The Creation of a Monster – Acts 9:1-2

The title of tonight’s message is: “The Creation of a Monster.”

I want us to think about Saul of Tarsus as the ravening wolf of persecution.

I’m not sure that many of us realize the magnitude and severity of Saul’s attack upon the Lord’s church.

When the Bible says that he was “breathing out” threatenings and slaughter, it means that this persecution was as important to him as breathing his next breath.

“Breathing out” was a common Greek phrase used by Homer and Euripides.

It means that this persecution was a part of his very soul.

In Acts 26:10 Paul said, “And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.”

And don’t quickly skip over the word “slaughter.”

Saul was killing Christians as viciously as any head-hunter in New Guinea.

He was determined to do whatever it took to exterminate this sect of the Nazarenes.

At first he was only making “havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.”

But soon he was consenting even unto their deaths – Acts 26:10.

Beyond measure he was persecuting the church of God, and wasting it – Gal. 1:13.

“Beyond measure” suggests that there is nothing with which to compare this hatred and persecution.

Saul’s grandfather, Jacob prophesied of the descendants of Benjamin that they would ravin as a wolf.

Of no Benjamite was that ever more true than Saul of Tarsus.

He didn’t care if that Christian was a man, woman or child, Saul looked on them as little more than vermin of various ages which needed to be exterminated for the good of society.

I don’t feel very confident in attacking this theme tonight, but I feel that it is of the Lord nevertheless.

My reluctance comes since the Bible never says, “Saul was a persecutor of the Lord’s church because…”

If it did that, then my task would be very easy.

But because we don’t have a definitive statement about the subject,

I am forced to read between the lines of God’s Word;

And I am forced to read the heart of another human being, who died about two millennia ago.

And I am forced to analyze inconclusive evidence in order to reach a reasonable conclusion.

With these concerns in mind, I’m still forging ahead, because I think that the lessons are important.

We are never going to understand the magnitude of Saul’s conversion, until we understand the depths of the cesspool from which he was saved.

We need to study the monster before we can really understand the Apostle.

In this case, we need to know the sinner before we can really know the saint.

Was it hyperbole, was it verbal extravagance, that Paul called himself the chiefest of sinners?

I really don’t think so.

So it’s with an eye for the glory of God that we attempt this difficult subject tonight.

And then secondly, we’re looking at this persecutor because I think that no man is very far from being a persecutor himself, and that includes the children of God.

Without judging his salvation; John Calvin was both persecuted and a persecutor of others.

The same was true of Martin Luther.

The Arminians have persecuted the Calvinists, but so have the Calvinists persecuted the Arminians.

Despite the cruelty & barbarism of Saracens, the Crusaders were only a single notch above them.

There is a propensity in the heart of everyone, including you, to become a persecutor of others.

This makes this study tonight worthy of our time, because when we become persecutors, we join the ranks of the chiefest of sinners.

Keeping in mind the fallibility of my analysis, I hope that you’ll agree with my conclusions.

I’d like to consider several things which contributed to creation of the monster called Saul of Tarsus.

In no specific order, let me start with his. . .

EDUCATION.

Saul was an highly educated man.

Not only was he instructed by the most renowned Hebrew scholar of his day – Gamaliel. . .

Not only did he know the Old Testament scriptures forwards and backwards through his Pharisaical spectacles. . .

But coming from outside of Judah, he also had a reasonably good liberal arts education.

He could speak fluently in at least four different languages:

He could quote from memory some of the Greek poets.

And he knew Roman law as well as the law of Moses.

Saul was not only intelligent but he was well educated.

But neither genius or education are worth the paper on which they are honored unless they are tempered and improved by the grace of God.

Far from being anti-education, I am all for it.

It grieves me when the people of God can’t figure out what the word “hyperbole” means, or that they get mad at me for using it, especially when I define it in the context.

This world needs Christian PhD’s in mathematics, engineering, computer science and even in Theology.

The world needs to know that Christians can really think; they aren’t fools; they aren’t buffoons.

But those PhD’s mean nothing if their owners don’t know the Lamb of God.

PhD’s are useless unless their owners have come to Christ as little children.

The problem with education is that so often it is presented in the spirit of atheism or the anti-Christ.

As it was in Saul’s case, the education that he received made him antagonistic toward Christ.

Every Old Testament prophesy that he studied was twisted away from Jesus of Nazareth.

The scriptures that he learned were used to boost his own self-righteousness.

And since what he was taught was considered to be correct and even essential,

Whatever went contrary to what he was taught was considered to be heresy and worthy of eradication.

It wasn’t Saul’s education that made him a monster, but it was a contributing factor.

And so, too, might your education become a poison to your soul.

There is nothing wrong with being convinced that what you have learned is correct and God-honoring.

But if your education teaches you to go beyond debate into persecution for truth’s sake, then your education has been corrupt.

Not only should God’s people be taught the truth, they should be taught how to properly share the truth.

They should be taught to look unto the rock whence ye were hewn, and to the hole of the pit from whence ye were digged.

