Amen, amen. Well, good morning! It's great to see everybody this morning. I want to welcome you to Indian Rocks. My name is Aaron Philippone, and I get to serve as one of the pastors here. I'm really glad that you're here, and I hope you're already having a great morning and a great weekend. We ordered in some better weather for you this morning, so hopefully you're enjoying that. And yeah, you're welcome!
We want you to feel like family when you're here, so why don't we take just a moment and let's greet one another? Let's welcome everybody to church this morning.
All right, all right, go ahead and find your seats, find your seats.
Well, it's great to be with you this morning, and hopefully you've already had a great weekend. Last night, I got to spend some time with our high school at the Indian Rocks Homecoming Dance. And let me just tell you, we got some people with some moves! Okay, these people know how to... I thought this was a Baptist church, but man, these people got moved! And I'm not talking about the kids; I'm talking about the adults—the chaperones. Miss Sam, some of those chaperones could dance out there! So I'm just saying this is a fun group of people right here, and you'd be so proud of everything happening in our school. I was just so proud of being a part of all of that last night.
Hey, we're going to have a great time worshiping God this morning. On your way in, you should have received something like this. Go ahead and pull this out. This is a program that's going to help you throughout our service today. There are some articles in here that help you get connected. If you're new around here, we want to welcome you. We want you to feel like part of the family. We want to help you get connected, and there are some ways right there that you can start getting connected in the life of our church.
At the very bottom, you're going to see a connect card, and on the back, there's a place for prayer requests. And here's what I like for you to do: why don't we all go ahead and tear that off and take a moment and fill that out? It's really important because we want to be good pastors and leaders for you. In a large church like this, it helps us to know how we can pray for you. Every Tuesday, all of our pastors and staff, we get on our knees and we pray over every one of these requests. The Bible says that as a church family, one of our jobs is to bear one another's burdens, and this helps us to do that. This helps us to know how we can bear each other's burdens. So take a few minutes, fill that out, and in just a little bit when we receive our offering, you can just drop this right in the bucket, and we would so appreciate that.
Hey, in just a moment, we're going to stand and we're going to sing some more great songs to God and about God, and we want to invite you to participate. Even if you're new around here, we want you to sing. We're singing together to God in heaven, and all of these songs are very meaningful to us, and the words come right out of the Scriptures. So we want to invite you to participate along with us.
Then we're going to have a time where we're given offering. This is your church family, and we want to encourage you to give cheerfully and generously to the work of God through our church family. But if you're new around here, there's no expectation that you participate in that. That's a chance for our church family to help fund the mission and the needs of our church mission together.
Then we're going to have a Bible study in the book of Acts. I hope you brought a Bible with you today; we're going to be in Acts chapter 9. We're going to talk about a guy who had a wicked, wicked past. I know we have a church family, and many of us have some things in our past as well. I'm so grateful that we serve a God who helps us to move forward. Even though we have a past, even though we have a lot of brokenness, our God gives us a path forward. You may be here today looking for your path forward. I want to share with you some things from God's word about how we can move forward together.
Before we do any of that, I always think it's helpful just to take a few minutes and pray. It helps me to get my heart ready for worship. I like to get on my knees; if you're physically able, I want to encourage you to bow low before the Lord. To worship literally means to bow low. Let's remember that we gather together to hear from the one true and living God. We're not here to worship any man; we're here to worship God in heaven. We don't need to hear from any man; we need to hear from God in heaven.
So, Father, we're here to hear from you. I pray that you would silence all of the distractions that are in our lives so that we can focus on you. We want to worship you in spirit and in truth. So God, I pray that you would be more alive in us. I pray that we would respond to your word and help us to obey you with rapid obedience. God, we believe that you're the one true and living God, that you sent your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be crucified on a cross for the sins of the world. He was buried, but he didn't stay dead; he was raised from the dead, glorious, victorious. Because of his new life, we have new life. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we can be raised from the dead. We have new life in Christ.
So God, today remind us of the path forward. Even though we have a past, I pray that you would use our scars to tell a story of redemption. I pray for everyone here who's walked in carrying heavy burdens. I pray that today we would cast our cares on you because you care about us. So God, today as we pray, as we sing, as we study your word, as we give to you, may all these things bring glory to you and you alone. You're the one true and living God; we're here to meet with you. I pray that as a result of being here together, we would leave looking more like Jesus. We pray these things in his powerful name. Amen, amen.
