If you would turn with me to
the book of Acts chapter 22. Acts chapter 22. As most of you know, Saul of
Tarsus, better known as the Apostle Paul, he was greatly respected
by the religious Jews, and at the same time, greatly feared
by those who believed in Christ. He was an enemy to Christians,
no doubt about it, everyone knew it. And they feared Saul of Tarsus
for good reason. At his own admission in verse
19 here in Acts 22, he confessed that he imprisoned and that he
beat those who believed on Christ in every synagogue, didn't matter
where they were. In verse 20, he admits that when
the blood of the martyr Stephen was shed, that he himself stood
by and consented unto his death. He approved of Stephen's death. And many think that Paul himself
approved the actual stoning of Stephen as he held the coats
of those that committed the deed. Paul is now preaching the gospel
of Christ and the religious Jews were now seeking to do him harm.
But it is in this chapter of Acts chapter 22 that these religious
men attempt to have the apostle Paul arrested for preaching. And it's here that Paul makes
his defense. That's what we have for the most
part in chapter 22. And it's also here that the apostle
gives an account of his conversion, of his experience of grace on
the road to Damascus. First I would have you to notice
that in verse 2 Paul speaks to these men in the Hebrew tongue. In verse 3, he told them that
he was a Jew born in Tarsus. He lets them know that he was
educated, that he was taught at the feet of Gamaliel, a most
respected teacher among the Jews. And Paul lets these accusers
know that he was taught the perfect manner of the law of the fathers,
just like they were. You see, when it came to the
law, Paul had a doctorate degree. He had studied this thing to
the fullest. And then again in verse 3, by
his own admission, Paul confesses that he was zealous towards God. He had a zeal towards God. Just
as they now had a zeal towards God. But his zeal, like theirs,
wasn't according to knowledge. And Paul adds in verse 4 that
he persecuted this way unto death. Paul took serious this issue
of those who did not believe the way that he believed. Those
who did not uphold the law and the traditions of the fathers.
And he bound them and he delivered them into prison. He says here
in verse 4, both men and women. It didn't make any difference.
If you were preaching the gospel of Christ, or among those that
were, you got thrown in prison with the rest of them. And he
goes on to tell these men how he had received letters of permission
by the high priests and the elders to bring all those Christ worshipers. That's what they were, Christians,
like Christ, Christ worshipers. that he'd bring all these Christ
worshippers bound into Jerusalem to be punished. That's what he
was doing. That's why he was on his way
to Damascus. And then in verse 6, Paul begins
this captivating story of his conversion. So why is the conversion
of Paul so important? Why should Paul's conversion
be of such interest to us? Well, the answer is because Paul's
conversion was meant to serve as a pattern. That's exactly
what Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 16. I won't turn you there, but let
me read the verse to you. Paul told Timothy this. He said,
how be it for this cause, I obtained mercy. Why did you obtain mercy,
Paul? That in me first, Jesus Christ
might show forth all longsuffering for a pattern to them which should
hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting. Paul said, I obtained
mercy for this reason. for this cause, for this purpose,
so that in me, Christ might show others something of His long-suffering
and something of His mercy and something of His grace. That
you might see that my conversion, my salvation is a pattern, that
if anyone deserved to die, it was me, Paul sang. If anyone
deserved death and condemnation, it was I, but God was long-suffering. Aren't you glad God is long-suffering? Oh, if you ever see your sin,
what you're capable of, my, you'll be so glad that God is long-suffering. Paul said, I'm a pattern of all
the wretches that God saves. Paul said, God was long-suffering
towards me as a pattern to them that should hereafter believe
on Christ to everlasting life. Now the word pattern here means
imitation or sketch. Blueprint. That's a good word. The word pattern implies a blueprint. In other words, this is a blueprint,
so to speak, a pattern as to how God saves sinners. Now I'm
interested in that. Are you interested in that? We
should be. The chief of sinners I might
have. Isn't that what Paul said he was? He said, I'm the chief
of sinners. In verse 6, Paul said, And it
came to pass that as I made my journey and was come nigh unto
Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great
light round about me. Now Paul is on his way to Damascus
for a purpose, for a reason. You remember what it was. He
was on his way to arrest and throw men and women in prison
for preaching the gospel. Now hear me on this. The first
thing that the Lord does when He begins to deal with a chosen
sinner is to give them light and life. That's the first thing
He does. That's the first thing God does.
