Acts chapter 26, and we're gonna begin reading in verse number one, and we're gonna read the first 29 verses, so bear with me. Acts chapter 26, beginning in verse number one. Then Agrippus said unto Paul, they are permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand and answered for himself. I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee, touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews, especially because I know thee to be an expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews. Wherefore, I beseech thee to hear me patiently. My manner of life from my youth, which was at first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews. which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straightest of our sect, of our religion, I lived a Pharisee. And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers. Unto which promise our 12 tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead? I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests. And when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme. And being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strained cities. Wherefore, as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. But rise, stand upon thy feet, for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen and of those things in which I will appear unto thee, delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee. to open their eyes and to turn them from 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 which is in me. Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision, but showed first unto them of Damascus and of Jerusalem, and through it all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles. that they should repent and turn to God and do works meet for repentance. For these causes, the Jews caught me in the temple and went about to kill me. Having therefore attained the help of God, I continue on to this day, witnessing both to small and great saying none other things that those which are the prophets of Moses did say should come, that Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should show light unto the people and to the Gentiles. And thus he spake for himself. Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself. Much learning doth make thee mad. But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak forth the words of truth and soberness. For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely. For I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him. For this thing was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, almost thou persuaded me to be a Christian. And Paul said, I would to God that not only they, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost and altogether such as I am, except these bonds. Let's just pause for a word of prayer, shall we? Dear Heavenly Father, as we come before you in this glorious day, this day of resurrection, this day of truth and power, Lord, we stand here as a people earnestly seeking to hear from you. Lord, help me as I would minister your word to speak with truth and clarity, Lord. I pray that you would fill me with your spirit and enable me to effectively communicate what you would have me to say. Lord, help us as a people to be those of ready hearts and ready minds, not just to hear thy truths, but to apply them. Lord, be with us, move amongst us. And I ask all these things in the name of our risen Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Of course, as you know, we as a family are now moving on, and we're off to sunny Spalding, where nothing happens, if you remember my presentation. But that's where we're going, that's where the Lord's called us. And over the past few weeks, people have asked the obvious question, people outside of church that don't know our situation, why? Why are you going? They ask why, and we tell them, God's called us. And it's given a wonderful opportunity to be able to share our story of where God's took us from, what he's took us through, and where he's sending us. Claire was getting her hair cut last week, and the hairdresser was asking, why are you going? Well, we're going to Spaulding because Kevin's gonna be a pastor, and he's taking up the pastor of a church. The question is, why? Claire's able to tell the story. She was amazed. She was amazed. Again, Claire's boss in the temporary job that she had in Mosul was a Mormon. Mormon, right? And he asked the question, why? Why are you going? Claire was able to tell him, tell the story. And he was amazed. He'd never seen or heard anything like it. But each and every one of us as a Christian has a wonderful story to tell. Every one of us has a wonderful story to tell. And as we remember the resurrection today, we remember that the Lord Jesus died for us, he paid the price for us, and he rose again so that we might live We can tell that story. We can tell what that meant to us. We can tell how our lives have been changed by the Lord. It's an amazing story. And the world can't comprehend it. The world can't replicate it. Can't get it. It's amazing to them. But to us, to me and Claire, Yeah, it's amazing, but we know our God's amazing. We know our God's powerful. We know our God rules all. We know our God's sovereign. We know our God's hand is on our lives. Because we believe the word of God. In this passage of scripture this evening, Paul is before King Agrippa. Two stand-ins in terms of society, a prisoner and a king. But in God's eyes, no different, both sinners. Just Paul was forgiven. And here Paul stands, he stands in front of this king, and what does he do? He tells his story. He tells his story, and it shakes this king so much that he almost becomes a Christian. Now this king is King Agrippa, the son of Herod Agrippa, the one who had martyred James, had him killed. He was a great-grandson of Herod the Great, under whom Christ was born, and indeed it was Herod the Great that had the children exterminated of the young age to try and wipe out the messianic line. So you think about it, this king from such a family line of such hatred against God, And Christians and Jesus is so moved, despite all his prejudice, despite all that he's been brought up with, is so moved that he almost becomes