Well, I say, Gary, Brother Neil,
it's good to see you again. I'm gonna ask you to take your
Bibles and turn with me to the book of Acts, chapter nine, Acts
chapter nine. A few days ago, woke up one morning and I had
a verse of scripture on my mind. And I just bawled over it, fought on it,
came back to me time and time again. And the more I thought on it,
the more I began to wonder what the Lord would have me speak
on. And this morning when I got up,
I thought to myself, I've got to go here. I've got to go here.
I pray that God be pleased to bless it. It's Acts chapter nine
and verse six. This is concerning the Apostle
Paul on the road to Damascus. After
the Lord arrested him, stopped him, he was going after, that
is Saul of Tarsus, was going after God's people. Scripture
says, verse one, I'll just read, I'm gonna read verse six in a
minute, Lord willing, but, and Saul yet, Breathing out, threatenings. I looked at that breathing out,
threatening, just in and out. He was so mad, he was so angry.
Breathing out, that's what it was. Just that anger in his heart. Threatenings and slaughter against
the disciples of the Lord went unto the high priest and desired
of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he found
any of this way, any of those who were of the
way himself, Christ who is the way, if he found any of them, he would take them, bring them,
bound them to Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came
near Damascus, and suddenly there shined around about him a light
from heaven, and he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying
unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, who art
thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus,
whom thou persecutest. It is hard, it's dangerous for
thee to kick against the pricks. And here's the passage, verse
six. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have
me to do? And the Lord said unto him, arise
and go into the city and it shall be told thee what thou must do. The sinner to whom God has shown
mercy. That sinner, arrested spiritually
by the power and grace of Almighty God, he's taught something. He's taught. He's taught, and
because he's taught, he's submissive to the Lord Jesus Christ. This man saw, he had his mind
set that these blasphemers, these of the way, they were blaspheming
God. That's what he thought. They
were blasphemers. They were against the law of
God. And the scripture reveals that
the Lord was pleased to stop him. stopped him in his tracks. And
just as I read this passage of scripture again, I thought to
myself, I have to so often reflect on me. You reflect on you if
you want to. But on me, I think to myself,
I'll bet you a hundred bucks that most of you that know the
Lord, you're gonna relate to what I'm about to say. What but for the grace of God
would I be doing right now rather than sitting in a church service
and listening to a man preach something that you've heard over
and over and over again? How many times you heard the
story of Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus? No telling,
no telling. But it's just as alive and real
as it is, as it was the first time you heard it. First time
you heard it. Here he was, Saul of Tarsus,
a Pharisee, religious man. And Almighty God was pleased
to awaken this sinner. According to these scriptures,
here he was. He was on his way to Damascus. I saw where it was
about, around 145 miles, they say, from Jerusalem to Damascus. That's about how far it was.
And this man had been probably riding hard. And he gets close
to where he's going. And the Lord stops him and awakens
this man spiritually. by grace and power. Now, he is
respectfully fearful. He's respectfully fearful to
the Lord. He says unto the Lord, verse
five, who art thou, Lord? The Lord said, I'm Jesus, whom
thou persecutest. It's hard for thee to kick against
the priest. Here's this man who moments before
was getting ready to take any that he found of the way and
bind them up, take them back, persecute them. Problem with man outside of Christ,
according to Romans 3.18, there's no fear of God before
their eyes. They don't fear God. They have
no respect for him. Saul, trembling, astonished,
he was amazed. Think of the amazement right
now, how amazing it is. I'm watching cars go by out here.
I can see them out the corner of my eye. How many people are
out there on the road right now? And they just don't care. Here's
a man that God had shown mercy, and He called him, He called
him by name, Saul. Saul. Saul heard this voice from
heaven. Who are you? I'm Jesus. I thought of the amazing
answer that was given by the Lord Jesus Christ. Call His name
Jesus. He shall save His people from
their sins. That's what Jesus means, Savior.
Who art thou, Lord? I'm Jesus that you're persecuting.
And Saul astonished and amazed. It amazes me that God stopped
me. That God Almighty stopped me.
