Please turn in your Bibles to the ninth chapter of Acts. We make our way through the story of the early church. We now reach the ninth chapter. Yes, for everyone to turn in a copy of God's Word, we're so privileged to have it. We have two Bibles available for you. If you don't have your Bible, page 974 in the two Bible. Acts chapter 9, we come this morning to what Berkeley called the most famous conversion story in all history. Saul of Parsis, crowd, Saul of Parsis, Persecutor of the Church comes face to face with the very one that he persecutes. And he crumbles. He's blinded. He is without speech. He's shattered. Nathan says, poor, bewildered, broken spirit. He goes on to become the most influential man in the history of the world. These nine verses is a very encouraging passage. It's a very instructive passage. It's a quite searching passage. And for many of you, it is an endearing passage. If for no other reason, you identify. So that's me. I know. I understand the change that happened in Paul. It happened to me. And so that's the story before us this morning. As we stand for the reading of God's inerrant, infallible, inspired word, beginning in verse 1. Then Saul, still braiding threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest that asked letters from him to the synagogue of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the way, whether men or women, he might bring them down to Jerusalem. And 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? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, who 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? And the Lord said to him, arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do. And the man who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. Then Saul arose from the ground and when his eyes were open, 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. All men are like grass and all their glory is like the flowers of the fields. Oh, man, please be seated. It's really very heartening. Is it not that we have before us a passage of Scripture, we know. When we walk out of here, we're going to be encouraged. It's heartening to come to a passage like this that talks about conversion, talked about being saved by the Holy Spirit, putting faith in Jesus Christ. And we know when we walk out of here, we're going to be, we will have been reminded that this is my God. This is the God that I love. This is the God that I worship. This is the God to whom I pray. And I know, and we're going to know, we walk out of here, that that's my God. And he can convert the most zealous opponents to Christianity that they're over. That's my God. My God can turn the most blessed sinner. My God can melt the hardest of hearts. And not only so, but this passage tells me how the Holy Spirit takes the initiative not man. How the Holy Spirit actually moves into a person who's dead in their sins and quickens them, makes them alive. This is the passage about how the Holy Spirit takes the initiative and shows us our sins. Confunds us with our sins, convicts us that we are wrong in our sins and we need a Savior. And only the Holy Spirit can tell us that the Savior is Jesus. He's the only one. It's only faith in Him, and not only so, it's not the Holy Spirit saying, and I give you that thing. You can't muster it. You can't create it. It's all the work of the Holy Spirit. And then he's the one who patiently works in us as we'll find, not only in our practice this morning, but throughout the book of Acts, that he's making us more and more like the Son, more and more obedient so that our lives, more and more come under the lordship of Jesus Christ, and we surrender to Him as our King by the grace of God. Not because we're good, but we can flatter ourselves or power ourselves on the back. If you have Christ this morning, if you trust Him, if you're obedient, if you love the Word, it's by the grace of God that happens in your life. A work of the Holy Spirit. And once you've noticed first what kind of man the Saul was. The children can follow and that children's book, and you'll notice some of the fill in the blanks. And the first one's under the letter, I am going to go through it pretty quickly. But therefore, the first one, number one, is the Saul was a sinner. It was a sinner. Why is the sinner prior? What was the sinner throughout his whole life? But before he is, remember when Saul is a sinner. Well, let's see his heritage, and the deal that he had for his upbringing, for his traditions, the things that he helped, so dear to his heart, the first thing, that Saul was born in Tarsus. Tarsus was a prominent city in that early culture. There were three universities in the first century. There was one in Athens. There was one in Alexandria. And there was one in Tarsus. Tarsus was a very important city, very important to Rome. And that's what Paul's parents were. They were Romans. He was born to a Roman citizen. His father was a Roman citizen, so Bob Blair's fault was Roman. His not only son, but his parents were Jews. They were devout Jews. His dad was a Pharisee. And no doubt his parents were well off. They were well off enough to fit into Jerusalem, the school, to study under the famed rabbi. He was the leading rabbi of the day. Saul got the best education. He was a well-educated scholar. He had a friend. Every Jewish boy was taught a friend. Saul's friend was tent-making. He was devout. He was sincere. He was jealous. He told the church at Philadelphia circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. Concerning the law of Pharisees. Concerning zeal, persecuting the church. Concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. He's saying, as far as the law is concerned, I was blame. This