Persecutor Turned Preacher and Two Converts

We'll begin our worship singing to God's praise in Psalm 29 from the Scottish Psalter.

Psalm 29, and we're singing verses 1 to 5.

Psalm 29 from the Scottish Psalter, and we sing verses 1 to 5.

Give ye unto the Lord, ye sons, that of the mighty be,

all strength and glory to the Lord with cheerfulness give ye.

And to the Lord the glory give that to his name is due,

and in the beauty of holiness unto Jehovah bow.

The Lord's voice on the waters is the God of majesty.

Doth thunder, and on multitudes of waters sitteth he.

A powerful voice it is that comes out from the Lord most high.

The voice of that great Lord is full of glorious majesty.

The voice of the Eternal doth asunder cedars tear.

Ye God the Lord doth cedars break that Lebanon doth bear.

Psalm 29, verses 1 to 5.

Psalms 29:1–5

Give ye unto the Lord, ye sons.

Give ye unto the Lord, ye sons, that of the mighty be,

All strength and glory to the Lord with cheerfulness give ye.

All strength and glory to the Lord with cheerfulness give.

All strength the Lord with glory give,

That to his name is due.

And in the beauty of holiness

And to Jehovah

The Lord's white song

The water's is

The God of majesty

Doth thunder and

On multitudes

Of water's city

A powerful voice

It is that comes

And from the Lord

Most high

The voice of that

Great Lord is full

Of glorious majesty

The voice of the eternal God

Asunder cedars' hair

Yea God the Lord

Does cedars' break

That Lebanon

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

We're just going to bow in prayer

I should have intimated that

I'm sure you're all aware

That there is

The Holiday Twinnies

There is a creche

Upstairs in the hall

And the Holiday Twinnies

For children aged 3 to 7

Is in the hall as well

Next door

Just bow in prayer

For a moment

Lord our God

We give thanks for

Another day

Where we can worship you

Although it is a wild day today

We're conscious that

You are the God

That rules over the calm

And over the storms

And so we pray

That we may rest in you

And to trust in you

With all our heart

We pray Lord

That you will bless us

At this holiday time

As people are away

We pray your blessing on them

When they're on holiday

And we pray for those

Who are here on holiday

May be catching up

With friends and family

We give thanks Lord

For these times

And we know that

You are the God

Who wants us to

Come apart

And to rest a while

And these times

Are good for us

And so we pray

That you'll bless us

Bless each and every

One of us today

But above all

That we may

Look to you

Trust in you

Believe in you

And come to know you

As Lord and Saviour

Watch over us

Then we pray

And keep us

Ever looking to yourself

And forgive us

Our sin

In Jesus name

We ask it

Amen

And just a

We word to

The young folk

Just as you know

The holidays are on

Just now

And I don't know

Whether it was

In all the schools

But just before

The holidays

Joshua

Got a report

A report card

Or a

Report sheet

As to how he was doing

And it got me

Thinking back

Myself to these

Awful times

When you used to get

A report card

And I was

I suppose

The teachers

You always feel that

They have all the power

And they tell

Your parents

How you're doing

In your reading

In your writing

In your maths

And you know

When you get into secondary

How you're doing

Whether it's physics

Or chemistry

Or all the different subjects

How you're doing

And then at the end

They kind of

Tell what they think

Of how you're doing

Or what you should be doing

And

I remember one year

I was about ten at the time

And the report was not good

And there was nothing about it

That was good

And I was wishing

That someone would

Pinch my school bag

Because I didn't want

To go home

With a report

Or that

That I could some way

Lose my bag

In fact

I actually remember

On the way home

Taking the report out

And holding it

Hoping the wind

Would blow it away

But it didn't

And

My parents

Weren't best pleased

Particularly my mum

Was always

Trying to push me

And I was

I actually

Wasn't very good

At that sort of thing

It's funny

I met

Someone

For a wee while

Way back in the day

I was teaching

For a while

And I met somebody

Very well known

In this town

Who said to me

Hey

I've got a bone

To pick with you

He said

I was clearing out stuff

And I found

An old report card

You gave me

And you put in it

Could be doing much better

But too interested

In what other people

Are doing

And I

Well

I said

It must have been through

If I wrote that

You can ask me afterwards

Who it is

I don't want to say

Just now

But the thing is

We could all

Make out reports

I would hate

If you were to make

A report

On my sermon today

If you started

Making a report

About your mums

Your dads

Your brothers

Your sisters

How would you do

A report about yourself

But you know

In a sense

God

Is doing a report

On us as well

Because he's taking

Note of everything

Not only that we do

And everything we say

But even everything

That we think

And you know

You say to yourself

Oh my word

Because the bible

Tells us

That there's going to

Come a day

When we

When we've all

Got to go

Before the lord

And we're told

We have to give

An account

To explain

What we've done

In this world

Whether good or bad

And that's why

Jesus has come

He's come into the world

To make our report

Good

Because do you know

What he does

When we

Trust Jesus

Believe in him

Love him

Obey him

Follow him

He wipes away

Everything bad

From our report

And he stands

In our place

