Paul

Life with Jeannie… To pay you back and try to bring you back what God is doing for you is not retribution, its restoration, God gave the retribution the Jesus of the what you get to you was loving discipline to bring you back to himself.

And I know it's painful and I know some of you have been going through that it's not about God hating you about him loving you is not about him paying you back. It's about him bringing you back and I just got asked, are you listening your host Molly minutes to say that when people think of the apostle Paul, picture this prison life champion of the faith is probably about 6 foot seven rugged, beautiful, and a model citizen, right but today Pastor JD explained that before.

Paul's encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus is a pretty undesirable character. We are rejoining our teaching series titled sent that we began earlier this year as we discover God's transforming grace. If you missed the first half of this study back in March.

If you like to download the complete, unedited message transcripts visit us@jdgreer.com. Now let's get started with our message, simply titled Paul for symptoms if I could have the spirit of God being at work in you signs that you are about to be converted. If you never have been for symptoms. I guess that your comment allocates a regeneration for you besides you get sick. These are signs that you're going to get saved. They are going to be found here. In the story of Paul who is also on the story because it is become Paul, your CV symptoms begin to arise and him and I want you to think about them in light of your own life at super nine verse one, but Saul still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord went to the high priest of the asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if you found any belongings away, which is the first on a name given to the Christian movement. Now it's called the way men or women they might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

Now she went on his way to approach Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around them and falling to the ground. Hear the voice say to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me.

First of all, really quickly. Would you notice how Jesus takes persecution against the church.

Why are you persecuting me did not think of the church is and it did not even think of it as a group of people. He thought of the church as me because he is so united himself to his church, but there one in the same not to throw Paul because he was a who are you, Lord, I would never have persecuted someone is bright and shiny as you because he didn't understand that that was Jesus that there was no distinction between him and them. Now I realize that I'm not talking to a lot of people who are in an active role persecution against the church.

So I Saul was so here's how I want to say this to you. There is no separation between love for Jesus and commitment to his church.

None. Jesus calls the church to me because the church is bride.

When we say around here is you cannot love Jesus and hate is bride anymore than you could tell me JD we love you would like you to murder our house for dinner but that stank Veronica we hate her united our problems and you say that to me why and I say that because I'm talking to many people in our community that say they love Jesus but are only marginally involved in the church and I'm telling you there is no question at all. Based on the Bible that you should be very involved in a local church. Usually unless you have to be this one, but you need to join, you need to get involved in ministry, you need to become a contributing member and I know a lot of you consumers don't like that because you prefer fast food have it my way.

One night stand, spirituality understood under your and sin. There's no question about that at all because it is him and them there one in the same civil church embarrasses me what embarrasses Jesus to so you by the way, right and if he's going to identify with something broken and embarrassing like you. The church why would you think you're too good to also identify with the church. The first signs of God's grace is a work in you. You get disgusted with the church.

The second side of upper-level is when you get disgusted with yourself that that's maturity and then the third sign is you did reenter the church. This time I was a Pharisee to condemn everybody because you're so much better than them, but you enter someone who is broken and the beggar who needs grace is like everybody else and realize this is a hospital for people like you. Verse five Saul said who are you, Lord, and he said I'm Jesus in your persecuting Verizon enter the city and you will be told what you are to do later when Paul would recount this in acts 26, he would tell this what he would report that Jesus actually said another phrase in between these two phrases is not recorded here in acts nine Mrs. phrase acts 26 Saul, Saul, are you persecuting me it is hard for you to kick against the goads, no codes is not goads about Aladdin the spell that word codes goads are it was a little sharp pointed stick that when an ox was pulling the plow and they wanted box to move faster. They would take this go jab in the back of the leg of the box and so the odds of course doesn't like that. So the ox would turn around and kick against it and what the holy what Jesus is saying to Saul is that there have been these things that have been prodding and pricking at your heart you are taking against them. What were those things.

