Transformissional Conversion
- David Fairchild
- Aug 5, 2007
- Series: Acts
TEXT
Acts 9:1-20: “But Saul, still
breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went
to the high priest 2 and asked him 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. 3 Now as he went on his
way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed
around him. 4 And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying
to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 5 And he
said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you
are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be
told what you are to do.’ 7 The men who were traveling with
him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 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. 9 And
for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
10 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.’
11 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, 12 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.’
13 But Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this
man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. 14
And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call
on your name.’ 15 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. 16 For I will show him how much
he must suffer for the sake of my name.’ 17 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.’ 18 And immediately something like scales fell
from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized;
19 and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the
disciples at Damascus. 20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the
synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.’”
INTRODUCTION
Each week we’ve been looking at the
incredible spread of the early Church as we’ve been unpacking the
book of Acts. The purpose of looking at this book is more than
just history; it’s to consider what power and dynamic was at work
in the Church in the first three centuries, causing its startling life
which attracted so many to the Church and caused the Gospel to spread
so quickly throughout the Roman Empire. In asking this each week
we’ve uncovered some pretty amazing things of life in the Church,
some profound and awe-inspiring truths about the love, courage and focus
the Church possessed, or rather, that possessed them.
This week we’re looking at a core truth that is integrally connected to every other message we’ve taught. We’re taking a 35,000-foot fly-over on the text and looking at the nature of conversion. Next week we’ll get into the specifics of Paul’s life and what changed, and the week following we’ll look at the idea of The Call. This is part one of three.
Simply put, and perhaps too simplistically understood, Christianity converts people. This doesn’t sound all that new or significant, but the implications are weighty. You see, early Christians didn’t stroll in one day and just join the Church or sign up for the Christian movement; they were converted. Christian conversion is the most profound change that a human being can experience.
I’ll say this carefully, if you go to a church in our postmodern culture and this church speaks about a great many things but never about the power of the Gospel to convert someone, you’re listening to a counterfeit gospel. Original, radical Christianity converted people.
In this chapter we have one of the classic conversion encounters in all of Scripture. We’ve heard it so many times we’re in danger of a lukewarm apathy to the story. This story tells us how Christianity converted someone and shows us the power of that conversion.
This language sounds a bit archaic
and I realize that the term conversion is a loaded one so we’ll take
some time and talk about it as we look at Paul’s encounter.
There are three kinds of people that are here this morning with different responses to the topic we’re looking at:
1-Some of you are not converted and wonder if this is just another high-pressure message, you may not see the need to discuss this.
2-Some of you are converted and may be wondering why you should consider this.
3-Some
of you think you’re converted and you’re not.
If you’re not converted you may already be squirming a bit in your seat because you already have a negative image of Christianity and Christians and the subject of getting converted or converting people may be the exact reason you have such a hard time with religion in general and Christianity in specific. You might even be saying to yourself, “I came to make my friend happy who invited me, but I’m not here to get converted.” Fair enough, but let’s look at the story of Paul anyway.
Paul is one of the most influential figures in the history of mankind. The reason he was so unshakable, so influential and had this incredible poise under great pressure, power when he seemed powerless, and an unbending focus on his goal was because he claimed to have found the secret to being content under any circumstance. He was able to proclaim, “Oh death were is your sting?” Where did that come from? It was because of this incredible change, an incredible conversion.
At the very least, to meet someone like this on the street you would want to find out his secret and determine what it is that has changed him into such an influential person. We hire business, sports, or political celebrities to come and speak to us about tips and habits which helped them. Why wouldn’t we listen to Paul? Maybe this man has something you need or want to hear about?
If you are converted and call yourself
a Christian, you might want to ask yourself why it is that you’re
not living the way Paul lived. Why aren’t you fearless, unshakable,
unmovable, and totally content in whatever circumstance you find yourself
in? Why aren’t you living like he did?
I think the answer is because we’ve forgotten what we received when we were first converted. Familiarity breeds discontent and our lack of content is because we’ve heard stories a thousand times now but we’re not really hearing it. This is why we have to go back and look at this.
There are certainly some of you
here that think you’re converted and you’re really not.
The only way to see this is to look at someone who really is and Paul
is someone who really is and knew it. Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:
1 Timothy 1: 15-16: “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. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.”
Paul says that he’s a pattern.
Perhaps not a pattern with all the dramatic twists and turns and details,
but Paul’s life is in many ways a pattern for us. There are
some common things we are to experience as Christians that should be
just as true for our lives as they were for Paul’s. We all need
to look at this story and learn from it. What things can we learn?
