May it please God to bless us
together this morning as we consider his word. Let us turn to the
Acts of the Apostles and chapter 9, and the question that the
Apostle asks in verse 6. The Acts of the Apostles, chapter
9, and the question the Apostle asks in verse 6. Lord, what wilt
thou have me to do? I'm sure that this question is
not a question which is isolated to the Apostle. I'm sure that
in our lives we often have to ask of God such a question as
this, Lord what wilt thou have me to do? Because our lives are
often not a clear picture and we need God to direct us into
a right way. Now in this particular instance
of the life of Saul of Tarsus or the Apostle Paul, as we refer
to him generally, there was an amazing change in his life. And the change was brought about
by Almighty God. And true it is that in all the
lives of the Church of God, there is a time of change. There is a time when God shines
into our hearts with that light from on high. A light which we
had not observed previously. A light that we had not seen
previously. And a light that we had not known previously.
And so it was here on this occasion with the Apostle Paul. Now we
know that he had been pleasing himself. And he was very pleased with
his attitude and what he was able to achieve. And he'd been
very successful in persecuting the Church of God, in persecuting
the early Christians who were following the Lord Jesus Christ. He was very antagonistic against
them. And he was doing all that he
could to persuade those who were followers to dissent from that
position and to turn away from it. And so he, on this occasion,
and it's interesting to think that, of course, Syria is so
much in the news over the recent years, and Damascus, and here
was Paul, you see, struck down by the power of God just outside
Damascus. and then of course brought into
Damascus. So sometimes when we read the
current news to think well many years ago the Lord was working
mightily in such an area and to realise that today the Lord
is still the same God and can still work powerfully in that
area and indeed in anywhere in the world. And so here was the
Apostle and obtain letters from the high priest to bind men and
women who were following the Lord Jesus Christ and intent
on doing this. And then we read suddenly, suddenly,
Paul's life was never to be the same. Suddenly, there shined round
about him a light from heaven. He tells us later on in the Acts
of the Apostles when he was giving his testimony before King Agrippa,
he said the light was above the brightness of the midday sun.
So we can recognise that it was a very bright light that shone
around the Apostle Paul. And not only did the light shine,
but the voice spoke. And the voice spoke directly
to him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It was a question the
Lord put to him. What's the reason, Paul? Why
are you persecuting me? Well, his response was, who art
thou, Lord? The Lord said, I am Jesus, whom
thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against
the pricks. Now, no doubt the apostle had
had many pricks of conscience as to whether that which he was
engaged in was right. It was pleasing to his flesh.
because he was no doubt very popular amongst the Jews, because
of what he was doing, because they as a nation hated the works
of the Saviour and didn't want there to be followers of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore as Paul was following
the desires of his heart and he was operating in this way,
it is clear there were those occasions when His heart was
pricked as to whether he was doing the right thing or not. And now, he's face-to-face with reality. He's face-to-face with the truth. He's being spoken to by Almighty
God. What a difference that produces
in his attitude. from being a proud man, following
his own way, he is struck down. And we read, and he trembling
and astonished. Well, he wasn't like that before,
was he? But now you see, under the influence of the Holy Spirit,
He is struck down and he comes trembling and astonished. What a change there was. Well,
it's a blessing in our lives. We may think, well, of course,
I've never had an experience like the Apostle Paul. Well,
that's probably true. And none of us probably have.
And very few have. But nonetheless, the essence
is here and the essence is very clear in this way, that when
the work of the Holy Spirit comes upon us, it produces a change
and it may produce a wonderful change of trembling before Almighty
God. I wonder whether you have trembled
before God. He realised, in some small measure,
the greatness of God. The greatness of God. And your
smallness, and your insignificance, and the evil of your nature,
the sinfulness of your life. And as the Lord may have come
and shone light into your heart and you tremble. You tremble
because you fear what may become of you. You realise you offended
Almighty God. You realise you walked in the
opposite direction to that which you should have done. You've
done those things which you should not have done. You've thought those things which
you should not have thought. You've spoken those things which
you should not have spoken. And so you come trembling before
Almighty God. Well, it's a wonderful blessing. If the Spirit of God has brought
you and brought me to a condition like this, so that we've trembled
before God. Not before people. In one sense
people are irrelevant. Because you are before God. God
who knows your heart. God who knows your every thought.
