Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah. It is wonderful
that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah, either
by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, would you pray
for us that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like yourself?
The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian, we really,
I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the Bible,
they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will
do what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're a
non-Christian checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't
hesitate to send us questions. It helps me actually to know, as I'm preaching, how to deal with the
types of things that you're really struggling with. So God bless.
Just bow our heads in prayer, please. Father, we ask that you would, in your kindness and mercy,
Father, we just thank you for your kindness and your mercy. Father, there is no one kinder than you.
Lord Jesus, there is no one kinder than you. And Father, in your kindness towards us, may the Holy
Spirit help us to listen to your Word very deeply, and may Jesus and who He is and what He's done,
may He form us at a very deep level. And for those of us who are His, may His comfort,
may His presence comfort us and cheer us at this time. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Please be seated.
Back just after I came to this church, which was a long time ago now, about a year or so after I came
to this church, it was announced that a fellow by the name of Billy Graham, I know that's like, I don't
know, do people still remember Billy Graham? Okay, a lot of you still do, maybe not all of you, but
a fellow by the name of Billy Graham, it was announced that he was going to come to Ottawa to do a series
of crusades. He was going to speak at the, whatever they call the big hockey stadium now, I keep getting
it mixed up, Scotiabank Place, I guess it is. And as part of that, the Billy Graham team wanted
different churches to sort of get behind this, to provide counsellors and greeters and other types of
help for that. I'd only been at the church about a year or so, I think, maybe a year and a half.
And I wanted our church to be a part of it. And the church at that time was not the type of church
that would have supported something like the Billy Graham mission. And in fact, you might want to talk
to somebody like Andrew afterwards, because the very first time we had an introductory video
introducing the Billy Graham campaign coming to Ottawa, and me saying I'd like us to be supported,
the hostility from the congregation was so severe that all of the team, Andrew was one of them,
they all resigned. Because so many people in the congregation were mad about this. And in fact,
there was an attempt to, you know, force me to go back and all of this type of stuff, lots of drama.
Anyway, the bottom line is, at the time, I had these two very interesting, just sort of average
Anglican type guys who were my wardens. And I said to them, like, what do you think I should do?
You know? And one of them, and if either of these guys are watching, you know, shout out to both of
you, I have fond memories. And one of them was in the Navy. And his attitude was just, I mean,
I don't know if he saluted or not. He just said, listen, you're the CO, I'm the XO. The CO says we go
here, we go here and I'll help you. Like that was as simple as that. And the other fellow,
who would never in his life listen to a Billy Graham evangelistic thing, he just said, George,
I'm completely and utterly puzzled by the whole congregation. This man has been one of the most
influential men in history, the history of the Western world, in the last half of the 20th century.
Like, I'm just curious to hear him. Like, I don't understand why anybody wouldn't be curious to hear
this guy who's been arguably one of the most influential men of the latter half of the 20th century.
That's all he said. So I pressed on. And in fact, actually, our church had a very robust
involvement in the Billy Graham mission. And I still have very fond memories of it.
Now, I mention this because regardless of where you are spiritually, whether you are a Christian,
or whether you're trying to figure out what the Christian faith is all about, or whether you're
watching me to get some ammo as to why you shouldn't be a Christian, whatever, wherever you are,
the thing that we're going to look at today is arguably one of the turning points in human history.
Like, not even, like, it's like a no-brainer that it's one of the turning points in human history.
And anybody who's at all interested in how the world came to be should be interested in something
which is very, very easily argued is one of the turning points in human history.
Now, obviously, and you don't even have to be a Christian to acknowledge that Jesus's life and birth and death,
and I believe resurrection, is one of the things which changed the course of human history.
And this thing here, which happens about a year later, year and a half later, is one of the reasons why,
well, it's not just Jewish people in this room speaking Hebrew.
Why there's a whole pile of, I mean, my ancient ancestors painted themselves blue,
danced naked, taunting the Romans.
How did people like that ever become Christians?
