A STREET CALLED STRAIGHT
ACTS 9:1-19
THERE ARE A FEW EVENTS THAT HAPPEN, IN OUR LIVES THAT WE REMEMBER PARTICULARLY WELL. WE CAN PICTURE THEM VIVIDLY, NO MATTER HOW FAR THE YEARS SEPARATE US FROM THE EVENT, IT SEEMS AS IF IT WERE JUST YESTERDAY.
THESE EVENTS NEED NOT ALWAYS BE GOOD OR MAJOR IN THE STORY OF LIFE, BUT FOR SOME REASON THEY REMAIN SIGNIFICANT TO US. THESE EVENTS COULD BE: THE BIRTH OF YOUR FIRST CHILD
THE DEATH OF A LOVED ONE
WHEN YOU MET THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE
PERHAPS IT WAS A SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENT
I WOULD LIKE TO ADD TO THAT OUR CONVERSION EXPERIENCE, THE DAY YOU ASKED THE LORD JESUS TO COME INTO YOUR LIFE AS SAVIOR AND LORD.
I BECAME A CHRISTIAN ON OCTOBER 03, 1974, AT A YOUTH EVENT, AT THE MAUGERVILLE BAPTIST CHURCH DOWN ON THE SAINT JOHN RIVER. DR. STUART MURRAY WAS THE SPEAKER AND IT WAS AN EVENING SERVICE, BECAUSE IT WAS HELD ON A SCHOOL DAY. MAC PURDY WAS MY COUNSELOR. IT WAS NOT A DRAMATIC CHANGE AS I HAD BEEN GOING TO CHURCH ALL MY LIFE, BUT I DO REMEMBER FEELING LIKE A LOAD HAD BEEN LIFTED OFF MY SHOULDERS. THE ONLY THING I CAN’T REMEMBER WAS THE EXACT DAY. I REMEMBER THE OCTOBER 03RD PART BECAUSE IT WAS MY PHYSICAL BIRTHDAY AS WELL.
WHAT IF YOUR CONVERSION EXPERIENCE LASTED MORE THAN ONE DAY? WHAT IF YOU KNEW THE PLANNING THAT WENT INTO YOUR CONVERSION BEFORE IT HAPPENED? DO WE REALLY KNOW WHO THE KEY CHARACTERS WERE IN OUR CONVERSION?
IF WE WERE TO EXAMINE OUR CONVERSION EXPERIENCES, MOST OF US COULD RELATE TO THE CONVERSION EXPERIENCE OF PAUL IN SOME WAY.
WE ALL HAD A TYPE OF DAMASCUS ROAD EXPERIENCE, ALTHOUGH NOT AS DRAMATIC AS SAUL’S. SAUL’S DAMACUS ROAD EXPERIENCE SET THE STAGE FOR WHAT WAS TO HAPPEN AT JUDAS’ HOUSE IN DAMASCUS. IT WAS THE START OF HIS CONVERSION, BUT NOT THE FINISH OF HIS EXPERIENCE.
IF WE LOOK BACK AT OUR CONVERSION WE WILL SEE THAT WE TOO HAD SEVERAL OCCASIONS WHERE THE GOSPEL WAS PRESENTED TO US, OR WHERE WE REMEMBERED, PERHAPS FROM OUR YOUTH, WHEN THE GOSPEL WAS PRESENTED, THAT LEADS US TO THE POINT OF OPENING OUR HEARTS TO THE LORD. I ATTENDED MANY SUCH YOUTH RALLYS WITH MY FRIENDS BEFORE GOD SPOKE TO ME AT THIS PARTICULAR ONE.
THERE WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE INVOLVED IN MY CONVERSION THAT I WILL NEVER KNOW, AND SOME WHO DID NOT KNOW UNTIL THAT NIGHT THAT THEY WOULD HAVE A PART TO PLAY IN IT. ANANIAS DID NOT KNOW UNTIL GOD SPOKE TO HIM THAT HE WAS TO GO TO SAUL. MAC PURDY DID NOT KNOW HE WAS GOING TO SPEAK TO ME UNTIL THAT NIGHT IN MAUGERVILLE. THE IMPORTANT THING IS THAT ANANIAS AND MAC HAD MADE THE SAME PROMISE TO GOD. IN THE WORDS OF THE HYMNWRITER “WHERE YOU LEAD ME I WILL FOLLOW.” THEY WERE PREPARED TO LEAD PEOPLE TO THE LORD AND READY WHEN THE OPPORTUNITY PRESENTED ITSELF.