It amazes me He stopped me. I'm amazed that God revealed
Christ to me. I'm amazed that he taught me
something about what I am by nature. I'm amazed he's not put
me in hell. But I'm telling you, I know this.
I deserved it. Still, and myself still deserved
it. Had the Lord not taken my guilt, my debt, made it his own.
Put it away at Calvary. Oh, I am amazed that I'm still
standing right here tonight with you talking to you concerning
the glorious grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. It amazes
me. I'm thankfully amazed. Found in the faith. What wilt thou have me to do? A sinner saved by the grace of
God, shown something of his error. I don't know the depth. I don't
know the depth of my rebellion. I couldn't stand it. I know that. It's the mercy of God that I
don't see the fullness of what I really am. One shown something
of the way himself. One shown something of the Lord
in whom, by whom a sinner is pardoned. One that has found
peace with God. I don't know the depth of that.
I don't know the fullness of that. It sounds wonderful to
my heart but not knowing. I see through a glass darkly,
but I see something. And I know this, that peace has
been wrought for sinners by God's grace and mercy. I've been taught enough to know
that, but for His grace, I'd still be in false religion, thinking
I'd done something for God, proud of myself. Proud? Oh my. Oh, the mercy of almighty God. This is the evidence of a good
hope. You want to know something about a good hope in Christ? Let me tell you what it is. The
Lord gives his people a heart to see themselves as unworthy
sinners. Christ Jesus came to this world
to save sinners. You want a good hope? Let me
give you some hope. I'm not gonna tell you how good
you are, because you're just like me. I thank God for you. I thank God
for this assembly. I thank God for putting us together.
But I know that every believer in this congregation tonight
knows something. I don't say exactly, they don't
know exactly nothing. But they know something of what
the Lord's done for them. And they're thankful, they're
thankful. Lord, what would you have me to do? That was the question
that goes through my mind over and over and over again. You don't drive God's people.
They're sheep. You don't drive them. The Lord
leads them and directs them. What would you have me to do? The believer's life Christ is
our life. For you that believe, everything
that comes our way, everything comes our way, circumstances,
whatever, I'm telling you by the grace of God, our hearts
are still drawn back to the Lord. We may not understand what He's
doing, we may not understand the depth of anything that's
going on, but I'm telling you, you do consider Him in whatever
situation. There's these precious scriptures
that we have, and all things give thanks. How many things does that cover?
All things give thanks. Heard me say before, why did
I have to go through this? Because the Lord willed it. Best
thing that happened. Would you change it? Well, if
you leave it up to my silliness, stupidity, I'd say, well, maybe
I did, but by the grace of God, a believer's gonna say, Lord,
you've dealt well with your servant. Lord, you've dealt well with
me. Lord, you've blessed me. You give me a hope in Christ.
Everything concerning our life is prefaced by this thought,
Lord, what would you have me to do? What would you have me
to do? I told you just recently, I told some of them, I told all
of you, and look, I forget so many things so fast nowadays.
But I remember whenever I came here, I talked to Brother Scott, Didn't talk to him for a year
after I talked to him the first time. He never called me, never,
well, but we talked. We just didn't talk about me
coming here. And I began to feel, after Glenda
and I got married, I began to think about this place. And I'm
from Tennessee. I'd lived there for years. And
I got to thinking about West Virginia. So I called Scott. Brother Scott, what would you
think if I said something about coming here? He said, I got one
question. What do you believe the Lord
wants you to do? I said, I believe he wants me
to come here. He said, I don't have any other questions. Called
Henry. You know the answer to this. I called Henry. Henry said,
you talked to Scott? I said, yes sir, I did. What'd
Scott say? He said that, He wanted for me to do whatever I wanted. You know, I thought the Lord
would have me do it. Henry said, I don't have any other questions
then. He said, if you've talked to the Lord about it, you feel
that of the Lord, and you've talked to the pastor. He said,
if you feel that this is what you've got to do, this is what
you've got to do. Lord, what would you have me to do? Have
you ever found yourself crossing that bridge? What do I do? What do I do when it comes to
these decisions? Lord, this is the safest thing
that we can do. Lord, what would you have me
to do? And the depth of that question,
I mean, there's things that comes up in our everyday life. I mean, it doesn't even have
to be as complicated as moving to West Virginia. It doesn't
have to be near that complicated. Just individual dealings with
one another. Just things that come up in the
lives of our children. Lord, what would you have me
to do? These things that I just don't
know. We're meeting here tonight. Let me
ask you this. Do you think that it's necessary
to sit under the sound of the gospel and hear the word of the
Lord? Well, the Lord said, forsake
not the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some
men. The Lord's answered that. There's
some things that I know should I Work to support my family? Man,
don't work, don't eat. I know something like that. But
these things where I don't know it. The lines are not clear.
