May 24, 2026

Acts 9:1-31

Blinded By The Light

Sunday Sermons

The extraordinary conversion of Saul on the road to Damascus is the most dramatic and well-known in all of history. Indeed, this undeniable encounter with the resurrected Jesus transformed the early church’s most dangerous enemy into its most influential missionary and the writer of nearly half the books in the New Testament. But as extraordinary as Saul’s experience was, his conversion was comprised of the same necessary elements as our own. What do all believing Christians have in common with Saul’s experience on the road to Damascus? A conversion that includes a context, a cause, and a consequence. Join Pastor Tom Yarbrough as we explore Acts 9 together.

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Speaker

Tom Yarbrough

Series

Acts of the Apostles

Go to Series

Scripture

Acts 9:1-31

Topics
Growth & Discipleship Worldview & Culture

Sermon Notes

Acts 9:1-31

Blinded By The Light

Pastor Tom Yarbrough

 

1. The Context of Saul’s Conversion

A Particular Biography

  • From Tarsus of Cilicia (Acts 21:39)
  • Roman citizen (Acts 22:27)
  • A faithful and obedient Jew (Phil 3:5, 2 Cor 11:22, Gen 17:11)
  • A Pharisee who was zealous for the law (Acts 23:6, 26:5, Phil 3:5-6, Gal 1:14)
  • Educated in Jerusalem by Gamaliel (Acts 21:39, 22:3)
  • Persecutor of the early church (Gal 1:13)

A Unique Phenomenology

  • Bright light from heaven (v. 3)
  • Voice (v. 4)
  • Blindness (v. 8)
  • Audible instruction (v. 6)
  • Appearance of a resurrected and glorified Jesus (v. 17)

An Essential Theology

  • Saul was a sinner (still in sins) in need of redemption. (v. 1)
  • Jesus pursued Saul and interrupted his rebelliousness. (Acts 26:14)
  • Saul personally encountered Jesus. (vv. 5, 17)
  • In response to God’s extraordinary grace, Saul surrendered in repentance and faith. (vv. 4, 8, 11, 18)

“And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’”
Acts 26:14

2. The Cause of Saul’s Conversion

A Divine Initiative

  • Jesus had already decided on Saul when Saul had decided against Jesus. (v 15, Acts 26:14, Rom 5:8)
  • God sovereignly acts through the Spirit in regenerating those dead in trespasses. (Eph 2:4-5, Col 2:13-14)
  • God himself is the author of every conversion as he grants repentance that leads to life. (Acts 11:18, 2 Tim 2:25).

A Spirit-Enabled Response

  • We are invited to co-operate in conversion through the conscious, Spirit-empowered acts of repentance and faith in response to grace.

“Divine grace does not trample on human personality. Rather the reverse, for it enables human beings to be truly human. It is sin which imprisons; it is grace which liberates. The grace of God so frees us from bondage of our pride, prejudice and self-centeredness as to enable us to repent and believe. We can only marvel at the grace of God, that he should have had mercy on such a rabid bigot as Saul of Tarsus, and indeed on such proud, rebellious and wayward creatures as ourselves.”
John Stott, The Message of Acts

3. The Consequence of Saul’s Conversion

The persecutor of Christ became a proclaimer of the Gospel.

  • The persecutor of Christ became a proclaimer of the Gospel.
    • A changed relationship with God
  •  The worried believers became welcoming brothers.
    • A changed relationship with God’s people
  •  Saul’s former allies become his furious adversaries.
    • A changed relationship with the world

“So much of the Christian life boils down to two simple truths:
1. You are no longer your own. You belong to Christ.
2. You are no longer on your own. He gave you the church.”
Matt Smethurst

The Overall Result

“So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.”
Acts 9:31

“The Christian faith is the most exciting drama that ever staggered the imagination of man—and the dogma is the drama.”
Dorothy L. Sayers, The Greatest Drama Ever Staged

Two Questions

  1. Who are you, Lord?
  2. What shall I do, Lord?

Discussion Questions

  • In the days immediately following Saul’s conversion, as he was experiencing the effects of physical blindness, he prayed. When we go through trials or experience the consequences of our own sin, do we respond in prayer? If not, how do we cultivate a posture of prayerfulness in every circumstance and season of our lives?
  • Take a moment to share your testimony. What was its context, cause, and consequence? How does your testimony (no matter how dramatic or seemingly mundane) bring glory to God and edify those around you? Why is every conversion dramatic?
  • As a church, how do we welcome new believers? Do we respond like Ananias and Barnabus with encouragement and welcome? How can we be more like these members of the early church in our context today?

Songs, Readings & Prayer

Songs

“Psalm 150 (Praise The Lord) by Matt Boswell and Matt Papa
“I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous)“ by Charles Hutchinson Gabriel
“Speak O Lord“ Speak O Lord by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend
“O Great God“ by Bob Kauflin
“Doxology” by Thomas Ken and Louis Bourgeois
All songs are used with permission. CCLI License no. 2003690

Looking for our Hymns of the Week or resources to worship anytime? We’ve curated a playlist of hymns TVC Worship has led on our YouTube Channel!

Call To Worship: Congregational Prayer

Lord, fill our hearts with reverence for You. Make us hunger for Your Word and passionately desire to walk in Your ways. Forgive us our sins, for they are many. Give us a greater glimpse of Your glory as we offer You this praise and worship. We thank You for the way You have rescued us over and over, through many difficult things. Come now and help us in this: to place our trust, hope, and confidence in You. May Your name be honored in our conduct. May Your kingdom be made visible in our relationships. May Your will be done in our hearts and minds. This we pray in the Name above all names, Jesus Christ, to Whom belongs all glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Classic Prayer: Memorial Day

Father, today we honor our veterans, worthy men and women who gave their best when called upon to serve and protect their country. For each and every veteran who died serving our country through the years, we thank You for their sacrifice. Help us to honor them with gratitude.

Almighty God, Lord of Hosts, we call out to You as the One who is sovereign over all. Watch over and protect our nation’s military families. Sustain them with Your everlasting arms. Provide them with peace and surround them with love, especially those who mourn the absence of a loved one. Be with our nation’s leaders as well, and all those who make decisions for our military. Give them wisdom and discernment in everything they do.

Father God, we long for the day when swords will be beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. We long for Your peace, for Your shalom. Until that day, we ask Your protection for all those who serve in our armed forces, and their families who so faithfully stand beside them.

Confession of Faith

New City Catechism
Part 1: God, Creation and Fall, Law
Questions 11 and 12

Leader: What does God require in the sixth, seventh, and eighth commandments?
People: Sixth, that we do not hurt, or hate, or be hostile to our neighbor, but be patient and peaceful, pursuing even our enemies with love. Seventh, that we abstain from sexual immorality and live purely and faithfully, whether in marriage or in single life, avoiding all impure actions, looks, words, thoughts, or desires, and whatever might lead to them. Eighth, that we do not take without permission that which belongs to someone else, nor withhold any good from someone we might benefit.

Leader: What does God require in the ninth and tenth commandments?
People: Ninth, that we do not lie or deceive, but speak the truth in love. Tenth, that we are content, not envying anyone or resenting what God has given them or us.

TVC Prayer Ministry

TVC Ministry: Marriage Prep & Weddings led by Lynsey Auman
Vocation: Tech, IT, Systems, Database Management, AI
TVC Mission Highlight: Yuri Pozhidaev
Praying for the Persecuted Church: Russia & Areas under its control

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