Intro to Acts 9:1-31

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/23/2017 10:38 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Intro to Acts 9:1-31

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 9:1-31

            Message of the verses:  We will not look at all of the 31 verses in this SD as that would be a very long quotation but will just look at the introduction to these verses as we look forward to looking at the story of Saul of Tarsus who becomes the main character in the last half of the book of Acts.  John MacArthur entitles this chapter in his commentary on Acts “The Transformed Life,” and like me I hope that you will enjoy and learn from this very important section of Scripture.

            In his introductory comments on this section of Scripture John MacArthur writes briefly about John Newton, Mel Trotter, and Augustine, giving testimony of how these men came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.  All three men had very sinful beginnings and all three men after they were saved did great work for the Lord.  Mel Trotter was a drunk who lived in Chicago and was such a drunk that when his daughter died he stole the shoes she was to be buried in so he could pawned them to by drinks.  He went to the Pacific Garden Mission one night and became a believer.  Our radio station use to have a program from that mission and they told stories of men who came their and became believers.  There was a man in the church I use to go to who wrote the story of how his father became a believer after going to prison, and that story was played on the Pacific Garden Mission’s radio program. 

            There were many people like this who came to know the Lord after a sinful past and then went on to do the work of the Lord, but Saul of Tarsus is the most famous of all as his story of conversion is given three times in the book of Acts, and it begins in Acts chapter nine.  The last time we saw Saul was at the death of Stephen and in the first verse of chapter eight we read “Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.”  The rest of chapter eight as we have seen is about Philip, but Luke brings up Saul, who would become a great friend of Luke and Luke would become a partner with Saul who became Paul in the remaining books of Acts. 

            John MacArthur writes this brief summary of who Saul is in the following paragraph:  It is fitting that such a unique individual would have a unique conversion.  Saul was by birth a Jew, by citizenship a Roman, by education a Greek, and purely by the grace of God a Christian (cf. Phil. 3:4-9).  He was a missionary, theologian, evangelist, pastor, organizer, leader, thinker, fighter for truth, and lover of souls. Never has a more godly man lived, except our Lord Himself.”

            As is my custom to quote from the last paragraph from MacArthur’s commentary to help us see where we will be heading, so I will do so at this time:  “From the dramatic story of Saul’s conversion emerge seven features of the transformed life:  faith in the Savior, fervency in supplication, faithfulness in service, the filling of the Spirit, fellowship with the saints, fervency in speaking, and fearlessness in suffering.”  We will begin looking at the different parts of “Faith in the Savior” in our next SD.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Leah” (Genesis 29:25-28).

Today’s Bible question:  “What epistle is warning against the false teachers, libertines and antinomians of that day?”

Answer in our next SD.

12/23/2017 11:17 AM