1. "Acts captures life in the afterglow of the resurrection of Jesus. Luke wants Theophilus, his readers, and he wants us to be assured that in the afterglow of the resurrection, the ascended Christ is still at work."

2. "Killing Stephen was a little bit like killing Jesus. It only seemed to aid the Christian cause as opposed to slow it down."

3. "Oh brothers and sisters, we shouldn't waste too much of our time worrying about the future of the Christian Church. The Church has her troubles, and her persecutors, and her problems, and yet somehow Christianity keeps leaping boundaries."

4. "Before there were Pauline epistles, Saul had a different sort of letter."

5. "The binder had become bound. This director had become dependent. At Stephen's stoning, Saul is there giving approval, giving directions. But now someone else has plans for him. Saul is under new management now."

6. "If Jesus was under the curse of God on the cross, yet now was alive and vindicated, that means he hadn't been cursed for his own sin, but for others."

7. "Saul learned that day that to harm the church is to harm Jesus himself. Jesus is profoundly connected to his church."

8. "In his book How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie comments that the sweetest words to all of our ears is our name. But I think there might be even a sweeter sound, not just a name, but a title like this before a name. Brother Saul."

9. "Saul reminds us that the gospel is the power of God. God's Word can accomplish some things in someone's life that cannot be explained."

10. "Suffering for Jesus is how we imitate Jesus."

Observation Questions

1. According to Acts 9:1-2, what was Saul's purpose in traveling to Damascus, and what authority did he seek from the high priest to accomplish this mission?

2. In Acts 9:4-5, what question does the voice from heaven ask Saul, and how does Jesus identify himself in response to Saul's question?

3. What physical condition does Acts 9:8-9 describe Saul experiencing after his encounter with the risen Christ, and how long did this condition last?

4. In Acts 9:13-14, what objections does Ananias raise when the Lord instructs him to go to Saul, and what does this reveal about Saul's reputation among Christians?

5. According to Acts 9:15-16, what specific purpose does the Lord declare for Saul, and what does Jesus say Saul will experience for the sake of his name?

6. How does Acts 9:31 describe the condition of the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria after the events of Saul's conversion?

Interpretation Questions

1. Why is it significant that Jesus asks Saul, "Why are you persecuting me?" rather than "Why are you persecuting my followers?" What does this reveal about the relationship between Christ and his church?

2. The sermon highlights several ironies in Saul's transformation—the one who stopped his ears now has his eyes stopped, and the binder becomes bound. What theological purpose might Luke have in presenting Saul's conversion with these reversals?

3. Why do you think God chose to use an ordinary disciple named Ananias, rather than one of the apostles, to restore Saul's sight and welcome him into the church? What does this teach about how God works through his people?

4. How does Saul's conversion demonstrate that salvation must be entirely by grace? What would it mean for our understanding of salvation if God could save his church's greatest enemy?

5. The passage begins with Saul breathing threats and murder (v. 1) and ends with the church experiencing peace and multiplication (v. 31). How does this transformation from persecution to peace illustrate the sermon's point that Christ's church is unstoppable?

Application Questions

1. Ananias's first words to Saul were "Brother Saul," welcoming the church's enemy as family. Is there someone in your life—perhaps with a difficult past or who has wronged you—whom you struggle to welcome as a brother or sister in Christ? What specific step could you take this week to extend that kind of grace?

2. The sermon challenged listeners to be as committed to personal evangelism as they are to other good causes. What is one relationship in your life where you have given up praying for or sharing the gospel with someone? How might Saul's conversion encourage you to renew that effort?

3. Barnabas risked his credibility to vouch for Saul when other Christians were suspicious of him. Who in your church community might need someone to "stand in the gap" for them—perhaps a new believer, someone with a difficult background, or someone on the margins? How could you be a Barnabas to them?

4. The sermon noted that confessing "Jesus is Lord" will inevitably create division with those who don't share that belief. In what area of your life—workplace, family, friendships—do you find it most difficult to maintain this confession? What would it look like to speak boldly yet lovingly in that context?

