The Conversion of Saul - Part 1

Alright, if you would take your Bible, turn to Acts chapter 9. Some of you know right where we are because you are keeping up faithfully with our study through the book of Acts. If you've lagged behind in our study, I would encourage you to pick up, grab your Bible and get caught up. We're here in chapter 9 and you can easily read the verses and chapters before. You can go back and listen to those messages and get caught up because this all does go together. But tonight we're going to be in Acts chapter 9.

Now here at chapter 9, we find ourselves in front of the most famous salvation stories maybe in all of church history, definitely in all of the New Testament. Think about the statement there. We find ourselves in front of the most famous salvation stories maybe in all of church history, but certainly in all of the New Testament. Here before us is Luke's account of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus to Christ and to Christianity. Of course Saul of Tarsus became the Apostle Paul. So Saul's conversion was so important to Luke. I want you to see that he included it three times in the book of Luke in the book of Acts. Excuse me.

We have it here in Acts 9 verses 1 to 9. That's obvious. But we also hear it from Saul's own lips two different times. First, Saul gives his testimony in Acts 22 verses 1 to 16 and then the second time is before King Agrippa in Acts 26 verses 4 to 19. But here in verses 1 to 19, we have Saul's miraculous conversion to Christ while he was traveling on the road to Damascus to arrest and possibly help put to death more Christians. Of course this was all under the authority of the Jewish religious leaders. But before we get into Saul's conversion story, I want to point out where we are in the book. Where we are in the book.

We have seen that from chapter 1 to chapter 8, Jerusalem was the center of gospel work. It was the center of church work on earth. But we have seen a shift in chapter 8 starting in verse 4 going all the way to the end of the chapter because of the stoning of Stephen. Most of the church was scattered out of Jerusalem into Judea and Samaria. And as a result, God led Philip into Samaria and Philip was used of God in a great way there in Samaria. Through Philip many were healed and demonic spirits were cast out.

Through Philip the gospel was preached and many believed and on top of that the apostles Peter and John came down from Jerusalem to inspect the work there in Samaria. And when Peter and John saw that what was happening in Samaria was very much legitimate, they laid their hands on them and the Samaritan believers received the spirit. Simply chapter 8 verses 4 to 40 is a record of a great movement of God in Samaria. And it is the account of the Samaritans believing in Jesus, the spirit being poured out on the Samaritans, and the Samaritans were added to the church. Now we don't need to say that the church was born in Samaria.

It was, but remember the church was one. So the Samaritans were added to the church, as in the church of Jerusalem and the church at Samaria. They were unified. But starting here in Acts 9-1, we see that things shift back to Jerusalem for a little while. But I want to point out another shift that's before us. From Acts chapter 1 to chapter 8, we have seen that the apostle Peter was the main character and the leader of the church there in Jerusalem. Of course, the apostle John and those other apostles were there with Peter, really behind Peter, and then God chose to use other men who were not apostles.

We know God used Stephen and we know that God used Philip. But from Acts chapter 9-1, we will see that after Saul was converted to Christ, Saul, who became the apostle Paul, he became the main character and really the leader, with others popping up as central figures along the way as well. Let me give you an example. In chapter 10, it's all about Cornelius the centurion coming to faith in Christ. In chapter 10, it's all about the Gentiles coming to faith in Christ and the Holy Spirit being poured out on the Gentiles. Therefore, the Gentiles came into the church right behind the Samaritans. But this is my point.

From Acts 1-8, the apostle Peter was the main character and the leader there in the church at Jerusalem. But from Acts 9-1, the apostle Paul becomes this main character and leader of the church, but not in Jerusalem, really the Gentile church throughout the Gentile world. It can be said, and you've probably heard this, Peter was the apostle mostly to the Jews and centered in Jerusalem. Paul became the apostle mostly to the Gentiles and he was working all throughout the churches in the Gentile world. Now, I say mostly because you see Peter ministering to Gentiles and Paul was ministering to Jews as well.

But do not make the mistake of thinking that Peter failed from significance. No, that's not the case because in Acts chapter 15, at the great and very important Jerusalem conference, we see that the apostle Peter was still a major spiritual leader in the church. But a question, who was this man Saul? Who was this man Saul? We may know that Saul became the apostle Paul, but who was Saul before he became the apostle Paul? But another question to add to that is why does he even have two names? Why Saul and why Paul? Well, Saul was his Hebrew name and he was named after King Saul, who was the first king of Israel.

