PM Acts 2:1-22 Saul to Paul

[0:00] We saw Philip this morning and how he was used of God in different ways. A witness to the multitudes in Samaria and a one-to-one witness with the eunuch.

[0:14] And now we read about Saul. We mentioned a slight mention of him I think this morning at the end of chapter 8.

[0:24] And here we read a bit more about Saul here in chapter 9. 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 synagogue of Damascus.

[0:45] He said if he found any belonging to the way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus.

[0:57] 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?

[1:08] And he said, who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city and you will be told what you are to do.

[1:19] Men who were travelling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing.

[1:30] So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight and neither ate no drink.

[1:46] Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias. And he said, here I am, Lord.

[1:57] And the Lord 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.

[2:09] For behold, he is praying. And he has sent a vision, a man named Ananias. Come in and lay hands on him so that he might regain his sight.

[2:26] But Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard from many about this man. How much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.

[2:43] But the Lord said to him, go, for he has chosen an instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. But I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.

[2:56] 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 may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

[3:13] And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes. And he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized. And taking food he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus.

[3:26] And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogue saying, He is the Son of God. And all who heard him were amazed and said, Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name?

[3:42] And has he not come here for this purpose? To bring them bound before the chief priests? Saul increased all the more in strength. And confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by praying that Jesus was the Christ.

[4:01] May God add his blessing to this reading from his own inspired word. We'll now turn to Psalm 139. And I've chosen version B of that Psalm.

[4:14] That's on page 182. And verses 1 to 8. Lord, you have searched my life and known my heart. You search me and you know me through and through.

[4:25] You know me when I sit and when I rise. And from afar my thoughts are known to you. Psalm 139. Version B. 1 to 8. To his praise.

[4:38] From Saul to Paul. I would like to read a kind of meditation verse. Verse 20 and 21. And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogue saying, He is the Son of God.

[4:56] And all who heard him were amazed and said, Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem for those who called upon the name? And has he not come here for this purpose?

[5:09] To bring them bound before the chief priests? And that was their amazement in these verses. And something we're just looking at briefly. This well known account of Paul's conversion.

[5:24] The first thing we see about Paul, or Saul. Saul at this stage. The first thing we see about Saul is he was a persecutor. And as I mentioned, the first reference to that was way back in Acts chapter 7.

[5:41] But Saul, as we know, was a Greek-speaking Benjamite Jew. He was the son of a Pharisee who was born a Roman citizen in Tarsus.

[5:52] And he came to Jerusalem and he became a student of Gamaliel. And so, under this teaching, Paul became a Pharisee.

[6:04] And he says of himself in Philippians 3.5, He was circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews.

[6:15] As to law, a Pharisee. As to zeal, a persecutor of the church. As to righteousness under the law, blameless. So, it gives us a wee insight into who Saul was.

[6:27] And how he was brought up under this famous preacher, Gamaliel. And how he had this zeal for persecuting the church.

[6:37] That first reference to him is in Acts 7.58. That the stoning of Stephen, as you might know. And as Stephen was getting stoned, And they said, Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him.

[6:55] And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And then it says in chapter 8 that we read this morning, Saul approved of his execution.

[7:07] So, these were the first verses we have about Saul. We're told about his upbringing elsewhere, But specifically here, In these chapters, we're told what kind of a man he was there, Giving approval, as it were, To the stoning of Stephen.

[7:25] The thing that confused Saul, Was that in the Old Testament, There's a verse, Which you've probably heard before, It's Deuteronomy 21-23, And the verse is, Anyone who is hung on a tree, Is under God's curse.

[7:44] And so, There was this teaching, From the Old Testament, That, Since Jesus was hung on a tree, He was under God's curse.

[7:55] And so, Saul being a true Pharisee, Knew these verses. And therefore, What he thought, When he heard Jesus, And people identifying Jesus as the Messiah, He understood that as blasphemy, Because he knew his Old Testament, He knew that verse.

[8:16] And he had known that Jesus was, Indeed, Hung on a tree. So that's why Saul, Was, Well, In his own mind, Under his own teaching, But, He couldn't understand, A crucified Messiah.

[8:34] And I think until this day, Probably the Jews, Can't understand, Quite, This aspect, Of a crucified Messiah. And many of them, As you know, In the New Testament, Expecting someone, To come, And build up a new kingdom, And push out the Romans.