STUDY
I. True conversion is a necessity for everyone.
Who is Saul? Saul (Paul) is the
most religious type of person you could ever be and yet he needed to
be converted. He was extremely zealous, very moral, very religious,
and yet he realized that he needed to be converted. You couldn’t
outwork Saul. Saul was part of the party of Judaism that was called
the Pharisees. These religious leaders were the most popular and
the most morally conservative, and biblically literate. They were
as fundamental as you could get, without the fun but with lots of mental!
We’re told in Philippians 3 that Paul kept the Law flawlessly.
Philippians 3:4-6: “though
I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else
thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised
on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin,
a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor
of the church; as to righteousness, under the law blameless.”
He was as moral of a person as you
could find. His ethics, his personal piety were all spotless.
But Paul wasn’t just a moral person he was a very devout religious person. He was filled with faith in what he was doing and his religion. Many of us in our culture think this is enough. We’re told, “It’s not really what you believe, but that you believe it sincerely with all of your heart.” Isn’t that great? But isn’t that pretty silly? Hitler believed with all of his heart and did what his heart believed. Are we to commend him? Of course not because Hitler was wrong and as a result millions of people died.
Saul believed something with all of his heart too, yet like Hitler he was wrong too. It was killing him and the people around him.
Two skaters head out on two
different lakes. One skater launches out on a half inch thick
sheet of ice and says, “I know it will hold me.” The other
skater launches out tentatively on a 12 inch thick sheet of ice and
says, “I don’t know if it will hold me up, I’m afraid.”
One dies, one lives. Who dies? The one with a ton of faith
but only a half inch thick sheet of ice. Who lives? The
one with a small faith but with a 12 inch thick sheet of ice.
Why? It isn’t the faith the saves you; it’s the ice!
It isn’t the quality of your faith that saves you; it’s the object
of your faith that saves you. Is your faith in the right object?
To say that it doesn’t matter what you believe but that you believe it with your whole heart sincerely, and to say that what really matters is how moral you are is cheap. Paul was full of faith and sincere as well as extremely moral and yet he needed to be converted, and so do we.
Jesus says as much in John 3 and Matthew 18:
John 3:3: “Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’”
Matthew 18:3: “and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’”
You can say to me that you’ve grown up in the Church and you’ve always been in the Church and I’ll stick with Jesus and say, “So what, have you been converted?” You can tell me that you went down the aisle and did the alter call, you filled out the card and I’ll say to you, “So what, have you been converted?” You can tell me that you’re a moral person, you’re very sincere, and you’re full of faith and Paul would say to you, “So was I, have you been converted?”
Unlike all other religions, you don’t “become” a Christian; you’re converted to union with Christ. Someone happens to you, it’s not something you do. We’re converted from something to someone.
Not only does this story show us that
conversion is necessary for everyone, it also shows us…
II. True conversion engages the mind
True conversion engages our rationality.
It’s more than that but it isn’t less than that. You really
can’t be converted unless you begin to think about the implications.
Becoming a Christian really isn’t about turning over a new leaf. There’s a great line in the movie O brother Where Art Thou where Delmar accepts Jesus Christ and is getting baptized.
Delmar: Well that's it, boys. I've been redeemed. The preacher's done warshed away all my sins and transgressions. It's the straight and narrow from here on out, and heaven everlasting's my reward.
Ulysses: Delmar, what are you talking about? We've got bigger fish to fry.
Delmar: The preacher says all my sins is warshed away, including that Piggly Wiggly I knocked over in Yazoo.
Ulysses: I thought you said you was innocent of those charges?
Delmar: Well I was lyin'. And the preacher says that that sin's been warshed away too.
That’s a cute story, but only partially accurate. You see, becoming a Christian really isn’t about getting a second chance to now live a good and moral life. If that were the case, there was no need for Saul to become converted or a whole host of religious leaders who are far and away our moral superiors, yet understood it isn’t about getting another chance to do it right the next time.
Becoming converted has less to do with changing your life and turning over a new leaf; being converted has more to do with being confronted with true history, true news, and empirical facts that what Jesus Christ did in history is actually true. This is what Peter has preached over and over again in Acts thus far: God became a man in Jesus and lived a perfect, sinless life and died the death that we deserved upon a Roman cross and physically rose from the dead after three days.