And that is the first thing that Christ is. He is to the child
of God both light and life. In John chapter 1 verse 1, you
can look at it later, the Holy Spirit tells us this, In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. That's speaking of Christ. Jesus
Christ is the Word. It says the same was in the beginning
with God. Christ was with God. He is God.
God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit, God in three
persons. All things were made by Him.
By who? By Christ. And without Him was
not anything made that was made. He made everything. There was
nothing He didn't make. And then John says, in Him, in
Christ, was life. And the life was the light of
men. And the light shineth in darkness,
and the darkness comprehended it not. You see, that's the problem.
We're dead in trespasses and sin. We don't see the light.
And we don't comprehend the light. We don't understand the light.
How many times have we said it? A dead sinner can do nothing,
can understand nothing. A dead sinner can't come. No
man can come. He doesn't have the ability to.
A dead sinner will not come. They're not willing to come.
You will not come to me that you might have light. God has
to make us willing in the day of His power. A dead sinner has
no will to come to Christ for life. You're not willing. By
nature, our will's not free. Oh, what about your free will?
Your will's dead. It's not free. It's never been
free. Our will is in bondage to our
nature. It's in bondage to our sin. What
we would do, we don't do. And what we wouldn't do, we do.
God has to give us life. God has to give us life. For
God who commanded the light to shine out of what? Darkness! He hath shined in our hearts
to give the light of what? The knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ. If you ever see God's glory,
it's going to be in the face of Jesus Christ. Now back in
Acts chapter 22 here, verse 6 again, Paul said, Suddenly out of nowhere
there shone from heaven a great light round about me. Friends, Christ was that light.
Saul wasn't looking for the light. Suddenly the light from heaven
shone round about him. Saul had nothing to do with that
light appearing. Saul had nothing to do with the
light shining on him. Saul didn't come to the light.
The light came to him. Saul didn't see the light. The
light saw him. Saul didn't accept the light.
The light accepted him. Saul didn't create the light.
Jesus Christ is the light. And He is that light that is
coming to the world. And men loved darkness rather
than light. Why? Because their deeds were
evil. Because of sin. That's why. There
you go. That's our problem. That's what
God says our problem is. Christ came into the world to
save sinners. He's the light and the life of
the world. And men love darkness rather
than light. Men love their righteousness
better than His. Men love themselves, but not
Him. Why? Because of sin. Because
their deeds are evil. And men and women say God's not
fair. God's never sent anyone to hell
that didn't deserve to go. And it's men and women that aren't
fair. They hate God's son without a cause. And yet, with their
entitled attitudes, men and women still expect God to love them
and to save them and accept them based upon something that they
do for Him. Friends, I'm telling you, we're
the ones that are unreasonable. And we're the ones that are not
fair. Mankind is unreasonable and unfair. And secondly, I'd
have you to notice what happens next when God saves a sinner.
That's what we're talking about. How God saves sinners. Paul's
a pattern as to how God saves sinners. In verse seven, Paul
said, and I fell to the ground. When God divinely intervenes
in a chosen sinner's life, they gonna bow down at Christ's feet.
They're going to, every single time. That's where God's mercy,
that's where God's grace, that's where God's love is found, at
his feet. John said, he must increase,
I must decrease. And every child of God knows
that's so. We got to come down. We're going to be brought down.
God's going to see to it. We're going to have to come down. You know, I've pictured this
so many times. I can just see Paul arrogantly riding on his
white stallion. Now, I don't know if he had a
white stallion or not, but that's how I've pictured it in my mind.
And I see him riding on this white stallion, leading his followers
and his disciples. Can't you just see him? I'm sure
he's got a smile on his face. He's somebody. He's somebody
now. His purpose in life is to put
God out of business. You think about it. He's going
to put God out of business. He's going to abolish the name
of Christ from the face of the earth. That's His purpose. He's
going to Damascus to arrest Christ believers. He's the one, though,
that was arrested by Christ. God crossed His path. God divinely
interrupted in His life. Has He done that to you? Aren't
you glad he did? All that Saul can say is, I fell
to the ground. But that's not all he said. He
said, and I heard a voice. Friends, that's how God saves
sinners. And that's the very next thing. If God divinely intervenes
in your life, you're going to hear a voice. It's the gospel
voice. It's the voice of the gospel.
