A Crazy Twist! God is Working — Acts 7-9

0:00 Heavenly Father, we praise you and we thank you that you meet us now in this place. Lord, you meet us in our in our needs. You meet us in our, questions. You meet us in our in our desires. Lord, you are ever present present and you are ever true.

0:26 Lord we thank you that you're a God that is constantly pursuing our heart. You're a God that loves us. You're a God that wants to build us up Lord and and wants to use us. God we see the grace that you pour out in our lives. We see...

0:51 Lord we believe that your plans for us are great, Lord, and all we can say is is thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord, that you would have mercy on sinners. Thank you you'd have mercy on the undeserving of the wrong people, Lord. But we stand here today redeemed, free, forgiven. We stand here in your love.

1:19 So we ask as we come to your word, teach us Lord. We're ready to listen. We want to hear from you and be instructed by you. We want this time not to be wasted, but Lord take this time to change our hearts, to fix our eyes on Christ. We pray that you alone would be glorified.

1:43 So, Lord, use this time for yourself. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, we are not gonna spend time in this verse, but I do want to start off with Isaiah 55 verses eight through nine. And these verses they say, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.

2:09 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. I'm not gonna spend much time on that verse but as I've been preparing, this verse has just resounded through this chapter. No man can write this story. This this isn't... We wouldn't come up with this stuff.

2:39 We're gonna be talking about Saul being saved, so a little bit context there. But I want us to come to this text today with an understanding that we are dealing with a powerful supernatural amazing God that writes amazing stories that actually are true. And what he did in that day, he's doing today as well. The miracle of salvation we saw in that day, God is accomplishing today. And I would I would implore you come to this text with freshness, with newness.

3:21 I imagine many people have heard this story before, but just come with an open and ready heart and and just see the awe of God. I want us to come away from this time just in awe of who God is and what he is able to do. So something I wanted to start off with which a little which is a little bit fun is, I think that redemption stories are the best stories. I don't think that's simply a personal opinion. I think that is just a fact.

3:51 If you don't think that redemption stories are the best stories, then you're wrong. If you think that movies, I don't know, I don't pick rom coms or comp like anything else, if it's not a redemption story, it's not the best story. And some examples that I wanted to throw out there was, we see Darth Vader in Star Wars, Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. I'm not gonna spoil this person. Watch Avatar the Last Airbender, Gru from Despicable Me, Iron Man from MCU.

4:22 All of these stories show these characters that have despair and hopelessness, but we just see like out of nowhere, there's hope, There's redemption. There's just this crazy twist. You're like, wow. Something about that just resounds. We're like, man, I need that.

4:43 Like I want that. I think why this resounds with us is because these stories are what we want. We see that just as these characters can be in places of despair, lacking hope, looking at their situation in life and thinking, what's going on like, God where are you? We look at these stories and we see, man, there is a change there. There's a twist there.

5:09 There's some hope there. And what I want us to see is the Bible, the word of God is the ultimate story of hope and redemption. If you're looking for crazy twists, go to scripture. There's no better twist out there. If you want crazy twists, go to scripture and specifically the book of Acts.

5:43 Salvation, healing, signs, power, the holy spirit given in the name of Jesus. The growth of the church and a twist for the church, persecution. And that's just the start. We're only coming up to chapter nine. We see time and time again, there's just these crazy twists happening.

6:04 And I want us to think about two stories that are developing right now up to this point. So the first story is the story of of Saul and the Jews, and the second story is the early believers, but specifically if I was there because their response is very faithful, but if I was there, what what would it feel like? So the first story is the story of Saul and the Jews. So what is what are their what are their expectations? What are they looking for?

6:35 What is the story that they would say they are in? They say the God of Israel has promised them a nation, an enduring kingdom. He's promised a future Messiah to redeem their people and victory over their enemies. And this this narrative was dependent on their covenantal faithfulness to the law of Moses and their faithfulness to Yahweh. But then we see there's a disruption disruption rather in their story.

7:05 Jesus and his meddling disciples come in, but the problem is Jesus, he he rose from the dead. That wasn't supposed to happen. So the Jewish religious authorities are dealing with this claim that is spreading across the nation and and people are getting saved. Well, I guess not across the Jewish nation, but Jews are getting saved. So Jesus Jesus is not just a fraud anymore, but people are actually believing that he is who he says that he was, that he was and that he is the Messiah.

