I. INTRODUCTION
A. The potential influence of one great mind.
1. One great mind could effect more change than a war, a king, pestilence, or famine.
2. While the kingdom of Alexander is long gone, the influence of the Greek philosophers remains until this day.
B. The conversion of a great mind rarely occurs, except in the realm of religion.
1. The good that comes from great minds obeying the gospel is hard to measure. Their conversion causes the rest of us to take notice.
2. Meanwhile, the conversion of the weak, unsettled, vacillating, purposeless, fickle mind shows us nothing as to the truthfulness of the Gospel.
C. Saul was one of the greatest minds who ever lived.
1. His personal characteristics gave him advantages in his work. He was bold, moral, passionate, impetuous, independent, tireless, young, and patriotic, yet he could use reason, sarcasm, and irony to his advantage.
2. While his public speaking skills left somewhat to be desired, historians still number him among the great Grecian orators.
3. His influence, ambition, energy, and eloquence place his name among all those who have affected (for good or evil) the destiny of mankind.
II. DISCUSSION
A. His Business in Damascus the suppression of a new religion that (in the mind of the Sanhedrin and Saul) threatened the extinction of the national religion which included: the sacred rites of the temple, the Law, and the traditions of the elders.
1. The stoning of Stephen had actually spread the Way, by scattering the disciples abroad.
2. Saul was commissioned by the Council to travel to Damascus and suppress the Way using all means at his disposal.
B. Jesus Appears to Saul on the Road to Damascus (Acts 26:14-18)
1. This is the beginning of the conversion of Saul and the spark that would lead to the establishment of the Christian religion throughout the world.
2. His conversion was sincere. He made a change that could be seen in his views, purposes, feelings, and aims. The persecutor became the protector, the destroyer became the builder, the injurer became the physician. While he could never completely undo the wrong that he had done, as a penitent and regenerated man, he could try and repair it to a degree.
C. The Sincerity, Reality, and Genuineness of the Change can be seen by examining the following two questions:
1. What was the change? As always, with any change it must involve the heart the will, the emotions and to some extent, the intellect. Hatred of the Way became love. Rejection of Christ became acceptance. Reliance on his own merits for salvation became reliance on the grace of God. His bigoted, narrow spirit of the Pharisee gave way to "the Gospel is for all." It is interesting to note that conversion involves changing the will and the emotions, but calls for a redirecting of the intellect. Saul's individuality was preserved in his conversion as we can see before and after his conversion in the following attributes:
a. a respect for law (Acts 16:37, 22:25; 25:11; 23:3; Rom. 13:1-7)
b. conscientiousness (Acts 24:16; 26:9; 23:1; Phil. 3:6; 2 Cor. 1:12)
c. his zeal for God was redirected through Christ
d. his propagation of his faith (see Mt. 23:15)
e. his energy, daring, and enterprise (2 Cor. 11:24-27).
2. What evidence do we have that this change was sincere, real, and genuine? We can judge a man's sincerity by the sacrifices he makes in a change. What does he give up? Does he abandon friends, education, upbringing, and family, in exchange for poverty, contempt, imprisonment, toil, and the possibility of death. Saul did all this when he obeyed the Gospel, ( Phil. 3:8).
3. If we accept the New Testament account of this change it proves the Christian religion is true! If Jesus appeared to Saul, then He had risen, ascended, still lives, and still reigns.
4. But how do we answer the skeptics?
a. Some say the whole account is false, but this cannot be proven. The account as written would explain the changes in Saul's life that history bears out.
b. Saul made up the story and pretended to be a Christian. What would be Saul's motives if this were true? What would he have to gain?
c. Saul was a fanatic or enthusiast . You do not embrace a new opinion to become a fanatic, you become a fanatic based on an opinion already held. Being a Pharisee would lend itself to fanaticism better than Christianity.
d. Saul was deceived by a flash of lightening. Then how do you explain Ananias and the culmination of Saul's conversion? (Acts 9:10-19)
e. He used Christianity to gain personal fame and glory. How could Saul have foreseen this? Most men thought that Christianity was only a cult of Judaism and as Gamaliel indicated, that if it were not from God, it would amount to nothing.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. When would you say the conversion of Saul was completed? When could he say that he was a Christian?
2. Describe as many aspects of Saul's repentance as possible.