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Well, please turn with me in 
your Bibles to Acts chapter 22. Acts chapter 22, Paul's defense 
in Jerusalem. As I said, most of the rest of 
the book is taken up with Paul defending himself. Paul with 
reference to unbelieving Jews, and then he will stand before 
civil magistrate as well. And in many respects, this is 
a larger section than the missionary section in terms of verse count 
and words used. I think it underscores the reality 
that Paul as apologist or as defender of the faith is as important 
and as crucial as Paul as preacher of the gospel. Not that there's 
any difference, to be sure, but certainly some emphases. I do 
want to read beginning in chapter 21 at verse 37. I should remind 
us of the scene. Paul is in Jerusalem and the 
people, the Jews, have turned against him. If you look specifically 
at verse 28, they cried out against Paul, men of Israel, help. This 
is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people 
the law and this place. And furthermore, he also brought 
Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place." So 
these were serious charges, capital charges. He should have been 
put to death if in fact these things are true. So picking up 
in verse 37 in that chapter, Then as Paul was about to be 
led into the barracks, he said to the commander, may I speak 
to you? He replied, can you speak Greek? Are you not the Egyptian 
who sometime ago stirred up a rebellion and led the 4,000 assassins out 
into the wilderness? But Paul said, I am a Jew from 
Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no main city, and I implore 
you, permit me to speak to the people. So when he had given 
him permission, Paul stood on the stairs and motioned with 
his hand to the people. And when there was a great silence, 
he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, saying, Brethren and 
fathers, hear my defense before you now. And when they heard 
that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all 
the more silent. Then he said, I am indeed a Jew, 
born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the 
feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our father's 
law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today. I persecuted 
this way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both 
men and women, as also the high priest bears me witness, and 
all the council of the elders, from whom I also received letters 
to the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring in chains, 
even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished. Now 
it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, 
suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me, and I fell to 
the ground and heard a voice saying to me, Saul, Saul, why 
are you persecuting me? So I answered, who are you, Lord? 
And he said to me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting. And those who were with me indeed 
saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice 
of him who spoke to me. So I said, what shall I do, Lord? 
And the Lord said to me, arise and go into Damascus, and there 
you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do. 
And since I could not see for the glory of that light being 
led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus. Then a certain Ananias, a devout 
man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the 
Jews who dwelt there, came to me, and he stood and said to 
me, Brother Saul, receive your sight. And at that same hour 
I looked up at him. Then he said, The God of our 
fathers has chosen you, that you should know his will, and 
see the just one, and hear the voice of his mouth. For you will 
be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. 
And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized and wash 
away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord. Now it happened 
when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple 
that I was in a trance and saw him saying to me, make haste 
and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your 
testimony concerning me. So I said, Lord, they know that 
in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on 
you. And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I also 
was standing by consenting to his death and guarding the clothes 
of those who were killing him. Then he said to me, depart, for 
I will send you far from here to the Gentiles. And they listened 
to him until this word. And then they raised their voices 
and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not 
fit to live. Then as they cried out and tore 
off their clothes and threw dust into the air, the commander ordered 
him to be brought into the barracks and said that he should be examined 
under scourging, so that he might know why they shouted so against 
him. And as they bound him with thongs, 
Paul said to the centurion who stood by, is it lawful for you 
to scourge a man who is a Roman and uncondemned? When the centurion 
heard that, he went and told the commander saying, take care 
what you do for this man is a Roman. Then the commander came and said 
to him, tell me, are you a Roman? He said, yes. The commander answered, 
with a large sum, I obtained this citizenship. And Paul said, 
but I was born a citizen. then immediately those who were 
about to examine him withdrew from him. And the commander was 
also afraid after he found out that he was a Roman and because 
he had bound him. The next day, because he wanted 
to know for certain why he was accused by the Jews, he released 
him from his bonds and commanded the chief priests and all their 
council to appear and brought Paul down and set him before 
them." Amen. Well, let us pray. Our God and 
Father, we thank you for your Word. We thank you for this Book 
of Acts and the emphasis on disciple-making and church-planting. And Lord 
God, we thank you for the ministry of the Apostle Paul and the clarity 
of Christian doctrine that we see he spoke, the blessed words 
that we have in terms of Scripture, And God, we pray that you would 
give us understanding into these things, that you would encourage 
our hearts, that you would strengthen us with might in the inner man, 
so that Christ may dwell richly in our hearts through faith. 
And forgive us now for all sin and everything that does darken 
the understanding, and fill each of us with your Spirit. And we 
ask this through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. Well, as we look 
at this particular chapter, there are two things that we're going 
to look at this morning. First, the report of Paul's conversion, 
and secondly, the revelation of his citizenship. So as he 
deals with the Jews, he underscores how it is that he is not against 
the Jews. And then with his dealings with 
the Romans, he invokes his citizenship so that he is not abused by them, 
so that he is not ultimately scourged with this particularly 
brutal way of dealing with criminals. Now, with reference to the situation, 
just back up a little bit, I've already mentioned that in chapter 
21 at verse 28, we see the charges. So when Paul defends himself, 
he does so in light of those charges. He has to demonstrate, 
he has to declare how what they are saying is false. That he 
is not a man who teaches all men everywhere against the Jews. 
That he's not a man who teaches against the law in this place. 
