Who Are You, Lord?

So let's pray and let's do our best today. Dear

Heavenly Father, we are so grateful for Jesus. We have

a lot to share, a lot to do, and a

lot to grow. And we ask you to be with

us and the love of God and to gain from

Paul's life the lessons we need in Jesus' name. Amen.

The title of the message is who are You? Lord?

And there are times in life when we have to

come to grips with the fact that we are not

in a relationship with the Lord, and we have to

be knocked off our horse and blinded to see the light.

And this is the case with Saul. The name Saul

in Hebrew means asked for, or it can be in

its meaning it can mean prayed for. When a child

was named Saul in the Bible, it meant that godly

parents God on their knees and they prayed to God

that God would would answer their prayer and give them

a boy named Saul. Because it means asked for, we

must not forget that before the apostle Paul was named Paul,

he was first called Saul. He was the brightest of

his generation. He studied at the feet of the great

Rabbi Gammelio, and he was a member of the Sanhedrin,

the ruling counsel of the Jews. Saul advanced in Judaism

beyond his peers. We are told he was zealous for

the tradition of the Fathers. He was patriotic toward his

country as a statesman at a very early age. In

compliance with the law of Moses. Saul was by all

appearance that's blameless. If any man could have achieved a

righteousness based on works of law by trying hard, Saul

was the man. There was only one problem with Saul.

The harder he tried to be perfect, the more perfection

eluded him. You see the apostle Paul, whose first name Saul,

is proof that if you are trying to gain a

perfection to be accepted by God, you will fail. The

great Apostle to the Gentiles was a man whose righteousness

had failed, so he could proclaim and learn of the

righteousness of God that comes through faith in Jesus. The

harder he tried to be perfect, the more it ended

in personal failure. Saul was chained to a failed kind

of righteousness that is never good enough for the judgment day.

He was chained to a life record that was made

up of good works, good achievements, and clear successes, but

not worth one nickel to God when he stands before

the tribunal of God at the end of time, Saul

pursued a righteousness that was not God's righteousness. Now, Saul's heart,

like the nation he fought for, was held captive to

the forces of fear, failure, and a future judgment that

he was afraid of. Saul, whose name means prayed for

or asked for, needed someone to pray for him so

that his eyes could be opened and he could see

the truth that would allow him to be saved. Now,

I've learned in my own life, when I'm focusing on

me too much, that's when I don't see Jesus. When

I'm focusing on the errors and faults of others is

when I fail in my life. And when I think

I'm so righteous that I con virtue signal to the

world is when I need the righteousness of God in

my life. Have you ever fallen into that trap? We

all have. Someone needed to pray for Saul because Saul

could not save Saul from Saul. When a person spends

all their life trying to look righteous when they aren't righteous.

Sooner or later they will begin to lash out at

those who are really righteous. And Carl Jung called that

shadow projection. And they may not even know that they're

doing this. The death of Stephen was influenced, had influenced

deeply the life of Saul. His whole life is transformed

by the martyrdom of a man who was assassinated as

he was bearing witness to Jesus Christ. Stephen was a

good deacon in the church who bore witness to the

truth of Jesus Christ. In fact, Stephen called Jesus the

righteous one, and they killed Stephen for that. Stephen took

care of the widows. He made sure the apostles were

free to study the Word of God. He was the

model deacon who made sure that the preachers weren't doing

any and everything that they didn't need to do. And

so he did that. But guess what he did other

things too. He got his Bible. He also preached and

taught the Word of God. He was so effective at

teaching and preaching that his enemies decided he had to

be murdered. One day, Stephen was dragged before the tribunal

of the Jews, and Saul was there as a young

man to see and hear it. All that day Stephen

preached a sermon as good as any apostle or preacher

could ever preach. Full of the Holy Spirit. He laid

out the history of Israel, how they had failed to

attain a righteousness based on faith, how they had become

a disobedient people, And that day Stephen preached a sermon

that touched the heart of Saul, not with conversion, but

with anger. Stephen was a deacon filled with the Holy Spirit,

and Saul was resisting the Holy Spirit as he held

his coat for his execution Acts six point fifteen, and

gazing at him, all who said in the council saw

that his face was like the face of an angel.

