Becoming Blind to See
(Acts 9:1-9)
1. Kokomo Tribune writer Scott Smith wrote an article for the Kokomo Tribune headlined, "Dam destruction part of Wildcat Creek’s revival." It reads:
"The water upstream from the old Continental Steel dam looks almost stagnant. The streambed is deep, and the surface untroubled. But the lack of rills and whitewater along that stretch of the Wildcat Creek troubles Garry Hill, a founding member of the Wildcat Guardians advocacy group. Any kind of old, small dam like that does nothing but create an unnatural situation in the streambed,” Hill said Tuesday. “The sediment collected behind the dam becomes a collection of everything a community puts into a river." Remove the dam, and the creek will return to its natural channel, Hill said. The stagnant smells upstream at Foster Park will disappear. Small rapids will begin to appear where before everything was placid. Next month, Hill will be on hand to witness the destruction of the concrete structure, which now sits in the middle of the Wildcat along Park Road."
2. Sometimes it takes a radical removal of something to make a positive change.
3. The same is true in the realm of individual lives. Sometimes our God has to act in major ways to begin the process of transforming a sinner into a saint, a skeptic into a believer, a rebel into a follower. In all cases, the new birth is a miracle.
Main Idea: Our Sovereign Lord is able to abduct, smite, and transform.
I. The Great TRANSITION
The conversion of Saul is so crucial Luke repeats it three times from different angles.
A. Saul, the thorough and LEGAL persecutor (1-2)
1. Personally fierce (1a)
The word "still" makes us pause.
• Despite the stoning of Stephen, Saul’s wrath was not relieved.
• Despite the scattering of the church, Saul was not satisfied.
• Despite the testimony of those he persecuted, he was unfazed.
• We might say that his appetite for persecution was increasing.
Paul had studied under the Rabbi Gamaliel, but, unlike Gamaliel who was patient and gentle, Paul was young, idealistic, aggressive a no-nonsense crusader. He took it upon himself to prevent what he viewed as a new cult, a new heresy -- from defiling Judaism.
2. Followed protocol (1b-2)
Acts 26:4-11, “My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know. They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. To this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. For this hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?
“Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them . And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities."
3. Note that early believers were called "The Way."
Julie Ackerman recalls asking, " How did everything get so dirty so fast?" I grumbled as I dusted the glass tabletop. "I had the whole house clean a month ago."
"Cleaning is a way of life, not an event," my husband responded.
I know he’s right, but I hate to admit it. I want to clean the house once and have it stay that way. But dirt doesn’t surrender that easily. Speck by speck, the dust returns. Piece by piece, the clutter piles up.
Being part of God’s "Way" is both an event and a way of life. Jesus is the way of salvation, as He made clear in John 14:6. But commitment to Him demands a way -- a pattern of living -- as He has directed in His Word.
B. Saul is abducted by SOVEREIGN GRACE (3-4)
1. Damascus, Syria, about 135 miles north of Jerusalem
2. Persecuting a Christian is persecuting Christ
Matthew 25:40, ""The King will reply, ’I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’"
C. The Living Christ CONFRONTS him (5)
Paul must have thought, "So the rumors about the resurrection were true! What have I been doing?"
Paul had viewed himself as the servant of God, the righteous one. He was preventing the spread of a spiritual gangrene, from his perspective. Now, in a flash, he realized that he was the unrighteous one, fighting against God.
Sincerity of intent does not guarantee truth, but it does make one trench in.
Islamic terrorists believe they are serving God. Unlike Paul, they target random people. But the motive -- religious zeal -- is the same.
Not only does Jesus reveal Himself to Saul as Messiah and Lord, but He also informs him that Saul will take the message of Jesus to the gentiles, according to Acts 26:14-18
And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. 17 I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, 18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’
D. He IMMEDIATELY submits himself to his new Lord (6)
E. Bystanders KNEW something had happened (7)
They heard the voice, but could not understand it. According to Acts 26, the voice of Jesus spoke to Paul in Hebrew.
F. Saul was made BLIND so that he could see (8-9)
He was so traumatized, so shocked, had so much to process that he didn’t even eat or drink. This blinding is probably part of Jesus’ plan to humble Paul -- and to give him time to process what had happened.
Our Sovereign Lord is able to abduct, smite, and transform.
II. God Is Still in the Abducting and TRANSFORMING Business
A. Persecution is much worse now than it was THEN
B. God still saves people by His Sovereign ZAP
• What do we mean by "Sovereign Grace"
• "We believe that God is sovereign over all things, including the salvation of individual sinners, and that all things, including salvation, have as their ultimate goal the glory of God." [www.sovereigngraceministries.org]
In 1990, there were only three known Christians in Kazakhstan and no Christians in Uzbekistan, but now more than 15,000 in Kazakhstan and 30, 000 in Uzbekistan. There were only 500 Christians in Iran on 1979, but more than one million Iranians believing Jesus Christ today, most of whom meet in underground house churches.
In Sudan, more than one million have converted since 2000, and some 5 million have become Christians since the early 1990s, despite a radical Islamic regime and an on-going genocide that has killed more than 200,000. Seminaries are being held in caves to train pastors to shepherd the huge numbers of people coming to Christ. Why such a dramatic spiritual awakening? "People have seen real Islam, and they want Jesus instead," one Sudanese evangelical leader said.
One of the most dramatic developments is that many Muslims -- including Shiites in Iran and Iraq -- are seeing dreams and visions of Jesus and thus coming into churches explaining that they have already converted and now need a Bible and guidance on how to follow Jesus. [source: www.islam-watch.org]
C. Jesus is a "Get in your face" CONFRONTER
The real disposition of Jesus is largely unknown in Christendom. Jesus is presented as both more than a man and less than a man. He IS more than a man, but He is not less than a man. He was kind, but not nice.
1. Jesus was generally aggressive, not passive.
2. He was passive at His death out of choice, not weakness.
3. One definition of the word "confront" is, to face or oppose boldly"
4. Jesus was bold before His crucifixion and He is bold today; the wimpy, feminized Jesus may be okay for 3 year olds, but some of us need to grow up.
5. Did you know that Jesus gets not only disappointed but angry when we go our own way?
6.
Read His comments in Revelation 2-3, or picture Him throwing over the Tables
D. Submission to God is the sign of BROKENNESS, not tears
1. Talk is cheap and emotions can be shallow; but submission to God -- that’s the sign of a broken Christian. By broken, I mean broken, as a trained horse is broken. Broken of rebellion, broken of self-will. Paul was broken in a moment.
2. Jesus asked, "Why do you call me, ’Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?" Luke 6:46.
3. In Muslim religion, "Islam" means submission. They have the right idea but the wrong God! None of us, I believe, are ever fully or permanently broken in this life. I think we are multi-layered beings. A matter of degree. Paul came close to being fully broken -- perhaps closer than anyone since Paul.
E. Bystanders know something has happened when God has done a WORK in us
They did (1) not see the light, and (2) they could hear the noise of speech, but either could not make out the speech or they did not know the language; they could hear, but not with understanding (this is the way the Greek is worded). They saw that Paul was blinded, and later found out that he could see.
Lost people can detect we are different, but that is as far as it goes. The men with Paul may have been Temple guards, we don’t know; but we do know that there is no record of them coming to faith.
Our Sovereign Lord is able to abduct, smite, and transform.
