If you had to identify the most significant event of your life what would it be? Some of you may choose your marriage. Others may point to a new job opportunity. Some may point to your graduation day. You never thought you would make it but there you were in academic gown collecting your certificate. Others would point to the birth of a child. These are all significant moments in anyone’s life but if we had to ask Paul the most significant event in his life he would undoubtedly opt for the day of his conversion. I would be so bold as to suggest that if you are a Christian the day of your conversion was the most significant event in your life. Everything changed at that moment! When Luke wrote the book of Acts one twelfth of the space is given to outlining Paul’s conversion (Acts 9:1-19; 22:2-21; 26:12-18). I very much doubt whether any of us had a conversion quite like Paul’s. Some conversion come quite suddenly and others after a long period of wrestling. Some conversions are dramatic and others cannot even give a date, time or place.
TO SAUL/PAUL OF TARSUS – READ ACTS 9; 1 CORINTHIANS 15:5-8
In 1 Corinthians 15:5-8 Paul outlines Jesus’ resurrection appearances as follows. He appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. Christ’s appearance to Paul came several years after the resurrection. When Paul refers to himself as one abnormally born he of course means that he was not part of the original group of apostles. He had not lived with Christ and his entry into the apostolic office was not normal. We will examine the conversion of Saul under three headings.
1) THE MAN HE WAS (vrs 1, 2)
First of all then we see in the opening verses of this chapter the man Saul was. He was a vicious persecutor. This is not the first time we meet Saul in Acts. Our first meeting with him is at the martyrdom of Stephen. In Acts 8:1 we read; and Saul was there, giving approval to his death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. In Acts 8:3 we read but Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house he dragged off men and women and put them in prison. Saul was fanatically committed to destroying Christians. If they fled he would pursue them even as far as Syria. And so our text places Saul on the road to Damascus with letters of extradition for any believers in the synagogues.
2) THE MAN HE MET (vrs 3-16)
Secondly, in vrs 3-16 we see the man Saul met. In vrs 3, 4 we read; as he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” In response to this incredible encounter with the risen Christ, Saul says in vrs 5 “Who are you, Lord?” He receives the following answer; “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” Isn’t it interesting that Jesus tells Paul that in persecuting Christians he was guilty of persecuting Christ. Do you think Saul was surprised by the answer he received? I don’t! Saul had violently opposed Christians because he feared that their insistence that Jesus was the Son of God was a denial of his strict belief in one God. How wrong he was. When he gives his testimony in Acts 26:14 Paul adds a little detail which is most revealing. ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ It would appear that Jesus has been pursuing Saul for quite a while. He has been prodding and pricking him to gets his attention. Perhaps seeing the heroic manner in which Stephen and other Christians had died had started to make him doubt his position. They spoke about the wonder of forgiveness from sin and exhibited such joy in suffering that no doubt Saul was secretly starting to doubt his position. He was starting to wonder; “Could these Christian not be right? Might their Jesus have risen from the dead after all?” His meeting with Jesus that day confirmed that it was indeed so.
3) THE MAN HE BECAME (vrs 17-22)
Our conversion will not be the same as that of Saul’s. It is highly unlikely that we will see a blinding light and hear the audible voice of Jesus Christ. There is however one way in which our conversion will be absolutely identical to Paul’s. It must lead to a transformed life. There were three immediate changes in Saul.
a) Firstly, he had a new relationship with God. This encounter with the risen
Christ left him blinded for three days. What was Paul doing for those three days? According to vrs 11 he was praying. Through Jesus, Paul had been reconciled to God and was enjoying for the first time in his life that wonderful immediate access that comes to a believer to enter God’s presence in prayer. He had a brand new relationship with God. This is the experience of any new believer. Prayer and bible reading become new habits not because we think we have to but because we want to.
b) Secondly, Paul had a new relationship to the church. When God first told
Ananias to go and minister to Paul, Ananias hesitated. In vrs 13, 14 he displays a keen awareness of who Paul was. Nevertheless Ananias obeyed. There is something quite extraordinary about Ananias’ first words to Paul. In vrs 17 we are told; placing his hands on Saul, he said Brother Saul. The first words Saul hears are full of family affection. In persecuting the church he was persecuting Christ but in being reconciled to Christ he was reconciled to the church. This is the second responsibility of any new Christian. We must join a local body of believers. In vrs 18 Paul immediately submitted himself to Christian baptism.
c) Thirdly, Paul upon being converted had a new purpose in life. In vrs 15 of our text this purpose was clearly communicated to Ananias. This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. Paul certainly wasted no time in getting to his life’s calling. Look at vrs 19-22. Ananias was also told in vrs 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name. For the next 30 years Paul’s entire life would be one of suffering service. The only reason you can give for a leading Pharisee who lived a comfortable life to embrace suffering is if his conversion was real. And the only thing that accounts for his conversion is that Paul really did encounter the risen Christ.
In fact all the other eleven apostles went on to endure great suffering. Ten of them would die by some of the cruellest methods known to man (crucifixion, the sword, stoning). Church tradition tells us that Saul/Paul was beheaded. As Pascal would say many centuries later; “I believe those witnesses that get their throats cut.”