Now, the theme of this lesson
is Paul's testimony of the grace of God to him. He stands before
that Jewish crowd and he tells them how God saved him. He tells them about the grace
of God to him and how he met the Lord on the road to Damascus.
and how the Lord saved him. Now, we left off, I know, in
chapter 21 and verse 30, and from the rest of that chapter,
31 through 40, they sought to kill Paul. And so the soldiers came in,
the centurions ran in, and they laid hold of Paul. They were
beating Paul. If you see there in verse 32,
they left beating Paul. They were beating him. They were
going to beat him to death. They were so angry with him.
And then it says in verse 33, the chief captain came near and
took him and commanded him to be bound with two chains. And
they chained him. Like a criminal, they chained
him. And they were taking him to the castle to be interrogated,
so to speak. And there in verse 5, the crowd
was so angry with Paul that the soldiers had to, it says there
he's born of the soldiers, they had to carry him. They basically
had to lift Paul up and carry him through the crowd. They were
trying to get at him like a bunch of dogs. That's how much they
hated him. And they followed after those
centurions as they carried Paul. And it says, and as Paul was
led into the castle, he said unto the chief captain, let me
speak to them. Let me talk to them. And he said,
can you speak Greek? And he said, of course I can. I can speak Greek. Not only could
he speak Greek, he spake to them in the Hebrew tongue. And when
he began to speak to them in the Hebrew tongue, they began
to listen. He got their attention. And now
he rehearses to them there in chapter 22 of how God saved him. You know, when God saves a sinner,
that sinner never gets over it. You never get over it. That sinner,
he'll never get over it and he'll never be the same the rest of
his life. He's a new creation in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's a partaker now of the divine
nature. You know, Paul was once a religious
but very lost Pharisee who thought he was saved, but he was lost.
And he never got over to God saving him and God bringing him
into a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and making him a
new creation. Paul understood that, that he's
a new creation in Jesus Christ. He wrote this in 2 Corinthians
5. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature, he's a new creation. He's not the same anymore, not
the same. Old things are passed away. The
old things that he loved, the old company that he loved, that's
all passed away. He has a new, he loves new things
and he loves new people, God's people. One time he didn't love
God's people. You didn't want to be around
God's people, did you? I didn't. I know, and you're just like
me. I didn't want to be around God's people. I didn't want to
be in the house of God. But that all changed. And he
made the change. He made the difference. Until
then, there's not going to be a difference. Not until that
happens. So Paul tells them what the Lord
has done for him, hoping to gain their favor. You know, I did
that at one time when I heard the gospel and I understood it,
the place I was going, I wanted them to hear me. I wanted them
to hear what the Lord had done. And I found out they didn't want
to hear it. They didn't want to hear it.
And neither does this mob. This mob doesn't want to hear
it. But I want you to notice as we go through here how Paul
identifies with his audience. I noticed that, you know, Paul
said, I'm a Jew. He's speaking to a bunch of Jews.
I'm a Jew. He identifies with him. In preaching, we must preach
to people as one of them, not down to them, but as one of them.
In Paul's heart, his heart goes out to them. His heart goes,
I was where you are. I know where you're coming from.
I used to walk in your shoes. And I mean, when he wanted to
speak to them, it was not just in defense of himself, he wanted
them to hear. He's standing up on these steps
and they are down here and he says, let me speak to the people.
These are my people, my kinsmen, according to the flesh, let me
speak to them. And so he gets the opportunity
to do so. And he calls them brethren. He
calls them brethren. After all they did to them, he
still calls them brethren. He claimed a kinship with them.
Listen, grace does not cause us to look down on anyone, does
it? Grace doesn't do it. Grace causes
humility. Grace causes lowliness of mind. Grace causes you to really, in
your heart, to say, except by the grace of God, there go I. Except by God's grace, I'd be
standing where you are, just like I did when Stephen was being
stoned. I'd be standing there consenting
to his death, to anyone's death that preached the gospel or believed
the gospel. Paul said, I was where you are. Grace doesn't cause us to look
down on anyone. Anyone. And he says in verse
three, I'm a Jew like you are. I'm a Jew just like you are.
I was taught by Gamaliel. I was jealous toward God. I was
zealous of God, but not according to knowledge as he says over
in Romans 10 one, I was ignorant like you. I was ignorant of God. You see, Paul believed in the
existence of God, but he didn't believe the God that existed.
