All right, go ahead and open your Bibles this morning to the ninth chapter of the book of Acts, if you will. Acts chapter number nine. Once again, we would welcome you to our worship service this morning. Certainly, we do pray the Lord's blessing on this portion of our service. Acts chapter number nine, we, of course, As probably most all of you know, we're studying the Book of Acts in our Wednesday night Bible study, and we will not make this message part of that study, the reason being we're not even close to the ninth chapter of the Book of Acts yet. It'll be several weeks before we get there. By the time we get there, you'll forget all about this message, and I can do it again that Wednesday night. I thought about this passage of Scripture not too long ago after a discussion, after a conversation I had with a gentleman, and I want to use it this morning, and I'm going to try to be very timely in my remarks, but I want to use it this morning, and I want to talk to you about a hopeless case, a lost cause, if you will. In fact, if I were to put a title to my message this morning, it would be A Diary of a Lost Cause, you know. Now, I have heard many times in my Christian life believers and even preachers and pastors, when talking about someone, they may say, well, you know, he's really a hopeless case. Or they'll say things like well, you know, he's just too far gone. He is a lost cause I've heard that a number of times in my Christian life And no doubt you have heard that too. I mean you look at somebody You know who is seems like who is so wicked and so sinful who's so wrapped up in in their wickedness, you know. And you look at the things that they do and you can't help but think, man, that fellow is a lost cause. I'm ashamed to admit I have entertained thoughts like that in my heart as well, you know. You look at, I mean, you think, folks, you imagine some of the vilest sins you can imagine. whether it is sodomy and homosexuality and things like that, abortion, adultery, fornication, people living in sexual immorality, you know, and the laundry list of sins is almost too long to list and too embarrassing to list sometimes in public places. But you look at people that are not only committing those sins, but man, they're wrapped up in them. You can't help but think sometimes, humanly speaking, man, that person is a hopeless case. That person is a lost cause. Well, I just want to show you what God had to say about an individual by the name of Saul of Tarsus. In verse number 1, the Bible says, 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 into Jerusalem. Now, I'm gonna get to the other verses in this chapter, but I can't help but think, as I read this, and I used this passage of Scripture on this gentleman I was witnessing to, and I can't help but wonder how many people in the church of Jerusalem considered Saul a lost cause. You know, I think about that. How many of the members of the church at Jerusalem, ever in their wildest imaginations, ever dreamed that God would save somebody like Saul of Tarshish? Now listen, we read what God said about him, and they're almost, these words don't mean much to us. They're almost sterile, they're almost benign. But I want to tell you, it meant a lot to the believers at Jerusalem. And I wonder how many in that church who knew about Saul, I have no doubt whatsoever, ever dreamed that Saul would ever be saved. In fact, I thought about this. I wonder how many in the church at Jerusalem ever put forth the time and the effort to pray for Saul's soul. You ever thought about that? How many of them ever, folks, mentioned his name in a prayer meeting, that God would save him? How many of them loved Saul? How many of them prayed for Saul? How many of them wept for Saul? How many of them, more importantly, how many of them ever witnessed to Saul? Now, obviously, we don't know the answers to that question. I'm just speculating somewhat. I would like to think that there are those in the church at Jerusalem who did those things. But, beloved, knowing the tendency of us today, I have no doubt these folks thought Saul was a lost cause. Saul was a helpless case, you see. Now, here's why that is, if you know anything about Saul of Tarsus. Saul was a religious zealot. Saul would be compared to the terrorists of our day. Now that's a harsh statement, but beloved, Saul, in the name of his religion, slaughtered many of God's people. Saul was a terrorist, if you will. Saul was a religious zealot. He was a zealous Jew. Saul, man, he had reached top rung in his religious circles, if you will. And listen, Saul hated the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm talking about Saul hated Christ with a passion. Saul hated Christ, Saul hated Christianity, Saul hated the gospel, Saul hated the doctrine of the resurrection through the Lord Jesus Christ. Man, he hated everything there was about Christ. He hated the church, he hated the members of the church, he hated the truth that the church stood for. You know, Saul was your hard case, if you will. Now, I have tried to witness to some hard cases in my lifetime, and I have not been very successful by and large. I have tried to witness to atheists before. I have tried to witness to agnostics. I even tried to witness to a die-hard Jew, if you will. And by the way, that die-hard Jew chased me off the top floor of a VA hospital with his cane. Now, he was an old man, and that old man moved fast, but I moved faster. I outrun him. The point is, folks, many people in the church of Jerusalem, here was a man that hated Christ, that hated the gospel, that hated the church, that hated the people of the church. He hated everything there was about Christianity. Now, we should not be too hard when I say that probably