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What turns a determined enemy of the faith into a passionate witness willing to risk everything in front of a hostile crowd? How can one simple personal story cut through anger and open hearts to the possibility of real change? Discover the practical pattern that equips every believer to share their own encounter with Christ when the unexpected opportunity arrives.
📝 Study Notes, Scripture List, Transcript, and more: https://medicallake.church/sermons/seeing-the-light
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📝 Study Notes, Scripture List, Transcript, and more: https://medicallake.church/sermons/seeing-the-light
#mlcc #church #churchonline
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00:00Many years ago, a psychiatrist went down to a place like a Union Gospel Mission,
00:04and he was listening to a presentation of several men who had come to faith in Jesus Christ.
00:10I mean, they were drug addicts or living on the street, and they came to faith in Jesus Christ.
00:15So, the psychiatrist, who was not a believer, was listening to these stories of how they came to faith in
00:20Christ.
00:20And the superintendent is what the guy was called.
00:23The guy was in charge of the Union Gospel Mission type of place.
00:27He said, would you like to say anything to the psychiatrist?
00:30And again, this guy's not a believer.
00:31And the psychiatrist goes, yeah, I'd like to say something.
00:34He says, the psychiatrist said, I have been given an opportunity to observe something I did not know existed anywhere.
00:42He went on to say, it's been my privilege to listen to the testimony of men who were glad to
00:46witness to what Christ had done for them.
00:48I know nothing about that.
00:50He's not a believer.
00:51I know nothing about that.
00:52But I confess, I cannot otherwise explain what has taken place in their lives.
00:58A few of these men I recognize as drunkards, even as dope addicts.
01:02Some of them have come under my observation in the hospital.
01:05He observed people that are clinically insane at the hospital come under his observation in the hospital.
01:10But here they are, alive, well-dressed, delivered, and in the right minds.
01:17I do not know how this miracle has been wrought, but of one thing I am confident.
01:22Nothing in science can account for this change in them.
01:25That kind of gospel is worth preaching to anyone, anywhere.
01:30And that's what happens when the gospel comes into a person's life.
01:33When they encounter Jesus Christ and become born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
01:40the dead,
01:40everything changes in a person.
01:44Paul was not a drunkard.
01:45He was not a dope addict.
01:46He wasn't clinically insane.
01:48But he was a persecutor of the church of God.
01:51He went out of his way to arrest Christians.
01:55Not only did he lock up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priest,
02:00but when they were put to death, he cast their vote against them.
02:06But the redeemed Paul that we're going to see today that stands before this riotous crowd to give testimony to
02:13what God has done in his life is not that same Paul.
02:19That man no longer exists.
02:22He had been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, a truly changed from the inside out kind of person.
02:28He is not the same man that he was.
02:32Now, Paul has an opportunity to testify how God changed his life.
02:37If you remember two weeks ago, he's in the temple to pay for the vows of four men who had
02:42the Nazarite vow,
02:43and he was going to provide the money to pay off their vows at the end so the vows could
02:47be completed.
02:49Well, this group of people thought that he had brought a Gentile into the inner sanctuary, which is not allowed
02:54to do.
02:55So they get in an uproar.
02:57They start beating on Paul.
02:59Claudius, the Roman tribune, comes down, rescues Paul, pulls him out of the midst of the people who are beating
03:04him,
03:05probably would have killed him, pulls him out of the midst of the people, and they're heading back toward the
03:09barracks.
03:10And right now, Paul doesn't know this is going to happen.
03:14He didn't plan this.
03:15He's only in the temple to pay for the debts of the Nazarite vows.
03:19He's not there to give testimony to Jesus, but this opportunity arises, and he takes it.
03:26So opportunities will arise for you to share your testimony about Jesus Christ.
03:31Be prepared, and then do it.
03:34Be prepared, and then do it.
03:37Opportunities are things that you don't plan.
03:39Plan is something that's planned.
03:40An opportunity comes up, and it's normally spontaneous.
03:42You don't plan it.
03:44So when that opportunity for you and for me comes up to give testimony to what Christ has done in
03:49our lives, do we know what to say?
03:52How should we approach giving testimony?
03:56What direction should we go?
03:58Paul's going to give us a great example of what it means to give testimony about what Jesus Christ has
04:03done in his life.
04:05He breaks it down into basically three things.
04:07He basically talks about what he was before Christ, his encounter with Christ, and then his calling, his mission after
04:15knowing Jesus Christ.
04:16So he breaks it down into three areas you're going to see in the text right here in Acts chapter
04:2021.
04:20So hopefully you're already there.
04:22Acts 21, end of the chapter.
04:23We'll bleed over into chapter 22.
04:26So hopefully you're already there.
04:27This is God's word.
