Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
I Saw the Light (Luke 9:1-22)
0 Plays2 seconds ago
Sunday Message recorded 20 April 2025
by Senior Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church - Columbus, TX, USA
1700 Milam St.
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
Recommended
Transcript
From Construction to Pastoral Mission
00:00:06
Speaker
Good morning. It's so good to be with you, church family. I missed you when I was going to Alaska on the mission trip. Man, it's a big difference in working construction and being a pastor.
00:00:17
Speaker
Anyway, I learned the difference between half-inch sheetrock and 5-8 sheetrock. When it's 12 foot long, let me tell you, that five eights the heavier. Anyway, I told him I was out of my weight class. But anyway, God gave me strength, and we had a great time.
00:00:33
Speaker
I tell you, I would go anywhere with the team that you sent. Those men and women, they were they were both so hardworking and diligent. They were fun to be with. It was a great time.
00:00:45
Speaker
And we know that you were praying for us. And I want you to know God heard your prayers. ah No one was injured. We were around a lot of power tools and nobody was injured. Nobody got sick. And so we didn't have to send anybody home. So yeah, it would all went real good.
00:01:01
Speaker
But just thank you so much for praying for
The Living Jesus: Testimonies of Resurrection
00:01:04
Speaker
us. I'm so excited. Already I sense there's excitement in the building because you're excited and I'm excited that Jesus is alive.
00:01:12
Speaker
We serve a living, risen Savior who makes a difference in our lives. And so I want to talk about that today. And I want you to listen to a man's testimony.
00:01:23
Speaker
This is his testimony. He was an eyewitness of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If you want to turn to Acts chapter 9. Acts chapter 9, there few Bibles there. We'll also have it on the screen, so you won't have to worry about it. But if you want to turn in a Bible, there's nothing like the hard copy of the Scriptures.
00:01:44
Speaker
But, you know, I want to call this message, I saw the light. Because every time that this particular man shared his testimony, he always included that he saw the light.
00:01:56
Speaker
He saw the light. He said, I saw on the way light from heaven brighter than the sun. What kind of light could be brighter than our sun?
00:02:08
Speaker
Yeah, I got to looking that up and I thought, oh my goodness, there is one.
Seeing the Light: From Quasars to Damascus
00:02:12
Speaker
There's a ah quasar that they noticed last February that's 500 trillion times brighter than our sun.
00:02:21
Speaker
Can you believe that? And so it's like, wow. But you know, I believe that when this man saw the Lord Jesus Christ in that post-resurrection appearance that he gave to him there on the road to Damascus, man, it was powerful. It changed his life.
00:02:37
Speaker
Jesus will change your life. He changed my life. That's for sure. you know that the Bible mentions several eyewitnesses? There are several eyewitness accounts to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
00:02:49
Speaker
You might want to study Mary Magdalene or maybe the other Mary, Salome, Joanna, the other lady. Also, you could look at Clopas and his companion on the road to Emmaus.
00:03:02
Speaker
The 11 disciples minus Thomas, and then the 11 disciples plus Thomas, and then the disciples is at the Ascension. You've got the disciples on the Sea of Tiberias, disciples plus others, 500 others. Man, it's just incredible.
00:03:17
Speaker
Even his half-brother James. But I want to focus today on one who said this in 1 Corinthians 15, eight and nine. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
00:03:35
Speaker
Do you remember when Jesus first captured your heart and spoke to you? This man says, for I'm the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God.
00:03:51
Speaker
You know, Paul's personal encounter with the risen Lord is recorded in this passage that we're about to look at in Acts chapter 9, verses 1 through 22.
00:04:02
Speaker
But there's a man who spent his whole life studying the Bible named Dr. William Larkin. And here's what he says about what you're about to hear in Acts 9. He says, the most important event in human history, apart from the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the conversion to Christianity of Saul of Tarsus.
00:04:25
Speaker
I mean, this was amazing. If you and I could have known Saul, who later became Paul, if you could have known him, you'd have said, that guy's never going to become a Christian because he was a foe of Christ and something so life-changing happened that he became a follower of Christ.