And it's the most

Wonderful thing

And that's why

It's so important

That we ask Jesus

To come into our heart

And into our life

And I know some of you

Have done that

I would pray that

All of you

Do that

So that you will know

The wonderful cleaning

Of what Jesus

Does for us

We're going to say

The lord's prayer

Our father

Which art in heaven

Hallowed be thy name

Thy kingdom come

Thy will be done

On earth

As it is in heaven

Give us this day

Our daily bread

And forgive us

Our debts

As we forgive

Our debtors

And lead us

Not into temptation

But deliver us

From evil

For thine is the kingdom

The power

And the glory

Forever

Amen

We're going to sing

Again now

From the second psalm

Psalm number two

And this is in

Sing Psalms

Verses six to the end

Psalm two

From verse six

To the end

The lord has made it

Known to them

My chosen king

I have installed

On Zion

My own holy hill

He is the one

Whom I have called

The king then

Solemnly declares

I will proclaim

The lord's decree

Today your father

I become

You are my son

He said to me

Ask me

And for your heritage

I'll give you nations

Near and far

You'll break them

With an iron rod

And smash them

Like a potter's jar

Now therefore

Kings

Through wisdom find

You judges of the earth

Give ear

With reverence

Come and serve the lord

Bow down with joy

And trembling fear

Pay homage

To the royal son

Lest you in wrath

A side are thrust

For swiftly can his anger blaze

Blessed are all

Who in him trust

Psalm two

From six to the end

And sing psalms

The lord has made it

Known to them

The lord has made it

Known to them

My chosen king

I have installed

On Zion

My own holy hill

He is the one

Whom I have called

The king then solemnly declares

I will proclaim

The lord's decree

Today your father

I've become

You are my son

He said to me

Ask me

Ask me

And for your heritage

I'll give you nations

Near and far

You'll break them with an iron rod

And smash them like

A potter's jar

Now therefore

Kings

True wisdom

Find

You judges

Of the earth

Give ear

With reverence

With reverence

Come and serve the lord

Bow down with joy

And trembling fear

Pay homage to the royal son

To the royal son

Blessed you in wrath

As I do

For swiftly can his anger blaze

Blessed are all

Blessed are all

Who in him trust

Let us again bow in prayer

Lord as we come before you

The mighty and glorious God

We pray that we will come with a sense of

Through reverence and godly fear

We are in the presence of the almighty

The creator of heaven and earth

The one with whom we have to do

The one that one day we all have to give an account of

What we have done here whether good or bad

We pray that you will help us as we worship you today

We pray that you will help us in all that we are about throughout the week

We give thanks that we are able to depend upon you

And we pray for a growing sense of trust in you

Because so often we do lean on our own understanding

Rather than trusting you

So we pray that you will grant us the faith every day to live by faith

So often we are wrapped up in ourselves

And we forget that so often there is a bigger picture

Help us Lord to have visionary eyes

That may see beyond ourselves

And to understand so often Lord

That when you work

You work often through us

In ways that we don't understand

So grant us patience in the face of your providence

And grant us faith as we journey

At every step

We pray Lord that you will bless us all here today

With all our different needs

We ask Lord that you will keep us safe

And that you will bless us

That you will bless us in our homes

And bless us in our families

Lord we pray for all those who are unwell

Just now we are so conscious

That there are so many who are in need

And we ask your blessing upon them

We pray for healing

And we pray for help

We pray for strength and for grace

And we realise that when our world changes

So often with illness

That it has a huge impact upon everybody

And so we ask that your grace will be sufficient

We give thanks for the promise of sufficiency of grace

And we pray that that might be laid upon

And that your people will all be blessed

We pray your blessing of those who mourn

And whose hearts are heavy and sore

And we are conscious Lord that death

Death changes everything for our family

And even although the days may have moved on

In many ways

Family does not move on

There is a remaining settled sore

And so we pray that you will

Be with every broken heart today

And everybody who is feeling the pain and the sorrow

And the grief that comes

Through the loss of loved ones

Lord we pray for us

In all the different situations we confront

In every relationship that we are in

Whether these are in family

Or whether they are church relationships

Or work relationships

Or community relationships

And whatever it is Lord

We pray to help us

And to bless us

And to guide us

And to uphold us

Help us to be good witnesses

In a world where

We have always got to remember

That we are as your word says

Living epistles

Read by people

And we pray that

Our witness might be a good one

And forgive us Lord

For when we let you down

So often by what we say

And what we do

And we forget a watching world

That are taking note

And often assessing

And making a judgement

As to who Christ is

By the way we live

And so we pray that we might

Live worthy of the high calling

To which we have been called

We pray that you will bless

This congregation

And we ask that you will be with

James and with Donna

We pray that everything will have gone well

