Acts - 24

Acts - 24

Acts 9:1-19a

Introduction

In the early 18th century there were two young men in England, George Littleton and Gilbert West, who were both atheists and hated the idea of Christianity. Both of them being lawyers, they each possessed keen minds and a strong ability to argue their case. They were strong in their unbelief and believed they had good reason for their wholesale rejection of the faith. One day in conversation these two men came up with a great idea. Littleton said, “Christianity stands upon a very unstable foundation. There are only two things that actually support it: the alleged resurrection of Jesus Christ and the alleged conversion of Saul of Tarsus. If we can disprove those stories, which should be rather easy to do, Christianity will collapse like a house of cards.”

Gilbert West replied, “All right, then. I’ll write a book on the alleged resurrection of Jesus Christ and disprove it.” Littleton said, “If you write a book on the resurrection, I’ll write on the alleged appearance of Jesus to the apostle Paul. You show why Jesus could not possibly have been raised from the dead, and I’ll show that the apostle Paul could not have been converted as the Bible says he was - by a voice from heaven on the road to Damascus.” So the both went off to research and write.

The text for today is just that critical to the faith of Christianity. If this account of Saul’s conversion could be disproven, then we can remove all of Paul’s letters from the NT, thus taking out all the theology of who Jesus is and what He has done in the Gospel. We would be blind to the meaning, implications, and applications of Jesus’ death. The conversion of Saul of Tarsus, the Apostle Paul, is so critical that critics of Christianity place it in the same category as the resurrection of Jesus. If it can be disproven, the faith falls apart. Even Luke, the author of Acts, knows this is so important that he includes three separate accounts of it (Acts 9, 22, 26).

Saul’s conversion is not just critical to the faith of Christianity as a whole. It is critical to your faith in particular. Saul’s conversion provides a model for what it looks like to come out of a false religion and convert to the true faith of Christianity. He shows us what true conversion looks like, the necessary steps to take, and how the Lord delights in saving sinners like us.

We first met Saul back at the end of chapter 7 when he is in charge of Stephen’s death. After Stephen preaches his incredible sermon there in front of the Jewish Sanhedrin (Senate), the crowd rushes him and stones him to death in the street. Acts 7:58b - and the witnesses laid aside their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. This means that Saul was in charge. He has orchestrated this event and has personally initiated the persecution that is unleashed upon the Church.

Once Stephen is dead, here is how Saul is described, Acts 8:1 - Now Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Because of Saul, the persecution against Christians explodes from being against this one man to being against all believers. Because of Saul, the Christians in Jerusalem, thousands of them, are forced out of their homes and must flee into the surrounding regions to stay alive.

God uses that to make sure the Gospel gets proclaimed in those regions. Faithful men, as they are scattered, take to preaching and thousands are converted in Samaria and, with the eunuch, all the way down into Africa. Well Saul does not like this at all. His targets have fled. Now what? Well, he pursues them. Acts 9:1-2 - Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

Saul is on the hunt. John Calvin calls Saul here a “wild and ferocious beast.” The phrase in verse 1, ‘breathing threats’ was used of the panting of attacking animals. His prey have moved, so he is now stalking them to take them down. Apparently he has heard that some Christians scattered north into Syria, with its capital city of Damascus. There was a large Jewish presence there with many synagogues. So he gets letters of endorsement and authority from the High Priest himself to search out, capture, and bring the Christians back to Jerusalem for trial and possible execution.

Saul, full of pride and power, starts his journey. Why is he so angry? Because he is a good Jew. He is holy and righteous according to Jewish teaching. In Philippians 3, Paul gives us his spiritual resume and lets us in on his life at this particular point. He grew up in a devout religious home. So devout to ancient Judaism, that though they lived in the Gentile city of Tarsus, his family maintained the devout tradition of speaking ancient Hebrew. He comes from the tribe of Benjamin, the royal tribe of Israel. It is the tribe King Saul came from, of whom he is named after. He received training by Gamaliel, the most famous Jewish rabbi in his day. He is a Pharisee, the most strict observers to God’s OT Law.

He believes that Yahweh, the God of Israel, is the one, true God. And He is. But these Christians claim that Jesus of Nazareth is God come in the flesh. That’s blasphemy. Which is the crime that landed Jesus on the cross. He had claimed God-status and they killed Him for it. And now these Christians keep preaching that message. So, in the name of protecting God’s honor, Saul sees it as his religious duty to eradicate these Christians, to stamp out the name of Jesus so that God could be honored fully again. Just one problem…he’s wrong. To say that Jesus is God is indeed blasphemy…unless it’s true. Then it’s not blasphemy, to worship Jesus is faithfulness to God, because Jesus is God. As Saul is about to learn.