He didn't believe God. And he knows, standing there
speaking to them, they believe there is one God, but they don't
believe the one God there is. That is. And he knew that. But he identifies with them.
First of all, I'm a Jew just like you. I was very zealous
of keeping the law. He believed that he was truly
a righteous man. Paul believed that with all his
heart. He believed he was a righteous man. And he was so zealous for
the law that he persecuted this way, he says there in verse 4,
I persecuted this way unto death. Unto death. He saw the gospel
as being contrary to the law of God, not the fulfilling of
God's law, but as contrary to the law of God. He hated Jesus
Christ. No one on this earth hated Jesus
Christ any more than the apostle Paul. He hated that way. That's what
he hated. He hated that way of grace, that
way of salvation, that way of justification. Paul hated it.
He hated salvation by grace alone, Christ alone. The gospel that
I now preach, I once tried to destroy it. What a change the grace of God
makes when He saves a sinner by His grace. What a change.
Paul knew that he was just like them. He never, listen, he never
lost, he never lost his sense of who he was and what God saved
him from. He never lost that. And he says in verse five, he
says, the high priest knows what I'm talking about. Not only the
high priest knows what I'm talking about, the elders know me. I
have witnesses, that's why he's saying, I have witnesses here
to my past life of what I used to be, the person I used to be.
The high priest knows me and these elders, they know me. And
he says, and why he's saying this is they know I'm not making
this up. You go ask them. They know I'm
not making this up. I was on my way to Damascus. I had received a letter. I had received the authority
from the high priest and these elders to go to Damascus and
round up those who believe, those who believe this way. I had their
authority behind me. They gave me the authority. But
while on my journey, While on my way to Damascus to
bring those back and put them in prison, suddenly, suddenly,
there shone from heaven a great light round about me. The Lord
Jesus Christ stopped me on my road to hell. He stopped me in
my ignorance. He stopped me in my unbelief.
He stopped me suddenly. Suddenly. And there was this
great light that shone round about me. Paul was not looking
for salvation when the Lord saved him. Were you? I wasn't. I was
looking for something to eat. I went over to mom and dad's
for dinner. That's what I was looking for. I was looking for
a home cooked meal. And I ended up hearing the gospel.
Wasn't even looking for it because I thought I had it. I thought
I had it. I had no more concern about finding
the Lord because I thought I had. And Paul was not looking for
the Lord. He was mad. in his madness to destroy the
name of Christ, to stamp out the church. He was going to Damascus
and the Lord suddenly stopped him and made himself
known to him. He wasn't inquiring about the
Lord. He was trying to destroy the gospel. And this is the picture
of every one of us at first, going our own way, in our own
madness. Do you know to not believe God
is madness? You know that? To not believe
God, when the gospel's preached, when the word of God is read,
to turn our back on it and leave is madness. It's madness. To call God a liar is madness. And every one of us was like
Paul, haters of that way, desiring our own way. I want to do my
own thing. I want to go my own way. Everybody
wants to go their own way, don't they? Well, unless God stops
you, that way leads to hell. Unless he stops us on our own
way, that road leads to destruction. But when it's time, you see,
it was time. Paul's time to be born of God
had come. You know, in every birth there's
a time. Nine months and there's a time to be born, time to be
born, time to die. It was Paul's time to meet Christ. It was Paul's time to be born
of God. And God suddenly stopped him
and made himself known to him. Made himself known. I'll tell
you when a sinner will be saved. I can tell you exactly when a
sinner is going to be saved. You know that? When it please
God. That's what Paul said in Galatians
1. When it please God, who separated me from my mother's womb to reveal
His Son in me. That's when a sinner will be
saved is when it pleases God to do so. Not when you convince
that sinner and talk him into it, when it pleases God to command
life. When it pleases God to stop you
on your way and put you on the right way. The Lord Jesus Christ. When it pleases God. And that
great light, listen, that great light that Paul spoke of that
shone round about him was the Lord Jesus Christ. He's that
light. He was illuminated. He was illuminated. And notice what happens when
God stopped him on his road to hell and made Himself known to
him. I want you to notice what happens
in verse 7. Here's what happens every time
God saves a sinner. This is what happens. You see,
Paul is a pattern. Paul is a pattern here of how
God saves sinners, of what happens when He saves sinners. Paul said
this in verse 7, and I fell to the ground. You've got to come
down. There has to be a coming down
before there'll be a raising up. God has to break us before
he can heal us. He's got to break the heart before
he'll heal the heart. He heals the brokenhearted, but
he's got to break it first. He's got to break it first. There's
a coming down. God must bring us down off our
high thoughts of ourself, off the way who we think God is and
the way He saves sinners, we've got to be brought down from that.