5. Saul spent three days blind, fasting, and presumably reflecting on how wrong he had been. When God reveals an area of sin or error in your life, how do you typically respond? What practice could help you process conviction more humbly and turn it into genuine transformation?

Additional Bible Reading

1. Luke 4:14-30 — This passage shows Jesus facing opposition at the start of his ministry in ways that parallel Saul's early ministry opposition, illustrating how suffering for Jesus is a way of imitating him.

2. Galatians 1:11-24 — Paul recounts his own conversion and early ministry, providing his personal testimony of the events described in Acts 9 and emphasizing that his gospel came by revelation from Christ.

3. 1 Timothy 1:12-17 — Paul reflects on his past as a persecutor and blasphemer, declaring himself the foremost of sinners saved by Christ's grace as an example to future believers.

4. Acts 7:54-8:3 — This passage provides the immediate background to Saul's persecution, including Stephen's martyrdom and Saul's approval, showing the prayer that would be answered in Saul's conversion.

5. 2 Corinthians 11:21-33 — Paul catalogs his sufferings for Christ, including the Damascus escape in a basket, demonstrating how he fulfilled Jesus's prophecy that he would suffer for the sake of Christ's name.

Sermon Main Topics

I. The Volcano Illustration: Living in the Afterglow of the Resurrection

II. Christ's Church Is Unstoppable (Acts 9:1-2, 31)

III. God's Grace Is Unbelievable (Acts 9:3-22)

IV. The World's Opposition Is Unavoidable (Acts 9:23-30)

V. Application: Trusting in God's Unbelievable Grace

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Detailed Sermon Outline

When's the last time you saw something you couldn't believe? This spring, thousands of tourists to Iceland sure have. In March, as it does once every 800 years or so, one of the oldest volcanoes in the Reykjanes Peninsula began to erupt. And because of its relatively small size, tourists have been able to get unusually close. Here's how one amazed onlooker captured the experience.

Words don't do justice to the sensory overload. Lava rockets out of the Crater's Maw like an overzealous science experiment by the gods. Even from hundreds of feet away, you can feel the heat, as strong as a shield. Up close, the air seems to shimmer. The change in pressure, the warmth, the disbelief that you're that close to lava, it's almost too much to process.

Listen closely and you'll hear the lava's progress. It sounds like a fireplace crackling or a glass breaking. Is the lava moving toward you? Ever so slightly, imperceptibly. Look closely and you'll swear the lava is exhaling.

Well, our text this morning is from the book of Acts, and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Luke writes Acts as a sort of part two to his gospel. In part one, Luke had written an orderly account of the life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in Jesus, this volcano of God's kingdom had erupted, all climaxing in the resurrection of the Son of God. Luke had written this for a particular person, a Greek man named Theophilus, in order that he might have assurance about the things that he had been taught. Theophilus didn't just need assurance about what Jesus had accomplished in the past.

He especially needed confidence that God was still fulfilling his purposes even as Jesus had ascended to heaven. And we need that confidence too, that Jesus today is still at work and he's still at work in our lives. And so Luke gives us Acts, a detailed account of the early church. Now, one effect that volcanoes have on the environment is something called afterglow. Large amounts of dust and ash are ejected high up into the atmosphere, creating an intense red glow that will linger in the sky atmosphere long after sunset, when most twilight colors would have normally disappeared.

Afterglow can linger sometimes for years. Well, Acts captures life in the afterglow of the resurrection of Jesus. Luke wants Theophilus, his readers, and he wants us to be assured that in the afterglow of the resurrection, the ascended Christ is still at work. That seemed perhaps nowhere more clearly than in our text this morning. Acts 9:1-31.

You can turn there now. Acts 9:1-31, Sinners on the Radical Conversion of a Man Named Saul who would become the one we know as Paul the Apostle. Saul was an unlikely convert, but this text is about more than a radical conversion story.

If that's all it was, just a cool, strange, amazing, incredible conversion story, we might find it interesting. But my guess is many of us would not find it particularly relevant to our own life. No, but because we find ourselves in that same afterglow of the resurrection, Luke wants us to reflect on this text. This text is gloriously relevant. For us.