Well, it's because of this very remarkable conversion, which is a turning point in human history,
that even though the message of Jesus had not yet pierced the pagan world,
and he wouldn't be the guy who would do the initial thing,
this is the guy who ends up bringing the message of Jesus to Europe
and spreads it far and wide to people of many, many different languages and people groups.
And it's that missionary movement that's launched and really headed up by him,
which continues to this day.
And so it is arguably a turning point in human history,
so let's have a look at this historical account of it.
And if you have your Bibles, it's Acts 9, verse 1 and following.
And it's helpful if I open it up to the right thing myself.
And just as a reminder, you know, I got the privilege of speaking at a wedding.
Actually, two weekends in a row I've had the privilege of speaking at a wedding.
And one of the things I said there, because I was going to read in both cases,
actually it was John chapter 2.
You know, we get a little bit confused when we look at a book with this really expensive type of paper,
and, you know, there used to be gold stuff on the edge.
Because now, of course, it's viewed as being the Bible.
But when it was originally written, I doubt if Luke thought I'm writing something for the Bible.
He just wanted to provide an eyewitness-based account of the first 30 years of the Jesus movement.
And that's what we have.
An eyewitness-based account of the first 30 or so years of the Jesus movement,
written while many of the eyewitnesses were still alive.
And so this is Luke's account of what happens to a man by the name of Saul.
And it goes like this.
But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord,
went to the high priest and asked 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.
Now, just sort of pause here for a second.
Just a couple of things.
First of all, I want to warn you in advance.
I'm liable to slip up.
I don't know.
I think those from the congregation were at the wedding yesterday.
It was one of the rare weddings I did where I didn't mess up a name throughout the whole wedding.
People who have been to many weddings that I do,
they sort of wait for when's George going to get one of the names wrong.
And in fact, I have to confess, all the way through the rehearsal,
I kept wanting to call the bride Susie.
And I think I even called her Susie, which is her mom's name.
But anyway, I'm going to maybe mix up Saul and Paul throughout this,
but they're the same person.
Like many people who've come from another culture,
you have maybe your cultural name,
and then maybe because it's hard for Canadians to pronounce it,
you come up with a Canadian name to match it.
And that's the same type of thing that's going on here.
Many, many Jewish people at the time would have had their Hebrew name,
and they also would have had their pagan name.
So Saul is the Jewish name,
and Paul is the pagan name or the Roman name.
And I'm more familiar with calling him Paul,
but this, because right now it's all about this fellow who's Jewish,
they're going to use his name Saul.
So if I mix up and say Paul or Saul or whatever,
it's the same guy.
It's just me being a little bit confused with names.
And the second thing about this is actually it's a really cool thing.
If you look at the text again, verse 1, it says breathing threats.
In the original language,
there's an image that goes along with this type of breathing.
And what you're to imagine is you're a lion.
You're somewhere, and there's a wild lion.
And you know it's going to pounce.
And before it pounce, it starts huffing.
It breathes heavily, like a bull before it charges breathes heavily.
And that's this type of thing,
an image of a murderous wild beast
huffing and huffing before it attacks.
That's how Saul is described.
And so he has this murderous plan.
He has been one of the ringleaders
of the death of the first Christian martyr.
He's been responsible for the deaths of other Christians.
And now he wants to go and extend this campaign of murder to Damascus.
And now let's get back to the story.
And by the way, one of the things to understand here
when they're heading to Damascus,
and I think we have at least one person in the congregation here
who's lived in Damascus, or at least near about it,
and you can ask them about it.
But in those days, Damascus was an oasis destination in the middle of desert.
So it's in the Middle East, and he's traveling through desert.
And as he's coming to this oasis city of Damascus,
this is what happens.
Verse 3.
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?
And Saul said, Who are you, Lord?
And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.
The men who were traveling with Saul stood speechless,
hearing the voice but seeing no one.
Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened,
he saw nothing.
So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.
And just sort of pause there for a second.
So there's a couple of things about this story.
And the first thing is that there's parts of the story
which are public or observable,
and parts of the story which are private and not observable
in the whole event.
