Bible Guys Classics: Acts 9 Part 2

Hey, everybody, we're the Bibble guys, and if you're just tuning in recently, just know that we are showing a little bit of reruns for a few months, and then we'll be back bigger and better than ever on August thirty first, because behind the scenes, we're taking a hiatus to do some very important things. Yeah, we're building building out a new studio and we've got some new structure. Super excited about it. So August thirty first, brand new content. But in the meantime, enjoy some of our greatest hits. So did you ever see the movie Bugs Life? Yes? I did. Do you remember the praying Mantis used to go trends for me? That's what today's episode's all about. Oh well, now I'm really excited. So he's Chris and I'm Jeff. We're the Bible guys. So we were handed some quotes. Yes, people just you know made comments on YouTube, our YouTube listeners, and they just took a moment. They just you know, put some comments in the sections there. And either one of these are from our moms, which I thought I thought our moms were only listeners right right, right right now, So I don't know, are the producers. Are they just making stuff up? Now we have this many listeners? Johnsons, No, but how cool is it? Actually we're making jokes? So many people are so nice, Yes, send me so many nice comments and only a few rude ones about you. But you know we don't need to read those on it right right? Well, they actually get the names mixed up they were meeting you. So yeah. So this first one's from Judy and she wrote in and she said, have not missed a message yet, loved HG daily and now the Bible guys. Oh Judy, that's so nice. Yeah, and I actually know Judy. She calls me her second son, her other son, and so she's my second mom. Well she's taking them my third mom because I have my mother in law too. So how nice is that? Yes? So we are still in the theme of moms thinking that you're amazing. Yes, yes, that's right. So I sort of like my mom. Yeah, okay, you want to read the other one. Sure? So Christina P. Says my happiest moments in my week are sharing church, God and the Bible with my children. My three year old just absolutely, oh my three my three year I think is my three year old isn't that? What is it? Yeah? I think so. My three year old just absolutely loves coming to church on Sundays. He just said to me, Mama, Jeff chris On, they have crosses over their heads. I noticed your refer to the woodwork behind you on. The wall, right, so it crosses over. That's pretty funny, isn't. The Yeah, hey, this clever little kid. Yeah yeah, that's great. So we are nailing the three year old demographic. Yes, it's just killing it, killing it. That's right. Well that's actually pretty sweet. Jeff chris On, Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, fun. Yeah. I think that there's there's nothing more heartwarming. You know, sometimes somebody will tell me, uh, you know, they'll have like an infant or a baby, like a one year old, two year old, and they'll say, believe it or not, whenever your voice is on, they pay attention or they or they're calm and and I thought to myself, man, that is just incredibly complimentary. Isn't it. Yeah? It is. Well, the children loves Jesus too. Kids no kids, no kids, No, that's right. So that's special. You know, we you and I and our wives. We went over to Jade's house. Hi, Jad yes, and I had dinner and she's always so sweet and nice. She's what nine ten years old. I just ran into a little girl at a restaurant last week. Her name's Tessa, and she told me she listens to our podcast all the time. So it's neat, you know, when you know that kids are paying attention and learning, and so that's fantastic. I think it's great. Hey, we've got another one. Whoops, what just happened? I just lost it on my phone. It says from David W says Hello, Pastor, Jeff and Chris. First off, I love listening to the podcast daily. It starts my day off every morning. And then he goes on and he asks a really long question that I'm going to make you answer some day because it's hard to Oh, okay, but how many there's so many people say that's how they start their day. Well, that's how they finish their day is listening to the podcast. And there's just so much wisdom not in listening to us. I mean, it's about spending time reminding yourself with what the words of God say and then figure out how to apply it right. And that's why we spend you know, a significant amount of time in our podcast every day talking about you know, not just about the Bible, but actually reading the words. Yeah, the Bible. That's great, that's cool, very cool. Well, good, So we are continuing in acts. Thank you guys for that leave a comment. Well, a bunch of you have left questions. I think those are coming up here pretty soon. We have some questions that are coming up and stump the pastor and mail bag type questions. So yeah, we're going to do that next week. Yeah. Yeah, it's gonna be fun. And by the way, I want to take