I invite you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Acts, the book of Acts chapter 9. We're making our way through this book and that is found on page 1167 in those Bibles in front of you and we are in Acts chapter 9, the conversion of Saul. I'll probably use Saul and Paul both as I'm preaching this sermon. I'll explain a little later why the name change, and we'll look at that as Acts does address that a little bit later. But this morning, we are reading together verses 1 through 19 of chapter 9. This is the word of the Lord. Let's give our attention to his holy word. But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus so that if he found any belonging to the way men or women he might bring them bound to jerusalem now as he went on his way he approached damascus and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him and falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him saul saul why are you persecuting me and he said who are you lord he said i am jesus whom you are persecuting but rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do. The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice, but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus, and for three days he was without sight and neither ate nor drank. Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. the lord said to him in a vision ananias he said here i am lord and the lord said to him rise and go to the street called straight and at the house of judas look for a man of tarsus named saul for behold he is praying and he has seen in a vision a man named ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight ananias answered lord i have heard from many about this man how much evil he has done to your saints at jerusalem and here he has authority from the chief priest to bind all who call on your name but the lord said to him go for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the gentiles and kings and the children of israel for i will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name so ananias departed and entered the house and laying his hands on him he said brother Saul the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit and immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight then he rose and was baptized and taking food he was strengthened and there ends the reading of god's word this morning we um we love conversion stories we love them americans particularly love conversion stories we love hearing of god's power in somebody's life don't we we we love to study that we read of all the greats especially if they were very dramatic conversion of stories those those really interest us those those we listen to the more dramatic they are out of darkness into light the more they captivate us i've always thought why is that so and the answer is not that difficult the answer is we want to be identified with it we want to be identified with the very story and power that was demonstrated so dramatically in somebody's life and especially when it comes to the conversion of saul is there ever been a greater conversion story recorded in the scriptures than this one it's the greatest conversion story of history interesting isn't it you think about it who has a more dramatic conversion story than the apostle paul there's a lot of discussion because of that of what kind of conversion it is as of recent there have been different ideas posed as to his conversion that it wasn't so personal and you've had different ideas posed by new perspectives on Paul about the whole event itself, sort of redefining it of how it's historically been understood. I think to get at the heart of this this morning of what the main point is of why this is revealed, and you know that's one of my big questions when I come to a text like this, why does the Lord give us this particular passage what is his intention in doing it Luke must have thought it was important for it's recorded three times in the book of Acts for Luke it was probably the most important event in the book why why I think that's important to answer this morning and we could initially say that one of the reasons is God in His goodness wanted to encourage the church to understand whom they are serving, how powerful He is, and what kind of kingdom they belong to, and to not lose heart in the mission. I think you'll see why all that matters by the time we're done with this this morning, but that it really is to be a story that you sit back and enjoy. Enjoy. Looking at it and seeing how powerful Jesus really is. Consider what we've learned so far in the book of Acts. Consider how the first century speaks to us today and how the first century was showing us the church under heavy opposition and under heavy persecution. They had already had one of their greats martyred for the faith. Stephen had just been stoned. There is running around all over the area a vicious man, a vicious man, with so much authority, with so much influence, because he had mastered and beat all his contemporaries in Judaism, he was, with so much respect and honor, had the privilege of running around viciously dragging off these Christians, and he didn't even spare the women and the children. What is the Lord about to do? That's the first thing to think about, isn't it? The Lord is about to, in a moment of time, take the greatest rebel and the greatest persecutor of the early church, blind him, strike him down, tell him, you can't fight against me. The man trembling to death says, what do you want me to do? That's the point. That's the effect. He almost died on the road. And Jesus takes him and makes him the greatest missionary the church has ever seen. You think there's a message in that for