Over to the 7th chapter. We looked
at the 8th chapter this morning. Let's go back tonight and look
at the last portion of chapter 7, the book of Acts. You remember
the context of this. Stephen was preaching, preached
a very lengthy message, and this is where he got to in his message
when they stoned him. Let's look in verse 51. Let's
begin in Acts 7 and verse 51 and finish that chapter. You stiff-necked and uncircumcised
in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Ghost as your
fathers did. So do you. Which of the prophets
have not your fathers persecuted? They have slain them which showed
before of the coming of the just one, of whom you have been now
the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by
the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. When they heard
these things, they were cut to the heart, they were furious,
and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full
of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and
saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of
God. And he said, Behold, I see the heavens open, and the Son
of Man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried
out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon Him
with one accord, and 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 they stoned Stephen, calling
upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he knelt
down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their
charge. And when he had said this, he
fell asleep, and Saul was consented unto his death. My text this
evening is found here in verse 58. They laid down their clothes
at a young man's feet whose name was Saul. That's what I want
you to think with me for a few minutes on. A young man named
Saul. Saul of Tarsus. A radical. A young radical. We see sometimes
revolutions are caused by young people. You see a lot of uproars
in colleges and universities caused by young people, older
teenagers in their early 20s. There have been governments overthrown
and governments established by radical young people. And this
young man was a radical, Saul of Tarsus. I want you to look
over in the 22nd chapter. I want us to see just something
about this young man. And he tells us a lot. There
is quite a bit in the New Testament book of Acts and in the epistles
concerning this man. And he says a lot about himself. But let's just look at the history
of this young man. In Acts chapter 22, And here
in verse 3, look what he says about himself. I am verily a man which am a
Jew. He was a Jew. His mom and dad
both were Jews. Born in Tarshish, a city in Cilicia. We know where this is. If you
ever looked at your map, your New Testament map, this is in
modern Turkey, it used to be Asia, but he said, I was born
there. He was born a free citizen. Some men bought their freedom
from the Roman government, but he was a man born free. And he says, I was brought up
in this city at the feet of Gamaliel. Now this was a great theologian
of his day, Gamaliel, well, well known. He still has some of his
writings even around that people have gleaned in our day of theology. And Paul was brought up under
this man, but just sort of as a footnote, a man by the name
of Dr. Lightfoot, he's a commentarian
and Jewish historian. I thought this was very interesting.
He and most commentaries that I read talked about this man
by the name of Gamaliel. And you remember Simeon, the
old man that took the Lord Jesus up in his arms and said, Lord,
let thy servant die. I've seen your salvation. They
said this man here was his son. Simeon was Gamaliel's father. They said the father of Simeon
was Halil. You've heard us talk about Shimea
and Halil, the two great theologians that Shimea believed that you
couldn't put away your wife except for fornication. And Halil believed
you could just put her away for any cause. So this was a line
here of theologians and men who were well respected. And Paul
sat under this man's ministry. He sat under this man's ministry,
Gamaliel's ministry. And he was taught according to
the perfect manner of the law of our fathers. That's what he
says about himself here. He was taught according to the
perfect manner. In other words, he was acquainted
with the New Testament. This man could quote you verses
and maybe chapters. He studied. He just didn't understand
them. He could tell you where they
were at. We have to say, well, it's on the left page down so
far. He could tell you the chapter and the verse if he could tell
you right where it was. But he didn't understand it,
you see. He was trained in the perfect manner of the law. As soon as the Lord saved him,
that's why he started preaching from all these Scriptures. He
had them up in his head, but he just didn't know what they
meant. And he says here, look at this, he said in verse 3,
I was zealous towards God as you all are this day. In other
words, boy, he had religious conviction. And he says in chapter
26 verse 4, My manner of life from my youth, which was at the
first among my own nation in Jerusalem, know all the Jews,
which knew me from the beginning, if they would bear witness, that
after the most strictest set of their religion, I lived a
fair sea. Boy, he was trained to be very
strict in his religion, and he said, I live that way. I lived
as a strict Pharisee in my daily life. He just didn't brag about
it. He lived it. He lived it. He lived a strict set. And he
says, I profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals
in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions
of my fathers. Now that's what he said in Galatians
1. And he said, touching the law, I was blameless. He said, if any man thinks he
can trust in the flesh to earn a righteousness before God, He
can't compare to what I was doing. I was raised up from my birth.
