SAUL THE APOSTLE PAUL
Text: Acts 9:1-19
Introduction
1. Illustration: Years ago, when I was a young Christian, my chief form of fellowship was Christian coffee houses. This is much different from what Christian coffee houses look like today. There would be refreshments, but the main goal of these coffee houses was evangelism and music ministry. One of the groups I loved to go see was Bob and Bernie. They wrote a song to the tune of “Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown.” It went something like this, “Saul, Saul, the Apostle Paul, meanest Pharisee of them all. Damascus was his course when the Lord knocked him off his horse.”
2. Acts 1:8 is really an outline for the entire book.
a. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
b. Chapters 1-7 talk about the Good News spreading throughout Jerusalem and the beginnings of the church.
c. Chapter 8 talks about persecution coming to the church, but as a result, the Good News spreading to Judea and Samaria.
d. In chapter 9 we begin to read about Saul of Tarsus, who would later become the Apostle Paul, and how he who was once the persecutor of the church would become the voice who would take the Good News to the world.
3. Paul had a personal encounter with Jesus. And it changed the course of his life.
4. Read Acts 9:1-19
Proposition: God is in control of our lives, and we need to follow where he leads us.
Transition: The first thing we learn from our text today is…
I. God Shines His Light on Our Darkness (1-9).
A. Light From Heaven
1. Luke begins this chapter by telling us about a little background on Saul of Tarsus. In vv. 1-2 he tells us, “Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest. 2 He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and women—back to Jerusalem in chains.”
a. Saul had made it his mission to destroy the church, or the Way, as it was called at this time.
b. In fact, he was so adamant to destroy the church, Luke tells us he was “uttering threats with every breath.” Literally, in the Greek, this means “breathing in.”
c. Saul had created such an atmosphere of threats and murder that he was breathing it in. It had become an obsession.
d. He had a three-fold purpose in going all the way to Damascus: 1) to bring back any believers who had fled Jerusalem, 2) to keep the Good News from spreading, and 3) to keep Christians from causing any trouble with Rome.
e. So, Saul goes to the high priest, who was Caiaphas at this time, and asked for letters to the synagogues in Damascus to help him bring back Christians in chains to Jerusalem.
2. However, we see in v. 3 that God has other plans for Saul. Luke tells us, “As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him.”
a. Damascus was a major trade city about 175 miles northeast of Jerusalem.
b. It’s because of the cities importance that Saul wanted to go there to keep the Gospel from spreading.
c. As he was on his way, suddenly a bright light shone all around him.
d. Now, we learn from other passages that it was around noon time when the sun is at its brightest.
e. So, for Saul to be struck by a bright light was really saying something.
f. In fact, it was so bright it literally stopped Saul in his tracks.
3. But not only did Saul see a bright light, but he also heard a voice. In vv. 4-6 Luke tells us, “He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” 5 “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! 6 Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
a. As Saul fell to the ground, he heard a voice that asked him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”
b. The voice that was speaking to him was Jesus himself.
c. Saul thought that he was persecuting heretics, but the voice makes it clear that he was persecuting Jesus. Anyone who persecutes the church today is persecuting Jesus.
d. Saul asks the voice who he is, and the voice responded that he was Jesus, the one who you are persecuting.
e. In Matt. 16:18, Jesus said, “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”
f. This is Jesus’ church that Saul was persecuting, and if he was persecuting the church, he was persecuting Jesus.
g. Then the Lord tells Saul to get up and go into the city, and he would be told what he must do.
h. We should take notice that Saul wasn’t being given an option. In other words, this was not a request. Saul is told when he gets to the city, he would be told what he “must” do.
4. Then Luke tells us, “The men with Saul stood speechless, for they heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one! 8 Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus. 9 He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink.”
a. The other men that were with Saul just stood there with their mouths hanging open like a bunch of city workers (I can get away with that because my Dad worked for the city water department when I was growing up).
b. They heard the voice too, but they didn’t see anyone.
c. So, Saul picked himself us off the ground, but when he opened his eyes, he couldn’t see.
d. He was temporarily blinded by his encounter with Jesus.
e. So, his companions led him by the hand into the city. Luke tells us that he was blind for three days, and that he fasted, neither eating nor drinking anything.
