The Conversion of A Religious Man

Q: What does the Bible say about conversion?

Conversion is a transformative act of God whereby an individual is called to faith in Jesus Christ, leading to a new life in Him. Conversion, as seen in the case of Saul of Tarsus in Acts 22, is a profound work of God’s grace where a sinner is awakened and transformed. The dramatic encounter Saul had with Christ highlights that conversion is not merely a change of behavior or belief system, but an act of divine initiative where God calls an individual to repentance and faith. This change is a result of God’s purpose and election, as mentioned in Ephesians 1:4-5, where it is emphasized that God chooses individuals for salvation. The act of believing is a response enabled by the Holy Spirit, marking the beginning of a new relationship with Christ, as seen throughout Scripture.

Q: How do we know election is true?

Election is rooted in Scripture, showing that God chooses certain individuals for salvation according to His sovereign will. The doctrine of election is firmly established in Scripture, particularly in passages such as Ephesians 1:4-5, which states that believers are chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. This election is not based on foreseen faith or merit, but solely on God’s sovereign purpose and grace. Throughout the biblical narrative, from the choosing of Israel as a people to the selection of the apostles, we see a pattern of God’s sovereign choice. Romans 8:29-30 also affirms this by stating that those whom God foreknew, He predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. This illustrates that election is an essential aspect of God's redemptive plan.

Q: Why is the doctrine of grace important for Christians?

The doctrine of grace is fundamental for Christians as it emphasizes salvation as a gift from God, not earned by human effort. The doctrine of grace is essential to Christian faith because it underscores that salvation is a gift from God, freely given to undeserving sinners. As highlighted in Ephesians 2:8-9, we are saved by grace through faith, and this is not of ourselves; it is the gift of God. Understanding grace compels believers to humbly receive God's mercy, acknowledging their inability to attain righteousness on their own. Grace also transforms believers, not just in their standing before God but in their daily lives, as they live out their faith in obedience and love, empowered by the Holy Spirit. This theological foundation fosters a spirit of gratitude and worship, drawing believers nearer to Christ.

