The Conversion of Saul - Part 2

Alright, if you would, take your Bible and turn to Acts chapter 9. We will be back here in Acts chapter 9, but tonight we will be covering verses 10 to 19. Now two weeks ago we got started in these verses in our study of the conversion of Saul. We know that Saul went from Saul the persecutor to the apostle Paul. We have all of these verses and all of these events right here in verses 1 to 19. And I believe we all know that Saul was the great persecutor of the church.

After the stoning of Stephen, we saw that Saul was ravaging the church like a wild animal and he was entering house after house, dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. Of course, I'm quoting Acts chapter 8 verse 3. Saul was breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest and he asked them, the high priest for letters of the synagogues at Damascus so that if he found any belonging to the way men or women, that he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Of course, I'm quoting Acts 9 verses 1 to 2.

But we saw two weeks ago that on the road to Damascus to persecute Christians, Saul was converted to Christ. Acts 9, 3 to 6 says, "Now as he went on his way," we know what he was going to do. "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.'" So I believe that Saul was converted right here as he lay in the dirt when two things happened.

First, when the Lord revealed himself to Saul. We see this in verses 3 to 4. "Now as he went on his way," he's going to Damascus to persecute and arrest Christians. "As he approached Damascus suddenly a light from heaven shone around him, falling to the ground, he heard the voice, the voice of Christ Jesus." What does he say?

"Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" And then second, when he confessed Jesus' Lord, verse 5, he said, "Who are you, Lord?" He didn't just say, "Who are you?" Of course the Lord answered back, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting." Now I know that others may have different opinions here about exactly when Saul was converted. Some say he was converted right here at verse 5 when he confessed Jesus' Lord. I'm going to say that we'll see more evidence to that tonight. Others say he was converted later when he received his sight in verse 18. And some say there's really no way to know specifically when he was converted.

But we knew that he was certainly converted sometime between when he was cast into the dirt and when the scales fell off of his eyes. But I want to call you to remember what we have seen here in verse 5. Saul went from viewing Jesus negatively to positively. He went from seeing Jesus and viewing Jesus negatively to positively. I borrowed that from John MacArthur. Before this event, Saul, Saul, Jesus, and the message of Jesus as the promised Messiah of God is something very, very negative. Really that's an understatement because he was filled with murderous threats and murder. The Bible scholar A.T.

Robertson says he was like a war horse smelling blood in battle. That's a very good description. Saul's all-consuming purpose in life was to destroy all Christians and Christianity, or what verse 2 calls any belonging to the way. But something changed right here in verse 5. Actually Saul changed, or Saul was changed. He responded to Jesus by saying, "Who are you, Lord?" Then that one question we can see that Saul recognized Jesus as Lord, as deity, as God, and he confessed Jesus as Lord, deity, and God. You might say, "You didn't really have a choice." He was gripped by this unimaginable fear. Saul knew right here that Jesus was Lord.

I believe by and through an imparted faith Saul knew that Jesus was Lord. So he confessed him as Lord. Just imagine, the very Jesus that Saul hated, the very Jesus that he wanted to destroy, had revealed himself to Saul, and Jesus did not exact revenge or judgment upon Saul as he laid there in the dirt. Jesus loved Saul and he gifted to Saul believing faith so that Saul confessed him as Lord. We see what Jesus did for Saul in Ephesians 2, 8, 9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and it is not of your own doing." This is a gift from God, not a result of works.

We see what Saul did in response in Romans 10, 9 to 10, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. With the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." Now I do not feel like we need to go back over all of the introductory material about Saul or we would call him Paul. And I do not think we need to go back over the great shift in the book of Acts that we see really starting here in verse 9 and it really gets even faster at verse 13 or chapter 13.

But we need to make sure we understand two basic facts at this point in our study of the book. First Saul, again he was this great persecutor of the church, he was converted to Christ and not only was he born again, he was set aside by God as an apostle of Christ Jesus and the primary apostle to the Gentiles. So Saul the persecutor became Paul the apostle. And second Saul who became the apostle Paul really becomes this main character starting in chapter 9 but Paul especially becomes the main character of the book starting at chapter 13. Really after the great missionary journey that came out of Acts chapter 13 started it all for Paul.

