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just a couple of announcements before we begin just a reminder there will be no Bible study this Wednesday evening and then God willing will receive Ryan and Esther Mel jars into the membership of the church next week if you do not know them please get to know them and with that for our call to worship you can join me in reading Psalm 76 Psalm 76 as we frame our minds and hearts around the word of the living and true God Psalm 76 I'll begin reading in verse 1 to the chief musician on stringed instruments a psalm of Asaph a song in Judah God is known his name is great in Israel in Salem also is his tabernacle and his dwelling place in Zion there he broked the arrows of the bow the shield and sword of battle say law you are more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey the stout-hearted were plundered they have sunk into their sleep and none of the mighty men have found the use of their hands at your rebuke oh God of Jacob both the chariot and horse were cast into a dead sleep you yourself are to be feared and who may stand in your presence when once you are angry you caused judgment to be heard from heaven the earth feared and was still when God arose to judgment to deliver all the oppressed of the earth say law surely the wrath of man shall praise you with the remainder of wrath you shall gird yourself make vows to the Lord your God and pay them but all who are around him bring presents to him who ought to be feared he shall cut off the spirit of princes he is awesome to the kings of the earth amen well please turn in your hymn books to him number 213 hymn number 213 will stand as we sing together [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] let us pray our blessed God and father it's a joy and a privilege to gather in your presence today to come through your son our great high priest that surety of a better covenant and we come in the power of the Holy Spirit and we pray that you would be glorified and honored in this place we acknowledge that you are from everlasting to everlasting that you are the God who made this beautiful world you are the God who upholds it by the word of your power and you are the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has saved his people from their sins we give all praise to you this day as we gather together as we sing your praises as we glorify your Most High name we muse we reflect upon we rehearse the truth that salvation is of the Lord we're not here saved because of our good works or our merit or our keeping of the law but we are saved because of your grace shown to us in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ how we thank you that you made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him we thank you for that forgiveness that you have given to us and Lord this does amaze us when we consider our transgression our iniquity our rebellion against the true and living God and yet you have taken those things and you've cast that into the depths of the sea we thank you for that precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that does cleanse us from all sin and unrighteousness and we rejoice Lord God in your mercy in your loving kindness to us we ask that you would be praised as we sing we ask that you would bless the word as it goes forth we ask that your Holy Spirit would attend and you would sanctify and strengthen and encourage your people and Lord God we pray that today would be the day of salvation for any and all who've come here that are outside of Jesus Christ we know father that you are not only the God who has purpose to save but the God who does save we thank you that in the in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom did not know God but it pleased you through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe we prayed that your Holy Spirit would attend that preaching here and elsewhere we pray that wherever the people of God are gathered together where the Word of God has opened up the Spirit of God would be there bringing that word with power to the hearts of men and women in boys and girls when we pray as well Lord God that it wouldn't just be here in in our city and our nation but throughout the earth so we read the last hour there's so many people that suffer for the cause of God and truth and we pray that even today you would cause your face to smile upon them we would pray father that you would embolden them and encourage them and strengthen them that they may persevere in the faith seeking to bring glory and honor and praise to such a great and glorious God you are as the bride has said altogether lovely and chief among 10,000 we ask that you would forgive us for our sins and our transgressions when we consider your holiness and your righteousness we consider what the prophets said that your eye is too pure to look upon any evil we see our own sin before you Lord God and we plead that precious blood of the Lord Jesus we plead Lord God that that fountain that is open for sin and uncleanness and we pray that you would wash us and purify us and cleanse us from all iniquity and transgression and for those who have not come those who have not tasted and seen that the Lord is good we pray that they by grace would come to the Savior that they would know that forgiveness of sins they would know what it is to have friendship and peace with the living and true God that they would know that righteousness that comes from you that is received by faith alone and that they would bring glory and honor and praise to our great God we pray for the temporal needs in our congregation father we know there are those struggling with ongoing illness and we do commit them to you and to the word of your grace we pray for each and every one of us as we all struggle with spiritual affliction we all struggle with temptation and sin and and the effects of living in a fallen world god we pray that your word would be that balm of Gilead and that you would strengthen us with might and the inner man so that Christ may dwell richly in our hearts through faith that we may be more and more conformed unto his blessed image and that we may indeed shine as lights in this crooked and perverse generation and give us the boldness and the courage to hold forth your blessed word of truth and our God we pray for those in high places those governing authorities in this nation of Canada we know God that they often people often say you can't legislate morality we see the legislation of immorality when it comes to abortion and euthanasia and all matter of sexual perversion and we cry out to you with the Prophet that in your wrath you would remember mercy that you would send forth your glorious word that you would change the hearts of dead sinners and cause them to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved we pray that for those in high places of government we pray that they would kiss the Sun that they would bow the knee to the king of kings and Lord of lords and that they would function in a manner that is consistent with your holy law and our Father we pray that there would be a day when when these sorts of things