Paul’s Story Can Become Your Story
-Journey to the Cross and Beyond-
Acts 9:1-6
Many of the teachings of Jesus were in the form of stories. There is power in a story. Everyone has a story. If given a chance everyone likes to tell his/her story.
There are some words that when you hear them, they bring to mind an association. I’m going to share some words and I want you to tell the first response that comes to your mind to the persons sitting near you.
Bill Hybels in “Walk Across the Room” suggests several words to respond to.
Here’s the first word, “Mona.” (Are there any “Lisas” out there?)
“Vacation” (Fun and relaxation)
“Diet” (not fun)
“Britney Spears” (trouble, lost soul, addiction)
How about this description, “Born Again Christian” From the world’s point of view some of these words may come to mind: (rigid, narrow, uptight, self righteous, fanatical)
I hope the answers given by individuals who have watched Christians for along time, are true of all of us. Here are some answers given by those who have Christians as personal friends:
“The Christians I’ve come across are ridiculously filled with compassion. They’re just plain kind to people.”
“Christians? They tell the truth…they shoot straight with you.”
“Christians? They’re humble people, they’re honest…they have this incredible inner strength.”
“Christians? They are radically inclusive people, regardless of their background, their preferences, their lifestyle choices, you name it. It’s amazing!”
“Christians? They really do love well. They love God and they love people.”
My Story is very simple. I grew up in a home in Gypsum, Kansas, a farming town of 500 people. My mother was a believer and my dad was an unbeliever. I learned from my father what not to do in a home. I thought going to church was synonymous with being a Christian. I attended church but did not have the good news of the Gospel presented to me until I was in High School in Sterling, Kansas. My High School Sunday School teacher in a Missionary Church became a friend and mentor. He encouraged me to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I made that commitment at the age of 15.
While in college I received the call to full time ministry and the rest is history.
Everyone has a story. What’s your story?
Paul told his story often.
When the Apostle Paul wanted to give evidence for his belief in Jesus as the true Messiah, the Son of God, he told his story of meeting Jesus on the Road to Damascus. Paul’s conversion story is one of the most compelling stories in human history.
When Paul was arrested in Jerusalem he spoke to the mob of legalistic Jews and told them his conversion story that happened on the road to Damascus. Acts 22:1-16
When Paul stood on trial before King Agrippa he again told his conversion story that took place on the road to Damascus. Acts 26:12-18
Saul was his given name. He was born in a Jewish home in Tarsus. His father was a Roman citizen so Paul was privileged to also be a Roman citizen. He was circumcised on the 8th day after his birth according to Hebrew law. He was fluent in both Aramaic and Greek languages.
Paul told About His Life Before Christ
Paul testified that his life before Christ was empty and dark. 2 Corinthians 4:6 Paul declared, “God who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness, has shone within my heart.” Paul said that something happened to him on the Damascus road comparable to the creation of light. Genesis 1:2-3, “The earth was without form and void.” God said, “Let there be light.” Paul said that same light that God created at creation shined into his own soul.
Paul testified that compared to everything else in his life his Damascus road experience was the greatest, greater than his Jewish heritage, his Rabbinical training under the famous Rabbi Gamaliel, his prestige as a Pharisee having a knowledge of scripture forwards and backwards, or his Hellenistic contacts. Everything was secondary to his experience of meeting Jesus.
Paul believed that according to Hebrew law he was righteous and faultless. It was that zeal for the law that compelled him to track down Christ followers and drag them off to prison. Paul was extremely zealous for the cause of Judaism. When Stephen was stoned to death for his teaching about Jesus, Stephen’s clothes were laid at the feet of Saul.
Prior to his Damascus road experience Paul was a champion of Judaism and the traditional laws of Judaism. He believed that righteousness came by keeping the law. For Paul righteousness was all by human effort. Later Paul would describe his condition before Christ as “wretched man that I am, sold as a slave under sin.” Romans 7:14,24
The risen Christ confronted Saul on the Damascus road. Jesus, the Light of the World, appeared to Saul with a brilliance of light brighter than the hot desert Middle Eastern sun. Saul fell from his horse blinded and landed flat on the ground. Jesus spoke to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Paul murmurs out in a weak shaky voice, “Who are you, Lord?”
Paul hears the response: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” Acts 9:4-6
Saul must have realized that he was being confronted by the very one he did not believe in. Jesus is the very one whose followers he was on his way to persecute and put behind bars. He is flat on his face before the very one he has hated.
Jesus is still hated by many people around the world today. However many Jews and Gentiles have had their lives transformed when they met Jesus.
Jesus gave Paul his instructions and the next steps. Paul had the choice to obey or disobey. He surrendered to Jesus and asked the Lord what He wanted him to do. He was obedient to the words of Jesus.
Saul who had been spiritually blind was now physically blind. Jesus touched his heart and gave him spiritual sight but for three days he was blind and had to be led around by someone else.
The risen Lord spoke to Ananias a disciple of Jesus in Damascus. Ananias was instructed to go to Saul and pray for him. Ananias argued with the Lord because he had heard of Saul’s reputation and acts of terrorism against the church. Finally Ananias took courage, went to Saul, and his first words were, “Brother Saul.” He placed his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord – Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here – has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” “Immediately something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.”
Paul told about His Life after Meeting Jesus
After his conversion experience Paul tells us that he went immediately to Arabia for three years. Then returned to Damascus and on to Jerusalem. We can only guess that Paul spent much time in prayer and fasting and listening to the Lord. He probably searched the Scriptures with new insight and an open mind. Galatians 1:17-18 While in Damascus he began to teach and preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.
