Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth, which keepeth truth unto eternity, and who will not forsake the works of his hands. Grace be unto you and peace from him which is, and which was, and which is to come, and from the seven spirits which are before his throne. and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth. Amen. Convocation, let us sing Psalter 211, 1, 2, and 3. Psalter 211, verse 1. O God, most holy are thy ways, and who like thee deserves my praise? And too, O God, from thee the waters fled, the depths were moved with mighty dread. 3. Thy way was in the sea, O God, through mighty waters deep and broad. 211, 1, 2, and 3. ♪ Thy glory shake ♪ ♪ Thine altar stand ♪ ♪ Thy people praise ♪ ♪ Thou the Lord, best friend ♪ ♪ And love best friend ♪ ♪ And God is love ♪ May thy faithful love be with thee all thy years. The scripture reading this afternoon is from Acts 9 verse 1 to 21. Acts 9 verse 1 to 21 is the scripture reading. First we do confession of faith. I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell. The third day he arose again from the dead, he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost. I believe one holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints. the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. Acts 9 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed he came near Damascus. And suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven. And he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink. And there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. And to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus. For behold, he prayeth, and hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem, and here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way, for he is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. for I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.' 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. 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 this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests? Let us seek the countenance of the Lord. O Holy and Righteous and Merciful God and Father in the Lord Christ, may we come before Thee to learn to pray, to ask Thee for a prayer that we may really need Thee in all our ways, and especially when we are gathered together, when Thy Word is opened and was read for our ears, and we pray for the kindness of the Holy Spirit to understand thy word the way it is mentioned for us. Open our hearts and give us that we may listen, that we will be full of attention and that all kind of sorrows maybe they are in our hearts maybe taken away for a moment so that we find rest in the house and that we may learn to surrender when we have to go through difficulties we don't understand, but then if Thou wilt come with Thy grace, we may see that we have enough in knowing Thee as the God of salvation, and Thou knowest perfectly who we are and how we are sitting here, whether we prayed and asked Thee for Thy blessings before we went to this house, or that we heard Thy word this morning, and that we are still the same not understanding thy word as a message to us, forgive us, that we may repent, that we may seek thee. We will not do that. If thou wilt not do with us that which we read from thy word, what thou hast done to the soul of Tarsus. O thou hast gathered us together as Benjamites, and now we may see again who thou art. So thought he was seeking thee, but he didn't knew what he did. But thou sought Him, or maybe learned that during this service. O teach us thy ways, the ways of salvation. Teach us to know Christ and what it means to know Him. Be with all those who are listening, maybe at home. Give them a blessing also that they may know and experience that they are known to Thee. So we pray for Thy blessings upon us. be with us. We deserve to be left alone unto eternity. But Lord, be merciful to us and grant us Thy grace. We ask this for Jesus' sake. Amen. Convocation this morning we heard about Benjamites and we have seen some examples of Benjamites which were Benonies, so was, so also Sol of Tarsus was a Benjamite. First he was a Ben-Oni and now we focus on him this afternoon and we will read again from Acts 9 verse 17. 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. We put these words above the text. The brutal becomes a brother. The brutal becomes a brother. First, an encounter with Jesus. Second, blind with open eyes. And thirdly, filled with the Holy Ghost. An encounter with Jesus, blind with open eyes and filled with the Holy Ghost. Let us first sing with each other Psalter 384. 384, stanza 2, 3 and 4, each spoken word, each silent thought thou, Lord, dost understand. And 3, if I the wings of mourning take to some remotest land, and also 4, from thee, O Lord, I cannot hide, though darkness cover me, 384, stanza 2, 3 and 4. ♪ He bore the end ♪ ♪ He died for our cause ♪ ♪ He lived for our good ♪ ♪ He died for our good ♪ I shall reign over Hawaii. O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? the brutal becomes a brother first, an encounter with Jesus. The congregation of Damascus is a target for the wolf of the tribe of Benjamin. Saul of Tarsus is coming. And the congregation of Damascus is aware of this. Children are afraid in Damascus of losing their parents. A father who believes in the Messiah will probably be bind and brought to Jerusalem. And a dear mother who love Jesus cannot escape from the wrath of Saul. And in some cases, both parents will be taken away from their children. How afraid must they have been? Will I lose my father? Will I lose my mother? Maybe my brother or sister? These questions are in the hearts of many Christians in Damascus, as they are in the hearts of many children today in the Middle East and other parts of the world. So, the brutal Jewish Pharisee is coming to devour his prey the most seeless and probably the most bloodthirsty man among the Pharisee. We can read that he was consenting