Adrian
Old-Sunday Worship August 24th, 2025
  • We Will Glorify

      • Hebrews 12:18–29ESV

      • Hebrews 12:18–29ESV

  • I Need Thee Every Hour (I Need Thee)
  • Doxology

      • Acts 9:1–22ESV

  • “The Doctrine of Repentance, Pt. 2

    Acts 9.1-22
    “The Doctrine of Repentance” (Part 2)
    K. Adrian Scott
    August 24, 2025
    Context.
    Saul was a Pharisee, the strictest of the first century sets. By Saul’s own admission he is from the tribe of Benjamin (Philippians 3.5) which interesting enough is the same tribe of his Old Testament namesake, Israel’s first king, Saul. Of all the tribes of Israel, it was said that Benjamin was to be the most warlike, according to the prophesy of none other than the father of the twelve tribes, Jacob (Genesis 49.27).
    Saul is ‘breathing out’ threats against the infant Christian Church. In Elliott’s commentary on this passage he says, ‘Saul lived in an atmosphere of threats and slaughter.’ Without controversy, there has never been a more dangerous time to be a Christian than in first century Rome.
    Beliefs in pagan gods was common in Rome and to glorify and even worship Roman political leaders was the norm of that day. Rome’s religious laws were very restrictive since recognizing another religion could have been interpreted as one being disloyal to Rome’s leadership. No one would dare insult the political powers-to-be of that day unless they had a death wish, or their faith in their God was simply unshakeable. Such was the case with the early converts to “the Way”, this small but growing band of ardent believers in one they claimed was the Messiah, and to which He did not discourage their claims.
    “Meanwhile Saul, still breathing out threats to murder the Lord’s disciples, went to the high priest 2requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, either men or women, he could bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem” (9. 1-2).
    Our text uses Saul of Tarsus as a painstaking revelation of the misguided condition of the human will void of God’s influence and it further serves as a fresh revelation of the desperate human heart or soul often filled with Satan’s hate and deceit while at the same time is empty of God’s mercies. You see, the human soul cannot be occupied or filled with Satan’s powers and God’s Holy Spirit at the same time. It is exactly like Jesus said during His earthly ministry, ‘a person cannot serve two (opposing) masters’ (Matthew 6. 24).
    Preaching Point.
    With Saul, here is a man totally absorbed in his religion which is not Christianity. He was born socially privileged, having received a high-quality education, he is also very well connected politically, and he has the influence of the most powerful religious sect in Rome, namely the Pharisees, where it was the seat of world power and domination at that time in history. Saul was quite bothered by the introduction of Christian faith in Rome and its surroundings, although he has not personally been negatively affected by the Gospel which was being preached by the disciples of Jesus. Christianity, nor her converts had done Saul any harm, yet he was furious, enraged at its message which was being spread throughout the region.
    Saul, nor anyone else had received any personal threats to their well-being by the Church. Neither had there been instances where Saul’s character was slandered, nor was his business as a tent maker been put at risk, yet Saul’s clear, perverse intentions was to not only stop the message being delivered but also to kill the messengers. His intent as to silence the messenger and hope the messenger died with the message. But unbeknownst to Saul, while he was getting (Physically) closer to the messengers of Christ and hearing about “the Lord” while carrying out his hateful agenda, he was also running the risk of being exposed to the truth and falling under its influence.
    Saul, the persecutor of Christians, is on his way to the city of Damascus, a city of modern-day Syria, and he was traveling there for no good purpose, biblical history tells us.
    Question: What side of the faith are you on? Are you faithfully committed to the cause of Christ; not only worshiping regularly, encouraging yourself as you grow in your spiritual walk, and encouraging others in the faith? Or are you an antagonist, a tool of the enemy to discourage the health, the vitality and growth of the kingdom? There may be a third category as well, and this may be the most spiritually dangerous of all the people who fall into it. These are the persons who have no conviction about Jesus one way or the other. They are not convicted of their sin; therefore, they sense no need to repent of anything in themselves nor anyone else. They think the cross of Christ is meaningless, perhaps even a myth.
