Sunday Worship Service’s Sermon
(6-12-2022)
Saul’s Conversion Story
(Acts 9:1-9)
1.
Resurrection faith goes far beyond the simple intellectual assent
to ‘I believe in the resurrection of Jesus.’ A person who has faith in the
resurrection begins a life that is converted 180-degrees, unlike his/her previous
life and faith.
Think about it. If Jesus is resurrected and is with us, how can we
live our lives as we were before? If we, who had no choice but to perish
forever, were justified by the grace and love of Jesus' ransom and gained
eternal life, how can we remain in the wrong life of the past?
Over the past two weeks, we have personally met the resurrected
Jesus and shared stories of those who have been converted. Here, there was a
very important commonality. Did you find that commonality too?
Every time the resurrected Jesus came and showed Himself, people’s
lives were radically changed. On the night Jesus was arrested, Peter, who
denied Jesus and ran away saying, “I am not a disciple of Jesus,” and Thomas,
who did not believe in Jesus’ resurrection, changed 180 degrees when Jesus
showed Himself.
For a week, I prayed that 'you and I meet the resurrected Jesus
personally and live a converted life.' The resurrected Jesus still visits us
and meets us. This is because Jesus wants us to personally meet the resurrected
Jesus and live a converted life, enjoying the grace given to us.
2.
Today, I would like to share with you another person who
personally met the resurrected Jesus and experienced conversion. His name is Saul. Unlike Peter and Thomas, the
story of Saul's conversion is very dramatic. So,
some people want to experience a conversion similar to Saul’s. But the experience of
conversion varies from person to person. Nevertheless, all the converted people
have changed their lives 180 degrees.
In Acts 8, an Ethiopian finance minister was converted while
reading Isaiah with Philip and learning about Jesus (Acts 8:30-36). In Acts 16,
Lydia, a businesswoman, was converted at a riverside prayer meeting while
listening to Paul preach about Jesus. That's all. No miracles, no lights, no
vision - just conversation. Billy Graham was converted when he was 16 when he
first heard a sermon on hell from an evangelist named Mordecai Ham. By contrast,
his wife - Ruth Bell Graham, who was raised by Presbyterian missionaries in
China, has grown into a person who knows and has followed Jesus since childhood
and being transformed, she naturally loves Jesus. Ruth Bell recalled her own
faith and life this way: ‘I deeply loved and thanked Jesus, who loved me so
much that he died for me.''
In this way, there are many different stories of conversion. They
were not all dramatic. But the end result was the same. Each person was changed
from the inside out. God, who made us and knows us well, meets each of us in
the most necessary way and grants us the grace of conversion.
Now let's start with Saul's conversion story.
Saul was a Jew. He learned the Law through Gamaliel, a scholar at
the time from a young age. Saul strongly rejected the claims of Christians that “God came as a human being, and Jesus is the Messiah who came to the world for
our salvation.” In addition, Saul believed that the death of Jesus on the cross
was evidence that Jesus was cursed and died in shame and was abandoned by God. So, before he met Jesus and
was changed, Saul was displeased with the disciples who shouted, 'Jesus is risen,
and whoever believes in the risen Jesus will be saved.' So, he rushed to
destroy the church in Jerusalem altogether. How strong his will was! He went
from house to house, dragged off all Christians, men and women, and put them in
prison.
That was not enough! Saul was on his journey to Damascus that day
to arrest the Christians in Damascus and bring them to Jerusalem. When Saul came
near to Damascus, he had a terrifying and miraculous experience he could not possibly
imagine: ‘Suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. A voice was heard
from heaven, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Jesus had been watching
Saul and knew each one of his actions. Because of this, Saul fell to the
ground, and his eyes were opened, but he could see nothing.’ The resurrected
Jesus came to Saul like this.
At that moment, Saul was astonished and asked, “Who are you, Lord?”