04:28We want to read it together.
04:29So when the opportunity arises for us, are we prepared how to give a testimony of our faith in Jesus
04:37Christ?
04:37Look at verse number 37 with me.
04:40As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, remember the riot happened, he's beaten, he's grabbed.
04:45He said to the tribune, remember he's chained too, just like Agba said,
04:49may I say something to you?
04:51And he said, do you know Greek?
04:54Greek, are you not that Egyptian then who recently stirred up a revolt and led the 4,000 men of
05:00the assassins out into the wilderness?
05:02He thought it was the Egyptian guy.
05:04This Egyptian guy banded together.
05:06Well, the text tells us 4,000.
05:08Josephus said there are 30,000.
05:10Josephus exaggerates his numbers a little bit.
05:12So I'll trust the Bible testimony over Josephus.
05:15There were 4,000 men.
05:16He gathered together.
05:17And what this Egyptian said, he stood on the Mount of Olives and he says,
05:19I'm going to command the walls of Jerusalem to fall down.
05:22When the walls of Jerusalem fall down, you go inside, kill all the Romans, and we'll take the city over.
05:27Well, it didn't happen.
05:29Felix came and crushed them, dispersed all of them.
05:32He escaped the Egyptian.
05:34Some of them were killed on the spot, but he escaped.
05:36And that's who they think he is, this Egyptian.
05:40Paul replied, no, no, no, not me.
05:43That's not me.
05:44This is who I am.
05:45I am a Jew from Tarsus of Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city, which means a very important city.
05:52I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.
05:54I love his, his, his, his, his, he's polite to Claudius.
05:59And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, motioned with his hand to the people.
06:05And, and, and then when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language saying,
06:10and now here's a record of his testimony before this riotous crowd.
06:15I am a Jew born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, that is Jerusalem,
06:21educated at the feet of Gamaliel, according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers,
06:26being zealous for God as all of you are this day.
06:30In other words, I was just like you.
06:32I really thought I loved God.
06:34I really thought I was following him.
06:36I'm just like you were.
06:39I persecuted this way, that's the Christians, to the death, binding and delivering to prison,
06:45both men and women, as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness.
06:50And if they're there in that crowd, they could have said, yeah, we did that.
06:53Yeah, we did that.
06:55They bear me witness.
06:57From them, I received letters to the brothers and I journeyed toward Damascus
07:02to take those also who were there and bring them, that's the Christians,
07:06and bonds to Jerusalem to be punished, and if the case is, to be put to death.
07:12That's who he was.
07:14That's his life before he came to Christ.
07:20Paul was polite.
07:22Can I just, can I say something?
07:23At first he was shocked that he thought he was the Egyptian.
07:25Can I say something?
07:26I love his politeness to Claudius.
07:28He's in charge.
07:29He's a tribune.
07:29Can I say, oh, sure, go ahead.
07:31It's okay.
07:31That's fine.
07:32You can go ahead and say something.
07:33That's not me, the Egyptian.
07:34This is me right here.
07:36And he gives a defense of why he's doing what he's doing.
07:45The thing is, he never answered what the charges that were brought against him.
07:52Remember what the charges were?
07:53You brought a Greek, a Gentile into the sanctuary area that's not allowed.
07:57That was the charge.
07:58That's what started the riot.
07:59He never once mentioned that in this testimony.
08:02He didn't even bring up the charges against him.
08:04He just spoke the truth that they needed to hear.
08:06What he was like before Christ, his encounter with Christ, and how Christ changed his life
08:11after the fact.
08:13So when he begins his speech, he begins very polite also to the Jews.
08:18Remember, they're trying to kill him at this point.
08:20Look how he addresses them.
08:22Brothers and fathers.
08:23He doesn't say, you bunch of people trying to kill me.
08:26He said, brothers, you're part of who I am.
08:28You're, we're Jews.
08:31Actually, this, Paul begins his speech like Stephen started his.
08:34Remember Stephen, when he gave testimony to Jesus Christ, exactly the same way that Stephen
08:38started his in Acts 7 too.
08:41And Stephen said, brothers and fathers, hear me again.
08:43Again, he's, he's honoring his Jewishness.
08:46He said, man, I was just like you, zealous for the law, a Pharisee.
08:49I started under Gamaliel.
08:51I was raised in Jerusalem.
08:52I loved Yahweh, hated his son, but I loved Yahweh.
08:59He says, I'm going to, let me, let me give a defense.
09:02Let me give a defense.
09:03The word defense is apologia in Greek.
09:06It simply means apology in English.
09:08And we typically think of an apology as when I've done something wrong and I say, I'm sorry,
09:12I've done something wrong.
09:13There's another meaning for the word apology, apologia.
09:15And it also means that is formal justification or defense.