7:44 And now they're seeing that he's gathering this following that that people are actually believing in him. And as in the past, people that have claimed the Messiah have just passed away. This is different. Like they they're saying that their Messiah actually rose again from the dead. They're saying that he is Christ and that he is Lord.

8:03 So Saul and the Jews, their story right now is just experiencing this crazy twist because Jesus is coming on the scene and he's establishing his church and the claim is he's risen from the dead. And now their strategy to fix this is to destroy the claim of the resurrection, to destroy his disciples, and keep other Jews from believing. And their intended outcome is to maintain their religious authority, keep the Jewish people under the law of Moses, and maintain covenantal faithfulness to the law of Moses, and then receive the promises. So we see that they're experiencing a disruption, a twist in what they're expecting. And now I want to present a story that maybe the early disciples would have felt and especially like if I was in their shoes.

8:58 So they see Jesus, the claimed Messiah, he rose again from the dead and they believe he truly is the promised Messiah and he's commissioned his disciples to follow him and proclaim him. He's now building his church and what they're setting their expectation on, what they're looking forward to is that he's coming again, that they will be with him, that we will be with him. But now the crazy twist that they're experiencing, the disruption to their story is persecution. And this is through Saul and and the Jewish authority. And what I'd say is if I was there, my response to that would be, you know what?

9:43 This looks like an amazing thing that God is doing. He gave us his son. His son rose from the dead. This is different. No one else has risen from the dead before that's claimed to be the Messiah.

9:57 This is different. We see the church is growing. People are believing, but then persecution, that's not right. The plan is supposed to be like this. Persecution doesn't fit the story.

10:11 It's not it's not meant to happen. So I'd be looking at this and being like, what's going on? My response would be frustration and thinking like, what's going on with the story? There'd be some doubts, there'd be some questions. So we see here in acts eight verse four it says, therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.

10:38 And this happened immediately after persecution. So we're saying... So we're seeing here, persecution was meant to have a result of hopeless defeat, but we see that God redeemed the story. That that crazy twist which was meant to ruin the disciples in early church, God used to spread the message. It said, okay, they were scattered.

11:08 We don't care. We're gonna preach where we go. God used this twist for his glory. He redeemed the story. But we see here as disciples of Christ, how do we have a proper lens?

11:26 Because we can look at that twist that occurred, that persecution that's happening and think, man, okay, there's something wrong here. The story is wrong. I don't know. I I believe in Jesus, but like this isn't meant to happen. Where is God here?

11:42 But we see the lens that God is teaching us to have is we need to have a lens of faith. And the theme for today is when you see a crazy twist, means God is working. When you see crazy twist, God is working. We're gonna see a crazy twist in this text and that means that God is working. Let's start in verses one and two.

12:48 So we're thinking, okay, this is encouraging. Okay, persecution happened once but looks like run up on on an upward trajectory, but then crazy twist, Saul shows up. If you stop in verses one and two, you just see Saul's back on the scene and he's coming to Damascus to round up the disciples and take them back to Jerusalem to be persecuted. So I'm just thinking if you were in in the prayer meeting for the church of Damascus, what would your response be? So you know Paul or I'm sorry, Saul at this time, who's basically like the hound dog of the Jewish authorities.

13:32 He's coming to our city and his plan is to round us up. What would your response be in that prayer meeting? Would you be able to pray, Lord, we see that you've you've said that you'll... You're gonna build your church. You said that Jesus truly did rise from the dead.

13:54 You said that the message is is gonna go to the Jews then in Samaria and then to the ends of the earth. You said that. But now we see Saul coming in to wipe us out. This story doesn't match up. So is this...

14:14 Is the response gonna be a lens of faith and say, Lord, we're seeing this big issue, but we know that you're a powerful God that's able to use this twist in our story for your glory. That you're able to take Saul who right now is our opposition and redeem this story. That instead of just praying in that prayer meeting, Lord, turn Saul away or like, don't let this happen, but the prayer would be, Lord, save Saul. Imagine what what you could do for your kingdom if that man got saved. Man, it's it's a convicting thought.

14:55 If I was in that prayer meeting, I think I could say the prayer, Lord save Saul, but I don't know if I'd have that in my heart. I think I would be like, Lord, turn him away. Turn him away. This is not supposed to happen with the story. But with a lens of faith, we can see what is supposed to cause us to fear and say, Lord, this is a crazy twist, but I know that you are working.

