WEBVTT 00:00:01.439 --> 00:00:08.720 This podcast is a ministry of Grant Parquay Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:14.480 For more information about Grant Parkway, visit Grantparkway.org. 00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:16.719 Let's pray together. 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:21.760 Lord Jesus, we confess this what we just sang, and that your glory is what our hearts long for. 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:27.600 And yet that presents a dilemma because the Bible says that we've sinned and fallen short of your glory. 00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:30.800 The Bible also goes on because it's a story of redemption. 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:32.719 It's not a story of guilt or blame. 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:35.840 It's a story of redemption because we've fallen short of your glory. 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:40.399 And yet you've come to restore that which we forfeited through disobedience. 00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:43.200 You've come to restore by your own obedience. 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:46.399 And cause us to be a people that live for your glory. 00:00:46.479 --> 00:00:51.280 So the Bible says, whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do all for the glory of God. 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:57.439 So what we see, God, in this beautiful confession this morning is that it's your nature. 00:00:58.399 --> 00:01:03.600 Redemption is in your nature to restore and give back what we forfeited. 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:06.239 So your glory is what our hearts long for. 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:17.519 So we've come today to get in touch with our deepest appetite and to kind of align our affections with our deep appetite of soul that says, I just long for God's glory. 00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:22.560 The Bible says of your glory that one day it's going to cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:27.040 And so, Lord, we uh want to get our heads around that. 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:30.319 We want to just take a moment and just kind of breathe that in. 00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:34.319 Of all the things that are happening in our world today. 00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:38.959 We get to live for what we were created to experience. 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:48.480 We get to live a life that craves that, that longs for that, and not only just kind of longs for it like it's never gonna happen, but we get to experience it. 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:52.799 And the more we experience it, the more we want to experience it. 00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:57.280 And so, Holy Spirit, increase our appetite today with your word and your presence. 00:01:57.359 --> 00:01:58.480 We pray in Jesus' name. 00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:00.560 And everyone said, Amen. 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:01.280 You can have a seat. 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:04.319 If you have a Bible, I invite you to take it and open up to Acts chapter 9. 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:05.439 Acts chapter 9. 00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:08.319 And we're in a series, if you're our guest today, we're in a series called Encounter. 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:13.439 And in the series called Encounter, what we're doing is we're looking at different encounters that people had in the Bible with God. 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:16.560 And today we're going to look at the experience of a man named Saul. 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:19.759 Saul was a, let me give you a little bit little bit of background about Saul. 00:02:19.919 --> 00:02:23.039 Saul was a very religious person, a very driven person. 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:26.159 He's like a type A personality, very hardcore. 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:31.360 He's the zealous guy that talks real loud at work on Monday when you walk in and you're like, hey, how's it going? 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:32.719 He's like, hey, how are you doing? 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:35.520 You're like, man, I will take a pencil and jam it in your neck. 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:37.039 Just lower your voice, okay? 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:38.080 That was Saul. 00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:42.560 He was just religiously obnoxious, uh, brilliant man, brilliant man. 00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:48.400 He was zealous for God and for religion, but his zeal was not based on knowledge until this happens. 00:02:48.479 --> 00:02:50.800 Um, excuse me, Acts chapter 9. 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:54.560 And I want to talk to you this morning about the beauty of a life interrupted. 00:02:54.800 --> 00:02:56.719 The beauty of a life interrupted. 00:02:56.800 --> 00:03:00.639 And before I read, let me just kind of tweak that and give you a couple of definitions. 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:05.759 Uh, when I say the beauty of a life interrupted, that's what we're going to see in the text, but I want to say this. 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:09.759 When we feel interrupted, there's a good chance we're being invited. 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:12.240 Let me say that again. 