A lesson by Pastor John Skaggs

Sovereign Grace Baptist Church

P.O. Box 1447, Claypool, Az. 85532

520-425-8345 or 520-402-9134

Email: pastorjohn@gila.net

Date: 04-30-00

Sermon Number: 015

Text: Acts 9:1-22

Saul of Tarsus is Saved

During the course of my study this week I discovered the following two conversion accounts in a commentary on the book of Acts. I thought they might help introduce the lesson today. The first has to do with a man named Mel. "Mel Trotter was a barber by profession and a drunkard by perversion. So debauched had he become that when his young daughter died, he stole the shoes she was to be buried in and pawned them for money to buy more drink. One night he staggered into the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago and was marvelously saved. Burdened for the men of skid-row, he opened a rescue mission in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He went on to found more than sixty missions and became supervisor of a chain of them stretching from Boston to San Francisco (Elgin S. Moyer, Who Was Who in Church History [New Canaan, Conn.: Keats, 1974], 411)".

Then there is this account of John Newton's salvation. "At a young age, John Newton went to sea. Like most sailors of his day, he lived a life of rebellion and debauchery. For several years, he worked on slave ships, capturing slaves for sale to the plantations of the New World. So low did he sink that at one point he became a slave himself, captive of another slave trader. Eventually, he became the captain of his own slave ship. The combination of a frightening storm at sea, coupled with his reading of Thomas à Kempis's classic "Imitation of Christ", planted the seeds that resulted in his conversion. He went on to become a leader in the evangelical movement in eighteenth-century England, along with such men as John and Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, and William Wilberforce. On his tombstone is inscribed the following epitaph, written by Newton himself: "John Newton, clerk, once an infidel and Libertine, a servant of slavers in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the Faith he had long labored to destroy" (Kenneth W. Osbeck, 101 Hymn Stories [Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1982], 28)". John Newton is the man who wrote the great hymn, "Amazing Grace".

Accounts such as these could be found in unending abundance. For our God is in the business of saving the vilest of sinners. When He does they are hardly recognizable. Such was the case with a man named Saul. His salvation stands today as certain proof that no sinner is beyond the grace of God. The account of his conversion reveals that sinners are not saved because they will it, or earn it, but because God and His Christ have determined to show mercy to them. (Romans 9:16)

Saul was born in Tarsus, an important city (Acts 21:39) in the Roman province of Cilicia. Tarsus was located near where Asia Minor and Syria meet, not far from Antioch. It was famous for its university, one of the most honored in the Roman world. Saul was a Roman citizen by birth (Acts 22:28). Like his father before him, he was a Pharisee (Acts 23:6), who studied in Jerusalem under the most respected rabbi of his day, Gamaliel (Acts 22:3).

We are first introduced to Saul in the book of Acts where we see him guarding the cloaks of those who stoned Stephen to death. In the verses following that account we discover that he was the mastermind of the persecution that came upon the church following Stephen's death. Later, when he was saved and known as Paul, he described his thinking and activity while still a persecutor of the church. (Acts 26:9-11 NASB) "So then, I thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. {10} "And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I cast my vote against them. {11} "And as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities".

One of the cities to which Saul pursued these Christians was Damascus. He did arrive in that city but not as a persecutor of Christians. Something happened to him along the way. That something is recorded in Acts 9:1-22 NASB.

"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. (Christianity came to be called the "Way" because Jesus had said He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life.) {3} And it came about that as he journeyed, 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?" The other two accounts of Saul's conversion, also found in the book of Acts, tell us that this encounter took place at noon when the sun was at its brightest. Nevertheless, the light of the glory of Christ was so overwhelming Saul fell to the ground.

Before we get to the details of this remarkable conversion I want you to understand that almost everything Saul experienced on his way to Damascus happens to everyone who is saved. True, most conversions are not this dramatic as far as blinding lights, physical blindness, appearances of Jesus, and the like. But there are certain things true of Saul's conversion that are true of all conversions. For instance, we were all just like Saul in that everyone of us was on a road of rebellion and sin, our own Damascus road. We were enemies of God, His Christ, and His people. We were children of darkness and knew nothing of light. Before the brilliant light of God's truth shown upon us we were not seeking God in an acceptable way. The revelation of truth that suddenly came upon Saul is the very life altering light that shines on every sinner God saves. This unexpected intervention of God fills the sinner's mind with truth and brings him to his knees. This happens to everyone who is saved. There is no doubt that Saul was actually surrounded by a real blinding light. But this does not discount the fact that we are talking about a life altering revelation of truth. The truth about Saul's personal sinfulness and about Jesus, the Son of God. This life-giving light, or knowledge, is at the heart of every sinner's salvation. Consider the following texts.

