WEBVTT 00:00:04.306 --> 00:00:04.966 At this time. 00:00:04.966 --> 00:00:17.993 Children ages 3 to 6 can be dismissed, if they'd like to, to go down to our children's church downstairs, follow the teacher as they lead the way. 00:00:17.993 --> 00:00:24.547 Today we're going to continue in our sermon series in the Acts of the Apostles. 00:00:24.547 --> 00:00:28.394 If you'd like a sermon outline, just raise your hand. 00:00:28.394 --> 00:00:30.806 Our officers would be happy to give you one. 00:00:30.806 --> 00:00:33.706 If you'd like to borrow a Bible, they have those as well. 00:00:43.761 --> 00:00:59.945 The book of Acts, as we've said before, is about earliest Christianity unfolding, the story of how the church grew through conversions to Christ, and last week we began to look at one of the most well-known conversions in the Bible Saul of Tarsus. 00:00:59.945 --> 00:01:05.191 He was a persecutor of the church who became known eventually as the Apostle Paul. 00:01:05.191 --> 00:01:09.650 We're going to look at another aspect of his conversion. 00:01:09.650 --> 00:01:10.652 Today. 00:01:10.652 --> 00:01:16.772 We're going to look at his story again in Acts 9, beginning in verse 1. 00:01:16.772 --> 00:01:35.790 Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus so that if he found any belonging to the way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 00:01:35.790 --> 00:01:42.707 Well, as he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 00:01:42.707 --> 00:01:48.728 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him Saul, saul, why are you persecuting me? 00:01:48.728 --> 00:01:51.266 And he said who are you, lord? 00:01:51.266 --> 00:01:55.691 And he said I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 00:01:55.691 --> 00:02:02.081 But get up and enter the city and it will be told you what you must do Now. 00:02:02.081 --> 00:02:08.483 The men who had traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 00:02:08.483 --> 00:02:16.445 Saul got up from the ground and, though his eyes were open, he could see nothing and, leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. 00:02:16.445 --> 00:02:21.502 He was three days without sight and neither ate nor drank. 00:02:22.645 --> 00:02:38.013 Saul's conversion his story stands out as one of the most detailed accounts we have in the book of Acts of conversion and I think it helps us understand what it means to be converted. 00:02:38.013 --> 00:02:51.122 Luke tells us Saul's conversion story in what I call slow motion, saul's conversion story. 00:02:51.122 --> 00:02:52.966 In what I call slow motion. 00:02:52.966 --> 00:02:55.770 We can just kind of watch God work in his life, step by step. 00:02:55.770 --> 00:02:59.861 He just slows it way down and we can pick out these elements that are happening through his story. 00:03:00.723 --> 00:03:09.776 First of all, remember Jesus told us, told the disciples, that we need to be converted. 00:03:09.776 --> 00:03:13.467 We need to be converted. 00:03:13.467 --> 00:03:16.284 Matthew 18, 1-4,. 00:03:16.284 --> 00:03:20.948 At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and said who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? 00:03:20.948 --> 00:03:36.550 And he called a child to himself, set him before him and said Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 00:03:36.550 --> 00:03:43.347 Whoever then humbles himself as his child, he's the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 00:03:43.347 --> 00:03:51.449 What that means is, if you are in your natural birth state, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 00:03:51.449 --> 00:03:54.429 You must be converted. 00:03:54.429 --> 00:04:14.294 That's profound, and we learn from Saul that being converted just like Jesus said there, begins by humbling yourself as a child to listen, hear, believe the truth of who Jesus really is. 00:04:16.216 --> 00:04:18.420 That's how Saul's conversion began. 00:04:18.420 --> 00:04:30.735 He was doing everything he could to persecute Christians, to be the meanest, baddest man, the sheriff in town, and arresting them, threats of murdering them. 00:04:30.735 --> 00:04:33.065 He consented to Stephen's death. 