09:21So he's giving a formal justification of, of why he's doing what he's doing and who he is
09:27now since Christ has found him.
09:28He's giving testimony of his life in Christ.
09:33He came from Tarsus, this Silesia, this, this university city, well known.
09:37People knew all about this city.
09:39Yeah, I recognize that city.
09:41That's a very important city.
09:42He talked about his loyalty to the Jewish background.
09:45He talked about how his parents moved to Jerusalem when he was younger, studied in Jerusalem under
09:50Gamaliel, a well-respected rabbi, well known in his day.
09:54In fact, if you said, I studied under him, you were already in the in group.
09:57If you think of it like that.
09:59He had a zeal for the law that even exceeded their own.
10:02This is great.
10:03Paul did not hide his past, but he was very honest about it.
10:09He even talked about killing people, didn't he?
10:12He was very honest about his past.
10:14He didn't hide it at all.
10:15He told them exactly how he was before he met Christ.
10:18He hid nothing.
10:20So in Acts, there are three records of his salvation experience in chapter nine and here and then
10:28later on.
10:29So he's giving one of them.
10:32They have minor differences, but it's the same story.
10:36Here's his encounter with Christ.
10:39Verse number six.
10:41As I was on my way, in other words, he's on his way to Damascus to do what?
10:45Arrest Christians, bring them back to Jerusalem, and in his mind, hopefully they die.
10:50Okay?
10:51So that's where he was at.
10:52As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon, so we're told the time of day,
10:57a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me, brighter than the noonday sun.
11:02And I fell to the ground and I heard a voice saying to me, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting
11:08me?
11:09And he's kind of going, I can't, we can't see anything.
11:12And I answered, who are you, Lord?
11:15And he said to me, I am Jesus of Nazareth.
11:17Notice he didn't say just Jesus.
11:19He specifically said of Nazareth to determine who this Jesus was.
11:23I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.
11:27And in Paul's mind, he's thinking, wait a second, this guy's dead.
11:31He's dead.
11:32How can he be talking to me right now?
11:35I'm Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.
11:37Now, those who were with me saw the light, but did not understand the voice of the one
11:41who was speaking to me.
11:42So they heard something, but they didn't understand the words.
11:46And I said, what should I do, Lord?
11:48So he's responding back to the, to the Lord Jesus.
11:50And the Lord said to me, rise and go into Damascus.
11:53And there you be told all that is appointed for you to do.
11:57And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by
12:01those
12:02who were with me and came into Damascus.
12:04Here's his encounter with Christ.
12:07He said, I was just like one of you.
12:09Remember what I said?
12:10He didn't expect to hear Jesus's voice.
12:13Do you remember what the lie was about the resurrection of Jesus?
12:16Jesus, right after Jesus rose from the grave, remember the soldiers were standing at the
12:20tomb, the earthquake happens, they fall over like dead.
12:23When they wake back up, they go, oh man, our charge is gone.
12:27The tomb is empty.
12:28So they go back to the leaders and they tell them what happened.
12:31And the leader said, listen, will you pay you some money?
12:34You tell everyone that the disciples stole his body.
12:39Now, he didn't raise from the dead.
12:40The disciples, well, let me just read it to you.
12:42Matthew 28.
13:12Paul doesn't think he's alive.
13:13Paul thinks he's dead.
13:14He believed this lie.
13:16So to hear the voice of Jesus, he was not expecting that.
13:19He was not looking for Jesus.
13:21He was going to kill Christians is what he was about.
13:25And there are people that saw it.
13:27So you can't say Paul's crazy.
13:28He just heard some voice and he's got voices in his head.
13:30No, there are witnesses.
13:31They saw it happen too.
13:33He confesses Jesus as Lord.
13:36Paul had seen the light literally.
13:38Well, I like that phrase, see the light.
13:40I saw a light.
13:41He literally saw the light and he wants his fellow Jews around him to see the same light,
13:46the light of the world, Jesus Christ.
13:48So much so, he actually said, Paul, I would rather go to hell if my brothers and sisters,
13:56my fellow Jews would get saved.
13:58That's a big, here, let me read it to you.
14:00Romans chapter nine.
14:02So I'm speaking the truth in Christ.
14:05I'm not lying.
14:06My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit.
14:08Why is he saying that?
14:09Because what he's about to say is revolutionary.
14:11It's unbelievable that a person would say that.
14:15That I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, for I could wish that I myself
14:20were accursed, were cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen, according
14:26to the flesh.
14:27He loves his fellow Jews so much.
14:29He said, I would rather go to hell if they would get saved.
14:32That's an amazing kind of love.
14:34He's seen the light.
14:35He wants all the people he's talking to right now in this riotous crowd for them to see the
14:39light of Jesus also.
