continue our study through the book of Acts. It'll be Acts chapter number 9. And we're going to start in verse number 17 this morning. So last week, we looked at the story of Saul's conversion on the road to Damascus. And as you see, the title of our outline this morning is From Persecutor. to preachers. So last week we looked at his conversion, that point where he met Jesus on that road to Damascus, saw the light, and we know that story and we know we ended that with God sending Ananias to go and pray over him, to really accept him, to acknowledge him, and to disciple and train him, to prepare him for what he was to be, and that is a preacher. So we're going to read verses 17 through 22, and then we'll get into the outline this morning. It says, And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house, and putting his hands on him, said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way, as thou camest, hath sent me. that thou mightest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost. Notice he called him Brother Saul. And remember last week we looked at he questioned, you can kind of see his heart questioned whether he would actually go and see Saul, the one who had put hundreds in jail and even probably killed but here the Lord worked in his heart, told him the job he had for Saul, so he calls him Brother Saul here. Verse 18, it says, And immediately there fell from his eyes, as it had been scales, and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples, which were at Damascus. And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. But all that heard him were amazed and said, Is not this he that destroyed them, which called on his name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests. But Saul increased the more in strength and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ." So we see here, Paul begins to preach the gospel and the people were amazed. So even again, we talked about this last week, showing how fast that Christianity has spread. We're in Damascus, 120 miles away from Jerusalem, and not only did these people, these people knew who Saul was. So not only had the gospel traveled and Christianity traveled, but Saul's name had traveled. They knew who this man is. They knew what he had done in Jerusalem. And some of these Jews that are here in Damascus were scattered from Jerusalem. We looked at that a couple of weeks ago when God scattered them because of Saul's persecution. So some of these Jews are here in Damascus because of Saul and the rest of the Pharisees that were persecuting the church. But they know who Saul was. They knew that he came to Damascus to do exactly what he did in Jerusalem. So at the beginning of chapter nine, we saw one of the great, if not the greatest conversions of the New Testament. The great persecutor of the church, Saul, would now become a great preacher of the gospel to the Gentiles. He learned that God sent, or we learned that God sent Ananias to disciple and train Saul after he was saved. And Saul needed to be recognized as a brother with the touch of a disciple's hand, and that was very necessary. Again, I think we talked about this last week, but it would be hard, you can imagine, it would be hard for all the Jews to accept Saul into their church, into their fold, and accept him into their family, so to speak, the family of God, because this is a man, and some of these Jews here that are in Damascus, that are here, in front of Saul, that Saul is speaking to, and that no Saul probably, and we talked about it, is a good chance that they either have friends or family members that have either been thrown in jail or have been killed by the hands of Saul. So you'd think, imagine that, like, oh yeah, let's just let this guy in that's killed us and threatened us and persecuted us. And we talked about, you know, it wouldn't be far-fetched to think that Ananias and the rest of the Jews are looking at Saul and be like, okay, we need to question what Saul's doing. Is this a way that Saul can now get into the church and be closer to us and persecute us more, you know, easily? because he'll be on the inside. We remember the story of Simon the Sorcerer. And we looked at, hey, was this a true conversion of Simon the Sorcerer? Or was this just him looking for fame as he wanted to buy the power of the Holy Spirit so that he could have better magic, better powers, and be able to do more and gain more fame and money? So they're looking, questioning. hey, is this a true conversion? And Ananias wondered that. We can kind of see that. And the Lord worked on Ananias' heart, told him, hey, he is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles, the kings and the children of Israel. He said, hey, he's going to preach to the Gentiles, he's going to preach to kings, rulers, and he's going to preach to the children of Israel, and I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. So Ananias believes the Lord, and he goes and he sees goes and sees Paul, as the Lord told him, and goes there, and with laying his hand on him and praying over him, recognizes him as a brother. The optimum environment for change is acceptance. And we see that here with the story of Saul. Now that Saul has been recognized and accepted, we can look at the steps that were required to turn him from a persecutor to a preacher. In that first step we find in verse number 17, as Ananias came and entered into the house and putting his hands on him, and again we saw that he called him Brother Saul, but we see there at the end of verse number 17, he says, that thou mightest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost. So our first, the first step to go from persecutor to preacher is the infilling of the spirit, or the filling of the spirit, but I have, because all our