Christ. Lord, open our ears and our minds to hear from you this morning, we pray. Amen.
Well, friends, this morning we're continuing our series in the book of Acts, and we are looking at
Acts chapter 9, verses 1 through 31. So let me invite you to turn there with me. Acts chapter 9,
verses 1 through 31.
Let me read this text for us.
But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the
high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues of Damascus so that if he found any
belonging to the way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way,
he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. And falling to the
ground, he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said,
who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city,
and you will be told what you are to do. The men who were traveling with him stood speechless,
hearing the voice, but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened,
he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days
he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias.
The Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias. And he said, here I am, Lord. And the Lord said to him,
rise and go to the street called Straight. And at the house of Judas, look for a man of Tarsus named Saul.
And behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his
hands on him so that he might regain his sight. But Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard from many
about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from
the chief priests to bind all who call on your name. But the Lord said to him, go, for he is a chosen
instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.
For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. So Ananias departed and entered
the house. And laying his hands on him, he said, 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.
Then he rose and was baptized. And taking food, he was strengthened.
For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus, and immediately he proclaimed Jesus
in the synagogue, saying, He is the Son of God. And all who heard him were amazed and said,
Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon his name? And has he not come
here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests? But Saul increased all the more
in strength and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.
When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him. But their plot became known to Saul.
They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, but his disciples took him by night
and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket. And when he had come to
Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe
that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them
how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly
in the name of Jesus. So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of
the Lord. And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him.
And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking
in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now I see. Those are some of the most familiar
words in English hymnody, aren't they? And the writer, John Newton, the story of his conversion
is also incredibly well known. He was an 18th century ship captain and slave trader. In his own words,
he was an infidel and a libertine. And yet one day at sea, he met Jesus Christ and his life changed.
In time, he would leave the slave trade, become a minister of the Church of England,
and end up becoming an active supporter of the abolition of slavery.
His conversion to Christ made a complete change.
Of course, the radical and obvious 180 of John Newton's life doesn't initially seem to be the
pattern of everyone who becomes a Christian, does it? Some grow up in the church and come to believe
in Jesus at a young age. Some come to faith gradually over time. Experiences and stories radically differ.
John Newton's conversion happened at sea in the middle of a severe storm in a ship that nearly sunk.
Compare that with C.S. Lewis.
In 1929, in his room at Maudlin College, Oxford, after much intellectual and personal wrestling,
he finally came to believe in God,
calling himself the most reluctant convert in all England.
That was his coming to believe in God. His actual commitment to Christ
came a couple years later, after a long night talking with friends,
in the morning, headed to the zoo with his brother,
riding in the sidecar of his motorcycle.
When we set out, I did not believe that Jesus is the Son of God, Lewis writes,
and when we reached the zoo, I did.
It's hard to imagine two pictures more different than that.
A slave trader, face down, in a sinking ship,
and an Oxford Don pondering the Son of God in the sidecar of a motorcycle.
And yet for all the differences,
is there something in common,
something similar running through them all?
What is the nature of genuine Christian conversion?
And that's an important question.
It's an important question if you're considering the claims of Christ
and wondering what it actually means to become a Christian.
But it's also an important question if you already are one.
Because the dynamics of becoming a Christian
are actually the same ones that function throughout the Christian life
for our growth.
So it's a good exercise, even for believers,
to go back to the beginning
and consider again what conversion actually means.
Well, this morning we're considering
one of the most famous conversions in all of religious history, right?
The conversion of the man we now call the Apostle Paul.
And as we'll see, there's a lot of unique things about Paul's conversion,
things that really can't and aren't going to be repeated today.
But this passage also displays
some of the most essential things
about every conversion to Christ.
In this chapter in Acts,
we're shown how Jesus Christ
radically turns around Paul's life.
In fact, that's what the word conversion actually means,
to be turned around.
And in so doing, it shows us what it means
for Jesus to turn our lives around.
Paul himself saw his conversion this way,
as an example for other believers.
We read earlier in 1 Timothy 1,
but I receive mercy for this reason,
that in me,
as the foremost of sinners,
Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience
as an example
to those who are to believe in him
for eternal life.
There it is.
