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to Acts chapter 9. Acts of the 
Apostles, we find ourselves in chapter 9. Wanna read the first half of 
the chapter verses one to 19, and then our focus this morning 
will be on verses one to nine. So beginning in Acts chapter 
nine at verse one. Then Saul, still breathing threats 
and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high 
priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, 
so that if he found any who were of the way, whether men or women, 
he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he journeyed, he 
came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from 
heaven. Then he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, 
Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, who are you, 
Lord? Then the Lord said, I am Jesus, 
whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against 
the goats. So he, trembling and astonished, 
said, Lord, what do you want me to do? Then the Lord said 
to him, Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what 
you must do. Then the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, 
hearing a voice but seeing no one. Then Saul arose from the 
ground, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one. But they 
led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was 
three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank. Now there 
was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias, and to him the 
Lord said in a vision, Ananias. And he said, here I am, Lord. 
So the Lord said to him, arise and go to the street called Straight, 
and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus. 
For behold, he is praying. And in a vision, he has seen 
a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him so 
that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias answered, Lord, 
I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has 
done to your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from 
the chief priests to bind all who call on your name. The Lord 
said to him, go, for he has a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name 
before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will 
show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake. And 
Ananias went his way and entered the house, and laying his hands 
on him, he said, brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared 
to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive 
your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Immediately 
there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received 
his sight at once, and he arose and was baptized. So when he 
had received food, he was strengthened. And Saul spent some days with 
the disciples at Damascus." Amen. Let us pray. Father, thank you 
for the written word. Thank you for this history of 
the early church. Thank you for the conquest. of 
this archenemy of the church and the fact that you use this 
man as the apostle to the Gentiles, you use this man most powerfully 
and gloriously. God, cause us to reflect now 
upon divine grace. Cause us to reflect upon your 
mercy and your ability to save even the chief of sinners by 
the power of the Christian gospel. Do fill us with your Holy Spirit 
now. Again, forgive us for our sins 
and our transgression. And we pray these things through 
Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well, the conversion of 
Saul of Tarsus in the first place is a gracious answer to Stephen's 
prayer. If you go back for just a moment 
to the martyrdom of Stephen in Acts chapter seven at verse 60, 
Stephen says, or he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, 
Lord, do not charge them with this sin. And when he had said 
this, he fell asleep. I think at times we are inclined 
to believe that God doesn't always hear and answer our prayers. 
He most certainly, Sometimes that answer is no, but in this 
particular instance the answer was yes, and God did not charge 
Saul with the death of Stephen. As well, this is a significant 
development in redemptive history with the calling of Saul of Tarsus. with the commission of the apostle 
Paul, we see the gospel extended. He is a missionary to the Gentiles, 
the apostle to the Gentiles. And what Paul does, beginning 
in chapter 13 to the end of the book of Acts, is certainly phenomenal 
in terms of the extension of Christ's kingdom on earth for 
the glory of God and for the good of souls. Now Paul refers 
to this conversion account again later in Acts chapter 22 before 
the Jews and then in Acts chapter 26 before Agrippa. And so we will reflect on those 
as well as we move through the exposition this morning. I want 
to focus on two things. First, the hostility of Saul 
of Tarsus in verses one and two, and then secondly, the conversion 
of Saul of Tarsus in verses three to nine. So that's what we hope 
to do this morning. If you are not a believer here 
this morning, I would encourage you to pay attention. Because 
the Apostle Paul will later describe himself as the chief sinner. And if the chief sinner can be 
conquered by the grace of God Almighty, then certainly the 
lesser sinners can be too. There are those times and occasions 
in the lives of people where they say, well, I'm so wicked, 
I'm so evil, I am so sinful, that perhaps I'm beyond the pale 
of God's redeeming grace. You can't say that. God saved 
the chief sinner. God saved the archenemy. God 
turned this man from a raging persecutor against the church 
to the preacher that would extend the church by the power of the 
Holy Spirit. So let's look first at the hostility 
of Saul, and we see this in two ways. First, his attitude, and 
then secondly, his actions. Notice what we read in verse 
1. Then Saul, and it says, still breathing threats and murder 
against the disciples of the Lord. Turn back for a moment 
to chapter 7. Saul is not introduced here in 
chapter 9, rather Saul is introduced in chapter 7. He is present at 
the stoning, at the martyrdom of Stephen. And if you look at 
chapter 7 verse 58, it says, they cast him out of the city 
and stoned him. This is Stephen. And the witnesses 
laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. That's this Saul of Tarsus that 
we find in chapter 9. And then notice in chapter 8 
at verse 1, now Saul was consenting to his death. He was in hearty 
agreement. He was complicit. He was right 
there with them. Perhaps he didn't pick up the 
stone and throw them at Stephen, but he certainly affirmed this 
activity. And then notice in verse 3, as 
for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house 
and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. He 
was the sort of person that would have actually put his hands on 
a woman and drag her off to prison. In fact, that's indicated in 
our passage this morning. He's breathing threats against 
the people of God, both men and women. And this exhibits specifically 
the ruthlessness of this Saul of Tarsus when it came to this 
desire to exterminate and to extinguish the very church of 
Jesus Christ. He wasn't a guy that was sort 
of neutral with reference to this movement. He wasn't a guy 
that was sort of sitting on the fence and watching from a distance. He was actively engaged in trying 
to stop the spread of Christianity. He was an arch enemy. He was 
a foe. He was one that took pride in 
trying to stop the great work of God most high. Notice in chapter 
nine, verse one, in terms of his attitude, he is still breathing 
threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. The threats and murder, they're 
not directed toward criminals. They're not directed toward enemy 
invaders. These threats and murder are 
directed to the people who confess saving faith in our Lord Jesus 
Christ. It truly is amazing, isn't it? 
With reference to religion, persons can't respect one another's ability 
to choose for themselves. And I know we're Calvinists and 
reform, but follow the logic. Why would we kill somebody? Why 
would we murder somebody? Why would we exterminate somebody? 
We ought to be sympathetic toward them. We ought to pray for them. 
