Intro – I love hearing stories of how people came to Christ…so inspiring to hear how God brings people to Himself…and how they are saved, find forgiveness of sins and new life…are genuinely changed into new people…
-by show of hands: for those of you who have found Christ, when did you become a Christian:
-child, teenager, adult?
-church or evangelistic meetings, home, with friend
-somewhat dramatic…non-dramatic…
eg. Billy Graham…(see appendix 1…)
* listen to this story from Felix…
All of that to introduce you to one of the most famous and dramatic conversion stories in the whole Bible…that of Saul, who became the Apostle Paul, which we find in Acts 9…(open Bibles…)
-it’s famous for a few reasons: because of how dramatic it was…(bright light, voice from heaven)…and because of how God changed one of the most powerful persecutors of the church into one of its greatest leaders…and because of how influential Paul then became to the early kingdom of God movement…
…how he was the forerunner of the modern day missions movement…and how he became the most prolific writer of NT scripture…
-let’s read the story of Saul’s genuine, radical conversion to Christ in Acts 9…
Prayer…Read…9:1-19, then 26:12-18…
Saul was converted in just the way God intended for him…I believe that he needed a radical, extraordinary conversion experience because of the extraordinary calling God had for his life…
-we don’t need to duplicate this to have a genuine conversion…
But Saul’s conversion story does provide us with a few key elements that show us what is needed for a conversion to be genuine…Here’s what we learn about true conversion from Saul’s story. There are at least 4 things that a true conversion involves. It involves:
I A Personal Encounter with Jesus Christ vv.4-5
-Jesus Himself called out to Saul by name: “Saul, Saul…” He identified Himself to Saul by name: “I am Jesus…whom you are persecuting…” – personal exchange…
-while most of us will not hear an audible voice from heaven calling out our name…every time God saves someone, He is speaking to that individual personally, calling them by name and showing them Who He is…starts well before salv’tn
God has called each of us by name…and continues to do that…
-you that are still unsaved, lost in your sins and cut off from God, He is calling your name…calling you by name, because He knows you and loves you…can you hear Him?
Notice how closely Jesus identifies Himself as the One that is being persecuted; v.4 “Why do you persecute ME?”
…not just His people and His church; it is Him directly and personally that is being persecuted when Xns are persecuted…
eg. same thing is true today for those of our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world… …persecution isn’t just against God’s people; it’s against Jesus Himself – the church is Jesus’ body…shows how personally God takes this…which makes the consequences very dangerous for anyone who dares do this…
-being genuinely saved means having a personal encounter with JC…that goes beyond simply an intellectual awareness that there is a God…but a life altering, arresting, one-on-one encounter with a living God Who knows me, Who loves me and wants to have a relationship with me…
Undeserved Mercy and Grace
Think for a moment about how undeserving Saul was to receive any mercy and grace from God…
-hateful persecutor of the young Xn church
-sincerely believed that this fledgling religious movement built on devotion to Jesus Christ, the dead martyr, was dangerous and destructive to the true religion of Judaism and needed to be wiped off the face of the earth as soon as possible…
* Paul deserved God’s wrath and punishment…as do we…
-Saul was a militant, murderous persecutor of Xny…not that much different from the ISIS group at work today in Iraq and Syria…to name just one radical religious group that hates Xns…
-ISIS (Islamic State) is in the news a lot these days because of the horrific acts of violence they are carrying out against Xns and other Muslim groups…
-last week the beheading of an American journalist…
* friend of mine, Wycliffe missionary who spent years in Jordan and the middle east and knows the region and its people well, explained the conflict…
“ISIS is a group of extremely radicalized Muslim militants, recruited from a number of countries, including Canada, who are on a killing spree against any (including other muslim groups) who do not share their goals of… Islamic rule and statehood…they particularly hate the west which they are out to destroy, especially the US which they see as Satanic evil…”
-it was in the news recently that ISIS militants beheaded 700 men from one tribe in Syria! This kind of thing angers and outrages us and we wonder what we can possibly do about something so far removed from us, but so dangerous.