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:20.000 When you feel interrupted, there's a good chance what's really happening is God is really just inviting you to kind of live from a bigger perspective. 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:23.840 And so don't get offended that thing every day doesn't go your way. 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:31.919 Uh, like one of my kids asked me recently, Dad, you get up in the morning and you kind of go to work, and you you seem, you know, everything seems to go your way every day. 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:33.680 And I was like, really? 00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:36.319 Whatever gave you that idea? 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:40.319 But well, you don't come home frustrated and this, that, and the other. 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:55.360 I get frustrated in the midst of the day, but one of the things that allows me to get back to a good place is I gotta tell myself, hey, I'm this happened and it's an interruption, but maybe God's invited me to live and think differently in this moment, which is what we're gonna see in Acts chapter 9. 00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:56.560 We'll start reading verse 1. 00:03:56.719 --> 00:04:12.639 It says, But Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, and he went to the high priest and he asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:24.560 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him, and falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:26.480 And he said, Who are you, Lord? 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:28.959 And he said, I am Jesus whom you're persecuting. 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:32.000 But rise and enter the city, and you'll be told what you are to do. 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:36.720 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice, but seeing no one. 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:40.639 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. 00:04:40.800 --> 00:04:47.199 So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus, and for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:54.800 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias, and he said, Here I am, Lord. 00:04:54.959 --> 00:05:01.279 And he said to him, Rise and go to the street called straight, and at the house of Judas, look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:09.519 For behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight. 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:20.000 But Ananias answered, Lord, I've heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem, and that he has authority from the chief priest to bind all who call on your name. 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:31.120 But the Lord said to him, Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and the kings and the children of Israel, for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. 00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:44.319 So Ananias departed and entered the house, and laying his hands on him, he said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me so that you again may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:52.959 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight, and then he rose and was baptized, and taking food, he was strengthened. 00:05:53.279 --> 00:05:54.720 We'll just stop right there. 00:05:54.879 --> 00:05:58.800 And uh reading the Bible, let me say this, and then I want to demonstrate what I'm talking about. 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:01.279 Reading the Bible sometimes is like you're being in a room. 00:06:01.360 --> 00:06:03.600 You ever been in a room and all of a sudden the lights go out? 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:06.800 And immediately the first thing is, I can't see anything. 00:06:06.959 --> 00:06:13.120 But if you'll just kind of set there for just a couple of minutes, your eyes will adjust, and you'll be able to make things out there all of a sudden. 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:16.240 What felt like just total, oh, I can't see my hand in front of my face. 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:19.120 Pretty soon, you will like be able to see some stuff. 00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:22.480 Things will begin to your eyes just adjust and you can see clearly. 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:29.120 And so when you read the Bible, a lot of times you read stuff and you're just kind of like, I don't get that, but just kind of sit there with it. 00:06:29.279 --> 00:06:32.000 Keep looking at it, and all of a sudden things will manifest themselves. 00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:40.319 Like, for example, as I was getting ready the past three weeks for this morning, I just kept reading over Acts 9, reading over Acts 9, Acts 9, verses 1 and 19. 00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:43.439 And one day the thought went through my mind, God, how is this really relevant? 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:44.480 I mean, this is great. 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:56.560 There's a man going around and he's basically uh persecuting Christians and and he's locking them up, men and women, if they belong to the way, capital W, to reference Christianity, and and he's persecuting them. 00:06:56.720 --> 00:06:58.720 It's basically religious persecution. 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:02.399 We don't really, I don't know how relevant that is to our day and age. 