[8:53] And so, When Jesus was crucified, They just couldn't, Understand him, As a Messiah, This was blasphemy. And anyone who confessed, Jesus as the Christ, Was under that blasphemy, And therefore, They should be put into prison, Or worse, They should be punished, By also being put to death.

[9:15] And, These people that spoke about, The resurrection, Of Jesus. So, This was why, Saul, Was persecuting the church, To rid the people, Of this blasphemy, In his opinion.

[9:30] His confusion, About that, Teaching. And so, This persecution, Of the church, Started quite, Quickly, After Pentecost.

[9:43] And, This persecution, As I said, Was a negative thing. But, Out of this negative thing, The gospel was spreading. And, Saul was busy, Involved, In that very persecution, Of the believers.

[9:59] And we know, From, Well, Somebody was talking about Adam, This morning. And we know, From that, Many of us, Have heard Adam speak, About the persecution, That's still going on, With Christians, In different parts, Of the world.

[10:16] And Jesus, In fact, In Matthew says, Blessed are you, When others revile you, And persecute you, And utter all kinds of evil, Against you, Falsely, On my account, Rejoice, And be glad, He says, For your reward is great, In heaven.

[10:30] So, There's this persecution, And there's still persecution, Of people, Who call upon the name of the Lord, In different parts of the world. But Saul, Was certainly a fierce persecutor, Of these people.

[10:47] And the way he identifies, These people who were, Christians, Is in the opening verses, Verse 2 there, As he was going to the synagogue, And asking permission, To teach, Went to the high priest, And wanted letters, Because he wanted to go, To the synagogue, At Damascus, So that, If he found any belonging, To the way.

[11:14] That's how these, Early Christians were defined, First of all, In Saul's mind, They were the way. And it's interesting, As you look at various references, In the New Testament, About this, The way.

[11:26] I think it probably, Starts from, Was it, Maybe started from Jesus saying, I am the way, The truth and the life. And so, The two, Kind of identified, As these people, Are the way.

[11:42] They're following, Jesus who said, I am the way. And they could be identified, As the people who, Who are the way. And so, They were known, Elsewhere, Read about, They were known, As the way of holiness.

[11:59] And in Acts 24, Later on, The way is defined, People looked at it, As a sect. And then, In Ephesians, We read of a disturbance, Concerning the way.

[12:11] So the disciples, At first, After Pentecost, That was our label, They are the way. People knew them, Because of their, Identification, Identification with Jesus.

[12:24] Oh, They're the ones, That are following, That Jesus. Didn't he say, I am the way, The truth and the life. These are the way. These people, They could point to them, And know them. And they could go, And persecute them.

[12:35] They knew, These people were belonging, To the way. And I'm just wondering, If today, If people, Met us, Would they know, That we are, Belonging to the way.

[12:46] And would we be willing, To stand up for Jesus, In different situations. It's very difficult, For some Christians today, Standing up for Jesus, In the environment, That we're living in.

[13:01] And say, No, I am the way. I believe the Bible. In this aspect, I am the way. I'm following Jesus. And so, These people, Sometimes even today, If they stand up in that way, And define themselves, As people who are in the way, And know Christ, As the way, The truth, And the life.

[13:22] Especially teachers, Or those who, Are involved in that, In different aspects, Of society. They need to, They are identified, As the way.

[13:33] So the question is, Can we be identified? Can people say, Oh, Look, They are belonging, To the way. And that's a, Very challenging question, For us to answer.

[13:48] So, That was, Saul, First of all, The persecutor, And we've seen that, Was because he thought, These people, Were blaspheming. He couldn't, Understand, A crucified Messiah.

[14:04] And it says, Elsewhere, And I wrote down the verse, But, About, Those who were, Confused about, Jesus, Being, A crucified Messiah.

[14:16] So, Saul, And, The sin, Was the persecutor. Then, I've put, Saul, Secondly, Was apprehended, By Jesus.

[14:29] Christ, Arrested Saul, Before he could arrest, Any of his followers. And, And so, Saul, Made his way, As we've seen, Probably a six day journey, He had towards Damascus, Determined to pursue, These disciples.

[14:47] But, We all know what happened, This bright, Shining light, Flashed, As he was making the journey. And so much, Has affected, Saul's life, That he repeats, His testimony, In Acts 22, In Acts 26, Three times, He tells people, How he came to know the Lord, And how he was used, Of the Lord.