BUT THERE WERE OTHERS INVOLVED. JUDAS OWNED THE HOUSE WHERE SAUL WAS TOLD TO STAY. HE HAD TO BE OPEN TO IT. THE MEN WITH SAUL HAD TO HELP HIM TO THE HOUSE, WHICH WOULD BE QUITE DRAMATIC WHEN YOU CONSIDER IT WAS AFTER THE EVENTS ON THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS.
THERE IS ONE GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT WERE INVOLVED IN OUR CONVERSION THAT WE WILL NEVER KNOW ABOUT, BUT WHO WERE VITAL. THEY WERE THE PRAYER WARRIORS, THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO PRAYED FOR THE SPIRIT TO MOVE THAT NIGHT IN MAUGERVILLE. THESE WERE THE PEOPLE WHO WOULD PRAY FOR NAMELESS INDIVIDUALS WHO WOULD BE IN THE CHURCH THAT NIGHT.
THERE WERE MANY PEOPLE PRAYING FOR YOUR CONVERSION AS WELL. SOME PEOPLE ARE CALLED TO PRAY FOR PEOPLE IN HOTEL ROOMS DUE TO WORK, ON THE STREETS, HOMELESS, AND FOR THOSE WHO ARE CONTEMPLATING SUICIDE.
WE MAY NEVER MEET THESE PEOPLE THIS SIDE OF HEAVEN, BUT THEY ARE COMMITTED TO PRAYING FOR NAMELESS SOULS, AND HAVE MADE THE DIFFERENCE FOR THOUSANDS.
BUT IF YOU WERE A CHRISTIAN AT THE TIME OF SAUL OF TARSUS, WOULD YOU DARE TO THANK GOD FOR SUCH A MAN? IN OUR WORLD IT WOULD BE LIKE THANKING GOD FOR THE LEADER OF NORTH KOREA, HITLER, THE MAN WHO KILLED THE MANY CHILDREN IN THAT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL JUST BEFORE CHRISTMAS. COULD YOU DARE TO THANK GOD FOR THE PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE BOSTON MARATHON BOMBINGS?
OBVIOUSLY WE DO NOT THANK GOD THAT THESE EVENTS TOOK PLACE. I DON’T BELIEVE WE SHOULD EVER WELCOME MURDER. I’M SURE THAT WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THESE INDIVIDUALS THAT YOUR PRAYER WOULD NOT BE FOR THEIR SALVATION BUT FOR THEIR “REMOVAL” SO THAT EVENTS LIKE THIS COULD NOT HAPPEN BY OTHER PEOPLE IN THE FUTURE.
AS CHRISTIANS THOUGH WE HAVE TO CLAIM GOD’S PROMISE OF ROMANS 8:28:
ROMANS 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
THIS PROMISE DOES NOT MEAN THAT ALL THINGS WILL WORK FOR THE GOOD TO ALL PEOPLE. GOD DOES NOT SAY THAT HERE. HE SAYS “IN ALL THINGS GOD WORKS FOR THE GOOD OF THOSE WHO LOVE HIM, WHO HAVE BEEN CALLED.”
THIS MEANS THAT GOD WILL BRING TRIUMPH OUT OF TRAGEDY, HOPE OUT OF DESPAIR, BUT ONLY FOR HIS PEOPLE, THOSE WHO ARE FOLLOWING HIM.
OUR CONVERSION WAS AIDED BY PEOPLE WE WILL NEVER KNOW. FOR ME, IT WAS THE PEOPLE WHO PLANNED THE YOUTH EVENT. IT WAS MEL TYLER FOR TAKING A VANLOAD OF KIDS AROUND TO MANY OF THESE EVENTS. STUART MURRAY DIDN’T KNOW THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT WOULD BE CALLING ME THAT NIGHT, BUT HE KNEW THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT WOULD BE TALKING TO SOMEONE.
I’M SURE EACH OF US CAN RELATE TO THE MINISTER WHO ONCE PREACHED A SERMON ENTITLED “WHOSE CONVERT AM I.” I’M EQUALLY CERTAIN THAT IF YOU LOOK BACK ON YOUR OWN CONVERSION EXPERIENCES YOU WILL FIND THAT MOST IF NOT ALL OF US SHARE THIS SAME BACKGROUND THAT SAUL DID. WE ALL HAVE A DAMASCUS ROAD, ALTHOUGH NOT ALL MAY HAVE AS DRAMATIC A DAMASCUS ROAD EXPERIENCE.
