The Journey: Following Jesus through Acts (7)
Scott Bayles, pastor
Scripture: Acts 9:1-22
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 8/6/2017
As most of you know, we’re already seven weeks into a ten-week journey through the book of Acts and it feels like we’ve barely begun.
In sense, Acts 1:8 seems to be a concise outline for the entire book. Chapters 1-7 describe the gospel being preached in Jerusalem. Chapter 8 shows believers, under the threat of persecution, taking the good news of Jesus to Judea and Samaria. Chapter 9 records a monumental event in the history of the church—the conversion of Saul of Tarsus.
The conversion of Saul, who’s also called Paul, is easily the most well-known conversion story in church history, let alone the book of Acts. I considered skipping over this chapter for that very reason, but decided not to because Saul’s conversion is just too integral to the story of the early church. God chose Saul to be his Apostle to the Gentiles—the non-Jewish world. He would lead the church in spreading Christianity “to the ends of the earth.” Therefore, Paul, more than any other person, figures prominently in chapter 10-28. Not only that, but nearly half of the New Testament was written by Paul’s hand, so it’s hard to overstate Paul’s importance to early Christians as well as Christianity today.
Before Christ could use this highly gifted man, however, he first had to transform him. That transformation happens in Act 9. So if you have a Bible or app on your phone, open it to Acts 9 where we see three stages in Saul’s transformation from persecutor to preacher. The first stage we see is an unshakable conviction.
• AN UNSHAKABLE CONVICTION
Saul made his first cameo appearance at the stoning of Stephen: “His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul” (Acts 7:58 NLT). Even though he didn’t personally participate, the slaying of Stephen emboldened Saul and just a few verses later, we read, “Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison” (Acts 8:3 NIV).
Saul led the charge in a wave of persecution that threatened to destroy the church, so many of the believers fled Jerusalem, scattering throughout Judea and Samaria. But Saul didn’t want Christianity spreading to other major cities and he didn’t want any of these blasphemous Christ-followers to escape justice. So he prepared to take his mission on the road:
Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. (Acts 9:1-2 NIV)
These letters that Saul requested were the equivalent of arrest warrants that would allow Saul to extradite Christians to Jerusalem to stand trial before the High Council. You have to wonder, what drives someone to go to such lengths? Why would Saul take it upon himself to destroy the church in Jerusalem and then hunt down Christians in other cities? I think the answer is Saul’s unshakable conviction.
Saul was a Pharisee from a very important Jewish family. He once referred to himself as a “Hebrew of Hebrews” (Philippians 3:5). In other words, when it came to religion—he was as religious as you could get. In fact, Saul was zealous about his religion—so zealous that he couldn’t stand the idea of anyone leaving Judaism to become a Christian! So as Christianity began to spread throughout the Jewish community, Saul became enraged. He was absolutely convinced that Christianity was the worst thing that could happen to the world. So, he made it his personal goal in life to put an end to it.
While I hope none of us are ever guilty to this type of vigilante violence toward others, many of us I think struggle with a similar mindset. Saul saw himself as right, and anyone who disagreed with him was not only wrong, they were the enemy. That’s a trap that many of us fall into.
Maybe you get into an argument with your spouse or a sibling, and before you know it it’s not even about the argument anymore; it’s just about me being right and you being wrong. We do the same thing in politics. Instead of having rational discussions about opposing views, we tend to demonize the other side. We have a good guys vs. bad guys mentality. And not surprisingly, I’m always the good guy and whoever disagrees with me is the bad guy.
When we have that kind of mentality, we come dangerously close to following in Saul’s footsteps. You may see Muslims as the enemy, or the LGBT as the enemy, or the Liberal Left as the enemy, or that cranky co-worker, or the antagonistic atheist as the enemy; but Jesus tells us, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:43 NIV). When you loath your enemies, you follow in Saul’s footsteps. When you love your enemies, you follow in the Savior’s footsteps.
Thankfully, Saul’s unshakable conviction proves to be shakable when he has an unexpected confrontation.