Behold, my soul, the love of
God. Behold, the grace most free. Before all worlds His purpose
stood His heart was fixed on me Elected by eternal love The covenant
firm and sure The triune God agreed in love Salvation too My soul was given to the Father
He promised to redeem By blood and righteousness His own He
wore out my soul In the due time, Emmanuel came
to live and die for me. Live today and bless my name. Christ is my surety. In love He sent His Spirit down
Who gave me life and grace He drew me and I followed on, my Savior to embrace. Now I rejoice in covenant love,
amazing grace I see. I now am conquered by By His
love, my Savior is my King. Behold my soul, the love of God. Alright, let's turn in our Bibles
to the Scripture Brother John read a few moments ago, Acts
chapter 21. Now I ask that this Scripture
be read to prepare you for my message entitled the conversion
of a religious man. Now let's read verse 40 of chapter
21. Our message will be taken from
the next chapter. And when the captain had given
Paul license, Paul stood on the stairs. and beckoned with his
hand unto the people for silence. And when there was
made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue,
saying." That was the end of the reading a few moments ago.
Now, the Bible was not written in chapters and verses when it
was first written in the original languages, Hebrew and Greek.
It was written in epistles and books and paragraphs. And so
there's not a chapter division here at all. And it presents
a problem when you try to put a division here. Verse 1 of chapter
22 tells you what Paul said. He beckoned for silence and then
he spake to all of these Hebrew people, Jews, and this is what
he said. Men, he called them men, but
they did not act like men, did they? They acted more like beasts. They were beating him and crying
for his death. Paul was rescued by the chief
captain. restrained the people from murdering
the man. And he calls them men. Men, brethren. Brethren, what grace and compassion
to call these men brethren. But Paul had great compassion. He said, I could wish myself
a curse from Christ for these very people. Deceived. They're my brethren in the flesh.
He said, I have great heaviness of heart, continual sorrow for
my brethren, according to the flesh. For they are ignorant
of God's righteousness. And he calls them brethren. Then
he calls them fathers. Men, brethren, fathers, all respected,
old age. I was preaching over in Russia
several years ago. They showed great respect to
me and to my message because of this gray hair. They respect
women, mothers, and they respect old people. They pay tribute
and respect to them. We could learn something in this
country about that, about respect for authority and respect for
older people and respect for experience. And Paul calls them
fathers, and then he says, Hear my defense. I want you to hear
my testimony. That's what he said. I want you
to hear my testimony. I want you to hear what God has
done for me. I want you to hear my defense
which I make now unto you. And when they heard that he spake
in the Hebrew tongue, Paul, of course, was fluent in Hebrew.
The chief captain was surprised when he spoke in Greek. He said,
can you speak Greek? I thought you were that mad Egyptian
that led all those folks out into the wilderness. No, he said,
I'm a Jew, and I'm a man of Tarsus, and I speak Hebrew, and I speak
Greek. Both. He spoke in the Hebrew
tongue. And when these Jews heard him
speak in the Hebrew tongue, they kept the more silence. the more silence. And he said,
I am verily a man which am a Jew. I am a religious man. You remember
what he said over there in the book of Philippians about his
heritage, about his ancestry? You don't turn to him. Let me
just read it to you. He said, The pastor quoted it
in the Sunday school lesson a few moments ago. He said, I was circumcised
the eighth day of the stock of Israel. He said, my mother was
a Hebrew and my father was a Hebrew. I came from the tribe of Benjamin
as touching the law, a Pharisee, a ruler of the synagogue, a teacher
of scripture. This man is a Jew. He's a very,
very religious man. My life paralleled this to a
certain extent. I was brought up in the church.
My father was a deacon in a Baptist church, and my mother was a member
of the Baptist church, and we were brought up in that church.
We were brought up in religion. I was taught to tithe when I
was just a little fellow. I was taught to keep Sunday holy. I was taught all these things,
just like Paul. He said concerning zeal, I was
zealous and sincere in my religion, touching the righteousness which
is in the law. Honor thy father and thy mother.
I shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. I shall
not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt
not kill. Thou shalt not covet. I shall
not bear false witness. These were things Paul said I
was raised on. I was taught these things. Sincerely,
zealously kept these things. All the days of my life, I was
raised this way. And many of you were in religion. And that's what he's saying to
them. I'm a Jew. Go back to my text. I'm a Jew. I was born in
Tarsus, a city in Cilicia. Now, what's this? yet brought
up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel. The Jews had two prominent
teachers in that day and Gamaliel was one of them. Highly respected. Let me read you a verse of Scripture
about this man. Over in Acts chapter 5, this
was Paul's, he was solving the Saul of Tarsus. Gamaliel was
his teacher. From a child he was brought up,
a young man, he was brought up at the feet of this man Gamaliel. Now who is he? Well, look at
Acts chapter 5, verse 34. And there stood, then stood there
up one in the council a Pharisee named Gamaliel. You see it there,
