Christ has for sin atonement
made, What a wonderful Savior! ? We are redeemed, the price
is paid ? What a wonderful Savior ? What a wonderful Savior ? Is
Jesus, my Jesus ? What a wonderful Savior ? Is Jesus, my Lord I
praise Him for the cleansing blood, What a wonderful Savior! That reconciled my soul to God
What a wonderful Savior What a wonderful Savior Is Jesus,
my Jesus What a wonderful Savior Is Jesus, my Lord He cleansed
my heart from all its sin, What a wonderful Savior! And now He reigns and rules therein,
What a wonderful Savior! What a wonderful Savior is Jesus,
my Jesus What a wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Lord He gives me
overcoming grace, what a wonderful Savior! And triumphant He's trying
hour, what a wonderful Savior! What a wonderful Savior is Jesus,
my Jesus What a wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Lord To me he's
given a new heart. To me he's given a new heart. What a wonderful Savior. The world shall never share a
part. What a wonderful Savior. What a wonderful Savior is Jesus,
my Jesus. What a wonderful Savior is Jesus,
my Lord. Be seated, and we'll sing hymn
number 489. Down at the cross where my Savior
died, Down where for cleansing from sin I cried, There to my
heart was the blood applied, Glory to His name. Glory to His name Glory to His
name There to my heart was the blood applied Glory to His name I am so wondrously saved from
sin Jesus so sweetly abides within There at the cross where He took
me Glory to His name Glory to His name Glory to His name There
to my heart was the blood applied Glory to His name O precious fountain that saves
from sin I am so glad I have entered in There Jesus saves
me and keeps me clean Glory to His Name Glory to His Name Glory
to His Name There to my heart was the butterfly, Glory to his
name. Come to this fountain so rich
and sweet, Cast thy poor soul at the Savior's feet. Plunge in today and you may complete. Glory to His name. Glory to His name. Glory to His name. There to my heart was the blood
applied. Glory to His name. Acts chapter 9. Acts chapter 9. And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings
and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high
priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues,
that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or
women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed,
he came near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him
a light from heaven. And he fell to the earth and
heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? He said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus,
who thou persecutest. Hard for thee to kick against
the pricks. And he trembling and astonished
said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto
him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what
thou must do. And the men which journeyed with
him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And
Saul arose from the earth, and when his eyes were opened, he
saw no man. But they led him by the hand,
and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without
sight, and neither did eat nor drink. 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 am, I
am here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise,
and go into the street which is called Straight. and inquired
in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus. For behold, he prayeth, and he
hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting
his hand on him that he might receive his sight. 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 priest to bind all that call on thy
name. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way, for he is a
chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles,
and kings, and children, of Israel, for I will show him how great
things he must suffer for My name's sake. And Ananias went
his way, and entered into the house, and putting his hands
on him, said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared
unto thee in the way, as thou camest hath sent me that thou
mightest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost.
And immediately there fell from his eyes, as it had been scales,
and he received sight forthwith and arose and was baptized. Our blessed, glorious, infinitely
holy, righteous God, It's in the precious name, blessed name
of the Lord Jesus Christ that we come into your presence. Lord,
you've made us accepted in him. He is our righteousness before
you. He's all of our worth before
you. He's the only sacrifice you provided. And we come through
him, by him, and because of him. And Lord Jesus, we thank you
that you've given us this gracious, blessed privilege to meet here
tonight with the children of God, with the saints of God,
those that you loved, those that you shed your blood for, those
that you gave yourself for. And Lord, we've read these precious
scriptures tonight, and I do so want to deal with them in
an honest and clear and plain way. that it be a blessing to
your people, give honor to you, and meet the needs of the hearts
and minds. And Lord Jesus, we pray for those who are not with
us through the weakness of their own bodies, through sickness.
