string(7) "m-66998" Burnt Hickory Baptist Church

Sermons

← back to list

Feb 12, 2023

Saul’s Illuminated Jesus Moment

Saul’s Illuminated Jesus Moment

Passage: Acts 22:4-16

Speaker: Matt Petty

Series: The Transformed Life

Category: Sunday Sermons

Keywords: church, worship, faith, jesus, god, sermon, christian, bible, christ, gospel, hope, new testament, holy spirit, doubt, paul, change, believe, acts, saul, conversion, inspiration, jesus christ, the bible, lord, christianity, transform, apostle, bible study, inspirational, face to face, transformed life, bible stories, paul the apostle, believe in god, change your life, burnt hickory worship, burnt hickory baptist church live stream, how to change your life, change my life, encounter jesus christ

In our bible study today, we look at Saul’s conversion in Acts chapter 22. The significance of this divine face to face encounter with Jesus is absolutely life changing for Saul, even to the point of his name change. We look at the aspects of the contact, conviction, the conversion, and ultimately, the commission of Paul in this experience. As believers, we each have a purpose and a story. God never leaves us where we are. We need to ask two simple but life changing questions – who are you Lord, and what shall I do? Have you had a defining Jesus moment? Have you asked these life changing questions? Do you want to find your purpose as a follower of God? As always, we’d love to connect with you, answer any questions you have, and take time to pray with you. You can also take the next step by visiting – burnthickory.com/next

Well, good morning church. We are excited that you are with us today. And let me just tell you how incredible it is to be in a spot where you know that when people come to church, they're not just coming in because it's like the thing to do. They're coming because they want to worship and they want to experience God. They want community in their life. They want to hear the word. And I can honestly say that every week when we walk into this place, that is the heartbeat of what this church is doing. I got to thinking this week about a couple of really big buckets of what I would just kind of call the categories of decisions of our lives. There's the first category of decision is what I would just kind of call the everyday mundane. I mean, just like no nonsense, I've got to make them, decisions. You know, those decisions I'm talking about, like, what do we eat and what do we wear and where do we go? And who do I talk to? I mean, those kinds of decisions that are just kind of like, okay, there it is. And the reality is, it's those decisions in our lives. They don't get a lot of credit, but it's those decisions, those everyday, small, little decisions that really shape who we are. It shapes our character. It shapes the direction of our lives. In fact, not too long ago I read a book called Atomic Habits, Atomic Habits, and it talks about the fact that these small little bitty habits in our lives are the things that shape our life over time. And they do it not in a large kind of atom bomb way, but in a small molecule, an atom way that these small little decisions one decision at a time over the course of time, change your life. That's why we talk every week here about our daily time in the world, our daily worship, our church involvement, our walk with Christ every day.

The first bucket, like I just said, is kind of those everyday, mundane decisions. But the second bucket is what we're looking at in this series, how we're looking in this transformation stories. These transformational decisions, these big moments where obviously something that was not there or something that was hidden is now kind of blowing up in our lives. So I guess you could say it's a truth as presented to us that radically changes us. Or it's something that we didn't know before or kind of got blended into the craziness of life that Jesus kind of puts in front of us and really and truly shows us a new walk in life. And so suddenly in these big moments, what happens in us is, is that something that we didn't see, we're now just seeing it in a huge light, in a new light. Whether it's a new truth or a new story or a newness in life that something happened to us, we just don't walk away the same. Let's think of an example of this second kind of bucket of decisions. And I can remember and you parents, you're going to remember you're going to remember this like it was yesterday. You parents, you remember when you had your first child? I'm not talking about your fifth child or sixth child because that was something you don't even remember. You’re like, yeah, whatever. They came home. But you remember like you remember when you had the first child. You remember how everything was going incredibly well while you were at the hospital. I mean, you remember that like I mean, you had like a whole wait staff around you. People were bringing you meals. They were offering to change that diaper with that tar stuff that you can't scrape off the side of your car. I mean, you had people that were all over you. I mean, Grandma was helping. The nurses were so nice and then all of a sudden that person came into your room and said, okay, Mr. & Mrs. Petty, it's time to go home. And you're like, No, we're not going home. We like it here, right? We like it here. And then what do they do? They bring that carrier over, they strap the baby in, they put mama in the wheelchair and roll her down the aisle. Like it's like the Green Mile going out of this place and they put you in the car. And then all of a sudden the reality hits like, Oh, no, oh, what do we do? Kids, I promise you, this is how it works. All right? You're like, What? What do we do? And you're driving home and you honestly don't know what to do. Melissa's like, We knew what to do. No, I didn't know what to do. That's the moment I'm talking about. That's a transformation moment, you know, like changing a diaper here and there. That's like an everyday life moment. But these transformation moments are these moments that hit us like a ton of bricks. We're not expecting them. We don't see them coming. And then all of a sudden they just bang, they're in our lives.

