Good evening, let's all stand
together. We'll sing hymn number 71. Hymn number 71. ? Blessed day of rest and cheer
? ? Day divine to us so dear ? ? When we gather old and young
? ? Joining here in prayer and song ? ? Now the week of toil
is o'er ? ? And in peace we'll sit once more ? Thy presence,
gracious Lord, Waiting for Thy holy word. Lord our God, we seek Thy face,
Bless us with sustaining grace. May Thy heralds everywhere Faithfully
Thy truth declare. Let thy mighty word hold sway
over all our hearts today. Hungering souls, good shepherds,
feed into pastures green a sleet. May, O Lord, the day be near
when we pass from trials here. to thine eternal rest in the
mansions of the blessed. M number 232. 232. Christ, our Redeemer, died on
the cross, died for the sinner, paid all his due. pass over you. When I see the
blood, when I see the blood, Chiefest of sinners, Jesus will
save All he has promised, that he will do Wash in the fountain,
hope and foresee And I will pass, will pass away See the blue When I see the blue When I see the
blue I will pass, I will pass over you Judgment is coming Each one receiving justly is
due Hiding the savings in printing books When I see the blood When I see
the blood When I see the blood I will pass, I will pass over
you O great compassion, O boundless
love, O loving kindness, faithful and true. When I see the blood, I will pass away. Acts chapter 22, Acts chapter
22. Let me read down to Verse 15, Men and brethren, hear ye my
defense, I make now unto you. And when they heard that he spake
in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept them more silent, and
he saith, I am verily or truly a man which am a Jew, born in
Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the
feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner
of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye
all are this day. And I persecuted this way unto
the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women,
And also the high priest doeth bear me witness in all the state
of the elders, from whom I also receive letters from the brethren,
and went to Damascus to bring them which were there bound unto
Jerusalem for to be punished. 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.
And I fell unto the ground, and I heard a voice saying unto me,
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I answered, Who art thou,
Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus
of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. 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. And I said, What shall I do,
Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus,
and there shall be told thee of all things which are appointed
for thee to do. And when I could not see, for
the glory of that light, that being led by the hand of them
that were with me, I came into Damascus. And one Ananias, a
devout man, according to the law, having good report of all
the Jews which dwelt there, came unto me, and stood, and said
unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour
I looked upon him, And he said, the God of our fathers hath chosen
thee, that thou shouldest know his will, see that just one,
and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. For thou shalt
beest his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. Our gracious, blessed Father
in heaven, As we sung, God of compassion, our Lord Jesus Christ,
full of compassion and pity, that you know us, Lord. You know
us, and you know us intimately. And you know that we're frail.
Oh, how frail we are. We're just like dust. Oh, Lord. And one of these days, we'll
return to the dust from which you brought us all. And Lord,
I bless you for allowing us to meet here tonight. I thank you
for Brother Larry coming and preaching Sunday. I know he's
such a blessing. Such a wonderful preacher. Glorifies
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a blessing to your people,
and I thank you for him. I pray you bless his work there.
And Lord Jesus, my preacher brethren, it's meeting this evening. God
bless them. Lord be with them. Encourage
them. Strengthen them. Do for them what only you can
do. And Lord Jesus, meet with us tonight. Please pity us and
have compassion on us and be merciful and gracious. And please,
oh Lord, forgive us of everything that's unlike you. And oh Lord
Jesus, we pray for the sick among us, the frail among us that's
not able to be here because of the weakness of the body. Pray
for the mercies towards them. And Lord, our poor families.
Oh, our poor families. Rebels, rebels, rebels. They
don't know they're rebels. They don't know that they're
sinners. They don't know they're God haters. They don't know that
they will not come to you. But Lord, you said in the day
of your power, your people are made willing. If you'd be pleased,
for Christ's sake, to cause the day of your power to cross their
paths, God bless you and praise you for it. And I'm going to
bless you and praise you if you don't. Lord, you're God. You do as you
will. You're the judge of all the earth. And you must do right. Meet with us for Christ's sake.