us? That's all he did. And that's a pretty great work, isn't it? With one figure. In other words, he wants the church this morning, throughout the ages, to be encouraged by this story. That the same grace that was given to Saul and mercy on the road to Damascus is the same power that he has taken and fulfilled his great commission to the ends of the earth. Same power, same Lord, same mercy. That's been given to you. I believe this is important that our view of often, why this is so important, is that our view of what we're a part of is pretty pathetic. It really is. We've taken this whole thing as so voluntary. We can just come and go from it and we don't take it as seriously as we should. It's kind of a take it or leave it kind of thing. And that's the whole spirit and mindset of the church today. And part of it is because we have an entirely wrong view of Jesus. And we'll look at some of that. But I want to break this down to show you that this morning of how the Lord encourages the church to be bold in what it's doing to continue the great commission to not lose heart he shows us this in the way that he the lord jesus seeks saul and saves saul and sends saul i mean there's your three points if you're a three-pointer okay he seeks he saves and he sends who can say that now you didn't need me to make an outline for that did you you've got it right there he seeks he saves he sins there you go as we begin chapter nine you'll notice that luke wants you to see that saul has been in continuous mode of persecutions throughout all the area and continuing to do this so that the last thing we heard after stephen's martyr was that he was making havoc in the church wreaking havoc in the church he was entering all the houses of christians and dragging them off with authorities with him to be bound up and taking them to jerusalem and we know later that he was guilty of their blood so they were killing them uh you can just imagine this in our day. Somebody having the authority to find out if you're a Christian and heading to your house and dragging you out and separating you and your children. That's a horrendous thought, isn't it? That is an absolutely horrendous thought. So you open up chapter 9 and you begin to read this. But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at damascus so that if he found any belonging to the way men or women he might bring them bound to jerusalem i remember he was consending to their deaths the imagery that you have of this figure is that of a ravenous beast he's breathing it's using strong language here running around unruly in the community destroying those, did you notice it, who are of the way. That's an interesting interjection. Acts will pick that up. Why are they called of the way? Because Jesus said, I'm the way. And that message was getting out. I am the way. There's no other way. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one gets to glory except through me says jesus and that infuriated paul how arrogant these christians the indication is is that this had think about how much this applies to our time for a minute this had infuriated saul more than anything else how dare them be so arrogant as to claim they have the way to god who are they to make such a claim and that it's jesus that is blasphemous they think they have the truth these johnny come lately that's as arrogant as it gets and they're running around proclaiming that that has to be stopped at all costs and that's the um the greatest worry we have today that motivates all the political stuff going on for evangelicals why they're making decisions that they are when their institutions are attacked when their churches are attacked and they feel like the whole thing's being besieged and the whole thing's under attack they are going to do whatever they can to survive in that mode that's why we're in that kind of situation well i've got news when you follow jesus this is what happens this is what you're going to be pegged as if you're not you're not standing for anything if you if no one can say that you don't stand for the way and have not announced that it is the only way then you haven't stood for anything and people think they're in you many ways it's interesting that that luke uses with this figure saul that he calls him a ravenous beast in in many ways you'll notice in the psalms sometimes boys and girls were singing out and you'll sing a song and it says rebuke the rebuke the beast by the reeds and you're like what in the world is that a beast why are we rebuking beasts psalm 68 says that rebuke the beasts that dwell among the reeds. Luke chooses a verb here that is only used once of Saul in the entire New Testament that is used in Psalm 80. Verse 13, listen to this. The boar, talking about God's vineyard, the boar from the forest ravages it. And all that move on the field feed on it. He's using that to talk about Saul. I think that's important. Remember what we learned in Revelation of what Satan's doing? He has a beast figure, doesn't he? And you'll remember when he was furious with jesus's victory that he went out and he stood up on the sea and he summoned the beast remember come and there comes this figure out of the water and this horrifying beastly figure is described who would go out and utterly ravage the church in the earth well here you have a ferocious beast-like figure in Saul. If there's anything that we've learned and see in our time that we fear the most, it is the spiritual forces at darkness at work. And we see what can happen. We have seen in our day the wholesale shift in a lifetime, many of you, of what was completely accepted almost as the state religion to now become completely in one generation