just a moment to remind people also to like us on Facebook. Yes, so go on Facebook and just search the day of the Bible. Guys, you're going to find it and like it and then you know, we'll be sitting and communicating through our listeners that way as well. Now and hundreds of you did. We had no followers on Facebook. Suddenly there's hundreds of followers. So now we want to get the thousands. Right because because it was brand new. Yeah, let's let's be clear. Oh no, it's because we're y. We had zero friends. Well, we had zero friends, but then all of our friends jumped on board, and so that's great. Yeah, yeah, that's great. So we are continuing in Acts chapter nine, and this is where do you remember yesterday we talked about Saul having this incredible encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, and then Anonius kind of taking the risk to go and pray over him and you know, include him into the family of God, you know, Brother Saul kind of thing. And now Saul is in Damascus, and it's just going to kind of pick up with what's happening in his life. So it says Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days. Is what happens there At the end of verse nineteen, then it says, and immediately he began preaching about Jesus and the synagogue, saying he is indeed the Son of God. All who heard him were amazed. Isn't this the same man who caused such devastation among Jesus followers in Jerusalem? They asked, and didn't he come here to arrest them and take them in change to the leading priests. Saul's preaching became more and more powerful, and the Jews in Damascus couldn't refute his proofs that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. After a while, some of the Jews plotted together to kill him. They were watching for him day and night at the city gate so they could murder him, but Saul was told about their plot, so during the night, some of the other believers lowered him in a large basket through an opening in the city wall. When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him. They did not believe he had truly become a believer. Then Barnabas brought him to the apostles and told them how Saul had seen the Lord on the way to Damascus, and how the Lord had spoken to Saul. He also told them that Saul had preached boldly in the name of Jesus and Damascus. So Saul stayed with the apostles and went all around Jerusalem with them, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. He debated with some Greek speaking Jews, but they tried to murder him. When the Believers heard about this, they took him down to Cessarea and sent him away to Tarsus, his hometown. The church then had peace throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria, and it became stronger as the believers lived in the fear of the Lord, and with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it also grew in numbers. Yeah, so this is definitely Paul's transformation. And in radical transformation. Yes, and it's and it's and it's so completely understandable why nobody believes him and uh and can you imagine being in Damascus knowing just like you referred before, knowing that here comes this persecutor and then uh, and then all of a sudden he starts preaching and it's no wonder why. It seems a little cruel and weird, but you know they want to kill him. Well think about it. I mean he would actually, uh be pretty pretty effective as a as a double agent, right, you know, just you know, sort of working their trust and getting in on the inside and and you know, trying to gather them up and find out who the Christians are in Damascus because after all, he lived in Jerusalem, so he knew everybody, he knew you know, political contexts. Going to a strange city, he didn't really know much. He was cold coming in. So what an effective method to actually have you know, gotten to know the Christians through being a double agent, so they plotted to kill him. They lower him through a wall. And I want to read real quick this note that's in our life application study Bible, and it says this at least three years elapsed between verse number twenty two and verse more twenty six. After time alone in Arabia referred to Galatians chapter one, Saul or Paul returned to Damascus and then to Jerusalem. The apostles were reluctant to believe that this former persecutor could have become one of them. Saul escaped to cesarea, where he caught a ship and returned to Tarsus. So if you continue to read on, there's several different theories about, you know, when did this three year lapse take place? You know, was it after the luring of the you know, or was it before and all these different kind of things people have debated. But three years is a long time for him to you know, grow in the faith, for him to learn. And I think it's pretty interesting that there's so much time that lapses between cities, and yet we would really never know that unless we cross referenced everything together and figured it out. Yeah, Well, in