CONVERSION OF SAUL

     Thank you and once again a most pleasant good morning to each
listener. How encouraging it is to have you in the audience. I trust
that are seriously considering the things which are being taught
from Sunday to Sunday. As I have said before, these matters are not
trivial, they are matters that deal with out eternal destiny when
our days in this the flesh come to an end. We shall all stand before
the august presence of Jehovah God and give an accounting as to what
we have done while here in the flesh. The standard of judgment shall
be the Word of God, that Book which we have been studying from week
to week. I now turn our attention to another lesson from that book.
     Perhaps the most outstanding individual we read about in the
Bible, with the exception of Christ Jesus, was the great man we know
of as Paul.  Paul, the preacher, the teacher, the traveler. Paul,
the great apostle. But, how different these adjectives describing
Paul from the ones we would use when we first read of him in Acts
chapter 7.
     Let us all read about this young man as he is introduced to us
by the writer Luke in Acts 7 and 8. Stephen had just accused the
Jews of rejecting Christ as their fathers had rejected the prophets
of old. The Jews then went about stoning Stephen. We take up the
reading in verse 58 of Acts 7: "and they cast him out of the city,
and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their garments at the
feet of a young man named Saul....And Saul was consenting unto his
death. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the
church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad
throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
And devout men buried Stephen, and made great lamentation over him.
But Saul laid waste the church, entering into every house, and
dragging men and women committed them to prison." Reading through
Acts 8:3. Later in writing to Timothy, Paul makes reference to this
time in his life with these words: "though I was before a
blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious; howbeit I obtained
mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief....Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." (1 Tim. 1:13,
15). Saul was honest, sincere, thought he was doing the right thing.
He thought he was doing God's Will. In Acts 23:1, Paul states,
"Brethren, I have lived before God in all good conscience until this
day." In Acts 22:3, he states, "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of
Cilicia, but brought up in this city, at the feet of Gamaliel,
instructed according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers,
being zealous for God, even as ye all are this day." Here is a man
who was zealous, very sincere, very conscientious; yet very wrong.
He was a very religious man. A man who thought he was doing the will
of Jehovah and extremely zealous in his beliefs.
     Can a person be sincere, zealous, conscientious, religious and
still not be pleasing unto God? Indeed he (or she) can be. Saul is a
perfect example of this type of person. Just because you are honest,
sincere and conscientious in your religious beliefs and practices
does not mean that you are right in God's presence. There have been
many that had these qualities, yet are not God's children.
     When we look to Saul we find him on the road that led from
Jerusalem to Damascus intent upon persecuting Christians. You see,
the Christians had all fled from Jerusalem, so Saul went looking for
those hated Christians to bring them back to Jerusalem for
punishment. It was on this road that a bright light, brighter than
the noon day sun, shone upon him and a voice from Heaven spoke,
"Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" (Acts 9:3).  He was told by
Christ to "rise, and enter into the city, and it shall be told thee
what thou must do." (vs. 6).  Many in the religious world today
believe that Saul was saved there on the road when he saw the Lord.
But, not so. The Lord did not tell him what to do, only to GO!! The
information Saul needed to be saved was delivered by the preacher,
Ananias. (vss, 10-19).  Meanwhile, for three days Saul suffered
blindness, waiting for instructions.
     Saul had seen the Lord, even conversed with Him, yet Saul was
still a sinner.  Most people today would claim that if one saw the
Lord and/or talked to the Lord, surely they would be saved. But such
is not the case in the conversion of Saul. What do you think, my
listening audience?  Do you think that one who saw the Lord would be
saved?  Be careful as to how you answer that question.  Be sure that
your answer agrees with God's word.
     You will notice that in every case where God intervenes in the
conversion of a person, the Lord always tells the preacher to give
the instruction to the sinner. Look at the conversion of the
Ethiopian eunuch in Acts chapter 8. The Lord appeared to Philip, the
preacher and told him to go tell the eunuch what to do. In Acts 10,
in the conversion of Cornelius, the Lord appeared unto Peter and
told him to go to Cornelius. And we could multiply this example by
many more. It fell Ananias' responsibility to find Saul and tell him
what the Lord wanted him to do to be saved. But, we are getting
ahead of the narrative.
     Saul was told to go into the city; and he went. His going
indicates that he had had a change of mind with reference to Christ
Jesus. Whereas Saul left Jerusalem intent upon destroying those who
believed in Christ, now he himself was a believer, a believer who
had changed his mind about Christ -- that is called repentance. Saul
was now a believer, he had seen the risen Lord; He was a penitent
believer. He entered the city blind, waiting for instructions as to
what to do to become the child of God, to be saved from his sins.