Christian conversion starts with thinking;
you have to look at this and see that it is true. You have to
be shocked rationally and engaged intellectually.
How do we come to such a conclusion? If you look in Acts we have three accounts of Paul’s conversion: Acts 9, 22, and 26. If you really want a fuller picture of Paul’s conversion you have to read all three of them as well as Philippians 3.
Luke records for us these details as a historian and theologian because these details of Paul’s conversion are incredibly important.
Acts 9:4-7: “And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 5 And he said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.’ 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.”
Acts 22:7-9: “And I fell to
the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you
persecuting me?' 8 And I answered, 'Who are you, Lord?' And he
said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.'
9 Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand
the voice of the one who was speaking to me.”
Why is Luke telling us the accounts
from Paul? Because it matters. These men heard the voice
but couldn’t make out a person and in chapter 22 they saw light but
couldn’t understand the voice of the one who was speaking.
This was no mere hallucination. The event actually happened and Paul is showing that this wasn’t just his experience, but that the men stood speechless as well and didn’t understand.
You can not be a Christian without
thinking. You can not be a Christian without having your mind
engaged. This is the basis for everything, and everything about
Christianity is based upon true history, real facts that we’re called
to believe. It’s more than thinking but not less. Jesus
really lived, really died, really raised from the dead and really met
Paul! The risen Christ came to meet Paul and change him.
You might be thinking, “Well if I
had that kind of encounter, I’d believe too. It was easier for
Paul.” Really? Let me assure you that the evidence that
Paul had was not overwhelming and the evidence we have is not underwhelming.
Judas saw some incredible signs and
wonders and still hardened his heart and betrayed Jesus. In Matthew
28:17 Jesus appears after raising from the dead and we’re told
some still doubted. Thomas, someone close to Jesus still doubted
even though He saw Jesus. In Luke 16 Jesus tells the parable
of the rich man in hell and the poor man who is with Abraham.
The man in hell asks Abraham to go and tell his brothers about the truth
of hell, and Abraham’s response is shocking because he essentially
tells them that if they don’t believe the Scriptures they won’t
believe even if someone is raised from the dead.
Human beings are not creatures of reason
alone. Our disbelief runs deep not because we don’t have the
necessary empirical facts, but because our hearts are prejudice and
we choose which facts we’re willing to believe. Our disbelief
comes from a mind and heart that have chosen what they’re willing
to believe and what they’re not based upon a whole host of emotional
and psychological factors. If we choose not to believe it’s
not because we are absent of facts and therefore can’t. It’s because
we’re filled with belief in another story and won’t.
If you don’t want to lay down your
life at the feet of Christ you can choose to dismiss any experience
or evidence as a hallucination or a temporary daydream. You can
excuse away all the evidence in the world.
The evidence we have today in Scripture
is not underwhelming. This is why we gather and talk about Christ
and the Gospel, the truth of Scripture and the importance of understanding
what you believe. You have to think it out. Paul did.
It’s not enough to just think it
out and decide it’s true for you unless you’re willing to go a step
further and say that it’s true for everyone. True for you can
lead you onto thin ice, true for everyone is mind-altering and worldview-changing.
If this is true for everyone and not just for you, then your motivation
for sharing it goes beyond your own selfish safety.
There were over 500 that saw Jesus
which Paul appeals to as he wrote 1 Cor. 15. In other words, Paul
is saying, “Look, if you want to check this out, go to the people
who are still alive that saw this.” This is not the tact you
take if you’re trying to fabricate a story which can be disproved
by simply talking with those who Paul said were still alive.
When James says we saw them, and John
said we touched him, and Paul says 500 saw him, and Luke records Paul’s
conversion, and on and on, we’re left with either the largest conspiracy
every put to paper and deliberate lies or it is true truth and Jesus
Christ is alive and the truth of what He’s done in history has altered
the world and can alter you if you believe it. You can’t have
it both ways. There is no in between.
If you’re not willing to be driven to deep trust in Jesus, you’re not going to be converted like Paul was.
Christian conversion is necessary for everyone. Christian conversion has to engage your mind for it to be true conversion, and lastly…
III.
True conversion gives us sight to show us we’re blind
It makes us aware of spiritual blindness and it awakens a spiritual sight.
This may sound ethereal or esoteric, but this is a very important point. The moment the light flashes Saul becomes blinded.
In Acts 26, when Jesus confronted Saul, we’re given more of what Christ said to Saul:
Acts 26:16-18: “But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles--to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”
With Paul, the moment he spiritually
began to see he became physically blind. Is this the pattern for
all of us? Not physically, but the principle is the same.
