Acts 9:1-19: God Can Save the Unsavable

"Now as [Saul] went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?'" Acts 9:3-4

This morning, I want to have another heart to heart with you. Lately, my devotions on Acts have been rather convicting, but for good reason (the Bible is convicting!). This morning, I'd like to argue the following: many times, we don't evangelize because we don't believe that God can save. We might not say this with our lips, but we say this with our actions. Let me explain.

In Acts 9, we find the first of three accounts of Saul's conversion in the book of Acts. Literally on his way to persecute Christians, Jesus visits Paul in a vision on his road to Damascus. Jesus asks Paul why he is persecuting him, and Paul responds with another question: "Who are you, Lord?" In response, Jesus reveals his identity and his instruction to him, "I AM Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do." Awe-struck and convicted of perhaps the greatest sin, Paul is left blind. The men assist him to the city, where he waits three days.

On the other side of the story, we have a man named Ananias, who we really don't know too much about at this point in the story. However, we do know that he was faithful to the Lord. God called him to do a mighty thing: visit this "Saul" guy who had literally been "blinding" those who call upon the name of the Lord. Though perhaps originally terrified, God reveals his eternal plan to Ananias: that Saul, who had formerly persecuted the church, would be God's agent to save the Gentiles. Thus, Ananias responds in obedience. When he came to the house, God's Spirit was already moving in Saul's heart. Laying his hands on him, Ananias spoke to Saul, and he was filled with the Spirit and the scales left his eyes. Saul, soon to be Paul, was then baptized.

Let's not forget the context here: Saul is in fact the worst of sinners--he claimed that title for himself (1 Tim. 1:12). He persecuted the church greatly, literally murdering many who called themselves Christians. Perhaps you think you have a friend who's "father than Jesus" than the apostle Paul. Well, according to scripture, you're wrong (1 Tim. 1:12). Yet what did God do? He saved Paul. Fully in His own power, grace, and sovereignty, God reached down from heaven to place his Spirit inside of the worst sinner, all to show his power and glory and might. And in the end, this wretched sinner happened to be the most effective minister of all time (apart from Jesus of course). Surely God is sovereign over his people.

But let's realize the principle in this story real quick, and that is this: God can save even the worst of sinners, and in fact, he does. Many of us look at our friends, family members, or people in our communities and tell ourselves, "It's not worth sharing Jesus with them; they won't repent." Really? Is that the attitude we ought to have? If we truly beleive what happened to Paul in Acts 9, this would not be our attitude.

So, let me encourage you this morning with two things: First, be in awe of the grace of God on your own account. Though in one sense Paul did refer to himself as the "worst" of sinners, let us realize that each of us, at one time, were right there with him. Though most of us have not murdered numerous people who followed the Lord, we have still rebelled against the Creator God. Before God saved us, we lived according to our own rules, rejecting the things of God. We put ourselves in the center of God's universe and told God that we know what was best. We rejected the infinitely wise, almighty, sovereign, and gracious God. Though in one sense Paul was the "worst" of sinners, in another very real sense, we were right there with him. "For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it." James 2:10. And let us not forget, beloved, that Paul's conversion story in Acts 9, in one sense, is our conversion story. We did nothing to save ourselves. God appeared to us and saved us. Praise the Lord.

And second, let me encourage you today: just like God saved you, and just like God saved Saul, so can he save your neighbor. So can he save your boss. So can he save your dad. Your mom. Your friend. Your cashier at walmart. Your waiter at Chili's. And let us not forget that.

So, let us be faithful. Another thing we can learn from this story is that God uses his people to carry out his mission. Though he does not need us, he uses us to carry out his mission, and he calls us to be faithful. So be an "Ananias" today. Respond faithfully to God's call to share his truth to all people at all times in all places. You might lose your eyes, and even your life, but you won't lose your soul--for God has already purchased that with his blood. Amen.