The sermon by Trent Moody focuses on Acts chapter 9, discussing God's ways of encouraging obedience in His children through the narrative of Saul's conversion and Ananias's obedience. It emphasizes the role of waiting as a significant part of God's plan, illustrating how patience and endurance are developed through trials. The sermon highlights Ananias's initial fear in obeying God's command to meet Saul, a notorious persecutor of Christians, and how God provides assurance and guidance to overcome these fears. Through Saul's transformation, which involved scales falling from his eyes and being filled with the Holy Spirit, the sermon underscores the power of God's grace to change even the most hardened hearts. It also discusses the importance of obedience leading to increased faith and confidence, as seen in the immediate fruits of Saul's preaching about Christ. The sermon encourages believers to trust in God's timing and plan, reminding them that true spiritual growth often comes through waiting and obedience, despite initial fears or lack of understanding.

Acts chapter 9, I would like to begin reading back in verse 8 and then we will read down through verse 22, Acts 9 and beginning with verse 8. Thus says the word of the Lord, then Saul arose from the ground and when his eyes were opened he saw no one but they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus and he was three days without sight and neither ate nor drank. Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias and to him the Lord said in a vision, Ananias, and he said, Here I am Lord. So the Lord said to him, Arise and go to the street called straight and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarshish, for behold he is praying. And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him so that he might receive his sight.

And then Ananias answered, Lord I have heard from many about this man how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from chief priests to bind all who call on your name. But the Lord said to him, Go, for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, Kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake." And Ananias went his way and entered the house and laying his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus whom appeared to you on the road as you came has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales And he received his sight at once.

And he arose and was baptized. So when he had received food he was strengthened. And then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus. Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues that he is the Son of God Then all who heard him were amazed and said is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem? And has come here for that purpose for that he might bring them bound to the chief priest.

But Saul increased all the more in strength and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ. Let us pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you yet again, Lord, for your word. Lord, that song that we just sang, I pray that that would truly be the prayer of every heart. Show us Christ.

Lord, I pray that the power and the glory of Jesus Christ would be on full display this morning. Lord, you are our God and we love you. We thank you for Christ. We thank you for the preaching of Christ. We thank you that Christ has taken us from darkness to light.

You have created in us something wonderful and glorious. Through your Holy Spirit, Lord, you brought your Holy Spirit to us to awaken us and to quicken us from our deadness and Lord you have shown us Christ and Lord I pray today that not a soul would leave here that has scales still remaining upon their eyes that they cannot see but Lord that you would open their eyes at once that they might see the glories of Christ and I ask it in Jesus name Amen. You may be seated. Thank you, brother. One of the things that I wanted to show you and share with you this morning was in the midst of this narrative, God often brings us such instruction that is so helpful for our souls and so helpful for our walk, our daily walk, and as we are living for the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so the title of this message that you see there on your handout is God's ways of encouraging obedience in his children. And if you've lived any length of time as a Christian you know that there are times when you need some encouragement in your obedience. Sometimes it's it could be a fearful thing to obey the Lord. Sometimes we can be downright discouraged. Sometimes we want things immediately and we're not willing to wait upon the Lord.

You know, when we were last together and we left Saul in this very humbled state of blind and fasting, for three days he had been waiting and during that time the Lord as we see in these next verses was speaking to Ananias and giving him instruction in what he should do and we pick up in this narrative with God's fulfilling his promise to Saul. You remember God told Saul, arise and go into the city and you will be told what you must do. You can imagine the difficulty that Saul must have experienced in waiting. Waiting for three days. He didn't know how long.

We know because we have the benefit of reading the passage years later and we can see that God, hey Paul it's just three days you'll be alright it's coming. But God didn't tell Saul how long it was going to be. All he told him was, arise and go into the city and you will be told what you must do. In my mind, again, the way it works may be different than yours, but as I look at these things, I see a command like this and as a human being frail and really impatient in a lot of ways, I'm not so much for waiting. Waiting is not something that is enjoyable.

Waiting is difficult. It's one of the hardest activities that you do that actually is not an activity. It's just waiting upon the Lord, especially in the generation in which we live. We want information and we want it instantly. We want it right now.

I want to know the answer now and if I don't know the answer I will quickly pick up a device and try to find the answer. Let me just let you all in on something. Most of what you read on that device is not true. There has never been a time in history when information was so readily available to our minds. We are consumers of information and we like it quickly.