points are gonna start with I, we have the infilling of the spirit. In John 14, 16, Jesus told the disciples, and told those who were following him, that the Holy Spirit would come. And he said in John 14, 16, and I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter, that he may abide with you forever. And we know that, and we know going all the way back to the beginning of Acts, in the beginning of our study, we found that the disciples and the other 100 or so people there that went to the upper room were instructed, hey, wait here in this upper room and pray. And we know they prayed for 10 days, night and day, had that 10-day prayer meeting. praying for this Holy Spirit. And they were instructed, hey, do not go out. Yes, you have a job. Yes, you're to go out and preach the gospel. You're to go out and tell others about Jesus Christ. But don't do it until you receive the Holy Spirit. and his power. Ephesians chapter 5 verse 18 it says, And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. The power we need is given from on high as we are filled with the Holy Spirit. Something that we know happens the moment we get saved. The question is never whether we have the Holy Spirit or not. You know, when you hear, and I know we've talked about this in our study of Acts, and even on a Sunday we talked about this, but just as a review, a reminder, when people talk about that verse being filled with the Holy Spirit or praying, you know, if you ever hear me praying to be filled with the Holy Spirit, it's not that I, you know, we don't have the Holy Spirit and that we need Him to come inside of us. We've all been baptized. by the Holy Spirit. This happens at salvation, but the question is never whether we have the Holy Spirit. To ask and to be filled with the Holy Spirit after salvation is not whether we have the Holy Spirit, whether the Holy Spirit has us. Being filled with the Holy Spirit is being controlled by the Holy Spirit, and when we're controlled by the Holy Spirit, we're able to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. We are not commanded. Again, this commandment there in Ephesians 5.18 is not a commandment to be baptized with the Spirit, which happens at salvation, but to be filled with the Holy Spirit or controlled by the Holy Spirit. And that's why it likens it there, and be not drunk with wine, because alcohol is a controlling substance. When you do get to that point where it's drunk, well, it controls your mind. It alters your mind. You do things that you normally wouldn't do. And that's the same with the Holy Spirit. I'm a human being. I have a flesh. I'm a sinful being. Well, when I'm filled with the Holy Spirit and I'm controlled by the Holy Spirit, I will do things that I normally would not do. And that is doing what is right. Serving the Lord. Loving the Lord. Bringing honor and glory to Him. Because in myself, in the flesh, I can't do any of that. And I need the Holy Spirit to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. of the church and the harmony of the home depend on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit within is what hold the church and the home together. And we see that underneath the infilling of the Spirit, the first thing we see is that preachers need the filling. Preachers need to fill in. Today when we hear about or think about preachers, we only think of ordained ministers who lead churches. However, one of the main words used in the Bible for preaching is simply proclaiming the good news, proclaiming the gospel. So all of us are called to be preachers as the Great Commission is given to all Christians. And we need the Holy Spirit to be able to proclaim the good news, the gospel, as we are called to be. So we're all called to be preachers of the gospel. We need the Holy Spirit's filling, not controlling, and the power that comes from that control to be the preachers we are called to be. So we talk about that. Preachers who stand in pulpits, pastors, missionaries, evangelists, other laymen that may come in and fill a pulpit from time to time, they need the Holy Spirit's filling and guidance and power as they preach the truth from God's word. That's very necessary, ought to be prayed for earnestly by not only the preacher, but by the audience, those that are hearing the word. We ought to pray that the Holy Spirit would be present, the Holy Spirit would fill the preacher, that the Holy Spirit would have free reign to not only empower the preacher, but to work on our hearts through that preaching, through the message that is preached from that filled preacher. So those people need it. Very important, but each and every individual. That Ephesians 5.18, Paul was not writing to a group of preachers. He was writing to a church, and he was telling the church, be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. He was talking to a church, a group of believers, many of those just laymen, some of them deacons, I'm sure. And yes, those positions of authority need that, but that was to every Christian there, be filled, So preachers need the filling, and then secondly there's families need the filling. Now we read there in Ephesians 5.18 about being filled with the Holy Spirit. Well if we put Ephesians chapter 5 and we look at that, it's one of the best known passages about the filling of the Holy Spirit. I must make note, however, that when we put it all into context, all of the book of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 5, into context, this passage is talking about The home. The filling of the Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary and vital. for husbands and wives to function as a godly Christian family and properly rear their children. I cannot be the pastor. We're talking about preachers need the filling. As a