Sermon Tone Analysis

Overall tone of the sermon

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from 3 weeks ago
Jesus sovereignly and irresistibly invaded Saul’s life and instantaneously transformed him from a murderous persecutor of believers in Jesus into one of the most faithful and hard working ministers of the gospel the church has known
the first step in a transformed life is God’s sovereign, unconditional, irresistible work of saving grace in a person’s life
the salvation of the Ethiopian Eunuch and the salvation of Saul clearly demonstrate that God sovereignly works in the lives of spiritually dead sinners to raise them to eternal life
though the experiences of coming to saving faith by the eunuch and Saul were very different the work of God was the same
the Lord sovereignly, unconditionally and irresistibly drew the eunuch to himself over a period of time
the Eunuch was engaged in a search that started months or even years before his conversion
God sovereignly ordered the steps of both the Eunuch and Philip so that he could hear the gospel and be saved
the Lord suddenly stopped Saul in his tracks, knocked him down to his knees, blinded him and raised him up to eternal life in Christ
Saul was not searching, was self-righteous, was ravaging the church and would have continued to do so apart from God saving him
though the Ethiopian eunuch’s salvation was unremarkable compared to Saul’s it was no less a miracle and required nothing less than God’s sovereign work
both had to be raised out of their spiritual deadness into spiritual life in order to be saved
and so it is with all genuine believers
as Jesus said,
God sovereignly works to save most people like he did in the life of the Ethiopian Eunuch
a slow, gradual, often imperceptible opening of the eyes and heart, irresistibly drawing them to himself
temptation for us to attribute our coming to salvation to our own free will
biblical fact: if God does not do a sovereign work of grace in the life of a person we are unable and unwilling turn to God of their own free will
being spiritually dead they are unwilling to submit to God’s will
biblical teaching: our free will will always be exercised to go our own way
the first step in a transformed life is a life changing encounter when the sovereign God of the universe raises a dead sinner to a new life and gives them the will and desire to turn from slavery to the world, their flesh and the devil to instead serve Christ
2. Chosen to Serve
until he encountered the living Christ in Acts 9, Saul saw himself his own master
in his mind he was free, doing his own will and going his own way
according to Jesus he was in fact a slave to the devil
though Saul thought he was serving God he in fact was opposing him!
when Jesus confronted Saul, Jesus overcame his enmity, changed his heart, changed his direction, altered his purpose
this was a 180 degree turn around effected by the sovereign grace of God
Saul went from serving himself and the Jewish authorities to serving Christ
and in keeping with that change Jesus used strong language to describe this change
Jesus said of Paul:
“a chosen instrument” and “to appoint you as a servant”
“chosen” = elected: set apart for a purpose and to a person
instrument: a vessel
if you want to pour water into a glass you must have the right instrument
a sieve will not do, but a pitcher will
God’s sovereign purpose in saving Saul:
illustration about a chosen instrument
I like to work with my hands
in any job, whether mechanical or carpentry, the right tools are essential if you would have a job done right and in a timely manner
not having the right tools may break a part or make a simple task take a great deal longer or may even make doing certain jobs impossible
example of using a chisel as a screwdriver
we are all tools in the hands of Christ, the only question is whether we are useful or not!
Saul had been chosen by Jesus to be his instrument and servant
servant: an assistant to another as the instrument of his will
Saul’s duty was to be Christ’s mouthpiece to the world
Jesus made Saul his personal assistant
Saul would act on Jesus’ behalf making his cause his own
along with himself Paul includes all believers
Saul, along with all believers, was elected by Christ for Christ: to carry Jesus’ name
we are appointed by Christ to be servants and witnesses
Jesus’ purpose for the world: to build his church
Jesus’ plan for Saul: to take the message of Christ’s death, burial, resurrection and ascension to the Roman world
Jesus’ plan has never changed: every believer has been given the responsibility of spreading the good news about him wherever they are and wherever they go
confronting Saul with the blinding light of his glory, Jesus completely overpowered him, changed his heart, his mind and his will and made him his servant
Jesus stopped Saul, Jesus saved Saul, Jesus owned Saul
up to this point Saul had done what he wanted to do and what the Jewish authorities authorized him to do
all that has now changed
Saul is no longer in control of his life and he no longer is the servant of the Sanhedrin
Saul is now the servant of his Lord
Saul is now taking his orders from Jesus
the Lord Jesus went to the Jewish slave market and purchased Paul and made him his slave/servant
note Ananias’ address of Jesus as Lord is the same as Saul’s
every true believer is a servant of the Lord Jesus
just as Jesus had purchased Saul as his servant, so Ananias had already been purchased and was serving Jesus
to become a follower of Christ you must be purchased by Christ
to be purchased by Christ is to be given a task: serving Jesus as Lord
a 2nd step we see in Saul’s transformed life is serving the Lord Jesus Christ in place of serving the world, our flesh and the devil
this leads to the third step
Paul asks, “what shall I do, Lord?” (Acts 22:10)
3. Submission to the Lordship of Christ
first: saved by sovereign grace; second: serves Christ
Jesus in John 8: all people have one of two fathers, God or the devil
every person has one of them as their master
every person serves either God or Satan
Bob Dylan - “You Gotta Serve Somebody”
You may be an ambassador to England or France
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls
But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes
Indeed you're gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody
those whose father is the devil are blinded by him so that they think they are free when in fact that are his slaves
a general fact about slaves: they have no say in whom they serve
when a slave is purchased they are not asked whether they would like to be owned by their future owner
scripture uses a similar image of being born again
babies have no say in their conception or birth!
the problem: having been born slaves, they believe their slavery to be freedom!
because they love their sins they don’t believe themselves to be slaves
Jesus’ call to saving faith is a call to obedience: Jesus is Lord
this was true of Saul and it is true of everyone whom Christ calls to himself, a mark of true saving faith
Saul’s response to his being made a servant: “what shall I do, Lord”
Saul recognized that he had been saved to do something for Jesus
Saul’s first order: go and wait for instructions
Saul’s second order: to carry Jesus’ name to Jews, Gentiles and kings
Jesus’ example of being guided and directed by the Father:
shockingly illustrated in washing the disciples’ feet and in dying on the cross (Jn 13:1-17; Php 2:5-8)
Jesus told his disciples to do as he did, not literally washing each others’ feet but being willing to humble themselves in order to serve one another
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