20231203 Acts 9:1-31 External Threat 3: The Most Famous Conversion

Jonathan Edwards writes about surprising conversions. He tells the story of Phoebe Bartlett. Following her conversion, she was devoted to prayer. Her family reported that she would go into her prayer closet 5 to 6 times a day. She became convinced that God made her to serve him. When asked about what she preferred about a church service she said it was listening to the sermons. What made this conversion so remarkable is that Phoebe was only four years old!

God is active and has performed a mighty deed in the life of every Christian. Some grew up in Christian homes and do not ever remember not believing in Jesus. That is a wonderful testimony to God’s grace! For others, our conversion was more radical. We remember going from unbelief to trusting in Christ and wanting to live for him. What is true for all is that if we claim that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, we have been converted. God has performed a mighty work in our life. We are born-again.

In Acts 9, Luke describes the most famous conversion in history. Paul goes from being a persecutor of the church to being a Christian and part of the persecuted! This event changed our Bible because Paul writes so much of the New Testament. His conversion also changed the world because he brought the gospel to so many parts of the Roman Empire! This conversion is so iconic that we got an idiom out of it. Paul was converted while on the road to Damascus, so a "Damascus Road moment” refers to an experience of a change of beliefs or ideas. Acts 9:1-31 is about the conversion of Paul and its results. We will look at Paul (Acts 9:1-2, 11), his conversion (Acts 9:3-19), the results (Acts 9:17-31)

First, we gather some information about Paul in Acts 9:1-2, 11 and beyond.

This is some general information. In Acts 9-13, Paul is often called Saul (c.f. Acts 13:9).[i]

Acts 9:11 tells us he is from Tarsus. Tarsus was an important intellectual center and had its academy. Acts 22:3 teaches that Paul received some of the best education under Gamaliel in Jerusalem. Paul was probably from a wealthy family.

In Acts 7:58-8:3, Luke presents him as an enemy of the church. He was a young man who approved Stephen’s execution (Acts 8:1). He was “ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison” (Acts 8:3). In Acts 9:1, Saul seeks to increase the scope of the persecution. He is headed to Damascus to seize Christians and bring them back to Jerusalem.

Application: We gather that Saul was successful, well-learned, and angry. Success, intelligence, and anger can be barriers to faith in Christ. (I am not saying only unsuccessful, dumb, happy people become Christians).

Success can be a barrier to faith. The Christian message urges humility and commands us to place other people’s interests above our own. This is not always good advice for getting ahead in the workplace. For productivity, managers may add pressure to increase performance. They may create a culture of long hours and competition between employees. They may use tools like shame to get what they want. Success can be a barrier to the Christian faith. We worship a man who died on a cross which is the epitome of not being successful.

Intelligence can be a barrier. There are brilliant Christians and there are brilliant atheists. The more informed we are about our worldview, the better we become at seeing everything through that lens. We would become less likely to change our minds. The more we build our lives around specific truths, the more we have to lose if we were to change our minds. So, intelligence can be a barrier.

Anger can be a barrier. Saul believed he was defending God’s reputation when he attacked the church. Anger often stems from a wounded pride. For anger to end, sometimes, we need the humility to say we are wrong. Christians were teaching that everything Saul was building his life around was wrong. Anger is a natural reaction. Anger is a reaction and a barrier to faith. As a successful young prodigy, a career path was laid out for Saul. It seems that change was unlikely. But God changes everything.

Second, we look at Paul’s conversion in Acts 9:3-19.[ii]

Acts 9:3-4 describes a theophany. (When God appears to someone). There is light and a voice from heaven. These elements were present with Moses receiving the Law at Mount Sinai and at Jesus’ transfiguration. They mean God is there.[iii] The voice asks, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Paul asks who is speaking, and the voice responds, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”

Application: We learn that the connection between Jesus and the Church is so strong that persecuting one is persecuting the other. We must treat the church, Jesus’ body, as we would treat Jesus. If we say we love Jesus, we must love his church. Love the church by loving Christians and help make this a safe, joyful, grace-based community where we can learn to follow Jesus together. If we persecute the church, we are opposing God. We need to be careful to act honorably when we have a problem with the church, or another church we disagree with. We must remember the connection between Jesus and his church.

