A Damascus Road Experience

Summary: Acts 9:1–7

Acts 9:1–7 KJV 1900

And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, 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. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.

Big Idea: God can take our greatest opposition and use it for His greatest purpose; no background is too formidable for His redemptive work.

. But the church was not doing what Jesus commanded the church to do which was to go into the world and preach the Gospel. The church was content with staying in Jerusalem to form a huge megachurch within the city. But Jesus told them in Acts 1:8 “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” The church had a mandate to go into the world and preach but they said at home and had church.

Saul was in the plan of God from the very beginning! We are first introduced to Saul in Acts 8 after the stoning of Stephen. After Stephen’s death, Saul began his persecution of the church and from his actions, the church scatterred: Acts 8:3–4 “As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.” But even with these actions, Saul was not satisfied and neither was God!

1. Pursuit of Persecution

Acts 9:1–2 “And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, 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.”

Saul was not an ordinary Hebrew and was much different from Jesus hand-picked disciples.

Saul was intelligent and had a lot of church knowledge. He was a Pharisee so he had prestige and respect. He had dual citizenship as a Jewish and Roman citizen. He had money and was financially well-off.

And yet with all of these things going for him, he did not have revelation of who Jesus is.

His persecution of the church was due to his misunderstanding of the scriptures. His actions against the church were all in the name of the Lord because he believed the church was not from God.

Many times people do not come to the Lord because they do not have the revelation of who God is! They do not realize the sacrifice of the Son and many times, they are already a member of the church!

2. Powerful Divine Encounter

Acts 9:3–4 “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?”

It is on the road to Damascus where God will create a change in the life of a beleiver. Every believer has this experience where they are on a path and God changes the direction.

Not everyone’s road is the same, but we all find ourselves on a path to a certain destination until God interupts us and changes the trajectory of our lives.

The name Damascus comes from two Hebrew words: Dam meaning Beginning and mashak meaning drawn out. It can also mean salvation. So the name means Beginning of Salvation.

Paul’s journey to Damascus was to bring destruction and chaos to the kingdom of God. He knew what the scriptures said and he knew who Yahweh is but he did not know Jesus.

Sometimes, it is hard for us to understand that the toughest part of our journey will lead us to salvation. The journey could have you in the hospital or in jail. It can have you at the funeral of a loved one or even standing in the unemployment line. And you don’t understand the path, because you don’t understand God!

We want God to give us answers to our questions but we do not like the way He answers us! Saul wanted to serve God and he thought the best way was to use his knowledge and his influence to persecute the church!

But on the road, God changes all of that! The Bible says that when he was near his destination, a bright light pierced the sky and knocked him from his horse. When God wants to get your attention, He will do what He needs to do!

But now Jesus asks Saul a question: “Why are you persecuting Me?” Why are you attacking my church? Why are you attacking my people? God already knew the answer...Saul knew the answer...He was doing this in the name of the Lord.

God has a habit of asking us questions that we already know the answer to:

Genesis 3:9 God asked Adam “Where are you?”

1 Kings 19:13 God asked Elijah “What are you doing here?”

Genesis 3:13 God asked Eve “What have you done?”

Genesis 32:27 God asked Jacob “What is your name?”

Exodus 4:2 God asked Moses “What is that in your hand?”

Isaiah 6:2 God asked “Whom shall I send and who will go for us?”

Ezekiel 37:3 God asked Ezekiel “Shall these bones live?”

Jesus also asked questions

Matthew 16:15 Jesus asked “Who do you say I am?”

Matthew 20:32 He asked the blind men “What do you want Me to do for you?”

Luke 6:46 He asked “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not what I say?”

Luke 17 He asked the lepers “where are those that were healed?”

John 11 He asked Martha “Do you believe I am the resurrection and the life?”

He asked the woman caught in adultery “Where are those who accuse you?”

He asks questions that He already knows the answer to and when Saul encountered him, He asked him “Why are you persecuting me?”

3. Path to New Purpose

Acts 9:5–7 “And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.”

Saul asked Him, who are you and the response is I am Jesus. Because when you attack the church, you are attacking the Savior. When you despise the church, you despise Jesus.

Jesus tells Saul, it is hard for you to kick against the pricks. In other words, everything you are doing is hurting you. Everytime you do something to one of mine, you are hurting yourself. You cannot fight against the will of God. When God is up to something, you need to follow His will.

Saul’s response was correct: What do you want me to do?