Paul's Conversion Acts 9:1-9

Enemy of Christ

Paul was a violent opponent of Christ. He wanted to end Christianity. We see in Acts 8:1-3

Acts 8:1–3 (NASB95)

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. Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.

the lengths that Saul went through to stop Christianity. He participated in killing Stephen, persecuted the church to the degree that it had to scatter, and dragging men and women to prison.

In order for Saul to do this legally he would need a letter from the high priest to put people in jail. The high priest had authority in Jewish law according to Rome. Saul sought and received this letter and began his terror on Christians.

We must ask why he had such hatred for Christians. First we must look at his upbringing. Phil. 3:4-6

Philippians 3:4–6 (NASB95)

although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.

Acts 22:3 NASB95

“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today.

He was deeply rooted in Judaism. It was who he was and the way he was trained. He believed that he was doing God a favor by stopping this religion known as the Way. It infuriated him to think that Christians believed that a dead man was God. He saw Christianity as a slap in the face of Judaism. His passionate desire to stop Christianity led him to persecute Christ church.

This new found religion (in the eyes of Saul) posed a threat to who he was, how he was brought up, what he believed, and what he desired. Because of this Saul went to extreme measures to put an end to Christianity.

Application

Folks we live in a world today that is greatly offended by Jesus Christ. They are offended for the very same reason Saul was offended. Jesus stands in the way of what they believe. I would like to share 1 set of non Christian religions and 2 religions that you may not think of as religion that hate Jesus Christ.

Non-Christian religions

There are many different religions in the world that are not Christian. Some of the more prominent ones are Judaism, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jehovah Witness, and Mormon. Christianity is the only religion that believes Jesus is God. Jesus made this claim several times in the new testament. These other religions do not believe Jesus is God and consequently do not care for Christians. Especially the eastern religions like Judaism, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist. They see us as evil and would like to do to us what Saul did to the early Christians. Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses do not believe that Jesus is God but someone lower than God. They strongly disagree with our position but not to the degree of persecution.

LGBQT Doctrine

This is an organization that hates Jesus because of his teachings on homosexuality. He calls it sin. The LGBQT want s us to believe that homosexuality is love and if you oppose it then you are a hate group. Unfortunately, they have attacked the church by infiltrating it with their doctrine and caused major denominations to split.

If you hold to Christ teachings on their beliefs then they will aggressively oppose you. They will label you as hate groups that are not inclusive.

We must follow the teachings of the Bible. Lev.18:22

Leviticus 18:22 NASB95

‘You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.

Romans 1:26–28 (NASB95)

For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,

1 Corinthians 6:9–10 (NASB95)

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Timothy 1:9–11 (NASB95)

realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.

The Bible is clear that homosexuality is a sin. We must never perpetrate violence against homosexuals but have a responsibility to share the truth about the sinfulness of homosexuality.

Critical Race Theory Doctrine

This is a racial doctrine that is a form of Marxism. It says that there is a system in place that takes advantage of minorities. They believe in an uprising against the system which would include the church that does not agree with them.

This is a doctrine that our own denomination wrestled with in June 2021. The SBC approved a measure rejecting, “any theory or worldview that finds the ultimate identity of human beings in ethnicity or in any other group dynamic.”

CRT serves as another distraction to the purpose of gospel churches. I agree with James Merrit, a pastor in Georgia who chaired the CRT committee for SBC, when he said, “I want to say this bluntly and plainly: if some people were as passionate about the gospel as they were critical race theory, we’d win this world for Christ tomorrow,”

Jesus teaches that all people are made in the image of God and that we should not mistreat any one. Gen 1:26

Genesis 1:26 NASB95

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Galatians 3:28 NASB95

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:11 NASB95

a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

Martin Luther King Junior said it well when he said, ““I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

We need to respect all people and not judge them based on the color of their skin. As a matter of fact we need to share the gospel with all people so they will not be judged by God!

The church must be aware of those religions that stand oppose to Jesus and His teachings. We must seek to evangelize them and make disciples.

Encounter With Christ

As Saul was approaching Damascus a light flashed from heaven and he was in the presence of Jesus. Jesus asked him why he was persecuting Him. Jesus sees the persecution of his church as if it was done to himself Matt. 25:40

Matthew 25:40 NASB95

“The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

Saul answered, “Who are you Lord?” Saul recognized that he was in the presence of deity hence he called Him Lord. Jesus answered , “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” This is the worst possible answer he could have heard. All the time he was persecuting Christianity he thought he was fighting for God only to find out that he was fighting against God.

Jesus told Saul to get up and enter Damascus and he would be instructed on what he was to do next. The only problem was that he was blind and could not see how to get to Damascus.

Fortunately the men that were with Saul heard the voice of Jesus but did not see Him. They led Saul to Damascus.

Acts: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Consecration

God crushed Saul, bringing him to the point of total consecration. From the ashes of Saul’s old life would arise the noblest and most useful man of God the church has ever known

Application

When Christ calls us into salvation it may not be as dramatic as what Saul experienced, but you know that you have had an encounter with Jesus. When I was 12 years old I was in my room when I first encountered the Lord. It was not anything as substantial as what Paul experienced, but it was an experience that I will never forget.

I was wondering about my grandfather that had recently passed and came across a bible in my drawer that my Grandfather had given me. I knew my granddad to be a very religious man and very involved in his church. I had no desire to be like my granddad in the religious respect, but I did want to be like my granddad when it came to his loving people. So I started reading the old testament. This was the beginning of my salvation experience.

It wasn’t until 3 years later that I first heard the Gospel. and it wasn’t until another 4 years that I surrendered my life to Christ and was saved.

Though it took me 7 years to get to the point of salvation I had several encounters with Christ. He did not stop pursuing me, but was patient with me and continued to invite me into His salvation.

I have heard multiple stories of how Christ rescued people from tragedy or illness and had encounters with Christ. They came to salvation through their tragedy or illness .

The point is that when Christ calls you into salvation He will always get your attention. It is at this that we begin to ask the same question Saul asked. “Who are you Lord?” Just as Saul did not know, we may not know. But just as Jesus revealed himself to Saul, so will Jesus reveal himself to us.

We will need to make a decision about what we are going to do with this encounter. We can get up and move to the next step or we can run and hide from the One who is calling us into salvation.

Maybe your here this morning and you are on your journey to salvation. Perhaps the Lord has invited you to receive His salvation this morning. You can choose to receive His salvation this morning. If you will repent of your sins and put your faith in Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, for the forgiveness and remission of your sins, you can be saved this morning. 1 John 1:9

1 John 1:9 NASB95

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.