We're gonna be looking at Acts 9 this morning and the conversion of Saul in the first nine verses. And I was thinking that one of my favorite times in the fellowship of believers is a time of testimony. It's always so encouraging to hear from a brother or sister in Christ how it is that God worked in his or her life, brought him to faith, and continues to work in our lives to make us like Christ. 

A testimony of God's drawing, of the work of the Holy Spirit, of the faithful witness—who of loving brothers and sisters really told them about Jesus, prayed for them, and continued to work to bring them to salvation, a new life. Matthew says that Jesus came into the world to seek and to save the lost. In John 20, it says, "As the Father has sent me, I also send you." In John 17, Jesus said that we, his followers, have been left in this world that the world may know that He is the Christ, that men might come to know Jesus through our witness, through faith alone in Him. 

This is God's intention for us as disciples, as believing learners. He has made us His ambassadors, giving to us the word of reconciliation to go out into the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And He did this for the very purpose that men might hear, that men might believe, and that men might be saved. 

Hearing testimonies of this very thing is very encouraging. It lets us know that God is working, that He is using us in our lives and witness, and that His word, the gospel, does not return void but accomplishes His will. To hear such testimony is encouraging to us; it brings us joy, it builds our faith, and it reinforces the truth and our belief that God is able to totally transform every man who will come to Him in faith. 

We're going to see a testimony in our text today, one of the most amazing and profound testimonies in the history of Christianity: that of Saul of Tarsus, who became the beloved, instrumental Apostle Paul. 

Let's look at our text in Acts 9, verse 1. It says, "Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus so that if he found any who were of the way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem." 

As he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads." 

So he, trembling and astonished, said, "Lord, what do you want me to do?" Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one; but they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was there three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank. 

I've given you four points on your outline. First, we're going to see conversion; the second, confrontation with Jesus; third, crisis of decision; and fourth, a change of life.

Well, the conversion of Saul of Tarsus was a very special event, very unique in many ways, but it was in several essential ways the same as every other conversion of every other Christian. I think that this is important for us to understand for several theological reasons. 

When we read this account, we tend to highlight the very dramatic way that Jesus came to Paul, the way He struck him down on that road to Damascus and saved him. We see this as an extraordinary display of God's sovereignty in salvation. And I think that it is extraordinary. And I think Saul was an extraordinary person, prepared and equipped in many ways for the ministry that God had for him. 

It is undeniable that the ministry and life of Paul the Apostle was extraordinary. But again, we also see some great consistency in how it was that Saul was converted to faith in Jesus Christ, consistency with all conversions and testimonies. 

And I believe this is important for us to understand. First, we must understand the necessity of conversion in the life of Saul and in the life of every man. Saul of Tarsus was a devout religious man. He excelled in his religion beyond his contemporaries. His father was a Roman citizen, which afforded Paul the same rights and many privileges that would serve him well throughout his life. He was raised in a very affluent and influential city where one of the premier universities of that time was located. He had cultural training, exposure to great learning, and his religious training from a young age under the great teachers of Jerusalem prepared him to be a tremendous leader and a force within Judaism. He was what we might call today a well-rounded individual with much learning and experience. He was a tremendous leader in his religion. 

Paul describes himself this way in Philippians 3. Listen to Philippians 3:4. He says, "Though I also might have confidence in the flesh, if anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I’m more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless." 

He was perhaps the greatest of his contemporaries in his religion. But it went further than this with Saul. In fact, we see that his zeal drove him; it consumed him. He became almost like a madman, defending his religion against all who would come against it. The sect that was first and foremost in his mind was this new way called Christianity—the followers of this Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified and dead in his grave in the mind of Saul.

So Saul would be the epitome of the good, self-righteous religious man, someone who was very well-respected and a leader in the world of religion and piety. But what he would come to understand, what we must understand clearly, is that he had a great need for conversion. 

You see, the world looks at a Saul and says, "There’s a good man! There’s a fervent, dedicated religious man." He was actually an evil man, a bad man who, in following his false legalistic religion, was eaten up by his zeal to arrest, imprison, and persecute both men and women. 