would no longer be legal but rather criminalized as they ought to be and we do pray for those little ones in their mothers wombs God in heaven we pray that you have mercy and upon older people and sick people with reference to euthanasia what a wretched culture that would so readily dispose of the the most vulnerable among us God it truly is a an abomination it truly is a wretched practice and we pray to you that you would send forth your glorious gospel conquering and to conquer we also pray for the missionary enterprise we thank you that the gospel is going forth throughout the earth and we pray that it would run swiftly and be glorified that men from every tribe and tongue and people in Asia would come to the Father through the son in the power of the Holy Spirit and that God would be glorified from sea to sea and Lord we thank you for this opportunity to gather together we pray now that your spirit would be at work in our minds and in our hearts that you would help us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ to cast away thoughts that are lawful on the other days of the week but help us now to focus upon the worship of the true and living God there's no greater privilege that your creatures have no greater privilege that your elect hath than to come into the presence of our great God and we pray that you would be enthroned upon our praises and that you would be pleased to Tabernacle among us that Christ would be found walking among this particular lamp stand and we ask these things in his most blessed name Amen well you could turn with me in your Trinity hymnal again to Psalm 146 that's number 146 we'll stand as we sing together [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you could turn in your Bibles to the Gospel according to John where in John chapter 21 for our scripture reading this morning John chapter 21 I'll begin reading in verse 1 after these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias and in this way he showed himself Simon Peter Thomas called the twin Nathanael of Cana in Galilee the sons of Zebedee and the two and two others of his disciples were together Simon Peter said to them I'm going fishing they said to him we're going with you also they went out and immediately got into the boat and that night they caught nothing but when the morning had come had now come Jesus stood on the shore yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus then jesus said to them children have you any food they answered him no and he said to them cast the net on the right side of the boat and you will find some so they cast and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter it is the Lord now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord he put on his outer garment for he had removed it and plunged into the sea but the other disciples came in the little boat for they were not far from land but about two hundred cubits dragging the net with fish then as soon as they had come to land they saw a fire of coals there and fish laid on it and bread jesus said to them bring some of the fish which you have just caught Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land full of large fish 153 and although there were so many the net was not broken jesus said to them come and eat breakfast yet none of the disciples dared asked him who are you knowing that it was the Lord Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to them and likewise the fish this is now the third time Jesus showed himself to the desaad to his disciples after he was raised from the dead so when they had eaten breakfast jesus said to Simon Peter Simon son of Jonah do you love me more than these he said to him yes Lord you know that I love you he said to him feed my lambs he said to him again a second time Simon son of Jonah do you love me he said to him yes Lord you know that I love you he said to him tend my sheep he said to him the third time Simon son of Jonah do you love me Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time do you love me and he said to him Lord you know all things you know that I love you jesus said to him feed my sheep most assuredly I say to you when you were younger you girded yourself and walked where you wished but when you are old you will stretch out your hands and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish this he spoke signifying by what death he would glorify God and when he had spoken this he said to him follow me then Peter turning around saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following who also had leaned on his breast at the supper and said Lord who is the one who betrays you Peter seeing him said to Jesus but Lord what about this man jesus said to him if I will that he remained till i come what is that to you you follow me then this saying went out among the Brethren that this disciple would not die yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die but if I will that he remain until I come what is that to you this is the disciple who testifies of these things and wrote these things and we know that his testimony is true and there are also many other things that Jesus did which if they were written one by one I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written amen and thus ends the Gospel of John most persons have recognized in the history of redemption that each of the gospel records each of the books of those the Gospels Matthew Mark Luke and John are directed to different audiences there's certainly four all of us to be sure but they were directed specifically to particular audiences Matthew wrote to the Jews mark wrote to the Romans probably it was a series of lectures preached by Peter in Rome and Mark was the scribe that took these things down Luke is the gospel that goes to the Gentiles and many have suggested that John wrote to the church and what John does is he describes for us in great detail the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ he begins with in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God and he ends in chapter 20 at verse 28 with that confession of Thomas my Lord and my god probably chapter 21 is a bit of an epilogue to the book to show us Christ's dealings with his disciples preparing them further so that after he departs they can go and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord make disciples and plant churches and it's very intriguing that three times Jesus asks Simon Peter do you love me we remember that Simon Peter denied the Lord Jesus three times before the slave girl and so Jesus comes now to highlight the nest necessity of love on the part of these apostles so that as they go preaching the gospel as they go making disciples they remember that it's to be in the orbit and in the context of love they're not out there just trying to get notches for their belt rather they are out there to spread the love of God most high through the preaching of the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and that last statement by John he is the one that it leaned his breast or leaned his head on the breast of Jesus at the supper what he says there in verse 25 ice there are also many other things