Well, we're in Acts chapter 9, if you're not there already. And if you've been with us for the last few weeks, you know that there has been a great conflict between Satan and God in the early church. Satan has attacked the church in many different ways. I believe Satan is probably attacking us now. Although I can't put my finger on it, I imagine that he has covenant on a 20-year plan of sorts. I don't doubt it because Satan has always proven that he will attack the church. In the book of Acts, we saw that Satan attacked the church through the high priest raising up and persecuting them and putting them in prison. And we saw that Satan attacked the church by sending Ananias and Sapphira into the church, imposters, frauds, counterfeits, putting money in the offering plate, but having no life inside of them. And we know that Satan attacked the church through The sorcerer, Simon, who desired to have office in the church. The sorcerer wanted to call himself a pastor. We see Satan's attacks all throughout the book of Acts, and at each step along the way we see that God is victorious. Amen? That His church will triumph. That His church will march on. And this conflict comes as no surprise if you know your Bible. Because if you go all the way back to the very beginning in Genesis chapter 3, after Adam and Eve ate of the fateful fruit, we know that God decreed in Genesis chapter 3, listen, I will put enmity, that's hostility, between you, that's the serpent, and the woman. And between your offspring, Satan, and the woman's offspring, there is going to be hostility. So there is no surprise that the children of Satan are attacking the children of God. No surprise that there is conflict here in the early church. And in Genesis chapter 3, immediately we see it manifested itself. In Genesis chapter 4, when Cain killed his brother Abel. Cain, the book of 1 John says, was of the evil one. Abel, the book Hebrews chapter 11 says he was righteous. We have from the very beginning the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent fighting. And the blood of Abel cried up to God from the ground, but God did not execute Cain. In fact, Cain went on to populate an entire city, a city known for violence. And ever since then, The war has been raging. We see it in the book of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and in Acts. John the Baptist says to the Pharisees, he says, you brood of vipers. You know, what is he saying there? He's saying that you have lined up on the side of the serpent. In the world war between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, you Pharisees have lined up on the evil side. And Jesus said to them, you are of your father, the devil. They are the offspring of Satan. And it is no wonder that the offspring of Satan killed the offspring of the woman, Jesus Christ. No surprise at all. And this conflict rages in the book of Acts. And it rages all the way to the book of Revelation when the dragon, that old serpent, Satan, attacks the woman who has the male child. This conflict ranges from Genesis to Revelation. And we see it in the book of Acts. We see it with Paul. Now, that's not the end of it, though. We know how the conflict is going to end, amen? We know how it will end. He says in Genesis chapter 3, that he, that is the offspring of the woman, notice it's singular, amen? That's who? Jesus Christ. He shall bruise your head, Satan, and you shall bruise his heel. So there is a picture here in Genesis chapter 3 that a man would come from the seed of the woman, he would crush the snake, and the snake's head would bruise his heel. We know what that's talking about. It is at the cross of Christ when Jesus was bruised and the serpent's head was crushed. But if you know anything about snakes, and I hesitate to say that I do know some things about snakes, but when you crush their head, they are still flailing about. And when you crush their head, there is still venom left in the fangs. You must still avoid the fangs, even of a dead snake. And in that sense, I think Satan was destroyed already, but not yet totally. And so as we come to Acts chapter 9 and we meet this man by the name of Saul of Tarsus, we know that Saul is a manifestation of Satan flailing about against the church in the battle of the ages. We know what's going to happen. We know that Jesus will be victorious. But in the meanwhile, it's very difficult for the saints. Amen? Amen. So we meet Saul. He is a great inquisitor of Satan. He is an assassin. He is an evil, evil man. And we meet him first standing over the bloodied and battered body of Stephen, the first martyr. You know the story. Stephen had preached a wonderful sermon, proclaiming the end of the temple as they knew it. Proclaiming that wicked and perverse generation as killing the Messiah, just like they killed all the prophets, and always resisting the Holy Spirit. Stephen told them this, and guess what? They did not like it very much, did they? They gnashed their teeth at him. They cut their ears off. They rushed upon him with rocks and they crushed him. And that's where we meet Saul, standing over, apparently officiating this mob justice, standing over the body of Stephen in Acts chapter 7. And if you want to flip over in your Bible to Acts chapter 8, we meet him again in Acts chapter 8 in verse 