Let's all stand together; let's sing to the Lord. You guys can go ahead and be seated. Let's pray together.
All right, all right. Let's go ahead and do that. If you have a Bible, go ahead and get your Bible out, turn your Bible on. We're going to be in Acts 9, and you're going to want to go ahead and get ready for that. And then also go ahead and pull out that listening guide that you received on the way in. There are some fill-in-the-blanks on there that will hopefully help you as you're growing deeper in your walk with the Lord. If you haven't had a chance to fill out that connect card yet, there's still time. Go ahead and fill that out, and on your way out the door, you can give it to anyone wearing one of those Indian Rocks lanyards.
Hey, also, I just want to say, wasn't that awesome to have Jose up here praying for us? I mean, I'm so grateful to be a part of a church pouring into men like Jose. I just love that, love that man. My heart is so full when I see these young men who are walking with Christ. That is just such a blessing, a blessing from God.
Hey, let me pray for us, and we'll jump right into God's Word.
Father in heaven, we're grateful to be together today, and I'm always grateful to get to open your Word and study it with our church family. God, today we're looking at a story of a life that was changed. Many of us in this room have experienced that, and some in the room are looking for that. God, I pray that you would open your Word to our hearts and open our hearts to your Word. We need to hear from you today. God, would you speak loud and clear? Would you silence the distractions in our life? We want to hear from you. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
Well, there was a couple from Minneapolis who decided to go down to Florida to get out of the cold weather, as some of you have done. They decided that they were going to go to the same place where they stayed for their honeymoon 20 years earlier. Because of their hectic schedules, they couldn't get on the same flight; she had to work an extra day. So he decided, "I'm going to fly down on Thursday and then she'll join me on Friday."
So he gets down there to this hotel, and he realizes that the whole place had been completely renovated. I mean, new cabanas out on the beach, a whole new lobby at the front desk. They even put in a business center that had computers and printers and all of that. So he decided, "You know what? I'm going to send my wife an email and let her know about all the changes here at the hotel."
So he goes on, he sends her an email. The only problem is he misspelled her email address by one letter. So the email went to this random woman somewhere in Houston. This poor woman in Houston was a recent widow. In fact, she had just gotten back from burying her husband, who was a Baptist minister. You could imagine her shock when she received this email. She opened it, read it, screamed, and fell on the ground. Her son ran in, found her, and read the email.
Here's what it says: "To my beautiful wife," the subject line. "I just arrived. I know you're surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now, so I thought I'd send you an email. Everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. I'm looking forward to seeing you then. I hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was. Yes, it sure is hot down here."
How many of you have ever sent an email that you've regretted? Anybody like that? Yeah, a lot of us have decades or years or seasons of regret. Some of us have chapters of our lives that we wish we could rewrite. Some of us wish we could go back and relive seasons of our life, maybe years of our lives. You know, you can't make new old friends. This week, I got to spend some time with friends that have known me since I was a teenager, and I wish they could forget some of the stories that I've forgotten. But they can't. Because every time we're together, they just bring them back up and bring them back up and bring them back up. You guys got any people like that in your life?
They started telling me about what I was like when I was a teenager. I wish they'd forget those stories. Today, we're going to look at a guy who had a past. Many of us in the room have a past. We have things that have happened that we're ashamed of, embarrassed about. In fact, if the people in this room knew the kind of people that we were years ago, we'd be embarrassed to show back up here. We have a past.
Today, we're going to look at a man who has a wicked, wicked past. If you think your past is bad, wait until you hear about this guy. He's an impossible man with an impossible story. He's Mr. Impossible. You think of the worst man in human history? This is him. You think of Adolf Hitler or Stalin? This is the Stalin of this generation. This is the Saddam Hussein of their day. And somehow, God broke through to this wicked, wicked man. He's Mr. Impossible.
We spent the last 13 years in West Palm Beach. We had a lot of Cubans in West Palm Beach. We got any Cubans here in Largo? Okay, we got a few. Could you imagine? Yeah, Cubans love clapping for Cubans. I love that. You know, they claim cigars, they claim bread. Everything's Cuban, right?
Cubans, could you imagine if before he died, Fidel Castro became a Christian? I know you're supposed to spit when you say his name. Okay, that's this guy. This is the impossible guy, the guy that no one would ever expect to become a Christian. The guy that no one would ever expect to turn his life around. This guy turns his life around. The Bible says his name is Saul, but you might know him as the Apostle Paul.