so despised that it's on its way to being stamped out you see it you see it all the time there you see that something's going on spiritually behind the scenes there you see that there really is everything the bible has proclaimed to you about the kingdom of darkness and what it's trying to do and stamp out the truth there you see it unfold in your own time in your own way welcome to the first century i don't know what kind of figures will rise up in our day like this i asked my children at the table the other day i said what do you think you do you guys know any beastly like figure like this running around doing this to us and they don't right now i know they don't because they said it's the orthodontist but one day they might one day they might this formidable opponent to the church now meets jesus i love this this is just wonderful now as he went on his way he approached damascus remember he is going up to damascus because he's demanded demanded letters to drag out all the christians where is proof that there are any who are of the way we can lay hold of them he is coming up to get them he said it north remember um jesus had sent philip south to the ethiopian eunuch he's heading to go get him And all of a sudden, as he is on the way, a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, who are you, Lord? He said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. You can apply this in many ways to anyone who is fighting recognizing Jesus as Lord. They're fighting. They're fighting Him. Maybe persecuting Him in their own homes. This is so glorious. He is traveling all the way north to find and destroy the Christians and all of a sudden the light comes around him and the verb that he chose is one that intentionally means Saul dropped the knee in prostrate form in worship. He bowed right then and there. In other words, we say, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess in Philippians 2, Jesus is the Lord. Here it happened. The Lord then asked a question that I believe was meant to encourage the church. Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? He had killed Stephen. he's dragging Christians all over and binding them and Jesus says you're doing it to me see the encouragement in that who are you messing with Jesus was saying this all along that the world hates you for the single great reason that it hates me and he who hates me hates my father you see what a moment in acts um we worry about this but it's all wrong right we worry about this but it's all wrong the hatred in the world that we are experiencing is a hatred of jesus that just shows the darkness at work if you were of the world the world would love you it loves its own but because you are not of the world therefore the world hates you quoting jesus every christian throughout history was supposed to look at acts chapter 9 and and realize that the project they are a part of is divine there's the huge encouragement for the church and the marvel of it being jesus is and has power over everything everything what is the first thing the church needed to understand that and if that's true that means salvation quoting jonah is of the lord you see i am jesus whom you are persecuting that is the scariest thing you could ever hear i am jesus whom you're standing against he just saw and realized who Jesus is the Lord just took down the greatest rebel and revealed himself Jesus divinely sought Saul tames him arrests him saves him Saul who are you to kick against the goads Jesus was referencing him as a wild animal you are a wild animal and a farmer used goads to break in the wild animal so it stopped bucking and it would calm down their sharp spikes that were used to tame a beast what the evidence is and the claims of Jesus is they were like spikes to Paul constantly a source of agitation and grief to him. The problem is that we have a pathetically weak view of Jesus, isn't it, when it comes down to all this? I say this because I believe that often the one who is preached in America is not the Jesus of Scripture. The Jesus that's often preached is a sissy. He's an effeminate, long-haired imposter. Oh, please, please come to me. I beg you to have a personal relationship with me. Please. I'm really hoping that you'll submit your life to me. Begging us as if our wills are sovereign. No wonder our young people struggle to accept him. No wonder our young people struggle in that way. Why would you take seriously somebody like that? You see? Why would you take him seriously? Stop presenting him as you want him to be. Who is Saul? He is in prostrate form at this moment. Who are you, Lord? I am Jesus, whom you're persecuting. He looked up and he saw what Stephen saw. A king. There he was on the throne. There he was in magnificent glory. Paul would say, I saw him as the last apostle. I saw him. Don't mess with him. He'll crush you. He'll put you in the wine presses of his wrath. Or he might show you mercy. And that's what happens. Paul would later tell the story and say, Jesus took hold of me. Jesus seized me. He arrested me. And then he showed me mercy. it's such a glorious story it's the apex now of what happened to him what is the message here Paul understood that his conversion was meant to have a great purpose in encouraging the church that's why it's recorded three times the church gets frustrated doesn't it don't we get frustrated with this I know I do we get sidetracked compromised all of it is evidence today of an impatience on our part that jesus is not fulfilling his great commission very well that's the heart of it jesus is not fulfilling his great commission very well it seems like nothing's happening it seems like there's no power in this so we have