Pastor Nate Brosher
Jun 8, 2025
Act 9:10-16 NLT - 10 Now there was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, "Ananias!" "Yes, Lord!" he replied. 11 The Lord said, "Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now. 12 I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again." 13 "But Lord," exclaimed Ananias, "I've heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem! 14 And he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest everyone who calls upon your name." 15 But the Lord said, "Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. 16 And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name's sake."
1. But Lord…
• BLS – “But Lord Syndrome”
Act 9:17-22 ESV - 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19 and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. 20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God." 21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, "Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?" 22 But Saul increased all the more in strength and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.
Why would we withhold from God?
verse 20, “And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God."
2. Paradigm Shift
A paradigm shift is a major change in how people think and get things done that upends and replaces a prior paradigm.
Matthew 19:24-25 - Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”
Matthew 19:26 - But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
John Piper: “You can do what you don’t like to do, but you can’t like what you don’t like. You can’t believe what you don’t believe. You can’t believe something is true if you think it’s not true. Believing is not an act of willpower. ‘I think this is really false, but I will now believe it.’ That’s totally impossible.”
James 4:4 ESV - 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
Hebrews 11:6 ESV - 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.