That's what we've been doing over these last weeks is we've been looking into some of these transformation moments in Scripture. We've been watching Jesus come face to face with people that really weren't planning on it. They really weren't expecting it. They really didn't know the hows and the whys and the what's behind any of this stuff. And then all of a sudden they ended up face to face with Jesus and listen to me, any time you end up face to face with Jesus, there's only one thing that can happen when that account happens for real. And that is that you're changed. That something happens inside of you. And I can feel you. You're like, Well, Matt, it didn't happen to me. Well, then you didn't come face to face with Jesus, right? Because when you do, you always walk away differently. So far we've looked at these stories like the man that was born blind where Jesus just gave him a new heart as well. We've looked at the story of the Samaritan woman at the well, where Jesus not only saved her but gave her a purpose in life. We looked at John the Baptist in prison in this doubt moment where John was looking at Jesus going, I just need to know, are you the one? And he said, Yes, I am the one. We looked at the disciples sitting around the table with Jesus and Jesus once again telling them that I am the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And then last week we looked at little Zack, right? Little Zacchaeus last week. And we saw that nobody is too far from the grace and the love and the mercy of who Jesus is.

Well, this morning, we're going to see a story that shows us that same truth, but shows it in a completely different light. This morning, we're going to look at a man by the name of Saul of Tarsus. This Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus. And we're going to watch Jesus transform his heart and watch this moment in his life. Now, this morning is a little bit different than every other week in the series. Every other week we have studied these stories through an outside person telling us this event. This morning, we are going to watch Saul tell us his story of how Jesus transformed his heart and how now that most of us know him by the name of the Apostle Paul. If you got a copy of scripture this morning, I want you to turn Renee to Acts Chapter 22. Acts Chapter 22 today. You say Matt, I thought we were in the Gospels every week. I never said that. I said we're looking at things that are there face to face with Jesus. All right? And you're going to see that in just a minute. Acts Chapter 22. While you're doing that, let me talk a little bit about this guy named Saul. Let me give you a little bit of context of where we are. Saul of Tarsus is an incredibly interesting man. He was born to an upper class family. He's actually what a lot of historians would call one of the most noteworthy figures in all of history, whether you're a believer or not, just from the history that's around him. He was educated by the premier Jewish teacher of Judaism of the day. He was the best of the best. He was tutored. He was raised to be a Pharisee in his citizenship of Rome. He was able to carry that into his job that God called him to do. And he excelled at everything he did, especially the things from the Jewish culture. You say Matt, how do you know that is true? How do you know he excelled? One reality is that he memorized the first five books of the Bible. I'm not talking about a verse from every five books. Right. That would be like, Oh, good job. Here's a star. No, this guy knew every word in the first five books of the Bible. All the Pentateuch he had memorized. Okay, he is a scholar. Some historians would call him the number one scholar of Jewish thought and Jewish law. That leads us back to Jehovah God. Saul was the best of the best. His sincerity in what he did, you couldn't question it. He was that big of a figure and along with all that he despised the followers of Jesus. He despised them. You say Matt, how could you love the Old Testament and despise the followers of Jesus? Man, that's a great question. Just hold on to it, all right, because we're going to get there. But he loved God, but he saw the followers of Jesus as a sect of another religion that was running against who the God was that he knew. So he was respected by history, but he despised the followers of Jesus. In fact, the first time that we meet Saul is in Acts Chapter seven at the stoning of Stephen, this guy who stood up for the faith. And Saul wasn't just there, along with the rest of the guys. Saul was the designer of this event. He's the one that gave the nod to stone Stephen In this event, he was the one that his sole purpose was to destroy believers.