a Christian. And does Paul throw out theology after theology, clever argument after clever argument, big word after big word? No. He just tells his story. He simply tells his story. In the events leading up to this portion of scripture, Paul had been arrested in Jerusalem, and as you follow Paul's life, the Jews were at the center of his troubles. You can almost imagine Paul, everywhere he went, the rabble followed. These guys again, never give up. He'd been falsely accused of bringing a Gentile past the court of the Gentiles in the temple into an area reserved for Jews only. Again, falsely accused. So the Jews raised up a rabble, they'd thrown him out of the temple and the crowd began to beat him. And then the Romans arrived in the nick of time and rescued Paul and carted him off and effectively saved his life. Paul reveals that he's a Roman citizen and to cut a long story short, the chief captain sends him off to be judged before Felix at Caesarea. Felix was the Roman governor of Caesarea at that time, and he was corrupt and he was brutal, like all the other ones before him. The period of his rule was marked by internal feuds and disturbances. And once Paul had arrived in Caesarea, he'd been kept in custody for two years. Felix just didn't know what to do with him. And in that time, Festus had been installed as the new Roman governor. And Paul was brought to trial before Festus, but again, the vague charges held no water, nothing to substantiate, no evidence that was deemed valid before a Roman tribunal. But Festus was concerned not to provoke the Jews. He didn't want the trouble. So he asked Paul, would he agree to be sent back to the Sanhedrin to be tried? And Paul, of course, as anybody in that position would do, he would say, absolutely not. That wouldn't be a fair trial. They're out for blood. So instead he appeased to his rights as a Roman citizen to be tried at Caesar's court. And this request faced its counterfeits on the Roman law. So while Paul waits to be shipped to Rome, King Agrippa arrives in town, probably to cement relationships with Festus as the Roman governor. And Agrippa, upon speaking with Festus, hears of Paul's request to be tried in Rome. His curiosity has aroused, and he requests a meeting. And in chapter 26, we have the result of that meeting. Paul stands before the king, but he's not fazed. He's not fearful, he just simply stands and tells his story. The simple story of his life and how Christ changed him. So let's look at Paul's story this evening. And firstly, we'll see how Jesus changed the destination of Paul's soul. You see, Paul, from an early age, was concerned about where he was going. The things of God, has he seen it? Verse number four of chapter 26. My manner of life from my youth, which was at first among my own nation of Jerusalem, knew all the Jews, which knew me from the beginning if they would testify that after the most straightest sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee. Paul was strict in the religion of his youth, living as a Pharisee, trying to keep the law to win favor with God. And the Pharisees had developed a system of 613 laws, 365 negative commands, and 248 positive laws. By the time Christ came, it had produced a heartless, cold, and arrogant brand of righteousness. And as such, it contained 10 flaws. Firstly, new laws continually needed to be invented for new situations. That's what they did. They wanted to do something, they invented a new law to get around the old law. Nonsense. Two, accountability to God was replaced by accountability to man. It reduced a person's ability to personally discern. It created a judgmental spirit. The Pharisees confused personal preferences with divine law. It produced inconsistencies, nonsenses. It created a false standard of righteousness. It was strictly external, and that's important. It was all about what people seen. It was rejected by Christ. and it became a burden to the Jews. You know, if you go to Israel, and for those of you that are hopefully gonna go to Israel, if you're not, you're missing out, because it's fantastic. It is expensive. But it's worth it, it really is. It opens your eyes to the word of God. It opens your eyes in terms of Judaism and what you see there. And you see an example of, when you go to Tel Aviv Airport, the McDonald's there, in Israel there's some that are kosher and some that aren't. But the one in Tel Aviv Airport's kosher. So what they do is keep the dairy away from the meat. So what you do is you go up to the Hatch, just like any other kind of eatery in an airport, and they have a little desk you up where you can get your burger. Well, you can't get your coffee. So what do you do? How do you get your McCafe? Well, you go to the thing beside it, where they have McCafe. You see how it's a burden? See how it's a nonsense? And what do they do? They get their burger, and they get their coffee, and they go and sit down, and they mix it. But that's how they get around it. It's external. It's nonsense. It's a burden. And Paul knew all about the law. Paul was a master of the law. He was born in Tarsus. Tarsus held one of the three greatest universities in the world at that time, alongside Athens and Alexandria. He was taught by Gamaliel. who was a master of the law also. It was said amongst the Jews that when Gamaliel died, so did the reverence for the law alongside purity and piety. Paul was a legalist of the worst kind. He was up to his neck in the dos and don'ts and the ins and outs of the law. He knew it all, but he missed it. He missed it. You know, nothing can choke the heart and soul out of walking with God like legalism. It makes the Christian life a burden. The Christian life is not meant to be a burden. Yes, there'll be tough times, externally, but not from internally. Jesus says, my yoke is easy and my burden is light. He says, come to me and you'll find rest in your souls. And this form of Pharisaism, this form of law, was a burden. Can I say to you today, Christian, if you're here and the Christian life is a burden to you, that is, it's a difficulty, that it's a hardship, that it's tough, then there's something wrong. There is something wrong. Why is it tough? Why is it hard? It's not the way it's meant to