Truth Seekers: The Journey of Discipleship
00:04:45
Speaker
Maybe you came today and we want you to know at First Baptist, we're glad you're here. If you're here and you still have questions, you have doubts, you're just seeking, you're saying, I'd like to know the truth.
00:04:56
Speaker
I'm so glad you're here and I hope you'll come anytime you desire. But all of us are like learners. That's what a disciple means. It's someone who's a learner. I'm still learning. I hope that you're still learning in your discipleship and your walk with the Lord. But I want you to listen to Saul's explanation of how all of this took place. Would you stand one more time in honor of God's word?
00:05:21
Speaker
We're going to read Acts 9 verses 1 down through 22. It's a rather lengthy passage, but I think to see the whole thing would give you the best perspective on how Jesus changed this man's life.
00:05:34
Speaker
But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any,
00:05:49
Speaker
belonging to the way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now, as he went on his way, he approached Damascus and suddenly ah light from heaven shone around him and falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?
00:06:13
Speaker
And he said, who are you, Lord? And he said, I'm Jesus, whom you're persecuting, but rise and enter the city and you'll be told what you're to do.
00:06:25
Speaker
The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice, but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing.
00:06:38
Speaker
So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight and neither ate nor drank. Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias.
00:06:52
Speaker
The Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Here I am, Lord. And the Lord said to him, Rise, rise. and go to the street called Straight.
00:07:05
Speaker
And at the house of Judas, look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he's praying. And he's seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.
00:07:21
Speaker
But Ananias answered, Lord, I've heard from many about this man. How much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem.
00:07:32
Speaker
And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name. But the Lord said to him, "'Go.'" For he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.
00:07:59
Speaker
So Ananias departed and entered the house and laying his hands on him, he said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came,
00:08:10
Speaker
has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight.
00:08:25
Speaker
And then he rose and was baptized and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus and immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogue saying, is is the son of God.
00:08:41
Speaker
And all who heard him were amazed and said, is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon his name? And has he not come here for this purpose to bring them bound before the chief priests?
00:08:59
Speaker
But Saul increased all the more in strength and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ. Let's go to the Father in prayer.
00:09:13
Speaker
Oh Lord, I've already been blessed. I have already been blessed just hearing your people lift up your praises. It's inspiring, Lord, especially having been gone for a week and coming back into this.
00:09:25
Speaker
Lord, it's just, I can't put it into words. Thank you so much for this church family. I love them so much. And I thank you for what you're doing in them.
00:09:36
Speaker
ah thank you for what you're also doing through them. I thank you for those from our community who are gathered here. I thank you for those from the community who were at Beeson's earlier at 645 for the sunrise service.
00:09:49
Speaker
Lord, there's really only one name that is worthy to be lifted up, and it's the name of Jesus. And so, Lord, I pray that I could lift up his name. There may be someone in this room who's been saying lately, who are you, Lord?
00:10:05
Speaker
Who are you, Lord? What do you want me to do, Lord? There may be someone in this room who has been through really difficult times, hardships, trials, sorrows, But I pray that you would give them hope, give them peace, give them a sense of direction as they are here today to you hear your word.
00:10:25
Speaker
So bless us as we look into this passage. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Thank you. You may be seated.
00:10:33
Speaker
and You know, Saul was living in spiritual darkness. But in Acts 9, 1 through 22, it describes how he saw the light.
00:10:45
Speaker
He saw the light of the living Lord on the road to Damascus.
Before and After: The Transformative Power of Christ
00:10:50
Speaker
And like every conversion testimony, we hear him describe what his life was like before he met Christ.
00:10:59
Speaker
What was your life like before you met Jesus? Assuming that most of you, not all of you maybe, but most of you, you know Christ. So what was your life like before Jesus? If you saw my life before I met Christ, you would say, wow, I'm surprised he's a preacher now. Let me tell you, God changes lives.
00:11:20
Speaker
But that's the thing that also is included because Saul introduces us in this text to the details of how. How did he become a follower? How did he first surrender to Jesus Christ and say, you know what?