But here's the question. What changed? What changed in his life? Because we know him as the Apostle Paul, right? We know him as this guy that has written most or a lot of the New Testament. We know him as a guy who started so many churches. We know him as a guy who gave his life for Christianity. We know him as a guy that has given us much of our theology and church doctrine and New Testament understanding. So how did we get from a guy that was killing Christians to a guy that has set us up to be incredibly educated followers of Jesus? That's what we're going to look at this morning. And in Acts Chapter 22, we're going to look at it through the lens of the Apostle Paul telling his story. He's telling his story in Acts Chapter 22. Now, actually, you can read this event in three different locations in the Book of Acts. You can read it in Acts chapter 22. You can read it in Acts chapter nine. Luke gives us this in our church history to show us how the church was being formed. And you can read it in Acts Chapter 26 when he was standing before King Agrippa giving his testimony again. This morning, we're going to watch as part of Paul's defense, watch him give his testimony of how Christ delivered him from death to life. Okay. So let me set the scene. He's standing in front of this Jewish mob, these angry people. He has been ripped out of the temple, brought up on these phony charges just so they could get rid of him. This is late in Paul's missionary journeys. Three of them are over, and now he's standing in front of this court in Acts Chapter 22. And they have brought him in to give a defense. They brought him in to give a defense. Now, here's what we're going to do. We're going to walk through his testimony in Acts chapter 22. We're going to also pull some from Acts 26 and Acts chapter nine. But here's what I'm going to do this morning in the 2 hours we have left.

All right. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to give you four moments. I'm going to give you three takeaways. I'm going to give you two questions. And really, I wanted going to stop there, but I couldn't leave that. It had to go with the one. I'm going to give you one truth. All right. I'm going to give you one truth. All right. But before you type A people, I promise you, the first four take up the majority of the message. Okay, I see you. You don't think I see you looking at your watches? I see it. I see everything that happens out there. You'll get that. I can see it. I can see every candy crush. I can see every time you check your clock. All right, so here's we're going to we're going to walk through these moments. And I'm going to start with this idea that there's four divine moments in every believer's life that shape us. There's four divine moments that are there. You're right, this first one down, because then I'm going to give you the context from scripture. Number one, the first moment is that there's a divine contact. There's a divine contact. I'm going old school today. We're going alliteration in the same word in all four of these. Adrian Rogers would be so proud. All right. You don't even know who that is. That's cool. If you're old, you might. All right, here it is. So, Paul, standing in front of this court, he's been arrested. He's been dragged out into this trial. And Paul is looking at these people and he's saying to them, listen, there was this moment. I'm not making it up. I promise you guys. There was this moment where I was minding my own business. I was on the way to Damascus and then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, nobody saw this coming. Especially me. Jesus showed up. Jesus showed up. Watch. Watch what he says about this in Act 22:4. He says, This I. This is Paul talking. I persecuted the followers of this way. Now, the way is going to be used a lot here. That's what they called Christians right this moment. I persecuted followers of this way to their death, arresting both men and women, throwing them into prison as the high priests and all the counsel they can testify themselves. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished. Okay. I love what Luke does in Luke nine. He says this and Luke 9:1 He describes it as this. Meanwhile, Saul was breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. Those disciples. Now, what does that mean?