00:04:33.065 --> 00:04:51.769 He wanted to destroy the church, called the Way, and he was on the way to a synagogue in Damascus to issue warrants for the rest of Christians and breathing death threats to them. 00:04:51.769 --> 00:05:10.411 Then, suddenly, he encountered, as we just read, an extremely bright light, was knocked off his horse and in his sudden, humbled state, he heard a voice in Acts 9-4, saul, saul, why are you persecuting me? 00:05:10.411 --> 00:05:21.610 And then Saul asked the question that changed his life, verse 5, who are you Lord? 00:05:21.610 --> 00:05:31.307 Because Saul was humbled on the ground, he was able to actually hear. 00:05:31.307 --> 00:05:32.129 Listen to me. 00:05:32.129 --> 00:05:38.259 He already heard this message before from somebody else's lips, from Stephen. 00:05:38.259 --> 00:05:40.267 He listened to his whole sermon. 00:05:40.267 --> 00:05:49.649 But now, on the ground, humbled as a child, he's listening. 00:05:49.649 --> 00:05:50.531 Who is this? 00:05:50.531 --> 00:05:53.521 He can really hear. 00:05:53.521 --> 00:05:56.283 Now, the same with us. 00:05:56.283 --> 00:06:09.863 If we're proud in ourselves and think God doesn't have to worry about me, I'm good, we're not going to hear. 00:06:09.863 --> 00:06:22.954 And he heard the answer to the question I'm Jesus you are persecuting, but get up, enter the city. 00:06:22.954 --> 00:06:23.699 It'll be told you what you must do. 00:06:23.699 --> 00:06:32.168 That was it when Saul heard the answer that it was Jesus who spoke in the bright light and knocked him off his hearse. 00:06:32.168 --> 00:06:33.391 You know what he had? 00:06:33.391 --> 00:06:35.440 To change his opinion about Jesus. 00:06:35.440 --> 00:06:40.767 What he thought of him no longer worked. 00:06:40.767 --> 00:06:45.012 What he thought of Christianity no longer was valid. 00:06:45.012 --> 00:06:54.572 He had to change his mind, which is another aspect of where conversion begins. 00:06:54.572 --> 00:06:56.134 It's conversion. 00:06:56.134 --> 00:07:00.923 What I once thought was true, I no longer think is true. 00:07:04.769 --> 00:07:20.350 So in this slow motion story I hope you picked this up, we see these three elements that I think are part of every single conversion. 00:07:20.350 --> 00:07:38.473 We looked at the first element last time a collision with the truth about who Jesus is seen in, basically translated as humbling, being humbled before God Collision. 00:07:38.473 --> 00:07:47.848 We must humble ourselves to see for ourselves the evidence of who Jesus really is and not who we want him to be. 00:07:47.848 --> 00:07:54.451 So Paul encountered a resurrected Jesus that he thought was dead. 00:07:54.451 --> 00:07:58.290 The evidence showed him that was wrong. 00:07:58.290 --> 00:08:05.052 Jesus wasn't dead, he was very much alive and he was in power, speaking from heaven. 00:08:05.052 --> 00:08:18.211 That humbling collision with the evidence that Jesus was alive, risen from the dead, leads to the second element of his conversion. 00:08:21.100 --> 00:08:32.809 The second element of his conversion is, in this slow-motion story is he had to start wrestling with that truth in the darkness. 00:08:32.809 --> 00:08:43.745 In the darkness, saul was blinded by Jesus' light, but really he was blinded to the truth about Jesus until this moment was blinded to the truth about Jesus. 00:08:43.745 --> 00:08:55.788 Till this moment, the men who were with Paul the text said they were speechless. 00:08:55.788 --> 00:09:13.413 They did hear the voice, but they didn't see who was speaking and apparently they didn't lose their sight because they led Saul into Damascus. 00:09:13.413 --> 00:09:18.429 Now, saul was in the darkness. 00:09:18.429 --> 00:09:19.623 Here we go. 00:09:19.623 --> 00:09:23.629 Second element he was in the darkness for three days. 00:09:23.629 --> 00:09:27.910 He didn't eat or drink, being stunned by what he heard and saw. 00:09:27.910 --> 00:09:38.130 Now, this is interesting because people sometimes assume that Saul's conversion was sudden and dramatic boom. 00:09:38.130 --> 00:09:46.749 But you see, in this slow-motion account, that probably wasn't the case. 00:09:53.361 --> 00:10:02.445 Some people, like Saul, needed something else before he could really be converted Time Time, he needed time. 00:10:02.445 --> 00:10:07.003 Time Time, he needed time. 00:10:07.003 --> 00:10:16.195 Notice that Jesus does not say to him while he's on the ground Saul, kneel down and ask me to come into your heart to be your Savior. 