He certainly was not a man who brought Trophimus, the Gentile, 
into the temple. And then as we move down in the 
passage, notice in verse 30, and all the city was disturbed 
and the people ran together, seized Paul and dragged him out 
of the temple and immediately the doors were shut. Now, as 
they were seeking to kill him, they were seeking to kill him 
by beating him. That is precisely what we read 
in verse 32. He immediately took soldiers 
and centurions and ran down to them. This is the Roman response 
to deliver Paul from the mob. And when they saw the commander 
and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. So they wanted 
to kill him. They thought that he had been 
guilty of those particular crimes, and they took the law into their 
own hands. No respect, no regard for due 
process, no regard for the reality that they were subject to the 
Roman Empire, and they did not possess the authority to execute 
Paul the Apostle. Now imagine how Paul looked when 
he does stand before them to give the defense. He has been 
beaten, he is bloodied, he has been injured, he has been hurt. There's nothing in the text that 
suggests that the commander said, go ahead and have a hot shower, 
go ahead and comb your hair, put on some fresh clothes, and 
when you've composed yourself, now you can stand before this 
unruly mob and give your defense. F.F. Bruce says it this way, 
by the time Paul reached the top of the steps, he must have 
presented a sorry figure, bruised, battered, begrimed, and disheveled. But as so frequently in Acts, 
he is quickly in command of the situation. And that's what we 
find in chapter 22. So we'll look at verses 1 to 
21, the report of his conversion under four considerations. First, his early life, verses 
1 to 5. Second, his conversion to Christ, 
verses 6 to 11. Third, his contact with Ananias 
in verses 12 to 16. And then finally in this section, 
his vision in the temple in verses 17 to 21. So again, he has to 
fight off these false allegations. He has to defend himself that 
what they have said is not true, that he does not present a threat 
either to Jew or to Rome. He's not a political threat to 
the civil order. He is not a religious threat 
to the Jews. In fact, brethren, I think what 
Paul is saying in this section, not only is he not disloyal to 
Israel, but he is what all Israel should have been. Persons who 
read the Old Testament are pointed to Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is the one that's right 
with reference to this mob. They're the ones that have rejected. 
They're the ones that are incorrigible. They're the ones that are disobedient. 
In their refusal to believe on Jesus, they have essentially 
said no to the entirety of the Old Testament. Paul tells Timothy 
in 2 Timothy 3 that the sacred scriptures are able to make you 
wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. For these Jews 
to take this tact against the Apostle Paul evidences or indicates 
that he is what a good Jew should have been. He follows the direction 
of the Old Testament and he ends up confessing faith in our Lord 
Jesus Christ. Let's look first at his early 
life. Notice his ethnic background. He speaks to them in the Hebrew 
language at the end of chapter 21. And then notice in verse 
2, when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, 
most likely it was Aramaic. That's what the Jews in that 
part of the world at that particular time would have been speaking, 
in Aramaic. And then notice something that 
Paul does that I really would struggle with. I would really 
have a tough time. I've just got to tell you, this 
past week has been a challenge in my heart, in my life. The 
civil order is kind of bugging me to places I didn't think it 
could bug me. And yet I look at Paul and he's 
just such a gracious man. Look at what he says in verse 
one, brethren and fathers. These men just beat him. These 
men want to kill him. These men allege false allegations, 
capital offenses against him. Everything in me would not want 
to say, brethren and fathers, everything in me would want to 
say, I've got something to share with you and you better pay attention. 
These men had sorely mistreated the Apostle Paul, and yet the 
Apostle Paul does not deny his Christian ethics. He's always 
a Christian, even in the midst of trial, even in the midst of 
affliction, even in the midst of this kind of mistreatment, 
he nevertheless shows that kind of respect. John Gill makes the 
observation that Paul should introduce his speech to these 
people in this manner after they had treated him so inhumanly 
as to drag him out of the temple and beat him so unmercifully 
is remarkable and worthy of observation when they scarcely deserve the 
name of men. I think Gil's right. They scarcely 
deserve the name of men, and yet Paul, with reference to his 
defense, says, brethren and fathers, he understands that in this mob, 
there are those who exceed him in terms of age and in terms 
of position. Later he's going to say, even 
the chief priests and the elders knew that I had these marching 
orders to go to Damascus. I think we can infer that some 
of those men were present. He's going to be shipped off 
to the Sanhedrin in the next chapter. He's going to have to 
give his defense specifically to those men, that council of 
religious and political leaders, but here specifically, he's able 
to recognize not only brethren, according to the flesh, other 
Israelites, other Jews, but also fathers, those of prestige, in 
the midst of this particular crowd. Notice his purpose. He 
states that at the end of verse 1. Hear my defense. You've heard the word apologetics. 
Apologetics does not mean we apologize for being Christians. The Greek word apology means 
to defend, and that's what Paul is doing here. He is defending 
himself against these false charges. What's the idea? We might say, 
well, he should just take whatever reviling men give to him. Yeah, 
brethren, there are instances in times where we take that tack. 
There are other instances in times, and this is why we need 
wisdom from the Spirit to guide us and direct us. We need to 
be able to give a defense for the hope that is within us, and 
we need to be able to destroy the false charges alleged against 
us so that we can increase our usefulness or prolong our usefulness. If Paul is taken out at this 
point, there's a lot of work that's not gonna get done. So 
he defends himself against these false charges. Notice as well, 
he indicates his ethnicity. He's been charged about being 
anti-Jew. And yet he says, but I'm a Jew. 
You hear that today. People say that the New Testament, 
I think I've mentioned this, especially the gospel of John 
is anti-Semitic. Well, John was a Jew redeemed 
by sovereign grace. Just reporting on the sins or 
crimes of a particular people group doesn't necessarily mean 
you're anti that particular people group. Any people group has sin. Every people group has issues. 
Every people group has their transgressions of God's law. 