So if we were to go back in a time machine,
it would be a very big time machine if we could all go back.
If we were able to go back to a time machine
in some time probably about the year 34,
and this time machine also happened to know
that we should be on the road and close to Damascus at the right day.
We don't know the precise day.
There's certain things that we would see
that are just observable that you can't deny.
And the first thing that you would see
is that you would see this unbelievably bright light.
I don't know how many of you have ever been in the Middle East
or close to the equator,
but it gets really bright,
especially if it's the right time of the year in the Middle East.
There's hardly any clouds in the sky.
It's hot, and it's very, very sunny.
And even though it's very, very sunny,
there's a bright light so bright
that even on a very, very sunny day near noon,
it's brighter than that, and you would see that.
And the other thing you would see
is the men traveling with Paul or Saul
and Saul all falling to the ground.
And they fall to the ground.
Our charismatic friends would call this slain in the Spirit.
And just a little bit of a note,
for those of you more Reformed and evangelical
who sometimes wonder about our,
from your point of view,
kooky, charismatic friends
being slain in the spirits in the New Testament.
This is an example of it.
They get knocked down by God.
And while they all get knocked down by God,
the men get up after they've been knocked down by God.
But Paul continues to lie down.
And all of the people there, including yourself,
will hear some type of voice,
something being said.
But that's all you'll see.
The other thing that you'll see,
which is public and observable,
is that when Paul is finally helped up,
he cannot see.
He's blind.
And he's had to be led into this other city.
What you don't see is,
or understand,
is you don't get to see Jesus.
Jesus.
Only Paul sees Jesus.
He doesn't just see the light.
He sees Jesus.
The man who was crucified
a year, year and a half earlier,
just outside of Jerusalem,
and who was buried in a tomb.
And Paul, like all others from Jerusalem,
Saul would know that the grave was empty
and that they'd never found the body.
And he sees Jesus.
And he hears Jesus speaking to him.
But only Paul hears that.
Now, for many people over the years,
this is a very problematic event.
But it's only problematic if you're sort of...
I don't know how to word it
without making it sound like I'm putting people down.
And so just give me some mercy.
I don't mean to put you down.
But the problem is
that there's not enough thinking
about what's going on here.
And a simple way to explain it
is that the resurrected Jesus,
or an angel,
is not like a camel.
That's all you have to understand.
A camel and an angel,
or a camel and the resurrected Jesus,
they're not the same.
You don't see them the same way.
So, for instance,
we all can see camels,
big, hulking things.
And so if there had been a camel
in the middle of the road,
and Saul is saying,
look at the camel,
and everybody else is saying,
Saul, there's no camel.
Like, there's nothing.
Like, they'd all be worried
that maybe he's mentally ill
or something like that,
because a camel is a camel is a camel,
and you can see it.
But if you think about it for a second,
if there are, in fact,
beings like angels,
or if there is, in fact,
a resurrected Jesus,
by the very nature,
an angel is something,
is someone,
and the resurrected Jesus
is not someone
that we can just observe.
They are not simply observable
by our own power.
The angel,
or in this case,
the resurrected Jesus,
has to reveal himself.
They have to choose to be seen.
It's not a sermon about angels,
but I believe,
the New Testament teaches,
that even now as we gather,
we do not just gather as ourselves
hearing God's word,
and we do not gather just by ourselves
to sing God's praises,
but there are angels present with us,
and none of us can see them.
But if an angel chose to reveal itself,
it might be that it would just reveal itself
to victory or to Steve,
and the rest of us
wouldn't be able to see it,
because you can't see angels.
But I believe the New Testament teaches
that there are angels present.
When we sing God's praises,
I mean, part of it,
when that hymn says,
tune our hearts to sing your praise,
it's partially tune our hearts
to be like angels,
who love you and obey you,
to sing in harmony
with the praises of the angels.
I think that's a wonderful image,
and it's a New Testament image.
So it's not at all odd
that only Paul would see Jesus,
and only Paul would hear Jesus talk to him.
But some people might say,
George, okay, that doesn't make any sense.