00:11:36
Speaker
I've been going the wrong way, but I'm ready to make some adjustments. But then lastly, it's obvious to observe the changes that happened in his life after trusting Christ.
00:11:47
Speaker
So I want us to just kind of go back through here real quickly. And I want to point out some things that I hope will help you understand this man's life a little better. The first thing I want you to notice is the venom without the risen Lord.
00:12:03
Speaker
I don't know if you're like me, but I know some people who are really nice. They're friendly. They're good people. And they don't know Christ yet, but they're still nice. They're still friendly. They're the kind of people that would work hard and help you if you were in need.
00:12:18
Speaker
But Paul gives a different kind of testimony. Paul's testimony is, i wasn't nice. I was mean. you know anybody that's really mean? i don't know if we ever took a poll, you know, if we'd say, who do you think's the meanest man in town?
00:12:32
Speaker
We might have some nominations that people would say. But you know, Paul admitted that his heart was full of hate. It was full of anger. And so what you see as he starts this out in verses one and two, he tells us he was breathing threats and murder. He was a ruthless man.
00:12:51
Speaker
It tells us that he was asking for letters so that he could arrest the Christians. He didn't like Christians. So i feel like he was aggressive. He wasn't thinking somebody else going to take care of this. He's like, no, I'm to take care of this. I'm going to put all those Christians behind bars.
00:13:08
Speaker
But then also it says how much evil he has done. That's what Ananias said. He said, Lord, I've heard how much evil this guy has done. And so just know this guy was ruthless, aggressive, evil, but he was also brutal.
00:13:22
Speaker
Did you pick it up in there that it says it didn't matter if it was a man or woman? This guy didn't care. He had no no respect, no kindness, no gentleness for women Men or women, it says, he bound them.
00:13:36
Speaker
You know, every time he tells about that, every time he mentions about him putting people in chains, he always says he put men and women. You can check me out in Acts 8, 3, in Acts 22, verse 4.
00:13:49
Speaker
but well How in the world can we get anger out of our hearts? How in the world can we get hate out of our hearts if our heart is filled with hatred and with anger?
00:14:03
Speaker
I recall reading an article one time on how you could actually milk the poison out of a rattlesnake. I would tell you how to do it, but some y'all are so brave and courageous, you go home and try it. And so I'm not go to tell you how how it's done. all I'm going to tell you is it can be done.
00:14:20
Speaker
But i tell you what, I've seen Jesus take the hate and the anger of people. I've seen him do it. And I know he's still doing it. But I want us to move from talking about the venom that Paul had in his life before he met Jesus,
00:14:36
Speaker
I want you to see the velocity, the velocity toward the risen Lord. You see, here's the deal, okay? He thinks in his mind, I'm chasing them Christians and they are already over in Damascus.
00:14:50
Speaker
So I'm going to get letters so that I can extradite them from Damascus, which was in Syria. I want to bring them back to Israel and we're going to work them over. He thinks he is speeding toward the Christians.
00:15:04
Speaker
You know, Damascus was 150 miles from Jerusalem. So let's say that Saul traveled 30 miles a day. He's probably been on the road five or six days by now.
00:15:17
Speaker
In his own words, he says that he encountered Christ about 12 noon, about midday in Acts 22.6. midday, midday, hold it, wait a second.
00:15:30
Speaker
People don't travel at midday, at least not back then. Back then when it got midday, you know what they did? They found a palm tree and they found some shade. And so at midday, they didn't travel. They travel early morning and they traveled, you know, as the evening got started, cooled down a little bit.
00:15:49
Speaker
But I'm telling you, this guy was speeding toward Damascus. He's speeding toward these Christians that he wants to arrest. You see, his intention was, I want to stop Christianity.
00:16:03
Speaker
Maybe that at one time could be a part of your testimony. Maybe at one time you'd say, you know what? I used to try to shut them down. But you don't try that anymore. You know why?
00:16:14
Speaker
Because you encountered how real, how living Jesus Christ is. And so even though that might have been your intention, you know what? You discovered just like Saul, Jesus is real.