most in the church of Jerusalem considered Saul to be a lost cause. We shouldn't be too hard on the church. I mean, Saul, add to all of that, Saul was a murderer of Christians. He was. Listen, the members of the church at Jerusalem knew that Saul of Tarshish was responsible for the death of one of the first deacons in their church, a man by the name of Stephen. And I have no doubt they thought Saul was a hopeless case. Fast forward just a little bit. I'm here to tell you that this same man, Saul of Tarsus, did some marvelous things in the cause of Christ. That's hard to imagine, isn't it? Now Saul, who was later named Paul, and by the way, I believe Paul was his Greek name. I understand there's some very learned men who believe that God changed Saul's name to Paul after he saved him, and there's some very learned men that says that God did to Saul what he did to Abram. When he called Abram out, he changed his name to Abraham, and so God changed Saul's name to Paul later on. Listen, there's some very learned men that hold to that idea, and you know what? They might just be right. And it really doesn't matter one way or the other than me. I prefer to think Saul was his Hebrew name, Paul was his Greek name. He was the legal citizens of Rome, and he went by the name of Paul many, many times. So I use them interchangeably, you see. But listen, this same man, Saul of Tarsus, God took him and used him to establish churches all over the known world at that time. It is amazing what God can do in the life of an individual. This same man had traveled thousands of miles by boat and by foot to preach the same gospel he hated so much just a short time ago. This same man had trained countless missionaries and preachers in his lifetime. This same man has now written most of what we know of as the New Testament. Now listen, if Saul teaches you anything, folks, it is that when it comes to Christ, there is no such thing as a hopeless case. There is no such thing as a lost cause. Most of us know who John Newton is. John Newton was born in July 24th, 1725. And John Newton had a very, if you read his life story, he had a very interesting, I was tempted to bring it, I had it printed off, but it's long, but it's interesting. He had a very interesting upbringing. His daddy was a captain of a merchant ship that sailed in the Mediterranean. His mother was a believer. And his mother, in John's early years, spent a lot of time witnessing to John and praying for her son, Johnny. Now, his mother died when he was very young, but at 11 years of age, John went to sea for the first time with his dad, and he made six different voyages with his dad before his dad retired. Then, if you read his story, John was pressed into service, and he was put on a man-of-war. He didn't like that too much. The conditions were deplorable, and as a young man, he deserted the military. He was captured and enlisted. It was usually a sentence of death. The providence of God was working. John was whipped. He was flogged publicly. He was busted down from midshipman to common seaman and pretty much became a slave on the ship that he was on then. He finally got a transfer to another ship, a better ship. You know what it was? It was a slave ship. And the captain on board that ship abused him terribly as a young man until a man by the providence of God who knew his dad rescued him from that captain and put him on board his ship and treated him well. And eventually John Newton became a captain of his own ship. But here's the thing, it was a captain of a slave ship. Now here's a man, I picture this. Here is a man who had heard the gospel from his mother. Here is a man that his mother had went for and prayed for as a young boy and John Newton constantly and continually rejected that message of the gospel and ultimately became a traitor in human beings. He was a slave captain. Now, you know what? You look at that man, John Newton, and you would say, that man is a hopeless case. That man is a lost cause. In the providence of God, one day as he was returning home from a voyage where he had captured more slaves, he had to steer his ship through a mighty storm, and when it looked like all hope was lost, John cried out, God have mercy on us. God delivered him. He went back to his cabin, and he began to think on that thing. He remembered the gospel message his mother had shared with him, and John always pointed to that night as being the night of his conversion. Now, his life story is interesting, but when you get to the end of his life, an 82-year-old man, here's what John Newton said. He said, listen, my memory is gone, but I remember two things. I am a great sinner, and Christ is a great Savior. Now, of course, his testimony long outlived him, because he penned the words, Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I was once lost, but now I'm found, but was blind, but now I see. Folks, listen, I'm here to tell you, when it comes to Christ, there is no such thing as a lost cause. Listen there is hope for your loved ones I Spend time Praying for my boys You know what folks as long as there is breath in their body there is still hope for my boys There is still hope for your loved ones there is still hope for your friends And listen, if you're lost, there is still hope for you. There is nobody that is too far gone. There is nobody that is out of reach. There is no such thing as lost causes. Now I know we say that, but from time to time we need to be reminded of that. And that's what I want to do with you this morning, a very simple subject. I simply want to narrate my way through this familiar passage of scripture under three headings. And I want to speak to you on a diary of a lost cause. And I say that tongue-in-cheek because in