But through the eyes of religious men, if anyone was to go to heaven by self-effort, if anyone was going to get there by religious commitment and dedication, and by doing good, if anyone could have confidence in the flesh, it would be Saul. We think this way today about religious leaders—people who give their lives to their church, to the doing of good, zealously defending their faith, and seeking to live it out. We say they are good men, that they do good things. 

But this is not what Saul found to be true. This is not what the Bible says. This is not what Jesus taught. Because you see, the problem of man is not what he does; it is who he is. 

Conversely, we might think that the thieves, the drunkards, and the prostitutes of our world deserve to go to hell—that they have no chance because they are bad people. Paul addresses this in Romans 2 concerning the religious man. After listing out all of those bad people at the end of Romans 1 and talking about their just condemnation, Paul turns to the self-righteous religious man in chapter 2 with these words: "Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge; for in whatever you judge another, you condemn yourself. Listen to this: for you who judge practice the same things." 

But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? 

The problem is not the degree to which we sin, and the solution is not in trying to be better and do more and keep the law or some religious code. The problem is who man is on the inside. Who he is in Adam. It is what comes out of a man that defiles him. It is the heart that is the problem; it’s inner corruption, indwelling sin that dominates and controls the lost man. 

Peter gives us a tremendous teaching on this truth concerning false teachers and false converts versus true believers. Turn over to 2nd Peter with me, please. 2nd Peter, chapter 1, at verse 2, Peter writes, "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue." 

By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, look at what he says: "Having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." 

Now if you go down to verse 17, it says, speaking of false teachers, "These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error." 

While they promise them liberty, look at verse 19: "They themselves are slaves of corruption, for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage." For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning, for it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. 

But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: "A dog returns to his own vomit," and a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire. 

Peter is talking about men within the realm of Christendom. They have come into the church; they have escaped the outward pollutions of the world by coming into the body of believers, but they themselves have not been converted. They are slaves of inner corruption still; and thus their true nature is eventually shown as they are dogs and sows and not sheep. 

The key is to understand that it is escaping inner corruption, it’s a new creation that is the answer. It's not escaping the outward pollutions; the external religious men may appear outwardly conformed to the law of God, to be righteous men, but inwardly they are corrupt. The only answer is conversion. The only answer is a new heart, a new birth, a transformation, a recreation on the inside.

This is why Paul says in Romans 5 that just as condemnation came through the one man Adam, by which all men were made sinners, so justification, righteousness, a new heart, comes through the one righteous act of the one man, Jesus Christ, on the cross. Isaiah said that the whole head is sick and the heart faints. My friends, there is a necessity of conversion for every lost man, and Saul was no exception. 

Turn over to John 3 with me, please. Let's see Jesus' teaching on this truth in John chapter 3, verse 1. 

A man came to him named Nicodemus; he was a Pharisee, as was Saul, a ruler of the Jews. It says in verse 1, "This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, 'Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.'" 

Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." 

Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" 

Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'" 

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. 

Look at verse 14: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." 

A man must be born again. He must experience conversion. There is a necessity of conversion for every man. 

And next we see this conversion can only come by a confrontation with Jesus—the truth. Look back in our text at verse 1. 

Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus so that if he found any who were of the way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 

As he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" 

And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads." 

Saul was following his religion with tremendous zeal, taking its teaching to its logical conclusion and seeking zealously to destroy anyone who, in his mind, presented a threat to it. He was in fact on his way up to Damascus to pursue some of those of the way in order to bring them bound to Jerusalem. 

But we see that on his way, when he entered the city, neared the city, he had a confrontation with Jesus—the one whom he was persecuting and trying to destroy. Can you imagine what a shocking moment that must have been for Saul? What an amazing event in his life! 

He was determined to destroy this sect, this way, because he believed it to be heresy against the God of Israel. He had a zeal but not according to knowledge. He was sure that what he was doing was right. But as with every testimony, as with your salvation and mine, I believe Saul would have, after this event, looked back and recognized the faithful witnesses in his life, the working of the Holy Spirit to break him down and show him the truth and draw him to Christ. 

I would imagine that in the course of all this persecution and knowing the mind and heart of Saul, that he would have a clear understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I would imagine that there were those who proclaimed it even as he was binding them. I would point to the debate, the dispute that Saul had with Stephen concerning the Scriptures and the truth that Jesus is the Messiah—the debate that Saul lost, because it says that none of them could handle the clear testimony and arguments of Stephen. 