And that as she has returned home

And that she will regain strength again

We pray to be with her

And we pray that Lord

That you will be with James

As he approaches the final time

Of his ministry here

And we realise what a huge loss

It is going to be for us

So we pray that you will sustain him

And bless him

And that he will know the power

Of your spirit ministering in him

In these days

We pray for Calamurdo and Joan

As they are awake just now

And we ask your blessing upon them

And we pray for everybody

Who works here in this congregation

So much is done

So much is done

Often that isn't

Maybe recognised and realised

By so many

But there are so many things that are done

But nothing is hidden from your eye

And you take note of every single thing

That is done in your name

And we know Lord

That each thing that is done by faith

In your name will receive its own reward

And so we pray to encourage your people

And be with them

In a day where there is so much to discourage us

We live in a day where there is a growing oppression

Towards the cause of Christ

We pray Lord

That you will overturn every attempt that is made

With regard to the legislation for this conversion therapy

And that people will be brought to realise

That it's an encroachment really upon the freedoms of the Gospel

O Lord our God

We pray for liberty for our nation

Gospel liberty

Gospel freedoms

Maybe we have taken all these blessings for granted for too long

And we pray then that you will keep us

Always having this freedom

Gospel freedoms

We pray then for our politicians

Whether they are in Westminster or in Holyrood

We ask Lord that you will guide them from on high

Not according to their own earthly wisdom

But that even despite themselves

Despite maybe their ignorance of the truth

Or their opposition to the truth

That you will still influence them

Because the King's heart is in the hand of the Lord

And he is able to turn it whichever way he will

We pray for our royal family

And ask your blessing upon them at this time

Where there is illness

And we pray for healing

We pray your blessing upon our local council

Our council and our councillors

We ask to bless them

And we pray that you will be with all

Who are places of responsibility in our land

And grant them wisdom

That we may indeed be able to enjoy

Gospel freedoms and gospel blessings

We pray your blessing upon Muriel

And we give thanks Lord for her coming home

And to grant her safety and health and strength

We pray your blessing upon all who serve you

In different countries

And ask Lord that you will encourage them

Maybe through difficult and dark times

And pray that you will sustain them and keep them

Particularly when the evil one might be attacking them

And telling them that their labour is completely in vain

May they be encouraged in knowing that no labour in the Lord is in vain

We ask then that you will be with us as we wait upon you

And pray that you will take away from us our every sin

In Jesus name we ask it, Amen

Amen

We are going to read two sections of God's word

Both in the book of the Acts of the Apostle

Chapter 9 first of all

And we read verses 1 to 15

Acts 9 verses 1 to 15

Acts 9:1–15

And then in chapter 16

But Paul still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord

Went to the high priest

And asked him for letters to the synagogues of Damascus

So that 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

And suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him

And falling to the ground

He heard a voice saying to him

Saul, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

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

The 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

Although his eyes were opened

He saw nothing

So they led him by the hand

And brought him into Damascus

And for three days he was without sight

And neither ate nor drank

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

The Lord said to him

Rise and go to the street called Straight

And at the house of Judas

Look for a man of Tarshish named Saul

For behold he is praying

And he has seen in a vision

A man named Ananias

Come in and lay his hand on him

So that he might regain his sight

But Ananias answered

Lord I have heard from many about this man

How much evil he has done

To your saints of 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

Then we turn to chapter 16

And we read from verse 13

We find Paul and his missionary journeys here

In verse 13

Or we can read in verse 12

And from there to Philippi

Which is a leading city

Of the district of Macedonia

And a Roman colony

Who remained in this city some days

And on the Sabbath day

We went outside the gate to the riverside

Where we supposed

There was a place of prayer

And we sat down

And spoke to the women

Who had come together

One who heard us

Was a woman named Lydia

From the city of Thyatira

A seller of purple goods

Who was a worshipper of God

The Lord opened her heart

To pay attention

To what was said by Paul

And after she was baptized

And her household as well

She urged us saying

If you have judged me

To be faithful to the Lord

Come to my house

And stay

And she prevailed upon us

As we were going to the place of prayer

We were met by a slave girl

Who had a spirit of divination

And brought her owners much gain

By fortune telling

She followed Paul and us

Crying out

These men are servants of the Most High God

Who proclaim to you the way of salvation

And this she kept doing for many days

Paul having become greatly annoyed

Turned and said to the spirit

