Vista Grande Church Sermons

“A Sinner Saved by Grace”
Acts 9:1-9

Foundational Principle: Good intentions, sincerity, self-sacrifice, devotion or religiousness do not mean a person is
pleasing or honoring God!

So let’s knock some ideas on pleasing God out of the park before we get started:

You can’t be good enough
You can’t be smart enough
You can’t be humble enough
You can’t be rich enough
You can’t sacrifice enough
You can’t be religious enough

You can’t be anything enough to meet the standard that God demands to be accepted by Him. We are sinners, we
are not holy, we are not perfect, we by our very nature are in opposition to our Creator. We are proud, we are
selfish, we lie, cheat, and steal. We don’t love but hate.

We can’t come into the presence of a Holy God because we are unholy… that is why He came to us, that’s why
Jesus came to this earth!

Let’s take a look at this Saul from Tarsus:

By birth, a Jew; Saul's home was in a town called Tarsus. Tarsus was located at the corner where Asia Minor met
Syria north of Israel. It was a city distinguished for its multinational interests--many people gathered there. The
wharves on the Cydnus river were crowded with commerce. It was also a city famous for its university. Along with the
universities in Athens and Alexandria, the one in Tarsus ranked in the top three.

By citizenship, a Roman; Saul's father was a Roman citizen. And Saul inherited from him that right of Roman
citizenship which helped him in later years. His father was also a Jew and a Pharisee, so Saul could zealously match
his credentials with any Jew.

by education, a Greek; Professional training: In keeping with Jewish tradition, every boy had to learn a trade. One of
the very large industries in the city of Tarsus was tent making. The young Saul learned this trade. He was able to
weave cloth from the black hair of goats into strips, and then tie the strips together to make tents.

Religious Training: At the age of approximately thirteen, Saul was packed off to Jerusalem. His Jewish heritage was
motivation enough for him to have good Jewish training. In Jerusalem he sat under a great teacher by the name of
Gamaliel. Gamaliel the Elder (gəmā'lēəl), or Rabbi Gamaliel I, was a leading authority in the Sanhedrin in the mid
first century. He was the grandson of the great Jewish teacher Hillel the Elder, and died twenty years before the
destruction of the second temple in Jerusalem. The name Gamaliel is the Greek form of the Hebrew name meaning
“reward of God.” He was called "the beauty of the law" because of his marvelous ability to teach. Gamaliel was so
revered that when he died, the people said that reverence for the law died with him. Saul studied under this brilliant
man.

The course of his study would involve memorization of great portions of the entire Old Testament. He became quite
scholarly in terms of his knowledge of the Old Testament. He also would sit in question and answer sessions with his
tutor. So he was very familiar with Jewish history and theology.

Look at Saul’s own resume in Philippians 3:4-6

“…I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I
have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in
regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.”
This is the story of the conversion of this man. It is great evidence of the fact that God can take the worst of the
worst and make them the best. Nobody is ever too low to be unredeemable. I think there are times that we wonder
whether the grace of God can ever be extended in certain cases, and that often becomes the exact time when the
grace of God does its greatest and most glorious work.

I. Misdirected Passion:

“Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest
and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way,
whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.”

One commentator states “The emphatic "still" is intended to note the remarkable fact, that up to this moment his
blind persecuting rage against the disciples of the Lord burned as fiercely as ever.”

Saul of Tarsus wanted all bases covered and all authority given for his obsessive drive to eliminate all followers of
Christ. He went to the High Priest who would have rejoiced at such a request, and asked for letters to the
synagogues in Damascus to give him authorization to arrest any who belonged to “the Way.”

Saul did not differentiate between men and women… if they were disciples of Jesus Christ they were taken from
their homes, jobs, families and children.

From the time of Stephen's death, Saul became the leader of a persecution movement. Years later, in Acts 26:9-11,
he acknowledged this: "I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of
Nazareth. And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in
prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. Many a time I went from one synagogue to
another to have punish them, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to
foreign cities to persecute them.” (NIV)

Damascus: This was a celebrated city of Syria, and long the capital of a kingdom of that name. It is situated in a
region about 120 miles northeast of Jerusalem, and about one 190 miles southeast of Antioch. It is in the midst of
an extensive plain, abounding with cypress and palm-trees, and extremely fertile. The city, situated in a delightful
climate, in a fertile country, is perhaps among the most pleasant in the world. It is called by the Orientals themselves
the “paradise on earth.” It is mentioned often in the Old Testament. It was a city in the time of Abraham, Gen_15:2.
The road from Jerusalem to Damascus lies between two mountains, not above 100 paces distant from each other;
both are round at the bottom, and terminate in a point.

II. Mission Directed Intervention:

“As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4He fell to the ground
and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" 5"Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am
Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. 6"Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must
do."