That means that He is showing us the background of what Saul was prior to meeting Jesus. It says that he was breathing out murderous threats in your mind. I want you to think of a racehorse that is waiting for the bell to ring. An Olympic runner that is in the blocks ready for the starting to be fired off. Think of a toddler just getting so mad not knowing what to do. That's what this word breathing is. He's so angry. He knows he has to do something. Why? Because Christianity is spreading and it's traveling across the region and Saul is mad at it because he sees himself as a defender of the Old Testament. God of Jehovah. And so he's so mad about it. He leaves Jerusalem and goes towards Damascus. That's where we're catching up with the story. Right? He's on this 140 mile journey. He's got the Sanhedrin police behind him. And because he was a leader and he was a clean Pharisee, he would have separated himself by a couple hundred yards from the rest of the crew and rode out in front of them. And what do you do when you're by yourself for four days riding on some animal and walking along the way by yourself? You say well Matt, what do you do? You pull out your phone? You scroll on social media? Well, not during this time, right? You couldn't do that, all he had was his thoughts. All he had was the fact that he was getting more and more mad that there was this assault on the God that he loved called Christianity. All that he had were these moments. So the stoning of Stephen and the news of Phillip’s teaching was beginning to spread and people were giving their lives to this Jesus. All that He had was these memories of all these crazy followers of Jesus that were giving their lives for this so-called resurrected savior. Right?

That's where he is. So he's riding. He's riding and he's riding. And most historians will say that as soon as he reached the outskirts of Damascus, one of the oldest cities in the world, he began to ascend Mount Hermon and at the very crest of Mount Hermon, listen church, Jesus shows up. Jesus shows up in his life. And this divine contact happens in the Apostle Paul's life. He's called Saul right here. But listen to what it says in verse six. Acts 22:6, read it. He describes it to us. At about noon I came near Damascus and suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. I fell to the ground and I heard a voice saying to me, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Who are you, Lord? I asked. Now, remember, he's standing in front of the council, right? And I can hear it like it's in my own mind. I can just hear him saying to these people, Listen, I didn't make this up. Listen, this is not something I wanted to happen. This is not something I planned for. I remember it like it was yesterday. All of a sudden I'm riding and boom, a bright light flashed around me and it was a huge light. In fact, he's telling this same story to King Agrippa in Acts 26. And listen to Acts 26:13. He says at midday O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven brighter than the sun shining all around me and those who are journeying with me. Now I want you to notice something about this divine contact. Right here in this divine contact, Saul has no intention of meeting Jesus.

I want you to notice this because this is important. He is not on a journey to find himself. He's not on a journey, kind of going out to find all the religions of the world to decide which one is best. He's not on a decision to kind of see what's out there and all of a sudden in the middle of this pursuit of regular life for Saul, what happens? Jesus, right? The King of kings, the Lord of Lord, the giver of grace and mercy and love and justice. He shows up in his life when he didn't even think it was coming. How many of you that's your story? How many of you that's your story, right? How many of you that's your story? You weren't looking, you weren't searching. You didn't know something was out there. In fact, some girl invited you to get some pizza at a deal at a church, and Jesus stepped into your life. Jesus intercedes for you. Somebody invited you to get coffee and you were ambushed with the Gospel and something happened in you. Somebody knocked on your door, and before you know it, you're talking about the Bible, and three months later you're trusting Jesus. Somebody invited you to church. Your wife finally wore you down to the fact you said you'll go if you'll just quit asking. And you did. And all of a sudden Jesus shows up and something begins to stir in your life. And boom, something happened. Something made sense now. Something got more clear now. Listen, nobody is too far from God. Nobody. So what we're seeing in the story right here, there was a divine contact, but number two, there was a divine conviction. Told you we're going old school. Look at that. There was a divine conviction.

You say Matt, what does conviction mean? Conviction is not just being guilty or not feeling bad about something or not just a knowledge of something that's bad. Conviction is when God presses in to a person so that we begin to see ourselves as God sees us and we begin to see the things in our heart that are not lining up with God. That's what conviction is. Conviction is more of a Holy Spirit convincing us of something that is truth. Okay? It's not having us agree with God. It's God showing us what truth is and showing us who He is. Now look, conviction can happen in a believer's life and in a nonbeliever's life. Conviction in a believer's life, somebody that has trusted Jesus looks kind of like this. This when something in our lives is the Holy Spirit begins to press into our soul about something that is going on in our lives, that is not lining up with who Jesus is. Conviction, students, is that thing in your life that when you put your head on your pillow at night, having done what you did that afternoon, you know that it just doesn't settle well in your soul. Conviction, moms and dads is that thing that you've been hiding for a long time that you have never brought before the King Jesus, to give it to him and say, God, here I am, I'm a sinner in need of grace. Conviction is when the Spirit presses into our souls and begins to align us into who he is. Now this happens, like we said, a lot happens in our prayer times. It happens in times of worship. It happens when somebody is reading Scripture over us or when we're reading Scripture. That's how conviction happens in a believer's life. In a nonbeliever's life, conviction is where the Holy Spirit just begins to show you things in clarity that have never been that clear before.