Before we tell his story, let me just remind you where we've been because we've been journeying through the book of Acts, and the book of Acts tells the story of the early church. If you go all the way back to Matthew 16, Jesus is speaking with his disciples, and he makes them this promise. He's asking a question. He says, "Who do people say that I am?" Peter speaks up, you know, big mouth Peter. He says, "You're the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Christ is not a name; it's more like a title. It means Messiah; it means Savior. Jesus says, "Peter, you're right. I am the Christ, the Son of the living God. And on that statement, I'm going to build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it."
Now, there had never been a church before this. There were temples, there were gatherings, but there was not an ecclesia. There was no church. Jesus makes this promise to them that he's going to build his church. A little bit later in Matthew chapter 28, he says, "Here's how it's going to work." He gives them a mission; it's called the Great Commission. He says, "All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me, and I want you to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I've commanded you. And surely, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age."
The disciples are thinking, "Wait a minute, Jesus, you want us to go and reach the whole world? How are we going to do that?" In the next chapter, he tells them. He says, "Listen, you're going to receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you're going to be my witnesses here in Jerusalem, in Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
If you follow through the New Testament, that's exactly what happens. In Acts chapter 2, they did receive the Holy Spirit. They did receive power. Peter stands up and preaches, and 3,000 people come to Christ. The church of Christ was born overnight—a mega church, just like that.
Since all these people are believing, they had to decide what they were going to devote themselves to. So they decided early on, "We're going to devote ourselves to the apostles' teaching." That's Bible study. "We're going to devote ourselves to the breaking of bread." That's the Lord's Supper. We're going to celebrate that next week; I hope you're back with us. "We're going to devote ourselves to talking about the great things that God has done." That's called fellowship. "And then, we're going to devote ourselves to prayer because there are some things that God will not do apart from prayer."
While they're devoting themselves to prayer, Peter and John go to the temple to pray at the hour of prayer, and on their way there, this crippled man, who's been crippled since birth, is laying there at the beautiful gate. Peter and John perform this incredible miracle, this healing. This guy starts getting up, and he's showing off that he's been healed, and another crowd gathers together. Peter preaches, and 2,000 more people come to Christ. It's another 5,000 believers in this early church that had just started.
The timeline here is super short. We're not talking about months or years; we're talking about weeks after the resurrection, and all of this is happening very, very quickly. Well, then, all this opposition starts facing the early church. There's opposition from religious leaders. There's opposition from the inside. There's greed that creeps up from Ananias and Sapphira. There are all kinds of opposition. So God raises up deacons. Deacons are there to do two things: they assist the needs of the pastors, and they help to preserve the unity of the church. It's the same thing our deacons do here.
The deacons here assist the needs of the pastors. When pastors need help, they know who to call; they call the deacons. This is not some kind of a decision-making board. This is not some kind of a litigious board. This is a group of assistants. They're assisting the needs of the pastors. They are servants. The word deacon means servant. But they're also working hard to protect the unity of a church. Because when you have thousands of people together, every now and then, birds like the church. You know what I'm talking about? The deacon's job is not to stir it up; the deacon's job is to tamp it down.
When a deacon starts hearing gossip, they might come up to you and say, "Shut your mouth in Jesus' name." You know, because they're trying to protect and preserve the unity of the church. That's what deacons do. Same thing then, same thing now. One of those deacons from that original group was a guy named Stephen. Stephen had a lot of gifts. In fact, the Bible says he had some speaking gifts. He was teaching them about who Jesus is from the Old Testament. He was talking about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and all these guys from the Old Testament.
It infuriated the religious leaders. There's this religious group of leaders called the Sanhedrin, and this would be like the Jewish Supreme Court. Stephen's over there preaching to them, and they get so angry that they all start picking up stones and they cast them at Stephen. They throw rocks at him until he falls to the ground and dies. Before he dies, he looks up and sees Jesus, the Son of God, the second member of the Trinity, seated at the right hand of God the Father. He stands up to welcome home his first martyr. Stephen goes to heaven.
All the while, while this Jewish Sanhedrin is standing there stoning Stephen to death, one guy is standing there giving approval to the whole thing. His name is Saul. When you follow through Acts chapter 8, what you see is this other deacon named Philip. He goes over to the Gaza Strip. Now, because of what's been in the news all this week, we know where Gaza is. It's a real place. It's exactly where this took place in Acts chapter 8. Philip goes down and shares the gospel with an Ethiopian eunuch.