00:10:16.195 --> 00:10:18.903 He doesn't say that. 00:10:18.903 --> 00:10:29.722 Instead, jesus plunges him into a helpless state of darkness, blindness, and Saul goes into the city blind. 00:10:29.722 --> 00:10:34.666 It's like Jesus saying to him I'll deal with you later, get in that city. 00:10:34.666 --> 00:10:36.464 Why blindness? 00:10:36.464 --> 00:10:37.668 Why darkness? 00:10:37.668 --> 00:10:47.720 You know some commentators speculate that Saul was put in darkness for three days for one reason, or speculate that Saul was put in darkness for three days for one reason. 00:10:47.720 --> 00:10:52.272 To think, process this revelation. 00:10:52.272 --> 00:10:56.259 Jesus isn't who I thought. 00:10:56.259 --> 00:10:58.874 He was Dead buried. 00:10:58.874 --> 00:11:05.393 Christians aren't this wild extremist, corrupting group. 00:11:05.393 --> 00:11:09.346 You've got to process that. 00:11:10.559 --> 00:11:13.370 What was Paul thinking about in that dark time? 00:11:13.370 --> 00:11:20.331 Well, you know we have some ideas about that, actually that we gather from Paul's writings later. 00:11:20.331 --> 00:11:31.801 I believe there are two things that stand out that we can gather or speculate what he was thinking about. 00:11:31.801 --> 00:11:44.227 More than likely, he started to rethink everything Stephen was saying in his sermon about Jesus, about Jesus being the fulfillment of prophecy. 00:11:44.227 --> 00:11:47.972 He's processing this. 00:11:47.972 --> 00:11:50.235 He needed time. 00:11:52.283 --> 00:12:12.419 After he humbled himself, paul was actually rethinking his whole understanding of God by going through the Bible in his mind, I believe, because he knew the Bible, the Old Testament, hebrew scriptures backwards and forwards. 00:12:12.419 --> 00:12:15.735 He's trying to figure out. 00:12:15.735 --> 00:12:19.792 Wait, that is like what's happening. 00:12:19.792 --> 00:12:26.240 And he perhaps thought about God promising Abraham that he'd have many descendants and through them God would bless the world. 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:28.546 Is Jesus one of his descendants? 00:12:28.546 --> 00:12:30.812 By how God will do that? 00:12:30.812 --> 00:12:36.649 And then God provided a lamb for Abraham who would substitute for sacrificing Isaac. 00:12:36.649 --> 00:12:40.408 Is that what Jesus did for us? 00:12:42.062 --> 00:12:47.881 And in the first part of Isaiah the Messiah is pictured as a strong ruling king conquering the earth. 00:12:47.881 --> 00:12:55.024 But in the last part, isaiah Messiah is a suffering servant who dies for the transgressions of his people. 00:12:55.024 --> 00:12:57.211 How could those two things be true? 00:12:57.211 --> 00:13:02.148 Is Jesus the Messiah who died, who was raised from the dead to rule? 00:13:02.148 --> 00:13:05.014 He's thinking about the scripture. 00:13:05.014 --> 00:13:07.741 Was raised from the dead to rule. 00:13:07.761 --> 00:13:08.783 He's thinking about the scripture. 00:13:08.783 --> 00:13:12.208 He's thinking about what he heard before about Jesus in the darkness. 00:13:12.208 --> 00:13:15.595 God is giving him time to process this. 00:13:15.595 --> 00:13:22.869 And then how could the animal sacrifices in Leviticus atone for sins of humans? 00:13:22.869 --> 00:13:23.610 How is that possible? 00:13:23.610 --> 00:13:33.870 They must be pointing to something and of course I mean, I can't help but think he's thinking a lot about the Scripture. 00:13:33.870 --> 00:13:39.291 Jeremiah talked about a new covenant where God would put his Spirit directly into people. 00:13:39.291 --> 00:13:40.884 They would know God face to face. 00:13:40.884 --> 00:13:42.250 How could that be? 00:13:42.250 --> 00:13:45.571 Is Jesus, how God does that? 00:13:45.571 --> 00:13:48.561 All these things going through his head? 00:13:48.561 --> 00:13:54.910 What else is he going to do, blinded in a bed, not eating or drinking? 