I command you

In the name of Jesus Christ

To come out of her

And it came out at that very hour

And when her owners saw

That their hope of gain was gone

They seized Paul and Silas

And dragged them into the market place

Before the rulers

And when they had brought him

To the magistrates

He said

These men are Jews

And they are disturbing our city

They advocate customs

That are not lawful

For us as Romans

To accept our practice

The crowd joined in attacking them

And the magistrates

Tore the garments off them

And gave orders to beat them with rods

And when they had inflicted many blows upon them

They threw them into prison

Ordering the jailer to keep them safely

Having received his order

He put them into the inner prison

And fastened their feet in the stocks

About midnight

Paul and Silas were praying

And singing hymns to God

And the prisoners were listening to them

And suddenly there was a great earthquake

So that the foundation of the prison

Was shaken

And immediately all the doors were opened

And everyone's bonds were unfastened

When the jailer woke

And saw the prison doors were open

He drew out a sword

And was about to kill himself

Supposing that the prisoners had escaped

But Paul cried with a loud voice

Do not harm yourself

For we are all here

And the jailer called for lights

And rushed in

And trembling with fear

He fell down before Paul and Silas

Then he brought them out and said

Sir, what must I do to be saved?

They said, believe in the Lord Jesus

And you will be saved

You and your household

And they spoke the word of the Lord to him

And all who were in the house

Amen

And may God bless to us

These readings of his own holy word

We are going to sing again now

Sing Psalm

Psalm 46a

Psalm 46a

Psalm 46a

Page 59

God is our refuge and our strength

Our ever-present aid

And therefore though the earth gives way

We will not be afraid

Though mountains fall into the sea

The waters foam and roar

We will not fear

Though mountains quake

As waves engulf the shore

A river flows

A river flows whose streams delight

The city of our God

The holy place in which the Lord

Most High

Has his abode

To the end of verse 7

Six stanzas of Psalm 46a

God is our refuge and our strength

God is our refuge and our strength

Our ever-present aid

God is our refuge and our strength

Our ever-present aid

And therefore though the earth gives way

And therefore though the earth gives way, we will not be afraid.

Though mountains fall into the sea, though waters fall and roar, we will not fear.

Though mountains quake as waves in countless shores, a river flows to streams delight,

the city of our God, the holy place in which the Lord most high has his abode.

God is within this holy place, the city will not yield.

For God will come at break of day to be her help and shield.

The nations are in disarray, the kingdoms disappear.

God speaks and at his mighty voice, the whole earth melts with fear.

The Lord Almighty is with us to strengthen and sustain.

For Jacob's God our strong defence and fortress will remain.

Amen.

Probably the greatest missionary that the church has ever known, who was once one of the worst persecutors.

And then to look at the conversion of two of those who were by this converted missionary,

had come to faith through his ministry.

Now as we know, there were few religious people who hated the Lord Jesus Christ,

quite like the Apostle Paul or Saul of Tarshish as he was then.

And he was schooled in the ways of the Jewish religion.

And he was a Pharisee of the Pharisees.

He was somebody who understood the law at levels that few people could understand.

He had been taught by the best.

And he was somebody who prided himself in his knowledge of the truth.

But it just shows how blinded people can actually be.

And that's one of the things I would always, why it's so important that when we come to God's word,

that we come with a prayer in our heart that the Lord will open our eyes to understand, to see.

And that we be prepared to change preconceived ideas, pre-held ideas, to have them moved.

Because sometimes we can have our own ideas and we're absolutely passionate and we hold to them.

And sometimes they're not quite in keeping with God's word.

So that every time we come to God's word, we have to say to the Lord,

Lord, make me ready to be changed.

To change my thinking if that's necessary.

So that I will actually see and be, so that your word will have an impression and impact upon my heart and my life.

Because you see, Saul was somebody who studied the word of God.

But because he had pre-held ideas.

Because the whole sort of the school of the Judean law, their understanding of who Christ was to be the Messiah when he came.

Christ didn't fit their picture.

And so this was a major problem.

So we've always got to guard against that.

Well, that was Paul's or Saul's great problem.

Is that he had his own idea of who the Messiah was.

Jesus didn't fit it.

So in his eyes, Jesus was simply an imposter.

And he couldn't believe that Jesus had the audacity to claim to come from God and to be God.

Now it's more than likely that Saul actually would have seen Jesus.

I'm sure he was still alive.

He would, Saul would have been alive in the time of Christ.

And it's quite possible that Saul actually heard Jesus.

But he certainly was somebody who had been involved in the stoning of Stephen.

They laid their coats.

Those who were stoning had put them down.

And Saul saw the face of Stephen shining.

Where Stephen was given this glimpse into glory of.

And seeing Jesus standing there.

And his face was shining.