be. God's given you everything that you need to succeed. You know, as Christians, this is the thing. You ever heard the term, set up to fail? Yeah? When, you know, you see somebody and they're set up to attack to fail. As a Christian, as a born again believer, you're set up to succeed. The roof's not gonna fall in, don't worry. It's okay. You're set up to succeed. You've got everything you need to do what God would have you to do. Ephesians 2 saying says, where's workmanship? Created under good works that God's ordained for us, that we should walk in them. And he's given us the word of God and the spirit of God. Christian, you have everything you need to succeed. And what do we do? We snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. because we try and go our own way and do it in our own strength. And then it becomes a burden because we're failing and we're broken. My yoke is easy. My burden is light. The Pharisees were missing it. Paul was missing it. There's people in churches up and down the land that are missing it. There's people in this church tonight that are missing it. So close, but yet so far. Within touching distance, but never quite reaching. Doing the church thing, doing the do's and the don'ts, but missing the done. And walking in a Christian life that is full of good works and fruit and the strength of the Lord. Paul missed it, and a result of his upbringing, he was a zealous Jew. And as a result of that, he was ferocious, absolutely ferocious in his persecution of Christians. In verses 10 and 11 we read in chapter 26 of Acts, Which thing I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests. And when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme. And being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them on to strange cities." See, Paul was so blinded to the truth that he actually thought he was doing God's work when he was doing this. He was missing it. And he was ferocious in his persecution of the Jews. In Acts chapter 9, you don't have to turn there, it says, And Saul, that is Paul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord. Breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord. Paul lived and breathed persecution of the saints. It was his life, it was his passion, it was his consuming desire. A hatred for the followers of Christ. I wonder was that at one point in your life, hatred for the things of God? I can remember me before I was saved. I used to hate Christians. I really did. Now looking back on it now, I had absolutely no reason to. They never done anything on me. They never harmed me. But I hated them. I hated them. I was looking on Facebook the other night, and one of Ray Comfort's little Facebook pages, Atheist Central it's called, and it is for atheists to come on, and I was just reading some of the comments, and there was somebody put on a comment saying, Christians are vile and disgusting. Where does it come from? Unjustified hatred. But when you become a follower of Jesus Christ, you become at odds with the world. That's the way it is. The world hates the truth. The world hates the one that is the way, the truth, and the life. The world hates this day, the resurrection day. Hates it. Hates the believers. Unqualified, unjustified hatred of Jesus and his followers. And that was Paul. That was Paul, until that glorious day. Verse number 13. At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me, and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. But rise and stand upon thy feet, for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen and of those things in which I will appear unto thee, delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes and to turn them from 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. Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to that heavenly vision. At noon, a light brighter than the sun illuminated the road. Paul fell to the ground. He heard the voice of Jesus and he received him as Lord. Saul the Pharisee became Paul the Apostle. What a day. What a glorious day. But do you remember your Damascus day? Do you remember the day that you first met Jesus and he changed your life? What a day that was for all of us that are born again. Brands pulled from the burning. Sinners saved from eternal separation from God. The destination of our souls changed. And that's what happened to Paul when he met Jesus and he rose to serve him. Jesus changed the destination of his soul. One that was destined, despite all that he thought he was doing was good, was destined to eternal separation from God. He'd missed it. But Jesus changed it. Jesus changed the destination of Paul's soul, and secondly, Jesus changed the direction of Paul's life. Let's pick up in verse number 16 again. Jesus says to Paul, rise. He wants to make him a minister and a witness. That word rise carries forth with the purpose of action. The Lord Jesus speaks to Paul and he says, rise to action. He says, rise to what I have for you. That message is the same for every Christian as it was for Paul. Because the Lord Jesus Christ, when he saved you, said, rise to action. Rise to what I have for you. I wish to God that in churches up and down this land today, in this resurrection day, where we celebrate the rise of the Lord Jesus Christ, that men in the pulpit would say to the church, rise to action. This world is desperate. It is wicked. We need to rise. We need to go out there and be salt and light. We're saved for a purpose. When we're sanctified, we're set apart for service. That's why we're left here for. To rise, to action. The problem with this country is there is no call to rise to action from the pulpit. There's a call to come in, sit down, put your slippers on, get comfortable, put your feet up. We're okay, we're going to heaven, let the world rot. There needs to be a call to rise. But there has to be, when the call is made and scripture makes that call, there has to be a response, a response of obedience. Paul straight away was obedient. It says, Whereupon King Agrippa, I was obedient to the heavenly call. I mean, he heard what the Lord said, and he got up and he rose to it. He was obedient. But that's where we struggle, if the truth be told, as Christians, to obey