15:24 I know that you are working. So because of that, I'm going to approach your throne and ask you, Lord, work in this situation. God, there's nothing that we can do. Saul is coming after us. He's gonna kill us.

15:40 But in this trade... In this crazy twist, I know that you're working. And I want us to consider, we see God is working in this story. That what God is... That what God accomplishes that this man that was persecuting the church is saved and then commissioned to be an apostle to the Gentiles.

16:05 And we see this grand narrative that's shifting in the book of Acts that now the gospel is gonna go to the Gentiles. And we see that this demonstrates the glory of God in a very obvious way, but what I don't want us to miss and what I want us to focus on the rest of this time is that not only is this a grand work that shakes and that changes the early church, but this is God reaching a hopeless man, Saul of Tarsus. A man that is in his own strength headed towards hell. A man that is perishing. And this is God's individual work of salvation in this life's man, an intervention, a crazy twist.

16:59 And I don't want us to miss that through this grand story of God using Saul as a vessel to reach the Gentiles, he's also in his love saving this man. I don't want us to miss God's heart in this. But let's think about where's Paul's where's Saul Saul Paul? Where's Saul's heart at this time? And we don't have to look too far back to see in Acts eight verses one through one to three it says, now Saul was consenting to Stephen's death.

17:35 At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church entering every house and dragging off men and women committing them to prison. And we also see in this first verse it says, Saul he's breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. So look at the direction of his heart.

18:15 If we look at Stephen's death, his heart was consenting to his death and and this means it was a willful, hearty, complicit disposition that he had. He's like, you guys got Stephen? Like, yes. That's what I wanted to. It's like if I was...

18:31 He was there, but it's like it's like he was there murdering Stephen even though he didn't do the act. His heart was there. And we see that this intention and the desire of his heart was hatred towards Jesus and hatred towards his disciples. So we see the direction of his heart, but now look at the zeal of his heart, the the magnitude, the power of his desire. It says that he was breathing threats and murder.

19:03 You see this hatred for Christ wasn't just an inkling, but it was... It consumed his being. It's like it was on his breath. So if you talk to Saul, this is just what came out naturally. It's like this zeal for for hatred against the early disciples.

19:24 So if you look at this situation, you're gonna say, Lord, this is the wrong man to try to reach out to. This is the wrong guy. If you're gonna work in someone's life or intervene in in some way, you're choosing the wrong guy. But now we come to verses three to five and it says, as he journeyed, he came near Damascus and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

20:14 He's made a plan. I'm going up there to that city and I'm gonna take the disciples up there bringing back to Jerusalem and they're gonna pay for what they're doing. But then crazy twist happens. God, as he's... As Saul kind of says in Philippians, takes a hold of the man.

20:33 He takes a hold of the man and stops him dead in his tracks. And what I want us to see here is that salvation is always a supernatural work of God in the heart of a person. A supernatural work in the life of a person. And we see this in this text very clearly. We see in verse four it says, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

21:02 And two truths we see is that that Christ he identifies with his church. But another principle I want us to pull out here is that Saul's sin is against the living God. It's against Jesus. So we see when we come to the Lord as a sinner, the sin is against him. We have to recognize my sin is not just what I do to others, but it's an offense to a living God.

21:31 We see with David when he sinned against Bathsheba, his response to that sin was, yes, he did sin against Bathsheba. He was like, I I have sinned against the living God. I've sinned against you and you alone. And this is the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a sinner. The heart of you and me and said, teaching us our sin is against God himself.

21:59 And look at how personal it is. It's Jesus calling him by name and he's dealing with Saul in this personal level. It's not vague ideas or just intellectual thoughts like, oh, I understand the plan of salvation, but it is it is Jesus talking to Saul and taking a hold of him and saying, you need to be saved, Saul. It's personal. And now we see that when there's this conviction of sin, then there's the revelation of Christ.

22:34 Saul he says, who are you Lord? Then the Lord says, and this was a shock. This shook Saul's world. He said, I am Jesus. Think about what that would do to that man.

22:47 This man was like, what? That guy is dead. But he's in front of me right now. The risen glorified Lord is right in front of me. I can't deny that.

