Voice from Heaven

The Way Home
THE VOICE FROM HEAVEN

Story 6 - Acts 9:1-31; 22:1-21; Galatians 1:11-24
The young man Saul was a bitter enemy of the Gospel. He had taken part in the slaying of Stephen, and had caused the believers to scatter. Saul heard that some of the believers had fled far to the north, to the city of Damascus. There they were at work teaching Christ. Saul made up his mind to destroy this new church in Damascus. He thought he had destroyed the church in Jerusalem. So he went to the high priest and said: “Let me have a letter to the chief of the Jews in Damascus. I have heard that there are some followers of Jesus of Nazareth in that city; and I will go with some men and will take these people, and I will bind them and bring them in chains to Jerusalem.”

The high priest gave Saul the letters that he requested. Then Saul found a band of men to go with him to Damascus. It was a long journey of about ten days, riding on horses or mules. On the way to Damascus, Saul had lots of time to make plans and rekindle his zeal against the church of our Lord. Wonder if he thought a little about Stephen’s shining face or the sweet and patient way the followers of Jesus met their sufferings and wrongs at his hand? It’s doubtful that he thought of such things, because deep in Saul’s heart was a burning feeling that he could not put down; that the followers of Jesus were violating the traditions of his fathers and must be persecuted beyond measure. So he traveled on, firm in his purpose to completely destroy the church of our Lord.

At last he came near to Damascus. Suddenly, at full noon, a light that was brighter than the sun flashed from heaven. It blinded Saul’s eyes. It was like a bolt of lightning and struck him down, and he fell to the ground. In the light Saul saw One whom he had never seen before. And a strange voice came to him, saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you fighting against Me?”

And Saul answered the voice, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the answer came, “I am Jesus, whom you are trying to destroy!” Then, trembling with surprise and alarm, Saul said, “Lord, what will You have me to do?”

And the Lord said to Saul, “Rise up and go into the city, and it shall be told you what you must do.” Those who were with Saul wondered because while they saw a light and had heard a sound; they did not see the Lord’s face or hear His words. Saul was the only one who saw the vision of Christ. They raised Saul up from the ground and realized that he was now blind. So they led him by the hand into the city and took him to the house of a man named Judas. There Saul stayed for three days in the deepest suffering of mind and body. He could see nothing; and he neither ate nor drank. But in the darkness he was praying to God and to Christ with all his heart.

In the city of Damascus there was a follower of Christ named Ananias, a good man, held in respect by all who knew him. The Lord spoke, and called him by name: “Ananias.”

And Ananias answered, “Here I am, O Lord.”

And the Lord said to Ananias, “Rise, and go into the street named Straight and find the house of Judas; and in that house ask for a man named Saul from Tarsus. This man Saul is praying; and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming into his room and laying his hands on him, to give him his sight.”

This command from the Lord was a surprise to Ananias. He answered the Lord, “Lord, I have heard from many people about this man Saul; what great evil he has done to all thy people in Jerusalem; and here he has an order from the high priest to bind and carry away all who call upon Thy name! Shall I go and visit such a man as he?”

But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go to this man; for I have chosen him to bear My name before the people of all nations, and kings, and the children of Israel. And I will show him how many things he must suffer for My sake.”

Then Ananias went, as the Lord had told him. He found the house and Saul. He laid his hands on the head of Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who met you in the way as you were coming, has sent me, that you may have your sight and that the Holy Spirit may come upon you. Now, wait no longer, but rise up and be baptized and call upon the name of Jesus, Who will wash away your sins.”

Then there fell from the eyes of Saul what seemed like scales, and at once his sight came to him. Saul was baptized and then food was given to him. He became strong in body and soul. Saul had gone forth to bind the disciples of Christ in Damascus; but now he came among them, no more as an enemy, but as a brother in Christ. And he went in the synagogue where the Jews worshiped in Damascus, and began to preach Jesus to them, declaring that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God. And all that heard him were amazed, and they said to each other, “Is not this the same man who in Jerusalem brought ruin among those who believed in His name? And did he not come to this place, intending to bind the believers in Jesus and bring them before the chief priests?”

And Saul grew stronger and stronger in his spirit and in his words. He showed that Jesus is the Anointed One, the Christ, and none of the Jews in Damascus could answer him. But he did not stay long in Damascus. After a time he left the city and went away to a quiet place in the desert of Arabia, where he stayed for a year or longer, thinking about the Gospel and learning from the Lord.

And again Saul came to Damascus and again he preached Christ and salvation through His name, not only for Jews but for Gentiles, for all people. This made the Jews in Damascus very angry. They formed a plan to kill Saul, and they watched the gates day and night, hoping to seize him as he went out. But Saul’s friends, the disciples of Jesus, brought him by night to a house on the wall and let him down in a basket to the ground. He escaped from his enemies and went safely away.

Saul now journeyed back to Jerusalem. Three years before he had left Jerusalem as a bitter enemy of Christ. Now he comes back a follower of Christ. But all the believers in Jerusalem were afraid of him. They could not believe that this fierce destroyer of the church was now a friend to Jesus. But Barnabas, the man who had given all his land to the church, believed in Saul and brought him to Peter. Barnabas told how Saul had seen the Lord in the way, and how boldly he had preached in Damascus in the name of Jesus. Then Peter took the hand of Saul and received him as a disciple of Christ. For a few weeks Saul stayed in Jerusalem; and he preached in the synagogues of the Jews, as Stephen had preached before, that Jesus is the Savior not only of Jews but also of Gentiles (“Gentiles” was the name that the Children of Israel gave to people of every other nation except their own).

When Saul preached that Gentiles might be saved in Jesus Christ, it made the Children of Israel angry, just as it had made Saul himself angry when a few years before he had heard the same Gospel preached by Stephen. The Children of Israel would not listen to Saul and they sought to kill him, as they had killed Stephen. One day Saul was praying in the Temple and the Lord came to him once again; and Saul saw Jesus and heard His voice saying, “Make haste, and go quickly out of Jerusalem, for the people here will not believe your words about Me.”

Then Saul said to the Lord, “Lord, they know that I put into prison and beat in the synagogues those who believed on You. And when your servant Stephen was slain, I was standing by and keeping the garments of those who stoned him.”

And the Lord said to Saul, “Go from this place; for I will send you far away to preach to the Gentiles.” Then Saul knew that his work was not to preach the Gospel to the Jews, but to the Gentiles, the people of other nations. The disciples in Jerusalem helped him to get away from his enemies in the city and led him down to the seashore, to the city of Caesarea.

There Saul found a ship sailing to Tarsus, a city in Asia Minor. Tarsus was Saul’s birthplace and his early home. He went again to this place, and in that city he stayed for a few years, safe from the Jews. He was a tent maker and he worked at his trade while preaching the Gospel in Tarsus. And we can be sure that Saul would not be silent about the good news of the Gospel. He preached in Tarsus and in all the places near it.

Now that Saul the enemy had become Saul the friend of the Gospel, all the churches in Judea and Samaria and Galilee had rest and peace. The followers of Christ could preach without fear; and the number of those who believed grew rapidly, for the Lord was with them.

All through the land, from Galilee down to the desert on the south, there were meetings of those who believed in Jesus as the Savior, and the apostles Peter and John went among them to teach them the way of life.