A Pattern of Mercy

Q: What does the Bible say about the conversion of Saul?

The Bible details Saul's conversion in Acts 9, showcasing God's sovereign grace and mercy. In Acts 9, we see the dramatic conversion of Saul of Tarsus, a zealous persecutor of Christians, transformed into the Apostle Paul. This event highlights God's sovereign grace, as it was at God's appointed time and manner that Saul encountered the risen Christ. Saul's experience serves as a profound example of how the Lord meets a sinner in their rebellion, illuminating their heart with His glory and mercy. His conversion is recounted multiple times in the Book of Acts, emphasizing its importance in the early church and God's saving work.

Q: How do we know that sovereign grace is true?

Sovereign grace is demonstrated through the biblical narrative of salvation, showing God's initiative in saving sinners. Sovereign grace is a central tenet of Reformed theology, illustrated vividly through the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Scripture consistently presents salvation as a divine initiative, where God chooses, calls, and regenerates His elect. In 1 Timothy 1, Paul acknowledges that he obtained mercy, affirming that it was not through his works but through God's grace that he was saved. The repeated accounts of Saul's conversion serve to validate the doctrine of sovereign grace, revealing how God actively works to save those He has chosen, irrespective of their past transgressions.

Q: Why is the concept of election important for Christians?

Election emphasizes God's sovereignty in the salvation process, assuring believers of their security in Christ. The doctrine of election underlines that God, in His sovereignty, chooses certain individuals for salvation before the foundation of the world. This is significant for Christians as it provides assurance that their standing before God is rooted in His unchanging grace rather than their own merits. In the conversion of Saul, we see a vivid illustration of this concept, where God specifically chose Saul, revealing His purpose not only for Saul's life but for the broader mission to the Gentiles. Understanding election fosters humility, reliance on God's mercy, and a commitment to share the gospel, knowing that the success of evangelism rests ultimately on God's sovereign will.

Q: What happens during regeneration according to the sermon?

Regeneration involves God illuminating the heart and speaking His truth, resulting in new life in Christ. Regeneration is a miraculous act of God's grace where He brings a spiritually dead sinner to life. As illustrated in Saul's conversion, regeneration includes the illumination of the heart by the light of Christ's glory and the hearing of His voice calling the sinner to faith. In 2 Corinthians 4:6, it speaks to how God shines light into our hearts, providing the knowledge of His glory in the face of Jesus Christ. This transformative work involves a revelation of one's sinfulness, an understanding of the gospel, and the granting of new spiritual life that enables belief and repentance.

Q: Why should we acknowledge Christ as Lord?

Acknowledging Christ as Lord reflects true conversion and submission to His will as our Savior. Recognizing Jesus as Lord is integral to the Christian faith, as it signifies a believer's submission and allegiance to Christ, who is Savior and King. In his encounter on the road to Damascus, Saul was confronted with the lordship of Christ, leading him to ask, 'What will you have me to do?' This submission is not merely verbal; it represents a heart transformation where one yields to the authority and guidance of Christ. True acknowledgment of Christ as Lord means accepting His commands and trusting in His redemptive work, which is essential for all who profess faith in Him.

