Paul, the Model Convert
Chuck Sligh
August 2, 2015
TEXT: Acts 9:10-31 – “And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. 11 And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, 12 And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. 13 Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: 14 And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. 15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: 16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. 17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. 18 And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. 19 And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus. 20 And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. 21 But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests? 22 But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ.
23 And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him: 24 But their laying await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him. 25 Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket. 26 And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. 28 And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem. 29 And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they went about to slay him. 30 Which when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus. 31 Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.”
INTRODUCTION
The apostle Paul is one of the most interesting characters in the Bible. From the moment of his conversion, which we saw last week in verses 1-9, you see a whirlwind of activity, for which each of us should be grateful—for the fact that we in the West have the Gospel is largely due to Paul’s unceasing efforts to evangelize the world.
Paul became one of the greatest Christians in history. He preached Christ boldly; he established churches all over the Roman Empire; he formulated, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, most of the basic doctrine of the New Testament; he endured courageously unrelenting persecution and opposition; and he wrote more than half of the books in the New Testament.
Now don’t get the idea that Paul was perfect, because he wasn’t! He was a sinner just like you and me and time and time again in his writings he admits how far short of the standard he felt he was. Yet Paul was without a doubt a model Christian in just about every way you can think of. Beginning in Acts 13 you observe Paul as the model preacher and missionary. Later, in his inspired letters you see Paul the model leader of men and theologian.
But not only was Paul a model for us in these areas in his life. He was also a model in his growth as a new Christian.
You see, he had to start as a baby Christian just like you and I did. What helped him advance from spiritual BABYHOOD to spiritual MATURITY?
The answer is found in our text. In Acts 9:10-31, we see Saul just after he had come to faith in Christ (Saul, remember, was Paul’s pre-Christian name). Let’s look what he did that helped him to grow into the great Christian he became. Any new Christian will be successful in the Christian life if he follows Saul’s example.
I. FIRST, WE SEE THAT HE PRAYED – Verse 11 – “And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth.”
Saul had been converted to Christ on the road to Damascus and what is the first thing we see him doing?—PRAYING!
Praying is one of the most important weapons in the Christian’s arsenal. Unfortunately, prayer is like nuclear weapons—extremely powerful, but rarely used!
Christians who do not pray rob themselves of spiritual strength and special blessings to help them in their walk with God.
Someone asked a great preacher once what were the three most important things to be successful in the Christian life and he replied, “Prayer is the first, second, and third most important things for the Christian worker.”
Even as a brand new baby Christian, Saul wanted to be in communication with God.
Illus. – Billy Sunday once said this:
Some Christians seem to look upon God as a kind of spare tire. A spare tire is forgotten for months at a time until suddenly we have a flat on the road. Then we want the spare tire to be in good condition, ready for use. Just so, many forget God during all the times when things go well. Then in an emergency they want God to be on hand, immediately ready to hear and answer their cry of distress.
I hope you don’t see God as a spare tire to call on only when you get in a jam. Spend some time in prayer every day; talk to the Lord all day long; keep sins confessed through prayer the moment you sin; go to sleep talking to God.
II. NOTICE SECONDLY THAT SAUL WAS IMMEDIATELY BAPTIZED – Verse 18 – “And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.”
Saul, you’ll recall from last week, started on a trip to Damascus to persecute Christians. On that road, Jesus met him and Saul was converted to Christ on the spot. However, he had been blinded by the bright light from heaven. Now in verse 18 his sight is restored, and as soon as he was able to see, the Bible says, “he arose and was baptized.”
The New Testament has much to say about baptism. All believers are commanded to be baptized in Matthew 29:19. Romans 6 teaches the meaning of baptism. It is a symbol of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Not everything that is called “baptism” by churches and religious leaders is in fact scriptural baptism.
Examining all verse in the New Testament about baptism, four important truths emerge:
• First, in the New Testament, people were baptized only AFTER their salvation.
You can search your New Testament from beginning to end and you’ll not find one instance of salvation of an infant, nor is infant baptism ever commanded, nor is it so much as alluded to. Every instance of baptism was subsequent to believing in Jesus Christ.
• The second thing we see about baptism in the Bible is that it has NO saving merit.
It’s seen as an independent act AFTER salvation, having no saving value. The thief on the cross went to heaven with Jesus, but he was never baptized.
John 4:2 tells us that Jesus never baptized, but left the job to His disciples. – Jesus said in Luke 19:10 that He came to “…seek and to save that which was lost,” so it’s inconceivable that if baptism were necessary for salvation, that He would have relegated such an important task to others.
Since Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:14-17 that of all those he had won to Christ in Corinth, he only baptized two of them, the rest having been baptized by helpers. – Paul wouldn’t have done that if baptism was essential to salvation.
• Third, baptism in the New Testament was always total IMMERSION.
Over and over again when people were baptized in the New Testament we read that they “went DOWN INTO the water” and, then they “came UP OUT OF the water”—odd things to do to merely be sprinkled or poured on! The Greek word for baptize means to “to dip” and was the same word used of cloth workers when they dyed their cloth.
In order to dye cloth, it has to be COMPLETELY SUBMERGED. Besides that, only immersion clearly symbolizes the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. (DEMONSTRATE WITH ARM MOTIONS)
• Finally, baptism in the New Testament is always IMMEDIATE.
In every case, people were baptized the same day they were saved. There’s no command to be baptized the same day of salvation, but we’re left with the distinct impression of the importance and urgency of baptism. I see no warrant for delaying people being baptized until they show real fruit of salvation, or until they have take discipleship classes, and so on. Baptism in the Bible is always immediately after one’s conversion to Christ.