I was circumcised when I was eight years old. And they put
me in this school, my parents did. I set it to feet of this
great man. He taught me the strict manner
of the law. And he said, I lived it. I lived
it. Now he's not talking about, and
we find this out later, he's not talking about he kept the
moral law. He finally come to see that man,
he said, when that law finally came to me and said, Thou shalt
not covet, it wrought all manner of lust in my heart. But here
he's talking about all these outward ceremonies and days and
feast days and so on. He was blameless. This man was
a man, young Saul, who never did anything half-hearted. He said when he was an apostle
of Christ, I labored more abundantly than they all. And he could say
in false religion, I advanced above many of my equals. Boy, he had a zeal of God, didn't
he? Concerning zeal, he said. Concerning zeal. Persecuting
the church. And my goodness how he persecuted
it. Look in verse 4 of chapter 22 of Acts. And I persecuted
this way unto death, binding and delivering unto prison both
men and women. And also the high priest doth
bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders, for whom
also I now received letters from the brethren, and went to Damascus
to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem." To do
what? To punish them. to punish them. Boy, that's zeal, ain't it? That's
zeal. He said in our text that we read
this morning, for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entered
into every house and hauled in men and women and committed them
to prison. And listen to what he says in
Acts 26.9. I verily thought with myself, I ought to do many things
contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth, which things I also
did in Jerusalem. And many of the saints did I
shut up in prison, having received authority from the priest. And
when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them."
Now that's zeal, isn't it? That's zeal. That you're so convicted
of something to this point that you'd kill people over it. Harmless
people. People that never hurt anybody.
And that's what he was doing. And listen to Acts 26.11. And
I punished this way, even I punished them oft in every synagogue. And I compelled them to blaspheme,
and being exceeding mad against them, I persecuted them even
unto strange cities. And here he was talking to the
Lord, and I read you this this morning. Listen to this again,
Acts 22 and 19. Lord, they know that I imprisoned
and beat In every synagogue, them that believed on thee, and
when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I was standing
by, and conceded unto his death, and helped the ram of them that
slew him." Listen to Galatians 1.13. You have heard of my conversation
in time past, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church
of God and wasted it. And he said in another place,
I was before a blasphemer, a persecutor, and injurious. This is the way
the Apostle Paul identified himself. Saul of Tarsus, this young man,
and he admitted all the evil that he had did to the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ from the time that he was raised up
at the feet of this great theologian. But let's listen to what some
other people says about it. this young man by the name of
Saul. Listen to Acts chapter 9 and verse 13. This is Ananias
whom the Lord told to lay his hands on Paul. Go lay your hands
on him that he might receive his sight. And here is what Ananias
said to the Lord. He said, 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 of them that call on thy name." Listen
to how Luke, the historian, describes it in the book of Acts. And Saul
was still consenting until his death, Stephen's death. And as
for Saul, he made havoc of the church, enter into every house,
and hauling men and women, committed them to prison. And listen to
chapter 9 and verse 1 what Luke says about it. And Saul, yet
breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples
of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him. This word desired of him means
to plead, to beg for, to crave. He craved letters from the high
priest to Damascus to go to the synagogue, and if he found any
in this way, whether they be men or women, he might bring
them bound unto Jerusalem. Man, what a mean young man this
was. And Acts 9.26 says, When Saul
was come to Jerusalem, he assayed, he tried to join himself to the
disciples. This was after the Lord had saved
him. But they were afraid of him. Would you have been afraid
of him? Well, I would too, wouldn't you?
They said, He's not a disciple. He's trying to find out where
we're at so he can kill us. Galatians 1.23, But they only
heard that he which persecuted us in time past now preaches
the faith. which once he destroyed. And
last of all, what did the Lord Jesus say about it when he struck
him down on the Damascus road? Saul saw. Why persecutest thou
me? Why persecutest thou me? So boy,
he, from the time that he got old enough to persecute people,
the church, he did it. Hated them. Mad against them.