What else believer are you going to do? But go to the Lord and
ask the Lord. He said you have not because
you ask not. Lord, what would you have me
to do? Those to whom the Lord has shown
mercy. I tell you what they do. They
walk by faith. They walk believing God. The Lord hears. He hears. Back in Acts chapter 9, here
was Saul of Tarsus trembling, astonished. He said, Lord, what
will thou have me do? And the Lord said unto him, you
will rise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what
thou must do. I want you to get up, and I want
you to go to this city. You say, but the Lord doesn't
speak to me like that. Yes, he will. Yes, he will. How can you be so sure, Marvin?
Because the Lord said, my sheep hear my voice. I don't know. I've never heard
the Lord's voice audibly. I've never heard it. But the
impulse of my heart, the providential dealings of the Lord, the Lord
said that he speaks. And he said his sheep hear his
voice. God keep me from saying I've
never heard the Lord speak because he said my sheep hear. When I came here, I did not hear
a voice from heaven. Saul of Tarsus did. I didn't
hear a voice from heaven, but I was absolutely sure. I've never
doubted. I'm honest here. I've never doubted
I did the right thing coming here. I never doubted that. Did
you hear his voice? Yes, I did. What did it sound
like? I don't know. I don't know, but I heard it.
God's people hear the voice of the Lord and they walk after
him. What would you have me to do? Well, scripture says in verse
seven, the men that journeyed with him stood speechless. hearing a voice, but seeing no
man. They stood there and they had
nothing to say. They were speechless. They didn't hear the voice of
the Lord that Saul of Tarsus heard. But God Almighty speaks
to his people. He guides them by his providence,
and they walk by faith. There was a great importation
of a new heart. No man calls the Lord, Lord,
but by the Spirit of God. When Saul of Tarsus, when it
says right here, verse 6, And he trembling and astonished said,
Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto
him, well, let me tell you the first thing I did. I'm gonna
look up those two words and I'm gonna find out what they mean.
Same two words, same two words. Saul of Tarsus heard the Lord
speak and the Spirit of God put in his new heart. And he said
to the Lord, Lord, It just asked the Lord before, who are you? And he said, I'm Jesus, the one
you're persecuting. And I'm telling you, with that
word came an importation of life, because I looked at the words.
When the Lord spoke to Saul of Tarsus, he heard him. And he
addressed him as the Lord. The Lord. What would you have me to do?
Oh, with regeneration, there's a new will. God's people, they're
willing. Now, what would you have me to
do? Just a moment before, if all of Tarsus knew what he wanted
to do, I'm gonna get those people of the way. I'm gonna get them,
I'm gonna bind them, I'm gonna bring them back to Jerusalem,
and I'm gonna punish them. That's what I'm gonna do. And
the Lord spoke to this man in power, in mercy, in grace. And Saul said, Lord, what do
you want me to do? What do you want? What would
you have me to do? He was a man now willing to hear
in the day of God's power, willing to come, willing to obey, willing
to follow. Whenever the Lord gives a man
or woman a new heart, I tell you what they're going to do.
They're going to take God's Word against themselves first, and
they're going to take God's Word against every false prophet.
They're going to look and see in the Word of God, this is what
the Lord says. This is what the Lord has done.
This is what the Lord has commanded. And this is what they want. Lord,
I want what you want. This is what I want. You that
believe, let me ask you this. What do you want? I know what
your answer is. You want whatever the Lord wants.