(Matthew 4:12-16 NASB) "Now when He (Jesus) heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; {13} and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. {14} This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, {15} "THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI, BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES-- {16} "THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND TO THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED." Every child of Adam and Eve is born into darkness, ignorance of God and His Christ. Ignorance of their personal sinfulness and the wrath that awaits them. Everyone lives each day in the shadow of eternal death until the "Light" dawns upon them. That light is the revelation of truth about ones sin and the Savior Jesus Christ. When this light dawns on an individual the always fall to their knees, just like Saul.

(2 Corinthians 4:6 NASB) "For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give THE LIGHT OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE GLORY OF GOD IN THE FACE OF CHRIST". You see, it was not the physical manifestation of light that took Saul to his knees. It was the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ! Paul had not and could not have known God until he saw Christ. (John 1:18)

Speaking of the saved God the Holy Spirit says in 1 Peter 2:9 NASB, "But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has CALLED YOU OUT OF DARKNESS (ignorance) INTO HIS MARVELOUS LIGHT", i.e., an understanding of the truth about yourself and Jesus.

John 16:8-11 tells us just what this blinding, life altering, light, or revelation actually is. {8} "And He, when He comes, (God the Holy Spirit.) will convict (or convince) the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment; {9} concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; (Unbelief is the only unforgivable sin.) {10} and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you no longer behold Me; (Christ's righteousness is proven by His resurrection and ascension to the Father. The sinner who is to be saved must be convinced that Jesus is the only source of true righteousness for the unrighteous.) {11} and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged".  Since the devil, the ruler of this world, has been judged and condemned so shall all his children and followers be judged and condemned.

In other words, the Holy Spirit dispels the darkness of spiritual spiritual ignorance by revealing to the person being saved, his sin, the judgement due him for that sin, the righteousness required by God, and the Savior who can provide that righteousness. These truths equal the blinding light that takes the sinner to his knees and causes him to cry out to Christ for mercy.

This is what happened to Saul. {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 art Thou, Lord?" And He said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting," Here is the effect of the revelation of truth about one's self and Christ. Saul comes under conviction. For the first time he understands that the whole time he thought he was serving God he was actually fighting against Him and the Messiah. In a flash of blinding light he is convinced of this truth and falls to the ground overwhelmed with his sin.

Saul's response, "Who art Thou, Lord?," is also the product of revelation. This is the only way he could have known that it was Jesus the Lord who appeared to him. What a humiliating and frightening thing it must have been for Saul to realize that Jesus was exactly who His disciples claimed He was. Christianity was true! He had been fighting against the God he claimed to serve. Yet it appears he had not been so comfortable with this activity of late. Look with me at Acts 26:14. "And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? IT IS HARD FOR YOU TO KICK AGAINST THE GOADS.' Goads, were sharp pointed sticks mounted on either side of an oxen's neck to keep him from turning to this side or that. The ox would have to endure great pain and possible injury if he insisted on going where his master did not want him to go. What Jesus is saying is that Saul had been defying his God given conscience in order to commit these horrible crimes against the people of God. He had to endure the pain inflicted by God's goads in order to pursue his life of sin.

Now, God intervenes and Saul ceases to kick against the goads, All resistance to God, His truth, and His Son is gone. The proud, unbending, Pharisee bows in total submission before the Savior. Saul has been converted. He is saved, born again. He has a new heart and new desires. This wonderful change, which takes place in all the saved, is described by Saul/Paul in Philippians 3:4-12 NASB. " . . . although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: (He speaks of trusting in one's good deeds for acceptance with God. The things in which he once trusted are now described.) {5} circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; {6} as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. (There was a time when Saul trusted in all these things for his hope of heaven. But now, "The Light" has changed him.) {7} But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss (useless) FOR THE SAKE OF CHRIST. {8} More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of THE SURPASSING VALUE OF KNOWING CHRIST JESUS MY LORD, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ, {9} and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, {10} THAT I MAY KNOW HIM, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; {11} in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. {12} Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus".

This is what happens to a person when they see the Light that is Jesus and the truth He reveals to those He saves. This is conversion, this is what it means to be born again. The old things pass away and behold, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, all desires, opinions, former beliefs, hopes, and dreams become new.