Simply to point that out doesn't mean anti-Semitism. No, what 
Paul is doing here is highlighting that this is his ethnicity. Notice 
what he says, I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but 
brought up in this city, Jerusalem, at the feet of Gamaliel. We meet 
Gamaliel in chapter 5, verse 34. He's the one that has a brain, 
and he is the one that tells the people, basically, leave 
them alone. If this is of God, it'll be blessed, 
and you can't fight against it. If it's not of God, then it's 
just going to fizzle out. This Gamaliel had quite the respect 
from people, and Paul knows that. I'm not anti-Jew. I was brought 
up in the city of Jerusalem at the feet of Gamaliel, learning 
what it is to be zealous in the law. That's what he goes on to 
say. Brought up in the city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught 
according to the strictness of our father's law, and was zealous 
toward God as you all are today. In fact, that zeal toward God 
oftentimes in Paul's early life manifests itself in the persecution 
of the church. You see it at the end of chapter 
7. You see it at the beginning of chapter 8. You see it in chapter 
9. He refers to that aspect when he gets his marching orders to 
go to Damascus so that he can bind men and women and take them 
back to Jerusalem so they can be further punished. Paul is 
telling these people where he came from, and then as he proceeds, 
how he got to where he is now. And the bottom line is, he is 
not anti-Jew. He is anti a bad reading of the 
Old Testament that misses the reality that Jesus of Nazareth 
is the one to whom the law and the prophets and the writings 
testify. When you read the Old Testament, 
you learn of Jesus Christ. Paul's not the problem. It is 
his audience. It is this mob. It is these people 
that is the problem. And he highlights that as he 
moves through this particular section. So he's discipled under 
Gamaliel. He's instructed with reference 
to the law. He has this zeal toward God. And again, Gil makes 
this observation, which shows how very averse he was to this 
way, to the Christian church, and how great his prejudices 
were against it. Wherefore, it must be a work 
of divine power and there must be the singular hand of God in 
it to reconcile him to it and cause him to embrace and profess 
it. In other words, I was like you at one time. I wanted to 
rid the world of these pesky Christians. I wanted to get rid 
of these people that profess faith in Jesus Christ. I had 
that same sort of zeal that you have. He doesn't say it here, 
but he will elsewhere. But it's a zeal without knowledge, 
because it's a zeal based on a faulty understanding of who 
Messiah is. The Jews are still waiting for 
the Messiah. The Jews in their rejection of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, to be consistent, are still waiting 
for Messiah to come. Well, the bottom line, as we 
know, and as Paul knew, he has come. He is the Lord Jesus. He is the blessed second person 
of the Trinity, who for us men and for our salvation, came down 
from heaven. He fulfilled all that the law, 
the prophets, and the writings had declared concerning Him. 
He is that one born in Bethlehem, Ephrathah, according to the prophet 
Micah. He was born of the Virgin, according to the prophet Isaiah. 
He was born consistent with what God had prophesied through His 
men. And now Paul receives this, and 
they don't. So he has this, to illustrate 
the zeal, he says in verse four, I persecuted this way to the 
death. That ought to make us listen as well. If you're not 
a believer here this morning, understand that this man is a 
believer. Understand that he persecuted 
people to the death and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, washed 
him from his sins. I think there's this idea that, 
well, you know, I'm a pretty bad sinner. I don't know that Jesus 
can handle me. You're a pretty bad sinner and only Jesus can 
handle you. Never let it be thought that 
I'm so sinful that Christ can't save me. Paul in 1 Timothy 1 
claims the title of chief of sinners. It's a beautiful thing. 
You're not more of a sinner than the apostle Paul. So if that 
is your objection today to Christianity, vanquish it, throw it out of 
your mind. There is salvation to be had, even for persons who 
at one time persecuted the church of God, even unto death, And 
yet Paul is able to say, Christ conquered me. So the persecution 
of the church unto death, binding and delivering into prisons. 
Notice what he says here. Both men and women. Paul was 
party to putting hands or bindings on women. That's despicable. 
I mean, if I had been around him and he tried to bind my woman, 
I'd want to give him a punch right in the nose. I think this 
underscores just how bad he was. You see what he's doing with 
his audience? I hated these people too. I despised them. In fact, 
notice what he says in verse 5. He says, as also the high 
priest bears me witness and all the council of the elders from 
whom I also received letters to the brethren and went to Damascus 
to bring in chains, even those who were there to Jerusalem to 
be punished. We've gone through that material. 
It's in chapter nine. Paul has his marching orders. 
He's able to connect with the chief priests and the elders 
in that hearing. He says, they know this. They 
know that I was aggravated. They know that I was opposed. 
They know that I had this animosity. They know that I went on these 
missions to try to rid the world of Christianity. I didn't have 
a predisposition toward Christianity. I didn't have a predilection 
toward Christianity. I wasn't raised in such an environment 
where I was ripe for Christianity. He was an offender, he was a 
criminal, he was a sinner and a transgressor against God's 
law, but God comes to him and saves him and conquers him and 
uses him for other ends and for other purposes. That brings us 
to his conversion to Christ. Again, this is material that's 
written in 9, chapter 9, verses 1 to 19. It'll be repeated again 
in chapter 26, verses 12 to 23. But notice this confrontation, 
verses 6 to 8. Essentially what he says, it 
was noon and this great light shone from heaven. What does 
that mean? Great light shone from heaven 
at noon. It must've been a great light 
because typically at noon, that's when the sun shines the brightest. 
So for there to be this great light, Paul knew that it was 
from heaven. Paul knew of its origin at least. And then Jesus meets him on the 
road to Damascus and Jesus asks him, why are you persecuting 
me? And again, church, people, brethren, believers for whom 
Jesus died. He identifies with his bride. When we're afflicted, he's afflicted. 
When we're tried, he's tried. When we're persecuted, he's persecuted. 
That's what he says. Why are you persecuting me? So, of course, Paul says, Who 
are you, Lord? And Jesus further identifies 
himself. I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It was a glorious conversion 
of the apostle Paul. And may I just say this? That's 
not going to happen to you. Sometimes I think people want 
that. Well, you know, if I'm ever on 
my way to target for execution a group of Christians and there's 
this bright light, Jesus appears to me and cast me down to the 
ground and saves me, well, then I'll believe. That's not gonna 
happen. This was unique in the history 
of redemption. This was unique with reference 
to Paul the apostle going from this persecuting Saul of Tarsus 
to the chief apostle to the Gentiles. So don't look for that. I've 
got to have this light shine. I've got to have this powerful 
voice of Jesus audibly in my ears. I need to see him. That's 
not going to happen. You need to hear what the Bible 
says concerning your sin and concerning Christ's ability to 
save sinners. and then by grace believe on 
him and you will be saved. Don't look for the experience, 
don't look for the rigmarole, don't look for the fireworks, 
rather look unto Jesus. Believe on him and you shall 
be saved. Even if you were one who at one 
time persecuted the church and tried to destroy its members. 
There is salvation in Jesus for the worst of sinners and Paul 
is the evidence of that. Now notice the companions of 
Paul in verse 9. Some allege contradiction in 
the Bible. I don't want to spend a lot of 
time here, but just so you know. Verse 9, those who were with 
me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear 
the voice of him who spoke to me. In the previous passage in 
chapter 9, it says that they did hear. So what do we have? 