I was recently sent a scale of the percentage of waking hours that people have with information coming at them and they're processing information. This scale started actually in the 1900s and ended with our present time and in 1900 it says that the average person spent about 8 or 9 percent of their waking hours consuming information. What in the world did they do with the rest of their time? They were productive with the rest of their time. However, in our day it has skyrocketed to nearly 80% of our waking hours consuming information.

We want information and we want it as quickly as possible. But I want you to realize that God's ways are not our ways. Oftentimes the things that we want are not the things that God wants for us. There's time that God will tell you, arise, go to the city, and you'll be told what you must do. Period.

But I want you to realize that God is working. We think that the best thing in the world is for us to have everything that we want immediately, but often the Lord is doing part of His greatest work in the act of us waiting upon him. We have a hard time understanding this, that there's actually value in the waiting. When you get what you want immediately, you begin to lose the appreciation for the information and you lose the spiritual benefit of patience. James says, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

But let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. Now this word here patience means endurance, it means perseverance, it's patience, it's waiting upon the Lord. It means to actually endure under a load without wavering. In a physical sense there really is no benefit to our bodies if the exercise that we do does not include some form of resistance and some form of endurance. And when we look at this entire passage before us, we see that it ends with Saul preaching the gospel of Christ saying this Jesus is the Christ.

He is the Son of God. What could be more important than preaching the gospel? Many of us would say nothing. But in God's wisdom, he says, waiting for three days. If there was nothing more important than preaching the gospel, then Saul would have gone from on the ground to preaching the gospel.

But God in his wisdom put Saul in a blind helpless state, being led by the hand by others, not knowing really what was happening or where he was going and all he knew was go and wait and I'll tell you what to do. But boy that just does not sound very spiritual. Wait. Wait. When we look at this passage again we see that God was actually doing something very important not only in the life of Saul but he was also doing something in the life of Ananias.

And we're going to see that in just a few moments. From our perspective, it seems like what a waste of time. We feel like we need to be doing something constantly and we've actually, as Christians, we've lost the art of meditation. We've lost the art of prayer and fasting. From God's perspective though, it was the exact right amount of time needed to prepare Saul to preach the gospel.

So I don't want you to worry too much if you're waiting on God right now. You may be in the phase of waiting. That's okay. God knows what He's doing in your waiting. He's preparing you for what He has for you.

Not to belabor the point, but have you ever been served a meal that was unknowingly raw in the middle? It had not been cooked long enough. Well, if you feel like you're in the waiting phase, just consider that it may be that God knows that you're a bit undone in the middle. You're not fully cooked. God knows what he's doing this morning.

Don't forget last week's message. Saul did say these words, Lord what do you want me to do? And the Lord said wait. Part of the answer that we have is to wait upon the Lord. Now I'm not sure exactly why the Lord would have me to start this message in this way of encouraging you to be like Saul and waiting upon the Lord.

But there you go, it's for someone. This week we pick up in our passage at the end of the next verse of this scene of Paul waiting three days without sight and neither eating nor drinking and God introduces us to this man in the midst of this waiting named Ananias and as we see in in verse one or in the first point of your outline, Ananias receives this challenging call to obedience. I don't know if you've ever noticed that sometimes obedience is extremely challenging. I find it on rare occasions that obeying God is something that is natural to me and easy. But I want to point out just a few things about Ananias.

Ananias had this challenging call because it was going to require him to overcome the fear of obedience. But he did have, as we see in verse 10, a willingness to obey. The Word of God says, now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias and to him the Lord said in the vision, Ananias, and he said here I am Lord. What a heart. What a beautiful thing to have a heart that says, here I am Lord.

I am ready to serve you. I'm willing to serve you. Here Ananias is described as a certain disciple and He has a vision that the Lord has called his name. He doesn't seem to have any question to who it was. You remember when Samuel was called by the Lord, Samuel, and he said, yes, Lord, and he runs to Eli.

What did you need, Eli? But here Ananias is one who doesn't seem to have a question at all. He understands who it is that's speaking to him and he says, here I am Lord. I'm ready to serve you. He had a willingness of heart.

He doesn't seem to have any questions about it. He's ready to serve the Lord. But what do we know about Ananias? One of the things that we learn from Ananias, about Ananias, in Acts 22, when Paul recounts this story of his conversion, it says this in verse 12 of chapter 22, in Acts, then a certain Ananias, a devout man, according to the law having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there." Now that's a feat in itself. Here we have a devout man, a man who fears and trusts the Lord and he has a good reputation with the Jews who dwelt there.