Let's go back to the text Brother
David read a few minutes ago. I think that the message is just
going to be a continuation of what Brother Dale taught in class.
At least I hope it turns out that way. Now in our text that
we read a few minutes ago, Luke gives the account of the conversion
of Saul of Tarsus, this man who was to become an apostle of the
Lord, the apostle Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. And later, Paul
himself speaks of this event in this book. Chapter 22 is the
account of him telling it to the Jews at Jerusalem, and then
in Chapter 6 is the account of him telling it before King Agrippa. You know, the very number of
times that this event is recorded ought to command our attention
as to what is said here, but I think we ought to pay attention
to it, especially in light of what Paul writes to Timothy in
1 Timothy 1. Now, if you would turn over there
just for a minute, 1 Timothy 1. 1 Timothy 1 and verse 12. Paul writes, and he says, I thank
Christ Jesus, our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted
me faithful, putting me into the ministry, who was before
a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious. But I obtained
mercy, because I did it ignorantly. And the grace of our Lord was
exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
This is a faithful saying, and it is worthy of all acceptation,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom
I am chief." Now watch this, verse 16, "...howbeit for this
cause I obtain mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show
forth all longsuffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter
believe on him, to life everlasting." Now, very clearly we're told
here that Paul's obtaining mercy is a pattern. It's a pattern
of the patience and the long-suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ towards
all of his elect. And we're taught here that his
grace is sufficient to save his people, even the chief of sinners. Now, Paul's salvation is also
an example of how the Lord Jesus, in sovereign mercy and grace,
at the appointed time, at the appointed place, meets a proud
rebel, and brings him into the fold. Anybody here know anything
about that? Like Brother Dale said a few
minutes ago, we could all, we could all tell that story, can't
we? All those who have experienced it can tell. Maybe there's someone
here this morning who hasn't yet experienced it, who has some
questions they would like to ask the greater than solid, and
just maybe he'll be pleased to answer this morning. Now let's
look at the text. Verse 1, Saul, yet breathing
out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the
Lord, went to the high priest, and he 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 down
unto Jerusalem. Now, Saul was, he was a Jew. He was very religious, very zealous. Saul was a Pharisee. Actually,
he was a Pharisee of Pharisees. His daddy was a Pharisee. You
probably, well, I don't think there's any question none of
us could measure up to Paul's attainments in his religion. Listen to what he says in Philippians
3, verse 4. Paul says, Though I might also
have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinks that
he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I Do you think,
according to the law and according to your works, that you might
be recommended before God? Have you attained to that? Well,
I'm telling you, Paul says, I've attained higher than you have.
I was circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel. That
was according to the law. All male children were to be
circumcised on the eighth day. I was of the tribe of Benjamin.
I was a Hebrew of Hebrews. My mommy and daddy were Hebrews.
I traced my lineage all the way back to Benjamin. As touching
the law, I was a Pharisee. to the highest office, the highest
office in religion except the high priest. And concerning zeal,
were you zealous? Well, I was zealous. I persecuted
the church. And touching the righteousness
which is of the law, I was blameless, you see. I was blameless. And
this man Saul of Tarsus hated the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ. I mean, he hated He was so sure
that he was right in his religion, and he was convinced that the
gospel of Christ was nothing but heresy, blasphemy towards
God. And he was determined to stab
it out, to stab it out. And so he obtained letters from
the high priest giving him authority to arrest Christians in Damascus.
He'd already been about that work in Jerusalem. Now he wants
to go other places and do it. He wants to go there and to arrest
Christians and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished. Now
if you would turn over to Acts chapter 26. Acts chapter 26. And here Paul is speaking to
King Agrippa giving an account of this same event. Acts 26 verse 9. He said, I truly
thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to
the name of Jesus of Nazareth, which thing I also did in Jerusalem. And many of the saints did I
shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priest.
And when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them,
and I punished them often in every synagogue, and I compelled
them to blaspheme. And being exceedingly mad against
them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities. whereupon
as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief
priest." And that's where we find him here, chapter 9. That's
what he's about. That's what his intent is. That's
what his goal is. That's what he set out to do.
That if he found any, verse 2, if he found any of this way or
any of the way, any of the way, it's interesting. I urge you,
encourage you to take the time sometimes and go through the
New Testament, see how often those two words are the way,
or this way. What is this way? Well, it's
the way of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's the way