We ought to prevail upon them with good arguments from scripture 
so that they, by grace, can turn unto Jesus and be saved. If our 
religion is true, we don't need to advance it by the sword. If 
our religion is true, we don't need to advance it by the gun. 
If our religion is true, we don't need to imprison anybody who 
is contrary. We need to shine as lights in 
a crooked and perverse generation, and we need to hold forth the 
word of truth. Truth is the vehicle by which God conquers sinners. Truth is the vehicle by which 
men come out of darkness into marvelous light. But for Saul 
of Tarsus, prior to his conversion, all he knew was to try and exterminate 
the very people of God so that they could not propagate this 
new religion. Now notice, this does ultimately 
shine forth for us the grace of God, doesn't it? Doesn't this 
magnify God's grace? A nod, a smile, a bit of an indicator 
that you're following the message this morning would be very helpful, 
because this is a significant passage of Scripture. This magnifies 
God's grace. On the one hand, when the Apostle 
Paul says this is a trustworthy statement, worthy of all acceptation, 
that Christ came into this world, sinners to save, of whom I am 
chief, we read that, we muse upon it, we understand it cognitively, 
but here we see it displayed. We see it played out. What does 
he mean by saying he is the chief sinner? Well, it's precisely 
here. And what he tells us in 22 and 
26, it is precisely in the reality that he was consenting to the 
death of Stephen, this godly martyr that was executed simply 
for confessing faith in Jesus Christ. He is the chief sinner. And here he shows us by Luke 
what it means to be the chief sinner. John Gill says, this, 
the wickedness, the attitude, the heart, he says, and this 
shows the inward disposition of his mind, the rage, wrath, 
malice, envy, and bloodthirstiness he was full of, and is observed 
to illustrate the riches of divine grace in his conversion. That's 
what's displayed here when Christ comes to save him. Yes, Paul 
is a wretch, but Christ is a great Savior. Paul is a great sinner, 
but Jesus is a greater Savior. And we need to see this and appreciate 
it afresh. So that's his attitude. He's 
breathing these threats and murder against the disciples of the 
Lord. Now, notice his actions. He goes to the high priest, which 
indicates something of Saul's status. Right? He's able to walk 
into the high priest. I mean, not saying the high priest 
was the president or the prime minister, but he was a man of 
some power. He was a man of some respect and reverence. That Saul 
of Tarsus was able to have audience with him indicates something 
concerning Saul of Tarsus. He was no chump. He was somebody 
within the Pharisaic religion. But it also indicates something 
about the high priest. The high priest too wants to 
exterminate the confessors of Jesus Christ. See how corrupt 
Israel's religion had become. The very Messiah comes in accordance 
with the Old Testament scriptures. And now they are conspiring to 
murder anybody that would follow this one who said he was in fact 
Messiah. And so Paul, or Saul rather, 
goes to him and makes this request. And then notice the request, 
it identifies believers as the way. The Christians, believers 
in the early church are referred to as the way. And some speculate 
as to why that may have been based on Old Testament usage. 
I often think of Jesus' statement. John 14, I am the way, the truth, 
and the life. No one comes to the Father except 
through me. Those following Jesus are identified here as the way 
and elsewhere in the book of Acts. And again, his request 
includes women, so that if anyone who were found of the way, whether 
men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As Chris 
Austin says, that does underscore his ruthlessness. Now remember, 
this was a time when enemies would go out, or armies would 
go out to battle, and they wouldn't kill the women. That's kind of 
changed today. We put women in combat. I mean, 
we're so evolved now, we put women in combat. But there was 
a day and age when men would go out and fight, and it would 
be forbidden, prohibited. Even think about actually killing 
a woman that was sort of associated with one of those armies. And 
here the Apostle Paul or Saul of Tarsus wants to bind men and 
women and he wants to bring them bound to Jerusalem. What for? 
Not therapy, not a group session, but for further punishment. And 
Saul indicates this and the Apostle Paul indicates this later. Turn 
to Acts chapter 22 when he gives his own rehearsal or his own 
account of this particular scenario. Acts 22 at verse 4. 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. See, that's his endgame. It's 
not just to try to give them some conversion therapy or to 
try to bring them back to the pale of Judaism, but he wants 
to see them punished for their confession of faith in the Lord 
Jesus Christ. And then turn over to 26. Acts 
chapter 26 at verse 9. Indeed, I myself thought I must 
do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. This 
I also did in Jerusalem. And many of the saints I shut 
up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests. 
And when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. 
And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled 
them to blaspheme. And being exceedingly enraged 
against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities." That's 
what Damascus was. It was about 135 miles northwest 
of Jerusalem. That's not going from Chilliwack 
to Sardis. This is a week-long journey. 
He wants this authorization from the high priest in Jerusalem 
so he can go up to this city of Damascus, he can go into the 
synagogues, he can show those authorization papers to the synagogue 
officials, and anybody in there associated with the way, the 
apostle, or Saul rather, is going to grab them, he is going to 
cuff them, and he is going to bring them back to Jerusalem 
so that they may be further punished. Bye! If this was going on today, 
we'd be reading about this guy in the voice of the martyrs time 
in our prayer meeting. There's this bloodthirsty man 
who's breathing out threats and murder against our beloved brothers 
and sisters. He's traveled 135 miles to go 
up into a synagogue so that if anybody there is associated with 
the way, he can drag them out of that place. He can bind them 
and take them down to Jerusalem so that they may be further punished. This guy's a bad man. He's a 
wretch. He's terrible. Now, let's see 
how Jesus deals with them in the conversion of Saul of Tarsus 
in verses 3 to 9. In the first place, we see his 
confrontation with Christ. And there are sub points here, 
because I think the focus here is upon Jesus. It's certainly 
Saul. But again, I think the emphasis 
of Luke is to highlight for us the great grace of God Almighty, 
the great power of the Christian message, the great power of the 
Christian gospel. So that if anybody's sitting 
in a church in 2019 and they're considering the claims of Jesus 
Christ and they're looking at themselves saying, but I'm a 
pretty bad man or woman or boy or girl. I'm a pretty wretched 
sinner. I'm a pretty evil person. I'm 
very polluted, very filthy. Everything that God has commanded 
that I do, I don't do. Everything that God has forbidden, 
I find myself doing. I don't think I'm worthy to come 
to Jesus. Let me just give you a bit of 
encouragement. None of us are worthy to come to Jesus. None 
of us are fit to come to Jesus. That's why Jesus comes to us. 