THERE ARE MANY THINGS NOTABLE IN SAUL’S CONVERSION AND HERE ARE THREE:
1. SAUL WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR EXPANDING THE REALM OF CHRISTENDOM BEFORE HIS CONVERSION AS WELL AS AFTER IT.
2. SAUL WAS TO PRAY IN DAMASCUS FOR THREE DAYS
3. SAUL CONVERSION WAS ALSO HIS CALL.
BACKGROUND: WHO WAS SAUL?
SAUL WAS A MAN EXTREMELY DEVOTED AND COMMITED TO HIS FAITH. IN OUR WORLD, SAUL WOULD HAVE THE SAME COMPASSION TO FIGHT AGAINST THE CHURCH, THAT MISSIONARIES HAVE WHEN THEY WOULD GO TO FOREIGN LANDS TO EXPAND OUR FAITH.
HE WAS A DEVOUT HENNENISTIC JEW, OF THE TRIBE OF BENJAMIN, A MEMBER OF THE PHARISEES, TAUGHT BY GAMALIEL, WHO BELIEVED THAT THE CHRISTIAN SECT WOULD EVENTUALLY DIE A NATURAL DEATH IF LEFT ALONE.
SAUL DID NOT SHARE THIS VIEW. NOT ONLY DID HE WANT TO RID THE WORLD OF THIS VERMIN CALLED CHRISTIANITY, HE WANTED TO DO IT AS VIOLENTLY AND OPENLY AS POSSIBLE. HE WOULD GO TO VARIOUS CITIES SEEKING THE ARREST OF CHRISTIANS. THEY WOULD BE TRIED, CONVICTED, AND PUNISHED FOR THEIR CRIME, USUALLY BLASPHEMY. THEY COULD BE IMPRISONED OR EVEN KILLED FOR THEIR FAITH. I GUESS WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE WORLD AROUND US, WE REALLY HAVEN’T COME THAT MUCH FURTHER HAVE WE. PEOPLE TODAY ARE STILL BEING IMPRISONED AND KILLED FOR THEIR FAITH.
SAUL WENT TO THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS FOR LETTERS OF INTRODUCTION AS HE WENT TO THESE CITIES, LETTERS THAT WOULD EXPLAIN HIS PURPOSE AND SOLICIT THEIR AID IN HIS QUEST. THE LAST PERSON PEOPLE WOULD EVER EXPECT TO COME TO CHRIST WAS SAUL.
WHO DO YOU THINK THAT GOD CANNOT DO A WORK IN? IS THERE SOMEONE SO POWERFUL AS TO RESIST THE POWER OF GOD. NOW YOU CAN SAY THAT GOD WILL NOT COME TO A PERSON WHO DOESN’T INVITE HIM TO DO SO, BUT WHEN IN THIS ACCOUNT DO WE EVER HEAR OF SAUL SEARCHING FOR GOD. HE HAD THOUGHT HE HAD ALREADY FOUND THE LORD AND WAS DOING HIS WILL IN PERSECUTING CHRISTIANS. SAUL THOUGHT HE WAS DOING MINISTRY. CAN GOD WORK IN THE SOULS OF PEOPLE WITHOUT THEM KNOWING IT AT THE TIME. WHEN WE LOOK AT THE CONVERSION OF SAUL WE HAVE TO SAY YES.
WHAT DOES THIS TELL US? IT TELLS US THAT GOD CAN REACH THE UNREACHABLE, AND THAT IT IS OUR TASK TO PRAY FOR THE UNREACHABLE. WE ARE TO PRAY THAT GOD WILL OPEN THE HEARTS OF THOSE IN PRISON TODAY. WE ARE TO PRAY THAT GOD WILL OPEN THE HEARTS OF THOSE IN POLITICAL LEADERSHIP THAT ARE DRAWING US CLOSE TO WAR. WE ARE TO PRAY FOR THOSE WHO “DESPITEFULLY USE US” THAT GOD WILL DO A WORK IN THEIR LIVES.