14:42Paul's salvation was completely of divine origin with no initiative on his side.
14:49Think about it.
14:50He hates Jesus.
14:53He's trying to kill Christians.
14:56It's not like he's going, I'm looking for Jesus, the son of God.
14:59No, he hates him.
15:01He hates the way.
15:03He's happy when people die for being a Christian.
15:09He's not even looking for Jesus.
15:12It took a radical divine intervention to change Paul's mind.
15:18We call that repentance.
15:20God comes to him and it opens up his understanding and he sees Jesus differently.
15:24He has a change of mind.
15:26He looks at things differently.
15:28That's the word, the Greek word repentance is to see things differently, to change one's
15:32mind, to think differently.
15:34So now he thought one thing about Jesus.
15:36Now he thinks something different about Jesus that he truly is alive and he's calling
15:40me.
15:41He's calling me to him.
15:42So he, repentance, that's the word repentance, which only God can do.
15:46If you think about it, our minds don't want Jesus.
15:49Our natural fleshly minds as unsaved people do not want Jesus Christ.
15:54We don't want him.
15:55It takes the initiative of God the Father to draw us to himself, to change our way of thinking.
16:00That's called repentance.
16:00And that's what God gives us.
16:02A change of mind that we can see things differently.
16:06It's called repentance.
16:07repentance.
16:09So God saved Paul and gave him a mission.
16:11So look at verse number 12.
16:14So he goes into Damascus.
16:16He's looking for an Ananias.
16:17And one Ananias, a devout man, according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who
16:22live there, came to me and standing by me, said to me, brother Saul, receive your sight.
16:28And at that very hour, I received my sight and saw him.
16:32He was blind.
16:33And he said, the God of our fathers appointed you, chose you to know his will, to see the
16:39righteous one, Jesus, and to hear a voice from his mouth.
16:42For you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard.
16:48And now why do you wait?
16:50Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.
16:55Before he met Christ, his encounter with Christ, and now his calling to follow Christ afterwards.
17:01The three parts of his life that he wants to give witness to.
17:04What he was before Christ, his encounter with Christ, and now how Christ changed his life
17:09and sent him on a mission.
17:12So he describes Ananias.
17:13Again, they're questioning his Jewishness, remember?
17:16Ananias, he's a faithful Jew.
17:18You can trust his testimony, Paul says.
17:20He's a faithful Jew.
17:22He says, the God of our fathers has chosen you, appointed you, and the righteous one you
17:26have seen was the Old Testament designation of the Messiah, the righteous one.
17:31He's the, you've seen the righteous one.
17:33You've seen the Messiah.
17:34You've embraced him.
17:35You had an encounter with Jesus.
17:37Your life is not the same now, Paul.
17:39It's different.
17:41Isaiah 53, out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied.
17:45By his knowledge, shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous
17:50and shall bear their iniquities.
17:52Again, here we see the righteous one revealed himself to Paul.
17:57And salvation comes when a person calls on the name of the Lord.
18:00He called out, Lord, Lord, is that you really, Lord?
18:03What am I supposed to do now?
18:05He called on the name of the Lord.
18:07Salvation comes when you and I call on the name of the Lord.
18:09Romans 10.
18:10Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that
18:14God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
18:17For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
18:23And afterwards, then he's baptized, that beautiful picture of what took place inward.
18:28The salvation that we have takes place inside of us.
18:31Paul talks about the circumcision of the heart, the flesh that's cut away from the heart.
18:34We have a new heart.
18:35We have a new nature.
18:37We have a Holy Spirit dwelling with all of these internal things that take place in us.
18:41When we get saved, we express that through baptism.
18:45It's a public profession of what took place inside of me.
18:49So what took place in Paul?
18:50Ananias says, rise and be baptized, calling on the name of the Lord.
18:55That's the basis for baptism.
18:56We get saved, and then we're baptized.
19:00In fact, some of you may be sitting here today that are saved.
19:03You know you've been born again.
19:05You've had an encounter with Jesus Christ, but you've not been baptized.
19:10Baptism is an outward expression, an outward testimony of what took place inside.
19:14And it is opportunity.
19:15We have a baptistry right here.
19:17We can baptize.
19:18So maybe he's like, I need to be baptized.
19:20I need to be baptized.
19:22So was Paul saved before his baptism, or did the baptism save him?
19:27Some would say, verse 16, it was the baptism that washed away his sins.
19:30But that's not really what the text is saying.
19:32If you look at it, Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit before he was baptized.
19:38That's Acts 9, which I'm going to show you in just a second.
19:41Confirming that he was saved first and baptized after that.
19:44So Acts 9 tells us exactly what took place.
19:47Acts 9.