Amen. Hymn number 224. I know not why God's wondrous
grace to me he hath made known, Nor why unworthy Christ in love
redeemed me for his own. But I know whom I have believed
and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed
unto him again. I know not how this saving faith
to me he did impart Nor how believing in his word brought peace within
my heart But I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that
He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against
that day. I know not how the Spirit moves,
convincing men of sin. Revealing Jesus through the Word,
creating faith in me. But I know whom I have believed
in And am persuaded that He is able To keep that which I've
committed to him against that day. I know not what a May he be reserved for me Of
weary ways or golden days Before his face I see But I know whom
I have believed in And am persuaded that He is able To keep that
which I've committed and to Him a kiss that day. I know not when my Lord may come
that night or noonday fair, nor if I walk the field with Him But I know whom I have believed,
And am persuaded that He is able To keep that which I've committed
Unto Him against that Day. Let's look back here in Acts
22. Now you remember last week the
city got in an uproar over Paul. He was fixing, he'd had his head
shaved. He was going to take a Nazarite
vow and they sought to kill him and then the soldiers came and
rescued him. And they had to carry him up
on the steps and Paul asked the chief of captain, may I speak
unto thee?" And he said, can you speak Greek? And he said, aren't you that
Egyptian which before these days made an uproar and let us down
into the wilderness, 4,000 men that were murderers. But Paul
said, I'm a man. I'm a Jew of Tarsus, a city in
Cilicia, a citizen. And I beseech thee, allow me
to speak, suffer me to speak. And when they had given him,
verse 40, given him license, given him to go ahead and speak,
Paul stood on the stairs, beckoned with his hand under the people.
And when there's made a great silence, he spake unto them in
the Hebrew tongue. And the title of the message
is right in the very beginning. Paul's defense. Men, brothers
and fathers, hear my defense, which I now make unto you. Paul's
life, his whole life was an exhibit of the grace of God and what
the grace of God does for his people. And here he was, he's
in this awful, awful situation. These people ganged up on him,
wanted to kill him, wanted to destroy him. And the soldiers
had to come down and save him. And then they allowed him to
speak. They allowed him to speak. And oh my. And who's he's talking
to here? He's talking to people that just
a little while ago wanted to kill him. And the thing about it is, they're
all religious. They saw him at the temple and
thought he had taken an Ephesian in the temple with him, a Gentile
in the temple with him. And they went crazy, because
they knew who he was. They had already had word about
him. And so here he comes, but he didn't address them. As religious people, he didn't
address them as bloodthirsty enemies. No, no. But you know how he addresses
them? Men, Brethren and fathers. If it'd been me, I'd say, what
in the world are you fellas trying to do to me? What are you trying
to do to me? That's what I'd have said. What
are you fellas? But that's not what Paul said. Men and brethren,
hear my defense. You all want to destroy me. I
want to give you my defense. You want me to tell you what
I am. And I tell you, it takes form
of a personal testimony of what Christ did for him on the Damascus
road. He's not trying to justify himself
before the people. And he didn't try to show them
what great things God had done for him. And first thing he talks
about himself is, and when they heard him speak, and when they
heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the
more silence. And look what he says, I am verily
a man. I'm a Jew. I was born in Tarsus,
a city in Cilicia. And listen to this. He not only
was a Jew, but he was one of the most educated people of his
day. He was extremely educated, greatly
educated. The best teacher of that day
teaching the law was a fellow named Gamaliel, and he said,
I sat at the feet of Gamaliel, and this is what he said, and
this is what Gamaliel taught me, and this is what I learned. According to the perfect manner
of the law of our fathers, He said, you know, whatever the
ceremonies and rituals and sacrifices and washings and feasts and holy
days and Sabbath days and all the things that a man's supposed
to do as a Jew. He said, I was taught after the
perfect manner of the law. And I tell you what, there's
a lot of folks that are doing that. And then look what else
he said, and I was zealous toward God. I was very zealous toward
God. You think those folks that hated
Christ and wanted Christ crucified and was trying to make every
possible means of having Him apprehended, don't you think
that they were very educated, very learned, and they thought
they was doing after the perfect manner of the law? And they were
zealous toward God, as you are today. And Paul said, I bear
record to my brethren, according to the law, they're zealous for
God. They're zealous for God, but
not according to righteousness. Oh, no, they don't know the righteousness
of God, going about to establish their own righteousness. And
Paul over in Philippians, you know, you probably all read it
over there. He said, I was a Hebrew of Hebrews. My mama was a Jew. My father was a Jew. I was of
the tribe of Benjamin. I was a Pharisee after the sect
of the Pharisees. And I was zealous above many,
many, many my equals and persecuted the church of God. That's what
he said about himself. Oh, if anybody can glory in something,
he said, I can. I can glory. I can glory in what
I was, but I'm not glorying in that. I'm telling you what I
was, but thank God he saved me by his grace and saved me from
that mess that I was in. And then look what else he said.
