Acts 09 Round Two: The Worst Sinners Make the Best Saints

A man sets out to crush a movement and meets the very King he is fighting. Saul’s road to Damascus begins with fury and ends with a blinding encounter that rewrites his life, his mission, and the church’s future. We walk through the shock of that moment, the quiet courage of Ananias who calls a former enemy “brother,” and the first sparks of a ministry that will carry the gospel across empires.

From there, the story widens. Plots brew, friends lower Saul through a city wall, and Barnabas steps in to vouch for a man no one is ready to trust. The result isn’t just survival; it’s momentum. The church breathes, grows stronger in the fear of the Lord, and finds fresh courage through the Holy Spirit. Then we shift to Peter on the road, where a paralyzed man named Aeneas stands at a single sentence and an entire region turns to the Lord. In Joppa, grief gives way to wonder as Tabitha—beloved for her tireless kindness—is raised to life, and her city becomes a chorus of faith.

This conversation explores how God prepares paths before he calls us to walk them, why ordinary obedience can unlock extraordinary outcomes, and how testimonies—Saul’s, Ananias’, Aeneas’, Tabitha’s—become the currency of courage in a fearful world. You’ll hear practical takeaways on trusting God when instructions feel risky, embracing community that advocates and protects, and sharing your story so someone else can find their next step. If you’ve ever wondered whether grace can truly turn an enemy into a messenger, Acts 9 answers with a resounding yes.

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The More We Dig. The More We Find.

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast.
Every day, we take one chapterof the Bible, dig deeper, and
discover that the more we dig,the more we find.
You can find out more at theBibleBreakdown.com.
Now let's grow in God's Wordtogether.
Well, hello, everybody.
Welcome back to the BibleBreakdown Podcast with your
host, Pastor Brandon.
Today, Acts chapter 9.

(00:22):
And if I were to give this atitle, it would be The Worst
Sinners Make the GreatTestimonies.
I'm telling you, it's going tobe so exciting to see what God
does in the life of the greatestantagonist to Christianity at
this time, a guy named Saul.
But then also what I absolutelylove is one of the most unsung
heroes of the entire NewTestament.

(00:42):
We're going to get into that injust a moment.
But as always, if you like whatwe're doing here, make sure you
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If you're listening to this as apodcast, you're my favorites.
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let us know how you are beingimpacted by God's word.
I'd love for everybody to go toour Facebook group at Bible
Breakdown Discussion and let usknow what you are finding as

(01:04):
you're digging into God's Word.
Because man, the more we dig,the more we find.
And there's so much more toGod's word than what we're able
to get into here together.
So let me review real fast andwe're going to get into what's
going on.
Well, in Acts chapter two, as weare learning about the early
church, the first 30 years ofthe church was written down
under the inspiration of theHoly Spirit by the doctor-turned

(01:25):
investigative journalist, Luke.
And we find out that in Acts 2,the Holy Spirit descends, fills
everyone, and they begin to movein the power of the Holy Spirit,
speaking with other languages,boldness to preach the gospel,
working miracles.
And as the church continues togrow, so does the opposition to
the church.
At first, they are just given areally stern talking to.

(01:47):
Then they get beat up.
Well, then finally we see inchapter 7, we have the first
martyr of the faith, Stephen, ashe is stoned because he's
refusing to back up on believingthat Jesus is the Messiah.
Well, at that stoning, the deathof Stephen, there's a young man
by the name of Saul, who notonly does he endorse what's
going on, he decides to get inon the act and he becomes the

(02:10):
chief antagonist to the earlychurch.
And persecution starts tospread.
But as the people are beingscattered, so is the gospel.
And it's amazing to see all thedifferent things that God starts
to do.
But now, as we see in chapter 9,God is not going to let Saul get
away with this, but he actuallyhas a much bigger plan for Saul.

(02:31):
And so we're going to read aboutthe wonderful thing that happens
in Saul's life than what Iconsider to be one of the most
unsung heroes in the entire NewTestament.
So if you have your Bibles openwith me to Acts chapter 9, let's
dive into what happens in thischapter.
You ready?
Here we go.
Meanwhile, Saul was utteringthreats at every breath and

(02:52):
eager to kill the Lord'sfollowers.
So at this point, it's got tothe place he's not just wanting
them to be arrested.
He's trying to kill a fool.
I mean, he is trying to endpeople's lives.
So he went to the high priestand he requested letters
addressed to the synagogues inDamascus, asking for their
cooperation in the arrest of anyfollowers of the way he found

(03:15):
there.
And he wanted to bring them,both men and women, back to
Jerusalem in chains.
As he was approaching Damascuson his mission, a light from
heaven suddenly shone downaround him, and he fell to the
ground, and he heard a voicesaying, Saul, Saul, why are you
persecuting me?

