As we begin this message we need to look at this man named Saul. He was:
1)Very religious – blameless according to the Law of Moses, a Pharisee among Pharisees, very zealous for the faith of his fathers and absolutely convinced that he was doing the Will of God.
2)Rich Heritage – a Jew among Jews, born into the tribe of Benjamin
3)Well educated – Trained at the feet of Gamaliel, one of Israel’s greatest teachers of the day
4)Ambitious – advancing quickly up the ranks of the Pharisees and had ability, desire and talent far above his peers.
5)Full of bitterness and hatred – hated anything and anyone who could be a threat to the things that he believed, and those who would cause trouble for his people and those who opposed the teachings of the high priest and the Law of Moses. He hated those who preached and taught heresy against the Law that had led Israel for so many years.
6)A man of Loyalty – sought out the permission and approval of the High Priest before he acted
READ verses 1-2. Saul was on his way to do the Will of God as he traveled to Damascus – at least what he thought was God’s will. Saul was destined for a confrontation, for change and for the greatest challenge of his life!
I want you to know that we are traveling down that road too! Too many Christians are convinced that they are the only ones that are right. We have become such a self-centered church (the church in general) that we think that we have the right and moral and spiritual obligation to fight against anything and anybody that is different.
Just like Saul, we set out on our journey to defend the faith with “blood in our eye”. We are determined to confront, convert or convict anyone who doesn’t agree with us. There is no love for the lost – only condemnation and judgment for what we see as “sinners who hate God.” The majority of those who claim to know Christ today are bent on confrontation with the world and with the society around them.
Show your support by joining our March, or walking our picket line, or boycotting our enemy or blocking the entrance to a building or any number of methods of disrupting the plans of those we consider as our enemies. I am as much, if not more, against many of the same things that these well-meaning and totally convinced people are, but I believe that there is a far better way to bring about the changes that are needed.
Saul headed out ready for confrontation with the enemy of the Law of Moses. He rode along with his vigilante committee with the permission of the High Priest. He would do everything within his own power to stop the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ and to arrest or kill his followers.
READ v. 3. Suddenly – a blinding flash of light knocked him off his high horse.
GOD KNOWS HOW TO GET YOUR ATTENTION! God showed up and interrupted Saul’s plans. God shot a laser beam of light out of the throne room of Heaven and knocked Paul to the ground.
Suddenly all of the education, the plans, the hatred, the condemnation that had been controlling Saul was erased in one quick flash and Saul became the accused and the condemned. The God of Heaven had hunted down the hunter and felled his prey.
READ v. 4. Saul had not really heard the voice of God. He had listened only to the voice of religion and of the world. But now he heard a different voice – a voice with power and authority that shook him to the core of his soul. Think about this voice that Saul heard. Do you realize that:
This same voice had spoken the world into existence?
This same voice had called to Adam in the Garden.
This same voice had spoken judgment upon Satan, the serpent and all of creation as a result of sin.
This same voice had spoken to Moses on Mt. Sinai and given the Law.
This same voice had spoken to Lazarus and raised him from the dead.
This same voice had raised the Window’s son at Nain.
This same voice had caused the Soldiers to fall backward in the Garden of Gethsemane.
This same voice had cried out, “it is finished” as he paid the price of redemption on the cross.
This same voice cries out to us today – follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
This same voice speaks to each of you – this is my will for your life, now do it.
This same voice will someday say to us “Well done my good and faithful servant.”
I want to hear his voice –I want to be a sheep of his fold – I want to know his voice.
When that voice came from Heaven, Saul knew this was no ordinary voice, but he didn’t know the Lord and didn’t recognize him. But Jesus had come to make a change in Saul’s life, so He revealed his identity to Saul.
READ v. 5-6. I AM JESUS – the one you are really fighting against, the one you are really condemning, the one you are really persecuting – I AM JESUS CHRIST, THE KING OF KING AND LORD OF LORDS, CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE – I AM THAT I AM!
It’s kind of funny how a person often knows and confesses that it’s the Lord dealing with them, yet they don’t really know the Lord—not really, not personally. A person has to cry out, “Who are you Lord? Tell me, show me who You are.”
READ v. 7. Now those around him didn’t hear what Paul heard. They weren’t ready to hear. They were witnesses to the event but they weren’t privileged to see or know what was really happening. They were like the world today; the saw the miracle of conversion, yet they never opened their own minds and hearts to see the light of the Lord, to hear the voice of God, to confront the Lord, to call upon the Lord, surrendering to obey Him. God comes to each person in His own time and in the way that He knows will reach that person. People who haven’t heard the voice cannot understand and cannot know what we are all about. They only know that we are different – that something has interrupted our lives and changed us in a flash.
Some earthly minded preachers have said that Paul’s experience was:
1)Heat stroke from the desert sun.
2)Paul was struck by a bolt of lightning on a clear day and he only thought he heard a voice.
3)Paul had an epileptic seizure.
Charles Spurgeon, the great preacher of the past said, “If that’s true, I wish that all men could have epilepsy.”
Man is always trying to explain away the things of the supernatural. To admit that there is really a world of the supernatural is to also admit that Heaven and God and Hell and the Devil are also real and man can’t face the idea that he isn’t the final authority on anything. Paul was confronted with the Light from Heaven, coming down from the Father of Lights.
When we are confronted with the Light of Jesus by hearing His Word preached or the eyes of our spirit are opened and the light of love flows in, we can’t help but be changed. We can then choose to change and follow the Light or we can choose to close our eyes and walk into the depths of darkness.
Saul didn’t stand up and look into that light and say, “Look at me, I’m Saul, Look at who I am”. All that Saul was, all that he knew, all that he had planned suddenly meant nothing.
Without Jesus we are nothing, we can do nothing outside of His power within us, we can accomplish nothing for the kingdom of God without Jesus.
Just as you take a stick with a sharp point and drive cattle into the pen or the barn, The HOLY GHOST and the Word of God act as a sharp goad to constantly push us toward the Cross of Christ. We can kick against it, fight against it, try to forget about it, but the goading continues. It isn’t God’s will that anyone should perish and He is constantly trying to reach us and turn us back.
Saul had been goaded before too:
1)At the stoning of Stephen – Saul stood by and held the coats of those who threw the stones – something about the words and actions of Stephen as he died touched the heart of Saul but he fought the feelings of guilt and condemnation in his own heart.
2)At the feet of Gamaliel – as the teacher of the Pharisees warned him to leave the followers of Jesus alone when he warned the entire council to not fight against God
3)The boldness of Peter and the other disciples as they preached the gospel message with power and authority after the Day of Pentecost. – there had to be more to this than met the eye.
READ v. 8-9. Saul was instantly and eternally changed in the flash of light.
Where he was threatening, now he was trembling. Where he was in control, now he was under God’s control. Where he could see his future under his own control, now he was blind to the world around him and blind to the future that law before him.
For three days Saul was blind – that gave him time to focus on the things that God wanted him to do. It gave him time to think about his life, to repent and learn to depend on God’s voice and leading in his life. It gave him time to wonder why Jesus chose him to confront and to wonder what Jesus wanted with Him.
Sometimes God must lead us into a blind corner and take away our ability to do anything before we will stop long enough and listen close enough to hear His voice.
And that leads to some final questions for us. WHAT DO YOU WANT OUT OF LIFE? Will we walk in our own power and understanding? Will we fight battles in the flesh and try to use our own strength to change the world? Or will we be changed by the light? Will we preach the gospel and let Jesus change the world? It’s up to us!
