Apprehended
Acts 9:1-19
Shortly after I had left the livestock business, I was sitting in my office at FBC Quitman, GA where I just begun serving as the minister of youth and education. I received a call from my dad and he told me he was in a dilemma. He said their semi driver had just unloaded a load of hogs at the local packing house which was also in Quitman. The driver jumped off the side of the truck and turned his ankle, he thought it might be broken. Dad needed me to go over and see what I could do.
I got in my car and drove over to find the semi backed up to the loading dock and the driver there, in pain, holding his left ankle. There was no way he could drive the semi because he couldn’t press the clutch, but he could drive my car because it was an automatic. We determined I would drive the semi to my house about 4 miles away, park it, he would follow in my car, then I’d take him to the emergency room. Now mind you, although I had driven the semi many times on the farm, I had never driven it on the road – nor did I have a commercial license to drive it on the road.
Well, here I am, sitting behind the wheel of a big-rig 18-wheeler. I cranked the diesel engine and put it in the first of 18 gears. I pulled out of the packing house onto the street and as I did I heard a creaking sound. I didn’t pay much attention to it but I later discovered that I had taken out part of their chain link fence with the trailer. You know those stickers on the back of semis that say, “Caution, wide right turns.” There’s a reason you’re supposed to make wide right turns. As I got to the end of that street I came to the intersection of the 4-lane divided highway that goes right through the center of town. As the traffic was clear, I made another right hand turn onto the highway. This time, I didn’t hear a creaking sound but I did feel a little bump and assumed the back tires of the 45ft trailer had gone up on the curb. The truck driver pulled up beside me in my car, honking the horn and yelling, “Make wider turns!!!” I later discovered I had taken out a telephone pole, cracked it in half and the top half was dangling from the wires.
When I finally got to the house, I parked the semi without further incident. When I went inside the house, the phone rang. It was my dad who said he just received a call from the Quitman city police saying that his semi was involved in a hit and run accident, destruction of city property, and they were in search of the driver. I was a wanted man
As we continue our series through the book of Acts this morning, we’re going to look at another wanted man whose crimes were much more notorious than mine. His name was Saul. And in Acts chapter 9, he’s finally apprehended. That’s how Paul refers to his capture by Christ in Philippians 3: Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12 (KJV)
Saul, who later became known as Paul, referred to his conversion experience here in chapter 9 as being “apprehended of Christ Jesus.” That word the KJV translates “apprehended” means to lay hold of, to seize, to capture or to catch. We find the first account of Paul being apprehended in this passage before us today. I say the first account, because Paul retells this event a couple more times in the book of Acts. We’ll look at those accounts as well in order to expand and understand all that happened.
1But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2and 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. 3Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8Saul 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. 9And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
10Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying,12and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.”13But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. 14And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” 15But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” 17So 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.” 18And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19and taking food, he was strengthened.
Luke, the author of Acts, returns back to talking about Saul here in chapter 9. He took an interlude in chapter 8 by describing the ministry of Philip in Samaria, with Simon the magician, and the Ethiopian Eunuch.
Luke first introduced us to Saul at the end of chapter 7 as he was sitting in approval and likely in authority at the stoning of Stephen. As I mentioned in a previous message, there’s a strong possibility that Saul and Stephen had a fierce debate in the Hellenistic synagogue that Stephen frequented as he proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah of Israel. Saul would have been present at Stephen’s bold proclamation before the Sanhedrin in chapter 7 that eventually led to his stoning.
Not content with just getting rid of the man who bested him, he wanted to completely eradicate Christianity from the face of the earth. To that end Luke tells us this in chapter 8: Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Acts 8:3
But Saul’s days of ravaging the church were coming to an end. The hound of heaven was tracking him down! The hunter was becoming the hunted! In the text we just read this wanted man Saul is apprehended by Jesus Christ. There are four aspects of this case I want you to notice. First of all…
I. The ASSAULT – A Premeditated CRIME
1But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2and 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. Acts 9:1-2
Saul wasn’t satisfied with seeing his nemesis Stephen killed; he wasn’t even content with having most of the thousands of members of the church in Jerusalem dispersed and scattered. He wanted to see any remnant of the church completely eradicated from the face of the earth. Verse 1 says he was “breathing threats and murder.” Think about that image for a moment – every breath Saul took, the oxygen that fueled Saul’s existence was murder against the disciples of the Lord. He was beyond obsessed.
