← ArchiveActsSunday, June 2, 2019DateJune 2, 2019Speaker—TextActs 9Passages in this sermonActs 90:42Acts 67:51Acts 78:561 Corinthians 432:181 Timothy 1:1537:06Romans 1040:20TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00Hey, how are y'all doing? Hallelujah, praise the one who has set us free.0:30My name is Josh, if you don't know who I am, lead pastor here at Bethel. And I encourage you to join us in the Word of God today. Acts chapter 9. Acts chapter 9, we've been working through the book of Acts in a series we call the Model Church. And as you find your way to Acts 9, it's in the New Testament right after the Gospels. I want you to make a list in your head. I'm going to give you five seconds to make this list. And don't look around.0:59Just trust me on this. Make a list right now in your mind, not with your mouth, of the five most sinful people you can think of that have ever lived. Just look straight at me. Don't look around. Five seconds. Don't say anything. In your mind. I can't reiterate that enough. If you go online and you ask people this question, and pollsters have begged and pleaded with others and said, look, give us who you think the most sinful, the vilest people are in the world.1:23And usually your list is going to include one of these people, right? Joseph Stalin. You have to have a really good nickname to make this list. Maybe Nero. Or some would even include Vlad Dracula.1:50You probably know him by Vlad the Impaler. Now, this man was brutally sinful. So let me give you his LinkedIn skills. So if you look up Vlad the Impaler, this is something about this man. So Dracula, his name, and parents, be careful what you name your kids. Dracula means little devil. So don't be surprised when he grows up to be that.2:18Okay? He was prince of a Romanian country. By some accounts, he ordered people to die in these ways. You ready for this? Blinded, blinded, strangled, hanged, decapitated, stabbed, disemboweled, skinned, exposed to extreme elements and animals, hacked, dismembered, burned, boiled, scalped, roasted, nailed in the head, and buried alive.2:42Can you imagine how evil his heart must have been? And if we're honest, I think most of us would say, well, if there is a hell, this guy deserves to be in it. And we're okay with that eternal outcome. I mean, if anyone would agree with me, if there is a hell, and I believe there is a hell, Vlad the Impaler deserves to be there.3:06Right? If he doesn't, no one else does. But we're going to look at a man in Acts 9 that was equally sinful. And this is where the gospel meets this list. Because the gospel of Jesus Christ paints this miraculous picture that even for people like Vlad, the little devil, Dracula, while he was an enemy of God, Jesus died for him.3:34So for the vilest person on your list, Jesus died for enemies of the cross in that moment. And there's no other religion that will teach you that. Religion will teach you, well, you should die for someone that's good or someone that loves you. But God says, no, I sent my son to die for someone who hates me. And we're going to see a man here that belongs in that category, a man named Saul. So with all of that, and we look at our model church today, we're going to read about Saul, an enemy of the cross,4:03persecuting the church, and he was killing anyone who desired to follow Jesus Christ. So does he deserve to be on the list? Yes. He deserves to be on that most sinful list. But the big idea simply of our time together in the next moments is no one is beyond the reach or the redemption of Jesus Christ.4:26There's no one on that list that you created that is even beyond God's grace. That's the power of the gospel. So with that, let's read Acts chapter 9, 1 through 9, and then we'll pray and we'll apply this to our lives today. Now Saul was breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.4:53He went to the high priest and he requested letters from him to the synagogue in Damascus. So that if he found any men or women who belonged to the way, he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he traveled and was nearing Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him. Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him,5:24Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Who are you, Lord? Saul said, I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting, the voice replied. But get up, go into the city, and you will be told what you must do. The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the sound but seeing no one. Saul got up from the ground and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing.5:52So they took him by the hand and they led him into Damascus. He was unable to see for three days and he did not eat or drink. Now, fast forward to verse 17, same chapter. Ananias went and entered the house. Now, by the way, Ananias is a disciple of Jesus Christ. Saul was doing what? He was breathing murderous threats against the disciples of Jesus Christ.6:19So Ananias is entering this house of a known