That didn't stop them stoning.

And Saul saw all that.

And he gave total assent to the stoning of Stephen.

And there seemed to have been a fire lit in Saul's heart.

A fire of hatred against everybody who followed the Lord Jesus Christ.

And he was going to do his utmost to wipe this way that they called it.

Of the Christian faith.

To remove it altogether.

And so when you look at Saul of Tarshish.

You see somebody and you'd say.

That's as hard a person.

As ever will come.

To faith in Jesus Christ.

You would write Saul off.

And say impossible.

Well.

We shouldn't write anybody off.

Because God's grace can go anywhere apart from hell.

God's grace is not in hell.

God's grace is all over this world.

There's this common grace.

Which everybody receives.

And we.

There's so many of the benefits that we receive in life come to us.

Of course.

All that's good comes to us from God.

But God's grace is full of surprises.

And God works often in what we deem impossible.

Nothing is impossible with God.

And right throughout the history of the church down to this day.

The Lord is saving and bringing in people.

That we might have written off.

That we would never believe could ever be Christians.

So we should never ever put anybody outside in our own thinking.

The grace of God.

In fact it's incumbent upon us to be praying for people.

To pray for.

If you think of somebody and you say.

Oh that person will never be a Christian.

That's all the more reason.

To start praying for them.

That they might be awakened.

And that they might hear the gospel.

And that they might come to faith.

Well anyway here's Saul.

Man on a mission.

And he has the full backing of all the religious leaders.

As he's making his way down.

To cause as much havoc as possible down.

And he's heading to Damascus.

And you know it's really sad when you see this.

That these people the likes of Saul.

Is actually thinking he's doing God a service.

He's doing this as a religious man.

Thinking that he's helping God.

And right to this very day.

There are many people being put to death.

By religions.

And they're doing it as a service to God.

In their own thinking.

And Jesus said that was going to happen.

He said that Jesus warned.

And he prophesied.

That they're going to put you to death.

And they think that they're doing God a service.

When they put you to death.

It's an extraordinary thought.

Well here's Saul.

And he's about 150 miles.

Down from Jerusalem.

And then all of a sudden.

This incredible blinding light.

As he describes later on.

Brighter than the midday sun.

And it shone down upon him.

And it blinded him completely.

And he couldn't see anything.

And he fell to the ground.

And you know it's interesting.

That this is always the impact.

The effect.

Of the glory.

Of the Lord.

On anybody.

When Jesus was here in this world.

We know he was here in the human nature.

And it was as all the glory that belonged to him.

As the divine was eclipsed.

And people just saw the man.

But there were moments.

When something of the glory.

Would come through.

Like at the transfiguration.

When they came to arrest Jesus.

Who are you seeking?

Jesus of Nazareth.

I.

He says.

I am.

I am he.

What happened?

They all fell to the ground.

They couldn't stand.

Before the glory.

That was revealed.

Just for a moment.

It was too great.

Fell down.

You see.

Ezekiel.

When he's given that vision.

He falls to the ground.

You see it at the time.

Of the dedication.

Of the temple.

In the time of Solomon.

They couldn't stand.

In the presence.

Of the glory of the Lord.

You see John.

In the book of Revelation.

He falls as one dead.

At the display.

Of the glory of Jesus.

This is the risen Jesus.

And so.

This is what happens to Saul.

The Lord gives.

A revelation of himself.

To him.

He falls down.

Just.

Just in a heap.

And that's the glory.

Before.

Whom we have all to appear.

It is before the risen Jesus.

That is where the judgment seat.

Will take place.

Many people think of Jesus.

Simply as the human Jesus.

Well he still is the human Jesus.

The human nature.

He took.

He has forever.

He continues to have.

But it is now.

In all the glory.

That he has sworn.

And it is this glory.

That no human.

Can stand before.

And that's why.

We're told in Philippians.

That before him.

Every knee.

Will bow.

And every tongue.

Will confess.

That Jesus Christ.

Is Lord.

To the glory of God.

The Father.

No atheists.

No agnostics.

No mockers.

No scoffers.

No.

No infidels.

No infidels.

On that day.

All with one accord.

Will acknowledge.

That Christ.

Is Lord.

It's a very very.

Very solemn thought.

Well we see here.

That.

Saul.

Is absolutely.

Overcome.

By the.

The presence.

And the power.

And then this voice.

Says.

Saul.

Why are you persecuting me?

You see.

Every blow.

That is struck.

Against the follower.

Of Christ.

Is felt.

By.

By Jesus.

Because he's head.

Of the church.

You know.

When you get hit.

And you're.

In any way.

Yes.

It is where you get hit.

That hurts the most.

But you feel.

Your whole.

Being feels it.

Well the Lord.

Is showing us here.

That.