The death of Stephen. That was one of them seen how Stephen died did see the joy on Stephen's face and heard the love that was in his heart not bothered Paul yet unanswered questions about Jesus because he saw that these Christians were explaining the Jesus had gone according to a lot of prophecies given in the Old Testament and there was a lot of things that were not adding up and making sense.

He knew that his answers were not sufficient, see how Christians die the Holy Spirit working in his heart and his response was to kick against those things in the way that he expressed that was the violence against the church for seven but many were traveling with him stood speechless here in the boys see no one.

You see, that's what happens in conversion people around you encounter the same things, but they cannot discern the voice of God in its they hear the same sermons they meet the same people go to the same experiences they read the same books, but in those things your hearing the voice of God. But there just hearing noise for saying so. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were open, he saw nothing, so they let him by the hand and brought him into Damascus, and for three days he was with outside and neither eat nor break. Get the picture. Saul, the mighty now kneeling before God. Saul, the one who thought he saw so clearly now being led by the hand because he is blind Saul, the one who seized others now seized himself by the Lord Jesus Christ Saul the hammer broke others now himself broken on the ample of Christ Saul by the way, would soon change his name to Paul, which means small Saul was a strong Jewish name. It was the name of the first king of Israel who stood Scripture says, head and shoulders above every other man, Saul, the mighty has become call the small first in another was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias, and he said here I am Lord Lord said to him rise and go to the street called straight at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus names Saul for bold.

He is praying then at this point and I said excuse me a minute there I thought you said Saul of Tarsus yeah Goodwin W like Jesus appeared to you in a dream five years ago and said hey I want to go down the local 711, got a guy there.

I want you to meet.

I want you to take in the church, which allege that your housework you will have few weeks to a Bible study with his name is Osama bin Laden, tall guy wear robes. That was easy to applicant beard turbine you cannot miss it and you like excuse me what you talking about. That's the shock that Ananias is going through right now he is praying you see in a vision, amending Ananias coming in and laying his hands on them that you by the way, Ananias so that he might regain his sight, but Ananias answered, Lord. I do not need to object, but I've heard many things about this man, how much evil.

He's done here saying to Jerusalem when he shows up your house he's not there.

Bible study and prayer is that all you off the present and here he has authority now from the chief priest to bind anybody who calls on your name, but the Lord said to him, go because he is a chosen instrument out of mind to remind me before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel trying to show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.

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 and immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and when he opened his eyes. This time everything look different, so he arose and was baptized for signs that you are being converted for realizations that you have that show that the spirit of God is at work in you number one, you realize that God has been pursuing you, God has been pursuing you all have these goads that were prodding him pricking his conscience. Some of you have those things this weekend. Maybe it's unanswered questions that you had about life or death or God.

Maybe you see the joy in a Christian friends live joy as they go through pay and you thought I will have a kind of joy five or go to that date.

Maybe you see the love in the Christian community. Whatever you're here this weekend and maybe it just happened again and worship it any of our campuses or something that stirs in your heart that is a law that almost feels like it's pressing in on you not even sure what to say about it. Not sure what to call it what you realize that is the spirit of God. Sometimes, by the way, these goads are painful and you resist them, and you kick against them. CS Lewis, who my quote here a lot a lot of Christians do was an atheist literature professor at Oxford in England when he came to faith in Christ. One of things that Lewis would write about never read much….This is the thing that reappears over and over and over again what he writes is you talk about how you learn to see that for years God had been pursuing him. I said sometimes it was really painful and I hated it.