Acts 5, 34. A doctor of the law. This man
was the most highly respected teacher of that day. It was Paul's
personal tutoring teacher. Had a reputation among all the
people. Commanded, he commanded them
to put the apostles forth a little space and said to them, ye men
of Israel, take heed you yourselves what you intend to do with these
men. This man is a powerhouse in the
Jewish religion. A teacher. And when he commanded
these Pharisees to let those men alone, they let them alone. And this is what Paul is saying
to them. He said, I'm no fly-by-night reformer. He said, I was brought
up in the Jewish religion. I sat at the feet of the best
teacher you have in the most prominent, recognized schools
that you have in religion. Taught the law of God for my
youth. According to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers,
I was zealous. What does the word zealous mean?
Sincere. Sincere. I made a profession
of religion when I was nine years old with all the other junior
department children. I was baptized, joined the church. This is the way we did things.
You were brought up in the church. You were brought up in the laws.
You were brought up in the standards. And you learned these things
and you did them. You did them sincerely. You say, are people
that are in false religion, are they sincere? Of course they're
sincere. I've never known a day I wasn't
sincere in my religion. Did you? Absolutely not. I walked the route I was taught.
I walked the way I was taught. I lived the way I was taught.
I followed the traditions of my parents, my grandparents. And this is what he said, listen,
I was zealous towards God as you all are this day. Men, brethren,
fathers, these men were trying to kill Paul because they thought
he was an imposter. They thought he was a troublemaker.
They thought he was trying to do away with their religion and
tear down their temple and do away with Moses' law. Paul wasn't
trying to do away with Moses' law. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself
said, I didn't come to destroy the law. I came to fulfill it. And He says, I was zealous, and
He recognized they were too, as you all are this day. Now watch verse 4. Here it gives
you a clue. And I persecuted this way unto
death. This way. Now Saul believed in
God, Saul believed in the resurrection, Saul believed in the law, Saul
believed in heaven, and Saul believed in eternal life. But
Saul of Tarsus, this man doing the speaking here, this man talking,
did not believe that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. He did
not believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. He did not believe
that Jesus Christ came into the world to redeem sinners by his
perfect life, representing them as their federal head, the second
Adam, who went to the cross of Calvary, bone of our bone, flesh
of our flesh, and died bearing our guilt and shame and sins
in his body on that tree. He didn't believe that. He didn't
believe that faith is the gift of God, that salvation is the
gift of God, that we're redeemed by the grace of God through the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He didn't believe he was a sinner. Nor did I. Nor did some of you. We were
good people. We were Baptists. We were Catholic. We were Methodists. We were Presbyterians. We were good people. We're not
like those folks out there. We wouldn't do what those folks
are doing. Sincere in that. And this is what Paul, he wasn't
a sinner. He didn't need a Savior. He didn't
need a blood atonement. He didn't need a righteousness.
He had a righteousness. He said, concerning the law,
I'm blameless. I've got a righteousness. I'm
doing the best I can. I'm worshiping God on Sunday
and paying my tithe. and staying out of meanness and
staying out of trouble and raising my children and doing all these
things, I'm alright. And he said, I persecuted this
way. This way. What's he talking about
this way? Turn to Acts chapter 9. The way
of the cross, the way of redemption, the way of Christ was called
in that day this way. This way. this way. Now read Acts 9, verse 1. And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings,
breathing out threatenings, Acts chapter 9, verse 2. I'll get to verse 2 in a minute.
Yet Saul, breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples
of the Lord, went to the high and desired of him letters to
Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he found any of this
way, of this faith, of this belief in Christ, love for Christ, dependence
upon Christ, whether they were men or women. Now, think of the
viciousness of this religious man. He didn't care whether they
were men or women. that He might bring them bound
to Jerusalem. Bound to Jerusalem and put them
in prison. Why? Because they believed that
Christ was the Messiah. Christ is the only Savior. That
by His blood, we're redeemed. By His righteousness, we're made
holy. By His blood, we're justified.
And by His obedience, we're sanctified. And I, verse 4, back in my text,
he said, I persecuted this way unto death. Well, Saul was religious. Wasn't that his way? Oh, no.
Saul's way was the way of ceremony. This way is the way of Christ.
Saul's way was the way of works, free will, doing things good
duties of religion and getting credit for it in heaven. That
was his way. This way is the way of free grace. Saul's way is the way of his
righteousness. This way is the way of Christ's
righteousness. Saul's way is the way of merit. This way is the way of mercy,
mercy for the guilty. Saul's way was come to the altar. and bring your sacrifice. This
way is go to the cross and look to His sacrifice. That's the
difference. I persecuted this way. I persecuted this way under death,