A contradiction? No, I think the better understanding 
is the way the NASB renders this. They didn't understand it. They 
saw something, they knew something had obtained, but they didn't 
hear the particulars. They didn't know that Paul was 
having dealings with our Lord Jesus Christ. It's not a contradiction. It is simply the case that they 
understood something supernatural had happened, but only Paul the 
Apostle got the meaning from this. Now, from this vantage 
point, notice the instruction that Jesus gives. Verse 10, So 
I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said to me, Arise 
and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which 
are appointed for you to do. And since I could not see for 
the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who 
were with me, I came into Damascus. You see how Paul is proceeding, 
brethren. I was an enemy. I despised the 
church, too. I had marching orders to go to 
Damascus. I was going to terminate people. 
I was going to bind both men and women, take them back to 
Jerusalem so that there they could be punished. But something 
happened to me on the road to Damascus. I met this Jesus. I met this risen Lord. I met 
this glorious one. And he gave me these instructions. 
Chapter 9, it's Christ who gives him the specific directions to 
Ananias. Here we get a bit more report 
concerning Ananias, and I think there's reasons for that. Again, 
no contradiction, but Paul is trying to disarm. Paul is trying 
to get rid of the charge that he's anti-Jew. Look at, thirdly, 
his contact with Ananias in verses 12 to 16. Then a certain Ananias, 
a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony 
with all the Jews who dwelt there. It wasn't some Gentile convert. It wasn't some Gentile man that 
had been saved by grace. No, Jesus directs me to go to 
this Ananias. When it speaks of him as being 
a devout man and of him having a good testimony with all the 
Jews, it means that he was a Jew. It means that he was an Israelite. 
It means that he was saved by grace through faith in Jesus 
Christ. He was one that like Paul now had looked onto Jesus 
and saw that he was in fact the Messiah according to the law, 
the prophets and the writings and by grace he had believed 
in him. So Paul is trying to disarm the charge or show the 
futility or folly of the charge that he's anti-Jew. Christ, the 
Jewish Messiah, saves him on the road to Damascus. Christ, 
the Jewish Messiah, sends him to this man, Ananias, so that 
Ananias can further instruct him on the pattern that he is 
to take. And then notice the instructions. Ananias reports 
to Paul that the basis for his mission is not Ananias. The basis 
for his mission is God Most High. Look at verse 14. Then he said, 
and again, listen to language, the God of our fathers. Paul 
is showing, as far as he's able, to his solidarity with his accusers, 
to show them, ultimately, that it's not him that's faulty. He 
simply went where the Old Testament pointed him. He simply went to 
the Christ, the one promised by Isaiah, and by Micah, and 
by Daniel, and by the entirety of the Old Testament. So this 
Ananias says to Paul that the mission of Paul is grounded in 
the sovereign will of God Almighty. Verse 14, he said, the God of 
our fathers has chosen you that you should know his will and 
see the just one and hear the voice of his mouth. In other 
words, there's going to be vision of Christ. Paul has six visions 
in the book of Acts. And as well, there will be the 
revelation of Christ, his word, so that verse 15, you can engage 
in the mission that he has entrusted to you. So you see Paul's point, 
I was like you, I tried to kill the people of God just like you're 
doing right now, but Christ comes to me on the road to Damascus 
and as it were, hands me the key, the hermeneutical key to 
understand the Old Testament and who the Messiah is. When 
he did that, I saw that it's him. I saw that it's Jesus. And 
so now Jesus sends me to Ananias, and Ananias says that the God 
of our fathers chose you for this specific task. He alludes 
to this in Galatians as well. Like the prophet Jeremiah in 
Galatians 1, Paul says God separated him from the womb to do the particular 
work. that he would call him unto. 
Now the specifics of the mission are found in verse 15. For now 
you will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and 
heard. See, that was the point for this conversion. It was so 
that Paul would be the apostle to the Gentiles. It would be 
that Paul would be preacher of the gospel to make known Jesus 
Christ. In fact, look back at Acts chapter 
9. It's specifically set forth in 9.15. 915. But the Lord said to him, Go, 
for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, 
kings, and the children of Israel. In other words, the all men of 
chapter 22, verse 15. For you will be his witness to 
all men of what you have seen and heard. what you have seen 
with reference to the visions, and what you have heard with 
reference to the revelation of Christ. You're not supposed to 
take that, internalize it, and lay on the couch for the rest 
of your life. But rather you're supposed to go out, you're to 
preach that gospel to Gentiles, to kings, and to the children 
of Israel. You're supposed to make known Christ in all of his 
offices, in all of his glory, and in all of his power to save 
sinners to the uttermost. This was Paul's purpose given 
by God. And this is what Paul relates 
to the people that are trying to kill him. And in verse 16, 
Ananias says, for now, why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized 
and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord. The 
water doesn't wash away the sins. The water signifies the blood 
that washes away the sins. So the bottom line is, is that 
after Paul believes the gospel, what's Paul supposed to do? Paul's 
supposed to be baptized, and that is precisely what he does. 
And one of the aspects or one of the features of baptism is 
that it communicates to others that that person has been remitted 
or forgiven of their sins. So the Apostle Paul does what 
he preaches. He's baptized as a believer in 
the Lord Jesus Christ. And that language at the very 
end is most glorious, calling on the name of the Lord. John 
Gill writes, this invocation of the name of the Lord in baptism 
signifies an exercise of faith in Christ at this time, a profession 
of him and obedience to him. That's his contact with Ananias. 
Now let's look fourthly and finally under this point, the report 
of his conversion to the vision in the temple. Strange conduct 
for a man who's anti-temple. Verse 17. Now it happened when 
I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple. See, everything 
they've said is false and patently so. Why would he go to the temple 
to pray if he was teaching all men everywhere against this place? 
Why would he have this idea to turn Gentiles against Jews? Why would he have this antipathy 
to the law? He was zealous for these things. 