3. It says, but Saul was ravaging the church. This word is only used one other time in the entire Bible, in the book of Psalms. And it is a picture of a wild boar, loose in a vineyard. whipping, and flailing, and rutting, and rooting, and tearing, and destroying. This is Paul, he is a wild boar, and he is loose in the church of God, and he is destroying things. You might know another wild boar in church history like that, but in a different sense. He is a wild boar, he is loose in the vineyard of God, and notice what else he is doing. And entering house after house, chapter eight, verse three, He dragged off men and women. So He is involved in home invasions. He is kicking down the door in the middle of the night. He is surprising women and children and men, and He is dragging them by their hair with force, with violence, to where, look at the rest of the verse, and committing them to prison. Now, don't let that roll off the page. It's not prison like we think of prison. He is involved in a systematic campaign of eradicating the probably 20,000 converts to the way. the early name for Christianity. He has established concentration camps, internment camps, if that helps you understand what's going on here. He is marshalling his forces and gathering the church into camps where they will await their trials for blasphemy and heresy against the state religion, against the temple, against Moses, against God. He is a grand inquisitor of Satan, a cruel, cruel and wicked man. And then we meet him again in Acts chapter 9. If you ask the early church, you know, who was the worst sinner of all? They would unanimously say Saul of Tarsus is the number one instrument of Satan on the planet. And Saul would later agree that in saying that I'm the chiefest of all sinners. I think he's not being figurative there. I think he really is. Everyone, of course, in the early church would have agreed with him. He is the worst guy out there. He is the one doing the most damage. Acts 9, verse 1, we meet him again, but Saul, there's a very important word right here, still breathing threats and murder. He is. This is the picture of a wild bison snorting like a like a raging bull with with breath coming from his nostrils. He's breathing out threats and murder still against the disciples of the Lord. That is not a good place to be in. Amen. Not when the Lord is alive. He doesn't know it yet. Verse 2, and he goes to the high priest and he asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus so that if he found any belonging to, what's that there? The way. I'll explain that in a second. Men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. So Saul's mission, his zealous passion with religious fervor is to eradicate the way. Now that is, if you do not know, the early name for Christianity. We were called Christians a little bit later on and it was a derogatory term. Little Christ, Little Messiahs. And sometimes Christians think of themselves that way. But earlier on we were called The Way. And I like that name because it connotes a certain exclusivity. You know, you don't ask someone who belongs to the way, are you the only way? Well, of course, our way is the only way. It's not a way, it is the way. And it's also the truth and the life. And his name is Jesus. It would have clear up a lot of things, a lot of interviews on CNN. But he belonged to the way, and Saul is trying to eradicate them, but Saul has a huge problem. There is approximately, best estimates, say about 20,000 converts to the way in Jerusalem. And so Saul is trying to establish a dragnet around the city, and there are people escaping to the other Jewish settlements in Damascus. So he's trying to keep them all in so that it does not spread and he's not able to do it. So he goes to the high priest and he asks for extradition letters. He wants to go to Damascus and gather them all up and bring them back to his jurisdiction so that they can await their trials in Jerusalem for blasphemy and heresy. This is what's going on here. And I want to say, before we move on too far in the story, that You and I, before we were born again, and you, if you are not yet born again, are fundamentally no different than Saul. You hear that? Let me say it so that it's very clear. A non-believer, who has not been born again, is fundamentally no different than Saul of Tarsus, the great persecutor of the church. Romans chapter 8 verse 7 says that the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God. Paul was hostile to God because his mind was a fleshly mind. And anyone who is not a Christian has a mind that is set on the flesh and is at hostility towards God. Now, certainly, Saul is advanced in his atrocities, and he is able to run amok with his evil and do some unrestrained violence to the church, that you or I or that other non-believers might not be able to pull off. He might be better at sin, but fundamentally, he is no different than any other non-believer. The Bible teaches that non-believers hate God, and if they could kill Him, they would kill Him. And since they can't kill God, they'd kill the next best thing, His children. It is no surprise that when Jesus Christ came to this world, when God came to this world, that He was killed. He was executed. No surprise at all. That is the nature of people, before God gets