That's the point of the passage. Notice what happens. We see the 
initiative of Christ in verse three, not the initiative of 
Saul. Saul's got his papers. Saul's 
going to Damascus. Saul is going to persecute the 
people of God. Who comes to Saul? It's the Lord Christ. The way 
that God comes to Adam and Eve. The way that God comes to Abram. 
The way that Jesus says. in that scene with reference 
to Zacchaeus, the son of man has come to seek and to save 
that which was lost. Of course, in yourself, you will 
never come to the Lord Jesus, but Christ is able to make men 
willing in the day of his power. And that initiative shines forth 
here in verse three, no pun intended, but look at verse three. As he 
journeyed, he came near Damascus and suddenly a light shone around 
him from heaven. So notice, we have the Lord Christ 
coming to Saul of Tarsus, and all of the elements here are 
reminiscent of what is called the theophany. Now, theophany, 
before you say, he uses these big words and he never defines 
them, I'm gonna define it for you. Theophany means a manifestation 
of God. That's all it means. Remember 
when Moses looked at that burning bush? That was a theophany. That was a manifestation of God. The Shekinah glory that rested 
upon the tabernacle and temple, that was a theophany. It was 
a manifestation of God. And all of the elements present 
here, we have light, we have this sound from heaven, and we 
have this falling before this light by the Apostle Paul. All 
of these are reminiscent of Old Testament theophany. What we 
have here is Christ coming to Saul of Tarsus to have saving 
dealings with them. And remember that it's midday, 
it's noon, according to the parallels in Acts 22 and Acts 26. This must have been a bright 
light. Right? Traveling to Damascus from Jerusalem 
wasn't like Chilliwack. Like even in the midst of great 
weather, I think there's rain projected for Wednesday. I don't 
think that's the way it was. Noon at this time would have 
been sun. Like we see today, imagine a 
light that came beyond that, that's so powerful that Saul 
of Tarsus knows that he's dealing with a divine being. So all of 
this is reminiscent of Old Testament theophany, the manifestation 
of God, as well it's reminiscent of the call of the prophets to 
prophetic ministry. In other words, what is happening 
in this passage before us is not only the archenemy being 
conquered, but the archenemy is now being enslaved to serve 
the master of Christianity. He's going from the kingdom of 
darkness into the kingdom of the son of God's love. And once 
he's in that kingdom of the son of God's love, he's gonna be 
the arch proponent of this glorious gospel of free and sovereign 
grace. And so Jesus takes initiative 
and comes to Saul. Notice as well, Jesus interrogates 
Saul. Verse four, then he fell to the 
ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you 
persecuting me? And I think this is very encouraging 
for the people of God, because at times we wonder, is God really 
paying attention? I mean, look at what's happening 
in the passage. Saul of Tarsus, the arch enemy 
of the people of God, is going to the high priest. He's asking 
for permission so that he may go up to Damascus. And once he 
gets to Damascus, he can go into the synagogues. He can show that 
paperwork and he can seize upon the people of God. Jesus knows 
what's happening. Jesus sees, Jesus surveys, just 
like Jesus is standing there at the right hand of the father 
in Acts chapter seven, when Stephen is being stoned to death. Brethren, 
never let it enter into your mind and certainly never let 
it come from your lips. Does God even know what I'm going 
through? Yes, he knows exactly what you're going through. And 
according to his purpose and plan, you may need to go through 
it a little bit longer. In this instance, he comes. In 
this instance, he saves. In this instance, he stops the 
order that the apostle Paul would have to go to the synagogue and 
take these believers out of it. Now, note the identification 
of Christ in verse 5. I should tell you, in the King 
James tradition, In the middle of verse five, where it says, 
it is hard for you to kick against the goads, to the beginning of 
verse six, where it says, so he trembling and astonished said, 
Lord, what do you want me to do? It seems as if that has been 
added, but it's not superfluous information. It is found in the 
parallel passages. So I will preach it as is in 
the New King James version. If you have an ESV, you have 
an NIV, you have an NASB, it doesn't flow this way. Rather, 
it goes from, this statement of the Lord Jesus to arise and 
go to into the city. So having sort of dealt with 
that, let's look at this identification of Christ. Saul, at the beginning 
of verse 5, says, who are you, Lord? The word could be, sir. Kurios could be both Lord or 
Sir, it could be a sign of respect, but based on the reality that 
this is theophanic, in other words, it's reminiscent of these 
theophanies of God Most High, I think that Kurios as Lord is 
probably appropriate here. Saul may not know exactly who 
he's dealing with, but I think he suspects he's dealing with 
something beyond a normal human being. So he says, Lord, who 
are you? Now notice what Jesus says. And 
this, again, is great encouragement for the people of God. Then he 
said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. I am Jesus whom 
you are persecuting. What is this but the identification 
of Jesus Christ with a suffering church? Now, Saul and Jesus were 
about the same age. And in just a moment, we're gonna 
consider the statement of Jesus when he says, it's hard for you 
to kick against the goads. it seems that there was a history 
in the heart of the Apostle Paul. I'll try and show you that in 
just a moment. But he would have known most likely of this Jesus 
of Nazareth. He would have known of who he 
was in terms of his claims. He would have known in terms 
of his crucifixion, which I would suggest this is probably just 
a very surprising thing to Saul of Tarsus. You knew that this 
Jesus was crucified and now you're seeing him on the road to Damascus? That was revolutionary in the 
mind of this particular fellow, wasn't it? Notice when he says, 
I am Jesus whom you're persecuting. Paul had never personally persecuted 
Jesus. Paul had never raised his hand 
at Jesus. Paul wasn't necessarily there 
nodding in agreement at the crucifixion. Maybe he could have been, but 
for all we know, he wasn't. But when Paul, or Saul rather, 
persecutes the people of God, he is persecuting Jesus. There 
is this close identification of the head with the body. Isn't that beautiful and encouraging? I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. In other words, he's cognizant 
of it, he recognizes it, and in this particular situation, 
he's gonna deal with it. It's like that Abby Johnson, 
