Prelude
Call to Worship 2 Chronicles 7:14
Hymn JBC # 2 Come, Thou almighty King
The Prayer Time
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC # 261 Dear Spirit, lead me to the Saviour's side
Offering
Scripture Acts 9:1～9
Prayer
Sermon “Paul’s Conversion”
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 19 Love divine, all loves excelling
Doxology JBC # 671
Benediction
Postlude
The New Testament consists of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), the Book of Acts (today's Bible passage), several subsequent books in epistle (letter) form, and the book of John's Revelation.
It was Paul who wrote most of the epistles in the New Testament. That Paul is called Saul in today's passage. Paul and Saul are the same person.
At the beginning of today's passage we read
1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and 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.
The “Lord's disciples” are followers of Jesus Christ. At this time, Jesus had already been killed, resurrected, and ascended into heaven.
After Jesus ascended into heaven, the Lord's Holy Spirit descended on and empowered His disciples.
Empowered by the Holy Spirit, the disciples began to preach with great power that “Jesus Christ is Lord” and that “there is no salvation for man except through Christ.”
The Book of Acts describes in detail the evangelistic works of the disciples after being empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Paul, who later preached Christ and wrote many of the epistles included in the New Testament, was at first a fierce persecutor of those who followed the teachings of Jesus Christ.
He threatened and even sought to kill the Lord's disciples.
Paul had received permission from the high priest to persecute Christ's followers and was on his way to Damascus with palpable evil intent.
There he was to bind up Christ's followers, both men and women, and take them to Jerusalem.
We know how intense Paul's persecution was during this period because there are several passages in the epistles where he himself alludes to the fact.
In Galatians 1:13, we read
13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.
Paul had persecuted God's church and even tried to destroy it. And through it all, Paul believed he was serving God diligently.
This is evident in the same passage in Galatians, the next verse, 1:14.
I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
Paul says that he was “extremely zealous.”
However, if we look deeper into the meaning of the words, “advancing in Judaism,” and “extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers,” can we not infer that Paul was more concerned with his own zeal than with his love and sincerity toward the Lord God?
We can infer that Paul was not living in the love and mercy of God and the joy that comes from Him, even though he appeared to be a fervent believer on the outside.
And I think it is possible that Paul was actually suffering internally from this.
As Paul approached his destination, Damascus, with the intent to persecute Christ's followers, a light from heaven flashed around him.
Paul fell to the ground and then heard a voice saying, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
It was the voice of Jesus Christ.
The voice said, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
Jesus did not say, “Stop persecuting me,” but rather asked him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
It was an exhortation to Paul to look within himself.
Jesus asked Saul,
“Why do you persecute me? What is your motivation for doing so? What drives you? “
Thus, through encountering Jesus, we are forced to look within ourselves.
Even today, we continue to encounter Jesus through the Bible, Jesus continues to question us, and we continue to look within ourselves.
As Jesus questions us, as we spiritually communicate with Him (through prayer), we are forced to really consider “What do I really want? Who am I really?”
We do not know what was going through Paul’s mind at this moment. After this Paul is blinded.
Later in today's passage, we are told that Paul's eyes were reopened by a man named Ananias, and that Paul then transformed into a zealous preacher of Jesus.
We might get the impression that Paul was instantly transformed from a persecutor of Christ to a passionate evangelist of Christ.
However, I believe that such a change actually occurred gradually within Paul as he persecuted Christ's followers.
Despite his persecution of Christ’s followers, having seen those who followed Christ and lived in His ways, the realization that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and is the true God Himself began to emerge within Paul.
Paul had never met Jesus when He was alive. However, by observing the lives of Christ's followers, we can say that Paul had met Jesus.
In the Book of Acts, chapter 7, which precedes today's passage, we read about the story of a man named Stephen being martyred (being killed for preaching Christ).
No matter how much people opposed and hated Stephen for preaching Christ, he did not hate them back.
The people were so angry with Stephen that they threw stone after stone at him and killed him.
Then Stephen said, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” (Acts 7:60)
Paul was also present there. It is written that Paul approved of the killing of Stephen. (Acts 8:1).
The Bible does not tell us how Paul felt as he watched Stephen's execution.
However, Paul's heart must have been violently shaken by witnessing Stephen praying “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” about those who were stoning him to death.
In addition to Stephen, Paul must have felt something from the other believers whom he had persecuted, and change had begun inside him without him noticing.
When Jesus asked Paul, “Why do you persecute me?”, I think Paul was reminded of Stephen's death, his own approval of Stephen's execution, and was forced to rethink many things.