unto the death of Stephen, chapter 8, verse 9. And he made havoc of the church, entering into every house and hailing men and women, committed them to prison, chapter 8, verse 3. There was no mercy in the heart of Saul, no mercy with men, no mercy with women or their children. And if we read further then we can find him testifying about his past. He says in chapter 26, I thoroughly 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 priest. And when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them." And he even says, I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme. and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities." He hates Christ and he hates his flock, the Benoni, the Benjamite, Saul, the Sealess Jew. He doesn't expect an encounter with Jesus. He's just doing what he is used to do, persecuting the church of Christ. He is full of enmity against all who believe in Christ. As we read, yet breathing out, threatening and slaughters against the disciples of the Lord. So, Saul of Tarsus is living in the darkness of his own religion. He always thinks to find himself on the right way, walking the path of God's commandments. He fancies to live in the light of God and never expecting to be put down in darkness by God. And although we are not from a Jewish sect as Paul was, it's quite possible that we live in the same self-deceit as he did. Do we realize that? There he walks in his imaginations. He receives letters from the high priest of Jerusalem as an evidence that he had the permission to bind people and to bring them to Jerusalem. He will bring people from the way, as Christians were called in that time. People from the way. He will bring them to judgment, not knowing that he himself will be arrested by the Lord. And then Luke has written, And suddenly there shined round about him a light of heaven. It happens with the purpose to save this brutal man. It is the appearance of Christ in his light to reveal who he is, to reveal his sin. And here we find that which Paul himself taught to the Ephesians in chapter 5 verse 13 where we read, but all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light, for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. That's the appearance of Christ, the soul of Tarsus. Then Christ reveals himself in his glory. And when that light shines round about him, all his self-deceit and its enmity is revealed. And then who can exist in the glorious light of Christ? Not Paul, not I, and not you. And what is the effect of this encounter? Well, he falls to the ground, so we read. He is humbled. in that way. First, he is humbled, and after that he is to be reproved. So, why persecutest thou me? Do you see that? First, his face has to be brought down to the earth, and secondly, the voice of the Lord is heard by him. Is it a way how all God's elect are to be convinced by the Holy Spirit? So we read here the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. And of course we all heard people saying, maybe some of us does the same, we do not need the same kind of conversion a soul did? Is that true? And what are you saying then? Think about it. In fact we say, there is nothing in my life what has to be reproved in the light of Christ. If Christ comes with his light, I can still stand on my place Is that what we want to say? And is that true? John Calvin says this, In this history we have a universal fixture of that grace which the Lord showeth forth daily in calling us all. All men do not set themselves so violently against the gospel. Yet nevertheless, both pride and also rebellion against God are naturally engendered in all men. The universal figure, he says. So we can say all conversions differ, and at the same time we can say all conversions are the same. Christ has to be revealed, and when Christ reveals himself in his light, your sins will be revealed and be reproved. What do you believe? So many people in Holland and maybe also here believe in a king without a sword. Do only others like Saul need the sword of his mouth to be put down? Or when Christ meets you and shines his light round about you, you will see what you have never seen before. You will be humbled and brought down with your face on the surface of the earth. And no one of us seeks that. Saul of Tarsus didn't seek the Lord, but the Lord sought him. He finds you. It happens suddenly to Saul. It happened to you, child of God, without expecting it. None of us is seeking the light of Christ, being afraid for His revealing power. But Christ comes with His all-revealing light to humble you. And look in the Gospel to find this, how He addressed several people with the sword of the law of God. We can read from that young man in Matthew 19, that man said from himself about the law, all these things have I kept from my youth up, what lack I yet? And Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions." There we find the wisdom with the law of his father. And he did also to others like the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. He revealed her sin before he revealed who he as the Messiah was. Think about this cry when Jesus told the parable of the good Samaritan. It was about the law. He thought himself fulfilling the law. And Jesus taught him, you have done nothing according to the law. There is no compassion in your life. You will not be the neighbor of all around you. You changed the law. So, we can find Jesus when he is preaching with the law of his father, fulfilling the purpose of the law. And now I want to ask you, did you ever had such an encounter with Jesus, that his light refilled who you are, who you were? No? Probably you do not know him at all. Probably you are not willing to apply the same words of Jesus spoken to Saul to your own life. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Well, these words are applicable in a certain way to our own life as well. Even when we are Christians, not belonging to the Jewish sect of the Pharisees, Why? By nature we are an enemy of Christ, whether you know it or not. When Christ has to speak in the life of a sinner, he comes with his reproof. We need it, just as Saul needed his reproof from Christ. Listen to the word of God. We call Jesus the Wisdom and we find him as the Wisdom in Proverbs. Turn you at my reproof, he says. Behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you. I will make know my words unto you. So if Christ comes, he first comes with his reproof because we are to be reproved. And without accepting his reproof, he said, he's not willing to pour out his spirit. And he's not willing to make known his word. Turn all backsliding children, says the Lord. John wrote that Jesus came to his own as the light of the world, and his own received him not. Or we are not able to receive Christ because we are unwilling. We are not willing to receive Christ with His reproving light, but He comes with His light to make place for Himself by the preaching of the Word of God, so that we have to give Him all glory and honor. soul, the brutal, never sought the light of Christ for the salvation of his soul, but the Lord sought him, was seeking this brutal to make him a brother from all who believe. And then secondly, blind with open eyes, Jesus' word is never without effect. Saul trembles and he is astonished because of the word of the Lord. He even asks what he has to do. First he had to wait in the city and the other people journeying with him are speechless Hearing the voice but without seeing a man. And then we read something which is hard to understand. When Saul opened his eyes. It's written there, he opened his eyes and he sees nothing. He sees nothing and needs to be taken by others. The other travelers led him into Damascus. In the verse 18 we read that it was like having scales on his eyes. The same Greek word is sometimes translated as flakes. Having scales on his eyes. He was three days without sight, but that with open eyes. What does that mean? Saul was blind with open eyes. What that means? It means that soul belongs to the darkness. Christ is the light of God and he hates that light of God and the light for the world. All we think that we have light, that we are light, but we are darkness. Have you ever been in darkness because your eyes were opened? A strange thing. Dark with open eyes. Has it ever happened to you to see what you are? Blind with open eyes. That's the worst thing to experience. When that happens in your life because Christ meets you You will mourn. That's what we read. Saul did not eat and drink. What does that mean? He was mourning. If we have to read this, literally we must say a double miracle happened. A sinner convinced and a man without water and bread survived for three days. blind with open eyes, being in darkness in Damascus, he was not able to deliver himself anymore and he knew God wasn't obliged to do that. And God is a sovereign God. Some people think soul is converted in saying, Lord, What will thou have me to do? But then I ask you, but why then did he mourn for three days? No, there are no reasons to think Saul is already a disciple from the Lord, saying these words. He mourns because he has no rest for his soul. He cannot say to himself, I am a disciple of the Lord now. I have asked, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? He cannot give rest to his own soul. To be convinced from sin doesn't mean you are saved, as some are saying. that when a man is convinced of his sin, he is already regenerated. That's not biblical. If we are really convinced of our sins, we find no rest until the Lord himself gives rest to our souls. Yes, mourning about sin goes along with prayer. That's what we hear if the Lord is giving answers to Ananias. The Lord tells Ananias from the prayer of Saul, from a vision Saul received by prayer. The Lord made known to Saul how Ananias had to come to lay his hands on him to get back his sight. But the scales on his eyes disappeared only at that very moment the vision of his heart became reality. Yes, we may admit that Saul prayed because the Lord gave him a real prayer. But as long as Ananias wasn't there, he could not find any rest for his soul. As long as the Spirit of God was poured out in his heart, he could not say the Lord was his. No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost. 1 Corinthians 12 verse 3. We must be filled with the Holy Ghost to be saved. Do you believe that? by the Spirit, we receive the gift of faith to embrace the Christ. And we can also say that by embracing Christ by faith we receive the Holy Spirit, they belong to each other. And Saul is not able to find rest for his soul until Ananias is there to lay his hands upon him. Do we understand this? to know ourself in all our misery, in our guilt, to understand the law only by the wisdom, Christ as the wisdom of God, only by his teachings we can understand what the law is saying to us. And if that happens, we are not going to say that we are children of God. Then we are the most miserable and we will seek peace and rest from him who is giving peace and rest to Lord Jesus. Then we see this wolf from the tribe of Benjamin. He declared that he was a Benjamite in Philippians 3, that he was filled with the Holy Ghost. That's our third point. Verse 17, And Ananias went his way and entered into the house and putting his hands on him, 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." Do you hear that? When Ananias has laid his hands upon the head of this weary man, the first word spoken to him is, brother. How friendly, how tender is this word for the soul of Saul. He may be called brother. What a miracle of grace. He knew what he did. He knew what he believed. He knew he was a horror for those who lost Christ. He knew what happened with Stephen. He knew these screaming children losing their parents. He knew he deserved hell and he acknowledged it. And now he hears a voice speaking, peace and rest. Brother, soul means so much. Have you ever heard that? Brother, sister, Now he