Acts 9 - Your Biography
Tom Shrader examines Saul's dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus in Acts 9, emphasizing that conversion is not about human decision but God's sovereign intervention. He argues that if you haven't experienced the same substantial transformation as Paul - God giving you a new heart to believe - then you're not truly a Christian. Shrader concludes by highlighting that every believer is a chosen instrument with a unique ministry, called to bear Christ's name despite inevitable suffering.
“If you're a Christian here today, it's because He gave you the power to believe and to decide.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: The Rest of the Story
Recorded: July 23, 1992
Duration: 38 min
Themes: conversion, transformation, calling, purpose, suffering, testimony, identity, ministry, questioning salvation, new believer, seeking purpose, adult conversion, religious background, ministry calling, facing persecution, spiritual crisis
Scripture: Acts 9:1-22, Acts 7, Acts 8, Acts 8:3, Psalm 80, 1 Corinthians 15, Genesis 3, 1 Peter 5, 1 Peter 5:9
Theological Themes: conversion, regeneration, divine election, sovereign grace, spiritual transformation, sanctification, calling, discipleship
Full Transcript
This is the third of four sessions dealing with what we've entitled "The Rest of the Story," a series picking up on the story of Peter, primarily, as we deal with him, following him from the Gospel of John into the Book of Acts. We have four sessions: session one and two were "Your Marching Orders" and "The First Revival Meeting in History." Those tapes are done and are available in the front if you didn't get your copies. Please be a good steward of them.
The last two sessions are today's topic, "Your Biography," and next week, "What a Church Should Be." I look at the different groups here and think, although there may be many of you that cringe a bit about next week's topic, we have quite a few people who are involved in church environments where they're not particularly happy and wondering why, or where they are happy but they're not sure why. We have quite a few people who have even gone to the extent to say, "Priority Living is my church."
Well, we're not designed to be a church. We aren't your church. Hopefully we have made it clear that we want to point you to the church. The question is, which church? Who? You're walking down the street and someone asks, "What church do you go to?" How should you evaluate a church? We'll look at that next week.
A Study That Changed My Life
Today is a study that's, for me, pretty significant. It's your biography. It's your story that's told by Luke concerning the apostle Paul. It's found in Acts chapter 9. There's a handful of chapters that I keep going back to over and over again, and Acts chapter 9 is one of those for me. The first time I read that chapter, I was struck, not by what happened to Saul of Tarsus, but I saw in my life that what happened to me was identical.
Let me make this point to you: circumstantially radically different, substantially the same. This is kind of a heavy lesson, really. Maybe the thin crowd knew what was coming, and the other side of the coin is God has here today exactly who He wants to hear this, I hope.
I believe with all my heart that if you have not had the same experience that Paul had substantially, then you're not a Christian, you haven't experienced conversion. Circumstantially different. None of you are going to relate to the circumstances until you can relate to the substance. There are many of you here who are Christians. I hope today deepens your faith.
We're going to deal with one issue in particular that always causes people to line up when we're done who want to talk in Paul's life. We'll deal with that head on, no problem there. There'll be some of you here today, clearly men and women that aren't Christians, and maybe today you'll identify with Saul of Tarsus.
The Background: Saul's Violent Campaign
A very important study as we look at Acts chapter 9, the very first verse, Luke writes these words: "Now, Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest and asked for letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus so that if he found any belonging to the way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem."
It's the introductory two verses in this chapter. A little context is obviously demanded. "Still breathing threats and murder." I'll give you just a little background so you've got a sense of this guy, Saul of Tarsus.
Acts chapter 7, there's a guy by the name of Stephen. He is the first martyr in the church. Stephen stood up before a group of Jewish leaders and he said things like, "You stiff-necked uncircumcised Jews." Well, they took offense to this. So what they did is they took him to the edge of town and they stoned him.
Now, we always stop and say, when they stoned you 2,000 years ago, it's different. When I say "stoned" today, we're thinking of some sort of booze or drugs or "stoned" or "liquored up," whatever that is. That's not what they did. Stoning then was a form of capital punishment.
They took Stephen out to the edge of town to stone him. And it says the young men who were going to perform the stoning took off their outer garments and laid them down at the feet of Saul, Saul of Tarsus. They freed themselves up so they could get a good stoning going. Saul was there. He supervises this.
A Wild Animal Unleashed
Then Luke tells us right after this in Acts chapter 8 that persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem. The church in Jerusalem suffered enormously. And Saul, he's leading the charge. In fact, it says in Acts chapter 8, verse 3, that he was ravaging the church.
