The Conversion of Saul/Paul  Isa 43:25-44:3; Ps 82; Acts 9:1-19; Luke 10:25-37 [] = not in sermon (StMark’sBassendean)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ts_9dberzMg&si=hIX2M6UixQ5iGmYp

Introduction

Whilst often titled the “Conversion of Saul”, our Acts passage is not only about the conversion but also the call of the most controversial character in “Christianity”. Our attitude to Saul/Paul reflects our attitude to Jesus, for as our apostle, (given I don’t know any Jews here today) he commands, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (1 Cor 11:1). Paul is a master disciple maker formed in the image of his Master through many “troubles, toils and snares” (John Newton cf. 2 Cor 11-12).  Whilst conscious of his own imperfections e.g. 1 Cor 7:12, Paul reprimands the Corinthians for their party spirit, “For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?” (1 Cor 3:4); since he teaches that all Scripture is “God-breathed” (2 Tim 3:16) we must honour the testimony of the greatest missionary the Lord has ever raised up (Rom 15:5; 16:26).

Exposition

“Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest ² and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.”

Saul is a terrorist against Jews following Jesus. (Sas the Orthodox in Israel persecute Messianic believers today.) As we shall see, these nameless and faceless persecuted believers were radiant with the glory of God (Ps 34:5; Eph 5:27).

The Encounter  

³ As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴ He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” ⁵ “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. ⁶ “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” ⁷ The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. ⁸ Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. ⁹ For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

[As the disciples of Christ were on “the Way” (v.2) to their heavenly homeland (Phil 3:20-21cf. Isa 40:3)] Saul, on his way [journey to a passing earthly city], is encountered by a divine power. In the Bible what we call Christophanies, manifestations of the glorified ascended Christ, are signs of a call to a wider ministry in his service (e.g. Acts 9:10:ff). Luke’s language is definite “light from heaven flashed around him (Saul)”, the presence of God descended from its usual habitation in the heavenlies (cf. Hab 3:4; John 1:1ff.) and immerses Saul in the divine aura. Necessarily he is cast down to the earth (cf. Rev 12:7-9; 2 Cor 10:5) and by sheer grace hears an unforgettable voice. “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

Until he asks, “Who are you, Lord?”, the identity of the speaker voice is hidden from him [though “Lord” indicates a reference to God (Phil 2:10)].  The following words, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” cut into Saul’s heart (cf. Acts 2:38). This is a revelation of the extreme intimacy between the Lord and his people, “while the Body suffered on earth the Head in heaven cried out n pain.” In language normally restricted to the visionary [apocalyptic] literature of the Bible, [like Daniel and Isiah 24-27, and later Revelation,] Saul had a “revelation of Jesus Christ” (Gal 1:12) [like that John will later portray in the book of Revelation (1:1ff.) This light possesses supreme power able to transform us into its own likeness (2 Cor 4:4ff; 2 Tim 1:10).] The converting heavenly manifestation explains why the resurrection of Jesus from the dead in foremost in Paul’s presentation of the Gospel in Acts (Acts 17:3, 31; 1 Cor 15 etc. https://stretchtheology.com/cross-and-resurrection-a-disagreement-with-john-stott/#:~:text=In%20short%2C%20in%20the%20New,entire%20salvation%20won%20by%20Jesus.) [Like the manifestation given to Stephen on the threshold of death (Acts 7:54-60)] it was a momentary appearance of how Jesus will appear at the End of the world. [Saul’s three day total fast is the most severe of any in the Bible.]

Reluctant Discipleship

¹⁰ In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered. ¹¹ The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. ¹² In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” ¹³ “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”¹⁵ But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. ¹⁶ I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” ¹⁷ Then Ananias went to the house and entered it.

Ananias is unknown beyond this chapter. However, his initial reluctance to obey Christ’s command pairs him with reluctant prophets in Scripture (Moses, Jeremiah, Jonah). Many times I have felt led by the Lord to do/speak something I did not want to do, but then did it (cf. Matt 21:28-32). The language used by the Lord, “my chosen instrument” (cf. Acts 26:16; Luke 1:1ff.) echoes Isa 43:10, [“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, or will there be one after me,] and recalls the Pentecostal promise to the original apostles, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”” (Acts 1:8). For our sake we must not idealise Paul, he was not expected to preach the gospel to the nations without the indwelling power of the Spirit of Jesus.  Many of us have been doing the “Everyday Evangelism” course (https://www.hope25.com.au/2024/06/28/everyday-evangelism-course-pdf-with-stephen-abbott/). This is a down-to-earth programme realistic about how to reach Aussies. It’s one glaring weakness is, [unlike its more famous Alpha predecessor,] that it neglects the need for the laying on of hands to receive the empowerment of the Spirit of God. Jesus instructs Ananias to testify to Saul, “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” As Jesus testifies after his resurrection: “Was it not necessary for the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” (Luke 24:26). Suffering and glory are not an inevitable but an indispensable duo. (cf. Dr. Jay Smith on YouTube, whose exposure of Islam turned from interesting to “gripping” only when he related how an infuriated  mob had beaten him unconscious several times! ) Near the close of his life Paul could say, “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” (2 Tim 3:12). Living life in the likeness of Jesus, [as Paul so consistently did,] will provoke hostility from non-believers, Christian legalists and liberal disciples alike. There is a reason why John Stott’s provocative book, Christ the Controversialist, is not one his favourite publications https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/my-10-favorite-stott/; https://stephenhague.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/stott-john-christ-the-controversialist.pdf! Most “Bible believing” churches are not like Jesus in attracting the sort of broken social outcastes as he did (Luke 7:34)! Why do Conservative Evangelical congregations not have the sort of tax collectors, prostitutes and Samaritans that Jesus soke with?