The first and best thing we can do is pray. Most of us don’t know how to pray for this, but we must. Pray for God to intervene, to stop these murderous men and change their hearts…protect innocent people…send an army of angels to stop the bloodshed…
-have to pray at a spiritual warfare level that God would defeat the evil power that is at work in the hearts of these men
-we do that every Tuesday night…other troubled spots in the world as well…
Prayer will also keep our hearts from giving into to bitterness and revenge and hatred…or becoming callous and shut-off…if we don’t pray, the enemy gains a victory and we lose faith…even the shortest prayer is better than no prayer at all…
Prayer will help us remember that God is greater than ISIS and is ultimately in control of this troubled world…God is the sovereign Lord of the universe and while we can’t understand how such evil is allowed to happen, we know that one day God will take vengeance and every wrong will be made right…
…got to keep our focus on God…or we will lose hope and our faith will suffer…
I find it very significant that Saul, murderous persecutor of the church, has a personal encounter with JC on the road to Damascus in Syria…Syria, one of the places that ISIS is at work!
It was while he was on a murderous rampage against Christians in Syria that God totally changed his life…
So based on what God did in Saul’s life, we need to pray for the conversion of ISIS leaders…as unlikely and difficult as this seems…but through the story of Saul, God can change the most unlikely, worst persecutor of His people and totally turn them around…
-if you had known Saul at the height of his murderous persecution of Xns, you would have said, “No way…”
eg. Andrew story of prayer answer in Iraq…
-our prayers do make a difference!
-maybe that’s one reason God has me speaking on this scripture today…
-it’s time to pray God-sized prayers in these troubled times…
-pray God will meet these Muslim extremists personally, in their dreams, in visions…some way, any way…that they will have a personal encounter with God like Saul did and that God will call their name… and say to them, “I am Jesus, Who you are persecuting…”
-and they will fall to the ground in brokenness and repentance and be thoroughly converted…
What About the Sauls you know?
-let’s bring this closer to home and talk about the Sauls that you and I know…those folks who are gifted, intelligent individuals; who have great ambition, ability and drive. Who in the courage of their non-Christian convictions are stubborn in their rejection of JC…
…more than that, they may be openly critical of those who do follow Jesus and they may sincerely believe that religion, no matter what brand, is the cause of war and hatred and the root of what ails humanity…
You probably know someone like that…they seem unreachable and closed to the gospel and to Christ…they’re on the road away from Jerusalem toward Damascus…they’re on the road that leads away from God…
Well, the story of Saul tells us that they are not beyond God’s sovereign grace…no one is…that God is able to reach into their lives and call them into a living relationship with Himself…
-that is why we must pray for these people…that Christ would “prod them with His goads”…like He did with Saul…
What were the goads God used in Saul’s life?
We don’t know. Possibly:
• the death of Stephen…how bravely he faced it…his glowing face in the presence of Christ just before he died…
• the life of Jesus…which Paul would have encountered
• the courage and strength of the Xn disciples in the face of persecution
• the conviction of the HS pricking his conscience…
eg. story of Mau Mau fighter…(see appendix 2)
What are some goads God uses today in people’s lives?
• a crisis: health, moral, financial, loss of loved one
• sense of emptiness, lack of purpose, meaning, significance…
• inexplicable spiritual hunger,
• fear, guilt, doubt, conviction of sin
• example of a Christian friend
• something they heard a preacher say or something they read in a book, saw in a movie…song…dreamed…
If you are a Saul of Tarsus…stop resisting those goads…the prompting of God…He is poking you to get your attention…He is calling you by name and wants to save you and restore you and give you lasting spiritual life…
-His undeserved grace and mercy is just as available to you as it was to Saul…Jesus died on the cross for your sin, to make you right with God…give you the gift of eternal life…
-are you ready to stop resisting Him and come to Him today?