00:16:28
Speaker
You know, maybe you want to you want him to be fairytale. Maybe you want him to just be make-believe for some people. I'm telling you, he's a Lord. And so we're just going to have to get used to the fact that even though we may have another plan, another intention, the fact is we're not going to be able to stop Christianity.
00:16:48
Speaker
I think it's significant, don't you? that here he has an encounter with the risen Lord. And you know how long it had been since Jesus rose from the dead?
00:17:02
Speaker
Somewhere, it's definitely after 40 days, some Bible scholars say it could have been as long as two years later. You know, here we are in 2025, and I wanna submit to you, Jesus is still alive.
00:17:15
Speaker
Jesus is still alive. And people are still speeding toward him. You know, the Bible's full of runners. You like to run? The Bible's full of runners, but they're running away from God many times.
00:17:29
Speaker
Like Adam and Eve, like Jonah. You know, apologetics is full of people who are running away. Sometimes you ought to Google apologetics and see what does biblical apologetics mean?
00:17:44
Speaker
They want to give you facts and reasons why their faith. You're not asked to jump out into the dark. You're not asked to step off of some limb or something. No, no.
00:17:57
Speaker
Frank Morrison, Josh McDowell, Lee Strobel, these are all men who at one time, they didn't believe, they were just like Saul. And yet they found the answers they needed. They had a personal encounter with Christ.
00:18:10
Speaker
I don't know about you, but I've always enjoyed the songs by the Christian group Casting Crowns. Casting Crowns used to sing a song a few years ago that was entitled, Can Anybody Hear Her?
00:18:24
Speaker
Can anybody hear her? And one of the lines in that song that I thought was really amazing is, she's running a hundred miles an hour in the wrong direction.
00:18:36
Speaker
Sometimes when you see someone that's running 100 miles an hour in the wrong direction, the compassion that Jesus has given you in your heart, it tugs you, doesn't it?
00:18:47
Speaker
I remember one time when I was over in Colorado Springs and I saw a senior adult couple get on the wrong side of the interstate. And I was like, you know, I was trying to wave them down. I was on the right side and they're going down that side and cars are, you know, pulling over and stuff.
00:19:02
Speaker
And they're just, I saw the man, you know, he he's, maybe he's about my age. But anyway, he's he just barely able to see over the wheel. and he You know, he doesn't even mind. I mean, I just thought, please, Lord, help them know they're going the wrong direction.
00:19:16
Speaker
Maybe today, maybe today you came and you were thinking, I just wanna go for an Easter service. But maybe you're gonna have an encounter with Jesus Christ and you're gonna say, you know what, my whole life, I'm going in the wrong direction.
00:19:31
Speaker
That's why things aren't working out for me. That's why it's so tough. Today, you may hear the third thing. The third point that I wanted to give you is the voice, the voice of the risen Lord.
00:19:46
Speaker
You know, some people are like Saul. You know, God wants to be speaking in a still, quiet voice to you as you're doing your work, when you're at home, when you open your Bible and God wants to speak to you.
00:19:59
Speaker
But some people just don't listen. They don't want to hear the voice of the Lord speaking to them. So they just kind of try to shut him out. So you know what has to happen? He has to knock them down.
00:20:10
Speaker
Did you notice that Paul was on a horse and it says he fell off the horse like he felt. I remember one time telling my friend Clayton Wallen, hey, I heard you fell off a horse. And he said, hey, cowboys don't fall off horses.
00:20:23
Speaker
And I said, what do they do? And he said, we get bucked off a horse every now and then, but we certainly don't fall off no horse. So anyway, i was like, okay, Clayton, I will never say that again to you. I'm sorry. But anyway, Saul was bucked off, fell off. He was off the horse. He's on the ground.
00:20:41
Speaker
You know what? And if you were to read those records of all three accounts that are through the book of Acts, you know, he says in all of them, the Lord said to me, Saul, Saul.
00:20:56
Speaker
you know, God knows your name. Do you know God gave you the fingerprints you have? God gave you the eyes. You know, now they have technology where you can, you know, unlock something based on your eye. If it has that camera that can look into your eye, there's all kinds of things with DNA, with hair and all that kind of thing.
