Acts Chapter 9:1-34

Converted Protestant.

But nevertheless, the foundation still stands sure.

The Lord knows those that are his, and every one of the name the name of the Lord were to impart from iniquity, iniquity being lawlessness.

And people we, I guess I say people, we don't always realize.

Anytime we put things on the foundation that's contrary to the order that Christ established, then that's working iniquity.

Anytime we remove things that the Lord did establish on this foundation, then that's working iniquity.

It just means lawlessness.

It has no place on the foundation that Jesus Christ Himself established.

I'll stop because I'd like to hear someone bring us up to the ninth chapter, which is where we are tonight.

Maybe a couple of people you're on your Sabbath day's journey, but I would love to hear someone help us to get a grasp of how the transition was made from the law of Moses to where we are now.

The question was asked, I was surprised.

Someone asked, Oh, well, are we still in the law?

Absolutely not.

We won't do it.

But in Revelation chapter 6, it tells us about this woman.

Revelation 6 · chapter mention

And that woman is the first century church that we're reading about.

She was the woman.

The church is often called the woman.

She was clothed in the sun.

And that's the capital S-U-N.

It's talking about Christ, clothing his teachings and his order, his righteousness, the moon, which is the old covenant.

It's the lesser light, which comes out by night.

It was actually under this woman's feet.

And upon her head, that is the government was twelve stars.

That's the twelve apostles.

And so this church was in pain to be delivered of a child.

And she did bring forth a man-child.

That's the ruling element.

And it started, you can see that man-child being birthed coming forth when you begin to look at the stone and the steel.

He's the first martyr.

He was the first overcomer.

And of course, it's for the testimony of Jesus Christ, which is the spirit of prophecy, is why he was stone.

But he kept the faith until the end.

He even said, as Christ said, Lord, lay not descend or the charge, overcame the confusion, self-feeling, self-emotions.

What a man, what a man.

But anyway, I want to stop and I want to hear someone bring us up to speed, please.

I didn't see you, but I see you now.

What for you like you, sir?

That's okay.

When you stop, your father will pick up the rest.

Yes, sir.

Um my background's a little noisy, but uh I I heard you just uh just briefly just say just bringing up bringing us up to speed from just coming from the law of Moses and just going into just um modern times.

Um you kind of put me on the spot.

Um but um but the only thing I can uh you want your phone?

I'll add this, I'm gonna add this.

Um I'll leave something there.

Um in Matthew's 5.

Uh Christ was playing, was um was laying on the uh uh a pretty good layout as far as um I'm thinking about the scripture.

He says, I have not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.

Um so he's he's just giving that blessed are uh uh the meek, uh just giving those blessed, um, so blessed are they that more for they shall be comforted, just introducing a new law.

Um, of course, um that law was not established at that time, but just a preparation.

Um I'm just trying to spill out what I know.

I'm I'm looking at Brother LJ just to check my temperature.

Um but um but um all I could hear is just uh John the Baptist saying, prepare ye the way.

Um just trying to just get just trying to prepare the people's hearts um to come from a law such as thou shall not steal, thou shalt not covet, but then come into a new law where it says, Um, even if I lust upon you know this in my heart, you know, just coming from one um uh uh just one law from another.

So I'll just I'll just add that.

Uh you kind of got me.

Uh so uh off guard, but uh I I'll I'll I'll just um bring forth that.

We appreciate it.

Appreciate that.

Brother Rick Moise, we need some representation from South Florida, sir.

Yes, sir.

Um, well, uh just on what uh Isaiah just kind of mentioned um and what you just asked, um I um see that um, you know, we were coming from, of course, the the old law and then then coming into the new.

There was a scripture that I was thinking about in John uh chapter eight where he talks about I'm the light of I am the light of the world.

Let's see if I can pull it up really quick.

Uh John chapter eight.

Uh let's see, let's see.

Okay, Jesus um John chapter eight says um then Jesus spake unto them, saying, That I am the light of the world, and he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light.

So um so that's one of the scriptures that I was thinking about on um coming into uh what we're just speaking about today.

Okay, anyone else give us a summary of these first uh eight chapters of the book of Acts.

Any volunteers.

All right, brother Greg, I'm gonna I'm gonna draft people.

I'll draft you.

Yes, sir, yes, sir.

Okay, let's look at the first eight chapters.

So, of course, Jesus Christ had died, he had resurrected.

He was seen 40 days, giving many infallible proofs, that means undeniable proofs.

He talked with those men for those 40 days, and after that, he told them to tear in Jerusalem until they've been endured with power from on high.

So they waited for 10 days after that.

So we get to Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Of course, Judah's spot was replaced with Matthias, but we get to Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

They received the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

You had those 120, then after that, 3,000 were added.

Then you keep going, 5,000 were added.

And then I'm just kind of give a quick synopsis.

Uh, you get to chapter 3, you get Peter healing the man that was lame.

I think he was 40 years, he was lame from his mother's womb.

He actually tells the people that don't think it's by any power that I've done, but it's by Jesus Christ who you have crucified.

So we get done.

So basically, those apostles that said signs and wonders followed them.

So they were just showing the people that, hey, it's not me, it's Christ.

So the church kept multiplying and multiplying until, of course, they were arrested and all of those things, but they prayed that they spake with boldness.

So they did that.

Then you get to Acts chapter 5, you get to Acts chapter 5, and you got Anonizes of fire.

Acts 5 · chapter mention Acts 5 · chapter mention

It shows how you have some people who will pretend they're not completely dedicated, but they want to act like they're dedicated.

Well, they didn't realize that they were before uh White Throne Judgment.

They end up losing their life.

People didn't join themselves, they didn't just readily join themselves.

However, the church still increased.

Then you get to uh Acts chapter 6.

Acts 6 · chapter mention

This is a very important chapter.

Uh it talks about those uh Grecians that's talking about those Hellenistic Jews who were neglected in their daily ministration.

So the apostles, they didn't wait tables, but they sought out good and faithful men.

And these men weren't just any men.

They might have not necessarily held an office at that time, but these men were men who were full of the Holy Ghost, full of the word of God.

You see it as they as their ministry started to increase, you actually saw it.

But um there's a and I interject this.

There's a reason for that.

I really wanted to say this because um they weren't neglected because the Jews were trying to neglect them.

I just give you an example.

Even in the body of Christ right now, even in our local assembly, we have different people from different cultures and different backgrounds.

And that could be some things that that though, I'm gonna use the term Orthodox Jews didn't really maybe know how to attend to.

They were Grecian Jews.

And the reason why I want to point that out is because even you see, when you get down to um uh Stephen, even the people that he even preached to.

It talks about the libertines and those of Alexandria.

It shows you how he was able to reach people that other people might not have been able to reach.

So it just shows how the word of God was increasing.

But anyway, skip down, skip down, of course, we get down to Stephen, how he spoke with much wisdom that it was unrefutable.

Well, it just shows you.

I use the scripture in John, it says, men love darkness rather than light, for their deeds were evil.

So he walked them all the way down from the calling of Abraham, and he brought them all the way down to that time, but instead of receiving the word of God, they killed him.

Well, at that moment, then you see the Jews at that point, that was the first mortar that was killed.

So they actually, as a nation, had cut themselves off.

So you see, actually, the reason why I wanted to point that out, you see how even though Christ was cut off in the midst of the weeks, but his ministry fulfilled the remainder three and a half years.

So after you get to that, you get to chapter eight.

Of course, you see persecution arising in the church.

Saul, who was there, actually consent to Stephen's death, but he ran crazy trying to put uh on his way to Damascus, trying to put um uh Jews, got received letters from the high priest to actually put them to uh to death.

Uh let's see.

Oh, but on during that process, uh I get down to, I want to point out uh what's his name?

Oh, I can't think of the man's name.

Oh, Philip.

Philip, Ethiopian unit.

So, the Ethian Unit, you're uh opening unit coming back from Jerusalem, trying to understand the word of God.

It shows you how Philip was led by the Holy Ghost.

It says, join yourself to that chariot.

And then when he joined himself, he asked him, you know, basically, do you understand what you read?

The man's heart was prepared by the Lord.

He said, How can I let some man guide me?

That was all the preparation.

And I want to talk about Philip.

If you look at Philip, Philip's track, uh, Peter followed right behind his track.

Philip was the evangelist.

And actually, Peter actually came right behind him everywhere he went.

So that's important.

It just shows you how the Lord used Philip as a herald to prepare his way.

And then you saw Peter actually following up.

If you actually look at that, uh, if you look at that.

So anyway, the Ethiopian unit, he ended up receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

And now we're going into chapter 9, Brother Brown, where Saul is actually converted.

So back to you, sir.