    Have you ever noticed how diligent people are who are carrying out Satan’s agenda? They dominate the news programs and make the headlines. So, Saul was eager to spread his message of hate, strife, division and in return bring hardship upon the followers of Christ who were the target of his rage.
    v. 3; “As he was going along, approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.”
    “As he was going along...” The Lord will let you go your way for a while. He sees you walking the wrong way, thinking the wrong thoughts and doing the wrong things! God will only let you walk so far away, think the wrong thoughts and do the wrong things so many times before the Lord will step in! Saul wouldn’t be stopped by the Roman military, his fellow Pharisees, his family or friends; but Saul’s walking in rebellion came to a sudden stop by the God of the Church Himself! God has had enough of Satan using this man! The Lord has let Saul go long enough. It is apparent Saul cannot ‘find God’ by himself, Saul is thinking God needs his help, whereas Saul is the one who needs God’s help! ‘Religion cannot teach you the truth about me, Saul.’ Now is the time for change!
    Question: Is this your time? Has the Lord been speaking to you, telling you it is time for change? When we are so full of ourselves, we are just proving how empty our hearts are!
    “Suddenly” - not gradually, but suddenly! It doesn’t matter what anyone else may say about your faith journey, God is in control! Your life can change in a heartbeat; in an instant! ‘Suddenly’ when the sand of God’s hourglass or divine providence has spilled out! When the stopwatch of God’s patience has expired, and when the page of God’s mercy has turned to the chapter of God’s entitled ‘grace’, suddenly! When God’s ‘suddenly’ come no one can alter God’s plan of action. God’s ‘suddenly’ is a patient ‘suddenly.’ When God’s ‘suddenly’ comes nothing can hinder or resist His divine purpose. When God says, ‘you’ve thrown your last rock, Saul!’ When God says, ‘you’ve run far enough!’ When I have said my last ‘no’ or ‘not yet’ then suddenly a light!!! A light for revelation and clarity as opposed to the darkness of mere religion. This light will do two things – it will reveal the distinct glory of God, and at the same time expose the sinner’s faulty heart.
    When the Lord sets His affections on someone, there is nothing that can deter or stop God from God’s mission of mercy. There is nothing anyone can say to discourage God from going after God’s man or woman! God knows all our dirt and is surprised by nothing. Nothing can change God’s mind or much less not stop God from His love for us, and God’s redemptive purposes in us.
    What Saul did not know was that as persistent as he was in persecuting the Church of the Living God, someone, greater than himself, is even more powerful and more determined than Saul to accomplish a divine purpose! That someone is the Living, Lord.
    Note 1: The Lord is manifest as Light. It is no mystery who this light is since the Bible teaches us that God is Light - “God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1.5).
    The universe was dark, formless mass until God created the light - “Let there be light and God saw that the light was good” (Genesis 1.4);
    Christians, those who bear God’s name are called “the light of the world” (Matthew 5.14);
    God’s Word is a “light to our path” (Psalm 119.105);
    The glory of God gives light to the eternal city “and the Lamb is the Light” (Rev. 21.23-24).
    Jesus said, “I am the Light of the World” (John 8.12)
    Note 2. The early Church, the followers of Jesus Christ may have had Saul of Tarsus to deal with, but Saul had someone greater than himself to deal with!
    v. 3; “a light from heaven;” Saul apparently had connections in the Roman government, but the disciples had connections in heaven! This work with Saul is now heaven’s business, and if it is heaven’s business it ultimately must be a good and godly thing.
    A light appeared. For a person who so dramatically and demonstrably is working against the Lord from glory, there must be an equally dramatic response to his actions to get his attention! Someone who hasn’t yet been identified has taken notice of Saul’s work and is now doing something about it.
    Preaching Point.
    Regarding this light, Acts 26.13 says this light was “brighter than the Sun.” No one can face that kind of brightness. Here, the glory of God is seen as the greater glory as opposed to the lunar Sun!
    Notice that God distinguishes the glory of God from nature. It is not the morning or the noonday sun that is crippling Saul, it is the glory of God! The glory of God is greater than the glory of God’s physical creation.
    v. 3; “suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.”
