The Great Conversion

20201004_Acts 9v1-9_The Great Conversion

Acts 9:1–9 (NIV)

1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest

2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.

6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.

8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus.

9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

Introduction

Today,

We can see a conversion story of a story of the apostle Paul in today’s bible.

I can say that it is The great conversion.

Because you may know who Paul is.

At first he was the notorious persecutor to the church. He put many Christian into the prison. So many Christian scattered from Jerusalem.

But after conversion, he was changed totally and then

He became the great evangelist /이밴!절리스트/.

And He wrote 13 books of the Bible.

For example, There are the book of Romans, first second Corinthians, Ephesians and so on.

The apostle Paul is the one of the most influence man in Christianity.

How is it possible?

Through today’s bible,

Let’s see what happened and then

Let’s find what to do.

# Body

At first, let’s see what happened in the conversion of Paul.

Look at verse 1.

We can see what mind Saul had before conversion.

V1. He was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.

He want to kill every Christian in the world.

So he persecuted Christian in Jerusalem.

As a result,

Many Christian scattered to other city.

Therefore, Saul cannot find Christian in Jerusalem anymore.

Saul went to the high priest and then asked to him.

“Give me the authority to arrest Christian. I will put them into prison.”

The high priest allowed and gave the letter.

So Saul went to Damascus.

Q. What happened?

Look at verse 3.

3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

And then

He fell to the ground and heard a voice.

“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

“Who are you, Lord?”

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting, Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

When Saul stood up,

He could not see.

He became a blind.

So others led him to Damascus.

And then

9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

This is today’s contents.

# Deep Study

Saul was changed through this experience.

He met Jesus on the road to Damascus.

And then his mind was changed.

Before meeting Jesus,

He thought,

“ Disciples are lying. They are preaching a false message and deceiving people. How can Jesus live again? It is impossible. So I will delete them In the world.”

But

On the road to Damascus,

He met real Jesus Christ in supernatural phenomenon.

He cannot help believing in Jesus.

And then he was realized that he was wrong.

His mind was seriously pricked by his sin.

So he repented his sin before God without eating and drinking In the darkness.

After three days,

God sent his servant, Ananias to Saul.

God said to Ananias.

“Acts 9:15 (NIV)

15 “Go to Saul in the house of Judas on Straight Street and pray for him by placing your hand on him. If so, he will be restored.”

Ananias obeyed to God’s command and then

Saul could see again.

After meeting Jesus,

His life was changed totally.

He became the earnest Christian.

He preached the gospel wherever he went.

He have the mind to die for Christ.

Especially, he went to the whole world to preach Jesus Christ to gentile.

And then

He was caught by the enemy of Christian.

And at last He was died on the prison for Jesus Christ.

Although his life is hard and difficult,

His life is so valuable.

Through his message,

So many people became Christian and

People could heard who Jesus is and what we should believe.

# Lesson

Through today’s bible,

We can learn some lessons.

Let’s see today’s lesson.

First, The conversion is only by the grace of God.

We should know that

We cannot change ourselves by our efferts.

Look at today’s story,

God changed Saul with God’s wonderful power.

It is not by Paul’s advantage, but by God’s grace.

Let’s think why God selected Paul.

Actually, there were many people at that time.

But

God selected Saul and make him changed.

Especially, he was evil persecutor.

Why did God change him?

The apostle Paul realized the will of God why God selected him.

He said,

Ephesians 2:8–9 (NIV)

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

So Paul alway thanks to God and totally obeyed to God.

In this time,

Let’s think our mind.

How about your mind about salvation?

If someone have proud mind,

They do not give thanks to God and

They do not obey to God.

Certainly, we should know that

Our salvation is totally by the God’s grace.

Only God selected us and

He made miracle inside our mind,

So that we could believe in Jesus.

I think that it is miracle.

Second lesson.

We should obey to God commandment after realizing Jesus.

Let’s see our attitude.

If we confess Jesus as savior,

What would we do?

Look at today’s story.

After realizing Jesus, Saul obeyed to Jesus’ command.

He went to Damascus and then he waited for his mission during three days with prayer without eating and drinking.

After meeting Jesus,

His life style was totally changed.

His purpose of life was also changed.

In the same way,

If we confess Jesus as our lord,

We also need to change our life and mind.

It is not easy to change our mind.

Actually, it is impossible to change ourselves by our power.

So we need to depend on Jesus.

So we need to pray to God with humble mind.

# Conclusion

Today, we looked at the great conversion of Saul.

Through the conversion,

Saul was changed and lived a great life in God.

How about you?

Don’t you want to be changed?

Don’t you live a wonderful life in God?

If so,

Let’s follow to today’s example.

At first, let’s realize that only God can change us. God only makes us realize Jesus as our only savior.

Second, after realizing Jesus, /

Let’s response to God’s grace.

Let’s obey to God’s commandment. and

Let’s thank to God’s grace.

If so, God will change you continually.

And you would live a wonderful life in God.

바울의 회심의 주된 원인

1. 하나님의 섭리

2. 바울의 순종하고자 하는 마음.

하나님의 명령에..

1. 하나님의 섭리

예수님이 자신을 바울에게 나타냈다.

“”

그때 바울은

그 말씀에 그대로 복종했다.

6절에 예수님의 명령이 나온다.

# 초자연적인 역사

; 왜 바울에게만?

주변에 많은 사람이 있다.

# 왜 핍박자 바울에게 하나님은 강권적으로 역사하셨나?

교만하지 말라고.

세상의 찌꺼기,

어리석은 자, 죄인을 부르시는 하나님.

이유는?

하나님의 전적인 은혜이고,

하나님만을 의지하게 하기 위해서이다.

(고린도전서)

이 사실을 모르고,

우리가 하나님 앞에 교만하게 지낸다면,

우리는 문제를 만들어 낼수 밖에 없다.

예) 예수님의 잘못이 없음을 알고 있었음에도 마음이 강팍해져서, 예수님을 십자가에 못 박은 이스라엘 백성들. 그리고 종교 지도자들.

더 나아가 스데반의 설교를 듣고 마음이 찔렸음에도 돌이키지 않고, 오히려 귀를 막고, 그를 돌로 쳐 죽여 버렸다.

이렇게 되면, 절대로 구원을 받을 수가 없다.

절대로 변화할수가 없다.

# 변화의 필요성.

우리의 삶 가운데 문제가 있다면 돌이키고, 회심해야만 한다.

그렇게 되지 못하면, 그것은 큰 문제가 된다.

예) 수술의 예 /

# 돌이키라고 외치는 소리,

: 이유) 생명을 구하기 위해서.

말씀을 읽을 때에,

설교를 들을 때에, 기도 할때 동반하는

양심의 가책,

그것이 바로 사랑의 표현이다.

예) 선지자를 보내어, 마음을 찌르셨던 하나님.