Date:   04/29/07

Text:   Acts 9:1-21

Title:   An Enemy Captured

Theme: God always takes the initiative in our journey of faith.

Introduction:

  We remember on 12/14/2003 when we read, heard and saw the news on the capture of Saddam Hussein. He was the public enemy #1. His capture was the US Army’s top priority. Unfortunately, his capture did not lead to the quick ending of the war in Iraq.

  Have you ever wondered if God also keep a most wanted list? If so, who will be in it? Saul, later changed the name to Paul, definitely would fit the profile to be on the most wanted list. The passage we read just now is really about God capturing one of his enemies. As we study this passage, it also provides us with great insight about a person’s journey of faith. It shows us what some of the elements of faith are in this journey.

  Let’s take a look at the capturing of this God's enemy in that first century. This is how Luke set the stage for this event. We first met Saul in Acts 7:58; 8:1“ 58 Then 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. 1 And Saul approved of his execution. 把他推出城外，用石頭打他。那些證人把自己的衣服，放在一個名叫掃羅的青年人腳前。

司提反被害，掃羅也欣然同意。 ” Saul first appeared at the stoning death of the disciple, Stephen. He was more than an observer, he was an active participant in Stephen’s death. He was one of those who gave the nod to stone Stephen. He was there when Stephen, just prior to his death, saw Jesus standing by the right hand side of God. Moreover, 8:3, “ 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. 掃羅卻殘害教會，逐家進去，連男帶女拉去坐監。 ” Saul was described as a fierce person that no Christian wanted to get close to. Just the mention of his name brought great fear. Then we notice that after this brief intro, Luke went on to focus on Philip’s ministry. It appears as if he introduced Saul to his readers then just dropped him, and not to mention him again until one chapter later. But, at least from this very brief introduction, it is unmistakable that Luke wants his reader to remember that Saul was a great enemy of the young Christian church in Jerusalem.

  At the beginning of Chapter 9, we continue to read of Saul’s hostility toward the believers. “ 1 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 掃羅仍向主的門徒發恐嚇兇殺的話。他到大祭司那裡， 2 要求他發公函給大馬士革各會堂，如果發現奉行這道的人，准他連男帶女緝拿到耶路撒冷。 ” Not only was Saul persecuting the believers in Jerusalem, now he was moving North, with permission from the high priest, to arrest them in Damascus and bringing them back to Jerusalem for trial, prison and even death. Then something happened on his way to Damascus. To many of us this is a familiar passage, sometimes so familiar that we may have over looked certain important truths embedded within. This is an important experience of Saul. Luke repeated this two more times in the book of Acts. The other two times were record of Paul’s own recollection of what happened. So in our study today, we’ll also try to integrate some of Paul’s other two account with what Luke described here in chapter 9.

I.   God takes the initiative to contact people of his choice.

As Saul and his companions were traveling to Damascus, a great light shone on him and he fell to the ground. Very often we see pictures of him falling off the horse, but the scripture never mentions any horse. Then there was a voice directed at Saul, 9:4, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? 他仆倒在地，聽見有聲音對他說 : “掃羅，掃羅！你為甚麼迫害我 ? ” ” Saul’s companions saw the light, heard the loud noise but not the words. We notice this double calling, Saul, Saul. For anyone who is an austere OT reader remembers the occurrence of this double vocative. In Gen 22:11, we read about God calling Abraham, Abraham. Gen.46:2, Jacob, Jacob; Exodus 3:4, Moses, Moses. And now, Saul, Saul. There is a sense of urgency in this calling. But even more so, it was God taking the initiative to establish contact with Saul.

On second thought, isn’t this contact made much earlier? We just mentioned that Saul was present when Stephen gave his defense and explanation of who Jesus was. Stephen’s last words that he saw the heaven opened and saw Jesus on God's right hand must have registered with Saul. And in a way, it was such an irony that may be just a few weeks or months ago, he was the witness of Stephen seeing Jesus, and now, it was his turn. Later on, Saul/Paul wrote, “ 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles….. 既然樂意把自己的兒子啟示給我，使我可以在外族人中傳揚他， ……. ” (Gal 1:16). God took the initiative to establish contact and reveal himself to Saul. This echoes Jesus' words, “"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you 不是你們揀選了我，而是我揀選了你們， ….” (John 15:16) It’s not that I have found Jesus, but the reverse, Jesus had first found me.

You remember the story I have told you many times about Narnia. One of the children after arriving in Narnia, met the lion. The child then told the lion about how they repeated certain words and then found themselves in Narnia. And the lion said, Before you called me, I have first called you.

I think of a brother who went to visit students in a university in northern Norway. His intent was to share the gospel message with one particular student living down stairs. However, as the discussion went on, a student living up stairs heard the sound and decided to come down to see what was going on. She stayed through the discussion and ended up becoming a believer.

