Surprise, Surprise, Surprise
Text: Acts 9:20-31
Introduction
1. When I was growing up, my three favorite TV shows were the Beverly Hillbillies, the Andy Griffith Show, and Gomer Pyle USMC. There are certain lines from these shows that always make me think of them. Like the Beverly Hillbillies, “One of these days, I’m gonna have to have a long talk with that boy!” For Andy Griffith it would be, “O wee, that’s some kind of good!” And with Gomer Pyle it’s “Surprise, surprise, surprise!”
2. Now that last one could explain how the believers felt after they heard about Saul’s conversion. The one that had been the enemy of the church has now become the champion of the church.
3. This was all possible because of the power of the Holy Spirit.
4. Read Acts 9:20-31.
Transition: The first thing that we see of the Holy Spirit in Saul’s life is…
I. Transformation (20-21).
A. Isn’t This the Same Man
1. After his conversion, Saul spent some time with the believers in Damascus. But Luke makes it clear that it didn’t take long for him to begin his mission. Look at v. 20, where Luke tells us, “And immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is indeed the Son of God!”
a. Saul begins his calling without delay.
b. His encounter was so life-transforming that he was compelled to tell people about it.
c. His personal encounter with Jesus gave him tangible proof that Jesus was not only alive, but that he truly was the Son of God.
2. This complete turnaround for Saul caused people to stand up and take notice. In v. 21 Luke tell us, “All who heard him were amazed. “Isn’t this the same man who caused such devastation among Jesus’ followers in Jerusalem?” they asked. “And didn’t he come here to arrest them and take them in chains to the leading priests?”
a. The dramatic change in Saul left people amazed.
b. They expected him to show up and start putting Christians in jail, but instead he joins them and starts preaching about Jesus.
c. He had so completely changed that he had gone from the destroyer of the church to the champion of the church.
d. Just like an ugly caterpillar that is transformed into a beautiful butterfly, Saul was transformed from an angry, vindictive killer, into an evangelist for the Good News.
e. This is all because of the transformation in his life by the Holy Spirit.
B. New Person
1. The motor home has allowed us to put all the conveniences of home on wheels. A camper no longer needs to contend with sleeping in a sleeping bag, cooking over a fire, or hauling water from a stream. Now he can park a fully equipped home on a cement slab in between a few pine trees and hook up to a water line, a sewer line and electricity. One motor home I saw recently had a satellite dish attached on top. No more bother with dirt, no more smoke from the fire, no more drudgery of walking to the stream. Now it is possible to go camping and never have to go outside. We buy a motor home with the hope of seeing new places, of getting out into the world. Yet we deck it out with the same furnishings as in our living room. Thus, nothing really changes. We may drive to a new place, set ourselves in new surroundings, but the newness goes unnoticed, for we’ve only carried along our old setting. The adventure of new life in Christ begins when the comfortable patterns of the old life are left behind. David Roher.
2. When we give our lives to Christ, the Holy Spirit changes us into new people.
a. “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Cor. 5:17).
b. It was because of the transforming work of the Holy Spirit that Saul became a completely new person.
c. Once he was a self-righteous, hateful, and vindictive Pharisee.
d. But now he was going around and preaching that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
e. We call this work of the Holy Spirit regeneration, where he comes in and changes us from the inside out.
f. That’s why people who were once drug addicts and alcoholics can become people living for Jesus.
g. The Holy Spirit changes our values, priorities, and desires.
h. He changes the places we want to go.
i. He changes the things that are important to us.
j. It’s like putting on a new set of clothes. He takes off the torn and muddy clothes, and he puts on clean and pressed clothes. It’s a complete transformation!
Transition: Another thing we see of the Holy Spirit working in Saul is…
II. Power (22-25).
A. More Powerful
1. Not only had Saul’s conversion changed him, but also his being filled with the Holy Spirit had an immediate impact on him. In v. 22 it says, “Saul’s preaching became more and more powerful, and the Jews in Damascus couldn’t refute his proofs that Jesus was indeed the Messiah.”
a. There can be no doubt that the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit caused Saul’s preaching to become more and more powerful.
b. In fact, it says that his proofs that Jesus was the Messiah were so powerful that the Jews in Damascus could not refute him.
c. The word “proofs” here means “put together.” It means that Saul was taking the OT prophesies about the Messiah and connecting them to the events of the life of Jesus.
d. He was using Scripture to prove to them that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah.
e. And his evidence could not be challenged.
f. The Holy Spirit was taking Saul and turning him into a powerful preacher of the Gospel.
2. In fact, Saul’s preaching was so powerful that the jealous Jewish leaders wanted to kill him. In vv. 23-24 Luke tells us, “After a while some of the Jews plotted together to kill him. 24 They were watching for him day and night at the city gate so they could murder him, but Saul was told about their plot.”
a. Saul’s preaching had such an impact that these religious leaders developed a plan to have him killed.
b. They waited for him daily at the city gate, which was the only real entry way in and out of the city, and they waited for the opportunity to murder him.
c. Saul had made enemies with those who had sided with him before, and now, since they couldn’t argue against his preaching, they decided to do away with him.
d. But God had plans for Saul, so he protected him, and Saul was told about the plot.