THE EVENTS OF SAUL’S CONVERSION:
SAUL’S CONVERSION FOR US IS CLEARLY DESCRIBED BY LUKE IN THE BOOK OF ACTS. HE CLEARLY IDENTIFIES WHO HE IS TALKING TO ON THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS, WHAT HE WAS TOLD TO DO THERE, THE INTENSE LIGHT SAUL SAW, AND THE ROLE OF ANANIAS IN DAMASCUS. LUKE EVEN RECORDS THE TIMING OF SAUL’S CONVERSION OVER THREE DAYS.
THERE ARE THOSE WHO WOULD LIKE TO MINIMIZE THE DAMASCUS ROAD EXPERIENCE OF SAUL. THEY WOULD LIKE TO BE ABLE TO EXPLAIN AWAY WHAT HAPPENED THERE AND PERHAPS TIE IT IN WITH PAUL’S THORNE IN THE FLESH.
WHEN IT COMES TO THE LIGHT WHY WAS SAUL THE ONLY ONE TO BE BLINDED?
THIS QUESTION ASSUMES THAT SAUL’S BLINDNESS WAS CAUSED BY THE LIGHT. WHEN WE READ THE ACCOUNT THOUGH WE FIND THAT HIS BLINDNESS COMES AFTER HIS CONVERSATION WITH JESUS, WHEN HE IS READY TO GO TO JERUSALEM. HIS BLINDNESS WAS NOT OF PHYSICAL ORIGIN BUT SPIRITUAL. THE LIGHT WAS TO INTRODUCE HIM TO THE ONE WHO WAS SPEAKING. HIS BLINDNESS WAS A DRAMATIC LESSON ON CONVERSION. AS JOHN NEWTON SAID “I ONCE WAS BLIND BUT NOW I SEE.” WE SHOULD NOT BE SO QUICK TO ASSUME THAT SAUL’S BLINDNESS WAS A RESULT OF SEEING THE GLORY OF GOD.
PSALM 76:4: “You are resplendent with light, more majestic than mountains rich with game.”
PSALM 104:2: “He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent”
SOME WANT TO SUGGEST THAT SAUL WAS SUFFERING FROM EPILEPSY, WHICH THEY SAY WAS HIS THORNE IN THE FLESH. THEY SAY HE FEEL TO THE GROUND WHILE HAVING A SEIZURE AND HE IMAGINES THAT HE HEARD VOICES. BUT THIS DOESN’T EXPLAIN BEING BLIND FOR THREE DAYS NOR WHAT HAPPENED IN DAMASCUS. IT LEADS ME TO AGREE WITH THE GREAT PREACHER CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON WHO SAID OF THIS:
“ O BLESSED EPILEPSY! WOULD THAT EVERY MAN IN LONDON COULD HAVE EPILEPSY LIKE THAT.”
STILL OTHERS SUGGEST THAT PAUL WAS HIT BY A STROKE OF LIGHTNING. AS HE FELL TO THE GROUND IN A DAZED CONDITION HE THOUGHT HE HEARD A VOICE. AGAIN ONE HAS TO ASK THE QUESTION, EXPLAIN THE TEMPORARY BLINDNESS.
PAUL IS UTTERLY AND UNMOVABLY CONSISTENT IN HIS WRITINGS CONCERNING HIS CONVERSION. HIS ACTIONS FURTHER SUPPORT HIS CONVERSION. WHY THEN SHOULD WE LOOK ANY FURTHER THAN HIS WORD ON THIS MATTER.
ANOTHER EVENT TO NOTE ON SAUL’S CONVERSION IS THAT THERE WAS A THREE DAY INTERVENING PERIOD FROM THE DAMASCUS ROAD TO WHEN HE REGAINED HIS SIGHT.
WE MAY LOOK AT THIS EVENT AND SAY SO WHAT, BUT THE THREE DAY WAITING PERIOD IS CONSISTENT AND IMPORTANT IN SCRIPTURE.
JONAH WAS IN THE BELLY OF THE FISH FOR THREE DAYS. WHY, TO PREPARE HIM FOR HIS MINISTRY. IT WAS A HEAVENLY RETREAT FOR WHAT HE WAS ABOUT TO DO.
JESUS WAS IN THE TOMB FOR THREE DAYS. THIS WAS SO HE COULD BE LEGALLY DECLARED DEAD AND BRING MORE SIGNIFICANE TO THE RESURRECTION AS IF IT NEEDED MORE SIGNIFICANCE.