TS - for the rest of the text, through Saul’s conversion, we are shown the necessary steps all of us must embrace to faithfully follow the Lord Jesus:

Acts 9:3-19a - 3 And as he was traveling, it happened that when he was approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him;

4 and falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,

6 but rise up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.”

7 And the men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.

8 And Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing. Leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus.

9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”

11 And the Lord said to him, “Rise up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying,

12 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.”

13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem.

14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”

15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;

16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.”

17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And he laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord sent me—that is Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming—so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

18 And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he rose up and was baptized;

19 and he took food and was strengthened.

CONFRONTATION (V. 3-9)

Saul is going about his merry way, backed by the authority of the highest Jewish court in the world. Saul has a lot of power, has been commissioned to accomplish a great task, and heads confidently to Damascus. Things have gone well for Saul up to this point. He is full of privilege and success. Great family. Great heritage. Solid in his faith. Trained by the best. He is a young, successful, up-and-comer in his day. He is set on a path that will land him in the Sanhedrin and possibly even into the High Priest chair as he gets older. The persecution he has initiated has worked just as he had planned. The Christians are on the run.

Things are going well, Saul has every reason in the world to be assured of continued success. Until…until he meets Jesus. End of v.3 - suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and falling to the ground…in Acts 26 when Paul himself recounts this, he says it is noon and that the light was brighter than the noonday sun. The overwhelming nature of what is happening knocks him to the ground. While the text does not say that Saul is riding a horse, it is assumed…and this is where the phrase ‘knocked off your high horse’ comes from.

This has all the signs of a biblical theophany (appearance of God). In Ezekiel 1, Ezekiel 3, Daniel 8, and Revelation 1…anyone who sees God as He is immediately finds himself facedown on the ground. No different for Saul. Except that he doesn’t know who this is yet. End of v. 4 - he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” The double-repetition of that name has God’s fingerprints all over it. With Abraham in Genesis 22 and Moses in Exodus 3, when God calls someone, he frequently repeats the name. If super-Jew Saul is paying attention to the OT theophany and the name repetition, he should know who this is. God is speaking to him. But he’s confused. Saul isn’t persecuting God. He is persecuting Christians. So is this a heavenly vision of Stephen? Is this some overwhelming show of force from one of the Christians he is hunting down?

V. 5 - And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” Saul calls him ‘Lord’ meaning nothing more than ‘sir.’ “I am Jesus.” Pause for a minute and think of the impact that statement would make on Saul. In an instant he is confronted with the reality that the direction of his entire life is wrong. He would have approved of Jesus’ crucifixion. He has believed Jesus to be a liar up to this point. Of course Jesus didn’t rise from the dead. The disciples had stolen the body or something. There was obviously some sort of explanation for the empty tomb. And in the name of honoring God he has pursued and killed followers of Jesus. And now the resurrected Jesus, as God in Heaven, confronts Saul with his sin. He was wrong about Jesus. He was wrong about the resurrection. He was wrong about the persecution. Jesus wasn’t just a man, He was God in the flesh. Saul wasn’t honoring God by killing Christians, he was sinning against Christ. All of that hits him right in the face with one statement, “I am Jesus.”

This moment comes for us all. We go about our lives, coasting along. We are dating, getting married, living faithfully. Having kids. Going to work. Building wealth. Pursuing success. Having fun. Enjoying ourselves. Nothing wrong with any of that. For many, they haven’t even considered issues of faith. Why bother? And if they have considered faith, they have rejected it as nonsense or by apathy, because it hasn’t made any discernible difference. But then…God. He interrupts. He intervenes. Sometimes it is a conversation with a friend, reading a book, coming to Church…something happens and wham it hits us…I was wrong the whole time. I was wrong about who Jesus is. Things I was doing that I thought were good turn out to be sinful.

And it hurts. It is humbling. It is humiliating. It crushes the ego. We aren’t used to this and we sometimes don’t know how to respond. No one waltzes into God’s kingdom. No one struts into His presence. We all come limping, crawling, broken by the reality of our sin. It hurts. But it is absolutely necessary. Only humble people see the need to be saved. Only humble people surrender to Jesus. Prideful people never call Jesus ‘Lord.’

CONVERSION (V. 10-19)

Saul and his traveling companions pick themselves up off the ground and go into the city at Jesus’ direction. Saul has been blinded by the light. And though he had planned on strutting into the city with power and pride, he is humbly led by the hand because he can’t do it on his own. Enter Ananias. William Barclays calls him the ‘forgotten hero of the faith.’ He is a disciple of Jesus in Damascus.

V. 10-12 - 10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”

11 And the Lord said to him, “Rise up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying,

12 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.”