right? A foe, as it were, against the kingdom of God, murdering 
babies. Well, how do you deal with an 
Abby Johnson if you're God most high? You change her heart. You 
show her what an abortion looks like. You show her what's at 
stake and you bring her to the other side. Well, that's what's 
happening here with Saul of Tarsus. He's an arch enemy. He's a chief 
sinner. He's a foe of all that is good 
and holy and righteous. And what's Christ gonna do? Christ's 
gonna save him. And Christ is going to show him 
how many things he must suffer for his namesake, but Christ 
is going to send him out to kings, to Gentiles, and to the children 
of Israel. And notice. Matthew 25, Jesus 
makes this identification there. He says, in as much as you did 
it to one of the least of these my brethren, or did not do it 
to the least of these my brethren, you did it unto me, or you did 
not do it unto me. There's this solidarity between 
head and body. In fact, Augustine commenting 
on this verse says, it was the head in heaven crying out on 
behalf of the members that were still on earth. And John Gill 
says, for the union between Christ and his people is so close that 
what is done to them is done to him. So all that to say, brethren, 
when we're going through trials, when we're going through hardships, 
when we're going through afflictions, we can't say to God, you have 
no idea what's happening to me. You have no idea what I'm going 
through. You have no idea how hard this 
is. Jesus was the son that learned 
obedience through what? Through books, conferences, good 
sermons. Jesus learned obedience according 
to Paul the Apostle in Hebrews chapter 5 through suffering. Now I'm not suggesting that every 
time we cry out to God, God deliver me from this particular malady, 
he's going to do it. Perhaps we ought to cry out, 
deliver me, but if you choose not to give me the grace to bear 
up. Why is that not a part of our prayer life? We're good at 
praying, God take this from me. Not so good at praying, God help 
me to deal with it if you don't. That's an avenue of prayer too, 
isn't it? We're not Benny Hinn, brethren. 
We're not health, wealth, and prosperity. We do not believe 
there's no Hebrews 11 in the Bible. We know there's a Hebrews 
11. We know that there's a Hebrews 
5. And we know that if Jesus learned obedience through suffering, 
then likely we're gonna have to learn obedience through some 
suffering too. That's just God's way. God causes all things to 
work for good, even the suffering and affliction of his people. 
See, Romans 8, 28 really doesn't make any sense if it's the good 
things. We'd all agree God causes us 
finding money to work for good. God causes us getting job promotions 
to work for good. God causes us to, you know, have 
good relationships all around. Of course that. When Paul says 
we know that he causes all things to work for good, he probably 
means terrible things, horrible things, miserable things, bad 
things. But even in that, God causes 
it to work for good to those who love him, to those who are 
the called according to his purpose. Christ identifies with his suffering 
church. And then notice what he says 
to Saul of Tarsus, it is hard for you to kick against the goads. It is hard for you to kick against 
the goads. There's more pain when goads 
are kicked at. The goads or the pricks and the 
old King James was a means by which he tried to get the animal 
to comply. Well, if the animal kicks against 
the instrument of compliance, it doesn't make the pain go away, 
it exacerbates it. And I think what Jesus is saying 
to Saul is that it's hard to resist. Again, if we consider 
what Paul says in other places in his writings, we know that 
he was exposed to Christianity. In fact, Matthew Poole says the 
pricks or the goads that he kicked against was the preaching and 
the miracles of Stephen and others. Romans chapter 7, in verse 7, 
Paul gives us a bit of a before picture of his conversion. He 
says, I would not have known lust if the law had not said, 
you shall not covet. You see, it wasn't the case that 
Saul, the righteous Pharisee, was at peace all the time. Saul, 
the righteous Pharisee, knew what covetousness was. Saul the 
righteous Pharisee had come into contact with the people of Jesus. 
Saul the righteous Pharisee had witnessed the way that Stephen 
died. He heard Stephen say to them, 
or to the Lord, Lord, do not charge them with this sin. And 
so Christ comes now to him and says, it's hard for you to kick 
against the goats. In other words, Saul, you're not going to win 
in this exchange. It's the beautiful thing about 
the hound of heaven. Once he goes after you, you're 
going to get got. It's a beautiful and a wonderful 
thing. We call it the effectual call. We call it God making men 
willing in the day of his power. We call it the reality that the 
spirit of God, when he goes to work in the hearts of men, is 
irresistible. Not because he is mean or vicious, 
but because he turns our heart and affections towards him. He 
enslaves us into another realm in which we now delight. Stott 
said, the stiff neck of the self-righteous Pharisee bowed, the ox had fallen. been broken in." It is hard for 
you to kick against the goads. Now notice the instruction by 
Christ. So if you've been following this confrontation, we see Christ's 
initiative, verse 3, Christ's interrogation, verse 4, Christ's 
identification in verse 5, and now the instruction by Christ 
in verse 6. So he, Saul, trembling and astonished, 
said, Lord, what do you want me to do? Then the Lord said 
to him, Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what 
you must do. Now that sets the stage for what's 
going to follow in verses 10 to 19. He's going to meet a man 
named Ananias. The Lord, of course, communicates 
to Ananias that Saul is going to be looking for him. God brings 
them together. Ananias lays hands upon him, 
and these scales fall from his eyes. and he is now able to see. 
He's baptized, he makes this public affirmation of his faith 
in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he enters into the church. So 
that's the instruction, and again, it's a beautiful thing. Notice 
the absolute comprehensive sovereignty of God Almighty in the conversion 
of Saul of Tarsus, right? Acts 9, 1-9. But that reality 
doesn't minimize the place of means, doesn't minimize the place 
of a man like Ananias, doesn't minimize the place of the church. It doesn't mean we don't help 
people, we don't encourage people, we don't strengthen people, we 
don't deal with people. The Lord God is absolutely sovereign 
and has ordained means to accomplish his sovereign purposes. Why we 
would oftentimes reject means, why we would think that God's 
just going to have direct dealings with my soul. It's not going 
to come through preaching. It's not going to come through sermon 
audio. It's not going to come through my reading of the Bible. 
