In Acts chapter 9 we read the
following, 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? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus,
whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against
the bricks.' 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 here,
Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise,
and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire
in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus. for behold
he prayeth and have 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 have done to thy saints at Jerusalem and here
he have authority from the chief priests 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. As Saul 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? And he said, who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus,
whom thou persecutest. This presents us with the tremendous
account of the conversion of Saul in such a remarkable fashion.
He hated Jesus Christ and those who followed him. He caused havoc
in the churches. He went about persecuting all
those that followed Christ. His heart raged against the truth. We read that 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, any that followed Jesus Christ, any that believed in
Christ and believed the gospel, if he found any that claimed
the name of Jesus, whether they were men or women, He might bring
them bound unto Jerusalem. He hated this Gospel. He hated this Saviour. He hated
the name of Jesus. He'd heard of Him. He stood by
as Stephen was stoned to death. He consented to his death. He
put believers to death. Such was his opposition. And
yet, full of fury, full of enmity to Christ and His gospel, to
Christ and His people, full of His own strength and determination
to oppose this gospel, this way, this people, Saul was met on
his way to Damascus by the very one he persecuted. 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 under him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Why persecutest thou me? What a voice to hear. The voice of Jesus Christ from
heaven on high spake directly unto Saul. The one that Saul
opposed the one that ultimately Saul persecuted. Whenever Saul
opposed a follower of Christ, whenever he found one that believed
on the name of Jesus, whenever he spake despitefully to them,
whenever he put them to death, whenever he beat or bruised them,
he did it unto Christ. Inasmuch as ye do this unto one
of these my little ones, Christ says elsewhere, ye do it unto
me. You might not think that you
are opposing Christ when you ridicule the gospel,
or when you oppose it, or when you turn away from it. You may
think you're talking to another person, When you converse with
a believer and oppose them and their message, you may think
your conversations with man or woman. But Christ says unto you,
inasmuch as ye do it unto one of these, my little ones, whoever
they are, great or small, male or female, Whoever they
be, when you oppose them, you oppose me. When you mock them,
you mock me. When you laugh at them in your
heart, you laugh at me. When you reject them, you reject
me. When you persecute them, you
persecute me. so so why persecutest thou me one lesson we learn from this
encounter is that our lives where we go what we do what we think
and say not in our control. However foolishly we might think
that we live our own lives, that we're in charge, that we can
make our own decisions, go our own way, do our own thing. However foolishly that we think
that Our bodies are ours or our minds are ours or our life is
ours and we control it and rule it and we will live our lives
as we like however foolishly we may think this. The reality
is the very opposite. Saul determined to go a certain
way. Saul made up his own mind he
made up his own mind he decided to oppose this man Jesus and
any who followed him he'd come to his own conclusion he'd reached
his own opinion he was going a certain way he was in control
and he determined to go to Damascus and to hunt out any that followed
Jesus there and to persecute them there. He'd made his own
mind up and no one was going to stop him. He was a powerful
man, well regarded amongst the Jews, a Pharisee of the Pharisees. And he'd made his mind up. Yet
he discovered that his life was not his own, and his decisions
were not his own, and his strength was not his own. For he went
on his way to Damascus, he went to fulfil his determined decision,
to bring about what he decided should come about, and he was
met by one greater than he. the very one that made him, the
very one that sustained him, the very one that gave him the
life and the strength to do what he was doing. He met his maker
on the road to Damascus. He met the Lord Jesus Christ. And he said unto him, Saul, Saul,
Why persecutest thou me? Saul's life was not his own. His decisions were not in his