We pray for Fran, pray for Rick and Helen, pray for others. If I don't know about them, Lord,
forgive me. But if they're weak and frail, Lord Jesus, please
have mercy on them. Raise them up according to your
will and good pleasure. Meet with us, for Christ's sake.
Amen. Hymn number 263. 263. The Lord's our rock, in Him we
hide, A shelter in the time of storm. Secure whatever ill be
tied, A shelter in the time of storm. Oh, Jesus is a rock in
a weary land, a weary land, a weary land. Oh, Jesus is a rock in
a weary land, a shelter in the time of storm. They shade by
day, defense by night, a shelter in the time of storm. No fear's alarm, no foes of pride,
a shelter in the time of storm. Oh Jesus is a rock in a weary
land, a weary land, a weary land. Oh Jesus is a rock in a weary
land, a shelter in the time of storm. The raging storms they
ground us feet, A shelter in the time of storm. We'll never
leave our safe retreat, A shelter in the time of storm. Oh, Jesus
is a rock in a weary land, a weary land, a weary land Oh, Jesus
is a rock in a weary land, a shelter in the time of storm Rock divine,
O refuge dear, A shelter in the time of storm. Be Thou our helper
ever near, A shelter in the time of storm. Oh, Jesus is a rock
in a weary land, a weary land, a weary land. Oh, Jesus is a
rock in a weary land, a shelter in the time of storm. All right, let's look back here
tonight. We're going to talk about the salvation or conversion
of a Christ-hater, someone who hated Christ with a passion.
He despised Him, hated Him, persecuted Him. And that's what it says
right there in verse 1, And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings,
and not only that, but slaughter, slaughter against disciples of
the Lord, Now this Saul of Tarsus here, he s the one who became
the Apostle Paul, and he became the Apostle to the Gentiles,
and his conversion has three different accounts of it here
and in chapter 22 and chapter 26. He is probably one of the
most red men people when you talk about reading the Bible,
how many times, quote, well, the Apostle Paul said this, or
the Apostle Paul said that, because God blessed him to write 13 or
14 books out of the New Testament. I believe he wrote Hebrews, but
anyway, he was a very influential man back in history, but he wasn't
always a believer. In fact, he was far, far from
it. You know, and when you look at
all the claims of other religions, and all religions have the claim
on somebody, but all you have to do to be in any other religion,
just conform to what they say that you need to do. Like Buddhism,
conform to their teachings. You can be a Buddhist. If you
want to be a Jew, believe the 639 laws. and do what they tell you to
do, and live like they tell you to do, and eat the right food,
and keep the right days. If you wanna be in Catholicism,
follow their rules, follow their claims, conform to what they
teach you. If you wanna be a Muslim, you
can be a Muslim, just follow their teachings. If you wanna
be in Fundamentalism, follow their teachings. But becoming
a Christian, but becoming a believer, That's a whole horse of a different
color. There's everything that we need
to be conformed, our Lord Jesus Christ did it. And He says that
He did it that we might be conformed to the image of His blessed Son.
Whatever God demands of us, He provided. He demanded perfection,
He provided for us in His Son. He demanded life, we didn't have
it. So what did He do? He gave us
life. He regenerated us. Our Lord said, Except a man be
born again, he can t even see the kingdom of God. And that
s what Paul s problem was. He couldn t see it. He couldn
t hear it. He couldn t enter into it. And
Saul was an unconverted man, and he himself said, As touching
the righteous does the law, he was blameless. And what does
that mean? That means that as far as the
law was concerned, everybody looked at him and said, if anybody's
going to heaven, Paul the Apostle, the Saul of Tarsus is going.