of salvation by grace through faith, not works, not by these
or the law, but by grace through faith, through faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's that way which says, by
grace, or you say it's through faith, that not of yourselves,
it's the gift of God, it's not of works, lest any should boast.
It's that way. It's that way of the cross, the
way of the cross, the way of redemption by the blood of a
crucified Redeemer through the death of a substitute. Now, that
kind of preaching, that kind of gospel, that's a stumbling
block to the Jews and it's foolishness to the Greek, but I'm telling
you, beloved, to us who are being saved, it's the power of God
and it's the wisdom of God. It's the way of justification
by the righteousness of another, that righteousness which is freely
imputed to all who believe and freely imparted to all who are
regenerated and born of God. It's that way of a risen, exalted,
reigning Lord who has mercy on whom he will and whom he will
he art. way. He was exceeding mad against
those that way, and if he found any of that way, he intended
to arrest them and bring them to Jerusalem and try them for
their heresy, what he considered heresy and blasphemy. Oh, but
listen, beloved. Our Lord Jesus Christ is that
way. He is the way. He said that,
didn't he? I am the way. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. There is no other way of salvation
There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby
we must be saved. There is no other gospel. All
other supposed gospels are nothing but a corruption, a corruption
of the true gospel. There's but one gospel. It's
through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins.
And by him all that believe are justified from all things from
which you could not be justified by the deeds of the law. There's
just one way. It's this way. It's this way. The way. And you know, men by
nature, now listen, men by nature don't object to religion. They
don't object to religion. They don't object to a religion
of works. We are all, now you listen to
it, every single one of us sitting here and every son and daughter
of Adam in this world are all free will works religionists
by nature, by birth and by practice. We come into this world that
way. We don't object to salvation by works. We don't object to
a free will religion. I tell you what man objects to,
he objects to salvation by Christ. He objects to salvation by free
grants. He objects to salvation by sovereign
mercy. They object to this way, the
way of Christ, the way of Christ. And that's what Paul objected
to. Back in our text, verse 3, he says, And he journeyed, and
he came near to Damascus. 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?
Now remember, we read a few minutes ago that Saul's conversion is
a pattern, a pattern. And one of the first things we
notice about Paul here is this. As he turned, a light from heaven
shined round about him, and he heard a voice speaking to him.
He heard a voice speaking to him. He is illuminated by heavenly
light, and he hears a heavenly voice. Now listen to me. These
two things always go together when our Lord Jesus Christ, by
His Spirit, calls a dead sinner to life. There's always heavenly
light, and there's always a heavenly voice that every sinner will
see. And you're sitting there thinking, now wait a minute,
I don't recall seeing a heavenly light or hearing a voice. Now,
don't be foolish, and don't be mislead. I'm not talking. I'm
not talking about, and I don't want you to look for a visible
light, and I don't want you to expect to hear an audible voice
speaking to you from heaven. That's not what we're talking
about. We're talking about the pattern. There is a heavenly
light that shines upon a particular people, and there is a heavenly
voice that speaks directly to them, to every single one of
them. He calls his sheep by name. You
see, Saul was a chosen, and he was ordained to be an apostle
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and he must get his gospel directly
from our Lord. And so he saw visible light,
and he heard an audible voice. And we've got to remember that
at this particular time, the Scriptures were not complete.
They were still being written. So God employed that means. But still, still, now listen
to me, these two things always happen when the Lord Jesus, in
sovereign power and grace, calls one of His own to Himself. They'll
see heavenly light. It'll shine about them. And they'll
hear a heavenly voice that speaks to them. Now, what is this? What
about this? light and this voice from heaven.
Well, there's a great, great, great deal involved, but I'd
like to give you just a few things about it. Now, first of all,
let me tell you this. This light and this voice is
a manifestation or a revelation of the divine glory in Christ. It's by the gospel, and it results
in the new birth in spiritual life. Now, did you get that?
Did you get that? I said that on those that just
exactly that way on purpose. Listen to it again. It's a manifestation
or revelation of the divine glory in Christ by the gospel resulting
of the new birth of spiritual life. That's what this light
and this voice is about. Now I want to show you some scriptures,
just a couple of them, all right? I want you to turn back to Matthew
chapter 4. Matthew chapter 4. Matthew chapter 4, and our Lord
is is speaking here, being spoken of, our Lord, Matthew 4.12, he
says this, Now when Jesus had heard that John, John the Baptist,
was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee, and leaving Nazareth,
he came and dwelt at Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast and
the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled. Now,
he did that for a purpose, that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken by Esaias, Isaiah the prophet, in Isaiah 9, verses
1 and 2. The land of Zebulun and the land