hands to bring about. He could decide he was going
to Damascus. He could decide he would bring
havoc to the church. But if Jesus Christ determined
otherwise, then a very different course of affairs would come
about and that's exactly what happened with Saul on this way
and you may make your own decisions and your own plans you may say
I'm going this way in my life and I'm going to do this and
I'm going to do that but if God determines otherwise then God
will bring about what God decides shall be. He may allow you to
go a certain way, as he allowed Saul to go a certain way. God
allowed Saul to do what he had done up until to this day. He'd allowed Saul to stand by
as Stephen was stoned to death. He'd allowed Saul to go around,
breathing threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the
Lord. He'd allowed Saul to do all this evil of which Saul was
guilty. He'd given him a certain amount
of time to bring about this havoc. But the time ran out. And one day Saul met Christ on
the way to Damascus. And he does that with us. He
leaves us to ourselves for a time. And we go about, we grow up,
we live our lives, we go this place, we go that place, we make
our decisions. We oppose God. We oppose the
truth. We oppose the gospel. We oppose
Christ and his people. And God lets us go in this way
of opposition. This way of rebellion. He leaves
us to ourselves. And what we think is building
something up, well we're doing what we want. We're advancing
our own plans. It's sheer foolishness. Because
there comes a day when God stands in our way and says that's enough. Now we will either meet Jesus
in the way as Saul did in this life or our life will come to
its conclusion. And as we stand on the brink
of eternity, we will see Jesus in the way and we will see a
light from heaven and hear a voice saying unto us, by name, why
persecutest thou me? Don't fool yourself, you're going
to hear these words from this voice, from this Jesus, one day. But it will either be this side
of the grave, or the other side. It will either be on the way
to Damascus, before it's too late, or it will be on the other
side of the grave, on the road to hell, when there's no turning
back. Why persecutest thou me? We're not in control and you're
not in control. You're not in control of events
in this world. You're not in control of your
own life. God gives you a little bit of
freedom until that day when he says enough. and by the grace of God that
day for Saul was in his lifetime in this world Saul was a chosen
vessel unto God God had set his mercy and grace upon him and
although Saul had done great evil great evil against Christ
and His Church. God was going to use this great
enemy of the truth for a great purpose in preaching that very
Gospel that's all opposed. God took one of the greatest
enemies of the Gospel to become one of the greatest preachers
of the Gospel. God brought to life spiritual
life, far more, far more people through the preaching of Saul,
the preaching of Paul, than Saul managed to put to death through
his own opposition to the truth. How far off from God was Saul? He hated Christ and he hated
his people despite his religion, despite all that he knew, all
that he understood as a scribe and a Pharisee. despite all his
understanding of the law of Moses, all his understanding of the
Scriptures, all his understanding of the sacrifices and the priesthood,
despite all his understanding of the prophecies, Saul hated
Jesus Christ. He didn't recognise Him at His
coming for who He is. He rejected Him as the Messiah
who was promised. and he sought to put him to death.
What a solemn message for us. How far off we can be in spite
of our understanding of the truth. We may hear the gospel, we may
read the scriptures, we may go to worship and know not God. And all that we know may have put us further away
from God and not nearer. What does your heart say of Jesus
Christ? What is your heart's response
to the gospel? Inwardly, are you breathing out
threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord? Inwardly are you trying to silence
the gospel? Inwardly are you shutting your
ears and shutting your eyes to Jesus Christ? So soul, why persecutest
thou me? You can do all you like to shut
your ears. All you like to shut your eyes. all you like to shut off your
understanding all you like to run away from the truth all you
like to resist the truth and oppose the truth and reject the
truth but if you're God's he will meet you in the way one
day at an appointed time and say unto you Why persecutest
thou me? Your opposition to the truth
is not an opposition towards men. It's not an opposition
towards what you might dismiss as myths and fables. It's not
an opposition towards what you might dismiss as religion. Your opposition is against Jesus
Christ, the creator of heaven and earth. And one day you and
