I Once Was Lost but now I See

Introduction

Text: Acts 9:1-22

Thesis: Salvation is intended to create a radical change in men.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind but now I see.

Those are probably some of the most well known words in all of Christianity today. The song Amazing Grace captures the blessing of God’s grace and salvation toward us. The song speaks of the radical change that grace creates in us. In the words of John Newton the writer of Amazing Grace I once was blind but now I see. This was the testimony of John Newton raised until the age of 7 with a knowledge of the bible. At 7 his mother died and his father a sea captain took over his rearing. Throughout his teen years he sailed on ships. He lost his first job because of “unsettled behaviour and impatience of restraint.” These characteristics continued throughout his career as a sailor. In 1744, he was press ganged into the Royal Navy, but he rebelled against the discipline and deserted. Newton would later write to describe himself during those years, "I sinned with a high hand, and I made it my study to tempt and seduce others." After being released from the Navy, he took up sailing with a slave trader who had plantations off of the cost of West Africa. The slaver and his slave wife treated Newton horribly and he was reduced to wearing rags and begging for food. Eventually, he was placed on board another ship returning to Liverpool. On voyage the ship encountered a violent storm. Newton had been reading The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis at the time and remembered a passage from Proverbs 1:24-28 “Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, And would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, And your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; When distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:” During that storm God opened his eyes to his sin and need of a savior. John Newton was converted. Where once he was blind to the truth, his eyes were now open.

When I think of the story of John Newton, I can’t help but think about this passage in Acts 9 where the Apostle Paul then called Saul is saved. Paul was a man who was spiritually blind, but he was also made physically blind when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. On meeting Ananias, the scales fell off of his eyes and he could see. But what stands out about both of these men is the radical change that God brought about in there lives.

Often times when we talk about salvation, we might use the word conversion to describe a person getting saved. But what does that actually mean? Ben Witherington III defines conversion “as a turning which implies a consciousness that a great change is involved, that the old was wrong and the new is right” The message of the gospel has always included the idea of repentance and faith. Repentance is a turning of my mind to agree with God about my sin, my inability to save myself and my need for a savior. When a person gets saved a dramatic change has occurred even though we may not see the effects on the outside immediately. 2 Cor 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

There is a version of Christianity today that says that repentance is not necessary for salvation. We call this easy believism. And the end result is a bunch of people who believe they can claim to be Christians while living in immorality and drug addiction and seeing nothing wrong with it. It gives people a get out of hell free card and allows them to continue to live in their sin. But the teaching of the scriptures is that when a person truly repents of their sin and places their faith in Jesus Christ there will be a change. I can’t quantify how much of a change must exist in a person to show true faith, but it must exist at some level. By their fruits ye shall know them. It concerns me when Christians can live and believe just like the world and it doesn’t even bother them. A true believer has the Holy Spirit living inside of them and He isn’t silent about sin. I can’t be the one to judge whether a person is saved or not but the example of both John Newton and Paul is that salvation creates a radical change in a person.

So that we can see this truth let’s take a look at the conversion of Saul.

I. Saul’s life before conversion vs 1-2

A. Paul was a murderer- This chapter picks up on the theme that Luke left off on in chapter 7. The word yet ties chapter nine back to the end of 7 and beginning of 8. Stephen was just killed and at the death of Stephen we come across our first mention of Saul of Tarsus in Acts 8:1 “And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.” Saul was there at Stephen’s death, but not only that Saul took part in Stephen’s death.

B.He was a Pharisee Phil 3:4-6 “Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.” Paul was a self righteous zealot for Judaism. He thought he was perfect and kept the law and anyone else who didn’t was a threat that needed to be eliminated. I can’t help but think of the parallels between Paul and the inquisition. His self-righteousness justified his crimes against God and the Church.

C. He threatened and arrested Christians- Acts 9:1 “And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,” He was not silent about his hate for Christians. He was constantly vocally attacking them and threatening to kill them.

D. But Paul was not all bark and no bite; he sought permission to go and round up Christians and bring them to trial. Acts 9:2 “And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.” Most believe that Paul was only given the authority to round up the Christians who had fled Jerusalem in Acts 8. Israel though not an independent nation at this time had been given the right of extradition by Ceasar. So Paul could travel outside Israel and bring back people who had fled. He did not discriminate about gender. Men and women both were going to be arrested and brought back to possibly face the same fate as Stephen did.