Glatians chapter one, which it references there. In that same note, Paul actually makes the claim that Jesus taught him the teachings of Christ during those three years. So when you talked yesterday about Paul claiming authority as an apostle, this would be the other thing. So he had an encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, and then Jesus spent a portion of these three years teaching Saul or teaching Paul. So, yeah, it's kind of interesting that that's missed in the writings. But we pick in this specific writing between verses twenty two and twenty whatever, twenty six, but we pick it up from Galatians that Paul that this is what happened during that time. Paul tells us that that's what happened. That's a really neat thing that Paul was. Like. He references that Paul was like an apostle that was born out of his time, right, so all the other apostles were earlier. And then he comes in behind. He wasn't part of the original twelve, but God had a special work for him and that was pretty cool. So he immediately begins to share his faith and you know, a lot of people are worried about sharing their faith. They're like, oh, you know, be careful, you might say the wrong words. Whatever. You need to get trained really well. And while I think it's important to be in context with other Christians and to have some maybe some spiritual mentors that are kind of looking over your shoulder and helping you, that doesn't mean that you should wait until you're fully qualified. Paul wasn't fully qualified to explain everything, but he did begin to tell people his story and what Jesus did for him and how God began to connect the dots in his life. And I think that there's a lot of validity in every Christian at whatever stage you're in. Don't wait until you feel more qualified than you are today. Just go and start sharing, sharing the good news of the gospel. Yeah. So one of my favorite stories to tell, I haven't told it in years, but uh, I was in now downtown Nashville is by midnight. We were there for a conference, and we were all walking out and I had parked in a towway zone and the tow truck had already lifted up my truck and was actually pulling out and was actually going directly onto the freeway. And I was pretty young back then, in my twenties, and I just sprinted and I actually caught up with the you know, he's going really slow. I caught up with the with the tow truck on the ramp of the freeway and dove and caught the big huge silver mirror that sticks out really far. I dove and caught that. Of course, he stops and he freaks out, you know, and I said, please don't tow my car. And he was trying to explain me directions, and I said, I can't get there. This is before cell phones. And I said, I don't even know what you're talking about. I said, I just want my car. I said, here, here's here's sixty bucks. I just tried to give him sixty bucks. And so finally, finally I said, I'm in downtown Nashville. I don't know where to go. And he just said and I finally let me get to the point I said to him, I said, I have an idea. How about if I ride with you in the cab, and I ride with you and then when you impound my car, I'll just be there with you. Then I'll pay for it and I'll drive it home because I didn't really care. He said, oh, I have to call it and I have to impound it. It's too late, it's already hooked up. And so finally he looked at me and he goes, are you are you telling me that you want to ride in the cab with me? And I said yeah. He said, well, I guess so, so I jumped in there. We got about five minutes down the road and he pulls over on the side of the freeway and he goes, I can't do this. I said, what do you mean. He goes, You're too nice. I said, what do you mean? And he said, all these other people that I encounter, they pull knives on me, they cuss at me, they kicked my truck. They want to kill me. He said, you're sitting here in my cab and you're asking me about my childhood, he said. He said, I can't do this. You're too nice. And I said, well, you know why i'm nice, right? He said what? And I said because I'm a Christian and I didn't want to tell I'm a pastor. Right. I said, I'm a Christian and he goes, you know, I've always wondered about that so I just explained him about Jesus. I didn't use any fancy verses or anything. I just said, you know, I once was lost and now I'm found. I had similar shirts like you. And so he said, what do you need to do, and I said, just pray and trust. So I prayed with him and he receives Christ right there on the side of the freeway. And all this happened within like twenty minutes, right, I mean, it was just right as soon as we had left. And so he comes back out and he lowers my car and you know, and he says, here, you can just have your car back. And I said, man, you know, I encourage them to get involved in a church and everything like this. So I turned around on the freeway and i'd come back out and my buddies who rode with me were walking all the