Paul's conversion,
an example of what Jesus does
for those who believe.
So let's follow the narrative of Acts 9,
and let's look at the nature of Christian conversion this morning.
And we're going to take it in four parts.
And the first part is right in verses 1 and 2.
I haven't given the sort of points of my sermon
very creative titles this morning,
so there you go.
I titled this one,
Jesus, Paul before meeting Jesus.
Then the second one's going to be,
Paul meets Jesus.
The third point is,
Paul after meeting Jesus.
Jesus.
And then the fourth point is,
a summary.
So there you go.
There's my creative outline.
So first,
verses 1 and 2,
Paul before meeting Jesus.
Now we met Paul at the end of chapter 7,
do you remember?
In the beginning of chapter 8.
And in these chapters,
Luke refers to Paul
by his Hebrew name, Saul.
It was a very common practice
for Hebrews in the first century
to have a Hebrew name
and also to have a Roman name.
So Saul had a Roman name,
Paul,
and that's what we typically know him by.
And in fact,
in Acts chapter 13,
when Paul sort of launches out
in the Gentile mission,
Luke will begin referring to him as Paul
pretty much for the rest of the narrative
since he's there among the Gentiles.
And in fact,
as we know,
that's the name that Saul,
Paul will use
in all of his letter to the churches.
But here,
he's referred to as Saul.
Back in chapter 7,
what do we find?
We find Saul
at the execution of Stephen,
approvingly holding people's coats
while they throw the stones.
And after that,
we see him ravaging the church in Jerusalem,
going from house to house,
dragging men and women off to prison.
In other words,
he is the spearhead
of the opposition to the gospel.
He is the arch enemy of the church,
Saul,
the zealous young Pharisee
from Tarsus,
brought up in Jerusalem.
And now,
Luke picks up the story
in chapter 9.
And what we find there
is that he's doing everything he can
to stop the church
from spreading to other cities.
You see,
for Saul,
the message of Jesus
is like gangrene.
It's like a deadly disease
that's moving very quickly
and has to be stopped
as violently
and as vigorously
as he possibly can.
So he's using
whatever means he might find
to cut it off.
And Damascus,
this very ancient city
in the Middle East,
with a large Jewish population
and with multiple synagogues,
was, of course,
a reasonable target
for Saul's attack.
Now, perhaps the most striking thing
about Luke's description
of Paul here
are the overtones
of the language
that he uses.
Even that initial phrase,
breathing threats
and murder,
it actually
conveys the picture
of a wild beast
stalking
and tearing
at its prey.
It's almost as if
Paul's hatred
of Christianity,
of the way,
as Luke calls it,
had begun
to steal his humanity.
His hatred of Christ
was turning him
into a wild animal
of violence
and rage.
Now we see
why years later
Paul would look back
on this part of his life,
his persecution
of the church,
and say,
I am the chief
of sinners.
Of course,
if there was anyone
that the early church
thought would never
have become
a follower of Jesus,
it was Saul.
We see from verse 13
that he was notorious.
Everyone in Damascus,
before he even got there,
had heard that he was
killing Christians,
and they knew that he was
coming to round them up.
If there was anyone
who was too far gone,
it was surely this guy.
If there was anyone
that was beyond the pale,
it was him.
There was no way
that he was going
to believe the gospel
and follow Jesus.
And yet,
that's exactly
what happens.
even though he hated
everything to do
with Christianity,
even though he used
every ounce of his strength
to stomp it out,
even though his heart
had become twisted
and cruel,
none of that
was a match
for the grace
of Jesus Christ.
Don't you see, friends,
Paul was the chief
of sinners,
and yet,
Christ loves him
and rescues him.
Isn't that amazing?
And don't you see
what that means?
If Christ can save
someone like Saul,
friends,
he can save anyone.
No matter how dark
the sins,
no matter how twisted
and beastly the hearts.
So when you think
about and pray
for that friend
or neighbor
who seems so unlikely
to believe,
friend,
in that moment,
remember Paul,
the chief of sinners,
the persecutor
of Christians,
the most unlikely
convert of all time.
You see,
no barrier of belief
is so thick
that the grace of God
can't break through.
So friends,
don't lose your hope.
