The Great Turn Around

Is it always going to be this way?

John Piper once said, “One of the most devastating feelings in the Christian life is fatalism—the feeling that this is the way it is going to be forever and nothing is going to change it and that’s that. This is the way I am; this is the way the my spouse is; this is the way my kids are; this is the way work is (or no work); this is the way our small group is; this is the way society is—and that’s that. It’s been this way for so long; it’s just not going to change. It will go on this way forever and probably get worse and that’s that.”

I would imagine in today’s world some of us feel trapped in fatalism. It would be understandable considering the turmoil our nation is walking through right now. COVID 19 pandemic has this grinding feel to it with no clear indication of relief any time soon. The race riots and looting that are seizing cities and burning them down. To add insult to injury, we are in an election year, a very important election year. We have two very contrasting ideologies competing to run this country vying for the Whitehouse; socialistic cultural Marxism on the left and a Democratic republic on the right. we’ve always taken this for granted when we’ve voted in the past. Both parties supported the same democracy. Today, that is not the case. This provokes fear and uncertainty. And because it seems like everyone is drinking the “Democratic Socialist” cool aid, Hollywood, social media, news networks, and younger Millennials and Generation Z, it feels like this is the new normal for society. I believe what is most concerning for us is the fact that the church is not being taken seriously in the discussion our culture is having about solutions to these issues. The church is so quiet it’s eerie for America. Fatalism is a real temptation of us right now, but as I look at Acts 9:20-31, I realize the church has dealt with fatalism before and God turned everything around.

In Acts 7-8, the church is under attack. Stephen becomes the first martyr and Saul sets out on a systematic rampage to eliminate the Way; and he is successful at first. Christians are being put into prison, loosing their property, even being killed. Saul spared no one. And if you are a believer in Acts 7-8, the temptation of fatalism would become real. Keep in mind that Saul is persecuting the church over a period of 2-3 years. Life was very difficult for the church during this time, and it seemed like it was going to never end.

Then comes chapter 9. By the time you read 9:31, the reader is left with a sense of wow. How did this happen? How did the church go from being persecuted and imprisoned to having peace and multiplying? How did Saul go from enemy of the church to champion of the church? What turned this thing around?

Jesus turned everything around.

Jesus turns the hearts if his enemies around to become champions of the church who suffer for preaching the gospel that reconciles sinners to God and each other bringing peace.

Jesus turned Saul around from blaspheming the gospel to preaching the gospel (Acts 9:20-22).

First, the heart turn-around

Saul hated Christ and Christians and blasphemed the word of God. In his letter to Timothy, Paul describes himself as a “persecutor, blasphemer, and an arrogant man acting out of unbelief and ignorance(1 Timothy 1:12-13).” Blasphemy was in Saul's darkened heart, and blasphemy is the message Saul spoke. He slandered the gospel. To blaspheme God is to curse him or show contempt for him. When Saul says he was a blasphemer, he is saying he cursed God when he cursed Christ, or he showed contempt for God when he showed contempt for Christ.

Christ reveals his blasphemy when he says to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? In other words, why are you showing me so much contempt?” Jesus asks the question not because he didn’t know what was in Saul’s heart, but to reveal what was in Saul’s heart.

Saul’s heart does a turn around when Jesus reveals himself to Saul. Saul hears Jesus’s voice, receives Christ message, and the scales fall from his eyes. He believes. With a new heart comes a new message. Saul is no longer a blasphemer of the gospel. He is now a Christian, God’s chosen instrument to preach the gospel message to the Gentiles.

Jesus tuned Saul’ heart around from darkness to light, death to life, from the kingdom of his world to the kingdom of God. Jesus made Saul born again.

Then, the message turn-around

Once the heart is changed the message changes. Jesus says, “from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Now that Jesus fills Saul's heart, i is Jesus that flows out of Saul’s mouth. In verse 9:20, Saul is proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He (Jesus) is the Son of God.” He is proclaiming that Jesus is the the Christ (v22). Jesus is the promised Messiah, the only way of salvation. Saul was now preaching the gospel.

What is the gospel?

Greg Gilbert explains the gospel well in his book, ‘What is the Gospel?” when he says,

“ We are accountable to the God who created us. We have sinned against that God and will be judged. But God has acted in Jesus Christ to save us, and we take hold of that salvation by repentance from sin and faith in Jesus.” Greg Gilbert

This is the message Saul began proclaiming in the synagogues and to the Gentiles. It was a complete reversal to what he was saying before his encounter with Christ.

The great turn around in Saul’s life is that Jesus took him when he was an enemy of the church and turned him around into the champion of the church.

Jesus turned Saul’s blasphemous message into the Christ’s exalting gospel message by changing his heart, transferring him out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light. So instead of speaking darkness and death, Saul now preached light and life. And everyone marveled at the work of Jesus in Saul's life.

Acts 9:21 HCSB

But all who heard him were astounded and said, “Isn’t this the man who, in Jerusalem, was destroying those who called on this name and then came here for the purpose of taking them as prisoners to the chief priests?”