I've thought about this many times. I would rather be named after David rather than Saul, but he was named after King Saul. But he was Roman. Paul was Roman and Paul was his Roman name. And this is the name that he went by among the Romans and the name that is most associated with him. But Saul was born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, which was a free city of the Romans and Saul was a freemen as well. But what we must see here is this. Tarsus was a Roman city, not a city in Israel. And this meant that Saul was not only thoroughly Jewish, but he was a Roman citizen as well.

And he was thoroughly Roman and thoroughly Greek in culture because the Romans were Greek in culture. His father and mother were both native Jews. Therefore, he called himself a Hebrew of Hebrews. He was of the tribe of Benjamin, which adhered to Judah. He was educated first of the schools of Tarsus. And this is where he received his great and thorough Greek education. And then he was educated in Jerusalem where he studied the Old Testament scriptures, the Jewish law, and other Jewish writings. And this is where he received his great and wonderful Jewish education. His teacher was Gamaliel.

He was a very well-known and respected Jewish teacher in Pharisee of their day. Saul had extraordinary intellectual abilities and he was able to acquire great learning and great education. And then besides his intellectual education, he also learned to trade. Yes, he learned to trade. He was a tentmaker by trade and his father was a tentmaker as well. And it was common in their day for men like Saul, Pharisees, to learn and to use a trade and that was to help earn their living. So this is the man Saul who became Paul. And we will see this biographical information more and more pop up throughout our study of the book of Acts.

And also some other biographical information will pop up. But here in verses 1 to 19, we have Saul's great, his miraculous, his supernatural conversion to Christ while he was traveling on the road to Damascus to arrest and to possibly put to death more Christians. And we know that other Christians were put to death because we know that Stephen was put to death and Paul was there giving approval to those things. So let's read our verses. We will be in verses 1 to 9 tonight and then next week we will cover verses 10 to 19. Let's read them together. Then I'll explain how we're going to divide the verses.

"But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, he went to the high priest and he asked him for letters to the synagogues at 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 shone 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," that would be the men with him, "led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight and neither ate nor drank." Now this is how we will divide the verses. First I want to look at the context of these events. We'll see this in verses 1-2. Second we'll see how Christ revealed himself to Saul in verses 3-4. Then next, Saul and Christ's interaction. Believe it or not, in verse 5 there's this interaction. It's rather short.

Then fourth, I want us to see the instructions that Jesus gave to Saul and then sixth and then last how Paul was submissive to Christ's instructions. That will be verses 8-9. So number one, I want us to see the context of all of these events, the context of these events. Now after this shift into the great work of God in Samaria and their inclusion into the church, the Spirit was poured out in Samaria. Notice Luke brings us back to Jerusalem. Now I want us to do something in some scripture reading. I want us to skip over everything that went on in Samaria. Let's read verses 1-4 of chapter 8 and then go over to chapter 9.

Notice this, "And Saul approved his execution," that's Stephen, "and there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles, devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church and entering house after house dragged off men and women and committed them to prison." Verse 1 chapter 9, "But Saul still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.

He went to the high priests and he asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the way men or women he might bring them bound to Jerusalem." So here we see that Saul was there in Jerusalem breathing threats of murder and death against the disciples in the church, simply persecuting believers to the point of death consumed this man. A.T. Robertson says that he was like a war horse who sniffed and smelled battle and blood. I think that's a good way to describe him. Saul was like a war horse who sniffed and smelled the battle of blood.

Saul breathed in and he breathed out persecution, murder, and threats of Christians. So what did he do? Hearing that there were Christians in Damascus, Saul was driven by persecution and murder in this murderous religious zeal. So he went to the Jewish high priests. He asked for letters to the Jewish synagogues in Damascus to hunt Christians down in Damascus so as to arrest them and to bring them back to Jerusalem. And ultimately he wanted them killed. But we need to see two things here. First notice the authority of the high priest. The authority of the high priest.