man was admired. He was exemplary. You talk about devotion. None of us even began to compare the kind of devotion, the kind of zeal this man had for his religion. He never would have missed a worship service. He was in church. Every time they met, he was a tyrant. What I'm saying, I think I'm saying. He was a man that would have found a lot of respect in Trinity Presbyterian church. But he was a man who was completely lost. His works couldn't save him. His good deeds, his love for the law, his love for Moses, his zeallessness, his religiosity, his being in church. None of it was good enough. He couldn't offer it to God. It amounted to anything. It was all filthy rags before this holy God. It was such something to us, doesn't it? It's faith volumes to our own conversions in what I'm not trusting. Where do I place my faith? Do you think you sit there and think, I'm good enough. It's somehow I'm going to present myself to God. He's just going to let me into his presence one day because I'm good enough because I went to church enough because I was able to do a few good deeds and quit doing a few sins over here. And my religion, these religious works, it's somehow I'm going to make myself good enough in the presence of this holy God. No way ever, ever will you do that. The Paul's conversion serves as this monument to all mankind. But your works, no one's works are good enough. No one is good enough to go to heaven. And if you think you are, if you think you're trusting in something other than Christ, trusting in family or trusting in tradition or heritage or your zeal, not only are you unsafe, but you're on a collision course with real Christianity, genuine true biblical Christianity even if Saul found himself. His religious zeal ran headlong into Christianity that shameful heresy which he would have regard to Christianity. His zeal, you think, for the church is zeal for or least his faith, he might say his tradition turned into a persecutor's rage. Every thought, every word, every deed was dominated by his desire to destroy followers of Jesus Christ. He says to the churches in Galatia, Galatians 1, 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. Saul, like so many, was looking for this glorious, mighty, majestic king to come on the scene and be the savior to be the Messiah. And here is this convicted criminal hanging on a cross. Saul loved Moses, he esteemed the law, he esteemed the traditions, here's the man who's teaching it threatened the law, threatened the temple, threatened the land Israel. If that verse of it Saul saw Christianity as a malignant grove which called for drastic surgery. He saw it as a blast from the, he felt it, that this blast from the Christianity was going to bring the curse of God down on his people. And it had to be silence, so we know we've already seen Saul was there. When they stoned Stephen, he was getting hearty agreement, chapter 8 verse 1. In verse 3 of chapter 8, we heard that he was ravaging, ravaging the church that's a word used for wild animals as they tear their plague limb from limb. That's the word chosen though, that he entered homes and dragged them all, putting them in prison, the Christians. And then we read in the first verse of heart text, Ben saw, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord went to the high priest. And this breathing threat, that's an illusion to panting the snorting of a wild beast. And when we get to verse 21, we read the word destroyed. It's the same word again as one animal mulling another animal. And so the picture we get, the idea being conveyed by Luke's choice of words describe Saul's reaction to the gospel and that of its ravaging animal, vicious, wild animal, desiring to just tear these Christians apart. It's not satisfied with Jerusalem alone. He had for other major cities, Damascus being one of them. I'll just head to that big city, now tear those Christians limb from limb. So he asked the high priest for war to arrest these Christians, these letters, men and women. There's an ass letters from him to the synagogue of Damascus in verse 2, so that if he found any who were of the way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. It's amazing, the depth that a person will fall. When they're blinded by their zeal, especially those that are blinded by their zeal to do Christians then, to not understand what Christians are coming from, and to therefore first to keep them in gospel about them and whatever they do to you. You see, they'll come a point possibly even when I feel that they're what they're doing to you. They feel they're actually doing a service to God. That's what Jesus warned about in John 16. They will push you out of the synagogue. Yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. You wonder how far is God going to take us as a church? How close to home is he going to stick us with a gut check, a Trinity church to find out or we really fear you. It's about our walk with Christ. Stanley hand out something to the staff. He may have hand out the prayer group. Maybe you got a copy. It's an order that takes you through about an hour's worth of prayer for revival. And one of the questions is, are you willing to take the price for revival? We need to ask ourselves that. That's what God is saying, this man's fault. He's going to have to break through a heart and heart. He was going to have to break through self-righteousness. Break through this works religion, this self-earned good standing before God. But not only so, he would have to break through and overcome this violent hostility. God was going to have to storm the life of this least likely candidate in all the world to be a converse. Perhaps you heard of the two caterpillars that were crawling across the glass. They looked up and saw the butterfly flying ahead and one of the caterpillars nodged. The other one said, you couldn't get me up in one of those things for a million dollars.