It's called the gospel. It's the voice of good news.
Have you heard the joyful sound? It's good news. And it's going
to speak to you. It's going to speak to you personally
if you're one of God's children. Paul said, I heard a voice saying
unto me. You see that? He says, saying
unto me. And this voice called Saul's
name. Saul. Saul. You remember when
he called your name? You heard it, didn't you? The
voice revealed Saul's crime. Why persecutest thou me? That's a very pertinent question.
I'd say that a perfect Savior has a right to ask that question. What has Christ done that He
should receive such persecution from us? That's a fair question. I can answer it. Nothing. We
hated Him, the Scripture says, without a cause, without a reason. It'd have to be without a reason
to hate someone who does all things well. Wouldn't it have
to be without reason to hate a perfect man? The word persecute
here means to harass. You know, I was thinking that
gives so much validity to our depravity, doesn't it? How could
we hate such a good, holy, righteous, and gracious God? Oh, it doesn't
do anything but prove our wickedness and our depravity. The Lord asked
Paul, he said, why are you persecuting me? Why persecutest thou me? Why harass me? Why badger me? Hassle me? When had Paul done
that to the Lord? Huh? When he did it to the least
of his brethren. That's exactly what Paul had
been doing. He had been persecuting Christ's
children. And God's not going to have it. It seems today everybody loves
Jesus. We talk about it often, but men
and women don't love God by nature. Why do folks think that? It's
because they haven't read and studied this book. God hasn't
revealed to them their nature. They're ignorant of who and what
they are, and they're ignorant of who God is. And I don't mean
that to be ugly, folks. They're ignorant because God
hasn't revealed it to them. Men and women act the way they
do because they don't have any knowledge of who God is. And
our hearts, because of sin, as I said before, are deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked. Sin has made our hearts
only evil and only evil continually. That's what God says about us.
Sin has made our minds enmity against God. You remember what
that word means. It means hostile. Our minds are
hostile towards God by nature. That's what sin has made us.
And now the Lord has divinely intervened in Saul's life. I
want you to see this. God has divinely interrupted
and He's knocked him off his high horse to the ground. The
Lord asked, why do you persecute me? And Paul doesn't even know
who the Lord is. He asked, who art thou? And then
he paused, you see there's a comma there, and he added the word
Lord with a question mark. Is that you, Lord? Is it the Lord? Could it be you,
Lord? God had, from the beginning,
chosen Paul to salvation. Do you know that that's so concerning
you? If you're one of God's children, He, from the beginning, before
time ever was, chose you unto salvation. And you'll be saved. He can't fail. Don't you like
the idea of a sovereign God who cannot fail? Oh, I do. I sure
do. Verse 8, and he said unto me,
I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. Yes, God had
chosen Saul to salvation, the same as God has all his elect,
and Christ reveals himself to all the elect of God. And it's
here that he does to Saul. You see, the revelation was made
to him. And he, Christ, said unto me, Paul said, what was
that revelation? I am. I am, the great I am, and
you're guilty of persecuting Me." Saul's salvation had to
do with Christ revealing Himself to him. But it included the revelation
of his sin. And it always does. When the
Lord appeared to Saul, He said, I am, I'm God in the flesh, and
all your sin is against Me. You're persecuting Me. And it
was the grace and the mercy of God that brought about this light
from heaven to Saul, wasn't it? Absolutely. It was God's gracious
and merciful choosing of Saul that brought about his humiliation
and his falling at Christ's feet. It was sovereign grace that caused
His hearing of Christ's voice and hearing the pronouncement
of His sin and His rebellion towards God. God said, You persecute
Me. And all these things were just
a part of God's purpose to save this man. And notice that this
voice spoke to Saul that day and no one else. Look at verse
9. And they that were with Me saw indeed the light, and were
afraid. But they heard not the voice
of him that spake to me. There are many who profess to
see, and there are many who claim to fear the Lord. But when all
is said and done, they never heard his voice. You see, the
Lord's sheep hear his voice, and the Lord's sheep know his
voice, and the Lord's sheep follow his voice. And the voice of a
stranger they will not follow. Salvation is not a say and done
deal. Now what I mean by that is a
true profession of faith is not an all-exclusive package that
assures entrance into heaven. Why does religion think that?