And men may lead what they think is a blameless life in the sight
of men, but the converted man, the man that God does something
for, his whole heart, his whole life has been turned to God. And here we see that clearly
in this man's conversion. And look what he is, he's a rebel,
he's a God-hater. And Saul, look what it says,
yet, yet, yet. Why does he say yet? Because
we've already seen how he acted over the death of Stephen. Breathing
out slaughters, threatenings, Oh, hearing. He saw, look back
over here in Acts 77 in verse 58. He was breeding out slaughters,
yet after hearing and seeing Stephen, hearing Stephen's message,
seeing Stephen stoned to death, seeing Stephen as he died and
how he said he'd seen the Lord Jesus Christ, how he bowed down
and prayed, Lord, don't lay this sin to their charge. And listen,
it said here in verse 58, they cast him out of the city, and
stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their
clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul." And down
in verse one of chapter eight, and Saul was consenting unto
his death. He said he had it coming, that's
what he said. He said it was right for him
to die, it was right for him to stone him to death. I consent,
I give my consent that that man ought to have been stoned to
death, that man ought to have been killed, that man ought to
have, he ought to have died for what he believed and what he
preached. And yet, here he is, yet still breathing out threatenings
and slaughters after hearing that message and all the evidence
of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he was a devoutly,
devoutly religious man. Oh, he was devoutly religious.
He believed that Jesus of Nazareth was an imposter. He didn't believe
that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, that Jesus Christ, the Lord of
Glory, was the Savior. He didn't believe that He was
God. He didn't believe anything ABOUT Him, despised Him, and
hated Him with a passion. If he was God, like they claimed
he was, then that means Jehovah wasn't God. And so that means
there's two gods. You're either gonna worship Jehovah
or you're gonna worship Jesus Christ, Jesus and Nazareth. And
he said, I'm gonna worship Jehovah. I'm gonna worship God. You all
can worship that imposter if you want to. And that's why he
went out to get them. You remember, you know, that
the apostles, they were so persecuted over this message. They was beaten,
put in jail, and yet they mistreated these men and this is the kind
of people that did it. This kind of fellow that did
it. Everything he believed and had been taught is at stake over
this man, Jesus of Nazareth and his claims. And then it says
there again in verse one of chapter nine, he is breathing out threatenings
and slaughters against the disciples of the Lord. Now, he wasn't just after anybody.
He wasn't just after anybody. He was after the disciples of
the Lord. That's who he wanted. If you and I lived in those days
and we was in Damascus, and we believe Christ and we worship
Christ, he would have been after us. He would have been after
us. You see, he couldn't get to Christ,
but he could get to Christ's people. He could get to them. And then look what it said in
verse two, excuse me, verse one. Then he went under the high priest.
They're still in Jerusalem. Now he went to the high priest.
That's how, you know, he was on one place. He said the high
priest bears witness that what I was and what I did. And so
he went to the high priest. He went to the highest muckety-muck
in town. And then look what it says, and
desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues. And you know
what, when he said he wanted letters, well, you know what
that means is? I want warrants, I want some warrants. I want
some warrants, I want some warrants so that if I find any of this
way, I can arrest them. I can put them in chains, I can
bind them, and I can take them back to Jerusalem. And then you
fellas can do what you want to with them. Oh, my! He wanted letters, he wanted
warrants, and he had it from the highest authority. And look
what else it says, that if he found any of this way, and you
know what it says, in the margin of THE way, Find any of this way. And what
did he say? Men or women might bring them
bound unto Jerusalem. Now I want you to see something.
You keep nine and look with me over here in Acts 19. I'm gonna
show you some things here about this way, this way. That's the
way they referred to it, this way. If I find any of this way,
this way. And oh, here he says in verse
nine, he says this. Then spake the Lord to Paul,
excuse me, am I, no, I'm in 18, I'm sorry, I'm in the wrong chapter. I'll get there, here we go. Acts 19, nine. But when divers
were hardened, and believe not, bespake evil of that way. that way, the way before the
multitude. So they didn't like that way,
that way. And you know, we've been accused
of that. I've been accused of that, especially
at the beginning when we learned the gospel. And look what it
says in verse 23 of Acts 19. And the same time there arose
no small stir about that way. That way. Oh, let me show you
another one here. In Acts 24. This is really something
here. This is the attitude that people
had. And it's getting that way quickly again.
