Lechem Panim #161 "The Conversion of Saul: Part 3” (Acts 9:17-22) Pastor Cameron Ury

Hello and welcome to the show today! In our study of the book of Acts we have been looking at one of the great persecutors of the early Church, a man by the name of Saul. And in our passage last week you will remember that Saul has just met Jesus on the road to Damascus, where he was seeking to further his persecution of Christianity. And yet it is on that very road that he encountered Jesus; and that encounter marked the greatest turning point of his life as (being struck blind) he was commanded to go into Damascus and wait further instructions. And so he does, staying with a man named Judas. And Jesus then appears to a Christian named Ananias and tells him to go and tells him to go to Saul and lay hands on him so that he might receive his sight. And Ananias is obviously terrified, fearing Saul. But he goes. And it says…

Acts 9:17-18 (NKJV)— 17 And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.

From Grey To Color— I recently watched quite a number of videos on YouTube of color blind people receiving a very special gift. Because of modern technology, special glasses that appear just like ordinary sunglasses have been developed that actually correct color blindness. And so these people in the videos (who often received these expensive glasses from friends or loved ones) would open up the special box they came in (often not knowing what they were) and (seeing these ordinary-looking glasses) prepare to put them on. I remember one old tough guy in particular kind of shrugging the gift off, saying, “Guys, I have gone 70+ years without seeing color and I don’t really care whether or not I see it now. This means way more to you guys than it does to me.” And he said he certainly wasn’t going to get emotional or anything like that (like other people he had heard of); he said “I was a body builder; I’m tough.” And then (kind of shrugging to himself) he put the glasses on. And after a few seconds he began to look around. And suddenly you could see the emotion welling up in him (even with the glasses on) and he began weeping. He could not believe how beautiful the world was. Up until that point all he had seen were different shades of grey. Can you imagine seeing color for the first time? And he kept crying because he could not believe what he had been missing. And he went over to his wife and embraced her, thanking her (through tears) for the gift that she had given him. That was only one of many videos I watched. I saw a young man on his wedding day receive the glasses from his fiancé and he got to see her in color for the first time. I saw a mother get to see her two children in color for the first time. Another woman had just gotten the glasses and had a picture of her daughter ready so that the first thing she would see would be the color of her daughter’s eyes. And she was expecting kind of a neat experience. But when she saw her daughter’s eyes for the first time, she suddenly had a hard times seeing through all the tears. Imagine what it would be like to have your whole view of the world changed in an instant. For Saul, that was very much like it was. When the scales fell from Saul’s eyes in those moments, it was more than just physical blindness that went away; Saul was awakened to a whole new way of seeing life; and that was seeing it through the lens of Jesus. In Jesus, Saul met (and continued in fellowship with) the very God whom He loved and worshiped. And from that time onwards His fellowship with God would never be the same.

A Personal Burial & Resurrection— It’s interesting how Ananias comes to Saul after 3 days of blindness. You see, God has a sense of humor. The sign of Jonah was 3 days in the belly of a fish; Jesus’ spent 3 days in the belly of the earth; and here (because Saul rejected the Gospel of Jesus) God put Saul right in the tomb where Jesus had been, so to speak. He had to endure three days of death before he could experience a personal resurrection; his own personal new beginning. And just like a humble person in mourning, he had not eaten or drunk for the entirety of those three day. But now that he has been given the the Holy Spirit, it is time for him to eat and drink. It says…

Acts 9:19 (NKJV)— 19 So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.

Sauls Being Discipled— Now I can’t imagine what that must have been like. Here Saul is, in the midst of the very people he has been persecuting; and he’s not in the position of instructor, which he probably would have put himself in only a short while prior. No, he is the student, learning all about the life and ministry of Jesus. Now that is pretty incredible when you think about it. These ordinary Christians are discipling the great Saul of Tarsus. And that just goes to show that it doesn’t matter who you are talking to; how smart they are; what their pedigree is. If that person doesn’t know Christ, you have something to offer them; actually you have everything to offer them (even if you might feel small in comparison, by worldly standards). Think of Ananias (the one to whom God sent to Saul). He was one of the Christians we would never consider to be extraordinary; yet God used him in an amazing way to influence Saul. And Saul of course became one of the most significant figures in all of world history, which is something even secular historians admit. Now we don’t know much about this Ananias. But you know, that may be the point. There are always those Ananias-type people behind the scenes, quietly being used of God to move His Kingdom forward.