That word "ravaging" is only used one other time really in the Scripture. It's the counterpart in the Hebrew used back in Psalm 80 to describe a wild animal ripping apart its prey. That's the picture of this Saul.
He's on his way to Damascus. He's done as much damage as he feels he needs to do in Jerusalem. He's going 150 miles away to Damascus. He's looking for people who belong to "the way."
Two things. Number one, notice he's an equal opportunity persecutor, both men and women. There's no prejudice in this guy. He'll persecute them all. "Belonging to the way." It was a term that was used to describe those early Christians. It was a term that was used derogatorily by the world. "The way. They're part of the way. They're part of that narrow, goofy fringe group. You know them. The way." But they also describe themselves in that manner. Jesus Christ was the way, the truth, and the life. And we're part of the way. We're distinct. It's different than any other way. This is the way.
The Divine Encounter
That's the background. He heads to Damascus, and all of a sudden, something happens. "It came about that as he journeyed, he approached Damascus." I mentioned to you, it's a trip of 150 miles, about a one-week journey. He's traveled seven days. We know from another account that Paul gives us that it was just about noon, and all of a sudden, there was a light from heaven, and a flash around him. He fell to the ground.
He fell to the ground, and he heard a voice. Now, the last time I referred to this, I said Paul was on his way to Damascus. He was on his way to persecute the Christians. He's moving along, and all of a sudden, there's a flash. He's knocked off his horse and lands on the ground.
And there's a lady who comes to one of the studies, who God has given her one mission in life, and that is to make sure that I never make a mistake. So she felt it was incumbent to point out to me, nowhere does it say he was on a horse. So we don't know if he's on a horse or not. We don't know if he's walking, running, with His eyes open. We don't know. But he fell to the ground.
For point of accuracy, we got this. Moving to Damascus, almost there, high noon, flash of light, a white light, he tells us in another place. And it knocks him to the ground.
The Single Most Important Event
Paul is about to experience the single most important event in the life of any man or woman. He's about to experience what we would call conversion. And some of you go, "Oh, wait a minute, give me a break. That's not a good word." That's a great word. And I love it because it implies a change.
You and I live at a time where people actually believe they're Christians just because they were born in America, or just because they go to church. We're a religious man, a very religious man, but he wasn't a Christian. Therefore, he wasn't fighting for God, but against Him.
Sincerity vs. Truth
He's a sincere man. You have friends that are sincere. And they say things like, "It really doesn't matter what you believe, but that you believe it sincerely." Is that true? I mean, I know that works on Donahue and Geraldo and Oprah, but does it work? Is it a true statement?
Just the opposite is true. It doesn't matter how firmly you believe something if what you believe is true. That's the issue. What's true? And we don't talk in those terms anymore.
All through the death of a candidate, only one platform speaker that I'm aware of spoke with any regularity and said, "We've got to do this because it's right or not do this because it's wrong." And that was Jerry Brown. And I'm certainly not a Jerry Brown fan, but at least he captured some sense of what's right or wrong.
The Problem with Moral Relativism
Mario Cuomo. And this always gets you. I don't say this to get you. "I'm personally against abortion, but I defend your right to have it." The most indefensible stand is that stand. Say you're for abortion, that's your privilege. Say you're against abortion, that's one. But to say, "I'm against it, but for it."
Why are you against it? Why would you oppose it? The only reason is because of morality. Therefore, what you think is morally correct, you're not willing to legislate? We want you to legislate morality. Good grief, you tell me to wear a seatbelt. What, are you going to regulate only amoral issues? This is silly.
John Kennedy sold you this bill of goods in 1960, when he went to all these Protestants in Houston and said, "I'm a Catholic, but I'll tell you this, I'll govern, but my faith and my religion will never affect the way I govern." Well, let's break that statement down. The single most important relationship you can have in your life, the one with the Creator God, is not going to affect the way you live? It's just silly, isn't it, when we listen to it? And yet it sounds so good.
Sincerity isn't the issue. It's what you believe true, that's the issue.
Paul's Encounter with Christ
Now we're at the core issue, and Paul is about to come face to face with it. He hears a voice, and we also know that he sees a vision. He tells us that in 1 Corinthians 15. He said, "Christ, after He died, appeared to Peter, and then to the twelve, and then to the five hundred, many of them who were still alive, then to James, then to the apostles, and then to one untimely born, then to me." He sees Christ here. He recognizes the risen Christ.