Jesus appears in a vision to Ananias, who immediately knows who he is talking to. Unlike Saul, he already knows Jesus. Ananias is to go to Straight Street (still the main E/W thoroughfare in Damascus) to the house of Judas and talk to Saul. Jesus has already given Saul the vision that Ananias is coming to see him. But…Ananias is none too thrilled with the task. V. 13-14 - But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”

Saul is so well-known as the great persecutor that word had spread about him all 150 miles to Damascus. He is a killer. He is a terrorist. He is actively hunting down and arresting all who claim Christ. Not really the guy I want to go pray with. What if it is a trap? What if he kills me? What if he hauls me back to Jerusalem to trial? Doesn’t matter. God tells Ananias to go and he goes. We’ll come back to why that is in a minute.

V. 17-19a - 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And he laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord sent me—that is Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming—so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

18 And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he rose up and was baptized;

19 and he took food and was strengthened.

Brother Saul…I imagine that statement had an impact. He’s been hunting down these Christians. He has arrested them. He has ensured their deaths. Yet now the first Christian he meets (that he isn’t trying to arrest) welcomes him in as family. This is the power of God to save. This is the power of God to transform a life. This is what Jesus meant when he said to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Because that enemy might become a friend. That persecutor might become a brother.

I am here Saul because Jesus sent me. I’m going to lay hands on you as He instructed me, to pray for you. You will regain your sight and the Spirit will fill you. Even though you have sinned grievously against God, His mercy forgives you for all of that. You’ve dishonored God. He forgives. The entire direction of your life is going to change, and God the Holy Spirit is going to empower you to now live in a way that honors God.

God has blinded him for the last 3 days, but Saul has been spiritually blind for much longer than that. And as his eyes are opened, scales fall off. He can see. Not just physically, but spiritually. He has been confronted with his sin, with his failure to believe that Jesus really is who He claimed to be. And now by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, Saul is saved. He gets up and gets directly into the water for baptism.

Though confrontation hurts, conversion heals. We come to this awareness of our sin. We see things we have done/thought/said as what it is…sin. We never would have called it that before. But our eyes have been opened. That is called repentance. We change our mind and see things as they are. What I thought was good actually isn’t good. It’s sin. We see our failure to believe in Jesus. We had rejected Him. We had ignored Him. Pretended as if He didn’t matter. But now…we see Him as He is. The risen, reigning Lord of all things.

What do you do when your eyes get opened to truth? Get in the water. Christians like to debate baptism. Christians like to discuss baptism. But the only thing we need to do regarding baptism is submit to it! We’ve already seen it in Acts and we will continue to see it at every conversion. When someone’s eyes are opened and they become a believer…they believe Jesus really is the Son of God who died for their sins and rose from the dead, they repent of their sin, the confess Jesus as Lord…they get in the water. Maybe it’s time for you to stop resisting baptism, talking about baptism, arguing about baptism…and just submit to baptism. If you’re a believer, get in the water!

COMMISSION (V. 15-16)

Back a few verses ago, Ananias was not happy that he was being sent to Saul. But he does, because he is faithful and obedient to the Lord. And in that exchange we dare not miss what Jesus said about Saul. V. 15-16 - 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;

16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.”

This is why Saul’s conversion is recounted three separate times in Acts. This is why critics of the faith want to disprove it. If you can discredit Saul’s conversion you can discredit all that he ever accomplished. His missions endeavors, his NT letters, his theology that defines NT Christianity…it is all gone in an instant.

Remember that Jesus’ mission is for the Gospel to go out from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. It is Saul, as the Apostle Paul (Greek name) who will take the Gospel to the nations (ethnos). He will take the name of Jesus and proclaim it before kings, before the Jews, and to the known world of his day. You sit in this room today because this is true about Saul. His missionary efforts quite literally changed the world.

What does that have to do with us? Everything. I said that Saul’s conversion is a model that includes all the necessary steps to be a faithful follower of Jesus. That includes this one. Saul’s conversion comes with a commission. And so does yours. To be saved is to be sent. The Gospel that saves you is the same Gospel you are to share. You have been commissioned by Almighty God to take the name of Jesus into your world. You likely won’t travel the world like Saul did. But you have a family. You have neighbors. You go to work. You have friends. And the greatest need they have is to hear the Gospel. You are commissioned to meet that need.

Conclusion

Back to George Littleton and Gilbert West. In their ardent unbelief they have set out to research and write definitive proof that Jesus did not rise from the dead and Saul was not converted in Acts 9. After all their research, after all their investigating…Gilbert West published his book called The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, arguing for its historical fact. That Jesus did indeed rise from the dead. George Littleton published his book, The Conversion of St. Paul, arguing for its validity and truth. Let me close out by quoting this atheist turned Christian, this enemy turned friend:

“It follows that what he related to have been the cause of his conversion and to have happened in consequence of it, did all really happen, and therefore the Christian religion is a divine revelation…It must be accounted for by the power of God.”