He said it himself, they said it, and even the Lord Jesus Christ
said it about him. And I doubt there has ever been
a man who hated Christ more than young Saul. He had this deep
personal conviction against him. He said, I thought in myself
I ought to do many things contrary to his name. Now this wasn't
something he hastily concluded. He said, I thought within myself
He meditated. He thought upon Jesus Christ. And he said, basically, he's
a liar. He's an imposter. He's not a real person, you know.
Imposter. He's an imposter. Some of these
English words are having much trouble. Poor Cody was having
with them the other night. And he said, I hate him. I hate him. And I'm going to do everything
I can against him. I thought within myself. Some people tried to speculate
why the Apostle Paul was so against and so hated the Son of God.
Some say that, and this could very well be so, that he heard
Christ preach. He knew what he was talking about.
Wayne was reading there in John chapter 10. If you go on to John
chapter 10 where Christ said, I and my Father are one, And
the Pharisees were there. And maybe Saul of Tarsus was
there as a young man. It may have been some of those
that picked up stones just cast at him. When he said, why do
you stone me? What good work have I done? Not
for a good work, but you made yourself God. You're blaspheming. You know, Saul of Tarsus could
have been right there. Maybe that's why he hated him.
Some have suggested, and this may be so too, I don't know,
it's speculation, that rich young ruler that came to the Lord Jesus,
and the Lord told him to sell everything he had, and come and
take up his cross, and he went away grieved. Some say that could
have very well been Saul of Tarsus, and that's why he hated him.
We don't know, but we know this, he hated him, didn't he? I sought
and I thought to do many things contrary to the name. of Jesus
of Nazareth. This young man was so deceived,
he thought he was doing God's will. He thought he was doing
God's service by hating Jesus of Nazareth. That's being deceived,
ain't it? That's being deceived. He wanted
to stomp out his name, stomp out his church from this earth.
No wonder he later wrote these very words. When we were enemies,
when I was His enemy, we were reconciled to God by the death
of His Son. He knew something about that,
didn't He? He said this later on, I was before a blasphemer
and persecutor and injurious, but I obtained mercy. Boy, He knew something about
mercy, didn't He? sovereign covenant mercies. He that had despised
the very thought of mercy before now craved it in his heart of
hearts. And the grace of the Lord Jesus,
he said, was exceeding abundant with faith in love which is in
Christ Jesus. He that despised free grace before
now attributed all his salvation to it. and says it was exceeding
abundant with faith and love. Oh, another place he said, I
am what I am by the grace of God. I'm a believer. I'm a child of God by His grace. By His grace. Paul said after the Lord Jesus
had saved him, he made this wonderful statement. He said, Jesus Christ might show forth
all longsuffering for a pattern to them which should believe
on Him to life everlasting. Paul said, I'm a pattern of what?
Of the longsuffering of Jesus Christ. I'm a pattern of mercy. I'm a pattern of grace. that
is in His heart. In other words, He said, look
at the mercy I've drawn from His heart. Look at the depths
of grace and love. To me, His enemy. And I'm a pattern
for all those poor sinners who have been His enemies and now
they've come humbly seeking Him. I'm a pattern. Don't despair. Don't despair. Poor, miserable
sinners who come and draw out mercy from his heart. Saul of
Tarsus. What do we see in this young
man's conversion? First of all, we see this. We
never have to despair of salvation for any living person, no matter
how wicked they may be. Paul called himself the chief
of sinners, didn't he? And the Lord saved him. I remember
Susan McDonald. I often mention her because I
often think of her. And when I first spoke to that
woman there in the nursing home, I've never in my life seen such
despair in a person's eye on a person's countenance. And she
told me that she was too bad a sinner for the Lord to save. That's what she told me. She
said, you have no idea how great and how many of my sins are.
And boy, I just poured out my soul to her of Christ satisfying
God and how pleased God was with His Son and all manner of sin
and blasphemy He'll forgive for Christ's sake. Every Scripture
like that I could think of. It looked like she was just hanging
on to every word. And later on, the Lord saved
that woman. I tell you, it was the most amazing
conversion I've ever seen in my life. When I went back and
she said, He saved me. He saved me. It surprised her. It surprised her. You know what
the Apostle Paul said? He said, I'm a pattern of this.