God who knows everything about you. Nothing is hidden at all. And suddenly, as that light shone,
you realized you are before a holy God. And so here the apostle
was trembling and astonished. He was astonished. You may be
astonished that God has been gracious to you, that God has
come to you, that God has shone light into your heart. You may
be astonished at His mercy and His favour towards you. Well, if it is so, and if it
is true, then you see, there will be a gracious effect. And that effect will be very
similar to what we have here in the words of the Apostle,
when he comes and says, What wilt thou have me to do? Again, have you said that? Have you come before God? And have you said with honesty
from your heart, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? You know, it's a wonderful prayer.
It's a blessed prayer. but it may have very serious
consequences in your life. It had very serious consequences
in the Apostle's life, but although in the Apostle's
life he found he had to live a very difficult life, it was
a very blessed life. Why? Because God was with him. And that's the great, important
consideration. If God before us, as the Apostle
says, who can be against us? My friends, if God is against
us, that's a terrible thought, isn't it? If God is against us,
and if God is against us, we have no hope of eternal blessing. We can only anticipate a terrible
eternity in hell. But if the work of the Spirit
comes into our hearts, and has come into our hearts, like it
did here with the Apostle, so that he comes and makes this
statement, it's really, he had no alternative, did he? He had no alternative really.
He was there before God. And God had spoken to him. And therefore he comes in this
way and says, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? It's a very wonderful blessing. to be found in a position like
this. And it would be a wonderful favour
if all of us have or will know such a position in our lives. So that such a statement is not
isolated to the Apostle, but we can understand because of
the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, that it has a gracious
application to us individually. And therefore we come in truth
in our heart with this same prayer and able to say, Lord, what wilt
thou have me to do? He wasn't looking around, he
wasn't asking the people with him. No, he wasn't looking to
secondary causes. Secondary means he came directly
to his God. And he asked the Lord, what will
thou have me to do? Well, have we asked that question? Have we asked that question?
You know, it's so relative, isn't it, to every walking our life. It's relative, isn't it, to the
things that we do, the jobs that we are in, the jobs that we seek,
the way ahead in our lives, to seek for husbands and wives,
to seek for places to live, to seek for direction, what to do. In so many ways, it's such an
appropriate word to come to us and we're able to plead it before
our God, Lord, what will thou have me to do? How often we have
plans, don't we? We have our plans. Often they're
not God's plans. And therefore, if we come without
our plans, and if we come just like this, And Lord, what would
that have me to do? With an open mind. Not coming
in a situation where we might say, I've got a plan and I want
God to work to it. No, my friends, God's got a plan
and he would have us work and walk to his plan. What a favour
it is. then if God makes us, as he did
Saul, willing in a day of his power. This very clearly was
a day of the power of God in the life of the Apostle Paul. And may we look in our lives
to days of power, of the word of God in our hearts, which has
produced that willingness to pray like this, Lord, what will
thou have me to do? Now then, the result was very
wonderful and the result was indeed blessed
by God. Now remember, he'd come trembling
and astonished, he had a right attitude, He hadn't come in a
proud way. He hadn't come in a false way.