[15:09] And he felt that, That late in life, You know, People before him, Who were apostles, Had the opportunity, Of living with Christ, Of being with Christ.

[15:19] But he says, Last of all, As one untimely born, He appeared also to me. So, Here is Paul, Later on, In Corinthians, Saying he appeared to me, This bright light, Similar to that bright light, The transfiguration, When Jesus appeared, And his face was shining, And Jesus says, Indeed, I am the light of the world, Isn't he?

[15:43] Whoever follows me, Will not walk in darkness, But will have the light of life. So, Paul's giving his testimony, Of how Jesus revealed himself, To him on that road to Damascus, As he walked along, That six day journey, He was confronted, By the light, The strong, Suddenly, A light appeared, And, Arrested Saul, As I say, Before he could arrest, Any of the disciples, And, And he gives testimony, Several times, He talks about seeing Jesus, Isn't that interesting?

[16:19] Because he became blind, Due to the, Due to this experience, But yet, He says, I saw Jesus, And, He could testify to that, The glory of Christ, Something like the, Transfiguration, Where, So bright a light, On the Old Testament, Where God appeared, But here, He had seen Jesus, The glory of Christ, But this sudden light, Of, Of, Appeared to him, The sudden appearance, Of Jesus, To interrupt his journey, To arrest the disciples, As he was going about, His business, As he thought, Rightly, To persecute these people, Who had committed, Heresy, And blasphemy, In his mind, Suddenly, Jesus appeared to him, Without, Any warning, That was it, But do you know, We're in an age,

[17:19] Where Christ says, He'll come again, And it says, He'll come again, Just as suddenly, He'll come, Are we ready, For that sudden appearance, Of Christ, It happens, Here, It happens just like that, Suddenly, Out, Almost out of the blue, What I'm asking is, We should remember, That Christ said, I'll come again, And we're told, That you'll come again, Suddenly, Are we ready, For that, Time, When Jesus will come again, To gather up, The folk, Who believe in him, And those, Also who have died, And will meet together, In the heavens, So the sudden, Appearance of, Jesus, And, We all know, The interesting way, That, That Jesus introduces, Asks Saul, Well, Famous question, Saul, Saul, Why are you persecuting me?

[18:13] But, Later on in Acts 26, He repeats that, He repeats it again, Because it meant so much to him, Acts 26, 14, Saul, Saul, Why are you persecuting me?

[18:26] But then he adds, It is hard for you, To kick against the goads, There's a famous poem, And it's called, The Hound of Heaven, And it's as though, The Hound of Heaven, Was pursuing Saul, And it was hard against, To kick against the goads, In other words, He had, Obviously, As a Pharisee, He had been, Open, To all these teachings, Of Jesus, He was teaching all over the place, In the mountains, And so on, He was bound to have heard, Jesus is preaching, He had just heard, Stephen's testimony, All these quotes, In the Old Testament, He had heard that, And all that, Was preparing Saul, But yet, At that point in his life, He was resisting, What he was hearing, There was this, Kicking against the goads, But yet, The Hound of Heaven, Was not letting go, Of Saul, He had a purpose for Saul, Despite Saul's, Resistance, To God's,

[19:28] Teaching, Jesus' teaching, Stephen's teaching, There was this, So, Jesus was pursuing him, The Hound of Heaven, As that poem, Called, God, I think it is, But anyway, It's as though, What I'm trying to say, Sometimes, We're hearing God's word, And we're reading it, And we're not, Reacting towards it, Some people who, We know, Who are, Hearing testimonies, Like Saul had heard, His testimonies, But yet, They were kicking against the goads, They were trying to resist, God's call, Is anyone here, Trying, Despite having, Heard many sermons, Is it still, Are you kicking against the goads, Are you, Are you, Not responding, To God's, Trying to communicate to you, And that's what, Saul was doing, He was kicking against the goads, He was resisting,

[20:29] All that time, But all that time, He was being, Prepared for this, Time, Encountering Jesus, He had been prepared, For this encounter, And that helped him, As the light appeared, To submit his life, To Christ, So don't, We can't resist, The hound of heaven, As he, Lays his hand, Upon his own people, And will pursue them, Until they submit, To his, His will, And so that was, Saul's experience, And isn't it, Interesting that, When Jesus says that, He identifies, With his people, Why are you persecuting me, And I've heard, I'm sure you've heard, Many a sermon about that, The reminder that, Jesus is identifying, With his people here, The persecuted people, They were being persecuted, They were being, Put in prison, Some of them were, Put to death, But Jesus says,