Acts 9:6-19 describes a sign or wonder around Saul’s sight. Miracles show us what Jesus can do to our hearts. In this case, Saul becomes blind to teach him that this encounter with the resurrected king is the beginning of him seeing the world in a whole new way.

This picture teaches us about our conversion. When we were converted, we started to view our sin, our trials, the meaning of life, people who are different from us, our enemies, life and death, and material possessions, differently.

After the vision, Acts 9:8 tells us that though Paul’s eyes were opened, “he saw nothing.” Acts 9:9 repeats this. While he is in this state of blindness, Paul has a vision of a man named Ananias who would lay his hands on him so that he would regain his sight (Acts 9:12).[iv] The events in the vision occur. Ananias finds Saul, lays his hands on Saul, and says, “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.” And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight (Acts 9:17). He was then baptized (Acts 9:18). This text probably resonates more with those who were converted later in life. Still then, it is incredible. As we think of the changes we underwent when we became believers, there can be a real sense that before conversion we were blind. At conversion, we started truly seeing for the first time.

Illustration: Radical conversions make a great case for the Christian faith. In the 1990s Joshua Blahyi was guilty of many atrocities done in the first Liberian Civil War. From the age of 11 he participated in human sacrifices and cannibalism. He later became a general in the civil war and recruited 20,000 children as soldiers. One day, a pastor visited him and shared the good news with him. He claimed that shortly after he heard from God saying he had to repent for his sins or die. Joshua then gave his life to Christ and went on a confession spree to confess his sins in churches and to the relatives of the victims he killed. He is now the President of the End Time Train Evangelistic Ministries, which focuses on reforming the lives of gang members and his former soldiers. After his conversion, Blahyi saw the world in a whole new way. What a powerful testimony to the power of God!

Third, we look at five results of Saul’s conversion in Acts 9:17-31.

The first result is that Paul found a new family in Acts 9:17. The Lord instructed Ananias to find Saul. Ananias has hesitations because of Saul’s violent reputation. He knows Paul “has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on [the] name.” When Ananias finally meets Saul, he calls him, “Brother Saul.” Saul was on his way to arrest people like Ananias. Because Ananias believes Jesus died on the cross for sinners like him, he can view someone like Paul, touch him, put his hands on his shoulders, and say, “Brother Saul.”

Application: We can call each other brother and sister. This is what the gospel does. God loves his enemies. We rebel against him. While we are rebelling, God loved us and the Holy Spirit applied God’s saving benefits to us, which Jesus secured on the cross. He calls us his children. Anyone changed by this radical love calls others changed by this love, brother and sister. This is true no matter what we have done in the past. This radical love is a testimony to God’s love and his power.

Corrie Ten Boone was a victim of the Holocaust. After the war, she met one of her prison guards who had become a Christian. She understood what Ananias understood. The guard's conversion meant he was now her brother. Humanly speaking this is impossible. But with God, the church is a community of extravagant radical love and forgiveness. The church is the family in which all conflict, violence, and revenge come to die. No matter what you have done when you turn to Jesus, we will call you brother or sister.

A second result is that Paul is filled with the Holy Spirit in Acts 9:17. This is another instance in which there is a delay between the conversion and receiving the Holy Spirit. The delay only occurs when God intends for a particular witness to be present. John and Peter witnessed the Holy Spirit fall on the Samaritans in Acts 8. Here, Ananias can testify that Paul was filled by the Holy Spirit. This witness is important because as same gift is given to all who believe, the Holy Spirit unifies a diverse church. Now with the inclusion of Paul, the church is even more diverse. It includes the original followers of Jesus, Jews who came to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, Greek-speaking Jews, priests, Samaritans, a Eunuch, and now Saul, the great persecutor of the church.