Now, kids, I don't have time to tell you what a eunuch is, but you can ask your parents tonight; they'll tell you all about it. Philip baptizes the Ethiopian eunuch; he becomes a believer in Christ. He's following Christ. But Saul heads north. He goes up to this town called Damascus, and that's where we're going to pick it up in Acts chapter 9. If you have your Bible, Acts chapter 9, beginning in verse 1:
"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 belonging to the Way"—notice it's capitalized—"men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem."
So what is the Way? Well, before Christians were called Christians, they were simply called the Way, which is a real fitting term because Christianity is not just about religiosity. It's not just about this perfunctory checklist, the boxes that you have to check off. That's not what Christianity is. Christianity is a way. It's a way of life. It's a lifestyle. It's a way of values. It's about aligning your whole life with God's design. Because when Christianity is on the inside, your whole life lines up with it. That's what it means to be a Christian.
Now, who is Saul? At the first time we see Saul, he's standing there giving approval to a deacon's murder. The first time we see Saul, he has blood splattered all over his tunic. That's Saul. If you want to understand biblical interpretation, there's a big word that they teach you in seminary. It's called hermeneutics. It means how you study the Bible. One of the laws of hermeneutics, one of the laws of biblical interpretation, is called the law of first mention. The law of first mention says that anytime a word is mentioned, you want to look at the first time it's mentioned. Whether it's a person, whether it's a place, whether it's a theological truth, you want to look at the first time it's mentioned, and that's going to help you understand the meaning of it.
The first time we see Saul, he's not planting churches. The first time we see Saul, he's not writing books about theology. He's not encouraging the Romans. He's not even a little boy playing on the streets of Tarsus. The first time we see Saul, he's at the center of a murder scene. The second time we see him, he's not much better. The second time we see him is Acts 9; he's breathing out these murderous threats. Luke, the writer of the book of Acts, is going into great lengths in detail to try to help us understand the kind of person this is. Not only the first mention, but the second mention. Let me just tell you who he is: he's wicked. This guy has a past. This guy is the most wicked man of the Greco-Roman world in the first century. This guy is a bad, bad man.
So who was Saul of Tarsus? Well, Tarsus was a beautiful city, a metropolitan city, about 12 to 15 miles from the Mediterranean beaches. He grew up in what at that time would have been a world city. There was a popular trade route there, cosmopolitan. Saul's parents were very religious. I'm sure they worked really hard to put him through a good Hebrew school. I'm sure that he grew up hearing about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I'm sure when he was a little boy, his parents worked hard to help him memorize Scripture and read the Torah, study the Torah. Saul took his faith seriously, and for that, his parents would have been so proud of him.
He grew up hearing about these things, believing these things, studying these things. His parents would have never let him hang around the Gentile riffraff of their day. He was a purebred, a Jew, a Pharisee of Pharisees, a Hebrew of Hebrews. Saul was very intelligent. He grew up speaking Arabic, but he was also fluent in Greek and could also speak Latin. By his 13th birthday, he would have mastered Jewish history. He would have mastered the poetry of the Psalms. He would have mastered the literature of the prophets. Saul was a genius—brilliant, educated. All his life, he had one dream: to serve on the Jewish Supreme Court. He wanted to be a part of the Sanhedrin.
As a part of the Sanhedrin, he knew it was part of his job to snuff out the Way—those Christians, those people who were stirring up all these heresies, helping those good Jews to believe lies. He needed to snuff out the Christians, and that's where we pick it up in verse 3.
"Now, as he went on his way, remember, breathing all these murderous threats, as he went on his way, he approached Damascus. Suddenly, a light from heaven shone around him. Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?'"
First of all, this is not normal. Hearing a voice from heaven, a bright light—later on, the text tells us that it's brighter than the sun. This is not normative. But for some reason, God, in his sovereignty, wanted to speak to Saul in this kind of way. Saul had a response; he fell to the ground. His response was not out of reverence; he didn't even understand who this voice was. He fell to the ground in fear for his life.
So there, Saul, falling on the ground. This is an important moment in the life of Saul. I actually think this is a point of crisis. Some of you have walked through a point of crisis in your life. You've got these things that have happened in your life—maybe truths that people have talked to you about—and it was a turning point in your life. This is one of those for Saul. Saul grew up reading the Torah. He grew up going to the temple. Saul grew up fasting twice a week. He would tithe to the temple. This guy was a believer in what he thought at that time. This guy was memorizing huge portions of Scripture. He could recite the Shema from Deuteronomy chapter 6. This guy was a devout follower. But who was he following?