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:08.000 And then I started laughing because I watched the news that night. 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:10.000 You heard of a group called ISIS? 00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:18.240 And all of a sudden it just, see, the longer you sit there, the more and and stare at the text, the more clear it just kind of becomes. 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:20.879 See, there's really nothing new under the sun. 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:26.160 Paul was going around, I don't know that he was beheading people, but he was locking up Christians. 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:29.120 And he said he had authority to do it. 00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:31.120 He had letters from the high priest, he had permission. 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:35.519 This was this was religiously uh uh an okay thing to do. 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:41.120 And all of a sudden, the more I stared at the text, the more it got clearer, and the more it got clear, and the more it got clear. 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:45.360 So I just want to share with you five or six things that we just kind of take away from this encounter. 00:07:45.519 --> 00:07:50.879 Starting with number one is simply this that no one has done so much that God has given up on them. 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:55.759 No one has done, no one's beyond the pale, no one's done so much that God has given up on them. 00:07:55.839 --> 00:07:56.639 You say, What do you mean? 00:07:56.800 --> 00:07:59.759 Look again, if you would, at verse one and just kind of stare at it. 00:07:59.920 --> 00:08:03.519 The lights just went out, and it's like I I can't really see anything. 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:04.959 It says, but Saul. 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:06.720 Now you say, What do you mean, but Saul? 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:12.800 Chapter 9 picks up, I mean, it kind of continues this flow of thought that happens in chapter 8. 00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:14.319 Well, happens in chapter 8. 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:19.199 Well, Philip and this Ethiopian eunuch, Philip, the Holy Spirit tells Philip to go run alongside this chariot. 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:23.680 Long story short, this guy's reading from the scroll of Isaiah, does not understand it. 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:25.600 Philip explains the gospel to him. 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:29.360 It's a great phrase, great verse in Acts chapter 8. 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:31.199 Philip says, Do you understand what you're reading? 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:34.240 And the guy says, How can I unless someone explains it to me? 00:08:34.399 --> 00:08:37.919 And so he invites Philip to come up and set with him, ride shotgun. 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:43.039 And then the Bible says this, and beginning with that verse, he told him the story of Jesus. 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:56.240 I had a professor in college that would come along, he'd walk by your desk and just grab your Bible, and he'd just kind of thumb through it, and he would just put his finger down into a verse and say, Read that verse, and you'd read it out loud, and he'd say, Tell me the story of Jesus. 00:08:56.879 --> 00:09:07.360 And if you couldn't tell him the story of Jesus from random verses, like some poor fool got he got Leviticus one time, where it kind of gives you instructions how to do certain things, I'll just leave it at that. 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:15.519 And our professor said, Tell me the story of Jesus, and the kid was like, The law points us to the gospel. 00:09:15.759 --> 00:09:17.519 Tell me the story of Jesus. 00:09:17.679 --> 00:09:21.039 And the kid couldn't, and the professor kicked him out of class. 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:24.639 I'm not here to waste my time with people who cannot learn. 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:27.200 Anyone else doesn't want to learn today? 00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:29.679 You can't tell the whole sweeping narrative. 00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:36.080 The Bible's not a bunch of Old Testament stories and New Testament stories, it's one story, the story of Jesus. 00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:38.879 And I was just like, please, Hammer, don't hurt us. 00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:41.840 But that's what Philip does. 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:43.679 Philip tells him the story of Jesus. 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:45.039 Just cover from that verse. 00:09:45.120 --> 00:09:49.840 You're reading in Isaiah, bam! I pick up the dialogue and bring Jesus to bear on it. 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:54.799 And so when the Bible picks up in Acts chapter 9, verse 1, and it says, But Saul. 00:09:55.120 --> 00:10:00.879 In other words, contrary to everything that was going on around, all this cool God stuff, Saul was still being Saul. 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:01.519 What do you mean? 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:06.559 If you went back and don't write now, but you went back to chapter 7, they killed a man named Stephen. 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:08.879 More religious persecution. 00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:11.279 They didn't behead him, they stoned him to death. 