B. Hearts Flooded with Light
1. Illustration: Some of you may be familiar with the name Catherine Marshall. She was a wonderful Christian author who wrote such classics as Christy, which became a television series.
a. There was an occasion in her life when she felt as if the flame of God’s love had gone out. It started with the sudden death of her infant grandchild. She called it the dark night of the soul. In her journal she described it this way:
b. "Inside I am dry and lonely, unable to accomplish anything, really, just going through the motions of life, barely able to do that. It is more than a dry period. I’ve been through those before and did not lose the Presence. This is darkness. Deadness. Awful in the way it numbs you, makes you cold and indifferent. You do the very things, say the very word, you know you should not. Frightening!" (Light in My Darkness, p. 176.)
c. But she did not give up. She kept praying. She kept doing everything she could to stir up the fire. Eventually in her journal she wrote the following:
d. "A feeling rises up inside me that little trickles of praise are now running together, merging, beginning to form a small river of praise. It began mechanically, yet now has increasingly the feel of spontaneous emotion. Slowly but surely my mind is being cleansed. Rich, beautiful, positive words are taking over, chasing away the negative ones. I am being filled with Your light.
e. Lord Jesus, how radiant and glorious is the light of Yours.... Suddenly I felt the living presence of Jesus. What joy to have this again in my life!" (Light in My Darkness, p. 221).
2. It’s time to let God’s light shine on your darkness.
a. “I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.” (Eph. 1:18)
b. When you wake up in a dark room and you turn on the light, two things happen, 1) it temporarily blinds you, and 2) it enables you to see what you need to see.
c. The same is true in our spiritual lives. We are born in the darkness of sin. It’s so dark that we cannot see that we are headed for destruction.
d. But when Jesus sheds his light on our darkness, it hurts a little at first, but then it becomes wonderful because it allows us to see the truth.
e. When we allow the light of Christ into our lives it opens our eyes and enables us to see where God wants us to go.
f. It enables us to see that the way we’ve been living is not the life of joy that God has for us.
g. As his light shines on our darkness, it makes it possible to see the path that we need to take to be where Jesus is.
h. Then we can show others that God has called us out of the darkness and into his wonderful light.
Transition: Next, we see that…
II. God Takes Us Out of Our Comfort Zone (10-16).
A. But Lord!
1. Now Luke tells us about a new character in the story. In vv. 10-12 it says, “Now there was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord!” he replied. 11 The Lord said, “Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now. 12 I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again.”
a. While Saul waited for further instructions, the Lord began to speak to a Jew who had become a believer in Jesus, named Ananias.
b. The Lord told him to go over to Straight Street, which was then and still is today the major highway in Damascus.
c. He told him to go to the house of Judas, where he would find a man named Saul of Tarsus.
d. The Lord also tells Ananias that he had told Saul in a vision that Ananias would be coming to see him.
e. He also tells him to lay his hands on him so he can see again.
f. This encounter was truly divinely arranged.
2. However, there was a little problem. In vv. 13-14 we read, “But Lord,” exclaimed Ananias, “I’ve heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem! 14 And he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest everyone who calls upon your name.”
a. The problem was that Ananias knew more about Saul than he wanted to know.
b. He had heard about all the horrible things he had done to the believers in Jerusalem, and he had also heard that he was coming to Damascus to arrest all the believers there to take them back to Jerusalem in chains.
c. It would be like back during WWII having the Lord ask you to go over and talk to a man named Adolph, and while you’re there, tell him you like Jewish people!
d. To Ananias, what the Lord was asking him to do was basically a death wish.
e. It would be an understatement that he had some serious misgivings about what the Lord was asking him to do.
3. Then in vv. 15-16 we see the Lord’s response to Ananias, “But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. 16 And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.”
a. The Lord quickly relieves Ananias’s fears by telling him that this was divinely appointed.
b. He tells him he has big plans for Saul that would further the Kingdom of God.
c. He tells him Saul was going to be his chosen instrument to take his message of grace to the Gentiles.
d. What an amazing statement this must have been for everyone involved. The man who had been the biggest enemy of the church was now going to be the one God used to take the Gospel to the Gentiles.
e. He was going to use Saul to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. This was something that Saul never forgot.
f. God had not only forgiven him for what he had done to the church, but he also was going to be his chosen instrument to cause the church to grow.
