Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 321

December 24;   Acts 9:4;   98/260(II);   ‘Persecuting Jesus’

Acts 9:4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" 

In Ephesians 1, the Bible teaches that Jesus is the Head and we, the Church, are His body.  In John 15, the Bible teaches that Jesus is the Vine and we, the Church, are the branches.  It is easy to see by these verses that Jesus and His Church are One.  Additionally, the Bible teaches that Jesus loves the Church, made many provisions for the Church, prays for the Church and protects the Church.  The above verse makes it very clear that Jesus and the Church are One.  The Lord Jesus, when this verse takes place, had been arrested, mistreated and crucified.  Jesus had been raised from the dead by the Holy Spirit and is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven.  Saul (soon to be the Apostle Paul) was persecuting Christians, he wasn’t persecuting Jesus.  Yet Jesus in this verse, after knocking Saul down, asks him why Saul was persecuting Him.  Saul had no idea who knocked him down and he asked Jesus who He was.  Jesus immediately identified Himself.  Saul quickly asks the Lord what Jesus would have Saul do and Jesus told Saul what to do.  Let this verse comfort you.  As a Christian, you are dearly loved by Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church.  Jesus sees everything that goes on and is well aware of circumstances that you are in.  When the Lord was on the earth, He constantly was looking to bless and help anyone He could.  The Holy Spirit lives in you as a Christian and empowers you if you are baptized in the Holy Spirit.  Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, reveals the Word to us, leads us by the Holy Spirit and as it says in Psalm 46, ‘He is a very present help in trouble.’  Jesus takes good care of His Church.