There is only one real reason why we aren’t head-hunters or serial killers – the grace of God.

And having received grace, we should look with pity on others, not as snobs or executioners.

Really good education should make us better Christians.

But in Saul’s case it helped to make him a murderer.

A related ingredient in the making of this monster were the OPINIONS that his education had created.

How would you respond if someone called you a “bleeding-heart, welfare-loving, liberal libertarian?”

Would you get defensive, offensive, belligerent, angry, sad?

What if you were called an “Arminian,” because you believe in being evangelical?

Or how would you respond to the accusation of being a fool or an idiot for believing in sovereign grace?

Isn’t it true that when we become convinced of something – really convinced of it – that it then becomes a part of us – a part of our soul?

Now, along comes someone who challenges our very core beliefs.

Let’s say that he tries to prove from the Bible that salvation is by works through tons of religious effort;

Or he tells you that Baptist doctrine didn’t exist until Roger Williams;

Or he proves that the body of Christ is still moldering in a Judean tomb just south of Jerusalem.

Since you are convinced otherwise, how are you going to respond?

I would hope that, if necessary, you’d first double check to make sure that what you believe is true.

Search the scriptures, for in them ye have the answers to the questions of life.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

And then I would hope that if there was the possibility of debate that you’d confront the false teacher.

But under no circumstances do you have the right or obligation to attack with any other weapons except for the truth.

“The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to pulling down of strong holds.”

With the Word of God, with Truth, put that man to silence or better yet, convert him to the Truth.

But what about the man who doesn’t have the truth on his side; how is he going to defend his opinions?

I think that this is what we see in Saul of Tarsus.

He felt trapped by his opinions, old opinions, respected opinions, but wrong opinions.

And when he heard the preaching of the Apostles and when he heard the declarations of Stephen, he had no legitimate response.

But his pride and his opinions had to be guarded and maintained, so he sought authority from the High Priest to attack with the weapons of political power.

When he lost the debates with Stephen in Acts 6,

And he was “not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake,”

Since he couldn’t stop him with scripture or logic, he turned to physical violence.

In this way Saul’s opinions contributed to his persecution.

And a third factor was his YOUTH.

The Bible says that when Stephen was executed “that the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.”

Someone once said that youth is wonderful thing, but unfortunately it’s wasted upon the young.

There are characteristics of youth that some of us more mature folk would dearly like to regain:

Things like energy, physical strength, health, and perhaps, idealism.

But there are also other things that youth rarely have time to possess:

Things like wisdom, temperance, foresight, and love.

Young people often think that they understand love, but it’s often just a worldly imitation.

I’m sure that the young man Saul would have said that he loved the Lord and love the Word of God.

Unfortunately he was thoroughly mistaken.

I’m not going to say that old men can’t be fools, because we know that to be an illusion,

But there are more fools among the young than there are among the aged,

And, generally speaking there are more young zealots than old zealots.

I wonder how much of the zeal driving Saul towards murder and mayhem could be attributed to his youth?

I’m sure that he was being encouraged by some of the older fools in Israel.

But the Sanhedrin didn’t seem to have the energy or drive to get the diabolical work accomplished.

They needed a dedicated and zealous general to lead the attack for them.

And there were also a few cool heads among them, who at the very least were cautioning restraint and patience.

The wicked among them needed a strong arm to carry out the wickedness of their hearts.

Verse 1 reminds us that it wasn’t the High Priest who went out looking for a suicide bomber, or kamikaze pilot, this young idealist was coming to him volunteering for jobs and offering ideas.

Saul, the Pharisee, should have been very wary when the Sadducees were encouraging him.

This High Priest appears to have been Theophilus, the son of Annas, appointed as High Priest by the Roman governor Vitellius.

Theophilus was as much a Sadducee of the Sadducees, as Saul was a Pharisee of the Pharisees.

But they were united in their hatred of the Christ.

Saul’s youth and inexperience didn’t permit any caution, patience or mercy.

His relative inexperience in life meant that he still had tunnel vision, intolerance, and bigotry.

How sad it is to see the waste of youth and youthful zeal.

The fourth contribution to Saul’s persecutorial attitude was his VESTED INTEREST in Judaism.

Let’s say that you are asleep one night, when you are awaken by an unfamiliar sound in the living room.

You immediately realize that someone has broken into your house.

Quietly you slip out of bed and grab your baseball bat, your golf club or your 357 magnum.

You decided long ago that you’re going to protect your property and your loved ones.

And why? Because you have a vested interest in these things.

No thief or interloper is going to steal that which you have worked so hard to gain.

No one is going to harm your wife or children or parents.

That may have been how Saul felt about the doctrines of the early church.

He had bet his soul upon the things which Gamaliel and his parents had taught him.

We’re not talking about the company retirement program, but about the very kingdom of God.

These heretics were not only teaching things contrary to what he believed, but they were attempting to steal away the inheritance of his loved ones.

He was willing to defend what he believed with every ounce of his energy and resources.