You know, and I know this, there's no one who thought more highly
of Paul than Paul. But it's Paul who said, I'm the
chief of sinners, I'm the least. He would have never said, he'd
have choked to death and went to hell. before saying that until
God saved him. Until God saved him. Then he
said, I'm the chief of sinners. I'm the least, I'm the least
of the saints of God. I'm the least, and he meant it
too. He meant, it's not false. That was not false humility.
He's the chief sinners, the least of the saints. He meant every
word of it. Now after he brought him down, after he fell to his
knees, there's a revelation that happened. The Lord said, why
persecutest thou me? See, the Lord reveals to Paul
himself and that his persecution, his hatred is really toward the
Lord Jesus Christ. Here's a revelation. To persecute
one of God's children is to persecute him. The church is his body.
To slander one of God's children is to slander him. You know that?
To speak evil or down of one of God's children is to speak
evil of him. It's his body. But the Lord reveals
to Paul that his hatred and his sin, his conduct is against him,
the Lord. Paul says in verse eight, see
here comes the revelation. Who art thou Lord? You see at
this time when he calls him Lord, he doesn't know him yet as the
Lord. He does know this, this one is
above me. This one is the Lord. He's above
me because He said, Who are you? Who are you? This light, this
great light that surrounded Him and knocked Him to the ground,
brought Him to His knees. He says, Who are you, Lord? And
the Lord reveals Himself. I'm Jesus of Nazareth. Now He
knows who the Lord is. You see, He called Him Lord.
Now He knows who the Lord Jesus Christ is. I'm Jesus of Nazareth,
whom thou persecutest. I'm the one whom you despise
and persecute. I'm that Nazarene. I'm that one
that they said, can any good thing come out of Nazareth? When
he said, I'm Jesus of Nazareth, Paul understood this is the one
who hung on the cross. This is the one that was nailed
to Calvary's tree and is alive. I'm the one you despise persecuted. I'm the one who died and is alive
forevermore. I am Alpha and Omega. I am the
Lord. I'm the Lord. I'm the one you're
persecuting. I'm the one you hate. You know,
it's a real revelation when you find out the person that you
really do hate is God. The one that you are standing
against is God. Paul was confronted by the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself that way, that way He was trying to destroy. Salvation is the revelation of
a person. And listen, not everyone sees
that person, except the one whom the Lord reveals Himself to.
Those who were with Paul, they saw the light, but they didn't
hear the voice. Isn't that something? There's
people who sit here every week in every congregation where the
gospel is preached. There's people who see the light.
The man is preaching. The gospel is being preached.
The Word of God is opened up. The Word of God is being read.
You see the light. You have some light. You've been
given some light, but you don't hear Him. You don't hear the
voice. You hear the voice of the preacher,
but you don't hear the Lord speaking in your heart. Now I'm not talking
about his audible voice, his voice speaking through his servant,
speaking through his Word. Those who were with Paul, they
didn't hear. They didn't hear the voice. You know, there may
be someone sitting here today who will hear his voice, and
the person sitting beside of them doesn't hear a thing. That's sovereign mercy, isn't
it? Isn't this sovereign mercy? There's one man on the road to
Damascus with a group with him. He had a group with him. There
was only one man who heard the voice. The others didn't hear
it. They remained just as lost as
ever. But one heard. One heard. And that's when salvation
happens, when you hear the voice of the Son of God, and you believe. You live. You follow him, you have an interest
in him. You know, before there was no
interest, now there's an interest. And that interest grows and grows
and grows until you finally are taken home. You have a real interest
in him. What a change, what a change
grace makes. There in verse 10, and I said,
Paul said, what shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said to me, arise,
go into Damascus. Boy, his entrance into Damascus
was a lot different, wasn't it? And he was going there mad. He
went in there broken. Went in broken. Arise, go into
Damascus, and there shall be told thee of all things which
are appointed for thee to do. You're my servant. You're my
son, you're my servant. Here is a change that only grace
can make, is to make a rebel obedient. Lord, what would you
have me to do? Grace makes rebels obedient.