As we return to verse six of our text Saul has just ask Jesus what He wants him to do. (This question is recorded in Acts 22:10) Christ's answer is, {6} . . rise, and enter the city, and it shall be told you what you must do." {7} And the men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice, but seeing no one. {8} And 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". Saul rises from the dust of that ancient road to obey the direction of the Lord Jesus Christ. The defiant murderer of Christians is gone forever.

What Saul was doing for those three days is more evidence of his conversion. He spent the time fasting and praying. (Acts 9:10-12 NASB) Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Behold, here am I, Lord." {11} And the Lord said to him, "Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from 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".

While Saul was fasting, praying, and communing with the God he had never known, God was dealing with a man across town by the name of Ananias. In a vision he was told to go to Saul, to heal his blindness, and deliver a message. Ananias, however, is not interested in meeting up with the likes of Saul.

{13} But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Thy saints at Jerusalem; {14} and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call upon Thy name." {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. {17} And 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 arose and was baptized; {19} and he took food and was strengthened".

The other two accounts of Saul's conversion reveal that Ananias also told Saul that he would take the gospel to Gentiles, Kings, and the Sons of Israel. Don't you love the way he begins, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which your were coming has sent me . ." If Saul had any doubts as to who had struck him down they were gone now. It was the Lord Jesus Christ. In a moment the blindness was gone, scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Saul knew enough about Christianity to know that Jesus had commanded that all his disciples be baptized just like He was. So, the first thing he did after regaining his sight was to give himself to baptism. In this way Saul declared to the world that he was now a disciple of Jesus, the Nazarene. By his baptism he identified himself not only with Christ but with the Christian community as well. By this same baptism he declared himself now separate from Judaism.

We must take notice of the statement, ". . . he is a chosen instrument of mine". Isn't that amazing? Saul, the Christ-hater, the blasphemer, the murderer, the faithless Pharisee, was a chosen instrument of God all along! He was so from before the foundation of the world but would you and I have picked him out of the crowd? The Bible tells us that he was set apart from his mother's womb. But could we have known that? No! He was an evil, sinful, ugly man, yet he was the chosen instrument of God to take the gospel to the world. What ought we to conclude from this? We better conclude that no man or woman regardless of their character or track record is beyond the grace of God. We must never be guilty of saying of any living human that they are un-savable. The vilest of the vile may, at anytime, be struck down with the truth. That life giving light may shine upon them and when it does their lives will be forever changed. Their sins will be washed away. The black on their never dying souls will be made white like snow. They will have new hearts and they will love God and His Christ and His people. We must never forget that as long as there is life there is hope that the sinner might be saved.

Verse nineteen tells us what Saul did after his baptism. He sought out the fellowship of other Christians and began to preach the gospel. "Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus". This is yet another indication that a sinner has been translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, they love the brethren. 1 John 3:14 reads, "We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love (the brethren) abides in death." Those who have come to Christ say with the psalmist, "I am a companion of all those who fear Thee, and of those who keep Thy precepts" (Ps. 119:63). Saul was saved, therefore, he sought out the fellowship of other Christians. Then he got to work.

{20} and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God." (Saul took the Good News to his old world, the stronghold of the Jews, the synagogues. His message was simple. This man that we put to death on the cross was the promised Messiah. Jesus the Nazarene was and is the Son of God.) {21} And all those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, "Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?" {22} But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving (no doubt from the Old Testament scriptures) that this Jesus is the Christ".

So goes the salvation of all who are saved. They are translated from the world of darkness into the kingdom of light. One minute they are ignorant of the truth about themselves, God, and His Christ. The next minute the life changing light of truth floods in upon them and they are changed forever. The sinner is convicted of his sins, convinced that he will be judged and damned. Then he is made to know that Jesus is his only hope. Therefore, by the power of the Holy Spirit, he exercises the gifts of repentance and faith toward Jesus, is forgiven, and saved from the wrath to come. Everyone is saved the same way. Every sinner is at some point in time arrested by Christ on his way to hell. He is cast into the dust of repentance and raised up a new creature in love with truth and his Savior. And every saved sinner goes back into the world to tell, in one way or another, the story of the Savior who died for His enemies and is risen to save all who come to Him by faith.

Folks, there is no one too evil to save. Why? Because salvation is not of him who wills or him who runs but of God who shows mercy to dead, helpless sinners. (Romans 9:16) Praise be to His powerful, life-giving grace.