E. He made an enemy of Christianity. One of the names for early Christianity was The Way because Christians offered the way to eternal life and a new way of life. It is a clear reference to Jesus words in John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Paul later on would say, 1 Cor 15:9 “For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.”

Paul was not a mother Theresa loved by all because of her compassion for the suffering. Paul was a religious zealot. We can somewhat understand his zeal because he thought he was serving God; but it drove him to be an enemy of God, a persecutor of the church and a murderer. Saul was not a good man.

Our lives before Christ:

God has placed within each of us a consciousness of sin, basic right and wrongs; and yet we continually choose our way. To do the things we want to do. Maybe your life was one of drugs and alcohol, but maybe you are like me and got saved at a younger age. We were still monsters of iniquity even then. We were selfish, angry, prideful. We sought after pleasure and other things instead of God. Even the youngest child is a sinner before God. Rom 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Psalm 51:5 “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; And in sin did my mother conceive me.” This does not mean that David’s mother was committing sin when he was conceived. This verse teaches that David was a sinner all the way back to his time in the womb. We are sinners from the very moment of life. This was our life before conversion.

II. Saul’s conversion vs 3-19

A. The Road to Damascus vs 3-9

1. As Saul was coming near Damascus a bright light shined around him. This is a vision of the glory of Jesus Christ. 1 Tim 6:16 “Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.” and the presence of such glory weighed down on Paul and losing strength he fell to the ground. When was the last time you saw a sinner so convicted by his sin that he couldn’t stand. Many times when men have been in the presence of the absolute perfection, majesty and glory of God they have fallen to their knees in humility. Paul in the presence of this glory saw himself as he truly was. He could not compare to such glory and it weighed down on him

2. He heard a voice from heaven- Jesus literally speaks to Saul in this moment and asks him Why are you persecuting me? This statement shows the solidarity that Jesus has with his people. To persecute the church, to mock Christians, to make them lose their jobs, to steal from them, to burn their houses, to beat them and to kill them is to do these things to Jesus Christ. Matt 25:40 “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Jesus stands with the believer when they are persecuted and what is done to us His children is done to him. Saul was guilty of fighting against God Himself. Maybe God has been trying to speak to your heart. Maybe he has been convicting you of your sin, but you try to run away or you just lash out at anyone and everyone who tries to get you to see the sin in your life. Are you fighting against God?

3. Paul responds with a question, Who are you Lord? I think he knew this was God, but he may not have made the connection that Jesus was Lord. 1 Cor 12:3 “Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” I don’t know that a person must understand fully the Lordship of God to be saved, but at some point they must recognize the authority of God to punish their sin and the authority of God to save them from their sin; so to this extent a person must believe Jesus is Lord. God responds by telling him exactly who he was I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. Paul now knows clearly who it is exactly that he is meeting with. Everything is now making sense and what he thought was right turned out to be wrong. Paul goes through a radical shift in his thinking in this moment. Jesus goes on to say it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. Pricks were sharp rods with metal tips on them like a goad. The idea is that if you kick the goads, you are just going to hurt yourself. Fighting against God, running from Him is only hurting yourself more. People try to drown out God calling them to repentance by drinking, drugs, and sex and in the end these things only hurt them more and more.

4. Paul is then told to go to Damascus and he would be told what to do. The men with Saul experienced part of this meeting but not the full experience of it. There is a debate about vs 7, so if you want to discuss that verse come see me afterwards, but when Saul rises to his feet he is blind.

B. The Meeting with Ananias vs 10-19

The next scene is Saul’s meeting with Ananias. Ananias is hesitant to meet with Saul because of his reputation. I imagine most of us would be. If you found out the head of the Hell’s angels was going to be in church today because he supposedly got saved; how eager would you be to go up and talk to him. There is some hesitation here, but God makes it clear that Saul is special to God. He is call in vs 15 a chosen vessel. He would be used by God in a special way and he would also suffer greatly because of it. Ananias job was to commission Saul for his ministry, to heal Saul of his blindness and to impart the Holy Ghost much like we say in Samaria.

When was Paul saved?

