Text: Acts 9:1-19<\/p>\nI. While we were looking at events in Philip’s life, we must not forget that Saul continued\n to persecute the church\n A. He was not satisfied with just searching out Christians in the Jerusalem area, he\nalso searched them out in other regions.\n B. He obtained permission to find and arrest any Christians found in the synagogues\nin Damascus.\n 1. They had no authority in the city of Damascus, but they could arrest people\nin the synagogues.\n 2. He was after men and women of the Way (from Jesus’ statement in John\n14:6)\n
II. On his journey, a bright light flashed around him<\/p>\n
A. He fell to the ground<\/p>\n
B. He heard a voice asking why he was persecuting him?<\/p>\n
C. Saul asked who he was talking to<\/p>\n 1. He addressed the unknown as “lord” for he realized this was one who was\nmighty.\n
2. The voice identified himself as Jesus.<\/p>\n D. Jesus does not tell Saul what to do, but directs him to the city and wait further\ninstruction.\n E. Saul’s traveling companions heard the voice, but did not understand the words\n(see also Acts 22:9). They also saw the light, but did not see anyone\n
F. As a result, Saul was blinded by the light<\/p>\n
III. He entered Damascus as a blind man<\/p>\n A. He spent three days in this condition, refusing to eat or drink, spending the time in\nprayer\n
B. A Christian, named Ananias, received a vision from the Lord.<\/p>\n
1. He was told to go to the house where Saul was staying.<\/p>\n
2. The man was expecting him and knew Ananias would restore his vision.<\/p>\n
C. Ananias was surprised by the request<\/p>\n
1. He had heard of Saul’s deeds against the church.<\/p>\n 2. He even knew that Saul had come with authority from the priests to arrest\nChristians in Damascus.\n
D. Jesus explained that Saul was chosen to be his instrument to the Gentiles<\/p>\n
1. He would also appear before kings and Israelites<\/p>\n 2. He would know all this in advance, as well as the sufferings he would\nendure.\n 3. Think about this, would you become a Christian knowing that you would\nsuffer and eventually die for your choice?\n
IV. Ananias went to Saul<\/p>\n A. He explained that Jesus sent him to restore his sight and to give him the Holy\nSpirit.\n
B. His sight was restored and he then was baptized<\/p>\n
C. Only then did he start eating and restoring his health.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrior Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tActs of the Apostles\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNext Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Conversion of Saul Text: Acts 9:1-19 I. While we were looking at events in Philip’s life, we must not forget that Saul continued to persecute the church A. He was not satisfied with just searching out Christians in the Jerusalem area, he also searched them out in other regions. B. He obtained permission to find and arrest…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":10021,"menu_order":16,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10154","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":67603,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/a-young-persons-guide-to-becoming-a-christian\/i-can-repent\/","url_meta":{"origin":10154,"position":0},"title":"I Can Repent","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I Can Repent Lesson text: Luke 13:3; Mark 1:15; Acts 9:1-22; 22:16 Memory Verse: Mark 1:15 There once was a young man named Saul. He hated Christians. In fact, he hated them so much that he tracked them down and had them thrown into jail. Stephen, the first Christian martyr,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60272,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/lessons-from-the-lives-of-the-apostles\/the-conversion-of-saul\/","url_meta":{"origin":10154,"position":1},"title":"The Conversion of Saul","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 12, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Conversion of Saul Saul was born in Tarsus, a Roman city, in the area that we now call Turkey (Acts 21:39). During the Roman Empire, Tarsus was a leading city whose economy was based on agriculture. It was a leading center for the production of linen. It was also\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10157,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/acts-of-the-apostles\/preaching-the-gospel\/","url_meta":{"origin":10154,"position":2},"title":"Preaching the Gospel","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Preaching the Gospel Text: Acts 9:19-43 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Saul \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Saul could not keep the good news to himself. He immediately went to his brethren to declare that Jesus was the Son of God. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This amazed the Jews because they knew Saul reputation in Jerusalem and his purpose in coming to Damascus. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Saul\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22656,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/survey-of-the-bible\/survey-of-the-bible-acts\/","url_meta":{"origin":10154,"position":3},"title":"Survey of the Bible – Acts","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Survey of the Bible - Acts Text: Acts 1:1-11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The book of Acts is a continuation of Luke\u2019s earlier account - Acts 1:1-3 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0All early manuscripts use the title \u201cActs\u201d or \u201cActs of the Apostles\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The author is not named, but continuation and the style makes it clear that\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10169,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/acts-of-the-apostles\/the-church-in-antioch\/","url_meta":{"origin":10154,"position":4},"title":"The Church in Antioch","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Church in Antioch Text: Acts 11:19-30 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The text of Acts now switches to focus on Saul, who later is known as Paul. II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The persecution that started with the death of Stephen has scattered Christians beyond the boundaries of Israel. They have gone to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0However, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10177,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/acts-of-the-apostles\/pauls-first-journey\/","url_meta":{"origin":10154,"position":5},"title":"Paul\u2019s First Journey","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Paul's First Journey Text Acts 12:25-13:43 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Paul and Barnabas returned from Jerusalem, having accomplished their mission \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Accompanying them was John Mark, Barnabas\u2019s cousin - Colossians 4:10 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The church in Antioch was thriving. They had many prophets and teachers among them, showing that Saul and Barnabas were no longer as\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10154\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}