He begins to press into your soul in a way to where God begins to show you that you are indeed a sinner in need of grace, that you have indeed not followed him. That's what conviction looks like. It's that still small voice in your heart that says man, I probably need that. I probably need to step into that. I'm not sure I've ever done that. That's conviction. That's what it means. But watch what happened in his life. Look at verse 8. Watch this divine conviction moment. Verse 8 says. Who are you, Lord? I asked. I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting, he replied. My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of who was speaking to me. I love it. I love Luke's shortened description of this because I like short descriptions. Look at this in chapter nine verse four, Luke says this about it. He says he fell on the ground and he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Jesus looks at him and says, Why are you doing this? Which is interesting because Saul doesn't know who this is right here. You got to realize that right? When Saul left his animal and hit the ground because of the light, that's what we just read. He looks up at this person that is in front of him and goes, Who are you? Who are you, Lord? Now, the truest reading of that is, Who are you Lord, would be who are you, sir? Because He's trying to figure out who is this in front of you. Remember, at this point, Saul truly believes that Jesus is dead and these people are crazy for following him. And then look at the response in verse eight, I am Jesus, I'm Jesus of Nazareth. Thank the good Lord that that's what Jesus tells us. Amen. That I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you're persecuting. You know, at this point, Saul had to realize two things. The first thing he had to realize is that this guy named Jesus, that I've been persecuting this guy named Jesus, that I've been putting these people in jail and literally killing for this cause. This guy named Jesus, he really is alive. He is alive. You say Matt, how do you know it was Jesus in front of him? Well, look at Acts 9:17. Watch this. It's the end of the story in this account. It says then Ananias went to the house and entered it, placing it on his hands on Saul. He said, Brother saw the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road.

All right, go back to the scene as you were coming here, has sent me to you so that you will be filled with the Holy Spirit. We can see that it was Jesus that stepped in front of Saul. Also Paul later on, in a later letter in First Corinthians. Let me just read this over you. 1 Corinthians 15:3. Listen to what Paul says later on. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. He was buried. He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, that's Peter, and then the 12, and that he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are all living. What is he doing? And he's given confirmation that Christ is alive. He says though some have fallen asleep. Watch verse seven. Then he appeared to James and to all the apostles. And last of all, Paul says, he appeared to me also. Church this bright light that shone around Saul, it was the glorified Jesus. It wasn't a weather event. It wasn't a lightning strike. It wasn't something that was just kind of weird. It was Jesus. And Jesus was fully alive. And at this point, Saul, he's becoming Paul. He's realizing that Jesus is alive. But secondly, he's realizing that Jesus really is for his people. That's what He's realizing. And that Jesus is really for all the people and that Jesus is the bringer of hope.

That's what we're seeing in this story. Why? Because we see here that Jesus has now come to set free Paul. He's come to redeem him. He's come to save him. He's come to lead him in a direction. In fact, skip down to Acts 22:8 and look at what it says. He says, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you're persecuting. Do you know what's happening right here? There's this conviction that is beginning to happen in Saul's life, where he's beginning to find himself in this divine conviction, this moment where he's being convicted of the sin of all saints. You know what the sin of all sense is? Well, yeah, Matt, it's murder. Yeah. At it's rape or. Yeah, Matt, it's it's sexual sin. No, that's not the sin of all sins. The sin of all sins is the rejection of who Jesus is. That's the sin of all sin. That's where He is standing right here in front of Jesus, in the sin of unbelief is beginning to consume him. So what are we seeing? We're seeing a divine contact by Jesus. We're seeing a divine conviction of a heart that you need me. And then number three, I love this. There's number three. There's a divine conversion. There's a divine conversion. Now, what does this mean? This is the transformation moment. Just in case you're wondering, it's at this moment, the divine exchange from death to life happens. The introduction has been made. The new vision of who Jesus is is happening. And then look at verse ten. Watch what it says. Acts 22:10 says, What shall I do, Lord? I ask. I love how the new King James puts it. He says, Lord, what would you have me to do? It's at this moment church. Listen, the clarity begins to set in because his eyes are beginning to open to who Jesus is and what Jesus wants for his life.