preacher, as a pastor, I need the Holy Spirit. I need the filling of the Holy Spirit. I need the wisdom, the understanding that comes with that, the power, the guidance, all of those things. I need that in my preaching, I need that in my studies, I need that in my leadership of the church, my shepherding of the church. But as a husband, I need the Holy Spirit. I cannot, again, on my own, just like I can't live for God or live that victorious Christian life, Without the Holy Spirit, I cannot be the husband that I should be, that I ought to be without the Holy Spirit. I cannot be the father that I ought to be, that my children need, that God wants me to be without the Holy Spirit. You wives cannot be the wife that you are called to be without the Holy Spirit. You know, I know, speaking as a man, it's hard to love, I'm sure, wives, to love your husbands all the time, like the Bible commands. And I think that's why the Bible puts that in there, for the wife to love their husband. Because God knows, God knew it would be hard. And sometimes it is hard. And he says, hey, wives, love your, well, you can't love your husband properly and in the way you can't without the Holy Spirit's filling, that guidance and that power. And you can't be the mother that your children need or the guide that you ought to be, that you're called to be, without the Holy Spirit. A marriage cannot survive without the Holy Spirit. Obviously we're putting God at the center. Well, what's God? It's a trinity. Comes the Holy Spirit. God, the Holy Spirit, must be at the center of a marriage. Guiding, controlling, and ultimately holding it together. And how does he hold it together? Well, when both the husband and the wife are filled, and their eyes are both on Jesus Christ, that's what they're focused on, their affection is set on things above, more than as they're both led. I like to describe it as it's a triangle or a pyramid. The closer we get to God, the closer we get to each other. We just keep going up that way as we are filled with the Spirit more and more. And for a family to function, for those now that marriage is held intact, is controlled and held tightly by the Holy Spirit's filling in both the husband and the wife, well now we put them into the role of parents. If the Lord blesses a husband and wife with children, well you need that filling to be able to raise the children, to raise your children as the Bible, as God instructs us to. And then that goes right into being grandparents as well. You need the Holy Spirit to be a proper, to take that new role as a grandparent, moving from parent having a different role as a parent, and then also adding that role as a grandparent. So the preachers and the church depends on the filling of the Holy Spirit. It must depend on the Holy Spirit. It's needed, and families also need that filling. Then the next main point there is the identification. of the believer. We see that in verse 18, immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales and he received sight for with and arose and was baptized. So baptism, and we know this, nothing new to any of us in here, but baptism is just a public identification of the believer with Christ as their identification with Christ and the church. So we know that Paul has already been saved. This was not the last point in his salvation. We know that. We looked already in Acts chapter 8 with the Ethiopian eunuch. He said, hey, you have to believe and be saved, and then you can be baptized. So here we see Paul was converted on the road to Damascus, and here we see after Ananias has come, he put his hand on him, he received his sight, he received the Holy Spirit, then he was baptized. So first, that identification of a believer is with Christ. In the first century church, and this time here in the book of Acts, as true Christianity is now blossoming, growing, strengthening, and really growing like a wildfire, When identifying with Christ was not just something that these Christians took lightly. It was often, and we've already seen it, a death sentence. When they would take that step to not only just believe, but then to take that public step and say, hey, I believe Jesus. I'm going to stand and I'm going to preach. I'm not going to back down. When they identify themselves with Christ, who had already been crucified because he said he was the Messiah, because he said he was the Son of God, and they didn't want him, they rejected him. We've seen already Stephen, the first martyr for the cause, and there's been many others that are not recorded in the Book of Acts that have been killed and put in prison. for their faith, but when they would identify with Christ, and they would identify with the church, it was often a death sentence, because they knew Saul or someone else would come after them, just like Stephen knew. Stephen knew. The whole time he preached, all through Acts chapter 7, is he knew he was looking death in the face. He knew those people who he was preaching to would eventually kill him. If not, at that moment, he knew that it would eventually come. Eventually, this would lead to his death. And he did not back down. But, this identification with the church, with Christ, was often a death sentence. Identifying with Christ meant something to them. This wasn't just something, oh, yeah, hey, I'm going to be a part of this church in Jerusalem. I'm going to be a part of this church in Damascus. Oh, yeah, hey, I love God. No, this was something that was serious to them. When they said, hey, I am of Christ, I am a Christian, it meant something. It carried some great weight. And these people were dedicated. And we see that in the face of persecution, in the face of threatenings, in the face of death, they said, hey, I'm identifying with Christ. I'm identifying