to make it something so that we'll have this is so important for the passage so that we're going to have an inner experience like Paul that we can talk about to make this real for us so we want to live on experience Jesus is working Jesus is saving Jesus is pursuing Jesus is arresting Jesus is building Jesus is on the throne that's all here but he's greatly patient. What we are impatient with is his patience. That's it. What we are impatient with is his patience of his long suffering, of his mercy to the ends of the earth and the way he's doing it. Now think of what's in front of this then to prove that little thesis that I just made. And I think you'll see that truth unfold this morning. Paul looked at his conversion and said specifically later, and I'm going to read it in a minute, that my conversion was to be a pattern for everyone who would believe. Why? How? Well, think about it. We want some dramatic conversion experience. How many times have we had this discussion? Well, what's your conversion story? yeah i know i was born in the church i was baptized i've always been here i um walked the line i did everything else but i can't remember a time i didn't believe how boring right people only had that man give me the light right you think paul would have said wanted to go through that experience again he almost died so we struggle with this three days he couldn't move he is shocked to the core his eyes go blind he can't even see he can't even walk around by himself he's scared to death almost dying here's how paul described it later so that it would be a blessing to you i thank him who has given me strength christ jesus our lord because he judged me faithful appointing me to his service though formerly i was a blasphemer a persecutor an insolent opponent but i received mercy because i acted ignorantly in unbelief and the grace of our lord overflowed for me with faith and love that are in christ jesus the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that christ jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom i am chief but here it is i receive mercy for this reason when when he's going to say whatever he's about to follow this is it that's what we have to look at through the lens of this i receive mercy for this reason that in me as the foremost jesus christ might display His perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe for Him to eternal life. That's you. What is the heart of that? Patience. Patience. He had a dramatic conversion experience in a moment. No, not really. Paul called himself a young man when this happened. And a young man in that culture was 30, possibly 40. Still makes me feel good. That's the assumed age of Saul. 30. Listen carefully to what he says in Galatians 1. For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people. So extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But, now what do you expect him to say at this point? But on the Damascus Road when I was 30, God saved me. Jesus delivered me. That's not what he said. But when he who had set me apart before I was born and who called me by his grace was pleased to reveal his son to me on the Damascus road in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles. That is an overwhelming thought when you put the details together. Paul understood that God had set him apart before he was born. And 30 years later, 40 years later, he's walking on the Damascus road and meets Jesus and realizes he's God. Jesus tells Ananias, You go baptize him right now. For he is a chosen vessel. And as he's baptized, all of a sudden, something like scales fall from his eyes. The Lord all of a sudden gave him true sight after his blindness, which was 30 years of blindness. That was the story of his life. He had scales his whole life and didn't see Jesus. Isn't that something? But now he saw. That's why we sing Amazing Grace. I once was blind, but now I see. Paul knew it. I'm a testimony to what? God's dramatic conversion experience? No. Patience. And perfect work in my life. Jesus has to open our eyes. And the marvel is is the way Paul describes his life before the eyes were opened. In his former life, he says, I achieved the best righteousness that one could under the law. I had confidence in the flesh. I was circumcised on the eighth day. I was of the people of Israel. I was of the tribe of Benjamin. I was a Hebrew of Hebrews. i was a pure stock as to the law i was a pharisee you know how these guys were honored they had a righteousness that nobody else could maintain as to zeal a persecutor of the church as to the righteousness under the law blameless but whatever i gain i had i counted as animal dung for Christ, the knowledge of Christ. The great apostle Paul lived 30 years of his life confident in himself and blinded to knowing Jesus. And he was a church boy. But once scales fell, he saw Jesus. And what is the first thing he came to realize about himself? I'm the chief of sinners. I'm the greatest mess ever. I was killing Christians and didn't even know that I was fighting against the Lord who is Jesus. Are you frustrated today with the state of things? Oh, I think you are. Where's the responses to Jesus today? It seems like we go along and the spirituality even of the church is as bad as it's ever been. Divisions are worse than they've ever been. Compromise is as bad as it's ever been. What in the world is Jesus doing? Being patient. You see, this is false testimony. Being patient. With who? You and me. Because He's not willing that any of us should perish, but that all of us come to the knowledge of repentance and faith. This is at the heart of Jesus' kingdom parable of the wheat and the tares. he says what do i like in the