In this moment, he has this crisis of faith, and I believe these next four words change Saul's life forever. Because he sees this bright light, he hears this voice saying his name twice, he falls to the ground, he's on his knees, and he says in verse 5, "Who are you, Lord?" Because all my life, I thought I was serving you. All my life, I thought I was studying you. All my life, I thought I was living for you. I thought that I was snuffing out these Christians for you. Who are you, Lord? Is that you? Are you the one calling me by name? Are you the one blinding me by this light right now? Who are you, Lord?
All of a sudden, all of his Hebrew school and all of his education and all of his language study and all of the things from his past suddenly didn't matter anymore. He starts asking the most important question that anyone can ever ask: "Who are you, Lord?" C.S. Lewis says he's either a liar, a lunatic, or he's Lord. God bless you. Who are you? Are you Lord? He's changed the whole trajectory of his life. In an instant, everything clicked.
Because these people that I was persecuting, these are believers. All of a sudden, this Jewish guy that we crucified just a few months ago, he's the Lord. He's God's Son. All of a sudden, he had this aha moment where his theology clicked. Some of you have had that happen. You've heard about Jesus your whole life. You even know some good Bible verses. You know when we celebrate his birthday. You know who his mom is. You know some things about Jesus. All of a sudden, for the first time, maybe ever in your life, it clicks, and you realize he didn't just die on the cross for the sins of the world; he died on the cross for me.
Because I'm a sinner. Because I have a past. Because I'm far from God. And that's for me in this moment. Saul gets it. His faith comes alive. He's spiritually awakened. His eyes are open; his ears are open. All of a sudden, his faith comes alive.
So what does Jesus tell Saul to do in that moment after his faith comes alive? Well, here's what he does. Verse 6: "But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what to do."
Verse 7: "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 open, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight and neither ate nor drank."
Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." He said, "Here I am, Lord." The Lord said to him, "Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas, look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying. He has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come and lay hands on him so that he might regain his sight."
Simple task: go to Judas' house; it's on Straight Street. When you get there, put your hands on this blind guy. He's from Tarsus, and you're going to help him receive his sight. Got it?
Verse 13: "But Ananias answered, 'Lord, have you been living under a rock?'" I added those words. "I've heard from many about this man, how much evil he's done to your saints at Jerusalem. Here he has authority, and that means he has the papers from the high priest, from the chief priest, 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."
Verse 17: "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 has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.'"
Immediately, something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized, and taking food, he was strengthened.
As we're going to see over the next several weeks, God ends up changing this guy's name from Saul to Paul. God uses this wicked, wicked man to help change the world. He ends up planting all these churches. He writes 13 books of the New Testament that we have right here in front of us now. He becomes the greatest missionary evangelist to ever live.
I wonder what God wants to do with you. I mean, if God can do this with a Mr. Impossible, I wonder what he wants to do with you. Robert Plant was the lead singer for Led Zeppelin. He says, "The past is a stepping stone, not a milestone." I like that. The past is a stepping stone, not a milestone.
Some of you aren't really into '70s rock, so how about a '90s reference, okay? Timon and Pumbaa, The Lion King. "Simba, you got to put your behind in your past." No, no, no, Pumbaa, you got to put your past behind you.
Hey, listen to me. Some of you got your behind stuck in your past. Pumbaa was right. You got your behind in your past. You need to put your past behind you.
In 10 days, our oldest son, who's sitting right over here, is going to turn 16 years old. I'm starting to feel really old, okay? So we've been doing all these driving lessons with him. Look out, Largo; there's another minivan on the streets, okay? It's going to be awesome. He's actually a really good driver; I'm really, really proud of him.
When you teach someone to drive, you've got to help them with the mirrors and adjusting the seat and looking the right way and parallel parking and all this. When you're learning to drive, you have this big windshield in front of you and this tiny little rearview mirror right here in front of you as well.
The windshield in front of you shows you where you can go, and there are so many opportunities, so many different directions that you can go. But you got this little tiny rearview mirror that shows you what's behind you. Your yesterday is your rearview mirror. Some of you keep looking in the rearview mirror. If you are trying to drive looking in the rearview mirror, you're going to hurt people.