He hadn't come in any mock humility. They weren't words which weren't
true from his heart. These words emanated from his
heart. How good it is then if they're
true in our lives. Really true. Really true. So whatever the Lord The result
of such a request is they were able to do that which God directs
us in. Well the Lord came and he heard
the apostles request and he said arise and go into
the city and it shall be told thee what thou must do. There wasn't any alternative. He was to be told what he must
do. What a blessing, my friends,
if God comes and tells you and me what we must do. We may not always want to do that. Usually, the way the Lord directs
us in is to bring us closer to himself,
to grant us fellowship with the Saviour, fellowship with his
sufferings, but also a way which is often hard for our flesh. Yes, the flesh dislikes the way,
but faith approves it well. That's usually the way God directs
his people. Not a way which is pleasing to
the flesh, but a way which is pleasing to the Spirit of God. And so here was the apostle directed
by the Lord. And we're told he arose from
the earth, when his eyes were opened he saw no man. and led
him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was three
days without sight, neither did eat nor drink. And so, although
the Lord had come in answer to this prayer, what would thou
have me to do? I told him to arise and go into
the city, and there, in that place, he was to wait, to be
directed by the Word of God. And he was three days there without
any sight. He hadn't got any clarity of
what was to happen, but he was doing God's will. And that's
so relevant for us today. You see, he arose from the earth
and he led by those with him and brought to Damascus and was
there three days without sight. And then we're told how this
was worked out. We read it together, haven't
we, this morning. The Lord had ordained that there was a disciple
called Ananias. And that man was to be used in
the way that the Apostle was to be directed. And as we view
this situation here, It's good to see how the Lord influenced
this good man Ananias. And we can perhaps put ourselves
into Ananias' position. Because here he was told, the
Lord said, arise and go into the street which is called Straight
and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus
for behold he prayeth." Now Ananias knew a lot about Saul of Tarsus
and it wasn't something that he wanted to do. No, he knew
what a difficult and evil person Saul of Tarsus had been. And
therefore he came and he said, one called Saul of Tarsus, for
behold he prayeth. and had seen in a vision a man
named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him that he might
receive his sight. Ananias said, Lord, I have heard
by many of this man how much evil he hath done by the saints
at Jerusalem, and here he hath authority from the chief priest
to bind up all that call on thy name." Well, he was making his
excuses, wasn't he, to God? But we see how the Spirit of
God was upon this man, Ananias. And the response was, but the
Lord said, go thy way, for it is a chosen vessel unto me. to
bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of
Israel, for I will show him how great things he must suffer for
my name's sake." Well, in a nutshell, in just a few words, the Lord
had described to Ananias what the Apostle Paul's life work
was. And it's wonderful to see how
Ananias did not disagree at all about that command that God had
given him. And he went and entered into
the house and he now meets Saul. And what a lovely salutation
it is. He comes and says, Brother Saul, This man, this
man, this evil man, he's spoken about just a short while ago.
Now he's come by the Spirit of God. And he says, Brother Saul,
Brother Saul. How good an example it is for
you and me today. As we may perhaps come into contact
with people, we may think, well they're terrible people, but
If the Lord has touched their heart, the Lord is moving their
spirit, we can come and say, like Ananias did, Brother Saul,
the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou
camest, hath sent me, the same Lord, the same Lord, that thou
mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.
And immediately there fell from his eyes, as it had been scales,
and he received his sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized."
Well, we see the evident work of the Spirit of God, don't we?
The very clear direction, the Apostles' prayer was, Lord, what
wilt thou have me to do? And here it was spelled out to
the apostle. The Lord had used this man Ananias. The Lord does use people to be
those in his hand who are able to direct. And very often, of
course, this is through the preaching of the gospel, the way that the
Lord has ordained. And so, here was this occasion,
and the apostle was given this sight, the scales fell from his
eyes, and what was the effect? He arose and was baptized. It wasn't a long period. Was
there a hesitation, wondering whether it was right or wrong,
or what he should do? No, the Lord had met with him,
the Lord had appeared for him, The Lord had directed him and
therefore what was the response? He arose and was baptized. We have these examples in the
Word of God and they are for our instruction. They are not
for us to turn away from and say, well, that's not relevant
for me. I'm happy to pray this prayer.