This morning I want you to see from our text that in the afterglow of the resurrection, Christ's church is unstoppable. God's grace is unbelievable and the world's opposition is unavoidable. Those will be our three points this morning. Christ's church is unstoppable. God's grace is unbelievable and the world's opposition is unbelievable.

Is unavoidable. First, Christ's church is unstoppable. Here we'll focus on the bookends of our passage in Acts chapter 9. Let's begin with verses 1 and 2.

Look with me. But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priests and asked them 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. This isn't the first time we've heard of Saul in the book of Acts. In Acts chapter six, a Christian named Stephen had begun preaching the good news about Jesus, and it had invited quite the opposition. Particularly Hellenistic Jews had had a problem with what Stephen was saying, and that they had stirred up the Jewish religious leaders.

And in chapter seven, Stephen says, appears before the Sanhedrin, this council, and he preaches a piercing sermon about their rejection of Jesus and the rejection of all the prophets in the Old Testament, about this pattern that they had of making a idol of God's temple. Look at Acts chapter 7 verse 54. Just turn over a page and read with me. Now when they heard these things, they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

And Stephen said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

And falling to his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him, but Saul was ravaging the church and entering house after house he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Saul had been there. He was in the background, perhaps letting other people get the blood on their hands, but he was giving approval. And it seems like perhaps this incident had excited Saul to do more. And so by verse 3, Saul is ravaging the church, dragging off men and women and committing them to prison. Unless we think that Saul is just some kind of maniac, we should try to understand him.

A little better. If there's any word to capture Saul at this point, it would be zeal. Saul is zealous for the purity of Israel. And at times in Israel's story, God had raised up figures to enact a kind of holy violence against idolatry for the purity of the nation. Saul surely thought that now was that moment.

For him, a crucified Messiah was a contradiction in terms. This movement needed to be stamped out. Saul was so zealous he was willing to travel from Jerusalem all the way to Damascus. It's about a 135 mile trip in pursuit. But Saul was in for a surprise.

See, killing Stephen was a little bit like killing Jesus. It only seemed to aid the Christian cause as opposed to slow it down. Verse 2 tells us that he had come so that he he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Did you notice that? And yet in the text we just read in Acts chapter 7 and 8, persecution had caused the Christians to scatter from Jerusalem.

Now Saul's on a mission to bring them back to Jerusalem, which just shows that there's a problem. Getting them out of Jerusalem hadn't solved it, and they needed now to be brought back and imprisoned. Persecution up to this point had proved to be counterproductive. Well, that's where our text begins. But look at where it ends in verse 31.

Chapter 9, verse 31.

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up.

And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

So from verses 1 and 2, Saul's threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord going out from Jerusalem is now replaced by what? Peace and comfort throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria. Now, the church had understandable reasons to fear a man like Saul, but by verse 31, do you notice? They aren't fearing Saul. Fear of Saul has been replaced by fear of the Lord.

Our text starts with a man on a mission to stamp out the church, to kill it.

But by verse 31, what's happening? The church isn't dying. It says it's multiplying. Well, if you've ever been to the Sierra Nevada mountains in Northern California, you may have seen a giant sequoia. Giant sequoias are the largest trees on earth, and they can grow for up to 3,000 years.

Surprisingly, fire causes Sequoia trees to reproduce. When forest fires happen, the fires will heat the trees' cones so much that seeds, it will then rain seeds out onto the ground. And forest fires will often clear away all the dust and debris on the ground, clearing a path for those seeds to take root in the earth. As the season changes and the ground becomes wet again, those seeds slowly take off and become seedlings. It's not that it's impossible for fire to destroy a sequoia.

That's not the point of the illustration. It actually is possible. The worst fires can. But the majority of the time, fires mean more sequoias. Not less.

Oh brothers and sisters, we shouldn't waste too much of our time worrying about the future of the Christian Church. The Church has her troubles, and her persecutors, and her problems, and yet somehow Christianity keeps leaping boundaries. Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam have always been found in certain pockets of the world primarily.

Atheism has historically skewed towards men in predominantly wealthy areas and more educated areas of the world. But Christianity is a truly global religion. And if you're not a Christian, this should surprise you, that such an exclusive religion would be so durable and so geographically diverse.