00:13:54.910 --> 00:14:04.914 He's thinking, he's processing what just happened and God, jesus, is giving him time. 00:14:04.914 --> 00:14:23.625 So the second thing that was happening in the darkness the first thing is he's reviewing all of the scriptural references he's heard from Stephen and all that he knows, and he's trying to connect the dots. 00:14:23.625 --> 00:14:36.375 Second thing I think that is probably happening to Saul in the darkness is he's rethinking his whole understanding of who he was and thought about God's moral law. 00:14:39.407 --> 00:14:45.654 He writes about what happened to him in the darkness in Romans, chapter 7. 00:14:45.654 --> 00:14:54.316 He says in Romans 7, 9 to 10, you know, I was once alive, apart from the law. 00:14:54.316 --> 00:15:01.756 But then the commandment thou shalt not covet came home to me and I died. 00:15:01.756 --> 00:15:05.691 What does Paul mean? 00:15:05.691 --> 00:15:10.701 Well, he was never really physically apart from the law. 00:15:10.701 --> 00:15:21.595 He grew up learning it Alive means he felt good about himself because he was a better person at keeping God's law than a lot of other people. 00:15:21.595 --> 00:15:23.129 I was alive. 00:15:23.129 --> 00:15:46.296 The problem was, he says the 10th commandment, that's when the conviction of sin broke in, and that's what happens in the darkness Conviction, rethinking the whole evidence of Jesus. 00:15:46.296 --> 00:15:53.057 Then also how sin? 00:15:53.057 --> 00:15:59.275 I'm a sinner, I'm not a good person, really, deep down. 00:15:59.275 --> 00:16:01.472 Look at the Tenth Commandment. 00:16:02.966 --> 00:16:11.677 See, it's possible to read the first nine commandments in strictly behavioral terms and feel pretty good about yourself. 00:16:11.677 --> 00:16:19.210 I don't worship any idols, I haven't sworn or made empty oaths. 00:16:19.210 --> 00:16:25.799 I keep the Sabbath, I honor my mom and dad. 00:16:25.799 --> 00:16:33.139 I didn't kill anybody, I didn't steal anything or lie to anybody, I didn't commit adultery. 00:16:37.184 --> 00:16:38.884 What about do not covet? 00:16:38.884 --> 00:16:43.095 Ah, wow, whoa. 00:16:43.095 --> 00:16:47.850 Paul says that's what got me. 00:16:47.850 --> 00:16:49.735 I'm not perfect, I'm not righteous. 00:16:49.735 --> 00:16:56.222 Why I coveted? 00:16:56.222 --> 00:17:01.700 You can't clear yourself out of the commandments Thou shalt not covet. 00:17:05.782 --> 00:17:06.265 What is coveting? 00:17:06.265 --> 00:17:14.892 Well, by definition, it's a deep desire in you for something you don't have or can't have, but you want desperately. 00:17:14.892 --> 00:17:21.278 It doesn't mean just to want something, it means to want it so badly. 00:17:21.278 --> 00:17:27.486 You will not be happy or content unless you have it and you're willing to perhaps do anything to get it. 00:17:27.486 --> 00:17:33.455 That's coveting, and Paul recognizes it. 00:17:33.516 --> 00:17:33.996 Killed me. 00:17:33.996 --> 00:17:44.786 I'm a sinner, killed me. 00:17:44.786 --> 00:17:45.627 I'm a sinner, I can't save myself. 00:17:45.627 --> 00:17:46.250 I'm not morally righteous. 00:17:46.250 --> 00:17:48.054 I thought I was when I started comparing myself with other people. 00:17:48.054 --> 00:17:49.337 Not as far as God's concerned. 00:17:51.444 --> 00:17:58.251 You see, when it says he killed him, it means he lost his identity. 00:17:58.251 --> 00:18:08.162 He lost something meaningful in his life, which was to think of himself as righteous before a good person. 00:18:08.162 --> 00:18:15.335 I'm a good person. 00:18:15.335 --> 00:18:27.564 I've heard people I've talked to over the years that's what they land on and they're not in the darkness yet because they still think. 00:18:27.564 --> 00:18:40.711 I've heard people point links and say but I'm a good person, well, you haven't understood God's moral law to the extent that you need to. 00:18:40.752 --> 00:18:51.834 Then he lost his meaning, which was to be the righteous man on earth. 00:18:51.834 --> 00:18:56.075 Okay, his whole sense of identity unraveled. 00:18:56.075 --> 00:19:00.508 It literally unraveled, when he said it killed me, it killed, said it killed me, it killed me, it killed me. 00:19:00.508 --> 00:19:02.173 See, identity. 