The Holy Spirit moves to call Saul who will be an apostle to the Gentiles. Saul hunted down Christians and was an enemy of the Gospel. He is out to destroy the church – when God shows up!

1 – His deadly enmity (vs. 1)

There was a resumption of Saul’s campaign of terror. He had been involved in the death of Stephen and the resulting persecution in Jerusalem. Now he is ready to carry the persecution outside of Jerusalem. See Acts 26:9-11. He gets permission from the High Priest to continue his campaign. He gets his extradition papers. Saul is on a murderous mission. Saul did it in sincerity. Saul was a great devotee to his religion – Judaism. He was devoted to Jesus when he gets saved. He was sincere but he was sincerely wrong! Hell will be full of sincere people.

2 – His driving energy (vs. 2)

He had 200 miles to travel to Damascus. He was after those of “The Way”. In early Christianity the Church was known as “The Way”. See Acts 22:4 & 24:14, 22. It did not matter to Paul whether they were men, woman or children. He was prepared to kill them all. Paul was running from conviction. The death of Stephen was hounding his mind. The Holy Spirit was convicting him. See John 16:8. The Holy Spirit uses the preaching the Word of God to convict. It is not the person who is preaching who does the conviction. That is the job of the Holy Spirit. There are four things we can say about conviction.

• Conviction is painful.
• Conviction is powerful. You can run but you cannot hide.
• Conviction is perpetual. God never gives up.
• Conviction is productive. It produces righteousness in our heart.

3 – His divine encounter (vs. 3)

Suddenly there is a light from heaven at about noon. See Acts 22:6 & 26:12-13. The sun is at its peak at noon time. The light from heaven caused the sun to pale in comparison. It was brighter than a midday sun. God can put a light out there brighter than the sun! This light caused Saul to lose his sight. There are three things we can say about this light.

• It represents the deity of Christ – Jesus was the light from heaven. See John 1:14. The glory of Jesus is represented in this light. Jesus stopped Saul in his tracks. He will realise that Jesus is the Messiah. We all need a glimpse of the glory of God. Adam saw the glory of God and ran away. Isaiah saw the glory of God and he knew he was a sinner. When you see the glory of God you are changed. See Hebrews 1:3-5.
• It represents the deliverance of Christ – See John 8:12. Jesus shows light onto the people and the Gentiles. See Acts 26:33-34. We are all walking in darkness and need some light. See 2 Corinthians 4:6. If you are in darkness today it is because you have rejected the light. People love darkness rather than the light. You can’t hold onto your sins and be saved.
• It represents the destination of Christ – Jesus is going to come back. See 2 Thessalonians 2:8-9. Jesus will be coming back in brightness. It will not be in darkness or in secrecy. Everyone will see his return. God’s kingdom is coming. See Revelation 22:5-6. There will be no need for the sun and the moon. When God shows up he shows out!

Categories: Acts