• AN UNEXPECTED CONFRONTATION
For most of us, conversion is a quiet experience. But on occasion Jesus breaks into someone’s life in a spectacular manner. As Saul traveled to Damascus, pursuing Christians, he was confronted by the risen Christ and brought face-to-face with the truth of the Gospel. As our story unfolds, we read:
As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”
“Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! (Acts 9:3-5 NLT)
Knees pressed into the pavement, surrounded by heaven’s light, Paul encountered the risen Jesus and everything changed. But it didn’t change instantly. There’s more to this encounter that we sometimes skip over. Jesus told Saul to get up and go into the city where he’d be given further instructions.
So Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind. His traveling companions led him by the hand to Damascus to the house of a man named Judas who lived on Straight Street. He ended up blind and befuddled in a borrowed bedroom for three days just waiting for the instructions Jesus promised.
It kind of makes you wonder why, doesn’t it? Why steal Saul sight? Why make him wait three days? I think God left Saul there in the dark so that the only direction he could look was inside himself. Saul certainly had a lot to think about during those three days. He saw Jesus radiating the glory of God. He was forced to realize that Jesus is in fact the Messiah, the Son of God. And it must have dawned on him that by persecuting Christians, he was waging war against the God he claimed to know and love. Suddenly, everything Saul believed was being torn down and replaced with a new truth—the very truth he sought to extinguish.
Luke tells us that Saul refused to eat or drink during those three days. Typically, fasting indicated a period of morning or repentance. Saul’s experience on the road to Damascus coupled with three days of forced reflection and repentance, prepared his heart for what would come next.
There was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him, saying, “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. I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again” (Acts 9:11-12 NLT).
Ananias was understandably hesitant. He’d heard all about Saul and the terrible things he’d done. But despite his fears, Ananias followed the Lord’s instructions, found Saul, and gently spoke to him, “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” (Acts 9:17 NLT). Immediately, Saul regained his sight. He listened as Ananias shared the gospel. And right away, Saul was baptized—born again into the family of God!
While Saul’s unexpected confrontation is powerful and dramatic, it’s not altogether unique. Saul was on a journey—heading the wrong direction—until Jesus got his attention. Jesus still does the same for us. Maybe you didn’t see a vision and hear a heavenly voice, but God still has ways of getting our attention. Maybe you lose a job or have a stroke or experience some kind life-shattering crisis or epiphany. Often those moment result in quiet contemplation and reflection, just as it did with Saul. Those experiences are intended to prepare our hearts for what comes next—to prepare our hearts for Jesus.
And let me point out that the often-unsung hero of this story is Ananias. Healing Saul’s blindness and leading him to Christ was an immensely important task. God could have sent Peter or one of the other Apostles, but he chose an unknown disciple instead. God often uses “nobodies” to play key roles throughout church history.
You probably never heard the name John Staupitz, but he was the man who helped lead Martin Luther to Christ. No one ever wrote a biography about John Egglen, but he was instrumental in the conversion of Charles Spurgeon. Edward Kimball was a shoe salesman, who also happened to be Dwight L. Moody’s spiritual mentor. Mordecai Ham was a little-known evangelist who preached the night Billy Graham gave his life to Christ.
We just never know how God might use us to touch a life that will, in turn, touch millions. Like Saul and Ananias, we ought to be willing to trust and obey whenever God gets our attention and gives us a mission.
Finally, the last stage in Saul’s transformation was an uncommon conversion.
• AN UNCOMMON CONVERSION
Saul began his journey determined to wipe out the message of Christ; he ended the trip devoted to the cause of taking that message to the ends of the earth. Luke writes: “Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days. And immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is indeed the Son of God!” All who heard him were amazed” (Acts 9:19-21 NLT).