murderer. And this is the interchange. He placed his hands on Saul and he said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road you were traveling has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And at once, something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. Then he got up and he was baptized. And after taking some food, he regained his strength.6:50Let's pray. Father, we ask you right now that you would illuminate your word to us. That you would open up our hearts, that we would see your desire and your ways and that we would pursue passive righteousness. Lord, I thank you for the reminder already that whatever list we make in our life, the most sinful to the most righteous, Lord, we belong on that list.7:20And I thank you that no one here is beyond your grasp. So Lord, move in us, move among us and send us out to be a mighty missionary force that the world might know that Jesus saves. We ask this in Christ's name. Amen and amen. Well, this is not the first time we encounter Saul. If you were here last week, we talked about the death of Stephen. And this is what we find.7:50Stephen goes in Acts chapter 6 and God is working in him powerfully. So Stephen is filled with grace and power. And he's going and he's proclaiming the truth that Jesus is who he says he is. And he's going to the synagogues and he meets opposition. And the opposition is from northern Africa and also a place called Cilicia. And the most populous town, the most famous town in Cilicia in this time is a town called Tarsus.8:16You say, well, where are you going with this? The most famous resident from the place of Tarsus was a man named Saul. So you've already encountered Saul, whether you know it or not. And so Stephen begins to preach that Jesus is good, that his love endures forever. And the people can't stand it. And they scream, they gnash their teeth and they pick up rocks and they attack Stephen and they kill Stephen.8:41In a fit of rage. But before they kill Stephen, they have the right mind to set aside their outer garments. And in Acts chapter 7, at the end, we know that they set their garments at the feet of a man named Saul. The same man in chapter 9 of verse 1 is doing what? He's breathing out murderous threats.9:08As if hating the gospel is the air that he breathes. This is what he's doing. His life is filled with hatred of the cross. And look what the Bible does with Saul in verse 1 here. We see he's a rebel, but he's also connected with threats and murder against the disciples.9:34Not only is he trying to murder people, but he has murdered people. So Saul's life will forever be linked with Stephen's life. What does that tell us about Saul? What does it tell us about Stephen? What does Stephen know about Jesus Christ? That when Jesus comes in your life, everything changes. And Stephen was willing to give his life for the cross.10:01Stephen said, Jesus is worth it. I will die for Jesus Christ, who is the Messiah. Stephen knew that the new order of Christ is incompatible with the old order. What did Paul know? Sorry, what does Saul know? We're not there yet to Paul. What does Saul know? Saul understood in very vivid ways that the old order is incompatible with the new order. Stephen was willing to give his life for the Messiah. Saul was willing to take life because of Jesus Christ.10:32Why? What does Saul recognize? That this Jesus person is incompatible with the life that I am currently living. Why? Because Saul was a rebellious sinner. And we see in these two men the only two options when we encounter Christ. You are either a follower of Jesus or you are not. No one could look at Saul and say, well, you just watched when they killed Stephen. No, by laying the garments at his feet, not only was he given his approval, but most likely Saul was leading the charge and the rebellion.11:02What a sinful, ungodly person Saul was. And let me just share with you right now. Jesus Christ is incompatible with a sinful life. There's no alternative. And Saul understood that. And what does Saul also know about Jesus? That he was a threat.11:31That the way was a threat to the rebellious. And we see in chapter 9 of verse 1 and 2, what is Paul doing? He's not content just to kill Stephen, is he? He's breathing out murderous threats, right? That's the image that we get. And he requests letters from the high priest to the synagogues in Damascus in verse 2. So not only is Saul trying to stamp out the way in Jerusalem, but we see that the Christianity, the way, is now scattered to other places.12:00And Saul realizes, if this continues, this is a threat to my life as I know it. And so Saul is persecuting the church. And he has letters going on the road to Damascus to do what? To kill, steal, and destroy. Whatever means necessary, the path of Christ is inconsistent with the self-centered, self-righteous life.12:27And we're going to come back to that. And this is what we see in Saul's life very clearly. Religious zeal does not lessen holy rebellion. It only inflames it. Saul was one of the