of Nephilim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of
the Gentiles. The people, watch it now, the
people which sat in darkness, they saw what? Great light! Great light! What did they see? The sun of righteousness in their
midst. The One who came with healing
in His wings. And to them which sat in the
region and shadow of death, light, life, it sprung up." It sprung
up. All right, now turn over to Luke
chapter 1. Prophesied in the Old Testament,
told it's fulfilled by our Lord. Luke chapter 1. Here we're told, here we're told
that This prophecy concerns John the Baptist, and it's concerning
his witness, that is, John the Baptist, witness of Christ. And
look at verse 76, Luke 1, 76. And thou, child, shall be called
a prophet of the highest, for thou shalt go before the face
of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation
unto his people by the remission of their sins. Through the tender
mercy of our God, whereby the day spring, the day spring, you
see that? The sun rising from on high hath
visited us. Why did he do that? To give light,
light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and
to guide our feet in the way of peace. That's why he came.
That's what John bore witness of. That's what he bore witness
of. Now, again, turn on over to John chapter 1. John chapter
1. The light shined from heaven,
and they heard a voice. And these always go together,
because they're in one and the same person. John 1.1, In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. And the same was in the beginning
with God, and all things were made by him. And without him
was not anything made that was made. In him was life. And the light was the light of
men, and the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness come
to him in the night. The word and the light, the life. You're familiar, I know, with
Hebrews chapter one. God, who at sundry times and
in diverse manners spake to our fathers, spake in time past unto
the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his sons. whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the world, who, being the brightness
of his glory, the brightness of his glory, and the exact image
of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his
power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at
the right hand of the majesty on high. God spoke to us by his
Son. His Son is the brightness of
his glory. And his son is the Savior, the
only one who saves, who saves. And beloved, in regeneration,
now listen, in regeneration, God illuminates us with his glory
in Christ. He causes the light of his glory
to illuminate us. I won't have you turn to it.
You can quote it. 2 Corinthians 4, 6. But God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness. the account of creation, darkness
upon the face of the deep, and God said, Light be, and light
was. God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts. To give
what? The light of the knowledge of
the glory of God, and where is it? It's in the face of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He causes the light to shine,
and he speaks to our hearts. And these people hear the gospel. Now listen, they hear it not
as the word of men. The gospel comes to them not
as the word of men, but as it is in truth the word of God,
which effectually works in them. God gives us an understanding.
He enlightens our minds and our hearts and gives us an understanding. Remember what Paul wrote to the
Ephesians? In Ephesians 1, he prayed, he
said, The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may
know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches
of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the
exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe according to
the working of his mighty power, which he brought in Christ when
he raised him from the dead. That's what takes place. What
are you saying, preacher? I'm saying when God crosses the
path of his sinner, he causes light to shine They're illuminated
with the divine glory in Christ. And he speaks to them by his
gospel, his word. That's in Christ. The word, you
see, was made flesh and tabernacled among us. And we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. And there are no exceptions.
There are no exceptions. All who come to Christ come the
same way. All who come to God come the
same way. This way, the way. the way of Christ. And they're
illuminated, and they're spoken to. And this light and life and
this Word is Christ Himself. And when Christ illuminates them
and speaks to them, they hear His Gospel, and they hear and
see the glory, first of all, the glory of His person. They
begin to realize who is Jesus Christ. And they come to understand
that He's none other than the mighty God. The everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace, who was made flesh and dwelt among us,
who identified with his people, became bone of our bone and flesh
of our flesh. Why? That he might redeem us
from all iniquity, that he might render a perfect obedience to
the law of God in our room instead, that he might offer himself as
a spotless Lamb of God to all sufficient effectual sacrifice
for sin for his people. Then he'd die and be buried,
then he'd rise again and ascend into heaven and sit down on the
right hand of God expecting till his enemies become his footstool.
He'd come to know something about who he is. His person is God
and man as the only mediator between God and man, the man
Christ Jesus. He'd come to know him to be God
in human flesh. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh. We come to know something about
His offices, who He is. He's our prophet, the one who
speaks to us of God. No man has seen God at any time.
The only begotten Son, He hath declared Him. He hath declared
Him. He's our prophet. He's the one
who tells us about God, who reveals God to us. He's our priest, our