So this is my point right here. As we continue to study the book and I hope and pray you're studying on your own, we need to keep in mind that Saul the persecutor became Paul the apostle. Paul also became the main character of the central figure of the book. Of course Luke mentions many other men and women that God used along the way as well. And the apostle Peter remained a major leader among the apostles but he was there in Jerusalem. So two weeks ago we got started here in the verses and this is what I call the conversion of Saul. Two weeks ago it was part one and tonight it is a part two.

And if you've not gotten that message you need to do so because this all does go together. So tonight we have a part two and let's read our verses. Verses 10 to 19. Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. Let me pause here. I mentioned earlier that Luke mentions all these other people besides the apostles that God used. Well here's one. 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 Strait. And at the house of Judas looked for a man of Tarsus named Saul. For 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. Let me pause here. He heard a lot about this man. I mean there's some humor here. Lord I have heard from many about this man how much evil he has done to your Saint Jesus Jerusalem. He heard all about the stoning of Stephen. And here he has authority from the chief priest to bind all who came up 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 arose and was baptized and taking food he was strengthened. Now I will stop there and at the end of the message we will read the rest of verse 19 on down to verse 22. Now let me explain how I want us to approach the message the verses.

I want to make four observations here. First I want us to look at how Jesus called Ananias to go see Saul the first two verses. Verses 10 and 12. Second this interaction between Ananias and Jesus. Ananias literally questioned the sanity and the safety of what Jesus was calling him to do. We see that from verse 13 to verse 17. Fourth I want us to see the interaction between Ananias and Saul which was really a one way conversation verses 17 to 19. And then fourth kind of a bonus this will be part of the conclusion and next week we will pick up with these verses. I want us to look at the results of Saul's conversion.

The results of Saul's conversion. So number one the call of Jesus to Ananias verses 10 to 12. The call of Jesus to Ananias. Now think about it. We have back to back revelations of Christ Jesus to certain individuals. Jesus revealed himself to Saul. We've already studied that. Then Jesus revealed himself to Ananias. And I thought about it like this. It took Jesus miraculously revealing himself to Saul to convince Saul who Jesus actually was. And it took Jesus miraculously revealing himself to Ananias to convince Ananias who Saul had actually become.

But before we get into this call I want us to see who Ananias was and really the significance of the city of Damascus. Obviously this was not the Ananias of chapter 5. We know that Ananias of the infamous husband and wife team of Ananias and Sapphira that Ananias was killed by God. But this Ananias was a believer in Damascus. The church at Damascus. Possibly a leader in the church at Damascus. And Acts 22, 12 tells us that Ananias was a devout Jew well spoken of by the Jews of Damascus. Now he was not an apostle. He was not an apostle. We could call him a layman. So we see that Ananias was a devout Jew of Damascus.

He had been converted to Christ and he was possibly a leader in the church. That's just speculation. In the city of Damascus was an ancient city in Syria which was located about 130 maybe 135 miles to the north of Jerusalem. Damascus is first mentioned in the scriptures in connection with Abraham's great military victory over that confederacy of kings there in Genesis 14. There was this regional war that Abraham was caught up in. And Damascus is first mentioned in the New Testament in connection here with Saul's conversion in these events. In case you are interested Damascus is still a city today and it is located in the country of Turkey.

But the significance of Damascus is simple. There were believers in Damascus. There was a church in Damascus and Ananias was one of the believers there in the church. And Saul was making a week long trip from Jerusalem to Damascus to find any who belonged to the way. He was going to arrest them to bring them back to Jerusalem and he had letters to the synagogues there in Damascus to get help from the Jews of Damascus. But back to Jesus and this interaction, this revelation of himself to Ananias and to this call. And I want us to see two details here. First the complete absurdity of this call. The complete absurdity or insanity of this call.

Jesus was calling Ananias to go see Saul when in fact Saul was traveling to Damascus to arrest Christians. If Saul had a list of believers to arrest Ananias name was most likely on that list. And if his name was not on that list, well when Saul got to the synagogues in Damascus the Jews certainly would have told Saul of Ananias because he was well known to the Jews in Damascus. Acts 22, 12. So the complete absurdity, insanity of this call. Jesus called Ananias to go see the very man who was traveling to Damascus to arrest him and to arrest his brothers and sisters in Christ. And then second I want us to see the purpose of this call.