way up the street because it was one thoroughway in Nashville where all the hotels are, and we were down and it was at least five miles up and they were still walking. So I turned around and i'd driven up the street and I saw them and they looked at me and they go, oh, that's so funny. They said, how much did it cost you? I said it was free and they said, shut up, it wasn't free. They're like, how did you manage that? And I said, well, I led them to Christ. That's the one way to do it. That's right. And they're both youth pastors and they're like, you did not and I said, yeah I did. Isn't that cool? Yeah? Yeah, yeah. So all that to say, all I really had to know in that in that story was hey, you're nice. You know my you know what, my life is different because I'm a Christian. That's it. You know, Hey, what why do you have so much peace? Why do you run your marriage the way that you do? You know, how could you possibly be so happy? You know? Why do you act the way you do? Why do you give generously? People ask you you these things all the time, and they should if you're living, if you're living in such a way, and you just answer and say, well because, and then you just give them a very simple explanation because before Christ I was this way. After Christ, I'm this way. I think that the idea of sharing the good news, because there's God's story and there's your story, right, so you know your story. You have to just have to get better at telling God's story and helping make those connect. But this is why you need other believers. This is why you need to be constantly studying God's word and taking classes on evangelism and all those kinds of things so you can get better at it. Paul, certainly he's staying with believers in Damascus, verse nineteen says. It says that he's connecting to Barnabas. Barnabas takes him to the apostles, so he's staying engaged with it. He's not just some kind of lone ranger guy going off and doing his own ministry. You know, six minutes after he trusts Jesus, he is getting trained and trained by some of the best. But he's not shy about sharing what he does know. And I think that there's this is a really important differentiation for a lot of Christians, especially if you grew up in a religious world. But you're just now really dialing into your faith. And that's this. Don't wait around to eventually be qualified to do what God has already told you to do. Instead, start doing it and God will qualify you. That's really what happens. Paul immediately begins to go, let me see. I was a pharisee. I'm kind of an expert in religious law. I know this Jesus guy. He starts connecting the dots. Let me tell you my story, and he's using what he's got to kind of share. So he doesn't wait until finally God says, Paul's an apostle, listen to him. He doesn't do that. He doesn't go. He doesn't wait until Barnabas and the rest of the apostles go, Wow, this guy's impressive. He just starts sharing the gospel. He starts doing what he's supposed to do, and then God elevates him into the position that he needed to have. And I think too many Christians wait and they wait to if I could take one more class, that's when I'm going to share my goss share the gospel with my friend I take. If I read one more book or listen to one more podcast, that's when I'm finally going to be qualified. If I can just get rid of this one bad habit, that's when I'm finally going to share the gospel with my brother. And it's exactly the opposite. You start doing what God says to do, and then God will qualify you as you move forward. And this is what happens with them. The other thing I want to highlight is, and I know that this is true for you because I've heard you talk about it too. How many times in your life has God brought very strategic allies to continue to move your ministry forward and up right? So it was Anonius at first. If it hadn't been Anonius, no Christians would have touched this guy, right, And it had to be Jesus, go, I want you to go talk to Saul because nobody's going to approach him. And then the next one is Barnabas. Barnabus steps in, and Barnabas was a prominent man. And you know what's so funny is they didn't give a reason why Barnabas didn't, but Barnabas must have been completely convinced, and he really became the ally for Paul. Right. Yeah. In fact, I don't know if you know this, but chronologically, all the way through the Book of Acts, when it refers to both of them, it lists them as Barnabas and Saul, Barnabas and Saul, Barnabas and Saul. And then later on as you continue to read, it goes from Barnabas and Saul to Barnabas and Paul, which indicates that his reputation now has been changed because people are starting to know him as Paul. He had to change his name because he was so bad before he had I mean obviously, right, I mean people are wanting to murder him, right, so he decides to change his name. He's so prominent he didn't even need a last name, right, They knew what Saul he was talking