[21:29] You're persecuting me, That's the close bond, Jesus has with his people, So, Perhaps, We pray for these people, That have come under, Preaching at some point, And that God, Through that preaching, Was preparing them, But yet, There is this thing, Remember some folk like that, And that God would, Intervene suddenly, In their lives, And the light of the gospel, Would shine, So that they would surrender, And come to repentance, And faith, Now Paul, As we've seen, Was a persecutor, And this is what he says, About himself, In Timothy, He says, I receive mercy, For this reason, That in me, As for the foremost, Jesus Christ, Might display, His perfect patience, As an example, To those, Who were to believe, In him, Return of life, It's also an example, Perhaps you know someone, You think, Oh they'll never be,

[22:30] Be converted, They'll never come to Christ, But, If we persevere, And pray for them, And if we persevere, And expose them, They won't kick against the gods, They won't resist, And, Paul says, He's an example, Of God's grace, And God's mercy, Because God saved us, Saul, Who was a persecutor, And changed his life, To Paul, And became an apostle, And if that's true, Of somebody like that, It's not, How, Can God not change, Some of these, Other people, I remember, One person, In a prayer meeting, Was with this thought in mind, As he prayed, And he was praying, For a, A famous, Person that was, Renowned for, Persecuting, And he said, He prayed for that person, Saying, May he be like Saul, And be changed, So, It's, As though,

[23:30] Christ decided on Saul, And not the other way round, As many, Songs I know, But it's interesting, It's Christ, Pursuing Saul, Christ has decided on Saul, He's, Almost elected Saul, It's one of his people, Going to be one of his people, Christ's pursuing him, Saul, Saul wasn't looking for Christ, In that particular occasion, It was, He didn't decide on Christ, But it's as though, Christ decided upon him, I thought that was an interesting thought, There is certain truth, In the chorus, I have decided to follow Jesus, But, The decision of Christ, Comes first, He intervenes first, And calls upon his people, And then, It is true, At that point, Relying on that, They decide,

[24:31] To follow Christ, But it's Christ, Who does the deciding, And, And Saul asked, Who are you Lord, Lord, I'm Jesus, Who are you persecuting, So, And, And this is what Paul says, In Galatians 1, 15, But when he called me, By his grace, He was pleased, To reveal his son to me, In order that I might preach him, To the Gentiles, So, Paul became a preacher, There is a very well known, Chapter in Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 15, All his teaching, Resurrection, That was Saul, Who became, Who was apprehended by Jesus, At that encounter, Of Jesus, On the road to Damascus, And for three days, He fasted and prayed, As we read there, One of the things, That Ananias, We'll see in a minute, When Ananias was called,

[25:33] To go to this man, And we'll turn to that now, In our third point, So Saul was the persecutor, Saul was apprehended by Jesus, Now, Briefly, We'll look at the instruments, That God used, In his, The Redeemer's hand, The instruments, In God's Redeemer's hand, And there's two instruments, In this chapter, That God used, To help Saul, One was Ananias, He was used, And the other, Instrument that God used, Was Saul himself, So these are the instruments, That God's used, Ananias, We read in Acts 22, 12, He was a devout man, According to the law, Well spoken of, Then by the Jews, He was a devout man, That says a lot, About Ananias, And, When God spoke to him, He said these words, Like Isaiah said, Here I am, Lord, There's a wee chorus,

[26:34] It goes something like this, Here I am, Lord, It is I, Lord, I have heard you calling, In the night, I will go Lord, If you lead me, I will hold your people, In my heart, And so on, And that was, Ananias, When he heard God saying, Go to this man, And preach to him, Here am I, Ready to serve, Just like Isaiah rolled, Here am I, Lord, And, And what, The Lord said to Ananias, That's time about Saul, After three days of fasting, It says, Behold, He is praying, And that's, That's all, Was fasting and praying, For three days, So that very mouth, That was breathing out threats, Was now breathing out prayer, Isn't that amazing, The man who, Was now breathing out prayer to God, He was calling upon God's name, And Ananias came,