However, the answer he received at that time was shocking. “I am
Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Saul was confronted with the irrefutable fact
that Jesus had risen. Just three days later, Saul
changed 180 degrees and he began preaching from the Bible in the synagogues
"that Jesus is the Son of God." (Acts 9:20).
Where did this sudden change come from?
Saul very severely persecuted Jesus when he didn't know who Jesus
was. But when he met with the resurrected Jesus and realized who Jesus was,
Saul began living his life turned 180 degrees from the way he previously had
lived his life. It is so important to know who Jesus is and what Jesus did for
us.
For three days, when Saul opened his eyes, he could see nothing. He was blind. He didn't eat or drink anything. Saul now
eagerly wanted to learn about the resurrected Jesus.
Three days later, with his sight restored, Saul went to the
synagogues in Damascus and preached to the Jews about "the Son of
God." Looking at this, we can fully understand what these three days were
for Saul.
First of all, Saul saw that Jesus was resurrected, realizing that
the gospel of Christianity and Christians is the truth. That is why the Corinthian church members also taught: "If
there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. For
if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if
Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then
those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we
have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But since Christ has risen, it goes without saying that
Christianity is the truth. Jesus is our God. Jesus is our Christ. This belief
is the truth. Therefore, whoever believes in Jesus will be justified and have
eternal life.”
Second, Saul initially regarded the death of Jesus on the cross as
the death of those who were rejected by God and the death of those who were
cursed. (Deuteronomy 21:22-23) But Saul, on the way to Damascus, saw Jesus,
whom the Holy God had raised from the dead.
At that time, Saul realized that Jesus' death on the cross was not
a curse and execution, but a substitutionary death for our salvation.
(Galatians 3:10-13) In other words, when Saul saw the resurrected Jesus, he saw
the grace and love that Jesus redeemed on the cross for our salvation. He
realized that Jesus was pierced and bruised for our transgressions and
iniquities. (Isaiah 53:5)
In this way, when Saul learned who Jesus was, and realized what Jesus
had done for our salvation, he began to
preach from the Bible in the synagogues "that Jesus is the Son of
God." Even a man like Saul experienced a fundamental change in his life
when the resurrected Jesus came to him and showed Himself to Saul.
Our conversion and knowing who Jesus is are closely related. Those
who really know Jesus are converted. If anyone knows Jesus, people like Peter,
people like Thomas, and people like Saul will begin to be converted. Those who
know the grace and love that Jesus redeemed for our salvation begin to live a
changed life. Faith based on Christ’s grace
begins a 180-degree change in life. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we
can be converted and live a converted life.
3.
Even if we believe in Jesus, but fundamental changes in our lives
have not yet occurred, it may be because of the following reasons: (1) We are not
seeking the true God of the Bible even when we start living a religious life.
We create and live for the God we want instead of the one true God. (2) We do
not read the Bible and do not follow the teachings of the Bible. In order to live as a true Christian, we have
to start a life based on the Bible. (3) Our desires take precedence over the
will of God. (4) We live with a previously formed character, rather than
wanting a converted life. Saul was one such case. This is the spiritual lesson
taught through Saul today. In this case, we can never be converted.
What should we do? (1) Read the Bible. Knowing the real Jesus of
the Bible, the conversion begins there. (2) Seek the fullness of the Holy
Spirit. Paul said that none of us can know or understand Jesus without the help
of the Holy Spirit (Romans 3:10-12). The Holy Spirit teaches us and makes us
know who Jesus is. The Holy Spirit makes us aware of what Jesus did for our
salvation. The Holy Spirit makes us realize the grace and love of Jesus'
atonement. The Holy Spirit converts us. And the Holy Spirit enables this gospel
to be preached to the ends of the earth. (3) Like the lyrics of Hymn 453, we are
to pray and to sing about Jesus who loves us and died for us in order for us to
know Him better.
After the resurrection, Jesus met Peter, Thomas, and Saul, and
next He meets you and me. Look forward to it.