"LOST and FOUND!" Acts 9:1-9

LOST AND FOUND

Acts 9:1-9

Introduction: There are some defining moments in history and in the lives of humans that change the direction of their “stories.”  Historians suggest that the “D-Day” invasion in World War 2 is an example of a day, a battle, that changed the direction and assured the eventual outcome of the war.  Of course the foundation of our faith is God himself and His revelation in history, until finally, the God who spoke at different times and in different ways in times past through the prophets, spoke in these last days in the Son (Heb 1:1,2).  The death and resurrection of Jesus is the foundation, and then Jesus begins to build His church in Acts. Saul’s conversion is a defining moment for the church in the book of Acts, as God lays hold of a key persecutor and transforms him into a proclaimer of the Gospel. The conversion of Saul (also called Paul, cf. Acts 13:9) is so important that it is related three times in detail in Acts alone (9,22,26), plus alluded to several times in the letters of Paul.  By the way, forgive me if I am not consistent in my use of the Hebrew (Saul) and Greek (Paul) names of the apostle. In reading Acts Luke is very consistent in the early part of the book to exclusively use the name “Saul.” It seems to me that this is part of his dramatic telling of the story of Acts and adds to the impact when later he let’s us know who this young and zealous rabbi is. He is there at Stephen’s death, he is persecuting the church, and then he has a life changing encounter with the resurrected Christ on the road to Damascus. As the reader follows this character in Acts the transformation is astounding, the persecutor becomes the persecuted, preaching the faith he once tried to destroy. And then finally, on the first missionary journey we read in Acts 13:9, “Then Saul, who also is called Paul…” I think Theophilus and the other first readers of Acts knew well of Paul and his ministry. As Luke wrote the Book of Acts Paul was in prison in Rome, ready to appear before Caesar. It’s as though Luke says, “By the way, this Saul, this zealous young rabbi transformed by God’s grace, is none other than the Apostle Paul!” Wham! What a powerful revelation of God’s sovereign grace! We need to remember that the same God who was working then and there, is present here and now. He is still sovereign. And He is building His church.

The Big Idea: Because of the depth of human depravity salvation can only be by the sovereign grace of God, so be bold in your witness!

I. Our Only Hope: Human Depravity means salvation can only be by grace (1-2). After the conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8, Luke, the writer of Acts, brings us back to a character he had introduced earlier, the young rabbi Saul of Tarsus who was present and approving of the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7 and who was ravaging the church from house to house in chapter 8. One commentator suggested by the way, that the three conversion stories in this section of Acts, the Ethiopian (8), Saul (9), and the gentile Cornelius (10),  correspond to the three sons of Noah: Ham, Shem, and Japheth. The idea would be that God is interested in the entire human race, that in Christ a remnant would be saved from every race and nation. Whether or not we see a connection with Noah’s sons, God certainly is interested in the world-wide spread of the gospel.

Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest  ² and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 

            “Breathing out threats and murder…” This is very graphic language showing the attitude and driving force of Saul’s life.  Remember the praise chorus, “You are the air I breathe…”?  For the believer the presence of the Spirit of God is our “air,” our life. It defines us. Saul “breathed” hatred and murder toward God and His people. It dominated his thinking and plan and purpose in living.  Have you heard it said “It doesn’t really matter what you believe, as long as you really believe it”? That’s a lie from the pit of hell! Saul was sincere, he was zealous, he “really believed”, he was very religious, but he was dead wrong and fighting against God!

                     In Saul’s case he went beyond an attitude of hatred and malice toward Christians, to putting that into action. The persecution after Stephen’s death was focused in Jerusalem and scattered the church (Acts 8:1,4). Now Saul asked permission to pursue those heretics to Damascus, 150 miles away, that he might bring them back bound. It seems he is an initiator of this expanded persecution. This wasn’t a three hour car drive down to Boston, it had to be a good week long trip. He was determined to cut off the Christ followers while there was still time. Notice, by the way, the believers are called followers of “the Way.” This is the most common descriptor of the church in Acts, not “believers” or “the Church” or “disciples,” but “the Way.” It implies movement, direction, a path, a walk. We don’t just “belong” to the church like we would a club, we are the church, actively living out the implications of our faith and our mission in the world. We are the body of Christ. Are we acting like it?