Every blow.

That is hit.

Christian.

Is felt.

By him.

As well.

Now.

There are so.

Many things.

That we could say.

Here.

But.

Because we're going to.

Move on.

Very quickly.

But.

Just that we see.

Here.

As.

That.

Saul.

As he goes along.

As he goes along.

Two or three things.

That.

That has happened here.

Saul.

Tells us.

Later on.

That he was.

Apprehended.

By Christ.

Christ.

Christ.

He was on his way.

To persecute Christians.

And all of a sudden.

The one who was on his way.

To arrest.

Christians.

Is arrested.

By Christ.

Christ.

Stops him.

In his tracks.

He's apprehended.

By Christ.

Wonder if.

Anybody here.

Can experience.

Know something.

Of that experience.

Maybe your conversion.

Is such.

That you know.

Of how you were going.

In one direction.

And then all of a sudden.

You were stopped.

You were stopped.

In your tracks.

And you knew.

That a power.

Greater than your own.

Was working in you.

That was the beginning of it.

Well that's how it was.

With.

With.

With Saul.

He was.

He was.

Arrest.

And then.

Side by side.

With that.

There was a.

There was this light.

This divine illumination.

This light shone.

Now immediately.

I don't believe.

That right away.

That there was a.

That immediately.

Saul came to immediate faith.

In Jesus.

But he was completely.

Thrown.

And the work had started.

This.

This light.

That blinded in.

On him.

It's extraordinary.

How here's Saul.

Who was thundering down.

Into Damascus.

With fire.

Breathing fire.

He's actually led.

Blind.

By other people.

Into Damascus.

Just shows what God can do.

Just like that.

But God is at work.

In Saul.

And he tells us again.

Of this light.

That there was this divine.

And.

In a way.

In a way.

And I'm sure.

I'm sure the Christians.

In Damascus.

When they heard the news.

They're coming down.

To create havoc.

To put us to death.

To take us to prison.

To take us to prison.

They'd be praying.

Chief.

Persecator Saul.

How are we going to be saved from him?

And if they had looked.

At Saul.

is divine illumination.

As he says elsewhere,

God commanded light to shine out of darkness

and he has shone light into our hearts.

Just as at the very beginning when God said

into the darkness, let there be light.

So he continues to do so.

Let there be light.

And we need that light.

Because you know, when that light comes from the Lord,

all of a sudden things begin to make sense.

You might be sitting in church week in, week out.

And it's alright you come and it's great you come.

But there's a lot of things that just don't make sense.

And you're saying,

I wish I could just get the hold of this properly.

I'm figuring out quite a bit of it,

but I feel a lot just drifting by.

What you need is this light.

This illuminating light.

where your mind is opened up.

Where everything begins to make perfect sense.

And you say,

Lord, now I see.

Yes, it's so clear.

It's so obvious.

Well, that's what happened with Saul.

He had been in darkness.

A darkness that was satanic,

but a darkness of the blindness of his own heart.

A blindness,

and I don't believe for one moment

that Saul didn't have moments of doubt in his own mind.

He had seen Stephen in his death.

He had heard testimonies from other Christians.

He was fighting.

He was an angry man.

Do you know,

some of the most angry men

and angry women

are because there's so much

that they're battling with within themselves.

Sometimes that anger spills out

because they're angry

at what's going on within themselves.

They want to believe one thing,

but there's something that's going against.

Well, anyway, this light came in.

And the other thing that Paul tells us

that God's grace was in abundance.

That's another thing that's happened.

God's grace.

And God's grace enables a person.

It's like the final part of the jigsaw.

So the most important part

is where the will is broken,

where we hand over to the Lord.

That's the hardest part.

If you're today here

and you're not a Christian,

that's the hard part, isn't it?

Giving up.

Because we want to be in control.

We want to go where we want to go.

We want to do what we want to do.

We want to say what we want.

We want to be masters.

There's a control freak.

You hear the word?

He's a control freak.

She's a control freak.

We're all control freaks by nature.

We want to be in charge of our lives.

It's the hardest thing to give up.

But we have to.

For Christ to be ruler and master.

And Paul discovered that.

He had to let go.

He had to yield.

And that's what God's grace enables us to do.

To give up the last thing

that we want to give up.

And so we find this.

That this is a changed man.

And he's a man now on a different mission.

He was on a man on a mission before.

Going to have to race on

because the time is going.

We're just skipping on.

And then we find by God's grace

that Paul becomes,

names changed to Paul,

becomes his missionary.

And a great New Testament missionary.

He goes down into Philippi.

And we find there in chapter 16

that on the Sabbath day,

they make their way to the riverside

where there's a group of women praying.

It would appear that in Philippi,

there weren't enough.