00:21:15
Speaker
Listen, God knows your name. When Jesus went to the cross, don't you know he went there for you? He had you in mind. He had me in mind.
00:21:26
Speaker
He had every person in this room in mind.
Personal Redemption: Jesus' Sacrifice for All
00:21:29
Speaker
Oh, God loves you so much that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever would believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
00:21:39
Speaker
But did you hear what God says to him? What Jesus says to Saul? Maybe he would say this to you. Why? Why? I wonder if the Lord is just saying, Saul, what are you doing?
00:21:51
Speaker
Why are you doing? Why are you against me? What have I ever done to you? He didn't say that, but wouldn't he? I mean, he's just saying, Saul, I don't understand your actions. Why you're so upset with me, with the Father, with the Holy Spirit.
00:22:07
Speaker
What would you say? If today God says, why have you not trusted Jesus? Why have you not surrendered to the Lord? What would be your answer? What answer is good enough since he went to a cross for us? You know, it's interesting how it says here that some of them, they said, well, we heard a voice, but we didn't see nobody.
00:22:33
Speaker
Do you know that you can not see Jesus and you can still hear his voice? Because that's what verse 7 says happened that day. You see, not seeing God doesn't mean God's not there.
00:22:49
Speaker
God is there. God is there. God was there for those guys. But see what? Jesus was only wanting to encounter Saul. And maybe today he's only one to encounter you.
00:23:00
Speaker
He's wanting you to know he's real. He's wanting you to have a fresh encounter with him. He's still speaking. But let me go to the next point. And that is the verification of the risen Lord. Let's look at verse five.
00:23:14
Speaker
You know what I think the most important question in the whole universe is? and think it's found in verse five. Who are you, Lord? are I mean, is the most important thing how you can make more money?
00:23:27
Speaker
Or is the most important thing, Lord, am I going to ever be able to get over there wherever you want to go? you know, I'd love to go back to Alaska. Will I ever be able to get over there? That's that's not the most important question the universe.
00:23:40
Speaker
The most important question in the universe is, who are you, Lord? If you're really there, I'd like to know you. I'd like to get to know who you are. i'd like to know what you're like.
00:23:52
Speaker
And you know what? It's an unmistakable answer, isn't it? He says, who are you? And what does he say? I'm Jesus. I am Jesus. See, Jesus is the son of God.
00:24:05
Speaker
Jesus gave up all of eternity past with the father in order to come down here to this broken, dark planet that we live on, that we broke. He didn't break it. He made it so perfect, but we broke it.
00:24:20
Speaker
And our lives are broken. And he said, you know what? I'm going to come down there and I'm going to pay the price that all of your sin and rebellion and resistance, I'm going to pay for it all.
00:24:31
Speaker
And that's why Jesus stretched out his arms on that cross. He was paying for Victor Morrison's sins. He's paying for your sins. Let me tell you, God loves you so much, but you have to know that he's really there. So it's like this unmistakable answer when he says, I am Jesus.
00:24:52
Speaker
you remember when God was talking to Moses and Moses saying, I'd go over there and tell, you know, the Pharaoh of Egypt that you want the people your people to go, but I don't even know your name. And he said, I am I am that I am, that's my name.
00:25:07
Speaker
Whatever you need me to be, that's what I will be. I am, I am. And so when Jesus said, I am, one time those Jewish leaders in that city of Jerusalem, they got so upset, they were red as stoning.
00:25:21
Speaker
Because they were saying stuff about Abraham and everything. And he said, you know what? Before Abraham was, I am. And they're like, oh, okay, you're claiming to be God.
00:25:33
Speaker
He is God and that's why he can say that he's God. That's why he can say that he's the son of God and so forth. But it's an unmistakable answer but did you notice an unmistakable alliance?
00:25:47
Speaker
You know, I remember when I was getting to know an outfitter friend that I had in Alberta, Canada. He took me on lots of hunts and learned a lot from him. But I remember one time he told me, you know, he said, this is for my kids to come to church.
00:26:04
Speaker
Don't be pushing that stuff on me. I'm like, okay, no problem. And he said this, he said, if I want to know God, I'll get to know him out there in the bush, not inside your church.