The word “astounded” means to be so amazed at Saul’s new life that they lost their mental composure. Their mind was blown away at Saul’s conversion. They were left with no rational or reason to explain Saul’s turn around than an act of God. This shows you to the degree Saul’s hatred of Christians influenced his community, and how powerful is the work of Jesus to turn such a person toward himself.

Saul, empowered by the Holy Spirit (9:17), begins proclaiming the same message that turned his heart around toward his country men; knowing it can turn their heart around. And the Spirit strengthened him and enable him to defend the faith and dumbfound the haters by proving the Jesus was the Christ. He preached with power and authority and faith and the church once again began to grow. And that is what every turned around life is supposed to do!

Fatalism is contrary to the promises of the gospel. The gospel is always about change, good change. No one is ever the same when they have truly encountered the Living Christ. And no one remains the same when he lives in your heart. If you want our community, our state, our nation to experience a much needed turn-around then you need to preach the only turn around message that has the power to turn the heart and the mouth from spewing darkness to preaching light, and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Jesus turned Saul around from persecutor to persecuted (Acts 9:23-25; 28-29).

I once read a story in Voice of the Martyrs magazine of several Muslims coming to Christ through dreams. The story goes that they were desperate and calling out to allah, but Jesus showed up instead. They embraced the Christian faith in a unorthodox manner which lead to some skepticism from readers of the magazine. I was convinced however after finding out that when they embraced Jesus publicly they suffered abuse and loss at the hands of their family and community and remained faithful and on fire for the gospel. Suffering for proclaiming Jesus and holding fast in faith is a mark of genuine conversion. And in the midst of their persecution, they testified of the sustaining grace of Christ to help them love their enemies, to not boast or become angry. They were OK with their weakness because their weakness made much of Jesus. Saul is experiencing the same thing in verses 23-25.

Persecuted in Damascus

Saul's’ ministry is growing. He is dismantling the Jews arguments against Jesus and he is gaining converts. In verse, 25, it is Saul’s disciples that are helping him escape. His converts are Jews who were listening to him in the Synagogues. Escape what? Escape a plot by the Jews who once supported Saul that now want to kill him for naming Jesus.

Paul describes this event in

2 Corinthians 11:32–33 HCSB

In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas guarded the city of the Damascenes in order to arrest me, so I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.

The difference in this accounts that the governor of Damascus is watching for Paul at the gates to arrest him. The governor was not Jewish, but was likely recruited by the Jews to come against Paul. The point is, Paul was surrounded and out numbered from inside and outside the gate so to speak. He has to get out of the city through a basket being lowered out a window of a house built along the wall. This is low mark for Saul. Jesus told him that he would suffer for the gospel’s sake. This was a foretaste of what the remainder of Saul's life would be like.

I don’t mean to beat a dead horse here, but at some point we are going to have to accept that Christianity in our life time is not meant to be comfortable. So many confessing Christians are disillusion by the hardships of the faith. Why? Because they were lied too. They were told, “Come to Jesus and he will make your life wonderful. Come to Jesus and you can still live like a pagan. Just say a prayer. Come to Jesus and get your fire insurance. Come to Jesus and he will give you health, wealth and prosperity.” Then persecution comes and they are feeling the heat of the sun of hardship and the strangling of the thorns choking the life out of them. Then they turn around, back their old life.

Christianity is a wartime faith. We are battling powers and principalities that are not of this world. The kingdom work will never be at rest until Jesus comes back and restores, reconciles, and redeems all of creation. Until then, we need to expect the fight will continue. And its not a fight with our fists and guns but with our faith and the message that Jesus is offering salvation to all who will call upon his name. Jesus can turn any heart around no matter how far gone they seem to be. Saul is proof!

Christian, you are going to suffer for loving Jesus. You are going to be surrounded on the inside and outside of the gates, regardless of who wins this election. That does not mean that Jesus can’t turn things around. He may not turn them around in ways you would like, but you will marvel at the glory of what and who he turns around. Saul is proof of this and he continues to hold fast in the faith back to Jerusalem.

Persecuted in Jerusalem

In verses 28-29, Saul is preaching boldly the name of Jesus in Jerusalem, the base of his old operation in the temple. It was fanatical. Boldly is not a strong enough word to describe what Saul is doing here. He is preaching the gospel in the heart of Judaism. It would be like a Muslim covert preaching Jesus at Mecca. To add even more insanity, he was one of their own, a prized Pharisee who was zealous for God and for the temple. Now he is zealous of Jesus. He was so convincing and passionate that they wanted to kill him, the same way He killed Stephen and other Christians in Jerusalem. Talk about the ultimate turn around! Saul the great persecuting Jew becomes Paul the joyful persecuted Christian.