If I can call himself in his autobiography, surprised by Joy. He called himself the most dejected reluctant convert in all of England drug into the kingdom taking and struggling, resentful, and darting my eyes in every direction for a chance of escape. Somehow that never makes it on everybody's board of favorite CS Lewis quotes in the voyage of the Dawn treader which is one of the Chronicles of Narnia Lewis tells a story about Eustis is the main character one main characters in that novel who is a boy who's made some evil choices developed an evil heart manifest that by having him, he becomes a Dragon and so he doesn't want to be a Dragon anymore. He wants to be a boy again. So he tells Asselin who is the lion who represents Jesus in the Chronicles until somebody wants to be a boy yet Asselin takes him to this pool of this crystal clear water and tells him he needs to bathe in it and then Lewis now speaking and uses his voice. Scholars will tell you that what Lewis is doing here is telling his own story in the mouth of Eustis is a list the water was as clear as anything and I thought if I could just get in there and Dave, it would ease the pain, but the lion Asselin told me that I must undress first. So I started scratching myself and my scales began coming off all over the place and I scratch a little deeper and instead of just scales coming off here and there my whole skin started peeling off beautifully in a minute or two I just stepped out of that skin. I can see it lying there beside me looking rather nasty.

It was a most lovely feeling.

So I started to go down into the well for my Dave but just as I was going to put my foot into the water. I looked down and saw that the skin on my feet was all hard and rough and wrinkled and scaly, just like it had been before.

So Eustis repeats the process a second time and 1/3 time, but each time the skin comes back and he starts to despair than the lion said you will have to let me undress you. I was afraid of his claws. I can tell you that but I was pretty nearly desperate now so I just lay down flat on my back to let him do it.

The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart and when he began pulling the skin off it hurt worse than anything I had ever felt in my entire life.

The only thing that may be able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff you off well. He pilled the beastly stuff right off just as I thought I'd done myself. The other three times before they hadn't heard and there it was now lying on the grass only ever so much thicker and darker and more notably looking than the others had been then the line caught hold of me. I didn't like that very much.

For I was very tender underneath. Now that I had no skin on any freebie in the water.

It smarted like anything, but only for a moment after that it became perfectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing. I found that all the pain had gone. And then I saw why I turn into a boy again.

Jess was happening with some of you as you tried sell for four tried to clean up your life, but now he's prodding and he's been ripping away skin from you, and it's painful I know I know I've been through it, but listen is not punishing to punish Jesus in your place. So what he's doing now is he's bringing you back to himself. When we say around here is God's not going to pay you back and try to bring you back what God is doing for you is not retribution its restoration, God gave the retribution to Jesus or the what he could give to you was loving discipline to bring you back to himself. And I know it's painful and I know some of you have been going through that had all of our campuses. This is what is explaining what's happening to you. It's not about God hating you. It's about him loving you is not about him paying you back. It's about him bringing you back and I just got to ask. Are you listening because the lion is a hold of you sudden realization number two you have been blind you been blind. Paul's blindness is given to us is a picture of all people that are separated from Christ is either primarily to forms of spiritual blindness. The first one is what we call their religious blindness. This is not what Saul has years religious blindness.

Later, that would in a minute but their religious blindness is where you think that your way is better than God's really feel like you don't really need God. And so you pursue a life that we call sin. Sin Sanders means that I'd rather be in charge to God because honestly I think I make a better God be God taught rhythmic mound rules and live on my way and said his way.

I often tell you that the middle letter of the word soon. I is a pretty good definition of what sin is. I want to do what I want to do instead of what God wants me to do. And usually when you pursue this kind of life. Things are great at the beginning. Yes, they are at the beginning as I told you before, may live my youth group going on when I was a teenager. Those old country preacher used to preach once while he was standing there are no maybe like young boys said I thought you like what you ain't doing it right. You follow me around so you do it it's fine. But see, then you wake up one day and realize that you have a string of broken relationships, and then if you're honest with yourself, you really you admit I'm not really happy and you start blaming everything likewise give me the right guy. I'm not live in the right city, so I am a young professionals to move around from Paul got a little and that's where the action is on either New York City I go to Los Angeles I go to Charlotte or wherever there's a great place to live.

