In this study we see how the Lord Jesus conquers Saul’s stubborn and rebellious will by His grace.  Behold the long suffering, revealing and subduing of Christ! What matchless mercy!

Teaching Notes:

Conquered By Christ: Pt. 1

Acts 9:1-9

    Although there have been many amazing conversions in the history of the world, I don’t think there have been any more amazing than that of Saul of Tarsus. It is undoubtedly the most famous conversion in church history. Luke, at this point has told the stories of Stephen and Philip which helped prepare the way for the gospel to go out to all the world. Now, Luke is going to tell the story of 2 notable conversions:  Saul and Cornelius, which actually launched the gospel to all the world.
Saul’s conversion was of supreme significance to Luke. We know that because he includes this account 3 times in the Acts, once in this narrative, and twice in Paul’s own speeches:  chapter 9, 22, and 26. We will be comparing all three accounts this morning to get all the details of his conversion.
What is of note in this account is the sovereign grace of God in Saul’s conversion. It is popular today to talk about someone “making their decision for Christ”, or “accepting Christ”. In Saul’s case, he didn’t make a decision for Christ – Christ made a decision for him.  He didn’t accept Christ – Christ accepted him. The initiative was all on the part of the Lord Jesus Christ. The natural man can’t understand, hear, sense, know or see God. God must invade his world and reveal Himself or the sinner will never be saved.  So, just as in the last message on Philip’s ministry to the Ethiopian eunuch, the real hero of this story is not Saul, it is Jesus.  I want to take up this story this morning by focusing on what Jesus graciously did to subdue and conquer Saul’s stubborn, proud, sinful heart and make him a trophy of His grace. We are going to focus on 6 things Jesus did in Saul’s life:  long-suffering, revealing, subduing, commissioning, healing, and sending. 

1.  The Long-Suffering Of Christ:  9:1-2.
    We were first introduced to Saul in connection with the stoning of Stephen. Those that stoned Stephen laid their robes at Saul’s feet, and in 8:1 we are told that Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. Evidently, Saul was in charge of his execution. Notice 8:3- Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison. Now, notice 9:1 “Now Saul still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord…” Nothing has changed over the past year since Stephen was executed. Apparently Saul had done as much persecution in Jerusalem as he could, so he is taking the persecution to outlying cities. Saul is even taking his persecution 150 miles north to Damascus, and then bringing back believers in chains all the way to Jerusalem. What a zealous opponent of Christianity. He has become obsessed with stamping out The Way. He is “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.”  He doesn’t appear calm and collected. Rather, he appears as a raging fanatic. 26:11 says that he was “furiously enraged” against the disciples. 9:5 says Saul is not just persecuting disciples; he is persecuting Jesus. Yet, Jesus allows it. He takes it. He is suffers long through it. He could have acted in fiery judgment, killing him on the spot, but He didn’t. 1Tim.1:15-16 “that Christ Jesus 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 longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for eternal life” (NKJV). 
    Saul was the kind of person that no one ever expected to be converted. His entire life would be over if he embraced Christianity. He had taken an entrenched, public stand against Jesus Christ. It would be like Madalyn Murray-Ohair getting saved and fighting for public prayer, or Sadamm Hussein getting saved and becoming a missionary to the Muslims in Iraq. That’s one of the reasons why Jesus saved him – to prove that He can save anyone. Doesn’t that give you hope for that Mom or Dad, or brother or sister, or friend or neighbor that you think could never be saved? 
     Before Jesus conquered Saul, He had to suffer long with him.  Has Jesus conquered you? If so, wasn’t there a time, when He had to exercise great long-suffering with you?  Remember back to your B.C. days. What was your life like? What sins were you committing? List them. Were you fornicating and sleeping around? Were you abusing drugs and alcohol? Were you a hot-head, often losing your temper and flying into a rage? Were you into pornography? Were you an idolater? Were you worshipping yourself, or fame, or money, or power? Did you lie, steal, and cheat? Make a mental list of your sins against God. Jesus Christ was forbearing towards you as well!  He could have cut you off in His wrath and consigned you to hell, and He would have been perfectly just in doing so. But He was long-suffering! Have you ever thanked God for being so long-suffering towards you? If not, let thanks and praise well up in your heart right now!