mediator, our intercessor, the one who offers the sacrifice,
the one who is the sacrifice, the one who is the altar upon
which the sacrifice is offered, and the one who accepts it. And
He's our King. He's our King. Oh, and when God,
when He illuminates us, and speaks to us by His Word, we learn something
about the way. Something about the way. And
like the Apostle Paul, in all his attainments in the Jewish
religion, he said, what I counted gain. All those things that I
once upon a time I depended on, I thought was gain to me. They
just dove, I counted them lost for Christ's sake, for Christ's
sake, for Christ's sake. Now, you see, you didn't, you
didn't see an audible, you didn't see a visible light shine about
you from heaven, did you? And you didn't hear an audible
voice speak. If you did, run from it. And yet you've been
illuminated with heavenly light. And you heard the heavenly voice,
haven't you? You heard God speak to you through
his word, by his gospel. And you've come to know him.
Now, back on our text, there's something else I want you to
notice here. I want you to notice that our Lord's call was particular. It's particular. You know, election
is particular. It's particular. Our Lord chose
people, individual men and women. It's particular. Redemption is
particular. Our Lord laid down His life for
His sheep, for His sheep. And calling is particular. election,
redemption, and calling. It's all the same people. All
who are chosen are redeemed, and all who are chosen and redeemed
are called. And our Lord called Saul. As
he journeyed, he came near to Damascus. Suddenly there shone
about him a light from heaven. He fell to the earth and heard
a voice saying unto him, And you know, in all that crowd,
I don't know how many was there. I know there were others with
you. But in all that crowd, Saul and Saul alone saw the light
and heard the voice. Now, that's just some. But what
about those others, preacher? Well, some of them heard the
voice, but they didn't see Christ. Look at verse 7. The man which
journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing the voice, but seeing
no man. And then some of them saw the light, but didn't hear
his voice. In chapter 22, verse 9, Paul says, 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. You see, Saul was the only
one, the only one in that whole crowd that saw the light and
heard the voice. And brethren, beloved, listen.
It's the same way this morning. It's the same way everywhere
and every time the gospel of God concerning His Son is preached
without fail. Everybody can hear the words
spoken, but not everybody can see the glory of Christ. They
say, well, what are you getting so excited about? They don't
see. Everybody sitting here this morning, they have the light
of natural understanding. But I'm relatively sure, I wish
it were not so, but I'm relatively sure that everybody sitting here,
they don't hear Christ speaking in the Word. Why is that? The
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
their foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they
are spiritually discerned. Spiritually discerned. You know,
our Lord, He didn't miss words when He preached. I know people,
people get mad when they hear the Gospel preached. But listen
to what our Lord says in John chapter 10, would you? John 10
verse 24 says, Then came the Jews round about him, and said
unto him, How long do you make us to doubt? If you be the Christ,
tell us plainly. And Jesus answered them, I told
you, I told you, and you believe not. The works that I do in my
Father's name they bear witness of me, but you believe not, because
You are not of my sheep, as I said unto you." Why didn't they believe?
Not of his sheep. My sheep, he said, hear my voice,
and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, and nobody will pluck them out
of my hand. Huh? This call is particular. It's
particular. It's special. His sheep, his
sheep hear his voice. And notice the effect of this
call back in our text, the effect of it. The effect it had on Saul,
verse 4. He fell to the earth. He fell
to the earth. You know, preachers are fond
of saying, well, he was unhorsed, fell off his white stallion down
into the dust. I don't know if he was on a white
stallion or not, but I know he fell to the earth. I know he
was brought down. I know the voice of Christ put
him in the dust. I know a vision of the glory
of the God-man mediator laid him low. I know that much. He
fell to the earth. He fell to the earth. And that'll
happen to every proud, self-righteous rebel who really meets Christ
and sees something of his glory, and hears his words. They'll
all come down. You see, the way up is down. Our Lord's able to do that. We
don't do that of ourselves. That's not natural. That's divine.
That's supernatural. Our Lord is able to humble us.
He's able to take a proud Babylonian king and bring him down to the
dust and make him so that he goes out with the beast of the
feet. He's able to take a proud publican. He says, Zacchaeus, come down. Come down. And he's able to take
a proud sinner like you and like me. And he's done it. Come down. Come down. You think you're something,
but you're nothing. You're nothing. You've got to
come down in the dust. You've got to come down in your
opinion of yourself. You've got to come down and acknowledge
your human sinfulness, depravity, and inability. You've got to
come down to the place where you see the graces for the guilty
and mercies for the miserable. And our Lord will never lift
up a man till he brought him down. Till he brought him down. True humility is the mark of
every true child of God. The sacrifices of God are a contrite
spirit, broken in a contrite heart. O God, thou wilt not despair."
And God spoke to David and told him, what are you going to do
with it? Remember what David told him? Watch my hands. I'll