He had these things. Certainly, he learned the proper 
and lawful use of the law with reference to his conversion in 
Christ. But relative to the aspect of law, temple, this people, 
Paul is not guilty of these things. This is a fake. These are fraudulent 
charges in verse 28 and chapter 21. Paul was none of these things 
and his early life, his conquest by Jesus, his instruction from 
Ananias, and then this vision fourthly in the temple should 
illustrate that and should underscore that. Now notice with reference 
to the Lord's instruction in verse 17. So when I returned 
to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in 
a trance and saw him, Jesus, saying to me, make haste and 
get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your 
testimony concerning me. This is probably Acts 9, 26 to 
30. the first post-conversion visit to Jerusalem. He just spends 
a brief time there. Remember, Barnabas had to sort 
of pave the way for him. The church in Jerusalem was afraid 
of him because they knew his former conduct, so they didn't 
want him present. And yet Barnabas smoothed it 
out and said, no, he's one of us now. But nevertheless, there 
was this animosity toward him, specifically from the Hellenists, 
that made him have to leave the city of Jerusalem. So Christ 
gives him that vision. He tells them, you need to make 
haste and depart from Jerusalem. Now notice what Paul does, kind 
of like what Moses does. Remember when we're studying 
the call of Moses? Here am I, Lord, send Aaron. 
Yeah, Lord, I just, I don't have the eloquence, I don't have the 
ability, I don't have the wherewithal, I don't know, I don't have the 
speech. Jesus tells him to leave Jerusalem and he says, but wait 
a minute, Lord, I think I've got some usefulness here. That's 
just human nature, isn't it? We always want to say to the 
Lord what the better plan is, right? Oh no, Lord, I'm sure 
I'll do better in Jerusalem. I'm sure it'll be favorable in 
Jerusalem. You don't know. And he invokes two particular 
illustrations. He says, I persecuted people 
in Jerusalem, and I was right there when your martyr Stephen 
died. Certainly when I come preaching Christ, they'll know that this 
huge change has overtaken me and they'll receive me happily. 
No, that's not what they're going to know. You need to get out 
of Dodge, essentially. But look at again what he says 
concerning his past life. Verse 19, so I said, Lord, they 
know that in every synagogue I imprisoned to beat those who 
believe on you. And when the blood of your martyr 
Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his 
death and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him. 
Turn to Romans 1 for just a moment. Romans chapter 1. One wonders 
if Paul had this in mind as he pens Romans 1. After the vice 
list in verses 28 and following, he says in verse 32 of Romans 
1, who knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who 
practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same, 
but also approve of those who practice them. That's exactly 
what Paul did. He may not have picked up a stone 
to cave in Stephen's head, but he approved of it. He consented 
to it. He was right there in hearty 
agreement with it. And he indicates that for us 
here in chapter 22 in verse 20. And when the blood of your martyr 
Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his 
death and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him. 
Again, I think contextually what we are supposed to understand 
is encapsulated well by Bruce. He says, his point seems to have 
been that the people who knew his former record would be the 
more readily convinced that his change of attitude must be based 
on the most compelling grounds. It also underscores Paul's love 
for his countrymen. He wants to stay in Jerusalem. 
He wants to stay among his people. Why? Because he has this burden 
for them. Turn back to Romans and you can 
see his burden for Israel. Romans chapter nine, especially. 
Romans 9, verse 1, I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, 
my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that 
I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could 
wish that I myself were cursed, that's the word anathema, cut 
off, condemned, damned to hell. I could wish that I myself were 
accursed from Christ. It's only used in Galatians 1, 
for those who pervert or distort the gospel, and in 1 Corinthians 
12, those who say that Jesus is accursed or anathema, and 
then again in 1 Corinthians 16. If anyone does not love the Lord 
Jesus Christ, let him be anathema. The Hebrew connection or the 
Greek word anathema connects us back to what's called harem 
in the Old Testament. Not a harem filled with women 
the way that people think, but a harem principle is basically 
devoted to destruction, anathematized, condemned, cut off, separated 
from all that is good and holy in God, and thrown into that 
place of everlasting curse, punishment, and suffering. So Paul says that 
in this context for his people. Oh, that we had just a tiny bit 
of his zeal to see sinners saved. This zeal for his fellow man, 
this zeal for Israelites that were brought up in the Old Testament 
law, and Jesus comes in fulfillment of that law, and they say, no. 
They say, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Paul underscores 
the great affection that he had for his own countrymen at this 
point. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ 
for my brethren, my countrymen, according to the flesh, who are 
Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, 
the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises, of 
whom are the fathers, and from whom, according to the flesh, 
Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen." 
And I do believe he is ascribing divinity to our Lord Jesus in 
that particular statement. But the point is, he wants to 
stay in Jerusalem, and he uses as the proof for Jesus, I persecuted 
them, they know what manner of severity I had for them, now 
that I've changed and I don't do that, they'll receive me freely. 
No, look at what Jesus says according to verse 21. Then he said to 
me, Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles. Why does Jesus say that? Because 
the mission to the Gentiles reflects the promises made to Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob. The mission to the Gentiles reflects 
the concern of the psalmist and the prophets to make known Messiah 
throughout the uttermost parts of the earth. And this mission 
to the Gentiles jives with our Lord's instruction in Matthew 
28. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations. So Christ 
tells him at this particular time, with reference to these 
Jews, you need to get out of Dodge. You need to flee. You 
need to go to the Gentiles. There may be a time that you 
come back. Hence, this particular post-conversion visit where he 
is in Jerusalem. And so he makes this statement 
to summarize or to rehearse how it is that he is not guilty of 
the various charges that they have leveled. He was a Jew or 
he is a Jew. He speaks in Aramaic. He was 
taught by Gamaliel. He was brought up in the city 
of Jerusalem. The deciding change came in his life when he met 
Jesus on the road to Damascus. He got his instructions from 
Ananias to go about doing what he's doing right now. He's not 
a threat to the Jewish order. He's not a threat to the temple. 
He's not a threat to Jewish law. He's certainly not a threat to 
the political civil order in Rome. Now that brings us secondly 
to the revelation of his citizenship, verses 22 to 30. Notice what 
happens, the Jews' response in verses 22 and 23. And they listened 
to him until this word." Now, I want you to think about what 
it's saying here. They listened to him until this 
word. They were okay with his early 
life. They were okay with his discipleship at the feet of Gamaliel. 