[27:35] And interesting again, We have this laying on of hands, Upon Saul, Now, Ananias was just a bit hesitant, And who can blame, Ananias for that, Because he knew, About Saul, That he was a persecutor, Of the way, And when Ananias, In verse 13, Talks about the people, On the, Who are in the way, He defines them, First of all, As saints, He called them saints, There in verse 13, And, Just see if I can catch it here, But Ananias said, Lord, I have heard, From many, About this man, How much evil he has done, To your saints, At Jerusalem, So those who, Were called the way, Are now called saints, We are studying this, In fact, On Wydens there, Our bible study, The aspect of saints, And, Sanification,

[28:37] And, Here again, Is a reminder, That we are, Called saints, In Christ Jesus, And that's how, They were called, And, We need to remember, Our fellow, Christians, Those who have come, To know the Lord, Each one, Is a saint, And that, We have to love, These people, In Romans 15, 25, It read about this, I'm going to Jerusalem, Bringing, Aid to the saints, It says, From Macedonia, And Achaia, Have been, Pleased to make, Some contribution, For the poor, Among the saints, Of Jerusalem, We always have to remember, That as saints, Thinking about other people, Who are in need, And how we can help them, In our church, In Christ's church, And there's a, There's a, The name of the country, Malawi, Thank you, Malawi, There's a, There's no pastor there, And Malawi, Is typical,

[29:38] Of many of these countries, In so much need, And so they, What they do each year, Is fill up a container, A huge container, Of gifts, And send it to Malawi, To help the saints, In Malawi, And this is just, Another reminder, Of our duty, As saints, To care for those, Who are in need, And that's, What we did in the New Testament, So those, Those who are the way, Are also ones, Who can be identified, As saints, But also, As it goes on, In verse 14, Not only are we identified, As saints, But, Those who are calling, On your name, So, There's three different, Aspects of Christianity, In this chapter alone, You're identified, As one who are walking, In the way, You're identified, As a saint, And you're identified, As someone, Who's calling upon his name, And, It's like, We saw there, That's how, Saul was identified, He was calling upon,

[30:39] The name of the Lord, In prayer, And that's how, The saints are, Identified here, In verse 14, And, In his testimony, In Acts 22, Paul was to rise, And be baptized, And wash his sins, Calling on his name, So he who, Persecuted those, Who were calling upon his name, Now was calling upon, That same name himself, And that's what, Read that, In these verses, 20, 21, That's why, The people were so amazed, At this, Transformation of Saul, To Paul, That he who, Once was persecuting, These people, Who were praying, And calling upon the name, Of the Lord, Was now, Himself, Calling upon that same name, 1 Corinthians, 1 verse 2, Says, To those sanctified, In Christ Jesus, And called to be holy, Together with all those, Everywhere, Who call, On the name,

[31:40] Of our Lord Jesus Christ, Have you called, Upon the name, Of the Lord, For forgiveness, Have you done that, Have you called upon, His name, As some of you know, When it talks about, His name, In biblical terms, It means the character, The attributes of God, The name of God, Always, Hence, That these attributes, Of mercy, Love and kindness, Will be called upon, That name, Of the Lord, You know what it says, In Romans 10, Verse 13, Everyone who calls, In the name of the Lord, Will be, Saved, So, That's, Those saints, Were calling upon, The name, Ananias, Was an instrument, In God's hand, To help, Saul, As he laid his hands, Upon him, And the scales, Fell from his eyes, God used them, As an instrument, Here am I Lord, And, God can use us,

[32:42] As his instruments, Because he can use, Ananias, He can use his saints, He can use those, Who are calling upon, His name, The other instrument, God uses, Is Saul himself, Saul was called, To be a chosen instrument, As his scales, Fell off, Of the sight, And he rose, And was baptized, And then he took some food, And was strengthened, So Saul became, A chosen instrument, In God's hand, And he says, In Ephesians, By God's grace, And mighty power, I've been given the privilege, Of serving him, By spreading the good news, He saw this, As a privilege, That God's grace, And power, Had intervened, In his life, So that he could spread, The good news, To other people, We've had the privilege, Have we not, Of having our eyes opened, Not in so much, A dramatic fashion, I don't think, But we've had our eyes open, The light of the gospel,