His reputation was not one of just somebody who put on airs and was there to make the show but actually was truly devout. He truly loved the Lord. What a commendation of this man. He lived in such a way that he had a good testimony. You'll find that as you live your Christian life that there are seasons of change that God will take you through.

If you've lived any length of time, you've experienced this. Saul he was in a season of having to overcome fear. And you think why was he so afraid? Well we're gonna delve into that just a few moments but I first want you to see what Ananias was given in this challenging call to obedience was unmistakably clear. There was no question about what God wanted him to do.

It was plain. So the Lord said to him, arise and go to the street called straight and inquire of the house of one Judas for one called Saul of Tarshish for behold he is praying and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him so that he might receive his sight. Has anyone ever not wanted so clear and audible and visible a communication from God for his will for their life. I've prayed for that before. I've never received that.

But here in Ananias for some reason God gives him such a perfectly clear, unquestionable command. He wasn't wondering, he already said, here I am Lord, and the Lord tells him exactly what to do, and here Ananias has this glorious experience of the clear command regarding the will of God for his life at this moment and I don't know if he's ever asked it or not but he sure got what he wanted. He did not have to wonder if God wanted him to do some specific task. No, God said it plainly. Now I've spoken with many of you before and I've experienced it myself this desire to want to know God's will for my life or God's will for this circumstance or this situation that I find myself in and here Ananias gets it.

And you know he tells him this very interesting and what I find to be maybe humorous but at least very insightful. He tells him Ananias go to the street called straight. I'm sorry but I just can't let that little passage pass there, that little phrase, go to the street called straight. I'm sorry, but I just can't let that little passage pass there, that little phrase, go to the street called straight. Where else would you expect to find a new believer than on a street called straight.

This word straight means it's level and it's straight and figuratively it means it's the right way. It's used of true religion as a rule of life leading to its goal of salvation. It's not ironic that this street that Saul is on at Judas's house is called straight, but I would say that it's rather providentially instructive for us that this man is on the street called straight. I mean it could have been called Judas's way. I'm glad it wasn't.

He was on the street called straight because God had set his feet upon a rock and he had set his path straight though he was blind and humbled to the ground. God had set him on a straight path and God was going to equip him and use him beyond his imagination. So often as God does he sprinkles the path of difficulty with drops of encouragement. You know another encouragement is this. God tells Ananias, behold he is praying.

What a statement. What a statement of encouragement to know that you are going to meet someone and you need to give them a message from the Lord and for God to tell you, hey he's praying. That's an encouragement to me. It is one of the things to find a man who was waiting and a man who possibly was violently on the war path, this Saul, as he often was and was well known that he was on the war path but it is another thing altogether to find a man on the street called straight praying and Saul was praying and he who once breathed out threats and murders was now breathing out prayers to God. And you know what?

God tells him something else too. He tells Ananias, Saul has seen you coming. Well, if he's seen him coming, then it must be that God has prepared Ananias's way. What a clear way God has prepared for Ananias to obey. But I want you to realize something though we see in verses 13 and 14 that even though the way is very clear for Ananias it is not without a perception of fear and trepidation.

Then Ananias answered, Lord I've heard from many about this man. How much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And here that he has authority from the chief priest to bind all who call on your name. This is the same man who just said, here I am Lord. And now he has this, not an argument, I'm not going to throw down shade on Ananias.

I believe Ananias was a devout man as the scripture says but we have a man here who is feeling the realization of living in a physical world that is ruled by God who is spirit, who works in the lives of men, but yet the fear that he perceived was not unfounded. He had hearsays and rumors coming into his ears. He had heard the Bible says, the Lord I have heard from many, this is not something that I heard one person say, this is not something I heard two people say, I've heard it from all kinds of people Lord. This must be true, Everybody's saying it. I'm hearing something Lord that this man, this man, how much harm he has done to your saints.

I could imagine that stories were growing as they often do and we could assume that some of the things that he had heard might not be 100% accurate but in this case the stories that were he had heard were true. Saul was no patty cake. Saul was no man who just breathed out threats. He breathed out murders and actually saw them through. We have here a man who is a bad man.

Saul was not just a lightweight. Saul was a heavyweight who did bad things to Christians. But what we must never forget is that the badness of man is never so bad that the grace of God and the power of God cannot overcome. It doesn't matter how bad he is. It matters how big God is and how powerful he is and that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes.

In Chronicles chapter 20 it says, then Jehoshaphat, he stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court and said, O Lord God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven and do you not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? And in your hand is there not power and might so that no one is able to withstand you. And in Daniel, all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. He does according to his will in the army of heaven. And among the inhabitants of the earth, no one can restrain his hand or say to him, what have you done?

