Thank you very much for the privilege of being with you today. This is only the third time for me preaching to a Japanese congregation. Only the third time and I am very nervous. I am Moses. Pastor Sakai is Aaron. I am very slow of speech. I need someone to speak for me. And I thank Pastor Sakai very much. I hope he is not as nervous as I am. Our text is Acts chapter 9 and verses 1 through 19. And as your bulletin tells you, it is of Paul's conversion. This is a very important text outlining Paul's conversion. The Bible outlines Paul's conversion three times, and speaks of Paul's conversion more than anything else except the sufferings of Christ. And so the conversion of Paul becomes a pattern for us We may ask the question How do we know that we belong to God? Paul's conversion helps us understand the answer to this question. When Christ convicts us of his truth, And convicts us of our sins And we confess Christ as Lord We belong to Him This is the point of our sermon this morning When Christ convicts us of His truth, and of our sin, and we confess Him as Lord, we belong to Him. The first thing we see in our text is that Paul opposes Christians and Christian doctrine. Please look at Acts 9, 1 and 2. Now Paul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest. And asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Paul was a Jewish teacher. Paul was very zealous for Judaism. He worked very hard at his faith. And he was self-righteous. He was very angry with the Christians. And our text tells us he was breathing out threats and murder. He thought killing Christians was doing God a favor In verse 13 of Acts 9 13 But Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard many things about this man, how much harm he did. But Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard many things about this man, how much harm he did. The word is actually evil. He did much evil against the Christians. And this included putting Christians in jail and murdering them. Before we come to Christ, we are also opposed to Christianity. One doctrine Paul opposed very much was the resurrection. The Christians believed that Christ died. But they also believe that Christ rose again from the dead. They believe that Christ is living. Paul opposed this doctrine. He did not believe that Christ was the Messiah. Now we see that Christ convicts Paul of the truth. The truth is that he lives. Look at Acts 9.3 and following. As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. A light like a thousand suns so bright came and surrounded him. The text says it flashed all around him. Verse 4, he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? The great light forced him to the ground. And the voice from heaven cried out, why are you persecuting me? We imagine Paul like this, who are you Lord? And then this astounding statement, I am Jesus who you are persecuting. The voice saying, I am Jesus. If this is Jesus, he must be alive. Verse 5, and he said, Who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do. What Paul must do is confess Christ as Lord. Paul must learn that he must do this. Then we go to verses 8 and 9. I forgot to mention one thing. The Apostle Paul no doubt understood when he heard the words, I am Jesus, that Jesus is alive. And he may have remembered the words of Psalm 45. Would you turn back to Psalm 45? Psalm 45, verses 3, 4 and 5. Gird your sword on your thigh, O Mighty One, in your splendor and in your majesty. And in your majesty, ride on victoriously for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness. Let your right hand teach you awesome things. Your arrows are sharp. The peoples fall under you. Your arrows in the heart of the king's enemies. This is a picture of King Jesus riding forth. We have a similar picture in Revelation 19. He is riding forth as a great warrior. To subdue his enemies. And he fires sharp arrows. He fires gospel arrows into the hearts of his enemies. Now the Apostle Paul is beginning to feel the sharp gospel arrows. And he falls to the ground under the force of these gospel arrows. Christ must be alive. This is a great truth we must understand. Christ is alive and he is king. At the same time, Christ convicts Paul of his blindness. Please go back to Acts chapter 9. Verses 8 and 9. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were opened, he could see nothing. And leading him by the hand, they brought him to Damascus, and he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were opened, he could see nothing. Then a man took his hand and led him to Damascus. He could not see, nor could he drink. Because of the great light, Paul could not see. He was now blind. The man who thought he could see, and who thought he understood the Bible, got up from the ground and he was blind. The man who thought he could lead others must now be led. The Apostle Paul was a great scholar. He knew Bible doctrine very well. He thought he knew Bible doctrine very well. But he did not see in the Bible Christ. And so he was blind. His physical blindness was showing him his spiritual blindness. Paul was a very religious man, but he did very evil things. There are people in the world who are very religious, and yet they do very evil things. When I was a young man, I was very religious. I went to Sabbath school and I went to church, but I did not know Christ. I did evil things. I lied and cheated. Christ had to convict me of my sin. I knew things about Christ. But Christ still had to convict me of my sin. In Kobe we see many people who are very religious. Yet in the area of the bookstore there is much drinking and carousing. People need to be convicted of their sins And Paul is blinded by God to convict him What is the apostles, or what is Paul's response? Notice verses 10 and 11. Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias, and he said, Here I am, Lord. And the Lord said to him, get up and go to the street called Strait and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul. For he is praying. Paul in darkness for three days was praying. What else could Paul do? He had no vision. He had many things in his head. He knew much about the Bible. He thought Christ had been crucified. And not raised from the dead. But now he met Christ on the road. Christ was alive. Everything he understood was pulled out from under him. And Paul had to re-evaluate all that he understood about the Bible You can imagine he spent much time thinking and praying Paul understood the Christian doctrine that Christ died for sins. But he did not accept that doctrine. Paul understood the Christian doctrine that Christ was risen. But Paul had not accepted that doctrine. Paul understood many things from the Old Testament. We looked already at Psalm 45. Let's look now at Psalm 110. Paul knew Psalm 110 well. The Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Paul understood these words of Messiah sitting and ruling. Had he been an enemy subdued by Christ? Verse 2 says, The Lord will stretch forth your strong scepter from Zion, saying, Rule in the midst of your enemies. Have the Jews been the enemies of Christ? They were attempting to kill Christians. Verse 3, your people will volunteer freely in the day of your power in holy array from the womb of the dawn. Your youth are to be as the dew. When gospel arrows strike the hearts of men, Christ brings them under His power. They then say yes to Christ. Surely Paul was wrestling through these things. Paul was beginning to understand that Christ, who is alive, is the Redeemer. Please go back to Acts chapter 9. Finally, we see that Paul confesses Christ as Lord. Please look at verses 17 and 18. So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying hands on him, said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who has appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized. Paul had been traveling on a road to Damascus in order to kill Christians. Christ appeared to him as he was coming down that road. Christ stopped him. And now Ananias comes to lay hands on him, to receive the Holy Spirit and to change him. What happens when Paul receives the Holy Spirit? Acts chapter 22 and verse 16 adds some information. Ananias says to Paul, Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized and wash away your sins calling on his name. Paul understood what it meant to call on the name of the Lord. This idea comes from the prophet Joel Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved And so, now Paul is encouraged to call upon the Lord. But Paul must recognize that Jesus is the Lord. This means he is not only a great man. To be Lord means to be God. He was God who became man. And to call upon Jesus as Lord, you recognize Jesus as God. This was a great change in the thinking of Paul. You remember Romans 10.9? If you confess with your mouth, Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. Paul was convinced of the truth that Jesus is alive. Paul saw himself as a sinner. And he called upon the Lord to save him from his sin. And this is the great lesson for you and me. When Christ convinces us of the truth of his resurrection, And when we are convinced of our own sin, And we call upon Christ as Lord. We belong to Him. Again, this is the great lesson of the text. Many years ago, I was in sin. Christ convinced me of my sin. Through another minister, he showed me that Christ is Lord. I had to cry out to Christ as Lord. Because of this, I can be convinced I belong to Him. When you understand the truth of God, That Christ rose, that Christ died and rose again. And when you understand your sin, and you confess your sin to God, God forgives you because of Christ. You call upon Christ as Lord. You too, then, can be assured you belong to God. When Christ convicts you of His truth and convicts you of your sin and you cry out to him as Lord, you can be assured you belong to him. Amen. Amen. May we pray, please. Father in Heaven, thank you very much for this congregation. Reveal Christ to each of the members. Reveal also their sin. Give them hearts to call out to Christ. Give them hearts to call out to Christ as Lord. And in this way assure them they belong to you. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.