HERE SAUL IS LEFT IN A WORLD OF DARKNESS FOR THREE DAYS. DID HE KNOW IT WOULD ONLY BE FOR THREE DAYS? WE ARE NOT TOLD, JUST THAT HIS SIGHT WOULD BE RESTORED. SAUL’S BLINDNESS WAS PREPARATORY FOR HIS MINISTRY. HIS SENSES WOULD BE AT AN INCREASED LEVEL. HE WOULD BE FREE FROM THE DISTRACTIONS OF SIGHT AND SO BE ABLE TO PRAY WITH LESS HINDERANCES. HE WOULD BE READY FOR THE CONFIRMATION OF HIS OWN MINISTRY, WHEN ANANIAS WOULD COME AND PRAY FOR HIM.
I THINK WE HAVE TO REMEMBER WHAT A SHOCK THIS IS FOR DEAR BROTHER “SAUL”. HE WAS TO BECOME ONE OF THE GREATEST ADVOCATES FOR THE FOLLOWING THAT HE HAD BEEN DEVOTING HIS LIFE TO PERSECUTING. HE HAD TO COME TO GRIPS WITH THE FACT THAT IT WAS ALL TRUE.
THE LAST THING OF SAULS CONVERSION THAT I WANT TO CONSIDER IS THE PART OF ANANIAS. WHY WAS HE GIVEN THE TASK OF PRAYING FOR PAUL.
WELL, LET ME SUGGEST TO YOU THAT ANANIAS ROLE WAS TO SHOW SAUL THAT WHAT HAPPENED ON THE DAMASCUS ROAD DID IN FACT HAPPEN. HE MAY HAVE DOUBTED HIMSELF. WE ARE TOLD THAT SAUL WAS LOOKING FOR A MAN NAMED ANANIAS IN VERSE 12. WHEN ANANIAS CAME IT WAS A SUPPORT FOR PAUL THAT HE WAS NOT DREAMING BUT EVERYTHING HE SAW WAS TRUE.
ANANIAS BAPTIZED SAUL AND IN FACT HIS PRAYER WAS A PRAYER OF ORDINATION FOR PAUL AND HIS COMMISSIONING.
ANANIAS SERVED AS A WITNESS TO THE CONVERSION OF PAUL FOR FELLOW BELIEVERS.
IN CONCLUSION THERE IS MUCH MORE THAT WE CAN SAY ABOUT PAUL’S CONVERSION, BUT LET’S LOOK AT THE RESULTS.
1. BEFORE PAULS CONVERSION, HIS OPPOSITION AND PERSECUTION OF THE CHURCH WOULD RESULT IN THE SCATTERING OF CHRISTIANS FROM JERUSALEM. THIS LED TO THE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL. PAUL’S CONVERSION WOULD RESULT IN HIM TAKING THE GOSPEL FAR AND WIDE AND EXPANDING THE KINGDOM, PARTICULARLY TO THE GENTILES.
2. PAUL’S CONVERSION DISPLAYED A PASSING OF THE TORCH OF EVANGELISM, FROM CHRIST, TO HIS APOSTLES, TO HIS CHURCH. EVANGELISM IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY
3. PAUL CONVERSION WOULD RESULT IN THE RACIAL EXPANSION OF CHRISTIANITY FROM THE JEWS TO INCLUDE THE GENTILES.
4. PAUL’S CONVERSION WOULD RESULT IN OVER HALF THE NEW TESTAMENT BEING WRITTEN. THEY WOULD BE HIS LETTERS TO VARIOUS CHURCHES.
5. AS WE CONSIDER ANANIAS, WE HAVE TO CONSIDER THE FACT THAT GOD MAY JUST CALL US TO GO AND PRAY WITH AND SUPPORT SOMEONE WE MAY DETEST AS A PERSON. WE ARE CALLED TO BE READY, GOD WILL CREATE THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR US ACCORDING TO HIS WILL.
THERE WAS A LOT THAT HAPPENED ON THIS 150 MILE JOURNEY TO DAMAMSCUS. THE EFFECTS OF IT ARE STILL BEING FELT IN THE CHURCH TODAY FOR AS A RESULT OF PAUL’S CONVERSION WE GAIN VALUABLE INSIGHTS INTO KINGDOM GROWTH.