I will meet him. We cannot oppose Christ and get
away with it. When Paul travelled on this road
to Damascus, suddenly there shined round about
him a light from heaven. A light from heaven. And he fell
to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul,
Why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus,
whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against
the bricks. I am Jesus. He met with Christ himself. And that is what salvation takes. This is what is required for
us to be delivered of our sins and to be spared the wrath to
come. This is what is needed to save
a soul, to save a sinner. He must meet with Christ himself. We must see a light from heaven. We must hear a voice calling
our name. We must meet with Christ in the
way. No profession will do. No outward conformity will suffice. No amount of attending meetings
or hearing messages or reading the Bible will get you to heaven. But we must hear a voice from
heaven through the gospel speaking unto our soul why persecutest
thou me? Saul heard a literal voice he
literally saw a light from heaven he literally heard a voice from
heaven calling unto him He literally fell to the earth. Today, this voice comes by the
Spirit of God through the Scriptures, through the preaching of the
Gospel. When we hear the truth, when we hear the truth as it
concerns Jesus Christ in power, we hear His voice. When God comes
unto us in the Gospel and says, this is the truth, behold the
Lamb of God, this is my beloved Son, hear ye Him. When he says
unto us in the Gospel, why persecutest thou me? Then we hear, by God's
grace, the voice of Jesus Christ. Have you heard in the gospel
Christ's voice? Have you met him on the way? Or are you yet riding off towards
your Damascus, grieving out threatenings and slaughter, seeking to put
Christ and his message to death, seeking to trample the blood
of Christ underfoot? Are you yet in the darkness. Why persecutest thou me? Christ says. Saul, 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. Arise and go! Arise and go! He comes unto us in the gospel. He speaks unto us in power. And when he speaks, he will say
unto us, arise and go. Arise from the dead. You who were once dead in trespasses
and sins. You who were once blind to the
truth. You who couldn't see a thing
and didn't know a thing. He will say unto us, Arise! He comes unto us in resurrection
power, the risen Lord, who went to the grave because of our sins,
who was buried because of the sins of His people, who arose
victorious having taken away the wrath of God. says unto His
people, because of His rising, because of His resurrection,
because of His everlasting life, He says unto them, Arise and
go. And when He speaks, He speaks
with power. He doesn't tell us what to do
and leave us to go off in our own strength. but the command
comes and brings about what is commanded. Arise and go. Has he spoken to you? The men which journeyed with
him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no man. Hearing a voice but seeing no
man. There were others with Saul on
that day. Others at the same place and
at the same time. They heard something, but they were speechless. They
could not comprehend. Christ's speech unto Saul was
particular. He came unto His own, His chosen
vessel. Saul was singled out. Saul was
chosen by God. God would save this man Saul,
and would use this man Saul. And though others were there
at the same time, in the same place, they were speechless. They heard a voice, but they
saw no man. They were dumbfounded. God's
grace is particular. He comes in the gospel. He preaches
this gospel to all. He sends it forth to the four
corners of the earth that all may hear. But so many hear and
hear nothing. So many see and see nothing. So many stand Speechless and
dumb. How has the message of the gospel
left you? Have you heard a voice from heaven
saying to you in particular, why persecutest thou me? Or do you stand speechless, seeing
no man, seeing nothing? there's nothing to be seen you
hear the words you hear the preacher preaching you hear the things
that are said and your mind wanders your heart goes another way you're
speechless it washes over you there you sit in the darkness
and you see nothing better to be like Saul, who heard
the voice of Jesus on the road to Damascus, than to be left
in the darkness, hearing the voices, hearing the preaching,
hearing the gospel, but hearing nothing, until that day, when
your life comes to its conclusion, and you stand before Almighty
God, you stand before Jesus Christ and you hear him then you hear
him then why persecutest thou me? and all that you dismissed in
your lifetime all that you turned your back upon in your lifetime
all that you'd rejected comes back to haunt you You discover
then that everything that was said concerning Jesus Christ