19:48So Ananias departed and entered the house, and laying his hands on him, he said,
19:52Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me,
19:57so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
20:00And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight.
20:04Then he arose and was baptized.
20:06So he's saved first, and then he's baptized.
20:08Baptism doesn't wash away sins.
20:10It doesn't save us.
20:12In his expanded translation of the New Testament, Kenneth Weiss translates this verse this way.
20:17Having arisen, be baptized and wash away your sins, having previously called upon his name.
20:23So we get saved, then we get baptized after that.
20:28The gospel was for all people, Gentiles and Jews as well.
20:35He didn't plan this.
20:37He didn't say, I'm going to go in the temple, and I'm going to preach the gospel.
20:39He did not plan this.
20:40He planned to pay the vows and go home.
20:43But he's beaten, he's arrested, and then an opportunity arises for him to give testimony
20:48of what Christ has done in his life.
20:54You and I are going to have opportunities, and some of us are going to have opportunities
20:59this week to give a testimony of what God has done in our lives.
21:03Are we ready?
21:06Peter says this in his letter, 1 Peter.
21:08He says,
21:10But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, so that's the state of our hearts, always
21:16being prepared, so ready at any time, to make a defense, an apologia, to anyone who asks
21:24you for the reason for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect,
21:29not haughty, not conceited.
21:31But an opportunity is going to rise, and Peter's saying, listen, when the opportunity comes,
21:35be prepared.
21:37Tell them why you have this great hope that's in your heart, why you're trusting Jesus Christ.
21:42What were you like?
21:44What was your encounter with Christ?
21:45And how did Jesus change your life?
21:48An opportunity to testify will come our way, and we are to be ready.
21:53So Paul gives us a great outline on how we can give a testimony for Jesus Christ.
22:00It's a great outline.
22:02First, he says, describe your life before Christ.
22:06Describe your life before Christ.
22:08Now, some of you may have gotten saved as a child, and it's hard to remember what it was
22:12like.
22:12Like, I remember believing, I'm making a profession of faith.
22:16I was older.
22:16I wasn't a child.
22:18And so some of your children, you don't remember that time.
22:20But if you're older like me, you can remember what your life was like before you came to
22:25Jesus Christ.
22:26You remember.
22:27You remember all those things that you were counting as your hope that God would favor
22:32you, would accept you.
22:34Yes.
22:36Describe it.
22:36It's your testimony.
22:37You know what happened.
22:39You were there.
22:40Some of you, some of you maybe have never told anyone about your salvation.
22:46Be honest about who you were before you came to Christ.
22:50Now, I'm sure you need some discernment.
22:53If you're like a mass serial killer, you probably don't want to tell people that.
22:57So use discernment.
22:58But I mean, he even talked about death, killing people.
23:00Okay.
23:00So, but you don't hesitate to tell people what your life was like before you came to Christ.
23:06Paul did.
23:06He told him exactly what he was doing before he came to Christ.
23:10He was honest about what he was.
23:13In fact, in other places, in Galatians, he talks about the same thing.
23:18For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently
23:23and tried to destroy it.
23:24He's not hiding any of this stuff.
23:26And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people.
23:31So extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.
23:35He's not hiding how he was.
23:37In Acts 26, which is again another rendition of his salvation.
23:41He said, I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus
23:45of Nazareth.
23:47And I did so in Jerusalem.
23:48I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief
23:52priest, but when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.
23:55And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme and raging
24:01fury against them.
24:02I persecuted them even to four and say, he hides nothing of what it was like in the past.
24:06He's honest.
24:08This is what I was.
24:09This is what I was.
24:13And then also, while you're telling people what you are, tell them what you were boasting
24:17in that you hoped God would accept so that you could go to heaven.
24:23Paul gave a list.
24:24I was a Pharisee.
24:26I was zealous for the law.
24:28I was faithful to the God of our fathers.
24:30He trusted all of these things to make him right with God.
24:34Talk about it.
24:35You could say, well, yeah, I believe God exists.
24:38That's why I wasn't.
24:38I believe God exists.
24:39Yeah.
24:40Yeah.
24:40Yeah.
24:41I was a good person.
24:42I was a good person.
24:44God will accept me because I, that's what I thought.
24:48That's what I thought would make me acceptable with God.
24:51I knew that God exists.
24:52I didn't know him.
24:54But, but I'm a good person.
24:56So God will have favor on me because I'm a good person.
24:58I'm really religious.
25:00I'm religious.
25:00I tried to read the Bible, don't understand it.
25:02So I put it down again, but I'm just a religious person.
25:04I'm trusting in that.
25:06Hey, my parents are Christians.
25:07So therefore I must be a Christian.
25:09I'm trusting in my lineage that I, that, because my parents are Christians.