00:26:15
Speaker
said Okay, he's out there too. Yeah, no problem. But did you notice the unmistakable alliance when Jesus said, I am Jesus. And what did he say next?
00:26:26
Speaker
Whom you are persecuting. So the way we treat church and the way we treat brothers and sisters in Christ and the way we treat others Do you know what?
00:26:39
Speaker
That's connected. That's connected to God. And so people that say, I can just go out there in the bush and worship God and I don't ever have to go to a church. I understand where they're coming from and to a degree, they're right.
00:26:52
Speaker
They can get to know God out there. They can see God's handiwork. But I disagree that it's not important. Do you know what the Bible calls the church? The Bible calls the church...
00:27:04
Speaker
the body of Christ. We're his hands, we're his feet, we're his mouth, we're the ones that speak for him. But also it doesn't just call us, the church, the body of Christ. You know what it also calls us?
00:27:17
Speaker
The bride of Christ. Listen, you may look at me and you may say, i could whiff him all over this place. And you might be right. but you mess with my bride. I'm going to give everything I got.
00:27:29
Speaker
I will give everything I've got to defend my bride. Jesus is the same way. And that's what he's saying to this bully. He's saying, look, Saul, you're messing with me when you're messing with my bride, when you're messing with the body of Christ. And I'm thinking, whoa, you know, that's all a part of verifying who Jesus is.
00:27:53
Speaker
There's also an unmistakable agitation. Now, it depends on what translation of the scriptures you have. Some translations add this. It is hard to kick against the goads.
00:28:05
Speaker
When I was in Alberta, we used to work cattle sometimes. And, you know, cattle, they don't always want to do what you want them to do, especially when they get in a chute. When you're trying to get them through there and you're going to tag them or you're going to doctor them or whatever, you know, even putting them on separate pens. We had a community pastor and we had to put them in separate pens and they get in that chute. And since I didn't, you know, I didn't have a horse or anything to ride on, they said, hey, preacher, you work on the chute. I'm like, oh, it's too easy. And they said, OK, work on the chute.
00:28:35
Speaker
Talk about it later. Man, that was hard. Those jokers would plug up the chute. They wouldn't go. And then finally I learned a few tricks there, you know, how to get them going. But one thing is a goad.
00:28:47
Speaker
It's like a sharpened stick used to prod cattle. But if you do stick them, be ready, because man, they're going kick. And they'll kick. And when they kick and they so their leg goes against that sharpened stick, you know what it does? It hurts them.
00:29:04
Speaker
So it's better just move on forward. Don't be kicking now. You know, it's better just move on forward. But you know what? It's kind of like that with us sometimes. It's like, wow, you mean the agitation that I'm sensing in my life could be God trying to get my attention?
00:29:22
Speaker
Yes. You know why? Because he's mean? No way. God is good. God is good, but God loves you so much. He's not going to let you waste your life. He's not going to let you hurt other people and mess all things up that he has planned for your life.
00:29:37
Speaker
So what? He's going to every now and then say, come on, let's go this way. Let's go this way. And you're saying, no, I want to, you know what Proverbs 13, 15 says, Proverbs 13, 15 says the way of the unfaithful is hard.
00:29:51
Speaker
You ever seen anybody? It's like, you know that God's trying to get them, but they're running in the wrong direction. And life is just so hard.
00:30:03
Speaker
you know, the verification of resurrection of Jesus being alive, it's available. It's really available. You know what I think it's really about? Sometimes when people are rejecting Christ, it's not that they don't have enough facts.
00:30:18
Speaker
It's not that they don't have enough evidence that Jesus is who he says he is. It's the will. Sometimes we're just like, i want to I want to live my life the way I want to.
00:30:31
Speaker
What was it Frank Sinatra Elvis and others saying? ah did it my way. That's how we want to live life. I want to do it my way. But you know what? In order to follow Christ, we got to say, I'll do it your way.
00:30:43
Speaker
And that's what Saul learned that day when he verified who he was. Which leads me to the next thing as I bring this plane in for a landing. The vision of the risen Christ.