We're moving out of what I think is fact. Let me give you just some speculation. Many commentators believe that Paul heard Jesus teach many times in different synagogues. J. Vernon McGee, that godly old man who's not open to a lot of speculation, says he firmly believes that Paul was there for the crucifixion of Christ. Firmly believes it, because a guy who was as Paul was, a Pharisee of Pharisees, a super Jew, if you will, in a good sense of the word, wasn't going to miss an event like the crucifixion.
The Question that Changes Everything
He sees the risen Christ, and Jesus says to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" Two points. One's a side point, we'll make it and get it out of the way. When I persecute the church, I persecute Christ. When I give a drink to the least of these, I give a drink to the least of these. The church are inseparably linked. We can't separate them. You persecute the church, you persecute Christ. They're one and the same in this sense. That's not the issue.
The issue's this. "Why, Paul? What are you doing?" You've got to be careful with that question. I have long sensed, ask what you're doing. You've had that with your kids. "What are you thinking about?" "Oh, man, I don't know. Not thinking, I guess." I know that.
A couple of weeks ago, I'm with a guy, great wife, lovely wife, lovely family, lovely, lovely, lovely. He's bailing out for some bimbette. So I said, "What are you thinking about?" And I asked the question. I said to myself, "That's so stupid," because I know the answer. "I don't know. I don't know." He's not thinking. He isn't thinking at all.
God's Probing Questions
He doesn't say, "What are you thinking about?" He asks it a little different. A probing question, questions that are good questions. "Why? Why are you doing this, Paul? What's your motive? Why are you so violent? What do you hope to accomplish?"
God works that way in key situations. I said, this is one of my great chapters that I love. Genesis chapter 3 is the other one. Master Genesis chapter 3 and the world begins to make sense to you. And what does He do in Genesis chapter 3? Adam sins. He hides. God comes to Adam. And what does He say? "Where are you, Adam?" You think God doesn't know where Adam is?
God's Sovereign Grace in Conversion
He knows exactly where he is. He's not asking that question seeking information. He asks that question for Adam's advantage. "You figure it out, Adam. Where are you? Why are you there?" Hey, Adam, this morning we're walking hand in hand with the garden. Right now you're hiding with a fig leaf under a tree. What happened?
Same thing here. Why? You think God doesn't know why? You think Jesus doesn't know why? Sure He knows why. He's saying, "Paul, what are you doing?" Men and women, to you and me, He says the same thing. Stop! Look! Listen! Think!
Saul looks right up and says, "Who are you, Lord?" He said, "I'm the Jesus you're persecuting. Rise and enter the city and you'll find out what you must do."
The Truth About Paul's Conversion
We are going to take a two-minute sojourn here. Some of this will make no sense to many of you. That's fine. We'll pick you up in just a couple of minutes. But for many of you, this is a big deal. Because this is a punch. Boom. Got to get this.
John Stott, who lately has taught some things that I wouldn't necessarily buy, hits this baby right between the eyes. He asks this question: If we ask what caused Paul's conversion, only one answer is possible. What stands out from the narratives is the sovereign grace of God through Christ. Saul did not "decide for Christ," as we might say. On the contrary, he was persecuting Christ. It was rather Christ who decided for him and intervened in his life, and that's indisputable.
Men and women, this truth turns your Christian life upside down. How did Saul end up, rather than persecuting the church, its number one advocate? What happened? Stott even muses about us and says he didn't decide for Christ.
The Problem with "Decision" Theology
See, that's our line. Very American. Very cultural. Make a decision for Jesus. Ask Jesus into your heart. Pray this prayer. You don't see that anywhere here.
Last week, when Peter called to the masses and 3,000 came, he didn't say, "Here, do you know God loves you, has a wonderful plan for your life, you've sin separated, there's a gap?" No. He said, "Repent." That's the issue.
This turns us upside down because we're in the decisions. You decide. Saul couldn't decide. He could only decide in the negative. He wasn't wrestling with whether Christianity was true or not true, or trying to figure out if God was this or that, or if God had a wonderful plan for his life. He didn't figure out any of those things. He's going to slaughter the church.
Why This Is Your Biography
And the reason I love the chapter, and the reason I say it's your biography, is if you're a Christian, you're a Christian because this is what happened to you. God took you, ripped you open, shoved a new heart into you, and gave you the power to believe because you would have never figured it out on your own. You hated Him. You weren't attracted to Him.