Saul was the type of person you couldn't make me one of those people. He despised them. You couldn't give me a million dollars for a million years. I'll never be like him. He was so far from being a Christian. He was 150 miles. Outside the mattress, the trip from Jerusalem to Damascus, 150 miles, a commentator will say five days walk. I think sometimes the commentator might have to try to be my showman. But it's more like a walking and have to be at least 10 days for me anyway. But let's just say finally at the end of the journey, Damascus is in view. The skyline is in view and it's noon time. And that's when it happens. In verse 3, as the journey he came to Damascus, and suddenly a light showing around him from heaven, he fell to the ground and heard the voice saying, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? He said, who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus. And you're persecuting his heart for you to kick against the dough. We're going to talk about that in a minute. So he trembling and started, said, Lord, what do you want me to do? And the Lord said, arrived and go to the city and you'll be told what you must do. And then in verse 7, it was about to be in with him. We're going to talk about them in a minute as well. But the light that was shining in which we learned in chapter 26 was brighter than the sun. And it was like lightning bolts around him and he falls to the ground. He's got it humbling, this proud man said it. And he knows it's the voice of God. Any good rabbi would have known this was divine. This was the voice of God. And the voice says, Saul, Saul. You might remember, we talked about that in the early weeks together in January. It's everywhere. Saul, Saul, that's a double knock. That means an intimate address. This is a man speaking to another man who really knows that man. He is intimately involved in that man's life. And he says, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Paul, Saul is thinking, persecute you. I'm defending you. What do you mean, persecute you? Who are you? By the way, who are you? His worst nightmare. The unthinkable answer, he says, I am Jesus. I'm the one that you're persecuting. Can you imagine the turmoil in his stomach? And he begins to tremble. You know his life flashed before his eyes. You see, Saul has seen. He has met the living Jesus in his whole world. Everything he stood for, every tradition came tumbling down on him. He realizes I was wrong. Jesus is a law. Jesus is the Messiah. So what's he going to do? How's he going to react? Jesus confluence him. What's he going to do? Is he going to shake his fist in Jesus' face? Is he going to curse Jesus? He's going to say, well, I'm going to demand this. Anyway, I'm going to do it just as I will please. I'm going to do whatever I want to do. And you can't stop me. No way. He responds in this way that anyone, anyone who takes Jesus, get up in your face and say, I'm alive, deal with me. He answers him like any genuine convert would answer his Lord. What do you want me to do? And with those words, Paul's journey began. And for every one of us, there was a day when our journey began. You say, but I didn't see a blinding line. I haven't ever heard the audible voice of Jesus. I don't even know the day or hour that I was saved. Let me tell you something, that's okay. You don't have to know the day and hour. And whoever told you that was put an undo guilt on you. There are some traditions that take place. Let me say, if you don't know a day and hour, if you haven't had a Damascus word experience, then you're not really saved. And that is false. I played my children, wouldn't have a Damascus word experience. I played, if they never come to point their lives, where they have to have a Damascus word experience. But rather, again, the words of Nathan, that they grow up into the law of Christ, that's what we want for these children here. When I want them to have to be so overwhelmed, so I feel so much anguish in their souls, but rather just recognize what God has done for them. Again, nations come as a child, being a Christian, the culmination of a God-enriched childhood. On the other hand, my dear sweet Betsy was 26 years old and sitting alone on a mission trip in Jamaica. With her Bible open, open to the Beatitudes, Matthew chapter 5, and the Holy Spirit convinced her at that moment, you are not the same creature you are. The old has gone away, same verse for John Morgan. The whole of your new creation, the old has gone. We all have days that the journey began, and as different as all of our circumstances are, in our conversion experiences, the miracle is the same for us all. Don't ever say, oh, I can't give my testimony, it's not good enough and been through enough. That is false. The miracle for all of us is the same, whether your name is the apostle Paul, or Bill, or John, or Robert, or Patty, or Susan, it doesn't matter. It's always the same. God took the initiative in your life. That's the first thing that's common for all of us. God took the initiative in your life. See, as Lewis said, a man talking about his search for God, it's like a mouse talking about his search for a cat. Whether he spoke to you in a small, still voice of your mom and dad, you grew up a coveted child, or it was the tender voice of a sonny school teacher and God spoke tenderly to your own heart, or whether he storms your sin-filled, oh, crusty heart, and made the racket of the cowboy coming in. It doesn't matter. It was still the hand of heaven that came into