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Jul 30, 2017

Saved from / Saved to

Saved from / Saved to

Passage: Acts 26:12-18

Speaker: Ben Seneker

Series: Acts: The Perpetual Power of the Gospel

This week we find Paul, once again, defending himself before a judge. This time, it’s King Agrippa. What’s unique about this scene is that one portion of his defense includes a recounting of his conversion story - from a life as a Pharisee, to a life as an apostle of Christ. This movement “from” one identity “to” something else will be the focus of this week’s message. How does encountering Christ move us both “from” one thing, and “to” something else?

Call To Worship: Psalm 3:1-4
LEADER: 1 O LORD, how many are my foes!
Many are rising against me;
2 Many are saying of my soul,
There is no salvation for him in God.

ALL: 3 But you, O LORD, are a shield about me,
My glory, and the lifter of my head.
4 I cried aloud to the Lord,
And he answered me from his holy hill.


Reading: Isaiah 60:1-3
LEADER: 1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples;

ALL: but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. 3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.


Central Text: Acts 26:12-18
12 “In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’”


Sermon Title: “Saved from / Saved to”


Response Isaiah 42:6-8a
6 “I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, 7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. 8 I am the LORD; that is my name.”


Benediction: 2 Peter 1:2-3
LEADER: 2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness,

ALL: through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.


Post-Service Text: Acts 26:17b-18
17b“I am sending you 18to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”


Discussion Questions & Applications:

  1. Just as Paul was rescued from his life as a Pharisee (i.e. earning his own “righteousness” by his own good deeds) what are some ways in which you have similarly been rescued? How were you living as a Pharisee? What are some ways in which you may still be living as a Pharisee?
  2. Explore the differences between Paul’s two commissions (from the Pharisees vs. his commission from Jesus). How did his motivation for carrying his commission from the Pharisees differ from his motivation from Jesus’ commission? Why is a relationship with Jesus such a motivating force as the gospel moves outward?
  3. From your own experience, how might you identify ways in which Jesus has saved you to something? (i.e. participating in the outward expansion of the gospel, love of others, service to others, etc.)
  4. Why is the good new of the gospel not limited to only forgiveness of sins (cf. v18)? Discuss the term sanctification, and how this word implies movement and transformation. (cf. Shorter Catechism, question 35: ‘Sanctification is the work of God's free grace (2 Thess 2.13), whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God (Eph 4.23-24), and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness (Rom 8.4).’

Quotes:
His great business is to behold the glory of God in Christ; and by beholding, he is changed. ~John Newton

Never does a person see any beauty in Christ as a Savior until they discover that they are a lost and ruined sinner. ~J.C. Ryle

The mature Christian’s thoughts about God are no longer merely lofty theological ideas or empty philosophical speculation. Instead, the doctrines that he cherishes so much have now traveled from his head to his heart and have begun to change him from the inside out in three primary ways. He is becoming someone who is humble, someone who is spiritual, and someone who is passionate for the glory of God to be displayed in all things. ~Barbara Duguid