You know, I sort of can get it
that if there is a being like an angel,
or if there is something like a resurrection,
I can sort of get it
in fact, if you think about it,
for those of you who read
science fiction novels or fantasy novels,
this idea of having some type of a way
to cloak your visibility to others
and choose who can see you,
it's a very common theme
in science fiction and fantasy novels.
It's not a stretch
if you're open to thinking about it.
But, George, isn't it far more likely
that what's really going on here
is that Paul has just had,
well, in fact, many people think
he's had like an epileptic fit
or something like that,
but that's, there's no,
nobody can seriously look
at the historical knowledge
we have of Saul
and think that he was mentally ill.
People who say that
are just plain games.
All they have to do
is walk around outside of our church
for five minutes
and see many mentally ill people
and know that that does not describe Saul,
just doesn't describe Saul.
So, but the other thing is,
many people say,
well, it's just a vision.
And one of the things
which is so cool
about Luke's history
is that Luke,
it's almost as if Luke
anticipates that objection
and even more importantly
that God anticipates the objection
and so does something
to mess with our thinking
or actually to help us
to think straight.
Look what happens next.
Begin reading it at verse nine.
So Saul is in Damascus,
he's been led into Damascus,
verse nine,
and for three days
he, Saul,
was without sight
and neither ate nor drank.
Now there was a disciple
at Damascus named Ananias
and the Lord said to him
in a vision,
notice that,
in a vision,
Ananias.
And Ananias said,
here I am, Lord.
Now just sort of pause here.
In the original language,
this is a little bit like,
once again,
if you ask somebody like Ross
when he was in the military,
if he called up a lieutenant
and the lieutenant would come
and say,
here I am,
like,
reporting for duty,
sir.
And that's the same type
of idea here.
Like,
Ananias,
like,
I'm ready.
It's not just,
here I am.
Oh,
well,
it's not like,
oh yeah,
by the way,
I'm over here.
No,
no,
I'm ready.
You know,
what's your command?
And verse 11,
and the Lord said to him,
rise and go to the street
called Straight,
which I believe
is still in Damascus.
I think it's actually
one of the oldest
continuous streets
on the planet.
Although that's what
the commentary said,
I've never seen there.
But rise and go to the street
called Straight,
and at the house of Judas
look for a man
of Tarsus
named Saul.
For behold,
he is praying,
and he is seen
in a vision
a man named Ananias
come in
and lay his hands
on him
so that he might
regain his sight.
But Ananias answered,
Lord,
I have heard
from many
about this man
and how much evil
he has done
to your saints
at Jerusalem.
And here he has
authority from
the chief priests
to bind all
who call on your name.
But the Lord
said to him,
go,
for he is a chosen
instrument of mine
to carry my name
before the Gentiles
and kings
and the children
of Israel.
For I will show him
how much he must suffer
for the sake
of my name.
Now just sort of
pause here
before we continue.
There's a couple
of things here
which are very interesting.
And the first thing,
remember I said
that it's almost
as if the triune God
anticipated our objections
and wove into the story
a way to undermine
our objections,
and Luke records it.
Because what we see here
is that Luke
understands the difference
between seeing a camel
and a vision
or seeing Jesus
and a vision.
He makes it clear
that he understands
that distinction,
that it's a valid distinction.
But what he wants
to make clear,
and it makes it even clearer
as you read through
the rest of the book of Acts
and as you read
other things,
other historical letters
from the time period,
that Paul didn't have
a vision.
He saw Jesus.
He saw the resurrected Jesus.
It wasn't a vision.
He saw him.
And Ananias puts right in,
by the way,
Luke says,
maybe to his,
you know,
to,
who is it that he
dedicates the book to?
I can't remember
the name right now.
Eh?
Theophilus.
Maybe he's actually
even saying to the Theophilus
after it's all written,
Theophilus was going to say,
that's so neat, Luke.
I appreciated
what you put in there
because I was going to say
that maybe it was
just a vision,
and dang it,
you wouldn't put in
that you understand
the difference
between visions
and seeing Jesus.