These early Christians, look at verse 2, understood themselves as belonging to the way, not a way, but the way. Christianity is exclusive.

Regardless of your nationality or your ethnicity or your background or your gender or your education or your social status, There are things you must believe in order to be a Christian. There are things you must do. It's very exclusive. And yet, as we'll see in our text, that's not all it is. It's also incredibly inclusive.

A man like Saul will soon belong to the Way. Saul will be the one who will pioneer this Christian movement, mission to the nations. I can't get out of my mind this image in verse 2 with Saul with a handful of letters in his hand on the way to Damascus to imprison the Christians there.

When you think of Paul's letters, I wonder, do you think of these letters? Before there were Pauline epistles, Saul had a different sort of letter. Brothers and sisters, Christ's church is unstoppable. Persecution from the outside threatens to undo us. Apostasy and sin on the inside can as well.

And though it may be speculation, it's hard to resist pondering, as we'll read, why the two other figures the Lord will choose to involve in Saul's conversion. Are men named Ananias and Judas. Ananias and Judas, the names of two apostates we know already from the book. Despite internal difficulties even, the work of the church goes on. Whether opposition comes from outside or inside Christ's church is unstoppable.

But how? How does Christ's church prevail? Point two, God's grace is unbelievable. God's grace is unbelievable. In this section, we'll be primarily in verses 3 to 22, but let's start reading from 3 to 19.

Now, as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.

The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice, but seeing no one. 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, and for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias, and he said, Here I am, Lord.

And the Lord said to him, Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying. And he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight. But Ananias answered, 'Lord, I have heard from many about this man how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name. But the Lord said to him, 'Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.

For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. ' So Ananias departed and entered the house, and laying his hands on him he said, 'Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me, so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.' and immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized, and taking food, he was strengthened. Look ahead to verse 26. And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples.

And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe he was a disciple. What had happened in Saul's life was truly unbelievable. The disciples can't believe it. At first, Ananias can't believe it when the Lord tells him about Saul. On the road to Damascus, Saul had met the risen Lord Jesus.

And it's here we have to distinguish Saul's conversion and calling from ours. This is not a normal experience. Saul is not just converted here. He's also being called to be an apostle, to be someone who could testify to the risen Lord Jesus having seen him himself. Just imagine how surprised this young Pharisee must have been when he heard the Lord call out to him, Saul, Saul.

I wonder what he would have anticipated those next words to be. Saul, Saul, well done. Keep it up. Saul, Saul, I see you, my faithful servant. Instead, what does he hear?

Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. And with that, everything changed. Saul's story here is full of irony.

I would describe it as a delicious sort of irony. In chapter 7 verse 57, do you remember Saul had been there with Stephen's killers? Stopped their ears, the text says. Saul had seen it all, but he couldn't bear to hear it. But now in verse 8, Saul can't see.

The Lord had stopped his sight. Instead, he had opened his ears to hear Jesus's word. In verse 2, we learned that Saul, with murder on his breath, had intentions to bind the disciples and imprison them in Jerusalem. But notice as this text progresses, as this account moves forward, that the binder becomes bound. After his encounter with the risen Christ, verse 8 says that 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. The binder had become bound. This director had become dependent. At Stephen Stoning, Saul is there giving approval, giving directions. That was his intention in Damascus as well.

He had petitioned the high priest, we found out in verse 1 and 2, to endorse his plans. But now someone else has plans for him. Saul is under new management now. Jesus appears to him and says in verse 6, But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do. And told by who?

Not an apostle, just an ordinary disciple of named Ananias. I wonder what those three days mentioned in verse 9 were like for Saul. Imagine the misery he must have felt. He had just discovered that his life and mission was fraudulent, that he had been wrong. Look again at verses 4 and 5 and fall into the ground.

He heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. For Saul, this moment of divine revelation would result in a sort of theological revolution in his mind. I wonder if the beginnings of that happened in these three days.

So much of Paul's theology that we'll read about in his epistles is found in seed form right here.