            Saul was a zealous unbeliever, but his life, B.C., “before Christ,” illustrates an important theological truth. Unsaved humans are not neutral, open-minded seekers of enlightenment and truth. Paul expressed the truth about human depravity so clearly in his letters perhaps because he could look back and see the truth of his own story. We read for example in Ephesian 2:1-5,

“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,  ² in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,  ³ among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.  ⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,  ⁵ even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)…”

He says this way in his letter to the Romans 3:9-18,

What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.  ¹⁰ As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;  ¹¹ There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.  ¹² They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one."  ¹³ "Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit"; "The poison of asps is under their lips";  ¹⁴ "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness."  ¹⁵ "Their feet are swift to shed blood;  ¹⁶ Destruction and misery are in their ways;  ¹⁷ And the way of peace they have not known."  ¹⁸ "There is no fear of God before their eyes."

That was the truth about Paul, BC, and it is the truth about every human who has not yet come to faith in Jesus. They are deaf, blind, and dead spiritually, at enmity with God. But don’t let that discourage you. Because of the depth of human depravity salvation can only be by the sovereign grace of God, and Jesus is still building His church, so be bold in your witness! Our only hope is God’s grace, and He alone is God!

II. The Only God: He is real, and He graciously intervenes in history and reveals himself to humans (3-5a). This is where we have to notice what is unique about Saul’s experience, and what his experience has in common with every conversion story. A light from heaven, a vision of Christ, knocked to the ground and blinded, a voice like thunder, all that was pretty dramatic and somewhat unique! Even within Acts it is not repeated in the same way. But at it’s heart it is the same: a personal encounter with the living God, being confronted by our sin and our desperate spiritual need through His Word, that is something we can relate to!

       God in His sovereignty must take the initiative in salvation (3-4a).

       God meets us where we are (3a): “As he journeyed he came near Damascus…” Saul was going about his business, religious, zealous, sincere, and absolutely wrong about Jesus.  Not only had he not believed in Jesus, he was intent on pursuing and stomping out the Christ-followers.

       Encounters with Him can be sudden and overwhelming:  “…and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.  ⁴ Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice…”  This is pretty much the opposite of what we saw in the Ethiopian in chapter 8. The eunuch's defenses were clearly down, his heart had been prepared, and he was, at the point we meet him in the story, seeking the truth, and God found a way, he sent a preacher to explain the Scriptures.  We don’t know what he might have gone through to get to that point of being open and seeking, we see the ripe fruit being plucked from the vine by Philip.  God took a more dramatic approach with Saul!

       God in His mercy has revealed himself to humans (4b-5a). "…‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’  ⁵ And he said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’" Notice a couple of things here:

     First of all, the manner in which Jesus speaks. “Saul, Saul…” The repetition of a name by Jesus occurs only a few times, but always at a moment of deep emotion, almost with a “sigh” with respect to the slowness of his people to hear and believe. At the house of Mary and Martha, when Martha was distracted serving, “Martha, Martha…” When the disciples disputed about who was greatest, Jesus says, “Simon, Simon…” and tells him he has prayed for him. Approaching the city of Jerusalem at the beginning of the passion week, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem…” I think we see the heart of Jesus, his compassion, his love for his people. Fallen humans are little slow to understand and believe, even believers don’t always immediately “get it” when God speaks. I’ve noticed for a few years, but it has been getting worse lately, that I have a constant “sound” in my ears. I think its called “tinitis”? The first time I noticed it I thought it was the sound of crickets and insects in the night, but then discovered the sound persisted even if my hands were over my ears! It’s getting louder, so that when I am listening to someone their voice has to rise above the background noise. I think spiritually we all have tinitis! Sometimes we are too distracted by the background noise to hear the still, small, voice of God.

   Secondly, notice that Jesus asks, “Why are you persecuting me?” That statement reflects an important theological point. The church can suffer hatred and persecution, but really that hatred is directed at God, humans rebelling against Him. It’s exactly what Psalm 2 describes as it opens: the nations and kings in rebellion against God and his Anointed Son (Ps 2:1-3).