And that's,
and the other thing here
which is so,
just to point it out,
like one of the things
that stories do for us,
it seems like,
for instance,
in Sunday school
and other things,
you often tell kids stories,
and one of the things
that stories
from the New Testament do
is they form us
to understand ideas.
And they just do it
in the flow of the story.
So what's actually
being communicated here,
which is very important,
because a lot of people have,
like people outside
the Christian faith
worry about this,
and sometimes Christians
fall prey to it.
But the worry is
that God asks us
for blind obedience,
blind trust.
Sometimes he will,
but primarily what he wants
is thoughtful obedience.
Not blind,
but thoughtful obedience.
And that's seen in the story.
God appears,
God speaks,
it's an auditory,
not a visual vision,
it's an auditory vision,
and the Jesus,
the Lord,
speaks to Ananias,
tells him,
I want you to go
and you're going to meet
this guy Saul.
And then Saul,
and then Ananias
responds back.
Now he's not being mouthy,
it's not like,
you know,
you look at maybe
some parent
dealing with their
13-year-old,
and they try to communicate
something to their
13-year-old,
and their 13-year-old
gets really mouthy
back at the parent.
But Ananias just says,
in a sense,
okay,
just time out,
Lord,
you do realize
you're sending me
to talk to this guy
who kills Christians.
Like,
you do realize
that's what you're asking me.
And in the whole flow
of the story,
when Jesus speaks
to Ananias again,
Jesus doesn't give him
a smackdown
for being mouthy,
he doesn't tell him off.
He appreciates
that it's a reasonable question,
he's counting the cost
of the decision.
And Jesus says to Ananias,
no, no,
I want you to go ahead,
and I want you to understand
that I'm actually
about to call this guy
into a mission
that means he's going
to go to all sorts
of pagan people,
he'll talk to kings,
he'll also talk
to Jewish people,
and he's also going
to suffer for the gospel,
and I want you
to know that,
and I want him
to know that.
And so what you see here
is an example
of thoughtful obedience.
It's still obedience,
but it's thoughtful.
God delights
in honest questions,
and that's what happens.
So what happens?
Actually,
one of the things
which happens next
is very,
very beautiful,
and I don't know
if any of you
have thought about it before,
but it's very beautiful,
and in some ways
it's a foretaste
of heaven
for Christians.
What happens?
Look at what happens
in verse 17.
So Ananias departed
and entered the house,
and laying his hands
on Saul,
he said,
Brother Saul.
I'll explain
why that's so significant.
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,
and immediately
something like scales
fell from Saul's eyes
and he regained
his sight.
Then he rose
and he was baptized
as a Christian
and taking food
he was strengthened.
Now what's so wonderful
about this story?
Ananias didn't say,
you dirty rat.
I know some of those
people you killed.
And some of those
people you killed,
I know Mary
and she still has
those scars.
He didn't say
anything like that.
He puts his hands
and we all know
how important
a touch
of affection
and respect is.
We can usually
tell the difference
between a touch
which is hostile
or manipulative
and a touch
which is an honest touch.
We crave honest touches
like this
and he touches
Saul.
And what happens
next is that
Ananias recognizes
that he and Saul
are alike.
No human being
deserves heaven.
The whole message
of the gospel
is that apart
from Christ
I am separated
from God
and I deserve
God's judgment.
And the message
of the gospel
is that Jesus'
life and his death
upon the cross
a death he didn't deserve
that that
when he dies
on the cross
the judgment
that Saul deserved
fell on Jesus.
the judgment
that Ananias deserved
fell on Jesus.
The judgment
that George
deserved
deserves
fell on Jesus.
The judgment
that Steve
deserves
fell on Jesus.
And I am made
right with God
not by anything
I have done
or can ever do
it is purely
God's grace
offered
through the finished
work of Jesus
upon the cross
that I receive
by faith alone
that I am made
right with God
and I have no
basis or claim
other than that
and so
I am equal
to Saul
I am equal
to Ananias
I am equal
to Steve
I am equal
to any brother
or sister
in Christ
that is the only
basis I have
to be received
by Christ
and Ananias
recognizes that
and here's the
wonderful thing
to help bring home
for us
the hope of heaven.