Oh my, he was one of those men that could easily, easily be
deceived because he was a Hebrew of Hebrews and he had natural
gifts. And he said, oh my. And he said, listen to this,
in verse four and five. And I persecuted this way unto
death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. And the high priest himself,
WILL HAVE TO BEAR WITNESS, AND ALL THE ESTATE OF ALL THE ELDERS,
FROM WHOM I ALSO RECEIVED LETTERS FROM THE HIGH PRIESTS AND THE
ELDERS, UNTO THE BRETHREN, AND WENT TO DAMASCUS TO BRING THEM
WHICH WERE BOUND, THEY WERE ALREADY BOUND, AND BRING THEM TO JERUSALEM. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO BRING THEM
TO JERUSALEM FOR? SO THEY CAN BE PUNISHED. WHAT DID THEY DO? WHAT DID THEY DO? What crime
was they guilty of? He said, I persecuted this way.
And how many times did they talk about this way? Christ, the way
of Christ, the way of grace, the way of salvation, the way
of Christ and the way of God almighty sending his beloved
son, his only begotten son into this world. And I tell you what,
when they talk about this way, he's talking about Christians,
he's talking about believers and the way they now walked and
he didn't like it. He didn't like it, he was a Pharisee.
And I tell you what, in carrying out, he thought he was doing
God's service, I'm telling you he did. And anything, he ought
to oppose anything connected with the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Oh my. You know, our Lord Jesus,
look what it says down here in verse 19 and 20. And I said, Lord, they know that
I imprisoned and beat, imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them
that believed on you. That was a crime. They believed
on the Lord Jesus Christ. And look what else he said. And
when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was
standing by, and consenting unto his death, and I kept the raiment,
held the raiment, the clothes of them that slew him. He's a mean man. He was a cruel
man. He was a hateful man. He is a
religious man. And he hated Christ. He didn't
hate God, you know, one God, Israel had one God. But he was
doing just exactly what was natural for him to do as a Jew. Just
exactly natural for him to do as a Jew. He was a learned Jew
and he was a persecutor. And oh my, I tell you what, he
said he brought them forth to be punished. Wonder how they
punished him. Beat him? Remember how Paul was
beat by the Philippian jailer, him and Silas, and put in stocks?
I wonder how they punished him. Did they beat him? Did they take
their clothes off and pour cold water over them? Did they keep
from giving them food? How did they punish them? I don't
know, but he said, I brought them to Jerusalem. They're already
bound. I had them already bound. They're
already in prison. They're already in chains. I
want them brought up to Jerusalem, and they will punish them. They'll
punish them. And oh, my. I tell you, our Lord
Jesus Christ, how merciful, how merciful. Oh my, and the unregenerate
man's always contrary to the mind of God. There's a religious
enthusiasm that has nothing to do from God Almighty, but it's
born in the fire of hell itself. I seen a sign coming on the way
today and I was telling Shirley about it. They got on the sign
up here said, don't give up, Moses was a basket case too. That's awful, ain't it? There's
nothing funny about that. Just horrible. Just awful. Moses was a basket case too.
That's what they think about the word of God. That's what
they think about God's prophet. That's what they think about
how God deals with people. Oh, don't give up. Moses was
a basket case. God put him in that basket. God
sent him where he was gonna go. God raised him up to be a prophet.
God used him to save Israel out of the hands of the Egyptians.
God used him to perform miracle after miracle after miracle.
And they talk about a basket case. That's what I'm talking
about. These religious people, they
don't have sense enough to know. And that's the way Paul was.
He didn't know anything other than, I know that I hate Jesus
Christ of Nazareth. And I hate His people, I hate
this way, because this way is opposed to the way I believe.
This way of Christ opposes my way of believing, which is law,
which is works, which is holy living, which is being devout
and being dedicated. These people over here, they
believe that salvation is by grace, and you're worse from
your sins in the blood. And Christ is the only one that
can give you life. Oh, my. And then look what happens
in verse. You know, brought brought to
be punished. Look what it says in verse six. And it came to pass. He's dead
now. He's still talking. He's still
defending, you know, is his defense. And it came to pass that as I
made my journey, Kept right on going to go get these people.