Kimball & Harrison— [On April 21, 1855, {a man by the name of} Edward Kimball led one of the young men in his Sunday school to faith in Christ. Little did he realize that Dwight L. Moody would one day become the world’s leading evangelist. The ministry of Norman B. Harrison in an obscure Bible conference was used of God to bring Theodore Epp to faith in Christ, and God used Theodore Epp to build the Back to the Bible ministry around the world.] You see, the Ananias’ of the world can have a great impact. And so maybe we need to cultivate the habit (the practice) of asking God on a regular basis, “Who can I influence for You today, Lord? Even if it’s just one person; Lord, help me to find a way to be that influence.” And be prepared to respond; because if you mean that with sincerity, He will lead people into your life. And who knows; the quietest word; the smallest nudge on your part might just be that nudge that ends up forever changing to the course of history.

Eyes Still Opening— Now Saul’s eyes have just been opened; but the spiritual opening of Saul’s eyes wasn’t finished when he left Ananias. No, they continued to be opened day by day as he dwelt with the disciples in Damascus and had poured into his life the message of Jesus Christ. Now anybody who truly meets Jesus can’t be quiet about it. Look at what it says. It says in…

Acts 9:20 (NKJV)— 20 Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.

"Son of God"— Now take a guess. How many times do you think that Jesus is referred to in the book of Acts as the Son of God. I asked somebody this just recently and they replied, “I don’t know. A hundred?” And you might think so. But you know, that’s not even close. It may surprise you, but interestingly this is the only place in the book of Acts where Jesus is called by that title. And it is so interesting how the one person who uses it in this book is a Jew zealous for the name of the Lord; a Jew who would have been the most reluctant to use that title out of fear of blasphemy. But it is a title that Saul used at least 15 times in and throughout his epistles. Now this was a shock to everyone who heard him; that Saul would claim a divine title for one he had up until that time persecuted. And that is why it says in…

Acts 9:21-22 (NKJV)— 21 Then all who heard were amazed, and said, “Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?” 22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

Proving With Scripture— Now Saul was proving that Jesus is the Christ in two ways. First and foremost, he is connecting the dots for people, helping them to see that the Jesus they crucified matched the identity of the Messiah prophesied about in the Old Testament. He knew scripture already like the back of hand. He no doubt could quote the entire Old Testament by memory; that was very typical of any highly educated Jewish man.

Proving With His Testimony— But there was also another way that Saul was proving that this Jesus is the Christ. And that was by His own conversion. And I don’t think we fully grasp how absolutely unbelievable this was. There was no less likely convert in all of history. And you know, that is why the conversion of Paul stands as one of the strongest testimonies to the truth of Jesus Christ’s resurrection because it doesn’t come from somebody who wished Jesus would rise; it came from one who was glad Jesus was dead and wouldn’t have it any other way. Yet not only did the desire of his heart change; not only did he himself become a Christian, but He (like many of those early Christians) was willing to undergo some of the most intense persecution, torture, and even death for what he believed (some of which we see right here; right at the outset of his ministry). Why is he willing to go through all of that? Well, it wasn’t because he believed in some merely religious idea that Christianity was true; no, it was because he had SEEN Jesus. He himself had encountered the resurrected Lord. And when doubters arose amidst his path, all he had to do was point them towards his own personal testimony and say, “Hey, just look at the difference this Jesus has MADE in my life!; where I was then and where I am now! You cannot explain it ANY other way than that I encountered the resurrected LORD; this Jesus of Nazareth!”

Our Testimony; Their Encounter— And you know, the greatest testimony that you and I will ever bear is that testimony born by the change that God has brought about in OUR lives; where we were then and where we are now. Because people can see it with their own eyes. In us the world encounters the Resurrected Lord! And so this week, let people encounter Christ in you. Live for Him and let His Spirit also work in and through you. Amen.