You have to ask yourself “why?” Why was he so obsessed with wiping out Christianity? I mean he’s so dominated by this desire he’s willing to travel 150 miles away to Damascus on this seek and destroy mission. Why? I think the reason is, and this comes out in his later epistles, the reason he opposed Christianity so zealously is because he understood it better than many of us do. Namely, that since Christianity preached salvation by faith apart from any meritorious works of the law, the only conclusion is that his whole life was garbage. That’s exactly what he says in Philippians 3 – my life is just one big pile of rubbish if this is true. No one wants to be told that their whole life, their whole pursuit, everything they’ve built their existence upon is rubbish, garbage, refuse.
Saul had spent his life in Pharisaic strivings, pursuing making a name for himself in Jerusalem. He's got to be thinking, “And now these no-good, uneducated, lousy fishermen are telling me they can get right with God and I can’t. They’re saying I don’t have anything to boast about; that my life is a big zero! Therefore, I’m going to devote my life to destroying any trace of this. I’m somebody, I’m not a nobody!"
This is why I believe he so radically opposed Christianity. It knocked the props of boasting and pride right out of his life. And this is exactly the reason ardent opponents of the gospel oppose Christianity today. No one wants to admit they’re a nobody; no one wants to admit they’re in desperate need of saving. Everyone wants to continue to believe the lie that if I try hard, if I make a name for myself, then I’m going to be ok in the end.
And here’s what I want you to consider – people like Saul don’t get converted; they don’t make a 180 degree change in their stance and position like this. When someone makes such a public statement against something; when someone goes through such drastic measures to expose and destroy something; when someone has become the most zealous and ardent opponent, they don’t just change their mind and become the most zealous and ardent proponent. That just doesn’t happen. Why? Because you’ve been so public with it, you’ve been so vocal about it. Even if you become convinced that your hostile opposition was out of bounds, human pride and ego will almost always prevent you from admitting that.
I say that to communicate this point – Saul was not one whom we would consider as a prime candidate for conversion. There was nothing in him that indicated he had anything but hatred for Christ and his gospel. In fact notice how Paul describes his state of mind at this moment in Galatians 1: 13For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. Galatians 1:13-14
Saul was a zealous man, pursuing excellence in his religious traditions. And here he is on his way to Damascus, breathing out murderous threats against the people of the Way. He was in no way what we would consider a prime candidate for conversion to Christianity. And this truth should give us hope when we consider those we know who we might deem as "unsavable." But Saul is a wanted man! He's wanted by Jesus Christ. And that leads to my next point this morning...
II. The ARREST – A Suspect CAPTURED
3Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. Acts 9:3
You know one of the most soul-sinking feelings is when you're cruising along down the interstate, making great time to your destination, and all of us sudden you see lights in your rearview mirror - or so I've been told, not that I've ever experienced that. You've been caught, captured and the lights are blaring out that truth to everyone.
The light of Jesus shining from heaven arrests the suspect Saul. What a soul sinking moment for him. In Acts 22 and Acts 26 Luke records Paul giving his testimony about this event. Both times he says this blinding light happened at midday - at noon. This light was not anything from the material world, it was a light from heaven.
And there's a word in verse 3 I want you to consider - it's the word "suddenly." Suddenly - he's going along, breathing out murderous threats, the letters from the high priest in hand which gave him authority to go into different regions and do what he had done in Jerusalem. More ravaging of the church awaited. Then SUDDENLY, he's captured by Christ. There was no pre-evangelism here; there was no guilty conscience that's trying to find relief; there was no seeking heart on the part of Saul. Jesus just unilaterally decides - you're mine - and he captures Saul as his servant right there on the road to Damascus. And Saul is stunned out of his mind.