binding and delivering into prison both men and women. As also the
high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders,
from whom also I receive letters unto the brethren. And I went
to Damascus to bring them which were there of this way, the way
of Christ, bound unto Jerusalem to be punished because they rested in Christ
alone. All right, verse 6. And it came
to pass that as I made my journey Some people feel like that Paul
was under some kind of conviction when he was going to Damascus. But this man, Saul of Tarsus,
in his zealous tradition, he wasn't under conviction. He wasn't
troubled at all. He made his journey, not troubled,
not under conviction, not seeking the truth, walking in his way. the way of religious tradition,
religious unbelief walking his way. You know, if you'll turn
to Acts chapter 8, verse 1, it tells you something about Saul. People say when he saw Stephen
Stone that it troubled him. But I don't believe that because
it says here in Acts chapter 8, verse 1, and Saul was consenting
unto his death. He consented to the death of
Stephen. Stephen was the first martyr, the first man of this
way that was killed for what he believed was Stephen. And
Saul consented. Now let me show you that in our
text, in Acts 22, verse 20. And he's talking here himself.
This is Paul speaking in this message that he's delivering
to these people his defense, his testimony. Acts 22, 20, and
he said, And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed,
I also was standing by, consenting unto his death, and I kept the
raiment, I held the coats of the people that stoned him. That's
not conviction. That's not a troubled conscience.
That's a man full of hatred. Hatred. for the way of Christ,
hatred for the way of grace, hatred for the way of mercy.
A man steeped in tradition, steeped in religious duties, doing his
thing, trying to find acceptance with God. And he held the clothes
of the fellows that took stones and stoned Deacon Stephen to
death. So he's not under conviction.
No, sir. But he said, came to pass, verse
6, as I made my journey and was come down to Damascus about noon,
suddenly, suddenly, there shone from heaven a great
light round about me. Now listen, this thing of awakening
when God is pleased, to awaken a religious traditionist or a
rebellious outcast or a thief on a cross? This thief on the
cross, there were two of them, and the Scripture says they both
cursed Christ. Isn't that what it says? They
both cast the same in his teeth. Certainly, one of them changed
his tune, changed his speech. And he said, Lord, you're not going to stay dead.
You're coming into a kingdom. I'm getting what I deserve. He's
completely changed. Suddenly. You've done nothing
amiss. When you come into your kingdom,
will you think on me? Suddenly. And I'll tell you,
whether you're in a church service or whether you're on a road of
ruining, or whether you're hanging on a cross, or whatever you may
be doing, if God Almighty is pleased to awaken, He'll awaken. He'll shine light. He'll give
understanding. He'll give light. Certainly,
a great light, brighter than the sun, shone round about me. It was from heaven, too. This
was from heaven. This work is from heaven. You
know the call. We talk about the call. We're
the call of Christ Jesus. It's called a holy calling because
it's God who calls. It's called a heavenly calling
because it's not from earth. It's from heaven. It's a heavenly calling. And
Paul said there came a message, a light, a word from heaven. It's God awake, salvation of
the Lord. Salvation is not a work that
I do for you or for myself or you do for yourself. It's a work
God does in us. Suddenly, there shone a great
light from heaven. And that great light was accompanied
by a voice. That light is accompanied by
a voice. Light gives revelation. That voice gives instruction. It was light and a voice. And
that great light is Christ, and that great voice and word is
Christ. He's called the Word of God.
He is the Word of God. Now, a light without word is
blinding. A light without word, without
a revelation, without a word, without instruction, it does
nothing but blind you. That's all. That's all a light
do, just blind you, just fascinate you, just make you lie down in
awe. And that's what happened to these
fellas with him. Look at verse 9. And they that
were with me saw indeed the light, and they were afraid, but they
heard not the voice of him that spake to me. They've got a problem,
hadn't they? All they've seen is... See, we're
not saved by what we see, we're saved by what we hear. Faith comes by hearing, hearing
by the Word of God. Hank Williams said, I saw the
light. I saw the light. If he'd have heard the voice,
he wouldn't have died of drunk in the back of a car. He just
saw the light. He saw emotionalism. He saw excitement. He saw something unusual. He
had an experience. He had a feeling. The Apostle
Paul heard a voice. It's different. Got to hear the
Word. We're born of the Word of God.
Of His own will, be yet He us through the Word of truth. And
Saul says, they didn't hear the voice. They didn't hear Him who
spoke to me. They saw the light. And they
were afraid. When you see lights, and when
you see miracles, and when you see things unusual taking place,
it'll either leave you scared to death or up on the mountaintop.
When you hear the word of God, it gives you peace. It's a difference. And Saul said, suddenly from
heaven, a great light, an effectual light, a light and then a voice. Verse 7, listen, I fell to the
ground. Now this is the, this man is
a personal friend of the high priest. This man is a Pharisee
of Pharisees. This man is a member of the highest
Jewish court. Saul of Tarsus was a member of