Last year I was stuck on an airplane for three hours sitting on the tarmac because of a snow storm. While sitting on the plane I had a long, passionate discussion with a guy about my age who had just started going to church at a Church of Christ. The subject of our discussion was whether baptism was required for Salvation. One of the key texts that the Church of Christ will go to is one of Paul’s testimonies in Acts 22 which seems to indicate that you have to be baptised to be saved. They teach that Saul was not saved on the road to Damascus but only after he met with Ananias and was baptised. Without delving into the Acts 22 passage yet (we will get there), I want to give you five reason’s why I believe Saul was saved before he even met with Ananias while on the road to Damascus:

In vs 17, Ananias calls Saul brother Saul before he has been baptised.

The indication is also that Saul receives the Holy Ghost between vs 17 and 18 again before he is baptised.

In the third instance where Paul gives his testimony of salvation, he doesn’t even mention a single event from his meeting with Ananias. This shows that the salvation occurred on the road to Damascus because Paul relates that as his testimony.

In 1 Cor 15:8 “And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.” Paul claims to have been born out of due time when he saw Jesus.

In Gal 1:11-12 “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Paul claims to have received the gospel not from a man, Ananias, but from Jesus Christ himself.

All of these things point to the fact that Paul was saved on the road to Damascus sometime after hearing the words I am Jesus. I imagine on hearing those words I would respond immediately in faith to such an experience. When it comes to interpreting the bible, we must interpret the unclear passages by the clear passages. The bible is clear that Repentance and Faith are all that is necessary for salvation. Why would I go and redefine the rest of the bible because of one bible verse that seems to say something different and by the way does not mean what they think it means.

III. Saul’s life after conversion vs 20-22

1. From that moment, Saul’s life was changed. No longer did he persecute the church, no longer was he threatening them, no longer was he killing Christians; the irony of it all is that in the city where Saul was sent to arrest Christians was the first city that he would preach the gospel in. vs 20 uses the word straightway- this word is just an older English word for immediately. Right away he started doing this and what is it that he is doing? He is preaching that Jesus is the Son of God. Notice he didn’t have to be told to do this. He didn’t have to be taught to do this. He didn’t even have to have the authority of the church tell him to do this. It was a natural response of gratefulness and joy at having been redeemed by the blood of Jesus.

2. The people were all amazed because they knew exactly who this was. The world saw the change in his life. Does the world know you are different? I know if you were saved at a young age, they aren’t going to see much of a difference from before to after you got saved, but they should still see a difference from them.

3. Saul continued to grow and his abilities to witness grew over time as well. I don’t expect everyone to start off being able to debate with an atheist when they are witnessing, but the more you do it, the more you will grow in this area. If you have a passion for it you will search out the answers you need. Paul was used of God and notice here it says that he proved that this is very Christ. He had the ability to convince people that Jesus was the fulfillment of all of those prophecies in the OT, but more than that Saul’s changed life and love for God and others proved the truth of the gospel.

Conclusion

I know that many if not all of us were not murderers, druggies, drunks, adulterers, and thieves. Let me say for those who were or are, God can saved even those and totally transform your life. For those of us who were saved without as much of a sordid history, I want you to understand something, your sin was just as great. It was just as evil and corrosive. Your sin put Jesus on the cross. Jesus can transform even you. Here is the real question? Maybe you are saved, but up to know there doesn’t seem to be that much of a change. The truth is that when you were saved, God made a radically new and transformed creature out of you 2 Cor 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Are you living out this truth? Are you allowing God to change you? Or are you living just like you did before you got saved, or are you living just like the world lives?

This is a great burden in my heart because there is something lacking in Christianity today. Jeff and I were talking about this on Wednesday. Where is the passion for God? Where is the desire to know Him more? Where is the passion to serve Him? Why is it we want to look, acts, entertain ourselves just like the world?

Teens can I challenge you, something needs to change. Why are all your other pursuits more important than God? Where is the passion to know God? I see flickers every now and then.

Adults can I challenge you, why is every conversation about something other than God. Where is the passion for God? Does your heart burn for more of God? When Saul got saved, he didn’t just get saved. He got the whole package. He was changed, transformed. The new Saul was nothing like the old Saul.

John Newton before he was saved was a slaver and treated his slaves horribly. Capturing them, dragging them to shore against their will, locking them in tiny little cells with chains, beating them and throwing those who died of the horrible conditions and dysentary overboard. But when he got saved, God changed him. He started advocating for the abolition of slavery in England. He was one of the driving forces behind Wilberforce’s move to end slavery in England.

God doesn’t want to just save you from your sins. He isn’t just handing out get out of hell free cards. He wants to change you life and what he makes of you will be something more amazing than you could ever create for yourself.