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:16.879 And the Bible says in Acts chapter 7, they took their coats off and they laid them at the feet of a man named Saul. 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:18.080 Same guy. 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:21.519 If Saul were alive today, he would be with Isis. 00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:28.000 Now, see, the more you stare at the Bible, the more clear it kind of becomes. 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:28.639 What do you mean? 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:31.440 No one has done so much that God has given up on them. 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:39.840 The Bible says, but Saul, Acts chapter 9, verse 1, steal, but Saul, steal three horribly tragic words. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:46.799 You and I should not be the people we are today, a month from now, a year from now, two chapters from now. 00:10:47.039 --> 00:10:52.399 Sanctification is this progressive reality where we come more and more like Christ. 00:10:52.559 --> 00:11:02.879 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus so that if he found any belonging to the way. 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:06.639 Men or women, equal opportunity, destroyer. 00:11:07.039 --> 00:11:09.840 He might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:12.000 You say, Well, uh, okay, I got it. 00:11:12.159 --> 00:11:15.600 No one is has done so much that God has given up on them. 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:18.000 So here's the application. 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:20.000 Who have you given up on? 00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:28.080 Who is it in your life that when you get around them, you just roll your eyes like, uh, brace for impact. 00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:29.360 Here she comes. 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:32.879 We've got a yes on this side of the room. 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:34.080 We've got anybody over here? 00:11:34.720 --> 00:11:35.759 Sure, sure. 00:11:35.840 --> 00:11:38.080 We write people off on a daily basis. 00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:43.759 It's just because they get on our nerves or they wear us out or they're not as cool as we are, or whatever. 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:49.120 See, the first thing the Bible tells us is, hey, no one has done so much that God has given up on them. 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:53.600 Second thing we take away from this encounter is that a right knowledge of God changes everything. 00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:56.559 A right knowledge of God changes everything. 00:11:56.720 --> 00:12:02.159 Verse 3 says, now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:06.799 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? 00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:08.559 And he said, Who are you, Lord? 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:11.919 And he said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:14.320 What do you mean? 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:15.679 That's the only question. 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:25.519 By the way, if if later today, uh, if you're our guest today, we're having a meet and greet after our third service back here in the warehouse, and we're gonna be touring our new children's ministry building, you're welcome to come. 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:26.399 Free food. 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:29.120 You can kind of see how God's moving in the life of this church. 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:32.399 We're having to create more space for the students that we're raising up. 00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:35.600 Uh uh you say, well, uh oh, oh, oh, oh, okay, okay. 00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:48.480 Uh, but but one of the things that that that you see here, if on the way walking over there, a light from heaven kind of flashes, and I get knocked to the ground and I'm blind for three days, I'm gonna have a bigger question than who are you? 00:12:49.039 --> 00:12:51.600 My question is gonna be, do you have an attorney? 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:54.159 Because we're gonna get this on in court, okay? 00:12:54.320 --> 00:12:55.600 Because I'm gonna get mines. 00:12:55.759 --> 00:12:57.759 Somebody's gonna owe me some money for this. 00:12:57.919 --> 00:13:04.799 When we live in a country where somebody spills hot coffee on themselves and sues McDonald's and gets millions of dollars, okay? 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:08.399 We're so litigious, but Saul, the only question he had was this. 00:13:08.480 --> 00:13:13.279 I mean, he's knocked to the ground, he's blind, and he says, Who are you? 00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:18.799 And by the way, that is the most clarifying answer you can get to any question in the world. 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:21.519 I watched a video this week of Nagme Abedini. 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:26.639 Her husband Saeed is imprisoned in Iran, wrongfully imprisoned, by the way. 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:28.879 Uh, we can get all up in a twist. 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:32.799 Uh I saw Leonardo DiCaprio uh speaking at the UN. 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:35.600 What is why do we have an actor speaking at the UN? 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:36.240 Hello? 