Then not only did it talk about this way or that way, the people
of the way, but it also talked here in verse five of this sect,
and they're talking about the Apostle Paul now after his conversion,
for we have found this man, talking about the Apostle Paul, a pestilent
fellow. I mean, he pest us to death.
He's pestilent, and a mover of sedition. He wants to separate
people. He's trying to take over among
all the Jews throughout all the world. And listen to this, a
ringleader. Now that's something else. A
ringleader. Here's a ringleader. Who's a ringleader? A sect of
the Nazarenes. Just a whole group over here
that don't know nothing. He's a ringleader of them. You
know when your enemies start talking about you, they gotta
come up with everything. So back over here again. So he
went and got him some letters, and if he found any of this way
that he might bring them, bound to Jerusalem. Now what way is
he talking about? The way of Christ. The way of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The way of faith. That's the
way. The way of grace. The way of
blood cleansing us from all sins. The way of having another's righteousness. Paul had his own righteousness.
I don't need Christ's righteousness. I'm a Pharisee, I don't need
any other rules to live by, I don't need nobody else to save me,
I can save myself. But when he talked about this
way, the way of the Lord Jesus Christ as being the only one
that can save us from our sin, we're talking about Christ in
this way, it's the way of faith, the way of living by faith, not
by sight. The way of grace and everything
that God does for us is based on grace through the Lord Jesus
Christ. Of blood that cleanses us from
sin. And having another man's righteousness
and us not having any at all except his and his alone. Now
that's what bothered Paul. And oh my, then might bring them
bound to Jerusalem. Do you know later in his life
that's exactly what they did to him? They bound him in Jerusalem. And then look at his apprehension.
Look down here in verse three and verse down through verse
three and verse five. Then look at his apprehension.
You know, he said in one place, he said, I've not apprehended
why I was apprehended. And look what he says here. And
as he journeyed, he was on his way to Damascus to get these
people. And suddenly, suddenly there was a light that shone
round about him, suddenly there shone round about him a light
from heaven. You know why God had to turn
on such a light? Because he was in such darkness.
And the light shone in him in his darkness. And you know how
dark his darkness really was? His darkness was double darkness
and double death. He was darkened in Adam and then
he was darkened in his religion. He was dead in Adam and he was
dead in his religion. And so God sent a light down
right where his darkness was, right in the middle of his darkness.
And this light comes from heaven. If we get any light from God
at all, as God commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
has shined in our heart. If we get any light, God's gotta,
it's gotta come from heaven. If we have salvation, it's gotta
come from there. I'll tell you that. And oh my,
the light, the revelation, it had to come from heaven. And
it comes from the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord himself said,
I'm that light. I'm that true light. I'm the
light of the world. And so the light that shone down
on him was the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Now look what else happened
to him in verse four. You know what happened to him? He fell to the earth. He fell flat on his face. You know, people often say the
Lord knocked him off His horse, but it didn t say that. It says
here when that light shone down and him in his darkness, he fell
flat. That light was so bright, he
said, I better get out of here. It s like Moses when he saw God
in His glory. And I tell you here, you know,
it always happens that way. When men see God, When that light
shines on them, that's like Job said, I've heard about you, now
I see you, and I'll hold myself. And that's what Paul did. He
fell on his face, fell to the earth. Oh, he was strong and
full of hatred and fury on his way to Damascus. He don't see
so strong now, does he? He don't seem so furious now,
does he? And then not only did this light
shine about him, he fell to the earth, but then he heard a voice. Oh, have you ever heard that
voice? My sheep hear my voice. And he heard a voice. Oh my. The hearing and seeing go together. He heard a voice. And oh my. And seeing that that voice had
something to say unto him. You know, when Christ has something
to say to us, people say, I believe God wants to teach you something.