And Saul saw the testimony of Stephen not only in words but indeed, as Stephen looked up into heaven and saw Jesus and his life was taken from him by the stones. Saul saw and heard the testimony of the believers, and I'm sure that this haunted him in his mind, that this worked in his heart, and he was a bit of a thinking kind of man, wouldn't you say? A studying kind of man. And he would have known what the Christians taught inside and out. 

And the thing about the truth is that it has a way of working on a man deep down in his mind and his heart, especially a zealous man like Saul. My point is this: Saul knew the truth and the witness of faithful believers, and this had to have an impact on him at some level. 

And in all of this, God was preparing him for this stunning moment on the road to Damascus. And here, with these words, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" And he says, "Who are you, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting." With these words, there was a confrontation with Jesus—the truth of who He is. 

What He has done and the fact that He is the only way to salvation. Certainly Saul had one of the most dramatic confrontations with truth of all time. But this is the essence of every conversion. The way that God does this in an individual varies greatly. 

Some have very dramatic experiences—lots of conviction, tears, emotions for days even. Maybe there's a great event in their life, maybe there's some tragedy, an accident, a near-death experience. But others, such as myself, have very little in the way of emotion or experience. For me, it was somewhat academic—a coming to the knowledge of the truth through the Word of God, seeing and understanding the truth of the gospel, who Jesus is, what He has done, and the way to justification to salvation. I saw that clearly. 

I had my confrontation in Ephesians 2:1-10. And the Holy Spirit drew me, convinced me through His Word and the faithful witnesses of several believers by word and by deed over time. But it came down to my understanding of my need for conversion. 

And a confrontation with the truth, with Jesus, is what brought me to a crisis of decision. When we read and think about the conversion of Saul and the amazing, dramatic way in which Jesus and the truth came to him, we might tend to think, "Well, Saul really had no choice. I mean, Jesus came and confronted him personally, struck him down. This is a great display of God's sovereignty in salvation." Saul had no choice, no decision in this. 

But I would submit to you again that though Saul's conversion was certainly unique and special in many ways, it does show these awesome truths of God's sovereignty. It does not deny, however, the truth of the choice of every man and the need of every man to respond in faith in order to be saved, including Saul. 

According to Haddon Robinson, there are 157 verses in the New Testament that proclaim that a man is justified or saved through believing, by faith in Jesus. And they’re very clear, my friends. Listen to these: 

John 1:11, "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him, but as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name." 

John 5:24, "Jesus said, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in Him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death unto life.'" 

Ephesians 1:13, "In Him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Spirit of promise." 

The scriptures are abundantly clear. A man must hear the truth—the gospel, a message about Jesus—and then he must receive, that is, believe that truth. He must turn from whatever he is trusting in and turn to Jesus in faith, trusting Him alone and what He did to save us on the cross. 

There are those who teach and would like you to believe that a man must first be saved—that he must first be regenerated before he can believe. My friends, this turns the clear Bible truth about how a man is saved on its head. For the scriptures say over and over and over and over—157 times in the New Testament—that a man hears, he believes, and then he is saved. 

And it was no different for Saul. Let me show you in Acts 26. Turn to Acts 26, please. This is Paul’s testimony before Agrippa about his conversion on the Damascus Road. 

Acts 26, 12. "While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O King, along the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' So I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And He said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness, both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'" 

Look what he says in verse 19: "Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision." Let me ask you, could Paul have been disobedient to the heavenly vision? Did he really have a choice? You might be thinking, "Well, I know, I really don't know." It seems like, right, that’s how we tend to think when we read this. 

But let me ask you, did Judas have less revelation than Paul? Did Judas have less face-to-face interaction with Jesus than Saul did? How about the men in the book of Revelation that see Jesus sitting on His throne as the wrath of the Lamb is upon them? Will their experience be less dramatic than that of Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus? They will see the amazing events of that time and they know it is coming from Jesus, and yet at the end of those great chapters and the accounts of the amazing miraculous signs and wonders, it says again and again, they would not repent. 