22:59 This is Jesus. But it's not just Jesus. He is the Christ. He is the Lord. It's undeniable at this point.

23:10 And Jesus he says, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. So we see that when the conviction of sin comes, we recognize we need a savior. Now we see the revelation of Christ, the savior, the provision. If you just leave someone in this place of, man, I am opposed to holy God and man, my my condition is not good. I'm headed towards hell and then you don't see Jesus in it.

23:41 Man, you're you're not doing anyone a favor. Show them Christ. Show them Christ and we see that's what Jesus does. Paul sees that the person that he's coming face to face with is Jesus himself, the one who's pursuing him. And now we see in that in that verse, the work of the Holy Spirit on his conscience.

24:04 It says, it is hard for you to kick against the goads. And what this phrase means, what what a goad is, it's it's like this long rod that has this prick at the end of it. So when an oxen is trotting in its way and you know, plowing the soil, if it's getting... If it's going off track, the goat is meant to redirect it on course. So let's apply this to what's going on in Paul's situation.

24:33 Saul is opposed to living God, but in God's grace, He's reaching to Saul in his conscience and saying, Saul, this is your opportunity. I'm redirecting you. I'm giving you a chance. This is your opportunity to respond. And I think what is pretty remarkable here is, I think this is an ongoing work that's probably been happening since Acts seven.

25:03 We see in that in Stephen's testimony, he says that the Pharisees were were stiff necked and and uncircumcised in their hearts that they always resist the Holy Spirit. And then their response was they stopped their ears because what they were... What Stephen said cut them to the heart. Saul was in that assembly. He was amongst those people hearing that accusation of being guilty and that probably cut him to the heart.

25:32 And we see here as he's encountering Jesus, he's again having to face, I stand guilty before holy God. That he stands guilty but not only is he standing guilty before the Lord, he he stood guilty before the testimony of of the believers. And now standing guilty before the words of Jesus, but his own conscience is agreeing and testifying against him. So this teaches us that the Holy Spirit works in our conscience and shows us that we're sinners before God, that we need a savior and this is necessary for someone to be saved. If the conscience doesn't recognize, if you don't agree with your conscience that I am a sinner before God, that if I continue in my course right now, I am I am headed towards hell without any change.

26:32 This is where I'm headed. If that reality doesn't settle in, you can't be saved. But then we see, you recognize, man, I'm in debt. I have this debt of sin that I... That is gonna condemn me, but you must also recognize that you're bankrupt too.

26:54 Not only do you have this debt of sin, but you have no ability in your self to pay it until you recognize, until someone recognizes that first, I'm a sinner before God, but then also there's nothing I can do to save myself. They can't... You can't bring them to a point of salvation. But then finally, we see Christ as the savior where we can't save ourselves. Christ is there, the revelation of Christ that he where we are unable, he himself is able.

27:30 Brothers and sisters, don't miss this. Don't miss the heart of God in salvation. Second Peter verses three to nine verses three... Chapter three verse nine says, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some count slackness, but is long suffering. He's patient towards us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

27:53 So see the heart of God towards Saul. Do you think he's he's... Do you think Saul's conscience is getting pricked because God hates him? Or because God is opposed to him? Or because God is messing with him?

28:09 No. This is the loving hand of God. The loving work of the holy spirit in Saul's soul to bring him to salvation. So we see the heart of God but now we see the power of God. In Hebrews seven verse 25 it says, therefore, he is also able to save to the other uttermost those who come to God through him since he always always lives to makes intercession for them.

28:41 So don't miss the heart of God here. There is a reality of sin that must be dealt with to understand that you need salvation. But if you miss the heart of God, it isn't gonna work either. I was trying to think of a better way to say that, but it isn't gonna work. You need the conviction of sin and you need the heart of God.

29:49 But for salvation to occur, that supernatural work needs to meet the obedience of man. Paul had the holy spirit working on his conscience and saying, Saul, you're a sinner in need of a savior. But now his response had to be Lord, now what? What can I do? How can I be saved?

30:13 What must I do? If we miss in salvation that there must be a response, we're losing half of the equation. We see in salvation there must be the work of God in the heart of man and that must come alongside the obedience, the decision, the humility like, God I'm coming to you. There's no other way. And I want to ask a question, how do you come here today to receive the word of God?

