and take out your Bibles to the book of Acts. And we'll go to chapter nine, Acts chapter nine. James read this last week, and I said this would be our next message, and it is. It's not always true, but it is the case this week. So we'll read Acts chapter nine, verse one through 19.

Meanwhile, Saul was breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus so that if he found any there who belonged to the way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Who are you, Lord? Saul asked. I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting, he replied. Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.

The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless. They heard the sound but did not see anyone. saw God up from the ground, and when he opened his eyes, he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand to Damascus, and for three days he was blind and did not eat or drink anything.

In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called him in a vision, saying, Ananias. Yes, Lord, he answered. The Lord told him, go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision, he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.

Lord, Ananias answered, I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name. But the Lord said to Ananias, go, this man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.

Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here, sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes and he could see again. He got up. was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

The road to Damascus, it's an extremely well-known portion of scripture, to the point where it's almost become like a figure of speech in our English language. I've heard people even refer to it as, I had my road to Damascus moment, speaking of like, a change in perspective. It's obviously so much more than that.

This is, as I preach more, and I've heard Joe talk about this in the years past, your flesh creeps in, and you start to think, and every time I write a scripture, or write a sermon, sorry, not a scripture, Every time I write a sermon, I end up writing a sermon about sovereign grace through Christ. And I know that's the truth, and I know that's why we're here, but the fleshly part of me is like, man, are people gonna get tired of hearing this?

Well, two things there. This is exactly what we were told to do, to go spread the gospel throughout the world. And second, every time I read scripture, It is only about the sovereign grace of God through the Lord Jesus Christ. So that is why, that's all we preach.

This story is another perfect shining example of the absolute sovereign grace of God that has been given power through the blood of Jesus Christ.

This world is filled with free will. People don't always grab onto those specific terms of free will, but it's everywhere. Let Jesus into your heart. I have decided to let Jesus into my heart. I have decided to get baptized.

This story I don't know if any story proves that more incorrect than the story of Saul on the road to Damascus. If salvation utterly depended on free will, on the will of any of us, Saul of Tarsus would never have been saved. He would never have become Paul, and we wouldn't have all the wonderful scriptures that were written by him.

Acts 9 is not a story of a man who was searching for goodness or for truth. It is not a story about a man who was curious about possibly entertaining the idea of believing in Christ. This is not a story of a man who was almost there. It is a story of a man who hated Jesus Christ. hated anyone who was united with him, and actively tried to destroy Jesus's church. That's who we're talking about.

And yet this man was taken over and arrested by the grace of God. How can there be the will of Saul included in what has happened. The passage does not exalt free will, does not exalt human cooperation. It exalts, once again, a sovereign savior who saves who he wills, when he wills, and how he wills by his blood for his glory. That is our God. That is what we have

What a blessing. I'm gonna repeat it. We have a sovereign savior who saves who he wants to save, when he wants to save them, how he wants to save them, by his blood and for his glory, period. And the road to Damascus makes that incredibly clear.

Let's look a little bit closer at Saul. If Saul doesn't prove that God has a sovereignly chosen people, I don't know who does. Meanwhile, it says, meanwhile Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. Think about that text. Let's not soften this. He was not spiritually neutral. He was not confused. He was not asking questions. He was breathing murder. And that word breathing isn't by accident. He wasn't speaking murder, he was breathing it. It was to his very core. Hatred for Christ and his church was in the air he breathed. This was who Paul was. To the deepest parts of Paul, he breathed murder for Christ and his people.

some of the things he actually did in his actions. He approved the execution of Stephen. He dragged men and women out of their homes. He pursued believers across borders to imprison them. And shortly before he left for Damascus, he got legal authority to imprison anyone simply for believing in Christ.

Now follow all of that breathing of hatred, the countless acts of hatred, and then you ask the question, did Saul have a plan to come to Christ? Did Saul have a plan to come to Christ that day? Absolutely not.

This is why, like, you see these t-shirts that say, I have decided. What have you decided? What did Paul decide? Paul, or Saul at this point, decided, I'm going to Damascus to imprison anyone who believes in this Christ who I hate. That was Paul's decision.

