From This To That

Illus: Conversion is generally a religious word. However, through life we have many conversions, such as:

• Some are converted in politics from one party to another

• Some are converted in the sports world from one team to another

• Some are converted in the music world from one style of music to another

• Some are converted in the food world from liking one food to another

• Some are converted in the car industry from one brand of car to another

• Some are converted from one form of religion to another

But one thing you can say about Baptists is that they will tell you up front, “I was born Baptist and I will die Baptist!” And they mean it! They do not plan to convert.

Illus: They are set in their ways, and like the old cigarette commercial, they had rather fight than switch!

When it comes to being set in their ways, someone said this about Baptists:

• They think God’s presence is strongest in the back 3 pews

• They think fellowship and food go together

• They think Amazing Grace should be the National Anthem

• They dream of fried chicken and have the urge to get up and preach

• They judge the quality of the sermon by the amount of sweat on the preacher’s face

• They know all the words to, "Just As I Am”

It is good to be set in our ways about some things, but there are some things in this life that we do have change, “FROM THIS TO THAT!”

Spiritually, when we are converted we are no longer the same old sinful creature we have always been, we become a NEW CREATURE.

In our text, we have an unusual conversion account of the apostle Paul. We can truly say that he changed, “FROM THIS TO THAT!”

At one time he literally hated Christianity, yet we see him switch from JUDAISM to CHRISTIANITY!

How did this happen? Before we see how he switched from a CHRISTIAN KILLER to a CHRISTIAN LOVER, let’s look at his life BEFORE and AFTER!

The scripture tells us about his life before he was saved. We see he was -

I. A MEAN MAN

Look at Acts 9:1-2. “And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.”

This passage of scripture reveals that Saul (Paul) was a mean man before he got saved. The Bible says he was, “…breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord…”

I’d call that pretty mean, wouldn’t you? When people go around saying MEAN THINGS, they should not be surprised when they develop the reputation of being a MEAN PERSON.

Some people can be really mean, especially with their words.

In Prov. 12:18, we read, “There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword...”

The Bible reveals that Paul was a mean Jew before conversion, as he went around BREATHING OUT THREATENINGS!

If anyone says unkind things to us, we think of them as being a mean person. If a person went around the way Paul did before he was converted, destroying churches, we definitely would say he was a mean person.

Illus: Do you remember the woman they called, “The Queen of Mean”? She was a hotel owner by the name of Leona Helmsley. She died in 2007 and she was worth 5 billion dollars.

She had a flamboyant personality and had a reputation for her tyrannical behavior that earned her the nickname, "Queen of Mean."

The image of Helmsley was revealed when a former housekeeper testified that she heard Helmsley say: "We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes."

She was convicted of federal income tax evasion and other crimes in 1989 and served 19 months in prison (and two more months in house arrest), after receiving an initial sentence of 16 years.

She was rumored as mistreating her employees. Behind the scenes, she was considered arrogant, prone to shouting and firing employees on the spot. SHE HAD THE REPUTATION OF BEING A MEAN WOMAN!

Saul (Paul) had the reputation of being a MEAN MAN! We could say a lot more about Paul being a mean man before conversion, but we need to bring it down to where we live.

Illus: A fourth grade girl thought she was in love with a boy in her class. She put a love note on his desk asking him if he would be her boyfriend. The note gave three choices:

• Check yes

• Check no

• Check maybe