And this, men and women, makes you true God worshippers. You didn't decide for Him. Not at all. He decided for you. Boy, does that change things. Boy, does that change my relationship with Him.
Doesn't He get bigger and bigger and bigger in that, and I get smaller and smaller and smaller? He did everything, and I did nothing. If you're a Christian here today, it's because He gave you the power to believe and to decide.
The Uniqueness of Divine Election
Doesn't He give it to everybody? No. No, He doesn't give it to everybody. You are special. You are chosen. You are unique. That's why this is so important. He loved you so much that He ripped you open and gave you a new heart to believe.
This is really powerful, I would think. It really drives me to look at my relationship with Christ differently. I'll tell you another thing. It makes you look at yourself differently. For years I thought that I believed because I had a mustard seed of faith and I produced the mustard seed. I didn't produce any mustard seed. Can't even produce mustard seed faith. God does it all.
Paul's Transformation
And look what happens. Here's the evidence, I think. After hearing this, the men who traveled with Him stood speechless. They heard a voice. They didn't get this. They didn't see this. Got up from the ground, and his eyes were open, but he couldn't see, and they led him to Damascus. And he was there three days without sight. He didn't eat, and he didn't drink.
Imagine this. We're going to find out in a couple of verses that he was there praying. Imagine this moment. For the very first time in his life, Paul prays to God. Wait a minute. Just think about that. You let me off very easy there. Is that true?
The First True Prayer
I mean, this guy's been a Pharisee of the Pharisees, probably memorized much of the Old Testament, would pray one, two, three, four times a day. He's fasted before. And I'm telling you, this is the first time he's ever prayed. Is that true? Sure, it's true.
Only the Christian can pray. Do you really believe that? Yeah, that's what it says. Having been justified by faith, having become a Christian, I have peace with God and an introduction or access to the Father. Only the Christian does.
The Buddhist doesn't pray to God. The Hindu doesn't pray to God. The Muslim doesn't pray to God. The religious, non-believing Christian doesn't pray to God. They pray. I watched an interview with Jane Fonda, and again, I don't mean this derogatory. This sounds so critical. I don't mean it that way. I use it in an illustrative way so that you can see the fallacy of this. And Jane said, "I pray every day, but I have no idea who I'm praying to." Well, what's this gal praying to? Ted? Who knows?
Only the Christian prays to God. For the very first time, this giant of the faith prays. Wouldn't you have loved to have been there? What did he pray for? Forgiveness, I'm going to guess. We don't know. We can only speculate. Forgiveness, wisdom, power. For the very first time, Paul the Apostle, as you and I know him, worships God. That's your picture and my picture of our conversion. That's what happened.
God's Multi-faceted Work
There's something else going on over here in the other side. God's not just working in Paul's life. There's two other guys at play here. One named Ananias and the other named Judas.
Two names that are generally negative names in our mindset in scripture. Now, there was a certain disciple of Damascus named Ananias. Remember, we had met a guy by the name of Ananias in Acts chapter five. Some of you don't remember him. Ananias had a wife named Sapphira. They sell a piece of property. Let's say he sells the property for $1,000. He says, Peter, I'm going to give you all the proceeds from the sale. Here's the $500 I got from the sale. Ananias, you sold the property. This is all. Oh, that's every penny of it. Peter said, why are you lying to the Holy Spirit? And at that moment, God killed him. God killed him. That's right.
Unless you think somehow it was a mistake, a few hours later, in comes Sapphira. She goes through the same thing. See, God's not playing around with sin. It's the ultimate picture of what happens to every unrepentant sinner. He ultimately all die at the hands of God. Eternal death.
A Different Ananias
Ananias, different guy. God comes to him and says, Ananias, he said, behold, I'm here, Lord. The Lord said, arise and go to a street called Straight. It's still the main east-west thoroughfare in Damascus today. Still there. And inquire at the house of a man named Judas, not Judas Iscariot, for a man from Tarsus named Saul. For behold, he's praying and he's seen a vision. A man Ananias came, comes in, lays hands on him so he might regain his sight.
And God speaks to Ananias and look at Ananias' reaction. Pardon me, but I've heard a lot about this Saul. Are you sure you got the right Saul of Tarsus? I heard that he persecuted and ravaged the church at Jerusalem. And I heard he's on his way here with the authority from the chief priest to do the same thing to us. And I want to make it straight now. You want me to go to this guy? You got a plan for this guy?
