Saul’s Encounter with Christ (Acts 9:1-9)

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Saul’s Encounter With Christ (Acts 9:1–9)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, Sunday, August 18, 2024

How did you come to know Jesus as your Lord and your Savior? To be a Christian, you must believe in Jesus, trust in Jesus, confess your sins to Jesus, and commit to Jesus.

I was born into a “churchgoing” family. We regularly attended Memorial Baptist in Dayton until I was about five. When I was five, we moved about half an hour away from that church, and my dad wanted to find a church closer to home. We went to Concord United Methodist Church a few times a year. We never became members or even attended weekly. My family was still guided by Biblical principles and morals, although until I was sixteen, I was never involved in church more than a few times a year.

The day of my salvation was when I was seven, and it was Christmas Day, 1988. My parents had given my brothers and me a children’s Bible for Christmas. When I was about to go to bed that night, I was staring at the picture of Christ on the cross. At this time, although no one was there to lead me in a prayer, God was there and changed my heart.  Looking at the picture of Christ on the cross, I moved with tears was thinking, “He did this for me!” I knew that I was a sinner in need of a Savior.

A few years later, my father had been taking my brothers and me to a Southern Baptist barber. My brothers and I always tried to get him to talk about the Bible because his knowledge amazed us. He was a strong Christian who was involved in prison ministry and even preached at church sometimes. One day, he told my dad how he led a man to salvation the day before. He actually told us the prayer, and I heard that prayer, and I said it that night and every night during my devotion time until I got involved in a church and realized I only had to say it once. That used to be when I thought I had become a Christian. Now, I know that was the verbal expression of my salvation.

Today, I wish to look at Paul’s conversion, and maybe this will cause you to reflect on when you became a Christian. I wish to teach you this passage, but I also hope you all will be challenged to engage Christ, be converted to Christ (if you have not been), be consecrated to Christ, and be in communion with Christ. The last two seem to be where the real struggle is.

Acts 9:1–9 (ESV)

9 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and 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. 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 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. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

  1. Contact:
    1. In verse 3, we see Paul’s contact with Jesus. Notice he is still called Saul at this point.
    2. Paul was traveling along the road that led to Jerusalem. Paul was heading towards Damascus.
    3. Damascus was 135 miles northeast of Jerusalem.
    4. Now, think about that: Paul had all that traveling to do to imprison Christians.
    5. How hostile do you think he was? How much hatred do you think he had? For 6 days on foot, he was traveling to imprison Christians. I would think his anger would wear off.
    6. Paul was attacking Christians, and after Paul became a Christian, he needed to be forgiven, and he would be.
    7. As Paul approached Damascus, a light from Heaven suddenly surrounded him.
    8. In 1 Corinthians 9:1, he says that he saw Jesus (this same chapter, verse 27 and 22:14).

I like what John MacArthur said:

There’s another fantastic thing here, and that is this. The last guy before Saul to see the resurrected Christ was who? Stephen. He said, “Look at that, I see the Son of God standing at the right hand of the Father,” or Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father. And everybody heard it. Of course, that infuriated them all the more. But if it isn’t grace to realize that the man standing there, in measure responsible for the stoning of Stephen, was, in the grace of God, the next one to see His glory. That’s how grace operates.

And, you know, remember Stephen’s prayer? “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” God answered, and God was gracious unto Saul. The heavens are opened one more time, and this killer, Saul, gazes into the glory and the person of Him whom he persecuted. What grace, that Saul saw Jesus. Fantastic.

  1. Conviction:
    1. Paul was convicted in verse 4.
    2. Paul fell to the ground. Remember the previous chapter? The Ethiopian was converted on a chariot. Now, Paul is converted in dust.
    3. Now, I think that is conviction and his conversion are both in the white space in between these next few verses.
  2. Conversion:
    1. In verse 5, Paul calls Jesus “Lord.”
    2. This likely meant that Paul was calling him “sir,” but based off of the rest of this passage, I think he is being converted.
  3. Consecration: (Acts 22:10)
    1. Look with me at Acts 22:10: And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me,‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.’
    2. I am sure you noticed that Paul asked what he needed to do. This is when the Lord told him that things were appointed for him, and he would find out in Damascus.
    3. I hope that you are challenged every day to say, “Lord, what shall I do?” The Lord has things in store for you. He has a plan. Pray for opportunities.
  4. Communion:
    1. I heard the best illustration of Paul’s communion. This is not my idea, but I like it:
    2. What was the last thing he ever saw? Jesus. Have you ever looked in the sun, and then everywhere else you look all you see is the sun? Or you had somebody take your picture and all…everywhere you look, flash. They say if you look at the sun long enough, you’ll be blind. An astronomer tried it, and he was. You know what I think? I don’t think Saul’s blindness was the blindness of darkness. I think it was the blindness of light. I think for three days all he ever saw was the Son, S-O-N, that he couldn’t get rid of the vision of Jesus. That’s all he ever saw.
    3. So he spent three days getting acquainted. And I think that’s when all the old things died. And they died hard. And he didn’t yet understand forgiveness, either, and he would still have guilt. And I think it’s when faith and love and joy and peace began to be born in those days. Communion.

Here are some applications from this passage:

  1. Saul responded to Christ with obedience, with consecration: Acts 22:10; We must do the same.
  2. We must be obedient to the Lord with our lives, as Paul was. We must make Jesus Lord of our lives, as Paul did. He is the Lord (John 13:13; Acts 10:36; Romans 10:12; I Corinthians 12:5; Phil. 2:11).
  3. We must call others also to consecrate their lives to Christ (Luke 9:23).
  4. We must recognize that Jesus has a great plan. The church was likely worried about Saul and his persecution, yet this was God’s plan. Saul planned on going to Damascus to chain up Christians, but instead, Saul surrendered to the Christians.
  5. We must trust in Jesus’ great plan.
  6. We must have communion with Christ as Paul did. This will be with our life. We must look to Jesus so that we only see Jesus, just as someone looking at the sun can only see the sun.
  7. We must pray for the Spirit’s conviction as Paul was convicted.
  8. Paul fell on His face before the Lord. We must pray for that type of humility.

Now, I encourage you to go forth and be engaged with Jesus in a relationship consecrated to Him and in communion with Him.

Pray.

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