Acts 9.1-19 The Conversion of Saul
Good morning! It’s good to be back with you! I had a great trip to California, it was a very special time and I’m grateful to the Lord for it. It was a sort of sabbatical warm up. I’d like to thank Mike for bringing the Word last Sunday, I was able to watch it live long before anyone in California was even awake!
This morning we are going back to the book of Acts. We are going to look at one of my favorite accounts in the book in chapter nine, verses 1-19, the conversion of Saul.
Our passage starts with the word, “but,” so it would be wise to think a little bit about what was happening beforehand.
Philip had been proclaiming the gospel in Samaria, and on the desert road to Gaza to the Ethiopian eunuch. The work of the gospel was beginning to expand beyond just the Jewish people in Jerusalem into Samaria and the uttermost parts of the world just like Jesus said…
But…
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.
Let’s pray.
So we go from Philip and others working to build up and expand the Church and Saul was working to tear it down.
So let’s think about our text, who are the players here? Saul of Tarsus, Jesus, and Ananias of Damascus.
So who is the story about?
A Sunday School teacher once asked the class, “What is small, has grey fur, a bushy tail, lives in the trees, and collects nuts?” One student raised his hand and said, “I know the answer is Jesus, but it sounds an awful lot like a squirrel.”
Acts 9 is a lot like that, we know the answer is Jesus but it sounds an awful lot like it’s about Saul. The truth is that it is really about Jesus. Every passage of Scripture is. Our job is to figure out how.
All too often we make Scripture about us, and there is temptation to do the same with this text.
Saul was breathing out murderous threats against the church, arresting people just for believing in Jesus, committing them to prison and even death. He was a fanatical zealot.
At least we’re not like that.
Or, Saul resisted the truth, was blinded by his own sinfulness and selfishness, maybe we’re just like that.
But should we compare or contrast ourselves with Saul, is that what we should do with this text, was that Luke’s original intent in recording this amazing event?
Maybe if you don’t see yourself in the mirror of Saul, maybe you see yourself in Ananias.
What I love about Ananias is how he is described in verse 10. Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias.
See anything special there? He wasn’t an Apostle, he wasn’t a Deacon, he wasn’t described as a leader in the church in Damascus. He was just an ordinary disciple.
If this was Peter or John or another one of the Twelve Apostles Paul might have something to brag about but it wasn’t. Jesus introduced Himself and used an ordinary guy to heal Saul and through him be filled with the Holy Spirit.
In Galatians 1:1 Saul describes himself as an apostle, not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father who raised Him from the dead.
Our passage is not about Saul, it’s not about Ananias, it’s not about us, it is truly about Jesus. Maybe the lesson for us today is nothing more than to make much of Jesus.
So what do we see about Jesus here?
Saul is breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the High Priest and asked for letters to the synagogues in Damascus to turn over believers in Jesus from among them that he could arrest them and bring them back to Jerusalem. He had already given his approval to the stoning of Stephen the Church’s first martyr and held the coats of those who stoned him to death.
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.
Do you know what I see there? First of all, Jesus is alive! Saul would later write in his letter to the Romans, if we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord, and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. Jesus is alive! God raised Him from the dead! He was, and is, and is to come! Alive forever more! Amen!
The second thing I see, and I’ve said it a couple of times over the past month, here we can see Jesus Christ ruling and reigning in the midst of His enemies.
Saul had been ravaging the church, dragging off men and women and throwing them in prison. He held sway with the Sanhedrin and the High Priest in Jerusalem and he was taking that authority to Damascus to drag off more believers. He even had an entourage with him. He was a man of influence, and education, and power. And Jesus put him on his face. Jesus humbled him and blinded him to make him see.
The third thing that I see is that God’s grace can reach the most lost.
Saul wrote in 1 Timothy 1:12-16,
12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.
God’s grace shines light on the magnitude of Saul’s sinfulness, and the extent of Saul’s sinfulness shows the greater extent of God’s grace.
Pasquier Quesnell wrote, “God often permits men to proceed as far as their feelings will lead them, in order to show the great depth from which He can extricate them.”
God’s grace didn’t just save Saul, His grace also saved the church in Damascus from the persecution that was on the way through Saul!
So what is really on display here is not just the spectacular salvation of the future apostle, it’s not just ordinariness of Ananias and his obedience, it is the wonderful, matchless, amazing grace of Jesus.
If you want to emulate Ananias, Mr. Ordinary, to follow his example, great! When the Lord tells you to do something through His Word, do it, even if you don’t like it!
If you want to emulate Saul, the ravenous wolf turned sheep, and eventually shepherd, to follow his example, great! Be humble, be obedient, and trust Jesus.
He would later write in Philippians 3:7-11,
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
So, in conclusion…
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.
Amen. Let’s pray and then we are going to follow that example and have a baptism!