belongs to the spiritual family of Jesus. He becomes a brother from those who were persecuted by him. And soon he will know what it means to be persecuted. What a miracle of grace. He is a brother. from all believers. Why? It can only be said to him because he is united with Christ. Otherwise he could not be called a brother. That's the work of the Holy Spirit. Here we find the wolf who became a lamb by the Lamb of God. Oh, he received his sight. And then he was baptized. He must have confessed his faith in Jesus. And now he is no longer walking in darkness, but in the light of the Lord. Now he is full of the Spirit. He does not walk in darkness. He does not belong to the world of darkness anymore. Do we know these things, congregation? Or are these words, conversion, regeneration, justification, sanctification, are these things only some words for you? Congregation, Saul needed the laying of hands. Without it, he wasn't able to believe and to find rest for his soul. Soul could not take grace but had to receive grace. Faith and other spiritual gifts are no options or buttons you can put on or off. Some people think that they can put on faith like a light switch. Faith is an option or a personal choice which you can reject or prefer. Here we find Saul, he needed the laying of hands. It was given to him. And I have to think about Jacob, he did the same with his son Benjamin. Also from Saul we can say there was reason to call him Ben-Oni, but by the grace of God he could be renamed Saul of Tarsus, should we call the apostle of the heathen. The ministry of Ananias was the ministry of Jesus. Ananias was sent by him. Preachers are instruments in the hands of Christ. Or what God has done to Saul, he does today. Do you believe that? And then the Holy Ghost was received by Christ to be freed from darkness. It is by the Spirit of God Saul began to preach Christ in the synagogue. It is by the Holy Spirit that Saul will be made willing unable to suffer persecution. The scriptures are telling us that every believer receives the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus teaches us that we may boldly ask for the Holy Spirit from His Father. You can read that at home, Luke 11. If we ask you, do you believe in Christ? that we may also ask you, have you received the Holy Ghost? And what does that mean? Oh, by faith, we receive the spirit of adoption, like Saul, who could be called brother Saul. The spirit whereby we cry, Abba, Father, the spirit who pours out the love of God in our hearts, the Spirit, who is against our flesh. And our faith is nothing more, if our faith is nothing more than a direction to heaven from our side. And we do not know from that peaceful, joyful and necessary testimony of the Spirit, how then can we speak about faith. We must know that. whether we received the Holy Spirit as the gift of God, to experience, to be united with Christ. For congregation, if Jesus says brother, when Ananias says brother, it is Jesus speaking brother. And if Jesus is saying brother to us by the preaching of the word, when we receive ears of faith today, then you will know what it means to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Brother, it means that we belong to the body of Christ, to His bride. Oh, be not satisfied with your own efforts and prayers, but be diligent and pray persistently for the assurance by this gift of the Holy Spirit. Those who lost all their worthiness and righteousness seeking Christ will find Him. Those who must turn themselves to His reproof according to the word of Proverbs 1.23, they will find the Christ who pours out His Spirit. He will make known His gracious word. And He will say, I am not ashamed to call you brother, like Hebrews 2.11. Do you know that? Have you ever heard by the preaching of the word or maybe in another place, that the Lord spoke to your heart, Brother, you are mine, you belong to me. Amen. Let us sing from Psalter 84, 1 and 2, I graciously Graciously will teach thee the way that thou shalt go, and with my eye upon thee my counsel make thee know. The sorrows of the wicked in numbers shall abound, but those that trust Jehovah, his mercy shall surround. 84 1 & 2 you ♪ I come to take thee home ♪ ♪ And lead thee on, my truly, for so long I have loved thee ♪ To thee my life's love give, ♪ When in the glory nightfall ♪ ♪ Chains are lifted from your body ♪ ♪ Great God, in glory riseth ♪ Let us thank the Lord and pray. O Lord in heaven, we cannot hide ourselves before Thee, and we are constantly hiding ourselves before Thee. O Lord, open our eyes to see. Everything is known. It has only been refilled to us. Thou knowest perfectly who we are, better than we ourselves. O Lord, bless Thy word and the preaching of Thy word, that we must acknowledge the light, that we, when we stand before Thee in the mirror of the holy law, confess our sins, done to all Thy commandments. Oh, to beseech Thee to pray for the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, Thy Son. Oh, be with us in the rest of this week. Give strength to all of us in the evening of our life, in the sorrows of life. Be with the children and the youth when they have a break in the summer. Be with them in this time and with those who start probably with working, Thou knowest our ways. Be with them. O Lord, have mercy upon us. We thank Thee for all Thou hast given this day. Bless Thy word and forgive our sin. We pray this for Jesus' sake. Amen. We will sing Psalter 233, 1 and 3. 233, 1 and 3. Bow down thy ear, O Lord, and hear, for I am poor and crave my need. And also three, for thou, O Lord, art good and kind and ready to forgive. ♪ Are good and kind ♪ ♪ And ready to forgive the mind ♪ ♪ The mind and the heart are one ♪ Good God, keep it from their eyes. Good God, keep praise from their eyes. In excelsis Deo. In excelsis Deo. And there upon the earth God hath given Joyful and new to heaven. The congregation received the blessing of the Lord. The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Amen.