So conviction sets in the lies that he had been chasing are no longer lies. He's seeing the truth. That this sect of people called Christians that are following Jesus, he now is seeing how the Old Testament is leading to this very moment. All of that knowledge, listen to this that he used to have in his head is now connecting with his heart. Church listen, you can have all the knowledge you want to in your head, but if it does not connect with your heart, it is not a saving knowledge. It is not a knowledge that leads you to repentance. It is not a knowledge that leads you to see Jesus for who He really is. But at this moment, in Saul's heart, it connects to who Jesus is. And, you know, at this moment, you know, because of the life he had lived and where he has come from, that he is connecting the dots in his mind. You know, this brought him back to Acts chapter seven, verse 56, where Stephen, the guy he was stoning. Watch what Stephen said. Look, he said, I saw heaven open up in the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. Paul heard that earlier in his life. But right now, listen, church. Jesus is standing beside him, standing in his presence and all of this stuff that was just a fable is now true. It is this moment, this is the conversion moment. Listen, you cannot live your life without a moment in time that you move from death to life. That's what we're seeing in his life. It's at this moment that we get Philippians three seven through 11 where Paul says this, but whatever were gains to me, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing value, surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whose sake I've lost all things.

Listen, He says, I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him. Church, this moment is the moment that Paul moved into life. My question to you is, have you experienced this moment? Have you experienced this moment? Saul is now a believer. He has turned his life to Jesus. He's surrendered his heart to Jesus. You say Matt, how do you know? Look at Acts 22, verse ten. Look at what he asked. What shall I do, Lord? What shall I do? What did He do? What does He do? He's turning Jesus. He's trusting Jesus. What are we seeing? A divine contact. A divine conversion. A divine conviction. And look at number four. This happens in everybody's life. But you gotta roll with it. Number four is that there's a divine commission. There's a divine commission. You say Matt, what is a commission? A commission is the point in time where Jesus sends you. Look at what happens. So Saul goes blind, right? We see this in the story. It's not a darkness blind. It's like all he can see is light by. It's like when you're outside at the beach and you look at the sun and close your eyes. That's that's what it is. That's what he's seeing right here. Okay. But it's an unlikely conversion. Now, you've got this kind of avenger of Judaism being led like a little kid into Damascus by the hand. But let's catch up with him and watch how the account closes in verse ten. Watch what it says. Acts 22:10 says, Get up, the Lord said, and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do. My companions led me by the hand into Damascus because the brilliance of the light had blinded me. A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. He stood beside me and said, Brother Saul, receive your sight. And at that very moment I was able to see him. Then he said, The God of our ancestors has chosen you and you know His will to see the Righteous One and to hear the words from his mouth. Watch this in verse 15, and you will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. And now what are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name. What happened in Paul's life? This Saul, this murderous Saul has now been transformed into the Apostle Paul. And what does he get? He gets his divine marching orders and he lives them out from that day forward. Of course he did. Why? Because when you truly experience Jesus Christ, there is a newness in you.

And the reality is, we're all here today because of this moment. Why? Because the Apostle Paul is the one that took the gospel to the Gentiles, that started the churches to where churches move throughout all of that region and hit the region that all of us come from as gentile peoples. But here's the beauty of this whole event. These orders or this commission that the Apostle Paul was given is the same one that's given to all of us. It's only two things is to love the Lord intimately, to love Jesus intimately, and and to reach others. So what are we seeing in this whole picture? We are seeing a divine exchange that Christ, Jesus, our Lord has said, I'm yours, I'm yours.