This believer was approached by Ananias, the preacher, and told,
"Now why tariest thou, arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins,
calling on the name of the Lord." (Acts 22:16).  Wait a minute.  You
mean that this person, Saul, had seen the Lord, had talked to the
Lord, yet, still needed to do something to wash away his sins.  It
sounds like that, doesn't it??  He was still in his sins if he
needed to be baptized to have his sins washed away. Yet, that is
exactly what Ananias told him, "Arise and be baptized and wash away
thy sins." You mean there is a connection between baptism and the
washing away of sins? One has to have help to misunderstand that.
Not only was Saul a penitent believer, but he was a praying man
also. Note verse 11 of Acts chapter 9. Here is a believer, a
penitent believer, a penitent praying believer, yet still in his
sins. To this penitent praying believer, the preacher said, "Get up
Saul, be baptized and your sins will be washed away."
     I am persuaded that if many preachers today would find a
praying man like Saul, they would tell him, "You keep on praying,
until you pray through, or until the Lord responds to you." Not
Ananias, a spirit guided preacher. He said, Saul, it is time to quit
praying, it is now time for you to do something. If you would be
saved, you need to be baptized. Now doesn't that sound familiar? Did
not Jesus say, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved."
(Mark 16:16). Isn't it interesting how God's word always agrees with
itself??
     But back to Saul. I want to ask you a question. Be honest now,
when do you think Saul was saved?  Let me give you a minute to think
about that. When was Saul saved?  Was you answer, "On the road to
Damascus when he saw the Lord."  If so, he was saved in his sins,
because his sins were not washed away until he was baptized. Was
your answer, "When he prayed."?  If so, he was still in his sins.
When was he saved? Saul was saved, my friends, when he obeyed the
commands of our Lord Jesus Christ, as given through Ananias the
preacher on that occasion. Listen again, "Arise and be baptized and
wash away thy sins."  Was it the water that cleansed him. Oh, no, a
thousand time NO!! He was cleansed by the blood of Jesus, the only
cleansing power available to mankind. You see, this harmonizes with
the apostle's language in Romans 6:3-4, "Or are ye ignorant that all
we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death: that
like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the
Father, so we also might walk in newness of life." Once again, isn't
it beautiful how God's word agrees with God's word. Where did Christ
shed His blood?  In His death. Yet, Paul tells us that we are buried
through baptism into His death.
     Ananias could have told Saul, "Saul you must come into contact
with the blood of Christ in order to have your sins washed away."
But, then Saul would have had to ask, how can I come into contact
with the blood of Christ?  Rather, Ananias simply told Saul how to
contact that blood, "Arise and be baptized and you sins will be
washed away. From the water grave, Saul found forgiveness by the
blood of Jesus Christ. He was raised a cleansed man. He had done
what Christ commanded him to do. He was raised to walk in newness of
life, he was a new man in Christ Jesus. He had put on Christ in
baptism. Listen to him in Galatians 3:26, 27, "or ye are all sons of
God, through faith, in Christ Jesus. For (FOR) as many of you as
were baptized into Christ did put on Christ." Question. How many
people put on Christ?  Just as many as are baptized into Him.
     A change now took place in the life of this great man. Whereas
he had come to Damascus to persecute Christians, he now joined
forces with them to preach the resurrected Christ. Whereas he had
come to Damascus to stamp out Christianity, he now went throughout
the world seeking to spread Christianity.  What a difference!! But,
that is what Christ will do the life that surrenders to Christ by
obedience to His every command. Friends in this radio audience, have
you done what Saul did to become a child of God? Do you believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Have you changed you life and
repented of all past sins?  Have you confessed your faith in Christ
Jesus? And have you been baptized in order to have your sins
forgiven?  If you have not done these things, you are yet in your
sins. It matters how honest you may be; nor how sincere you may be;
nor how conscientious you may be. It matter not how much you be
praying; nor how zealous you may be. If you have not been baptized
in order to have your sins forgiven, you are yet in your sins. And
if yet in your sins, Christ said, "Where I am ye cannot go."
     "But," someone says, "preacher that puts too much emphasis upon
baptism; that makes water salvation."  Oh no, it simply follows the
divine commands of our Lord. There is no power in the water. The
power is in the blood of Christ. But, how did Saul come into contact
with the blood of Christ? By being baptized into Him.
     Having become the child of God by being baptized, Saul rose
from the watery grave and lived a life of service to our Lord. Was
it worth it? Read his closing remarks to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:6-8
to see his feeling about the life that he lived. Are you prepared to
go to that home that Paul was anticipating? You can, you know. But,
you must do what Paul did.

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