Stephen’s sermon was powerful and compelling. Their hypocrisy had been exposed. They had done to Jesus what they’d done to the prophets numerous times down through the ages. They were guilty of murder. The blood of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, was on their hands. Unable to oppose or silence Stephen, the Jews began screaming and gnashing their teeth. They lost all emotional composure and reasonableness.
As Stephen lifted his eyes toward heaven bearing testimony about Jesus Christ, they covered their ears and began yelling at the top of their lungs. They rushed at Stephen and dragged him out of the city. Per their custom, they stripped him and threw him over a six to ten foot drop. Then they picked up large stones, perhaps the weight of bowling balls and hurled them at Stephen’s chest, delivering one crushing blow after another until he expired.
Saul approved of Stephen's death.
As the ground received Stephen’s blood, witnesses began laying their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul, symbolizing their participation in Stephen’s death. Acts 8:1-3 (NIV) says, "Saul was there, giving approval to (Stephen’s) death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison."
Imagine the terror the name of Saul struck in Christians throughout Jerusalem. Yesterday in Khobar, Saudi Arabia suspected Islamic militants sprayed gunfire inside two office compounds, killing ten people. Then they retreated and took over fifty hostages at a nearby resort. According to one report they began separating Muslims from non-Muslims. The gunmen went room to room asking hostages whether they were Christian or Muslim. One lady was told, "Go convert to Islam, cover up your (head) and go back to your country."
Saul was terrorizing Christians.
In the same way, Saul was terrorizing Christians. He was breathing murderous threats against them. In Acts 26:9-11 (NIV), Saul would later reflect back, "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 them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them." But it is Saul’s confession in Acts 22:4 (NIV) that is more exacting. "I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them in prison, as also the high priest and the Council can testify."
What kind of man does such things? What kind of person beats up women? What kind of person seeks death for those who do not agree with him theologically? What kind of person becomes obsessed with such hatred, violence, and murder?
Could Saul be changed by Christ and saved?
Saul was as diametrically opposed to the name of Jesus Christ as any man could be. He hated the things of Christ. Saul would later describe himself as the, "worst of all sinners." He persecuted the Church. Was there any hope for someone as unworthy as Saul? Could God’s grace reach such a hardened soul? Could Saul be born again? Could he be saved? Could God, would God forgive a murderous zealot, a religious extremist?
I don’t know, maybe you are asking the same questions about your own situation. Does God love someone like me? Will God ever forgive me for what I’ve done? Can Jesus Christ wash away the stains of my sin and make me pure and holy? Can someone like me ever be shown mercy and have fellowship with God in heaven?
If you are asking such questions this morning, you are on the right path. But you should know that Saul wasn’t asking any of these questions when he encountered Jesus Christ. He was full of pride. He believed he was already doing God’s will. He didn’t believe that he needed to repent, or to be forgiven, or be made pure, or be shown mercy, or any of those things. He believed he was already walking in fellowship with God. He was on his way to the high priest to get authority to purge the Jewish synagogues of any and all Christians. But then it happened.
Saul's dramatic conversion.
If you have your scriptures this morning I would like you to find Acts 9. If you don’t have a Bible, I encourage you to just listen this morning. Acts 9:1-31 (NIV).
"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. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?' 'Who are you, Lord?' Saul asked. 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' he replied. 'Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.' "
"The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything."
"In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, 'Ananias!' 'Yes, Lord,' he answered. The Lord told him, 'Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.' 'Lord,' Ananias answered, 'I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.' "
"But the Lord said to Ananias, 'Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.' Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, 'Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.' Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God."
"All those who heard him were astonished and asked, 'Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?' Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ."
"After many days had gone by, the Jews conspired to kill him, but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall. When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. He talked and debated with the Grecian Jews, but they tried to kill him. When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord."
Saul's conversion was confusing to everyone.
You can imagine how baffling Saul’s conversion must have been to the men traveling with him on the road to Damascus. They heard a loud voice, but did not see anyone. But there is Saul laying on the ground, blinded by some light they never even saw. They proceed to Damascus, but not to persecute Christians. For days, Saul refuses to eat or drink. Instead he just prays.