I appreciate it.

I don't know, I'm mindful of the time, and I don't want to get to the end and have to rush too much, but it's a very straightforward chapter.

I hear the ninth chapter, so I did want to take a little time and emphasize things that I maybe in previous uh nine or ten meetings on Zoom wasn't able to really bring out or emphasize, one of which, uh, and I'm sure they'll do this more in the House meetings, but we do know that there are fundamental uh first principles of the articles of Christ.

Uh in this group they call it major doctrine, but the Bible doesn't call it major doctrine.

They call it the first article or the principles of Christ.

This is the basics.

And in there, you'll see them in Hebrews chapter six.

You can write it down.

I won't take the time to read it.

He said, therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ.

Uh, let us go on uh to perfection, to completion, to become overcomers.

Uh, this we'll do if God permit.

Not laying again, and I want to point this out.

He's going to enumerate on different aspects of your basic fundamental doctrine of Christ.

Not laying again, repentance from dead works.

You're going to see that in the book of Acts.

He's not teaching it as a doctrine.

No one, Lucas just recorded it.

But you'll see the manifestation of that, of uh repentance from dead works.

You're going to see that in the book of Acts, uh, of the doctrine of baptisms uh with an S because it's more than one.

Water, Holy Ghost, and fire.

You're going to see that in the book of Acts.

A lot of it we've already gone over.

And I'll go back and maybe catch those of God give us grace, uh, some of those olive berries and point them out to you.

Uh not only that, but land on hands.

You'll see that.

We've already seen that in the books of Acts.

Uh Land Own of Hands, picking some dead works, land on the hands, eternal eternal judgment.

You'll see that.

Let me just point some of them out real quick without doing a lot of reading.

If you can recall, first of all, let's take repentance.

Let's take it's not just repenting of sins, but it's repenting from activities that cannot produce life.

That's what repentance from dead works is.

It's just activity that does not add life.

And uh from the day of Pentecost, everything that you were instructed on the law of Moses ceremonial was became dead works, all of it.

There's no life in it whatsoever.

And uh, this is a transition of book.

So they have to transition from that, uh, from dead works.

And yet they commanded to do works.

And you'll see the good works, there's different kinds of works.

There's dead works, then you see uh good works.

You see them both.

Uh and then, of course, you'll see the doctrine of baptisms, uh, water, holy ghost, and fire.

Well, let's start with that first.

And you can you'll recall, and I'll point them out to you.

Uh, on the day of Pentecost, uh, that was the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

Uh, that's one of the three.

Talking about the doctrines of the uh principles of the Oracle of Christ, Holy Ghost baptism was one.

Not only that, uh uh, they didn't just receive the Holy Ghost, but they was baptized in water.

And then, of course, you'll see in the seventh chapter, um, eight chapter, when um the persecution arose from the church.

Now come the fire baptism.

So you see Holy Ghost, you see water, and you see the fire.

By the way, the Lord never baptized any group or any people with a baptism of fire if you hadn't received the baptism of the Holy Ghost or the baptism of water, because the fire will surely consume you.

You don't have the power to withstand it.

Uh, you won't have the power to let it burn out, let it have its perfect work.

And so, suffering, I don't want to get off into one subject, uh, but suffering has been a dain of God.

Paul, I'm just gonna quote a scripture.

Uh he said, with much tribulation, that's suffering, shall you enter into the kingdom.

That's the eternal kingdom.

And so that's part of it.

And to every sacrifice has to be salted with fire.

And so you see, the fire started from the stoning of Stephen up to this time, uh, from the day of Pentecost, and I was I was very purposefully pointing out that there was everything was at the temple.

They gathered at the temple three times a day on a porch that's called Solomon.

But and that was easy because they had a captured audience, people are already Zayn's of God, was familiar with the laws of God according to the old covenant.

But when God cut his wrath, when you when he cut his wrath, he separated his people.

He didn't want this people to be in that environment any longer.

And so to make that transition, he allowed the fire to do it.

Uh, God used this fire, just like in, I don't want to get too far off, I'm gonna watch the time, just like when the nation of Israel came out of Egypt.

If you can remember, there was a pillar of cloud by day, uh, but it also is a pillar of fire by night.

And not only was that fire to keep them, give them light by night, but that fire became a wall uh between the Egyptian who was pursuing them and the people of God.

So the fire does bring a separation.

That's an ordained method of God.

You'll find the wheat.

That's how you'll find whose wheat and whose shaft.

That's when you find out what's wood, hay, and stubble, and what's gold, silver, and precious stone.

So God uses fire.

And even for his people, that church, before it could actually reach perfection, uh, produce perfection, you see fire first fell on an individual named Stephen.

We talked about him.

Uh, that is in the uh seventh chapter, he gave his discord, and then he went down the separation.

Let me point out something else before I get too far on that.

I want you to keep this in mind.

When you read about the 12 apostles, Peter was always named first.

He was the first among equal.

He had no more authority than anyone else, but he was named first.

And there's a reason for that.

And I touched it a little bit because Jesus gave him the responsibility uh to open the doors that different segments of people can come into the kingdom.

First, he opened it on the day of Pentecost.

He was the first one that preached, and because he preached, 3,000 souls was added.

That's him using the keys or the keys of understanding to let the Jews in.

As Brother Greg pointed out, when you get to the eighth chapter, Philip went down to Samaritan, he preached Christ.

But without the baptism of the Holy Ghost, you can't have a citizenship in the kingdom of heaven.

It took Peter and John who went down.

And it wasn't John, it was Peter who took those keys that Christ had given him, his keys of knowledge, keys of understanding, and let the Samaritans in.

And then, of course, I don't get ahead of myself, but the next chapter, chapter 10, you see it's Peter who lets the Gentile in.

So now he's fulfilled the pattern that God told him through Christ, what happened?

It's Jerusalem, it's Judea, it's Samarita, and then the uttermost parts of the earth.

That means the Gentiles.

Once that occurred, and Peter had given account to the Jews why he went to Gentiles' house.

Of course, he said, Who am I that I can forbid water that these should not be baptized?

Uh, seeing they have received the Holy Ghost as well as we on the beginning.

And but then you'll notice, he's gonna notice a pivot.

Uh I don't want to get ahead, but once you get to the 12th chapter, the next chapter after that, uh, you're gonna see persecution so hot until James was beheaded.

Peter was apprehended and he was uh put in prison.

Uh, he's going to be put to death the next day, but the Lord delivered him.

But no more going to the temple.

They still met.

But you couldn't go to the temple because there was wanted men.

And so that's still.

Their faith was going back to the temple worship.

That was something ordained of God.

But you won't see Peter no more.

And this is why I'm pointing this out.

You're going to see a transition now to this man named Saul of Tartus.

Because before then Peter was the one.

And now from the uh the 13th chapter on, you won't see Peter no more.

From the 13th chapter all the way to the 28th, it's not about Peter no more.

You won't see nothing else about Peter.

It becomes Paul.

And uh it's introduced in him as a uh a blasphemer, uh as a persecutor, an injurious man.

And but he thought he was doing God a service.

That's what Christ said.

The day will come.

The day they put you to death, think they do God's service.

And of course, here the fulfillment is it was Saul.

And uh I think we'll pick it up now before time get away.

But I won't do it here because it'll take a little time.

But all of the doctrines, the principles of the doctrine of Christ is manifested in the book of Acts.

Uh eternal judgment, brother Greg pointed out, Ananias and Sapphira.

That was a white throne judge, they will not resurrect.

They're dead, they shall not rise.

They'll deceased, they shall not live.

God has visited them and made all their members to perish.

That's the end.

They are eternally judged.

That's the end of them.

And as a nation, from the time they stoned Stephen, that's the end of Israel, having favor with God.

Only thing was waiting for them was a fiery indonation.

That's what that's what the Bible calls them.

I took the time to let you read.

They became enemies to all to Paul and to the uh gospel preachers that was eternally judged.

There is no restoration of Israel.

That's folly.

Uh that came from the Zionist movements back in the late 1800s.

And I won't go any further with that.

They're counterfeits.

Uh, even if they were, make no difference because the Jews have been eternally judged as a uh as a group, as a nation.

And individuals can be saved no matter who you are.

But it's an individual walk, it's not a group walk anymore.

You're not saved because your mama was saved, it's an individual choice.

Because your father was saved or you was in a certain group, that's the inner groups.

And so, if I may just touch a few things to bring us up, uh very intriguing, uh, but you have to take note of the transition.

You want to actually have your eyes open on this great transition because the way it's written by Luke is so gradual to you will miss it.

The Lord is constantly making moves, he's turning corners, and if it's not pointed out, you won't see it.