00:19:02.173 --> 00:19:06.973 He could not keep God's law. 00:19:06.973 --> 00:19:11.391 He was not righteous, he was a sinner. 00:19:11.391 --> 00:19:16.375 He needed to know this to be saved. 00:19:16.375 --> 00:19:20.875 That's why he's in the darkness, helpless. 00:19:20.875 --> 00:19:37.711 He had built his whole identity and self-worth around his abilities to keep God's moral law and he was doing all fine. 00:19:37.711 --> 00:19:41.815 One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. 00:19:41.815 --> 00:19:45.868 I didn't know any of those things, but the tenth I can't escape. 00:19:45.868 --> 00:19:51.356 It killed me, convicted me. 00:19:51.356 --> 00:20:05.957 Good, because you will never be converted unless you come to that point, which begs the question what are we building our identities on? 00:20:05.957 --> 00:20:14.175 Probably not the Mosaic Law, especially in this culture. 00:20:14.317 --> 00:20:26.882 Right, like Paul was, you and I might be basing our identity on our achievements. 00:20:26.882 --> 00:20:35.827 What makes you feel good about yourself? 00:20:35.827 --> 00:20:36.931 You believe that you're worth something. 00:20:36.931 --> 00:20:42.423 Some people believe they're worth something because of what they've done or what they have. 00:20:42.423 --> 00:20:49.858 And if they lose it, there's a sense in which it kills them, devastates them. 00:20:49.858 --> 00:20:53.454 That's a sign that that's where your identity is. 00:20:53.454 --> 00:20:59.785 It's not in Jesus, he's not going anywhere. 00:20:59.785 --> 00:21:00.789 You can't lose him. 00:21:00.789 --> 00:21:11.263 When Paul says I'm alive, he means I'm proud of myself, I'm somebody. 00:21:11.263 --> 00:21:16.265 I know who I am because look at what I've done. 00:21:16.265 --> 00:21:17.631 People say good things about me. 00:21:17.631 --> 00:21:20.778 I'm a very moral. 00:21:20.778 --> 00:21:21.843 What I've done, people say good things about me. 00:21:21.843 --> 00:21:22.384 I'm a very moral person. 00:21:22.384 --> 00:21:28.125 I'm a good person. 00:21:28.605 --> 00:21:55.261 Now, as Saul experienced, probably the very most loving thing that God can do for you is to let all that thinking unravel, because unless you come into the darkness and understand your moral failure in humility, recognizing that you will not be saved, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 00:21:55.261 --> 00:22:12.266 So God takes away the thing, as he did with Saul, I believe, the thing you've trusted in most to make you happy and content with yourself, apart from him. 00:22:12.266 --> 00:22:15.579 He'll unravel it. 00:22:15.579 --> 00:22:21.497 That's what he's doing with Saul. 00:22:21.497 --> 00:22:25.224 I believe it could be an intellectual crisis, it could be a moral crisis you're facing. 00:22:25.224 --> 00:22:26.788 It could be some way. 00:22:26.788 --> 00:22:32.442 You've disappointed yourself and it's unraveling. 00:22:32.442 --> 00:22:42.088 You need it to unravel, otherwise you'll never find him. 00:22:42.088 --> 00:22:44.798 That's what Jesus was doing with Saul. 00:22:44.818 --> 00:23:03.803 Here's an interesting addition to that, to Saul's testimony, because Saul recounts his testimony later in Acts 26, when he's standing as a prisoner before King Agrippa, and he adds one little detail. 00:23:03.803 --> 00:23:11.599 Here's what he says about what Jesus said to him Acts 26, 14,. 00:23:11.599 --> 00:23:19.924 And when we had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect Saul, saul, why are you persecuting me? 00:23:19.924 --> 00:23:25.807 It is hard for you to kick against the goads. 00:23:25.807 --> 00:23:28.339 Oh, there you go. 00:23:28.339 --> 00:23:30.800 What's Jesus doing? 00:23:30.800 --> 00:23:38.205 Oh, he's unraveling him so that he can receive him. 00:23:38.205 --> 00:23:41.479 What's a goad? 00:23:41.479 --> 00:23:46.924 Okay, I brought my goad with me this morning. 00:23:46.924 --> 00:23:58.981 A goad, sharp, pointy stick a shepherd would use to get the sheep to move. 00:23:58.981 --> 00:24:05.342 In a certain way it hurt. 00:24:05.342 --> 00:24:08.402 Sheep aren't the brightest. 00:24:08.402 --> 00:24:14.403 Jesus told Saul. 00:24:16.136 --> 00:24:20.664 And look, I'm telling you this is an element in perhaps every conversion. 