SUNDAY MORNING WORSHIP SERVICE, 4 January 2026
Sermon Series: “The Acts of the Apostles” (#13)
Sermon Text: Acts 9:1-22
Main Points:
Introduction
I. Grace that confronts: Saul breathing threats against the Church
II. Grace that reveals: Saul left breathless before the risen Lord
III. Grace that commissions: Saul bearing witness to Jesus as the Christ
Conclusion
Worshipping the Triune God on the first Lord’s Day of 2026 is deeply significant for us. As we begin a new year together, we do so with expectation – looking for God’s sovereign grace along the paths before us. We’re able to look ahead with confidence because God has already shown Himself to be gracious to us in every way, at every turn of our lives. We know that He has been kind to us, and that kindness testifies to His faithfulness. As He has promised, He never leaves us nor forsakes us; He is with us always, to the end of the age. This assurance fills us with hope and joy.
This confidence reflects a growing maturity in our knowledge of God and His works. Just as a child learns to trust and rely on a loving father, so our knowledge of our heavenly Father enables us to trust Him more deeply. Although we do not know what lies around the corner – though uncertainty may bring ambiguity and even anxiety – we’re confident of this: our Father’s grace will be sufficient. He’ll uphold us, and He’ll satisfy us in the end.
But, what is the ultimate basis of such confidence? Why are we so sure of God’s care and favour towards us? The answer is found in the sovereignty of God. God’s sovereignty refers to His supreme authority and effective rule over all creation, such that nothing occurs apart from His eternal decree. God reigns as King over heaven and earth, accomplishing all that He purposes. Because He is in complete control of all things, wisely governing every detail of history for His good purposes, we can trust Him fully.
This understanding lies at the heart of what we call the Reformed faith. We confess that salvation is entirely the work of God – from election to glorification – accomplished by sovereign grace in Christ and applied by the Holy Spirit. Today, I’d like us to consider this sovereign grace of God as it displayed so clearly in the account of Saul’s conversion. His story shows us how God calls His people not only out of sin and into salvation, but also into service for the glory of God.
Saul’s conversion teaches us one central truth – that is, the story of redemption is not a human search for God, but God’s gracious pursuit of sinners. In other words, God’s sovereign grace confronts us in sin, reveals Christ to us in His glory, and commissions us for His purposes.
I. Grace That Confronts: Saul Breathing Threats Against the Church
Confronting us in sin is the very first work God does in His grace towards sinners. In Saul’s case, God’s own description of him is strikingly vivid and intentionally unsettling. We’re told that Saul was breathing threats and murder against the disciples of Jesus Christ. The language is almost beastlike. Saul is portrayed not as a refined or rational man, but as a savage creature, breathing hostility as if it were the very air he lived on – like a beast poised to seize and tear its prey. In fact, this is grace in sharp confrontation.
How can we say that such exposure is an expression of divine grace? Because Saul’s true condition is revealed to him so that his blinded soul might see it plainly and grasp its seriousness. Grace unmasks reality. Saul is not the noble defender of God’s honour he imagines himself to be; he is a fallen, sin-enslaved, hell-bound creature. Only God, in His grace, can show a sinner his true face. The bright light of God’s holiness exposes what the darkness of sin hides. Sin does not diagnose itself. Only grace brings the truth into the light. The truth is this: no one can see themselves rightly before God apart from God’s grace; it is His grace alone that opens our eyes to the truth!
So, when you see your true condition, thank God that His grace has revealed it to you. Do not shrink from the unpleasant truth, and do not avert your eyes in bitter resistance. Instead, kneel before the gracious God, and plead for His mercy – to grant you repentance that leads to life in Jesus Christ.
This grace that confronts does not merely flash into existence and disappear just as quickly. God’s confronting grace is often gradual, persistent, and repeatedly applied. Acts 9:1 is not the first moment grace touched Saul’s heart. Grace had been pressing upon him long before this decisive encounter.
