus was. That's a special moment, right? We call it conversion, spiritual birth. We can call it so many different things. I remember the day where the Lord got a hold of my life, September 5th, 2008. Alumni Park, Pepperdine University. I remember that day very, very clearly. I had problems before then, and let me tell you, I had problems after that.
But at the same time, the Lord changed everything. Now, following Jesus, I don't know, what's the math? 18, 19 years, whatever it is. Since that day, the Lord's still changing me. I'm still encountering Jesus and he's not leaving me the same. Because an encounter with Jesus will still change us along the road. This disciple named Ananias, the Lord comes to him and the inner exchange looks like this.
Ananias, go to this man named Saul of Tarsus. He's praying. I want you to lay hands on him. Ananias says, are you sure, God? That guy? I've heard about this guy. I heard about his resume. I heard about what he's doing in Jerusalem. Are you sure you want me to go to that person? And Jesus says, go. And so what does Ananias do? He goes. The man... that Ananias said, this man is doing evil things, how does he address Saul when he goes over to his house or his friend's house on Straight Street?
He says, brother Saul. If that's not a changing of everything, I don't know what is. This man who is doing evil, this man who is binding up people, this man who I am not sure if we got the right person He then goes over and says, brother Saul. That's relationship. That's kinsmen. That's brotherly language. Ananias' relationship to Saul has changed. Because an encounter with Jesus will change everything.
You know, one more thing that I want to key in on in this section is this beautiful language here. In verse 15, what Jesus says to Ananias, he says, go for he is a chosen instrument of mine. Of course, it's to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and all of that. But go for he is a chosen instrument of mine. I've been talking about how Jesus changes everything. I want a little disclaimer. I want a little nuance.
So he doesn't necessarily change facts. He doesn't necessarily change history. He doesn't necessarily change details. But he changes positions to those facts, to those details. Go, for he is a chosen instrument. I hold in my hands drumsticks. These are for a certain instrument. Which instrument? The drums. However, Can I use these instruments in an incorrect way? Imagine. Marcus might get mad at me for this.
So if I take these drumsticks and start playing the keys with Marcus's keyboard, did I hear somebody say oh no? Good call. One, Marcus will be bummed because I might wreck his keyboard. And two, the sound you will hear will be very bad. Because these instruments was not designed for this keyboard. These drumsticks were designed to be played on this drum kit. The instrument can be used correctly or incorrectly.
Saul has had a life. He is a chosen instrument and he has been playing his instrument incorrectly his whole life. He has been persecuting Jesus Christ and the church. He has been binding up men and women. He has been throwing them in jail. He has been bringing people to death, breathing out threats and murder. And what happens in this interaction? It doesn't change his instrument into a guitar pick.
It just redirects his instrument to the proper use. You will now go to the Gentiles. You will go and... You will not throw more people and show them the way to death. You will not bind them and show them imprisonment, but you're going to free people from their spiritual prisons. You are my chosen instrument. So Jesus, an encounter with Jesus changes everything. And it doesn't always change the facts.
It doesn't always change the details, but it changes our position to those details. One more kind of A misnomer about this passage is this is where Saul becomes Paul, right? Have you heard this before? I've probably taught this before. This is not necessarily where Saul becomes Paul, and that's why I said I could call him Saul or Paul, and it's really no harm, no foul. In Acts chapter 9, verse 22, this man is called Saul again.
In Acts chapter 11, 25, he is called Saul. Saul in Acts chapter 12, verse 25, he is also called Saul. In Acts 13:1, Acts 13:2, Acts 13:7, he is called, you guessed it, Saul. It's not until Acts chapter 13, verse 9, where we get this little disclaimer, but Saul, who is also called Paul. All right. It sounds so cool, right? Oh, man, he got this name change, got this identity change, everything has changed.
But Saul was still Saul. It was his Hebrew name. And now he's called Paul. And the reason why he's called Paul so often is because it's his Roman name. He's an instrument to who? The Gentiles. Where did he end up? In Rome. It only makes sense that we would be calling him Paul. Yeah. You know, sometimes we look at our stories and we look at it like, oh yeah, that was my BC days. Right? Paul's looking back on his life like, oh, that was my Saul days.