Was come nigh unto Damascus. It was about noon. Suddenly,
suddenly, just like that, suddenly, there shone from heaven a great
light round about me. I believe it got just on him. It's like that, it's like that
earthquake, you know, that got Paul and Silas out of jail. The
only one that was bothered, the only one that was bothered by
that earthquake was the jailhouse. Nobody else's house was messed
up. But oh, here he is. And look what he says. Oh, my. Suddenly a shone of heaven, a
gray light round about me. What happened? What happened?
And I fell under the ground. And I heard a voice. Everybody's
gonna have to hear this voice. The hour is coming and now is
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they
that hear shall live. Here's a dead man, dead in trespasses
and sin. Here was a God hater, a Christ
rejecter, a persecutor of the Lord's people. And then all of
a sudden he heard a voice, heard a voice. Oh my, the voice of
the master. And I tell you what, here's the
thing about, he calls his sheep by name. He calls Zacchaeus out
of the tree. And I tell you what, he called
Barnabas to himself. And here he said, and I heard
a voice saying unto me, now this is Christ talking to one of his
sheep. Saul, Saul. Twice, Saul, Saul. I don't think
I, I think our Lord just spoke in such a sweet voice. Saul,
Saul. Huh? And he said, why are you persecuting
me? Why are you persecuting me? Huh? Oh my, why do you hate me
so? What a question, what a question.
The question for Saul is, why do you hate me? Why do you persecute
me? Why are you so against me? Oh my, that was a heavenly light
come. That was a heavenly calling come.
And it was a supernatural act of God that happened right here.
Oh my, Christ is gonna have his people. He gonna have them. He
gonna have them. Look what he said down in verse
11. Paul says, you know, he's on the ground now. And while
you persecute me, and when I could not see for the glory of that
light, Oh my, that's what kind of like Isaiah, he saw the glory
of God, and it blinded him. And I answered, and as he said
in verse eight, and he answered and said, I answered, who art
thou, Lord? Who art thou, Lord? He noted
it had to be somebody that had some power. Somebody that could
put him in the ground, put him in the dust. Somebody that could
bring him so low that he can't get up. Somebody brought him,
as old Scott said, make your headquarters in the dust. And
I tell you what, you stay right there. Stay right there, stay
right there. Not many people do, but that's
the best place in the world to stay. And I said, who art thou,
Lord? And boy, you know what a shock
it was to this man. You talking about a shock to
him. What a shock to him. And he said unto me, Paul knew
exactly who he was talking to. Because our Lord said, I am Jesus
of Nazareth. You know where I was raised.
I was born in Bethlehem, but I was raised in Nazareth. I'm
Jesus of Nazareth. And he said, oh, I've been persecuting
him. I've been hating him. And look,
he's got me in a position that I can't do a thing. He's got
me in a position I can't fight no more. I can't persecute no
more. I can't hurt another one of his
children. I can't put another one in prison. He's got me in
a position that I can't get out of. And that's what God's got
to do to any soul that he saves. He's got to put him in a position
that he can't get out of. He can't get out of. Oh my. It overwhelmed this haughty,
proud Pharisee, putting him down. And there's no power, no power
that could have arrested this wicked, wicked, hard-hearted
sinner and subdued him but the will of God in Christ Almighty. That's the only one could do.
And when God speaks, when God speaks, here's a perfect instance,
in the day of His power, His people are made willing. In the
day of His power, He means for His people to hear His voice.
Here's a man that spent his life against Christ, spent his life
in the law. Oh my. God speaks with convincing
power. God's gonna have his people.
And he gives sights to many, but here he blinded this one.
He blinded this one. Oh my, and by the light of his
word, he still brings rebels and brings them down. Jeremiah
said, he said, God said through his prophet Jeremiah, is not
my word a hammer? Is not my word a fire? And a
hammer will break things. And a fire burn things. And that's
what his word is, like a hammer. It'll break a heart. It's like
a fire. It'll put a fire in your soul.