tell you something else that takes place. There's a confrontation.
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Saul was persecuting Christians. those of the way. But in reality,
he was persecuting Christ because whatever is done to the people
of Christ is done to Christ himself. He taught us that clearly in
Matthew 25. And believer, listen. Listen.
If you're persecuted, it's for Christ's sake. It's because of
the gospel you believe and the God you believe. That's why you're
persecuted. And if you're here as an unbeliever,
As an unbeliever, I'm telling you right now that you are persecuting
Christ. You are rebelling against His
authority, because you are commanded to repent and to believe on Him. Our Lord told Saul, He said,
it's hard for thee to kick against the pricks. It was a reference
to an ox goad, you know, a long, sharp pointed stick to kind of
punch those oxen with as they pull those carts to get them
to go the way they wanted. An uncomfortable thing. And the
gospel of grace is a prick. It's an irritant to the religion
of works, to the religion of man's will and man's worth. That's
why men kick against it. The next thing that takes place,
the next thing that takes place, there's a revelation of Jesus
Christ as Lord, as Lord. The first time, he said, Who
art thou, Lord? And the Lord, and the Lord said,
I am Jesus. The Lord said, I am Jesus, whom
you persecute. You hear that? Who are you, Lord?
And the Lord said, I'm Jesus. The Lord is not other than Jesus
of Nazareth. Take the time this afternoon
and read through this. You'll find that Lord and the
Lord is used ten times in this text. Ten times. Ten times. All whom he saves acknowledge
and bow to him as Lord, as Lord. I'm not talking about just mouthing
the words. I'm talking about true heart
conviction and true heart acknowledgement. No man can call Jesus Lord saved
by the Holy Ghost if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, Jesus to be Lord. And I'll tell you what'll happen
next. When you find out he's Lord, when you find out he's
Lord, I'll tell you what happens next. You're going to submit
to his will. He said, verse 6, he trembling
and astonished, said, Lord, it's not who art thou, Lord, but Lord,
what will you have me to do? What will you have me to do?
Every sinner will be brought to the place. Every saved sinner
will be brought to the place where he submits his will to
the will of Christ. And that's vital. That's vital.
By nature, our will is, I will not. Our Lord said, you will
not come to me that you might have life. They said, we will
not have this man reign over us. But when you meet Christ,
when you find out who He is, you learn something about His
glory, when He speaks to your heart, you'll submit to His,
Lord, what will you have me to do? Not as I will, but as thou
will. And I'll tell you this, the submission
of our will is not something we do, not something that we
work at. It's the result of His mighty
power. of His mighty power. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. It's the result of His power
and what He does in us. And here Paul, our Lord tells
Paul, He says, now you arise and you go to the city. It will
be told you there what to do. All right, look at verse 8 and
9 real quick. Saul arose from the earth when
his eyes were opened. He saw no man. They led him by
the hand and brought him into Damascus. He was three days without
sight. Neither did he eat or drink.
The work's begun, but it's not complete. Saul was brought down,
but he's made to feel his inability. The glory of that light has struck
him blind. Now he's got to be led by the
hand. All whom the Lord saves are brought
to know their blind condition. He told the Pharisees one day,
he said, if you were blind, you should have no sin. But now you
say, we see. Therefore, your sin remains.
Paul's blind. He's helpless. Somebody's got
to lead you by the hand. Got to take him into the city.
And our Lord tells him, it will be told to you. There's what
you do. You ever been brought to know your inability, your
blind condition, your inability to help yourself? Well, there
was a certain disciple of Damascus named Ananias to him, the Lord,
in a vision. He said, Behold, I am your Lord.
And the Lord said to him, Arise, 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." It's
the Lord who performed the work. It's the Lord who confronted
Saul. It's the Lord who revealed to him his need. It's the Lord
who revealed to him the glory of God in himself and spoke to
him the word of truth. It's the Lord who did the work.
that our Lord saves his people by his own appointed means. Now,
he prepared, he met Saul, and he prepared Saul to receive the
Word, like a farmer plows the ground to receive the seed, makes
it fit to receive the seed. This is grace before grace, and
that's what he did to Saul. And then he sent him to the city,
and at the same time, that Paul was being prepared to receive
the Word, the Lord was preparing a man to give him that Word.
You see, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save
them from their sin. Of his own will begat he us with
the Word of truth, being born again not of corruptible seed,
but of incorruptible by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth
for ever. Well, can't Christ save without
hearing the gospel? He's gone. He can do as he will.
But he's never promised to do so. Go into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized
will be saved. He that doesn't believe will
be damned. And you know what? Guess what Saul's doing? Behold,
he prayeth. How many times have you heard
me encourage you, if you're seeking mercy, to call on God? If you
want salvation, if you want to be saved by His mercy, why don't
you ask for it? Why don't you ask for it? Well,
I'm telling you all, every single one of His people, ask for it. Behold! He'd pray it. He'd pray it. Turn over to chapter
22 again. I want to read the message here