as part of the bride of Christ, the church. This was something that carried some weight. It meant something. This was the most important thing to these people. Romans chapter 6 and verse number 4 says, Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. And because this carried weight, and because this wasn't just something that they took lightly, it was something that was serious to them, they did walk in newness of life. As they were dedicated to Christ, they were dedicated to living a true Christian life, to really walking that Christian walk, to running the race that set before, fighting the fight for Christ, and boldly proclaiming or preaching the gospel to those around him. So he at first identifies with Christ there, a very big step, especially for Saul. You'd think as he betrays and switches his allegiance, I am sure he moved up to number one on the Pharisees' hit list. And we see, we know, and he lists that, and we're gonna look at that in 2 Corinthians chapter 11. We're gonna read the verses in a moment. But he lists all the things that he went through for Christ. He made himself a marked man, probably put himself on the top of the list. But he also identified with the church. As soon as he could, Saul publicly took a stand with the congregation in Damascus. He was baptized in the church there in Damascus. When he was baptized, he was identifying himself with the disciples of Damascus. The Bible teaches us that when people were baptized, they were added to the church. We see that in the model for a church given here in the book of Acts. They were added to the church. That was not just a figure of speech, but a statement that they were becoming a part of something that they took very seriously. Again, something very serious to them. They were choosing to identify with a local church. They were committing themselves to that church and to the ministries of that church. They're identifying themselves with Christ, and they're gladly doing that, but they're also saying, hey, this is my church, and I'm going to be here, and I'm dedicated to not only the services, and to the pastor, and to the leadership, but also to the ministries. So identified with Christ and with the church. And then the last point here that we see is the involvement in the ministry, the involvement in the ministry. And this actually goes down to verse number 25, and we didn't read that. It gives a little bit of the story. But the first thing that we see in the involvement in the ministry, and we see that in these verses 19 through 22, is that he preached the gospel. 1 Corinthians 9 and verse 16, it says, for though, and this is Paul writing to the church at Corinth, for though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me, yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. And we see him here, he's saved a few days later, he receives the Holy Ghost, he's baptized, and what does he do? He says, when he had received meat, in verse 19, and was strengthened, then saw certain days with the disciples, which were at Damascus, and straightway He preached Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. So, he went down, hey, what's the first thing that I'm going to do? Hey, he spent a few days, and I'm sure he spent those days in prayer, spent those days being discipled by the disciples there, which were at Damascus, learning. What is the first thing you do? He says, straight away, right away, he goes out and he preaches Christ, the synagogues, that Christ is the Son of God, goes out and preaches the gospel. Every time Paul preached, he preached salvation through Jesus Christ alone. We can see that all through his ministry and how he preached and what he preached. Look at that, what we know as the Romans Road that he wrote to the Christians in Rome there. He knew that he would stand before God and be judged for his faithfulness to preach the message that he had been entrusted with. He said, hey, I'm saved, I'm baptized, I'm identifying with Christ, I'm identifying with the church and the ministries here. And he says, I'm called, I've been given the great commission, just like the disciples were, that commission. He recognized that that commission was to all believers. And he took it seriously and he said, hey, I have to go out. He said in that 1 Corinthians 9.16, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. He knew that one day he would stand before God, and God would judge him for the time that God gave him. From that point, on the road to Damascus, to the day he died, he would be judged. Hey, what did you do with the time that I gave you, that new life? Did you go out and serve me faithfully? Did you stand strong? Did you fight the fight? Did you preach the gospel? He would be judged for his faithfulness. And Paul, or Saul, as he's called still right now, was committed to being faithful to God, faithful to Christ, and faithful to preaching Christ. It is sad that today many churches look for new methods and new programs, new ideas and things to bring, to liven church up, to entertain people and to add these things in new ways. All they really need is just the old, old story that's found in God's Word. The simple plan of salvation that is laid out clearly from cover to cover to simply just preach this book and let God do the work. We don't need fancy programs. There's times for that. To get people in, have some special special services and invite people out and get people in the doors, but go to the old, old story. Preach the gospel message. There's nothing, you don't need to be fancy, you just need to preach the truth of the gospel and let the Holy Spirit. If you're preaching, and you're filled with the Holy Spirit, then you allow the Holy Spirit to work. You know, we're called to preach the Gospel. And if we're being