That day Stephen told that wicked counsel that the truth

they could not escape, and because they could not escape

the truth that drove home to their heart, they murdered him.

He told them that they came from a nation that

began with Abraham, who was a man full of faith,

who followed God where God told him to go. He

also told them that as a rule that their fathers

didn't follow God, and they didn't go where God told

them to go and do what God told them to do,

and that is possible for us as well. At the

end of time. Stephen ended his sermon with this rebuke

for them all, including Saul, take your Bibles acts verse

fifty one. He said, you stiff necked people uncircumcised in

heardened ears. And notice what he says next. You always

resist the Holy Spirit as your fathers did, so do you.

And which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute?

And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of

the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered.

You who received the law as delivered by angels and

did not keep it? Now is that direct kind of preaching?

You don't get more clear than that. Saul was in

the council that day and he heard every word of

Stephen's rebuke, and Saul didn't like it at all. He

said that what right does he have to be saying

those kind of things. Stephen was facing him down and

debating for the cause of Christ when he said this,

you who received the law has delivered by angels and

did not keep it? Saul had spent his entire life

trying to attain a righteousness, a perfection based on law.

And here was a man that would be murdered saying,

you have been disobedient to the law. That indictment is

true for every single person here as well. And he

cut saw to the heart. When they couldn't stand his

defense of truth, they marched him out and they stoned

him to death, because when you bring the truth to

the heart, the heart can project the darkness within upon

the one who proclaims the truth. When Stephen spoke these

clear words of truth, they dragged him outside and they

stoned him to death in public for all the sea.

And just before he died, he looked up and he said,

I see having opened the Son of Man standing at

the right hand of God. They all knew what Stephen

was saying that day. He knew that Stephen was claiming

that Jesus is the son of Man in Danel seven

thirteen fourteen, who will come before the Ancient of days

and the final judgment. And he will appear before God

Almighty where Lucifer's sinned and rebelled, and the Father will

appoint him to be the judge of every gentile and

every Jew the entire human race. And Stephen was telling

the Sanhedron that day that they didn't have a ghost

of a chance based on their fake perfection of making

it to Heaven without Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. Acts

eight one records, and Saul was consenting to his death.

He was dancing on his grave, that they had murdered

this man. They murdered Stephen in public. After his friends

buried Stephen, the whole church cried and mourned for him.

That day a great persecution broke out against the Christians

in Jerusalem, and many of them fled throughout the region

Judea and scenario in the seventy week Prophecy of Daniel nine.

The four ninety years came to its end that day

a great persecution broke out. The Apostles hung tough and

stayed back in Jerusalem. What did Saul do to those

Christians like Stephen that survived. Initially, Saul was a missionary

in his own mind, his own twisted kind of way.

He went door to door to share his kind of

truth with those hated Christians, Acts eight, verse three. But

Saul was ravaging the church and entering house after house

he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Does that sound like soul winning to you. No, The

man who could not free his own heart from fear

imprisoned those whose hearts were set free by Jesus. That's

the paradox. Miracles were wrought by the apostles in Jesus' name.

It was a grand thing that had occurred in Jesus's name.

The demons were cast out. The Church grew in spite

of Saul and his hateful rantings and anger. As a

young man, in his desperation and anger, what did he do?