For your friends,
your neighbors,
your co-workers.
Instead,
expect that God
can work
even in what seems
to be the hardest
of hearts.
After all,
we know our own hearts,
don't we?
Isn't that part of the reason
why Paul can say,
I'm the chief of sinners?
Because he looks
at his own heart.
And friends,
we do the same thing,
don't we?
And if we know
our own hearts,
if we see
the darkness there,
and if God
can save us,
then surely
he can save anyone.
But I think
we should go
even a step
further
and apply
what we see
of Paul here
in these verses
to our own hearts
even deeper.
Friends,
today,
I wonder if you're
battling with guilt.
I wonder if past
sins keep haunting you.
If your soul
is burdened
with regrets
and shame
over things
that you've said
or left unsaid
or things that you've done
or left undone.
If so,
look at Paul.
Look at all
that he had done
against the name of Christ.
Look at this
chief of sinners
and now see the grace
of Jesus Christ
covering it all
like a great wave
covering the shore.
Like Paul,
no sin of yours
is too great
to withstand
his mercy.
So what does this
picture of Paul
before meeting Jesus
in verses 1 and 2
tell us about
Christian conversion?
Well, it tells us
quite a lot actually
but centrally
it tells us this
that conversion
is by no means
about cleaning up
your own act
and then trying
to come to God.
Real conversion
isn't about
trying harder
to be a better person
or making earnest
resolutions
to change.
No, in fact,
at first
conversion is just
the opposite.
It's about admitting
that we're worse
even than we think
we are.
And from that place,
not to work
but to receive.
to receive
something that's
given to us
or to be
actually more accurate
to receive
someone
who's given to us.
And that actually
brings us to the
second section
of Acts 9
which is in
verses 3-9.
Paul meets
Jesus.
Now briefly,
first and foremost,
we have to realize
that as we look again
at verses 3-9
there's a lot here
that's going on
that is completely
unique in the
history of salvation.
You see,
what happens to Paul
on the road to Damascus
isn't sort of a mere
spiritual vision.
No, it's actually
a genuine bodily
appearance of the
risen Jesus.
Later in the chapter,
both Ananias
in chapter 17
and Barnabas
in verse 17
and Barnabas
in verse 27
they're going to
confirm this.
You saw Jesus, Paul.
And Paul will say
the same thing
in his letters.
1 Corinthians 9-1
Have I not seen
the Lord?
It's interesting
that in 1 Corinthians 15
where Paul's again
talking about
meeting the risen Jesus
he says that
he was like one
untimely born.
It's a very
interesting phrase.
In other words,
he's acknowledging
on the one hand
that the timing
of Jesus appearing
to him
was very unlike
the rest of the apostles.
It was much later
untimely born.
And yet,
nonetheless,
just like them,
he had seen Jesus
with his own eyes.
And as he goes on
to say in 1 Corinthians 15,
Paul was the last one
to have done so.
So clearly,
this seeing
the risen Jesus
is a very unique element
of Paul's conversion.
If you're considering
the claims of Christ
this morning,
don't expect that.
I'm just going to
throw that out there.
Okay, good.
Unique also
is this call
to apostleship,
isn't it?
Jesus comes to Paul,
radically changes his life,
and immediately
gives him a commission.
A commission to be
one of his apostles.
And apostles,
of course,
were unique figures
in the early church.
They were first
and foremost
eyewitnesses
of the risen Jesus.
And moreover,
they were the ones
the risen Jesus himself
commissioned in person
to be his authoritative
representatives
to teach
and to lead the church.
Paul says again
in 1 Corinthians 15
that he was the last
to be chosen
and commissioned
by the resurrection Jesus.
So that, too,
is unique about his conversion.
And even on top
of all that,
we shouldn't expect
there to be the same
kind of spectacular,
visible manifestations
that we see here, right?
The blinding light,
the audible voice,
everyone falling
to the ground.
Those things don't even
happen again
in the book of Acts,
so we shouldn't necessarily
expect them
to be happening today.
which is all to say
that there's a lot here
that is gloriously
and beautifully unique.
What we have here
is the risen Lord himself
stopping Paul
in his tracks,
taking this wolf
who is trying
to devour the church,
taking this wolf
and turning him in
not just to a sheep,
but turning him
into a shepherd.