a hold of them. Well, let's get back to the story. At this point, it is apparent to me that Saul needs to be stopped. Amen? He is ravaging the church. He must be stopped. If a pit bull comes into the yard where your children play, the daddy gets the 357. Amen? Or the 2x4. Or the rock. And it's not a matter of emotion necessarily, other than adrenaline. There's nothing emotional necessary about it. It's just a matter of fact. The dog must die, the children must live. It's just a cold hard reality. You don't have anything against dogs, but children are more valuable. And the Apostle Paul is not a dog, he is a wolf. And he is ravaging the sheep of God. And so if I am going to deduce what is going to happen next in the story without knowing the rest of the story, I think the apostle Paul is about to get it. I mean, we just have the story where Ananias was executed for doing the most heinous act of putting money in the offering plate. That's why he was executed. His heart just wasn't right in the fact that he did it. And now we have a guy who's murdering massive amounts of Christians. I mean, he is about to be put down. And he would certainly deserve so. But that's not at all what happens. God surprises us with grace. He surprises us. He is going to invade. He is going to get involved. He is going to stop Saul, but he has more weapons in his arsenal, more tricks up his sleeve than just executing people. He also shows grace and mercy. Let's read about it in verse three. Now, as he went on his way, he approached Damascus. Oh, thanks bud. He approached Damascus. And you have to understand this, he's getting very close to Damascus. I'd say maybe he's 50 miles out. It was about 150 miles away, if I remember correctly. He's about 50 miles out, 40 miles out, 30 miles out, 10, 9, he's getting closer and closer to Damascus, and we want to know, God, are you going to do something about it? Now's the time, because he's about to be there. He's moving closer to Damascus, and suddenly... A light from heaven flashed around him. This is it. He's about to get it. He's about to get it real good. And you have to understand, we learn a little bit later that this is the daytime. So a light that flashes around you in the daytime is very bright. You see what I'm saying? Very bright. This is the desert. A light flashes around him. He's going down. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Now, I don't know exactly the tone that Jesus uses. I don't believe it's anger. I believe it is a real question. I'm gonna get to that in a little bit. And he said, who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. And as Paul is falling from his horse, he must believe that it is appointed to him to die, and he will now be judged, and it's not going to go well for him, because though he thought he was serving God, he was actually persecuting God. The one whom God vindicated and raised from the dead, Saul, is out to murder. And he's taking it very personally. He says, you're persecuting me, Saul. I hear the blood of the martyrs crying up from the sand. I hear it, and it's you doing it, Saul. Why are you doing that? Now, let's just put ourselves in his shoes for a second. Have you ever, and I hope so if you're a Christian, come to the point in your life where you realize that Jesus is alive and that he means business? It may not have been a shining light all around you. You may not have fallen down off your high horse literally, but has there come a time when you have fallen off your high horse, figuratively at least, and realized that Jesus is alive and he means business in your life and that you deserve to be judged by him and executed for your sins against him. I hope that that has happened in your life and did. After that, you get surprised by the fact that he did not execute you, but instead stayed his hand and showed you mercy. Amen. That's because you're a Christian. I mean, if you are a Christian, all of those things happen to you. Well, Saul was surprised by the grace of God as well. You know, he was very surprised. He doesn't know the rest of the story like we do, but he was very surprised. I have some reasons why I believe he was incredibly surprised by grace on that day. He was surprised by grace because he had not recently Surprise, surprise, decided to follow Jesus. He had not ever made that decision. You understand that? Now, he would ultimately decide to follow Jesus, but it was only after Jesus decided to follow him. He had not begin to wrestle with Christianity and made a decision for Christ. So now that Jesus is appearing to him and showing him grace, it's a surprise. It also surprises him because in Acts chapter 9, look in your text, verse 1, it says he is still breathing out threats and murders. This snorting violent beast is still at it when Jesus shows him grace. That's surprising, isn't it? And it surprises Saul because Saul was completely sincere completely. He was with his whole heart, zealously and religiously serving God, he thought. You understand that, correct? He believed that he was justified in what he was doing. He was carrying out the Old Testament penalties for heresy, which was death. He believed that he was serving God. He did not believe he needed grace. He did not believe he needed saving. He believed he had already done, did that. He