most religious people we know. And it did not tamper his rebellion against Christ. What did it do? It inflamed it.12:57So for church people, I just want you to think about that deeply right now. That Saul is a reminder that religiosity does not tamper your rebellion against Jesus. It only inflames it. It only adds a different stamp upon your life. This is the rebel Saul. But we not only see a rebel, but what do we see? We see a road. So Saul, breathing murderous threats. He says, oh, oh, at disciples, has letters from the high priest.13:24And now he's going where? A six-day journey. And he's going to Damascus. Damascus was a cultural center. It was a commercial empire. And he's going there to find people who love Jesus. And now why would he go to Damascus? Well, he knows that's where he can find Christians. And so we see this road that he is now on.13:53So let's look at verse 2. He's going to Damascus that if he found any men or women who belong to the way, he might bring them as prisoners back to Jerusalem. What is Paul's issue, Saul's issue? If I keep calling him Paul, you know him as Paul. He wrote 28% of the New Testament as Paul. So forgive me if I call him Paul. What does Saul know about Christianity? What does he know about the way? What are these people of the way saying?14:23They're saying to the world and they're saying to Saul, you cannot earn your salvation. What does Saul spent his life doing? Earning his salvation. He grew up a Jew. He grew up of a chosen tribe of the Jewish people. He grew up under the teachings of Gamaliel. He was a Hebrew of Hebrews. He was circumcised on the eighth day. He was who you wanted to be in the religious world.14:51If anyone could earn favor with God through religion, religious zeal, Saul was that person. And here come these unlearned, uneducated people saying, Saul, you've got it all wrong. And this creates issues in Saul's life. He can't stand the way because he has spent his life trying to earn God's favor. And think about religion.15:20Think about all the religions in the world. Almost every single religion will tell you what. The great umbrella is that if you do these things, if you live a certain moral life, or if you accomplish these steps, eventually you will reach heaven, or you will reach nirvana, or you will reach a place of joy and peace. But you have to do these things. What does Jesus Christ teach us?15:48He inverts the system. Jesus says, you can't do anything. You cannot earn your salvation, but it is finished on the cross. That's the gospel. The gospel is that the vilest offenders who truly believe can know Jesus Christ intimately and personally. And so he wants to take the perpetrators, those liars, those deceivers. How dare they say you cannot earn your salvation.16:17Let's bring them back to Jerusalem. So that's where we see him in verse two and three. And on his way back to destroy the way, something strange happens. So Paul is on the way to destroy people who follow the way. And we see in verse three, as he traveled, he was nearing Damascus and a light from heaven. Now this is around noon.16:46So this wasn't at pitch black darkness and a nightlight comes on and he's blinded. This is at the heat of the day, a light from heaven suddenly flashes around him. And it's so bright, it does what? It blinds him. We're going to come back to the intent and the purpose of that. Falling on the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?17:12Why are you persecuting me? What does Jesus Christ say to Saul on the road, on the way to persecute people of the way? Jesus calls him by name and not just any name. What name? It's a Hebrew name. And Paul is living a life that I'm living this religious Hebrew life to earn the favor of Yahweh.17:41And this voice from heaven comes and declares, probably in Hebrew, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Saul, why do you hate me? And Saul says, who is it? Lord, did you know that the one true God knows your name? No matter what road you're walking right now, you might be the most godly person the world has ever seen.18:10And you might be closer to Vlad the Impaler. You might be, I am living a life. I cannot stand God because of the bitterness and the hurt that's been in my life. And I don't even want to be here, but someone brought me here to church. I don't even know what I'm listening to. And I don't want the truth of Jesus Christ, but I'm here. If that is you, I want you to understand that God knows your name. Think about it.18:42You're not a number to Jesus. You're a name. God doesn't call out and say, hey, Hebrew number 56432, why are you persecuting me? He says, Saul, Saul, what's the purpose of a name? It's personal. It's familial. God knows your name. He's created you to know him and experience his love. And what Saul thought was a normal religious experience in this moment,19:10he realized what in verse 4? He realizes what he has stamped in this religious bubble has actually been persecution. It's actually been hatred to the cross of Jesus Christ. And