God don't never try to do anything. When it was His will to make
Christ known to me, I was known of Christ before I knew Him.
Let's put it that way. Ain't that right? And look what
had happened to you. Christ knew Paul long before
he become a hater of Christ. And then he says this, Saul,
Saul, missing his name twice. Oh, the Lord knows everybody's
name. He told Jeremiah, no, I named you, you're a prophet. He told
Abram, he said, Abram, Abram, come out. He called Moses by
name. He called Enoch by name. He called
Noah by name. He calls Zacchaeus by name. He calls Mary by name, Martha
by name. He knows the names of his people.
Oh, especially his sheep. And he calls people by name.
And how many times have you come to a service and somebody say,
you know, you think, boy, I don't know who else that preacher was
preaching to, but he sure was preaching to me today. As far
as I know, I don't know what anybody else got out, but I felt
like he preached to nobody but me. Well, that's what happened
right here. When Christ goes after you, he's
dealing with you and nobody but you. And then look what he said to
him. He said, I'm Jesus. Talked about in his humanity.
I am Jesus. I am. He said, why persecutest thou
me? Why persecutest thou me? You
know why the Lord asked him, why are you persecuting him?
The Lord identified his people so much with himself that what
anybody done to them, they done it to the Lord Jesus himself.
That's why Paul, he said, Paul was going to go to get to the
Lord's people. And our Lord said, why are you persecuting me? And
Christ is so, our relationship is so intimate with him that
when whatever we do to one of his people, Christ views it as
being done to him himself. That's why he says, you know,
don't offend one of these little ones. It'd be better for a nail
stone to hang about your neck and throw it in the sea. Don't
you do it! Don't you do it! And why persecuteth
thou me? The Lord identified with His
people. And either this union is so close
that when one member of His body suffers, so He says, so do I. Then look what Paul said in verse
5. Who are you, Lord? Who are you?
Who art thou, Lord? First thing he knows, he knows
that he was somebody above Him and beyond Him, somebody that
has some POWER, has some AUTHORITY, has some ABILITY. Who art thou,
LORD? Who are ye? Oh, my! He was answering that VOICE he
heard, that VOICE that he heard. Who is it that is speaking to
me? Who art thou, LORD, that said this? And the LORD said,
Jesus, whom thou persecutest, That's who it is. That's who
it is. Oh my. Here, he is face to face
with the one he hated. This is the one face to face
with the one he pursued. This is the one he thought was
the imposter. This is the one that he despised. This is the one that he is going
to put men and women in jail for. And then, oh my. And our Lord Jesus Christ, Said
to him, it's hard for thee to kick against the pricks. You
know what prick means in the scripture? You know, it said
over in Acts 2.38 over there, 2.39, it said they were pricked
in their hearts. That means to be stabbed in the
heart. It's like you prick your finger.
He said, it's being stabbed. And our Lord said, it's hard
for you to kick against these pricks I'm putting in your heart,
ain't it? Hard for you to resist these pricks that I'm putting
against you. I'm stabbing you, and I want
you to understand that I've got the power to give you life or
give you death. And he said, it's hard for you
to kick against these things that I've put on you. Oh my. And now he said, it's hard for
you to kick against, listen to this, hard for you to kick against
me, ain't it? Hard for you to kick against my gospel. Hard
for you to kick against my doctrine. Hard for you to kick against
my resurrection power. Hard for you to kick against
my works when I can put you in the dust. Hard for you to kick,
ain't it? Hard for you to kick. Now look
what happens in verse six. And now you realize it now, and
trembling. I tell you what. He was so full
of power and righteousness and self-righteousness, and now he's
standing in front of the Lord, he's shaking like a leaf, shaking
like trembling all over. And look what it said, he was
astonished. Astonished. And I'll tell you
something about being astonished. He was astonished that Christ
would do this to him, and Christ would come to him, and Christ
would speak to him, and Christ would deal with him, put him
down, But here's the thing about it. Shirley and I talked about
it yesterday. She was listening to a message
yesterday morning and listening to one this morning. And I'm
still astonished of how God can be just and justify me. That's
still an astonishment to me. I never got over the fact that
God could actually be right and save me and stay right and do
it in such a way that He gets all the glory. That still astonishes
me. And then he said, Oh Lord. He's
trembling in astonishment. Lord, what wilt thou have me
to do? Oh, now, he's willing now. He's willing now. He said, oh,
he's troubled and astonished. Lord, what will you have me to
do? What a change of attitude. You tell these kids all the time,
tell these people, you need an attitude adjustment. Well, he
got one. You see the difference than before? And now, look at him. Oh, he's
trembling and astonished. Lord, what will you have me to
do? He don't hate him now. Don't want to fight him now.