That's false. God uses means. For since in 
the wisdom of the world, the world through wisdom did not 
know God, it pleased God through what? Through the foolishness 
of the message preached to save those who believe. 1 Corinthians 
1.21 says that. And so God uses the means of 
Ananias. God uses the means of the church. God uses those things to encourage 
this blood-bought child of God. So Saul of Tarsus wants to go 
to Damascus so that he can destroy the people of God. Saul of Tarsus 
is destroyed on the road to Damascus by sovereign grace and is now 
one of the people of God. It's really a beautiful thing. 
Now let's look with reference to the completion of the journey 
in verses seven and nine. This is very intriguing what 
we have here. Luke, the historian, highlights for us the confrontation 
with Christ on this road to Damascus, but he doesn't leave us there. 
He tells us, he bridges the gap between this conversion and Saul's 
actually going into Damascus. Notice in the first place, the 
men with Saul. Now, why were there men with 
Saul? Probably because Saul wasn't nine feet tall and, you know, 
ripped as Arnold Schwarzenegger in his heyday. It would need 
help to take men and women back to Jerusalem bound so that they 
could be punished. So he has some traveling companions 
with him. Makes sense, doesn't it? And 
oftentimes, traveling these sorts of roads at this particular time, 
there wasn't, you know, police officers every step of the way. 
So there were highway, you know, highway robberies. There was, 
you know, men that would do harm to you when you were traveling 
alone. So it made good sense to have fellow travelers with 
you and to have some fellow muscle with you when you start hauling 
people back from Damascus to Jerusalem. So these men who journey 
with him, they stand speechless. Now I would suggest they fell 
too, but then they got back up and they stand speechless hearing 
a voice, but seeing no one. Now, I should tell you, this 
is a bit different than what Paul rehearses in Acts 22. And 
some say, well, there it is. There's a discrepancy in the 
Bible. There's a contradiction in the Bible. Here we have, the 
men are speechless. They heard a voice but saw no 
one. In 22.9, Paul says, they did 
not hear the voice of him who spoke to me. So on one hand, 
in Acts 9, they hear, but they don't see. And in the other one, 
they don't hear. Right? So some would say, well, 
that's a discrepancy. Well, there's two ways around 
it or two ways to sort of define or describe it. In the first 
place, they heard Saul's voice, but they didn't hear Jesus. That's 
consistent. That's legit. But I think even 
more appropriate is that they didn't understand the voice. 
I think the NASB renders it in 22.9 that way. They didn't understand 
it. And there's precedence for this. 
In fact, turn to John chapter 12. This is very important because 
people will try and claim, well, there's a discrepancy here. There's 
a contradiction here. On the one hand, he says that 
they heard a voice, but saw no one. And then later he says they 
did hear the voice, but of him who spoke to me. Notice in John 
12 verse 27 now my soul is troubled and what shall I say father saved 
me from this hour? But for this purpose I came to 
this hour father glorify your name Then a voice came from heaven 
saying I have both glorified it and will glorify it again 
Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it 
had thundered Others said an angel had spoken has spoken to 
him. They heard something but they 
didn't understand it What do we conclude? The target audience 
hears and understands. Everybody else witnesses something, 
something supernatural. It's not the case typically on 
the road to Damascus in noon or at noon, you get this blinding 
light and you hear this voice. They knew something happened 
to the supernatural character, but they didn't hear the voice 
of the Savior because it was Christ speaking to Saul of Tarsus. 
Again, I think there's reminiscences of Old Testament scripture. In 
Daniel, Daniel chapter 10, Daniel has a vision. He says, I, Daniel, 
alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not 
see the vision, but a great terror fell upon them so that they fled 
to hide themselves. So they saw something. These 
men with Saul of Tarsus saw something, they heard something, but they 
didn't hear the voice of Christ because the voice of Christ came 
to Saul of Tarsus specifically with this converting Purpose 
it was a distinction between the general and the effectual 
calling perhaps Now notice the condition of Saul in verses 8 
and 9 Then Saul arose from the ground and when his eyes were 
opened he saw no one but they let him by hand and brought him 
into Damascus and he was three days without sight and neither 
ate nor drank it's a bit of a An interesting thing, isn't it? 
Why? What's the significance there 
with this blindness? What's the significance there 
with this no eating or drinking? Well, I wanna try and explain 
that in light of what Paul says elsewhere in the book of Galatians. If you take Galatians 1 and 2, 
you can kind of fill in what's happening here in the book of 
Acts. You take Acts chapter 9 and 11, 
you can kind of fill in what's happening there in Galatians 
1 and 2. It's an amazing thing, right? The one man who wrote 
the one is definitely corroborating what Luke wrote and vice versa. Notice what it says, Saul arose 
from the ground. When his eyes were open, he saw 
no one, but they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 
Here I think it's just to indicate that he had been beaten. And 
by beaten, I don't mean to death. I mean, he had been conquered, 
conquered. The foe, the enemy of the church had been vanquished. 
Stott explains it this way. He who had expected to enter 
Damascus in the fullness of his pride and prowess as a self-confident 
opponent of Christ was actually led into it, humbled and blinded, 
a captive of the very Christ he had opposed. See, when he 
had those papers, if he hadn't have met Jesus, how do you think 
Saul of Tarsus would have entered into those synagogues? He would 
have went in there like he was eight foot tall and bulletproof. 
He had orders from the high priest in the main church in Jerusalem 
to the synagogue officials so that Saul could go in and find 
out those who confessed faith in Jesus Christ. He would then 
seize upon them. He and his buddies would then 
take them back to Jerusalem for further punishment. There's pride 
and prowess in his heart. There's arrogance, there's mischief, 
there's violence, there's threats, there's murder. What happens 
now? He can't even see. He's got fellows bringing him 
into the city to complete contra to what was going to happen. 