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:38.240 Hello, what's wrong with us? 00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:43.360 We got a man in prison, and we got Leonardo DiCaprio talking about carbon emissions. 00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:46.559 I'm like, just just go away, okay? 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:49.840 Just go make another bad movie and get overpaid for it. 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:51.279 But he's in prison. 00:13:51.440 --> 00:14:08.879 His daughter turns like eight years old while he's in prison, been there two years, and the video was his wife, Nagme, reading a letter that Saeed wrote to their eight-year-old daughter, and he basically said, Hey, you may be asking why, you may you may want to know why, but the answer to why is who. 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:15.440 And at that point, I just burst into tears because I thought about this right here. 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:18.480 Who are you Lord? 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:26.320 And if you can get a biblical, not a cultural, answer to the question, who are you Lord? 00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:30.159 There's nothing that can happen to you that'll shake your faith. 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:37.840 And the reason we're so easily shaken, the reason that some people say, Well, I just can't believe in the doctrine of election. 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:41.600 I can't believe in a God that would make people, and they would just never have a chance. 00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:44.960 You don't have the right answer to the question, who are you, Lord? 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:47.440 You say, Well, what do you mean? 00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:51.039 Don't turn, it'll come up on the screen, Exodus chapter 34. 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:57.919 I think anytime in the Bible when God self-discloses, God kind of says, This is who I am, we should pay attention. 00:14:58.000 --> 00:14:59.360 This is Exodus 34. 00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:06.080 And Moses has gone up to get the Ten Commandments, and God kind of self-discloses with these words from Exodus 34, 7. 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:22.799 He says, The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiven iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty. 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:29.279 Visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation. 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:32.240 See, what you see in that is that there's balance in God. 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:38.000 We love that part that says keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiven iniquity and transgression and sin. 00:15:38.159 --> 00:15:40.960 We're like, yes, my God's a God of love. 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:45.360 And then God, who kind of says, Hey, I am a God of love, but let me tell you something. 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:48.000 I will by no means clear the guilty. 00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:52.960 You can't just take one attribute of God and make that your God. 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:54.879 Some of you, you don't know God. 00:15:55.039 --> 00:15:58.320 You know one of God's attributes, and you want that to be God. 00:15:58.480 --> 00:15:59.919 You want that to fit everything. 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:03.360 And God says, Hey, I will by no means clear the guilty. 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:04.720 No, no, no, no. 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:10.879 Matter of fact, I'll visit the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generations. 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:22.480 I've told you before, I don't mind telling you again, you're not just obeying today for yourself, you are obeying for the legacy you're gonna leave here on this earth long after you're gone, to the third and fourth generations. 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:28.720 Why else would the Bible say, all through the Psalms, one generation will tell of your deeds to another? 00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:38.320 One generation will tell of your deeds and your children, and he even says in one point in the 72nd Psalm to your children and the children's children, those yet unborn. 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:40.559 Now, what why do I tell you that? 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:44.399 Because one of the things when God self-discloses, you see balance in God. 00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:46.320 You don't see extremism in God. 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:51.039 He says, Hey, I'm a God, it's I keep steadfast love, forgiven to thousands, blah, blah, blah. 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:53.360 But I'll by no means clear the guilty. 00:16:53.519 --> 00:16:59.120 Mom and dad, if you clear the guilty, you are misrepresenting authority to your children. 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:03.919 If you wink when your kids disobey and you go, Oh, I know it's wrong, but that's just so cute. 00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:09.440 I don't care if they're three years old, you are ingraining a bad pattern of behavior in them. 00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:13.440 I never disobeyed when I was growing up and thought it was cute. 