It makes rebels obedient. Christ did not ask Paul if he
would accept him. Christ told Paul what he was
going to do. He told Paul where to go and
what he would reveal. He would reveal what was appointed
for him to do. You see, Paul got it right. He
said, what shall I do, Lord? Now it's Lord. Now he knows who
the Lord is. What shall I do, Lord? Listen,
I'm at your mercy. I'm at your mercy. What am I to do? For the first time, and I believe
this is what happens when God saves a sinner, for the first
time, they realize the sovereignty of God in salvation. They realize
God is sovereign. He can leave you alone. You know
that? You know, God can absolutely leave you alone. He may show
mercy and He may not. You ever realize that? Now, I
tell you what, if God awakens you and makes you to understand
that He may show mercy or He may leave you alone, that's when you, for the first
time, that's when, for the first time, you have a right fear of
God. That is the right fear of God when you understand He's
the Sovereign and not you, not me. He is. He is the Lord and
we are His servants, we are His subjects. So Paul went as he
was told, but he had a problem. He had a problem. He was now
blind. He was now blind. You know, at
one time, he could see, but he couldn't see Christ. The best
sight God can give you is spiritual sight. I'm glad I have my eyes. I'm
glad I have physical sight. I'm glad I can see. I can't imagine
what it'd be like to walk in total darkness through my whole
life. Never see a tree. Never see what
a human being looks like. Just have some kind of imagination
of these things that are described to me. But one day your eyes
are open and you can see. And that's exactly the way we
are. We are blind as blind can be to Christ, to God, to salvation,
to our need. We are blind to that. We are
blind to our own character of sin. We are sin. We're blind
to that until God gives us sight. That's why Paul prayed in Ephesians
that the Lord would enlighten their understanding. He was blind, he had a problem
now, he's blind. And this time he knew it. But this time he didn't know
he's blind because he could see. But now he's blind. God had, listen to this, God
had to shut his physical eyes in order to open his spiritual
eyes. God had to shut these eyes in order to open up his spiritual
eyes that he might see Christ. At this hour, Paul became totally
dependent on the Lord. They had to lead him. They had
to lead him to Damascus. He couldn't see. And he was brought
to God's preacher. You know, when God saves a sinner,
you're going to find these four things present. You're going
to find these four things. You're going to find the Spirit
of God, that which is born of the Spirit of Spirit, You're
going to find the Word of God. He begot us again with the Word
of Truth. You're going to find God's preacher. How should they
preach except they be sent? And God sends His preachers.
And then you're going to find the sinner. That's what you're
going to find. You're going to find the Spirit
of God, the Word of God, the preacher of God, and the sinner.
That's what you're going to find. And that's what we have here.
And in verse 12, Ananias, he comes to Ananias. He's called
a devout man. He's not a crook. He's not a
crook, He's a devout man. And the first thing He preaches
to Paul is sovereign grace. He says in verse 14, "...the
God of our fathers has chosen thee." The first thing He preached
was election to Paul. He said, "...the God of our fathers,
He's chosen you." He's chosen you. The purpose
of His election, Paul, and of everyone whom He saves is this,
"...that thou shouldest know His will." His revealed will,
His redemptive will, that he should know how God can be a
just God and a Savior through the sin, atoning blood, and righteousness
of Jesus Christ. That you might know Him and know
His will. God's chosen you to know that.
This is revealed to every one of God's children. And then secondly,
that He should see that just one. You see Christ. God has given you an understanding.
He's given you eyes to see the Lord Jesus Christ. He's very
real to you, isn't he? He's very real to you. You see
him, you see him in his word. You see the Lord Jesus Christ.
Salvation, listen, salvation is knowing and seeing Jesus Christ. Paul knew the letter of the law,
but he didn't know the law giver. There's a difference. You know,
you can know the letter of the gospel. Paul said to the Thessalonians,
the word, the word, the gospel came not unto you in word only.
To some people, it comes in word only. They hear the gospel preached
week after week, but then there's some, it comes in power. It comes
in power. God saves you and you see and
hear and understand the gospel. that you should see that Just
One, the Lord Jesus Christ, and hear His voice, not just about
Him, but to hear Him, to hear Him, and to be His witness unto all
men of what thou hast seen and heard. After you see Him, you hear Him,
you become a witness of Him. Those who never witness of Christ
is because they don't know Him. You can't meet someone as lovely
as Christ and as glorious as Christ and not tell anybody.