This is our God. He does his will, he does whatever he pleases. And when we go and we understand our commission from God and what he would have us to do, we go with the knowledge and the understanding and the belief that this is our God who has called us to go. He is God in heaven above and on earth below and as Jesus said, all authority in heaven on earth is given unto me. There's nothing lacking in the power of God.

But Ananias had heard. He had heard not only about how bad this man was, he heard this man had authority. You know sometimes it's intimidating when someone not on God's side has authority. They can intimidate you into being quiet, But I want you to know something. What he heard was true.

He did have authority. He had authority from the chief priest. He had authority to bind all who called upon the name of Jesus. But what we must never forget is that there is no authority that is not ordained by God. In Romans 13 we read this, for there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.

And we must remember again in Matthew 28 and Jesus came and spoke to them saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. So one of our greatest catalysts however for fear is our ignorance of what God is actually doing in his secret providence. We're fearful of the unknown. We're fearful because our information level is very teensy-tiny. We're still on dial-up.

Yeah, that's where we are. God's information and God's providence over all things is infinite. You know it's been said that 95% of what you fear will never happen. My experience that is true. It may be 99.995 actually.

Rarely does anything that I fear happen. Let me let you in on a little secret. This is going to be humbling. You're not omniscient. You do not know the future.

You do not know all circumstances. You do not know how God is working or already has worked in any given situation or in any given human heart. So stop with the fear of the unknown and start with the fact of the known. God has all authority. It doesn't matter who else has authority on this earth.

All authority is under his authority and God has all authority and he is the one who commissions us to go in his name. God told Ananias, go and here I am Lord. Oh, I hear he has authority. He has nothing that I have not given him. And he didn't know, he didn't realize that that moment Saul was sitting there in a blind state who had already said, Lord, what would you have me to do?

He had no understanding of these things. But you need to understand the fact is that what God tells you to do, He's already prepared for the fulfillment of the circumstances of the success of His plan. By the way, not your plan. We plan many things that rarely come about, but all that God has ordained does come about and will come about. In fact, it is as if it already has come about because God has ordained it.

And what I can add to this, just remember the response here, Lord, what do you want me to do? It's not Lord, let me tell you what I want to do. You do know God's revealed will. You say I do? Yes.

You hold it in your lap. This is God's revealed will and it does not change. You know what God's revealed will is. The problem is that we want to slip in and try to sneak in to the secret will of God. But I want you to stop worrying about the secret will of God and just start doing the revealed will of God.

Listen, there is enough in the revealed will of God to keep you plenty busy. What you will find is that when you are occupied with what you know God's will is, you will begin to see retrospectively what God was doing in his secret will. Things that you could never have imagined, things that you could never have known, things that you there's no way you would have planned it and we often fear because we assume we know all the details when in fact there are a million details that we have no clue about. I want to leave this point with this thought. Our greatest danger in regard to obedience, our greatest danger in regard to obedience is not physical harm or the oppression of those with power.

That's not your greatest danger. Your greatest danger is disobedience to God. That will do the greatest harm to your life. Fear not what man can do to you. Don't fear him who can kill the body but rather fear him who after he has killed the body can cast your soul into hell.

I say fear him. He is God. Secondly though we see here in this passage verses 15 through 19 a comforting assurance through obedience. Now you're going to notice that all of these things have obedience in the midst of them and I want you to see the gentleness of the Lord. He doesn't rebuke Ananias.

God doesn't get on to him and say, Ananias stop worrying about it. I said God, he doesn't do that. God is so tender with his children. So even though we have to overcome the fear of obedience at times, you need to understand we have a gracious God who is our Father and he understands the weakness of our flesh. He's so kind to our weaknesses.

Even when we think we have had we have good reason not to obey, God brings us along. You know, Ann and I thought he had a really good argument, but Lord I've heard that he's a pretty rough guy. He could have easily rebuked him, but rather the Lord explains to him why. You know, there's times in which your children will ask you something and you just say because I said so Get to it There's other times A wise father will look at his children and say Let me tell you why and we have a wise father in heaven. He's telling us here and telling Ananias in the most loving way why he should go.

And what he's doing is he's bringing the comfort of assurance in these little acts of obedience that Ananias is going to walk through. He walks through a whole pile of these these acts of obedience or in these assurances that God gives him and as he obeys he finds more comfort in more obedience and that's how God he brings us along as his children. Again he could have easily rebuked but no now the Lord is not bound I want you to understand God is not bound to always give us explanations but he does sometimes. He reiterates God does the command and tells Ananias why he wants him to do it. Now my aim in this portion of Scripture is to show you the assurance or the confidence that Ananias gained through acts of obedience to God.