this is what we need to understand. Westerners, Americans, listen to this. The self-sustaining life is the God-hating life. The self-sustaining life is the God-hating life.19:39What was Saul living a life of? If I do these things, God, I love you so much, I'll even kill people because I love you. God, how dare these people say that the temple does not give life? How dare these people say that Jerusalem is not the center of the kingdom? God, how dare these people say you can't climb and do these certain things and gain your favor?20:04God, I'll kill for you. And God says, no, Paul, you've been persecuting me. You hate me. You've been kicking against the goads. That's the danger of the self-sustaining life. And if we're not careful, that's where we want to go. That's where we're comfortable, isn't it? That's the rails that always, that we want to hug.20:32I think about, there was a, I grew up going to one of these amusement parks and they had these cars that kids could drive, but they weren't really cars because they were on the rails. So my dad would put me in the car and I would kind of steer and they were electric and, but they were on rails. I didn't realize that. And if you get caught on the rail, it would stay on the rail. Does anyone ever, do you have a clue what I'm talking about? Okay, some of you. Thank you, Stephen. God bless you, brother. And I just remember thinking, that's how we are in this self-religiosity.21:02We know that God wants us to go on his path, but the path of comfort is very enticing. Sometimes we get stuck. And so my dad would actually take the wheel and he would get me out of the rut and then I could drive again. That's the danger of this self-sustaining desire that we all have sometimes. And may we fight against that. May we fight against this sacrificing, self-sustaining life, which is really a savior persecuting life.21:31And Jesus says this to Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Why are you persecuting me? You see, to persecute the way is to persecute who? Jesus.22:00Jesus. In this moment, Christ gives us a radical truth that he identifies with who? Jesus eternally identifies with his people. So if you're struggling today and you are called by God, that you love him, are called according to his purposes, God identifies with you. Look at what Jesus says right here in verse 5, in verse 4. He says, why are you persecuting me? Saul, to persecute the church is to persecute Jesus Christ, the Messiah.22:27And so the people of God will be forever linked with the person of God. And that's what I want to tell people often. They say, well, I love Jesus. I just don't love his church. What? What does Jesus say here in verse 4? He says, Saul, why are you persecuting those people?22:53No, what does Jesus say? Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? The church is who you are if you are in Jesus Christ. And the beauty of that is when I suffer, when I struggle, Jesus identifies with our struggles and with our sufferings. We're not in it by ourself. That's the beauty and the power of the church of Christ.23:21He identifies with his own. And Saul just simply says in verse 5, Who are you? Lord, who are you speaking? And this moment for Saul, Jesus becomes personal. In this verse right here, after all he's been through his whole life, declaring that God is sovereign, declaring that Yahweh is the way, and that any other way other than Yahweh's way is not the way.23:46So I'm going to go on the way to destroy the way. Saul realizes something has radically changed when he says, who are you, Lord? We're going to come back to that in other scriptures. Who are you, Lord? I simply want to ask because Saul's belief system in this moment was radically challenged.24:15His pattern of life was challenged by saying, Jesus, you are Lord. Has Jesus become personal in your life? When we sing songs, hallelujah, praise the one who has set us free. Does something stir in your heart? Or do you just sing that with no emotion at all? I mean, can you sing, how great thou art? And nothing stirs your heart.24:45If that's true, maybe Jesus is not personal. Maybe you know about him. Saul knew about him, and he knew enough to kill people who loved Christ. But is Jesus personal to you? In a way that the way of Jesus changes your life. And from this moment on, in this passage, Saul says nothing. He says nothing. Because something has broken in his heart.25:14Something has broken in his spirit. He realizes that Jesus is the Messiah. And if Jesus is who he says he is, then my life will radically and fundamentally change. Saul the rebel, on the road, finds the Redeemer. Now let's look at Jesus, the Redeemer, in verse 5. Saul says, Now why would this have been a radical idea?25:39Because for Saul, he would quote and recite the Shema. Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one. Okay, so quick math. I was never at the math whiz, but just quick math. One plus one equals two. One plus one plus one equals three.26:08So for Jesus to be God, then there would be how many gods in Saul's mind? Two. And so we just gloss over this. But here's the radical struggle that Saul is having. Jesus cannot be God, because there is only one God, unless Jesus is God. And Saul is faced with this dilemma.26:38And this is so radical. Listen to this. This story is so radical that what happens is recounted three different times in the book of Acts. It's told here in chapter 9. Saul recounts it in the 20s, chapter 20s, and then he recounts it again. It says, Saul is going back to this story and saying, guys, listen to who I saw on the road. Listen to who spoke to me. Listen to who changed my life. You won't believe it. I was a rebel.27:08I got on this road. And then the Redeemer spoke to me. Listen to the Redeemer in verse 5. I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. Get up, go into the city, and you will be told what you must do. This is what we call in Latin, the convertere, meaning to turn around. In English, you would know it as the conversion experience.27:38This is what's radical in Saul's life. He's walking on the road to Damascus, and he has a radical conversion experience with Jesus Christ. But he turns around spiritually, but where does he continue? Where does he end up? Physically, Saul is in Damascus. He continues on the road, except he doesn't continue on the road. What a beautiful picture of a life in Jesus Christ. That Jesus radically saves him in this conversion, this convertere experience.28:07And he leaves him blind. The light is so bright that it leaves Saul blind. Now, the miracle was not necessarily punitive. It was temporarily. For three days, Saul is blind. Why would God leave Saul blind? Well, the light was really bright at first. But I believe there's a deeper connection.28:37What does Saul not realize spiritually in this moment? He's traveling to Damascus with letters from the high priest, sanctioned by the one true God, to stamp out anyone who follows Jesus Christ, the false God, in Saul's mind. And yet, Jesus reminds him that I am the way, the truth, and the life. And he's blinded because he truly is spiritually blind. And God is using his physical blindness to remind him that he is spiritually blind.29:04And we see this in his life, that often God uses spiritual blindness and physical blindness to remind us that we need him. And I believe many of us have come in here right now with blinders on. And for you, maybe you're not going to Damascus. Maybe you don't have this hatred of Christians and you want to stamp out anyone who calls himself Christ. And so you think, well, I'm not as bad as Saul.29:32But maybe you're here and you gossip. And you're looking around and you're thinking, man, I'm not as bad as that person because they're an alcoholic. And God is saying, but Josh, don't you see the gossip in your life? Josh, you're blind spiritually. Or maybe you're here and you're angry because of things that have happened in your life. And maybe you're angry at God thinking, God, how dare you allow this to happen in my life?29:57And you've wrestled with that anger. And God is allowing you to wrestle with that anger and bitterness so that with hopes that you would come to him and that you'd be freed up from that. I believe often in our lives, God is content to let you wrestle with your physical blindness and to say, follow me because I am the only place that you can have sight for your sore eyes. So where are your blind spots today?30:27Maybe it's a relationship. Maybe it's a boyfriend or a girlfriend that drags you into temptation and you know you have no business being with them, but they look good and they make you feel good. And God is saying, but it's not good for you. Leave that relationship. Break that up because it's going to destroy your soul. But you have blinders on you. You say, but God, this makes me feel good. God is saying, no, it's not good. Don't let this blindness destroy your soul.30:57Maybe you're frustrated or hopeless or discouraged. Is God revealing to your heart your spiritual blindness right now? Know that Jesus Christ is the only place where you'll find relief. Jesus is the only place where you will find your relief for that. And after three days, something happens in Saul's life. Verse 18. He goes and he's in Damascus and he's prayed over by a brother of the way.31:24The man that he was trying to kill just days earlier. And what happens as Ananias is praying in verse 18? At once, something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. Listen to this. Spiritual sight always precedes physical sight. God always heals us spiritually before he does physically.31:54And just think about the way we pray. Sometimes we pray in reverse, don't we? God, you take this ailment away. God, if you would allow me to see physically, then I'll see Jesus. And God says, no, once you see Christ, once you see the beauty of the Messiah, everything else will follow. And this is why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4, 6. He says, for God said, let light shine out of darkness.32:23It