The stoning of Stephen was not just another incident.

That was Israel.

Remember, Jesus said, uh, I'm not judging you.

He said, But your children will be you judged.

And so they put Christ to death.

God then execute judgment on them.

But when they put the martyr to death, when they put their own children to death, when they put Stephen to death, that sealed their faith.

And God was no longer dealing with them again as a nation.

Uh well let's go back real quick, just lead into this ninth chapter properly.

You hate to hate to go this far back, but it's necessary.

Um Acts chapter 7, just gonna touch a few verses here, and I let the brothers do that in their group meetings.

Acts 7 · chapter mention

All of the doctrines, the fundamental teaching of Christ is in the book of Acts.

As he says in Ephesians 2 and 20, we're built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets.

That's the rest of the ministry, Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone.

But then Jesus said himself, the doctrine's not mine, it's my send me.

But anyway, when Stephen was given his discord, did a phenomenal job of walking you through.

It's nothing but the gift of God.

He had no Bible in his hand.

He's speaking out of the depths of his being.

And of course, the Holy Ghost is leading him.

And he was doing wonderful.

They was with him.

Uh, as he was laying it out, it sounds really good.

If you go down to the uh 48th verse, verse 14, Solomon built him a house, albeit the most high, he don't dwell in temples made by hand.

That one of the things that got him in trouble is teaching that Jesus Christ, and he did, was going to destroy that temple in Jerusalem and not leave one stone upon another.

Well, that's inflamed, and this is why he's brought before them.

And he's told them that God was changing the customs that they had by Moses.

And so for that, they were enraged against him.

But they listened to his presentation because it was very smooth, not very provocative.

And then, of course, he said, How be it the most high doesn't dwell with temples made with hands, said the prophet.

Of course, the prophet is making references.

Or where is the place of my rest?

Or have not my hand made all these things in with them?

Because that's scripture, they knew the scriptures.

It went over every Sabbath day.

But then he pivot on them.

He pivot on them.

Verse 51, you stiff neck.

The word stiff neck means you're rebellious and uncircumcised in heart.

That simply means you're fleshly hearted.

Nothing but flesh.

Flesh is your self-will, self-serving, self-pleasing.

Too much flesh.

You're uncircumcised in heart and hears, which means you can't even hear the truth when it's presented.

And now he indicts them directly.

That's what he's doing in the 51st verse.

You do always resist the Holy Ghost.

Wow.

As your father did, so do ye.

Very indicative.

Verse 52.

And he said, My God, man, how can he speak so hard?

He wasn't finished.

Which of the prophets have ye not?

Your fathers persecuted.

They have slain them, but have come show before the coming of the just one, talking about Jesus.

You killed all of them, of whom listen this term.

This is enough.

They couldn't take it.

Of whom you have been now the betrayers and murderers, talking about just one.

You you murdered him, you betrayed him, you sold him out.

And uh, who have you people?

You have received the law, that's the law of Moses, by the disposition of the angels, messengers, that's Moses and Aaron, and haven't kept it.

When they heard these things, they couldn't take it.

They was cut to heart.

Wow.

Cut to heart meaning they were deeply convicted.

And even where they were, they started grinding their teeth.

They gash upon him, grinding their teeth, not with their mouth on him, but so much rage in them with the teeth.

But he being full of the Holy Ghost, he went a step further, looked up steadfastly into heaven.

You could see he looked into the glory world, saw the glory of God and Jesus standing in his right hand.

When he made that statement and said, Behold, I see the heaven open, the Son of Man standing on the right hand.

They cried with a loud voice, They can't take no more of this man.

Can't take him no more.

They stopped their ears, didn't want to hear another word, ran upon him with one accord.

That's different kinds of one accord.

You can be one accord to do good, or you can be one accord to do evil, all of them hated him.

And they cast them out of the city, the city of Jerusalem, and stone him.

But look, and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet.

Here we go.

You want to put an answer by this verse, it's introducing him, and his name was Saul.

He kept their clothes, he gave his consent, he was edging them on, stone him, stone him.

He shouldn't be talking like that.

Listen to this.

And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

Of course, he laid down and he went asleep.

And now he picks all up again.

He was introduced in the 54th verse, 58th verse.

He starts right into the eighth chapter, and he's going to pivot again.

And now, this is God through Israel.

You won't see him doing dealing with the Jews no more in Jerusalem.

The rest of this Bible, you won't see God dealing with Jerusalem.

You see Paul going back because he loved his countrymen.

But that was a that was in the contents of Paul's heart.

That wasn't the Holy Ghost.

Matter of fact, you'll get to it.

The Holy Ghost told Paul, don't go.

They told him what's going to happen to him.

Agatha bound his his hands and said, This is what the Holy Ghost said is going to happen to the man to go back to Jerusalem.

The brothers and Caesarea told him, Don't go back.

But he loved his people.

He's trying against Hope to save them.

So he goes back, not to the temple.

He wasn't that crazy.

But eventually the persecution lightened up and he was able to go back to the temple.

That's where they found him at.

Let's keep reading.

And Saul was consenting to his death.

And at that time, there was a great underlying this.

There was a great persecution against the church, which was at Jerusalem.

Underline that when they stoned Stephen, all the people turned against the church.

They won't be at the temple no more.

The days that Solomon's porch is over, and because now it's time to spread the gospel to other areas, as Christ said they should do.

And they were all scattered.

You want to underline this verse?

Abroad, that is, outside of Jerusalem, through all the region of Judea.

Remember, first in Jerusalem, in Judea, and Samaria.

This is exactly how it unfolds.

But to keep the head with a crown of 12 stars on the head, the apostles stayed there.

They all went out except the apostles.

They stayed there.

Now watch how it's pivoted.

It keeps not pivoted.

This is an interjection.

Look at verse 3.

As for Saul, there's persecution against the church.

He helped the people close who stoned Stephen.

Or watch this.

As for Saul, underline this: He made havoc, destruction of the church.

Wow.

He didn't do it just at the temple.

They left the temple, but they also went house to house.

And here he is, entering into every house.

That's every house where there was a church that he knew of.

And helling men and women as participants in those house meetings and committed them to prison.

Wow.

Wow.

It wasn't just satisfied at the temple, stoning one, but this man became exceedingly mad to persecute those who call upon this way.

He exceeded all his brothers in his zeal, thinking he was doing God a service.

He was devoted to the law of Moses, but he was devoted to dead works.

Until the Lord revealed his son Jesus to him, he was serving dead works.

Prior to the day of Pentecost, the law of Moses in effect.

Starting the day of Pentecost, that day for when you offer the sacrifice, is that if you cut off a dog's head?

Let's keep reading.

Listen.

Verse 4.

Therefore they were scattered abroad.

They went everywhere preaching the word.

Okay, we got Jerusalem, we got Judea.

And Philip went down to the city of Samaritan, preaching Christ unto them.

As Brother Greg said, he was an evangelist.

Evangelist reaches out to the unsaved, the unredeemed.

Samaritans are not half Jews.

If I had time, I'll let you see that.

Samaritans are Gentiles who have replaced the Jewish people because God cast them out of his sight in 721 BC.

He cast them out.

And matter of fact, forgive me.

I want you to see it.

Go with me over to what is that 2 Kings 17?

I think.

Go to 2 Kings 17.

Pretty sure that's it.

I don't want to give you too much, but I want you to understand this book is fulfilling all these great prophecies and bringing things, it's bringing things into focus.

Give me a good reader, Brother Michael.

You're gonna do this for me, please.

I'm gonna start it back forward enough.

We're gonna select verses.

Um verse one, read real fast from it.

I am, but you have to see this.

You have to see why the Jews hated the Samaritans.

And yet, even though he hated the Samaritans, God saved them before he got to the Gentiles, because they did have some element of the truth.

Well, Gentiles had none.

So he started off with his covenant people, the Jews, Oxado Jews, native Jews, and then he went to Samaritan, I mean Judea, and then Samarita, everything before the Gentiles, because the Bible says we were carried away with dumb idols, even as we were led.

Uh 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 2, I think it is.

1 Corinthians 12:2

Pick it up for me, Brother Michael.

I'll let you read these first four verses, please.

First, 2 Kings 17 and 1.

In the 12th year of Ahaz, king of Judah, began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years.

And he did that which which was evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him.

He didn't set up the graven images.

It was already set up.

He didn't introduce Baal worship.

Jerome, uh Jeroboaman already done that.

He didn't invent more evil.

They had all the evil could have been invented already.

So he didn't do anything new, but he continued in the same way.

And he didn't know the time it ran out.

Keep reading, but Mike.

Against him came up Shalmanesseh, king of Assyria, and Hoshea became his servant and gave him presents.