But at the same time, his name wasn't changed because of the conversion, but his position to the story is now counted as loss. Why? Because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, our Lord. For us, a couple of things here. One, we want to be using our instruments according to how God has designed us to use them. You've all been given an instrument, meaning you all are a tool. We all are a tool in God's hands, and we can use that tool for destruction, or we can use that tool to build up the kingdom of God.
We can use that hammer to break down a wall, or we can use that hammer to fasten a building. Whatever it is, we can use our tools for good, for evil. Saul once used it for evil, but God chose him as an instrument for good. An encounter with Jesus will change everything. Whether it's your first time and you remember it clearly like 2008 for me, or whether it's your next encounter with Jesus, which can I say is today.
Because we all should be encountering Jesus every single day. And that should leave us changed. Right? We are all being transformed in one degree or another into the image and the likeness of Jesus. I was reflecting on this truth and I was wondering to myself, man, I read God's word every day. I pray daily. Am I making changes in my life? When was the last big change that I saw in my life because of an encounter with Jesus?
And it's just forcing me to look in the mirror and be like, wow, an encounter with Jesus should change everything. Final two verses, we'll wrap up here. It says, and immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized. And taking food, he was strengthened. Two things, an encounter with Jesus will change us. Sometimes immediately, scales fell from his eyes.
He could see that's a physical thing, but there was also a spiritual thing to that, I believe. But there's also the gradual. He took food and what? He became Hercules overnight. No, he was strengthened. If you look at Paul's journey, Paul didn't know everything about Jesus right after this conversion. He didn't write the letter to the Romans right after this. He didn't write Philippians right after this.
He went away. He learned. He studied. He was with Jesus. He encountered him. He grew in that wisdom and knowledge of who his Savior was. An encounter with Jesus should leave you us changed sometimes it's immediate sometimes it's gradual sometimes those immediate things bring us such joy such exhilaration and sometimes the gradual things frustrate us and slow us down but keep persisting keep reminding yourself that an encounter with jesus should change everything here's where i want to close i want to just give us a bunch of different things
A bunch of different frameworks, a bunch of different thoughts for how we can see change in our lives. And I'll just share a bunch with you. An encounter with Jesus should change our relationships. An encounter with Jesus should change our speech and our words. An encounter with Jesus should change our emotional temperament sometimes. An encounter with Jesus should change our parenting style. An encounter with Jesus should change our grandparenting stuff.
An encounter with Jesus should change what we do with our finances. An encounter with Jesus should change our prayer life, our hobbies, our interactions, our free time. An encounter with Jesus should change our thought processes. Our encounter with Jesus should change our lusts and the things that we start to crave. An encounter with Jesus should change our perspectives on people. who are different than us.
An encounter with Jesus should change everything. How can we encounter Jesus today? Pray Psalm 139, 23 and 24. I dare you this week, one time. He might reveal something to you right then, but then maybe later on that week, something will come up to you and you'll be like, there's a grievous way in me. Lead me in the way everlasting. How do you encounter Jesus? This is what John on John Piper's website.
He says he has a book called seeing and savoring Jesus Christ, which I have not read, but I really like this idea. Look at the Jesus of the Bible. Keep your eyes open. Fill them with the portrait of Jesus in God's word. Jesus said, if anyone's will is to do God's will, you will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. Ask God for the grace to do His will and you will see the truth of His Son.
Have an encounter with Jesus Christ and it will change the way that we see the world. Amen? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank You for today and for Your Word and for encountering a man on the road to Damascus. You didn't just encounter the man on the road to Damascus, but You encountered a disciple of Yours named Ananias as well. Lord, thank You for their example. Thank You for... reminding us that you seek to continue to change us, mold us into the image of your son.
One, I thank you for patience. Patience with me and my stubbornness not to change. Thank you for the patience that you give to all of us in our moments where we want to resist. Lord, make us humble, make us pliable, search us, know our thoughts, know our ways, and lead us in the way everlasting. Draw us after you. Let us not look to the losses, the things that we think we're losing, but let us look to the gain, the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Thank you for that interaction with Saul, who is also called Paul, on the road to Damascus, and what it teaches us about our lives today. Go before us in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.