The high priest presided over the Sanhedrin and the Sanhedrin was the Jewish ruling council over the Jewish people. Sometimes I will refer to the Sanhedrin as the Jewish ruling council. And even though the nation of Israel was occupied and controlled by Rome, the Romans kept the Sanhedrin over the Jewish people. So because the Romans allowed the Sanhedrin to govern their own people in many of their own affairs, especially the religious affairs, the Sanhedrin had the authority over religious matters.

So they could give Saul the letters and the authority to go to the Jewish synagogues in Damascus and to work from there to arrest any Christians that he found in the city. No doubt he would have recruited some help out of those synagogues. So Saul was acting on the authority of the high priest and the Sanhedrin and this shows you that they were in on all this too. But then second the significance of Damascus. Damascus was the ancient city of Syria and scholars and historians tell us that Damascus had a very large population of Jews at this time. So much so that they would have been more than one synagogue in the city.

That's why it's listed as Damascus or synagogues plural. But it's interesting here. The route that Saul had to take to Damascus. The usual route north and east from Jerusalem to Damascus would have taken Saul through Samaria. Well what had just happened in Samaria? John MacArthur speculates that traveling through Samaria and hearing of the Samaritans believing in Jesus and the great move of God there that would have further enraged Saul even more. Possibly that was the case. But the significance of Damascus lies in the fact that there were many, many Christians there in the city.

Notice that verse 2 tells us that Christians were described as belonging to the way. And this description of Christianity as the way. It might seem odd for us but it's seen several times throughout the book of Acts. It's seen in chapter 19 verse 9, chapter 19 verse 23, chapter 22 verse 4, chapter 24 verse 14 and 22. And this title is simply a description of Christianity as the way of life, the way of salvation, the way of the Lord Jesus Christ and more. Now question an application here. I thought about this today. Can the Christianity that we live in our everyday lives, can it be called the way?

The way of Christ, the way of life, the way of salvation found in Christ, the way of eternal life. Can our Christianity that we live in our private lives, in our family lives, in our work lives, can our lives be called the way? I have known some that their Christianity would have been better called the way of meanness, in the name of Christ, the way of sinful liberty in the name of Christ, or the way of legalism and man-made rules in the name of Christ, or the way of traditions in the name of Christ. You can go on and on and on there. I think you see where I am headed.

But the question that we need to ask and ponder, can the Christianity that we live be called the way and the way that we find here in the book of Acts and all of God's Word. So the context of Saul's conversion to Christ, with the authority of the chief priest and the Sanhedrin in hand, he was on his way to Damascus to start there in the synagogues and work out from there to arrest and to take back to Jerusalem any Christians that he may find. But God had other plans. So next, number two, I want us to see the revelation. The revelation. We see this in verses three to four. Look back at those verses.

"Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus and suddenly alight from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?'" Now here we see that Christ Jesus revealed Himself to Saul. So we have this revelation. Notice that we have an outward revelation and an inward revelation. You may want to write that down. He has this outward revelation and an inward revelation. First, the outward revelation. Here we see that alight from heaven suddenly shone around Saul. And this was none other than a miraculous work of God whereby God revealed Himself to Saul.

Albert Barnes says that the language here describes something like a flash of lightning. And over in Acts 26 verse 13, when Paul was giving his testimony before King Agrippa, he described this light as brighter than the sun. But the point here is this. This was an outward revelation of Christ Jesus to Saul. By and through a light brighter than the sun, something like a great flash of lightning, Jesus supernaturally revealed Himself to Saul. But then second, let's move to the inward revelation. In verse 4, we see that as a result of the great and sudden light that shone around him, Saul fell to the ground, fell off his horse.

And then he heard a voice. But notice that we see two specifics in this inward revelation. Jesus reveals Saul's personal guilt and Jesus reveals Saul's sin. The repetition Saul saw in the language here, it's in the emphatic, which means that Jesus was clearly boldly addressing what He was about to say to him. So Saul could not have mistaken who this inward revelation was to or for. And Jesus asked him, "Why are you persecuting me?" Now question, did Jesus not know why Saul was persecuting Christians? Was Jesus asking Saul to found out, to find out why Saul was doing what he was doing? No, Jesus knew exactly what he was doing.

In asking this question, Jesus was showing Saul the greatness of his sin. In breathing out threats and murder against Christians, he was actually persecuting Jesus. So Jesus was asking Saul this question to show him that he was actually persecuting him. And in doing this, Jesus was revealing to Saul two serious facts. First, the greatness of the sin and sinfulness. Saul's sin was not just against Christians, but against Christ Jesus Himself. And then second, that Jesus and His people are one to persecute believers is to persecute Jesus. So notice what we see here in verses three to four.