One of the most powerful wiles of the Devil within various religious denominations has been the company retirement plan.

The Southern Baptist Convention and nearly every other major denomination,

Like thousands of secular companies from IBM to Enron,

Have retirement plans for their administrators, pastors and missionaries.

There have been hundreds of good pastors which have seen their denomination slipping into more and more heresy and liberalism,

But since they were reaching retirement age,

They chose to stay in the denomination for fear of losing their retirement.

They should have “come out from among them and been separate,”

But for the sake of their vested interests and their love of money, they gave up their souls.

It might have been something like that for Saul.

And besides that, there was the possibility that this campaign of Saul, could actually make his career.

He was on a first name basis with the High Priest.

He was a rising star, and there was a good likelihood that some day he would be one of the most powerful men in Israel.

This persecution was his ticket to Heaven, and it just drove him harder and harder.

A fifth cause of this persecution was very simply SIN.

What are the rudimentary principles of the Gospel?

“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”

The good news is that you and I are hell-bound sinners, but that the Saviour has come.

That means that one of the first corollaries to the first principles is that we sinners must repent and trust Christ.

What do you suppose was the biggest problem in the gospel as far as Saul was concerned?

Judging from what Paul said of himself and his fellow-countrymen later,

I think that one of his biggest problems with the whole subject of Christianity, was related to his own sin and self-righteousness.

He might have been speaking of himself when he said, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”

For the sake of argument, let’s pretend that Saul’s theology was correct.

Let’s say that the Messiah didn’t need to die; that all he needed to do was show up and declare Himself King.

Let’s say that the Son of God ascended to the throne of David drove the Romans from the land.

If that Messiah then turned to the jubilant masses of Judah and said,

“Repent before me; trust me as your God as well as your Saviour.”

What do you suppose Judah’s reaction would have been?

Would Isreal, would Saul have repented & bowed before the Son of God under those conditions?

Search back through the records of Israel from the days of Moses to the days of Malachi.

Read through Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel and the Minor prophets.

If the Messiah demanded repentance and faith in him for salvation and for his continued blessings,

The reaction of the average Jew would have been no different

Than it was when the Lord Jesus and the apostles preached repentance.

Saul would have responded in the same way as Judah did during the days of Jeremiah.

The natural man loves his sin and has an aversion to the holiness of God.

The natural man loves to be in control, and hates to bow to any other authority.

Saul didn’t even realize it until he had his spiritual eyes opened through salvation,

But his problem wasn’t just with the person of Christ and the message of the resurrection.

His problem was with the wickedness in his own heart.

And that brings me to my last thought.

One of the sources of Saul’s persecution of Christ, was the CONVICTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

What were the first things that the Saviour said to Saul in this chapter?

“Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.”

The Lord Jesus used the metaphor of a farmer or teamster urging his oxen forward by poking them with a sharp stick called an ox goad.

If the ox picked up the pace then the poking or pricking would stop.

If he continued on in his lazy way then he’d be poked again.

But if he kicked at the prick and fought against the goad, he’d be stabbed more forcefully.

What this tells me is that Saul had been fighting against the ox goad of God.

And what is that ox goad? It is the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

I think that when the dust settles and if the Lord fills in all of the blanks,

We’ll discover that one reason that Saul was so filled with wrath against the saints of God was due to the fact that he was in so much pain.

Beginning with Stephen, with every arrest and every execution, Saul felt a stab in his heart.

He erroneously thought that the next execution would erase that pain, but it only intensified.

With every new victim the conviction of the Holy Spirit got more intense, but he became more resolved.

“I will not admit; I will not submit to this spiritual persuasion. These pains in my heart can’t be from God.”

Part of Saul’s ongoing persecution was related to the conviction that he was experiencing.

This is not to say that God is to blame for the persecution of His people.

But there is a correlation between the two.

It gives me pain to think back over my 35 years in the ministry, reviewing the faces of some rebels that I have known.

I have seen professing Christians become vicious towards others, towards me, and towards God’s church.

The more they rebelled against God, the more unhappy they became with themselves.

They thought that if they escaped the sound of my voice that they’d escape the sound of God’s voice.

They chose to sin more often and more blatantly, the more that they felt the Lord’s conviction.

Sure they hurt others around them, but no one was hurt more than themselves.

I wish that I could say that these stories ended as happily as that of Saul’s, but for the most part they didn’t.

There is probably nothing more dangerous than fighting against the pricks of God.

Again, why are we looking at these things tonight?

First, because it was from these things that the Lord saved Saul.

Look at the Lord’s grace; see the Lord’s omnipotence in saving this man who didn’t want to be saved.

And second, watch out Brother, there are none of us who are not far from the same sins.

Don’t let your education and instruction become a curse to you or others.

Make sure that your zeal, whether youthful or mature isn’t being misused.

Remember that the only thing that really matters is the smile of the Lord, not sin and not your retirement plans.

And when the Lord convicts you of something, make sure that you respond in the right way, right away.