Now, listen, this is an incredible transformation account, but the question I had to answer after all of this was What does this do for me? And that's what I want to spend the next hour talking about. All right. Here's what it says for me. Just kidding. We see there's there's four moments in all of our lives as we meet Jesus. But here's where it kind of meets the road for all of us. I want to give you three takeaways from this text that really can make this at home for me really quick. Number one, I want to write this down. Here's what this account tells all of us. Number one is that every saint has a past. Every saint has a past. Let me just tell you, don't disqualify yourself. That's not your role. God can use you. In fact, God uses many times those people with a sketchiest past to do a ton of his work. If you're still alive, which is most of you, right? If you're still alive, God can still use you. God can still put you on a path. You have not been disqualified. You show me a person that God really worked through and I'll show you a person that probably has a backstory. That's how it works. We all have a BC life, right? A before Christ life. If Paul can make it, I'm pretty sure we all can. Number one, every saint has a past. But number two, I told you there quake number two, every sinner has a future.

Every sinner has a future. What does that mean? That just simply means this. That Christ can change you, that Christ can redeem you, that Christ can reach you. If you're hearing this today, which again is most of you, right, God can save you, God can radically save you, and he can transform your heart. God is big enough to do that for you. Is the scarlet thread that runs through all of eternity is that God loves people and God wants to save people. He wants to redeem His people. He wants to bring people from death to life. Also, listen, if you are a believer and if you have stumbled, God wants to restore you. Every sinner as a future. And here's number three. Every believer has a purpose. Every believer has a purpose. Well Matt, I don't have a purpose. Yes, you do. You have a purpose. You have been created. You have been saved to be useful for God's kingdom. But how can I be saved, or how can I be useful? I've tried my whole life to be useful. I don't know what to do. I don't even know where to start. Well, I'm glad you said that, because Paul gives us two questions to ask. Look at that. We had four, we got three. Here's the two. He gives us two questions to ask every day. Let me tell you about these two questions before I give you the questions. These questions can save your life. These questions can put you on a path to honor God with all of your life. And these questions that Paul gives us right here should be questions that we ask every single day to help us find our purpose. Here's the first one. Paul gives it to us. I'm not making it up. I'm just going to give you the question. We already read it.

Number one, the first question is, who are you, Lord? Who are you, Lord? It's verse eight if you want to see where it is. All right. Who are you, Lord? That's the relationship question, right? You say Matt, I don't know about asking God who he is. Shouldn't I know who God is? Fair point. But there's so much about God you'll never know all of who He is. Listen church. Listen. Write this in your journal somewhere. Write this on a sticky note in your truck somewhere. And every single day of your life you need to ask God, who are you? This is the relationship question. God, show me your character, show me your nature. Show me your love. God, fill me with your spirit. Fill me with your nature. God continually lead me in a way that I can know you deeper. That's what that means You say Matt, why would I be asking God to show me who he is if it's about me serving him? Here's why. The more you know Jesus, the more you want to follow Jesus. The more you know his love for you, the more you want to submit to his love for you. The more you want to know the character and the love and the mercy and the grace and the forgiveness and the acceptance that Christ has for you. The overflow of your heart. You cannot help but walk into Him. If you are struggling in walking with Jesus, I would propose to you it's not a walking with Jesus problem. It is a relationship with Jesus problem. That's what it is. God, who are you, Lord? That's such a beautiful question that Paul gives us. But here's the second one. The first one is a relationship.

Question number two, he asked, What shall I do, Lord? What shall I do? You see it? The first one is a relationship question. The second one is a purpose question. It's verse ten. If you want, just circle it. God, where are you planting me to make a difference? Where are you putting me right now that I can be who you've called me to be? Here's the question. God opened my eyes to the opportunities that you are putting in front of me today. That's what Paul asked. And that's what I think we need to ask every single day from God. And here's how it can go in your life. Man, you read Scripture, you spend time praying, and then you pause at the end of that and you say this God, in light of what you've shown me about yourself today, here it is, God. Show me where to walk. God, show me who to speak to. God, put people in front of me right now God, that I can be a proclaimer of the truth, that I can be the voice of the Lord, that I can be the spreader of your word. Man, how many times have you asked God that? God, what would you have me to do? Church I'm telling you if we would commit to asking this question every single day, here's what God will do. He'll begin to put things in front of you that will be incredibly clear that you need to step into. And we're going to begin to see people meet Jesus. We're going to begin to see God's name be proclaimed to all the nations. We're going to begin to see our families begin to heal. We're going to begin to see our church make a difference in this community. Why? Because we're looking at God and we're honestly going, God, show me who you are and God, show me what to do. But man, I just don't feel completely clear that God has ever shown me exactly what to do. Here's all I'll tell you. Do something, do something, and then say God, if this is not what you want me to do, show me something else. But I'm going to do this until you tell me that. That's so much better of a way than going God, I'm going to sit here until you give me your word. That's a cop out. Start moving now. What do you want me to do? It's four moments.