You can't do it. It's gonna, as Henry always used
to say, it's gonna leak out on you. If grace is in you, it's
coming out. If the love of God is shed abroad
in the heart, it's coming out. It's coming out. Every believer
is a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then notice what
Paul did in verse 16. And Ananias said to him, and
now why tarryest thou? Arise and be baptized. Identify
yourself with him. That's what he said. You know,
Paul believed. Paul met the Lord. He heard him.
He believed. He believed and now he's baptized. He said, now rise and be baptized.
Paul confessed Christ publicly in believers baptism. Now we know that baptism has no saving
power in it, but I want you to listen to me. I don't believe that a person
who will not follow the Lord's command to be baptized is saved. Because when God saves you, now
listen, when God saves you, you're going to be obedient, aren't
you? You're going to be obedient. You're not going to remain a
rebel. This to me, this is how you confess
Christ. And this is evidence of one who
has believed. They follow the Lord's command.
You take the Lord's supper, you're baptized because you believe
Him. Until then, you don't believe.
You don't believe at all. And the evidence that Paul believed
is this, he identified with him, and he identified with his people.
Believers are obedient. Now, look here in verse 17. And it came to pass that when
I was come again to the temple, now Paul's telling the crowd
there, he said, I was coming to the temple in Jerusalem, After all this happened on the
road to Damascus, I came back to Jerusalem, went in the temple,
and even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance. And
I was in a trance and saw Him saying unto me, Make haste and
get thee quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy
testimony concerning Me." The Lord's telling him to leave that
place because they're not going to receive the Gospel from you,
Paul, here in Jerusalem. They're not going to do it. And
the Lord told him that. But in verse 18 through 21, you've
got to see this. And they saw him saying unto
me, make haste and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will
not receive that testimony concerning me. And I said, Lord, he's gonna
contend with the Lord here. And I said, Lord, they know that
I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed
on thee. And when the blood of thy martyr
Stephen was shed, I also was standing by and consenting unto
his death and kept the raiment of them that slew him." Paul still thinks he's somebody. He said, Lord, and see, the Lord
said, get out of here. They're not gonna receive your
testimony. The Lord's telling him what's gonna happen. He said,
well, wait a minute. I'm gonna paraphrase. He said, wait a minute.
They know me. They know I was a Pharisee. They
know what kind of life I led. They know I consented to the
death of Stephens. They'll listen to me. No, they
won't. Because I thought the same thing. When I first heard the gospel,
I thought they would listen to me. They knew me. Paul, they're
not going to listen to you. Unless God breaks them like He
did you, they're not going to listen. God has to break every
sinner whom He saves, or they're not going to listen. I don't
care who the preacher is. It doesn't matter who the preacher
is. The work is of God. It's not of the preacher. Paul could stand here and preach
to a whole crowd here, but unless God breaks you and me, we're
going to go away just like we came, lost. You see, Paul thought,
he said, well, wait a minute, wait a minute. Paul thought that
his testimony would change them. No, it won't. God has to make
the change. The change is of God. And he
told him, he said, you've got to get out of here. And I want
you to notice something, I'm going to close right here. And he said to me in verse 21,
and he said to me, depart, Paul leave. For I will send thee far
hence unto the Gentiles." This is not your place, this is not
your ministry here in Jerusalem. James will stay here. James will
pastor the church here. You're not going to. You're going
to be the apostle to the Gentiles. And they gave him audience unto
his word, in verse 22, then lifted up their voice and said, away
with such a fellow from the earth, for it's not fit that he should
live. When Paul said, you know, they're quiet, they're listening
to him. He's got their attention. Until
he says, God said for me, go preach to the Gentiles. And that
made them mad. And they're going, you ought
to die. It made him mad when Paul said, God sent me to those
Gentiles to preach the gospel to them and save a people out
of them. It made him mad. And they turned on him. Boy,
did they turn on him when he said his ministry was to us.
To us. Oh, listen. The message of grace will always
be an offense. to the lost religionist, no matter
who preaches it. No matter who preaches it, it'll
always be an offense. It must come in power to you
just like it did to Paul. And I pray that God will be pleased
to send his word to us in power, week after week, week after week. All right.