You wanna trust in free will? That's your free will. If free will were the ultimate, if free will were the deciding factor of salvation, Saul would have freely chosen hell. Jesus said himself in John 644, no one comes to me unless the Father who sent me draws them. It is beyond our ability to even come to Christ. We are born enemies.

Saul just really embraced it. but we are no different than him. Saul was not choosing Christ that day, Christ had already chosen Saul. And this is sovereign grace, once again. God does not respond, he initiates and he finishes, he completes, he accomplishes. He begins salvation and he finishes salvation. If you are saved today, it is not because you are wiser or softer in heart or more open. It is because God chose you. God, Christ died for you, and the Spirit opened your eyes.

Later, Paul would reflect, after he had his moment on Damascus, he would reflect on himself in 1 Timothy. And in those words, he would call himself a blasphemer. He would call himself a prosecutor. He would call himself a violent man, and he would call himself the chief of sinners.

I was talking a little bit earlier about what David wrote, but can you imagine the shame and guilt that Paul lived with. He called himself the chief of sinners and I think we've all felt that way but I don't know if anyone ever felt that way to the core of their heart like Paul did. You know David obviously felt that way too and he did some awful things. And all sins are against God. Every single sin is against God.

But as a man, can you imagine the feeling Paul had when his sins were visibly against God? We see sins in different ways. You know, every sin to us seems different. You know, you say something you shouldn't, you have a thought that you shouldn't. To God they're all equal, but to human perception they're not. And Paul was a human.

And it's not like he you know, just did a few bad things where like he hurt his brother or he hurt his mom or he hurt his spouse or did something he shouldn't have done. He was actively going after Christ. He was actively attacking the church. And then he had his eyes opened and I can't imagine the guilt and the shame that Paul had to feel.

And you know, as strong and heavy as that shame and guilt that he felt, there's an equality in that for all of us. We all feel that at times. Do you ever have a moment where you feel like, man, this burden I carry is so heavy? Do you carry the weight of shame? Do you carry the weight of guilt? Listen very carefully if you do. Because here is your good news. Here is your gospel.

Saul didn't just make mistakes, he destroyed lives. He tore families apart and he terrorized the church. And yet God's grace was laid upon him. Paul didn't change his mind. Paul wasn't convinced otherwise. It's closer to what you would call a hostile takeover. Because Paul would have fought against it tooth and nail had he had the ability to. But Christ took over. and said, this is no longer who you are. And that's not a worldly change, that's a spiritual change.

Paul found himself clothed, think about this, Paul found himself clothed in the righteousness of Christ, the very one he despised. Why? I'm sure he had that question, why? I am the chief of sinners. Why would the prince of glory give me his righteousness when I've spent my entire life despising him? Because grace is not limited by who we are. It is not limited by our past. It is not limited by our present. Grace is not weakened by your sin. Grace is not activated by improvement.

What makes God's grace omnipotent? What makes God's grace powerful? What makes God's grace perfectly effective? The blood of Jesus Christ. The cross was sufficient for anyone, murderers, blasphemers, church destroyers, and you. Regardless of the weight of shame and guilt that you live with at times, God's grace empowered by the blood of Christ is easily sufficient for you.

Christ says in Matthew, come to me all who are weary and burdened. And Paul was, and David was, and we all are. And I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest in your souls. My yoke is easy and my burden is light. These are the words of our Savior.