Conversion Completed

“Placing his hands on Saul, he (Ananias) said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸ Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, ¹⁹ and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

That Ananias submitted to Jesus [from the heart (Rom 6:17)] comes out in his intimate address, “brother Saul”. And soon as Ananias explained to Saul that he had been sent from the “Lord  - Jesus [the Lord of glory” (1 Cor 2:8; James 2:1)] his words spoke with irresistible apostolic authority which commanded submission. Put up your hand if you were confirmed by a bishop, please. Many of us have received confirmation at the hands of a bishop which was supposed to impart the gift of the Holy Spirit, but nothing changed in our lives. But (v.20ff.) Saul preached fearlessly to a hostile audience in the days after this conversion. It is not experientially “normal” but abnormal to meet Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit and be silent to others about the Gospel.

Application and Conclusion

Few of us are grasped by the radical nature of the conversion of Saul from an expert in the Torah to a preacher of “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Cor 8:9). The Gospel Paul preached was [the inversion,] a turning upside down (cf. Acts 17:6) of all he long believed. H had believed the Messiah descended from David would rule over the heathen Gentiles with power. What the Jews never anticipated was that this would happen through one of their number crucified in weakness then raised in power of God to pour out the Holy spirit on the previously wretched Gentiles. [(cf. “Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸ God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, ²⁹ so that no one may boast before him.” 1 Cor 1:26-28)]. We can do as many evangelism courses as we like and attend Bible study after Bible study, but until we have a life changing encounter with Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit we will never witness what Saul was promised by Jesus in Acts, the turning of people, to quote, “from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” (Acts 26:18). The Gospel alone “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16). We worship someone scandalously crucified (1 Cor 1:22ff.) and then gloriously raised from the dead as Lord of all. Orthodox Jews are still waiting for a resurrection at the end of history to usher in the glory of Israel’s blessed last days; but the apostles had a revelation that resurrection had come in Jesus whose power was then imparted to the Church. [both Jew and gentile.]

Paul’s proof of the authenticity of the Gospel he preached was as much the testimony of his life-transformation as anything he ever wrote. He commanded with complete clarity of conscience [in the power of the Holy Spirit] “be imitators of me as I am of Christ” (1 Cor 11:1). [His letters were composed 20years before the Gospels were written.] It was the outpouring of the Spirit accompanying the Word that was [all pervasive and] all persuasive. The Jesus of history becomes our Lord only through the testimony of his Spirit.

[A revelation of what happened to Saul on the road to Damascus will surely be a catalyst for the preaching of the Gospel not only to our fellow non-Jews but will release a wave of prayer for the people of Israel (however we understand Rom 9-11). The apostolic pattern, “to the Jew first and also to the Greek/Gentile” (Rom 1:16) remains. The powerful new covenant unity of Jew and Gentile has nothing to do with latter day political Zionism, but is totally due to the reality that we are one by being together, forever, “in Christ” (Rom 1:7-8; 1 Cor 6:9-11)]

[Paul and his conversion is related not only through Acts but through  much of the New Testament (Rom 16:7; 1 Cor 9:1, 15:3-8; Phil 3:12; Gal 1)] it is Paul’s teachings that recall us to remember the time we were translated from death to life (Rom 6:3-5, 11). As the purpose of human existence is the testimony of Jesus (Rev 19:10), our failure to pray for and evangelise the lost, [something our pastor Mark has exhorted us to do repeatedly,] witnesses that we are “nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from our past sins” (2 Pet 1:9). The Jesus revealed so long ago to Saul is an unstoppable force in the power of the Holy Spirit. How can we be silent? [Elderly Christians should be like “shooting stars” cf. JY experience on plane whose brightest light is at the culmination of a life of humble service to “the Lord of glory” (1Cor 2:8)]