Saul woke up that day with specific plans for his life. His goal was to destroy the church of Christ, not to meet the Christ of the church! Saul didn't "find" Jesus, He was not looking for Him! But Jesus found Saul. Jesus sought him out... Jesus called his name... Jesus changed his life... Saul was pursued by grace! And if you are saved it is because YOU WERE PURSUED BY GRACE!!!
Later on Paul would pen the book of Romans. And in that epistle he strung together a collection of OT verses that indicate the lost, unseeking, depraved condition of every human being. Look at Romans 3:
For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 13“Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17and the way of peace they have not known.” 18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Romans 3:9b-18
With devastating clarity these verses present the total depravity of man. And I can imagine as Paul was writing that passage, quoting those OT verses, he had to see himself there. Not understanding, not seeking, mouth full of curses, feet swift to shed innocent blood, a path of ruin and misery. Do you see yourself there? You should. But if you're saved today - like Saul - its because you are a captured suspect, you've been arrested by grace.
But after the arrest comes this next thing...
III. The ARRAIGNMENT – A Guilty CONVICTION
An arraignment is when an arrested defendant is formally read the charges against him. Here, Jesus gives Saul not only the charge, but the verdict. Jesus is acting as both judge and jury. Look at verse 4: 4And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
The charge against Saul was that he was pursuing, abusing and persecuting Jesus. There's no indication that Saul protested the charge in any way. He understood the connection.
Ultimately, all sin is against God. After David had raped Bathsheba, and then after having her husband, Uriah, killed to cover up her illegitimate pregnancy, notice how David confesses in Psalm 51: 3For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. Psalm 51:3-4
David says the ultimate person sinned against in the raping of Bathsheba and the killing of Uriah was God himself. Sin, by definition in the Bible, is not wronging another person. It is assaulting the glory of God, rebelling against God. Sin, by definition, is a vertical phenomenon.
Now, the horizontal wrongs David committed were horrible. But what makes those horizontal wrongs sinful is its vertical dimension. It is disobeying God's law. It is sin in that it is an assault on God's authority and his right as our Creator to tell you and to tell me what to do and what not to do.
What makes sin sin is its Godwardness. That's why the world doesn't understand why hell is a just and proportional punishment for sin, because they don't understand how serious sin is. How can an eternity in hell be a just and proportional punishment for even a lifetime of sin - 75 or 80 years. It's not because of the amount of sin, or the length of sin, or even the gravity of sin that was committed, but the person upon whom it was committed.
Let me put it to you this way. If I say something falsely that injures your reputation or character, I might lose you as a friend, but that will be about the extent of my punishment. However, If I say something falsely under oath in a court of law that's known as perjury and I can be fined or even jailed for that offense. Same basic sin, but instead of sinning against you I sinned against a judge, an officer of the judicial system. Now if I say something to a sworn enemy of the United States that causes injury or harm to this country, that's known as treason. The punishment for that crime is death. All three examples, the same basic sin. But the person upon whom it was committed had increasing values of glory. And the punishment for each was increased in direct proportion, not to what was said, but against whom it was said.
Eternal hell is a just and proportional punishment for our sin not because of what we've done but because against whom we have done it - the eternal Lord of Glory. And Jesus says to Saul, you're persecuting me, you're sinning against me. That's the arraignment here, that's the charges that are leveled against Saul - you're persecuting the Lord of glory.
And don't miss how closely connected Jesus describes his relationship with the church. You persecute the church, you're persecuting me; you abuse the church, you're abusing me. You speak against the church, you speak against me.
Today it's become somewhat fashionable for some so-called Christians to malign and speak against the church. They condescendingly refer to the church as "organized religion." Let me put it to you this way: My wife will be the first to tell you she's not perfect. But if you talk about my wife, you speak ill of my bride, or you attack or abuse her, you've got me to answer to. Here's the deal: the Church is the bride of Christ. An imperfect bride with flaws and failures, but the Bride of Christ nonetheless. You speak ill of her, you malign or attack her, you've got her husband to answer to.