The purpose of this call. Now we know the rest of the story. We know everything that happened before, during and after because we have all of the scriptures before us. But remember that Ananias had no idea what was happening. Applying human reasoning here to the situation, Ananias had just received this completely absurd call to go to Saul, the very one who was coming with blood in his eye to arrest them all. But Jesus reveals a few details about Saul which speak to the great change in the situation. First he says that Saul was praying. Second he said that Saul was waiting. Third Jesus says that Saul was expecting Ananias to come.

And fourth he told Ananias that Saul was blind. So notice what he told him there. And in the middle of all of that shocking information, Jesus tells Ananias that Saul was waiting on him to come lay his hands on him to pray for him that he may regain his sight. So the great revelation and call here of Jesus to Ananias to go to Saul to pray for him that he may regain his sight. Spiritually speaking this was totally absurd. But spiritually speaking this was amazing. And notice this was all full of faith. Full of faith. Ananias was called to act in faith and the faith that he was called to exercise was rested in and on what Jesus was telling him.

And the lesson here is simple. Sometimes God works in us and He calls us to a task without giving us much information. He calls us hardly any information. And we should just obey the task. If Ananias can act in faith on what Jesus had said to him and called him to do even when it appeared to be very dangerous, well we should do the very same thing. What I mean is sometimes we want all the answers but God doesn't give us all the answers and we are to act in faith. And then next, number two, this first interaction. This first interaction. I call verses 13 to 16 the first interaction because we actually have two different interactions.

We have this interaction between Jesus and Ananias and the interaction between Ananias and Saul. So the first interaction, this is right after the call. I want us to read those verses, verses 13 to 17, verses 13 to 17. But then Ananias answered, "Lord," kind of saying, "Time out, Lord. I have heard from many about this man how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he is authority from the chief priest to bind that would be arrest. All who call on your name.

But the Lord Jesus said to him, 'Go for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry the name before the, to carry my name before the Gentiles and the 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." Here we can clearly see that this interaction between Jesus and Ananias came out of that seemingly absurd call that Jesus gave. And Ananias questions Jesus, Jesus responds with an explanation. So first Ananias questions Jesus. He questions the Lord. Here we can clearly see that Ananias was questioning the sanity of what Jesus was calling him to do.

Again, it's like he's saying, "Time out, Lord. I'm not so sure about this." He resisted this call and he offered a verbal protest. And notice what this tells us. News had gotten to the believers and to the church at Damascus. They knew that Saul was on his way to arrest them, persecute them, and possibly murder them. They knew what happened to Stephen in Jerusalem. So Ananias was really questioning the safety, the sanity, and the absurdity of this call to go see Saul. But a question here. Was Ananias sinful? Clearly questioning the Lord now. Was he sinful? Was he somehow unbelieving? Was he rejecting this call from Jesus in a sinful way?

Those are good questions to ponder. But it does not seem that Ananias was sinful in any way. We see no hint of rebuke or correction, only Jesus meeting Ananias where he was. You notice that? It seems that Jesus is meeting him in his doubts, in his hesitancy, in his questions, even in his distrust. Now there is a lesson here. Even when we are hesitant, even when we are distrustful of things God could be calling us to do, if we do not have a sinful heart in the matter, we are not in sin. Let me state that again.

Even when we are hesitant, maybe even distrustful of things God is calling us to do, if we do not have a sinful heart like we're saying no, like we're saying no to God's will and God's plan, we are not necessarily in sin. I do not believe Ananias in his questioning Jesus. I don't believe that came out of sin or rejecting his lordship over his life. I do believe he questioned Jesus in an effort to understand these things. And the same thing can happen in our lives. The Lord Jesus can be calling us to make major changes in our lives.

And we can question the Lord and that causes us to question our motives, why we are questioning the Lord, why he is calling us. And then we get in these situations, we should sift through our motives, question what the Lord is calling us to do, go to prayer, go to the Word all along looking to be obedient to the Lord. I know in my life, when I've made major changes in my life, I've questioned the Lord, not out of resisting him, but as in wanting to know and do his will. And second, Jesus reassures Ananias.

We see this in verses 15 to 16, but the Lord said to him, "Go for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and the kings and the children of Israel, for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." Here we see that Jesus met Ananias right where he was, right there in his doubts and distrust. And not only does he reassure him to go, but he gives him more information. He gives him more information about what was happening with Saul. And Jesus reveals to Ananias several details about his purpose and plan for Saul.

