Arrested

"ARRESTED"

In England there’s a paper factory that makes the finest stationery that’s made. One day a man touring the factory asked what it was made from. He was shown a huge pile of old rags.

The rag content is what determined the quality of the paper. The man wouldn’t believe it. In 6 weeks he received a package of paper from the company with his initials embossed on it. On the 1st page were written the words.."Dirty Rags Transformed." The same is true of the Christian life.

Today we are going to look at a life whose rag content only made him a more effective apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ...

This man probably more than any other man was used mightily and powerfully of the Lord to change lives...

Let’s look at his life and conversion in the Book of Acts chapter 22:1-11

Today, as then, there is hope for every life to be used of God if we are just willing to be that vessel for Him...

We’re going to look at Paul’s life today, and the dramatic change that he encountered on the road to Damascus that day...

We’re going to look at the "Arrest" of a tremendous man of God...

First of all as we look at vs. 1-5 we see...

I. A HUMAN SOUL PURSUING IT’S OWN COURSE

Paul was on His way to Damascus with the full authority of the high Priest, elders and rulers of the Jews to bring the Christians, or those who had forsaken the Jewish traditions to Jerusalem for punishment...

It was Paul’s duty to make life as miserable as possible for the "Christians" of that day...

And he was one of the best and most zealous...

As we look into Acts 8:1,3,4 we see that Paul stood by while Stephen was stoned to death after preaching to the people...

Acts 8:1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Acts 8:3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.

Acts 8:4 Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.

vs. 20 of chapter 22 tells us that Paul stood by while the others stoned Stephen, and held the garments of those who were stoning....

No doubt he was smiling and very pleased that another of those crazy Christians had been killed as Stephen died there at his feet...

Paul was on the wrong course, and didn’t even know it...

Acts 9:1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,

Paul was a man on a mission, and yet the terrible thing about it was, he believed that he was doing the will of God....

vs. 3 of our text tells us that he was zealous toward God, and was trying to keep the perfect will of God...

Paul was a religious person trained in the Jewish ways of tradition and living, and he thought he was doing all he could to please God, but in reality was pitted against almighty God...

Matthew 12:30 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.

Acts 5:39 But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.

So we see that according to scripture, it is possible to be sincerely earnest about what we are doing, but be sincerely wrong in the way we are going...

Prov 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Paul was going down a road that he thought was the way of life, and the right thing in his mind...

Why did Paul want to kill the Christians? Because they were telling of the freedom that Christ brought, and that no longer should the people be bound to the Jewish law and traditions...

The religious people didn’t take Jesus lightly when he was here on the earth, and they didn’t take these radical Christians lightly, and they won’t take you lightly when you start living for Christ in a committed manner...

When the will of God, and approval of God means more to you than the approval of man....

When your intensity of service brings out their passiveness of commitment, the religious crowd always gets upset...

Paul was part of the religious crowd who got angry with people who were turning the world upside down with the Gospel of Jesus Christ...

You see, Paul was full of religion at this time, but he wasn’t full of Christ...