about. So it went from Barnabas and Saul to Barnabas and Paul. And then if you continue to read chronologically throughout book of Acts, then it becomes Paul and Barnabas, Paul and Barnabas, Paul and Barnabas, Paul and Barnabas, and then it says Paul and his friends, So Barnabas, this just sort of fades out, and then it's just ends up just being after that Paul because Barnabas has you know, left Paul, and Paul is now solo. So all of that to say, for for years, Barnabas was the one the catalyst who brought Paul to the disciple. He brought them to disciples, so that Paul can actually, you know, be introduced to those who walked with Jesus, to Peter especially, and to introduce them. And I think that it's, you know, really helpful to highlight Barnabas because there are so many people in our ministries and in our lives who don't necessarily get the spotlight. But yet you think about that, think about all the people in your life. They're so critical, fundamental, essential to so many great things, and they're the behind the scenes type of people. It seems like the Apostles are somewhat skeptical multiple times of Paul. You'll see this over the next couple of chapters here where they're not totally dialed into trusting him, and it's Barnabas who bridges the gap all the time. If it hadn't been for Barnabas, maybe we would have never heard of Paul, right, Maybe you know, God was going to do what God was going to do, but God chose to use bar If it hadn't been Barnabas, who who was going to step up and defend Paul and put him in the place that God had for him? And so the Barnabases in life I think there's far more Barnabases than there are Pauls, and thank God for him. The Kingdom of God is moving forward today on the backs and on the shoulders of men and women that we don't even know their names. Right, You and I, if we've been in places we were in Tanzania together, we were in different places where we've seen these Christians that are just doing incredible words of God. But they don't have a book deal, they're not speaking at some big conference, they don't have the most amazing YouTube channel, right, they don't have a whole team of TikTok people making sure that all their stuff is really really cool. They're just serving God in quiet humility. And that's what Christianity is really about. It's not about the celebrities. Get we get enamored by the celebrities, but it's not the celebrities really, it's the Barnabases of the world that make you know of the Christian world that really making the things move forward. And so if that's your ministry, if you're trying to figure out what your ministry is and God hasn't given you an upfront ministry, take on the role of barnabas be this helper be this godly man, this godly woman who says I'm going to do whatever it takes to lift up others. And then here we are, two thousand years later talking about Barnabas. Right, and so my college professor talked about Barnabas like the harmony, and he talked and so here's what he did is he played something and back then it was on cassette tape. I think it was like nineteen eighty nine, going to Baba College and he played cassette tape and he played this like a violin and it was a beautiful melody and he said, and it's wonderful, he says, but listen to it now again. And then he played it with a harmony and he said, you don't focus on the harmony, but the harmony enhances the melody. And then the comment that he made about Barnabas was he said, it takes more grace than one can tell to play the second fiddle. Well, so it really, it really is. You know, he deserves a lot of credit for that role because not everybody can, you know, do all of that work and be so critical and yet not get the spotlight. Yeah. Yeah, And then I think it would be remiss if we don't mention. And it says here in the Life Application Study Bible, which we love. The note for twenty nine through thirty says, in these short sentences, we can see two characteristics of Saul and Paul even as a new believer in Christ. He was bold and he stirred up controversy, and these would characterize Saul's ministry for the rest of his life. That's the two. Times in the course of just a couple things. They're trying to kill him already. Yeah, they're trying to kill him, right, So you know, don't be shocked. Jesus said, they're gonna hate you because they hated me first, and don't be surprised by that. But God carried him through his ministry. You will not die until the day that it was your appointment already. So if you're not going to die earlier, you're not going to die late. It's going to be right on time. So between here and there, you're invincible. Just go forward with Jesus and don't be a afraid of stirring up a little bit controversy for Christ's sake. Okay, So that's probably a good place to wrap up, so tune in next time tomorrow when somebody raises somebody else from the dead who makes draperies. Oh wow, well that makes it very exciting. Okay, we'll see you tomorrow.