2.  The Revealing Of Christ:  9:3-5.
     Suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him:  22:6 says it was at noontime. 22:6 says it was a “very bright light” and 26:13 says it was a “light from heaven brighter than the sun.” This light was so bright that it ended up blinding him. Notice that it happened suddenly. No one saw this coming. It was totally unexpected. When Jesus had suffered long enough, He blew a whistle and it was all over. What was this light? It was the glory of Christ, similar to how Christ revealed Himself in the transfiguration where “His face shone like the sun.” Can you imagine what Saul must have been feeling right about now? Probably terrified! He’s wondering, “what in the world is going on?!”
And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”  So, whoever this Being was, He knew all about Saul. He knew his name, and He knew that He had been persecuting Him. He was also able to communicate with Saul in his own language. Notice that Jesus didn’t say, “Saul, why are you persecuting My people?” To persecute one of Christ’s disciples, is to persecute Him, they are so vitally united together. No blow hit on earth goes unfelt in heaven. Christ is the Head and we are the body. When you hit your thumb with a hammer, you better believe your head feels it!  What would those words have done to Saul? I think they would have absolutely devastated him. He’s realizing in flash that all the people he has harmed, imprisoned, torn away from their children and families, and even executed have been God’s people. Oh, the horrible guilt! He’s guilty of murder many times over! Saul is flat on his face in the dust, and reeling from the revelation that the people he has hurt, and killed were God’s, and he has been fighting against God! What powerful conviction of sin!
It is hard for you to kick against the goads:  26:14.  A goad is a long stick with a pointed end, also called a cattle prod. The farmer uses them to get the oxe to pull the plow. God has been prodding Saul, but Saul has been kicking against it. Stephen’s life, wisdom, death, shining face, vision of Christ, and courageous martyrdom served as goads in God’s hand. No doubt Stephen had made a tremendous impression on Saul, and God brought that scene back to him again and again to bring him to repentance, but Saul would have none of it. He resisted, and he kicked and flailed about. So, the Lord decided He was done prodding. He was going to conquer Saul right now once and for all. If Saul won’t go the easy way, then the Lord is going to take him down the hard way.
And he said, “Who are you Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus, the Nazarene (ch.22) whom you are persecuting.”  Saul knew whoever this Being was, He was the Lord. He just didn’t know who the Lord was. The Lord left him in no doubt. Jesus is the Lord. He is the Lord of heaven and earth. People today try to tell us you can be saved without receiving Jesus as Lord. Tell that to Saul. When Saul was saved he knew Jesus was Lord, and responded accordingly. If a person will not bow to Christ as Lord, he has not been born again. Period. Romans 10:9-10.
At this point, Jesus has revealed Himself to Saul. When did He do it? Was it when Saul was seeking Jesus? Of course not! Saul wanted nothing to do with Jesus. He hated Jesus. He was in the very act of going to Damascus to imprison and kill the disciples of Jesus. When did Jesus reveal Himself to you? Was it when you were seeking hard after Him? No man seeks God. No, you weren’t seeking Him, but He was seeking you. This revelation of Christ is absolutely necessary to be saved. No man will ever be saved apart from Christ revealing Himself to his soul. Mt.16:16-17; John 6:45; 2Cor.4:6. It comes in regeneration. Without it, all a person has is some head knowledge which doesn’t affect the heart or transform the life. That’s the difference between someone who only hears the preacher, versus someone who hears the voice of Christ through the preacher. When Christ reveals Himself, there is power! Has Jesus revealed Himself to you? Has He shown you that He is Lord and God and Savior and Redeemer and Friend? Have you bowed to Him, waved the white flag, and unconditionally surrendered to Him? If not, you are still His enemy, fighting against Him. Guess what? He isn’t going to lose this fight. It is far better for Christ to conquer you in His grace now, than to conquer you in His wrath on Judgment Day!

3.  The Subduing Of Christ:  9:6-9.
What shall I do, Lord?  Acts 22:10 should be inserted between Acts 9:5 and 9:6. The Lord had just identified Himself as Jesus. I suspect there must have been a long pause between “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” And “What shall I do, Lord?” This revelation must have knocked the wind out of him. It must have been startling to him. All along he believed the Lord was pleased with him arresting and killing Christians. Now he learns that the people he had been hurting were the Lord’s own people! He had been fighting against God! He’s thinking, “Oh no! What have I done?! I am guilty of persecuting the Lord of heaven!” I’m damned! I’m undone! I’m going to hell! That’s why he says, “What shall I do, Lord?” Is there any hope for me? It is similar to the Jews’ response to Peter’s preaching on Pentecost in 2:37 “Brethren, what shall we do?” I must do something, but I don’t know what it is. Is there something I can do to escape Your wrath, to be pardoned for my heinous sins? Lord, just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.
It seems to me that it is at this point that Saul is saved. He has recognized his sins and has surrendered to Christ. That is why Ananias refers to him as “Brother Saul.”
But get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do:  Now the Lord starts issuing the orders. Up till now Saul was in complete command. Now, he’s the servant and he starts obeying orders. When someone is saved, he instinctively begins to obey Jesus. Of course he doesn’t do it perfectly, and never will till he is glorified, but there is a new bent and direction of obedience in his life.
The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one:  The other men saw the light. It flashed around them as well as Saul. They heard the voice from heaven. They didn’t understand the voice, but they heard it just like the people in Jn.12:29 heard God’s voice but said it had thundered.
Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus:  The one who had anticipated riding high and mighty into Jerusalem as a Powerful Persecutor had to be led into Jerusalem by the hand as a tame kitten. The light that had shone from heaven was so bright and powerful that it left Saul blinded. Have you ever looked into the sun, and then you can’t see anything else? The last thing Saul saw was the glory of Christ, and that glory blinded him, so that he couldn’t see anything else for 3 days.
And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank:  Why didn’t Saul eat or drink? I think it was because he was so traumatized by this experience, that he had no appetite or desire for food. God will giving him some time to allow his brain to catch up to what had happened in his soul. Here in these 3 days Saul is getting acquainted with Jesus Christ.  Vs. 11 – “he is praying.” You better believe he was! He was getting to know the One he thought was dead, but now realized was alive!
Christ had subdued Paul. He had brought his rebellious will into submission to Him. He had suffered long with him, revealed Himself to Him, and then made him into a devoted servant. This is what Christ does in our lives when He conquers us. He subdues every rebellious sinner that He saves. Those Jesus justifies, He sanctifies. The moment a sinner is justified, the lifelong process of sanctification begins, because the Spirit takes up residence in Him and makes him holy.
My friend, has Christ conquered you? Make no mistake about it – He will conquer you! It will either be as your Judge when He comes in His glory, or it will be now as your Savior, but you can’t escape the fact that He will conquer you. Make it easy on yourself and bow to Christ now!

______________________________
© The Bridge

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be approved by The Bridge.

Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: By Brian Anderson. © The Bridge.  Website: www.TheBridgeOnline.net