This is not regarding necessarily the assurance of salvation, but rather the assurance or the confidence that we need not to fear to do what God commands. Does that make sense? It's not just this assurance of salvation, I know I'm safe, no. It's actually God working confidence in us through acts of obedience whereby we will be more confident to obey next time. So I want to be honest, sometimes God's commands are fearsome.

Obeying God means going against the tides of the world. Obeying God often means going against the pressures of conformity to the norms. Obedience means often going against your own feelings about something. Ananias had a feeling, Lord he's dangerous, he hurts people, he has authority to hurt people, he's not going to get in trouble if he hurts me. This is really one of the most difficult ones to overcome.

Your feelings. Unfortunately, we too often allow our feelings about something that God has clearly told us to do, actually to rule over our biblical wisdom and reasoning as why we should obey. The feeling that we get about this thing is fearsome. It's unknown to me or it's dangerous or it might be painful or it might make me sad. And there's this temptation not to overcome it because we allow our feelings to be in the driver's seat.

If that had been the case here with Ananias, he would not have obeyed God, but rather he would have stayed right there in his house. But in this passage this morning, we see that God brings an assurance in God's command. Now look at what he says here in verse 15. He had already told him what to do, and then after Ananias gives his argument here of why he shouldn't do it, or possibly, hopefully, to get out of what he was wanting him to do, God, but the Lord said to him, go. Now you think, well, that's pretty simple.

How is that comforting? He told me to go and now he says do it again. Well it's actually comforting and here's why. The first thing that we need to know is that God's command alone is enough to give you the confidence and the assurance that you need to overcome your fear. He says to do it, therefore he will supply your need in doing it.

You don't need to fear. When the Lord gives a command to do something that we have the assurance of success, it is when it is so clear a command in the revealed will of God. Okay, that means when you're reading the word of God and you come to a passage that tells you plainly to do something, here's the one, parents love this verse, children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. Well guess what, That's not uncertain. And in fact, God is going to give you a command and as you obey that command, you're gonna find confidence in obeying that command.

You're gonna know, God's gonna supply what I need to be able to obey my parents and the Lord for this is right. Or whatever the commandment be. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church. Guess what? God's going to give you all that you need for life and godliness.

He has given it to you and he will equip you to do what he's commanded you to do. You're not going to lack and say, Lord, you just not give me what I need to love my wife. No, the fact is we've just chosen to disobey God and therefore we're gonna have to learn that lesson again. But as we learn the lessons of obedience, assurance of God's command actually helps us because he told Ananias, go. And if God says, go, I know that I'm not going alone.

For the Bible tells me here's the promise of God, he will never leave you nor forsake you. Nothing will happen to you apart from the will of God. If he goes, if he tells me to go, I know that I do not go alone. I am going with the Lord." So the fact that God's plan is way better than ours and it actually accomplishes his will. Stop just for a moment and imagine if Ananias Just said, there's no way, I can't do it.

I'm overcome with fear. I'm staying right here. Think about that just for a moment. Think about the rest of the story. Think about all the preaching that Paul did and the writing of the epistles that Paul did and how we're still reading what Paul wrote.

But that's not what happened. Ananias was able to overcome his fear because of the assurance of God's command. If God says it, he will equip me to overcome my fear. The second thing in verses 15b through 16 we have assurance in God's choice. Assurance in God's choice.

God offers the explanation and let's be honest here this was not a small command from God. Listen, this was a big deal. God had told Ananias to go find the most notorious, and not to mention the most zealous prosecutor or persecutor of the faith. Ananias, go find that man who's been killing Christians and everybody knows about him. Because remember he says he's been told by many how bad he was.

That's the man I want you to go see. This was not a small thing that God was asking Ananias to do and I do believe that's why God was so gentle with him. It wasn't a small thing. God had told him to go and you know a bit of explanation was very helpful. God gave him this explanation and it assured Ananias' faith and it assured his omission.

He tells him this, for he is a chosen vessel of mine. Wait a minute, I thought he was persecuting you. No, he's a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel, for I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake." God explains to Ananias that this Saul was not a man too far gone. You know oftentimes we want to go share the gospel with somebody, we kind of you know, we line them up. We kind of think, man, I don't know about that one.