the Sanhedrin. Saul graduated from the most
recognized school by the most recognized teacher. He was a
man who was known by kings. You remember Agrippa said, much
learning hath made you man. He's a smart man. He's well known. But when God spoke to him, And
when the light of revelation came, he fell to the ground. To the ground. To the dust. I fell to the ground. I fell
to the ground. A revelation to any man, religious
or otherwise, a revelation of the majesty of God and the glory
of God will bring all who see it and hear it to their faces
in the dust. I fell to the ground. If God
does not humble me, God will never exalt me. And my heart of the love for
this world, He'll never fill. Saul has got to be broken before
he can be put together. Saul has got to be stripped.
And so, majesty he never even dreamed of. He saw and heard,
and he fell to the ground. See, religion reformed me. God regenerated me. That's the
difference. That's the difference. Religion
will reform you. Religion will straighten up your
life. Religion will make you Do certain things. Religion will
change you on the outside, and God changes you on the inside.
He regenerates you. That's what our Lord said about
these Pharisees. He said, you may clean the outside
of the cup, but within you're full of extortion and excess. You're like a tombstone. You're
beautiful on the outside with the flowers and the marble, but
on the inside you're full of dead men's bones. Religion reforms
men. God regenerates them. Religion
makes them happy. God makes them holy. There's
a difference. There's a difference. Religion
makes them happy, whoopee, carefree. God makes them holy. Serious,
devout, devoted, Holy. Religion can justify a man in
his own eyes. I'm as good as the rest of you.
That's not good enough. Religion will justify a man in
his own eyes and in the eyes of others. He's a good man. Only
Christ can justify him in the eyes of God. I can impress you, that's no
problem. You can impress me. I've been impressed all through
these, I've been pastor 49 years in the same town. And I've watched
folks that really impressed me when I started out. But under
God, they've depressed me in the last few years. You can justify yourself in the
eyes of men and in your own eyes. that only Christ can justify
you in God's sight. Saul was a self-satisfied, self-sufficient,
self-righteous person until he met Christ, and then he fell
to the ground. A man's got to be lost before
he can be found. That's just true. And I fell to the ground, verse
7, I heard a voice saying to me, Son, why persecutest thou
me?" He didn't have anything to do with the death of Christ.
He didn't have anything to do with driving the nails. He didn't
have anything to do with spitting upon the Son of God. He wasn't
there. But inasmuch as you've done it
to the least of these, my brethren, you've done it to me. He was
persecuting Christ when he persecuted Christ's people. When he was declaring war against
God's people, he was declaring war against Christ. That's dangerous. Whosoever offendeth one of these
little ones, and he's not talking about children, he's talking
about his children. It's better for a millstone to
hang about his neck than to be dropped into the deepest sea.
He said, Saul, you're persecuting me. Why, he says, listen to verse
8, who are you? Who art thou, Lord? Think about
this. Now, this man is a Pharisee.
This man knows more Bible than you and I will ever know put
together. This man was a Pharisee, a Sanhedrin
member. This man was a ruler of the Jews.
This man memorized the Old Testament. And yet this man didn't know
Christ. And the whole Old Testament's about Christ. The whole Old Testament
says someone's coming. We're looking for a Messiah.
We're looking for the seed of woman. We're looking for the
priest after the order of Melchizedek. We're looking for the Passover
lamb. We're looking for the lamb that God will provide. We're
looking for the son of David. We're looking for the Messiah.
And he didn't know it. Who are you? He was ignorant of God's righteousness,
going about to establish his own. Who is he? These children
know who he is. These children know who he is.
These children here have been taught. They know who he is.
They know what he did. He died on a cross for sinners.
He walked this earth son of God, son of man, born of woman, made
in human flesh under the law to give us a righteousness. These
children know that. Why did he do it? That God may
be just and justify folks like you and me. That's why he did
it. The only way God can save a sinner is for his law to be
satisfied perfectly and his justice to be honored perfectly. Christ
did that. They know why. in order that
God may be just and justify. They know where he is now. The
right hand of God interceding for us. He's our high priest.
They know that. Saul didn't know that. He knew
all the history of religion. He knew all the traditions of
religion. He knew all about the Passover. He knew all about the
feast days. He knew all about the Feast of
Firstfruits and the Feast of the Passover and the Feast of
the Tabernacles. And he knew all the Jewish history,
backwards and forwards, recited, coming down the stair steps on
his head in the middle of the night. But he didn't know the
Lord Jesus Christ. And our Lord said to him, listen, who art thou, Lord? And he said
to me, I'm Jesus of Nazareth. Why didn't he say, I'm God? Because
Saul believed in God, but he didn't believe in Jesus Christ.
That's why. Why didn't he say, I'm speaking
to you from the throne of God? Saul could have handled that.
But this man, Jesus, is the one he hated. He really hated God
because he hated God's anointed. He's hated God because he hated
God's son. But a man can't know God who