25:12These are the things I boast in to make me acceptable to God.
25:17This is how Paul explains it.
25:19Philippians 3.
25:21Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh or boasting in the flesh, how he
25:26was before he came to Christ, if anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the
25:31flesh, I have more.
25:33Circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of, he's listing all
25:37of these things that he thinks is making himself acceptable to God.
25:40Those things he's boasting in.
25:43Circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew
25:47of Hebrews, as to the law of Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness
25:53under the law, blameless.
25:55That's how God's going to accept me.
25:57I'm a good person.
25:58I'm religious.
25:58I don't kick my dog and scream at my cat.
26:01And I actually love my wife.
26:03I'm a good person.
26:04God will accept me.
26:05He listed all the things that he was confident in that would get him to heaven.
26:10But you know what he said right after that?
26:12Not one of them was sufficient.
26:15Not one of them.
26:16Not one of them.
26:18If you continue on in verse number seven of Philippians three, but whatever gain I had,
26:23in other words, he thought all of those things will make him acceptable to God.
26:26I count it as loss for the sake of Christ.
26:30Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus,
26:36my Lord.
26:37For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, excrement.
26:47Waste.
26:48I trusted in all of those things.
26:50Tell people what you were trusting in before you had your encounter with Christ.
26:54You know why?
26:55Because they're probably trusting in some of the same things.
27:00Rubbish.
27:01In order that I may gain Christ and be found in him.
27:04Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law,
27:07but that which comes through faith in Christ,
27:09a righteousness from God that depends on faith.
27:11He said, I had all of these things, but they meant nothing.
27:14When I encountered Christ, everything became clear.
27:17I see now what I never saw before.
27:22Typically, our lives before coming to Christ are very self-centered.
27:26So somewhere along the lines, we have to talk about
27:29when the Holy Spirit came and convicted us of sin.
27:33I mean, you talk about sin, people don't like to talk about sin,
27:35but you remember when you got saved, remember?
27:38That there was this conviction of sin, that you knew that you were a sinner.
27:42I remember when I made my profession of faith in Christ, I was 19.
27:47I was in the military, and it was a small military church,
27:50old chicken coop renovated.
27:52And I can't tell you to this day what he preached.
27:54I have no idea.
27:55It must have been the gospel.
27:57Because all I remember was I was sitting there was thinking,
28:00I am a wicked, rotten sinner in front of a holy God,
28:04and I don't know what to do with my sins.
28:07And then he preached Christ Jesus.
28:09And I remember saying, that's the answer,
28:11that Jesus died for my sins,
28:13that I can be reconciled to God,
28:16that I can come into a relationship with him,
28:19the creator of the universe.
28:24God, conviction of sin is an important part of our conversation
28:27when we give testimony that God showed us.
28:31None of these things were sufficient.
28:33We needed him and him only.
28:38You may not remember the day you believed in Christ.
28:41You know, I do.
28:42I remember the day.
28:43Some may not, and it's okay.
28:45Some people have a period of time where in that period of time,
28:47they made a profession of faith.
28:48They believed in their heart.
28:50So I understand that.
28:54But do you remember that day?
28:55If you do remember,
28:56do you remember the conviction of sin that you fell under that day?
28:59I mean, it was heavy.
29:00Remember?
29:01He just said, nothing I've done is going to be sufficient before a holy God.
29:06Something else must be done.
29:07And then I found out that Jesus did it for me.
29:10And that because he did and he rose again for my justification that I can have eternal life
29:14by calling on the name of the Lord.
29:16And I never knew any of that stuff.
29:17I was trusting in myself.
29:20Conviction of sin is very important because it leads us to repentance.
29:24That we begin thinking differently about things.
29:28I didn't understand Jesus was a savior.
29:30I just thought he was a son of God.
29:31And I didn't know that he died for my sins.
29:33I began thinking differently about Jesus called repentance.
29:35I changed my mind about who Jesus was.
29:39God allowed you to see Jesus differently.
29:42He granted you repentance.
29:44Of our own fleshly minds, we cannot see clearly.
29:47We need God to show us.
29:49We can't see clearly.
29:50The fleshly mind cannot accept the things of the spirit.
29:53We need God to show us clearly.
29:54God granted us a change of mind.
29:57It's called repentance.
29:59Here's a couple of verses that talk about that in Acts.
30:02God exalted him, Acts 5.31.
30:04God exalted him at his right hand as a leader and savior to give repentance to Israel.
30:10In other words, to grant repentance and forgiveness of sins.
30:13And then 11.18.
30:15When they heard these things, they fell silent.
30:17They glorify God saying, then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.
30:23It's God that must come and initiate the salvation process and open up our understanding.
30:27We would never believe in Jesus if it wasn't for God initiating it.