B. Here I am Lord
1. Illustration: From time-to-time lobsters must leave their shell to grow. They need their shell to protect them, yet if they do not abandon it the old shell would become their prison – and finally their casket. We are not much different from lobsters. To change and grow we must sometimes shed our shells – our place of comfort that we have grown dependent on. Being a disciple means being so committed to Christ that when he says follow, we will change, risk, grow, and leave our old "shells" behind.
2. As we grow as disciples of Jesus, he often calls us out of our comfort zone to the place where he needs us.
a. “Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.” (Is. 6:8).
b. My favorite TV show is “The Big Bang Theory.” In one episode, Penny is trying to get Sheldon to come out of his comfort zone. His response was, “Why would I want to do that? They call it a comfort zone for a reason!”
c. We don’t like coming out of our comfort zones, but like the lobsters, we must come out of our shells if we are going to grow as disciples of Jesus.
d. If we don’t come out of our shells, they become our prison, and eventually our casket.
e. There will be times in our walk with the Lord that we need to go somewhere and talk to someone that will take us out of our comfort zones.
f. But if we don’t it will stagnate us in our growth as disciples of Jesus.
g. It will also stagnate our growth as a church. We cannot stay us four and no more. We need to multiply continually, and if we don’t, like the lobster, we will die.
h. We need to be willing to say, “Here I am Lord, send me.”
Transition: We also learn that…
III. God Baptizes Us in His Holy Spirit (17-19).
A. Filled With the Holy Spirit
1. Once being reassured by the Lord; Ananias wastes no time in fulfilling his mission. In v. 17 it says, “So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
a. Ananias served two great purposes with Saul. First, he served the role of a prophet, telling Saul that he was being commissioned by God to take the Good News to the Gentiles.
b. This was truly an act of God. Saul was not only zealous in his beliefs, but he was also highly educated and totally fearless. It was as if God created him for this calling.
c. Second, Ananias served as an encourager. Saul had hated Christians, and now he was becoming one of them. But how would they ever trust him?
d. However, notice how Ananias greets him...brother!
e. He laid his hands on Saul and he not only regained his sight, but he was also filled with the Holy Spirit.
f. Now, Saul was already converted at this point. We know this because nowhere in Scripture is someone saved by the laying on of hands.
g. However, people are baptized in the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands.
h. Saul received the second work of grace, the Pentecostal empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
2. The result was instant. In vv. 18-19 Luke writes, “Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized. 19 Afterward he ate some food and regained his strength.”
a. Notice that Luke says, “Instantly something like scales fell from his eyes...”
b. The result of Ananias’s ministry to Saul had an immediate effect.
c. Saul was once again able to see, and we can be assured that he was filled with the Holy Spirit.
d. Then Ananias baptized Saul in water.
e. After all of this, he finally ate something and regained his strength.
f. But we know it was more than just physical strength, because now he has been strengthened by the Holy Spirit.
B. Receive Power
1. Illustration: "Without the power of the Holy Spirit, all human efforts, methods and plans are as futile as attempting to propel a boat by puffing at the sails with our own breath.” --D.M. Dawson
2. If we are going to fulfill our mission as a soul winning church, we need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.
a. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8).
b. Peter, James, and John all needed the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
c. Paul needed the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
d. These pillars of the early church all needed to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.
e. If they needed this second work of grace to fulfill their mission, then we need it to fulfill ours.
f. It is a second work of the Holy Spirit.
g. It is an enduement power.
h. It is the promise of the Father.
Conclusion
1. From the conversion of Saul, we learn…
a. God shines his light on our darkness.
b. God calls us out of our comfort zone.
c. God baptizes us in the Holy Spirit.
2. What’s the point preacher? God provides us everything we need to fulfill our mission, but are we willing to receive it?
