And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”
Acts 9:20

Acts 9:1–31 – The Story of the Church: Living Into This Drama in the 21st Century
Third Sunday after Pentecost – June 13, 2021 (am)

One of the worst things that can happen to a Christian, and it happens all too often, is to lose confidence in the gospel, in the power of God to change lives. When that happens, we lose a big part of our motivation in prayer. The problems we see in people, in this world, start to look bigger than God. Then small things begin to discourage us. God Himself starts to seem distant, even disinterested. And any struggle we have with sin, any struggle at all, starts to get the better of us, then to overcome us.

Today’s passage is an antidote to all that. This text reminds us of the power of our God, that He can do anything, that he does all that he pleases! (Psa.115.3) But you’ve already heard that as we read this text. It’s no surprise what I’m saying. So, let’s just walk through this story briefly, one so central to the message of Acts that it’s told three times in these twenty-eight chapters (9, 22, 26), and remember what God did here. Then let’s see if it might encourage all of us pretty much right where we live, right where we need to be reminded, even reassured, of Who God is and what He can do.

It sits pretty prominently in the midst of a section of Acts that’s not only seeing the Word of God begin to spread from Jerusalem through all Judea and Samaria toward the end of the earth (1:8), but a section that’s just saturated with manifestations of the power of God that’s enabling that spread. We’ve seen Him not only save an Ethiopian who wouldn’t have been allow to enter the Temple, but then He carried away to another place the messenger He’d sent to him! (8:39) And He’s about to do more than that in just the next few verses after this account, healing the lame, raising the dead!

 Let’s look at this familiar account of Saul’s conversion and see if it doesn’t encourage us in some unanticipated [ways], and maybe even in some [ways] that we really need. We’ll take it in three parts.

Saul Meets Jesus – 1-9

Luke gives a little snippet of an introduction to Saul back in cc.7 and 8 that suggested he’d be a central figure in this story. He was present and approving at the stoning of Stephen (7:58) which triggered the persecution that was now [scattering] the church (8:3-4). As c.9 opens, it’s continuing. Saul was terrorizing Christians—like a fire-breathing dragon spewing out vicious threats and menacing schemes, even murder (1). He was a terrorist! We still remember almost twenty years later the overwhelming mix of outrage and fear we felt as the reports were coming in on 9/11! How far was this going to go? Where would it end? And how?

Like many religious terrorists today, Saul sought and received religious (high priest) approval to go to another city (Damascus from Jerusalem) in another region (Syria from Judea) and round up anyone who was following after the Way, as Christianity was being called at the time (2). It wasn’t enough to terrorize people at home, Saul took his act on the road! The Way was a blasphemous offense to his Judaism, and it had to be stopped!

The letters (2a) he sought gave him written authority (Stott 168) to chase down dispersed Christians (cf. 14). And when he arrested and shackled and extradited them, he didn’t care if they were men or women! (2) He was ruthless!

So, Saul was headed to Damascus with permission in hand to do whatever seemed right or necessary to block the Way. But then something happened. He and his group (3) were interrupted along [their] way by a bright light from heaven (3). It blinded only him. He (fell) to the ground (4) and was immediately questioned by a voice only he could understand (7; cf. 22:9). But the address had to just baffle him! It was so direct, and so personal: 4 … Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

Note, first, the double-mention of his name—a sign of intimacy in the Hebrew culture. When Jesus was looking at the city of his eventual death, and grieving over their sin, He said: Mat.23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem… how often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood…, and you would not! And on Judgment Day when people are convinced that God must have missed all their good deeds, they’ll cry: Mat.7:22 … “Lord, Lord, [didn’t] we… do many mighty works in your name?” 23 And then [Jesus will] declare to them, “I never knew you. …” And what a warning this is not to presume a level of intimacy with God that may not be there!

Second, note also the personal nature of the message: Why are you persecuting me, not (my church)? So, Saul asked the same question we would: 5 … Who are you, Lord?… And the answer had to rock his world: … I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. So, Jesus is alive! His resurrection was real! Jesus then gave him some simple instructions: 6 … Rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do. No question Who’s in charge here!

Blinded by the light, then, Saul was led by the hand the rest of the way to Damascus (8)—quite a change from the fury with which he’d left Jerusalem. Evidently, he then spent some time pondering his circumstances; v.9 says he neither ate nor drank for three days; and down in v.11 we see that he was also praying—not a bad response when you’ve been interrupted along your way by the risen Lord Himself!

Saul Meets Ananias – 10-25

An otherwise unknown man named Ananias was God’s appointed helper for Saul. God told him in a vision to go to Judas’ house over on Straight Street and restore Saul’s sight. We know from c.22 that 12 … Ananias was a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there. But he was initially reluctant to help Saul (13-14). And who could blame him? How much compassion do we have for terrorists? How much sympathy have surviving Jews had for German prison camp guards back in WWII?

But God reassured Ananias by saying: This is my appointed man. 15 … 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. This statement was more than enough for Ananias, who went directly over to Judas’ house (17), laid hands on Saul, and even called him, Brother (17)—what must that’ve taken? Then he was used by God to enable Saul to regain (his) sight, and to be filled with the Holy Spirit ([17] though he was not an [apostle]). Luke records that something like scales fell from (Saul’s) eyes (18) and he could see. Then he got up and was baptized (18). And finally he ate something to regain his strength (19).