kingdom of god uh or with what parable do i picture it what parable would be best to help you understand the struggle of the coming of the kingdom it's like a mustard seed which when it's sown in the ground is smaller than all the seeds on the earth but when it's sown it grows up bigger than all and shoots out all sorts of sprouts and branches that's what the kingdom's like it may seem like nothing's happening right now it may seem like everything's a mess right now. It might seem like everything's turned against us right now. Who sits around and watches a plant grow? Right? How boring. Your great struggle, my great struggle with Christianity is the seemingly nothingness of it all in your life or in the life of that one sitting next to you or in the son and daughter that you've raised in the faith who's gone. What is this? and that frustration and that impatience has led Christians to try to make the kingdom of God come their way. It's trench work. It's hard. Nothing's fast. It never has been. If it's fast, it's wrong. But then one day, that little plant next to you begins to bud. It's really powerful stuff. Think of the testimony of Saul. Give yourselves to the ministry of the Word. We look at Paul and say, wow, look at this grand conversion experience. His testimony is, look at the patience of God. That's the message. Nothing happened for a long time and in fact, it seemed like I was doing what was right and then all of a sudden, I bowed the knee to Jesus. I think if you asked Saul today and you said, Saul, Saul, all of these experiences that you had in your former life, even your persecutions, I think you would have said all of that in God's providence and wisdom and power was all preparation for the day that Jesus would seize me, arrest me, and send me to go out to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. All of that. I was the worst. I grew up in the church and was circumcised. I was as hard to Jesus as anyone. i persecuted the church my whole story is a story of jesus being incredibly long suffering to me and now he softened my heart he gave me life that's ananias here the church didn't understand that how did they look at saul lord you you don't mean that guy right you do not mean you're using that guy for your service he's running around doing untold damage in your kingdom You don't want me to go baptize him, do you? Yes, go. You go. He's a chosen vessel of mine. Paul had already been prepared for this. That's the beauty of this. And God's patience today in the Great Commission means salvation. I can look here. I can look at my own life and can see that it's easy to go through the motions. You've been baptized. maybe there's some here, if this happened to Saul, it can happen here, who are pretty content with their lives and thinking they're good moral people and have kept the law. Maybe there's some who sat here a long time for all the wrong reasons. And you know what those reasons are while you're here. And you still not really met Jesus. And all of a sudden, it's like a light bulb goes on. I've seen that. I've seen it. And everything changes. And you finally encounter him by faith in the preaching of the Gospel, which is what Acts is doing. And what's the evidence? You begin to say with Saul, I'm the chief of sinners. I know what I am. I see it now. And the scales fall right then and there. You were blind, but now you see. You are unruly. You are like a little beast doing your own will, pursuing your own sins, finding gratification in them. and one day Jesus put a halt on your life and arrested you. That has to happen. That has to happen. It happens when God opens your eyes to His grace. If God did it for Saul, who was the chief of sinners, then you can do it for you because that's what we are. And that leads me to say here in closing that the end result was that Jesus would send this man. I have to emphasize that. this man, to the ends of the earth to bear witness to the Gentiles who through his ministry, you're sitting here today, this guy, this guy. He took him and made him the greatest of apostles in the calling that he had for him. And that is meant to encourage all of us. Jesus is Lord over all and Lord over his church. what do we have to fear? Don't lose heart in the struggle. In the seemingly non-eventful Christianity that we have, God is being patient. Christ is building His kingdom. If you forget that, then you can go three times to the book of Acts and let Paul retell you the story. Listen to it. Listen to what he says. The conversion of Saul is a reminder of how great the power of Jesus is. How determined he is to fulfill his great commission. And you're a part of the same divine project. It can't fail. You understand that? It can't fail. Because he is seated. Because he's Lord. Because with his death, he has conquered and will not lose one sheep. See, if God did this with the great sinner Saul, he can do it for you. And that's the glory of this passage. As Paul, after he gave that testimony, said, Now to the King, says Paul, eternal, invisible, to God alone who is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, how wonderful Your salvation is. How powerful the King is, whose voice shatters the rocks and blasts them to bits. whose voice can conquer the hardest of hearts. We are so thankful for this presentation of the strength of the King. May His Word go out today in this place and all over the world. And when people bow and believe and know Jesus and His saving power so that as we say we are the chief of sinners, we would have the same testimony, but God was long-suffering and patient with us that His gospel might be revealed through us. We pray this in confidence. In Jesus' name, amen.