ON THE ROAD TO SYRIA

The Lord spoke to one of His followers through a vision and gave him explicit instructions, but the man resisted the Lord. The Lord wanted him to go and pray for someone and the man argued, “I’ve heard about this man and he is evil. I really don’t want to be anywhere near him.” The Lord spoke again to the man and insisted that he do as instructed.

Acts 9 is where this incident is recorded and it’s integral to the story of the Apostle Paul’s salvation. Paul, known as Saul before his conversion, was a terrorist devoted to destroying the newly birthed Church of Jesus Christ. Our first glimpse of Saul is in Acts 7:58 where we read that he was present when Stephen was killed and was acknowledged as one of the leaders of the murderous crowd. Acts 9 begins with the chilling statement, “Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord” (verse 1). The terror campaign, led by Saul, had caused much of the Church to flee Jerusalem and many of the new believers had settled in other cities such as Antioch and Damascus. Saul asked the high priest in Jerusalem for permission to go to Damascus and arrest any followers of Jesus that he found there.

It was on the road into Syria that Saul was suddenly and unexpectedly apprehended by the Lord Jesus Himself. The men traveling with him did not know what was going on as Saul fell to the ground surrounded by an intense light from heaven. Saul saw a person in the light and immediately asked, “Who are You, Lord?” (Acts 9:5). The response was, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”

Saul rose from the ground, temporarily blinded by the intense light—a much different man from what he had been just moments earlier. The men with him took him on into Damascus, where the blindness continued, but then the Lord spoke to Ananias and told him to go and pray for Saul. Reluctantly, Ananias obeyed. Saul’s blindness lifted and he was filled with the Holy Spirit (9:17-18). A terrorist had been converted through a vision!

The world is on edge right now because terrorism has raised its ugly head again and much of it is coming right out of the part of the world where the Apostle Paul first came into contact with Jesus. Ananias, when he laid hands on Saul, said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came . . .” (Acts 9:17). The road Saul was on was the road of terrorism!

I need to ask you a very personal question. Are you praying for the terrorists? Are you praying for them to have an encounter with Jesus the way that Paul did on the road to Syria? 

I think it’s time for the Church to remember that God has given us a powerful long-range weapon and it’s called prayer. The effectiveness of prayer is not hindered by distance. We can pray in Texas and the Holy Spirit can reveal Jesus to someone in Iran. Has the Church forgotten the power of prayer?

We are so steeped in our Western ideas of how evangelism should happen (we think) that we need to step back, pray, and let God show us what He is doing.

As the Lord began to speak to me about this understanding, I found myself wrestling with the whole idea of how to participate in reaching these Muslim terrorists. It wasn’t until I started praying for them that I finally began to understand how God was already reaching them and that they are not impervious to His message of salvation.

Does the Lord Jesus reveal Himself today through dreams and visions as He did with Saul—or has John MacArthur put a stop to that, too?

Here is a passage the Spirit-filled Church has laid claim to as they talk about a last-days outpouring of the Spirit. I believe it means that and much more.

In the last days, God says,
    I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
    Your young men will see visions,
    and your old men will dream dreams. . . .

 And anyone who calls on the name of the Lord
    will be saved. (Acts 2:17-18, 21, NLT) See Joel 2:28-32 also.

There are many reports that large numbers of people in the Muslim world are coming to salvation as they encounter Jesus in dreams and visions. It’s happening in nations all throughout the Muslim world. No terrorist is immune to the work of the Holy Spirit, just as Paul wasn’t. If Jesus can reach him, He can reach any member of any terrorist or political group.

Our responsibility is to pray. It’s time for the Church to break loose of the narcissistic Laodaecian spirit and give herself  to prayer the way the early Church did when it was being persecuted. Read Acts 12 again, especially verses 5 and 12.

It’s time to pray!

(For anyone who is interested, here is a link to a very encouraging article about the growth of Christianity in a large portion of the Muslim world.) http://worldrevivalnetwork.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-underground-revival-in-middle-east.html?m=1)