This is vintage, longtime Christianity. Golly God, you're still saving even really bad sinners. Oh yeah, sure. Not only that, I'm going to use the guy.
God's Chosen Instrument
And we close with these two verses. God said to him, go for he is a chosen instrument of mine to bear my name before the Gentiles and the Kings and the sons of Israel. I want you to see that that is your charge. Go for Tom. Put your name in there. If you're a Christian is a chosen instrument of mine. You're a chosen instrument of God to do something to bear His name, to live for Him. You have a ministry.
What is your ministry? Those of you that are Christians, what is it that God has uniquely and especially gifted you to do? You have what the scripture says is a spiritual gift, a unique, special empowerment. What is it? A fellow got a hold of me the other day and said, we've got to do a study on spiritual gifts. People need to know what their spiritual gift is. I said, do you know what yours is? Are you using it? No. Well, how many of these studies do you want me to go through about spiritual gifts that you're not going to use?
We need to know what spiritual gifts are and what our spiritual gift is, but we need to do it. I think we've lost a little of that. I think it flows out of this idea that you decided for Christ. I think when you understand that He decided for you, that you understand that He's got something specifically designed for you to do here.
Paul's Unexpected Assignment
What it was for Paul, go to the Gentiles. Did he do that? He became the apostle to the Gentiles. Go to the kings. Did he go to the kings? The kings, the governors. Ultimately, Paul gives testimony to the emperor of the world himself. And lastly, to the sons of Israel.
And I want you to see this. If you went to Paul and said, here's three choices, A, B, and C. Gentiles, kings, sons of Israel. What's your first preference? He would have said, sons of Israel. What's your second preference? He would have said, kings. What's your third preference? I don't have a third preference, because I don't deal with Gentiles. That's exactly the opposite of the way God gives him the assignment.
This guy, Paul, was perfectly suited to reach the Jews. And God sends him to the Gentiles. Isn't that something? Isn't that something?
The Cost of Following Christ
The last point, and it may be the biggest, certainly for those of you that are Christians. Here's this guy, Paul, the apostle, giant of the faith, chosen by God, given a ministry that we know, hindsight, we know he executes. Certainly not flawlessly, but he executes it with as much tenacity as anybody has ever executed their ministry. He has become, aside from the Lord Jesus Christ, probably the dominant person in Christianity would be Paul.
And then God says this, when you go and tell him all this, tell him also that I will show him how much he must suffer. See, that's the other part of the equation we leave off a lot. Get this, when you become a Christian, your suffering doesn't decrease, it doesn't stay the same, it increases.
Nonbelievers have kids in rebellion, so do believers. Nonbelievers have babies that die, so do believers. Nonbelievers have relationships that end, so do believers. Nonbelievers have businesses that fail, so do believers. Nonbelievers get sick, so do believers. That's the end. A believer will suffer in a way a nonbeliever can never suffer, for they'll suffer for their faith.
Suffering as Part of the Christian Life
Tribulation, persecution, suffering, hardship, that's the life of the Christian. You will experience that. Peter says this in 1 Peter 5. He says, first of all, understand you have an adversary called the devil, and he's seeking to devour you. And then, understand this, you will suffer, but know that there are many other of your brethren suffering in the world, 1 Peter 5:9.
He says that to us for comfort. We have a tendency to think we're the only one. Last week you were here, you know how sick I was. You know that we went from here, and the drugs
arrived, and the doctor said go to bed for three days. I said I can't go to bed for three days, but I'll go to bed, and I went to bed. This will shock you, because I know you can't see me in this light or even imagine this, but I'm not a very good patient. Friday night, I was sharing with Susan, my wife.
"Susan, you know, in the history of man, no one has ever been this sick and survived. There have been people who've been this sick, to be sure, but they're in cemeteries all around the planet. Oh, am I sick?"
And we have that tendency to think that way. Oh, it's me. We lay in bed and say, "I'm the only one that must be going through this." And Peter says, they're all over the place. I don't care what your suffering is, or what you think it is, or how unique you think it is. If we had you stand up right now, I'll guarantee you there's somebody else in the room that's having the same thing or been through it. He says this: Your suffering is shared all throughout the world.
The Duration of Suffering
Now, in verse 10, he says this: After you've suffered for a little while, the God who called you will also then establish you and confirm you. Here's the operative phrase: "After you suffer for a little while." How long is a little while? We need to answer this question. A little while is a lifetime. How long are you going to suffer? Your whole life. You have a whole life of suffering.
