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Acts 9 - Devotion · The Five Minute Bible Podcast

• 0:00
  Welcome to Five Minute Bible in our journey through the New
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  Testament. In each episode, we take just a
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  few minutes to focus on one chapter of the New Testament,
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  exploring the truths God is teaching us through His Word and
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  expanding our view of who He is. Before you listen, make sure
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  you've gone straight to the source, either by reading
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  today's chapter of the Bible yourself or listening to today's
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  read along episode in this podcast feed.
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  If you haven't done that yet, feel free to pause and do that
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  now. And when you're ready, let's
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  dive into God's Word together. In Acts Chapter 9, we read the
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  miraculous conversion of Saul of Tarsus, who we know is the
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  apostle Paul. Saul was a persecutor of the
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  church. In Acts chapter 8, he's
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  described as being in hearty agreement with putting Stephen
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  to death, and in verse 3 of the same chapter it says but Saul
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  began ravaging the church, entering house after house and
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  dragging off men and women. He would put them in prison.
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  Fast forward to Chapter 9, our chapter today, and we read in
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  verses 1 and 2. Now Saul, still breathing
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  threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to
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  the high priest and asked for letters from him to the
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  synagogues at Damascus so that if he found any belonging to the
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  way both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
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  Then something happened, something miraculous, something
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  astounding, something extraordinary.
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  God got a hold of Saul. Listen to this account.
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  As he was travelling, it happened that he was approaching
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  Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him,
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  and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him,
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  Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?
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  And he said, Who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom
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  you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city,
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  and it will be told to you what you must do.
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  And from there, Saul, helped by a man named Ananias, is a
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  changed man. He's baptized, and he stops
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  persecuting the church and begins proclaiming the gospel of
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  Jesus Christ. We'll continue to read more
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  about the apostle Paul in the particular way that God uses him
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  in his redemptive plan. But the story of today is that
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  God took someone who was a great enemy of the church, a great
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  tormentor of God's people, and turned him into, as he calls him
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  in verse 15, a chosen instrument of mine to bear my name before
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  the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel.
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  This story is powerful and miraculous, and the conversion
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  of Saul is a great moment in the history of the church.
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  But I don't want you to miss this.
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  Saul was no more separated from God than you or I were before we
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  met Jesus. Saul was an enemy of God, and
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  God made him his friend and brothers and sisters.
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  We were enemies of God, rejecting everything he says is
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  good and choosing our own way until God made a move toward us.
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  You see, the miracle of Saul's conversion is not how it
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  happened, or to whom it happened, or even what happened
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  to Saul after he was converted. No, the miracle is that a holy
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  God intervened in the life of a sinful man and took someone who
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  was far from him and brought him near.
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  And that miracle, that life changing, mind blowing, bringing
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  a dead man to life miracle is one that happens every single
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  time a Sinner is brought into the Kingdom of God.
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  What we see in Saul's Damascus Rd. experience is the visible
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  outworking of the spiritual reality that takes place every
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  time someone repents and believes the gospel.
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  And every single time, no matter the circumstances, that work of
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  salvation that God performs is a miracle.
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  Praise the Lord that He is still in the saving business.
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  Praise Him that He's still performing the miracle of
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  bringing sinners into his family.
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  And if you're in Christ, don't miss the miracle He's performed
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  in your life. And if you're not, give your
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  heart and life over to Him and watch him transform you, just
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  like he did to Saul of Tarsus.