Oh my. And then he, I said, oh, and
then he starts inquiring. Starts inquiring. Oh, and I said,
oh Lord, who are you? Verse eight. And he said unto
me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. 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. They didn't hear it. They saw
the light fall down around Paul. Now here's a man, you're talking
about a radical change. He went from persecuting the
Lord's people and says, who are you? And our Lord told him who
he was, says, now, he said, what would you have me do? You're
talking about a radical change. From fighting his will, he says,
now, your will be done. Show me what to do, teach me
what to do. Show me, and I'll, whatever your
will is, show me, I need to know. And oh my, he says this, and
oh Lord, what shall I do? In verse 10, what shall I do? I tell you, this shows a radical
change. When a person sees Jesus Christ
and the revelation of Christ like Paul did on the Damascus
Road, I mean, all old things passed away and all things become
new. That's just the way it is. I
mean, you know, when anyone comes to Christ, you know, there has
to be this new birth. There has to be a life. And as
a revelation to the Lord Jesus Christ, and Paul said, oh Lord,
who are you and what would you have me to do? The voice of God's
word won't be left, he won't leave his people in ignorance.
And look what he says in verse 10. Our Lord said unto me, he's
still talking to these people, a big crowd gathered here now,
a big crowd. And the Lord said unto me, Arise
and go unto Damascus, and there it shall be told thee of all
things which are appointed for thee to do. Oh my. You go, you go back to Damascus,
and I'm gonna send somebody and I'm gonna tell you just exactly
what's gonna happen. I'm gonna tell you everything's
gonna happen to you. I'm gonna tell you. Then oh my, And when
I could not see for the glory of the light being led by the
hand of them that came with me, I came unto Damascus. God blinded
him. Why did he blind him? So when
his eyes was opened again, He'd know and see nobody but Christ. The world would never hold, the
law would never hold any more attraction for him. The world
would never hold any more attraction for him. I mean, he said he made
him blind so that when he did see, he'd see that Christ is
really all in all. I want you to, I want you to
look over here in Acts chapter nine with me. In verse 10. Oh my, you know it said here
that verse 8 it said, He saw no man had to be led by the hand.
He was three days and nights without sight, neither did eat
or drink. But look what it says in verse
10. And there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. And to him said the Lord in a
vision, Ananias, and he said, Behold, I'm here, Lord. And the
Lord said unto him, Arise, that's what he told Paul to, Arise and
go to Damascus. And he said, arise and go into
the street, which is called straight, and inquire in the house of Judas
for one called Saul of Tarsus, and I love this right here, for
behold, he's praying. You know, he went to the temple
and prayed. He had morning prayers, he had
afternoon prayers, and he had evening prayers. You find the
apostles going up at the temple to pray. And that's when they
run into these people and get a chance to preach the gospel.
And oh my, and behold, he prayeth. He's really praying. When God
says you're praying, you're praying. God sees what you're saying.
I mean, he knows what's going on with you. And look what he
said, and hath seen in a vision, while he's praying, he has seen
in a vision, a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand
on him that he might receive his sight. Oh, Paul seen this
fella coming. Then Ananias answered, Lord,
I have heard by many of this man how much evil he hath done
to thy saints at Jerusalem. And here he hath authority from
the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. Got the
authority to do that. But listen to what the Lord said.
But the Lord said, go thy way. For he is a chosen vessel unto
me, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings of the children
of Israel. So here comes Ananias, go back
over here in Acts 22. And one Ananias, a devout man,
verse 12, according to the law, having good report of all the
Jews which dwelt there, came unto me, and stood, and said
unto me, and I listened to what he said. Over there he said,
I hear he's an evil man. I hear he's an evil man. Everybody
tells around here how evil he is. That's why he said, Lord,
he's an evil man. I've heard he's an evil man.
Now look what happens. Came and stood and said unto
me, first thing out of his mouth, Brother Saul. He went from being evil to being
a brother. Brother Saul. And oh, this man and I has come
to comfort this dear brother, this man that's been made a new
creature in Christ. And oh my, he couldn't see for
the glory of that light and blinded his eyes to every earthly object.
Oh, my brother Saul, do you know what that done for his heart
to be called brother? Brother. Oh, how wonderful it
was to him to see that. And then it said this. And the
same hour, in verse 13, I looked upon him. The same hour, meaning
the hour he came and he told me, receive your sight. Immediately
my sight came to me and I saw him. I saw him. He received his sight, and he
really had sight now. He really had something to look
at now. He really had something to see.