But, having planned to [persecute] Christians in the synagogues of Damascus (2), Saul actually ended up preaching Jesus there! (20-22) Now, there’s a little taste of the life-changing power of the God! It turned Saul’s life on a dime! People were initially amazed (21) by the change! But after a while (many days [23] three years? [Gal.1:18]) they were enraged by it and [wanted] to kill him (23, 24). So, with help, Saul escaped through the city wall at night (24-25) and returned to Jerusalem (26).

Saul Meets the Apostles – 26-31

Once he was back there, though, the apostles weren’t quick to receive him (26). But faithful Barnabas bridged the gap (27) and soon Saul was [going] in and out among them (28) and doing the same things he’d done in Damascus. And it brought the same result: they [wanted] to kill him (29). So, he had to flee again. And this time he headed back home to Tarsus (30).

But…, the church continued to grow (31)—through all this!

Conclusion

So, Saul of Tarsus, the first-century terrorist, was drafted by God and transformed into the most prominent gospel witness in the history of the church. His life was changed! Just like the apostles lives had been changed! Just like Barnabas’ life had been changed! And Stephen’s! And Philip’s! And the Eunuch’s! In fact, there are many more in the pages of Acts whose lives were changed! [Thousands] (2:41; 4:4), in fact! And it didn’t stop there! There have been many, many more over the centuries whose stories are almost as dramatic and equally undeniable, proving again and again the power of God, and of His gospel, to change lives!

• In the fifth century He changed Augustine of Hippo from being an arrogant, lust-driven, sexually addicted young man into a champion of Christian doctrine and theology.

• In the sixteenth century He changed Martin Luther from being a fearful, self-analyzing neurotic into a keen discerner and bold defender of the pure, NT gospel.

• In the eighteenth century He changed John Newton from being a vile, thrill-seeking reprobate and slave trader into a compassionate, tender-hearted shepherd of God’s people. He’s the one who composed the poem: Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!

• And, look around. Why are each of us here today? What is there in us that seeks after God? Answer, nothing! God seeks after us! That’s the only reason we’re here! Maybe no one will read about your life in a biography or a history book. But, make no mistake, if you’ve trusted Christ as Savior your life has been transformed just as dramatically as Saul’s life—as the Apostle Paul’s life! And it’s his own writings in Scripture that make this truth most clear!

The power of God displayed in the gospel of the crucified, risen, and returning Lord Jesus Christ isn’t just the focus of an annual Easter celebration. It’s the means by which He’s doing His rescuing work among His fallen but still Image-bearing creatures and securing eternal life for them through faith in His Son, making Him Savior and Lord and King!

What we see here in Saul’s story, sitting where it does in the biblical history of the early church, is the power of God to change lives. If we’ve forgotten about this power of God, or have begun to doubt it in our day, then we’ve not only forgotten about what He did in Saul’s life, but also about what He’s done in each of ours! And, friends, there is nothing more defeating, deflating, disheartening, that to lose confidence in the only power in this world that is actually able to change us! Believing brother and sister, never doubt this power! And if you do, return to the pages of God’s Word, quite notably in this very book of Acts, and be refreshed and restored and renewed!

And you who have not trusted Christ as Savior, isn’t it time? Isn’t it long since time that you tasted of the power of God to change your life and get you started along the Way, going the direction you were designed to go? No matter the sort or the strength of your struggle, you have evidence from the stories of Scripture and of history how the power of God in the gospel is sufficient to save you from them all—from sexual sin or rebelliousness or false belief about Who God is and how He works, or a critical or doubting or ambivalent spirit. The power of God that is displayed in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ can save us all! His sacrifice is sufficient for all who believe. And we can see that in the life of Saul of Tarsus. Isn’t it time for you to receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord and King?

If you think not—you really just don’t believe you need a Savior and Lord and King—there are two things you really need to understand about your sin and God’s grace.

No sin is too small to fracture our relationship with God. Anything at all in our lives that makes us less than perfectly good (measured by the standard of God’s own character, by His perfections) causes us to be cut off from relationship with God, eternally separated, under His judgment. But…

No sin is too great to be cleansed by the sacrifice of Christ. Anything we’ve done (any sin we’ve committed) that is confessed to Him in humble repentance and faith can be cleansed and removed by the power of God and we can be reconciled to Him for all eternity. Your life can be changed by the same power that changed Saul’s. And that is an encouraging reminder!

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Resources

Beale, G. K. and D. A. Carson, eds. 2007. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. Acts, by I. Howard Marshall, 513-606. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.

Beveridge, Henry, ed. Commentary upon the Acts of the apostles, vol. 1, by John Calvin. Translated by Christopher Featherstone.

Bruce, F. F., ed. 1988. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. The book of Acts, revised, by F. F. Bruce. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Carson, D. A., R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, and G. J. Wenham, eds. 1994. New Bible Commentary 21st Century Edition. Acts, by Conrad Gempf, 1066-1114. Leicester, Eng.: InterVarsity.

Dockery, David S, ed. 1992. New American Commentary. Vol. 26, Acts, by John B. Polhill. Nashville: Broadman & Holman.

Grudem, Wayne, ed. 2008. ESV Study Bible. Study notes on Acts, 2073-2156, by John B. Polhill. Wheaton: Crossway.

Longman III, Tremper and David E. Garland, eds. 2007. Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Vol. 10, Acts, by Richard N. Longenecker, 665-1102. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Morris, Leon, ed. 1980. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Vol. 5 Acts, by I. Howard Marshall. Downers Grove: InterVarsity.

Stott, John, ed. 1990. The Bible Speaks Today. The Message of Acts, by John Stott. Leicester, Eng.: InterVarsity.

 

Next Week: More Manifestations of Power, Acts 9:32–10:8