Sermon Idea: To encounter Christ is to change, so that we follow Jesus in the costly life of Christian discipleship lived in and with the church.
Introduction: Put yourself in their shoes. This man’s reputation preceded him. Word had certainly gotten around that Saul was responsible for much of the suffering that the church had experienced. It was Saul, after all, who was standing in approval as Stephen’s blood-soaked garments were laid at his feet. Saul’s zeal against Christ and his church is described with violent language in Acts 8:3 and 9:1.
3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. (Ac 8:3)
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. (Ac 9:1–2)
Is there any wonder as to why the disciples in Jerusalem are afraid of Saul? Wouldn’t you be? They are not only scared but also doubt the sincerity of his conversion. Could such a violent persecutor of the church really become a Christian brother?
Ananias and Sapphira professed Christ, but their lives betrayed that profession, and so they proved to be false converts. Simon the magician believed and was baptized, but his life quickly betrayed his profession, revealing him to be a false convert as well.
How can the disciples be assured that Saul has truly encountered Christ? What are the evidence that he has been converted? We will provide answers to these questions, but there is one factor that distinguishes Saul from Ananias, Sapphira, and Simon: He changed.
What happened to Saul on the road to Damascus was more than a change of occupation. It was more than an emotional experience. Saul encountered the risen Christ and before his glory was changed. What happened to him was spiritual in nature. His dead, rebellious heart was changed to a living, submissive heart through faith in Jesus Christ.
The change wrought by Paul’s encounter with Christ is so apparent that he says in Galatians 2:20, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Ga 2:20)
To encounter Christ is to change, so that we follow Jesus in the costly life of Christian discipleship lived in and with the church.
Our encounters with the risen Christ have not been as dramatic and visible as the Apostle Paul’s, but the result has been the same. If you have truly encountered the risen Christ through his Word, in the preaching of the gospel, and were saved, a glorious change was wrought in you.
God made you alive in Christ, so that you would turn from your sin and idolatry to Christ through faith. A fundamental change took place, so that you are not the person you once were. You have received a new nature that produces new character because you are saved and now a disciple of Jesus Christ.
As Paul teaches us elsewhere, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Co 5:17)
This change is not to immediate perfection. It is not a change to a life without spiritual struggle or even sinful lapses. The sincerely converted can and do act contrary to their new nature, but the key is that it is contrary to who they now are and not consistent with it.
As the Baptist Faith & Message rightly confesses, Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. Article V, God’s Purpose of Grace
It was the evidence of true conversion in the life of Saul that persuaded and reassured the disciples in Jerusalem that Saul was indeed now a fellow brother in Christ.
What is the evidence of change in your life that testifies to God’s gracious work of conversion? Reflecting on that question should provide many reasons for thankfulness and praise to God for his grace.
If, by chance, you claim to have encountered Christ, but your allegiances remain unaffected; If your thinking, speaking, and acting remain unchanged, then it was likely not Christ whom you encountered, nor a genuine conversion that you experienced.
This morning, I want us to reflect on the change wrought in the Apostle Paul by encountering Christ.To encounter Christ is to change, so that we follow Jesus in the costly life of Christian discipleship lived in and with the church.
I.) The Change (Acts 9:19-22)
The first and primary evidence of genuine change in Saul is his allegiance to Jesus Christ, whom he once denied and persecuted. He was a persecutor of Christ, and now he is a proclaimer that Jesus is the Christ.
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.” (Ac 9:19–20)
22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ. (Ac 9:22)
All who hear Saul’s preaching can’t believe what they are hearing. The man who made havoc for all who called upon the name of Jesus is now proclaiming the name of Jesus.
The central claim of Saul’s preaching is that Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified one, is the Son of God, the Anointed One, the Christ. Jesus of Nazareth, then, is the Lord through whom God will bring about all his saving promises. To receive the Lord’s salvation, one must call upon the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:21, 36).
Notice something else. The way Saul is going about this shows that his encounter with Christ has changed his understanding of the Scriptures.
We read that Saul, “confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.” (Acts 9:22)
How did Saul prove that Jesus was the Christ? What do you think he did? The word translated as “proving” in most English translations conveys the idea of joining, knitting, or putting together.
Saul is taking Old Testament passages and combining them to prove that Jesus is the Christ in accordance with the Scriptures. This is how Paul describes receiving the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures (1 Co 15:3–4)
Saul has changed. That change is evident in his conviction. It is obvious in his proclamation of who Jesus is and in his new understanding of the Scriptures as about Jesus.