An incredible transformation.
But even if all that
is specific
and not repeated today,
at the same time,
the core
and the essence
of what's going on
in Paul's conversion
is still true today
of every conversion.
And that is,
it is a personal
trust and submission
to Jesus
as the living Lord.
turning from whatever
was once
the center of our lives
and taking hold
of him.
And you see
what that means.
That means that
Christianity
is not
at its core
an ethical code.
Christianity
at its core
is not
a sort of
brilliant
philosophical
worldview.
Christianity
is not even
a sort of
moving set
of religious
practices.
No.
What it is
is a vital
relationship
with Jesus Christ,
the living one.
All those other things
are important,
of course,
the ethics,
the worldview,
the practices.
But they're not
the center.
They're not really
what it comes down to.
No, friends,
it's all about
him,
who he is,
what he's done,
and responding
personally to him.
After his conversion,
Paul gets this.
Look again at verse 20.
What did Paul proclaim
in the synagogues
of Damascus?
Not even a what,
but a who.
He proclaimed Jesus.
The one who had spent
his whole life
proclaiming Torah
and obedience
to the law
now proclaims
Jesus.
You see,
what Paul experienced
on the Damascus road
functionally
ripped his world apart
and put it back
together again.
Imagine,
if you will,
this young,
zealous,
highly religious man
walking down the road
and suddenly being
drenched in light.
A light so bright,
a light so heavy
that it probably made
his quick,
intelligent,
scripture-saturated
mind jump right
to passages
about the light
of God's glory
in the temple
or the light
of Ezekiel's vision
of God's chariot.
And then,
out of this heavenly
vision of light,
suddenly,
a voice speaks,
Saul,
his name being
repeated,
just like in the Old
Testament when God
would address human
beings.
You can hear
Saul's heart start
beating with excitement
and then
the message comes
and it doesn't make
any sense.
Why are you
persecuting me,
the voice says.
And Saul replies,
who are you,
Lord?
And then,
out of the glorious
light,
comes the same
voice saying,
I'm Jesus.
Imagine the shock
and the confusion
of that moment.
Paul staring
into the very
light of God.
Hears the voice
and sees the face
of Jesus.
the same
Jesus
who was crucified.
The same
Jesus whose
followers
he had been
persecuting
as a plague.
In that
moment,
Paul must have
realized that
despite all
of his raging,
Jesus was
exactly
who they had
said he was.
Alive
and risen.
The Messiah.
The Lord
of all.
The one
whose shameful
death on a
cross was not
a defeat,
but in fact
the perfect
sacrifice
for his,
for Saul's
own sins.
And the one
to whom he owed
total allegiance
and trust.
That's what
genuine conversion
is, friends.
Entrusting
oneself
to the person
of Jesus.
The crucified,
risen,
ascended Lord
who lives
and sits
at the
Father's
right hand.
Of course,
for many
of us,
this won't
happen
in a flash
of light,
in an instant.
Getting to
the point of
believing that
Jesus is the
Son of God,
of trusting
Him with
your whole
life,
for most
people,
that's a
process
of months,
even of
years.
But you
know,
regardless
of the
time frame,
the heart
of it all
is actually
the same.
Listen to
what Paul
would write
later in
2 Corinthians
4, 6.
For God,
who said,
let light
shine out of
darkness,
has shown
in our
hearts
to give
the light
of the
knowledge
of the
glory of
God
in the
face of
Jesus Christ.
You have
to wonder
whether Paul
had his
experience
on the
Damascus
road in
mind when
he wrote
those words,
don't you?
Because even
more impressive
than the
light that
shone into
Paul's eyes
and made
him blind
for days
was the
light that
God had
shone into
his heart.
What is
that light?
It's a
light of
knowledge,
he says.
That is,
it's a
new way
of seeing.
In other
words,
God put
a new
understanding,
not just
in his
mind,
but in
his heart.
God put
a new
heart
knowledge
in Paul
that the
very
glory
of God,
the very
sum of
all that
the Creator
and Redeemer
is,
the very
thing that
Saul as
a young,
zealous
Pharisee had
been trying
to attain
with all
of his
effort,
the glory
of God
is found
in none
other than
in the face
of Jesus
Christ.