believed that he already was saved. And so that now Jesus is showing him grace, it's quite a surprise. And it's also a surprise because he was an incredible Bible scholar. He studied under the greatest Bible scholar of his day, Gamaliel. And he was not aware that he needed grace from God. He figured, you know, he had it all together. And last but not least, he was surprised by the grace of God because he was not open to Christianity in the slightest. Unlike the Ethiopian eunuch last week, Saul was not teachable at all. Now, he would become teachable after the master would probe him with a few questions and after the blinding light and falling off the high horse, but he was not ultimately teachable. If you would have come to Saul before he left from Damascus and said, Saul, I'm going to tell you something, in a few days you're going to be a Christian, he would have laughed himself silly. He was surprised by grace. He was not leaning towards Christianity. No tendency to believe. Not expecting anything. Believing that he was doing God's bidding. And here comes Jesus. If you know Jesus today, you're not surprised by this at all. Because all the way back in the book of Exodus, chapter 34, it says this, God says this, the Lord, the Lord, that's Jehovah, the covenant God, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, even for people like you and I, amen? Even for souls. and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. So it doesn't surprise me that Jesus does this when he meets Saul. Although I think it does surprise Saul. And it doesn't surprise me or you because Romans 5.8 says that God shows his love for us and that while we were still sinners, while we were still breathing out threats and murders against his church, Christ died for us. So it doesn't surprise me that much that Paul would meet Jesus and Jesus would have a smile on his face. And it also doesn't surprise me because I have the rest of the New Testament, all those letters that Paul wrote, and he brings this up all the time. He says this, he says that when he was a Pharisee, he was a very good Pharisee, he was a very good religious person, and he would read the Ten Commandments, and it would say, Thou shalt not commit adultery. He would examine his life and say, I'm good to go, no problem there. Thou shalt not steal, no problem there. Thou shalt not lie. No problem there. He was a righteous Pharisee and he really believed it. But as he continued reading down the Ten Commandments, he got to this one commandment that gave him a little bit of a difficulty. It gave his conscience a little bit of a tweak. And it said, Thou shalt not covet. Thou shalt not lust. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife. Okay. I know it said, thou shalt not commit adultery, and I'm good there. But now it's saying, I should not even want to commit adultery. Oh, Paul says that that really bothered him. That was a tweak to his conscience. And it says, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's ox. And he said, no, I've never stolen anything externally, but when I get down to thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's ox, that means that I shouldn't even want to steal something that doesn't belong to me. Oh. I mean, he was a very good Pharisee, but no one's that good. Amen? And that gave him a little bit of a tweak. And so, I'm not surprised that Jesus seals the deal here on the roads of Damascus. He had been working in his heart through the law of God for quite some time. And then on top of that, Paul was about the age of Jesus. And he probably had some interaction with the teachings of Jesus or the miracles of Jesus. He probably, he most certainly knew about the events surrounding his crucifixion and the Pentecost. And then on top of all that, remember when we first met Saul, he was standing over the bloodied and battered body of Stephen, the first martyr. And if you remember, as Stephen is going away, as his life is leaving his body, he looks up into the heaven and he says, behold, I see Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father. And Paul is watching that, and Stephen's face is shining like Moses coming off of Sinai. And Paul's conscience is just twisting. I'm not surprised that Jesus appears to him and saves him at all, because he's been working on him for quite some time. Now there's a big question though. Why would Jesus do all of this? He certainly does not deserve it. Amen. He has not earned anything. He is not even expecting it. Why would Jesus do this? And we don't have to use conjecture. We don't have to guess because Paul gives us some commentary on this very event in Galatians chapter one in verse 13. Listen to this. Paul says in one 13 or Saul of Tarsus, his Greek and his Jewish name, for those of you who may not know. He says, you have heard of my former life in Judaism. We've heard of it, Paul. We sure have. You were, you know, an expert Jew, an expert, a wonderful religious Pharisee. And he goes on, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. Yeah, we know about that too, Saul. We've been hearing about it. In verse 14 of Galatians 1, he says, and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people. So extremely zealous was I for the tradition of my father's. We have experienced and seen of his zealous