I can witness to this. Jesus Christ came into this world
to save sinners, of whom I am chief. And all of these Scriptures
that I read to you, we see that He was chief of sinners. He was
an enemy of God and Christ and the Gospel, and yet the Lord
saved Him. And He set a pattern. I'm a pattern. What a wonderful conversion. First thing we see then, no matter
how wicked, what enemies men have been of God, we don't have
to despair. Secondly, we see this, there's
no sinner who can resist Jesus Christ's saving power when the
Lord is pleased and determined to save him. I love that. There is no sinner, I don't care
how stout hearted he is and how dark his heart is, there is no
sinner who can resist Jesus Christ, the Son of God, when the Lord
is pleased and determined to save him. I love that because
I've experienced that. I went for years in the darkness
and enmity of my mind, and He saved me. You know it's impossible for
a man to save himself. It's even impossible to cooperate
and be saved. Paul said it like this. He said,
I was before a blasphemer and an injurious, persecuting the
church, but when it pleased God. who separated me from my mother's
womb, and called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me." I love
that, don't you? And the reason I love it, I don't
encourage people to rebel against the Lord, but I just know they
do. It's not that you have to encourage
them to rebel. He's going to conquer you if
He's going to conquer you. You tell people to submit to
it. Repent and seek His face. All along we know that the Lord
is going to have to subdue them and draw them and kill them to
themselves in sin. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. That is what He said, isn't it?
They shall be willing to do what? Look to Him. Come to Him. Believe in Him. Be willing to
do what there never was before. I love Matthew 121, don't you?
I bet some of you could quote that for me, if I asked you to. His name shall be called Jesus,
for He shall save His people. And the Lord told Ananias, when
Ananias said, I'm afraid to go over there, Lord, I've heard
about all the evil. And remember what the Lord Jesus said to him,
He's mine. He's mine. Ain't that what he
said? He's a chosen vessel unto me.
He's mine. And I'm going to save him. And
Anna and I said, OK, I'll go then. I'll go then. He's one
of yours because I know you're going to break him. I know you're
going to save him. I don't have any hope at all
for my children. And I don't have any hope for
my grandchildren. And I don't have any hope for anybody if
they're left to themselves. And if it's left up to me to
persuade men to come to Christ, I have no hope for them. I have no hope for them. But
I tell you what, when the Lord is pleased to save a man, when
the Lord is determined to save a man, He'll save that man. He'll
save him. All that the Father gives to
me shall come to me. And there's this man. Who more
wicked, whose heart more full of darkness than this man? Who's
more the enemy of Christ than this man? And yet, on the Damascus
road, when he was still breathing out threatenings and slaughter,
the Son of God opened up the clouds, as it were, and appeared
to this man and said, Saul, Saul, who are you, Lord? I'm Jesus
of Nazareth. And down He goes on the ground
and says, Lord, what will you have me to do? He's irresistible. You know,
we turn around. A fellow asked me this one time.
He said, don't you believe the Holy Spirit can be resisted?
Well, I'm sure He can be resisted. We just read about it, didn't
we? You do always resist the Holy Ghost when He's willing
that men resist Him. when He suppers men to resist
Him. When He lets men to resist Him. But when He's not pleased to
do it, when He's determined, you're not going to resist Me.
You're Mine. He'll save them. He'll save them.
And you'll see them somewhere. Mercy. Lord, mercy. Lord, mercy. Arches of stone will have to
crumble. Ain't that what you're saying? Just one touch of the
Master's hand. Thirdly is this. Think of this.