was true. Everything you heard of the Gospel
that meant nothing to you was real. And here's the Saviour
of whom you heard but you never saw. They stood speechless, hearing
a voice but seeing no man. But 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. When Christ met
with Saul, he took Saul spiritually. to the cross. He took Saul to
that place where Christ died and was buried because of Saul's
iniquity. Saul's persecution of Jesus put
Christ to death. Saul's hatred of the gospel slew
Christ. He pierced him with his unbelief. He pierced him with his threatenings. He pierced him with his slaughter. He pierced him with his enmity. He pierced him with his false
religion. He pierced him with everything
that he did and said in opposition to Christ and his gospel. And
Christ, as it were, brings all. blinded in the dark to the place
of darkness that Christ himself entered into. When Christ was
nailed upon the cross and lifted up to die, there was darkness
upon the face of the earth for three hours and Christ here takes
all. into the darkness he blinds him
and he brings him into such a place and he's kept in that place for
three days to tell Saul that in the three days between Christ
being nailed to the cross and rising again this is what I suffered
for you Saul I died for you and you died with me I took your
sins, I bore them and I bore the guilt and I bore the judgment
and I drank the cup of God's wrath because of your sins, Saul
Why persecutest thou me? And Saul is taken to the cross
He beholds the Lamb of God slain on His behalf. He beholds the
sufferings of Christ on His behalf. He's brought to experience what
Christ suffered for Him and what His persecution of Christ brought
about. O sinner, your unbelief, your
hatred of Christ, your opposition, your apathy, Your disinterest,
your boredom pierced Christ to death. It nailed him to the cross. It put him under judgment. It brought him into the darkness
where he neither ate nor drank. And this is why God took Saul. to such a place to show him this
is what you've done and this is what my son has done to deliver
you from your sins to deliver you from your hatred of the gospel
to deliver you from your unbelief 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 here,
Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise
and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire
in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus. For behold, he prayeth. and have
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 have done to thy saints at Jerusalem, and here he have
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 the children of Israel, for I will
show him how great things he must suffer for my namesake. So here's Saul, blinded for three
days in the darkness, being shown what great things he must suffer
for Jesus' namesake, being brought to see something of what Christ
suffered for him, and coming to know his union with Christ. And God meets with Ananias and
says, come unto my servant Saul, that he might receive his sight.
Ananias, a disciple of Jesus Christ, a believer who's heard
of Saul, who knows of Saul, who knows of his opposition, who
would naturally fear him, is brought to see that God saves
the chief of sinners. God can save those who hate him
most. God can save those who are far
off, as far off as they can be. God saves the worst of sinners. He can save you and I, however
far off we may be, however hard-hearted we may be, however lost in our
sins we may be. And God comes unto Ananias and
says, Go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire
in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold
he prayeth he goes into a street called Straight now what a name
for that street and it's not randomly named it's mentioned
here because of what it stands for and what it reminds us of
before the coming of Christ John the Baptist is sent before him
as a voice crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the
Lord as the prophet Esaias wrote. Make straight the way of the
Lord. If God is going to come unto
us in salvation then the crooked places must be made straight. The wickedness of our hearts,
the crookedness of our hearts, must be straightened out. Our
sin must be blotted out. Our iniquity must be taken away. The crooked must be made straight.
Make straight the way of the Lord. God only comes to reside
in the hearts of those people. who have been cleansed by the
blood of the Lamb of God. God could only save Saul if Saul's
sins were taken away. God could only deliver Saul from
his iniquity if that iniquity was taken off Saul and laid upon
a sacrifice in his place. The way needed to be made straight. And so, Ananias would find Saul,
blinded for three days, in the darkness, in a house, in a street,
called Straight. Make straight the way of the
Lord. This is the way of the Lord.
