How Many Sins?

Acts 9:1-19
By Jerad Allen

Good morning. I want to say I got a sense of de-ja-vu, but I've made that joke the last couple times I was here. It’s getting a little old. I made that same joke back at Jerusalem and my granny said I was running out of material.

To get started I want to ask you a question. How often do you sin? How many sins do you think you've committed? How great are the acts you have committed against our Lord? For many of us, it's a lot. Actually, for all of us, it's a lot. It's quite often that we fall. We falter quite a lot.

That takes me to a man, a serial killer named Jeffrey Dahmer. All of us know this man was known for the defiling acts he would do to his victims. We know he killed many and just what he would do to the bodies afterwards. An interesting thing about Dahmer though is before his execution, he claimed to have been saved. He claimed he had turned to the Lord and was born again. Do I know if this was true? I don't know. I didn't know him. I think he was dead before I was even born.

That brings up an interesting question. How great are the sins that can be forgiven? That takes me into the subject we'll be going over today. Our text is Acts 9:1-19. Many of you will recognize this as the road to Damascus where Paul was turned. Where Jesus came to him. To start I will read verses 1 through 3. “Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked 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. And as he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.”

Saul was a Pharisee at this time, known for going around taking anyone who confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior and murdering them, throwing them in prisons, persecuting them. We can see that when he asked to be given permission to bring any man or woman.

In Galatians 1:13, Paul said, “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.”

Look at how he says “intensely” here. This wasn't something he was doing as his day job. This wasn't something he was doing as a hobby or something he was doing out of a sense of the right thing to do because he was born that way. No, this was something he was adamant about doing. He was adamant in destroying the church and the way and the reputation and things that Jesus had left behind.

In Acts 26:9, it says he was convinced that he ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. He wasn't just attacking the people that followed him. He was going after Jesus' name. He was going after the man. He was going after what Jesus was. Saul was a sinner, a murderer, a man who took many lives.

To add to this, the first time we see him in the Bible is at Stephen's stoning at the beginning of Acts 8. He was there as a disciple of the Lord was being stoned to death for preaching, for spreading the word.

In verse 3 of our text, it says, “… suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.” Imagine you're on your way somewhere and this is a time you don't have technology or things like that. You're riding horses and bam, a beam of light comes down. That would be terrifying to anyone. It was to Saul and the people around him.

To move on let’s read, verses 4 through 9; “then he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, who are you, Lord? Then the Lord said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads. So he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what do you want me to do? Then the Lord said to him, arise and go into the city and you will be told what you must do. And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no one. Then Saul arose from the ground and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one, but they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was there three days without sight and neither ate or drank.”

Why Saul? Why would Jesus show himself to Saul of all people? A murderer, someone actively hunting his people. Why would He show himself to this man? Surely there was a better person to show Himself to. Surely there was someone more worthy, more righteous and less despicable than Saul.

In 1^st Timothy 1:16, Paul answers this very question. “But for that very reason, I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.”

He was the worst mankind had to offer. He was the “worst of sinners”, as he put it. He was an awful, no good, despicable little man, but Christ redeemed him. Christ saved him to show that it does not matter whether you are worthy. It does not matter what you have done.

In the Bible, it says certain sins are unpardonable, but Saul had not done these. It is my understanding, few people commit that sin. Jesus showed himself to Paul to show that anyone can be saved.

When I was going over this lesson with my Pap, he brought up, and my granny brought over a good point too, that Saul's intensity and his passion for getting rid of the church could be very easily turned over into spreading it as well. If a person is willing enough to completely annihilate something, if you can get them to do the opposite, they will be a hard and valiant worker

I want to focus on after Christ left for a second let’s look at verses 8 and 9. It said that Paul could not eat or drink for three days afterwards. Imagine how intense an experience this must have been. How extreme it was. It says he was trembling and astonished. I feel like that probably doesn't explain what was actually going through his head. If he went through something where he did not have sight, he couldn't eat or drink for three whole days, it sounds like he went through some serious trauma. No, the Lord just showed Himself to Paul. That is showing of the power that Jesus wields.

Moving on to verses 10 through 12, it says, “Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. And to him, the Lord said in a vision, Ananias. And he said, here I am, Lord. So the Lord said to him, arise and go to the street called straight and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus. For behold, he is praying. And in a vision, he has seen a man named Ananias coming and putting his hand on him so that he may receive his sight.”

The Lord told Saul to go where he will meet Ananias, and Ananias is being told where to go to find Saul. This shows us nothing's really an accident. Even though they are given explicit instructions here, if you listen to the Lord and follow what He is telling you, you will go to the right place and you will end up with the right people. This is a more obvious example with the Lord actively telling them both where to go in dreams and in visions. This is a good example of how we should lead our lives. When we hear the Lord, we should listen as they listened here.

Let’s read verses 13 through 16. It says, “then Ananias answered, “Lord, I've heard many things about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to him, “go, for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, Kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake.””

I want to look at a passage in Luke 19:1-5. It says, “He entered Jericho and was passing through and behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was. But on account of the crowd, he could not because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him. For He was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down for I must stay at your house.”

Tax collectors weren't exactly seen in the greatest light at the time. They were actually hated. Many people despised them. In the next couple of verses, we see how the people were astonished that he chose the tax collector, that they were mad that he chose someone so unlikeable.

In verse seven, it says, “all the people saw this and began to mutter, he has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” They were mad that he chose, out of all the people there, to go to Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, the worst of them.

Imagine the same situation in Acts 9. In some ways this is a similar situation to what Ananias is in, but instead of a chief tax collector, it is someone that you know is actively hunting you and wanting you dead. I think that Ananias following Jesus' orders here shows his faith and his courage.

He has been told he will be fine. He has been given the confidence of the Lord that he will be fine, but there's still that little human part of him saying, this man is going to kill me. Yet he shuts that up and does what he's told. He follows the Lord's will. That shows his courage, his faith in Jesus, and how we should live as well. Many people in the Bible listen to the Lord and they die because of it, but they do it because the Lord told them to.

In the chapter before this, chapter eight, Stephen was stoned, spreading the word. Most of the apostles were executed. Even if we come across persecution, we must have the courage and the faith to follow through in spreading the gospel and following the Lord's will. That is what Ananias shows us here.

In verses 17 through 19, it says, “And Ananias went his way and entered the house, laying his hands on him. He said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once, and he arose and was baptized. So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.”

This is when Saul fully surrendered to the Lord. This is when he was saved. He became a new creation. No longer was Saul there. He would soon be known as Paul. As we are told after this, he spent time in Damascus with the disciples there learning and preaching.

In Mark 16:16, we are told whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Was Jeffrey Dahmer saved? I don't know. I didn't know him. I couldn't tell you anything about him. I don't particularly want to listen to any of the interviews on the internet, because I find people and things like that kind of depressing. It's possible he was saved. It's possible that someone who did all those things is saved.

When you're in hell, there's no difference between a mass murderer and someone who just lied a bunch of times or committed other sins. If you do not turn to the Lord, you will end up in the same place as them.

I ask, why wait for damnation? Death can come at any moment. It does not wait for you to finally turn to the Lord. It is better to do it now than to wait.

If you have not repented and been baptized for the remissions of your sins, I ask you, why not? We have a perfectly good baptistery here that you can use if you want.

Thank you.