Apparently, you had to have 10 men,

10 Jews.

You had to have a quorum of 10

to start a synagogue.

Well, it would look like

there wasn't sufficient.

There weren't 10,

sort of what you would say,

religious Jews there to start on.

So there was this meeting

by the riverside,

a woman who had come together.

And Paul went there

and he spoke to them

and he shared the gospel.

And amongst the women there,

there was this lady, Lydia.

And she was from this place,

Thyatira.

And she was obviously doing very well.

Thyatira apparently was known

for its dyes,

for dyeing,

coloring different things.

And she was a seller of purple,

which was probably dyed in purple

and probably doing very well.

And it would appear

that she was a very sincere

and genuine woman,

a religious woman,

a woman who seemed to have

kind of embraced

the Jewish faith

and was a sincere

and genuine worshiper of God,

but didn't have Christ.

It was all on an outward.

And you know,

there's a lot of people like that.

There's a lot of religious people,

even within the Christian church.

But everything is outward.

And they believe in God

and they come to worship God

and their worship is sincere.

But you know,

it's not there.

It's not there yet.

It's not hard.

They've got to get beyond.

Well, that Lord's Day morning,

that's what happened with Lydia.

She was a good woman,

a sincere woman,

a genuine woman,

a woman who worshipped God

and served God

in her own way,

but her heart hadn't been changed.

Her heart hadn't been touched.

But that morning,

it tells us very simply,

the Lord opened her heart

to pay attention

to what was said by Paul.

How different.

No blinding light.

No voice from heaven.

It couldn't have been more different.

She's just sitting there

and she's listening

and as Paul speaks,

the Lord opens her heart

to receive the truth

and to accept Jesus.

You know,

maybe that's how it is for you.

Maybe as you look back

over your life,

you say,

I can't follow Paul.

No idea about that.

That's dramatic.

In fact,

it's so low key in my life,

sometimes I don't,

I can't tell you.

Can't tell you any day or hour

or can't even tell you what month.

All I know is

I was once blind,

but I now see

and I love the Lord.

There was a day

my worship was purely outward.

Now it's inward.

It's in my heart.

And I really,

I really love

coming to worship the Lord.

See,

that's a change

within.

And that's what happened

to Lydia.

And we see the result

of that change

in her heart

because she opens up

her home to Paul

and she says,

come on,

come to my house.

And you know,

that's what happens

when the Lord works

in a person's heart.

He opens more than the heart.

He opens them,

them out to serve,

to work,

to,

here I am Lord,

use me.

Now we're just skipping through

because the time is going.

And then we come

and again,

they're all familiar stories

but it's just showing

the difference

of how God works

with different people.

And we're familiar now

with the story here.

Paul is still in Philippi

and every day

as Paul and Silas

are going about,

there's this young woman

who's a fortune teller

and she's crying after them,

these men are the servants

of the Most High God.

And at the end,

Paul gets fed up of her

and he commands

the evil spirit

to come out of her.

The evil spirit comes out.

But the problem

for the men

who owned this girl

or not who owned

or exploiting her

was that the money,

the social money,

she was telling people's fortunes

for money

stopped.

Income was gone.

So they were incensed

and they dragged

Paul and Silas

to the rulers

and said,

look,

these men,

and they came in

using the racist stuff.

These men are Jews.

We're Romans.

And they've come in

and they've started

teaching us things

that are not lawful.

Now the thing is,

Paul and Silas

were actually Roman citizens

and had all the protection

that that brought.

And they couldn't,

what happened to them

couldn't have happened,

wouldn't have been

allowed to happen

had the authorities known.

That's why the authorities

afterwards are petrified

when they discover

that Paul and Silas

are Roman citizens.

But anyway,

without any inquiries,

whatever,

they get them

and they give them

a horrendous flogging.

And they put them

to the prisoner

and said,

put these men

into the maximum

security wing

of the prison.

That's what he does

into the inner prison

and sticks their feet

into the stocks.

And you know,

it's wonderful

the attitude

of Paul and Silas.

when you put yourself

in their situation,

there you are

and your feet

clumped

in these awful things.

Your back

is pouring blood

where you've been

beaten horrendously

and your limbs

are sore,

everything is aching.

I'm sure

if it was me,

I'd be saying,

Lord,

what on earth?

Why,

Lord?

I'm only trying

to serve you.

I came here

because I believe

this is where

you were pointing me to.

And that's exactly

where the Lord

was pointing him to,

pointing Paul to.

But you see,

we always only see

what's happening

to ourselves

right in front of us.

We don't see

the big picture.

You see,

there was somebody

in that prison

that needed

to be converted.

And so Paul

and Silas

have to get into

that prison

to be used

by the Lord

for that conversion.

So we've always

got to remember

the picture

is always bigger

than ourselves.