00:24:20.664 --> 00:24:29.785 Jesus saying to him I've been poking you, prodding you through many painful things. 00:24:29.785 --> 00:24:40.088 Perhaps Isn't it hard for you to fight against how I'm trying to lead you to me. 00:24:40.088 --> 00:24:55.644 If anybody wants to come and talk to me after the service, feel free. 00:24:55.644 --> 00:24:58.603 We have some needs in this ministry. 00:24:58.603 --> 00:25:20.324 Oh, we're online Just kidding people, just like Paul, jesus' goads will unravel what you are trusting in, what you're trusting in to feel good about yourself. 00:25:20.736 --> 00:25:44.047 You will be miserable, no joy, so that you will turn to the only one who can give you an identity that will never unravel, a son or daughter of the Father in Heaven, a brother, jesus Christ, who will never leave you. 00:25:44.047 --> 00:25:48.619 Well, that's the second element. 00:25:48.619 --> 00:26:09.044 The darkness, the collision of humbling, the darkness of conviction, of processing what is the truth of Jesus in the gospel, brings us to the third element necessary in every conversion. 00:26:09.044 --> 00:26:18.183 It goes without saying, you come to a place where you actually believe in Jesus, god's Son, as your Savior. 00:26:18.183 --> 00:26:23.527 We know that Saul did it because he believed in Jesus and was baptized. 00:26:24.695 --> 00:26:30.508 The guy who was arresting and putting to death Christians before now wants to be a Christian. 00:26:30.508 --> 00:26:36.861 Folks, that's a conversion, oh man. 00:26:36.861 --> 00:26:50.363 Conversion isn't just adopting a new creed or a moral code, but that's how some people think what becoming a Christian is all about. 00:26:50.363 --> 00:27:16.904 Unfortunately, they think when you say, do you want to believe in Jesus or become a Christian, they think you're asking them to stop being immoral, that you want them to come to church, be religious, follow the rules of being a Christian, become that. 00:27:16.904 --> 00:27:29.727 Their thinking needs to change for them to be converted. 00:27:29.727 --> 00:27:39.131 The first person I ever witnessed to as a brand new Christian could not get past that. 00:27:39.131 --> 00:27:43.643 Thinking about becoming a Christian was about changing my behavior. 00:27:43.643 --> 00:27:46.781 His name was Jeff. 00:27:46.781 --> 00:27:52.605 He was a roommate of mine in college and he witnessed firsthand my conversion to Christ. 00:27:54.855 --> 00:28:01.222 After I became a Christian, some immediate things happened, not before I became a Christian. 00:28:01.222 --> 00:28:07.980 After I became a Christian, I threw out all my drugs, all the questionable paraphernalia in my room, right down to the incinerator. 00:28:07.980 --> 00:28:11.037 Why? 00:28:11.037 --> 00:28:12.583 Because I wanted to. 00:28:12.583 --> 00:28:22.628 I wanted to honor Jesus, who I knew was in me. 00:28:22.628 --> 00:28:25.478 I stopped using drugs and alcohol. 00:28:25.478 --> 00:28:26.599 After about two weeks. 00:28:27.560 --> 00:28:49.439 Now Jeff is watching this take place right before his eyes and after about two weeks, seeing me read my Bible, being joyful, laughing, he said what has happened to you? 00:28:49.439 --> 00:28:52.682 I said, okay. 00:28:52.682 --> 00:28:56.426 Well, jeff, I became a Christian. 00:28:56.426 --> 00:29:06.969 I believed in Jesus and he came into my life and I'm not the same. 00:29:06.969 --> 00:29:11.222 And I said do you want me to tell you something? 00:29:11.222 --> 00:29:13.648 And basically he said you know, I've heard about this before. 00:29:13.648 --> 00:29:17.144 I've never seen it actually happen before my eyes. 00:29:17.144 --> 00:29:20.382 I said, yeah, would you like to know more about it? 00:29:20.382 --> 00:29:24.903 He said yeah, and he had a Bible that probably was never open. 00:29:24.903 --> 00:29:25.845 He pulled it out. 00:29:25.845 --> 00:29:26.788 I pulled my Bible out. 00:29:26.894 --> 00:29:35.865 We started looking at passages of Scripture, verses of Scripture about coming to faith in Christ, about faith in Him. 00:29:35.865 --> 00:29:51.190 After a couple hours, jeff looked at me and he said okay, if I do that, will I have to give up all my drugs and partying and things like you did? 00:29:51.190 --> 00:29:58.788 And Jeff thought that becoming a Christian happened by making similar changes in his life. 00:29:58.788 --> 00:30:01.803 That's how you become a Christian. 