The outward and the inward revelation of Christ Jesus to Saul. And simply, this is the conviction of his sin and his sinfulness and all that he's doing. But notice something. I call this an outward and inward revelation of Jesus to Saul. But verse seven says that the others heard the voice as well. So how can I say this was an inward revelation to Saul when the others heard it? The others heard the voice, but they did not see the vision. So although the others heard the voice, they did not have this same inward revelation as Saul had. So the point here is this, this was unique to Saul. So look at how this applies to us.

This is a reminder that God is the one who initiates the call to salvation. Let me repeat that. This is a reminder that it is God. God is the one who initiates the call to salvation for men and men. Two verses that help us here. Jesus says in John 6.37, "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out." Look at that. Jesus says, "All that the Father gives me, they will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out." Let me pause here. If you come to Christ in true repentance and faith, he will not cast you out. Jesus is not a trickster. He's not a huckster.

He does not draw and bait and switch. No. If you come to Christ in true repentance and faith, he will save you. He'll never cast you out. And then in John 6.34 or 6.44 he says, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him." So for us, we must understand that God is the one who initiates the call to salvation. And this does two things for me. First, this should make us see, and it helps me see, that we have no need for high pressure evangelism. We don't have to revert to high pressure evangelism. I left that kind of stuff years ago because I began to understand that all that the Father gives Christ, they will come.

My job is to preach Christ, preach Christ, call men and women to Christ and stop and let God do that work. So first, this should make us see that we have no need for man centered, high pressure evangelism. I'm not going to twist your arm. We don't have to do that. Second, this should cause us to take great comfort that God does the calling. We take great comfort that God does the calling. Of course, he does the calling through us. We don't sit back and just wait on God, wait on God.

No, God compels us to go witness and share the truth of God's Word, to call people to Christ, and then we stop because he is the one that does the calling and the drawing and the initiating, but he does it through us. But notice another truth that applies to us today. When someone persecutes or mistreats Christians because they are Christian and because of their witness and faith in Christ, we can say that the one persecuting is actually persecuting Jesus. Ever thought of that?

When someone persecutes or mistreats Christians even today because they are Christian and because of their witness for Christ, we can say that the one persecuting is actually persecuting Christ Jesus. There's a lot of talk about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. And if he was killed because of his witness for Christ, well, the person that killed him was persecuting Christ, not just Charlie Kirk. So the revelation of Christ Jesus to Saul. Then next, I want us to see the interaction. Next, I want us to see this interaction. We can overlook this, but it's in verse five.

And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" Now, notice he said, "Lord, who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting." See, there's this dialogue, this interaction. Now, here we see a radical and even a supernatural change in Saul. Some say this is where Saul was born again. Others say otherwise. But I believe it's safe to say that he was converted to Christ here. And to show us this, I want to borrow some language that John MacArthur uses. He says that Saul went from viewing Jesus in the gospel negatively to positively. So let me explain. Before Saul saw Jesus and the message of Jesus as the Messiah as something negative.

He was filled with murderous threats and murder like a war horse smelling blood from battle. I mean, that's beyond negative. So it's safe to say that Saul was ready to stone Christians to death just like when he stood there giving approval to Stephen being stoned to death. So Saul saw Jesus and the gospel as something very, very negative. Again, that's an understatement. But here things changed. Actually, Saul changed. In verse five, Saul responded by saying, "Who are you, Lord?" And then this one question, and at the end of the question, we can see that Saul recognized Jesus as deity as God. You see?

"Who are you, Lord?" Simply Saul knew who this was. MacArthur says, "If this was not by faith, it certainly was by fear." That's good. I think it was both. I believe he came to faith right here. So I believe that by faith, Saul knew this was Jesus' deity. And then also by fear, he knew he was hearing the very voice of God. What did he say? "Who are you, Lord?" Simply what we have here is this. What he hated before, he now confessed in a positive manner. He acknowledged Jesus as Lord. And notice how all this came together. Saul had no need of an explanation of the gospel. He had heard the gospel well when he heard Stephen preaching.

