Reading:
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 synagogues, that he is the Son of God. But all that heard him
were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this
name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them
bound unto the chief priests? 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
assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all 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.
Paul is Safely Delivered
Beloved
of the Lord……As we get older, the world we live in becomes more and more
frightening. This week in the news there
was an article on the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, which is in power by
government. They have literally begun to
crucify their political opponents, and also the Coptic Christians (wnd.com). They say Sharia law makes such crucifixions
necessary. They want all Coptic
Christians out of Egypt. Can you imagine
the terror Christians are enduring in that land right now? Yet let us remember the words of Jesus,
"Ye shall be
hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the
end, the same shall be saved."
Throughout history, the primary instrument
of persecution has been wicked men who abuse their power in government. King Saul in the Old Testament is a good
example, also the Pharaoh's of Egypt who enslaved the Hebrews. And what can we say of the Roman Empire who fed
Christians to the lions or burned them as lamps for entertainment? Yet "the powers that be are ordained of
God." We still don't have the right
to take our swords against them. But
what then do we do? The answer is we
overcome this world by faith alone in Christ, the Lamb of God. Also we pray "Lord deliver us from
evil". Regarding this world which
persecutes Christ, Revelation 17:14 says, "These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb
shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that
are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful." As long as your faith is in Christ and not
your own good works, God has therefore through Christ chosen and elected you
the believer for salvation, for heaven, through the blood of this Lamb
therefore, "Be not faithless but believing" for "Ye are of God,
little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you,
than he that is in the world." I Jn. 4:4
I. God's protection and deliverance of Saul.
After his conversion, Saul stayed in Damascus for a time. Those he used to persecute, he now found to
be the greatest and most forgiving of friends.
When a person is made a child of God by faith in Christ Jesus, the wolf
and the lamb live together in peace.
Enemies become friends. Isaiah
11:6 says, "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall
lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling
together; and a little child shall lead them." Knowing the peace of Christ, there is true
spiritual peace between brethren in God's Kingdom of Grace. This means if a murderer or adulterer or
rapist or homosexual repented of their crimes and turned to Christ for
forgiveness, we would happily welcome them into our congregation, and receive
them with joy. The same blood of Christ
washes us clean. That is why the
converted Saul later wrote, "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath
enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who was before a blasphemer, and a
persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it
ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of
our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ
Jesus. This is a faithful saying,
and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners; of whom I am chief." In
Christ's Kingdom of Grace, the wolf and the lamb truly lie together in peace,
knowing Christ died for all, rising again for our justification.
Yet this spiritual peace comes with the
loss of earthly peace, namely the enmity of the world. Jesus said, "If the world hate you, ye
know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love
his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the
world, therefore the world hateth you." Jn. 15 That is the very thing which happened to
Saul. The Bible says, "After many
days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him." These many days could have been about three
years, for in Galatians chapter one, Saul (whom we will now call Paul) writes,
"I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. Then after three years I went up to
Jerusalem to see Peter…" During
these many days, especially in the synagogues, Paul disputed with the Jews. Using the Old Testament Scriptures he proved
Jesus was the Christ, the Anointed of God to be the Savior of the world. Using the Scriptures alone, Paul really
confounded the Jews. The Jews themselves
were convinced by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ, yet they still
stubbornly by unbelief resisted the Holy Ghost and would not believe!
Still today, wherever the blessed Gospel
of Christ is preached today, there the hatred of the world will be. This means they will hate you, dear
Christian, even threaten you and perhaps murder you, if only you teach,
"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am
chief." Nevertheless, knowing
Christ, His grace and every mercy, we should by all means be fearless and
filled with faith, For "God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of
power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me
his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according
to the power of God; Who hath saved us,
and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began."
Wherever there is such a God-given
faith as this, we will be able to endure hardness as a soldier, also the
"afflictions of the Gospel" which is persecution. This is how the disciples of Damascus had the
courage to help Paul in his escape.