If you are a believer and have never obeyed the Lord in believer’s baptism, you would do well to imitate Saul and be baptized by immersion without delay. Let’s talk and I’ll arrange for you to be baptized at the earliest opportunity.
III. NOTE NEXT THAT RIGHT AFTER SAUL WAS BAPTIZED, HE WITNESSED FOR CHRIST – verse 20 – “And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.”
He didn’t wait until he had been through an evangelism course to start witnessing. Verse 20 says he preached Christ in the synagogues “straightway,” the old English word which means “immediately.”
You say, “Brother Sligh, I can’t preach. I’ve never been to seminary.” Well, you’re misunderstanding the word used here. The word translated “preached” here doesn’t necessarily mean formal preaching from a pulpit, although it includes that too. The word used in the Greek simply means “to proclaim.”
You don’t have to have a B.A. or a D.D. or a PhD. after your name in order to “preach Christ” unless…
by B.A. you mean boldness and availability…
or by D.D. you mean dedication and determination
or by PhD. you mean power, hope and dependency.
“Preaching Christ” is just a term referring to witnessing and sharing your faith.
So, are you “preaching Christ”? Are you WITNESSING? Are you SHARING YOUR FAITH IN CHRIST? Are you doing everything in your power to get your lost friends and loved ones and coworkers to church where they can hear the Gospel preached?
God help us to witness for our Lord—to “proclaim Christ.”
IV. FOURTHLY, NOTE THAT SAUL GREW STRONG IN FAITH – Verses 22 – “But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ.”
Saul “increased the more in strength.” In other words, he grew stronger in his faith; he didn’t stay static. He started out as a baby Christian, with all the weaknesses a baby believer has, but he got stronger in his Christian life.
We’ve looked at some keys to growth already, but let me share two that are not in the text that are taught elsewhere in God’s Word, but I think are very important.
• First is to regularly take in God’s Word.
The Word of God is often compared to food in the Bible.
You cannot grow strong without food. The Bible is your spiritual food; it’s what feeds your spiritual life. It’s what nourishes you and makes you strong.
But some people only get a dose of God’s Word once a week at church. That’s the only spiritual meal they get in a week’s time. Now how strong would you be if you only ate one meal a week?
READ GOD’S WORD DAILY if you want to grow strong in the Lord.
Now be sensible about it. If you’re a baby Christian, don’t start in the book of Leviticus or Ezekiel. Start with the Gospels of John or Mark in the New Testament, and then go over to 1 Corinthians or Ephesians, or something like that. In the Old Testament, Psalms and Proverbs are always good reading, no matter how old you are in your Christian life. Pretty soon, if you’ll stay with it, you’ll gain increased understanding of God’s Word as you work up to the harder books of the Bible.
The main thing is to get into the Word—even if only a chapter or two a day!
• Another key is to immediately confess and forsake sin in your life.
Sin is like deliberately exposing yourself to a bacterial infection. Most bacteria won’t kill you, but they will weaken you. Every time you sin, it makes you spiritually sick a little. It causes you to lose spiritual strength; it weakens you. The goal is to be like Saul and GET STRONGER, not weaker.
So how do you get strong again if you’ve caught an infection? Why, you go to the doctor.
In 1 John 1:9 we are told, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
If you go to the doctor and admit to the doctor you exposed yourself to an infectious bacteria, he can give you an antibiotic to make you well. And when you go to the Lord—the Great Physician—and admit your sins to Him, He will cleanse you from all unrighteousness. The medicine of God’s forgiveness will restore you to spiritual health and make you strong again. So be sensitive to God and obey the Lord in every area of your life—and you’ll grow increasingly stronger in your Christian life. But when you fail God and sin—and you will—then without delay go to the Lord and admit you have sinned and be restored to fellowship with God.
V. NOTICE LAST THAT SAUL JOINED A LOCAL CHURCH – Verse 26 – “And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple.”
The first thing Saul did when he moved to Jerusalem was to join himself with the disciples of the church in that city. Likewise, every Christian should join and be a part of a local New Testament church.
In 1 Corinthians 12, Saul likens the church to a body and each believer as a member of that body—an eye or an arm or a liver, or a toe, or gall bladder, and so on. Now we know that a body part that is not attached to a body is abnormal.
Illus. – Suppose you walk down the street and you see an eyeball floating by. A couple of minutes later an arm wafts by—very friendly—waving to you. You’d say, “That’s it. Check me in to the nearest psychiatric hospital. I’m losing my mind.” You see, a body part not attached to a body is abnormal.
So is a Christian who is not part of a local church.
The local church is the only institution Jesus established on this earth. God wants you to be a member of a biblically sound local church. God wants you to get under the authority of the spiritual leaders of a local church. God wants you to have a group of spiritual people to whom you are accountable. God wants you to have a place to serve in and be edified in and to edify others in and grow in.
Find out where God wants you to join and be a apart of that local assembly and be faithful to its services and give to it and support it and pray for it and serve in it.
CONCLUSION
So that’s the story of Paul’s early days as a baby Christian. No wonder Saul became the great Apostle Paul. No wonder he became a model Christian—an example for every one of us to follow.
I don’t know about you, but I want to be a strong Christian, to grow in the faith and purity and consistency and faithfulness and usefulness, to be an example for others to follow. And I want that for each of you as well.
How can you start down the path to victory the Apostle Paul trod?
• By obeying the Lord without delay by being baptized by immersion.
• By keeping in close touch with the Lord through prayer.
• By witnessing and sharing the Gospel with others.
• By the reading of God’s Word on a regular, systematic basis.
• By keeping short accounts with God by regularly confessing sin to God.
• And by joining and becoming an active part of a local New Testament church.