He was going to go in there in pride and arrogance and conquer 
Jesus and his people. Well, Jesus has conquered him, 
and now he is one of Jesus' people, and that's the significance. 
But then with reference to this three-day period, it's very important 
that we understand what Paul tells us in Galatians 1. He wasn't 
taught the gospel by Ananias. He wasn't taught the gospel by 
the apostles. He was taught the gospel by Jesus 
himself. He says that in Galatians 1. 
I didn't receive this from men, but I received it from Jesus. 
Now, brethren, you say, why do you need to point this out? Because 
some have been unhappy with the conversion account of the apostle 
Paul. You see, this didn't really happen, this supernatural light 
from heaven, this voice from heaven. If this didn't happen 
as Luke records it, then we cannot take Paul seriously. Because 
Paul everywhere affirms that it did happen, and that Christ 
did teach him. I would suggest that the three 
days, it was three days wherein Jesus is instructing him. Now, 
it's not that he didn't know the Old Testament. It's not that 
he didn't have some understanding of the way. But what Jesus does 
in that three-day period is underscore for Saul of Tarsus the hermeneutical 
principle to understanding all of Scripture. That Christ is 
the scope, that Christ is the end, Christ is everything with 
reference to Holy Scripture. So for that three-day period, 
I don't think it was just a matter of Saul lying on the couch not 
being able to see anything. I think it was Jesus instructing 
him. It was Jesus teaching him. John Gill says it this way, "...without 
bodily sight, for otherwise all this while his spiritual sight 
was increasing, and Christ was giving him by his spirit a full 
view of himself, his state and case, and where his salvation 
was, and a clear insight into the doctrines of the gospel, 
which he is said to have by the revelation of Christ, whereby 
he was fitted for the immediate preaching of it." That is what's 
happening here. It's not just that Jesus is showing 
him that, you know, you can be blind for three days. Jesus is 
teaching him. Jesus is preparing him. Because 
why? What do we see? At the beginning of verse 20, 
immediately he preached to Christ in the synagogues that he is 
the Son of God. Who does that? Who just immediately 
preaches the Christ? One that has just been taught 
the Christ by Christ himself. That's who does it. You see, 
Saul of Tarsus didn't go to Jerusalem until three years after he was 
converted. And then it was for 15 days he 
spent time with the apostles. He didn't go back to Jerusalem 
until 11 years after that. So a total of 14 years. This 
is one of his emphases in Galatians chapter one. This is one of the 
ways he underscores his authority as an apostle of Jesus Christ. 
He says, it wasn't James, it wasn't Peter, it wasn't those 
men. These men reputed to be pillars in the church, what they 
were, it wasn't anything to me. They only bid me that we remember 
the poor, the very thing that I was eager to do. See, the timeline 
with reference to Saul of Tarsus is that he's converted, that 
he's taught by Christ, and now he immediately preaches Christ, 
even during that three-year period, and then that 11-year period, 
before he ever meets the apostles and they give him further information. 
That's what he tells us. So if we disregard or we say, 
well, you know, this is so sensational and so supernatural, we must 
reject it. You cannot do that without rejecting 
the New Testament. You can't do that without rejecting 
the very Christ who saved this man. The historicity of Saul's 
conversion is absolutely crucial for the life of the church. If 
this is not true, then much of what we have banked our souls 
on isn't true. It's suspect. Again, I don't 
want to bore you with or surprise you with the various attempts 
to try and explain that this isn't what happened on the road 
to Damascus. Some suggest mass hysteria on 
the parts of the persons that stood speechless. Some suggest 
that the Apostle Paul or Saul of Tarsus had an epileptic seizure. He was sort of out of his mind 
for a time. Well, that's humanism. That's called liberalism, theological 
liberalism. It is a repudiation of the text 
of scripture. We cannot fall prey to that. 
We take the word of God as the inspired, infallible, inerrant 
word of God, right down to the conversion of Saul of Tarsus 
with the light, the voice, and the fear, and the trembling, 
and the I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. It is crucial for 
us to receive this and to understand not only Saul's sinfulness, but 
as well Christ's graciousness. Well, I want to conclude with 
a few thoughts and then we'll close. First, let's look at what 
Paul says concerning his pre-Christ life. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Well, I should say that Paul 
did see Jesus. He didn't see an apparition. 
He didn't see sort of a thought of Jesus. He didn't see a phantom. 
In 9.1 of 1 Corinthians, he says, have I not seen Jesus Christ 
our Lord? Remember all the way back in 
Acts chapter one, when they're looking for a replacement for 
Judas, what was a key component for one to serve as an apostle? 
They must have witnessed the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So it was crucial that Saul of 
Tarsus on that road to Damascus see the resurrected Christ, or 
else he couldn't have been an apostle. That was crucial information. That's why there's no apostles 
today, because nobody living today has seen the resurrection 
of Jesus. Paul saw Jesus. He tells us that 
in 1 Corinthians 9.1. But notice in 1 Corinthians 15, 
Verse 8, he highlights that he has seen Jesus. Then last of 
all, he was seen by me also as by one born out of due time. 
But then notice in 15.9, for I am the least of the apostles 
who am not worthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted 
the church of God. He never forgot the rock from 
whence he was hewn. The people of God typically never 
forget the rock from whence they were hewn. They never muse on 
what great people they were. They never muse on how accomplished 
they were. They never muse on how wonderful 
they were and how they were fitting. worthy of God's salvation. That's not it at all. The pattern 
rather is what we see in Ezekiel 36, that promise of the new covenant. 
When God says, I will take out the old stony heart, I will put 
in a new fleshly heart, I will sprinkle water on you, then you 
will remember your ways and loathe yourselves for what you did. 
That's more symptomatic of the genuine blood-bought Christian. 
They never muse and say, wow, you know, I was a pretty good 
guy or girl. It was about time that Jesus came to save me. No, 
they say things like what Saul or Paul the Apostle says in this 
instance. I'm not worthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted 
the church of God. Verse 10, but by the grace of 
God, I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain, 
but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but 
the grace of God which was with me. Turn over to Galatians 1. 