00:30:55
Speaker
The vision of the risen Lord. Why should Saul follow Christ? Why should you follow Christ? Because he has a plan. ah great plan for your life.
00:31:06
Speaker
A really good plan. If you're still searching for purpose in life, I recommend that you pray verse 6. You know, verse 6 says, but rise and enter the city and you'll be told what you are to do. You ought to just say, Lord, what do you want me to do?
00:31:23
Speaker
What do you want me to do? I'm at a new place in my life.
00:31:30
Speaker
you know there's two observations that I would make to summarize this whole thing about the vision. You know, Ananias said, God told Ananias, Saul's seen a vision of a guy named Ananias who comes and prays that he can see again. he can regain his vision.
00:31:48
Speaker
I think that God put him in darkness temporarily just so he would say, I want to see again. I want to see again. Do you want to see again? Do you want to see what God's plan is for your life?
00:31:59
Speaker
There's two things I wanted to point out here. Well, really more than that, but understanding that God's plan is usually progressive. It's incremental. Rarely does anybody just get the whole thing right there. Okay, this is God's plan for you for the rest of your whole life for the next 40 years.
00:32:17
Speaker
That's rare. You know what's usually it's like this. You go into this place and you'll be told what you'll do next. The other thing I noticed is understanding God's plan is also interactive.
00:32:29
Speaker
You don't kind of get off by yourself and figure it out. When you get around God's people, you'd be surprised. you know, my son-in-law was praying for a job and it was somebody at church that said, you know what? We need another land surveyor on our crew.
00:32:44
Speaker
And they said, I've been thinking about you. Would you be willing to do that? You know, sometimes your answer is going to be found in the body of Christ. That's why it's so important to hang around God's people, but also understanding God's plans personal.
00:32:57
Speaker
Did you notice how the Lord spoke about Saul? He said, he is a chosen instrument of mine.
God's Plan: Balancing Blessings and Burdens
00:33:04
Speaker
I will show him how much he must suffer.
00:33:08
Speaker
He wasn't talking to Ananias at this point. He was saying, this is what my plan is for Saul. Not for you, Ananias, but for Saul. God's plan for Saul included blessings and burdens.
00:33:23
Speaker
Sometimes we get so down if we go through sorrows or hard times. You know, when I look at Saul's life in scripture, you know what I learned about the hard time? They're not his fault.
00:33:34
Speaker
They're the fault of other men, fallen men, broken men. It's a fallen world. Don't blame God for all the hard things that happen. God just says, I know all that he's going to go through because he's going to become a Christian.
00:33:49
Speaker
But also understanding God's plan spiritual, something like scales fall from his eyes. Man, you know, it's just incredible. But the last thing is the vessel of the risen Lord.
00:34:02
Speaker
Verses 18 through 20. He says, this guy Saul, even though he's been so mean, even though he's been so evil, he's a chosen instrument. Some translations say he's a chosen vessel.
00:34:17
Speaker
A vessel is like pottery. A vessel is the Greek word skelos. It means a container. If you want to see it in in real time, then go to 2 Corinthians 4, verse 6.
00:34:29
Speaker
Whenever the Apostle Paul says, you know what we are like? We're like jars of clay. And in the jars of clay, when we ask Jesus Christ to be our Lord and Savior, we have treasure, a treasure. ah treasure But I got to thinking, okay, so how does God prepare his vessels?
00:34:50
Speaker
Let's say, how does God prepare you? How does God shape you? Let's say that we are like on a potter's wheel and the and the potter is shaping us and forming us and saying, nope, that's not it. This is it. This is what I want. And it starts coming up.
00:35:05
Speaker
When I was on Okinawa, I got to see that, a potter at work. It's really fascinating. But I would give you an acrostic s h a p e S-H-A-P-E, shape, shape.
00:35:17
Speaker
Just don't be talking about people's shape today, okay? But anyway, the S could stand for the Spirit of God. Because whenever Ananias prayed for Saul, the Spirit came. The Spirit of God will help you to do what you can't do.