How can we be sure of this? Paul himself tells us so in Acts 26, where he looks back and explains what God had already been doing in his life prior to this moment. In Acts 26:14, he says that Jesus said to Saul this: “It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” The image is drawn from farming: a goad was used to prod stubborn animals, such as oxen, to move in the right direction. Saul had been resisting God’s prodding for some time. The risen Christ reveals that God, in His grace, had been confronting Saul again and again.
What might those divine goads have been? Most significantly, Stephen’s death. Saul was not a distant observer; he was the legal representative of that execution. He was there from beginning to end – from the chamber of the Sanhedrin to the place of execution outside of the city. He saw Stephen’s face, described as ‘the face of an angel.’ He heard Stephen’s bold testimony of Jesus standing at the right hand of God. He witnessed Stephen’s final prayers, asking the Lord not to hold this sin against his killers – and most importantly, Saul himself. Those words must have echoed in Saul’s conscience long after the stones had fallen silent.
If we trace Saul’s story back even further, it is likely that he had encountered Jesus earlier. As a zealous young Pharisee in Jerusalem, Saul could hardly have been ignorant of the extraordinary events surrounding Jesus’ public ministry – His teaching, His miracles, His trial, and His crucifixion. It would be naïve to imagine Saul as untouched by these events. Indeed, he was probably among the most eager investigators of Jesus and His message. And now, though he is violently opposed to Christ and His followers, something clearly troubles him. Had there been no inner disturbance, Saul might simply have ignored this movement. But instead, he is obsessed with destroying it. God in His grace had been working steadily in the heart and conscience of this fierce young Pharisee. That’s what Jesus meant when He said, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”
II. Grace That Reveals: Saul Left Breathless Before the Risen Lord
Grace does not stop at confrontation; it presses on to revelation. Grace reveals to Saul Jesus Christ, the Son of God. What Saul needs is not merely to see his sin, but to see the Saviour.
As with Saul, all people are, by nature, opposed to Christ. Every person is inclined by nature to reject – and even to hate – God and His Son. Even if someone has never openly despised Christians, never spoken against the church, the natural human heart is not neutral. Scripture is clear: by nature we’re against God, resisting His rule, and rejecting Jesus Christ our Saviour.
R. C. Sproul once observed that whenever something evil happens, people almost instinctively ask the same question: ‘Why does God allow this to happen? Where is God in all of this?’ We hear this question often when tragedy strikes. Sproul argued, however, that this is the wrong question. Instead of asking, ‘why did this happen?’ or ‘where was God?’, the more appropriate question is, ‘Why did this not happen to me?’
Why? Because apart from grace, every person is dead in sin and deserving of judgment. The real mystery is not why suffering exists in the world, but why sinners are spared at all. Unless God, in His grace, reveals Jesus Christ to them, people remain blind to both their sin and their danger. That’s why the right question is, ‘Why not me?’ – because we deserve not mercy, but judgment, unless grace intervenes.
Seen in this light, God’s revelation of Jesus to hostile sinners is astonishing grace. God does not merely tolerate ungrateful sinners; He perseveres with them. He bears their continual hostility and rejection. Yet, in grace, He reveals to them His Son – the eternal Creator who took on flesh, became a creature, lived a sinless life, and suffered and was crucified in the place of sinners. Nothing but grace can explain this. It is grace in its purest form.
We sometimes assume that Saul fell to the ground, stunned and speechless, simply because Jesus appeared to him in blinding light and overwhelming holiness. Certainly that was part of it – but it was not the whole reason. The deeper reason Saul was left breathless was that he was suddenly confronted with the reality of grace – a grace that had patiently endured him, restrained him, and gently but firmly led him to this very moment. Christ’s glorious appearance was the culmination of a long history of divine patience. Saul recognised this at once – and he was breathless!