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:16.880 Because no one looked at me and said, Oh, that's really cute. 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:17.599 No. 00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:21.519 No, my dad said, What did I tell you to do? 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:28.640 And I hated that question, but what it taught me was, I have transgressed the authority figure in my life. 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:30.559 Prepare for impact. 00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:32.960 Because it was coming. 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:34.480 There was no time out. 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:36.799 Our kids, they took after our their mother. 00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:39.920 My mother, my my mother, creepy, that got weird. 00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:46.079 My wife, her parents would look at her and say, We're so disappointed, and it would just crush her. 00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:47.920 My dad never said that to me once. 00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:49.759 I wish my dad would have said that to me. 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:51.680 I'm so disappointed. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:53.599 Stings for you. 00:17:54.480 --> 00:18:01.359 No, no, because my dad through my wicked heart, my dad took that belt off while he was asking the pop queos, what did I tell you to do? 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:06.000 And you had to answer that question, and then you had to confess your sins one to another. 00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:07.440 What did you do? 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:12.960 So there's the standard, you fell short of the standard, and I'm here to punish the guilty. 00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:14.640 And it was like a square dance. 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:18.480 And you try, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:25.200 And sometimes my dad, he was a big old, strong redneck, he would just hold you up, whack, whack, whack, and just throw you down, grab another. 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:27.839 I saw my dad whip a whole little league team one time. 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:29.279 Yes, sir. 00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:32.799 He was the coach, and one of them was like, Oh, you didn't whipping me. 00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:35.039 You mess up on our farm and see what happens. 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:36.799 Whip 15 kids at one time. 00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:40.160 I thought he had to stop and break, take to take a cigarette break, but he didn't. 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:41.599 He pushed through. 00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:52.079 But here's the thing: what you see in God is that, hey, he says, hey, I'm a God of steadfast love for thousands, forgiven iniquity and transgression and sin, but I'm balanced. 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:54.400 It's what John says in John chapter 1. 00:18:54.559 --> 00:19:06.559 In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:09.359 God is a God of grace and truth. 00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:13.279 You can't run to either side of the equation and say, I love grace. 00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:16.160 Grace without truth is just permission. 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:19.200 But truth without grace is just law. 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:21.759 But grace and truth is God. 00:19:22.480 --> 00:19:27.839 And God self-discloses way back in Exodus and says, hey, this is what I'm about. 00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:30.960 See, a right knowledge of God changes everything. 00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:36.000 Saul struck to the ground, blind, disoriented, his friends freaking out. 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:37.279 We'll get to them in just a minute. 00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:39.839 And he's just like, okay, I got one question. 00:19:40.079 --> 00:19:41.680 Who are you? 00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:45.039 I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:45.839 Uh-oh. 00:19:49.279 --> 00:19:51.920 Do you have a right knowledge of God today? 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:55.519 You say, Well, I think I do. 00:19:55.599 --> 00:19:58.400 I I think, uh, okay. 00:19:58.559 --> 00:20:03.440 Uh see, there's a difference in the God who is and the God that you can agree with. 00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:07.680 And some of you worship a God you can agree with. 00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:13.359 He doesn't believe anything, he doesn't do anything that offends your sensibilities. 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:18.799 And I would just caution you, be careful that that God, that your God is still worthy of worship. 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:20.400 You say, What do you mean? 00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:30.960 Because when after God says, Hey, visiting the iniquity, he says, I'll by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation. 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:36.319 And then the next verse says this, the next sentence in this passage says this, and Moses. 00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:40.480 This is Moses' response to God's self-revelation. 