   Some translations include here the phrase “It is difficult for you to kick against the goads…” If you are reading the NIV or ESV it’s not in your translation and maybe your thinking “why not?”  Remember that we have the story of Saul’s conversion three times in Acts, once from Luke (here in chapter 9) and twice as Paul tells the story of his conversion, to the Jewish mob in Jerusalem (Acts 22) and before Felix and Agrippa (in Acts 26).  All three accounts tell the same story, but none includes every detail.  That statement about “kicking against the goads” was probably not included here by Luke, as it is absent from most of the Greek manuscripts, but it was told by Paul in one of the other contexts. So it is historical, just not part of this context. It adds a detail that we learn later as Paul shares his testimony, and implies that Saul was being “goaded” by God, like a shepherd poking a reluctant sheep with a stick, or someone prodding an ox or donkey to move him along. Perhaps Saul had experienced moments of “conviction” such as at the death Stephen, or hearing the testimonies of the miracles Jesus did, or perhaps be seeing the transformation of other Christ followers. Luke doesn’t mention that detail, because he wants to emphasize the effectual call of God in Saul’s life at this point in the story. Paul later testifies to the process God used to prepare him to hear.

    Humans actively resist the gospel all the time, which is one reason I prefer not to use the term “irresistible grace…” It seems to me that can be misleading. “Effectual calling” is a much better term I think for what we see happening here. God will save those who are His. As Jesus said in John’s gospel, “…My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me…” (John 10:26,27).  Amazingly, He’ll use the testimony of humans to do it as we share His Word. He has chosen “…through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe…” (I Cor 1:21).  Because of the depth of human depravity salvation can only be by the sovereign grace of God, so be bold in your witness, some will hear and believe!

III. The Only Way: God in His grace will use the Word to convict us of sin and to point us to Jesus (5b-9).

        God knows those who are His (5b-7). We know how this story is going to unfold, God had chosen Saul, He had a plan for his life. Not only would he be used as a key worker in bringing the gospel to Asia Minor and Europe, his radical conversion would be one more revelation of the presence and power of God. Paul would be hated by the Jewish authorities because they could not explain away his radical, 180 degree change in direction. This was like Lazarus coming from the tomb – they just couldn’t deal with what it reveals about Jesus!

“Then the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’  ⁶ So he, trembling and astonished, said, ‘Lord, what do You want me to do?’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’  ⁷ And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one.” 

I can’t imagine Saul’s thoughts and feelings at this moment. All he had been doing, everything he thought and believed, was turned on its head. His own teacher, Gamaliel, had told the council to leave the Christ followers alone, if their movement was of men it would pass away, if it was of God, they could be found fighting against God. He had ignored his teacher’s advice and in his zeal and ignorance he was guilty of fighting against God! No wonder he was “trembling and astonished.” Like the Jews in Jerusalem confronted by Peter’s preaching, he asks “What must I do?”

       God in His grace will bring us down, in order to lift us up (8-9). These next verses are interesting, Saul needed to understand his weakness, he needed to see that he could carry out his new mission only in fellowship with the church of Jesus Christ, of which he was now a part. Consider Saul five minutes before this encounter, traveling toward Damascus, zealous, confident, ready to take charge. Intent on destruction. Then look at him immediately after. Blind, being led by the hand, completely humbled.  Waiting for direction from the Lord. What a dramatic picture of human weakness and divine power!

“⁸Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.  ⁹ And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.”

Though it doesn’t say so here, “neither eating or drinking” may imply that Saul was praying and fasting as he waited for the Lord to reveal to him more of what came next, what God expected of him.  The last thing he saw for those three days, the “after image” burned into his eyes, was the glory of the resurrected Jesus. Paul would later write, “Every knee will bow… every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:10,11).  He is the Christ, the Son of God.

What is God saying to me in this passage? Because of the depth of human depravity salvation can only be by the sovereign grace of God, so be bold in your witness!

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? At the deepest level the passage we looked at today is not first of all a story about Paul, but rather a story about God, who has revealed himself through the Son. We are reminded of God’s power, of His glory, of His amazing grace. One response to this passage it thanksgiving and praise to God, to worship the God who is, as our vision statement says, “…to treasure God as supremely valuable…” 

       Reflect for a moment on God’s intervention in your life. Have you had a defining moment in your life, when you recognized your need and turned to Him in faith? Whether it was a process like the Ethiopian in chapter 8, or a life changing instant when the lights came on, it was a work of God’s sovereign grace. GOD did that. Then give him the glory, as Paul says in Romans 12:1, “Present your body as a living sacrifice, which is your reasonable service of worship.”

       One clear thing that God expects of those that He has saved, is that we engage the world around us, by proclaiming the riches of His grace to those who need to hear. We can’t save anyone, but God has chosen to work through our witness as we share his Word to save those who believe.   So look around, be bold, and let’s see what God will do!                     Amen.