(03:35):
To which he would have theanswer we would all have, and
that is, Who are you, Lord?
So he's not being mean anymore.
Now he's like, Hey, I am sosorry.
Who are you, Lord?
He asked.
The voice replied, I am Jesus,the one you are persecuting.
Now, get up and go into thecity, and you will be told what

(03:56):
you must do.
Now the men that were with Saulstood speechless, for they had
heard the sound of someone'svoice, but they didn't see
anyone.
So Saul picked himself up offthe ground, but when he opened
his eyes, he was blind.
And so his companions helped himby the hand to Damascus, and he
remained there for three daysand for three nights, and he

(04:17):
didn't eat or drink anything.
Now, to me, this is one of themost unsung heroes in the entire
New Testament, because listen towhat he has to deal with.
Now, there was a believer inDamascus named Ananias, minding
his own business, and the Lordspoke to him in a vision and
said, Ananias.
Can you imagine?
Yes, Lord, having a good day.

(04:37):
Yes, Lord, he replied.
And then listen to this.
The Lord said, Go over to StraitStreet and to the house of
Judas.
When you get there, ask for aman from Tarsus named Saul.
He is praying to me right now.
I have shown him in a vision aman named Ananias coming in to
lay hands on him so he can seeagain.

(04:59):
To which Ananias says, But Lord,exclaimed Ananias, I have heard
many people talk about theterrible things this man has
done to the believers inJerusalem.
He has now been authorized bythe leading priest to arrest
everyone who calls upon yourname.
In other words, he's saying,Lord, this this guy's killing

(05:20):
people.
And now he's come to kill peoplein my town.
And I was really wanting to meetyou today, Lord, but oh Lord.
But the Lord replied to him, Go,for Saul is my chosen instrument
to take my message to theGentiles and to kings, as well
as to the people of Israel, andI will show him how much he must

(05:40):
suffer for my name's sake.
So he's saying, Don't worry,he's not going to get off
scot-free.
It's going to be a hard road forhim, but I got a plan for him.
And so here's the amazing thing.
Look at this, verse 17.
So Ananias went and he foundSaul.
You imagine the amount ofcourage it took for him to go
and find Saul.
But he had heard from the Lord,and that filled him with

(06:02):
courage.
He laid his hands on him and hesaid, Brother Saul, the Lord
Jesus, who appeared to you onthe road, has sent me that you
might regain your sight and befilled with the Holy Spirit.
Instantly, something like scalesfell from his eyes, and he
regained his sight.
Then he got up and was baptized.

(06:22):
Afterward he ate some food andregained his strength.
Now watch what happens.
Saul stayed with the believersin Damascus for a few days, and
immediately he began preachingabout Jesus in the synagogues,
saying, He really is the Son ofGod.
And all who heard him wereamazed.
Isn't this the Joker?
Isn't this the same man whocaused such devastation among

(06:45):
the followers of Jesus inJerusalem?
They asked.
And didn't he come to arrestthem and take them in chains to
the leading priest?
Saul's preaching became more andmore powerful, and the Jews in
Damascus couldn't refute hisproofs that Jesus really was the
Messiah.
After a while, some of the Jewsplotted together to kill him.
They were watching him day andnight at the city gate so they

(07:08):
could murder him.
But Saul was told about theirplot.
So during the night, some of theother believers lowered him in a
large basket through the openingin the city wall.
Then to smuggle Saul out.
He came in blind.
Now he can see, but theysmuggling him out because he has

(07:30):
immediately become a force to bereckoned with with the gospel.
Verse 26.
Well, yeah, they did not believethat he had truly become a
believer.
Then Barnabas brought him to theapostles and told them how Saul
had seen the Lord on the way toDamascus and how the Lord had

(07:52):
spoken to Saul.
He was also told, he also toldthem that Saul had been
preaching boldly in the name ofJesus in Damascus.
So Saul stayed with the apostlesand went all around Jerusalem
with them, preaching boldly inthe name of the Lord.
And he debated with some of theGreek-speaking Jews, but they
also tried to murder him.
And when the believers heardabout this, they took him down

(08:14):
to Caesarea and sent him away toTarsus to his hometown.
They said, Listen, man, you justgo home.
We don't really know what to dowith you.
You ain't gotta you ain't gottaleave, but you can't stay here.
So once you go on home, verse31.
The church then had peacethroughout Judea, Galilee, and
Samaria, and it became strongeras the believers lived in the

