Title: Why Are You Hesitating Now?
2012
November
11 days
Sermon Title
Why are you hesitating now?
preacher
Old Testament text
Psalm 145:8-13
New Testament text
Acts 22:12-16
sermon video
Old Testament
8. The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and great in mercy.
9. The LORD is good to all things, and has mercy on all that he has made.
10. I give thanks to you for all you have made, O LORD, and your saints will bless you.
11. They will speak of the glory of your kingdom and of your deeds.
12. I will make known to the people of the world your works and the majestic glory of your kingdom.
13. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; your reign is from generation to generation.
new testament
12. A man named Ananias, praised by all the Jews who live there, a godly man according to the law
13. And he came to me and stood by me and said, “See again, brother Saul.” And I immediately looked at him.
14. And he said, “The God of our fathers has chosen you to make you know his will, to see the righteous, and to hear a voice from his mouth.
15. You shall be a witness for him of what you have seen and heard before all men.
16. Why are you hesitating now? Get up, call on the name of the Lord, be baptized, and wash away your sins.
sermon
The Apostle Paul returns to Jerusalem after his third missionary journey. There he enters the temple, where he is caught by the Jews and beaten to death, but the commander in command sends an army to bind him and bring him to the camp. On the way, with the permission of the commander in chief, Paul tells the Jews about his faith on the stairs. Although he is hated by the Jews and brutally beaten, he gets up and preaches the gospel with all his might. With all his life, he preaches the Christ he met. What kind of Lord did Paul experience, so that he gave his life to testify of the Lord?
1. The Lord chose Paul when he was an opposer. Paul speaks of himself before he met the Lord. Paul was as zealous for God as those who heard him. That is why he persecuted believers, bound them, and sent them to prison. But God chose Paul when he did not know the grace of God.
2. The Lord met Paul the persecutor. Paul tells how he met the Lord. With the arrest letter, Paul told of his loss of sight on the way to Damascus, of hearing the voice of Jesus of Nazareth, and of meeting Ananias and seeing him again. The Lord has met those who persecute him.
3. The Lord changed Paul into a witness. Paul tells how he changed after meeting the Lord. Through Ananias, he came to know that God had chosen him and that God’s will and plan
He talked about how he realized the truth, how he was baptized with Ananias' advice and washed away his sins, and how he lived by following the Lord's guidance. The Lord taught Paul, who was ignorant of God's will, and changed him into an apostle.
The Lord who chose Paul, met him, and changed him, does the same to us today. By speaking frankly about his shameful self, Paul is glorifying the God who chose him and saved him. When we give up trying to make ourselves plausible, the Lord reveals light in us. We are the Lord's witnesses.
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