Funny how it never says God was not willing, that Jesus didn’t want to save them. Or how about those children born during the millennial reign of Jesus on this earth—in His throne, in His glorified body? Will they not know the truth about Jesus, who He is, what He's done? Will they not be confronted with Jesus face-to-face, see Him and perhaps outwardly even worship Him? Yet in their hearts, many will reject Him, and at the end of those years, they will gather with Satan and come against Him. 

The clear, resilient Bible truth is that as much as God is sovereign in salvation—and He is—man also has a will and must make a choice to believe Jesus when confronted with the truth, when he hears the gospel message. And I believe this was true for Saul as well. 

So we see the necessity of conversion. We see the confrontation with Jesus. We see the truth about who He is, and we see the crisis of decision. And last, I just want to look forward a little bit and see the changed life. 

Acts 9, verse 6. It says, "So he, trembling and astonished, said, 'Lord, what do you want me to do?'" Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one; but they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 

And he was three days without sight and neither ate nor drank. Now as we move down to the following verses, go down to verse 18, we see the evidence of the change in his life. 

Verse 18: "Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once, and he arose and was baptized. So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus." 

Look at verse 20: "Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God." Then all who heard were amazed and said, "Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?" 

But Saul increased all the more in strength and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ. 

When a man is confronted with the truth of Jesus and who He is and what He has done, and when that man chooses to place his faith in Christ alone and he experiences true conversion—a new heart, a new spirit, and the Holy Spirit coming to dwell in him—that man will have a changed life. 

2nd Corinthians 5:14 says, "The love of Christ compels us because we judge thus that if one died for all, then all died. And He died for all that those who live should live no longer for themselves but for Him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." 

Now all things are of God who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. 

The old is gone; the new has come. Ephesians and Colossians tell us that we have put off the old man, we have put on the new man. Romans 6:6 says that the old man was crucified with Christ in order that the body controlled by indwelling sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 

My brothers and sisters, the truth of the new covenant, salvation, is that by His grace through faith in Christ alone, we are made new creations, and Jesus comes to live in you—the hope of glory. 

And this amazing, stunning, profound change that we call regeneration or new birth, this recreation of who we are on the inside, the truth of our death to sin, our death to law, our release from the bondage of death—all of this glorious change on the inside must and will result in a drastic change on the outside. 

This is the primary exhortation of our New Testament. Live out who you are. Walk worthy of your calling. Live in consistency outwardly with the truth of who you now are inwardly because of salvation in Christ. 

Saul's conversion to Paul is perhaps the greatest example of this drastic change on the inside and the outside. His amazing zeal and passion, focused on stomping out and tearing apart the Christian church, was turned 180 degrees in a moment of time. He went from persecuting the church to preaching Christ, confounding the Jews, proving that Jesus is the Christ. 

Everything came into clear focus for Paul when he was converted, when he was saved. All of his knowledge and zeal fell into place as he understood that all of the Scriptures were about Jesus. And he became a powerful witness of the gospel—a minister to the Gentiles. 

Listen to his testimony in 1st Timothy 1. He says, "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man. But I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance: that Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. 

However, for this reason, I obtained mercy, that in me first, Jesus Christ might show all long-suffering as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life." 

This was now Paul's life: preaching Jesus, sharing the gospel, showing from the Word of God that Jesus is the only Savior, the only way, and that salvation only comes by God's grace through faith alone in Him. 

And my brothers and sisters, this is now the primary command for our life today: to go into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature, to make disciples, and teach them to obey all that Jesus commanded. 

What a privilege, what a joy, what a salvation we have in Jesus. And my friends, what an obligation we now have to live out who we are by His grace and power through faith, abiding in Him one day at a time, and showing the world that Jesus is the Christ. 

Let’s close in prayer. 

Father, we’re so thankful for this testimony that you’ve preserved in your Word for us, the truth of salvation in Jesus Christ by faith in Him. We’re thankful that you convict us by your Spirit, that you draw us by your Spirit, that you work in us, that you bring faithful witnesses into our lives and tell us about Jesus, the truth of the gospel. 

Father, we’re thankful for the salvation that we have by faith in Him. Help us to be witnesses. Help us to live a life worthy of our calling for your glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.