30:31We would never repent.
30:32We would never have a conviction of sin if it wasn't the Holy Spirit saying, you're a sinner before a
30:37holy God.
30:37You need saved.
30:41If you don't remember repenting of your sins, you don't remember.
30:44I mean, again, if you're a child, I understand.
30:46I understand that.
30:47But if you don't remember of repenting of your sins, the full conviction of the Holy Spirit against your sins,
30:54then let me ask you, did you really repent?
30:58If you can't remember that, not good if you're a child, I understand.
31:02But if you're older and you can remember that time you encountered Christ, did you remember that conviction of sin?
31:07Then, Koi, so describe how you were before Christ.
31:11Second, describe your encounter with Christ.
31:14Describe your encounter with Christ.
31:17Describe how your personal relationship with Jesus began.
31:20You were there.
31:21You remember.
31:22You were there.
31:24We always like to say, yeah, I was searching for God.
31:28Searching for God.
31:29Well, from our point of view, that's what it seemed like.
31:31But from the reality, from God's point of view, in reality, God was drawing me to him.
31:36From my point of view, it seemed like I was searching for God.
31:38But God's reality was he was drawing me towards him.
31:41Because if it wasn't for him, my mind would have wanted nothing to do with him anyway.
31:44He was drawing me.
31:47Think about this.
31:49Paul was not looking for Jesus.
31:52He was looking for Jesus' followers to what?
31:54To kill.
31:56He wasn't looking to follow Jesus.
31:58He hated Jesus at this point in time.
32:00He wanted nothing to do with Jesus.
32:02He wasn't out to get saved.
32:04He wasn't looking for Jesus.
32:06He may have loved Yahweh, but he didn't love his son.
32:10He didn't love his son.
32:12In fact, John 15, Jesus said, that's not possible.
32:15Whoever hates me hates my father also.
32:18Paul, you hated me.
32:20You weren't looking for me.
32:22It was God that came to Paul on that road to Damascus and saved him.
32:25He wasn't looking for him.
32:27Psalm 2.
32:29Kiss the son.
32:29That's the son, Jesus.
32:31Lest he be angry.
32:32It's a royal psalm and it points to the Messiah.
32:35There's reason to believe that when you go look at it in the New Testament.
32:38Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way.
32:41For his wrath is quickly kindled.
32:44Blessed are all those who take refuge in him.
32:46You can't ignore the son.
32:48You say you love God and you hate Jesus.
32:50You can't love the father if you hate Jesus.
32:52He was not looking for Jesus.
32:56He hated him.
32:58We're not searching for God.
33:00God's looking for us and he's calling us to himself.
33:04There's a story that George Pei Mayatwin, I hope that's, it's a different name.
33:09I hope I pronounced it correctly.
33:10He tells a story of a lady.
33:12She was ready to expose and humiliate a Christian pastor in Burma, country of Burma.
33:19Her goal, according to the missionary George Pei Mayatwin, was to oppose and wipe out this foreign religion.
33:26That was her intention.
33:29She prepared herself by studying books on religion, attending meditation classes, anything she could do to prove that Christianity was
33:36false and for fools.
33:39But something happened once she started attending the meetings.
33:44She never got around to debating the pastor.
33:46In fact, George says she was drawn to these meetings in some mysterious way.
33:51We know what it was.
33:52It was God.
33:54The woman received Jesus Christ as her Savior during one of these Saturday sessions and is now on a private
33:59mission of her own.
34:00George says she considers it routine to stop people on the street to tell them of Christ.
34:05She recently talked to a taxi driver while riding in his cab and the man agreed to meet with her
34:10again to learn more.
34:12And George says she reminds me of somebody in the Bible.
34:15Paul on the road to Damascus.
34:16She was not looking for Jesus.
34:19But God came to her.
34:23God initiates the salvation.
34:24It does not start with us.
34:27John, Jesus talking.
34:29John 6.
34:30No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.
34:33And I will raise him up at the last day.
34:35In 65.
34:36And he said, this is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it's granted him
34:39by the Father.
34:41And if you're sitting here today and you go, I'm not really sure I'm born again.
34:44I don't remember this conviction of sin thing.
34:45But right now, you feel drawn to God.
34:48That's not the pastor talking.
34:49That's God.
34:51If God is drawing you to him right now, it's time to realize your sinfulness, confess your sins, repent, change
34:57your way of thinking about Jesus, and embrace the gospel today.
35:00Today is his day of salvation.
35:02Okay, so describe your life before Christ.
35:06Describe your encounter with Christ.
35:08Describe your life after Christ.
35:11Describe your life, how your life changed after your encounter with Christ.
35:14So before Christ, your encounter with Christ, and how your life changed after encountering Christ.