When you're driving, you don't live in the rearview mirror. If you live in the rearview mirror, you're going to hurt yourself, you're going to hurt other people, and you're going to miss out on all that God has in front of you through this beautiful windshield. You don't live in the rearview mirror. You know what you do with the rearview mirror? You glance at it. You glance at it from time to time, and you remember what's behind you. You remember where you've come from. You remember what God's done in your life. You just kind of glance there, but you look out ahead at all that God has in front of you.
Because if you live in the rearview mirror, you're missing it. God has so much for you. If you think that God doesn't have anything for you, let me help you with that. I want you to take two fingers right now. Go ahead and take two fingers just like this, and I want you to put them right here. Put them right here. If you feel something right there, God has a big future for you. Big.
If you don't feel anything right now, I need somebody next to you to raise your hand. We need to help you right now. God has a future for you. It doesn't matter how bad your past is. It doesn't matter what's happened. God can redeem all of that. God is in the business of taking all these broken pieces and turning them into a masterpiece for his glory and for your good.
So how does he do it? How can we see that happen in our lives? If you have your listening guide, go ahead and get that out. Let's take some notes. What can we learn from this Bible story about overcoming our past?
Number one: We overcome our past by identifying our points of brokenness. You gotta identify your points of brokenness. You don't gloss over it. You don't brush it under the rug. You don't act like it's not there. You don't try to pretend it never happened. You identify your points of brokenness. This is what Paul did.
When you read through the Scriptures, you see here, Saul approved of Stephen's murder. How do we know that? It's in the Bible. Saul was breathing out murderous threats. How do we know that? It's in the Bible. Saul was going house to house, dragging out men and women. How do we know that? It's in the Bible. He was trying to justify his anger, getting papers from the high priest. How do we know that? It's in the Bible. Even on his way to Damascus, he's trying to bring more harm to these Christians. How do we know that? It's in the Bible.
I want you to think about this. Years after these accounts took place, Saul, who's now called Paul, is sitting there with Luke, who wrote the book of Acts, and he's saying to him, "Luke, don't leave this stuff out. When you write your story, when you write your account, don't gloss over my past. Don't just try to tell them I was some good Hebrew. Don't just try to tell them that I went from good to good, or I don't want you to tell them that. You got to let them know I was a wicked man. I was murdering Christians. I approved of Stephen's murder. I was there. You don't gloss over that. Tell them I was lost, but now I'm found."
If your Christian testimony sounds a little something like this: "You know, I was so good, but then Jesus made me good," that is not a testimony. Jesus did not come to make moral people more moral. He didn't come to make good people a little bit good. Jesus came to bring dead people to life. That's why Jesus had to die on the cross for our sins—to make dead people alive.
If you think that this is just a little bit of morality with some Jesus tacked on, you are missing it. That is not the gospel. The gospel means I was lost, but now I'm found. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a what? Yeah, you guys look like a bunch of wretches.
You know, it's hard because we forget that, don't we? You walk around in a church like this, and everybody's all dressed up looking nice. You got your best outfit on, put some perfume on, you're smelling so good. I think, man, these people don't look like wretches; they look nice. People look like Largo models. But we know the truth, don't we? We're just a bunch of wretches. We're just a bunch of beggars who found the bread, and now we're trying to tell other people where we found the bread. That's what it means to be a Christian. That's all it is.
We were lost, but now we're found. We were blind; God opened our eyes. That's what it means to be a Christian. So in order to move past your past, you really have to identify your points of brokenness. I know this is so hard because for some of us, your brokenness is something that is your fault. It's something that you've done. It's something that you've got wrapped up in. It's maybe a place that you went that you never thought you would go. It's a person that you were hanging out with that you never thought you would be with that person. For whatever reason, it brought you to the deepest pit of brokenness.
But for some of us, if I'm honest with you, for some of us, your brokenness is not even your fault. Some of you are carrying around brokenness from your past that others have done to you, and it was nothing you could do about it. You've been carrying it around for so long. Some people, you carry this around, and no one else even knows about it. But God knows about it. You carry it around because you know how it works. Sin splatters; it never just stays on the person who commits the sin. It splatters on everyone around them. Some of you have been involved in some deep, deep brokenness that's not even your fault.
Listen to me: you've got to stop looking in that rearview mirror all the time. You've got to look ahead. God has such a wonderful future for you, and he wants to use all of that for your benefit and for his glory if you'll just let him. But you've got to let that go.