For God to save a sinner, He will straighten up that which
is crooked. He will take away the sin. He
won't turn a blind eye to it. He won't ignore your apathy. He won't ignore your unbelief. He won't say, well it doesn't
matter, turn around now. He doesn't put us onto a pathway
of walking the right way when we've been walking the wrong
way before and ignore all that's gone before. But He straightens
up the whole thing, He takes away all our sin, past, present
and future. It must be dealt with. And so
all Paul's opposition, all Saul's opposition, all his unbelief
and hatred of Christ had to be dealt with. It had to be straightened. It had to be taken and laid upon
Christ Himself. and Christ had to bear the wrath
of God for Saul. And your unbelief and your hatred
of the gospel, if you're to be saved, will be laid upon Christ. And Christ himself, in love for
your soul, if you're his, will bear your iniquity, and bear
your opposition, and bear your hatred, and bear your enmity. and suffer for it. He went into
the darkness because of the sins of his people. He bore the wrath
of God because of the sins of his people. He died because of
the sins of his people. Did he die because of your sins? Has he made straight the way
of the Lord? into your soul he did for Saul because Saul
was a chosen vessel the Lord said unto Ananias don't worry
Ananias I know you know who he is I know you know what he has
done I know you might think how can he possibly be saved how
can we trust him After all that he's done and said, how could
we possibly trust him? I know what you know, but go
thy way. Do as I've said, for he is a
chosen vessel unto me. I've set my love upon him. I've
set my grace upon him. I've chosen him. He will bear
my name before the Gentiles. He will bear my name before kings. He will bear my name before the
children of Israel. And I will show him how great
things he must suffer for my name's sake. I'm going to take
this sinner, Saul. I'm going to take this one who
caused havoc in my church. I'm going to take this man who
had my servant Stephen stoned to death. I'm going to take this
sinner and I'm going to lift him up and make him a prince. He is a chosen vessel unto me. I've chosen him. He's mine. I love him as I love you, Ananias. I've chosen him from before the
foundation of the earth. I've suffered for him. I've taken away his sins. I've
shed my blood for him. He's mine. And through him, I
will preach the gospel to the Gentiles to kings, to the children
of Israel. Oh what great things God did,
Christ did, through his servant Saul. How greatly he used him
to preach the gospel. How his message and his preaching
extended to the four corners of the earth and extends unto
our day today. House Saw's message comes unto
you and I. how God has spoken through Paul
and his epistles and the gospel through which he wrote down and
set forth in the doctrines in the epistles, how he's preached
through Paul even to you and I today. He's a chosen vessel. He sets Christ's name before
the Gentiles, before you and I. He sets Christ's name before
kings. He sets Christ's name before
all the children of Israel. Has he set his name before you? Have you heard Christ's name
and his gospel through Paul's preaching today? Through those who go in Paul's
pathway? For those who, like Paul, were
enemies of Christ, But Christ met them on the way and said,
why persecutest thou me? And Christ showed them the Gospel
and Christ sent them forth to preach the Gospel and he sends
them forth today with the same message that you and I might
hear. Have you heard this message?
Have you heard this Saviour? Who sends chosen vessels to declare
His grace, to declare His love in a world full of hate, to declare
His light in a world full of darkness, to declare His salvation
in a world full of death and despair, to declare His riches
in a world full of poverty, to declare His hope in a world which
has no hope. Has he come unto you? Has he
stood in your way? And has he said unto you, why
persecutest thou me? Oh may he do so, because if he
leaves you in the way, as those men who stood by, who stood speechless,
hearing a voice but seeing no man understanding nothing if
he leaves you to yourself then your end will be terrible your
end will be terrible because your days on this earth will
waste away achieving nothing but mounting up iniquity and
guilt, and then one day you will stand before this Jesus, who
will say unto you, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. And you
will have no answer for your rebellion and your rejection
of his message. Oh, may he come in the gospel.
and stand before you and I this day and say unto us, why persecutest
thou me? See what I have done at the cross
in the place of sinners. See what I have suffered. Oh
may he say unto us, you're a chosen vessel. I suffered for you because
I love you and I gave myself for you. Oh may we know his grace,
may we know his salvation, and may we like Saul, like Paul,
behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Suddenly
there shined round about him a light from heaven.