And the king of Israel, uh Assyria.

I'm sorry.

Now go to the fifth verse real quick.

Verse 5.

Then the kings of Assyria came up throughout all the land and went up to Samaria and besieged it three years.

Three years.

Now, go to verse 7 real quick.

For it was for so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and had feared other gods.

This whole 17 chapter, I'm gonna speed it up a little bit.

I want you to see without a doubt what God did.

He took Israel and put them away, the northern kingdom.

And what happened, so you'll understand it, there was representative of all 12 tribes that went down to the southern kingdom every time there was a righteous king.

And so there was representation, but the ten tribes themselves were scattered.

Go to verse 13, Brother Michael.

Okay, he's studying all they did wrong.

Look at verse 10.

Look at verse 9.

Let me read, I'm gonna speed it up a little bit.

Listen.

And the church, verse 9, then the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God.

They built them high places in all the city.

And then verse 10, and they set up images and groves in every high hill and under every green tree.

Please circle that highlight to put stars because people still doing that.

And there they burnt incen in all the high places and God and did the um as did the heathen whom the Lord carried away before them.

Look at this, verse 12.

He's indicting you before he them to let you know why he eternally scattered and damned them.

Verse 12.

They survey us.

Where the Lord said unto them, You shall not do this thing.

Yet the Lord, verse 13, yet the Lord testified against Israel, and him against Judah, by all the prophets and all the seers, saying, Turn you from your evil ways, keep my commandments and my statute, according to all the law which I command you.

Verse 14, notwithstanding they would not hear, but they hardened the neck, wow, like the neck of their fathers.

Verse 15, they rejected his statues, wow.

And listen, verse 16, they left all the commandments.

Look at verse 17, that caused their son and daughters to pass through the fire, they sacrificed them, used to divination.

My God.

Now in verse 18, wherefore the Lord was very angry against Israel, underline this, and removed them out of his sight.

And there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.

Judah had absorbed Benjamin because of their size.

But even Judah also, Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord, but walked in the statue of Israel, but they did have some righteous king.

Now go down a little bit, verse 21.

Then he that's God, for he rent Israel from the house of David.

And look at verse 22.

The children of Israel walked in all the sin of Jeroboam, which he did.

And there's this key, verse 23 again.

Until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight.

That's another kingdom.

Removed them out of his sight.

Let me keep reading.

As he said by all his servants the prophet, he kept warning them.

So Israel, listen to this, was carried away out of their own land to Assyria until this day.

That's the day this was written.

That was the end of them.

And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, from these different nations, and uh and placed them in the city of Samaritan.

Underline that.

Instead of the children of Israel, and they possessed Samaritan and dwelled in the cities.

So there was no more Israelite.

These are Samaritans.

And God, let me let you read.

I'll tell you what happened.

I'll let you read it.

And this is not Israelites, these are other Gentile nations that's in Israel.

And this is what happened when was so wicked, sad.

So that was at the beginning of their dwelling there, as soon as they got there, they feared not God or the Lord.

Wherefore the Lord sent lions among them, which ate, slew some of them.

They didn't just kill them, they killed them for the Edom.

Wherefore they spake unto the king of Syria, that's these Gentile nations that's in Samaritan, the northern kingdom.

Samaria is the northern kingdom capital.

Wherefore they spake unto the king of Syria, saying, The nation which thou hast removed and placed in the cities of Samaritan, these people, us who you brought from other nations, we don't know the manner of the God of the land.

Wherefore he sent lions among them, they knew who was judging them, and behold, they slay them because they know not the manner of the God of the land.

Then this is the problem right here.

Then the king of Assyria, who took them, who scattered the northern kingdom out, saying, Carry one of the priests whom you have brought from hence, and let them go and dwell there, and let them teach them the manner.

The problem was they weren't Levites.

The priests that he brought was priests who Jeroboam had made the lowest of the people, and they could not teach them the right way of the Lord.

Are you following me?

Can everyone follow me?

And so everybody who was Samaritans of the northern kingdom, they wasn't even Jews at all.

They were Gentiles.

I wanted to establish that first.

And not people call them half Jews.

That's not the truth.

There wasn't Jews at all.

But they did have some form of understanding the law, so God reached them next.

That's enough of that.

Let me keep moving.

And so he sent them down to Samarita, Philip, but they still couldn't get in the kingdom until Paul, I'm sorry, Peter came and used the keys.

Look at this.

Look at verse 14.

Many scattered, all everybody scattered except the apostles.

And when the apostles, which was at Jerusalem, heard that Samaritan, which was Gentile people, whom they hated because they perverted the law of Moses.

For they had received the word of God, they said unto him, Look who they sent, Peter and John, who, when they was come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost.

For as yet he, that's the Holy Ghost, had fallen on none of them, they was only baptized in the name of the Lord.

Okay, that's water baptism.

Then laid there their hands as the apostles' hands on them, they received the Holy Ghost.

So now you can see that Peter then went to the Jews, you see him in Samarita.

The only place left is going to be the Gentiles.

It happens in the 10th chapter.

After that, it pivots.

Once you give an account of why he went, you're going to see Paul, Paul, Paul, throughout the rest of this book.

No more Peter, Paul.

He was one born out of due season.

He wasn't one of the original 12 apostles, but he was called by God and he was taught by God.

And not only that, I'm gonna make a statement, and I can verify it with it.

I'll take your questions.

He was more learned than all of them, even though they learnt from Christ.

Paul was more versed, he was more learned than all of them.

And I'll tell you why.

This is a little side note, Peter.

The other apostles was taught by Christ.

But prior to that, there was ignorant, not learned men, it was fishermen.

Paul's whole life was studying the old covenant.

He came up at Gamellia's feet.

He didn't just learn it, he knew the Old Testament as if you can identify your own hand.

And so it didn't take him three and a half years to learn what Christ had towards them.

He knew it.

All he needed was a revelation on the things he had been read.

He had knew already.

And Christ gave that to him himself.

Let me let you get to that.

You'll see it.

But stay with me and I'll pause for questions.

I know I'm kind of going fast, but you want to see this.

This is nothing small.

Okay, so now that has transpired.

Now he shifts back.

Um, by the way, on the way back from Samarita, Peter stopped at other cities in Judea, opening the keys.

And you'll read that once a transition from in this eighth chapter uh from the eunuch, being baptized, and from Samaritan, where he received the word of God, you see Paul, I'm sorry, uh Peter on his way back.

Now, uh go down to chapter 9, verse 1.

And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings, wow, and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord.

Notice he didn't call them Christians.

He didn't call them Christians until they get to Antioch.

It was just called disciples.

And by the way, the word Christians was not a identifiable title.

It was a scorning.

They used that to scorn them because Christ was put to death.

They called him Christians.

Christ follows.

It was a scorn.

It wasn't, it wasn't credit, it wasn't something of honor, but the disciples is the term that Christ gave us, disciples of Christ.

But anyway, that's another subject.

And Saul yet breathing out threatening and slaughtered.

That word against the disciples from the Lord.

Went to the high priest because the church is already persecuted.

They're no longer at the temple.

Paul went into every place that he knew they were having church meetings.

He hauled them into prison.

He still wasn't satisfied.

He heard that way up in Samaritan.

I mean, way up in Syria.

That's where Damascus is.

Let me help you to understand this.

That's not even a northern kingdom.

Damascus is in Syria.

That's a whole nother nation.

So you're going to travel from Jerusalem, from Judea.

You're going to go all the way to Damascus, to another country, to haul away Christians?

And you are exceedingly mad.

Maureen.

He desired of him that's the high priest, let us to Damascus, because they had Jewish synagogues there.

And he's going to go there.

And if he can find any, look at this term that if he could find any of this way, what do you mean this way?

Disciples of Christ.

They can find any, whether they were men or women, he may bring them bound to Jerusalem.

He wants to punish them.

He wants to whip them.

He wants to beat them.

He's trying to stump out this movement.

The reason is because they saw the disciples of Christ as a sect that was uh role against the law of Moses.

No, we're not a role, we're not a sect of the Jewish law.

This is a whole nother movement.

But watch what happened.

And as he's journeyed, he's on his way.

And as he came near Damascus, Damascus in Syria.

That's a long journey to execute your hate and your disdain.

And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus.

And listen, if any man you didn't want to save, you shouldn't want to save him.

This man persecuted the church.

He made havoc of the church.

Then suddenly light shine about him.

I'm sorry, certainly shine about him a light from heaven.

Wow.

And he fell to the earth or to the ground.

And he heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecuted thou me?

Wow.

Man, let's be honest.

You wouldn't even talk to him if you were the Lord.

He would have smoked him dead.