After three days some guy named Ananias lays hands on Saul and tells Saul he was sent by Jesus Christ. Ananias lays hands on Saul and promises he will receive his sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. The next thing they know, Saul can see again and he is baptized into the name of Christ. He goes to the synagogue as planned, but instead of persecuting Christians, Saul fearlessly preaches that Jesus is the son of God. He baffles both Jews and Christians. He discards his infamous identity as Saul and becomes the apostle Paul, missionary to the Gentiles. Paul had done a complete one hundred eighty degree turn! He would go on to become a potent force for Christ in the early Church by establishing hundreds of churches, enduring hardship, establishing leaders, and penning much of our New Testament.
Before conversion our lives before God are a lot like polar opposites on a set of magnets. We’ve all played with magnets before. Depending on which way magnets are turned, they can repel or they can pull toward one another. There is this invisible force that cannot be seen, but its power is undeniable. You can tell which way a magnet is facing by observing which force is in play.
The very same thing is true about a person’s life before God. There are invisible forces that can either repel us or pull us toward God. The force that repels us from God is known as the sinful nature. The force that convicts us and draws us into fellowship with God is known as the Holy Spirit. One of these forces is always in play!
Conversion is the process by which God breaks the invisible power of sin that has driven us from God’s presence. He gives us the power of his Spirit that is more than sufficient to draw us back into God’s presence. When we talk about revolutionary conversion, we are talking about God’s work of taking a heart that is actively resisting Jesus Christ and turning that heart so that a person is drawn into fellowship with God.
Saul’s traveling companions could not see the invisible forces that were at play in Saul’s life, but they could see the undeniable effects those forces had on Saul. They did not see the light nor did they see even Jesus Christ. But they did see a realignment of forces. They saw the persecutor Saul become the apostle Paul. They saw his sinful nature giving way to a new nature. They saw the power of God’s Spirit at work changing everything about his life.
The persecutor Saul became the apostle Paul after his conversion.
Conversion is one of those mysterious miracles that only God can do. There are some common elements in conversion including faith, repentance, confession, and baptism. These elements are present in most every conversion account in the book of Acts.
But there is a sense in which no two conversions are alike. Some people have dramatic experiences such as what Paul had on the road to Damascus. They have a vision or dream. They hear God’s voice. They see a sign or miracle.
Some Christians can recall a particular day or event in which it happened. A campfire experience, a church service, a book, a testimony, a crisis, or a discovery. And for some Christians, conversion was more of a gradual turning of the heart taking place over several years away from the sinful nature and toward the things of God. There was no sensational Damascus road experience. Instead, there was just the steady drumbeat of God calling a sinner home through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
The circumstances of conversion are less significant than the reality of conversion. What’s critical is yielding to God’s Spirit as God draws us deeper into fellowship with himself. What’s critical is that our minds are becoming more filled with the things of Christ than they were yesterday. And that our hearts are more resolute in living for Christ than they were yesterday. That our bodies are more obedient to Christ than ever. That our souls have found our home in Christ Jesus. That we are not giving way to the sinful nature that repels us from God’s presence.
A while back Lara and I saw a movie called "Fighting Temptations". The movie is about an advertising agent named Darrin who has his heart set on making money. He is living in New York and is on top of the world when everything in his life suddenly begins falling apart. He is faced with mounting debt and loses his job. In the midst of this turmoil his aunt dies and he goes back home for his aunt’s funeral. While home he discovers that his aunt has willed some stock to him on the condition that he enter the Beulah Baptist Church choir into the Gospel Explosion competition. He and his mother had been turned off by the church over twenty years previously because of the judgmental and hypocritical words of the "church bully". But now he is forced to return and come to terms with who he has become.
In the movie Darrin is just one of dozens of people who find their way back to God. There is a single mother named Lily who was shunned by the church. There is a pig farmer named Scooter who overcomes a drinking problem and becomes the church organist. There are three convicts from a local prison who are baptized and join the choir. There are the men from the local barber shop who had nothing to do with the church. By the end of the show all of these people who have fallen short, who have been beaten down in life, overlooked, and thought unworthy, are drawn back into fellowship with God.
The same thing can happen for you.