Since the murderous Jews watched the gates of the city, they found a
house immediately next to the wall of the city, or perhaps it was on top of the
wall. Regardless, through an opening or
window, they were able to put Paul in a large basket and let him down by
ropes. By God's mercies Paul was
delivered from evil. Second Timothy 4:18
says, "The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve
me unto His heavenly kingdom."
II. We pray "deliver us from evil." Deliverance from evil is really the heart and
soul of our text this morning. That is
why we pray in the Lord's Prayer "But deliver us from evil, for Thine is
the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory, forever and ever AMEN." "We pray in this petition, as the sum of
all, that our Father in heaven would deliver us from every evil of body and
soul, property and honor, and finally when our last hour has come, grant us a
blessed end, and graciously take us from this vale of tears to Himself in
heaven!" What blessed words these
are, and how necessary to believe them in this dangerous world where Satan wars
against us. Thus when we pray every
night, it is good to ask the Lord Jesus to watch over us and protect us with
His good angels. We can pray this in
faith for He has promised, "I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee." God is also like a
protecting wall of fire around His Church.
Zechariah 2:5 says, "For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall
of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her." In our prayers for deliverance, we can also
pray the Lord to smite our enemies for the sake of the Gospel. Psalm 68:2 says (and it is a prayer),
"As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the
fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God." If then they stubbornly resist the Spirit and
refuse to repent, we pray "Lord move them out of the way, that Your Word
may go and save others." Similarly
near the end of the service we pray the Word of God "as becometh it, may
not be bound, but have free course and be preached to the joy and edifying of
Christ's holy people". This means
we pray there will no laws in our land which forbid Gospel preaching in any
way, shape or form, but that all will hear Jesus is God who came to save us
from sin, death and hell. Jesus said
"This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men
loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the
light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light,
that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." When people die without faith and without
Christ, there is in hell only weeping and gnashing of teeth. They realize all too late, and to their
eternal torment, Jesus really was Almighty God who came only to save. On the other hand those in heaven never cry
or shed even one tear. Living and
reigning with Christ, their joy is complete.
That is why dear child of God, you
should view and see your life as one glorious deliverance from evil. If you believe in Christ and not your good
works, God has indeed chosen you and given you a most precious and noble gift:
the faith to believe in Jesus. Knowing
Him, how could we not believe, therefore don't despise Christ and turn away for
the cheap love of the world! In order to
deliver us from all evil, Jesus made all our evil His own. Our every sin became His. Our lust became His lust. Our hate His hate. Our adultery His. Our fears, doubts and despairs, His. Even our perverse thoughts. Our sins were not just laid upon Him, but
received into Him. Jesus became our sin,
and was crucified accordingly.
"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us,
which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his
cross." This is why faith alone
saves us. HE IS OUR SALVATION, and we
are but dust compared to Him, but HE BY HIS BLOOD redeemed us from the dust of
death, so by His Spirit He breathes into us new life.
Thus throughout the Bible there is the promise, He will deliver us from
all evil, and in the end take us to heaven.
Psalm 91:10 says, "There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall
any plague come nigh thy dwelling." Ps. 91:10. This does not mean we will never be
persecuted with evil, nor does it mean we will never have disease, rather it
means God will never suffer your soul any evil which will overthrow your
faith. Never, ever, ever, will God allow
any evil to come your way with the purpose of destroying your faith, rather such
comes our way ONLY for good. "He
shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea in seven there shall no evil touch
thee." Even when God does allow the
devil to vex us, as He did with Job, God still draws the line, or puts the
devil on a leash. We are never given
more than we can bear. Thus AGAIN all
that is necessary for you to enter heaven dear believer, is faith alone in
Jesus, as Jesus promised, "He believeth on him that sent me, hath
everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from
death unto life." O how thankful
we should be when the Lord allows our life to be hard and miserable, for these
are the very afflictions which cause our heart to separate from this sinful
world, and long to be with Jesus in heaven.
As Luther said, so we pray, "Finally, when our last hour has come,
grant us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this vale of tears to
Himself in haven!" "Even so
come quickly Lord Jesus!!! For "Ye
are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that
is in you, than he that is in the world."….."These things I have
spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have
tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." Amen.
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