Yet God took the time through Christ to actually deal with this man's heart of all the havoc and the evil he did.

It's just mind-boggling how far God would go to save someone.

And he'll save people you and I wouldn't choose, including me.

Listen, he said, Who are thou, Lord?

Because he didn't know anything about Christ.

He never, he wasn't a disciple of Christ, he's persecuting thou.

And the Lord is talking about Christ, said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest.

How is he persecuting Christ?

By persecuting his people.

She said, If you're done to the least of these, my brethren, you've done unto me.

He said, Headness is his body in the earth.

So what he did to them is done to him.

Then he used an illustration.

It's hard to kick against the prick.

That's just a prick is nothing but a stick with a nail or a sharp object.

And they take it and they make it when they plow it, they'll make that ox move by sticking them with that prick.

And if the ox gets too irritated, you try to kick it.

But when you kick it, that prick is gonna hit the bottom of your feet, your hoofs.

And so he's telling, What you doing?

You can't stop this.

You're gonna hurt yourself trying to fight me.

It's hard to kick against a prick.

He understood the party as a parable.

And he that is Saul, his name is still Saul.

Saul is his birthgiving name.

That's a Jewish name.

Because he started working with the Gentiles, we don't use Jewish terms.

The renderer of that is called Paul.

It's a Gentile rendering of the word Saul.

It's the same man.

We'll get to that.

And he, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, I mean, he didn't know.

He thought he was doing God a service.

What would thou have me to do?

And the Lord said unto him, Rise, go into the city.

You're near Damascus, go ahead and go.

It's gonna be told thee what thou must do.

I want to stop it for a moment.

All those homes that he went into, hauling people out and taking them to be judged, all the people he gave his voice to to be killed and to be murdered, all the havoc he reached on the church.

I can't tell how long this went on.

I would like to know, but it had to be a span of time.

He did much harm, much evil.

He did so much evil till his name wasn't just known there in Jerusalem and in Judea.

His name was known all the way in a foreign country of Syria.

They knew who he was.

That's how much evil he did.

The reason I'm pointing that out is because all the evil he did, not just showing God's grace.

This is why he didn't mind suffering for Christ.

He'd know the wrong he had done.

He didn't have a problem because he loved God and he grieved that he even did.

You can't relive your past.

He wasn't under condemnation, but he was willing to die for Christ because he had people with his voice, punish, and some even died.

When we look at our past and what God saved us from, we should be willing to suffer, but we won't.

This is what made Paul so righteous.

He was willing to embrace whatever harm came with propagating the gospel.

The Lord, I'll save everyone from something.

But we don't have enough conviction that we won't even suffer shame for Christ.

Not all of us, but most of us.

All of us were saved from something.

When it gets time to suffer for Christ, we, as Brother L.

J.

was pointing out, sometimes we don't testify because we don't want to be rejected.

Or we don't want to live a standard.

I call, forgive me for using these harsh words.

But it's what it's we sell out.

We sell out.

We deny the Lord, not in words, but in deeds and in actions.

We don't give the Lord our best.

Even when it comes to finance, we pay all our bills, everything else, whatever's left, you might give that to God.

He said, give it to your governors.

See, will he accept that?

Same thing with our time.

We do everything else, and if any time left over, we might read.

You think that's acceptable?

And all of us has done something.

What motivates me, I was saved at 25 years old.

You'll be surprised, the amount of havoc, not against the church, just people's lives, that you can do in 25 years.

When I look at my life, where the Lord has brought me from and brought me to, I don't mind whatever attachment, whatever price to be paid.

Because the projection that I was on, I would have either ended up in prison or somebody would have killed me.

I would have to kill somebody else.

I never had fear, which means I was too reckless.

I would have hurt somebody or forced somebody to hurt me.

And so that's why I don't mind.

And if every one of us look at our lives before the Christ saved us, let's look at Paul and see ourselves.

Okay, verse 7.

And the men which journeyed with him, because he didn't go by himself.

He went with an entourage.

He came to do much harm.

It doesn't tell you how many men, but it had to be a pretty good group.

He came to do harm.

He's going to home men and women, not four or five or ten, as many as he could find, make prisoners out of them, and take them back to Jerusalem to be punished.

So he didn't have enough people to enforce his and uh to fulfill his purpose.

Watch.

The men was journeying with him.

God wasn't dealing with them.

He left them alone.

They stood speechless.

They're hearing a voice, and you'll see this later.

That voice was just sounds.

They didn't understand, it wasn't audible to them.

They just heard voice, they heard thunder.

But they're seeing no man, they heard something.

But Saul's talking.

And so they couldn't understand what was trans because God wasn't dealing with them.

The point to be made here, you can be in the midst of a situation, God did you nobody else see nothing.

No one else hears anything.

Let me just keep reading.

I'm not trying to preach.

It's just it's intriguing to me.

And then Saul arose from the ground or from the earth.

And when he his eyes were opened, he saw no man.

God gave him natural blindness because he was spiritually blind.

There's a reason for this.

He has to open his eyes and gave him a this is called an allegory, go with it.

But he saw no man, but they led him.

There's the men who went with him, some of them anyway, led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.

What do you think he went to Damascus?

He didn't go to the Christians.

He went to the Jewish people who was against the Christians because that's why he was there.

So that's what he was for.

And that's where he was.

And there was a certain disciple, now someone was a follower of Christ.

He was at Damascus.

By the way, if Saul had caught him, he was going to Jerusalem to be stoned or be beat, to be whipped.

His name is Ananias.

And to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias, it's in a vision.

He said, Behold, I am here, Lord.

And the Lord said unto him, Arise, go into the street, which is named straight, and inquiring the house of Judas, for one called Saul of Tarsus.

Well, behold, he prayed.

And he seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, putting his hands on him, that's laying on of hands.

I'm about to identify these doctrines, putting hands on him that he might receive his sight.

This is laying on of hands.

James said, If any be sick among you, let him call for the other church, let him anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord, and pray have saved shall save the sick.

By Paul letting this man lay his hands on him, he's submitting to the order of God.

But before he was fighting against it.

Then Ananias answered, Wait a minute, Lord, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, wait, hold on.

I've heard, listen, this term.

Now he's in Damascus, he's in another country, Samaria.

I have heard by many, look at that word, many, of this man, how much evil, underline these words, how much evil he has done to thy saints at Jerusalem.

How much evil he has done.

Wow.

And here he has authority from the chief priest to bind, that means to lock up and put a rope on all that call on thy name.

Wow.

But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way.

Do what I'm telling you.

Watch these terms.

For he is a chosen vessel unto me to bear.

I want you to underline this word, to bear my name.

I want you to underline that, bear my name, and I'll explain that later.

Before the Gentiles, and not just that kings, because he went before Hestas and I'm sorry, Hester, he went before Phestus, he went before Agrippa, uh, he went before Phoenix.

These were all kings and the children of Israel.

He's gonna give them a chance as individual.

Well, I will show him, I want you to, this is put two under lines at that.

That's true.

I will show him, I want you to get this how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.

Just like he afflicted, he did my people harm, he's gonna do them good.

He's gonna be a witness that you can suffer and keep your integrity.

Paul never bend, bow, break, or burn.

He never sold out, he never bagged up, he never denied the Lord.

Never.

I don't know why people sell out.

You remember where you came from.

We was nothing when he found us.

Why will we sell out?

Let's keep reading.

And Ananias went his way.

He did what he was told, entering to the house.

By the way, he's going into the house of people who hated the disciples.

This is the only place they could have received Paul, or Saul, as he was called.

He went his way, entering to the house, putting his hands on him, land on the hands.

Look what he said.

This is important.

Brother Saul.

He called him brother before he even received the baptism of the Holy Ghost or even water baptism.

It's by faith.

Because he said, God said he dealt with him.

He uses the term brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou cameest, and it's to do us harm, has sent me that thou mayest receive thy sight.

Here he goes, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

That fill means to the point of being baptized.

And immediately he laid his hands on him.

And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales.

That's the allegory.

He couldn't see naturally because he had scales on his eyes.

He couldn't see spiritually because he couldn't see past the veil that was on his face every time the law of Moses was written.

That's what Paul says later.

And that veil is still upon the heart of Israel when they read the law.

God just chose him and used him because the same zeal and commitment he had for the law of Moses will be the same zeal and fervent he'll have for the law of Christ.

Sometimes the worst sinners become the best saints.

And that's a fact.

I don't want to bash nobody.

I can't see you on my screen.

Will you speak up?

Say hello.

So you'll pop on my screen.

All right.

Are you trying to imply something, sir?

Yeah, I am.

By your testimony, sir.

By your testimony.