What I'm telling you what you looking for a better is not there, you got understand that God is waking you up out of your blindness and yes it hurts but I'm praying that God will open your eyes. Some of you and show you that you thought God was the enemy and he's not you been blind you wake up this weekend. The second form of blindness is religious blindness. That's what Saul has meant for you think you can be good enough to earn God's approval that if you just try hard enough and keep the rules good enough, then God will accept you and give you a quick theology. Lessons like explain you why that's blindness when we sin when our regular grandparents, Adam and Eve sin. Couple things that happen is one week spiritually died, which means the heart our heart of love for God died in got replaced by law for all kinds of other things that we love more than God shows like John Calvin says the human heart is an idol factory always coming up with new things that we should prioritize over God's are the result was God's laws to love him and honor him and serve him, they became burdensome to us became wearisome. They felt unnatural and when we force ourselves to keep them or cut shapes against it. The analogy argues with you before this coach it's like about you try to bend a metal bar appear in front of you like would like a weightlifting bar if I was strong enough to bend it and I put so much pressure on it that I could bend it.

I got it down here an account of a U-shaped one of two things would happen either. I would lose my grip right you don't run on energy in a moment that I took my hands off of it would snap back up to its original position, or I would put so much pressure on it that would snap in the middle right have told you that's what happens when God's laws come into an un-regenerated heart.

One of those two things happens either when the pressure is gone. You go back to the original shape of your hearts are. For example, the teenager when he or she is around the right people there acting one way, the moment there with her other friends there heart is back to its original shape or when you no longer are afraid of hell in your heart goes back to the things that you want to do you become a religious hypocrite doing things on the outside but you don't feel like on the inside right or you could reporter you snap spiritually. How may times I seen that happen. I'm sick of all these rules I cannot wait to get out of my parents house and go to college going to do what I want. That's why 80% of the people that leave evangelical churches when they go to college and follow God's are hearts never been changed. See AAA is under the friends that's it with your heart and that's what happens to a spiritually dead heart.

You become a hypocrite. Here's the other thing that happened to us when we sin is. We had a sense of our nakedness explain this Wednesday and a bunch of times we just rode with a review of Lori seeking reality were naked before he said, but our nakedness didn't bother us. Why because we were close God told you in the love and the acceptance of God and clothed in his love and acceptance are nakedness didn't bother us. But the moment that was stripped away.

We had a sense of our nakedness and we felt shame.

We felt guilty felt like something is wrong and I told you what you naked people to do normal naked people do. If you do if you if you sense that your naked and exposed.

What is her reaction if you're normal you're looking for clothes right now. Told you that you wake up at Walmart 3M are sleepwalking you like about him, but make it a little Walmart. You'll pick up stuff you need for the house while you're there you go over the clothing section and to figure out something to put on right so we we we had the sense of nakedness and so the clothing that we turn to was good works. I got to show God that I more than cover the sense of nakedness, to be good enough to earn his approval, which means this it means that all your good works are done for self-justification, which means really that we are so interested in our works with major works are not really good for God sake good for our sake is just a means of serving ourselves is that the gospel Jesus dying in your place clothing you and his righteousness for a new life in a new heart you're listening to Senate life in a thought-provoking message from Pastor JD Greer if he missed any part of the message today. You can listen again free of charge and you can download the complete, unedited transcript by visiting us online@jdgreer.com in addition to these daily messages. We've also made other free resources available on our website like sermon transcripts and blog posts Jenny. I know it's always your goal to develop fresh engaging resources that help our friends go deeper into the gospel.

We always have a free resource that you can download on our homepage JD grid.com get there you five years of archives of articles in Summit life broadcast what we want Summit life to be a replacement for your local church. Of course there is something about being a member of a local body and even if you feel like it's not a perfect church as a community. It's the bride of Christ and you should be connected, but we think we can come alongside you and and better equip you to to serve in your local church and deepen your knowledge of the gospel in your love of Jesus, and we can play that role, not as a replacement tube at a supplement of your local church that something that we are honored to do and let us know how God is working in your community. I will tell you that Molly there are a few things we love as much as hearing from our listeners how God is working in their lives and how he's using some of the things that they're hearing here in Summit life to transform them to empower them to assist in that growth process that he is pursuing in your life. Jesus loves you, and were delighted to be able to be a part of his work in your life.

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