Dearly beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, we have seen the conversions of Samaritans and an Ethiopian; now Luke shows us the conversion of an enemy, and next he'll show us the conversion of the ultimate outsider — a pagan Gentile. So as we look this morning at the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, I want you to remember that Luke's main point is to show that Jesus Christ reigns. The biggest expression of the reign of Christ, though, is not the discrediting and replacement of the Temple leadership. Rather, the reign of Christ is most clearly manifested in the conversion of individuals who are rescued from Satan's kingdom of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of Jesus. To become a citizen of Jesus' kingdom is the same thing as becoming a church member. The church, if you remember, is the citizens' assembly of the kingdom. The kingdom is bigger than the church — but the church is definitely a key part of the kingdom. Well, in our text this morning, Luke obviously is providing the backstory of the most influential of all the apostles. Where would the church be without Romans and Galatians? How would we understand the faith without Hebrews and Ephesians? The emphasis on this chapter is on the reign of Christ that is so powerful that it even rules over enemies. You all have heard, I trust, stories of modern-day persecutors being converted through the witness of the people they were persecuting. It can happen. But here, a year or two after His resurrection, Christ exercised His power to take an enemy and transform him into a brother, a chosen vessel who would carry His name and suffer like He did in order to build His church.
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Caleb Nelson grew up in Ft. Collins, CO. Born into a Christian home, where he eventually became the eldest of 11 children, he has been a lifelong Presbyterian. He professed faith at the age of six, and was homeschooled through high school. He then attended Patrick Henry College...