that call. We do. We all do. You know, I always find it ironic that the prayer that's probably the most prayed prayer in the land is the Lord's Prayer, or the Disciple's Prayer, really. It says, thy will be done. How many people say that and pray that? How many people live it? Thy will be done. We think of our Savior's perfect example in the Garden of Gethsemane. Saying, Father, if they be willing to remove this cup from thee, nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be done. We have to obey. And Paul obeyed. He heard the call and he rose. Do you know what? His life changed. He began serving and quickly the persecutor became the persecuted. Acts 26, verse 20. It says, but showed first unto them of Damascus and of Jerusalem throughout all the coasts of Judea and then to the Gentiles that they should repent and turn to God and do the works made for repentance. For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple and went about to kill me. See what he says? He went with the message to rise and obey the God of the Bible, the Lord Jesus Christ, do works, meet for repentance, submit, surrender. What's he saying in verse 21? For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple and went about to kill me. The persecutor became the persecuted. Make no mistake, when you choose Jesus, you're rejecting the world and the world is against you. We think we can cozy up and get away with it. We think we can cozy up to the world and it's okay, a bit of both. Make no mistake, the world is out to get you. The enemy is out to lie to you, to cheat you, to destroy your testimony, to keep you from doing what God has for you to do. That's what he's about. It says in 2 Timothy 3.12, yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. When you get about the Lord's work, people will try and oppose you. But the Bible makes it clear. That's what'll happen. And when it does happen, we should rejoice. Like the apostles in Acts chapter five, they rejoiced, they were worthy to suffer in the name of the Lord Jesus. Paul suffered persecution. Turn to 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter number 11 and verses number 23. Paul suffered persecution. Paul knew what it was to suffer for the name of the Lord. Verse number 23. of 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool. I am more, in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times I, of the Jews five times received I 40 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 waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by my 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 and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Paul knew what it was to be persecuted. Paul suffered from the gospel. Peril after peril after peril, beaten after beaten after beaten, but he kept on the path. He kept on going because he was obedient to the heavenly call. He knew what it was to fear God more than man. He knew not to fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him which is able to both destroy the soul and the body in hell. Folks, we have nothing to fear from this world and the prince of it because we have the word of God that tells us you're of God, little children, and I've overcome them because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Let's not persecution stop us. Let's not fear stop us. Because as Christians, we have everything we need to succeed. We have everything. And the world cannot stand against it. Whatever God has for you, no matter what it may be, God's calling us to spalding. There's sacrifice involved in that. There's change involved in that. There's gonna be difficult times involved in that. There's a stepping out in faith involved in that. There's a getting away from what's comfortable and what's easy and what we're used to. But that's what God's called us to do. And we're gonna do it. Obeying to the heavenly call. Knowing and trusting that if he calls us to it, he'll get us through it. It's as simple as that. When you follow Jesus, you head in a different direction than what the world wants you to go. Always should, always have to. Jesus changed the destination of Paul's soul and the direction of Paul's life. And finally, Jesus changed the desires of Paul's heart. See, Paul's former desire was to do away with Christians, to put them to death, to chase them out, but now it was the preaching of the gospel, sharing the good news about Jesus. That was his passion, telling others of his testimony, how Christ had changed him from the inside out. Something the law could never do. Changed from the outside in. Christ came in. Grace came in. See, the laws demand. Grace is supply. There's a huge difference. The law demands and we can never fulfill. Grace supplies and we can never exhaust. There's a difference. Paul's desires had completely changed. He was all about others, telling them his faith, wanting them to be saved from the fire, spared from eternal punishment. Is that our desire? It should be. If we're obedient to the heavenly calling and we're surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ, we want to be like him. And then when we become like him, we see people like he sees them, lost, dying, in trouble, Is it our desire? Paul in Philippians tells about his heritage. Says he was a Hebrew of the Hebrews. Said he did the religion thing, but he counted it all a loss for Christ because he finally got it. He got the difference. He got the relationship. He understood who Jesus was. You see, think about when Jesus appears to Paul and he obeys so quickly. Why do you think that is? Well, Paul persecuted Christians. They were his enemy and he wouldn't knew all about them. He wouldn't knew their claims. He wouldn't knew their message that their Lord was risen. And that day when he seen him, he got it. He got it, he knew that Jesus was who he said he was. He was the God of the Bible, God that came and dwelt with us. And when he realized that, it was all about him from then on in. All about him. You know, I've shared with you in church before the spiritual gauge that Paul gives. Let's turn there, Philippians chapter one, if you haven't. Philippians chapter one, and here's the spiritual gauge that Paul gives, that we should measure ourselves to where we are. Philippians 1, 21. You know, the desires of Paul's heart were changed by that encounter with Jesus. He changed his life, and from then on in, Philippians 1, 21, Paul's message, for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. There's one end of the spectrum. 