that Ananias preached to Paul, and I'm just about done. All
right? Acts 22, verse 12. Acts 22, 12. And what Ananias, a devout man
according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews
which dwelt there, he came unto me, Paul said. And he stood,
and he said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. In the
same hour I looked up upon him. And he said, The God of our fathers
hath chosen thee. Whoa, wait a minute, wait a minute.
You shouldn't be preaching an election to convicted sinners.
Yes, you should. Yes, you should. He's commanded
of God what to say. The God of our fathers hath chosen
thee, that thou shouldest know his will. Our Lord taught the
disciples, when you pray, you say, Thy will be done. This is
the will of Him that sent me, that of all which He hath given
me I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last
day. He's chosen you that you should know His will and that
you should see the just one. You're going to see Christ. And you're going to hear the
voice of His mouth. You're going to hear Him speak
to your heart. Our Lord said in John 5, He said,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour cometh, and now is,
When the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and
they that hear shall live. And you're going to hear His
voice. You're going to hear His voice. For thou shalt be His witness
unto all men of what you've seen and what you've heard. Now, if
you're one of His, and the Lord opens the door and gives you
the opportunity to witness, what are you to witness of? What you've
seen and heard. You go tell them what great things
the Lord has done for you. He received his sight. You remember
that blind man? That man was born blind. And
these religious folks accosted him, kept trying to get him to
deny that the Lord Jesus had healed him. He finally said to
him that whether he'd be a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing
I know, whereas I'm blind, now I see. Do you see? Do you see? Do you see? And look
here, verse 16 of chapter 22. And Ananias said to him, Now
why tarryest thou? Arise, be baptized, and wash
away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. He's exhorted
to confess Christ and identify with Him, identify with Him,
identify with His people. And you know what he did? Go
back to our text in chapter 9, verse 18. And immediately there
fell from his eyes as it had been scales, and he received,
sought forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. Now, Beloved,
listen to me. Maybe there's someone here this
morning that's in this situation. You know, we don't put pressure
on people to make a profession. We don't pressure them into doing
anything. We simply preach the gospel to
them according to the Word of God, and we leave that work to
the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God. He's able.
He's able to save to the uttermost things that come unto God by
Him. He's able to do that work. And he must do it. He must do
it. We may plant, we may water, but
God's got to give the increase. It'll do you no good if I can
talk you into making a profession of faith. Your faith would rest
in my ability to persuade you then, but I'm telling you what,
if God persuades you, if the Spirit of God persuades you,
that's a different thing entirely. And so we don't pressure people
to do that. We don't pressure people to make a profession.
We don't pressure people to get into the pool, to do all of these
outward things. But, but, has the Lord dealt
with you as he dealt with the Apostle Paul? Has he confronted
you? Have you seen something of his
glory? Has he spoken to you by his gospel? Has he revealed to
you your need? Have you prayed? Has he spoken
to you, revealing to you his purpose of salvation by grace? Has he spoken peace to your heart?
Well, why carry yourself? Arise. Be baptized. Arise. Confess the Lord Jesus
Christ. Have dinner by with Him and with
His Spirit. You see? See what I'm saying? And maybe there's someone here.
Maybe the Lord has dealt with you. Like that Ethiopian eunuch
when Phil preached to him. Preached to him Christ, from
Isaiah 53. As they went along, it came to
water. He said, here's water. What does hinder people from
being baptized? Well, if you believe with all your heart,
you may. You remember what he said? I believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God. One horse stopped this chariot.
And they came, both of them, down out of that chariot. and
went down into the water, and he baptized him, and he went
on his way rejoicing. Why perish then? Our Father,
we thank you. Lord, how we thank you for your
purpose of grace and glory. And our Father, we thank you
that you've been pleased to reveal that glory and that grace even
to us and in us, in the person of thy dear Son. We thank you,
our Father, according to thy mighty power, but with the eye
of faith that we see him who loved us and gave himself for
us. Lord, be pleased. Be pleased
according to thy will to get glory to thyself by the salvation
of sinners even this day. We ask it in thy name, and we
ask it for thy glory. Amen.

A Pattern of Mercy

What does the Bible say about the conversion of Saul?

How do we know that sovereign grace is true?

Why is the concept of election important for Christians?

What happens during regeneration according to the sermon?

Why should we acknowledge Christ as Lord?

Sermon Transcript

About Charles Pennington

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A Pattern of Mercy

What does the Bible say about the conversion of Saul?

How do we know that sovereign grace is true?

Why is the concept of election important for Christians?

What happens during regeneration according to the sermon?

Why should we acknowledge Christ as Lord?

Sermon Transcript

About Charles Pennington

Comments

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