Think about it. From this, Saul would come to understand that Jesus is the Lord. In Genesis 46, God had called Jacob and commissioned him, commanded him to go to Egypt to meet up with his sons. And he had begun by saying his name twice, Jacob, Jacob. In Exodus 3, God had appeared to Moses through a burning bush and calls him, like Jacob, to go to Egypt.

He had called him out of the bush saying, Moses, Moses. Both of those men responded the same way. They said, Here I am, Lord. It's actually exactly what Ananias says. But Saul responds with a question.

His question is, who are you, Lord? Saul would have to be told, the Lord has a name.

I am Jesus. Second, Saul would have to come to understand from this moment that Jesus' death had been more than he thought it was. See, the Old Testament law said that to be hanged on a tree was to be cursed by God. Before this, Saul probably concluded that Jesus, in his death on a Roman cross, had gotten what he deserved. He was a blasphemer and he had been cursed by God.

God. But now he meets Jesus alive, glorified, resurrected, in a status of authority and vindication. What could this possibly mean? If Jesus was under the curse of God on the cross, yet now was alive and vindicated, that means he hadn't been cursed.

For his own sin, but for others. If you're still new to Christianity or you're exploring the message, I'd encourage you to think more about Jesus of Nazareth and particularly his death, what that death meant. The very fact that Jesus of Nazareth died on a cross is basically historically undisputed. Where there's divergence is on what that death meant. The Bible teaches that you and me, and in fact all of the human race, has found ourselves in such a predicament that the very crucifixion of the Son of God was necessary.

The Bible teaches that there's a God who made you and He made me, and He's only and always been good to us, and yet over and over again we've sinned against Him, we've turned away from him. And we've deserved his judgment, his wrath for our sin. That's why his death was so necessary. Jesus of Nazareth, God's own son, came and he came and he lived the perfect life. He lived a life of full obedience.

He went to the cross voluntarily out of love for sinners like you and me. And on that cross he took the punishment that we deserved. We, whoever would put our faith in him and turn from our sins. He's alive now. As this scene captures in a position of glory and Vindication.

And like he did for Saul today, he's extending that unbelievable Grace to you. Now, maybe you think, well, you don't know my story. I'm too far gone. You don't know what's in my past.

You shouldn't think that will slow this God down. Think about Saul. From this experience, he would come to understand rightly that salvation must be completely by grace. I mean, if Jesus would appear to Saul, if Jesus would commission him, if Jesus would spare him, the very arch enemy of the church, well then God must delight in saving sinners apart from whatever's in your past. Salvation must be by grace alone.

Lastly, and perhaps most obviously, Saul will come to understand from this encounter that the church truly is Christ's Isn't it striking that Jesus asks Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Saul learned that day that to harm the church is to harm Jesus himself. Jesus is profoundly connected to his church. This would revolutionize Saul's theology and his mission. Saul will conclude that Jesus is the head of the church.

That we're his members, that we're his body, that Christians are united to him, that we're one with him, and that because we're one with him, all that's his becomes ours. His righteousness becomes ours. His Spirit becomes ours. His very sonship becomes ours through adoption.

From this interaction, Saul would see why God's mission in the world must have the church at its center. All of these truths, which Paul's epistles reflect on over and over again, are in seed form right here. Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Christ cares for his church. The Christian life, it's the church life, and we shouldn't want it any other way.

Here's Saul, a terrorist of the church, and the Lord appears to him, and then the Lord appears to Ananias, and in verse 17 these two men finally meet. And what are the first words that Saul hears? Brother Saul.

In his book How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie comments that the sweetest words to all of our ears is our name. So Carnegie's lesson is, of course, you should learn people's names. But I think there might be even a sweeter sound, not just a name, but a title like this before a name. Brother Saul. Those words must have been music to Saul's ears.

Could it be true? Could the arch enemy of the church be welcomed as a brother? Could this fanatic be received as a member of the family? Yes, God's grace is unbelievable. So CHBC, how are we doing as a church in welcoming new believers?

If a brand new Christian showed up here, would he or she be welcomed? What would the reception be like? Would it depend on the person's race or class or gender or education or age? Would it depend on the kind of life that they had left behind?