reality, there's no such thing, you understand, as a lost call. Now, in the first place, in verses 1 through 3, notice the problems of Saul's life. Now, listen to what it says. And Saul, again, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples, the Lord went unto the high priest, desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether it be men or women, He might bring them, He says, bound into Jerusalem. Now listen, like anybody else, Saul of Tarsus, though he didn't like to admit it, Saul had his issues. Saul had his problems, folks. And all of these issues, all of these problems combined together, when you looked at Saul of Tarsus from a believer's perspective, man, he looked like he lost cause. For example, Saul was, number one, self-righteous. You ever been around a self-righteous person? Now, I hate to admit it to you, I've got a little bit of that in my own life, in my own heart. And I got worse news for you, so do you. We all like to justify ourselves, don't we? But in general, man, I tolerate myself, but I don't like to be around any other self-righteous person, if you know what I mean. See, Saul was a religious man. Now, I'll say this to you. Humanly speaking, I'm speaking as a man, but humanly speaking, folks, religious people are the most difficult people to reach. They are the most difficult people to witness to. You know, and Saul was a special case. Saul was, man, died in the wood, self-righteous. You can read the accounts. I think it's in Philippians chapter number 3, Acts chapter number 26, and in various places in Paul's writings. Paul does not pull any punches. Paul tells you what he was like before the Lord saved him. He uses phrases like this. He said, as touching the law, I was blameless. Man, what a boast that is. Now, I don't think that was an idle boast. Outwardly speaking, the Jews would look at Paul or Saul and, man, they would almost idolize him. As touching the law, he said, I was blameless. The word blameless in the Greek means without defect, without any fault whatsoever. Outwardly, the Apostle Paul put on a persona of keeping the law of God. I was blameless as touching the law of God. In fact, he said, you know what? Man, I was a Jew among the Jews. I was a Pharisee among the Pharisees, you see. I mean, Saul kept the law. Folks, he loved the law. He lived for the law. He memorized the law. He studied the law. And as best as he possibly could, he kept the law of God. And God helped anybody that he detected a defect in. You know what? We got some fellows and some ladies like that today in our churches. God help anybody that they detect a defect in, that does not live up to their standards, because, man, they go for the jugular. That's a self-righteous person. You understand. You see, the problem with Saul's relationship to the law was that he kept it and hoped in salvation by the law. It does not work that way. By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight. But Paul's first problem was that he was self-righteous. Man, I gotta tell you, our world, our churches today are filled with self-righteous people. They sure are. They are. And I can tell you, folks, you can tell a self-righteous person because he considers himself spiritual and, you know, listen, if you try to convince me how spiritual you are, you might just be a self-righteous person. You want to try to convince me how mature you are, you might be a self-righteous person because you look down at everybody else that does not live up to your standards. You are a self-righteous person, folks. Hey, I don't even feel worthy to turn my eyes toward heaven. I don't. Now, I confess to you that I'm guilty of self-righteousness many times, and I put that persona, but man, when I know, when I'm by myself, with myself, and alone with me, I know what I'm really like. We got a lot of people that's filled with self-righteousness. And they're hard, hard people to witness to. The second problem Paul had, in spite of him being self-righteous, is that he was sinful. Now that sounds like a contradiction. Now Paul would tell you all day long how good he is, how holy he is, what he has done right. I really don't like to hear people tell me what good things they do. you know, and report to me of what things they've done. God knows what you've done and what you haven't done. Paul would tell you all day long how righteous and holy he was. But Paul's, folks, Paul's problem was, in spite of that, Paul was sinful. Paul was wicked. Brother, that's a problem. That's a problem. Listen, Paul's problem was this. There is no amount of religious activity, no amount of religious works you can ever do to earn your way to heaven. You can't. Ephesians chapter 2 verse number 8, For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. I don't care how much religious works you do, you're not going to go to heaven because of that. You're not saved by yours, you're not saved by the law. Again, by the deeds of the law, shall no flesh be justified in his sight. And I got bad news for you, you're never ever saved by good deeds. Good deeds does not add one thing to your salvation. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He has saved us. That's what Paul said later on. See, Paul, Paul's, listen folks, Paul's problem is known by all. You might not like to admit it. You might think you're holy, you're righteous, you're mature, you're spiritual. You are wretched, you're wicked, you're sinful. You are. You are a sinner and you need a Savior. You are a sinner that needs to be saved. So the problem with Paul's life, he was self-righteous and yet he was sinful. The third problem with Paul's life is he was spiteful. It means he was hateful. I cannot stand somebody who's hateful with their religion. Can't stand to be around them. And we got many of them around us too. I'll tell you how Paul was, man. Paul by his own... Listen, Paul murdered, as I said, the first deacon, one of the first deacons in the first church. The Bible says Paul was consenting unto the death of Stephen. He held the coats for them, you know. The Bible says he made havoc of the church. Man, he would enter into people's houses, and if he'd find believers, whether it was men or women, he'd haul them off to prison. By outward appearance to believers, Paul was a hopeless case. He's spiteful. Now, let me give you a principle here, and it wouldn't hurt you to write it down and remember it, folks. It's an important principle. Religion without redemption produces resentment. Let me say that again. Might be the only intelligent thing I say in this sermon, but listen to me. Religion without redemption always will produce resentment. You show me a fellow who is always so critical, has a critical spirit. Now, I'm not talking about pointing out error. We should always preach the truth. I'm not going to waste my time talking about all the errors. If you preach the truth, usually it takes care of the error. But if somebody has an error indoctrinately pointed out, but you show me somebody who is always so critical of other believers in the church, I'll show you somebody who may have religion but don't have redemption. I'll show you somebody who is more legal than they are loving. Paul said, you that are strong, you are to bear the infirmities of the weak. You that are spiritual, mature, you restore such a one in the spirit of meekness. Religion without real redemption always produces resentment. That was Paul's problem. He was hateful in his religion. Now, I point those out because from all externals, you look at old Saul Tarsus, I don't know, maybe I'm accusing him wrongly, I don't know. I know how we are. I would doubt there's any believers in the Church of Jerusalem that thought, man, I'm gonna go witness to old Saul. Or call Saul Tarsus' name out in a prayer meeting. Or say, or weep for Saul, and witness to Saul, and pray for Saul, and love Saul. You look like a hopeless case. So we have the problems of Saul's life, and I'm gonna move it quickly, but notice secondly, thank God, we have the power of Saul's God. You read what happened. I hardly have to read it to you. You could about quote it. The Bible says, 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, 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. Now, picture in your mind this old self-righteous Pharisee going to Damascus to arrest more precious believers. Now, he was somebody that most believers would not want to confront. Saul was no dummy. He studied at the feet of Gamaliel. He knew the law backwards and forwards in his mind. And most believers would not want to confront him. But I want you to understand this. In the first place, notice how God confronted him. Let me tell you something, folks. There is people that I have been very nervous about talking to. You ever do that? As I'm getting older, I'm getting to where I don't really care anymore. I'll just talk to somebody. But I'll be honest with you. There are people that I have been afraid in my flesh to talk to, be afraid to confront them. God, listen, God knows how to confront somebody. When Saul was on his way to persecute more, there shined this light around from heaven and he was thrown from his mount and he ended up in his face, in the dirt. One minute he's flying high, next minute he's in the dirt. And Jesus spoke to him. Jesus said, listen, Saul, I know you've been attacking. I know you've been persecuting the people of God. I want you to understand that when you persecute them, it's the same as persecuting me. I want to tell you, God knows how to get a hold of you. I have experienced something like that in my life. Mine's not as dramatic. There's been no bright lights and no voice from heaven. But I want to tell you, when God got a hold of me, I knew God had got a hold of me. God has a way of taking the wind out of yourselves. You see. Now you might be able to ignore me. You might not listen to what I say. You might even laugh and scoff at what I say. I wanna tell you, you're not gonna be able to ignore God. When God confronts a man, he's been confronted. God gets a hold of you, he knows how to take the wind out of your sails. So we have how God confronts him, but notice how he convicts him. Here's a statement that has, from the time I was saved and started reading the Bible, has always somewhat confused me. He said, it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. Now, that doesn't really mean anything to us, at all. It meant even less to me, because I had no earthly idea what does he mean. I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. Now, a prick was an ox goad. It was a long stick that had a spike or a nail driven through the end of it, and the ox drivers would use that to goad the oxes and keep them moving. Every now and then, an old hard-headed ox, bull-headed, if you pardon the pun, ox, would kick back. They didn't like being goaded with that spike. and they would injure their foot or something like that. It's not good to kick against the pricks. The illustration is this. Saul was like a hard-headed ox against the gospel. You ever met somebody like that? No matter how many times they heard it, man, they're just... I have left places where it felt like I just wasted my time. Sure have. And I think that thought in my heart, folks, it is a wicked thought, because I'm selling God short. I have talked to people, and they're stubborn and hard-headed against the gospel. Let me tell you something. God knows how to melt an old stony heart. He does. Third thing, notice how God