Saul went after Christians, liked Stephen to kill more of

them and acts nine to one. Paul, excuse me. Saul,

breathing threats and murder against the disciples of Jesus, went

to the High Priest and asked for letters to be

sent to the synagogues at Damascus. In those days, the

high priest had no authority to rest anyone unless the

Roman authorities concurred with it. So to get this done,

they had to reach out to the secular state, corrupt

themselves by a joining of church and state, and the

wrong way to persecute true believers, That is, exactly what

is going to happen in the Mark of the Beast

issue at the time of the end, A corrupted church,

leaning on the power of a corrupted state, will unite

to enforce the Mark of the Beast. Those letters sought

by Saul gave civil authority to rest and buy those Christians,

to convict them, and to kill them. Saul was doing

his missionary work that day to make the country clean

and peer again, as he rode his horse on the

Damascus road to capture the people that had been set

free by Jesus. Acts nine, verse three. Now, as he journeyed,

he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed

about him, and he fell to the ground and heard

a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why do you

persecute me? And for the first time in his life,

Saul asked the right question. In verse five, here it

is take a look sie at that verse? Howar did

I pick up that expression? Take a look sie at

that verse? It's probably my aunt Mary Anne when I

was a kid verse five, And he said, who are you?

What does it say? Lord? Friend? If you don't know

the Lord, it's time to stop acting like you do.

Just ask the right question, sincerely, who are you Lord?

And wait for his answer instead of coming up with

something yourself that doesn't work. On the Damascus Road, Jesus

spoke to Saul and he said, I am Jesus, whom

you are persecuting. Saul never expected an answer like that

here Jesus Christ. It didn't infide himself as the person

that Saul was at war with. It's possible to be

in the church. It's possible, thank you, doing the right things,

and you're at war with God. You're at war with

Jesus Christ in your life. Saul never thought that Jesus

was alive to be persecuted. He didn't see Jesus in

the lives of believers. It never entered his mind that

when he's mistreating a believer, he's mistreating Jesus Christ. And

so he had missed this. Saul did one thing right

that day. He asked the question that we should ask.

He said, who are you Lord? And he called Jesus Lord.

That's a good place to begin in your life. The

Damascus Road, friend, is the road that finds you at

the time of life when you're so sure you're right,

but you're really wrong. It's the place the light shines

from Heaven all around you, and you discover that the

Lord is alive in spite of the deadness within you,

and that he is the light in your life, in

spite of the blindness that has overcome you. As the

Lord Jesus Christ to is the Lord. Jesus had a

right to give a few orders that day to the

man he blinded and knocked off his horse. Verse six.

He commanded us, all but rise and enter the city,

and you will be told what you are to do.

Many people today want to tell God what they want

to do to get baptized, what they want to do

in the church, what they want to do with their lives.

But here Jesus is telling Saul what he needs to do.

We don't need to hear god God's truth on our

own terms. We need to hear God's truth on God's terms.

Many in our time don't want to listen to those

who really know what the Bible teaches. I'm amazed today

to observe how people will turn to anything and everything

but the Bible for good decent answers, instead of letting

God's word illumine their lives. The true light that day,

knocks Saul off his horse. With Saul's face on the ground,

Jesus said, rise. How do you like that? Jesus said, rise?

Have you ever been knocked out in life? You ever

sinned and he got a hold on you. You ever

discovered that your darkness has overtaking your life? And you're

down and you wonder if you can ever get up?

Jesus says, rise, And that's what he said at that moment.

Dear heart, Christ doesn't come to you in your darkness

to make you stay down in the dirt when he

knocks you off your horse. He wants you to get

up and start walking toward the very place where you

can hear the truth that will set you for not

your truth, but His truth that can change you. Jesus

told Saul, enter the city and you will be told

what you are to do. Saul got up, and the

man who was so sure he could see on his

own was blind. He was led by others to a

place where someone could help him. Saul was blind. He

was suddenly a man in need of a miracle in

his life. He was the man who couldn't guide himself,

even though he was used to guiding others as a

leader of the san Hadrian, a religious leader focusing on

his own perfection all the time. The man who claimed

to see couldn't see a thing, So now he had

to listen to another voice to find the way. Friend,

if God blames you in life, don't be surprised if

you discover that you can still hear the voice of

the Holy Spirit in the darkness. The fearless leader who

went door to door to persecute others was now being

led into the city to hear a message from one

of those hated Christians that he had to rest and kill.

