An Unforgetable Encounter

 

 John Newton was born in 1725. His mother died when he was six years old and at 11 he began life as a seaman. His early years were one continuous round of rebellion and sin. For a while he worked on the West African coast collecting slaves for sale to visiting traders. Eventually Newton became a captain of his own slave ship. The capturing, selling and transporting of black slaves to the plantations in the West Indies and America was a cruel and vicious way of life.

On March 10, 1748, he was returning to England from Africa on a particularly stormy voyage. Everyone thought the ship would be lost, and Newton began reading the classic Christian devotional by Thomas a Kempis, "Imitation of Christ." The message of the book and the frightening experience at sea were used by the Holy Spirit to bring Newton to accept Christ as his Savior.

For the next several years he continued working as a slave ship captain. He tried to justify his work by seeking to improve conditions as much as possible.  He even held worship services for the hardened crew each Sunday. Eventually, however, he felt convicted of the inhuman aspects of this work and led a strong crusade against slavery. Newton became a minister and preached powerfully about Jesus. He also wrote one of the most-loved hymns of all time, "Amazing Grace."

At the age of 82 just before he died he proclaimed, "My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things:  That I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior!" On his tombstone he had this statement engraved: John Newton, ... , once an infidel and Libertine, a servant of  slavers in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the Faith he had long labored to destroy."

Saul was a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia. In keeping with Jewish tradition, every boy had to know a trade. In the city of Tarsus, one of the very large industries was the industry of tent-making. And so the young Saul learned this trade. When he was about 13, he went to Jerusalem to get good Jewish training. He studied under Gamaliel, a brilliant teacher. Gamaliel was called “the beauty of the law” because of his marvelous ability to teach.

Years later Paul told King Agrippa, “the Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child...in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. They have known me for a long time and can testify...that I conformed to the strictest sect of our religion, living as a Pharisee... I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is just what I did in Jerusalem” (Acts 26:1-10).

Saul made havoc of the church until one day he had an unforgettable encounter with the risen Lord Jesus. This memorable experience that completely transformed his life is written in three chapters of the book of Acts. The first is a historical account (Acts 9:3-8). Paul recounted his experience to a Jewish crowd in Jerusalem (Acts 22:1-21). When presenting his case to King Agrippa, Paul told him about the experience (Acts 26: 1-18).

The following is the story of Saul’s conversion from Judaism to Christianity. The story  is compiled from the information recorded in the three accounts. “Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked for letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

He was on the way to Damascus when at about noon , he saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around him and his companions. They all fell to the ground. He heard a voice saying to him in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,”

The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. They saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of the person who was speaking to Saul. “‘What shall I do, Lord?” Saul asked. “Get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles.

I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. Go into Damascus, there you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.” Saul got up from the ground. His companions led him by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded him. For three days he was blind and did not eat or drink anything.

In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”“Yes, Lord,” he answered. The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”

 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

Then Ananias went to the house and entered. He stood beside Saul and 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.” ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’  Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes and at that very moment he was able to see again.

Then Ananias said, ‘the God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.” Saul got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength”.

In the great outline which Jesus gave of the progress of the Gospel on earth, he said it would move in three stages: First to Jerusalem, then to Judea and all Samaria, and then to the uttermost parts of the earth (Acts 1:8). In the first eight chapters of Acts, the gospel has been systematically preached throughout Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. In chapter 9 the gospel movement enters the third stage; going to the uttermost parts of the earth.

Thus, in Chapter 9, we come to the conversion of the Apostle Paul. He will be God’s key person in spreading the Gospel at this stage. The first time we meet Saul is as he stands at the place where Stephen is being stoned (Acts 7:58). From there he began to destroy the church (Acts 8:3). He expanded his work to the city of Damascus, a six day journey from Jerusalem.

One day as Saul got near Damascus, God confronted him with a heavenly light and an audible voice from heaven. Saul's blinding vision took place about midday, when the sun would usually have been shining its brightest. Yet the light from heaven was brighter than the sun (Acts 22:6; 26:13). Saul got a glimpse of Jesus in His glory. The glory of Christ, the creator of the sun, was brighter then the sun.

Saul must have remembered what the Scriptures say. “The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment” (Ps.104:2). “Out of the brightness of His presence bolts of lightning blazed forth”( 2 Sam. 22:13).  The prophet Ezekiel had a vision. He wrote “brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow ... so was the radiance around him.This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell face down, and I heard the voice of one speaking” (Ezek.1:27-28).

Jesus spoke to Saul from heaven, addressing him by his Jewish name and in the language of the Jews (Acts. 26:14).’ “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Saul must have been thoroughly confused. He knew exactly who had spoken to him. He had spoken to him, not in a strange language, but in Aramaic. There was no denying the fact that it was Jesus of Nazareth.

This caused him to shake because he thought Jesus was dead. He recognized, to his horror, that Jesus was not only alive, but also exalted to the throne of God.  He instantly realized that Jesus had risen from the dead and he was the messiah. This is what his followers had been asserting. This was the first time that Saul would believe that Jesus was not dead. He had made a terrible mistake.

He had come to tell the people of Damascus that it was folly, utter blasphemy to believe that Jesus was alive. But, here was Jesus overpowering him, thrusting him to the ground. Saul thought he was persecuting the enemies of God not knowing he was actually the enemy persecuting God. The voice that spoke to Saul was totally authoritative. Jesus said “rise and enter the city and you will be told what you are to do.”

This was only the first appearance of Jesus Christ to this man who was to be the mighty Apostle to the Gentiles. Paul was utterly consistent throughout his whole life as to just what he heard and saw on this occasion. He based his claim to be an apostle upon the fact that he had seen Jesus Christ (Gal.1:12; 1 Cor.15:8; 2 Cor. 12:1-10).  He had heard his voice and what it said had lasting impact upon him.

Saul of Tarsus was a great theologian and yet he was still in spiritual darkness until the moment he encountered the resurrected and glorified Jesus. In that blinding light, the image of Jesus Christ was printed indelibly upon his soul and embedded unforgettably in his heart. Saul of Tarsus was crucified, and Jesus Christ was seen in his life from then on. Years later he wrote “I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me (Gal 2:20)

Paul conversion was sudden and utterly unexpected. His conversion was not the climax of a long process of God’s convicting him of sin. Paul’s conversion was a work of divine sovereign grace. It was utterly free and unmerited and  it came with overwhelming authority and power.Paul asked "who are you Lord?"Seeking the answer to that question became the single passion in his life. He said "I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus...I want to know Christ...the power of his resurrection...and so, somehow attaining to the resurrection from the dead (Phil. 3:4-11).