Since the 1980’s I have had many opportunities to listen to the testimonies of those who came from China. Everyone is different, yet there was a common thread in many of them. That is, you remember when you were young, your grandmother read the Bible to you. Or there was this Bible hiding somewhere in your home. You see, it was God who took the initiative to come to us, to establish contact with us and to speak and reveal himself to us. Some of you may be here this morning for the 1 st time. Have you ever considered that this was God's way of making contact with you? There is more to this.

II.   God takes the initiative to convict us of our sins.

  What did Saul hear in that great light? 9:4-5, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Saul knew he was persecuting the followers of Jesus Christ, also called the followers of the Way. Being a very religious person, he also knew this voice must be of divine nature. And now, this deity asked Saul why he was persecuting Him. It must be confusing to Saul. So he asked the next question, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Not only Saul, but we also learn the truth that you cannot separate Jesus from his followers. They are one body. This is what Jesus taught in John 15:5, “"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, …... 我是葡萄樹，你們是枝子。住在我裡面的，我也住在他裡面 ….” John 17:23a, “I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one.. 我在他們裡面，你在我裡面，使他們完完全全合而為一 …” You see, you just can’t separate Jesus from his followers. When you persecute the believers, you are persecuting Jesus. If you speak out against the Christians because of their faith, you are speaking against Jesus.

  Saul must have heard it loud and clear. He knew this voice is from heaven, he knew he had been persecuting the believers of Jesus Christ. And now he knew not only this Jesus was what the Christians claimed, that he was the son of God, he was indeed God. Moreover, he was persecuting Jesus, the very God he claimed he believed. In that split second, Saul must have realized that he was among the ones who persecuted the OT prophets. No devout Jew wants to be in the company of those who persecuted God's prophet. But here was Saul, the one who persecuted Jesus, God. He was indeed the number one enemy of Jesus, of God. He was convicted of his sins.

  And then later on he wrote in 1 Corinth 16:22, “If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. 如果有人不愛主，他就該受咒詛。 ” You don’t have to persecute the believers to be an enemy of God. if you don’t love this Jesus Christ, you are already being called his enemy. Again, isn’t this what Jesus said? John 3:18, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 信他的，不被定罪；不信的，罪已經定了，因為他不信 神獨生子的名 。 ”

  In this short dialog, Saul was clearly convicted of his sins. Later he also wrote in 1 Tim 1:13-15, “ 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent…….. that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 我從前是褻瀆 神的、迫害人的、凌辱人的， ………“ 基督耶穌降世，為要拯救罪人。 ”………. 在罪人中我是個罪魁。 " There was the clear conviction of his sinfulness.

  Even after almost half a century (not exactly yet), I still remember one Saturday afternoon, about 4pm, in one corner of the 2 nd floor in Tsin Sha Tsui Baptist church in Kowloon, a good friend of mine talked to me. You see, earlier that afternoon, in our youth fellowship meeting, the advisor asked, “how many of you would like to be saved?” I raised my hand. Even though I had been going to church for a few years by then, but did not have a clear understanding of what it meant to be saved. So after the meeting, this friend of mine, actually he was Nancy Liu’s brother, took me to that quiet corner at church. The passage he showed me was, 1John 1:9, “ 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 我們若承認自己的罪， 神是信實的、公義的，必定赦免我們的罪，潔淨我們脫離一切不 義 ” He asked, do you want to confess your sins to God? So, I went to another area, knelt down and confessed my known sins to God. God also showed me sins that I wasn’t aware of. Again, this is the work of the Holy Spirit as promised by Jesus. John 16:7b-8, “…I will send him ( Holy Spirit ) to you." 8 "And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 我若去了，就會差他 ( 聖靈 ) 到你們這裡來。 8 他來了，就要在罪、在義、在審判各方面指證世人的罪。 " One aspect of the work of the Holy Spirit is to make us aware of our sins.

  God took the initiative to convict us of our sins. It is more than just knowing my sins, that I am a sinner. There is also the heartfelt remorse and sorrow for my sins. This is an important step in our journey of faith.

III.   God takes the initiative to transform us.

  After Saul knew who Jesus was, he asked, “What do you want me to do?” This question was found in Paul’s later account of his conversion. Have you ever asked anyone, what do you want me to do? It is not easy, especially to many of us. Jesus then told Saul what to do. He was to go into the city of Damascus and someone will tell him what to do. In Saul’s own account in another occasion he was told to be a witness of Jesus Christ among the gentiles. In vs 8-9, “ 8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. 掃羅從地上爬起來，睜開眼睛，卻甚麼也看不見。他們牽著他的手，領他進大馬士革。 9 他三天都不能看見甚麼，不吃也不喝。 ”

Do we see what is happening here? Saul who just minutes ago, was a man full of self-confidence and independence, but now, he was like a child, totally dependent on others. He could not see, and had to be led by another person’s hand to go into the city. Do you know what it is like to walk in the dark? Places that you once feel so familiar are now risky and unknown. Some of us remember the day when we were told that because of old age, we can no longer walk on our own. We need to use a walker or a walking stick. We were very resistant to that idea. We even pushed aside hands that wanted to help and lead us. We don’t want to be dependent on others. It is painful to lose that independence, right? Now, look at Saul, this macho man. He was traveling, full of gusto, with people following him. He was supposed to give orders and had others listen to him. But now, he couldn’t see. Someone had to hold his hands. So for three days, he did not see, nor eat anything. We learn from what was revealed to Ananias, that Saul was praying during those days.