We'll come to a close pretty quick. Isn't the conversion of
this young Saul further proof that Jesus of Nazareth is indeed
the Son of God? If we need further proof, here
it is. This man wasn't straddling the
fence, as we say. and just needed a little nudge
to get on the other side. He wasn't doing bad deeds but
had a good heart. He was a convinced enemy of Jesus
Christ and His gospel. And yet he came to see that he
was wrong. He came to see that Jesus Christ
was indeed the Son of God, the Savior of the world. He came
to see that Jesus of Nazareth was the very one indeed whom
the Scriptures revealed. We have Jews today. If you get
on some Jewish radio channel and hear some of the preachers,
you'll see them and you'll listen to them and you'll hear them,
how against Christ they are. They don't believe the Messiah
has even come yet. We have atheists and we have others who give Jesus
Christ no credit for being who the Bible says that He is. But
listen to this. They have nothing on Saul of
Tarshish. He didn't believe it either. He gave no credit to
Jesus Christ either. He was convinced of it. So convinced
that Christ was not an imposter that he was willing to kill people
to prove his point. But you know what he did? He
admitted he was wrong. He said, I'm wrong. He confessed
it. and look at the proof behind
his admission. He spent the rest of his life
as a living testimony proving about this redeeming person and
work of Jesus Christ that he was indeed the Son of God. And he's our example. Even today
the Apostle Paul is our example. He's absolute proof of the mercy
and the grace and love in the heart of Jesus Christ. He's proof to us. If nobody ever
believed it before, look at this man's life and say, there's got
to be something to this. There's got to be. You don't
take a man this adamant in one direction and suddenly turn him
and he's just as adamant in another direction. You don't do that
unless there's something to it. He's proof too of that sure and
steadfast hope of eternal life given to every person who dies
in the faith. He said himself, I have a desire
to depart and to be with Christ. which is far better. And every
believer can say that. If Paul can say it, every believer
can say it. He not only said, there is laid
up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord shall give me
at that day. He says to everyone who loves
His appearing. He is our example, isn't He?
When I was a young man, I was shameful. I was shameful
at my sins that I committed. And so was he. When I was a young man, I was
the enemy of God in Christ and His gospel. And so was Saul of
Tarsus. And Paul could say, I have obtained
mercy, and so can I. So can I. And Paul could say,
there's laid up for me a crown. And I can say the same thing.
And you can too, if you're in Christ. And He's your trust. He is our pattern, isn't He?
He's our pattern. You remember when you were an
ungodly sinner? Some people can't remember that. I don't understand that, do you?
Christ died for the ungodly. Remember when you were a sinner? Boy, I've never been a sinner.
Never been a sinner. Never been a sinner. Maybe then,
maybe, the Lord will call you like He did this man. Maybe. Maybe. He's our pattern. He's our pattern. If the Lord
saves us like He did Him, we'll be rejoicing over mercy. I obtained
mercy. He gave me a chance. No, I obtained
mercy. I helped Him. No, I obtained
mercy. Mercy. A dear preacher said the
other day, he had some folks just quitting, coming to the
worship, wouldn't gather with the Lord's people, and he blamed
himself. He said, well, they're just not committed. And finally,
he said, I've just come to the conclusion they don't have a
need. They don't have a need. Boy, this man had a need, didn't
he? You need Christ. You need Christ. You say, Bruce,
I did it one time and He fulfilled my need. Haven't you needed Him
since? Don't you need Him now? We do, don't we? O gracious Father,
Father in heaven, Father of lights, in whom is no variableness, neither
shadow of turning, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and
forever. O you are indeed, your heart
is filled, even the low bottom of your heart is full of mercies,
tender covenant mercies. Your love passeth all knowledge.
from everlasting to everlasting upon your people. Lord, we bless
your name that you did indeed come into this world to save
sinners. You've given us a pattern to
encourage us that we may come to you and draw out this great
mercy and grace and love, manifestations of it from your heart. We join
with your apostle in casting contempt upon ourselves and looking
back over our life with shamefulness and regret. But thank you, Lord. Thank you that you subdued us.
Thank you that you brought us at your feet. Thank you for giving
us mercies, tender, free, undeserved mercies. I pray for this, dear
people. May the Lord visit. Oh, visit,
Lord. Don't let us leave here without
you. Don't let us go home and forget your name and forget our
need of you. Oh, in our homes and at night,
would you deal with our hearts? Would you give us songs in the
night of you? Those who are suffering, those who are tried, sore, be
gracious to them. Let them feel the strength of
your grace. Keep us this week, we ask of you, Lord, for your
sake, for your namesake. Amen.