nature. And then he goes on and he says this. And he gives us the reason why this all happened. But when he, that's God, who had set me apart before I was born. It's interesting. And when who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his son to me in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles. Why wasn't Saul executed on that day? It wasn't chance, my friend. It was not some happening, some occurrence, some random event. Saul was not lucky and it was not fate. There was not just some plan for Saul's life. There was a planner, and his name was Jehovah. And he had set Paul aside before he was even born. And he wooed him, called him by his grace. And then at the appropriate time, when it pleased God to reveal his son to Paul, he did so. And he did it all so that Paul might serve him with good works of preaching the gospel to the nations. You wanna know why Paul wasn't executed? Because it pleased God not to, because God set him apart before he was born, and because God desired for he to become the apostle to the Gentiles. And if you have been saved, it happened just like that. Just like that, whether you realize it or not. And you don't have to realize it for it to be true. You don't even have to agree with it for it to be true. But if you are saved, that is exactly how it went down. And praise be to God. If you have been surprised by grace, it was for the same reasons. Listen to this. Paul gives another commentary in 2 Timothy 1.9. He says, God saved us and called us to a holy calling. Not because of our works, but because of His own purpose and His own grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. When Paul wrote that, he knew it from personal experience. He had felt that deep in his heart, having been called to a holy calling of no merit of his own. He understood that. He experienced that. Now let's get to the objections. Pastor, it sounds as though you're saying, listen, I wanna convince you this morning through scripture. Listen, I know what it sounds like. Pastor, you say it sounds like that Jesus Christ is cosmically raping Saul. That's what some people say. That he is forcing his love upon him. What love is this that it could be forced on a man? He is overriding Saul's will. Doesn't it sound like you're saying that, Pastor? It's not what I'm saying at all. Not at all what I'm saying. Now understand what it looks like, listen. Jesus Christ, he appears to Saul, and it is magnificent. And the presence of Jesus Christ knocks men off their high horses. I will not apologize for that. And the presence of Jesus Christ befuddles men, confuses their senses, overrides their intellect, turns the fools into wise, and the wise into fools. The presence of God scares men. The presence of Jesus knocks them to the ground, they lay prostrate before Him, and one day every knee will bow, and all will be judged by Jesus, regardless of their will. It will occur. So I understand what it looks like. But listen to what happens. Don't use your reason. Listen to the revelation of Scripture. Though it looks like Jesus might be forcing something, He's not at all. He is appearing in a bright light, and He is probing him with questions. Why, Saul? Saul, Saul! That is to get his attention. Why are you persecuting me? He is engaging with Saul's reason. He is engaging with Saul's conscience. Saul, if I have been vindicated by God, is it right for you to persecute me? No. Saul, if I am alive today, and I am this powerful, Saul, why would you persecute me? Does it make any reasonable sense for you to do so? No. And Saul doesn't even answer the question, does he? He lays down in the dirt. If he were to answer the question and give a reason for why he was persecuting Jesus, it would be either foolish or evil in both. foolish and evil. Jesus is not forcing or overriding Saul's will. He is probing him and beckoning him and engaging with his reason and his conscience. I remember Jesus when he was alive before he was dead and then alive. When he first walked on this earth, he used to do that all the time. He'd tell his disciples, hey guys, hey, you see all these people out here? How are we gonna feed all these guys? There's a lot of them out there. How are we gonna do it? You remember that? It's not like he didn't know how he's gonna feed them or that he couldn't feed the entire world from one loaf of bread or out of nothing if he would like. But, hey, hey, Philip, hey, hey, Nathaniel, hey guys, how are we going to feed them? He liked to ask questions to engage people's reason and conscience. And they would always answer kind of stupidly. After he's raised from the dead, they get it. And remember what he said to Judas as Judas came and kissed him? He said, Judas, would you betray the son of a man with a kiss? I really think that is a loving God. He is trying to appeal to Judas' conscience and his reason. And my favorite of all, one that has stuck with me for many years, is when Jesus stands before the high priest, and Jesus says something to the high priest, and what he said is not important for our purposes here, but there's a soldier next to him, and the soldier punches him in the face. You've heard that story before? And Jesus says this to him. Listen to what Jesus says. He says, if what I said was wrong, bear witness about the wrong. If what I said