Are you weary and burdened? Take Christ's yoke of righteousness. Do you know why we can take Christ's light, easy load? Free of guilt and shame? Because he already took yours. He took your load that was rightfully filled with shame and guilt. And he took it off your shoulders and put it on his own and did away with it forever. Your sins are gone if you are one of Christ's people. If you believe in Christ, your sins are gone. Then why carry the burden of them? Don't suffer in the aftermath of what you have done. Rest in the aftermath of what Christ has done. Paul shows us that no one is beyond the reach of the grace of God. No one. To say that someone is out of reach is to say that the power in the redeeming blood of Christ has a limit, and it certainly does not. The road to Damascus, like I said earlier, has become almost shorthand for sudden change. but the meaning is much deeper than that. Saul was not on vacation or taking a trip with some friends. He actually went, it says in the scripture, he went to the high priest and asked for letters to the synagogues in Damascus so that he could find anyone who belonged to the way. He was looking for letters to the church, to the synagogues, for people that believed in Christ so that he could go find them and arrest them. And I love how it says, to find any there who belonged to the way. And the way is capitalized. Saul was on this road with intent. He was hunting people who belonged to the way. Jesus, of course, says, I am the way, the truth, and the light, or the life. Saul despised the way. He despised Christ, he despised anyone who was united with him. And while he's on that road with that specific purpose and those thoughts in mind, who meets him there? Not a preacher, not an argument, not a debate, but Christ himself. It says, as he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Sometimes you hear these events and these stories so many times that it becomes like you're so familiar with them, you never stop and actually think about this. Put yourself in Paul's position here. Put yourself in Paul's shoes. You spent your entire life hating Christ and anyone involved with him to the point where that's what you did with your day-to-day life. When you got up in the morning, how can I persecute the church? That was Paul. That was Saul. And suddenly this light flashes to the point where it knocks him onto the ground. and you hear a voice that has no body and no face and says, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? I think Saul probably knew who that was immediately. And the reason I think he knows that is if you look at what he says next, he asks the question, he says, who are you, Lord? And the very next three words are I am Jesus. Whom you are persecuting. Now get up, go into the city, and you will be told what you must do. Now this is a situation, again, imagine being Paul. How terrified he must have been. The one whom you've dedicated your life against. the one whose people you spend every waking moment trying to find hurt and torment, shows up in a flash from heaven that knocks you to the ground. Saul heard the question, why do you persecute me? Saul asked the question, who are you, Lord? Saul knew what words were coming next. I am Jesus. And imagine the fear and the confusion and the dread in the heart of Paul at that moment. He gets up and he's blind. They lead him to Damascus and for three days he was blind and didn't eat or drink, which I can completely understand on a human level. I wouldn't eat or drink either. You're coming, imagine the thoughts racing through his mind. You're coming to a realization that you were completely wrong in a way that can condemn your soul forever. And not just wrong in the fact that I didn't really believe in Jesus, I hated him. And now all of a sudden it's becoming somewhat clear Christ is God. What have I done? And it wasn't immediate. He sat for three days in darkness in those thoughts. It says when Jesus later talks to Ananias about going to talk to Saul, it mentions that Saul has been there for three days and has been praying. I'm sure he was. I bet he sat there and prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and said, oh my, what have I done? Give me some truth. Tell me more. At that point, all he knew is what had happened in those few moments. And then he sat in darkness for three days. It says nothing about any more information or messages from God to Paul or Saul during that time. So he sat for three days, blind and terrified. And those three days and that blindness are so incredibly symbolic, once again, about the sovereignty of God. Pre-Damascus Saul thought he could see clearly. when in fact he had been blind his entire life. Such is the truth for anyone who hasn't had their eyes opened by God and the spirit of God, blind but completely unaware. All of mankind without God giving them the ability cannot see the truth. But this time it wasn't just spiritual sight. Christ makes Saul physically blind to reveal his spiritual blindness. Three days he sat in darkness. Three days he sat helpless and in silence. Those three days are also very symbolic. They echo death. They echo the three days that Christ spent in the tomb. Because that is what it takes to give the blind sight. To give the spiritually dead life. It took the death and resurrection of the Son of God. Before being born again, we have to be made aware of our blindness. And if you've never had sight, you don't even know you're blind. And that was Saul's case, and that is the case of the entire world we live in. Until you've been given sight, you don't even know that you were blind before. God reveals our blindness by giving us sight. Now enters Ananias. Just a regular disciple