that Jesus did which if they were written one by one I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written what a what a glorious testimony concerning our bless of the Lord what a what a good and gracious Savior he is and the Apostle says that if there was a man that walked around with Jesus and took pen to paper for everything even the world itself couldn't contain the number of books that would be written of this great Savior our Lord Jesus will let us pray father we thank you for Christ we thank you for this passage we thank you for the emphasis on love and pray that you would increase our love for you increase our love for one another for Jesus says in this in this gospel by this all men will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another God we ask that you would help us to grow in these things help us to have compassion for those that are not believers help us father to witness and to testify concerning the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ and his ability to save to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through him and we ask this in Jesus blessed name Amen well for our final him before the preaching you can turn to 425 hymn number 425 again will stand as we sing together [Music] [Music] well please turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter 9 back to the Apostles we find ourselves in chapter 9 want to read the first half of the chapter verses 1 to 19 and then our focus this morning will be on verses 1 to 9 so beginning in Acts chapter 9 at verse 1 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 synagogue's 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 goads 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 saying no one then saul arose from the ground and when his eyes were opened he saw no one but they let 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 but 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 from my namesake and Ananias went his way and entered the house and laying his hands on and 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 eye 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 then 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 the early church thank you for the conquest of this arch enemy 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 Stephens prayer if you go back for just a moment to the martyrdom of Stephen in Acts chapter 7 at verse 60 Stephen says 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 does 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 1 and 2 and then secondly the conversion of Saul of Tarsus in verses 3 to 9 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 - 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 be huh I'm beyond the pale of God's redeeming Grace you can't say that God saved the chief sinner God saved the arch-enemy 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 was 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 it's 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 party agreement he was complicit he was right there with 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 actually put his hands on a woman and drag her off to prison fact that's indicated in our passage this morning he's briefing threats against the people of God both men and women and this exhibit 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 9 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 confessed 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 reformed 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 a 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 were 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 news 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 it says 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 and 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 the threat of these threats and hatred 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 that thought saying the high priest was the precedent of the prime minister but he was a man some power it 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 some not he was somebody within the Pharisaic religion but it also indicates something about the high priest the high priest who 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 its identifies believers as the way the Christians believers in the early 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 and I 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 any were who were found of the way whether men or women he might bring them bound to Jerusalem as Chrysostom says that does underscore his his ruthlessness now remember this was a time when enemies would go out armies would go out to battle and it wouldn't kill the women that's kind of changed today we put women in combat I mean we're 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 prohibit and even think about actually killing a woman that was 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 receive 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 a hundred and thirty-five 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 synagogue's 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 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 so that they may be further punished this guy is a bad man it's a wretch it's terrible now let's see how Jesus deals with them and 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 certainly saw 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 and you know 2019 and they're considering the the claims of Jesus Christ and they're looking at themselves saying but I'm not I'm a pretty bad man or woman or boy or girl I'm I'm a pretty wretched sinner I'm a pretty pretty evil person I'm very very polluted very filthy everything that that God has commanded that I do I don't do everything that God is forbidden I find myself doing I I 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 that the in that scene with reference to 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 theophany not the often II before you say these are the big words and he never defines them I'm gonna define it for you theophany means 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 the Shekinah glory that rested upon the Tabernacle in Temple that was a theophany it was a manifestation of God and all of the the elements present here we have light we have this sound from heaven and we have this this falling before this 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 - 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 going to be the arch proponent of this glorious gospel of free and sovereign grace and so Jesus takes initiative and comes to saw notice as well Jesus interrogate saw verse 4 then he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him Saul Saul why are you persecuting me I think this is very encouraging for the people of God because at times we wonder is God really paying it Jen I mean look at what's happening in the passage saul of tarsus the archenemy of the people of god is going to my 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 synagogue's 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 