was wrong, tell me what I said that was wrong. But if what I said was right, why did you just strike me? I'm telling you, that hits me right there. I think that soldier, I don't know, but I have a tendency to believe that he went on to be a Christian. Because he is reaching into that man's mind, into his heart and saying, what did I do that caused you to punch me? And if I didn't do anything, what is it inside of you that made you hit me? Do you see that? When Jesus appears to Saul on the road to Damascus, he is not forcing anything on him. He is appealing to him. And it is very persuasive. but he is not overriding his will. Saul will decide to follow Jesus, but I'm just saying it's after Jesus decided to follow him and catch him on the road to Damascus. Let me read this doctrinal truth to you. You gotta get this. God is the cause of salvation. Amen, church? He is the cause, salvation is the effect. Just like God is the cause of creation, remember what he said? Let there be light and there was light. Paul even associates the conversion of a man with the creation of light. Just as God causes the creation and just as God causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust, God causes salvation of men. He is the prime mover. He is the cause. And it is not just some plan that floats out there. He is a planner. He is a personal, loving, merciful God. And it is not left up to people with all their neurons firing and chants swirling that maybe some will, maybe some won't. God causes it. He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy. And when it pleases Him to reveal the Son to you, He will do so. But, but, that doesn't mean man's will does not exist and that man does not respond with a real willful decision. You've got to get this. In other words, Saul decided to follow Jesus, but Jesus had decided to follow Saul first. Scripture is very clear. The conversion of Saul is very clear. Listen to 2 Timothy 1.9. God saved us and called us to a holy calling. Who's the cause? God. not because of our works, but because of His own purpose and grace. Not because of your purpose, not because of your will, not because of your works, but of His purpose, His will, His grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. He planned to do so before this world was ever created. But Joshua 24, 15, choose you this day whom you will serve. Jesus answered to Nicodemus, a very smart and religious man. He said, Truly, truly, I say to you, Nicodemus, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And then he describes it. The wind blows where it wishes, where it wishes. And you hear its sound, and you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who was born of the Spirit. The spirit saves whom he wants when he wants. God is the cause of salvation. But then if you continue reading in the chapter, the same very chapter, it says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Wow. And some of you line up on one side and others of you line up on the other. Some of you say, no way God causes it. That's fatalism. Like we're some sort of robots. And some of you say, ah, that's right, whoever believes, I like that. I determine it. I am the cause of my salvation. Both of you would be wrong. Both of you need to repent of using your reason to determine what is true. You need to go to the scriptures. Jesus Christ appears to Saul. He causes his salvation, but he is appealing to his conscience and his reason, and Saul makes a real choice. He is responsible for the choice that he makes. Pastor, that doesn't make sense to me. It doesn't matter. And if you go by what makes sense to you, repent of your arrogance. Who do you think you are? As though your mind determines what is ultimate reality, and what is true and what is false. You can barely get up out of bed in the morning on the right time, and you would say, that doesn't make sense to me. Seriously, the Bible says God causes it, and the Bible says man must choose. Both are true, and I promise you this, How those work together is not keeping God up at nights. It's not. You can argue about it and fight about it and use your reason to determine it, but God, he's got it. And the truth of those two things, that mystery, the truth exists in the mind of God. And not in our minds, but we are called to believe what the Bible says, even if we haven't fully worked out all of the details. That's why it is called a mystery. In fact, Nicodemus, when Jesus was done, Nicodemus said, how can these things be? And Jesus said, you don't believe me when I talk to you about earthly things. How are you going to believe me when I talk about heavenly things? Jesus called that mystery, a heavenly thing. And I suppose one day we'll get the answer to it, but today is not the day. But don't you use your own intellect and negate the fact that God calls us salvation. And don't you use your intellect and take out the fact that man is responsible to make a choice for God. Both are true, whether it makes sense to you or not. And it doesn't make sense to you, I promise. You haven't got that one figured out. Listen to what C.S. Lewis wrote. I really like this. C.S. Lewis wrote, and if you don't know who he is, he was an adult when he became a Christian. And when someone becomes a Christian when they're adult, after they live an awful