You know,
if you've
grown up
in the
church,
you might
feel like
your own
testimony isn't
much to
write home
about.
You think
there's no
great sin
or ruin
from which
God has
rescued you,
and you can
often sort of
feel like your
story is a
bit boring,
a bit bland.
Who would
want to hear
my story?
I grew up
in the
church.
I trusted
in Jesus.
The end.
No one's
exactly making
movies out
of that.
And yet,
don't you
see what
Paul's
saying here?
What is
as true
of you
now,
Christian,
is as
true of
Paul himself
then,
that God
who said,
let light
shine out
of darkness,
has shown
into your
heart to
give you
the light
of the
knowledge
of the
glory of
God in
the face
of Jesus
Christ.
So,
see,
what happens
in every
genuine
conversion
is the
most amazing
supernatural
event of
all,
regardless
of the
outward
circumstances.
Paul says,
it's like a
new creation.
when God
created the
world with
his speech,
that's
what's
going on.
God
shines
his light
into the
dark of
our dead
hearts,
and we
come alive
with a
love and
trust in
Jesus that
knows him
to be the
very display
of God's
radiance.
Now,
what does
that mean,
that we
come to
know the
glory of
God in
the face
of Jesus
Christ?
Well,
friends,
over time,
it means
that there's
no aspect
of who
God is,
his mercy,
his majesty,
his wisdom,
his power,
his beauty.
There is no
aspect of
who God
is that
you don't
come to
increasingly
see,
summarized,
epitomized,
fulfilled,
displayed in
its fullest
extent in
the person
and work
of Jesus
Christ.
It all
centers in
him.
He
becomes
the very
lens
through
which we
can see
the glory
of God.
And that's
what this
second section
of Acts 9
shows us
about conversion.
conversion.
It's not
primarily a
conversion to
some rules
to live
by,
to a new
sort of set
of ideas
about understanding
the world,
or a new
collection of
spiritual practices.
Certainly it
entails all that,
right?
But at its
heart,
conversion is
being turned
around by
and to
a person,
the person
of Jesus
Christ.
Friends,
I wonder
if you've
let that
slip
in your
life.
I wonder
if your
walk with
the Lord
has grown
cold
relationally.
The rules
are good.
The ideas
are great.
The practices
are wonderful.
But don't
lose sight
of the
person
who's at
the center
of them
all.
Then in
verses 10
through 30
we have
the third
section
of Paul's
conversion.
And in
these verses
we see
what happens
to Paul
after
meeting
Jesus.
And here
what we
see in
Paul's
life
are things
that are
increasingly
true of
those who
have
experienced
genuine
conversion.
Here are
some of
the effects,
some of
the results
that come
flowing out
of genuinely
meeting
and believing
in Jesus.
And we're
going to
just run
through them
very quickly.
First,
what we
see is
fellowship.
Do you
notice that?
Both in
Damascus and
later in
Jerusalem,
Paul seeks
out and
stays with
the disciples.
This is
something that
characterizes
everyone who's
come to
genuinely
believe in
Christ,
that they
want to
be with
the people
of Christ.
And Paul,
you know,
not only seeks
out this
fellowship nearly
from the
start,
but he also
experiences its
power,
through
Ananias and
later in
Barnabas.
When everyone
else is
suspicious or
afraid,
when Paul
literally doesn't
have a friend
in the world,
these two men
become friends
to Saul,
but no one
else is.
And the scene
with Ananias is
particularly poignant.
Did you catch
the first words
that Ananias
speaks to him?
Brother,
Saul.
Brother.
Ananias,
even though
Saul was
just days
before the
church's
enemy,
Ananias now
receives him
as family
in Christ.
How comforting,
how powerful
that must have
been for Saul.
Knowing that
he deserved
to be cast
out because
of what he
had done
to hear
in the word
of his
brother Ananias
that he
had indeed
been welcomed
because of
what Christ
had done.
Friends,
this is one
of the main
reasons why
we need
one another
in Christian
community.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
says in Life
Together that
the word
of Christ
in the mouth
of my brother
is stronger
than the word
of Christ
in my heart.