Paul was more zealous about the teachings and practices of Judaism than anyone. But I think Paul realized that he did not truly know about the essence of God, His love and His forgiveness.
Paul asks the voice, “Who are you, Lord?”
Paul would have known that it was in fact Jesus. I believe that Paul was asking the essential question, “Who are you, God, in relation to my life?”
When we hear the Lord speak to us, we too may ask, “Who are you?” and “How are you involved in my life right now?”
We do not usually have such dramatic experiences as Paul's, where a light shines from heaven and we hear a voice.
But there are times when God speaks to us through the Bible and even through other people and various circumstances.
It is then that we ask, “Who are you?” and “What should I do?” with the intent of following the path revealed to us, one step at a time.
Paul is blinded after this encounter and his compatriots took him by the hand and led him to Damascus.
He was blind for three days and did not eat or drink anything.
Today's passage is very important in the sense that Paul was reborn as a preacher of Christ and preacher to the Gentiles (foreigners), extending the gospel beyond the Jews.
Paul had since gone on to do great things as a preacher of Christ.
But the fact that Paul had earlier persecuted (even killed) followers of Christ would remain with him.
But such was God's plan. God does not always use those deemed worthy and qualified in the eyes of men for the work of evangelism.
Instead, God chose someone like Paul, whose past (a major obstacle) appeared to make him an unlikely candidate as an evangelist of Christ.
When Paul tried to preach the gospel, I think he was rebuffed (feared) by many people who said, “Did you not terribly persecute Christ’s followers?”
Paul was faced with such voices and his own past and sins as he became convinced of God's love and forgiveness.
In other words, despite his past as a persecutor of Christ, Paul was chosen by God and, overflowing with the joy of forgiveness, became an apostle of Christ.
And Paul grew increasingly convinced that he had been called to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ as part of God's grand design, far exceeding his own understanding.
We, too, have to confront ourselves when we encounter Christ and when we are challenged by His words.
This may lead us to confront our inner self and sins, which is something we would normally prefer not to do.
But only through such a process do we finally come to the conviction and joy that Jesus really died on the cross to atone for our sins, and that we are therefore forgiven of our sins.
Let us be grounded in the faith given to us by Jesus and continue to walk together on the path of Christ, with joy and gratitude for the forgiveness of our sins, while also turning inward to examine ourselves.
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC # 261 Dear Spirit, lead me to the Saviour's side
Offering
Scripture Acts 9:1～9
Prayer
Sermon “Paul’s Conversion”
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 19 Love divine, all loves excelling
Doxology JBC # 671
Benediction
Postlude
The New Testament consists of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), the Book of Acts (today's Bible passage), several subsequent books in epistle (letter) form, and the book of John's Revelation.
It was Paul who wrote most of the epistles in the New Testament. That Paul is called Saul in today's passage. Paul and Saul are the same person.
At the beginning of today's passage we read
1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and 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.
The “Lord's disciples” are followers of Jesus Christ. At this time, Jesus had already been killed, resurrected, and ascended into heaven.
After Jesus ascended into heaven, the Lord's Holy Spirit descended on and empowered His disciples.
Empowered by the Holy Spirit, the disciples began to preach with great power that “Jesus Christ is Lord” and that “there is no salvation for man except through Christ.”
The Book of Acts describes in detail the evangelistic works of the disciples after being empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Paul, who later preached Christ and wrote many of the epistles included in the New Testament, was at first a fierce persecutor of those who followed the teachings of Jesus Christ.
He threatened and even sought to kill the Lord's disciples.
Paul had received permission from the high priest to persecute Christ's followers and was on his way to Damascus with palpable evil intent.
There he was to bind up Christ's followers, both men and women, and take them to Jerusalem.
We know how intense Paul's persecution was during this period because there are several passages in the epistles where he himself alludes to the fact.
In Galatians 1:13, we read
13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.
Paul had persecuted God's church and even tried to destroy it. And through it all, Paul believed he was serving God diligently.
This is evident in the same passage in Galatians, the next verse, 1:14.
I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
Paul says that he was “extremely zealous.”
However, if we look deeper into the meaning of the words, “advancing in Judaism,” and “extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers,” can we not infer that Paul was more concerned with his own zeal than with his love and sincerity toward the Lord God?
We can infer that Paul was not living in the love and mercy of God and the joy that comes from Him, even though he appeared to be a fervent believer on the outside.
And I think it is possible that Paul was actually suffering internally from this.
As Paul approached his destination, Damascus, with the intent to persecute Christ's followers, a light from heaven flashed around him.