There's three takeaways. There's two questions. Here's the one. There's one name to be praised. And his name is Jesus. His name is Jesus. You say Matt, where does that go in the story? We wouldn't have this story if Jesus wouldn't have shown up on the scene. We wouldn't have this account if Jesus wasn't pouring his heart into this man named the Apostle Paul. We wouldn't have this account. If Jesus didn't love this guy named Saul of Tarsus so much that he changed his heart and set him on a trajectory to reach the world. Let me ask you something this morning. Do you know Jesus? You give your life to Jesus? Looking through those four moments this morning, a divine contact has there been a point in your life where you just know that Christ is beginning to press into you? Have you felt that divine conviction? That you know you need to submit your heart to Jesus. Have you had that moment in your life where you have walked from death to life? Where you have given Christ your life and you have been converted? You say Matt, what are you trying to convert me? Yes, I am. Has there been that point in your life where you've said yes Jesus? Has it been that point in your life where you felt the commissioning of the Lord to send you.

That's the believer's life. Or maybe, just maybe this morning you need to walk into one of those categories. Lord God, I don't know where people are in this room, but God, I have a feeling that there's people that you're knocking on the doors of their heart this morning, and Jesus, you are beginning to deal with their souls this morning. God, I pray you cut through the noise right now. You settle into people's hearts right now. That you're worth it. And God, quite honestly I'm praying right now there's people in this room that just need to invite you into their lives. They need to give you their hearts. They need to say something like this, Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and I need you in my life. Come into my life and give me hope. Forgive me of my sins and be my Lord. I need you, Jesus. I need you, Jesus. Listen, if that's you this morning, in just a second, I'm going to walk over to my left, your right. Right by this next steps banner. I've got some guys with me and some counselors with me. And here's what I want you to do this morning. This is going to be bold, but that's okay. I just need you to walk over to us and say, Hey, I met Jesus today. What do I need to do? What do I need to do? For a lot of us today, though, we walked in here pretty beat down today, feeling like we're disqualified.

Let me give you a challenge today. I want you to see yourself through the lens of who Christ has made you. That you're His. Lord, walk with us in these next couple of minutes of worship. God, let decisions be made. Let people meet you. God, take us from this place afterward, knowing that we're yours. It's in your holy name we pray.

Amen. Amen.

I'll be right over here. Let's stand together and sing.

Follow Along with the Message

Saul's Illuminated Jesus Moment

February 12, 2023

4 Eternally Significant Divine Moments

1. Divine

Acts 22:4–5
4 I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, 5 as the high priest and all the Council can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.
Acts 9:1
Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.
Acts 22:6–8
6 About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’ 8 ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.
Acts 26:13
At midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me.

2. Divine

Acts 22:8–9
8 ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. 9 My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me.
Acts 9:4
He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’
Acts 22:8
‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’
Acts 9:17
Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord — Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here — has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’
1 Corinthians 15:3–8
3 Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also.
Matthew 25:40
Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.

3. Divine

Acts 22:10
‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked.
Acts 7:56
“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
Philippians 3:7–11
7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ — the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ — yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

4. Divine

Acts 22:10–16
10 …‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’ 11 My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me. 12 A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. 13 He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I was able to see him. 14 Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. 15 You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’
3 Simple but Life-Changing Takeaways from Paul

1. Every saint has a .

2. Every sinner has a .

3. Every believer has a .

2 Simple but Life-Changing Questions from Paul

1. are you, Lord?

2. shall I do, Lord?

1 Name to Be Praised

Take the Next Step »

Additional Notes

 

Email (To Send Copy of Notes)