I have said
this many times
and it goes back
to a text like this
when I die
not because I am
at all special
I am not at all special
not because I am
a presbyter
it has nothing
to do with
being a presbyter
purely and utterly
by the grace
of Christ
and his finished
work upon the cross
and that Jesus
came to me
and sought me
and provided
within me
the freedom
that I could
respond
and put my
faith and trust
in him
and when I
breathe my
final breath
and then I die
and my eyes
close on this
world
my eyes
will open
in the new
heaven
and the new
earth
and God
the Father
will look
at me
and he will
smile
and he will
say George
my child
I've been
so looking
forward to
you being
here
welcome
that is
God's
initial
final word
about you
in Christ
so when we
see Ananias
laying his
hands on
Saul
and saying
brother Saul
that is a
hint
a foretaste
of those
even greater
words that
will be said
by our
father in
heaven when
he says
George my
child
welcome
Steve my
child
welcome
Ken my
child
surely my
child
welcome
now the
story
takes
an astounding
turn
and a bit
of a dark
turn
there used
to be
an organization
called Campus
for Christ
and they did
spectacular work
but I think
one of the
things that
they did
was very
weak
is that
they said
God has
a wonderful
plan for
your life
and the
problem
with that
is that
we tend
to interpret
wonderful
life by
Canadian
standards
Paul
didn't
have a
wonderful
life
at least
by Canadian
standards
let's see
what happens
this odd
turn that
happens
it continues
on in
the second
part of
verse 19
for some
days
Saul
was
with the
disciples
at Damascus
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
and has
he not
come here
for this
purpose
to bring
them bound
before the
chief
priests
but Saul
increased
all the
more in
strength
and confounded
the Jewish
people who
lived in
Damascus
by proving
that Jesus
was the
Christ
and when
many days
had passed
some of
the Jewish
people there
plotted to
kill Saul
but their
plot became
known to him
they were
watching the
gates day and
night in
order to
kill him
but his
disciples took
him by
night and
led him
down through
the opening
in the wall
lowering him
in a basket
you see this
profound irony
here that the
man who wanted
to go to
Jerusalem to
kill Christians
becomes a
Christian and
now in some
ways the
passions which
he has
inflamed are
now turned
against him
and people
want to kill
him and it
continues on
in that
vein
look what
happens
next
verse 26
and when
he had
come to
Jerusalem
he attempted
to join
the disciples
they were
all afraid
of him
for they
did not
believe that
he was a
disciple
but Barnabas
took Saul
and brought
him to the
apostles
and declared
to them
how on the
road Saul
had seen
the Lord
who spoke
to him
and how
at Damascus
he had
preached
boldly in
the name
of Jesus
so Saul
went in
and out
among them
at Jerusalem
preaching boldly
in the name
of the Lord
and Saul
spoke and
disputed against
the Hellenists
by the way
the Hellenists
were the same
group that
were responsible
for the death
of Stephen
isn't this
just so
remarkable
that Saul
when he comes
to Jerusalem
goes to the
same people
to share the
gospel
see one
of the
things
when we
pray for
persecuted
Christians
one of the
things that
Christians
should pray
and it
comes from
this
we pray
that the
God
the
persecutors
will stop
persecuting
but we also
have to pray
for their
conversion
because that's
the most
important thing
and then
it goes on
so he
verse 29
and he spoke
and disputed
against the
Hellenists
but they were
seeking to
kill him
and when the
brothers learned
this they
brought him
down to
Caesarea