And I need
you to tell
me the truth
of the gospel
so that I
believe it.
And you need
me to tell
you.
Now the
implications of
all this are
pretty straightforward,
aren't they?
Genuine conversion
and healthy
discipleship will
naturally lead
to publicly
joining up
with a local
church, a
local fellowship
of the body
believers.
And the first
step is baptism.
Verse 18.
That's what
Paul does.
So friends,
if you've
recently come
to faith in
Christ, you
should be
considering
baptism.
It's a way
to make
public, to
make a public
profession of
your faith in
Christ.
Jesus himself
commanded the
disciples to
do this.
But even
after baptism,
it's important
to be known
by a local
church.
After Paul
goes to a
new city
in verse 26,
after he has
to leave
Damascus and
go back to
Jerusalem,
what's his
very first
move?
To join up
with the
disciples.
We know
from Galatians
1 that Paul's
actually in the
Damascus area
for three years.
So when Luke
says in verse 23
that many days
had passed,
he really
means it.
Many days
had passed.
But the
pattern here I
think is very
relevant to our
context where
people are always
coming and going
about every three
to four years.
And the healthy
pattern is this.
You come to a
new city, you
find a fellowship
of believers, a
church, and you
join in.
That's what formal
church membership is
all about.
Being known by a
body of disciples
who can help you
along in your
walk with Christ
and who you
can help in turn.
So genuine
conversion results
in fellowship, a
new relationship to
other believers.
But it also
results, second, in
ministry.
This is the pattern
you see.
Paul goes, he
finds the fellowship,
and then he starts
ministering.
In other words, Paul
has a completely new
responsibility to the
world.
We see in verse 20
that immediately after
his conversion, Saul's
proclaiming Jesus in
the synagogues, bearing
witness to Christ.
It's interesting in
verse 25 that Luke,
even at this early
point in Paul's
ministry, can speak of
his disciples.
Paul is busy making
disciples of Jesus, just
like Jesus told the
apostles, go into all
the world and make
disciples of all
nations.
That's exactly what
Paul is doing.
He's making disciples.
Now, of course, not all
of us post-conversion are
going to take up full-time
ministry like Paul.
But coming to know Jesus
will give us this new
sense of vision and
responsibility for the
world that we live in.
We continue to do our
jobs well as a way to
love our neighbors and
glorify God, but we also
want to see our neighbors
flourish spiritually.
So we long for them to
become disciples of Jesus
as well.
And what's more, we want
to see our fellow
believers grow in the
faith.
So we'll begin to want
to find ways of doing
good to them spiritually
as well.
We'll want to be in
discipling relationships.
We'll want to seek them
out and look for them in
small groups and on
Sundays.
We want to be open to
people speaking into our
lives and walking along
with us.
And we want to be open to
finding others that we can
do that with.
Who can I meet with to do
this?
Who can I encourage in
their walk in Christ?
Christ.
So conversion produces not
just a desire to take
part in the fellowship of
the church, but also a
desire to see that
fellowship grow through
your personal active
discipling ministry.
So fellowship, ministry,
and then the last thing we
see, third, is cost.
Jesus makes it clear to
Paul that Paul's going to
suffer for his sake.
And in both Damascus and
Jerusalem, after Paul finds
the fellowship and begins
ministry, people end up
wanting to kill him and he
has to escape.
He's forced to leave the
people he's come to love in
Damascus and he's forced to
flee from the city he loves,
Jerusalem.
He's got to leave it all
behind.
You see, genuine conversion
will lead to doing costly
things for the sake of
Christ.
Of course, few people will
literally want to kill us,
would be my guess.
But being a follower of
Christ will still be costly.
Our reputation in the world
may suffer.
Our job success may be
hindered.
Some of our relationships
may be strained or even
end altogether.
There will come points when
faithfulness to Jesus will
try us with a very hard
path to tread.
And so we have to ask,
what made Paul so willing to
bear the costly weight of
discipleship?
What enabled him to leave so
much that he loved?
What enabled him to leave all
that behind and head out
to begin ministering among
Gentiles people that just
a few years before he
couldn't care anything about?