It shouldn't. One of my favorite sites as one of your pastors is at members meetings. These are meetings for members where we will vote in new members of the church. And often what will happen is a pastor will share a testimony of the person who's up for membership. There'll be a picture on a screen.

They'll share a brief summary of the person's testimony. And they'll be received into membership. And in the process, I always love as a pastor, noticing members in the congregation with a notebook, noting things down, writing things down. Something in that person's testimony, something about them or about their background catches your attention. And so you you take a note, you shoot them a text, you write them an email inviting them over for a meal or to get to know them better.

I'm so encouraged by that. And as we transition out of this pandemic, I hope we can recover that kind of welcoming initiative towards new members. I hope that spirit grows within us and especially towards new believers. God intends us to be part of his family. He deals with us as individuals, yes, but he doesn't leave us alone.

Did you notice that to arrest Saul and to bring him to his knees, Jesus appears to him directly. But for his formal reception, for his conversion, for the restoration of his sight, for his commissioning, Christ doesn't appear to Saul directly. He assigns a human agent. Ananias. And this human agent holds no high office in the church.

There's no magic in the laying on of his hands. Before Christ, all of us are on level ground. Ananias has ministered to Sauls just as much as Sauls ministered to Ananias. God's grace is unbelievable. This grace made Saul's life unbelievable to those who would hear him.

Look at verses 19 to 22 with me. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogue, saying, 'He is the Son of God.' and all who heard him were amazed and said, 'Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests? But Saul increased all the more in strength and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

So here's a man deeply immersed in the Old Testament Scriptures who's now proving that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ. His transformation had utterly astounded the Jews. And today it still astounds many. That confession that Paul makes here, he is the Son of God, goes forth shaping individuals, shaping families and societies, institutions and nations all over the world. Now, I think it's too simplistic to say that evangelism is the only way to change the world, right?

Many of us in this congregation care deeply about the common good and about making our society more just, and those are profoundly Christian concerns. And there are many ways to work towards those ends. And it's good in a church that we would have specialists in different areas of that pursuit. But Saul's conversion, I think, should challenge us. The conversion of an individual changed the world.

How much you're committed to a particular so whatever, however much you're committed to a particular social cause.

I think Acts 9 should push us to be at least as committed to personal evangelism, at least as committed to sharing the good news with our friends and family members. If you want to see your neighborhood change for the better, yes, serve on your neighborhood's council. Or your neighborhood school board. Serve by sweeping sidewalks and planting flowers. By hosting barbecues, by being friendly, by caring for elderly persons around you, to all of that, yes, amen.

But what about in addition to all of that, starting a Bible study? CHBC, I would love in 2021, as this pandemic recedes, to hear of more evangelistic Bible studies in our neighborhoods. If you need help thinking through that, the steps to get there, what that could look like. Talk to an elder. Talk about it in your small group.

Saul reminds us that the gospel is the power of God. God's Word can accomplish some things in someone's life that cannot be explained. In our church's atmosphere should be a palpable sense of expectation that as we live lives of holiness, as we pray, as we seek to do good to our friends and family members, as we take risks and share the gospel with others, that God will bless those things and that people will come into his family. Are your prayers marked by that kind of expectation, that expectation that God will work in your loved one's life? Or is it more common to just kind of give up?

In praying for people. Surely we have Acts 9 to convince us not to give up, not to grow weary, but to keep asking God, to keep praying for friends, family members, and co-workers who do not yet know the Lord. If God can save us all, after all, who can't he save? In the afterglow of the resurrection, God's grace is unbelievable, so we should proclaim it.

Now, some will receive this grace, but many others won't. Which brings me to our third point, our final point this morning. The world's opposition is unavoidable. The world's opposition is unavoidable. In verse 16, Jesus had told Ananias that Saul would suffer.

Now, look at verse 23. When many days had passed, the Jews Saul's conviction that Jesus was the Messiah had invited pretty violent opposition. He had boldly preached that Jesus is the Son of God. And today, that confession, we even recited it earlier, it unites Christians all over the world, but it divides us from the rest. It divides then and now Christians from Jews, from Muslims, from Buddhists, from Hindus, from atheists.