They were even okay to indulge him with reference to this Damascus 
Road experience when he meets Jesus. They're okay with Ananias, 
this man of Damascus who was a devout Jew and everybody liked 
him. They're okay with all that. Why do they flip out? Because 
Jesus says, go to the Gentiles. Do you understand why the tension 
of chapter 15? Do you understand why the tension 
in the beginning part of chapter 21? There was a Jew-Gentile tension that obtained among the 
people at that time. It's this, wherein they now lose 
their minds. It wasn't until this word, which 
really does show how out of tune they were with the mission to 
the Gentiles as specified to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, all 
throughout the Psalms and all throughout the prophets. They 
were not open to that reality, but as well, when Jesus says 
to him, go to the Gentiles, in their minds, they're probably 
thinking, ah, we got him. Paul is pro-Gentile, so therefore 
he must be against the Jews. They thought just like people 
today do. If you go on your Facebook and you say, boy, I really love 
oranges. See how many people respond with, 
why do you hate apples? This is the day and age in which 
we live. Rationality, logic, common sense, 
what are those? I really love oranges, well, 
why do you hate apples? For them to make this conclusion 
that this Jesus sent him to the Gentiles means that we're right 
and he's against these people, he's against this law, he's against 
this place. All that we have maintained is 
true. They can't listen properly. I've often mused on our present 
situation, and I guess it's not much different from that, reading 
comprehension, listening comprehension would go a great, great, in the 
great way of helping people just to function on a daily level. We're getting to the point where 
those basic rudimentary skills are gone. For me to affirm the 
love of oranges is not for me to affirm the hatred of apples. It's apples and oranges. Get 
it? You see, these people at this 
point lost their minds. In the language of the Geneva 
Bible, the description of a seditious hurly-burly and of an harebrained 
and mad multitude. They listened to him until this 
word, the Jews had rejected the covenant promises of God, which 
always included Gentiles. And they had concluded that Paul 
now was sympathetic toward Gentiles and therefore must hate the Jews. Again, that leap in logic is 
completely fallacious, it's horribly wrong, it is absolutely inconsistent, 
and yet we live among 7 billion people that live that way each 
and every day. So it shouldn't surprise us when 
at times we get a little disconcerted about the situation in which 
we find ourselves. People can't think beyond the 
very basics with reference to the big issues in life. Paul 
faced that same sort of thing, and these people lost their minds. 
Notice, verse 22, they listened to him until this word, and then 
they raised their voices and said, away with such a fellow 
from the earth, for he is not fit to live. He is guilty of 
capital offenses. Don't miss this, brethren. You 
know, we at times, oh, I'm so persecuted. Somebody gave me 
a dirty look because I prayed at Tim Hortons or somebody, you 
know, said something that was not very kind to me. Paul was 
being beaten to death. The Romans grabbed him and kept 
him from actually dying. And now they reiterate and reconfirm 
and reaffirm their desire that he is guilty and therefore he 
must die. Verse 23, look at what it says. then as they cried out 
and tore off their clothes and threw dust into the air." Matthew 
Poole says, though they themselves refuse the offers of God's mercy, 
yet they could not endure that it should be tendered to others. 
It doesn't make sense. People are losing their minds 
over Paul having become what the Old Testament said he should 
have become. And then notice the commander's 
instructions. Basically what we have here is 
simple. Paul invokes his Roman citizenship. 
You know, you sometimes get that, well, we can't ever talk about 
politics. The Bible talks about politics, brethren. I'm sorry. Somebody commented one time on 
the sermon audio page, I loved your sermon until you mentioned 
politics, and then I had to shut it off. You mean we can't preach 
1 and 2 Samuel? Because there's a lot of politics 
with the kings of Judah and Israel, isn't there? By very definition, 
kingship is political. Paul meeting with the civil government 
through the Book of Acts, I think, affords us a great window into 
understanding, on the one hand, Roman jurisprudence, which was 
excellent, and on the other hand, how Paul related to them. And 
Paul wasn't the sort of fellow that was just neutered with reference 
to civil polity. If it was beneficial for him 
to invoke his citizenship vis-a-vis not being murdered, then he would 
do it. Simple, right? Notice what happens. The commander separates him from 
the mob and then the commander orders that he be scourged so 
that he can find out more information. What kind of information do you 
think you're gonna get? Whatever it is you want. Winston learned that well at 
the hands of O'Brien. Two plus two equals five, if 
need be. If it stops the pain, then I'm 
all in. But with reference to this point, 
the commander orders him to be scourged. If he's talking about 
the scourging that some commentators believe, it was very severe. 
Christ was scourged twice. There is that sort of scourging 
just to try and appease men. But then there was a scourging 
that was connected to crucifixion that was particularly brutal. 
That was the type of scourging where in the scourge had pieces 
of bone or metal mixed in with it. It had a wooden handle. And then the person was, the 
word thongs there means leather thongs, attached to a pillar 
so that the person with the scourge could just lay stripes onto their 
back. So that was most likely what 
was going to be Paul's law. If it didn't kill you, it severely 
hurt you, could potentially cripple you forever. So they're making 
preparations for this. And Paul just asks, incidentally, 
he says, is it lawful to scourge a Roman citizen and one who's 
uncondemned? Paul seems to be of a mind with 
Cicero, that Roman statesman and lawyer who said to bind a 
Roman citizen is a crime, to flog him an abomination, to slay 
him is almost an act of murder, and crucifixion was completely 
unthinkable with a citizen of the Roman Empire. They kind of 
looked out for their own. Citizenship had privilege. Citizenship 
meant benefit. Citizenship meant you weren't 
treated like the rabble that were not citizens. So Paul wisely 
invokes his citizenship and says, is it lawful to condemn or to 
scourge a Roman citizen and one who's uncondemned? So not only 
does he have citizenship, but he invokes due process. There's 
been no hearing. There's been no, you know, exchange. There's been no evidence presented. Remember, the commander doesn't 
speak Aramaic. He doesn't know what's happened. 
He doesn't know Paul's defense. He knows their charges. He knows 
their hatred. He knows their enmity. He knows 
they want to destroy Paul, but he hasn't heard the proceedings. 
