In the name of Christ Jesus, dear fellow redeemed people of God,

Last week, Pastor Koehler stressed God's grace in conversion when discussing the case of Peter. Today, we take a look at that other famous apostle, Paul. And again we see God's grace in conversion. As we examine the life of the apostle Paul, we will examine other Bible passages about him. Combined, we learn that:

1. God converted Saul the Pharisee to Christian faith. It is difficult to imagine a mind less inclined to Christian faith than that of Saul the Pharisee. Saul was a clear enemy of Christ and the Christian Church. First, he was a Pharisee, trained by the great rabbi Gamaliel. He was a strict observer of all the laws of the Pharisees. And you will remember that Jesus opposed one group in his earthly ministry, it was those self-righteous, hypocritical Pharisees. Well, in that group, Saul was a rising star. He was going places. But that's not all. He was a vicious persecutor of all who believed in Jesus as their Savior. He was there, approving the action, when Stephen was stoned to death. Acts 8:3 says, "Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison." Saul tried to force them to blaspheme and curse the name of Jesus. He even traveled to foreign cities to arrest Christians there. Some of these Christians were whipped and beaten. But that's not all. Saul played for keeps! With the full approval of the Jewish high priests, many Christians were put to death for their faith in Christ, as martyrs. There is one word to describe Saul's attitude: Zeal. He was very, very enthusiastic for his cause. He was for the Pharisees and against the Christians. And he was very eager to carry all of this out. He was filled with zeal and enthusiasm.

Now, I'm pretty sure that we would not count somebody like this as a good prospect for mission work. I highly doubt that any Christians would have wanted to make an outreach visit to this guy Saul. He would kill you! But this is the guy that God chose to be a Christian and a missionary and an apostle. And as we know from the Bible, we do not choose God. He chooses us. And that is crystal clear in this case. As I said before, it is difficult to imagine a mind less inclined to Christian faith than that of Saul the Pharisee. He reminds us that before we are brought to faith, we are not only dead in sin, we are hostile to God. And this Saul was hostile to Jesus - no question about it! I invite you to follow along as we consider the account of Paul's conversion in Acts chapter nine:

{1-4} Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest {2} and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. {3} As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. {4} He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" Notice that last word, "me." Jesus has already ascended into heaven, and rules all things, and yet he says that Saul is persecuting him. This shows us how closely Christ associates himself with the church, with his believers. The church is his body. And Saul was persecuting the church. But he would not succeed. The Lord Jesus was about to stop Saul's persecution. So, there Saul was, fallen to the ground, surrounded by this super bright light from heaven.

{5-6} "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. {6} "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." There was no doubt who was in control. How foolish it would have sounded if this man had later parroted that dangerous false teaching about making some personal decision for Christ. He did nothing of the sort. There, on his back, he asked, meekly "Who are you, Lord?" And the Lord said, "I am Jesus." How shocking that must have been for Saul. How frightening it must have been for this guy who had been such a bully to Christ's humble believers. Without a doubt, Jesus is in control and tells Saul how it's going to be. He told him to go to the city and added: "you will be told what you must do."

{7-9} The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. {8} Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. {9} For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. Now, wouldn't this get a busy person to focus? The Lord made Saul blind. Now, he would have time to rethink everything. He was so wrong about so much! And yet, Saul had been sincere. And that ought to remind us that being sincere won't save anyone. You can be sincerely heading the wrong way down the road, but that doesn't get you to the right destination. All this time, Saul had been thinking that the way to God's favor was by his zealous works. But look at the works he was doing! He was persecuting Christians! He was putting people in prison for believing in Jesus! And, now, he gets this vision from heaven, and Jesus speaks to him! It was an awful lot to handle. He had to rethink everything!

{10-14} In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!" "Yes, Lord," he answered. {11} The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. {12} In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight." {13} "Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. {14} And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name." How would you like to be Ananias right here? He knows what Saul has been doing. This is not your average outreach visit here! He wants to decline this divine call!

{15-16} But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. {16} I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." Ananias could not decline this call from God. The Lord said, "Go!" This task was very important. Saul was the Lord's "chosen instrument" to become the apostle Paul. Notice who chose whom! The Lord chose Saul to be Paul.

{17-19} 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." {18} Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, {19} and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. Can you imagine Ananias having to say, "Brother Saul" after all that Saul did? It's kind of like visiting Adolph Hitler and saying, "Brother Adolph." That would be one tough outreach visit, I think. But the Lord sent him, and Ananias went. Saul's vision was restored. He was baptized. And then, he spent some time with the believers. But, I'm guessing they were a little cautious. But Saul changed sides with amazing speed. And now his zeal, his enthusiasm, would be applied to the cause of Christ.

2. God called Paul the Christian to be an apostle. Saul didn't wait. He got right to it. {20-22} At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. {21} All those who heard him were astonished and asked, "Isn't he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?" {22} Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ. Paul preached "Jesus is the Son of God." He proved, from the Old Testament, "that Jesus is the Christ." And suddenly, the big persecutor of Christians had become the great Christian missionary and apostle Paul. By God's grace, Paul would become the greatest missionary of them all. He would travel all over the known world, and probably even to Spain, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. He brought the gospel to many cities, towns and villages.

He would be inspired to write more books of the Bible than any other man. This former Pharisee wrote, "a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law" (Ro 3:28). He preached that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus" (Ro 3:23-24). He called sinners to repentance, but then he lifted them up with the good news that Jesus redeemed us all from sin. The words on our altar, "He loved me and gave himself for me," come from his pen (Gal 2:20). He declared, "we preach Christ crucified" (1 Co 1:23), and "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes." (Ro 1:16) What a story! Paul would later look back on all, refer to himself as the worst of sinners, and write: "by the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Co 15:10; 1 Tm 1:15). By the grace of God, we are what we are too. We did not choose Christ. He chose us. He converted us to faith. Like Paul, let us repent of all of our sins, and find comfort in knowing that Jesus lived a perfect life for us, and died on the cross to pay for all of our sins. Believe in Jesus, our risen Savior, and heaven is open to you. Or, as Paul said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" (Ac 16:31). Amen.