does not know Christ. Are you saying, preacher, that
everybody is unsaved and lost and doesn't know God who does
not know Christ? Of course I'm saying that. The
Scripture says that, he that hath the Son hath life, he that
hath not the Son hath not life. If we believe not on the Son
of God, we believe not on Him who sent Christ. There's no way
to God but through Christ. Christ said, I'm the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. No man has seen the Father at
any time. The Son hath declared Him. No
man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son will
reveal him." Of course I'm saying that. Anybody with an ounce of
sense knows that. Christ is the way. Christ is
God revealed and manifest in human flesh. The only way we
can know God is to know Christ. The Son of God hath come in the
flesh and given us an understanding that we may know God. This is
the true God. The only way you can know God
is through Christ. That's not something I dreamed
up. That's the Scriptures. If a man speaks not according
to the Scriptures, it's because he's got no light. Who are you? I'm Jesus of Nazareth. I'm Jesus son of Mary. I'm Jesus
whom they spit upon and hung on a cross and cursed and laughed
while I died. That's who I am. I'm Jesus Christ
who arose from the grave and ascended back to the Father.
I'm God Almighty in human flesh. That's who I am. I'm the man,
Christ Jesus. There's one God and one mediator
between God and me, and that's the man. There's a man in glory. What a man. He's the God-man. And that's who I am. And that's
when Saul got some understanding. Well, he said, listen, in verse
10. I read verse 9 to you a moment
ago, verse 10. What shall I do? What shall I
do? And the Lord said, Arise and
go to Damascus. I can't go down there. I was
on my way down there to kill those people. I hated those people. I hated
their message. I hated their way. I hated their
God. I hated their Savior. I hated
everything about them. You want me to go down there
where they are? Yeah, that's where you're going. If you hear anything,
you'll hear it where God's people gather. You go to Damascus. Don't you
try and go back to Jerusalem where you're popular and famous
and somebody and You go to Damascus. You go down there where the people
of this way are meeting and worshiping God and walking with God. Because where two or three are
gathered in my name, not in the name of the church,
not in the name of the denomination, not in the name of religion,
in my name, I'm in their midst. Want to hear from God? Go where
God is. He dwells among His people. He
dwells among humble, loving, believing people who have no
objective except one, to glorify His name. And no human standing
or pride or influence. They're His people. That's their
claim to fame. They're His people. Now you go
to Damascus, and when you get there, it'll be told to you.
Of all things you need to know, appointed for thee to do. If
you go to Damascus, go to the people of God, and listen to
the Word, it'll be preached down there. That's where the Word
is preached. That's where God is preached.
That's where the Gospel is preached. And you can seek the Lord. He'll
come by revelation. And you can be like the publican
in the temple. You can't ask for mercy, you
know. So verse 11, And when I could not see for the glory of the
light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I
came to Damascus. And verse 12, And one Ananias,
a devout man, according to the law, having a good report of
all the Jews which dwelt there, came to me. God sent him a preacher. And this is not one of the, he
didn't send Peter the apostle. He didn't send James or John.
He sent a man called Ananias that you never hear from again. Just a humble servant of God.
One of the men in the congregation. When the Lord came to Ananias
and said, Ananias, there's a man down in Damascus named Saul of
Tarsus. You read that, hadn't you? And
Ananias said, I know him. I know who he is. Lord, I've
heard some awful things about this man. Surely you don't want me to encounter
this man. You know what the Lord said?
Behold, he prayeth. He's not the same fellow. I've
shaken him up. I've smitten him. I took the
starch out of him. I took the arrogance out of him.
I've broken him. He's down there blind and he's
calling on me for mercy. He's not showing off his religion
now, and he's not looking back to his childhood and all the
ancestry and heritage and duties he's performed and religion he's
had and experience. He's praying. Saul had said a
whole lot of prayers before, but this time he's praying. He's
praying. Three fellas arguing about how
to pray. One of them said, the way to pray is down on one knee.
Know what I'm saying? The way to pray is prostrate
on the ground, on your face. The other fellow just kept standing
there listening to him. He said, well, I'm going to tell
you. I was drawing a bucket of water
one time, and I let the bucket go, and the lion wrapped around
my leg and pulled me into that well upside down. And it caught
me before I hit the water. I was hanging upside down in
the well. I know something about prayer. He said the best prayer
I ever prayed was upside down, hanging by a rope in a well.
That's praying. Honestly now, this man's praying. And that prayer's heard when
a man or woman gets in trouble. When you seek me with all your
heart, you'll find me, he said. When you quit playing at religion
and listening to all the voices around talking to you and start
listening to me, I'll hear you. I'll hear you. He's praying. So Ananias came down there and
verse 13 says, he came to me and he stood and he said to me,
Brother Saul, Ananias recognized God. He called him brother. He knew God was dealing with