No doubt he heard the gospel in other places too, but we know he heard from Stephen. So when Saul had this outward revelation combined with this inward revelation, his worst nightmare became his greatest dream come true. Jesus was the Messiah of God. He was God in the flesh. And Saul confessed Jesus as Lord. The key is that last word, Lord. So we see this interaction became this confession. Saul confessed Jesus as Lord. And for us, the question, "When did we confess Jesus as Lord?" And it is not overly simplistic to say that when we come to faith in Christ, that is when we confess Christ Jesus as Lord.

Now let me explain what I mean by speaking to three areas of life. You see, before we come to faith in Christ, we are saying that we are Lord. We're saying we know best. We're saying that we rule our life. We say that we make up the rules. We have no need for God, no need for the gospel, no need for the Bible, even if we come to church. So prior to conversion, we're saying we are Lord. That in and of itself is rebellion against God. But when we come to faith in Christ, we are seeing our sin and our sinfulness.

We're seeing Christ Jesus for who He is, and we're confessing Christ, "I'm a sinner, you're Lord." And then after conversion, how do we live? Christ is Lord. I think about John chapter 6. There were all these different crowds who were following Christ, and one by one, He identified them. Jesus started off with thousands at the beginning of the chapter, and at the end of the chapter, they had all left. He would have failed evangelism class. Everybody left. He looked at the disciples and He said, "Are you going to leave too?" And Peter, representing the apostles of the other disciples, said, "Where are we going to go?

You have the words of eternal life." What was He saying? "You're Lord. You're Lord." So what am I trying to show you? In this interaction, we see what happened in Saul's life. He went from hating Christ to confessing Christ. And look, folks, a lot of people get caught up in what you say when you come to faith in Christ. A lot of people get caught up in if you pray this prayer or whatever. If you come to the place where supernaturally you see yourself for who you are and who He is, and you confess Christ as Lord, that's conversion.

It's not about the words, it's about what Christ Jesus does in your heart, in your mind, your life, it changes you. Then, number four, the instruction. Verse six is all about the instruction. And I say instruction because it's one thing He calls him to do. Verse five, 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." Now, this is simple and is short, but it's very important. Upon His confession of Jesus as Lord, Jesus then gave Him certain instructions.

Jesus simply told Saul to rise and go into the city, and He would be told what to do after. And notice the great contrast here. Saul expected to go into the city to arrest Christians or the followers of the way. He expected to hunt down Christians to arrest them and to take them back to Jerusalem by force, along with a gang and some others He would round up. So Saul expected to ride into Damascus on His murderous persecuting war horse. But actually, as we will see, He was led into the city blind and helpless. But the point I want to make here is this.

In verse six, we see that Jesus gave Saul certain instructions to be obeyed and notice no questions asked. And what we need to see here is this. When one confesses Jesus as Lord and they are converted to Christ, whether they're 8 or 18 or 88, they immediately start hearing instructions from the Lord. Sometimes it may be the instructions concerning repentance and restitution. I knew a young man one time who did some very illegal things when he was lost. When he came to faith in Christ, the Spirit of God immediately told him He needed to go to the law enforcement officials and make repentance and restitution. And he could have gone to prison.

Immediately he had instructions. So sometimes when someone comes to faith in Christ, the instructions that God gives them concerns repentance and restitution. Sometimes when someone comes to faith in Christ, the instructions are about who they need to go see and who they need to go tell that they came to faith in Christ. I've known people, they come to faith, they immediately say, "I've got to tell my wife. I've got to tell my husband." They immediately say, "I've got to tell my parents. I've got to go tell somebody." That's that instruction.

Sometimes when people come to faith in Christ, the Spirit of God will give them instruction about specific sin and sins. I've heard people come to faith in Christ and they start naming sin after sin after sin that they have to repent of and deal with. But the point I'm making here is this. Just like Saul, when we're converted to Christ, we immediately start hearing instructions from the Lord and those instructions should be obeyed. I know in my testimony when I came to faith in Christ, immediately there was instructions that were given to me. And one of the first things I remember is this. I immediately wanted to go to church.

