The Gospel to the Pharisee

Acts: The Gospel in the City PART XIV
Dr. Timothy Keller
10 March 2013

Acts 9:1-11, 17-18
1Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples.  He went to the high priest 2and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.  3As he neared Damascus on hi s journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.  4He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"

5"Who are you Lord?" Saul asked.
"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied.  6"Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

7The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.  8Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing.  So they led him by the hand into Damascus.  9For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

10In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias.  The Lord callled to him in a vision, "Ananias!"
"Yes, Lord," he answered.

11The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarus named Saul, for he is praying.

17Then Ananias went to the house and entered it.  Placing his hands on Saul, he 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."  18Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again.  he got up and was baptized, 19and after taking some food, he regained his strength.  Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.

Elements of Conversion
COLLISION (v.1-5)
--We need a God that is not a product of our needs.
--Saul had a collision with the true God--not with the God he constructred.
--God finds you.
--John 3:20-21

DARKNESS (v.6-9)
--Saul was blinded so he could think about things.
--Rethinking of his life and what he thinks of God.
--Conviction of sin and recognition that life falls apart.

EMBRACE (v.17-19)
--Ananias accepts Saul in the Lord's name.
--Lay down the burden of life at the feet of Jesus.
--Results of conversion.
  1) Intimacy with God--prayer to a real person.
  2) Sacrificial - Put God and others before me.
  3) Community.