Walking down an aisle is not protection from hell. Modern day religion does seem
to have all its ducks in a row. Sinners make a profession and
then they get baptized and they join the church and then they
go to work for Jesus. And all this they do while having
no true understanding at all of who God is. And it's quite
obvious to me that we've got men and women preaching in pulpits
today that don't know God. Men and women better get in this
book. And they had better get on their knees and ask God to
show them some things. I beg you to pray for me. I'm
in way over my head. God's ways are past finding out,
and yet at the same time, God reveals great mysteries through
what is called the foolishness of preaching. I sure don't want
to tell you wrong. I sure don't want to mislead
you in any way. And I don't want to preach unto
you and myself be a castaway. I want to tell you the truth
about Christ, who He is, what He's done, what He's doing even
now for sinners like you and me. He's at the right hand of
God for ever making intercession for us. Oh, we better make sure
that we haven't missed God's way, the only way, Christ the
way. No man cometh to the Father but
by Him. Now look at verse 10. And I said,
what shall I do, Lord? Or maybe better interpreted there,
what are you going to do with me, Lord? That's really the question. What is God going to do with
that? That's what believers do when we face trials and troubles
and tribulations. We ask the Lord what we should
do. We ought to. Do we think it's
silly to ask the Lord things like that? It'd be silly to ask
anyone else, really. It'd be wise to seek the One
who is working all things together for our good, wouldn't it? Wouldn't
it be wise for us to seek the One who works all things after
the counsel of His own will? Oftentimes anymore, my prayer
is simply, Lord, Thy will be done. Enable me to bow to it. Enable me to accept Your will.
Whatever it is, cause me to love Your way. It'd be wise for us
to ask the Lord to inquire of Him. You know why? Because He
always answers. He sure does. And He answered
here. Why does that surprise us? Like
a child asks his father. You know, when I ask my father
something, I'm never worried about him not answering me. He
always graciously gave me an answer because he loved me. Oh,
it'd be wise for us to ask the Lord. In verse 10, and the Lord
said unto me, Oh, you ask the Lord something and see if He
answers. I'm not talking about an audible answer. God answers
in many ways. You know God answers through
sovereign providence, doesn't He? God has a way of making things
clear to us. He certainly did to Saul and
He did to me, and I bet He did to you too. Still verse 10, and
the Lord said unto me, Arise and go into Damascus, And there
it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for
thee to do. I suppose you noticed that word
appointed there in verse 10. The Lord is sending Saul to Damascus
where it will be told him, that's what preaching is, isn't it?
It'll be told him all things which are appointed for him to
do. Now that word appointed, as you
know, means arranged. Who arranged it? God did. He arranges all things. It means
determined. It means assigned. It means ordained. Our God is a God of purpose. God does everything with purpose. God does everything on purpose. No chance. No luck. No accidents. Not with God. No. He does everything on purpose. And do you know what the Lord
is doing here? He's sending Saul to a preacher. And before he does, Saul makes
a confession. And that confession is that he's
blind. He's blind. Saul's new physical
blindness only revealed the spiritual blindness that he had had all
along. And it was the light of Christ's
glory that revealed Saul's spiritual blindness. And friends, today,
it's still the glory of God's holiness that reveals to us,
the sinners that we are, our desperate need of a new birth,
a new heart, a new spirit. We must be made a new creature
or we'll forever perish in our sin. I see that now, don't you? Was Saul a saved man? When did
the Lord save him? There's no doubt that a divine
intervention had occurred. There's no doubt that God sent
a light from heaven. There's no doubt that Saul experienced
great humiliation. Is there? We just read it. He
just said so with his own lips. There's no doubt that God had
divinely interrupted Saul's life. And for the first time in his
life, Saul realized that he had great need. If you ever truly
see that you've got a great need, that you're blind, Oh, you won't
fight someone that's trying to help you. They didn't have to
drag Paul to Damascus. They didn't have to shame Paul
to go. They didn't have to beg him to go. He wanted to go. He's
blind now. He can't see. He's helpless. Probably for the first time in
his life, he's dependent on someone else. He's at the mercy of someone
else. What did the Lord do with Saul?