But just watch your testimony.

And you remind yourself and you remind the people of how you live your life and what you did.

And because of that, you're furbing your zeal is because you can see where the Lord brought you from.

That's why you're not ashamed of him.

That's why you're so faithful.

That's why you're so loyal.

That's why you reach out to people so much passion.

You keep reminding yourself of your testimony.

The reason I'm pointing this out, from this point forward, you'll see Paul keeps reminding everybody of his testimony.

He testified before kings.

He kept reminding himself of what God did for him.

Even when he writes to Timothy, he calls himself a blasphemer, an injurious person.

He remembers where he came from.

We'll do well if we remember the state we were in before the Lord saved us.

In 25 years, I mean, my God, how many years could I have lived that way?

And I never even had enough sense to know you hidden for destruction.

I only saw that after God saved me some years and looked back.

Man, that's your death.

You're going to either kill somebody or somebody's going to kill you.

I'm living my life with a 25 pistol strapped around my ankle and a little holster and a 357 magnet in my vehicle.

This is going to stop the hardware.

Why at 25?

Why are you living like that?

And I wasn't bluffing.

I'm so glad God forgive me, I'm gonna beside myself.

I'm glad God had mercy on me.

Every one of us got a test.

You might not want to tell it, but you do have a He saved you from somewhere.

Everybody has a testimony.

You'll do well to remember and get rid of some of the pride.

I'm telling on myself because I'm among a people whom I can say these things.

I'm not ashamed to tell anybody, but I know you won't hold my pass against me.

I loan shocked.

That's how I made my money.

I loan shocked.

Men couldn't feed their family because I took their money.

You want to borrow some more, loan you someone to feed your family, but next week I'll he'll be in the same predicament.

That's just me.

And I remember who I am, what I came from.

Let's keep reading.

Watch.

And the scales fell from his eye, and he received his sight forwith, arose, and was baptized.

Now you see two different baptisms right here.

Uh in verse 17, uh you see he received his sight.

I'm sorry, we filled with the Holy Ghost.

He was baptized.

I see water and Holy Ghost.

And when he had received meat that's food, he was strengthened because he was fasting those days.

He didn't eat.

He was sorry.

God had dealt with him, but he didn't know who he was.

And Saul was certain days with the disciples.

Now he came to arrest them.

He came to have them punished.

He left his company.

He can't stay in both companies.

I promise you, he wouldn't stand on the street called straight no more.

He wasn't in Judah's house no more.

You become a Christian.

You ain't coming back here.

But he was with the disciples, so he changed his residence, he changed his lifestyle.

And straightway, because he got a revelation, he already knew the Bible.

He just didn't know it was Christ.

Straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues.

Remember, there's only one temple back in Jerusalem.

And so they met on Saturdays in the synagogue.

He preached that he is the Son of God because he could see it.

The scale fell from his eyes naturally and spiritually.

But here's the problem.

But all that heard him was amazed.

Wow.

And said, Is this not he?

Look at this term, underline it, that destroyed them, which called upon his name in Jerusalem, and came here for that intent that he may bring them bound unto the chief priest.

So he was being criticized and he was people scared of him.

But look, he didn't stop.

But Saul increased the more in strength.

Now he's not talking natural strength in the word of God.

He could see these things and confounded the Jews.

That's the one he was working for, remember?

That dwell at Damascus.

Proving, not preaching, proving that this is very Christ.

Because he knew the Bible, the Old Testament, extremely well.

He came up at your million feet.

He knew the word of God.

He just didn't know what it meant.

And look, verse 23.

And after many days were fulfilled.

I can't get the timeline.

I know this happened from the time he was converted to the time he went to Jerusalem.

I know this is three years.

I don't know how much time he spent in the Mass and how much time he spent in Arabia, don't tell you.

But his whole span of time from the day he was converted until the time he went to Jerusalem was three years.

So you're bringing this down now, you somewhere around 40 AD.

Time is ticking on Israel.

You got less than 30 years left.

Watch.

But they're laying a weight.

Okay, I'm sorry, I skipped the verse.

Verse 23.

They could, this is the Jews, man, they they hate this.

Message.

And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him.

To kill him.

The same man who was arresting people for you.

Now, because his eyes opened, you want to kill him.

You know why?

Because he was proven that this is the Christ.

But their line of wait was known of Saul because God made him to know it.

And they watched the gate.

That's these Jews, day and night, to kill him.

They're not trying to get him in prison.

They're not trying to kill him.

Then the disciples, the one he came initially to haul to prison, they saved his life.

Then the disciples took him by night and led him down by a wall in a basket.

Wow.

And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, now between verse 25 and 26, I'll read it on out first.

And when Saul was coming to Jerusalem, he asailor, he wanted, he tried to join himself to disciples, but they was afraid of him.

No, you didn't do much harm, and we don't trust you.

It could be a rule, it could be a scheme to get the rest of us.

They were afraid of him and believed not that he was a disciple.

But I want to share something with you.

Between verse 25 and 26, before Saul went to Jerusalem, go to Galatians chapter 1.

Galatians 1 · chapter mention

This is not injected here.

Luke didn't record this.

Paul himself, when he gave his pedigree, and uh this is important.

I want you to know who this man really was.

He wasn't just anybody.

Jesus gave a parable.

Just come to me.

Listen to this.

This is the Lord talking to all of us.

Jesus said this is a parable.

A certain man had two sons.

He goes to his elder son and he said, Son, go work in my vineyard.

He said, Yes, I'll go, but he went out.

He said to the other son, go work in my vineyard.

He said, I'm not going, sir.

But he repented and he went.

Which one of those did the will of his father?

There's two people.

Jews taught, but they never did it.

Saul, I'm using it on him.

Saul was against it.

But when God opened his eyes, he went.

So even though he did much harm, his latter end is what God judged him by.

Are you following me?

He had another paraphrase.

Two men.

One owed a great amount of money, and the other owed very little.

But neither one of them could pay him.

He frankly forgave them both.

Then he asked the question, which of those two you think you suppose love him the most?

They said the one he forgave the most said you answered right.

People who are forgiven the most end up loving the most, if you can really see it.

This man was forgiven for unimaginable evil he did.

But he used that not for condemnation, he used that for fear, fuel, to keep his fire burning tight for the Lord.

Every one of us got a testimony.

But anyway, let's read this.

First of all, this is Paul writing to these Galatians and letting them know that look, I'm not I'm not I'm not somebody who was persuaded to preach this gospel, verse 11.

But I certify you, I'm confirming to you, brethren, that the gospel which I preach is not of me.

I preached of me is not after man.

I didn't go to a seminary.

I didn't even hear Christ when he taught the 12.

Verse 12.

For neither I received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Christ opened my eyes to all that which I have been reading all these years.

Then he goes on to bear witness, saying, For you heard of my conversation, my life's uh, my behavior in time past.

Look at this term, underline this in the Jews' religion.

That's under the law of Moses, what he's talking about.

He calls it the Jews' religion.

It's not God's religion, it's the Jews' religion.

It was just a schoolmaster of that beyond measure.

Listen, underline these words.

I persecuted the church of God and wasted it.

He's given his own testimony, keeps doing it.

He keeps his fire burning.

Every one of us need to go back to sharing your testimony, where God saved us from.

And then we won't have to tell you to testify to people if you just keep remembering what God brought you from.

Brother Rick, Paul, do you remember how you were when God saved you, sir?

Yes, sir.

You was a modern-day hippie, sir.

I was I was content.

So I wasn't I wasn't seeking or surgeon.

God had to put a hook in my jaw, brother.

Man, if we would just stop, every one of us, and just remember where God brought us from.

Remember what you were when you were not Christ and without his son, when you was not whole.

You have to think on these things.

And all the facade means nothing.

What somebody thinks about me, how they like me, that means nothing.

Let's keep reading.

And so he calls it a Jew's religion.

How that he said, uh this term, how that beyond measure, I persecuted the church of God and wasted it.

The church of God is people, it's not a billing, it's people.

Not only that, and profited, it benefited me in the Jews' religion.

He calls that term the Jews religion.

When you in organizations and denominations, you're in man's religion.

You're not in Christ, you're in that man's religion, you're in that denomination.

Okay.

And profited in the Jews' religion above many of my equals in my own nation.

That's something about the Israelite.

Look at these terms.

Being more exceedingly zealous of the tradition of my father.

When I was a Jew, man, I persecuted everything that wasn't Jew.

I was zealous of the traditions.

But look at verse 15.

For when it pleased God, and people misread this verse, I'm gonna finish it out and give you what it means.

Who separated me from my mother's womb?

It don't mean God called him and sanctified him.

It means he brought him out of his mother's womb.

