God saved him?

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Acts  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  44:52
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Mission - Be witnesses
Method - Prayer and Proclamation
Means - Holy Spirit
In today’s passage, look for those elements once again.
Over the past several weeks, we have been challenged to grow in our faith, our boldness, our maturity in Christ to be the witnesses we should be.
Today, I want us to marvel. To be encouraged. To grow excited in who our God is and the great salvation He has provided for us through Jesus our Lord.
Today, we are in Acts 9, looking at how our Lord worked to save Saul of Tarsus.
As we saw a few weeks ago, Saul was trying to destroy the church. Now, the church was and still is not a building. The church is the people who believe in our Savior Jesus Christ. Saw was trying to destroy the church, that is by destroying the people. He arrested. He dragged to prison. He tortured to make them deny Christ. He beat and he murdered. It was his sole mission to eradicate this group of people who kept teaching that Jesus rose from the dead, and that he is the Messiah—the Lord and Savior. Who teach that Jesus is the Son of God. That is Saul of Tarsus.
Now, let’s read what happened with Saul. I am going to be reading primarily in Acts 9, but I am going to throw in some verses from Saul’s later testimony about what happened that fills in some more details.
Acts 9:1–6 NIV
Meanwhile, 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. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
Acts 26:14–18 NIV
We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
Acts 9:7–17 NIV
The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered. The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 22:14–16 NIV
“Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’
Acts 9:18–22 NIV
Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.
Galatians 1:11–17 NIV
I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.

Where we begin…

Lost

Zeal without Knowledge

Romans 10:2 NIV
For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.
Romans 10:3 NIV
Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
Galatians 1:14 NIV
I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

Unsubmissive

kicking against the goads
Ephesians 2:1–3 NIV
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

Dead Followers

Gratifying self

Deserving Wrath

Blind

blind - but now I see
3 days - like Jonah relearning the grace and mercy of God

But God...

Ephesians 2:4 NIV
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,

Rich Mercy and Great Love

1 Timothy 1:16 NIV
But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.

Immense Patience

Galatians 1:15 NIV
But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased

Sovereign Calling / Election

Kindness Leading Us

Romans 2:4 NIV
Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
Galatians 1:15–16 NIV
But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being.

Revealing Himself

Opening our eyes to see Him!
I was blind, but now I see!

Our Response… Faith!

Ephesians 2:8–9 NIV
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
Acts 22:16 NIV
And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’

Wash, Calling on the Name of the Lord

Romans 10:9–10 NIV
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
Titus 3:5 NIV
he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

Baptized

Romans 6:3–5 NIV
Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.
cloth dipped into dye, fully identified now as the new color
Coin - God’s sovereignty and Man’s responsibility

God’s Transformation

New Creation!

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

New Mission

Acts 9:20–22 NIV
At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

New Wisdom

Luke 21:15 NIV
For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.

New Boldness

not of, from, or in himself
1 Corinthians 2:3 NIV
I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling.
1 Corinthians 15:10 NIV
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
2 Corinthians 3:5–6 NIV
Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

God Saves!

1 Timothy 1:12–17 NIV
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
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