00:35:31
Speaker
The H could stand for a heart of obedience. You know, this guy had been so offbeat. You know, he had been off the right road. But you know what? His heart was for obedience now.
00:35:43
Speaker
He's like, God, I really want to do what you want me to do. And A could be for assemble with the disciples. Look at verse 19. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus.
00:35:55
Speaker
But then what about telling someone else? Did you notice how quickly he started telling someone else? Look at verse 20. And immediately, and immediately he proclaimed Jesus. This has probably been like three days maybe.
00:36:11
Speaker
And he's already telling somebody else what happened to him. The proclamation of the gospel. You don't have to wait and until you grow old to tell somebody about Christ. Tell them now. And the E would be equipped through the scriptures.
00:36:25
Speaker
How could he be proving that Jesus was the Christ? He can prove it because he knew the Old Testament scriptures. And God was going to use those and use the Holy Spirit and help him to write so many books of the New Testament that we have here together.
00:36:44
Speaker
Maybe you don't realize this, but you know, Jesus fulfilled an ancient prophecy back in Isaiah nine two That ancient prophecy said someday, someday a great light is going to come to this dark world.
00:36:59
Speaker
A great light. And when Matthew was writing his gospel, the Holy Spirit said, Matthew, want you to write that verse down and I want you to include it in chapter 4, verse 16.
00:37:11
Speaker
And so it says that the light of Jesus penetrated even the shadow of death. You know, Acts 2 24 says God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
00:37:27
Speaker
Paul wrote in Colossians 1, 13 and 14, the reason that he can transfer us out of the domain of darkness is because his perfect, Jesus' perfect, sinless life was the price for our redemption.
00:37:43
Speaker
And so it's like, yeah, we all made mistakes, haven't we? But you know what? Jesus said, my blood can cover all of them. You know, in our text, we hear the voice of a sinful man singing the same song written years later by Hank Williams.
00:37:59
Speaker
I'm sorry, i grew up in Tennessee, not far from Nashville. I got to put a country song in there. Here's what he said. He said, I wandered so aimless, life filled with sin.
00:38:12
Speaker
I wouldn't let my dear Savior in. Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night, praise the Lord, I saw the light.
Invitation to Light: Seeking Jesus Amid Darkness
00:38:25
Speaker
I saw the light. I saw the light. No more darkness. No more night. Now I'm so happy. No sorrow in sight. Praise the Lord.
00:38:36
Speaker
I saw the light. Have you seen the light? Has Jesus changed your life? I just encourage you today. we We have this tradition here at our church. I stand out front and we have a closing song.
00:38:49
Speaker
And during that closing song, people can come and say, I want Christ, but I don't know what to do. We can arrange an appointment for a later time. I know that families get together on Easter and all that.
00:39:01
Speaker
So I'm finished with the message, but I wanted to give this opportunity In case someone would say, ah need you to pray for me because that message hit me right between the eyes.
00:39:13
Speaker
I have not seen the light, but i want to see it. I'm so tired of living in spiritual darkness. Jesus came. He came for you.
00:39:24
Speaker
Let's all stand together. let me Let me lead us in a prayer. And then we'll have our musicians come to lead us in this closing song. And I'll be down front just so you know that there's somebody that would receive you, would pray with you, that knows what's going on in your heart.
00:39:40
Speaker
But let's pray together. Lord, I thank you for putting this testimony of a man who saw the light. Lord, Saul was definitely in spiritual darkness and he was headed in the wrong direction.
00:39:52
Speaker
I don't know if he was running 100 miles an hour, but he was speeding along really fast. Lord, it could be somebody in this room. their Their life is always in high gear and they're just flying down the roads of life.
00:40:06
Speaker
But the problem is they've not yet come to know Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. And so, Lord, would you use this closing moments just to help them to to make a difference, to reach out toward Christ. I would love to talk with them. I would love to pray with them.
00:40:24
Speaker
Lord, whatever you're laying on someone's heart, I pray today would be the day of salvation for them. But we love you, Lord. Thank you again for being alive. And you can change everyone's life in this place. In Jesus' name we pray.
00:40:37
Speaker
Amen.
00:40:43
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.