Saul testifies of the sustaining grace of Jesus as he is persecuted. In 2 Corinthians 11-12, he tells the church how he has suffered for the gospel. And after he gives them a litany of examples of suffering and persecutions, he says

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 HCSB

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, catastrophes, persecutions, and in pressures, because of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

There is the great turn around. Saul the arrogant man who boasted in his own strength and zeal, now boast in his weakness, his sufferings, and his persecutions because all his weakness makes much of Jesus. Persecution forced Saul toward humility and dependency on Jesus. Persecution slayed his pride and made room for Saul to speak of the power that now lives inside of him, to testify of the one who makes him strong.

D.L Moody used to say, “the only way to keep a broken vessel full is to keep it always under the tap.” D.L. Moody

There lies the great beauty and application of Christ turning Saul from persecutor to persecuted. Saul as the persecutor relied on his own strength and zeal and wisdom to advance his own kingdom. Jesus turned Saul around, from persecutor to persecuted, to display how Jesus takes broken people and continuously fills them, sustains them, to joyfully and boldly testify in the midst of severe opposition.

Jesus turned the disciples around from fearing Saul to receiving Saul (Acts 9:26-30).

The disciples in Jerusalem had good reason to fear Saul. They had suffered at his hands and could not fathom his conversion. I think it would be like you and I being a alive in World War II and hearing that Hitler embraced Judaism. It would be hard for us to believe it. And yet, here Saul was in Jerusalem ready to join the apostles.

Acts 9:26 HCSB

When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to associate with the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, since they did not believe he was a disciple.

We are not sure why Barnabas embraced Saul as he did. It is possible that he had heard from other believers who witnessed Saul’s ministry in Damascus. What is important though is that Barnabas played the role of mediator for Saul and the disciples. His words helped convince them that Saul was a true believer.

Acts 9:27–28 HCSB

Barnabas, however, took him and brought him to the apostles and explained to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and that He had talked to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus. Saul was coming and going with them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.

And we know Barabbas's meditation worked because verse 28 says that “Saul was coming and going with them in Jerusalem and he was continuing to preach boldly the name of the Lord.’ Saul was accepted as with them and counted among them in doing the work of an apostle.

Everyone in Jerusalem, at this point has to be stunned. How in the world does this happen? How can someone who received such hatred, abuse, and mistreatment come to accept the man responsible for it as a brother? How do you reconcile Saul and his commitment to the death of Stephen, a beloved brother, and the apostles embracing him completely into their circle of leadership? The world does not know this kind of reconciliation. It’s other worldly.

Jesus’s mission on earth was to reconcile sinners to God. In doing so he was able to provide the power and ability to reconcile sinners to each other. How does he do that? How does Jesus turn this around? The cross.

The cross of Jesus Christ is the only place where perfect justice and mercy meet fully intact to reconcile sinners to God and each other. Through the cross Jesus is able to provide justification for every sin ever committed and grace for sinners to live out their new redemption with God and each other. The church is the space where sinners live out their redemption and work on reconciling the wrongs that have been committed.

When Jesus saved Saul, he justified Saul, he forgave Saul, and embraced Saul as a brother and gave Saul a new family, the church. Which one of the apostles could really argue against Saul being accepted if Jesus accepted him? Peter? Are you kidding me? Peter openly denied Jesus three times when he said he would die with him. Peter is in no place to judge Saul, and he knew it. Once Jesus made i clear to the apostles that Saul was the real deal, they were forced to embrace him as a brother. The cross of Christ made it possible. The love of Christ made it remarkable.

The implications are simple. There is no such thing as irreconcilable differences in the kingdom of God. There is no relationship that is too far gone or broken that cannot be restored and reconciled by the power of Jesus Christ. The church has the solution to our nations polarization of races and politics and poverty. it is the reconciling power of Jesus being able to take the most broken relationships and heal them through his broken body on the cross and resurrection.

Jesus turned the church around from being persecuted to having peace (Acts 9:31).

What is the fruit of turning the churches greatest enemy around to being the churches greatest champion? What is the fruit of reconciling the Saul with the apostles? The church had peace and it multiplied. It makes sense, right? If Saul is no longer systematically persecuting the church, then the church is at peace with Saul and the community. Furthermore, the church is able to grow. I mean, what greater testimony is there than Saul’s testimony? And Saul was a beast for God. He knew his bible and was well versed in defending the faith. He became a shot in the arm for God’s people.

Don't loose sight of the application in this verse. If the church is preaching the gospel, God is turning the enemies of His kingdom into champions of His kingdom. When our enemies are converted by faith in Christ, then our community turns toward the kingdom, our state turns toward the kingdom, and our nation turns toward God’s kingdom. That is how we turn this thing around. It dos not have to remain what it is today.

We are not confined to fatalism. we have a risen Savior who is saving people. He is using you and I to spread his message with our mouths and our lives. He has promised to always be with us and to fill our broken vessel-ed hearts under the tap of his love. And the overflow of his love in us is powerful enough to reconcile the most broken people to God and each other giving the church, community, and home the peace of God.

Jesus turns the hearts if his enemies around to become champions of the church who suffer for preaching the gospel that reconciles sinners to God and each other.