Galatians 1, we see underscored just how bad Paul was before 
his conversion to our Lord Jesus. Galatians 1 11 but I make known 
to you brethren that the gospel which was preached by me is not 
according to man For I neither received it from man nor was 
I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ 
Jesus taught him Jesus educated him and again, I don't think 
it was okay. So there was a king by the name of Saul There was 
a king by the name of David. There was a city by the name 
of Jericho. He knew all that The fundamental ingredient that 
Saul of Tarsus was missing was Christ. That's what Christ teaches 
him in those three days. That Christ is, if I can use 
the language, the key to unlock the meaning of Scripture. If 
you don't have Jesus, you don't have an accurate understanding 
of Scripture. We see that throughout the book of Acts. It's the religious 
leaders, it's the Pharisees, it's the scribes, it's the Sadducees, 
who know the Old Testament, but they don't know the Old Testament. 
It's the apostles who see Christ in the Old Testament who know 
the Old Testament. Now, notice what he goes on to 
say in verse 13. For you have heard of my former conduct in 
Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure 
and tried to destroy it. And I advanced in Judaism beyond 
many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly 
zealous for the traditions of my fathers. What did he try to 
do? He tried to destroy the church. 
It's a bad guy, wasn't he? It's a bad guy. Turn over to 
Philippians chapter three. Philippians chapter three. He's 
sort of setting forth his religious pedigree. And in the context, 
what he is doing is he's cautioning the people of God against the 
Judaizers. Judaizers were somebody who would 
come to the church and say, it's good that you believe Jesus, 
but you need to keep the commandments of Moses. I'm not suggesting 
that we as blood-bought children of God don't keep the commandments 
of Moses. Most certainly, we don't commit adultery. Most certainly, 
we don't murder. Most certainly, we don't commit 
idolatry. But when I say the law of Moses vis-a-vis the ceremonies, 
you've got to get circumcised. You've got to not eat bacon. 
You've got to, you know, toe that particular line. You've 
got to become a Jew before you become a Christian. That's what 
a Judaizer said. Faith in Jesus is good, but you 
must be circumcised as well. That's bad. If you have any idea 
in your head that it's faith in Jesus plus what you do, you've 
not been paying attention to Paul. Paul tells you, it's grace 
alone, through faith alone, in Christ Jesus alone. It is not 
circumcision that ultimately commends you to God. It is the 
active and the passive obedience of our Lord Jesus. So the apostle 
is cautioning them. In fact, look at verse 2. He 
says, beware of dogs. He doesn't mean canines. I think 
I shared with some of you, my little dog was savagely attacked 
by a neighbor dog a few months ago. And now I notice a skittishness 
in her and I when we're walking down the street. Whenever I see 
a dog off its leash, I get scared and she certainly does too. And 
if she could jump up into my arms, she would. I usually just 
grab her leash and grab her and that sort of, he's not talking 
about canines. He's talking about Judaizers. He is talking about the sorts 
of people that would say, belief plus, and you'll be saved. Belief 
plus circumcision, and you'll be saved. They're dogs, according 
to the apostle Paul. You have to understand why he 
does that. Because at one time, Jews looked at Gentiles as dogs. And now the apostle is writing 
to a Gentile church, saying that Judaizers are dogs. That's the point. He says, beware 
of evil workers, beware of the mutilation. That is a key statement 
there too, because in the Judaizers mind, circumcision was everything. Paul says, it ain't circumcision, 
it's mutilation. When you move from just a cultural 
thing that is identifying of your community to something that 
has religious significance to commend you to God, that's a 
mutilation. He says, for we are the circumcision. Again, Gentile church. We're 
the circumcision, the people of God, right? The bloodbought, 
the believers in Jesus, they're the circumcision, who worship 
God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence 
in the flesh. And now notice what he says, 
though I also might have confidence in the flesh. Paul is not boasting 
in this passage as if he was a great guy. He's making the 
point. The Judaizers are going to come 
and they're going to tell you that if you work hard enough, 
you can be accepted by God. Paul says, I was the guy that 
worked hard. I was the guy that did everything 
a good Jew did. I was the poster child for Judaism. And all of that means absolutely 
nothing. What is absolutely crucial is 
the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. That's the context. Now notice what he says, though 
I also might have confidence in the flesh. Verse four, if 
anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more 
so circumcise the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the 
tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews concerning the law, 
a Pharisee concerning zeal. Notice, persecuting the church, 
concerning the righteousness which is in the law blameless. 
That was all of his accomplishments before that road to Damascus. 
And notice what he says in verse seven, but what things were gained 
to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed, I also 
count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of 
Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all 
things and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ. One man 
has well said that Paul's doctrine is nothing more than the explanation 
of his conversion. I don't know that that exhausts 
Paul's doctrine, but I get what the author is saying. When Paul 
tells you, you can't work yourself into heaven, you should believe 
him. When Paul tells you that it's 
grace through faith in Jesus, you should listen to him. When 
Paul tells you, I was a man that was about to try and murder people 
for my cause, You need to listen to him. And then one other passage, 
I've already alluded to it, so you can go back to Acts 9, when 
he says, I am the chief. 1 Timothy 1, verse 15. So the persecution of the church 
by Saul was a reality. Secondly, the conversion of Saul 
by Jesus was a reality. We've seen the initiative of 
divine grace. We see the power of divine grace. And this is where I think we 
ought to spend the next two minutes. is to consider that power. He 
was engaged in a mission to bind believers and bring them to Jerusalem 
for further punishment. See, he wasn't in this good frame 
of mind, in this good frame of heart. He didn't have these feelings 
that would indicate that he was on his way to be converted at 
all. There was none of that. It was 
absent. It was void. It was vacant. There 
was nothing. Anybody looking from without 
could have seen in Saul saying, well, you know, I think he's 
going to become a believer someday. No, he was a hater of God. He was a rejecter of Jesus Christ. Now, some would say, well, you 
know, it wasn't so much he was ever a hater of God. He just 
moved from, you know, God without Jesus to God with Jesus. If you 
don't have God the Father without Jesus, you don't have God the 
Father, even in the Old Testament. Those scriptures are able to 
make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Christ is absolutely crucial 
in coming to the Father. As well, he had been kicking 
against the goads. He had been resisting. It was 
a powerful image that he saw with Stephen. I don't know that 
he ever rehearses that for us, though, Acts 7. Luke was Paul's 
buddy, and as Matthew Henry said, we have reason to believe that 
he put that in there, had Luke put that in there so that it 
would show his sinfulness and it would magnify free grace. 