Paul fell to the ground and then heard a voice saying, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
It was the voice of Jesus Christ.
The voice said, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
Jesus did not say, “Stop persecuting me,” but rather asked him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
It was an exhortation to Paul to look within himself.
Jesus asked Saul,
“Why do you persecute me? What is your motivation for doing so? What drives you? “
Thus, through encountering Jesus, we are forced to look within ourselves.
Even today, we continue to encounter Jesus through the Bible, Jesus continues to question us, and we continue to look within ourselves.
As Jesus questions us, as we spiritually communicate with Him (through prayer), we are forced to really consider “What do I really want? Who am I really?”
We do not know what was going through Paul’s mind at this moment. After this Paul is blinded.
Later in today's passage, we are told that Paul's eyes were reopened by a man named Ananias, and that Paul then transformed into a zealous preacher of Jesus.
We might get the impression that Paul was instantly transformed from a persecutor of Christ to a passionate evangelist of Christ.
However, I believe that such a change actually occurred gradually within Paul as he persecuted Christ's followers.
Despite his persecution of Christ’s followers, having seen those who followed Christ and lived in His ways, the realization that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and is the true God Himself began to emerge within Paul.
Paul had never met Jesus when He was alive. However, by observing the lives of Christ's followers, we can say that Paul had met Jesus.
In the Book of Acts, chapter 7, which precedes today's passage, we read about the story of a man named Stephen being martyred (being killed for preaching Christ).
No matter how much people opposed and hated Stephen for preaching Christ, he did not hate them back.
The people were so angry with Stephen that they threw stone after stone at him and killed him.
Then Stephen said, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” (Acts 7:60)
Paul was also present there. It is written that Paul approved of the killing of Stephen. (Acts 8:1).
The Bible does not tell us how Paul felt as he watched Stephen's execution.
However, Paul's heart must have been violently shaken by witnessing Stephen praying “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” about those who were stoning him to death.
In addition to Stephen, Paul must have felt something from the other believers whom he had persecuted, and change had begun inside him without him noticing.
When Jesus asked Paul, “Why do you persecute me?”, I think Paul was reminded of Stephen's death, his own approval of Stephen's execution, and was forced to rethink many things.
Paul was more zealous about the teachings and practices of Judaism than anyone. But I think Paul realized that he did not truly know about the essence of God, His love and His forgiveness.
Paul asks the voice, “Who are you, Lord?”
Paul would have known that it was in fact Jesus. I believe that Paul was asking the essential question, “Who are you, God, in relation to my life?”
When we hear the Lord speak to us, we too may ask, “Who are you?” and “How are you involved in my life right now?”
We do not usually have such dramatic experiences as Paul's, where a light shines from heaven and we hear a voice.
But there are times when God speaks to us through the Bible and even through other people and various circumstances.
It is then that we ask, “Who are you?” and “What should I do?” with the intent of following the path revealed to us, one step at a time.
Paul is blinded after this encounter and his compatriots took him by the hand and led him to Damascus.
He was blind for three days and did not eat or drink anything.
Today's passage is very important in the sense that Paul was reborn as a preacher of Christ and preacher to the Gentiles (foreigners), extending the gospel beyond the Jews.
Paul had since gone on to do great things as a preacher of Christ.
But the fact that Paul had earlier persecuted (even killed) followers of Christ would remain with him.
But such was God's plan. God does not always use those deemed worthy and qualified in the eyes of men for the work of evangelism.
Instead, God chose someone like Paul, whose past (a major obstacle) appeared to make him an unlikely candidate as an evangelist of Christ.
When Paul tried to preach the gospel, I think he was rebuffed (feared) by many people who said, “Did you not terribly persecute Christ’s followers?”
Paul was faced with such voices and his own past and sins as he became convinced of God's love and forgiveness.
In other words, despite his past as a persecutor of Christ, Paul was chosen by God and, overflowing with the joy of forgiveness, became an apostle of Christ.
And Paul grew increasingly convinced that he had been called to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ as part of God's grand design, far exceeding his own understanding.
We, too, have to confront ourselves when we encounter Christ and when we are challenged by His words.
This may lead us to confront our inner self and sins, which is something we would normally prefer not to do.
But only through such a process do we finally come to the conviction and joy that Jesus really died on the cross to atone for our sins, and that we are therefore forgiven of our sins.
Let us be grounded in the faith given to us by Jesus and continue to walk together on the path of Christ, with joy and gratitude for the forgiveness of our sins, while also turning inward to examine ourselves.