He just seems too far gone. There is no one too far gone. Saul is proof of that. He was a violent persecutor of the Christians of the early church and then God says, Ananias, I want you to go talk to Saul and I want you to go in and tell him something and God explains to Ananias that this Saul was not a man too far gone. He was not a man that you should even fear.

This man Saul was a chosen vessel of mine and God delights to use vessels that demonstrate the power of his grace. And through what Ananias heard, though what he heard was true, that this man was a bad man, it was also true that God had chosen him to bear his name. Whose testimony are you going to believe? Are you going to believe the hearsay of everyone else about what God wants you to do? Are you going to believe what God tells you to do?

Sometimes we just want to heap up counselors that already agree with us. Please tell me what I love to hear. When in fact we should go to the very Word of God and say God what would you have me to do? And the reason we don't like to obey what God tells us is because we prefer the counsel of friends over the counsel of God. I also want you to see it's important to note that Saul did not choose God.

God said he is a chosen vessel of mine. God chose Saul And you know what? God's choice conquers the stoutest of rebels. It makes them a witness of his grace. Don't fear how stout the rebel.

Fear God who can conquer the rebel. He is the King of Kings and he is the Lord of Lords. And not only that but God he gives us assurance in his plan. Okay assurance in his plan. Verse 17, and Ananias went his way and entered the house and laying his hand on him he said, Brother Saul the Lord Jesus whom appeared to you on the road as you came has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

And when we obey God's plan, we will find assurance in God's wisdom. I want you to think about the process of what Ananias was doing. We kind of read these passages but we sometimes it helps to slow down and look at what was taking place. Ananias was not right there in the house with Saul. He was somewhere else in Damascus.

Ananias had been told by God what to do. Ananias got up, he went out his door, and he walked to wherever he was going, where this street called straight was. He knew where the street was apparently, and he went to find Judas's house on the street called straight. Now in the midst of this I want you to understand that oftentimes the assurance comes in the process of seeing God's plan unfold. As you take one step of obedience, you will be encouraged to see how God is working.

So it's almost like you're walking by faith and not by sight, but as you walk by faith, God shows you little by little what he's doing and in that he's encouraging you and building your assurance that God's plan will prevail. This is what it means again to walk by faith. Each step of faith is a step that builds confidence in God. I can imagine as Ananias made his way to Judas' house and he still had many thoughts about this man Saul. He's still wondering what was going to happen.

We're not told But I could imagine he did not just walk right up to the stranger's house and open the door and walk in. I can imagine that he went up to the door thinking about what he was getting ready to do and what God had told him to do. He was not super human or super Christian. He was actually a man who struggled with fear. Perhaps taking a deep breath before he knocked, the details were not given, were not told.

But what we are told is that he entered the house. He entered the house where the most notorious persecutor of the saints was. Where this dreaded man of persecution, this warmonger was, who was coming after the Christians. Yet the unfolding plan of God, that he found the street called straight, that he found Judas's house, that when he knocked the door was open and with each step God built confidence in Ananias that he would fulfill his mission. And the mission of laying hands, loving hands, hands of healing, spirit-filled hands on the man that had laid hands of violence on so many believers.

Yet God was bringing beauty from ashes. Next we have the assurance in God's spirit. In verse 17b he says be filled with the Holy Spirit. We're not told about all the details, but I cannot help but believe that this experience was similar to other occurrences in the book of Acts of someone being filled with the Holy Spirit. I don't know.

I'm not going into conjecture here and making arguments from silence, but we do know this, he was filled with the Holy Spirit, and this act of God's Spirit-filling grace brought assurance to Ananias. With every step God worked, faith-filling assurance in the life of Ananias, And my prayer is that it will do the same for us this morning as we see God working out his perfect plan. We next see in verse 18a the assurance in God's healing. Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales and he received his sight at once. Imagine what that did for Ananias.

Man, he overcame his fear, he walks into the house and he lays his hands on Saul. And when he did, something like scales, it was visible, fell from his eyes and he received his sight at once. That's encouraging. As we walk with God and we see him doing great and miraculous things. It encourages and builds our assurance in what God is doing.

His mission will be accomplished. What he says he will do. And next we see, this is very interesting and fitting for our day, the assurance in God's ordinance. Verse 18b, and he arose and was baptized. This morning we're going to see two young men baptized.

What a glorious thing. The act of baptism does not make a person a Christian, but rather is a testimony and a visual display of what God has already done in the hearts of these young men. Therefore the ordinance of baptism is actually an act that builds assurance. When we see someone baptized, we're reminded God is still working. God is still saving souls.