00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:46.079 And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:53.920 When God reveals himself to you, do you just bow down and worship, or do you get offended? 00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:58.799 You see, a right knowledge of God changes everything. 00:20:58.960 --> 00:21:02.319 I was talking with a friend last week, and he just seemed down. 00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:06.160 And so when I'm in a conversation, I I'm not a good liar. 00:21:06.400 --> 00:21:09.359 And so we're in a conversation, and my friend was just down. 00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:10.559 I said, Hey man, what's up with you? 00:21:10.640 --> 00:21:12.000 You look like you're depressed or something. 00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:14.480 He goes, I just, I'm just, I don't know, I just gotta lie. 00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:16.640 And he just started talking and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:20.960 And and somehow we got on the subject of how we view God, and I said, Where's God in all this? 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:22.799 And and he said, You know how I view God? 00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:24.079 And I said, No, tell me. 00:21:24.160 --> 00:21:31.839 He said, as a kid, when I would come in every day, my lasting memory of my dad was my dad asleep in our recliner in his recliner in our living room. 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:36.160 Every day my dad would come up from work, get in the recliner, and pass out, fast asleep. 00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:42.559 And so, as a little kid, I grew up with a dad that was always asleep, and I never wanted to wake him up and bother him. 00:21:44.240 --> 00:21:46.799 And all of a sudden, this is a grown man, people. 00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:55.119 He just wells up with tears, and he said, So, my image of God is that he's asleep in his recliner, and I don't want to wake him up and bother him. 00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:59.680 Therefore, it all depends on me and I. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:01.839 I was like, and now I'm depressed. 00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:06.160 See, that's a wrong knowledge of God. 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:08.000 That's not who God is. 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:13.359 See, a right knowledge of God changes everything, is a second takeaway from this encounter. 00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:18.880 Third thing we take away is simply this: God operates with the belief that he gets to tell us what to do. 00:22:19.599 --> 00:22:20.799 Let me say that again. 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:25.440 God operates with the belief that he gets to tell us what to do. 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:26.319 Where do you get that? 00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:27.039 Verse 6. 00:22:27.119 --> 00:22:27.839 We'll just pick up. 00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:30.799 Verse 5, he said, and he said, Who are you, Lord? 00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:33.440 And he said, I am Jesus whom you're persecuting. 00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:37.200 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do. 00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:38.880 You know my favorite part of verse 6? 00:22:39.039 --> 00:22:39.759 The first word. 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:43.359 But but who are you, Lord? 00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:45.920 I am Jesus whom you're persecuting. 00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:50.400 I'm you you you you are coming to the wrong person. 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:52.400 And then Jesus said, and then God speaks. 00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:56.319 Jesus speaks and says, but, but, enough with trivial matters. 00:22:56.480 --> 00:22:58.240 Let's get on to what needs to be done. 00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:03.119 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what to do. 00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:06.880 See, God operates with the belief that he gets to tell us what to do. 00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:08.480 He said, Why is that a big deal? 00:23:08.640 --> 00:23:13.279 Because most of us operate with the belief that you get to tell God what to do. 00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:18.960 That's why all the formula little books they sell at the bookstore are bestsellers. 00:23:19.119 --> 00:23:25.119 Because we're going to somehow back God into a corner with our little prayers, and then He now, oh, he obligates us. 00:23:25.200 --> 00:23:25.839 We've got him. 00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:26.799 Oh man. 00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:29.680 And I'm just going to say to you, no, you don't. 00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:39.359 You never have, and you never will have God backed into a corner where his only recourse, his only response is to do what you're telling him to do. 00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:40.720 No, God operates. 00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:44.000 And Saul says, Hey, hey, who are you, Lord? 00:23:44.160 --> 00:23:46.160 I'm Jesus whom you're persecuting. 