That's why he initially says, let's scourge him to get more 
information. That's when Paul says, hey, I'm 
a Roman citizen and I'm uncondemned. Well, of course, the centurion 
says, I'm not going to do that. So he goes to the commander and 
the commander says, are you a Roman citizen? And he says, yeah, I'm 
a Roman citizen. The commander says, I had to 
pay a pretty hefty price to get my citizenship. Remember, this 
man is identified as Claudius Lysias. Under the emperor Claudius, 
apparently his wife was pretty benevolent in selling citizenship 
to hapless people within the empire. So this Claudius Lysias 
had to pay a large sum of money to get his citizenship. Paul 
says, I was born that way. Tarsus of Cilicia, his father, 
grandfather, somebody must have been connected or something with 
reference to the pedigree of the Apostle Paul. But he is a 
born citizen. And so now the commander is afraid. Why? Because he bound a Roman 
citizen. He was about to have a Roman 
citizen scourge. He was about to do that which 
Cicero forbade and which Roman law forbade. And so what is the 
magistrate or what does the commander do? He says, I need more information. That's why in chapter 23, verses 
one to 10, Paul now stands before the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin 
is the religious council because Claudius has intuited that perhaps 
it was a religious dispute. And so this religious court of 
the Jews will be able to hear, will be able to adjudicate, and 
will be able to further inform us on how to proceed with this 
prisoner. So that's what happens here. 
Paul invokes his citizenship to keep himself alive so that 
he can preach the gospel. Again, sometimes you'll meet 
people that say, well, you know, don't invoke your citizenship 
and just let them kill you. Well, that's not what Paul did, 
brethren. Paul was not a pietist. Paul 
was a responsible, wise human being who did not demand his 
rights at every step of the way, but when necessary, he would 
pony up his citizenship to keep him from being beaten to death 
by the Romans or by the Jews. And so that's the situation as 
we have it in this particular instance. It's similar to what 
you find if you go back for just a minute to chapter 16. Chapter 
16, in Philippi, verse 20, they brought them to the magistrates 
and said, these men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city, 
and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being 
Romans, to receive or observe. Then the multitude rose up together 
against them, and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded 
them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes 
on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer 
to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, 
he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the 
stocks." You see, Paul didn't stop there and say, hey, wait 
a minute, I'm a Roman citizen. It was too quick. They fell upon 
him and they gave him this. But then notice what we find 
at the end of chapter 16, verse 35. When it was day, the magistrates 
sent the officer saying, let those men go. So the keeper of 
the prison reported these words to Paul saying, the magistrates 
have sent to let you go. Now therefore depart and go in 
peace. See, most everybody would say he should have just departed 
and gone in peace, right? Just go, Paul, the door's open, 
go. But look what Paul does, verse 37. Paul said to them, 
they have beaten us openly, uncondemned Romans, uncondemned Romans, and 
have thrown us into prison, and now do they put us out secretly? 
No, indeed, let them come themselves and get us out. What's he saying, 
brethren? We have rights. We have rights. Not every step of the way is 
he the guy, I've got my rights. He pickets outside of, you know, 
Caesar's place and he's always there. You know, he's the loudest 
whiner in the empire. No, that's not Paul. But brethren, 
in crucial places in the book of Acts, when it was necessary 
and helpful to extend the mission of the gospel, Paul invoked his 
Roman citizenship. If it kept him alive to preach 
another day, then Paul would do that. It wasn't because he 
wanted, you know, just his own comforts and his own peace and 
his own life and all that sort of thing. Verse 38, the officers 
told these words to the magistrates and they were afraid when they 
heard that they were Romans. Then they came out and pleaded 
with them and brought them out and asked them to depart from 
the city. So they went out of the prison and entered the house 
of Lydia. And when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged 
them and departed. So the point is simply this, 
Roman jurisprudence was good But like all jurisprudence, you've 
got the human element involved. And at times, balls are dropped. 
At times, things are overlooked. At times, there is abuse of the 
system. And so Paul helpfully corrects 
them in Philippi, and Paul helpfully corrects them here in Jerusalem. So that's exposition. Lord willing, 
we'll look at them before the Sanhedrin next week. But just 
a few thoughts in closing. First, the nature of Paul's defense. The nature of Paul's defense, 
this is the emphasis in the latter chapters of Acts. I didn't count 
the verses, I didn't do it, but I'm gonna believe that Bach did. He says there are 239 prison 
verses and 226 mission verses. The prison verses is from this 
on, where he's under arrest, essentially, and he has to keep 
sort of giving these defenses. The mission verses cover chapters 
13 to chapter 20 in those three missionary journeys. So he says 
there are 239 prison verses and 226 mission verses. This shows 
that Paul, the defender of the faith, is as important as, if 
not more important, than Paul, the preacher of the faith. And 
we might ask the question, or we might conclude, oh yeah, then 
these apologetic ministries, that's what's most important. 
That's not the point. The point is, brethren, for Paul's 
posterity, for believers after him, they would need to know 
how to conduct themselves in civil polities that were not 
favorable to Christianity. They would need to have the wisdom 
and the cunning of serpents and the harmlessness of the dove 
that Jesus enjoins upon his disciples in Matthew chapter 10. They would 
need to be able to think and calculate and plan and plot. 
It's not that apologetics trumps gospel preaching. It's that Paul's 
apologetic establishes the framework for subsequent believers on how 
they're supposed to live in a world that has gone nuts. And Paul 
has a lot to tell us in that regard. It is to make much of 
Christ and him crucified. It is to understand the scripture. 