35:21So practice explaining how this was God's transformation that took place.
35:27Not you.
35:27You didn't become a better person.
35:29It was God at work in you became a better person.
35:32Work hard to give God the glory in all of this.
35:36Just talk about how God changed your life.
35:39I know a guy, he got saved.
35:42And a few weeks later, a couple of months actually, about four months later, his coworkers said,
35:48Hey, man, you really changed.
35:50And the guy goes, Oh, yeah, you know, I don't get drunk anymore.
35:53And I don't curse or anything like that.
35:55And I don't talk bad about people anymore.
35:56And his coworker said, No, no, no.
35:58It's not that.
35:59That's true.
36:00That's true.
36:01It's not that.
36:01It's you have changed.
36:04You're a different person.
36:07When Jesus comes into our life, we cannot remain the same.
36:10We will change.
36:12If you remain the same after you said you had an encounter with Jesus Christ, something's wrong with God.
36:16And I know there's nothing wrong with God.
36:18So something must be wrong with your salvation.
36:21Your life changes when you come to Christ.
36:26Was there a change in your life when you encountered Christ?
36:30Think about what changed in Paul's life.
36:35If there was no change in your life, the question is, Did you really encounter Christ?
36:41It changes.
36:42We are born again.
36:46We have the Holy Spirit that dwells within us.
36:49We have a new heart, a new nature, new desires and passions about God that we never had before.
36:56And it works.
36:57Does that mean you're perfect when he gets saved?
36:59No.
36:59None of us are perfect.
37:01None of us are perfect.
37:03We're striving towards that perfection, but none of us are perfect.
37:06But there's a change that takes place.
37:08Change that takes place in our life.
37:11Okay.
37:11The last thing is you can't leave this one out when you're giving a testimony of Christ.
37:15So describe how you were before Christ.
37:16Describe your encounter with Christ.
37:18Describe how Christ changed your life.
37:20And lastly, and most importantly, probably, is to invite the person to call in the name of the Lord right
37:25there.
37:26Don't wait.
37:28D.L. Moody mentioned that one time that he forgot to take this person to call in the name for
37:33salvation, and the person dies.
37:37Invite the person that day, right now.
37:41You know, I think it's attributed to Thomas Aquinas.
37:46I'm not sure.
37:46It's attributed to him.
37:47He probably didn't say the quote, but we've heard it before.
37:50Preach the gospel at all times.
37:53Use words if necessary.
37:55You know, we've heard that before, right?
37:57Well, let me tell you something.
37:58Words are necessary.
38:01Your life is important, too.
38:03Don't get me wrong.
38:03Your life has to match up with the words.
38:05But this is how people get saved.
38:07It's the word of God that saves them.
38:09It's not Pastor Mark.
38:10It's not you.
38:11It's the word of God that saves them.
38:13So we have to use words.
38:14We have to tell people about Jesus.
38:17Moshe Roshan was a Jewish man that came to faith in Jesus Christ, and his parents disowned him.
38:22Absolutely disowned him.
38:24His father said to him, you are never to mention Christ, the Bible, or your religion to your mother, or
38:29to me, or to any of the family.
38:31Jew got saved.
38:32Don't do it.
38:35So a deacon in his church, Moshe Roshan, told him to be a silent witness, and that a time would
38:42come when they would ask about his faith.
38:4517 years later, his mother dies.
38:5110 years after that, his dad dies.
38:53And Moshe said, they never asked.
38:58We've got to use words.
39:01Our life matches up to our words, yes, but we've got to use words.
39:05We tell them what we were like before Christ.
39:07We tell them our encounter with Christ.
39:09We tell them how Christ changed our life, and we invite them to call on the name of the Lord.
39:12Lord, you and I this week are probably going to be given an opportunity to testify about God.
39:21Here's a good outline to help you in your testifying about what Jesus has done in your life.
39:27Let's pray.
39:28Father, thank you.
39:29Thank you for Paul and this simple, simple understanding of laying out these points that are just easy to understand.
39:39Not so easy to do sometimes, but easy to understand.
39:42So thank you for giving us direction through your word on how we can give a testimony about what Jesus,
39:48who Jesus is, and what he has done in our lives.
39:51How he's changed us.
39:52We're not the same people we were.
39:53Yes, yes, we are not what we were.
39:57We are not yet what we will become, but we are not what we were.
40:00So thank you, Father.
40:01Thank you for this, and help us as opportunity arises, that we just speak the words to them.
40:06You're the one who saves them.
40:08Even if we don't get everything exactly right, you're the one who saves them.
40:13We just want to give testimony to what you have done in our lives, and we thank you for the
40:18salvation we have in Jesus Christ.
40:19We pray in his name.
40:20Amen.
40:21Amen.
40:21Amen.
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