I was compelled to go to church and I hadn't been to church in years. I was instructed to go to church and to identify with those believers, to go to Sunday school, to go to Sunday night, and go to Wednesday night. I was instructed to go there and I obeyed those instructions. And for you, when you came to faith in Christ, what did the Spirit of God instruct you to do? What did He instruct you to do? Notice all the different instructions that are given all pertain to the new life in His Lordship over our lives. Then last, last, I want us to see the submission in verses 8 to 9. The submission. This is closely tied to the instructions. I know.

Verses 8 to 9. Saul arose from the ground and although his eyes were open, he saw nothing, so they led him by my hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days, he was without sight. That would mean that he was blind and he neither ate nor drank. Now this is closely tied in with the instructions that Christ gave to Saul back in verse 5. But here we see Saul's submission to those instructions. Simply Saul did what Christ the Lord told him to do. And notice four things here. First, he arose from the ground. We have seen that Saul was knocked down off of his war horse. And we can say that he was knocked off of his high horse.

But what we see here is this. He was on the ground in response to the outward revelation of Christ and the inward revelation of Christ. Simply he was on the ground in submission to the Lord Jesus, in submission to deity, who was speaking to him. But here we see that he arose in obedience to and submission to Jesus and His instructions. Second notice, he arose blinded. Now right here we may be asking, why was Saul blind? Was he blind from the great light that shone around him? Does not say that. Some speculate it. But it is safe to assume that the blindness was not caused by the physical light or a physical experience.

But this was a work of God, a supernatural work of God in Saul's circumstance for his situation. But then third, he arose to be led by men. Here we see a stark difference. Again, instead of bulldozing into Damascus on his war horse looking for the blood of Christians, Saul is humbled to the point where he is blind and having to be led by men by the hand into town. And look at the other switch here. The men who were following after him on his war horse were the very men who were leading him blind by the hand. And then fourth, he arose to wait for three days. Here in verse 9, we see that Saul simply waited.

For three days he waited blind, he did not eat, and he did not drink. And look at what we see here. After receiving instruction from Jesus to go into the city and wait, Saul was submissive to those instructions. And notice he did this humbly. Humbly. Now what do we need to see here? What's the point? What was happening in these events? Warren Wiersby says that though his physical eyes were blinded, his spiritual eyes had been opened. I agree. Wiersby says though his physical eyes were blinded, his spiritual eyes were opened.

And John MacArthur says that during this time, although he was physically blind, he could see and God was in the process of reconstructing everything that he was and everything that he did. I think that's part of the work. MacArthur says that although he was blind, he could see spiritually. And he says that God was in the process of reconstructing everything that he was and everything that he did. MacArthur goes on to say, and I'm quoting him here, although salvation is an instantaneous transformation from death to life, darkness to light, it takes time to plumb the depths of its meaning and richness. Saul began that process.

I added that by saying there in the blindness, Saul began that process. So here we see that Paul, he was submissive to Christ as Lord. Now two questions. The first is related to salvation. The second is related to sanctification. Let me say that again. Two questions. The first is related to salvation and our salvation. And the second is related to our sanctification. When you came to faith in Christ, was there a time when you, by the power and work of the Holy Spirit in you, when you were led by God to plumb the depths of who you were, who you had been and what you had done before you came to faith in Christ? Let me say that again.

When you came to faith in Christ, was there a time when you, by work of the Spirit of God in you, when you were led by God to plumb or dig into the depths of who you were, who you had been and what you had been before you came to faith in Christ? Lots of times what happens is this, folks. People come to faith in Christ and then all of a sudden God starts doing this deep dirty work. They start seeing who they were, who they had been, what they had done and they don't like it. They start seeing more and more who they were, who they'd been all along. It gets deeper and deeper, darker and darker. It gets worse before it gets better.

And then as a believer, has there been a time when you, maybe through trial and difficulties by the power and the work of the Spirit in you, when you were led by God to plumb the depths of who you were, who you had been and what you had done? Let me repeat that and then I will explain it. As a believer, has there been a time when you, maybe you went through trial and difficulties by work of the Spirit in you, when you were led by God to dig down into the depths of who you've been as a Christian, what you've done as a Christian, who you've been all along as a Christian? I'll give you an example of this work in me.