This is one of the ways you can tell if true conversion has taken place.
The way you know that you have spiritual sight and seeing things that you haven’t seen before is you begin to realize your spiritual blindness. If you don’t know you’ve been spiritually blind, if you haven’t understood you’ve been blind, then you don’t have any spiritual sight. If you have sight, you know you’ve been blind, if you don’t know you’ve been blind, you have no spiritual sight.
A Christian is someone who knows they were an idiot. Christianity goes beyond just the reasoning and evidence. It is more than just assenting to facts. Every Christian who has ever become a Christian comes to the realization that they’ve been a fool. If you don’t look back and see your past and know where you were spiritually blind, the things you didn’t see about God and your heart, about your sin and God’s grace in Christ, then you’re still blind.
The way you know you’re a Christian is that you’re aware of your foolishness and blindness and now you know it. They may be facts about Christianity that were either nonsense to you or just unimportant, but now they’ve become profound and vital to you, they become visible. God’s beauty is seen, your sin is seen, you begin to see things that you once did not. This is an important question to ask yourself: has this happened to you? No? Then you’re still blind.
IV. True conversion is always the result of God’s goading
Christian conversion is always part
of God’s sovereign process in your life. When we look at Paul’s
story it seems as though it was as sudden of a conversion as you could
have. But, as you understand what God had been doing in Saul’s
life you begin to see that He had been goading him for some time.
When you look at verse 1 of chapter
9 you see that Saul was “breathing threats and murder against the
disciples…” Then all of the sudden you have this incredible
light and voice break in and knock Saul to the ground. It doesn’t
seem like there was much preparation other than this experience.
You might be thinking that you don’t really fit the pattern of Paul’s
conversion because this didn’t happen to you. You have to look
more carefully. Acts 22 and 26 need to be considered.
Of all the skeptics of Christianity,
Saul was the most hostile. He had murder on his heart for those
who were identified with Jesus. Why? What was eating at
him that caused such hatred to swell? What was going on?
In Acts 26 we see a little more of what Jesus said.
Acts 26:14: “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.’”
What are the goads? A goad was a tool that shepherds used to prick and poke sheep to prod them to safety. If they were going down a path where they were in danger, they would get the goad. Jesus comes and reveals to Saul that this is what He’d been doing with him.
When we look at our lives and examine our own conversion we see that this is what God had been doing. The moment of conversion may have been sudden, the moment you place your faith in Christ might be sudden, but God had been working in our life previously for some time. He’s been readying you throughout your life through circumstances. Jesus was goading you, hurting you, bringing pain, doubt and even confusion until it was eating at you.
How did this happen to Paul? In Romans 7 we get a glimpse of this. Paul says that he once thought he was alive before the weight of God’s Law came down upon him. He was living his life and thought he was a pretty good person, but as he came to understand what the Law of God demanded, he died. He realized he couldn’t live up to it. He began to see that compared to the Law, he really wasn’t alive to God. He began to see that he was actually dead.
This is why Christianity irritated him so much. Christianity confirmed his worst fears. The message of the Gospel was clear, you can’t come to God by keeping the law; you have to be granted mercy and grace because we’re all deep and profound sinners. He hated this message because it went against his religious passions, his assumption of self-salvation through law-keeping.
At one point in Paul’s life this
all becomes clear and he loses it. The message of the Gospel was
too much and his heart grew angry and hard enough to want to kill.
When did this happen? At Stephen’s murder back in chapter 7.
If you read chapter 7, Luke records
what Stephen had said in this long speech. Stephen told the religious
leaders that their hope to be saved by the Law and their security in
the Temple was obsolete; they could never be made right by these things.
Stephen basically told them they’ll never be good enough for God through
their own efforts. But the Righteous One, Jesus Christ, has come
and fulfilled the Law for us and we can be accepted by God through Him.
They rushed him to kill him.
As they were stoning Stephen he asks the Lord not to hold this sin against
them and then he dies. Luke tells us that Saul was there.
Where did Luke get this record of what Stephen had said? This is the longest speech of the book of Acts, where did he get the detail? Paul remembered it and it burned a hole in his heart.
Here’s Saul, a man that is struggling with trying to live up to the Law and be sure, then Stephen comes along and says that he’ll never live up but that there is a way to be sure that the Father loves him, sure that he’ll be accepted, it’s through Jesus. Saul hated that! Yet Saul watched Stephen die, and he died with a face like an angel. He died speaking to God as if God was really his Father. Stephen died proving that he had what Saul could only hope for.
