Transformed By Jesus Series

Introduction

Augustine of Hippo was born in Thagaste, a Roman province of North Africa, in 354 AD.

He was raised by a Christian mother, Monica, and a pagan father, Patricius.

Augustine’s early life marked by a deep search for meaning and truth, which led him to explore various philosophical and religious ideas.

As a young man, Augustine was drawn to the life of worldly pleasures and intellectual pursuits.

He was a brilliant student and became fascinated with rhetoric, philosophy, and literature.

In his late teens, he moved to Carthage to study rhetoric, where he began living a hedonistic lifestyle, indulging in lust and ambition.

During this time, he fathered a son, Adeodatus, with a woman to whom he never married.

Around the age of 30, Augustine moved to Milan to pursue a career as a professor of rhetoric.

In Milan, Augustine came under the influence of the renowned bishop of Milan, Ambrose. Ambrose’s sermons impressed Augustine, showing him a depth to Christianity he had not previously considered.

The pivotal moment in Augustine’s conversion occurred in a Milan garden in 386 AD.

Tormented by his inability to change his life, he wept under a fig tree, crying out to God for help.

At that moment, he heard a child’s voice singing, “Tolle, lege” (“Take up and read”).

Augustine interpreted this as a divine command and picked up a nearby copy of the Scriptures.

He opened to Romans 13:13–14, which reads as follows: “Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”

This passage struck Augustine deeply; in that moment, Jesus transformed his life. Augustine described this as the final breaking of his chains to sin.

Following his conversion, Augustine abandoned his former lifestyle and dedicated his life to God.

He resigned from his teaching position, renounced his ambitions, and devoted himself to Christian theology.

In 387 AD, he was baptized by Bishop Ambrose alongside his son, Adeodatus.

After his baptism, Augustine returned to North Africa, where he would eventually become a priest and, later, the bishop of Hippo.

He spent the rest of his life writing and preaching, defending the Christian faith, and developing theological doctrines that would shape Western Christianity, mainly through works like Confessions and The City of God.

Last time, we learned about the conversion of Saul, later known as Paul, on the road to Damascus.

Saul was on his way from Jerusalem to Damascus to find and imprison Christian believers. Saul was the chief persecutor of Christians in that day.

But Jesus arrested Saul on the road to Damascus.

Jesus extended grace to Saul, the worst of sinners.

Today, we will learn what happens when Jesus transforms sinners like Saul.

Scripture

Let’s read Acts 9:19b-31:

For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. 20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” 22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

23 When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, 24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.

26 And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him. 30 And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

Lesson

Acts 9:19b-31 teaches us what happens when Jesus transforms sinners.