He's still taking dead men and making them alive. And they are willing to deny the world and in front of a congregation, profess their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That builds my assurance. Praise be to God, His ordinances build our assurances of faith. We have assurance in faith, assurance in their faith, and assurance in the truthfulness of the gospel that God has come to save sinners and to cleanse them from their sins.

I want to ask you, or I want to answer I should say a question that many of you may be asking regarding this baptism about Ananias. I know I've asked myself this question. I asked Scott this question and I bet you you're going to ask me this question. What's the deal with Ananias? Who baptized Saul?

Did Ananias baptize Saul? We're not explicitly told that he did it. We're told that it was done immediately. We're not told of anyone else being there, but it was Judas's house. But we hold that baptism is an ordinance of the church.

Our confession of faith, the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith says this, these holy appointments are to be administered by those only who are qualified and thereunto called according to the commission of Christ." So how is it that Ananias seemingly did the baptism? Well, We're not told. I will not make a doctrine from silence, but I do know this. Saul was baptized in profession of his faith. This is what we are told and that is where I'll leave it.

Was he an elder of a congregation? A small group of? I have no idea. The Bible doesn't say. Was he a deacon?

Doesn't say. Did he baptize? It doesn't actually say he did. It just says that Saul rose and was baptized. Now this one you may think boy you're stretching it with this one Trent but bear with me.

The assurance of God's provision. The assurance of God's provision. In verse 19a, so when he had received food he was strengthened. Now you may think again that I've stretched the line a bit on my exegesis and my interpretation but I want you to realize that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable including this statement, so when he had received food he was strengthened. I want it to be profitable for us as well and Here's what I want to say about this.

We are told that Saul received food after three days of fasting. Fasting is an act of earnestness in seeking wisdom from God. It is seeking actually God himself. We fast because we desire God's spiritual provision. Jesus Christ himself fasted.

We have the disciples fasting. We know Paul fasted, Peter fasted. We have fasted. We did just a few weeks ago in our week of prayer. And when we end a fast, it is a sign that we have received what we have sought for.

We know that while Saul fasted that he also prayed. We also know that he saw in a vision Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so that he would receive his sight. I cannot think for a moment that at some point in Saul's three days of blindness that he did not ask God, Lord would you restore my sight. This had now happened and Saul had received that for which he prayed and his fast was over. And he taking of food signifies that God had provided that for which he asked.

And I believe that when Saul was strengthened in the faith, the healing that took place, He was now ready to be strengthened in body through food. Brothers, we cannot go on fasting indefinitely. God shows us the limitations of our flesh and the weaknesses of our flesh, but I want you to know that when he took food he was strengthened. What was he strengthened for? Well we're going to see the first part of his strength was this in verse 19b, the assurance in God's people.

Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus. Again don't read over that. One of the sure signs of salvation, listen, one of the sure signs of salvation is love for the brethren. You meet somebody who is not a part of any church and is fine not being in any church and they're great just to watch a sermon at home or only do street evangelism as good as that is but they do not want to be with the Saints, that is very troublesome. 1st John 3 14 says, we know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren.

He who does not love his brother abides in death." The Bible tells us in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25 that we should stir one another up to love and good works and all the more as we see the day approaching. That means that you're actually together. That's what Hebrews says. Again let me read it, and let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching. Immediately after Saul's conversion he wanted to be with God's people.

That is not insignificant. He wanted to be with God's people. He spent some days with the disciples at Damascus and these people that he didn't know previously, these people that he had come to destroy, He was now spending time in sweet communion. That's what the gospel does. That's what salvation does to a person.

And lastly, a confidence in the fruits of obedience. Now this is interesting here. Ananias' obedience produced immediate good fruits in the life of Saul. It produced good fruit in himself. He overcame his fear to do what God had told him to do.

And then it produced in Saul this immediate transformation. Verse 20, immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues that he is the Son of God. When I see something like this happen, my confidence in the gospel dramatically increases. When I see a new convert who actually is not just like this little, they show signs of growth and then peter out when something gets hard, but they grow and even though they're not perfect, they are strengthened and they continue in the faith and they work it out and they begin to tell others about the Lord Jesus Christ and what he has done for them. That increases my faith in what God is doing.

Saul was a changed man, there was no doubt about it. He went from preaching death to Christians to preaching the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There was no delay. God called this man to preach the gospel and preach the gospel he did immediately. You know sometimes we're not sure of the fruit of our obedience.