Lord, what would they have me to do? But I don't want to go
any further. I don't want to actually take
up my cross and follow the Lord. I want to carry on as I am. Well,
it's good if the Lord gives us grace to understand the clear
direction from the word of God. And so the apostle was greatly
blessed and was able to do this, and straightway he preached Christ,
that he is the Son of God. Now, as we know from the life
of the Apostle, which is clearly set forth in the Acts and obviously
in the letters that he writes, how wonderful it was that the
Apostle had been brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, and understood
the law of God and the wonderful instruction he'd received. And
when he writes to the Romans, he makes this statement. He says, for I was alive without
the law once. You see, when he was walking
in his own strength, he thought he was alive. He thought he was
a good man. He thought he was doing that
which was right. He was alive without the law once, but when
the commandment came, sin revived and I died. He realized that
which he'd been following was not good, it was false. And the
commandment which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taken occasion by the
commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the
law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." You
see the Apostle was instructed by the Holy Spirit in these great
truths. And that's why he was able therefore
to preach Christ. Was that then which is good made
death unto me? God forbid, but sin, that it
might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good,
that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. He wasn't able to connive at
sin. He wasn't able to turn away from
it. The Spirit of God had convinced him of his sinful condition. And that's why really he was
trembling and astonished, because he realized how contrary his
life had been from the true and right way. Well, our way, until
the Lord comes, has been a way contrary to God. We walked in
a wrong way. We followed our own inclination.
We've done that which we felt to be right. But bless God, if
he's come, if he's come and stopped us, stopped us. I wonder if you can remember
the time when you've been stopped. Stop from doing some wrong thing. Stop, as it were, in your tracks.
You haven't been able to follow the way that you wanted to. God
has stopped you. You may not have been like this.
God may have stopped you. He may have caused you to be
ill. He may have stopped you. A number
of ways the Lord may have stopped you, but has the Lord stopped
you from doing wrong things? Well, what a mercy it is, if
that is so. Because the Spirit of God has
shone into your heart and has caused you to consider. Your life may have been turned
upside down. Upside down, Paul's life was,
wasn't it? Upside down, a complete change, a complete turnaround. Repentance is like that. When God gives us repentance,
it's like turning around and going in an opposite direction. an opposite direction from that
which we were going. And it's a blessing if God has
made us sorry then for our sins, sorry and regret we've been going
in a wrong way. We've been brazen, hard-hearted,
rebellious. God has been merciful to us.
God has been kind to us. God hasn't dealt with us as our
sins deserve. If he had, we'd have been cut
off. But God's mercy, he's dealt with
us in love. He dealt with the apostle in
love to his soul. What a blessing if he's dealt
with you and me in love to our souls. So we've been brought
to this condition. to come and say, Lord, what would
thou have me to do? Now, my friends, this morning,
maybe we had a trace out in our lives, a time, perhaps many times,
when the Lord has graciously come to us by His Spirit and
moved our hearts by His Spirit. to make us willing in the day
of His power to come very simply and before Him bow down and say,
Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And then to be directed by God's
Spirit. And don't forget, you see, if
the Lord brings us to this time of submission, that's what it
is. It is submission. to the will
of God. And our will will then be subject
to God's will. That's the change. Your will,
my will, subject to God's will. We are willing then to do His
will. My friends, His will is best. His will is best. The apostle
was told that he would have to suffer. Ananias came and spoke
to him. And the Lord had said to Ananias
that he would have to suffer for his sake. My friends, what
a blessing it is to be called by God to suffer for his sake. And when the Apostle wrote to
Timothy, he said, and if we suffer with him, we should also reign
with him. We don't like suffering, do we?
We don't like opposition. But remember, Christ walked on
this earth, and he had so much opposition, didn't he? So much
opposition, but he was willing. My friends, if we are a true
follower, of the Saviour, we should not expect to escape that
union with Christ in suffering for His sake. That means being
willing to serve Him. That means being willing to do
His will. If we pray like this, and may
we pray like this, Lord, what will thou have me to do? Then
to be willing to do God's will. whatever that may mean in this
life because there is before us a glorious prospect of an
incorruptible inheritance which is reserved for his people where
we shall then be with Christ throughout eternity to praise
and bless his holy name for his great and glorious grace which
came to us unworthy as we are, came to the Apostle Paul, he
wasn't worthy, and neither are we. But oh bless God, if we'd
been moved by his spirit to come in words like this, in all honesty
and in all truthfulness, and be able to say from the bottom
of our heart, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Because if
that comes from our heart, the Lord will answer, the Lord will
direct, the Lord will bless. He'll be with us throughout our
life and at last receive us unto himself. Amen.