First Jesus tells him that Saul was his chosen instrument to take the gospel to the Gentiles. This is none other than Saul's call of God to be an apostle, the apostle Paul. He was the great apostle Paul to the Gentiles. Second he tells him that Saul would take the gospel to more than the Gentiles, but even to kings and even to the Jews. And we know that Paul did take the gospel before kings and government officials, both Jew and Gentile, and to the Jews. And third Jesus tells him that he would suffer for his namesake. And we know that Paul suffered at times immensely for the sake of the gospel in the name of Christ Jesus.

And notice what Jesus revealed to Ananias as he was reassuring him. Although Ananias could never have understood all that was behind what he heard here, Jesus unfolded for him. He is great plan for Saul as he would become the apostle Paul. No doubt years later Ananias looked back on this and said, "Now I see, now I see." Now this is getting ahead of where we are in our study of Acts. This helped me this week and I think this will help you. We're getting ahead of our study here in Acts and the apostle Paul. But we see that Paul saw his life, his call in his ministry just like we see here in verses 15 to 16. Let me explain.

In Galatians 1.1 Paul said, "Paul, an apostle, not from men nor through men, but through Christ Jesus and God the Father who raised him from the dead." Now what am I showing you here? Paul understood himself to be an apostle just like the Lord said to Ananias. In Colossians 1.23 he said, "Of which I became a minister according to the stewardship of God that was given to me for you to make the word of God fully known," talking about to the Gentiles. And so what we see here is this. Paul understood that he was the minister of the gospel, that he was the apostle to the Gentiles just like verses 15 to 16 what the Lord said to Ananias.

He also saw and understood that even though he took the gospel to the Jews first in many circumstances, his first call and calling was to take the gospel to the Gentiles starting at Acts 13 when Paul took his first missionary journey, we will see many times where he went to the Jews, to the synagogue first as he entered into a town and then later to the Gentiles. And we will see that Paul did take the gospel and the mess of Jesus to kings like Agrippa, King Agrippa in Acts 25-23 and 2 Timothy 4 16-17. Those verses tell us that he almost certainly took the gospel to Caesar. So the point I'm making here is this.

Paul understood and he declared and he lived this calling from verses 15 to 16. He understood and declared and lived this calling from God that Jesus revealed to Ananias. Well then 3rd Ananias obeys Jesus, Ananias obeys Jesus verse 13 to 17. We will read verse 13 on down to 17. But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man," again time out I'm not so sure about this Lord, "how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. He easily could have said, 'I've heard all about the stoning of Stephen.' And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind or imprison 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.'" That would be the Jews. "For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." So Ananias departed and he 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." Now this is simple but very short.

Ananias went from doubts, hesitancy, questions about the sanity and the absurdity of this situation to an assurance that he was doing the will of God. Do you see the change? And when he went further and when we get further into the book of Acts we will see that Paul certainly did take the gospel to King Agrippa. We will certainly see that all of these things were fulfilled. So what do we see here? Ananias went from doubts and hesitancy to a certainty. So he went to Saul. So look at what we have here. The first interaction between Jesus and Ananias.

He called Ananias to go see Saul and after some back and forth Jesus clearly explained his plans for Saul in his role in these events. Of course Ananias had no way of knowing everything that these events meant. Now in application before we move on I want you to see one lesson. When it is difficult in our following the lordship of Christ, when he calls us to live for him and to make decisions we must persevere in our doubts, in our hesitancy. We must persevere even when we say Lord I'm not sure about the sanity. We must persevere like Ananias and get to the place where we say okay Lord I'm going to go.

And some of you have had to live that as you've made decisions even major changes in your life. And then number three. I want us to see the second interaction. The second interaction, this is really one way verses 17 to 19. So Ananias departed, he 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 arose and was baptized and taking food he was strengthened.

For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. Now here we have what took place when Ananias showed up to the house of Judas and he found Saul just as Jesus explained and instructed. And here we see that five things took place. First Ananias believed. Here it seems that as soon as Ananias walked into the door he addressed Saul as brother. Luke does not record any introductions but the point I'm trying to make here is this. By addressing Saul as brother Ananias was revealing that he believed all that Jesus had revealed and explained to him about Saul. You see that? Ananias believed.

