Paul

Ravaging the Church to following Christ

In the new testament era there was several different types of people in Israel.

Pharisees, Sadducees, Gentiles, etc.

There was a prominent group called the Zealots. The zealots were known for being committed to revolt against Roman occupation and they even did this with weapons. At least one of the disciples, possible two, came from this group.

But there also was a different type of zealots, a group of pharisees who were sold out for something but it wasn’t political.

They were sold out for protecting the law of God.

When did pharisees come about? Where are they in the Old Testament?

They came about in the intertestimonal period, and they were a group of conservative Jews of were concerned about radical secularization of the nation.

To be honest, there cause was fair. They had a right to be concerned about the direction of the Jewish culture. It was becoming more and more like the world and they didn’t want that. However, they didn’t understand how to make it right or what they should be doing. They called themselves separated ones or set apart.

Within the Pharisees there was this group of zealots, filled with zeal and passion, they were totally sold out for their beliefs, their desire to keep the law and to protect the law. This group believed that if any one of them perfectly lived out all 1,001 Jewish laws for 24 hours the Messiah would appear.

Who is someone you would say was the perfect fit for a certain task, they were trained perfectly, had everything they needed to be successful.

I have two-one sports one history no surprise.

LeBron James, perfect size, speed, strength. Physically he has everything he needs. On top of that he is from Ohio, grew up around Cleveland and the losing. He was the perfect person to bring a championship. And he did.

George Washington. Commander of the continental army, led us through the revolutionary war. Presided over the constitutional convention, he led the group that established the constitution of the US. He then served as a advocate and promoter to get it ratified in the necessary number of states. And so it made sense that he was the first president, he was developed for it better than anyone else around him except for maybe his friend Benjamin Franklin.

Well the Pharisees had a person like this too. He was perfectly trained. From a home that was committed to the law. He studied at the feet of the best rabbi around in Gamaliel. He went to the top theological school. By 21 he had the equivalent of two PHD’s. He was the most trained ever at his age and with that learning and brilliance he had zeal.

This man was Saul.

Saul had heard reports of this new group of Jews that he thought were heretical. This group was a danger to the purity of the Jewish religion. This group was following after a man named Jesus, a man who claimed to be the Messiah.

And so Saul developed an consuming hatred for this group, the Christian church. He hated Christians because they were being unfaithful to the Jewish teachings.

Later in his life Saul would write that he was the chief of sinners. He was the captain, he was the #1.

We typically think of Saul/Paul here being humble, he couldn’t of actually been the chief of the sinners. From our lens and what we know of Paul, he was actually one of the biggest instruments used for the growth of the Church.

Paul never forgot the gravity of his sin. He was sold out to the point of violent, passionate zealous religious hatred. He hated the church. He hated them so much he would go out and seek out church goers and take them to jail. Sometimes he would even drag them out of their homes. He was so dedicated to it he asked to be assigned to even beyond Jerusalem. As far as they could, he wanted to find these people and crush the church.

Before we get to our chapter today I want to back up briefly a little bit before this.

Pastor Mike will get into it today, but in Acts 6 Stephen is accused, unfairly, of blasphemy. And so he is arrested and has a fake trail. And at the trail Stephen gives a great sermon in chapter 7. And we don’t get into that because of time but he just works through the OT and develops the storyline of the gospel.

And at the end of chapter 7 we read this,

Acts 7:54–60 ESV

Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

It goes on in chapter 8.

Acts 8:1–3 ESV

And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Saul is going after the church. He is approving of the execution of Stephen, in the name of Jewish purity. He is pulling people from their homes. And we get to our chapter today.

Acts 9:1–2 ESV

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 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 volunteers, send me up there, let me go after them and find more of these Christians. I don’t care if they are women or children, I want to find them and arrest them and bring them here.

He wants to find those belonging to “the way” which was the early name for those who followed Christ. This was the early church.

And so it is on this journey that something incredible happens.

Acts 9:3–6 ESV

Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”

Suddenly a great light shines down—and they are blinded. Other passages tell us that this voice he hears speak to him in Hebrew.

Saul, Saul! In Jewish culture saying it this way would show great affection and connection. It was a close connection, to say their name twice.

Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

Who was Saul persecuting? The Church, so why does this voice say, me?

Remember John 15.

John 15:21 ESV

But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.

Saul was going after Christ, an attack on his church was an attack on him. Christ and the church our one, and just as the church cannot sustain without Christ, the church cannot suffer without Christ suffering. The church cannot be mocked, ridiculed and reviled without those same attacks being directed at Jesus. This was an attack on Jesus Christ himself.

Saul asks who are you?! This is Jesus, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

In Acts 26 Paul tells the story of his conversion and he adds more details about what Jesus said.

Acts 26:14 ESV

And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

Paul was so proud of his brilliance, education, his mastery of the deeps things. And here Jesus calls him a stupid ox.

A goad was a heavy board put behind yolked oxen on a cart and it had spikes on it. and so when the stubborn or mad ox would kick the cart they would kick the spikes, and this would make them more mad and guess what they would do, kick it again, and then they would get even madder and kick it again.

And so jesus is saying its so hard for you to keep kicking the goads, you keep fighting me, you keep resisting.

And so Saul, trembling, who are you and what do you want from me?

I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. Get up, and go to the city and you will be told what to do.

Acts 9:7–9 ESV

The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 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. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

Charles Spurgeon said, “So the proud persecutor who was going to Damascus as a conqueror to crush the saints of God was, himself, led into the city as a captive, to be forever afterwords the salve of Jesus Christ.”

See Paul’s mission was the crush the church. He was going to Damascus to arrest and bring to trial the followers of Christ. And Jesus stopped him in is tracks and brought him to total and complete surrender. To the point were he had to be led into the city.

And this zealous defender of Jewish purity is now in bondage and slave the King of Kings. No more would he go after the church, but rather he wold be the key piece of the puzzle in the New Testament.

The chief of sinners has become the chief apostle.

And so what do we learn about this encounter with Jesus. Paul came kicking and screaming. He was so sold out to go against everything Jesus stood for. He fought so hard and wanted to destroy it. And yet Jesus drops him to his knees in submission to the King. And then he uses him to do great things. To grow and develop his church not only then but also now.

Are you still going against the goad? Are you resisting the truth of Christ? Are you still trying to do your own thing and living against the king of the universe?