Don't want to persecute him now. He didn't say here, what work
would you have me to do to be saved? But our Lord's answer
told him, He said, you arise, then you go into Damascus. Now
see, he's going to go into Damascus all together with a different
He ain't goin' in there to get to the Lord's people now. He's
goin' in there where the Lord told him to go. Arise and go
into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou shalt do,
what thou must do. And oh my, and look what, so
he got up and he left, and he started to go to the city, and
shall be told thee what thou must do. And look what I said,
and the men which journeyed with him stood speechless. They saw
him fall on the ground, They heard this voice, but they didn't
see, they didn't see no man, but they heard that voice. And
look what it says now, Saul arose from the earth. And when his
eye, evidently his eyes had been closed when he fell to the ground,
he got up and he opened his eyes and he was blind. Oh, he was blind. What happened
to him? Christ said, I'm going to let
you know who's got the sight around here. I'm going to let
you know that you can't see nothing. And he blinded him. And look
what he says. And they had to lead him by the
hand. Had to lead him by the hand. And they had, they brought
him to Damascus. He went in, he went all together.
He started out to do one thing, ended up doing something else.
That's what happens when God saves a man. The light blinded
him. He's truly gonna be now, gonna
find out what true darkness is. You love darkness? He said, I'm
gonna put you in darkness. And oh, they led him by the hands.
And he was there three days. Look what it says in verse nine.
He's there three days. And then God said, listen, God's
going to show what it's going to take. You know, here's the
thing. God sent a messenger to him.
God sent somebody to him with a message. And this said here
in verse 10, and there was a certain disciple at Damascus. This would
have been one of them fellows that Paul would have been after,
named Ananias. And the Lord said to him a vision,
and an eye, and he said, Lord, I'm right here, I'm here, Lord.
And the Lord said unto him, you get up, and you arise, and you
go into the street, which is called straight, and inquire
in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus. Oh my,
for he prayeth, he prayeth. Oh, and look what he said, and
hath seen in a vision, A man named Ananias coming and putting
his hands on him that he might receive his sight. And then Ananias,
oh, you're talking about an honest man. You're talking about God
makes men honest. Look what he says here. He said,
Lord, I've heard by many, many people that this man, this Saul
of Tarsus, this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints
at Jerusalem. He had a reputation of being
an evil man, doing evil things. He said, I ve heard, Lord, I
ve heard. And said, I heard this also,
that he here he hath authority from the chief priest to bind
ALL that call on your name. Everybody that bind anybody calls
on your name. But look what he said. But the
Lord said unto him, Go your way, for he is a chosen vessel unto
me, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings. And I will
show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.