II God wants some of you to be an Ananias vv. 10-14
Last thing I want to say today (sermon took a diff direction) is that God wants you to be an Ananias…
• heard God’s voice…prompting about a person…
• obeyed, even reluctantly, willing to go even if hard…
(often think about my only regret in heaven (?) will be not talking to those people in my life about Christ…paying the price of rejection or ridicule or loss of relationship here on earth is pretty small in comparison to the reward of heaven…)
• instrumental in Saul’s conversion experience and first few steps into growth as a Xn
• spoke encouragement: “Brother Saul!” v.17
• offered forgiveness and acceptance
• prayed for him…that he would be filled with the HS
• through his prayer Saul’s blindness was healed…
• facilitated Saul’s baptism…
• welcomed him into the fellowship of God’s people
While Saul’s conversion was personal, it wasn’t private; Saul needed other people to play a role in his coming to Christ, becoming established as a new believer…just like you and I do…that’s what a church fellowship is for…maybe that’s why some make it in the Xn life and go the distance and other’s don’t…because someone was there to disciple them…
-God wants some of you to be an Ananias…think about the people around you who need an Ananias…so if God prompts you to go to someone unlikely…and you have every reason not to go…do it anyway…no greater thrill than discovering a divine appointment has been pre-arranged…
Conclusion
Call to fasting and prayer…for some time now God has been speaking to some of you in our church about the need for fasting and prayer…
-world situation…overwhelming personal needs…Setting Church Free retreat…other things…Sauls…
Jesus in dealing with a particularly stubborn evil spirit in Mk 9:29 “this kind can only come out by prayer and fasting…”
…extraordinarily large spiritual challenges…
-nothing like united prayer, fervent, Spirit-led, bold, God-sized prayer…
If God is speaking to you about this…let me know…
Calling all Sauls out there…is God speaking to you today, calling your name, shining His bright light on you? are you willing to surrender your life to Him?…
…raise hand, stand up, come forward…
Prayer…Worship
Appendix 1 – Billy Graham’s Conversion Story
I still remember the night I made my personal commitment to Jesus Christ, around the time of my 17th birthday. The year was 1934. A visiting evangelist by the name of Mordecai Ham was preaching in our town of Charlotte, NC, holding a series of tent revival meetings. At first I wanted nothing to do with those meetings, but finally a friend persuaded me to go, and I found myself transfixed by the evangelist’s message (and his colorful way of presenting it).
Although thousands were present, he seemed to be speaking directly to me—even when I hid behind the large hat of a woman in front of me! I realize now that God’s Spirit was working in my heart, convicting me of my sins and convincing me of my need for Christ.
One night as he gave the invitation for people to commit their lives to Christ, I knew I had resisted long enough, and I finally went forward (although I held out until the final verse of the last hymn). A kindly man explained how I could invite Christ into my life, and at his suggestion I prayed a simple but sincere prayer of repentance.
When I got home, I went upstairs to my room, sensing something important had happened to me—although I wasn’t exactly sure what. I didn’t feel any strong emotion or dramatic change, but looking out over the moonlit fields of my father’s farm, I thought about the step I had just taken. Then for the first time in my life, I spontaneously got down on my knees and prayed: “Lord, I don’t know what happened to me tonight, but You know.”
Only gradually would I understand my commitment and what it meant. Decades later I am still learning, for the Christian life is one of constant growth.
Appenix 2 – Mau Mau fighter finds Jesus
I just read the story of a Mau Mau fighter. The Mau Mau’s were a tribal group in Kenya who staged a brutal uprising against Christian and other groups in the 1950’s. It’s about a Mau Mau fighter who led a group to attack a Christian family in their home at night. They were ordered to kill the family. In the fighters own words: “To my surprise, that man loved us. He said he was not at all afraid to die, for he would immediately be with Jesus. Then he pleaded with us, not for his life, but for ours, that we awake and repent while there was still time. We killed him, but he died praying, “Father, forgive them and give them time to turn about.” We went back to the forest, but the face of that man and his love never left me. At last Jesus has found me, and now I want to tell everyone about Him.”