7 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 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 and verse 5 I should tell you in the King James tradition in the middle of verse 5 where it says it is hard for you to kick against the goads to the beginning of verse 6 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 end of verse 4 or beginning of verse five says says who are you lord now the word could be sir glorious could be both Lord or sir could be a sign of respect but based on the reality that this is theö fanuc in other words it's it's reminiscent of these theophanies of God Most High I think that Lord as curiosity 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 soul and Jesus were about the same age and in just a moment we're going to consider this 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 of the Apostle Paul I'll try and show you that in just a moment but but he would have known most likely of this Jesus of Nazareth he would have known of who he was in terms of 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 but notice when he says I am Jesus whom you are persecuting Paul had never personally persecuted Jesus Paul had never raised his hand at Jesus Paul wasn't necessarily there nodding an agreement at the crucifixion may be good a bit 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 it's not 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 going to deal with it just 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 your God Most High you change your heart you sure what an abortion looks like you sure 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 so of all that is good and holy and righteous and what's Christ gonna do Christ gonna save him and Christ is gonna show him how many things he might suffer for his name's sake 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 fact agustin commenting on this verse says it was the head in heaven crying out on behalf of the men members that were still on earth and john dill says for the union between Christ and his people is so close that what is done to them is done to him it's 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 helped me to deal with it if you don't that 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 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 to 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 goods are kicked at the goods of the pricks and the old King James was a means by which she 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 it is in his writings we know that he was exposed to Christianity 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 he see it wasn't the case that saw the righteous Pharisee was at peace all the time saw the righteous Pharisee knew what covetousness was so all the righteous Pharisee had come into contact with the people of Jesus so all the righteous Pharisee had witnessed the way that Stephen died he heard Stephen say to them or took to the Lord Lord do not charge them with this sin and so Christ comes now to them and says it's hard for you to kick against the goads other words so you're not going to win in this exchange it's the beautiful thing about the hound Hound of heaven once he goes after you you're gonna get God 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 it's irresistible not because he is mean or vicious but be current 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 been broken in it is hard for you to kick against the goads now notice the instruction by Christ so human following this confrontation we see Christ's initiative verse 3 Christ's interrogation verse 4 christ identification in verse 5 and now the instruction by christ and verse 6 so he saw 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 laid his hands upon him and the 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 comprehensive sovereignty of God Almighty in the conversion of Saul of Tarsus right acts 9 1 2 9 but that reality doesn't minimize the place of means does it minimize the place of a man like Dan Anaya's does it 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 gonna have direct dealings with my soul it's not gonna come through preaching it's not going to come through certain audio it's not gonna through comes 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 1st 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 7 and 9 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 saw wasn't 9 feet tall and you know ripped as Arnold Schwarzenegger in his heyday it would need help to take many women back to Jerusalem bound so that they could be punished so he has some traveling companions with it 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 there was you know men that would do harm to you when you were travelling alone so it made good sense to 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 to but then they got back up and they stand speechless hearing the voice but seeing no one now I should tell you this is a bit different than what Paul rehearses in acts 22 and son say well there it is there's a discrepancy in the Bible there's a contradiction in the Bible here we have the and her speechless they heard a voice but saw no one in twenty to nine 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 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 think the NASB renders it in 22:9 that way they didn't understand it and there's precedents for this fact turn to John chapter 12 so it's very important because people will try and claim well there's a discrepancy here there's a contradiction here on the one he and he says that they heard a voice but saw no one and then later he says they did hear the voice but the of him who spoke to me notice in John 12 verse 27 now my soul is troubled and what shall I say father save 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 both glorified it 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 it they fled to hit hide themselves so so they saw something these men was saul of tarsus saw something they heard something 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 led 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 want to try and explain that light of what Paul says elsewhere in the book of Galatians take-it 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 wine is definitely corroborating what Luke wrote and vice versa notice what it says Saul arose from the ground when his eyes were opened 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 stop explains it this way he who had expected to enter Damascus in the fullness of his pride and prowess as a self-confident opponent to cry of Christ was actually led into it humbled and blinded a captain of the captive of the very Christ he had opposed see when he had those papers if he hadn't met Jesus how do you think Saul of Tarsus would have entered into those the synagogue's he would have went in there you know 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 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 in prowess in his art 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 and pride and arrogance and