00:30:01.803 --> 00:30:12.362 What I said to him was Jeff, I didn't become a Christian by changing things in my life. 00:30:12.362 --> 00:30:15.684 I became a Christian by inviting Jesus into my life. 00:30:15.684 --> 00:30:19.586 He's the one that I wanted to do these things for. 00:30:19.586 --> 00:30:22.221 It wasn't a prerequisite. 00:30:22.221 --> 00:30:26.760 Jeff couldn't get past it. 00:30:26.760 --> 00:30:27.904 He could not. 00:30:27.904 --> 00:30:32.358 He couldn't see it any other way, even though those changes happened after I became a Christian. 00:30:32.358 --> 00:30:39.963 He didn't want to become a Christian because he thought becoming a Christian was by giving up the things he loved. 00:30:39.963 --> 00:30:45.903 I gave them up because I loved someone more. 00:30:45.903 --> 00:30:50.065 You can't do that unless you have him first. 00:30:54.895 --> 00:31:03.462 Back in Acts, after three days of praying and thinking about the Scriptures, saul was able to see that Jesus was the promised Messiah, who died for our sins and rose from the dead. 00:31:03.462 --> 00:31:11.762 And we're going to talk about him one more time next week because we're not done. 00:31:11.762 --> 00:31:26.838 Jesus summarized the one thing necessary to be born again, one thing to be converted, and that is believe in him. 00:31:26.838 --> 00:31:33.038 Believe in Jesus, the Son of God, who bore your sins and gives eternal life to all who believe in him. 00:31:33.038 --> 00:31:57.309 John 3, 14-16, or a host of other verses can say this as Moses Jesus said, lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, a reference to the cross he will endure, so that whoever believes in him will have eternal life. 00:31:57.309 --> 00:32:05.486 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 00:32:06.674 --> 00:32:18.107 So I believe that Luke's slow-motion story of Saul's conversion tell us these three elements that are part of every conversion. 00:32:18.107 --> 00:32:32.609 First, there's a collision with the truth of Jesus, and hopefully that humbles us to want to know more, to investigate, to think about, process this. 00:32:32.609 --> 00:32:34.919 What's the evidence for the resurrection? 00:32:34.919 --> 00:32:36.182 Is he really alive? 00:32:36.182 --> 00:32:38.267 What does the Scripture say? 00:32:38.267 --> 00:32:44.107 Have I taken any effort to process the truth that Jesus died and rose from the dead? 00:32:44.107 --> 00:32:54.805 So then we're entering a period of darkness where we have time to think, think and understand what Jesus did and who he is. 00:32:54.805 --> 00:33:01.884 And then the third you believe the truth about Jesus and receive him into your life as your Savior and Lord. 00:33:07.336 --> 00:33:08.863 So I leave you with two questions. 00:33:08.863 --> 00:33:13.204 First, are you converted to Christ? 00:33:13.204 --> 00:33:22.323 By that I mean, are you convinced that Jesus is the Son of God, who died for your sins and rose again? 00:33:22.323 --> 00:33:28.943 Have you stopped thinking that your righteousness is going to make you perfectly acceptable to God? 00:33:28.943 --> 00:33:33.974 Do you see that you're a sinner in need of a Savior? 00:33:33.974 --> 00:33:38.461 And have you believed in Jesus Christ to save you and give you eternal life? 00:33:38.461 --> 00:33:40.840 Are you converted? 00:33:43.156 --> 00:33:50.202 The second question is if you have not believed in Jesus, where are you in the process? 00:33:50.202 --> 00:33:55.844 Where are you in the process of being converted? 00:33:55.844 --> 00:33:58.772 Are you still kicking process of being converted? 00:33:58.772 --> 00:34:10.748 Are you still kicking against the goads, jesus prompting you through perhaps pain in your life to consider that maybe he has something better for you? 00:34:10.748 --> 00:34:18.501 Are you being knocked off your horse, feeling humbled? 00:34:18.501 --> 00:34:22.242 Maybe investigate who Jesus is. 00:34:22.242 --> 00:34:32.989 Are you in a kind of darkness, thinking through what the Scripture actually says about Jesus and salvation? 