Acts 9:1-6 – The Point of Decision – Bible study

Acts 9:1-6 The Point of Decision (Dont give at the beginning.) I will give you the title of the message in a moment but at the onset let me tell you that I only have one main point to get across. For those who do not get that point I will state it at the end of the message, and I will give you the title in a moment. What takes place between verse 5 and 6 is very, very importantnot only to the man Saul, but as it turns out, to all the Gentile world. Do you see what happens there? I will tell you, a decision was being made. In fact, several decisions are made. Saul, at this point on his face and blind from the glory of Jesus presence, decided some things. I think he decided three things immediately. He that he had been wrong about Jesus. He decided that Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior of the world. He even decided that he would obey him. All of that was being decided after Saul asks "Who are you?" and before he asked, "What will you have me to do?" There is still much that Saul did not understand doctrinally. He will spend months studying and praying over the Scriptures in an attempt to reconcile what he was accepting as true with what he had thought was true, but already he was willing to do that because of the decisions he was making there on the Damascus Road. Saul does not know at that time How much his decision will cost him. How he will have to give up (i.e. his seat and place among the Pharisees) How he will surrender whatever wealth he had collected. How he will become a missionary, one of the first. Or how he will be beaten, persecuted, imprisoned, and beheaded for the cause of Christ. Saul does not know these things but he decided hereat this point in timethat all of those costs are going to be made. The was Sauls point of decision. The first point is so important, I want to say it three times. To keep you from falling asleep, I will rephrase it each time. I. Our life is the sum of the decisions we make. I. We are what we decided we would be and we are doing what we decided we would do. I. We are who we are today because of the decisions we made in our yesterdays. A. All three of those statements says that we are responsible for what is happening in our life today. 1. Illustration – Did you graduate from high school? a. This is something most aspire to accomplish. b. Some had an easier time graduating. c. Some had more difficult circumstances. (1) Some had learning disabilities. (2) Some were bullied. (3) Some moved a lot. (4) Some experienced the divorce of their parents, even the death of one or both of their parents. d. If you did not graduate, you could find someone who had a worse time than you did but still managed to graduate. e. Why? (1) Because despite all the difficulties of life, circumstances alone do not determine who we are. (2) It is also our responses to those circumstances (i.e. the choices we make as we fact those circumstances). f. If you did graduate, you could find someone who had an easier time than you had who did not graduate. 2. Illustration – Are you married? a. If you are thirty-something and single, it is because of decisions you have made. b. If you are 16 and with child, it is also very likely due to some decisions you made. 3. Why am I saying these things? a. To point out that our life is determined by our decisions. b. We each decide our code of conduct, our standard of living, our dedication and determination to work, and a thousand others decisions. B. Some may protest, "No. This is not the life I wanted for myself." 1. If that is so, then you changed your mind! 2. You made decisions that moved you away from what you wanted to be and to accomplish in your life. 3. If not, you would still be going after what the life your originally wanted. C. By the way, all of this is the reason why when we stand before God, we will all stand there alone. 1. Adam was the first finger-pointer. In the Garden Adam said, "The woman whom You gave me, she gave me and I did eat." 2. But Adam wont have Eve to blame at the judgment for even though Eve gave him the fruit and God gave Eve to him, Adam still chose to eat it. D. Before I get too far down this road, lets look at this same truth from a different perspective. 1. Younger people, you are deciding your tomorrows today. a. To a great extent, you are deciding your future career by the decisions you are making regarding school today. b. To a great extent, you are selecting your mate and your family by the decisions you make concerning your friends today. c. To a great extent, you are deciding your entire life- walk with God by the decisions you are making today. 2. I know that this will not be true of everyone but it is true of some. 3. One thing is for certain of everyone, the foolish decisions we do make are going to cause us and the people we love grief and heartache. E. You are doing what you decided you wanted to do and you are what you decided you wanted to be. Keep that thought in mind. II. Every decision is made at a point in time. A. We are seeing the point in time that Saul made his decision (or at least his lasting decisions) about who Jesus was and about how he was going to live as a result of who Jesus was. 1. The Bible is not breaking it down into seconds for us but in between the two questions, ("Who are You?" and "What do you want me to do?") there was a specific second where Saul made some decisions. 2. The decisions made in that second impacted not only the remainder of his life but his eternalityand ours. B. This is true of every decision. 1. You may spend months thinking and rethinking your decision, but the final decision is always made in a split second. 2. I draw this to your attention because it is really hard to image how important a second is to your whole life. a. When I was 16 and I crawled out of the bed to tell Jesus that I was His, my actions took several seconds, but my decision was made in a split second. b. The process of getting married took approximately a year from start to finish, but the decision was made in a split second. c. The training, the preparing, the learning that I have to pastor has taken me 42 years to acquire, but the decision was made in second. III. Every decision has a dead line. A. Every opportunity comes to an end. 1. That is life. a. There comes a time when it is too late to graduate, too late to get married, too late to have children, and on the clock ticks. b. I know good thing can happen late in life. My Aunt Margie did not get married until she was 57 years old. At her funeral, I told her husband that she was waiting for the perfect man. 2. But if nothing does then death itself stops your opportunities. Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: B. By nature of our mortality, every decision has a dead line. IV. Illustrations – There are many illustrations I could give that demonstrate these truths. A. We are looking at one in our text. 1. Saul, faced with a unique circumstance, but he made good and sound decisions. 2. Not all do. B. \#Acts 26:1-29\ Paul had been arrested and after staying in prison for a time, was brought before Festus and King Agrippa. 1. Festus was the new Roman governor. King Agrippa was the appointed ruler over Judah and grandson of Herod the Great. 2. As Paul shared his testimony, Festus burst out: Acts 26:24 And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad. a. In a split-second, Festus made the decision to reject Jesus, Paul, and the gospel. b. Whether it was his last opportunity to trust Christ or not, I do not know but it could have been. 3. Herod also decided: Acts 26:28 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. a. Agrippas response was more polite, but it was the same decision. b. He likewise rejected Jesus. 4. Am I saying that every decision is a heaven/hell, life/ death decision? a. No. b. But I will say that you and I do not know when our decisions are and when they are not. C. \#Ge 25:26-34\ Jacob was born. 1. Jacobs name in the Hebrew mean trickster. 2. Perhaps he got that name because when he was born, he held onto his older brothers heel. Of course, that did not mean anything but Jacob got that name anyway. 3. But at some point, Jacob decided to live up (or down) to his name. 4. Esau came in from the field hungry and instead of giving him food, Jacob wanted to sell Esau food for his birthright. 5. That is the first record we have of Jacob engaging in that type of behavior, but certainly not the last. a. He will continue tricking and deceiving for years to come. b. He had made a decision and that decision set Jacob on a course, one that produced grief and heartache in his life and in the life of his family. c. So it is with decisions. V. The Main Point A. What is the main point that I desire to make in this message? B. It is not deep but it is sound. C. The main point is that you and I should never make a decision without God in mind. 1. We are finite beings and while all decisions are not life and death, we do not know which ones are and which ones are not. 2. We cannot afford to make decisions without God in mind not any decisions. 3. And while having God and His will and work in mind does not guarantee we will always make a right decision, it guarantees we will make more right decisions that if we do not have Him in mind. Tonight, I encourage you. In the selection of your friends, in the choices of life, in decisions you make every day, keep God in mind.