What would you have me to do? And he meant it. He meant it. Necessity was laid upon him. Lord had called Saul of Tarsus
heard, and with a willing heart, made willing in the day of God's
power, a binding constraint is found in this man. First Corinthians
9, 16, for though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory
of for necessity is laid upon me. Yea, woe is unto me if I
preach not the gospel. I want to preach. I want to preach. I got to preach. As long as the
Lord gives me ability to preach, it's what I want to do. It's
what I want to do. Necessity. Lord, what do you
want me to do? I said those others there in
verse seven, they were journeying with Paul. They stood there speechless.
They heard a voice. They saw no man. I looked up
that speechless. They were speechless. Silent,
making signs. This is what they did. Did y'all
hear anything? Who's he talking to? He said,
Lord, who's... Silent, making signs. Hearing a voice. a disclosure,
a sound, but seeing no man. That's what Paul said. Acts 22,
verse nine, he said, as he recounted this encounter here, and they
that were with me, you know, indeed saw the light and were
afraid, but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. This is what a believer, that
the Lord speaks to. This is what he does. This is
what I believe God wants me to do. This is what I believe God
wants me to do. This is what the Lord has laid
upon my heart. In verses eight and nine, It
says, and Saul arose from the earth. And when his eyes were
opened, he saw no man, but they led him by the hand and brought
him to Damascus. And he was three days without
sight and neither did eat nor drink. A sinner regenerated by
God's grace, one to whom the Lord has shown mercy. He is brought
down. He's brought down. That's the best thing God Almighty
would ever do for sinners like us. Bring us down. Get us down
off our high horse. You say, well, I'm not like that.
Yes, we are. Yeah, yeah. Two men went into
the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, one was a
publican. Pharisee prayed thus with himself,
God, I thank you that I'm not like other men are, adulterers,
fornicators. I'm glad I'm not like they are.
I'll tell you what, I know by nature I am. I am. As man thinketh in his heart,
so is he. Oh, I've never thought like that,
you see. But that publican wouldn't even
lift up his eyes to heaven. But he smote upon his breast
and what he said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Paul arose from the earth, his
eyes were open, he couldn't see. Saw no man, led him by the hand,
brought him to Damascus. Three days without sight, neither
did eat nor drink. Saul of Tarsus. Mighty Pharisee,
set at the feet of Gamaliel. Here's Saul, who had previously
exalted himself, gave a good record over Philippians 3, you
know, Pharisee of the Pharisees, you know. Concerning the law,
listen to this, blameless, that's what he said. Now here he is,
right here. Lead, can't see. Almighty God
had abased him that he might lift him up. That's what God
does. Before the Lord's gonna lift up a man, lift him up by
grace, I tell you what he's gonna do. He's gonna put him in the
dirt. He's gonna show a man that he's nothing. Best thing in the
world ever happened. Best thing in the world that
ever happens is for God to put us where we really are. We need it. We need it. Every
man born in Adam exalts himself, he thinks himself to be something
when he is nothing, nothing. Oh, but for
the grace of God, we'd all be right there. Oh, he had formerly
letters of authority from the high priest and everything take
God's people away. Now he's being led by a man because
he's blind. Made to see Christ as sovereign
in all things, in distinguishing salvation. Those that were with
me, Saul said, they heard a sound, but they didn't hear the voice
I heard. They didn't hear the Lord speak that I heard. The
Lord spoke to me. Saul, Saul. One man out of that
group. How many were there? I don't
know. But I know how many he spoke to. He spoke to one. Oh, a sinner to whom God has
shown mercy. He's directed. He's directed
by the Lord. You know, The great blessing
that is given to God's people is that the Lord leads them and
guides them. I think of the mercy of Almighty
God. The scripture says that the Lord
gives pastors. We've got these scriptures. Let
me ask you something. These scriptures right here,
they deal, concerning him. And I'm talking
about all of us now, all of us. How thankful are we that God
would send us pastors and put a pastor in a position and give
him a heart to want to sit down and study and study those scriptures
and then proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ. We all can
get our hands on a Bible. But I'm so thankful for men that
I was able to sit under, hear the gospel preached, and explain
to me. The Lord would give understanding
through men, through men. Pastors, that's what he said.