The reality for Saul was that instead of serving His Lord by attacking the disciples of Jesus Christ he instead was
attacking his Lord, who is Jesus Christ. Jesus had a special plan for Saul, he would ultimately take the message of
Christ’s resurrection to the Gentile world and establish many churches, disciple many leaders, witness to many
cultures and speak to governors, kings, and Roman authorities.

When he heard Jesus say, "Why are you persecuting Me?" you can imagine the anguish that ripped through his
soul when he was confronted with the horrors he feared might be true, and found to be true. His guilt was full guilt.
Jesus said, "Why are you persecuting Me? What did I do to you?"
Jesus has a missional and purposeful divine appointment with Saul. Were there others Christ could have called?
Sure, so why Saul of Tarsus?

Remember that the Lord Jesus looks at the heart of man. Saul’s heart was devoted to serving His God, the God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He would put all his effort into stopping anything that he thought would be taking away
from or harming his God… at this point he thought the enemy was the followers of Jesus Christ.

Jesus revealed to him that all his efforts, all his energies, all his emotion and hate was misdirected… Jesus was
alive; He lived and had a special mission for Saul.

“7The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8Saul got up
from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus.
9For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.”

Two other accounts of this encounter are recorded by Luke:

Acts 22:3-11 (Paul arrested in Jerusalem speaks to the crowds) Then Paul said: 3"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of
Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as
zealous for God as any of you are today. 4I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men
and women and throwing them into prison, 5as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained
letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to
be punished. 6"About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. 7I
fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?'

Acts 26:12-18 "On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief
priests. 13About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around
me and my companions. 14We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, 'Saul, Saul, why
do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' 15"Then I asked, 'Who are you, Lord?' " 'I am
Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' the Lord replied. 16'Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you
to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. 17I will rescue
you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18to open their eyes and turn them from
darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place
among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'

Back to our passage:

Acts 9:8" 'Who are you, Lord?' I asked. " 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,' he replied. 9My
companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me. 10"'What shall I
do, Lord?' I asked. "'Get up,' the Lord said, 'and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been
assigned to do.' 11My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had
blinded me.”

Saul asks “What shall I do!” Jesus wasn’t just going to stop this Saul of Tarsus from persecuting the church He had
a divine mission for him. He was going to preach the good news of Jesus to the Gentile world.
The experience left Saul blind for three days. His companions led him to Damascus where our Lord would take him
to the next step in his journey as a missionary for Christ.

We have already talked about his birth, his citizenship and his education now let me tell you about his faith!
Saul’s faith: by grace, a Christian. He was missionary, theologian, evangelist, pastor, organizer, leader, thinker,
statesman, fighter for truth, and at the same time, lover of souls. He was everything that a Christian could and
should be short of being like Jesus Christ.

Saul’s perspective changed, his heart changed, his motives changed, his mission changed.

Philippians 3:7-11 “7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What is more, I
consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I
have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness
of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God
and is by faith. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his
sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

The Issue of Rejection

a) Saul's Core Problem

At the core of every man's life is the question “What do I do with Jesus Christ?” God didn't say, "Saul, you've been a
naughty fellow. You have hate in your heart. You're going around murdering." That is all superficial. He says, "Saul,
your problem is that you are persecuting Jesus." This is the conviction: Any man who lives in this world apart from
Jesus Christ is as guilty as Saul because he has rejected Jesus Christ.

Matthew 12:30 “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.”

b) Saul's Changed Perspective

Saul learned his lesson well. To read the wonderful things he wrote later on in his life, it is easy to forget what he
was before. In 1 Corinthians 16:22 he says, "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema
[accursed]...." What a joy it must have been for him to be able to say that.

So the issue is what a man does with Jesus. If you don't love Jesus, you are anathema. That is the issue of
conviction--unbelief and rebellion toward Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God, through all the preparation of Saul's life,
has brought him to a crisis. Christ Himself confronts him with his problem. According to John 16:9, the work of the
Holy Spirit is to convict "of sin, because they believe not on Me." That's the issue.

Saul’s life and eternal destiny were changed by this Divine Encounter with the risen Christ. From here he went on
to tell others about Jesus Christ. In fact he emphasized that “I know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”
Saul didn’t go around preaching sermons to make people feel good and scratch their itching ears. His focus was on
the message of Christ, crucified, dead and buried and resurrected. He concern was not with this world but with the
eternal destiny of those he preached to. His heart was not to make things comfortable here on earth but to have
people prepared for eternity in the heavenly kingdom.

People struggled then, they struggle now. People suffered then, they suffer now, people were hopeless then, some
are hopeless now. What is the answer? Jesus!

APPLICATION: One simple question to ask yourself this morning: Are you with Jesus Christ or against Him?