In part I we dealt with Saul’s conversion

In Part II we will look at his preparation for ministry.

Has there ever been a time in your life when you have been blind and your sight was restored. Remember the day when all you knew  was sin and confusion – and then a light.

Someone opened a door and light came into your darkness, and you said:

 “I am redeemed”

 

Paul was blind for three days! He was led into the city.

Is it possible that this period of darkness represents the three days the Savior was in the grave? He was in a crisis and what did God do. God had a plan. God assigned him a Stephen minister, this man named Ananias.

Ananias touched his eyes and the scales fell from his eyes.  Could the falling of the scales represent the rolling away of the stone from the grave?
 

Is it possible that when he opened his eyes is a symbol of Christ’s resurrection?

Whatever it means the three days without sight set the stage for one of the most remarkable “new life” transformations of all time.
 

Though he was converted and born again the moment he acknowledged Jesus as Lord,  Paul began to experience extraordinary changes in his thoughts, attitudes, and activities.

 
The first thing Paul did after he regained his sight and his strength was to be baptized.

He obeyed the command Jesus had given just before he returned to heaven.

Sometime before  or maybe during his baptism he was filed with the Holy Spirit.

 
The Lord was preparing him for the special ministry that God had called him to – to proclaim the name of Jesus before the gentiles and their kings, and before the people of Israel.  He began to see the world through different eyes. His life had been changed forever. All of the Scriptures that he had studied and memorized began to take on new meaning.

He could sing with John Newton : Amazing Grace How sweet the sound…

 
He began to preach the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ – that Jesus is the Son of God.

He astonished his fellow Jews by preaching with passion the same message he had denied.

The first step in his preparation is his baptism and being filled with the Holy Spirit.

The second step is he preached the Gospel with such power that his fellow Jews began to wonder: Is this not the same guy who used to arrest the Christians.

He had been converted, but the essence of Christianity is that conversion must be followed by transformation. That was verse 21. 

There is a gap in the story between verse 21 and 22. to fill in the gap we have to read Paul’s own account when he writes to the Galatians 1: 13-18.

There is nothing wrong with Luke’s account; he just doesn’t give you all the details.

We do the same sometimes when we tell a story. We say to make a long story short…

In Galatians, we see that after his conversion he went to Arabia, spends 3 years in Arabia.

Why Arabia? Arabia is  the vast desert, the vast peninsula east of Egypt. It is a desert region with high mountain ranges. Some of the scholars say that Mt. Sinai was in this Arabian desert.  We are not sure exactly where Paul lived in Arabia; some historians say that he lived in the same area where Moses received the Ten Commandments.

Is it possible that the Lord led Paul to the same mountain where he gave Moses the law, so that he can teach Paul the Gospel of His Grace.

Here he spent time alone with God.  If you are going to fulfill God’s vision for your life you need to spend some time alone with God.  You need to spend time in prayer, meditation, and reflection.  This is where Paul had his own backwards day. This is where he looked back over his life; and he realized he hadn’t achieved anything yet, so he said :

This one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling  of God in Christ Jesus.

He spent three years in this Arabian desert. You may want to ask why three years?

I ‘m glad you ask!  It takes time to brew good coffee. It takes time to grow to maturity .

Preparation for service does not happen overnight.

Jesus spent 30 years preparing for a ministry that will last 3 years.

The first thing Jesus did after his baptism was to go to the desert and spend 40 days there.

Moses spent 40 years in the wilderness preparing for his ministry that would last 40 years. There is something about a desert that  makes you focus on the lesson, makes you focus on God

It takes time to study the lesson, understand the lesson, and receive your degree.

When God calls you to a mission you have to unlearn some things so that you can learn the new stuff. He had to unlearn all the old Jewish ways of the law and learn the new way of Grace.

At the end of three years, he had passed all the exams;  he was now ready to graduate and receive his degree DD Doctor of the Desert.

He returns to Damascus well equipped. That is why we can read in verse 22: But Saul increased all the more in strength,…

I know you are studying the Book of Acts; I am just a few chapters ahead of you. When you come to Acts 9:21 remember that between verse 21 and 22 you have to fill in the gap with Galatians 1:13-18.

The lesson I would remind you is that you need to do your homework 

The Jews could not understand him, how he had gained strength and wisdom and power, and so they plotted to kill him,

Thanks be to God that God provided a few friends who put him in a basket and let him down the wall.

He goes to Jerusalem; he tries to join the disciples; they were all afraid of him. They did not believe he was a disciple. Can you blame them. His actions had been so malicious, so destructive that they were not taking any chances.  They had heard about his conversion, but they couldn’t trust him. After all he was still a zealous Pharisee. He had put many Christians in prison. Some of those he put in prison were still behind bars. And you can imagine what Stephen’s mother and father, brother and sisters  thought when word got around that Rabbi Saul was back, but was now one of them. Was this a plot; was he trying to spy on them so he could kill all of them.

Even peter and James id not trust him, did not believe.

Paul was God’s chosen vessel, but nobody believed him. He was applying for a job but no one would give him an application. He was trying to join the church, but no one would give him the right hand of fellowship. Even after three years, even after he had been to the School of the desert, the same school that Jacob went to, the same school that Moses went to, the same school that Jesus went to, Paul was not accepted.

Then God did something special.

God assigned him a Stephen Minister, named Barnabas.

V. 27 say But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles.

Barnabas was willing to take the risk. He listened to Paul’s story; he prayed for Paul, he believed Paul was sincere, and he brought him to the apostles.

Barnabas took time to get to know him, listen to his story, understand his need, and then build a bridge to the apostles.

A friendship was born, a partnership was formed that would change the world.

He took Paul to the apostles and spoke on Paul’s behalf:

He told them that Paul had seen the Lord on the road

That the Lord had spoken to him and commissioned him

That he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.

Verse 28 is so beautiful:

So he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out.

That is why I say the greatest “but” in the Book of Acts is here in verse 27.

But the most beautiful verse is v. 31.  Let us read it together.

May each of us be a Barnabas, and go find a Paul, and bring a Paul to the church.

Then the church will be edified