and sent him
off to
Tarsus
now just
a couple
of things
to wrap
things up
see so
once again
why is it
that we
believe that
the historical
evidence is
that there's
good solid
historical evidence
that Jesus
really rose
from the dead
this adds
to it
Saul at
any point
in time
could have
Saul
in a sense
from an
earthly point
of view
left everything
once Jesus
appeared to
him alive
and he
becomes a
Christian
if you
ask
many
Jewish
well not
a lot
of Jewish
people
aren't that
informed
about their
tradition
but if you
go to the
synagogues
and talk
to the
rabbis
the name
of Gamaliel
is still
well known
amongst
Jewish
people
as being
one of
the greatest
teachers
of law
who ever
lived
and that
was
Saul's
mentor
but now
he loses
his mentor
he loses
his social
standing
people are
trying to
kill him
and he
will end up
being shipwrecked
and beaten
and stoned
and all
sorts of
types of
things
and in
every
all of
these
things
it could
have
all
ended
he could
have
regained
his status
by just
saying
ha ha ha
okay
whoa whoa
whoa
got ya
no
Jesus
didn't
Jesus
still die
Jesus
still
dead
I didn't
see him
just joking
just messing
with you
ha ha ha
he just
had to
say that
and his
life
could go
back
but he
doesn't
say that
he says
the grave
is empty
Jesus
is alive
I've seen
him
I've seen
him
you want
to kill
me
kill me
if you
want
I've seen
him
we have
all sorts
of people
we have
death cults
all over
the place
where people
die for
causes
as I've
said
before
people
don't die
for a
fact
very rarely
Saul
will
eventually
die
for a
fact
it's
true
it
happened
but
some
might
say
why
on earth
would
anybody
want
to
become
a
Christian
if
all
that's
going
to
happen
is
that
God
doesn't
have
a
better
plan
for
your
life
and
in
fact
George
do you
realize
what
would
happen
if
I
became
a
Christian
in
Ottawa
today
and
it
got
out
that
I
was
a
Christian
like
I
don't
think
my
life
would
be
better
I
think
my
life
would
be
worse
like
for
a
lot
of
us
George
in
a
place
like
Ottawa
like
a
lot
of
people
they
see
Christians
as
the
problem
they
see
Christians
as
the
bad
guy
they
see
us
as
being
haters
not
lovers
like
why
would
anybody
become
a
Christian
well
part
of
the
answer
is
I
mean
part
of
it
you
should
only
become
a
Christian
bad
me
now
Saul
is
persecuting
Christians
but
Jesus
doesn't
say
why
are
you
persecuting
Christians
he
says
why
are
you
persecuting
me
and
in
verse
five
Saul
says
who
are
you
Lord
and
the
Lord
says
I
am
Jesus
whom
you
are
persecuting
what
this
text
is
telling
us
you
know
I've
already
shared
that
what
let
Ananias
what
Ananias
realized
when he
prayed
for
Saul
was
that
he
and
Saul
were
the
same
in
the
sense
that
they
like
me
are
completely
dependent
upon
the
judgment
that
I
deserve
fell
on
Jesus
so
that
the
life
that
he
deserved
could
be
given
to
me
but
then
when
we
give
our
lives
to
Christ
when
Christ
comes
to
us
and
presents
himself
in a
spiritual
sense
or his
presence
to us
and we
you know
that you
partly in
some ways
and you see
this with
Saul
partly what it
means to
become a
Christian
is you
say to
Jesus
I surrender
like you
turn to
him
and you
say I'm
going to
stop running
I'm going to
stop fighting
you
I'm going to
stop hating
you
I'm going to
stop raging
you
I'm going to
stop ignoring
you
I surrender
I'm yours
and that's
what the
Christian life
is about
in terms
of growing
I surrender
the beautiful
hymn
I surrender
all
that's how
you begin
conversion
and that's
how you
grow in
conversion
I surrender
all
but then
Jesus
becomes so
closely
identified
with you
that you
are so
in him
that if
I get
persecuted
because I
am a
Christian
those people
who are
persecuting