him. Already his brother. Brother in Christ. Brother in
Christ. Brother Saul received our sight
in the same hour I looked on him. And listen, he said, the
God of our fathers had chosen thee. I love the doctrine of election.
God chose me. I didn't choose Him. Christ said
that to His disciples. You didn't choose Me. Left to
yourself, you'd have never come to Me. Saul of Tarsus left himself,
would still be back there in Jerusalem, bragging about his
religion. God arrested him. God came to
him. You didn't love Me. I loved you.
We love Him because He loved us. Herein is love, not that
we love God. He loved us. God chose you. in Christ. God chose to speak
to this man, to awaken this man, to reveal Christ to this man.
God chose to. That you should know his will.
What way? Saul thought he knew the will
of God. He thought he knew the will of God. God was going to
save all Jews and send all Gentiles to hell. That's what Saul believed.
He thought he knew the will of God. But the will of God is to
have a people from every tribe, kindred, nation, tongue unto
heaven. The will of God is to redeem a people and make them
like Christ. The will of God is the will of
redemption. And Christ said, Lo, I come,
my Father, to do thy will. By the which will we are sanctified
by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. That's
the will of God. This is the will of God. that
all which ye have given me, I lose nothing, but raise it up at the
last day. I came to do His will. And so,
God chose you that you might know His will. Isn't that awesome?
Doesn't that just astound you? David prayed one day and he said,
Lord, who am I? Who is my people that you should
show such mercy to us? Doesn't that astound you? That
God should be pleased to save you, reveal His will to you,
visit you in mercy. God, that you should know His
will and see the just one. You see that in your Bible there,
capital J-U-S-T, capital O-N-E. This is a person that you might
see, not just with these eyes. That you might see with a heart,
with faith, see Him in the scriptures, see Him in the prophecies, see
Him in the promises, see Him in the patterns, see Him in the
types, see Him in the feast days, see Him, see the just one. He's perfectly just. He said,
I'm a just God and a Savior, so look to me and be your Savior. There's just one just one. You
see, he didn't say that you might see the just ones, that you might
know his will of redemption and actually see how God can be just
and justify because Christ has come, suffered in the flesh,
the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. He's
the just one. And you're going to see him.
Think about it. Behold, what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called sons
of God, and when He shall appear, we shall see Him as He is and
be like Him. Think about it. But before you
see Him as He is, you're going to see Him as He was. You'll never see him as he is
until you see him as he was, because you wouldn't recognize
him. You'll never see him as the Savior,
the Lord, the Redeemer, the King, until you see him as a suffering
substitute who was hanged on a tree for your sin. You'll see
him bleeding and dying as your sacred goat, as your sacrifice,
before you see him as your King. That's right. And you hear the
voice of his mouth. He said, Preacher, we're listening
to you. Christ said to the disciples, I send you in my name, and he
that heareth you, heareth me. If you're preaching the truth.
He that despises you, despises me. And he that despises me,
despises him that sent me. This is the gospel. Don't despise
it. This is God's servant. Don't
despise him. Listen, I'm reading the scriptures,
just talking to you about the truth. And you hear his voice
in the scriptures. This is what all the preachers
need to do today, is to teach the Word of God. The reason our
people, people in the churches are ignorant is because the preacher
takes the one verse and lays the Bible down and starts talking
about all the different beautiful things in the world, things he's
thought and imagined and seen and dreamed. Well, he said, let
the preacher has his dream, tell his dream. But he said, he that
hath my word, let him speak my word. And he said, listen to this,
and I'll close. Verse 15, Thou shalt be his witness
unto all men of what you've heard, thou of what you've seen in earth. Not what you've read. You'll
be witness of what you've read, of your traditions which you've
been taught. No, you're going to be a witness of what you've
seen. You've seen the just one. You've heard the word of his
mouth, and you're going to be a witness to that. A friend of mine used to say,
ìA man canít tell what he doesnít know any more than he can come
back from where he hadnít been.î But if youíve been there, you
can tell about it. If youíve seen him, you know
who he is. And then he said to Saul, and
here, listen carefully to me, ìAnd now, why tarriest thou?î
What are you waiting on? ìArise and be baptized.î Wash
away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord. Why do you
tarry? I talked to our congregation
a few weeks ago about this. What causes people... You see,
baptism is the way we confess Christ. Back in New Testament
days in the early church, nobody walked down an aisle and shook
hands with a preacher and went to an inquiry room and signed
a card. They confessed Christ for baptism.
That's the way they confessed Christ at Pentecost. That's the
way Lydia confessed Christ, the Philippian jailer, the Ethiopian
eunuch. Everybody who confessed Christ
confessed him in baptism. Confessing that, that's, see,
he said, wash away your sins. Well, it's not baptism or water
that washes away your sins, but Christ and the confession of