Before we go any further, let me take just a moment to correct a sticky misconception. One of the most common misconceptions concerning Saul’s conversion is that Saul’s transformation was so powerful and complete that it required a divine name change from Saul to Paul. I’ve heard all my life in Sunday School and Sermons (and you can find tons of articles on the internet about it) that Jesus changed Saul’s name to Paul in order to illustrate the fact that he was now a new person. The problem is—it’s just not true. I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade, but there’s not a shred of biblical evidence that Jesus changed Saul’s name. In fact, Jesus calls him Saul multiple times and the Holy Spirit calls him Saul in Act 13. In that same chapter, however, Luke writes, “Saul, also known as Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit” (Act 13:9 NLT). This verse, four chapters later, is the first time Saul is called Paul. Why? Because chapter 13 tells the story of Paul’s first missionary journey. Saul is a Hebrew name. Paul is the Greek equivalent of Saul. So while working in Jewish territory, he was known as Saul. But when he began his missionary journeys to the Greeks, he was called Paul. While it’s easy it is to draw very powerful applications from the notion that Saul the persecutor met the risen Jesus and was so transformed that Jesus gave him a new name, it’s just not true.
The point is—even though Paul’s name didn’t change, just about everything else about him did. Paul went from Christianity’s greatest adversary to its greatest advocate. Luke 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” (Acts 9:22 NLT). His name may not have changed, but his heart did. That’s what matters. Saul’s preaching was powerful because he was a brilliant scholar, but what made him even more convincing was his transformed life. People knew that Saul was preaching the truth because they could see the evidence in the way he lived. He wasn’t the same person anymore.
When we receive Jesus as our Savior and the Leader of lives, a change should take place in us too.
I read a story this week about an Amish family visiting the big city for the first time. They were amazed by everything they saw. Having grown up and lived all their lives on a rural farm everything was completely new to them. Arriving at a fancy hotel, the father and son went inside to check into their room, leaving Ma with the horse buggy outside. While waiting at the reception desk, an old lady hobbled towards the lobby elevator and pressed the button. They’d never seen an elevator before and so they just watch the old lady to see what would happen. A moment later the doors slide open, the women stepped inside, pressed another button and the doors close. Curious, the father and son kept watching. About a minute later, the doors opened again and out came a stunningly attractive young woman. Without turning his head the father patted his son’s shoulder and said, "Boy, go get your mother."
Real life transformation isn’t quite like that, but wherever Jesus goes he leaves changed lives in his wake. Let me put it this way: God loves you just the way you are, but he loves you too much to leave you that way. He wants you to be just like Jesus. You were created to become like Christ.
Jesus felt no guilt; God wants the same for you. Jesus had no bad habits; God wants to do away with yours. Jesus had no fears; God wants you to be fearless too. Jesus had no anxiety about death; you needn’t either.
When you receive Jesus, some things change immediately. You have a new purpose, a new family, a new path to follow. But other things take time to change. Your stress levels. Your mood-swings. Your temper. Becoming like Christ is a life-long endeavor. So, embrace the change. That’s Paul did.
Years later, Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome, saying, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2 NLT). His words to them, are still his words to you.
Conclusion:
As I said before, Paul’s role in church history can hardly be overstated. He would go on to lead the way in spreading the Gospel to the ends of the earth: the streets of Athens and Philippi, the ports of Troas, Thessalonica, and Pergamum, and to the far reaches of the Roman Empire.
But before any of that happened, Paul first had an unshakable conviction that Christianity must be destroyed, an unexpected confrontation with Jesus and an ordinary believer named Ananias, which ultimately to an uncommon conversion.
Next week, we’ll continue our journey through the book of Acts.
Invitation:
In the meantime, wherever you are on your spiritual journey, I hope you can learn from Paul’s experience. Let’s love our enemies instead of loathing them. Let’s trust and obey Jesus, wherever he leads us. And let’s allow God to transform our hearts and lives in Christ Jesus. Maybe God’s been trying to get your attention lately and you’ve had some time to reflect. If you’re ready to follow in Paul’s footsteps and surrender your life to Christ, I’d love to be your Ananias and walk you through the process. You can talk to me after church, call me at home, or come forward while we stand and sing.