It is to invoke the citizenship as necessary to keep yourself 
from death row. It's not to be the loudest whiner 
in a civil polity. It's not to be the constant picketer 
in a civil polity, but be wise in terms of your dealings in 
the world in which you live. In terms of the specific defense 
here, he was a loyal Jew, not only by birth, but by education 
and devotion to the law. He was faithful to the Old Testament 
and the God of our fathers. Verse 14, he learned by grace 
that Jesus Christ was the scope of the Old Testament. So I would 
argue that in terms of Israel, the best of Israel is represented 
in Paul. He does what the Bible tells 
him to. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
and you shall be saved. I think more often than not in 
the book of Acts, one of the larger themes that we need to 
appreciate is that the leadership of Israel is void. That Sanhedrin 
is an empty shell. When He stands before them, it's 
not them that are the governors of that nation, it's the apostles. It is the people of Jesus Christ 
who have the word of the gospel to lead, to guide, and to direct 
them. Temple does come into at least 
some disfavor in the book of Acts. not because they were saying, 
let's blow it up, but because they were saying the temple pointed 
to Messiah. Now that Messiah is here, why 
would we go backwards to temple? So that might've been perceived 
as an anti-temple sentiment, but their anti-temple sentiment 
didn't include C4, it didn't include blasting caps, it didn't 
include destruction in the human sense. So if any sentiment, it 
was simply this, The purpose for which the temple stood has 
been realized in the coming of Jesus Christ, who is the true 
temple of God Almighty. Because what is temple? Temple 
is the place of dwelling God and sinners in and through the 
work of our Lord Jesus Christ. So Paul is the one who is right 
and they're wrong. And then in terms of this defense, 
he's not a threat to the civil order. Christianity is not. It 
shouldn't ever be perceived that way. Christians should be the 
best citizens in a civil polity. Christians should seek to honor 
their Lord in the way that they conduct themselves in the civil 
realm. They ought not to be the revolutionaries. 
They ought not to be the ones that are always whining and always 
complaining. Again, invoke and use the citizenship as we are 
able, but with reference to citizenship, let's just say it was a somewhat 
decent civil polity, we should just shine as lights in a crooked 
and perverse generation. holding forth that word of truth. 
Secondly, the efficacy of Paul's conversion. They didn't see it, 
obviously, because they lost their collective minds and said, 
this man deserves to die. But look what happens. He goes 
from the chief persecutor to the chief preacher. See how great 
grace is? Grace is wonderful. We sing about 
it. Amazing grace, how sweet the 
sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now 
I'm found, was blind, but now I see. But do we actually ponder 
grace? Do we actually consider grace? 
This man tried to destroy the church and he becomes the church's 
greatest preacher ever. That is the efficacy of his conversion. Third, the subject of Paul's 
preaching. What does Ananias tell him? You 
need to make known to all men what you've seen and heard. Not 
how to live, or how to be, or how to this, or how to that. 
Paul, your purpose, this is your lot in life, is to make known 
Jesus Christ. That is everything for the apostle 
Paul. That is what the Lord enjoined 
upon him, and that's what he consistently and always did. Was Paul a sinlessly perfect 
man? No. Was he a consistently faithful 
man? Absolutely. In a Philippian or 
in a prison, when he's writing to the Philippians, he says, 
for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. That always characterized 
his life. That was always the ebb and flow 
of his life. He was a man on a mission and 
he was not gonna be deterred. And when these Jews want to destroy 
him, he's gonna invoke the citizenship so that he can beat the charge 
as it were, so he can live to preach another day, because that's 
what it was about. And then the last point I wanna 
end us all on is the power of Paul's gospel. The power of Paul's 
gospel. It could only be Paul who wrote 
Romans 1, 16, and 17. I'm not ashamed of the gospel 
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone 
who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Why? Because 
in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. 
As it is written, the just shall live by faith. When he writes 
in 1 Timothy 1, I mentioned this earlier, this is a faithful saying 
and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the 
world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. He didn't preach 
an unfelt gospel. Let's get real experiential here. 
He didn't preach an unfelt gospel. He had been conquered by sovereign 
grace. He knew the reality of blood 
atonement. He knew what it was to have a 
righteousness, not his own, which is from the law, but that which 
is from God through faith in Jesus Christ. So Paul the Apostle, 
as the conquered chief of sinners, tells other sinners to believe 
on Jesus and you shall be saved. May I say to you, you can take 
that to the bank. You can believe that a hundred 
percent. Paul knew from whence he spoke. 
He understood the Old Testament, he understood the New Testament, 
having written much of it. But most of all, he understood 
the efficacy of the blood of Jesus. He understood the imputed 
righteousness of Christ. He understood that all of us 
need that. Yes, we need to be forgiven, 
but yes, we need the righteousness of Christ so that we can enter 
into heaven. Because as God the Lord says 
through the prophet Hosea, as it is imitated or repeated rather 
in the New Testament, behold, to obey is better than to sacrifice. Yes, we need blood atonement. 
Yes, we need forgiveness of sins. But yes, we need the righteousness 
of Jesus so that we may enter into the presence of God. And 
it's available by grace through faith. Everyone who calls on 
the name of the Lord shall be saved. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father, we thank you for your Word. We thank you for this defense 
in Jerusalem and for the way, the wise way that Paul proceeds 
with a mob, an unruly mob of murderous people, and with a 
Roman government that didn't even act before they, or didn't 
even listen before they were going to act and scourge him. 
We thank you for that pattern, we thank you for that example, 
we thank you for that lesson, that instruction that is given 
to us to navigate in our own situation. But most of all, we 
praise you, God, for the majesty of Christ, the glory of Christ, 
the gospel of Christ, for the efficacy of it, the power of 
it, and we desire that more and more people would hear the gospel 
and, by grace, would believe that gospel and have everlasting 
life. Do this for your glory. Do this 
for the good of image bearers. Do this for the exaltation of 
the name of Jesus throughout the earth. And we ask this in 
his most blessed name. Amen. We'll take your hymn books 
and turn to number 570 and we'll close by singing that doxology. 570. so is ♪ Praise Him above, He heav'nly 
host ♪ ♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ ♪ Alleluia, 
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia ♪ Alleluia, Alleluia, 
Alleluia The Lord bless you and keep you. 
The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. 
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. 
God, may this be true for each of us here. Give us grace to 
enjoy the Sabbath day, to call it a delight, to find great enjoyment 
in the person and in the work of our Lord Jesus Christ and 
mutual edification one to another. Go with your people now, grant 
us that peace, grant us that safety, that security, that only 
a sovereign God affords. And may you cause us to glorify, 
honor, and praise you. And we ask through Jesus Christ, 
our Lord. Amen. Well, please be seated for a 
brief time of meditation.