He separated him from his mother's womb.

That's not God didn't call him, uh huh, made him a prophet, he's in the womb.

That's not the truth.

God calls you from the womb where he calls you to come out of the womb.

But anyway, people amazes me.

Not when he came out of his mother's womb, when he was on the master's rod.

He called me by his grace to reveal, get this, his son in me.

He didn't do that when he came out the womb.

He did that when he was on the masses roard, that I may preach him among the heathen.

Word heathen is the same word translated Gentiles.

He didn't have him to preach Christ when he came out of his mother's womb.

He happened to preach Christ after he opened his eyes.

He said immediately, I conferred not with flesh and blood, and even when I to Jerusalem.

So get this, the them which was apostles before me.

But I went into Arabia.

So during that three years, he went to Arabia.

That's not southern Arabia, that's some region that's south of uh of Damascus.

And this is the key.

Underline this, he went to Arabia and returned again into Damascus.

So he went out, had some quiet place, time with the Lord, then he went back.

But sometime when he went back, he guess his revelation was too great, and he was sharing it.

They wanted to kill him for that.

But the whole span, verse 18.

Then after three years, that's why I'm pointing this up, three years from his conversion, I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and abode with him.

He was only there for 15 days.

So now I have to inject that because if you go back to Acts chapter 9, and then you read how they wanted to kill him, and then verse 25, then the disciples took him by night, let him down uh by a wall, and by the wall in a basket.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, this is three and a half years after he was converted.

This is after he was here's the order: he was converted, he went to Damascus, he went to Arabia, he went back to Damascus, and then when they tried to kill him, he went to Jerusalem.

Uh it don't tell you how long he was in Damascus, but it tells you he was in I'm sorry, how long he was in Arabia, but he went to Damascus, Arabia back to Damascus.

He points it out in his own testimony.

But listen, verse 28 now.

I'm gonna read verse 27 again to speed this up.

But Bonabus took him, they didn't want anything to do with him.

I want you to underline Bonabas, that's the best friend he ever had.

And they ended up separating.

But Bonabas took him, because nobody else would touch him.

Bonnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared unto them that they trusted Bonabas because he was one of those great leaders.

He's one of the chief men.

And declared unto them that is the apostle how he he being Saul has seen the Lord in the way, in the way to Damascus, and that he has spoken to him, that is, the Lord has spoken to Saul, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.

Wow.

When underlined that term, the name of Jesus.

And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem.

But here's the problem: this man was so zealous, you couldn't undertake him.

Now he's zealous of the law, uh, on the law of Christ, not the law of Moses, and the verse 29.

And he spake boldly in the name underlined.

And I'm gonna explain why we keep reading this word in the name of the Lord.

Before he was working in the name of the Pharisees, that's what he was.

Everything he did was in their name.

When you're in the Lord's name, that's something different.

You're not in the Baptist, the Methodist, the Seven Day Adventists, you're not your everything you do is in his name.

And so if you're in his name, you shouldn't preach anything than what he teaches.

You shouldn't do anything other than what he teaches.

Don't sell out, don't be a sellout.

I don't care what the religious world is doing.

I don't care how many thousands of people they gain, don't be a sellout.

And as I said, I don't want to elaborate on that.

Don't deviate.

Don't deviate.

Let men's money perish with them.

You don't compromise the gospel because somebody's not going to support you financially.

You're a sellout.

Keep your integral.

Let's keep reading.

I don't want to talk about that.

And he spake bold in the name of the Lord and disputed.

Uh-oh, here we go again, against the Grecians.

These are Jewish people who are Hellenized.

But they went about, here we go again, to slay him.

Wow.

They had already killed Stephen.

So they're bloodthirsty.

And now here's Saul.

Before they liked him, but now his message is different.

Now he's speaking in the name of the Lord, not in the name of the Pharisee.

Now they want to kill him, the same people.

Which, when the brethren, that's talking about the apostles and the elders and the disciples.

When they knew, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent them forth to Taurus.

Taurus, that's his home.

They got him out of there and sent them home.

This man was so zealous, people couldn't even take him.

And the thing was, is he was so well read.

I'll show you that one, not tonight.

You read his writing, you'll be hard-pressed to find a chapter that Paul doesn't quote the scripture in.

You should won't find two.

It just flows out of him.

He might be, I don't care what he's writing about, he used the Old Testament and show you what here it is here.

It just flows.

And he can start, he'll he'll do like six or seven verses in a row as it is written.

This prophet said, when he can start, it just flows.

My God, I wouldn't want to argue with him.

And so, anyway, send him to Tarsus and watch what happened.

Underline this verse.

Then had the church's rest, not in Jerusalem, but throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaritan, and was edified.

Because this man was so budacious, he didn't care who he contended with.

And he'll do it privately and publicly.

He wasn't ashamed of the gospel of Christ.

It was a power of salvation to all that believe.

This is what he writes.

This is what he says.

I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, a powerful God and salvation to everyone that believed to the Jews first and also to the Greek.

Wow.

Wow.

For me to live as Christ and to die is gain.

That's how he lived.

That's how he talked.

That's how he walked.

What fueled him is what he had done before the Lord opened his eyes.

Tell you what will stop his mouth.

He didn't care about what people think to the point of his life.

God help us.

Look, watch.

I love this verse though, the last part.

Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaritan, and was edified.

I like this part.

And walk and underline this, and the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Ghost was multiplied.

My God, that's encouraging.

And then, of course, it came to pass, nine switches.

And it came to pass where Peter was passed throughout all the quarters.

This is what I was talking about.

He came also, he came down also to the saints which dwell at Lydia.

And of course, he finds a certain woman, uh, a certain man named Ananias, who he kept his bed.

That means that he was bedridden.

He couldn't move.

Eight years and was sick of the palsy.

And of course, Peter, I won't read the rest of this out because I only have five minutes.

I guess I'll try.

Please speak.

You're free to speak, whoever it is.

Yeah.

Um, while you're on that subject of the of Paul getting a revelation of the gospel of Christ, you went into the, you went from the ninth chapter and you went over to the book of Galatians, you dealt with that first chapter from 11 through 17.

I was looking at the order of him beginning his ministry.

Uh, he says he didn't receive this amen.

You read that he received this revelation directly from God.

The the order that uh that was given was he was he went to Damascus to persecute the church.

Um he lost his sight.

He was his he was uh anointed by Ananias after the Lord spoke with him and gave him a vision.

Once uh the scales fell from his eyes and he could see, then he went to Arabia.

And I'm asking you, then he returned back to Damascus, and that's when he began to preach.

I was looking at uh Acts 2026.

He uh he gives a little more detail um that he began to preach in Damascus first after returning from Arabia.

The whole span you were saying was about three years from the time of conversion to the time that uh that he went and saw Peter uh at Jerusalem.

So I just wanted to make sure that uh I just want to run that down.

Two things, sir.

He didn't go to Jerusalem by choice, right?

Uh they're just trying to kill him, but he still wouldn't stop when he got to Jerusalem.

He continued the same thing he did in Damascus, and uh he uses the speech himself, being more exceedingly zealous.

He was zealous under the law, and when he how the Lord revealed it, so people think it's some divine revelation that God gave him, he opened his eyes to the things in the old covenant that he could see it.

It wasn't that Jesus sat down and talked to him.

So if you don't read, you don't have the ability for God to communicate with you.

Peter was, I mean, Paul was so Saul, was his name was then, was so well read.

All the Lord did let him see what he was reading.

That lamb that was being slain every Passover, that was Christ.

Boom, what a revelation.

The lamb that Abraham offered in place of Isaac, that was Christ.

Wow, what a revelation! Joseph down in Egypt said, You meant this for evil, but God meant it for good.

You sold me into slavery.

That's the Jews who sold Christ.

That was Christ.

He just kept opening his eyes.

When Adam and Eve sinned, and they made them uh aprons, fig leaves, an animal did die because he God gave them a skin for covering.

That was Christ.

And so each of those scriptures, because it starts from Genesis right on up to Malachi, his eyes got open to you that Malachi, to you that fear his name, shall the sun, capital S-U-N, rise with lemonist wing.

Paul saw that God opened his eyes, and what he couldn't see, he prayed, and the Lord let him see it.

That was both in Arabia and in Damascus, because there was disciples.

This is one right here, Ananias.

He was a disciple, so no doubt they conversated.

Uh, he shared what God showed him, and no doubt Ananias did the same thing.

And uh, so you can see that order, but what fueled this man, it's a point I want to make before I let you go tonight, because it's almost time.

What fueled this man was his testimony.

And it goes throughout the rest of all of his writings.

You couldn't stop him, you couldn't discourage him, you couldn't dissuade him, he was not going to sell out.