Write this down:
Number two: We overcome our past by investigating our current realities. Investigating our current realities. Saul did this. Here he is, persecuting Christians, murdering Christians, dragging them out from house to house, throwing them in prison on his way to Damascus. All of a sudden, he has this run-in with the Lord, and he asks the greatest question in the world: "Who are you, Lord?"
Look, maybe you're not seeing a bright light from heaven. Maybe you're not falling down on your knees. Maybe you're not blinded. But for whatever reason, on a Sunday morning, God has you in church. Of all the places that you could be, God has you right here. I mean, you think about that. For some of you, it's like a miracle that you're even here right now. You're wondering if being here is just going to split this place wide open. It's not because God has been planning for you to be here all along.
God is working out all the conditions for you to be right here in this moment right now. Why? Because he wants to take all of that brokenness and all that baggage from your past, and he wants to redeem it. He wants to take all these broken pieces and make a masterpiece for his glory. He did it with Saul; he can do it with you. So let him do it. Investigate the current realities. Ask the questions: "God, why do you have me here? Why do you have me in this church? Why do you have me listening to this message online right now? Why? Of all the things I could be listening to, of all the places I could be, why do you have me listening to this right now?"
You ever ask that question? It's okay to ask. Saul did. "Who are you, Lord? Is that you? Because if you're real, I really need to know right now. I need you to show me. I need you to tell me." It's okay to ask God to show you. It's okay to ask God to tell you. He is putting all of this in your path for a reason. Maybe you're walking through brokenness in your marriage for this. Maybe you're walking through brokenness with your children for this. Maybe you're walking through brokenness in your body, in your finances, psychologically, emotionally, for this reason, because God wants to become real and alive in your life. He wants to open your eyes, open your ears. Maybe that's why he has you right here, right now, so that you'll ask, "Who are you, Lord?"
Number three: We overcome our past by pursuing God's design with rapid obedience. Pursuing God's design with rapid obedience. Another way of saying this is, "God, I'm laying my yes on the table." I'm laying my yes on the table. Here's what that means, God: I'll go anywhere, I'll do anything, I'll say anything, I'll give anything. My life is in your hands. I belong to you. I'm all yours. My yes is on the table. Now, God, what's the question? In other words, you already know the answer. I'm going to say yes because I'm yours. I'm a Christian. Now, what's the question? My yes is on the table.
This is what we see in Saul, isn't it? Saul's there, blinded on the road to Damascus. A blinding light falls; he falls to his knees. God says, "Get up. Go to Damascus." Now, Saul could be thinking, "If I go to Damascus, those Christians are there. I'm vulnerable. I don't have my men with me. I can't see anything. They're going to kill me." And yet he gets up and he goes. Rapid obedience. As soon as God says something, he lays his yes on the table and he goes.
About that time, as he's on his way to Damascus, God gives a vision to a guy named Ananias. "Ananias." "Yes, Lord?" "Okay, I've got a mission for you." "Sir, yes, sir. Ready for action. Just tell me what to do." "Okay, I've got this guy, and he's coming to your city. I just need you to go down to Judas' house on Straight Street." "Judas' house? Straight Street? Got it, Lord. I'll be there." "Okay, this guy is from Tarsus." "Excellent! Tarsus! I love it! He's educated. I can't wait to meet this guy." "Okay, now this guy is blind."
So Ananias, what I need you to do is put your hands on him, and you're going to help do a miracle. "I get to do a miracle for you, Lord? Oh, man! I can't believe it! This is incredible! You got it, Lord. Rapid obedience. I'm doing it. Sign me up! I can't wait for this."
"Okay, there's just one detail. Ananias, one little detail. The guy that you're going to help, his name is Saul." "Saul? You want to run that back one more time, Lord?" "Yeah, his name is Saul." "No! Lord, you don't know who this guy is! Let me tell you all about him. Okay? This guy has been persecuting Christians. He was there at Stephen's murder. He's over there dragging men and women from house to house, throwing them in prison. He's on his way here right now with papers! Papers, Lord! He's got authority to persecute Christians!"
"Yeah, I know that. All of this is part of my bigger plan. I'm allowing all these details to work themselves out for a greater good that you can't see right now, Ananias. Besides all of that, he's going to suffer many things for my name's sake." "Okay, suffering. I like that. That sounds good. Okay. Sign me up."
You could just picture how this conversation is going. At least I can; I have a wild imagination. You just see this rapid obedience from Saul and from Ananias. Even though it's a fearful moment, they obey. So what does Ananias do? Well, he goes over to Straight Street, finds Judas' house, goes in, and sees Saul down on his knees praying. He takes his hands and puts them on Saul, and he says, "You murderer." He doesn't say that. He says, "Brother Saul."