me are
not just
persecuting
me
they are
persecuting
Jesus
himself
that's
how closely
identified
he is
with me
I am
not alone
I am
always
with
Jesus
and I
am
in
Jesus
I
forget
that
and I
try to
sometimes
hide
that
or
reject
that
when I
want to
do
something
which I
know
is
wrong
but
that's
how
closely
he
has
identified
with
me
and
he
has
taken
me
into
himself
so
that
he
can
say
when
you
saw
have
been
persecuting
Christians
these
Christians
are so
closely
connected
to me
and are
actually
in me
that
you're
actually
persecuting
me
I'll
leave
you
with
a
story
some
of
you
are
familiar
with
the
person
Corrie
Tenboom
if
you
haven't
read
her
book
The
Hiding
Place
you
should
find
it
you
should
read
it
it's
a
very
beautiful
book
Corrie
Tenboom
with her
sister
and her
dad
were
Dutch
Christians
when
the
Nazis
invaded
Holland
and
out of
their
love
and
obedience
to
Christ
they
hid
Jews
and
after
they'd
been
hiding
Jews
from
the
Nazis
who
wanted
to
kill
them
a
neighbor
a
neighbor
ratted
them
out
and
the
Nazis
came
and
captured
the
Jews
and
in
anger
threw
not
only
the
Jewish
people
into
the
concentration
camps
but
Corrie
Tenboom
and her
sister
and her
dad
all
went
to
the
concentration
camps
and
while
in
the
concentration
camps
her
father
and
her
sister
died
but
Corrie
Tenboom
by
God's
grace
survived
and
in fact
actually
lived
quite a
long
life
and
there's
a
wonderful
story
later
on
when
somebody
said
this
God
that
you
worship
that
you
think
is
so
powerful
why
don't
you
think
it's
quite
likely
that
one
day
he
will
forget
about
you
and
you
will
in a
sense
fall
between
his
fingers
and
he'll
just
leave
you
because
you
know
you
just
slip
between
his
fingers
and
Corrie
Tenboom
looked
at the
person
and
said
that
will
never
happen
I
am
his
fingers
I
am
his
fingers
can't
happen
he'll
never
forget
me
he'll
never
let
me
fall
I
am
his
fingers
please
stand
let's
bow
our
heads
in
prayer
father
thank
you
for
Jesus
thank
you
for
his
life
thank
you
that
he
came
to
seek
us
thank
you
that
he
died
the
death
that
we
deserve
as
Christians
that
we
deserve
and
he
took
the
judgment
and
the
punishment
that
we
deserve
and
that
he
offered
his
sinless
life
and
standing
with
the
father
to
us
who
do
not
deserve
it
and
he
did
it
all
out
of
love
for
us
and
to
save
us
because
we
could
not
save
ourselves
and
father
we
thank
you
for
him
and
for
what
he
has
done
we
thank
you
father
that
he
is
not
he
is
not
dead
but
alive
and
that
he
through
the
holy
spirit
continues
to
seek
people
to
be
his
own
not
physically
but
he
continues
to
seek
us
and
father
I
ask
for
any
who
might
be
here
or
watching
if
you
feel
at
all
friends
that
you
feel
any
type
of
tug
towards
Christ
know
that
it
is
him
calling
you
to
give
yourself
to
him
we
thank
you
father
that
Jesus
comes
to
us
that
he
wants
us
to
be
your
children
by
adoption
and
grace
and
we
ask
father
that
you
know
how
we
sometimes
struggle
with
loneliness
and
sometimes
with
depression
and
sadness
and
unfulfilled
desires
and
longings
and
father
you
know
all
of
these
things
about
us
and
we
ask
father
in
all
of
those
times
and
in
good
times
as
well
that
you
will
help
us
to
remember
Jesus
and
who
he
is
and
what
he
has
done
and
that
he
is
so
close
to
us
at
all
times
and
so
with
us
at
all
times
that
we
will
flee
sin
that
we
flee
despair
remind
us
father
deeply
day
by
day
in
Christ
that
the
final
word
about
us
will
not
be
failure
will
not
be
loser
but
will
be
child
I
am
so
glad
you
are
with
me
father
make
these
truths
deeply
dear
to
our
hearts
and
we
ask
these
things
in
the
name
of
Jesus
your
son
and
our
savior
and
all
God's
people
said
Amen
God's
God
He
God