And then look what he said in verse 14. And he says, the God
of our fathers hath chosen thee. That's where Paul got election
from. He said, The God of our fathers
has chosen me. Would it please God who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace to reveal
His Son in me? Oh, God has chosen thee. You're
one of God's elect. You're one of God's chosen. And
then look what he says, That thou shouldest know His will.
It's what he said. So you're going to know the will
of God. Now, how's he going to know the will of God? HE'S GONNA
KNOW THE WILL THREE WAYS. HE'S GONNA FIND OUT THE WILL
OF GOD IS IN CHRIST JESUS AND CHRIST ALONE. HE'S GONNA LEARN
THE WILL OF GOD IN SALVATION. THIS SALVATION IS ALL TOGETHER
OF THE LORD. HE'S GONNA LEARN THE WILL OF
GOD ALL MIGHT AND HOW HE SAVES THE SINNER THROUGH CHRIST BY
GRACE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. AND HE'S GONNA KNOW HIS WILL
BY HIS WORD. HE'S GONNA SEE IN HIS WORD THE
WILL OF GOD. AND THEN LOOK WHAT ELSE HE WENT
ON TO SAY. AND SEE THAT JUST ONE. See how that's capitalized,
just one. That's talking about the Lord
Jesus Christ. That thief on the cross said,
this man's done nothing amiss. Judas went and throwed the money
back, said, I betrayed innocent blood. And he said, oh, you'll
be able to see the just one. You're gonna see Christ. You're
gonna see Christ. And listen to what he said. And
listen to this. And you're not only gonna do
that, but you're gonna hear his voice. He'd go speak to you. He'd go come to you. He'd go
talk to you. He'd go talk by his word and
he'd go talk by his voice. Oh my, he was a, he had this
revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I tell you, Anna
and I told him what God called him to do and the purpose of
God calling him. And I tell you, look what else
he goes on to say. And then he goes on to say, thou
shalt be his witnesses. Be his witnesses, his witness
unto all men of what you've seen and heard. You're gonna just
tell what you know, no more what you yourself have seen and what
you yourself heard. Now watch what this says here.
And now why tarryest thou? Arise and be baptized and wash
away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. Now, you know,
a lot of folks look at that and say, now that shows you that
water baptism will wash away your sins. That's not what that
teaches at all. You know, there's only one thing
that washes away sins, and Christ told us that. The blood of Christ
cleanses from all sin. He put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. You know how his sins were put
away? He said, calling on the name of the Lord. It's the name
of the Lord that put your sins away. It's the Lord that put
your sins away. Water never put anybody's sins
away. And then verse 17, and it came to pass that when I was
come again to Jerusalem, he went back down from Damascus to Jerusalem,
even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance. There he is,
he's praying again, he's in the temple. And saw him, the Lord Jesus,
saying unto me, Make haste, get thee quickly out of Jerusalem,
for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me. And
this is what he told our master. I said, Lord, they know that
I am imprisoned and beaten in every synagogue. Behold them
that believed on you. When the blood of thy martyr servant Stephen
was shed, I standing by, and considering unto his death, kept
the raiment of them that slew me. And he said unto me, Depart,
for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. God made him,
he's divinely, God's commissioned him to be an apostle. And I'm
gonna send you far from thence, I'm gonna send you far from thence,
way over here. And look what it says in verse
22, and we're gonna pick up right here next week. And they gave
him audience under this word, when he said, we gotta go see
the priest of the Gentiles. And when they lifted, and they
heard this, they lifted up their voice, away with such a fellow
from the earth, for it's not fit that he should live. They
was paying attention to him till he started talking about God
saving Gentiles and preaching to Gentiles. It's not fit that
that man should live. They went from listening to him
respectful and silent. You're not fit to live. Our Father, in the blessed name
of our Lord, thank you for meeting with us this evening. Thank you
for your precious word. I pray you make it a blessing.
Lord, it's your word. You'll have to be the one to
make it effectual. You'll have to be the one to
cause it to find logic in the understanding and in the heart.
So if it's blessed of you, I'll be very, very grateful, very
thankful. And bless these dear saints as
they go their way. And please be merciful and mindful
of them that body's too weak. They're too sick to come and
meet with us. For Christ's sake, amen. Amen. See you Sunday morning, God willing.