  What we see here is a broken Saul. From a man full of self confidence and independence to child like dependence on God and others. It is hard, right? Looking at you, from your accomplishments at school and work, it is clear that many of us are full of self confidence and independence. However, after becoming Christians, we did not change much. All we did was sugar coat this former self-reliance with Christian vocabulary. Ending up with still the same self-confidence and independence. Because of this, sometimes Christians in countries that we go for long or short term mission are kind of leery of us. I have heard this on many occasions, “yes, we need some of your expertise, but we are afraid of your attitude as if you know all the answers to our questions, as if without you, we will be in big trouble.” This sounds like Colonialism, right?

  Why some times, even after becoming Christians we still act as if we are almighty, full of self-confidence and independence? Perhaps many of us have not really been broken. We know we are sinners, it is head knowledge, but we are not deeply convicted of our sins. Did we ever feel sorrow for our sins? We come to Jesus for we want him to help us to fulfill our dreams. We have not been broken like Saul.

  On the other hand, I am also privileged to see individuals who have felt deep sorrow, sadness and remorse for their sins. You know, later on in their lives, I also see their humility and child like dependence on God.

  Some of us may need to come to Christ again, to tell him how sorry we are for all the sins in our lives. Without this brokenness, its hard to be humble and be totally dependent upon God. This summer many of us will be going to Asia and other countries for short term mission. it is my prayer that we go not because of our strength, or even because of our calling, but we go there to be their servants, to serve them according to their needs. We go there and ask them, what can we do for you and your community? How can we help you? We don’t go in our strength, but in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

IV.   God took the initiative to enable the believers to receive former enemies as brothers and sisters in Christ.

  Lastly, in this narrative we learn about God telling Ananias to meet Saul. Ananias was reluctant at first. What, go to this public enemy #1? No way. Yet after God explained to him he was obedient. What did he say to Saul? Vs.17, “ 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. 亞拿尼亞就去了，進了那家，為掃羅按手，說：“掃羅弟兄，在你來的路上向你顯現的耶穌，就是主，差我來使你可以看見，又被聖靈充滿。” ” I just want to focus on ‘Brother Saul” this morning. Do we see what is happening here? The public enemy #1 is now brother Saul, a part of God's family, is being welcome to the Christian community.

  The moment you come to know Christ, you are part of this God's family. You are a family member of HCC. Even as I say this, I feel some of us may not feel very comfortable. Because when you heard a certain person had become a Christian, your first reaction was: really? No way, there must be a hidden motive somewhere. We can be very skeptical towards others, right?

  But the force of this passage is that Luke had already set the stage that Saul was an enemy of God, of the church. And now he has become a brother in God's church, in God's family.

Conclusion:

  This morning we have briefly looked at Paul’s conversion. If there was a Christian newspaper in that first century, we probably would have read something like this: Enemy #1 Captured. Y et in our study, it also appears that the process of this capture is really Saul’ journey of faith. We see how God, from the very beginning, was working in his life. even when he was an enemy of God, God had already initiated that contact. And then revealed to him, called him and convicted of his sins. And then we see how God changed him from a self-confident and independent person into one that was with child-like dependence. Even towards the end of his life, he was still talking about this experience and how he saw himself as the chief sinner in both God's and men’s eyes. We also read about how Ananias accepted Saul, thus completing the circle from enemy to brother in Christ.   

   At a young age, John Newton went to sea. Like most sailors of his day, he lived a life of rebellion and corruption. For several years, he worked on slave ships, capturing slaves for sale to north America. There was even a time when he became a slave himself. Eventually, he became the captain of his own slave ship. The combination of a frightening storm at sea, coupled with his reading of Thomas à Kempis’s classic Imitation of Christ, he later became a Christian. He went on to become a leader in the evangelical movement in eighteenth-century England, along with such men as John and Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, and William Wilberforce. On his tombstone is inscribed the following epitaph, written by Newton himself: “John Newton, clerk, once an infidel and Libertine, a servant of slavers in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the Faith he had long labored to destroy” When he wrote that song, “Amazing Grace”, he knew firsthand the truth it proclaimed. Like Saul, Newton new that from the very beginning, it was God's hand guiding and getting hold of him.

In a way, we are all on a journey of faith. Some have just come into contact with this God. Others are in the process of being convicted of our sins, and telling him how sorry we are and asking for his forgiveness. Then some of us are in the process of being transformed by God, from a self-confident, self reliant person to one with child-like dependence on God.