And it's a lesson

that we have to learn

over and over again.

So there,

in the prison,

we find that

Paul and Silas,

they're actually

praising God.

They're praying

and praising God.

And it tells us

that the prisoners

heard them.

What a testimony.

What a testimony.

And we read,

of course,

of how the earthquake

came,

of how the prison

doors were flung

open and everything.

And a prison

officer,

the jailer,

was going to kill

himself because

he knew the punishment.

If you were

a prison officer

and a prisoner

escaped,

you were put to death.

That was the rules.

So he knew

prison doors opened,

they'll all be away,

I'm a dead man walking.

But there was

more than that.

The man was

utterly disturbed

because Paul

cried out

and he says,

don't do any

harm to yourself.

We're all here.

You know,

this shouldn't

happen.

And the man

all of a sudden,

you've got to remember

that this man here

would be one of the

most brutal guys

that you could meet.

He'd be a hard man

with no feeling.

He was used to

every kind of

torture,

every kind of

pain.

He afflicted people

with no thought

or care.

but all of a sudden

he's a trembling

wreck

because God

has come into

the picture.

And this man's

conscience

all of a sudden

is troubled.

You know,

God gave us

a conscience

and a sensitive

conscience

is a wonderful

thing.

Far too often

consciences,

our conscience

can become

deadened

so that

so many people

walking around

their conscience

is dead.

all of a sudden

this man's

conscience

is troubled.

And all of a sudden

everything is thrown

upside down.

And he realizes

I'm in a terrible

situation.

Here's this man

who didn't fear

God or man.

All of a sudden

he fears God

in a way that

he didn't know

was possible.

And he cries out

what must I do

to be saved?

And we know

very simply

the answer.

Believe

in the Lord Jesus

and you will be saved.

What does that mean?

It means

believe in your

believe in your

mind.

Believe everything

that the word of God

tells you

about Jesus.

That's important.

You believe

everything

the word of God

tells you.

That's not enough.

It's important

to have it in your

mind

but it needs

to go deeper.

You need

to believe

in your heart.

That's where

you need the Lord

and you have to say

to the Lord

Lord help me

to believe.

I want to believe.

I believe

there might be

people here today

and that's exactly

where you are

and you say

I want to believe

but I'm stuck.

When you ask

the Lord

Lord

right now

open my heart

to believe

in you

and break

my will

in order

to receive you.

And you know

if you really

pray with

all your heart

that's what

you really want

the Lord

will answer

your prayer.

That's the kind

of prayer

he will answer.

And you ask

the Lord

that

he will come

in

and once

the Lord

comes in

he will do

you good.

And you might

be saying to

yourself

think of all

the things

I've done

in life

and the kind

of person

I am

and will

the Lord

take me?

Of course

he will.

We've just

looked at

three people

they couldn't

be more

different.

the ferocious

persecutor

the nice

religious

woman

and the

hard-hearted

jailer

all their

experiences

are different

but they all

found faith

they all came

to believe

in Jesus.

So what

about you?

Well today

is another

opportunity

for you

to believe.

Let's pray.

Lord we

we give

thanks for

how varied

the ways

of experiences

are in

people

and yet

at the end

of the day

there is

only one

way

where we

come to

believe

and to

accept

Jesus

as Lord

and Saviour.

And so we

pray Lord

that you

will open

any eyes

that so

far have

not seen

open any

ears that

so far

have not

heard

so that

they will

see

and hear

and believe.

We pray

that you

will bless

us.

Take us

home safely.

Watch over

us and keep

us and guide

us day by

day.

Forgive us

our every

sin in

Jesus name.

Amen.

We're going

to conclude

singings from

Psalm 146

in the

Scottish

Psalter

from

verse 7

to the

end.

Psalm 146

from

verse 7

to the

end.

Who

righteous

judgment

executes

for those

oppressed

that be?

Who to

the hungry

giveth

food?

God

sets the

prisoners

free.

The

Lord

hath

given

the

blind

their

sight,

the

bowed

down

doth

raise.

The

Lord

doth

dearly

love

all

those

that

walk

in

upright

ways.

The

stranger

shield,

the

widow's

stay,

the

orphan's

help

is he,

but yet

by him

the

wicked's

way turned

upside

down

shall

be.

The

Lord

shall

reign

forevermore.

Thy

God,

O

Zion,

he

reigns

to

all

generations.

Praise

to the

Lord

give

ye.

Psalm

146

from

verse

7

to

the

end.

Who

righteous

judgment

executes.

for

those

oppressed

that

be,

who

do

the

hungry

giveth

food,

God

sets

the

prisoners

free.

The

Lord

doth

give

the

blind

their

sight,

the

pardon

of

the

praise,

the

Lord

doth