almost sounds like a blind man, doesn't it? He has shown into our hearts to give light of the knowledge of God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ. I believe this is Saul saying, man, when God opens your eyes, he speaks into the darkness of our hearts and the blindness of our physical bodies. And he says, let light come out of darkness. Only Jesus can do that. Only Jesus can do that.32:53And in his redemption, at this moment, in verse 18, his eyes become new and Paul's a new man. So what does he do? He simply, he gets up and he was baptized. With new sight came new obedience. That's what Jesus does in your life. So don't tell me you follow Jesus and you don't want to follow Jesus. I'll have people say, well, I can't do that. I don't know enough. What did Paul know here in verse 18? Scales fell from his eyes.33:24He regained his sight. And a couple of years later, he was baptized. No. Scales fell from his eyes. He immediately regained his sight. And he gets up and he says, Lord, I need to obey you. And maybe some of you are there right now. You've put your faith in Jesus Christ and you've not yet obeyed in believer's baptism. In June 23rd, we're going to have our next celebration service. And I've already had people come to me, several adults, say, look, I need to get baptized. I need to obey Jesus.33:54Because if I believe that he is the way, I need to live according to the way. With new life comes new obedience in him. And if that's you, I pray that God would give you the boldness, even today, to talk with one of our counselors. To fill out that Connect card and say, I want to take this step. I've had sight and now let me obey Jesus Christ. Did you know that Jesus is still in the life-changing business? Right? This is the story from thousands of years ago.34:24But God did not stop changing lives. Here, we have the story of C.S. Lewis, a militant atheist. Who, by his own admission, but the last thing he wanted to do was be converted to Christianity. And one day, God sneaks up on him and Lewis called it, he said, I was surprised by joy. And this is what Lewis said about encountering Jesus Christ. He said, I am dragged, kicking and screaming, the most reluctant convert in the whole world into the kingdom.34:53Jesus changed his lives. Thinking about a man named John Wesley. He was a fanatical son of a minister. He was a missionary to America. He was a great theological mind. But there was a point in his life where he was a total failure as a human being and as a pastor. And one day, he's sitting alone and he said that he was praying and his heart became strangely warm and God saved him.35:19Think about a man named Augustine who was a monk and yet he had a mistress. Which is odd, right? And he even prayed this prayer. He said, Lord, make me pure, but not yet. At least he's honest. And some of you are praying that prayer right now.35:48God, I want out of this relationship. I want out of these temptations, but not yet. How about tomorrow? And then one day God grabs him and Augustine becomes Saint Augustine because Jesus rescues him from his sin. Three unique roads, yet one way, one truth. So what can we take home from this passage? I believe if anyone deserved hell, it would have been Saul.36:19Breathing out murderous threats against the people of God. He was the one that said to the community who was killing Stephen, the first Christian martyr, hey guys, I'll be your coat rack. Let me hold your clothes. I don't want them to get dusty or get blood on them as you kill Stephen. If anyone belonged on that list, Saul would have been the man that we would have said,36:47this guy deserves hell. He hates God. But we get a glimpse of Paul's list, Saul's list. Listen to what Saul says about the list he made of the vilest sinners that he could think of. This is 1 Timothy 1.15. Saul speaking, same guy, Paul. He says, This is a trustworthy saying, deserving of full acceptance. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.37:17And I am the worst. But I receive mercy for this reason. So that in me, the worst of them, Christ Jesus might demonstrate his extraordinary patience as an example to those who would believe in him forever for eternal life. You see, when we make these sinful lists, we compare ourselves. We never put ourselves on the list because we want someone who's worst on our list.37:47We want to say, God, I'm not like that person. I guarantee you that when you were making your list of the top five sinners you could think of, you weren't number one. I wasn't. And yet Saul tells us when he makes the list, when he closes his eyes every night and says, God, here's the worst sinners. He says, God, number one, Saul.38:16But here's a trustworthy saying. Christ Jesus came into the world to save the worst of that list, the worst sinners. And I am the worst. But God saved me. He redeemed me. And the hope that we have in Saul's life, in this story, if Jesus saves Saul, he can save you. And he can save me. And I believe we need to put ourselves on that list