This may sound to some of you who are here kind of observers, and you're not a Christian, and you're wondering what's going on. Who'd want to buy into this? For the Christian, suffering is the highest calling. That's where we really learn. I don't learn well when things are going well.
Look at your own life. Where did God teach you the lessons? He didn't teach them to you in the good times. He didn't teach them to you in the junk bond 80s. He's teaching them to you now. Somebody said God whispers to us in prosperity and screams at us in adversity.
The Purpose of Christian Suffering
For the Christian, suffering is good. Because suffering produces perseverance. Perseverance, character. And character, a hope that doesn't disappoint. This is the picture of the Christian life.
This call. And now, this Saul, laying there, hasn't seen three days, three nights. He hears Ananias is coming. Maybe he knew him, maybe he didn't. He knows it's a brother. We think it's probably the first Christian that's come in to really minister to him. And this Ananias who's scared to death of Saul. And this Saul who probably at this point, laying there helpless and blind, scared to death of this Ananias.
The First Christian Words
Here's the first words that Saul, ultimately Paul the Apostle, hears from another believer: "Brother Saul." I don't think there was anything Ananias could have done that would have been more refreshing to Saul's ears than to hear the word, brother.
And then he comes and he says, "The Lord who appeared to you told me to come to you." And this Saul who couldn't see now regains his sight. And he takes food and he becomes an active member of the body of Christ. He arose and he was baptized.
Your Place in Paul's Timeline
The reason I say this is your biography is you're somewhere in that timeline of Paul's story. You may be here and filled and fighting against God. And maybe that's all the further you're going to get in that timeline. Understand, whatever sin you've committed, He's done it in spades.
I got to share this. I was watching Sonia Live the other day. Psycho babe. And she was talking. And the issue was homosexuality. She had a psychiatrist, M.D. kind of guy. And he was there. Then two guests: a guy who said he was gay, who said he had 400 partners in six years, but had not been involved in homosexuality for nine years. And a gal, really kind of a cute gal, who said she had had a similar experience as a lesbian and shared that she, too, had not been involved in her activity for years.
So they began to talk about it. And then the psychologist said, "Well, what they are is they're just into nine years of denial. Because once they're that, they're always that." And you hear this voice of this guy say, "It's not denial, it's Christ. Christ has changed my life." And the girl says, "It's all Christ working in me." And of course, Sonia at this point, too early to go to a break, she's dead.
The World's Blindness to Christ's Power
So Sonia says, "Well, doctor, tell us from your years of research and study, because all they've got is Christ. Tell us from your years of research and study, what are they saying?" And here's what he said. He said, "Sonia, they are in denial. But also, we've looked at conversion therapy, and it doesn't work."
The world is blind. This guy's got no clue. Not the foggiest notion. This is why you sound like such a goof when you go on these shows. You take the most articulate Christian, and you get this poor sap, and he's there, and he's saying, "Christ changed my life. Here's the word, here's the testimony." And this guy says, "We studied that at Stanford. We got stacks of data. That's just something that doesn't work."
Let me tell you, Christ works, because it's true, and it's real. And you're here today. If you've come to Him in repentance and faith, you're a Christian. Well, you understand, you've got power beyond anything you've ever imagined before. The power to not sin.
The Power of Forgiveness and Transformation
Certainly, some homosexuality and lesbianism in this room, I'll guarantee you that. Probably more dominant, a whole bunch of you that have slept with just about anything in a skirt and any guy in pants. He forgives. Those of you that are single, you can be a virgin again. Not physically, that's gone. But mentally, before the Lord, you can be righteous and holy and pure.
How does that happen? You cry out to Him. Repentance and faith. Believe that Jesus is who He said He was. And act on that belief and commit that life to that. That's how that happens. And that commitment produces change. It's not a one-time deal. You'll never be the same. It's your biography. If you're a Christian,
One step more, He's got a plan for you. He's gifted you. Will you use it somewhere in the body of Christ?
We speak of the term body of Christ, and it forces us to teach you about church. Next week, we'll talk about a church. What's church? And what should a church be? We'll look at that next week.
Let's pray. Father, thank You for Your word that it's true and believable, that Your son Jesus changes lives. God, help us understand that that is true. Give us the power to live that. Let us experience the grace and the freedom, not the restriction, but the freedom that comes from true Christianity.
God, I thank You for the men and women who are here today. I pray that they hear words that are Your words and that they too will experience the love that we find in Your son, Jesus Christ. Father, it's in His precious name that we pray. Amen.
See you next week.