Apostle to the Gentiles Summary of presentation All

Apostle to the Gentiles

Summary of presentation • All of Mankind are included in God’s plan of salvation. He intends that all will spend eternity, peacefully, with Him. • We all have a part to play in building His Kingdom, we need to do this in His will, and upon His calling. • Paul had a willingness to serve His God, wholeheartedly, but He was doing it without God’s anointing. • There is a personal cost to being one of the God’s chosen, but we have the Holy Spirit as our comforter, our guide, and our shield.

The Disciple ANANIAS Acts 9: 10 -19 and Acts 22: 12 -16 • Acknowledgement to Rodney Francis • Ananias was given revelation keys to impart into Paul’s life, as well as to bring healing of his sight, after three days of blindness. (Joint works) • He is only mentioned in two small portions of Scripture yet his ministry impacted the greatest Apostle since Jesus! We acknowledge this!

Ananias ACTS 9: 10 -19 • • • In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!" "Yes, Lord, " he answered. The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight. " "Lord, " Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name. " But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name. " Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit. " Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Ananias ACTS 9: 10 -19 • • He was a disciple of Jesus. A “disciple” is “one who follows both the teacher and the teaching” (Bullinger’s). He put into practice in his daily life what he had been taught ~ Acts 9: 10. He knew the voice of the Lord clear enough to answer Him when He spoke ~ Acts 9: 10. Time spent listening gives rise to recognition.

Ananias ACTS 9: 10 -19 • • The Lord trusted him enough to obey what He asked of him. He (the Lord) could give his name to Paul in advance and tell him that Ananias was coming to speak into his life ~ Acts 9: 11 -12. Ananias had natural, human re-actions like the rest of us. He was somewhat nervous and hesitant to obey when he heard it was Paul he was meant to go and speak to. The Lord had to reassure him, then he went ~ Acts 9: 13 -15. What sway does fear have in our lives – preventing Kingdom-building effectiveness?

Ananias ACTS 9: 10 -19 • The Lord was able to trust Ananias with revelation knowledge on other people, i. e. Paul ~ Acts 9: 15 -16 – and he knew how to respond to the knowledge, at the appropriate time. • In spite of it being Paul (the murderer (of Followers of the Way)), Ananias was obedient to The Lord’s voice and followed His guidance to Judas’ house ~ Acts 9: 17, 11.

Ananias ACTS 9: 10 -19 • • • Ananias chose to believe the voice of the Lord more than his own natural knowledge and negative reasonings about Paul ~ he called him “Brother Paul, ” even though no human being had told him Paul was now a born-again believer! ~ Acts 9: 17. Qn. How do you address people, such that they are uplifted by your “hello”? Ananias’ obedience to The Lord’s voice enabled The Lord to set-up a divine appointment with Paul. That divine appointment led to Paul impacting millions of lives from that point on ~ including our lives too! Qn. When did you last obey His voice? What prevented you?

Ananias ACTS 9: 10 -19 • Ananias knew to pray for Paul’s healing of blindness, and to see him filled with the Holy Spirit ~ Acts 9: 17 -18. The key here for us is obeying the Holy Spirit’s will, alone, as commissioned. Knowing and obeying lead to healing. Are you filled with the Holy Spirit -It is more crucial than being “born again” I am unable to say that a person not speaking in tongues is not spirit-filled, however I can say that tongues facilitates power – it is the language of Love – heralds spiritual weapons

Ananias ACTS 9: 10 -19 Ananias baptized Paul in water as well, at that time ~ Acts 9: 18. Baptism – adult -Obedience, membership, absolution • Hadfield – on missionary conversion – what he looked for as evidence before he baptised … “True Christianity requires a change of heart, which is designated as a new nature, the evil and corrupt being removed, and another heart of a very different character being given in the stead of it. When the work is of God, this is the manner of it”.

Ananias -ACTS 22: 12 -16 • "A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. • He stood beside me and said, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight!' And at that very moment I was able to see him. • "Then he said: 'The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. • You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name. '

Ananias -ACTS 22: 12 -16 • • Ananias was a devout man. “devout” meaning “reverence for The Lord which shows itself in actions, practical piety of every kind, the energy of piety in the life (a piety that governs the soul), reverence well and rightly directed” (Bullinger’s). “Piety” is “to act as if in the fear of God. ” Ananias had a good testimony (report). That means “to witness, be a witness; bear witness, testify. . . to be well testified of, have good witness borne in favour of” (Bullinger’s) ~ Acts 22: 12. Ananias’ committed life enabled others to see the genuineness of his confession of faith in Jesus. He practiced what he preached! He walked the talk, more than he talked the talk!

Ananias -ACTS 22: 12 -16 • • Ananias had a true prophetic gifting. He prophesied the “prophetic foundation” of Paul’s life, future and ministry very accurately ~ Acts 22: 14 -15. Ananias told Paul he was God’s witness to all men of what he had seen and heard. A “witness” is “one who remembers, i. e. one who has information or knowledge of a thing, and can therefore give information concerning, bring to light or confirm anything” (Bullinger’s). It carries a sense of “first-hand”. Paul would bear witness to the personal revelation he received directly from Jesus, as well as the prophetic words he received (heard) from Ananias ~ Acts 9: 1 -19; Acts 22: 6 -21; Acts 26: 12 -19.

THE SAME PRINCIPLES APPLY TO US TODAY • • • KNOW that we are chosen of God – and that he can trust us! KNOW God’s will for our life – and actively seek fulfilment – married, parent, grand-parent, church, professional, trades! SEE the Just One (Jesus) ~ we see Him with the eye of faith. HEAR the voice of His mouth – spend time & listen, and record and obey! BE HIS (Jesus’) WITNESS - to all of what we have seen and heard!

Reflection - 1 • Without these same principles in our lives, our effectiveness as a born-again, Holy Spirit-filled believer will be very limited. • It is this personal revelation and prophetic input into our lives that makes us over-comers and achievers in the Kingdom of God today. • If we do not know, see and hear the above, we will not know where to focus our attention, and will struggle in our endeavours to fulfil the will and call of God for our lives.

Reflection - 2 • Let us learn from the example of Ananias. • Let us be a person that the Holy Spirit can rely on to give our name to others and tell them we are coming with a message for them. • To be in that category we have to be obedient to whatever the Holy Spirit tells us, no matter what our mind or reasoning tries to tell us.

Response • Will you be an “Ananias” for Holy Spirit today? • Can we pray for you to hear and respond?