Simply Jesus had indicated that Saul had been converted and Ananias believed Saul had been converted because he walked in the door and said, Brother Saul. I love how John Gill explains this. And I'm quoting, "He calls him brother not because he was of the same nation but because he was now of the same faith because he was a regenerate person and belonging to the family of God and was of the same household of faith.

And this he said not upon what he had received from Saul's own mouth for he addressed him in this manner as soon as he came to him but upon what the Lord had said concerning him." So the point I'm making here is this, Ananias believed. Second Ananias prayed. Next we see that Ananias did what Jesus called him to do. He prayed for Saul and he prayed for two things to happen that he would regain his sight and that he would be filled with the spirit. So third the spirit fell. Now we could easily move on here but there's something very important we need to see here. We need to understand why the spirit fell on Saul as the spirit did.

It was not that the spirit was not at work in Saul. The spirit of God had already been convicting and convincing Saul of his sin. We have an indication of that when he was watching and participating in the events with Stephen. We understand about the workings of the Holy Spirit from John chapter 16. So the spirit of God had already been convincing and convicting Saul of his sin. The spirit had been convincing and convicting Saul of the lordship of Jesus Christ and the fact that he was indeed the Messiah spoken of all throughout the Old Testament.

And the spirit had been working and did work in birthing him into the body of Christ and into the church. John chapter 3, 1 Corinthians 12, 13 tells us about being birthed into the church. So we've seen how the spirit has been working. So if the spirit had been working like this and Saul had already been born again, again he was converted. That's why he was called brother. So why did the spirit need to fall? This is simple. This pertain to Saul's unique calling and empowerment for service as a chosen apostle. That's real simple. This pertain to Saul's unique calling, his unique empowerment for service as a chosen apostle of God.

Now there's a lesson right here for us tonight. Today the Holy Spirit convicts sinners of their sin just like we see with Saul, just like in John 16 specifically verse 9. And the spirit convinces sinners of the lordship of Jesus Christ today, just like he did with the apostle Saul. And today the spirit of God bursts people into the kingdom and into the church just like we see in John 3, 5, just like we see in Titus 3, 5 as well. But we do not see the spirit falling in our day because we are not apostles and we are not living in this unique apostolic time. But we certainly believe though that the spirit empowers us for service.

Yes, the spirit fell on Saul. He was empowered in a unique way as an apostle, a chosen apostle to the Gentiles. But we are not chosen as apostles, but certainly the spirit empowers us for service. We have to understand God uses us not because of us, but in spite of us. And we desperately need the feeling of the spirit like we see and what we study about in Ephesians in the teaching on the feeling of the spirit. Fourth, Saul could see. The English Standard says something like scales fell from his eyes. The King James says there fell from his eyes as it had been scales.

Now question here, were these, were these literal scales, physical scales, some kind of a physical covering over his eyes or is this figurative language or does it even matter? Now from the language, language scholars tell us it appears as if it was not literal scales that fell from his eyes, but the effect was such that he was blind and then he could see so that it was as if scales had suddenly been taken off. But the point here is this. The point was not the scales literal or figurative.

The point was that he was blind and then he could see and that this was supernatural and this was representative of what had happened in his heart and his life. To me this blindness that was restored to sight was and is representative of what took place spiritually in the man. He was Saul who was blind and Saul was converted to Christ becoming Paul who could see. And notice how this applies to us. Before we come to saving faith we are blind, spiritually blind. But when we come to faith all of a sudden supernaturally by a work of the Holy Spirit of God in our lives our eyes are opened and we can see.

Can you look back into your life and see when you went from blind to seeing? Can you look back in your life and you can see when you were once blind but you were converted to Christ and then you could see? Those of you who have been born again when I talk like this the Spirit of God is just affirming that. You are like yes Lord I remember how blind I was, how I could see and now how I can see now spiritually. That happens to every man, every young person, every woman, every child who comes to saving faith. Then fifth Saul was baptized.

Here we see that Saul he ate some food, he got something to drink and he regained his strength and he was baptized. Is that what happened? Is that the order of the events? Look at verse 18, "And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. Then he arose and was baptized and then taking food he was strengthened." Here we see that he was baptized immediately after he could see which was and is a symbol of what had taken place in him spiritually.