Saul should have died that day, but he didn't die

because Jesus Christ loves his persecutors. The description of what

happened is very similar to what happened to the prophet

Daniel Daniel ten seven to eight. And I, Daniel alone

saw the vision. For the men who were with me

did not see the vision. But a great trembling fell

upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. So I

was left alone and saw the great vision, and no

strength was left in me. My rating appearance was fearfully changed,

and I retained no strength. God appeared, Christ appeared to

Saul in much the same way he appeared to the

prophet Daniel Acts ninety seven. The men who were traveling

with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no wine.

So similarity here, Daniel was the greatest of the prophets

who prophesied for the whole world in its future. Daniel

saw the pre incarnate Christ when others could not see him.

Like Daniel, Saul was chosen to be the greatest of

the apostles to reach the whole world with prophetic truth.

The Mare of Daniel nine, the Gospel of Isaiah fifty

three merged into the Apostolic Gospel for the world. In fact,

Isaiah had predicted the very spot where he'd be knocked

off his horse, the land of Naphtali and Zebulun Galilee

of the Gentiles. A great light has shone. That's the

Damascus road. God knocked him off his horse to fulfill

the prophecy of Isaiah. Suddenly Saul was standing on the

same ground as the prophet Daniel was. He was blind,

but he was being called for a purpose in life.

Act nine ten. Now there was a disciple at Damascus

named Anonius. The Lord said to him in a vision Anonius,

and he said, here, I am Lord. You see that's

what Paul. That's what Saul had said, Who are you Lord?

Of course, Antonia says, here, I am Lord. See. The

theme is we need Jesus's Lord in our life. Christ

is talking here to Anonius, and Anonius is talking like Saul,

but with understanding. In the vision, Anonius has no problem

answering the Lord until Saul's name comes up Acts nine

to eleven. And the Lord said to him, rise and

go to the street called straight. Isn't that better than

a street called crooked? A street called straight? And inquire

in the house of oh who judas for a man

of Tarsus named Saul. For behold, And here's the good part.

What does the Bible say? He is? What come on?

He's praying? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Hey,

that's how lives are changed when someone is praying. The

Lord is listening Verse twelve. And he has seen a

man named Annanias I love the way Jesus is interacting

with Anonius. He has seen a man named Anonius come

in and lay his hands on him so that he

might regain his sight. Huh. Saul was in the house

of Judas praying. The man who couldn't see, who shouted

out threats, who was so sure he was right, was

suddenly blinded so he could see the light. Saul began

to pray earnestly for his sight, and the Lord showed

him that a man named Anonius would come and lay

hands on him so he could see again. This is

the only claim to fame for Anonius in the Bible.

His only recorded deed for Jesus is simply going to

someone's house and touching them so they can see. Friend,

you may not be skilled at anything in the church

except the gift of touching people's lives with kindness. You

may not be a great preacher or a convincing teacher,

but you have friends, and you have poured your love

and life into them for Jesus' sake. You may bungle

most of what you do in the church and mess

up when you read or do this or that up front,

and you may have a half we have talent instead

of a whole talent. Friend, if Jesus sends you to

someone's house to touch his or her life, you may,

in Jesus's name, affect the whole world by changing the

life of one person with kindness. You may not be

a great teacher of the Word, but you may affect

the life of someone who will become the very person

you are not. Paul would become the apostle to the world.

And Anius was not jumping over barrels to do the

Lord's will. That day he began to object to the

Lord about his selection of converts. I've seen that too.

Lord brings people in the church that maybe aren't dressed right,

who have issues, who have backgrounds, who have sinned. And

some people say, wait, do we want that person in

our church? Does the Lord want that person in our church? Yes?

And so I had an IASI him him, Saul, come on, Lord,

not him, Acts nine thirteen. But Antonius answered, Lord, I

have heard from many about this man we call that

hearsay how much evil he has done to thy saints

at Jerusalem. That was the truth. And here he has

authority from the chief priest to bind all who call

on thy name. Then Jesus tells Antonius why this man

is so important to him Verse fifteen. But the Lord

said to him, go for he is a chosen instrument.