I was in full-time ministry for 10 years and was at a church difficult circumstance and then I spent a period of time where I was not serving on church staff. I had a secular job, a regular job and during that time it was difficult and it was difficult because God would not let me go into ministry and He kept me in a position where I had to plumb the depths of who had been in ministry, all that I've done in ministry and all that I had aspired to do in ministry. God was showing me my motivations, the ministry that I'd done in a worldly way. He was showing me who I'd been and I didn't like it. It was no fun. It involved a lot of repentance.

Not that I was in sin and sinfulness, no. He showed me my sinful motivations, how I tried to please people in the church to get along, how I'd done ministry in a worldly way because I knew that's what people wanted, you see? And there's a lesson here. As a true believer, there are times when we go down into the valley and God doesn't work in us to show us who we've been, who we've been all along and He will show us that we're not near a spirit field as we thought we were. And that is used by God to sanctify us and to grow us.

So here in verses 1 to 9, we really have the first half of Saul's conversion story and that leads me to the title of the message. It's simple. It's a part one. The conversion of Saul, part one. The conversion of Saul, part one. Now I want to close by asking a question. Now I picked this up from a Bible scholar named John Stott. It comes from the Bible Speaks Today commentary. It's a very practical commentary. This is very, very relevant and some of you need this more than you know, but here's the question. Does Luke intend us to regard Saul's conversion as typical of Christians today or is this exceptional? Let me repeat the question.

Does Luke, God through Luke, intend us to look at Saul's conversion as typical of Christians today or is this exceptional? Stott goes on to say, and I'm really putting in my words, some features of Saul's conversions were certainly unusual. Well, that's an understatement. On the one hand, there were the dramatic supernatural events like the flash of light or lightning, the voice from heaven, which called Saul by name, simply to be converted to Christ. It is not necessary to be struck down by a blinding light to hear our name being called from heaven.

It is not necessary that we are struck down from a horse either and it's not necessary for us to be converted right on the very same place where Saul was on the road to Damascus. Did you know people get caught up in that kind of stuff? I thought about it like this. My wife never would because she's not going to get on a horse. But it is certainly clear from other New Testament passages and other passages in the book of Acts that there are things from Saul's conversion that certainly do apply to us today. First, in conversion, we must have a personal encounter with Christ. Saul had a personal encounter.

We have to have a personal encounter with Christ. Second, in conversion, we must repent of sin and sinfulness and surrender to Christ Jesus by faith. Saul had this revelation of his sin and sinfulness and he surrendered to Christ by faith. That has to happen to us today. And then third, we must receive and obey a summons to service. I like that. I pull that straight from start. A summons to service. When we come to faith, we must receive and obey a summons to service. You might say, "Pastor, summons to service." What does that look like? Well, first of all, when you come to faith in Christ, your summons to service is to be faithful in church.

Faithful in church. Faithful to small group. Faithful to Sunday morning. Faithful to Sunday night. Faithful to Wednesday night. Let me give you an example right here. Several years ago, there was an individual in the life of the church who had come to faith in Christ. There was evidence that they were growing in the Lord and they were having some struggles. They came to me for counsel. I lovingly met with them and talked with them and I gave them one piece of advice. I didn't deal with their struggles.

I said, "If you will become more faithful to small group, if you will become more faithful to Wednesday night, if you will become more faithful, these bumps in the road will even out." And I said that because I knew to be under the Word of God, the sanctifying power and the work of God through the Word, that work would work out the bumps. About a year later, they came to me and said, "Pastor, you're right. I started becoming more faithful on Wednesday. I started being more faithful on Sunday night.

I started being more faithful just in my life to be more faithful." And this person said, "Those bumps, those struggles, they're not really there anymore." I said, "Being under the Word, being in the work of the church, that's the sanctifying work." So we do not look to Saul's conversion experience as typical as a pattern for all people, but we certainly see certain aspects are typical. A personal encounter with Jesus, repentance of sin and sinfulness, which includes a surrendering to Christ by faith and a surrender to serving Christ for the rest of our life. And look, two things. If you've not done that, I ask you to come to faith in Christ.

Come to Christ. And then those of us who have come to faith in Christ, look at all this and let's rejoice and worship Him. Let's praise God. Let's praise God. Look back to your road of Damascus experience. Look back to how God saved you. Just rejoice and praise God in it all. Because by grace through faith, He brought you to saving faith like He did Saul. So again, the conversion of Saul, part one. Next week we will cover verses 10 to 19 and a part two. Let's pray.