    This is God’s specific mission to Saul. Saul is singled out, chosen as God wants to have a talk with him. I want you to take notice that Saul is as steeped in his sin as a man or woman can possibly be. He is clearly seen as opposed to the Gospel when he has this encounter. Saul was empowered by the Roman government authorities as well as the council of priests to arrest and persecute the Church, but he is weakened and stripped of any authority because the immediate overwhelming presence and devastating power of God.
    v. 4; “And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?
    Preaching Point.
    Saul stood up to the disciples and their sympathizers, but he could not stand up against God! Saul may have been empowered by the Roman government to arrest and persecute and murder Christ’s disciples, but now he is weak, and the government of Rome could do nothing about it.
    Saul “falling to the ground” is more than a personal weakness but represents the weakness and insufficiency of the Law and human governmental powers in the face of Almighty God. “so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2. 10-11, ESV). Every king, queen or potentate; every shepherd or soldier; every persecutor and prosecutor will have to bend the knee before our God!
    Note 4. This display of divine power at the same time reveals the supremacy of God in all of God’s omnipotence and omniscience – God as all powerful and all knowing. “Glorious are you, more majestic than the mountains full of prey. But you are to be feared! Who can stand before you when once your anger is roused” (Psalm 76.4,7).
    “...a voice saying to him...” God knows how to speak directly to us because the message to Saul may not be the message God has for someone else. God knows the word we need from Him. So, not only is there a great light, but there is a voice – the Lord speaking and the Lord knew the man’s name - “Saul, Saul...” If a person does not know the Lord, it does not mean the Lord does not know you!
    Here God speaks audibly while in other times God uses other means to speak. Most commonly God speaks to us through God’s Word and in other times God has spoken through the sign of the times or God reveals His will to us through our fellow sisters and brothers in Christ.
    Robert Hawker says in his commentary that what happened on the road to Damascus was unique. In fact, it was so unique this story was later repeated in Acts chapters 22 and chapter 24.
    v. 4; “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
    The Lord partially identifies Himself to Saul.
    Preaching Point.
    “Why are you persecuting me?” In other words, what Saul has done and is doing to the early Christian disciples he is doing to someone else who he has apparently never met before. Saul’s actions are personal with God. For the first time in Saul’s life his treacherous behavior is seen as a personal offense to God; his transgressions are hurtful to God. Saul thought he was doing good, doing the right thing, but now he realizes the message he preached was the wrong message. What he thought were ‘good’ deeds done for God and in God’s will were in truth wicked deeds done against God!
    Note 6. Seemingly everyone else was afraid of, even terrified of Saul, but not God, of course. ‘Saul, you’re wrong’ God is saying. In fact, Saul’s sin pierced the heart of God.
    So, wait a minute. Is the text implying when one works against the Lord’s Church, he or she is working against the Lord Himself? Does it mean when I harm one of the Lord’s disciples, I am causing harm to the Lord of the Church also? Yes.
    Notice here how Saul’s offences have been noted someplace else; somebody is watching. And if Saul’s offences, his sins are noted in God’s records, my actions and your actions are equally noted. There is a record of our life someplace and that record is kept in the inexhaustible mind of God, who sees and knows all.
    The Question.
    There was no doubt about Saul’s guilt. So, the question is, ‘does Saul do anything about his guilt before God?’ And I ask this of each of us personally, what if anything have you done about your sin-guilt?
    The good news is, not only is our record in heaven, but our witness is in heaven too! The Lord Jesus who is our Advocate, is in heaven and pleads our innocence based on the sacrificial blood of Jesus that paid for the sins of the world.
    Would you accept the Lord’s forgiveness? Its free; just say ‘yes.’

      • Acts 9:1–22ESV

      • Acts 9:1–2ESV

      • Matthew 6:24ESV

      • Acts 9:3ESV

      • 1 John 1:5ESV

      • Genesis 1:4ESV

      • Matthew 5:14ESV

      • Psalm 119:105ESV

      • Revelation 21:23–24ESV

      • John 8:12ESV

      • Acts 9:3ESV

      • Acts 26:13ESV

      • Acts 9:3ESV

      • Acts 9:4ESV

      • Philippians 2:10–11ESV

      • Psalm 76:4ESV

      • Psalm 76:7ESV

      • Acts 9:4ESV

      • Acts 3:19NLT

      • Daniel 9:9NLT

  • Spirit Of The Living God
  • There Is A Name I Love To Hear (There Is A Name)

      • Galatians 1:3NLT

Adrian
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