30:42 Are you in a place where the Holy Spirit is working on your conscience? And is he calling you in obedience now either to be saved or as a believer to respond to loving redirection? If God is trying to get a hold of you, he's not doing it out of cruel retribution. It's not out of hatred. It's not out of ruin.

31:07 It's not because he's trying to drive you to sadness, but it's because of his love. It says in first Peter, humble yourself before the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon him for he cares for you. So we see when our conscience convicts us that we need to change. There there needs to be a change here. The response is, Lord, I'm willing to listen.

31:41 What do you have to say to me? What must I do? The response is a heart willing to obey. And that second part of the verse it says, casting your cares upon him because he cares for you. Don't miss the heart of God.

31:57 It's the heart of a loving shepherd. And right here it's the heart of a loving shepherd helping a man who's going in a way that is ruining him. Don't miss the heart of God for you. And now we look at verses 10 to 14 and it says, now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias and to him the Lord said in a vision, Ananias and he said, here I am Lord. So Lord said to him, arise and go to the street called Straight and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus for behold he is praying.

32:37 And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him so that he might receive his sight. And Ananias answered, Lord, I've heard from many about this man how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem and here he has authority from the chief priest to bind all who call on your name. So Ananias, he's being very reasonable here. He's saying this Saul that's coming after us, this guy he's opposed and he's obstinate. This guy is coming to kill us and he is zealous about it.

33:15 But now we see the response of the Lord in verses fifteen and sixteen says, but the Lord said to him, go for he's a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake. So we see here Ananias has this story that that Saul is coming to persecute them. And now God is saying, there's a twist happening. I'm working here.

33:45 And now Ananias has this choice. Will I respond? Will I obey? Will I the lens of faith in this situation? Or is this crazy twist?

34:00 Is it is it too crazy? Like God cannot work here. But Ananias his his response is one in one of obedience. He's willing to go. He sees.

34:13 Okay. This is something I don't understand. Based on Paul's reputation up till now, this is a hopeless case. There's there's no... This shouldn't work, but I trust the word of the Lord.

34:27 I trust that God he is able to work even here and his response is one of obedience. And now I want us to go to verses 17 to 19. And Ananias, he went his way and entered the house, he obeyed and laying his hands on him he said, brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road as you came has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales and he received his sight at once and he arose and was baptized. So when he had received food he was strengthened.

35:07 Then Saul spent some days with his disciples at Damascus. So we see that with this twist, God worked that Saul, his heart changed and Ananias was able to see that because he obeyed. And I want to make a couple points here. We see these these signs that occur that first Paul's eyesight is restored and then also after the laying on of hands he's filled with the spirit. So what I want us to to see from here is that these signs are meant to connect the healing of the site with the person and work of Christ at this time.

36:42 There's no other way. But what I want us to see is, is this the same for today? Do you have to wait to receive the spirit? Ephesians one thirteen it says, in him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation in whom also having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. So we see that today now you are indwelt at the moment of belief, the moment of salvation, the moment of regeneration, the spirit of God comes into your soul and makes you new.

37:16 So we see that God was accomplishing something specific for this time to connect the work and person of Christ with the Holy Spirit, with healing, with these signs to show this work is true, that it's believable. And I and I believe personally that this is also a testimony to the saints of Paul's real true salvation. Like I was blind not only spiritually, but physically and God he healed my spiritual blindness and my physical blindness. So this was like verifiable evidence that they could see. And now we see in verses 20 to 25, the response that Paul has after this this taking hold of this this change that occurred in his life.

38:04 It says in verse 20, immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues that he is the son of God. Then all who heard were amazed and said, is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem He's come here for that purpose so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests. But Saul increased all the more in strength and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus proving that this Jesus is the Christ. Now after many days were passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, but their plot became known to Saul and they watched the gates day and night to kill him. Then the disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall in a large basket.

38:47 What I want us to see is after Paul obeys the gospel and follows Christ, we see that he identifies with Jesus. We see that he gets baptized and proclaims his salvation. We see that he proclaims the gospel in the synagogues and proclaims the message of salvation. We see that he shares in the persecution, the suffering and reproach of Christ that when he is saved, he identifies with the Lord Jesus. And we see this pattern for believers that when you're saved, you're invited to identify with the Lord Jesus.