Saul falls to the ground hears the charge, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" He didn't know who it was that had made this charge so he said, "who are you, Lord?" I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
Can you imagine what a shock to his system this would have been. But I think in an instant all of his pride, his self-sufficiency, his dependence on works was crushed to dust. In that instant the words of Stephen, the testimony of the apostles, were all crystallized in his mind, "It's all true. I've been opposing the very work of God."
In his testimony before King Agrippa Paul gives another phrase that Jesus said to him at this moment: ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' Acts 26:14
What is a goad? A goad was a sharp prod used to drive livestock, to move cattle in a certain direction. In my years of livestock production I've used a goad many, many times - except the goads I've used had 6 D batteries inside them that provided a shocking experience for the cattle.
What does Jesus mean "It is hard for you to kick against the goads."? Bottom line is this, God had a plan for Saul's life. It involved him being an apostle to the Gentiles. In fact, this purpose for Saul was written down in heaven before Saul was even born. He alluded to this in Galatians 1:
15But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, 16was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles. Galatians 1:15-16
So by saying, It's hard for you to kick against the goads, he's telling Paul - times up. You've been pursuing your own agenda for your whole life, now it's time to get on God's agenda. The cattle prod is coming out, I'm driving you in another direction. And that leads to my fourth point this morning...
IV. The ACTION – A Missionary CALL
What was the action that was handed down on Saul - a missionary call. In the parallel passage in Acts 26 as Saul recounts this event to King Agrippa, he further expands on Jesus' instruction to him there as he's laying flat on the ground in fear for his life. 16But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ Acts 26:16-18
God had crushed Saul and brought him to the point of total consecration. From the ashes of Saul's old life would arise the noblest and most useful man of God the church has ever known.
He did get up from the ground, blinded by the light, and was led into Damascus. He fasted food and water for three days during which time the Lord spoke to Ananias to go and minister to Saul. When Ananias voiced his concerns, the Lord reiterated to him that Saul was chosen for missionary purposes: 15But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” Acts 9:15-16
Paul's conversion and call was a work of divine sovereign grace. Jesus totally took over on the Damascus road. He was not responding to anything Paul had done to win God's favor. It was completely sovereign—that means it was utterly free and totally And it came with overwhelming authority and power. Jesus tracked Saul down on that road to Damascus, captured and then crushed him. The hunter became the hunted.
So What?
So what does this testimony of Saul's dramatic Damascus road conversion have to do with me and my life. No one is beyond saving grace - No one!
Saul's miraculous conversion serves as an example to us of the far reaching arm of God's grace. In one of Paul's final epistles, he told Timothy as much:
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. 1 Timothy 1:15-16
Paul says, if the greatest sinner ever - me - could receive mercy from the Lord, than that serves as an example to anyone who believes in him for eternal life. No one is beyond saving grace - No one!
You may have never heard of Mel Trotter, but in closing let me tell you a bit of his story. He was born into a family of 7 children in the late 1800's. His father was a bartender who drank more liquor than he served. Mel would eventually become a barber by profession - but he carried on his father's abuse of alcohol. He had become so low in his pursuit of the next drink, that even when his two year old daughter died, he stole the new shoes his wife had purchased for her burial in order to sell them to buy another drink.
One night in a drunken stupor, he stumbled into the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago. He heard the gospel preached and was marvelously saved. He became burdened for men who were in the same condition he had been in and so he opened a rescue mission in Grand Rapids, MI. He would go on to start over 60 more missions stretching from Boston to San Francisco.
The vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives. No one is beyond saving grace - no one!
You may be here this morning, thinking you're too far gone. Not according to Paul. Jesus Christ demonstrated his perfect patience, his longsuffering, with Paul as an example for you. Believe in him for eternal life today.
Or you may be here this morning thinking a friend or coworker or family member is too far. Nope. I wonder if there were any widows of men Saul had arrested and had killed for their faith in Christ who decided to pray for him. I wonder how many of those displaced Christians that Saul was ravaging had prayed for his conversion. And can you imagine how they rejoiced in the Lord when they heard their prayers were answered?
Don't give up praying, don't stop pleading with the Lord to save. He can do it - trust him to do just that!
Last Thought: No RENEGADE of grace is TOO FAR from the long arm of the Lord.