(08:35):
fear of the Lord, and with theencouragement of the Holy
Spirit, it also grew in numbers.
Now, verse 32, let's get back towhat Peter's been up to.
Meanwhile, Peter traveled fromplace to place, and he came to
visit the believers in a towncalled Lida, and he met a man
there named Aeneas, who had beenparalyzed and bedridden for

(08:56):
eight years.
Peter said to him, Aeneas, JesusChrist heals you.
Get up, roll up your sleepingmat, and then he was healed
instantly.
Then the whole population ofLydia and Sharon saw Aeneas
walking around and they turnedto the Lord.
There was a believer in Joppanamed Tabitha, whose Greek name

(09:18):
was Dorcas.
She was always doing kind thingsfor others and helping the poor.
But this time she became ill anddied.
Her body was washed for burialand laid in an upstairs room.
But the believers had heard thatPeter was nearby and Lydda, so
they sent two men to beg him,please come as soon as possible.

(09:40):
So Peter returned with him, andas soon as he arrived, he they
took him to the upstairs room.
The room was filled with widowswho were weeping and showing him
the coats and the other clothesthat Dorcas had made for them.
But Peter asked them all toleave the room.
He knelt down and prayed.
Turning to the body, he said,Get up, Tabitha, and she opened

(10:00):
her eyes.
When she saw Peter, she sat up,and he gave her his hand and
helped her up.
Then he called the widows andall the believers, and he
presented her to them alive.
And the news spread throughoutthe whole town, and many
believed in the Lord.
And Peter stayed a long time inJoppa, living with Simon, a
tanner of hides, which, by theway, stinks.

(10:23):
So he's in this place calledJoppa, but he's probably not
very happy to be staying withthis guy because a tanner of
hides, that area, a taxidermist,is stinks.
But he's there and great thingsare happening, even if he's
sleeping in the stinky.
Okay.
Now, what can we get from thischapter?
First of all, when God calls youto do something, it's not always

(10:44):
going to make sense.
Can you imagine Ananias hearingthe voice of the Lord and
saying, I want you in his mindto go on a suicide mission?
Now, he wasn't literally doingthat.
We know that.
He wasn't doing that.
And God's not going to call youto go on a literal suicide
mission.
Okay, God doesn't do that.
But what 99.9% of the time,okay?

(11:05):
I get allergic to saying whatGod will never do, okay?
But 99.99% of the time, God'snot going to call you to do
that.
But if he calls you to dosomething hard, there's a reason
for it.
And what I love about this iswhat Ananias doesn't realize is
that for three days and threenights, Paul has been praying
and preparing for this.
And so what we don't alwaysrealize is that we see what we

(11:29):
see, but the Holy Spirit hasbeen preparing things all along
the way.
We can see the same thing thathappens with Peter.
When he goes to this area, Godhas already prepared a way for
him to be able to perform thesemiracles so that the people will
believe.
And so the encouragement for usis this whatever God brings you

(11:52):
to, he has already prepared apath through it for his victory.
And all throughout this, we seetestimonies forming.
Saul has a testimony now aboutJesus appearing to him.
Ananias has a testimony now thatif you just trust and obey the
Lord, he always is going to makea way.
There's a guy named Aeneas whohad been paralyzed.

(12:14):
Now he has a testimony of God'sfaithfulness.
And now you got a name, ladynamed Tabitha who had a nickname
Dorcas.
She has a testimony that even ifyou're dead, God's not done if
he says you're not done.
And so I'm going to ask you thisquestion.
What testimony do you have toshare today?
What is God doing in your life?
Maybe you haven't been struckdown by the light of God.

(12:38):
Maybe you haven't been, youknow, maybe you hadn't received
something like Ananias did.
Maybe you aren't paralyzed.
Maybe you hadn't literally died.
But what has happened in yourlife that you can share with
somebody else?
Because yes, the worst sinnersmake the greatest testimonies,
but we all have a testimony toshare.
And I want to encourage youtoday to share your testimony

(12:58):
with somebody.
Share what God is doing in yourlife.
Because you never know who mightneed to hear it.
Let's pray together.
Father, I'm so thankful thatyou're for us and not against
us.
You're with us in all things.
My prayer today, God, is you'llhelp us, Lord.
Open our eyes to see thetestimony all around us.
And then give us the courage toshare it with someone today.

(13:19):
I thank you for that.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Don't forget that Jesus said inActs 1.8, you will receive power
when the Holy Spirit comes uponyou, and you will be my
witnesses to the ends of theearth.
My prayers, you'll receive thepower of the Holy Spirit, and
you will be his witness in yourworld today.
I'll see you tomorrow for Actschapter 10.