It is also evident in his character. Saul now pursues the good of those who follow Jesus and the good of those who do not by preaching Jesus to them.
Saul’s conversion should be an encouragement to all of us that his sovereign grace can change even the most hardened sinners. There is no sin so grave that God’s grace cannot be greater still.
Beyond that, friend. Saul’s conversion and young Christian life are an encouragement that you can change. Notice that in verse 22, we are told that Saul increased all the more in strength. The source of that strength is the Holy Spirit.
I wonder how many of us this morning at the start of this new year need to be reminded of the transformative power of God by His Spirit. What part of your walk with the Lord needs to be strengthened? Will you believe that the God who saved you in Christ can and will strengthen you by his Spirit?
6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you (Jas 4:6–8)
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 Jn 1:9)
Believe this promise, beloved, and act on it. Take your temptations and troubles before the Lord, draw near to God, and be strengthened by his grace.
The change of Saul’s convictions and character bears witness to the sincerity of his conversion. The next point strengthens the case, as Saul embraces the sufferings of Christ and the cost of discipleship.
II.) The Cost (Acts 9:23-25)
You may remember that the risen Christ said that Saul would suffer for Christ’s sake.
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. (Ac 9:15–16)
That begins almost immediately as the Jews plot to kill Saul.
23 When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, 24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket. (Ac 9:23–25)
How many people at this moment would have done a risk assessment and decide that it would be safer not to follow Jesus? Paul here, and especially throughout the rest of the New Testament, demonstrates genuine conversion because he accepts the cost of discipleship. He will share in the sufferings of Christ, and he will suffer because of the name of Christ.
We would do well to reflect on vs 24-25, 24, but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.
Christian faithfulness perseveres in suffering, but it does not carelessly pursue it. The Bible always honors Martys, but it never romanticizes martyrdom. Paul learns of a threat to his life and wisely removes himself from its danger.
If we pay attention to the lowering of Paul in a basket, we might remember that Rahab lowered the spies down a window in Joshua 2 and how David was lowered down through a window as he ran from King Saul.
15 Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall. (Jos 2:15)
11 Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, “If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” 12 So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled away and escaped. (1 Sa 19:11–12)
Like the Spies and David, Saul may be on the run from those who wish him harm, but he is God’s chosen servant, and through God, He will work to deliver his people.
Jesus clearly told us there is a cost to discipleship. We are to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus. Jesus also taught us the parable of the four soils. Many who profess faith at first have their faith choked out by the difficulty of the word.
Referring to the seed thrown on rocky ground, Jesus said,20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. (Mt 13:20–21)
Saul has encountered the risen Christ and so embraced the cost of following Jesus.
Have you considered that the assurance of your salvation has more to do with your continual trust in Christ in the present than a decision you made in the past?
We will not likely experience this level of persecution as Saul did, but whatever pain we experience for the name of Jesus should be done remembering the promises of Jesus.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Mt 5:10–11)
III.) The Church (Acts 9:26-31)
Saul was commissioned by the risen Christ himself to be an Apostle to the Gentiles. This would puff up lesser men. It would keep them from local church accountability and partnerships. That’s not what Saul does. Listen to the simple sentence in verse 26, And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples (Ac 9:26)
Saul seeks more relationships and more partnerships among disciples of Jesus for his own benefit and for the advancement of the gospel. This is also evidence of a sincere conversion. Saul desires Christian fellowship and gospel partnership for ministry.
What is even more interesting to me is the space the church has to assess and affirm Saul before bringing him into the fold.
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. 28 So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him. 30 And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. (Ac 9:27–30)
The evidence of Saul’s conversion is what persuades the church that he truly had an encounter with Christ and is a Christian brother. This is the beginning of his relationship with the local church. The next time we encounter Paul, he will be sent out by the church of Antioch, which he and Barnabas seemed to have made their “home church” for his first missionary journey.
I love this! The man commissioned by the risen Christ submits and is accountable to the local church. All of Paul’s ministry from here on out is in cooperation with local churches. All of his writing ministry was committed to the strengthening of local churches.
You see, one of the simplest signs of a saving encounter with Christ is a love for the bride of Christ, the church. And those who love the church desire to be submissive and accountable to the church.
Illustration: My ordination at North Wake.
Perhaps the Lord has gifted and equipped you, and I wonder if you’re demonstrating the humility Paul does here by being submissive and accountable to the church.
I’m only encouraged by those who want to lead if they first demonstrate a willingness to follow and serve the local church.
To encounter Christ is to change, so that we follow Jesus in the costly life of Christian discipleship lived in and with the church.
Nathaniel R. Martin 