Had Paul had mercy on Stephen? Paul had shown no compassion
on those that he'd thrown in prison. Would the Lord be merciful
to him? Look at verse 11. This is one
of the most beautiful things I've ever seen tucked away in
a verse. We find Saul being led by the
hand of them that were with him, it says. And he came to Damascus. And he wasn't resisting. He wasn't
kicking and screaming against His will. He's blind by the light
of Christ. God's knocked Him off His high
horse named Pride. And He's blind as a bat, and
He wasn't such a big shot now. And He had to be led by the hand
to Damascus, and God is sending Him to a preacher. Friends, that's
grace. That's mercy. Don't you imagine
that Saul was a bit humbled? Look at verse 12, and one Ananias,
a devout man, according to the law, having a good report of
all the Jews which dwelt there, came unto me, Saul said, and
stood and said unto me, brother Saul, can't you imagine that
that term brother was endearing to him? Oh, you know, brother
Saul received thy sight, and the same hour I looked upon him.
The phrase in the same hour here was often used by the Jews, and
it basically meant immediately, or very soon thereafter. That's
what the gospel's gonna do to a sinner. It gives a sinner sight. It enables a sinner to see Christ. It'll give them a desire to have
Him as their Savior. Remember, we're talking about
how God saves sinners. And Paul was a pattern as to
how God does. Now in verses 14 and 15, we have
a very condensed gospel message here. It has some really good
points. Let me give them to you quickly. In verse 14, and he
said, the God of our fathers hath chosen thee. That's Ananias'
message to the now Apostle Paul. And if God saves you, friends,
it'll be only because He chose you in Christ before the foundation
of the world. God had from the beginning chosen
you to salvation. God having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to
the good pleasure of His will. Why did God save you? He just
pleased Him to do so. It just pleased Him to do so.
"...in whom Christ also we have obtained an inheritance, being
predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all
things after the counsel of His own will." Now let me ask you,
who's in charge? Do you know what Ananias is saying
here? He's saying salvation's of the Lord. He's saying God
chose you, you didn't choose Him. Secondly, if God has chosen
you and saved you, He will reveal His will to you. You shall know
His will. Isn't that what He says here?
And you shall know His will. Paul was a student of the Scriptures.
He was an educated Pharisee, taught by the best. He was a
student of the law. He was an expert on the ceremonies
and the sacrifices. But he didn't know God's will
of redemption. You see, it's not what you know, it's who you
know. What is God's redemptive will? Well, I know this much.
It's in a person. It's in Jesus Christ. And I know
that Christ came down from heaven not to do His own will, but the
will of Him that sent Him. And this is the will of Him that
sent Him, that of all which God gave to Christ, He should lose
nothing. Not a one. That's the will of
God. Isn't that good news? The Lord
Jesus said, I come to do thy will, O God. And thirdly, Ananias
told Saul that you should see the just one. Jesus Christ is
the just one. He suffered the just for the
unjust that He might bring us to God. That's your only hope
of being brought. And that's my only hope of being
brought. He is the only way that God could remain just and justify
the ungodly sinner. And He's a just God and a Savior. Fourthly, child of God, you're
going to hear the voice of His mouth. Do you see that there
in that verse? You're going to hear the gospel
for yourself. Have you heard this gospel that
we preach? This is how God saves sinners.
Fifthly, and when God saves you, He makes you His witness. Look at verse 15. Witnesses unto
all men of what we've seen and heard. Isn't that what we are?
I feel as though I've struggled at best to show you what I believe
Scripture teaches as to how God saves a wretch, good for nothing,
lame, dead dog sinner like me. You see, we water and we plant. That's all preachers do. He that
planteth, Paul said, nothing. He's nothing. Don't put a preacher
on a pestle. Don't put me on one. He that
planteth is nothing. He that watereth is nothing.
But God that gives the increase, oh, He's everything. Worship
Him. Bow to Him. Come to Him. He is life. May God enable you
to do so.