It divides many families and friends. Little has changed. As an undergraduate, I was once invited to an interfaith roundtable discussion at my university with a group of Christian students who are leaders in different Christian organizations and a group from the Hillel Center, the Jewish student organization, and the director. And we were invited to this round table discussion where we're going to talk about our faith. And the first question we were asked is we were allowed to go around and each share what our faith meant to us.

And as we ran around, a pattern I noticed emerged. The Christians, one by one, largely shared that what they appreciated, what had moved them so profoundly about their faith, was the teaching. The scriptures, the promises of God in the Bible, and how those had shaped their life. The Jewish students at this particular table shared almost exclusively about the traditions and how their families had appreciated the traditions that had been passed down. And it was an identity marker for them and they appreciated it.

And it was a good conversation. I learned a lot. But at a certain point, I raised this observation. We had time to kind of ask questions and I raised my hand. I said, I noticed that it seems like the Christians primarily appreciate their faith in language of doctrine and theology and what the Bible says.

And the Jewish students are primarily talking about tradition. Is that accurate? Am I hearing that right? And the director of this Hillel Center went, Yes, you are hearing it correctly. Absolutely.

And he went on, and he said, We actually understand, I understand that one could be Jewish and also like very much integrate practices from Eastern religions. So one could be Jewish and a Buddhist, for instance. He said, Even I think one could be Jewish and an atheist. And I'm like, oh, okay. And so he went on, and I said, Can that be another question?

I said, Can one be Jewish and a Christian. And he smiled and he said, no. One cannot be Jewish and a Christian. So in this individual's mind, it's possible to be Jewish and an atheist, but not Jewish and a Christian. The Son of God, Jesus is the Son of God, that confession is a sticking point.

Saying Jesus is Lord, that he's the king of the world, that he rules, that he's in charge, that his word has the final say over everything, that will invite opposition. In some times and in some matters, praise the Lord, our world will agree with Jesus. But in other matters and in other times and in other places, our world will not agree with Jesus.

Think about your life, in your workplace, in your family. Where is Jesus the sticking point?

Most of us won't deal with death threats, I hope, on our life for confessing that Jesus is the Son of God. But opposition is unavoidable. Saul would have to suffer. Saul, the man who had once caused Christian suffering, would now himself bear it, sharing in the very sufferings of Christ.

Verse 16 is a little confusing. People are wondering, is this some kind of cruel, vindictive punishment on Saul? I'm going to show you how much you have to suffer.

No, suffering would actually be one of the primary ways that Saul would be asked to imitate Jesus. And it's the same for us. Look back at verse 23. When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him. But their plot became known to Saul.

They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him. But his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket. There are striking parallels between the opposition that Jesus had undergone in Luke chapter four at the beginning of his ministry and what Saul experiences here at the beginning of his ministry. In Luke chapter four, Saul begins his Jesus had begun his ministry by preaching in the synagogues. Like Saul, the audience had been astonished at his words with Jesus.

They had asked, isn't this Joseph's son, the carpenter? With Saul, they had asked, isn't this the one who had just caused havoc on the Christians in Jerusalem?

The questions for Jesus would eventually turn into attempts on his life. They would try to chase him off of a cliff. The same thing happens with Saul. Eventually, these questions, this kind of muted opposition turns into death threats.

Jesus, the text says in Luke chapter 4, had had to pass, had escaped passing through their midst. And Saul here in the text that we just read is lowered in a basket through an opening in the wall by his friends. Kind of a bizarre way to escape. Do you see just from those comparisons, Luke is trying to teach us that suffering is one way, a big way, Suffering for Jesus is how we imitate Jesus. And so Saul, in his letters, understood this.

He would often share about his sufferings in his epistles. He would share about his sufferings as kind of a primary source to build his credibility to his hearers. So in 2 Corinthians 11:32-33, Paul would recount this very instance. As he's sharing about his qualifications as an apostle. We know from Paul's accounting of his story in Galatians 1 that around three years after all of this happens he would return to Jerusalem once more.

Saul was returning to Jerusalem as a converted man and as an apostle of Christ. Look at verses 26 to 30, our last passage we'll and when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles, and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord.