daily and say,38:43God, I am daily in need of your grace. But God, thank you that I'm not beyond your reach. God, when I was living in my sin as the enemy of the cross, I was not beyond your reach. And if you've been with Christ for 80 years, you're still not beyond the reach of the Redeemer. That's the love that we have in Jesus Christ. You see, the truth is, I am Saul.39:09You are Saul. We are the rebels. We are the persecutors. We are the ones that Jesus died on the cross and said this. God, forgive them. Because they don't know what they're doing. They don't know they're killing the one who's provided for their salvation. God, they don't know they're killing the one who in my blood is shed, is shed for their forgiveness.39:40God, they don't know they belong on the list, but one day they will. And when they do, God, remind them that we love them. Remind them that we've paid the price. God, remind them that no matter the road, there is a Redeemer for rebels. Maybe that's you today. Maybe you're here and you think, God could never love me because I hate him. Saul would say, you know what? You're in good company. And he can, he loves those and he will redeem those who he persecutes.40:10If you've never given your life to Jesus Christ, you can right now by faith. This is what Paul says. Same guy in Romans 10, 9. He says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. Now, let's put that in perspective. On the road to Damascus, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Who are you? If you confess with your mouth that God is a personal God, that he is Lord,40:38you and you believe in your heart that God raised from the dead, you will be saved. Have you done that? Is Jesus Christ your personal Savior? Because when you confess him as Lord, it gets personal. And we just ask that you would spend some time in prayer through faith saying, God, I want this gift of salvation that comes through Jesus Christ. That he lived a sinless life, that he died on the cross, he rose again,41:08and God, you did it for me. And right now I believe that. So God, I will give you my sin because I desire righteousness. Will you receive the gift of salvation? It's yours if you believe, if you confess. The same God that saved Saul will save you. Last year, I'm to the point now where I can, I'll take my kids back to my old stomping grounds and drive around.41:37I remember my family doing that. I'm thinking, Dad, I don't want to see all these old houses and all the old schools. I don't want to see where you walk three miles in the snow to go to school. And so we drove our kids around last year to my home. And I'm like, look, guys, I grew up, the road I grew up on was called 10 Happy Lane. It was the happiest place on earth. And so we drive up and I'm driving and I say, hey, look, this is the street that I grew up on.42:02And I couldn't find the street sign because in that area, they've gone to, they're going to the 911 system. So they've renamed all the streets, County Roads. And I remember thinking, I'm about to say with such joy, hey, Eli and Aaron, man, look at Happy Lane. And then I tell them, this is the road I grew up on, County Road 38655. What a happy place this was.42:34And as I was, as I was reading this, I just remember thinking, God, who changed the name of my road? And as I was reading through this scripture this week, I just have to believe that when Saul would tell us about the Damascus Road, he would look at us and say, hey, guys, you'll never believe this. But someone changed the name of the road. You call it Damascus Road, but it's not that.43:04Jesus changed the name. That's where I found him. There was a bright light and I was persecuting him and I hated the way. And he spoke to me and I just said, who are you, Lord? And he said, Saul, I'm the one that you persecuted. And Saul would simply tell us, man, if you follow Christ, look, the roads that you're living, the roads that you're walking, he will radically change all that. Because without Christ, the happy lane that you think you're living is not so happy.43:33But it can be joyful if you belong in Jesus. So if you are in Christ today, this is what I want you to do. This is what I want us to do for our time of response. Maybe you want to come pray at the altar. Maybe you want to pray in your seat. Maybe you just want to stand with joy and your eyes lifted up. Think about the day that Jesus changed your life. Think about the day that the Damascus road became the Messiah's road.44:01And think about the joy that that brings in your life. Because I believe when Paul wrote, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, he's going back to the Damascus road. I believe when he wrote in 1 Corinthians that God has shown in darkness, he went back to the Damascus road. And I am convinced that Saul went back often to that road. The day where God stopped him in his tracks.44:31And said, Saul, I love you. Follow me. Let's pray.← Previous in ActsSunday, May 26, 2019Next in Acts →Sunday, June 9, 2019More sermons on Acts →
