From a Wolf to a Shepherd
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Discuss how we have seen the gospel beginning to spread and how Luke shows how these two conversions, Saul and Cornelius, launch the world mission of the church.
Saul the apostle to the Gentiles
Cornelius, the first Gentile to be converted
As we consider the conversion of Saul I want us to consider the historically particular aspects of his conversion and the universal aspects of his conversion.
I. Historically Particular Aspects
I. Historically Particular Aspects
A. His hatred for Christ
The Bible gives us some insight into this man Saul, we can see into his heart before salvation.
Brothers and sisters as we look into Saul pre-conversion we have only one possible answer for the cause of his conversion and it is the sovereign grace of God.
Saul did not decide for Jesus, Jesus decided for Saul
Saul would not have sung: I have decided to follow Jesus, not turning back;
instead he would have sung: I never wanted to follow Jesus, He rescued me
Notice some of the things we are told about this man Saul
Luke has already mentioned him three times and each time he is seen as a bitter opponent of Christ and His church
7:58 at the stoning of Stephen
8:1 Saul approved of his execution
Notice when Paul addresses the people in Jerusalem, he refers to this event
And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’
8:3
This word used ravaging,
cause harm to, injure, damage, ruin, destroy
Only time this word is used in the NT but it is used in the Septuagint
The boar from the forest ravages it,
and all that move in the field feed on it.
Psalm
here the word is used of a wild boar destroying a vineyard
Interestingly this word is used
You shall leave your name to my chosen for a curse,
and the Lord God will put you to death,
but his servants he will call by another name,
The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
and dust shall be the serpent’s food.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.
Here it is the wolf, the lion, the serpent who hurts and destroys (this is the word used again).
Paul is pictured as a wild boar, as a vicious wolf, as a bloodthirsty lion, as a deadly serpent whose desire is to destroy the church of Jesus Christ
We see in 9:1 Saul is breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord
Someone has suggested that we have an allusion to the panting or snorting of a wild beast
Look over to 9:21, he is the man who made havoc
This is the same word Paul uses in
For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.
They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”
The words destroy here are the same Greek word used for making havoc in 9:21
This word can be translated, to make havoc of, to destroy, to annihilate
And let’s go back to 9:4
What does Jesus say to Saul, why are you persecuting Me? His persecution of the church, his hatred of the church came from a hatred of Jesus Christ
This man was at war with Christ
He hated him,
“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
This is the picture that we get of Saul
B. Christ’s pursuit of the persecutor (v.3-9)
The passage is clear, Saul may not have been looking for Christ but Christ was looking for him.
Saul is confronted by the Sovereign Lord and he would be forever changed.
Saul began this journey to Damascus a proud man, a man full of himself and his accomplishments but now we see him humbled, blinded
He is now a captive of the the very Christ that he opposed.
Everything about Saul’s conversion points to the Lord’s Sovereign Grace initiating salvation.
Listen to how Paul would later talk of his salvation
But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
Paul uses words set me apart, called me by his grace, made me his own, grace overflowed for me
Think of Paul’s conversion, a light shining from heaven, and consider that in light of what he writes later
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
But something else I want to say here is that the Lord had been already working in Saul
How do I know?
In when Paul is telling of his conversion we have some details there that we don’t have here
And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
The Lord had been pursuing Saul and he had been kicking against the goads, Saul had been resisting the prodding and pricking of the Lord.
What were these goads?
Don’t know for sure, maybe he had seen Jesus during his earthly ministry
Stephen’s death
What we see in is the sudden conversion in a process where the Lord had been at work in Saul’s life.
Saul had been pursued by the Hound of Heaven and is where the Saul is captured.
John Stott
“To sum up, the cause of Saul’s conversion was grace, the sovereign grace of God. But sovereign grace is gradual grace and gentle grace. Gradually, and without violence, Jesus pricked Saul’s mind and conscience with his goads. Then he revealed himself to him by the light and the voice, not in order to overwhelm him, but in such a way as to enable him to make a free response. Divine grace does not trample on human personality. Rather the reverse, for it enables human beings to be truly human. It is sin which imprisons; it is grace which liberates. The grace of God so frees us from the bondage of our pride, prejudice and self-centeredness, as to enable us to repent and believe. One can but magnify the grace of God that he should have had mercy on such a rabid bigot as Saul of Tarsus, and indeed on such proud, rebellious and wayward creatures as ourselves.
C. Saul is welcomed into the church by Ananias (v.10-25)
Discuss v.10-16
notice v.17;
notice v.17; ;
notice he lays his hands on him; maybe this is for healing but even more i suspect this was a gesture of tenderness and love to a blind man who could not see the compassion on his face
brother Saul
Here we seen one of the forgotten heroes of the early church, Ananias welcoming Saul into the family.
These may have been the first words Saul heard from Christian lips after his conversion
We see Ananias’ ministry to Saul, caring for him physically and spiritually
Saul is growing in strength physically because of the ministry of the church (v.19)
v.22 growing in strength spiritually as well through the ministry of the church
I want to point our Barnabas’ care for Saul as well (v.26-27)
The ministry of these brothers is a great benefit to Saul.
Brothers and sisters we are reminded that we need one another, we need the ministry of the church.
D. Following Christ was not easy for Saul
Notice v.15-16
Notice v.23-25, 29
II. Universal Aspects
II. Universal Aspects
A. We were at war with Christ
Brother and sisters in Christ, think back to the time before salvation.
Did you kick against the goads?
The working of the Spirit to convict you and yet you fought it.
Oh how much you fought Christ
You were at war with Christ
Listen to Paul
and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
Rom. 5.
B. We must have an encounter with Christ
Though we may not all encounter the Lord the same way, the truth is that we must all have an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, Christ must lay hold of us.
Think of you have the conversion of Lydia and the Philippian jailer
With Lydia the Lord quietly opens her heart to the gospel as she hears it preachec
Philippian jailer he sends an earthquake to sake the man to repentance and faith in Christ
Brother and sister if we were to share testimonies we would have a wide variety
From a quiet inner working of the Lord
To radical circumstances bringing someone dramatically to their knees
But they all have one thing in common:
Christ laid hold of them by His Sovereign grace and brought the to repentance and faith.
What about you? Have you been captured by the King of Grace? Seek Him today.
C. We need the local church ( the Lord calls us to the local church. we need on another)
D. Following Christ will not be easy (The Lord calls us to a mission and it will not be easy.)
III. Other Lessons from this passage
III. Other Lessons from this passage
A. Sincerity does not save us
Saul was sincere but he was sincerely wrong and headed toward hell.
B. God can save the worst of sinners
Paul says so himself
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
C. Notice Ananias’ obedience to the Lord and how the Lord blessed his obedience
The Lord can use your obedience in ways that you could never imagined.
Ananias was an instrument used in the hand of the Lord to mold and to shape Saul,
This wild boar of a man, this ravenous wolf who He broke
Saul goes from a wild beast to a humble lamb
He goes from a lion who is seeking to destroy the flock of God to one of the most faithful shepherds of the flock of God.
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like Saul
Transformed him and used him for His glory
Brothers and sisters that same grace is ours in Christ Jesus our Lord