filled with the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is working, then, hey, the rest is up to the Holy Spirit to work on the person's heart. But what every church needs, what this world needs, is the old, old story, the story of Jesus Christ. That still today, as we've talked about, Jesus is still in the saving business. It's still God's will, as He says in the New Testament here, in the book of Peter. He says that it's His will that all men would be saved, that all men would come to repentance, come to the acknowledgement of the truth. It's talked about more than once in the New Testament. It's still God's will today in 2025. that all men would come to repentance. All men would come to the acknowledging of the truth. But what God, and the harvest, it's white unto harvest. The fields are white unto harvest. The harvest is plentiful. But what did Jesus say? What is he looking for? Laborers to go out. And no, not all of us are gonna be called to be missionaries to foreign fields. Not all of us are gonna be called to be pastors or evangelists, to preach in pulpits. But all of us are called to preach the gospel to those around us and those that we are coming in contact with. But he preached in his involvement in the ministry, his commitment, his identification and his involvement. He preached the gospel, but what that brought is his identification and his involvement there with Christ and the church. Our last point is that he was persecuted for the gospel. In 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verses 24 through 27, Paul gives a list of all the ways he was persecuted for Christ's sake, for the gospel. He says there, of the Jews, five times received I forty stripes, save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods. Once was I stoned. Thrice I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day have I been in the deep, in journeyings often, in perils of water, in perils of robbers, in perils of mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness, in painfulness, in watching often, in hunger and thirst, in fasting often, in cold and nakedness. That's a long list, and they didn't even include everything, I'm sure, that Paul went through. As he had moved himself, he had bumped himself up to number one on the list, probably the most hated of the Pharisees, most hated of the synagogue in Jerusalem, and even in Damascus, hated of the Jews, hated, and we find that he's hated even of the Gentiles, everywhere he preached. Most of the time, people reacted very negatively to Paul's preaching. And this was both by the Jews, who again, we would think those would be the ones that would accept it, because they are the chosen people. Jesus Christ was one of them. He was a Jew. He was the one that was of the prophecy given by their beloved prophets. But the Jews reacted negatively and hated him, and also the Gentiles hated the gospel message he preached. And this hatred brought on a pattern of persecution that would follow Saul the rest of his life. However, no matter how much he suffered, or for how long he suffered, Saul stayed faithful and never stopped preaching the gospel. And we can see that all through the book of Acts. We can see that in the letters that he wrote to the churches. Paul, no matter how long that list in 2 Corinthians 11 was, no matter how long that list grew, He remained faithful and never stopped preaching the gospel. Saul's story reminds us that God, not only that God can save anyone, that no one is too evil or too far gone, that they cannot be saved, that they cannot be converted, but also that they cannot be used. Anyone can be converted and anybody can be used for God's glory and to preach But it also reminds us that God wants to radically change each one of us and use us for His glory and to fulfill His great plan for our lives. And that great plan is preaching the gospel to the lost world. We see a great story of a man that we would say was not a great man, Saul. In the eyes of the Pharisees and the eyes of many of the Jews and Gentiles, Saul was a great man. He was the great persecutor of the church. was it wanted nothing to do with Christ. He was at the forefront of the battle to stop the church, to stop true Christianity that the Jews had grown to hate. They had crucified Christ. We had seen them try and stop the church in the beginning of the church. as Peter and John preach. And then we see as they brought up Saul, hey Saul, go out with your fervor and your zeal and find them. He went door to door looking for anyone. He came to Damascus. He was going to do that in Damascus. Go door to door, do house searches and find any evidence that any of them, and you know what these people? What's a great testimony of these Christians is, you know, they didn't hide all of their, you know, I know they didn't have Bibles, but if they did, I know they would have been right out on the table. These were not Christians in Jerusalem or Damascus that hid their Christianity. If Saul would have come into their home, or some of his minions would have come into their home, it would have been clear that these true Christians in Jerusalem or Damascus were Christians. They didn't hide it. That's why many of them were thrown in jail. They were killed and persecuted, and we find in history that they were taken to the Colosseums, whether that was in Rome or other places, and fed to the lions, and the tigers, or killed by gladiators. As they were not ashamed, they did not hide it. They just were faithful to God, and we see Saul, the great persecutor, who went from the great persecutor to the great preacher. for Christ. A man that once hated Christ and once did everything he could to stop the cause of Christ was now doing everything he could to move the cause of Christ forward.