Many of us here know this grace. We have seen Jesus with spiritual eyes. But if anyone here has not yet known this grace, I urge you to seek it – to desire to see the Lord Jesus by faith. When grace opens your eyes to Christ, your heart will melt. Hostility, rejection, and indifference towards Jesus will collapse. Like Saul, you will be left speechless, breathless – not merely by Christ’s holiness, but by the depth of God’s patience towards you throughout your life.
Sproul was right: the question each of us should ask is not, ‘Why did disaster strike others?, but ‘Why has it not struck me?’ The answer is grace!
See how Saul responds once grace reveals Christ to him. In Acts 22:10, he asks, “What shall I do, Lord?” This highly educated, fiercely zealous Pharisee – who once breathed threats and murder against Jesus and His church – now has only one response: humble submission. Grace has done its work. Grace reveals Jesus Christ as the final and ultimate expression of God’s saving mercy, and when that revelation comes, the sinner’s proud resistance gives way to obedient surrender.
III. Grace That Commissions: Saul Bearing Witness to Jesus As the Christ
This leads us to our final point – ‘grace that commissions.’ Grace not only reconciles sinners to God and enables us to call Him ‘Abba, Father.’ It also calls and equips us to serve God and to bear witness to Jesus as the Christ. What an astonishing grace this is!
Yet, in all of this, God’s grace is never compulsive. God does not violate or trample the human personality. Grace does not turn us into robots. Rather, God in His grace gently and wisely leads us to respond to His call and to His commissioning.
We see this clearly in the lives of both Saul and Ananias. Jesus tells Saul to rise and go into the city of Damascus, where he will be told what he must do. Then, the Lord gives him three days – three days of blindness, fasting, and silence – to reflect on everything: his life, his zeal, his convictions, his persecution of Jesus and the church, and yet, the overwhelming grace he has received from the risen Lord! I’m sure that eating and drinking – even his vision – must’ve been the furthest things from Saul’s mind. For three days, he is chewing over and digesting the grace that has confronted and transformed him!
What about Ananias? The Lord speaks to him in a vision and tells him to go to Saul. Ananias’ immediate response – quite understandably – is, in effect, ‘No.’ He knows Saul’s reputation.
Now, listen to the tender voice of the Lord as He speaks to Ananias: “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine to carry My name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of My name.” The Lord does not command Ananias like a tyrant or a coercive judge. He speaks as a gracious and caring Lord, patiently addressing Ananias’ fear and gently drawing him into His purposes.
The same is true for us. By grace, God has called us, and by grace, He has commissioned us. That commission takes shape in different ways: for some, the primary task lies at home; for others, in the church, the workplace, or the wider society. The contexts differ, but the calling is the same – we’re chosen instruments to carry the name of Jesus!
In every circumstance, we’re Christ’s ambassadors – His witnesses. He commissions His people by grace, sustains us by grace, and makes our witness effective by grace. And through that same grace, He accomplishes His purposes!
Conclusion
Now, as we conclude, consider this: the former enemy of Christ and persecutor of the church now proclaims that Jesus is the Christ. Saul, once opposed to the gospel, has become its bold witness.
And this is not only his story – it is ours as well. We too were once enemies of God. In our sin, we rejected Christ. But now, by God’s grace, we worship God in the name of Jesus Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit! We proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes as we share in the Lord’s Supper – as we’ll do in a moment today.
In our homes, we’re Christ’s witnesses. In our workplaces and in the society in which we live, we’re Christians – followers and lovers of Christ Jesus! What grace this is! Is it not a miracle, my fellow Christians?
Our text tells us that, when Saul proved that Jesus is the Christ, the Jews in Damascus were confounded (even baffled). In a very real sense, the same is true of us. Our lives themselves are living testimonies to the grace of God that confronts sinners, reveals Christ, and commissions His people for His gracious and perfect purposes!
All glory be to God and to Christ our Lord, who gives a grace beyond measure! ***
St Columba's Presbyterian Church 