The Chief of Sinners

Intro:

Bracketology

We fill out our brackets, and we convince ourselves of what.....that our bracket is correct, that our decisions in all 67 games are the right ones

Right? We are convinced that we are correct!

Even though the Odds: 1 in 9.2 quintillion

And you may make a run, maybe get through the first day perfect.....Trevan only got two wrong on the first day

6,306 remained perfect after day 1, so 6,306 out of the 17.3 million filled out were still convinced that they were correct!!!

But it’s not just brackets, many of us can be convinced that we are right about sooooo many things, am I right?

And this is true when it comes to religions, and this was absolutely true in the apostles day as well…and we see this truth playing out perfectly in the life of Saul

Saul Convinced

As we talked about a couple of weeks ago, Saul was so convinced that he was right and Christianity was wrong that he started doing what?

Persecuting the church

remember, in verse 3, told us that Saul started ravaging the church after the stoning of Stephen

And we also read about Saul’s belief in our text today, , right in verse 1, and it says this:

“ 1 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

Saul is on the move, and he’s headed to Damascus.

He’s so convinced that his way is right, that he’s not content that the bulk of believers had left Jerusalem, that he’s chasing them down.

He’s murdered Christians, he’s thrown Christians in prison, he’s torn families apart, he is at this point the greatest enemy to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And the believers are living in fear of this man, they’re running from him remember, they’re hiding from him, and they’re probably praying to God asking Him to intervene, to kill Saul, to stop Saul, because Saul is hindering their witness of the gospel

Although, as we saw last week, the gospel is spreading despite the persecution

And so God decides to act, but probably not in the way we would have imagined, or how the believers thought He should

Jesus Intervenes

We can all probably think of the worst person in the entire world, can’t we?

Back in the mid 1900’s - many people would have said Hitler

2000’s - many would have said Hussein

And when you think of those people, the last thought you ever would have thought would have been that God would convert them into believers and they would start witnessing for him right?

Imagine Hitler, 3 years into his horrible reign coming to Christ and he starts preaching the Gospel

Or Hussein, coming to Christ and starts preaching to the Muslim’s in Saudi Arabia

Seems impossible right?

See, we tend to rank people as to whether or not they’ve done too much bad or done enough good to be worthy of the gospel…but we are going to read here, that Jesus saves regardless of anything, good or bad, that we may do

Read verses 3-9:

“ 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone 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 and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.”

See, Saul is a quite horrible person at this point in time…but Jesus shows up and acts in a way that no one else can, and he stops Saul in his tracks!

And don’t think that this is just some small thing happening, Jesus appears to Saul on the road to Damascus in a bright light, with a loud voice, and with a command for Saul

And notice Saul’s response to this Jesus whom he was so adamant wasn’t real or wasn’t God

He obeyed. He listened.

In an instant, Jesus had made himself real to Saul and he was unable to deny the truth

Whether you realize it or not, the same thing has happened to you if you are a believer, Jesus has made himself real to you to where you can no longer deny He is who He says He is

The Spirit at Work

Now, as the story continues, we see what we talked about last week coming into play as well, that the Holy Spirit is always at work, and working on both ends of the story, in the convicting of Saul and in the equipping of a man named Ananias

Read verses 10-16, “ 10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of 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 evil he has done 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 carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”

We see here God commanding Ananias to do what?

To go find Saul at this address, and lay hands on him, pray for him, and cause Saul to be able to see again

Now imagine being a believer in Damascus during this time!

You most likely know Saul is on his way, you’ve heard the horror stories about what he does to people who he finds believing in Jesus, and you are scared out of your mind!

How do you react?

Most likely in fear right?

And we read a little bit of that fear in Ananias’ response:

“Umm…Lord, are we talking about the Saul I think we’re talking about? Do you know who this man is?”

And Jesus responds, “Yes, He is my chosen instrument, he’s going to carry my name, my gospel to the Gentiles, and kings, and people of Israel.”

And so Ananias goes, verse 17 says:

“ 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19 and taking food, he was strengthened.”

17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19 and taking food, he was strengthened.

The Application

There are two things I want you to see from this text tonight, two truths to take with you:

1. No one is beyond the reach of Jesus

Riley, we were talking Sunday night in breakout groups about some people you were talking to and trying to share Christ with, right?

And you even said about one of them, “it just seems impossible, they want nothing to do with Jesus”

And some of you may be saying the same thing

I’m saying the same thing about my dad’s family in Australia and New Zealand

But no one is beyond Jesus

, Paul (Saul) writes these words down, “ 15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”

See, Saul, the self-titled chief of sinners, the worst of the worst, was not beyond the hope of Jesus Christ

And neither is that person in your class who is the worst of the worst, the one who is doing so many things wrong you can’t even talk about half of them!

2. God has a plan

See, if you are like me at all as you read this text, the question kept coming up in my mind, “Why did God wait so long to save Saul?” “Why didn’t he stop Saul before he murdered believers, or before he put so many in jail?”

, Paul says, “But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace....”

Wait wait wait, Jesus knew from the before Saul was born that he would become a Christian, then why did Jesus wait?

Or, “Why didn’t God stop Hitler, or Hussein?”

Or, “Why does God allow those kids in my class at school to be so evil”

Well, let’s look at the example before us tonight, the life of Saul

What good came out of Saul’s life up to the point of salvation?

How many of you have ever heard of the I am Second videos? Where they sit people down in the white chair with a singular light above their head and they share about how Jesus saved them?

Which ones tend to captivate us the most? The people who lived terrible lives beforehand, don’t they?

Because it amazes us at the work of Jesus in their lives

But what about the people who knew them before they became Christians?

What do you think they think? They’re probably amazed as well at the transformative change that Jesus brings about, and that person who became a Christian has an absolute mammoth opportunity before them to witness, don’t they?

The same is true of Saul, he was the golden boy of Judaism, the next big thing, and he was a hero for persecuting Christians

What kind of witness he would have had to those people

See, God always has a plan, an no man can thwart it.

tells us God saves who he wants to save and uses who he wants to use

And God decided before the foundations of the world that he was going to use Saul

And, because we have the NT, we know that God used Saul in a way that almost no one else has been used since

God’s grace is available to all, and he will save those whom he want to save

And God saved you. Sure, you weren’t killing Christians, but you were just as lost.

And God has a plan to use you to further his kingdom too, the question is, as you have seen the light of Jesus, are you willing to be used by Him?

Saul had a dramatic, instantaneous shift from sinner to believer, and he had a dramatic, instantaneous shift in lifestyle as well, which we will read about moving forward

But don’t forget the truth, no one is beyond Jesus, and God always has a plan, whether we see it or not.

Go in boldness and share the Gospel, with everyone, you never know what Saul story God has lined up.