Application: We learn that Saul did not get converted to become an independent agent. This text highlights that even when a persecutor comes to faith, they are integrated into the church. They become part of what God is doing everywhere. It is good to have accountability among Christians. We try to promote practicing our faith in light of the universal church by becoming members of a church. As a congregation, we are part of larger denominations. These are ways we recognize the church’s unity through the Holy Spirit. We should not cut ourselves off from what God is doing elsewhere.

The Third and Fourth results are witness and suffering. In Acts 9:15-16, the Lord told Ananias that Saul was “a chosen instrument of God’s to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.” He was going to teach him, “how much he would suffer for the sake of his name.” Straight after his conversion, Paul is going about what he was commissioned to do. He is bearing witness, going to synagogues proclaiming that Jesus “is the Son of God” (Acts 9:20) and “proving that Jesus was the Christ” (Acts 9:22). Already, he starts to suffer. In Acts 9:22 the Jews plot to kill him. In Acts 9:25, it is the Hellenists who were Greek-speaking Jews who try to kill him. Suffering is part of the Christian life.

A Fifth result is according to Acts 9:31, “The church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up.”[v] Saul was the source of upheaval. Now that he is part of the church, the church is at peace. The church is built up internally as they were walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, and outwardly it multiplied. Acts 2:41-47 offers the most detailed summary of church activities to build the church up in Acts. They were devoted to prayer, fellowship, sacraments, the word, worship, care, and having meals in each other’s homes. This is what we are about.

Conclusion

In the context of the book of Acts, we see that the Kingdom of God is expanding through the witness to the resurrected King by the power of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 1:8 Jesus tells us the Apostles to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, then Judea-Samaria which is happening by Acts 9. The last step will be to the ends of the earth. Acts 9:15 contains the first reference to bearing witness to Gentiles. The calling of Paul for this ministry is setting up the next part of Acts. For all of us who are Gentiles, the events we read in Acts 9 are part of God’s strategy to reach you and me. Saul was a Pharisee well learned in the Scriptures, some of us were not. Saul was blind and we were blind. By God’s grace all Christians now see and are recruited for God’s mission.

There can be many reasons not to be a Christian. It can be intellectual, or emotional, or that we would have too much to lose in following Jesus. This was true for Saul but he writes in Phil 3 that he considers his former life to be rubbish. Every Christian has this similar experience if we are called to suffer for our faith. In Christ, we have a living Hope we know that he will one day return and make all things new.


[i] Coninciding with the beginning of the missionary journeys he goes from Saul which is his Jewish name to Paul, his Roman name.


[ii] One of the most important sections of Scripture to understand the New Testament is the servant songs of Isaiah 42 to 53. In this section, Israel is God’s chosen servant to proclaim God’s salvation to the ends of the earth. The problem with Israel as a servant is that she is blind and needs a servant to be a servant to her. The solution is an individual who will suffer on behalf of Israel to restore Israel so that she can go about her mission to be a light for the nations. This individual restorer is Jesus, but Jesus’ followers who are restored now play a role in the restoration. The themes of blindness, suffering, and reaching the gentiles all appear in this text. In a way he is a suffering servant, this is the call of Christians. .


[iii] Elements in this text also recall when God called Moses (Exod 3:2-4), Isaiah (Isa 6:1-13), and Jeremiah (Jer 1:4-10) to serve him. .


[iv] There is what is called a “double-vision” in this text. Saul has a vision about his encounter with Ananias, and Ananias has a vision about his encounter with Paul. In Acts 10, Peter and Cornelius also have a vision. We all have dreams and may at times wonder if it is a vision from God. When two people have never met and have the same vision it strengthens your confidence that God is at work. .


[v] These are the regions that the gospel was going to reach in the second part of the expansion of God’s Kingdom. Acts 1:8 lists Jerusalem, Judea-Samaria, and the ends of the earth as the church's missionary program.

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