Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Who is the main evangelist or missionary of the early Church?

In Jerusalem, the primary evangelist was Peter.

He‘s the one preaching at Pentecost, and he’s the preacher Luke focuses on until Stephen’s sermon of judgment… after which persecution scatters Christians into Judea and Samaria.

Then in Samaria, Luke focuses on Philip as the main evangelist or missionary.

It’s Philip who gained the attention of the Samaritan crowds, and it’s Philip who evangelized, baptized, and sent out the first Ethiopian convert.

In Acts 9, we are about to meet yet another evangelist or missionary… Saul/Paul.

For nearly the rest of the book of Acts, Luke will focus on Saul’s/Paul’s missionary efforts and experiences.

One might argue that Saul/Paul was indeed the main evangelist of the early Church.

But I think there is a more obvious person we might be overlooking if we say Saul/Paul was the main missionary.

This is our opportunity to use that go-to Sunday school answer… Jesus.

Our passage this morning, along with the entire book of Acts, emphasizes the fact that Jesus is actually the main missionary.

Jesus is the main character of the gospel story… and Jesus is the initiator and enabler of the spread of that good news.

Jesus sent His Spirit to empower His witnesses in the world, and Jesus commissioned His followers as witnesses.

By His Spirit, Jesus progressively works out His logistical plan to evangelize the world, based on the blueprint He gave in Acts 1:8… He said to His disciples, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

May the Lord help us to see the wonder of His grace this morning, and may He also help us to find courage and hope in the fact that Christ Himself is the builder of His Church in the world.

Scripture Reading

Acts 9:1–31 (ESV)

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.

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.

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.”

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.

For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus.

20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name?

And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?”

22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

23 When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, 24 but their plot became known to Saul.

They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.

26 And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples.

And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.

27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus.

28 So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord.

29 And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists.

But they were seeking to kill him.

30 And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up.

And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

Main Point

Jesus Christ builds His Church, despite all opposition, by converting impossible sinners through the proclamation of the gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit.

Message Outline

An Insolent Opponent

A Gracious Sovereign

A Conversion with a Commission

Suffering but Welcomed

Despite Opposition, Christ Builds His Church

Message

1) An Insolent Opponent

Saul’s conversion stands out among the others in Acts 8-10.

The Ethiopian (Acts 8) and Cornelius, along with many other Gentiles (Acts 10), were God-fearers, searching the Scriptures and aiming to live (as much as they could) as servants of the God of the Bible.

Saul, on the other hand, was the very embodiment of self-righteous, arrogant rebellion that seemed to mark most of Israel’s leaders and many of its citizens.

David Peterson, commenting on Acts 9, said,

“through various means, Luke characterizes Saul as God’s enemy, ‘stiff-necked’ and resisting the Holy Spirit like all the other opponents of Stephen (7:51–52).

He has murderous intentions against ‘the Lord’s disciples’ (8:3; 9:1) and is set like Herod and Pontius Pilate ‘against the Lord and his anointed one’ (4:26–27; cf.

9:4–5).

He experiences a blinding like that of Elymas, who is later described as ‘an enemy of everything that is right’, who perverts the ways of the Lord (13:10–11; cf.

9:8–9).”

Saul was overtly hostile to Christians and Christianity.

Saul was “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord” (v1).

Saul was traveling to Damascus with the intent to “bind” and “bring…to Jerusalem” [presumably for imprisonment and/or execution] any man or woman he might find “belonging to the Way” (v2).

Some years later, Saul/Paul confessed in his own words.

He said, “I was a blasphemer, [a] persecutor, and [an] insolent opponent” (1 Tim.

1:13).

This speaks of Saul’s/Paul’s violent and arrogant opposition to Jesus Christ and any who would follow Him.

Saul’s opposition to Christ had been so aggressive that no one could believe he had been converted.

Ananias said to Jesus, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man...” (v13), and Ananias didn’t want to be anywhere near Saul.

All the Jews in the synagogues throughout Damascus “were amazed” to hear Saul “proclaiming Jesus… saying, ‘He is the Son of God’” (v20-21).

Even “the disciples” in Jerusalem “were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that [Saul] was a disciple” (v26).

But, Jesus builds His Church, not by destroying all those who oppose Him, but by converting some of the very sinners who stand against Him so violently.

2) A Gracious Sovereign

Jesus is the heavenly sovereign.

As Saul made his way to Damascus, to arrest and imprison (and probably kill) more Christians, he saw “a light from heaven” (v3) and he “heard a voice” (v4).

This is a theophany (or, more specifically, a Christophany).

This sort of experience is the way the Bible regularly speaks of God confronting humans in real time and space.

Moses spoke of God’s presence at Mt. Sinai as a “great fire” and a “voice” the people of Israel heard “from the heavens” (Deut.

4:36).

Throughout much of Israel’s existence, God’s presence was visible on and in the “tabernacle” or “tent of meeting” in the form of a brilliant light or “fire” (Ex.

40:34-38).

When Jesus was transfigured in front of His disciples, revealing just a taste of His divine glory, Mark and Matthew both described bright light and a voice from the heavens (Matt.

17:1-8; Mark 9:2-7).

Saul saw the glory and heard the voice of the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity!

When Jesus said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (v5), there is no doubt that Saul felt the same dread and the same sorrow as those Israelites who responded to Peter on the day of Pentecost.

Peter had said, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36).

And some of them “were cut to the heart,” and they said, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37).

Jesus showed incredible grace.

This whole encounter demonstrates Jesus’s incredible grace!

Jesus showed grace by not destroying Saul on the spot.

Jesus showed grace by revealing Himself to Saul, so that Saul would know that Jesus truly was/is the Christ.

Jesus showed grace by appointing Saul - an insolent opponent - as His “chosen instrument… to carry [the name of Christ] before…Gentiles…kings and the children of Israel” (v15).

But there is a special display of grace in the gentleness with which Jesus confronted Saul.