conquer Jesus and his people well Jesus has conquered him and now he is one of Jesus's 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 want 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 chapter one I didn't receive this from men but I received it from Jesus my brethren you say why do you need to point this out because some have dis been unhappy with the the conversion account of the Apostle Paul they say 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 yet Jesus is preparing him because why what do we see at the end of verse at the beginning of verse 20 immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogue's 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 for 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 1 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 meant were they did it wasn't anything to me they only bit 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 save 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 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 masses area on the parts of the persons that stood speechless some suggested the Apostle Paul or Saul of Tarsus had had an epileptic seizure he was sort of out of his mind for a time well that's human is up 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 saw 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 1st 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 1st Corinthians he says have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord remember all the way back in Acts chapter 1 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 first Corinthians 59 1 but notice in 1st 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 59 for I am the least of the Apostles whom not worthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the Church of God he never forgot the rock from whence he was human the people of God typically never forget the rock from Wednesday were huge they never mused on what great people they were they never mused on how accomplished they were they never mused on how wonderful they were and how they were fitting and 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 bud blood-bought Christian they never amused and say wow you know I was a pretty good guy or girl it was it was about time that Jesus came to save me now 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 firsthand but by the grace of God I am what I am and His grace toward me was not in vain but I laboured more abundantly than they all yet not i but the grace of God with 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 all there was a king by the name of saw there was a king by the name of David there was a city by the name of Jack 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 describes 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 Percy cuted 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 father's what are you trying to do tried to destroy the church it's a bad guy what said he it's bad guy turn over to Philippians chapter 3 Philippians chapter 3 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 had come to the church and say it's good that you believed 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 visa vie the ceremony you got to get circumcised you've got to not eat bacon you've got a you know toe that particular line you've got to become a Jew before you become a Christian that's what a Judaizers 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 in 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 think I said 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 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 and you'll be safe belief plus circumcision and you'll be safe there 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 in the Judaizers mind circumcision was everything Paul says in circumcision its 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 blood bought the 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 gonna come and they're gonna 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 4 if anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh I more so circumcised 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 now notice what he says in verse 7 but what things were gain to me these are have counted loss for Christ yet indeed I also count all lost 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 murder people for my cause you need to listen to him and then one other passage I've already alluded to it so you go back to acts 9 when he says I am the chief first Timothy chapter 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 that he was on his way to be converted at all it was none of that was absent the void 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 well he had been kicking against the goads he had been resisting there's a powerful image that he saw with Stephen I don't know that he ever rehearse is that for us though act 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 would show his sinfulness and it would magnify free grace but you see he was conscious of this he was conscious of the 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 where as 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 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 and in the 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 he said well I don't remember anything of course there's Kings what happens the Jews persecuted saw Paul the Apostle they arrest him they can't do anything with him so they turn him over to the to the Roman authorities and you know one by one Paul the Apostle stands before these men fastest 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 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 loved 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 the doctrine that Paul told was taught was nothing but the outworking of his own conversion consider his conviction in Romans chapter 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 had 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 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 I wonder I 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 shone 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 archenemy 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 that I'm certainly able to save the lessers 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 that you used in 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 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 irresistible by your power make them willing in the day of your power and cause them to see to taste and see that the Lord is 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 will sing number 564 [Music] it's the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all amen may this be our experience Lord God may this be what you do with us and we know that love may we know that grace may we know that communion and may it indeed draw from us further worship adoration and praise to our great God even Father Son and Holy Spirit and we pray these things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen well please be seated for a brief time of meditation