00:23:46.319 --> 00:23:49.599 But stop boring me with your small questions, okay? 00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:53.920 But rise and enter the city, and you'll be told what you are to do. 00:23:54.079 --> 00:23:58.720 Translation, I got a plan beyond your circumstance right now. 00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:06.160 And by the way, Saul's blind, knocked to the ground, disoriented. 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:08.079 He is out of it. 00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:16.160 He's just kind of like, oh, and all of a sudden, God drops this merciful truth into his head and into his heart. 00:24:16.400 --> 00:24:17.519 There's more. 00:24:19.440 --> 00:24:21.359 You think this is nothing. 00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:23.599 I could have killed you right here on the road. 00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:25.599 Don't jerk with me. 00:24:26.720 --> 00:24:31.519 Somebody asked me to write a college recommendation for them. 00:24:32.079 --> 00:24:33.680 Don't ask me that. 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:35.920 Because I'll say crazy stuff. 00:24:36.079 --> 00:24:43.839 I'm going to leave it to your grandma and your neighbor who you babysit her cat when she goes out of town to say, oh, she's a sweet person. 00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:45.200 He's a nice young man. 00:24:45.359 --> 00:24:47.759 You should let him in, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 00:24:48.079 --> 00:24:50.400 I like to say crazy stuff. 00:24:50.720 --> 00:24:54.960 Like, this person understands the law of proportionality. 00:24:56.400 --> 00:25:01.440 Bam! This lady over here looked at her husband like, what? 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:08.160 Yeah, the law of proportionality is simply, and I go on to inform this college about the law of proportionality. 00:25:08.319 --> 00:25:11.200 I don't know if this is a law, but it should be a law. 00:25:11.359 --> 00:25:16.799 Because it's one of the things that I look for in my children, the law of proportionality, which is basically this. 00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:20.400 Do they understand what this is in relation to that? 00:25:21.119 --> 00:25:22.880 That's the law of proportionality. 00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:26.720 And let me just say to all you students in here, most of you don't. 00:25:26.960 --> 00:25:32.960 Someone said to me a couple weeks ago, one of the elders said, Hey, the next time Aaron preaches, why don't you go down and speak to the students? 00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:35.519 Because I will smoke them like a pack of fools. 00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:36.240 That's why. 00:25:37.359 --> 00:25:43.599 I ain't got time to hear about, you know, we got clicks, and I got a boyfriend and my Facebook. 00:25:46.480 --> 00:25:48.799 I feel like the witch and the wizard of Oz. 00:25:48.880 --> 00:25:49.839 I'm shrieking. 00:25:50.079 --> 00:25:51.839 What a world, what a world. 00:25:52.000 --> 00:25:56.160 Don't shrink me with your smallness because I'm gonna go berserk. 00:25:56.640 --> 00:25:59.519 And the guy was like, Well, I'd like to be there for that. 00:25:59.920 --> 00:26:02.160 And I said, Not because I'm mad at these kids. 00:26:02.319 --> 00:26:03.920 I got two down there, okay? 00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:04.799 It's not that. 00:26:04.960 --> 00:26:08.160 It's just you do, because I would talk to them about the law of proportionality. 00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:11.759 And they would go home and say, and the parents go, hey, how was Wednesday night? 00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:14.960 Well, Pastor Neal talked about the law of proportionality. 00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:16.880 Okay, go to your room. 00:26:17.440 --> 00:26:19.039 Here's the law of proportionality. 00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:20.079 Do you understand? 00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:23.599 Let's just take high school four years in relation to that. 00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:26.400 And you don't because you got so much drama. 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:34.880 It's so much, oh my God, if I don't get to go to this party, or if that boy doesn't ask me out, my life is gonna be ruined. 00:26:35.680 --> 00:26:36.319 Really? 00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:49.440 You think God is so moronic and peonic and small that, oh, if He doesn't let you sin all you want to in the next four years, then you're gonna be in trouble. 00:26:50.799 --> 00:26:51.759 Please. 00:26:53.039 --> 00:26:54.960 I'm not interested in that. 00:26:55.279 --> 00:26:59.359 And you may be thinking, I'm so glad I'm not your kid. 00:26:59.599 --> 00:26:59.920 Great. 00:27:00.079 --> 00:27:02.079 I may be thinking the same thing about you. 00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:07.680 Because the law of proportionality says, hey, what is this in relation to that? 00:27:07.839 --> 00:27:14.240 So I tell my daughter, whom I love, who every once in a while just looks at me when she doesn't get her way like she's just dead. 00:27:15.200 --> 00:27:18.160 I'm going inward now, I'm giving you no emotion. 00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:20.640 I'm like, you think that hurts my feelings? 00:27:20.880 --> 00:27:27.680 If I could get your mom to do that instead of doing this, I would be in heaven. 00:27:30.960 --> 00:27:38.720 But I tell my daughter, hey, this school over here where you got like 20, well, I don't care, 2200, you have 5,000. 00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:41.839 Then you go off to college and there's like 50,000. 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:44.559