converted him. Saul said, he, tremulous and astonished, said, Lord, what will thou have me to do? Excuse me, verse number five, he said, Who art thou, Lord? I forget where I'm at. In verse number five, he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus. Now, it's interesting to me, the very person that he despised, he's on his face. One minute he's flying high, the next minute he's on his face, and he calls him Lord. Isn't that glorious? Just let me tell you, and I know I've got to weep through this. It's already 10 after 12, but let me tell you, folks. Do not give up on those people that you love. Do not give up. Don't quit praying for them. Don't quit weeping for them. Don't quit witnessing to them. You never know what God may do in their hearts. Now, the last thing, let me just point this out quickly, the proof of Saul's conversion, you can read it down from verses 6 through 9, and I won't take time to read it, but Saul pretty much said, Lord, whatever you want me to do, what is it you want me to do? Now, the short of it is this. We know old Saul was saved because you could see it in his works. You could see it in his walk, in his words, in everything about him, old Saul was a new man. Isn't it amazing what God can do? I've seen people, folks, who've lived their life wickedly, almost their whole life, and God get ahold of eternal men, and they live a brand new life. Don't dare give up on your loved ones. Saul said, What wilt thou have me to do? Now, I want to say this to the believers sitting here, folks. If you're really saved, you're going to say the same thing. What wilt thou have me to do? There's going to be evidence that you have been saved. I am tired. I know God is tired of it. I'm tired of a religion that does not work. Our churches are filled with people who have made a profession of faith, joined a church row, and do nothing. I'm tired of it really. See, we don't believe in a work salvation, folks, but we believe in a salvation that works. It's going to be seen in your works and in your walk. Our churches are filled with people who say they have the Holy Spirit of God, and they're sitting there doing nothing. I read a story the other day, and I wondered how I could fit it in, because it kind of intrigued me and somewhat convicted me, made me think a little bit. And I wondered how I was going to fit it into my message this morning, so I just decided just to force it in. I'll make it fit. But back in the 1920s, there was a special car that was built by an Italian named Bugatti. Bugatti. Bugatti. Is that how you say it? And it was interesting. You read about that automobile. It costed $400,000, and that was in 1920s money. That's a crazy amount of money, even today. But you can imagine how much it would cost today. Had about 450 horsepower. They said it was 22 feet long. It weighed about 6,000 pounds. Said, man, it was a work of art. And it was built for the outrageously rich. Nobody could afford it. They tell me, what really fascinated me, there's only six Bugattis still in existence today. One of them is owned by a general. He keeps that thing locked up in a secure garage. Nobody can get into that Bugatti. I mean, you can imagine how much it's worth today. And every now and then somebody will go by and shine it up. You know, it doesn't have a spot, doesn't have a blemish on it. Still a brand new car, has 3,200 miles on it, he said. It's just crazy. Now, I thought about this. Here is that Bugatti that has all that power, you know, and it's sitting there. It's got a lot of get up and go, but it never does get up and go. Looks good, shined up, but it's not doing anything. You know what? That's a good description of a lot of church members today. We look good in our religion like soft horses, but man, we don't ever do anything with it. There was this tour guide taking this group of tourists on a tour of the Westminster Abbey, which has to be the most famous church in England. Beautiful, they say, building. And she was showing them all the stained glass windows and all the beautiful arches and all the, you know, she'd point out where the king and the queen sat, and she'd point out where kings and queens have been entombed, and she pointed out where the musician's corner was and the poet's corner and all this stuff. And it was a beautiful building. And she paused for questions. And this woman from America, leave it to an American, she stuck her hand up, and she said, I got one, she said, you got a beautiful building, no doubt, with all the beautiful artwork and all these things, and certainly great people have been in this church, but let me ask you a question. She said, I got one question. She said, has any souls been saved in this church lately? You know what I think about, folks, we're sitting here in a beautiful building in Versailles. We have a rich history of tradition, of mission work among Baptist churches. But you've got to ask yourself, has any soul been saved in this church lately? Thankfully, there has. But we've got to keep asking ourselves that. Do you know anybody, and when I preached this, when I studied this, I had faces in my mind. Do you know anybody you look at and you think, man, they're a hopeless case? Do you have anybody in your family that you're just beating your head against the wall and you think they're a lost cause? For heaven's sakes, do not give up on them. You keep praying, you keep weeping, you keep witnessing, you keep loving. Because when it comes to Christ, there's no such thing as a lost cause. God may bring them to the place where they're in their face and the dirt, and they cry out, who art thou, Lord? Isn't that great? No such thing as a lost cause. Let's stand. Father, we're so thankful you can use the vilest of sinners