Brother is not just some kind of a country-fried version of saying the word friend. The word brother means family. The word brother means you have the same father that I have, and we're part of a family together. This is Ananias' way of saying, "Welcome to the family. You're one of us." Even though you killed our brother Stephen, and even though you've been persecuting all these Christians, come on in, brother Saul. Because that's what the gospel does, doesn't it? The gospel makes all things new.
The gospel takes your past and puts it in your past. The Bible says if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. The old is gone; the new has come. You know who wrote that? Brother Saul. Brother Saul went on to become Brother Paul, and Brother Paul wrote all these books in the New Testament that teach us how to treat each other like brothers and sisters because that's how Ananias treated him—Brother Saul.
The only reason all of this works is because, number four, Saul allowed his scars to tell a story. Maybe we should do the same. All of us have scars; all of us have a past. But somehow, Paul got to the place where he could use this for his testimony. If you follow through the book of Acts, this is what happens over and over and over again. Paul just keeps going back to his story: "I was lost, but I was found. I was blind, but I can see. I was a murderer of Christians, but now I'm a church planter. I'm on his side. Yeah, I'm still the chief of sinners, and I was a Pharisee of Pharisees. But man, I'm on team Jesus now. I've joined team Jesus."
What we're going to see over the next several weeks is Saul submits himself to godly leadership. He goes to Arabia and studies the Scriptures for three years. He starts reading the Old Testament with New Testament eyes, and he becomes this incredible theologian. He realizes that God could take his broken pieces and make masterpieces.
I'm so grateful for men and women who follow Christ with rapid obedience. In our previous church, we were living down in West Palm Beach, and I met a teenage girl in our youth group. Her name was Stacey. Stacey came to our youth camp, and her faith came alive. She just got on fire for the Lord, and she knew that God wanted to use her in an incredible way.
So she went home and started talking to her family about Christ. Then I got to meet Stacey's mom. Don't sing the song. Stacey's mom showed up at church and brought with her her living boyfriend, who had been living with them for several years. Their names were Rebecca and Joey. Joey and Rebecca became good friends of mine. I took them out for a meal, and they were so kind. They offered to buy me a beer. I mean, these people were just some of the nicest people I'd ever met.
As I'm sitting there talking with them, they said, "Hey, we're Christians now, and we're laying our yes on the table. What do we do now?" I said, "Well, I don't know. I would encourage you to pursue God's design. Are you guys thinking about getting married? I mean, you guys have been living together for years. You're thinking about getting married?"
They said, "You know, we haven't really thought about it, but man, if the Bible says that, let's do it." So the next day, we married them. They got married, and then that next Sunday, they got baptized. They joined the church family, and they just kept following God's design, laying their yes on the table.
About a year and a half after that, they started serving in our kids' ministry. Rebecca went as a kids' volunteer to our kids' camp, and guess who was in her small group? My daughter, Grace. Here, this couple, Joey and Rebecca, and their daughter, Stacey, are now ministering to the pastor's daughter—all because they laid their yes on the table.
I wonder what God wants in your life. I wonder how God's going to use you. And listen, it's not hard. All you have to do is say yes. "God, I'll do anything. I'll go anywhere. I'll say anything. I'll give anything. My life is in your hands. I just want to live for you. I can't go back; I can't fix the past. But God, from this point forward, I'm going to recover and pursue your design for my life from this point forward."
Would you pray with me?
So, Father in heaven, I pray that you would help us to be those kinds of people. God, I pray that the people of Indian Rocks will be people who put their yes on the table. God, help us to go anywhere. Help us to do anything. Help us to speak up. Help us to be generous. God, help us to do the hard things. We are laying our yes on the table.
God, I want to pray for those right now in the room who are struggling. You have a decision in front of them; they know what it is. God, help them to do it. For your name's sake, God, I pray for those who want to give their life to Christ. They feel like they're giving their life to you right now. God, help them to do it.
God, I pray for those who need to get baptized. They need to go public in their faith. God, help them to do it. God, for those that need to get married, those that need to join a church family, they need to get into a Bible study, they need to get into a small group. God, whatever it is, help us to be the courageous Christians of this community who lay our yes on the table.
God, I pray that as we do, you would get all the glory—100% of the credit—because you are the one true and living God. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
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on Nov 05, 2023