Well, what happened to him? Well, he got up and went, and
had a nice win his way. He entered into his house, and
oh, he was obedient and he was in honor. So he went to inquire,
and you know the first thing God told him about Saul? He said, You go over there, that
street called Straight, and ask for Saul of Tarsus, and look
what he said. He said, Behold, he prayeth. That man had been praying all
his life! He was one of them, the Lord
said, don't do your odds before men and don't love standing out
in the marketplace praying. And that's what he was, that's
what kind of person he was. But now he said, God said he's
praying. He come in there with hatred
against Christ and now he's calling on the Lord. Oh my, now he's
a true worshiper. Oh, before he prayed like the
Pharisee, now he prays like the publican. And then Ananias told
him, he said, Paul, this Saul of Tarsus is seen in a vision,
somebody coming, putting his hands on him that he might receive
his sight. So my, so he said, Lord, I've
heard, I've heard some awful things. And then look what he
told me, he said, listen, I said, he said, but you go your way,
why? He said in verse 15, because he's a chosen vessel unto me.
Paul said later, he said, when it pleased God who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace. To do what? To reveal his son
in me. And he said, listen, he said,
he's gonna also bear my name. Gonna bear my name, take my name
before kings, Gentiles, and the children of Israel. To bear my
name before the Gentiles, kings, and the Jews. And he said he's
gonna suffer. He's gonna suffer and I'm gonna
let him know right from the very beginning that he's gonna have
to suffer for my namesake. He made my people suffer, he's
gonna suffer. He's gonna suffer for my namesake.
Gonna suffer for me. Oh, my, he was against the Lord,
now he s going to become his most ardent follower. Well, Ananias
went down, and Ananias went in his way and entered into the
house, and look what happens now. And the first thing, and
putting his hands on him, look what he calls him now, Brother
Saul. Brother Saul! I thought you was coming to get
me. Now I'm coming to you, Brother Saul. The Lord, the Lord Jesus, that
appeared unto thee in the way as thou hast cameth, has sent
me, sent me, that thou might receive his sight. God sends
a preacher, sends somebody with a message. And be filled with
the Holy Ghost. Oh my, now he'll be able to,
you know what now? It said that when he first opened
his eyes he could see no man. Now he don't see nobody but Christ. He gonna receive his sight and
he gonna now be able to see clearly. He'll see things you never saw
before. He was like, he was as blind
as that man in John 9. And the Lord had to open his
eyes. Then he told him he had received the Holy Ghost. He would
have the power of God in his heart, in his life. And look
what happens. And immediately, immediately,
there fell from his eyes, as it had been scales, something
God put in his eyes, made them all fall off. And he received
sight and immediately arose and was baptized. He immediately
arose and confessed Christ in baptism. And then when he received
food, he was strengthened. Then Saul was certain days with
the disciples, which were at Damascus. The people he went
to get, now he's eating with and fellowshipping with. My that's
what God does he takes a he takes somebody that's a that's got
this carnal mind and cement against God and Look what he done. He
took a man on his way to get him persecute his people put
him in jail put him in chains and The next thing you know,
he's called brother. He's praying. He's called brother
Saul. He receives his side He confesses Christ in baptism and
then he stays right there and It says with all them disciples.
What a change, huh? That's what you call regeneration. That's what you call a new birth.
That's what you call being made a new creature. Just like that. Oh, our blessed Father. Oh, gracious
God in heaven. How blessed is your name. Lord,
thank you for your gospel. Thank you for you, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Lord, we may not have had this
extreme experience as Saul or Tarsus had, but Lord, you overcome
us the same way. You overcome us. You brought
us to where we prayed. You brought us to where we was
astonished and trembling. You brought us to where, Lord,
we cried out to you. We cried to you. And you get
sent the light. took the darkness out of our
eyes. Oh, now we can see clearly. We can see you and we can see
ourselves and we can see grace and we can see Christ. We can
see his righteousness. We can see his power, sees love. Oh, sees mercy, sees grace. Oh, bless your name, Lord Jesus
Christ. Bless these dear saints. And
we ask in His holy name, Amen. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. There's just something about
that name Master, Savior, Jesus like the fragrance after the
rain. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Let all
heaven and earth proclaim. Kings and kingdoms will all pass
away. But there's something about that
name. And there is, ain't it? Amen. See you Sunday, Lord willing.