Well, friends, it comes back
to his conversion, doesn't
it?
That the Jesus who was
himself and is the glory of
God is the one who took up
the greatest cost for Paul.
Later, Paul will write,
the life I now live,
I live by faith in the Son of
God who loved me and gave
himself for me.
You see, friends, when Jesus
died on the cross,
he was dying the death
of a persecutor and a
blasphemer and an enemy of God,
God, even though he had done
nothing wrong.
And what Paul came to see in
that blinding vision was that
the death of Christ was
something that Jesus had done in
Paul's own place, bearing the cost
that his sins deserved, bearing the
cost that our sins deserved.
Paul knew that his infinite debt had
been paid on the cross so that any
cost he might now bear was nothing
compared to the love that he had
received in Jesus, the Son of God who
loved me and gave himself for me.
And friends, it's the same for us.
When we come to know the one who
loved us and gave himself for us,
no cost will deter us.
No cost will compare to knowing him,
the one who took hold of us.
Well, in Acts 31, 9-31, Luke ends his
account of Paul's conversion with a
summary.
He says this in verse 31,
So the church throughout all Judea and
Galilee and Samaria had peace and was
being built up, and walking in the fear
of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy
Spirit, it multiplied.
It's a fitting summary, you know.
Paul, of course, is a hero of the faith,
no doubt.
God used Paul in simply uncomparable
ways to spread the gospel.
You and I functionally are sitting here
this morning because of what the
apostle, because what God did through
the apostle Paul.
He was the one that God used to take
the gospel in its most sort of poignant
and powerful ways to the Gentiles.
That's most of us.
And yet, doesn't verse 31 remind us
that Jesus loves the whole church,
and that what he did in Paul and through
Paul was for the church, the church that
he loves?
Did you guess what Jesus said back in
verse 4 when he arrests Saul on the road
to Damascus?
He says, Saul, Saul, why are you, not
why are you persecuting them, but why are you
persecuting me?
Isn't that astounding?
Jesus doesn't say, why are you persecuting
those Christians over there?
Why are you persecuting me?
And doesn't that tell us the kind of vital,
intimate union that Jesus has with the whole
church?
That he so identifies with us, and so
completely, and so intimately, that any harm
done to the church is as if it's harm done
to him.
That he has connected himself with his body
in an unbreakable way.
Martin Luther, in his short work,
The Freedom of a Christian, describes what
happens when someone puts their trust in
Christ.
And he describes it like a marriage.
He says, faith unites us to Christ in such a
binding and intimate way.
It's like the same way that a husband and wife are
united to one another and become one flesh.
And then he goes on and he says, and just like a
marriage, so it is with our marriage to Christ that
what's true of the one becomes true of the other.
In other words, Jesus takes what's rightfully mine,
my sin and my death and my condemnation, and I get
what's rightfully his.
His righteousness, his life, and his intimacy with
the Father.
This is the union that the church has with Jesus.
This is the union and the kind of relationship that
everyone who believes has with the risen Lord.
From heaven he came and sought her, the song says,
to be his holy bride.
And with his own blood he bought her.
And for her life he died.
Friends, the same way in which Jesus pursued Saul and
turned his life around and took him to himself,
that is what he desires to do with every one of us.
In a minute we're going to go to the Lord's table where we
actually remember those twin truths.
That Jesus' body was broken for us and his blood was shed for us
to forgive our sins.
And then we do something that's kind of weird.
Lord, we take that bread and we take that cup and we eat it.
What could be more intimate and close than eating with someone,
than sharing a meal together?
Jesus says, that's the kind of closeness that I actually have with you.
So friends, let's pray and let's prepare our hearts.
Lord Jesus, we pray that now as we come to the table,
Lord, you would stir our hearts once again
to see how beautiful you are
and how much you love us.
Lord, I pray for those who are here this morning
who are wrestling with
the claims that you make, Jesus.
Lord, those who are perhaps wrestling with
believing in you, trusting in you,
Lord, I ask that your great grace
would break through their hearts
and draw them to yourself.
And Lord, for those of us whom you have taken hold of,
Lord, would you feed us and strengthen us
and help us to remember
the great love that you have for us.
Lord, we pray this in your name.
Amen.