[33:42] Enlightened us, And the knowledge of Christ, We've had that privilege, Of his grace, Do we go down, And tell others, About the endless treasure, Available, To them, In Christ, And that's what Paul, Saul did, He was preaching, The good news, As he himself says, In Ephesians, Because he knew Christ, For himself, He went to preach it, To others, And, He became a preacher, A chosen instrument, In God's hands, He was called by God, And I think that's the important thing, You know, There's still some, Instances in churches, Who are vacant, And they're looking for a, A person to come over them, And the important thing always, Is that these people, Are called by God, To do that work, Not what we want, But that's what God wants, To call upon his name, Who's the right person,

[34:43] For that vacancy, What does God call, Have in mind, And so, He became a, A faith, Faithful witness, In God's hand, And you can imagine, What happened, And he says, Briefly in verse 16, Some of what happened to him, And, How much he will suffer, For, The sake of my name, Again, My name, And, He, He relates some of this, I'll do not quote all of it, But, It's in Corinthians, Some of that, Suffering that, Saul undertook, Or Paul, He was, Imprisoned, Countless beatings, Often near to death, Five times I received, At the hands of the Jews, Thirty nine lasses, Three times I was beaten, Once I was stoned, Three times I was shipwrecked, And the list goes on, And that's, What it says there, In verse 16, That he would suffer, For his name, And, But yet,

[35:43] When Ananias, Saw this man, That was converted, How did he greet him? Brother, He says, Brother, And he accepted, This man, Probably was feeling, A bit of fear, He was hesitant to go, But he accepted, This man was his brother now, And brought him in, To the, Laid his hands upon him, And it says, Immediately, Something like scales, Fell off his eyes, And he gained his sight, And then, He wanted to profess, Faith publicly, And, That must have been, Quite a challenge, For Saul, Wouldn't it be?

[36:20] That he was willing, To stand up for Christ, And be baptized, And to show people, That he was converted, Wouldn't some of them, Look at it, As we read, In verse 21, And they were amazed, That this change in Saul, And that he was, Now publicly professing, The very name, That he was trying, To persecute, Earlier, The scales, Came off his eyes, And he could see, But we're told, In the New Testament again, The God of this age, Has blinded, The minds, Of unbelievers, There's a blindness, Now in people, They haven't got scales, In their eyes, As it were, But it's like, Blindness, Upon people, They can't see, The light of the gospel, Of the glory of Christ, As the image of God, There's this blindness, And, We must pray, And this is something, That Paul, States elsewhere, He was sent, What did he say, To open the eyes, So that they may turn, From their darkness, To light,

[37:21] And from the power, Of Satan, To God, So that they might receive, Forgiveness, And sins, And a place, Among those, Who are sanctified, By faith in me, That was his testimony, Later on, In Acts 26, 18, When he's giving, His testimony, That God chose him, To open the eyes, Of others, So remember, When people, Are under this, Almost darkness, And to the light, Of the gospel, Under the power, Of Satan it says, And we pray, Paul was saying, He was sent to, So that these people, Would receive forgiveness, And that was, Saul's public profession, Of faith, As he came, As this, Chosen instrument, Of God, To, Be sent, And, Proclaim, What did, As well as proclaiming, All these things, He declared, Quite openly, What does he say, I think it's verse 19 and 20, I've noted down here, He is the son of God,

[38:23] He preached, He was the son of God, A doctrine that's repeated, Throughout the New Testament, And, He was declaring, That Jesus was the son of God, Heralding, Becoming a herald again, Of the good news, And, People, Came, To Christ, Through his preaching, Calling him, The son of God, So, We've looked at Saul tonight, And, How, Saul, The persecutor, Was apprehended, By Jesus, How Ananias, Was an instrument, In God's hand, And, How Saul, Also became an instrument, In God's hand, And, It says of Saul, He increased, All the more in strength, And, Confounded the Jews, Who lived in Damascus, By proving, That Jesus, Was the Christ, So,

[39:26] Saul, Probably went back, To the Old Testament, That he knew so well, Maybe even to that passage, Briefly looked at this morning, Isaiah 53, And showed them, That that servant, Was the Christ, The suffering servant, That Isaiah foretold, He preached Christ, To them, May God use us, As his instruments, In the dreamer's hand, So that we might, At least, Bring one person, Out of darkness, Into light, May God bless, These two, Thoughts to us, This evening, And we'll say,