And what does it follow In the text of Mine

of mine to carry my name before the gentiles and

kings and the sons of Israel. Sixteen, for I will

show him how much he must suffer for the sake

of my name. Antonius didn't argue with the Lord anymore,

Thank goodness, he got up, he left his house. He

went to the house of Judas. Now the name of

Judas seemed appropriate for the life of Saul, didn't it.

Judas was the betrayer, and that's exactly what Saul had done.

Judas betrayed the Lord, and Saul persecute those who loved

the Lord. And an Aias found Saul in the house

of a Judas. Jesus would have reached out to Judas.

If Judas had just stayed around long enough to be converted,

he would have reached out to him. But he hung himself. Friends,

Jesus forgives the brokenhearted those who turned to him. Even

if they're in the house of a Judas, they can

become children of God. Saul was the apostle that Jesus

chose in the house of Judas to replace Judas. In

many ways, the disciples cast Lot from Athias, and sure

enough he was enrolled among the twelve and God affirmed

that is okay. But Jesus chose Paul to be that

special disciple who had sinned in those grievous kind of

ways like Judas, to reveal the power of the Gospel

of forgiveness to the world. And Paul got it so

crystal clear it wouldn't hurt us. Seventh day evidence to

remember what the Apostolic gospel is. It has three vital components.

At its core. Christ did what he died for our

sins of first importance, according to the scriptures, that he

was buried to take them away, and that he rose

on the third day, based in Romans four twenty five,

for our acceptance and justification. Now, you can't preach that

if you've not been a forgiven person. You can't tell

others what the Lord means in your life, if you

have not experienced the brokenness and the forgiveness of a

loving God. The name of Judas was appropriate. Acts nine seventeen.

So Anoni asked to part and enter the house, and

laying his hands on him, he said, I love this.

He didn't say, Saul, what do you say? You're looking

at the Bible with me? What do you say, brother Saul?

That's before he's baptized, that's before he's fully converted. He's

looking to the future. He sees promise in this betrayer,

this assassin. He's he his hope for the future. He says,

Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on

the road by which you came, has sent me that

you may regain your sight and be filled with the

Holy Spirit. Of all the things he could call Saul

that day the last The list was long and odious, persecutor, murder, assassin, evil, reviler,

son of the devil, monster of a man, torment or, terrorist, troublemaker, insurrectionist.

Know none of these that day, just Brother Saul. And

that day Saul discovered that Jesus is a friend who

seeks to save the worst of sinners, sinners who think

they are doing the work of God by hurting and

tormenting others. Christ loves his persecutors. That day Saul discover

that Jesus is Lord, and that his people who follow

him from the heart are brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Saul knew the ancient psalm that spoke of the truth

in this way Psalms one hundred and thirty three is

an amazing psalm. Behold, how good and pleasant it is when

who dwell in unity? What does the text say when

brothers dwell in unity? Next verse goes on to say,

it is like the precious oil. It's like the precious

oil upon the head, running down upon the beard, upon

the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of

his robes. Is that's the Holy Spirit. That's an image

of the Holy Spirit. It's like the dew of herm

and another image of the Holy Spirit which falls on

the Mountain of Zions, which comes from Heaven to earth.

For there the Lord is commanded the blessing life forevermore.

We don't have life unless we have the spirit of

God life. We don't get the spirit of God by

trying hard, by trying to prove ourselves to God. We

get the Holy Spirit when we're praying. Like Paul, we've

been knocked off our horse. We see ourselves as sinners,

and God sends a man or woman into our life

who calls us brother, and they lead us to Christ,

so we are born again. That happened to Paul. The

dew and the oil of the Holy Spirit came upon him.