When Saul met Jesus he became a new man in Christ. He took the new name of Paul signifying the beginning of a new life, a life of victory through the name of Jesus. Paul believed what he experienced could happen to anyone who became a Christ follower. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” II Corinthians 5:17 Paul preached that anyone who came to Jesus could be made into a new person.
The theme of Paul’s life after his conversion experience was “The Resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Paul summed up his gospel message in I Corinthians 15:3-9 NLT “I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me – that Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the twelve apostles. After that he was seen by more than five hundred of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died by now. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all, I saw him, too, long after the others, as though I had been born at the wrong time. For I am the least of all the apostles, and I am not worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted the church of God.”
Paul could preach and teach from his heart that Jesus is alive because he had seen him. When Paul met Jesus the risen Christ it changed his views of the Cross. No true prophet or Rabbi would ever dare to envision a Messiah suffering death on a cruel cross. The law declared, “He that is hanged is accursed of God.”
From his experience Paul could say with assurance that the cross to the Jews is a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness. (I Corinthians 1:23) After meeting Jesus Paul saw the cross of Christ in a new light. Paul believed the Cross was the wisdom and glory of God.
Paul said that his calling was not to preach with lofty words and brilliant ideas to tell God’s message. Paul declared: “For I decided to concentrate only on Jesus Christ and his death on the cross.” I Corinthians 2:2 As a new man in Christ Paul realized that both Jews and Gentiles were perishing and need a savior.
Paul could say “Since I met Jesus my life has taken a 180 degree turn. Jesus is alive just as the prophets foretold.”
Countless others have said the same thing in different ways. Listen to the man born blind, “Since I met Jesus I once was blind, but now I see.”
Listen to Lazarus: “I was dead in the grave for four days, but because Jesus called my name I’m now alive.”
Listen to Zachaeus, “Before I met Jesus I gained my riches through dishonest taxes. I soon learned that money isn’t everything. When I met Jesus I was glad to repay all I cheated with interest. All the money in the world can’t bring peace of mind and heart, but Jesus gave me peace.”
You Can Help People Meet Jesus
The question that every person must answer: “Have you met Jesus?”
The Scriptures teach that the Cross of Jesus is our bridge to God and eternal life.
The Bridge illustration is a simple way for you to tell others about the importance of the Cross of Jesus as their bridge to God. You can use the bridge illustration to help people come to Jesus.
(Flip chart – Bridge Illustration)
Look at two sides of a river without a bridge. The left side represents people and the other side represents God. The Bible says that without God people are lost. Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”, Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.”
The right side represents God. People try all kinds of ways to reach God – Good Works, Attend Church, Read the Bible, Be a Good Person. All fall short – Ephesians 2:8-9 “For it is by grace that you are saved through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not of works, so that no one can boast.”
Where would you say you are on the bridge illustration, on the left side or right side? If you put an X that marks the spot where you are, where would you put the X?
Jesus bridges the gap – Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” I Peter 3:18 “For Christ died for our sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.” John 5:24 “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”
Revelation 3:20 Jesus gives the invitation to cross over: “Here I am. I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”
To open the door to Jesus there are three turns on the door to make to invite Jesus in our heart and life.
1. Confess sin. I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
2. Repent. Acts 3:19 “Repent, then and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”
3. Receive. John 1:11-12 ”He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become the children of God.”
In sharing the bridge illustration on a napkin over lunch or on a sheet of paper in your office you can tell your story. Tell about your life before Christ and how you came to personally know Jesus and receive Him as Savior.
An excellent way to tell your story is to compose your story of your life before Christ and your life since living for Jesus:
“I was living in turmoil. Now I’m at peace.”
“I was destroying my body. Now I’m healthy.”
“I felt loaded down with guilt. Now I feel liberated.”
“I was full of fear. Now I feel confident.”
“I was living in the pit of despair. Now I feel hopeful.”
Your before and after doesn’t have to be complicated. It is simply sharing from your heart what God has done for you and leaving the results with God.
Listen to the story of Spud Webb. At 5’ 6” Spud was like Zaccheus in the NBA where the average height is 6’ 8”or 6’ 9”. Spud played for 9 years in the NBA. Despite a successful high school career, no major college offered him a scholarship. So Spud attended the little two-year Midland College and helped lead his team to a national junior college championship. North Carolina State decided to give him a chance and he led the Wolfpack to a Sweet 16 performance in the NCAA tournament.
When he graduated from college nobody in the NBA wanted to even look at Spud. He did okay in college but would get killed in the NBA. Finally the Atlanta Hawks gave him the opportunity to play. In the first four seasons he played for Atlanta, the Hawks went to the playoffs four times.
Perhaps one of the greatest moments in Spud Webb’s career came on February 8, 1986. That was when the annual NBA Slam-Dunk Championship was held. Competing against players who were over a foot taller than he was, when the Slam Dunk Championship, ended the shortest guy on the court – Spud Webb at 5’ 6” was the winner.
Spud gave this testimony: “I used to pray that the Lord would make me bigger when I was in Junior High School and Senior High, but every time I went to measure myself or to stand in front of the mirror, I’d always be the same size. And then one day I got the message, so I said to the Lord. “If you won’t make me bigger on the outside, will you make me bigger on the inside? And the Lord liked that prayer, and that’s what he’s helped me become.”
Everyone has a story. What’s your story? I encourage you this week to write our your brief story – Your life before Christ, How you came to Jesus and now what your life is like now. If you haven’t yet crossed the bridge, I encourage you to take the first step and cross the bridge this morning.
Let us Pray.
