Saul saw
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Saul
Saul
At Stephen’s stoning
58 When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
The level of violence is foreign to us today. Cold blooded murder in the streets.
1 Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death.
And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
We will Saul’s conversion today bet Saul, to be renamed Paul, never denied his sin, or worse, glorified his sin.
He would later say:
20 ‘And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the coats of those who were slaying him.’
1 Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest,
2 and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Saul was sincere!
Jewish by birth, Roman by citizenship, studied in the way of Pharisees in Jerusalem, Saul saw the world in a certain light. His worldview and where he fit into it was set and he was moving in accordance to that view of the world.
Theistic world view (Judaism) That shaped his morality, purpose, reason for being.
Because of Saul’s worldview, it was ok for him to stand in approval while Stephen is stoned to death, but eating bacon was a sin against God.
Saul was at least consistent with his world view. He was sincere, he was just sincerely wrong.
His worldview was incomplete, but is was about to change.
Worldview
Worldview
Naturalism (Secular Humanism) (No God)
Morality is a matter of opinion and death is the end of existence.
Pantheistic - (Everything is God)
Theistic ( There is a God(s))
Monotheistic (One God (Judaism, Islam, Christianity)
It is a difficult, seemingly impossible task to change someone’s worldview.
Saul knows how the world works. He is need of no more knowledge......and he is moving with purpose
3 As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him;
4 and he fell to the ground and 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 get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.”
7 The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.
8 Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus.
9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
In one minute Jesus was a rebellious troublemaker that was deceiving people and got exactly what He deserved.
And in that instant Saul realized that everything Jesus had said, was true.
A minute earlier Saul was serving God and accomplishing His will, and in an instant Saul realized that he was an enemy of God.
The fact that it only took three days of blindness and fasting to come to terms with how wrong he was is a testament to how intelligent Saul was.
Personal - I struggle to come up with a time in my life that I was completely convinced of something to only find that I was completely wrong in an instant and had to face the reality of how wrong I was.
Except about the Gospel. I knew about Christ. I believed who Jesus was. But I had know who I was in Christ. When I finally saw my sinfulness in the bright light of His holiness, I was changed.
10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”
11 And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for 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.”
Ananias’ objection
13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem;
14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”
The Lord’s response
15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;
16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
Saul’s sight restored
17 So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
18 And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized;
19 and he took food and was strengthened.
Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus,
Remember where you came from
Remember where you came from
12 “For I will be merciful to their iniquities,
And I will remember their sins no more.”
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,
10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
God doesn’t allow us to forget who were so that we can relate to those that are still bound in their sin.
Forgive and accept all who repent
Forgive and accept all who repent
The first words that Ananias spoke to were “Brother Saul”
Challenge what you think you know
Challenge what you think you know
Saul thought he knew how the world was.
It is arrogant to thing that any of us have it all figured out. Stay in the word. Stay in prayer. Stay commited to truth.