Christ in baptism is confessing who did wash my sins away and
how he did it. You see what I'm saying? When
I'm baptized, I'm saying this, Christ bore my sins and died,
and he was buried, and he arose, my justifier. And I'm dying,
like you talk while I go to this world, to the traditions, to
salvation by works. I'm dying to all of these things.
I'm dying. I'm buried with Christ. I'm buried
with Christ. And I'm rising with Christ to
walk in newness of life. And that's what I'm saying to
my family, and to my friends, and to the church, and to all
the people. When he died on that cross, was buried. He died for
me. He was buried as my scapegoat.
He arose as my justifier. And he ascended as my mediator. And I'm dead to this world. And
I'm buried. Buried with Christ in baptism. And I'm rising to walk in newness
of life. And I know people put off baptism,
and I know why. I've been around a while, and
I've heard just about everything that can come down the pike.
And here's some of the reasons they put off baptism. Number
one, when they come to faith in Christ, they're surprised
that that indwelling nature of sin is still there. They still
have a real struggle, a real struggle. And that's a matter
of growth. It takes years to grow in grace.
It takes years for a child to become an adult. And God's people
are born. They're children. They're children
like your children. They're infants. And then they're
young men. And then they're elders. And
then they're full grown. And then they've still got sin. But it's a nature that remains
until we're made like Him. Secondly, people put off baptism
because when they're saved, They experience a weakness of faith.
Well, I thought I'd have the victory, you know, and just could
believe God and live in perfect peace, but, oh, you have little
faith. Weak faith, little faith. But it's not the strength of
your faith that's faith, it's the strength of the object of
your faith. A little vine can cling to a pole just like a big
vine, but move the pole, they're both So what little faith the
Lord's been pleased to give me is in Christ. Your faith will
grow through the years. Don't be upset with weakness
of faith. Here's another reason people put off. I may fail. I may do something to dishonor
God, dishonor the church, and dishonor the gospel. Good possibility
you will. But that's why you need Christ.
That's why you need the Savior. Because you're a sinner, you're
not perfect. There's no perfect faith or perfect
life in this world, but he is. The fourth reason people give
me is, I'm waiting on more assurance. I'm going to wait until I'm stronger. I'm going to wait until I've
got more assurance. Now wait a minute, he said you
believe. And then assurance will come. Assurance doesn't come
and then you believe. You believe. Lord, increase our
faith. grow in grace and in the knowledge
of Christ. So don't wait for more assurance. It's Christ now, isn't it? It'll
be Christ then. It'll be faith now, it's faith
then. And then some people delay baptism because they're just
naturally tempted. I found that to be true. They
just, they flee public attention. They flee demonstrations of this nature,
going into water and being baptized, but our Lord was baptized. And
He did it to fulfill righteousness for us. Baptism. And I know somebody says, well,
baptism is not essential to salvation. It is to obedience. It's not
essential to salvation. Next time you tell your children
to do something, they say, that's not essential. That's not essential. Is this
essential? It is essential, yeah. When you
say, here's the thing about, listen to this. Somebody says,
well, the thief on the cross wasn't baptized. He could not
be baptized. There's a difference in, I would
if I could, and this, I could but I won't. There's a difference in that. It's a confession of Christ.
It's an identification with Christ in His redemptive work, death,
burial, and resurrection. It's obedience. And it's the
way our Lord, He told us to go into all the world and make disciples
and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. That's what He told us to do.
And that's the way they confess Christ in the New Testament,
follow them in baptism. And it's humbling, but death's
humbling. Burial's humbling. But that's the way we confess
Him. Our Father, thank You for Your Word. Thank You for the
glorious privilege of having this Word of the living God in
our possession. And not only the written Word,
but, Lord, You've sent the Word down here in the person of Christ,
Thy living Word, incarnate Word. We have heard Him. We have seen
Him by faith. He's been declared to our hearts
and revealed by Thy Spirit as our only Redeemer, Lord and Savior. Thank You that it's not just
words on paper, but it's a living Word in which we rejoice in which
we find peace and rest and comfort and joy and hope of eternal life. May it please thee to reveal
the Lord Jesus to our children, to our friends, to our loved
ones as you revealed him here to Saul of Tarsus. Nothing is
impossible with thee. In Christ's name, amen. The Lord
willing, tonight I'm going to preach from the book of Acts,
chapter 8, on the conversion of a worldly man to the conversion
of a religious man.

The Conversion of A Religious Man

What does the Bible say about conversion?

How do we know election is true?

Why is the doctrine of grace important for Christians?

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About Henry Mahan

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The Conversion of A Religious Man

What does the Bible say about conversion?

How do we know election is true?

Why is the doctrine of grace important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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