Saul was accepted that day as a dear brother in Jesus,

not because of works of righteousness, but because he prayed,

and he asked God to forgive him for his sins,

to open his blind eyes to help him live for

him with the right motives, not self righteous motives. And

God forgave him, and God forgave Saul, and dear heart,

God can forgive you. And God opened his eyes, and

God made Saul a member of his family. Saul's name

means asked for or prayed for in Jesus' name. Antonius

asked God for Saul, brother Saul, my brother Saul. He said,

the Lord has shown me that you have been praying

Acts ninet eighteen. Immediately, something like scales fell from his eyes.

He regained his sight. Then he arose and I like

what it says? Next? What did you do? He was,

what baptized? Is that a good thing? Now? Dear heart,

there could be someone here who knows that you need Jesus.

You've not been baptized, or you've fallen away. You need

to be rebaptized. Raise your hand. If you're in that group,

raise your hand. We want to baptize you in God's timing.

If that's the case, keep them high, because I can't

see without that hands high. Okay, you know, dear heart,

the Lord will be with you too. He didn't have

to wait eternity to be baptized to have that renew

in his life happened. The textas clear that sal didn't

eat food or drink or water for three days and nights.

That means he was at the point of death when

Anonius found him. He wouldn't have made it if someone

had not reached out to him in love to share

Jesus with him. And before Saul did anything else for

the Lord, Antonius baptized him into Jesus Christ, a glorious

thing to do, Acts nine nineteen, and Saul took food

and was strengthened. For several days he was with the

disciples at Damascus and in the synagogues immediately. How long

did it take him to witness? Immediately? What does it

say he proclaimed Jesus saying he is the son of God.

It didn't take him long at all? Why because he

had been filled with the Holy Spirit. Sault took food

and Saul was strengthened that first meal that Saul ate

was no doubt the Lord's supper. He ate bread that day,

knowing for himself that Jesus is the bread of life,

he ate bread with brother Ananias, who was not ashamed

to call him brethren and to reach out to him

any shame and need and brokenness in Jesus' name to

save the man. And when the scales fell from Saul's eyes,

he saw the truth, not a truth, the truth, and

he was baptized as a forgiven man into Jesus Christ.

How long did it take brother Saul to start sharing

his faith in Jesus immediately? Friends, we don't need to

wait a lifetime to share Jesus. We need to just

get on the job and do it. When you come

to your Damascus road in life, when you fall down

from your horse, and when you discover that you are

blind in the light of jesus glory, we discover that

your perfection's rags and the light of his perfection as

the righteous one. It is then you discovered that it

is the Lord who raises you up. When you bring

your sins to Jesus, Jesus brings you to the table

to fellowship. He brings you to a brother of love,

a sister who loves you like Ananias who has been

forgiven just like you were. And when the scales fall

off your eyes, it is your privilege to say, like

Saul said, it is Jesus who save me. He is

the Son of God. And the Bible says Saul went

everywhere preaching Jesus, God be praised. May we do the same,

their heavenly Father. Where the man on the horse or

the woman on the horse. At times in her life

when we think we have it all together and we

don't have a thing without Jesus and Father, I pray

that you'll just move on every heart here who needs you.

And may they, in the silence of this prayer, because

I'm gonna pause for a second, the silence of this prayer,

say Jesus, who are you, Lord? And may they hear

you speak to them. I am Jesus, Thank you Lord,

that you are Jesus. We don't want to persecute you.

We want to live for you. We want to give

our lives in service for you. We want to be

about helping others come to you. Bless your church. Give

us a good week. May the meeting go well tomorrow,

the organizational meeting. Lord, we didn't have a lot of

time to prepare for this meeting. You let both churches together,

cause both churches have needs. You know my health challenges.

This last year has been very rough. You know that

you've brought me through that, and you know that others here,

Lord have been through various things. And so we are

linking with a church to combine our efforts to help

men and women come to you. Give me energy, Lord,

give us energy, Give us faithfulness for those who need Jesus.

And thank you off the charts that you will in

Jesus name. Amen,