I will give you pastors according to mine heart, and they shall
feed you with knowledge and understanding. All these men that God has so
graciously sent all of us, how thankful we are that the Lord
would send a preacher. That's what he did for Saul,
send him a preacher. The scripture says, verse 10,
there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. And
to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias, and he said, behold,
I am here, Lord, And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go
in to the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the
house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus. For behold, he prayeth." He prayeth. I tried to muse on that a little
bit, and I thought only the Lord would know. that Saul was praying. Only the Lord knows that. He
doesn't have to say anything out loud, but God heard his prayer. Behold, he prayeth. He's praying. I've heard a tale some say that
was the first time he ever prayed. Probably was. Behold, he prayeth. There's one there, Saul of Tarsus, Oh, the blessing of the Lord
raising up one that would teach according to God's Word, that
would hear the Word of the Lord, that God would speak to an Ananias.
An Ananias said, verse 12, it says, he had seen in a vision
a man named Ananias coming, putting his hand on him that he might
receive his sight. Then Ananias answered, Lord,
I've heard by many of this man how much evil he's done to thy
saints at Jerusalem. And here he hath authority from
a chief priest to bind all that call on thy name. I think about,
here was Ananias, he was talking to the Lord, explaining to the
Lord, you know, Saul of Tarsus was, as if the Lord didn't know. I thought about the long suffering
of God. The Lord, in tenderness and mercy, he told him, he said,
I want you to go to this house and you inquire of this particular
one, Saul of Tarsus. Lord, I've heard about him. He's
persecuted your saints. Listen to what he said. Verse
15. But the Lord said unto him, and
here's all the longsuffering of God, how patient he is with
us. Patient. Patient. How patient. I mean, I think about when my
kids, I'd tell my kids something. Why do I have to do that? I can
tell you what my answer is going to probably be. It's because
I said so. I said so. I would tell you which
one of my kids was probably the sassiest mouth, but you'd probably
guess his name. But I tell you why. It's because I said so. That's
why. But look at God's long suffering.
But the Lord said unto him, go thy way. He is a chosen vessel
unto me. to bear my name before the Gentiles
and kings and the children of Israel. I want you to go and
I want you to talk to one Saul of Tarsus. He's the chosen vessel
unto me. The Lord has a people, a chosen
people, chosen out of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue, chosen
before the foundation of the world. Oh, but in time, when
it pleased God, when it pleased God, God Almighty was going to
call out this sinner, this Saul of Tarsus, one that was well
known, you know, as being harsh and hard. But Almighty God broke
him, brought him down. made him to be a vessel of God's
mercy and compassion. Taught him, taught him, taught
him the scriptures. And graciously put him through
the trials that Paul the apostle said, I've besought the Lord
thrice to remove this thorn in the flesh. Here was his answer.
My grace is sufficient. So true, isn't it? You that's
gone through a few things. His grace is sufficient. I want
you to go and I want you to find this man. And that's what he
did. I'm not gonna turn to it. Next
verse or two, Paul came up to him and I love what he said. Brother. Brother. Brother Saul. The Lord has sent
me to tell you this. Oh, how sweetly the Lord knits
our hearts together. How he makes us to be one in
Christ, one in him. What a glorious thought. I pray
that the Lord take this passage. It's a passage that I looked
in my notes. I hadn't preached a lot on that
particular passage. Many times out of verses one
to six, when the Lord, when he was on the road to Damascus and
the Lord stopped him and knocked him down, But this passage right
here, I looked and I think I have records where I preached on this
one time. All the years that I've been preaching that I have
notes for, one time out of this particular part of it right here.
Brother Saul, I thought, what kindness. Lord, teach me. Lord, help me. Lord, forgive
me. Guide me, direct me. And for
these sheep, Lord, help us. For Christ's sake, I pray these
things.