But you see, he was conscious of this. He was conscious of 
the sin in his heart, according to Romans 7, 7. As well, he later 
explains that his desire was to destroy the Church of God, 
that he was, in fact, the chief of sinners, and he is confronted 
on the road to Damascus, and Christ saves him, not because 
he was a good guy, Not because he was engaged in a good work, 
but because Christ is gracious and merciful. That's the bottom 
line. That's what happens. He is taught 
by Christ, and then he immediately preaches Christ. Listen to what 
John Calvin says with reference to the conquest of Saul by Jesus. 
And whereas such a cruel wolf was not only turned into a sheep, 
but did also put on the nature of a shepherd. I mean, it would 
have been a good get if Saul just got saved, right? I mean, 
here he's not gonna be killing people. Here he's not gonna be 
breathing threats and murder against the people of God. It 
would have been a good get just to stop him from that mission 
to Damascus. But a better get is to take that 
man and to send him forth literally for thousands and thousands and 
thousands and thousands of miles to preach the gospel of Jesus 
Christ. to press the claims of Christ 
upon Gentiles, upon kings, upon Jews. That's how the rest of 
the book is going to unfold. Drop down for just a moment to 
verse 15. Verse 15 of chapter 9 is a bit 
of an outline for the second half of the book of Acts. Notice 
that Jesus says to Ananias, Go, for he is a chosen vessel of 
mine to bear my name before Gentiles. That's what Paul does. Remember 
when he's preaching in the synagogue? He says, since you judge yourselves 
unworthy of eternal life, we're gonna go to the Gentiles. He 
does that. That's according to the prophet 
Isaiah. It's all according to the plan of God. So Gentiles, 
and then as well, kings. You say, well, I don't remember 
any king. Of course there's kings. What happens? The Jews persecute 
Saul, Paul the Apostle, they arrest him. They can't do anything 
with him, so they turn him over to the Roman authorities. And 
one by one, Paul the Apostle stands before these men, Festus 
and Agrippa, and then he ultimately appeals to go to Caesar. That's 
not accidental, that was Christ's purpose. You're gonna bear my 
name to Gentiles, kings, and then notice what he says at the 
very end, and the children of Israel. How does the book of 
Acts end? The book of Acts ends with Paul 
in prison and Jews coming to talk to him about Jesus. It's a beautiful thing, brethren. 
Luke wrote a narrative that is beautifully outlined. Some of 
us love outlines. I don't like to think without 
outlines. Well, Luke seemed to be that sort of a fellow too. 
He gives us an outline in Acts 1.8 and he gives us this outline 
in Acts 9.15 for the latter half of the book. And that is precisely 
what we see. And then finally, with reference 
to that statement that the gospel or the doctrine that Paul taught 
was nothing but the outworking of his own conversion, consider 
his conviction. In Romans 1, he says, I'm not 
ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation 
for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the 
Greek. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith 
to faith. As it is written, the just shall live by faith. Paul 
was convicted of that, why? because he'd experienced that. 
He knew what God's power was like. He was not seeking after 
the Lord. He was not putting himself into 
the Lord's path. He was out to try and destroy 
the Lord and his work. And yet, that power overcame 
him on the road to Damascus. Consider his declaration. Had 
we continued to read in verse 9 of Philippians 3, Paul says, 
and be found in him not having my own righteousness, which is 
from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the 
righteousness which is from God by faith. He understood that. He has this pedigree. He has 
this religious resume. He was circumcised the eighth 
day. He was from the tribe of Benjamin. He was named after 
the first king of Israel. I mean, he had everything in 
place. But he knows that I'm going to heaven not based on 
my righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is from 
God through faith in Christ. And then consider that statement 
in 2 Corinthians chapter 4. I wonder. You never know, you 
can't know what's in the mind of a man when he writes, but 
perhaps Paul was reflecting on that light that shone on that 
day on the road to Damascus when he writes these words. He says, 
for it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, 
who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge 
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. I would just 
like to end by saying, if an arch enemy, If a persecutor, 
if a man whose mission it was, was to destroy the very church 
of Jesus Christ, if that man was not beyond the graciousness 
of God, then you're not. You're not. You are not the chief 
of sinners. You may think you are, and that's 
good, but you're not. Paul says it under inspiration 
of the Holy Spirit, that he was the chief sinner. I don't think 
that's accidental. I think it's God showing us that 
if I'm able to save the chief, then I'm certainly able to save 
the lessors. Come to Christ, believe on Jesus, 
turn from your sins in repentance, and follow after the Lamb of 
God who takes away the sin of the world. Let us pray. Father, 
we thank you for this account. We thank you that your grace 
is magnified so wonderfully in the salvation of Saul of Tarsus. 
Thank you for his work subsequent to this. Thank you for the letters 
that he has written. Thank you for the way that you 
used him. You not only saved him, but you used him mightily, 
and we have all benefited from this. We give praise to you, 
Lord God Almighty, for Acts chapter 9. We give praise to you for 
all of the Bible and how it testifies to us concerning Jesus Christ, 
our Lord. We thank you that you have shown 
in our hearts that the light of the gospel has come powerfully 
to us, and we pray that many, many, many more would come to 
know this Christ as Lord and Savior. Even in this place, God, 
we commit to you any that are unsaved, we would ask that you 
would draw them irresistibly by your power, make them willing 
in the day of your power, and cause them to see, to taste and 
see that the Lord good. We ask this in the name of Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, let's close by singing 
praise to our great triune God. We'll sing number