221. Here's the other end. For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ, Jesus Christ. There's the two ends. You either go in God's way, or you're going your way. Paul was absolutely surrendered to Christ. He was absolutely obedient that he would say, to me to live is Christ. And then he was able to turn the world upside down. Pastors will go with this this morning. Here come those that turn the world upside down. You may think, that's a big task. Milton Baptist Church can't turn the world upside down. I can't turn the world upside down. You can't turn the world upside down, but you can turn your world upside down. And what I mean by that is your sphere of influence, the people you know, the people you're in contact with, you can turn their world upside down by sharing their story. And that's how a Christian should be. That's how we should operate. But often we're not. We should be a thermostat Christian, but we're often a thermometer Christian. And here's what I mean by that. A thermometer does what? Takes the temperature. And how does it change? It's changed by its surroundings, right? It's always reacting to its surroundings. What does a thermostat do? It controls and changes the temperature. And as Christians, as we walk in this world, we should be thermostats. We shouldn't be affected by the stuff that goes round about us, constantly up and down and left and right, looking at the world scene, looking at everything that's happened, living in fear, being reactive to politicians and this and that and change. We should be thermostats that go out and share the gospel, and those around us are changed by it. We do that, how do we do it? Obedience to the heavenly call. Because when we obey the heavenly call and we say to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Paul's desires were completely changed. completely and utterly changed. He lived for others. He cared for others. He had compassion upon others. Acts 26, verses number 26. on for the king north of these things before whom i also speak freely for i am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him for this thing was not done in a corner king agrippa believe us that the prophets i know that they believe she can hear the desperation in paul's voice as he pleads for this man's soul And Paul said, verse 28, then Agrippa said unto Paul, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Verse 29, and Paul said, I would to God that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day were both almost and altogether such as I am, except these bonds. Here was Paul's desire that man would be free. from the penalty and the judgment of sin. The Lord changed this man, Paul, dramatically. And Paul stands before Agrippa and he tells his story. One of the strongest arguments for the gospel of Christ, and possibly the purest example of it, is the personal testimony of someone whose life has been changed by it. You can't argue with a changed life, Pastor Sue. Charles Bradlaugh, an avowed atheist, once challenged the Reverend H.P. Hughes to a debate. The preacher, who was head of a rescue mission in London, accepted the challenge with the condition that he could bring with him 100 men and women who would tell what had happened in their lives since trusting Christ as their savior. They would be people who once lived in deep sin, some having come from poverty-stricken homes caused by the vices of their parents. Hughes said that they would not only tell of their conversion, but would submit to cross-examination by anyone who doubted their stories. Furthermore, the minister invited his opponent to bring a group of non-believers who could tell how they were helped by their lack of faith. When the appointed day arrived, the preacher came, accompanied by 100 transformed persons, but Bradlaugh, the atheist, never showed up. The result, the meeting turned into a testimony time and many sinners who had gathered to hear the scheduled debate were converted. You see, the world can't compete with the power of the gospel. The world cannot compete with the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus Christ and the God that will change lives. Can't compete. You know, I've heard it said that, you know, becoming a Christian is the greatest decision you'll ever make. And it is. I've yet to find somebody that actually give their heart to the Lord Jesus Christ that would come and tell you it was a mistake. But we tell you how God's changed them. It took time, but he's changed them. Changed the destination of their soul. Changed the direction of their life. Changed the desires of their heart. That's the gospel. That's the amazing, amazing story that everyone who claims to be a Christian can tell. It's the amazing story that you can share. There's no excuse not to tell it. You don't have to be in Bible college. You don't have to be a theology professor. It's your story. God's given it to you. Allowed you to have it so that you can share it. So here's my challenge for you. My last sermon for a while, I would say, in this church. Here's my challenge to you tonight. God's given you a story. He's equipped you. He's given you everything you need to succeed. Be obedient to the heavenly calling and go share your story. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for this time in your Word, and we thank you for Scripture and the Apostle Paul and all that we see in his life. We thank you, Lord, that he was gloriously saved that wonderful day when You got a hold of his heart, Lord Jesus, that he recognized you for who you were, that you were everything that you said you were. And Lord, as we think about this day, this resurrection day, the day that really is the hinge of Christianity, the difference, that you are God. Lord, help us as a people to be obedient to your call, to your instruction, that we might go forth and share our story with boldness in the power and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.