who happened to be in Damascus. And God speaks to him, which I try to never overlook. I always think that has to be terrifying. Imagine being spoken to by God, the authority that must come with that. And he says, go to Saul and explains where he is and what must be done. And these are one of the moments where I'm very grateful for how the scriptures show how weak, and frankly, not very smart, a lot of believers and disciples are. They are weak just like us. It shows the weakness of God's people. Ananias does not respond to the voice and authority of God, mind you. He does not respond with immediate confidence in what is being said, even though it's God who's saying it. Instead, he says, Lord, I've heard the reports about this man. I've heard that he has now the authority to arrest all of us just because we believe in you. I've heard no one hates us more than him. Are you sure about this? Is basically what Ananias was saying. And what does God say to him after that? He doesn't say, you know, you're right. Saul's a pretty tough one. I've been working on him, and it's been pretty hard. He doesn't say, yeah, he's a real problem for us, and I'm trying really hard to get him to turn around. He doesn't say, I'm hoping that if we stay on him, he'll eventually give his life to me. Now, the very first word he says with an exclamation point is, go. Go, exclamation point. This man is my chosen instrument. Pure authority. You're scared of Saul? Do you know who you're talking to? Go. I have a plan for this man. You're terrified of him? I'm going to make him my instrument that will quote unquote carry my name to the world. This man who hates me and hates you and hates us is now going to be the man who brings my gospel to the Gentiles and the Israelites and the world. I have chosen him. I have already decided. Before Saul ever believed, before Saul became Paul, before Paul ever preached, before Paul ever wrote down a word, Saul was saved. because Christ chose him, Christ redeemed him, and Christ was now at the point where he was gonna open his eyes to what had already been accomplished. Saul, you're now Paul, and you're one of my people. This has already been done. Then it says, this is an interesting line. It says, I will show him how much he must suffer, which seems like it doesn't fit, but Paul does go on to suffer. Paul lives a very, very difficult life. He's imprisoned over and over. He's eventually killed. Paul's suffering is part of the mission that God had for him, but it's just part of this worldly time, which is just his march to Zion, which is true for all of us. There will be suffering. There will be difficulties. That's part of the world we're in. It's cursed. Suffering is not the evidence of God's absence, it is the proof of his calling in Paul's case. So Saul obviously did not call on Jesus' name. Saul did not get to the point where he felt like he's been convinced to believe in Jesus. Jesus revealed to Saul that he was among that number. The spirit came to him in a very shocking and impressive way. And it's the exact same way that we are saved. It might not be as obvious, we might not be on the physical road to Damascus, but there is a point and there is a moment where the spirit of God says to you, you are mine. If grace depended on free will, Saul would still be breathing murder. There was no free will here. There was a flash from the heavens, fear, blindness, and despair, and the word of God. There was no changing of minds through conversation. There was a blind man who was forcefully given sight. Such is grace. It is not offered. It is bestowed. It is placed upon. He will forcefully show you who you are, how blind you've been, and how beautiful the light of the world is once you've been given sight to see it. That's the, you know, the first, when you're first given sight to see it, you see not only who you are, but you also see who Christ is. The beauty of the light of the world. It says in John 8, 12, it says, when Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. So we talk about what an incredible set of circumstances this is, and such great symbolism of the sovereignty of God, and the weakness of man, and the perfection of Christ's blood. And that's where it all begins, and that's where it all ends. the death and resurrection of our Savior. We talk about being given sight. That is strictly given sight to see our Savior. That's what that means. There is nothing else to focus on. There is nothing else to look to. We talk about having our hearts softened This is all language we use to describe the process of the Spirit of God saving someone. To have a softened heart to believe on Christ. To have opened eyes to gaze upon Christ. A softened heart to love Christ. All of this is about Christ and what he has done. That is why we are here, and that is where we're going.

Paul's a perfect example of that. Who we are, where we come from, and what Christ has done for his people. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for showing us in so many ways the truth of your salvation. for showing us over and over and over in your word the sinfulness of man and the glory of Christ. The perfect sacrifice made on our behalf.

We thank you Lord for showing us this over and over because in our weakness we need to be able to see this over and over and hear it over and over. We ask, Lord, that you'll continue to show us and continue to fill our hearts with the truth of the gospel of Christ and what he alone has done for us. Help us to always look to you, Lord. Help us to focus on you in our daily lives.

And we look forward to the day when we can see you clearly, when the scales fall from our eyes. We thank you, Jesus, and we pray this in your name, amen.