“How could he be speaking to God
as if God’s his Father? How could he be speaking as if he knows
I can’t keep the Law? How could he be telling us that we’re
not going to be accepted by God through our own works? Kill him!!!”
But as Stephen died he became a goad
to Saul’s heart and it became too much for him.
Why does this matter? There are some of you here this morning that have hardened your hearts against God. You’ve been receiving the goads of Christ and they’re eating at you. You might be feeling more miserable than you’ve ever felt. Why is life so hard? Why do I feel such despair? It may be that He’s goading you to bring you to an end of yourself.
But realize that goads are shepherds’ tools. The Shepherd loves His sheep and cares for them. You need to know that and stop kicking against the goads in bitterness. Don’t you see what’s happening? Jesus says to Saul, “Saul, Saul…” This is a tender way of entreating Saul. He’s telling him that he’s bringing this pain to him because He loves him and is bringing him to Himself.
Some of you need to know that you’re kicking against the goads and these goads are the Shepherd’s tool to draw you to Himself.
V. True conversion brings us to grips with the Gospel
True conversion shows us the need for conversion for everyone, it engages our minds to get us to think out its implications. It gives us sight to show us we’ve been blind. It is a process that God has been goading us to see. And lastly, true conversion brings us grips with the Gospel that ultimately changes us.
The Gospel is a true assessment of
yourself that is far better and far worse than you previously believed.
In verse 4 Jesus says, "Saul,
Saul, why are you persecuting me?"
Do you see this? This is the Gospel. The Gospel shows us that you far worse than you ever dared believe and yet you’re far more loved than you ever dared hope, at the same time.
Jesus makes this very personal for Paul. It isn’t as simple as Paul breaking the Law, Jesus said to him “[you’re] persecuting me…”
A Christian realizes that they haven’t just been disobeying the rules, but they’ve been fighting Jesus. Your sin is far worse than you thought because it’s personal. You’ve been personally fighting with Jesus Christ, God’s Son. You’ve been attacking Jesus.
What you’ve been doing is telling
God that you would rather try to save yourself and have control over
your own life. You’re not a Christian until you realize that
you’ve personally been fighting and attacking Jesus. “Me,
why are you attacking me?” It’s personal.
Spurgeon Story
There is an incredible story which Charles Spurgeon shared in one of his sermons about a couple who many people knew. This was a true story and it was in the papers in London.
There was a couple that was so nasty
and so filled with anger and rage that when they had a baby, some distant
relatives and friends of their extended family came and paid the couple
for the baby just to take it away and give it to a better home.
Over the years the couple grew more
and more depraved and eventually the man became a mugger who would sit
by the roads and rob people who traveled by. One night, as it
was getting dark, he saw a well dressed, wealthy young man come along
this road and the man robbed him. Out of anger for his life and
hatred towards rich people, he killed the young man. Do you know
who it was? It was his son. The son had heard about his
father and had made a lot of money as an ambitious and disciplined young
man and decided to seek out his father and give him money to help him
and appeal to his father to see his life changed.
After the father was arrested and realized
what he had done he fell apart because he wasn’t just breaking the
law, he was killing his redeemer. This is the difference between
a moral person who is always feeling like they only broke the law and
a Christian who hears Jesus’ words, “Why are you persecuting me?”
and realize that they were responsible for the death of Christ.
You begin to see that Jesus died for
you, you are the one that was responsible for His death, but the beauty
is that He died for you willingly. He did this because of His
great love for you. You begin to see that you’re much worse
off that you previously thought because your sin is far greater than
you could have imagined, it’s personal, but yet at the same time you’re
far more loved than you could have ever hoped for.
Union with Christ
Do you realize what Jesus was saying when he said to Saul, “Why are you persecuting Me?” Saul wasn’t persecuting Jesus, he was persecuting Christians. What He’s saying is that to be connected to Him is to be in such union with Him that when you’re persecuted, you’re so united to Him that it really is persecuting Him. When Jesus sees you, He sees himself. God gives you love and favor that He loves His Son with, you’re brought in the family, and you’re loved and accepted by the Father. This is what it means to be a Christian: you’re converted into union with Christ. Is this you?
Many thanks are owed to Tim Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC for their excellent material for the book of Acts. I have gleaned much from the messages and study material in the first several chapters.
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