39:23 God calls you to identify with him. And we also see that God's work begins immediately in Saul. That once God saved him, he began to work in him and use him. It didn't matter that he was the wrong person because he was in the hand of the Lord and that meant that the Lord could use him. And I want that message to resound in your heart today that if you are in the hand of the Lord, you can be used by God because he is able.

40:01 That on this side of salvation, there is no wrong person. Brothers and sisters, we were all the wrong person. We all were nobody nobody was the right guy. The right guy was nailed to a cross and he bore our shame, but now we can be in the hands of the Lord and be used by him. In these last couple verses, I wasn't super...

41:01 But they attempted to kill him when the brethren, found out. They brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to to Tarsus. I want us to see this really beautiful picture here that Saul he comes up to the apostles and I mean, they're rightfully afraid of him. They're like, we know this guy. He's the wrong guy.

41:22 Send him away. But then Barnabas, look at his response. Barnabas acts like Christ right now. Barnabas shows this Christ like love. He identifies himself with Paul.

41:36 We see Ananias do this before. He calls him brother. In in Barnabas, says, no. This guy, God's worked in his life. He he recognizes what God has done and he brings Paul with him and says, this this man, he's a brother.

41:54 He's a brother. And I I think this is such a sweet truth here. We see that once you're once you're saved, you are accepted. You are accepted into the family of God. There isn't no, man, I was I was the wrong guy so I need to I need to be a JV believer here.

42:14 Like I'm not on varsity. Like there's no idea of that. Paul, he comes into the family. It's like it's like when... My brother, he was born in 2006.

42:26 I was three years old, but I distinctly remember... That was a joke. I distinctly remember that we didn't have a family meeting and and my parents were like, now Jeremy, your little your little brother, he's been born. Are are you gonna accept him as your brother? Is he is he in the family?

42:43 Like, are you gonna... Are you... Is he is he part of the family now? There wasn't a discussion. There wasn't a deliberation.

42:49 There was... This is your brother. And look at look at look at the amazing truth here. Paul, the wrong guy gets saved. He's brought into the assembly and they're like, this is our brother.

43:03 This is our baby brother. He just got saved. Brothers and sisters, we wanna be like this. This needs to mark our body. That when people get saved, we're like, yes, this is my brother.

43:16 This one, he was just taken ahold of by the Lord. He responded in obedience. I've seen God's work in him. There was a crazy twist in this man's life. He's my brother.

43:28 And we see this with Barnabas, his love. Be a Barnabas. Recognize the work of God in someone's life and accept them. Bring them in. Bring them in.

44:15 And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtain mercy that in me first, Jesus Christ might show all long suffering as a pattern to those who are going to believe on him for everlasting life. Now to the king eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

44:53 What a trophy of the grace of God that God would say, this is one who persecuted my people and now he's a son. He's a child. He's in the family. So now, all of us can look to this example and say, wow, if God could work a crazy twist in that guy's life. If God is working there, certainly, certainly he can work here.

45:21 Certainly, he can work in you. Certainly, he can work in me. We see God raises up this trophy. Ephesians one six it says, to the praise of the glory of his grace by which he made us accepted in the beloved. See this, the glory and power of God magnified in the salvation of this man.

45:49 And then also, the love of God towards us magnified. It says, by which he made us accepted in the beloved. It was his great unrelenting boundless pursuing love for us that brought us into the family. Come to his love. Come to his love.

46:17 If the Lord is working and calling you and working on your conscience, come to his love. And I'll end with that today. I know everyone's favorite teacher gives homework, so here's a reading assignment. If you want accounts of Paul's testimony, I'll give these references for you and it was a blessing when I was reading through these. So they're Acts 22 verses three through 16, Acts 26 verses nine through 18, Galatians one verse 11 through 24, Philippians three verses four through 16, first Corinthians 15 verses eight through 10, and first Timothy one verses 12 through 16.

47:04 So I'll let you guys decide if you wanna do the homework or not. Alright. Let's end with a word of prayer. Father, what can we say? But we thank you that you're a God that pursues us.

47:19 That you're a God that looks to sinners and says come. That you're a God that looks at our condition and says, I will send my perfect son. I'll send I'll send the one that the darling of heaven to die for them. What can we say, Lord, but we thank you for your love for us. Give us hearts that are willing to come, that trust your guiding hand.

47:56 We love you Lord. In Jesus name, amen.