life, it's just great testimonies. And so he was an adult, he was an atheist before he had become a Christian, and he speaks about his conversion. He was old enough to remember and really to talk about it. He says, if you like, I was wearing some stiff clothing, like a suit of armor, as if I were a lobster. I felt myself being there and then given a free choice. I could unbuckle the armor or keep it on. Neither choice was presented as duty, nor threat or promise was attached to either, though I knew to take off the armor meant the incalculable. I chose to unbuckle the armor. I say I chose, yet it didn't really seem possible to do the opposite. You could argue that I was not a free agent, but I am more inclined to think this came nearer to being a perfectly free act than most I have ever done. I like that. The Apostle Saul, the Apostle Paul, was still breathing out threats and murders when the grace of God shone upon him. His conscience, his reason were not overridden, they were persuaded with an irrefutable persuasion and by an irrefutable Savior. If you have been saved, that is what has happened. And I hope you can magnify Jesus. Let's get back to the story. Let's finish it up. Saul does a 180. The persecutor becomes a preacher. He becomes a prayer. The grand inquisitor becomes a great apostle. Amen. The wolf becomes a sheep and will soon become a shepherd. It's a great story. The Bible says this. Paul actually says this in 2 Corinthians 5, 17. He says, if anyone is in Christ, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The opposite of that is if you are not a new creation, then you are not in Christ. The old has passed away, praise be to Jesus. Behold, the new has come. Has that occurred in your life? I hope so. When I step back on all of this, I'm reminded of this one last event. Now I'll tell you this, I was walking in a parking lot and I heard this tiny little muffled meow. And it was a kitten, you could tell. And I began to look around for the kitten. And it was with my wife. And I think, if I remember correctly, she insisted that we find the meow. And so I looked around, and it appeared to me that there was a cat in the engine of a car. And man, I could not leave the situation. I had to do something. I had to save the cat. I mean, the idea of him dying in such a gruesome way I could not leave. But to get a cat out of the engine in the middle of the night in a car that is not your own in a parking lot is not easy. So I crawl under the car and I locate the hole where the cat is. And you can't see the cat, just this dark hole. And I have no gloves. I have nothing. And I reach in to grab the cat to save his little life that he doesn't know is about to go up in flames. And he bites me. And I didn't expect that. I thought he would be very grateful for my kind act. I reached up and he bites me, he claws me, and so I retract my hand. I tried that over and over again. And finally, it was apparent that I was going to have to sacrifice my flesh for that cat to be saved. And that cat was gonna be a little bit traumatized if I'm going to save him. And so I plunged my hand in, my mind being made up, there was no going back. And I grabbed that cat by the head and I pulled it out, hoping its head would not become dislocated. And I pulled it out. And boy, I tell you, when I think of Paul, when I think of myself, I can't help but think of that cat, you know, and it will not be the first time, nor would it be the last time that God would save a kicking and flailing sinner. This story is told three times in the book of Acts. That's how important it is. And at each time we get a slightly different nuance. In chapter 26, Jesus says this, he says, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Then he goes on to say, it's hard for you to kick against the goads, isn't it? You've heard that before, right? In chapter 26, it says that. And what that picture is, is of a farmer with an ox, a stubborn young bullock, and it is not doing what the farmer would have him to do. And so he takes this long spear with a point on the end of it, and he sticks that bull in the side. That's a goad, a cattle prod, if you like. And that bull kicks. And Jesus comes to him and says, Saul, why are you persecuting me? I mean, does that make any sense? Is that right or wrong, Saul? It's hard. In other words, it's painful for you to kick against the goats. It's hard for you to reject the fact that your conscience says you were guilty of coveting, Saul. You remember, Saul, when you saw Stephen there dead on the ground. You remember that, don't you, Saul? It's hard for you to keep kicking, isn't it? It's just like that cat. He's going to bite me and he's going to claw me. And I'm going to, and he's going to kick against every effort that I make. But in the end, God will save him. And if you're saved, that's exactly what happened to you as well. Saul would later write that this conversion was a perfect example of all conversions. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father God, we thank you for your, your wonderful, majestic grace. We thank you, Lord God, that you woo us, that you coax us, that you love us, Lord God. We thank you that you have called us by your grace. We just thank you, Lord God. We magnify your name this morning. In Jesus Christ's name, amen.