God doesn't always show us what happens as a result of obedience. He doesn't always show you that, but sometimes he does. Here it was that God so encouraged Ananias in his faithful obedience to overcome his fear that he actually allowed him to see the results of that obedience. He got to see Saul scales fall off his eyes being nourished physically, being nourished spiritually, filled with the Holy Spirit. He got to see him having communion with the saints and then he got to see him preaching the Word of God.

This man who had once persecuted the church was now proclaiming Christ. What a change in the message of Paul. He formally breathed out threats and murders, but now he breathed out Christ as the Son of God. Can you imagine the confidence that was built not only in Ananias, but also the saints at Damascus? Praise God.

What an amazing transformation. Saul's obedience produced also amazement over the gospel transformation in his own life, just the testimony of what was happening. Verse 21, then all who heard, remember we started this thing with hearsay, and here it is again, everyone who heard were amazed and said, is this not he who destroyed those who called on his name in Jerusalem and has come here for that purpose so that he might bring them bound to the chief priest. There is rejoicing in heaven and confusion on earth when one lost sheep is converted. The world cannot explain the conversion of Saul.

They have no grid by which they can can feed that understanding. That information doesn't compute. The Wi-Fi is down if you would. They don't have it. They can't figure it out.

They don't have an answer for what God's doing. Brothers and sisters, let us live also in such a way that when the world sees us, they cannot understand the change that has overcome us. When they see Christ in us, Live in such a way that the power of the gospel is on display. In 1 Corinthians 2, Paul says, And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ in him crucified.

I was with you in weakness and fear." Paul had fear. "...and in much trembling in my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power that your fate should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." They saw the power of God working in the life of Saul. He was radically transformed. Another fruit of this obedience is the confounding of the enemies of God. Verse 22, but Paul increased all the more and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

Again 1 Corinthians, Paul says in chapter 1 verse 18, for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age?

Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom did not know God, It pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For the Jews request a sign, the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. To the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness but to those who are called both Jews and Greeks Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men and this was on full display. He confounded the Jews who dwelled in Damascus.

One of the amazing things that God has ordained to encourage the confidence of his people is when he confounds the whys of this world with the foolishness of the gospel. I'm often amazed when I see the whys of this world not even able to comprehend the message and the simplicity of the gospel. How can that be? How can they not understand? But it shows me that unless the Spirit of God opens their eyes, the eyes of their understanding that they cannot, they cannot understand.

Saul's apologetic was so ironclad to prove that Jesus is the Christ even though they could not believe the fruits of obedience is not always in the result of conversion but sometimes it is confounding the enemy. But it does for us who are converted build great confidence in what God has done. I pray brothers and sisters that this passage has encouraged you towards obedience. Overcoming fearful obedience. The Lord's ways, brothers and sisters, the Lord's ways are best.

Put your trust in the Lord no matter how fearful the obedience may seem. What is truly terrifying is believing that we can live a disobedient Christian life. That's an oxymoron. It cannot happen. For nothing could be further from the truth Jesus says if you love me Keep my commandments and You will find brothers and sisters with each step of obedience that your faith will be strengthened to further obey his wonderful commands.

And this is the confidence in obedience which will strengthen you for the next season that lays ahead. By way of application I have four things and I will do my best to name all four. Here we go. Do not, number one, do not let the fear of hearsay dampen your willingness to obey. Do not let the fear of hearsay dampen your willingness to obey.

Number two, Do not let your ignorance of all the details hinder your obedience. You see the devil is not in the details, God is. God is in the details. So trust that God is working in an innumerable way, innumerable ways to prepare your way. Again that one was very quickly, do not let your ignorance of the details hinder your obedience.

Number three, confidence is built through obedience, not apart from it. With each step of obedience you will find that your faith will be built. And then fourth, you have no idea all the fruit your obedience may produce. Before all the amazing preaching and miracles of Paul was the overcoming faith of a certain man named Ananias. Let's pray.

Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the word of God that instructs us and teaches us and helps us along the way. God, I pray that you would minister to your people this morning that you would help them and strengthen their faith. There may be fears and worries and concerns. There may be sinful emotions that are hindering obedience. Lord, I pray for this group of people this morning that you would help them to overcome their fear and their feelings and that they would obey you.

I pray that you would strengthen them in the faith as they take steps of faith Lord increase their faith And Lord no matter what season you may have each of us in we pray that we would see you as our all in all and we need not fear anything man can do to us. Lord we thank you for hearing us, we thank you Lord for calling us together to this time and place to set us right before the living word of God. And I pray that it would do your purpose and your will. And I ask it in Christ's name, amen.