3. While Saul had made some new enemies, he had also acquired some new friends. In v. 25 Luke tells us, “So during the night, some of the other believers lowered him in a large basket through an opening in the city wall.”
a. Saul had some new advocates in the believers in Damascus. So, they developed a way of escape for Saul.
b. You see, while the city gate was the major way out of the city, there were houses that were built right into the city walls.
c. So, some of the believers whose house was built into the city wall, took Saul, and put him in a basket and lowered him out of the city through a window.
d. God had protected him and given him a means of escape.
B. Power of the Holy Spirit
1. “There is NO COMPARISON between the power of Satan and the power of the HOLY SPRIT IN YOU. The power of Satan is like a little firecracker while the power of the Holy Spirit inside of you is like a NUCLEAR BOMB!” - Pastor John Bright
2. Not only does the Holy Spirit change us, but he also empowers us to do God’s will.
a. “And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. 5 I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.” (1 Cor. 2:4-5)
b. Not only was Saul changed by the Holy Spirit, but he was also empowered by the Holy Spirit.
c. This is a great illustration of the difference between the infilling of the Holy Spirit and the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
d. The first he changes us and makes us new people in Christ.
e. The second, a second work of grace, empowers us to do ministry.
f. The baptism of the Holy Spirit enables us to do things we wouldn’t naturally be able to do.
g. He empowers us with the boldness to preach his word and share his love with those that need it.
h. It also empowers us to overcome those who oppose us.
i. It empowers us against the devil and anyone that he would set against us.
j. When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will receive power!
Transition: Another thing the Holy Spirit brings is…
III. Encouragement (26-31).
A. Encouragement of the Holy Spirit
1. After leaving Damascus, he makes his way to Jerusalem to connect with the believers there. In v. 26 Luke says, “When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him. They did not believe he had truly become a believer!”
a. Saul tried to meet the believers in Jerusalem, but there was a problem, they were still afraid of him and not totally convinced he was truly a believer in Jesus.
b. This shows how terrible the persecution had been that Saul brought upon the church, and they were still skeptical seeing it as an attempt to infiltrate the church and destroy it from within.
2. But Saul had an advocate in the church at Jerusalem. Luke describes this advocate in v. 27, which says, “Then Barnabas brought him to the apostles and told them how Saul had seen the Lord on the way to Damascus and how the Lord had spoken to Saul. He also told them that Saul had preached boldly in the name of Jesus in Damascus.”
a. Saul’s advocate in Jerusalem was a man named Barnabas, whose nickname was “son of encouragement,” and now he lives up to his nickname.
b. Barnabas goes to Peter and James, the Lord’s brother, telling them about Saul’s encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus.
c. He also tells them all about Saul’s powerful preaching in the synagogues in Damascus.
d. He goes to bat for Saul, letting the apostles know that his conversion was truly genuine.
3. The apostles took Barnabas’s testimony for Saul to heart and accepted Saul. In vv. 28-30 we read, “So Saul stayed with the apostles and went all around Jerusalem with them, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He debated with some Greek-speaking Jews, but they tried to murder him. 30 When the believers heard about this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus, his hometown.”
a. The apostles accepted him as one of them, and Saul went around Jerusalem continuing the work he had begun in Damascus.
b. He went around preaching boldly for Jesus. But we see a pattern begin to develop with Saul, whenever he preached boldly people wanted to kill him.
c. You’ll find that in some of the churches that people flock to in large numbers the pastor usually tells people what they want to hear.
d. On the other hand, the churches where the pastor preaches the truth that people don’t want to hear the numbers of people are much smaller. So, not much has changed over the years.
e. You’ll also see that throughout the rest of Saul’s life he always had people wanting to either kill him or throw him in jail. Again, not much has changed.
4. So, after this period of turmoil, finally the church experienced peace. In v. 31 it says, “The church then had peace throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and it became stronger as the believers lived in the fear of the Lord. And with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it also grew in numbers.”
a. As a result of this time of peace, the church lived in fear of the Lord. In other words, it lived and continued to grow in holiness.
b. Then church also continued to grow because of the encouragement of the Holy Spirit.
c. The word translated “encouragement” means “exhortation.”
d. So, through the power of the Holy Spirit, and the powerful preaching of the believers, the church continued to grow in numbers.
e. Not only were believers encouraging each other, but the Holy Spirit was adding to their encouragement.
B. Be Encouraged
1. William Arthur Ward once said: “Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you.”
2. The Holy Spirit not only changes us and empowers us, but he also encourages us.
a. “And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” (Rom. 5:5)
b. One of the greatest detriments to the small church is discouragement and a feeling of inferiority.
c. Small churches get the attitude of “Oh, we’re just a little country church. We can’t do anything.”
d. But nothing could be further from the truth. All big churches started out as small churches.
e. If we have the Holy Spirit transforming us, empowering, and encouraging us, there is nothing we cannot do!
f. If we trust the Lord and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, we will see the church grown and prosper.
g. As Paul said in Rom 8, “If God is for us who can be against us!”
Conclusion
1. We could say that Saul was surprised by the Holy Spirit.
a. Transformed Him
b. Empowered Him
c. Encouraged Him
2. What’s the point preacher? If Saul could surprise people through the power of the Holy Spirit, so can we!