00:34:32.989 --> 00:34:40.041 Look, if you're not converted, you're somewhere in the process. 00:34:40.041 --> 00:34:48.106 I believe Just the fact that you're here says volumes. 00:34:48.106 --> 00:34:53.740 You're in a place where you're going to hear the truth of God's Word. 00:34:53.740 --> 00:35:01.041 You're going to see Jesus thought of as alive and well, holy Spirit in us. 00:35:01.041 --> 00:35:07.023 Are you still kicking against the goads? 00:35:07.023 --> 00:35:13.460 Are you still processing it? 00:35:13.460 --> 00:35:14.344 And that's fine. 00:35:14.344 --> 00:35:21.925 But listen to what the Apostle Paul said later to the church in Corinth. 00:35:21.925 --> 00:35:28.764 Salvation, he said to them, is not something you want to put off. 00:35:28.764 --> 00:35:31.179 God will give you time. 00:35:31.179 --> 00:35:42.655 He'll keep bringing the goads, but you have to process it and come to a decision. 00:35:42.655 --> 00:35:43.733 There's no middle ground. 00:35:43.733 --> 00:35:47.865 He either is the resurrected son of God or he's not. 00:35:47.865 --> 00:35:49.280 You believe one or the other. 00:35:52.987 --> 00:35:59.221 Apostle Paul says to the Corinthians 2 Corinthians 6, 1 and 2, as God's co-workers. 00:35:59.221 --> 00:36:08.713 Apostle Paul says to the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 6, 1 and 2, as God's co-workers he first was a persecutor of Christians, now he's God's co-worker. 00:36:08.713 --> 00:36:10.215 Okay, that's conversion. 00:36:10.215 --> 00:36:14.204 As God's co-workers, we urge you strongly, persuade you. 00:36:14.204 --> 00:36:22.985 Do whatever we can to convince you not to receive God's grace in vain. 00:36:22.985 --> 00:36:27.867 In other words, what we're telling you is a gospel of grace. 00:36:27.867 --> 00:36:31.945 Don't listen to that in vain by not responding to it. 00:36:31.945 --> 00:36:37.423 He says in the time of my favor, I've heard you. 00:36:37.423 --> 00:36:40.028 In the day of salvation I helped you. 00:36:40.028 --> 00:36:46.005 I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation. 00:36:46.367 --> 00:36:47.309 Don't put it off. 00:36:47.309 --> 00:36:52.320 See, god is working in your life right now. 00:36:52.320 --> 00:36:54.246 Maybe you don't even see it, but he is. 00:36:54.246 --> 00:37:01.121 He was working in my life years before I came to have a conversion experience. 00:37:01.121 --> 00:37:03.644 Looking back, I can see it. 00:37:03.644 --> 00:37:06.610 Oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:37:06.610 --> 00:37:12.806 There were some goads, there were all kinds of stuff back there. 00:37:12.806 --> 00:37:17.380 I'm so glad I stopped kicking against the goads. 00:37:17.380 --> 00:37:22.478 Oh, wow, you know, become like a little child. 00:37:22.478 --> 00:37:24.083 Humble yourself before God. 00:37:24.083 --> 00:37:26.090 Believe in Jesus as your Savior. 00:37:26.090 --> 00:37:27.074 What else can I say? 00:37:27.173 --> 00:37:29.541 Next week, we're going to look at this passage one more time. 00:37:29.541 --> 00:37:31.445 What we're going to look at? 00:37:31.445 --> 00:37:33.016 We're going to follow Saul. 00:37:33.016 --> 00:37:36.527 We're going to look at the signs of conversion. 00:37:36.527 --> 00:37:40.460 What happened to him after he was converted? 00:37:40.460 --> 00:37:44.516 Wow, let's pray, father. 00:37:44.516 --> 00:37:46.563 Thank you for the message of salvation. 00:37:46.563 --> 00:37:50.706 It's so simple that a child can understand it and believe it. 00:37:50.706 --> 00:38:01.110 Forgive us for being so proud and postured in such a way that we don't hear that. 00:38:01.110 --> 00:38:10.067 Help us to trust in Jesus, who loved us, gave his life for us so that we could be brought into a relationship with you forever. 00:38:10.067 --> 00:38:20.780 We also ask you to unravel our reliance on things other than you, on our achievements or efforts to find our identity and work. 00:38:20.780 --> 00:38:27.760 The power from you so that we might find true freedom, security, joy in a relationship with Jesus. 00:38:27.760 --> 00:38:30.206 I pray this in his name, amen.