Now I reference this often if you have any questions about baptism and the meaning of baptism and what we teach about baptism our statement of faith is very, very clear. I'll give you an example. One of the last of the individuals I was counseling in regard to baptism I was sitting down with him and I was talking with him and he was answering my questions and I said well how did you know that? He said oh it's all right here in the statement of faith and he opened up his copy and there were notes everywhere and I didn't have to counsel him about any of it. He already knew. So the point I'm making here is this.

If you have any questions about baptism and what we teach there that is a great resource. Now notice what we have here. Saul was baptized after he was converted to Christ and what we have here is this, the biblical pattern were converted to Christ and then were baptized. I can remember vividly when I was baptized after I was converted to Christ. The associate pastor at my home church Ken Regan baptized me. It sticks out in my mind. I understood what it meant. I understood what I was saying when I went into the baptismal waters and I ask you have you been biblically baptized?

That is when you came to faith in Christ you were baptized after and occasionally people will come up and say you know pastor I'm not sure if my baptism is in the right order. We're baptized after our conversion. Now I want to begin to close by briefly looking at the results and we're going to pick up with this next week when we cover Saul's great escape from Damascus. But I want us to look at verses 22 verses 19 to 22. This will help us because we're seeing the immediate results of Saul's conversion. Verse 19, "For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus." That's the church.

"It 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 caught 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 compounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ." Now I want to make two very quick observations here. First we see Saul's instantaneous fellowship with the believers which proves Saul's conversion was real.

Notice that, this instantaneous supernatural fellowship with the believers that proves his conversion was real. I know I say this often, but when I came to faith in Christ and when I walked into the door of Haaland Baptist Church I had instantaneous fellowship. When we come to faith in Christ we have instantaneous fellowship with the brothers and sisters within the church. And we see Saul's instantaneous service alongside the believers. That proves his conversion was real. I know this from me, when I came to faith in Christ I sat in the pew for a little while and the Lord was reorienting my life.

And then finally one day I made myself available to my pastor and I was drawn to instant service. I do believe there are times when people come to faith in Christ and they need to sit in a pew to be taught the word for a while, but we should see a desire for service in the church. That is proof that he was converted. But I do feel like I need to close out Saul's conversion in all of these verses by revisiting something I close with two weeks ago. I think this is helpful. I heard some folks say that when I shared this before it was helpful and it's a good way to wrap up these verses. Now I'll pick this up from some John Stott material.

But a question, does Luke intend us to regard Saul's conversion as typical of Christianity and Christians today? Or is this exceptional? Let me state that again. Does Luke and the Lord Jesus who inspired Luke to write this, does the Lord intend us to regard all that happened with Saul's conversion as typical, it should all happen like that today? Or were these events exceptional, unique? To me this is a very important question and it needs to be answered. Stott says, and I'm putting this in my words, some features of Saul's conversion were certainly unusual.

On the one hand, there were the dramatic supernatural events like the flashing of light or lightning, the voice from heaven which called him by name. Simply to be converted to Christ, it is not necessary to be struck down by blinding light or to hear our name being called from heaven. It is not necessary that we be struck down from a horse either. It is not necessary for us to be converted right in the very same place on the road to Damascus where Saul was converted. I have known people who could get caught up in things like this.

But it is certainly clear from scripture all throughout the New Testament and all throughout the book of Acts that two things from Saul's conversion do apply to us. First in conversion, we must have a personal encounter with Christ, a personal encounter with Christ. Second in conversion, we must repent of sin and sinfulness and then surrender to Him by faith. And then third, we must receive and obey a summons to service. That's why I wanted to read that about Saul. He had instant fellowship and instant service.

So just like with Saul, we should see a personal encounter with Christ, a revelation of our sin and sinfulness, a repentance of our sin and sinfulness and a surrender by faith to Christ and we receive this summons to serve Him all the days of our lives. So we do not look to Saul's conversion experience as typical, as a pattern for all people, but certain aspects are certainly typical. Again, a personal encounter with Christ, repentance of sin and sinfulness, that includes a surrendering by faith to Christ and a surrendering to serve Christ all of the rest of the days of our life. So this concludes verses 1 to 19, the conversion of Saul.

And then next week we will look at Saul's great escape from Damascus. It gets very, very interesting. It's very, very exciting. So let's pray and then we will look at some prenites.