Acts 9:1-30: Saul's Conversion

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Below is a practical list of what conversion looks like:

1)     We all have a lost & sinful past.

A)   Saul was a violent persecutor of the church

1)     Acts 7:58, 8:1 – Saul was a part of Stephen’s murder.

2)     Acts 9:1-2

B)    1 Cor. 15:9 – “I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.”

C)    Rom. 3:23 – This is a universal truth. “ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

1)     We’ve all messed up – big and small.

2)     Sometimes people think they are good and fine. No! We are all sinners.

3)     Sometimes people think they’ve messed up too bad. No! Saul actively persecuted the church and had blood on his hands.

2)     Humility is the key.

A)   Acts 9:3-8

B)    It’s sad, but often people need some major shake up in life to stop us in our tracks and wake up and pay attention to spiritual things. (cf. The prodigal son.)

C)    vv. 9-11 – Saul was praying and fasting. I don’t know what it sounded like, but I can imagine:

1)     “What have I done!”

2)     “How could I have been so wrong!”

3)     “I don’t want to be blind for the rest of my life!”

4)     “Please show me what I need to do to make this right!”

D)   There is no conversion without humility. Some of us need to be humbled, and some of us can hopefully figure it out on our own, but there must be humility and full submission to God.

1)     BUT…humility is the key. You have to really want to know.

2)     James 4:6 quotes Prov. 3:24 – “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

3)     When you get an answer, DO SOMETHING about it.

A)   Acts 9:17-18

B)    Often…

1)     Them: “I’m looking for the truth…I’m looking for the answer…”

2)     Me: “Here’s what the Bible says.”

3)     Them: “Cool.”

4)     I think this is one of our biggest problems. I think a lot of people in the world know that there is something spiritually wrong; and I think that a lot of them know what the Bible has to say about it. But I think a lot of them stop at this knowledge and are not ready to DO the next steps.

C)    Lk. 15:17-20a – The prodigal son DID SOMETHING about his situation.

4)     There are going to be bumps in the road.

A)   Acts 9:10-16, 26 – Saul had a reputation, and these things don’t just disappear overnight.

B)    Don’t be one of those people who throws in the towel and says, “Fine!” the first time there’s a bump in the road. There are going to be a lot of bumps in the road.

1)     There are two sides to this:

2)     Maybe the brethren should have been more welcome and accepting.

3)     But maybe Paul should not have been going around trying to arrest Christians and kill them.

4)     Let’s all be reasonable here.

C)    Parable of the Sower: Sometimes the soil has rocks and thorns that need to be dug out for the plant to grow.

5)     Build a foundation.

A)   Note the gap in the text between Acts 9:19. This is a 3-year gap (Gal. 1:15-18).

B)    I don’t know how these three years are divided up, but here’s what we know:

1)     Paul became a Christian.

2)     He left for Arabia and got away from everything. He needed some time to figure some stuff out.

3)     vv. 20-22 – He came back to Damascus and now it’s go time.

C)    Jesus’ disciples had a period of learning and growing before Jesus turned them loose.

D)   When a person becomes a Christian, they are often on fire, and they want to share it with everyone. Great! Let’s all do that. But it’s also important to realize that you don’t know what you don’t know. Our first order of business needs to be to learn and grow and build a foundation.

6)     Be changed.

A)   Acts 9:21 – People didn’t recognize Saul anymore.

B)    When we become a Christian, we begin the process of becoming something new.

1)     Acts 3:19 (NKJV) – “Repent and be converted…” (Others: Repent and turn back).

2)     Col. 1:15ff. – “Put to death therefore…Put on then…”

C)    At some point, people who knew you in the past should look at you and say, “Wait a second…are you even the same person?”

7)     Increase and grow.

A)   Acts 9:22

B)    We can’t live on milk forever.

8)     Expect your relationships to change.

A)   Acts 9:16, 23, 28-29

B)    Jn. 15:18-20

9)     Start teaching other people.

A)   Acts 9:15 – God’s purpose for Saul was to take the Gospel to the world.

B)    Acts 9:20, 22, 28-29 – He did it.

C)    1 Cor. 15:9-11 – He worked hard at it.

10) Get plugged in with a church family.

A)   Acts 9:19, 25 – The disciples helped him grow, and then survive.

B)    Acts 9:26-30 – It might not be easy.

1)     Melissa – She just decided she didn’t want to do that anymore.

2)     Carson – Lezlie told him to jump in there.

Conclusion

1)     Which one of these do you need to focus on right now? We’re all somewhere on this list.