your heart when you were dead in your sins. The hand of heaven, Francis, Thompson, is that right? Francis Thompson reverently referred to God as the hand of heaven to making that initial contact with you. And what is true for every one of us is you came face to face with Jesus Christ, and every one of us said, the only response we had, I bow myself to you now, my Lord and my King, what do you want me to do? The issue is not being in charge. The issue is not reading your Bible and praying. I wish it weren't that easy. The issue is not putting away a couple of sins trying to get rid of that in your life, and then maybe getting involved in church and doing a few good deeds. The issue is realizing that Jesus Christ is alive, that He is Lord and He is King, and He is your King, and you surrender yourself to Him day after day after day. And you say, whatever you hate, I hate, whatever you love, I love, and quit playing the game. I so many do, I want to talk to talk. We see so often little to you now. We see right through you. You just submit yourself to Christ. It may be that you're hearing these words, even this morning, for the very first time. So I've heard it a thousand times. Well, maybe you've heard it a thousand times with your ears, but you've never heard it in your heart. And as I preach, you hear the shepherd's voice. Perhaps like you've never heard it before. And the implications are overwhelming. Maybe that you have to admit, I've been to church my whole life, and I never knew it. I never knew the truth. You may have to admit, I was a church officer. I was an officer at Trinity Presbyterian Church. But I never knew the truth until I heard it, that Lord's Day morning, August the 27th. Maybe you will have a day and hour. You may have to admit, I was preaching the Word. That's what John Wesley was doing. He had been ordained in the Church of England for years, a missionary in Georgia. And all the while, he was unconversed. It means you have to admit, that you don't know it all. In fact, as you said, as far as I've been wrong, I thought I knew it. You liked it all. I thought I knew. But I never really knew. And now I've got to rethink my whole life, why I do what I do. It's my priority. Everything, my values. That's what it means by kicking against the ghost. It means you have a whole new outlook on life. You've painfully had to rethink your views on religion and moral conduct and history and art and music and philosophy and politics and education and family is called kicking against the ghost. But when you finally come face to face with Jesus Christ, and you sit there in humble, stunned silence, and you finally put your hand over your mouth and shut up and listen to God speaking to you through his words, or possibly through his servant this morning, preaching the word, and you quit kicking against the ghost. You will inevitably say, Lord Jesus, what is it that you won't need to do? And from that point forward, your life is never the same. Whether you're 26 or 86, your life is never the same. But we're going to do something a little bit strange this morning. I'm not blue preaching. I've got a few more minutes. I've got a conclusion. But before I preach the conclusion, verses 8 and 9, which is just a few minutes, I'm going to ask you to bow your head now, and that's not really the strange thing. I'm going to ask you, nobody has to do this. Nobody has to be made to feel uncomfortable in any way. But I'm going to ask you, is your hands are just sitting there in your lap to just turn them on like this? Okay, and just have your hands empty before God. That's not care as much. Okay, it is a biblical posture before God and you're saying two things. I have nothing to give you. And please feel these empty hands. Okay, we're going to sit in silence for about 30 seconds to a minute. I'll break the silence by reading verses 8 and 9 to conclude the sermon. But I want you with your hands like this. I want you to ask God, ask Christ himself, what do you want me to do? Let's bow our heads in silence. Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were open, 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. Cloud calls thee, being led by the hand. Blind, undone, devastated. He didn't eat. He drank for three days. He sits in darkness. Along with his thoughts, he's thinking, I've got to read. We commit. We think my whole life, everything he has stood for, vanished in a moment. And now he has a new master, a new path to take. Now, can you imagine, you can look up now, imagine those men who were traveling with him. They're not neutral in this thing. These are the soldiers of the Sanhedrin. No doubt they had been with Saul and other journeys to bring in those Christians, and they go back to Jerusalem, and they say, where's Saul? And they say, well, he's not exactly with us, and they say, well, where is he? Where is he? And they say, well, the last time we saw him, he was actually in a Christian's apartment on a street called Straight. And they say, is this some kind of joke? And those soldiers say, no way. Saul is a Christian. He's been converted. You say, why Saul? He was murdering Christian. That is the sovereignty of God. That's God's sovereign choice. Your question this morning is, why me? Why me? Because for the grace of God, we'd all be on that road to Damascus, seeking to destroy the Church of Jesus Christ, but he humbled you, didn't he? And he seized your affections and the light of his face shown on you. And you submit it to him. And he's your Lord. And you love him. That's what we're going to sing about, as we end our service. Him number 648. And you can pray that my voice will come back before tonight. Big fire in 48. You'll notice in the bulletin