He wasn't gonna bow, bend, break, burn.

You couldn't do nothing to him.

We'll get to it.

At least you will in your home classes.

When he told him, don't go back to Jerusalem, he said, I'm not ready.

Why are you weeping and crying?

I'm not willing only to suffer, but to die Jerusalem for the name of the Lord.

That's what kind of zeal he had based on what he God had done for him.

The revelation that he received, the full revelation of Christ, he received when he was alone in Arabia.

Um in the 13th century.

I don't know if that's 100%.

Yeah, that's all I'm asking.

The reason I was asking this or putting this forward is because when you go over to the 26th chapter of Acts, you see that um he makes a statement regarding the order.

Let's read it.

Let's read it.

Let's read it.

Go to 26 and pick it up at the 17th verse.

You're in the 26th chapter.

26th.

Okay, and verse, I'm sorry, tell me.

17.

He's given his uh his testimony.

Um I uh I think this is before Agrippa, and he makes a statement and he says, Delivering thee from the people.

Um, I'll pick it up here.

He's he's giving it further up, but like you said, we're very pressed for time.

Delivering to thee.

Take your time, take your time so you can draw it out clear.

Okay.

Uh delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles unto whom now I send these.

Is Christ speaking to giving his instruction to Paul to open their eyes, turn them from the darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith, that is in me.

Once again, Christ speaking to him the vision uh that he had given him.

Uh whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision, but showed first unto them of Damascus and at Jerusalem and through all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.

So when he was in Arabia, first he was in Damascus, he went to Arabia, he received this full revelation, and then he was when he came back to Damascus, is uh where he picks it up in Galatians, uh, the first chapter that you read there.

I see what I see what you're saying, but I don't agree with that.

I see what you're saying.

Uh huh.

No, let's go back, go back to Acts 9.

Okay, no, he didn't get this revelation, and he didn't go to Damascus, and this is where he got the revelation that he came back.

I thought you said that I wasn't sure, but you do.

He's saying that he went to Arabia, got the revelation.

He was separate, no, no, he was separated, he received revelation, then he came back to Damascus first.

No, that ain't true.

I've heard that, I've heard that numerous times, but that's not true.

Let's read the scripture more carefully.

Go back to Acts 9, look at 19.

And when he had received meat, that's just natural food, was strengthened.

And what saw was certain days with the disciples, which was at Damascus.

Read this, and straight away means right away he preached Christ.

It's before he went to Arabia.

Right.

But when you read that 26th chapter, and you when you read that the chapter you read in Galatians, and then you read the 26th chapter.

In the 26th chapter of the same book, he's saying at first he preached at Damascus.

So what I'm saying is this when he says in straightway he preached at Damascus, this is after his return.

This I would put this after his return from uh from Arabia.

No, no.

Look, he was in Arabia for a while before I mean I'm sorry, was in Damascus for a while.

And you read this verse, just read it clearly.

He didn't say after a period of time.

I've heard that, I've heard that in movement's time, but that's not the truth.

Watch.

I'm gonna read it again, verse 19.

Uh, when he had received meat, he was strengthened, and then was all certain days with the disciples, which was at Damascus.

And straight away, he didn't say after a span of time, right?

Straight away here in this scripture, he's Arabia is not even mentioned.

Arabia is not mentioned until the well, this is before this is before he went to Arabia.

It's telling you this.

I believe this is after he returned from Arabia.

No, sir.

He gives a timeline in Galatians, and he and he backs further backs that timeline up with the 26th chapter of the same book.

You're reading, you're reading that intuitive.

That's inaccurate.

Uh it sounds good, sir, but you it's like two left feet, sir.

You you have a hard time walking in that.

Uh, brother LJ, he I know he had searched his out.

Brother LJ, speak up.

Tell me how you see it.

Don't be afraid to hurt his feelings, brother LJ.

He's a grown man.

Yeah, I can I can I can take my feelings being hurt, but you ain't gonna hurt him with these scriptures tonight.

You better find something else.

Go ahead, brother LJ.

I've I've actually never heard it the way Brother Patton was saying it.

I have.

I have so uh Bible tells me he that uh judges a matter before he hears it.

It's a shame and the follies.

I have to go back and I never heard it the other way.

So I never even heard it the way Brother Patton was.

But it's okay, Brother Kennedy.

You can repeat it 15 times, even if you're wrong each time.

You have to stick with the scripture.

You can't, you can't, you can't, you can't deviate from the scriptures.

Look at these words.

Words have meaning, they're not to be minimized or overlooked, they're not to be added to or taken from.

If it says very plainly, straight away he preached Christ, that's not after he went to Damascus.

Now look at Acts chapter 1, I mean Galatians 1.17.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

I know what you're saying, I've heard this before, and as long as two left feet, sir.

Okay, look, yeah, it's just it's wrong.

The scriptures bear out the truth itself.

Watch.

Um pick it up at 14.

No, look at but let's do for it back.

Uh look at verse 16.

Okay to reveal his son in me that I might preach him among the uh heathen.

A me like conferred not with flesh and blood.

Neither went on to Jerusalem.

Hebrews reveal uh to them that was apostle before me, but I went to Arabia and returned again to Damascus.

He preached before he went.

It got deeper when he went to Arabia.

He didn't spend three years in Arabia.

He said, No, no, no, I'm not saying I'm not saying he spent three years in Arabia at all.

That's not what I'm saying.

But I'm what I'm saying is he was in Damascus, he left to go to Arabia, then he returned again to Damascus.

That's when he struggled to preach.

No, no, that ain't what the Bible said.

He preached Christ at 26th chapter, yes.

Me and you can talk all night.

I can't hold the people.

Uh okay, yeah, I can't hold the people.

I don't mind you believing it, but you're believing wrong because you can't take this word out the Bible.

A straight way he preached Christ in the synagogue.

Verse 20.

Let me let me let you go.

Um I'm gonna let you go because it's people, and then you and I can we can do it, we can do this all night, but I don't want the people to be confused.

No, no, no, no, okay, and so I hear you, but you're wrong, and I'm not gonna let these people, I'm not gonna let nobody take people down.

No, no, no, that's not my intention.

Yeah, I know it, but I know you mean well, but you're wrong, and I don't want the people to get confused.

When you look at this Bible, Paul was verse 21, 18.

I'm gonna let them go after this.

And when Paul received meat, he was strengthened, he's in Damascus.

And Paul was certain days with the disciples, which was in Damascus.

You don't have to get confused.

Verse 20 says, and straight away his eyes was open, his scales fell.

Straightway he preached Christ in the synagogue, that he is the son of God.

And so, um, and listen, this is not him leaving and coming back, but all that heard him was amazed.

This is before he even left, but he did leave and come back.

The things that he had understood from Ben's eyes being open was enhanced when he left, but he did come back, he preached them straight away.

The key word is, Saints.

I hear what you're saying, brother Pat my kenna that you put that on the people.

The key word here is straight away he preached Christ.

No, that's what I don't believe it.

I don't say no more, sir.

You'll confuse the people.

I'm saying I would I wouldn't dare say anything if um men like me, you know.

I I've been strong on what I believe, but I've been wrong.

I'm one of those people who believe that Israel will be restored.

And I preached it up, I preached that strongly for 30 years, but it didn't make it right.

I still was wrong.

And so I don't mind you believing it.

I just mind you saying it to the people when I know it's wrong.

Right, right.

So you and I you and I can talk all night.

But the key word I want the people to understand with is straightway.

He preached Christ in the synagogue.

Straightway means immediate.

And I don't want y'all to think anything differently, because straight away means straightway.

And if anybody has anything else, I'm open to discussion, but not for confusion, and it'll cause confusion.

I'm saying one thing, somebody else saying something else.

Uh Paul said, though you have 10,000 instructors, you have not many fathers.

So I gotta keep you on point, and I don't want to end with any type of uh confusion.

This is a whole point I was making, but that's not the most thing.

The most important thing is he did get a even a greater revelation, but nothing he said was wrong because he understood the old covenant, and straight away he preached what he did see, and that was added to.

But time is for spent, it's 9.09 or nine minutes late.

Uh, I didn't read about Peter because he's just showing the miracle that he did.

It's switching, and Peter is important because he's gonna do his last works, and that's recorded in chapter 10 and 11.

And then you won't see no more Peter, it's gonna all be Paul uh from the 12th chapter.

Well, actually the 13th chapter on, because the church is gonna change from Jerusalem to Antioch, but that's another subject at another time.

I appreciate everybody.

Uh brother LJ, back to you.

You're keeping the people too late.

God bless, love you all for your dismiss.

Good night, everybody.