And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists, but they were seeking to kill him. And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. Saul, as he's going back to Jerusalem, finds himself in a kind of no man's land. On one side, he's angered all his Jewish colleagues by proclaiming boldly that Jesus is the Son of God. But on the other side are these naturally suspicious Christians.

In this community in Jerusalem that doubt his intentions. And so who steps in that? Who steps into that no man's land for Saul? It's Barnabas. Barnabas is a bridge builder willing to spend his credibility with the Jerusalem Christians in order for Saul to receive a welcome.

And in order for Saul to be able to move about freely in Jerusalem preaching the name of the Lord. Praise God for Barnabas. He only gets a brief mention in this story, but think about it. Saul could have been left out in the cold. There could have been divisions that would emerge in the church, long-term divisions if Saul was never included here in Jerusalem.

But here's Saul, here's Barnabas standing in the gap, ready to see the grace of God in Saul's life, working for unity amidst and amongst the disciples. Willing to take a risk for Christ's sake. Just imagine the people who had heard Saul's bold preaching in Jerusalem, who had come to share in that confession that Jesus is the Son of God, who had come to be converted. I imagine they died so thankful for Saul's preaching. But did they know about Barnabas?

Barnabas had been there. Barnabas is a big reason why Saul even had that kind of access. Saul, Barnabas is, we learned about him in other passages, that he's a son of encouragement. Oh friends, next to every Saul there is a Barnabas, a son or daughter of encouragement. Barnabas reminds us that ministry as a church is a team effort.

Effort. Your encouragement, your service of a brother or sister can be used in ways you would never imagine. Those small good deeds that we thought about last week, done for another, done to build up one of your brothers or sisters can be used in incredible ways. Our passage concludes with Saul doing the same thing that Stephen had been doing in Acts 7. He's preaching boldly.

He's disputing with the Hellenistic Jews. He's dealing with death threats against his life. Unlike Stephen, though, Saul would escape. And the disciples eventually send him back to Tarsus, his hometown. There was greater work ahead for Saul.

Suffering is unavoidable. But in God's plan, it's not unintentional. Could Stephen ever have known in the aftermath of his martyrdom what would happen? There's Stephen, picture it, looking up to heaven, the Lord Jesus ready to receive him, standing on his behalf as his blood is being shed. If he had only looked around, he might have crossed eyes with Saul, his persecutor, who would soon become the persecuted.

That prayer that Stephen had offered, Lord, do not hold this sin against them, would be answered. Saul's sin not held against him. Saul brought into God's family. Saul used now as a minister of reconciliation.

So how is your faith? In this season you find yourself in, where is your heart more acquainted with doubt than faith? You know, doubt is a root cause of so many of our problems. Theophilus, that one who Luke had written Luke and Acts for, he needed assurance. About the things he had been taught.

This is a Christian who just needed assurance. That's what we need as well. We don't often choose doubt. Doubt is kind of like the dew on the grass. You just wake up and it's there.

And the book of Acts is meant to kind of be like the sun burning, slowly burning that dew off so that we would have this kind of courage, so that we would stand firm amidst opposition so that we would bask in God's unbelievable grace. Acts 9 reminds us that Jesus can handle the church's problems. His church is unstoppable. He will preserve it. It's his body.

And if you're suffering, know that Jesus sees you. He takes your persecution seriously. To harm the church is to harm Jesus himself. And he doesn't intend for you to suffer alone. He brings Ananias into our life and Barnabas into our life to encourage us, to keep us going.

And in ways that only he could come up with, in ways that we'll only finally see in glory, our suffering is used to broadcast his, unbelievably. Grace. Perhaps most of all, this text reminds us that God can save anyone, can't he? If you're a Christian, the rest of the New Testament reminds us that maybe you didn't have the flashing light, but that actually your salvation was just as miraculous as Saul's. So when's the last time you saw something?

You couldn't believe. To Charles Wesley, who penned our final hymn, God's grace in his life was truly unbelievable as he reflected on it. As he reflects on his salvation in our last hymn, he asks the question, and can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood, Amazing love, how can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me? Let's stand and sing together our final hymn.