the habits of our church, if you've been in our
church for any length of time, then you would
know that during the time of baptism, when we
do our baptisms, we ask those who are being baptized
to give a personal testimony. We ask them to
kind of go back to what life was like before
they were saved, that moment of salvation, and
then even the desires of their heart after salvation
to obey Christ. And we've been doing this now
as a church for eight years. In fact, the first
time we ever did it was over in Lake Sammamish.
Over there on the beach side, we were out there
in the water. and standing in the very cold water
there, baptizing different people who came to
know Christ. And after that, we moved it to the
backyard of Dave and Sherry Parsons' home in
O 'Poole, and we were there doing baptisms there.
And then we outgrew the backyard and we're blessed
to have this church. And then now in the summer,
once a year, we have our baptisms and we get
to hear these testimonies of God's grace. they
really are an encouragement every single time
we hear these testimonies. I mean God grabs a
hold of a sinner and transforms their life and
brings them into the light of salvation and we've
heard even stories of people who just grabbed
a Bible or were given a Bible and they read it
and they were saved. There are stories of people
standing at a mailbox and asking their neighbor
about God and right there the light goes on.
Testimony of of kids hearing from their parents
about Jesus Christ. Testimony of people playing
basketball out here in our parking lot and Jonah
saying, hey, you should come to church. And just
all of it is such an encouragement to hear these
stories because we get to see God at work in
the life of that unbeliever. Faithful testimonies
of how Jesus saves. And they're so inspiring
and they're so encouraging to all of us as it
unites us around the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Well in Acts chapter 22 in this passage this
morning we get to hear the testimony of the Apostle
Paul. Now if you've been with us and you know
back in Acts chapter 9 we've already heard his
testimony. Well, he reiterates it again here
in Acts chapter 22, and before we finish the
book in Acts chapter 26, we'll hear it again
a third time. What's different about this one
is that this is through the lips of the Apostle
Paul himself. In Acts chapter 9, it was through
the narrator or the writer, Luke, telling the
story of what happened. Here, it is Paul himself
talking about it. And in it is a testimony of
grace. It's a testimony of forgiveness. It's
a testimony of newness of life where a man is
now given a new mission and a new purpose in
life. As we jump into this chapter, I want us
to think about your own testimony as you hear
Paul's testimony. I think we can learn some things,
even how to better communicate our own testimony
because of the testimony of the Apostle Paul.
I think it allows us even opportunity to sit
and think as we hear Paul and go, okay, what
is it? What was that moment? Who is it that helped
us? How was it that my life was transformed?
What was my life pre -Christ? What was that moment
of salvation? What is this newness of life? Am
I living in obedience to this newness of life?
Paul, even here in this chapter, in chapter 22,
uses his testimony as a gospel opportunity. There
may be some of you even this morning who are
discouraged about trying to share the gospel
with co -workers and you're trying different
angles and you're you're just trying different
ways Well, maybe it is that you just need to
share your testimony About how God changed your
life through the gospel This is exactly what
Paul does he's given an opportunity that he begs
to have Begs to speak to the people and what
does he do? He shares the gospel through His
own gospel transformation the own his own change
of his own heart and his own life So what we're
going to do then this morning is we're going
to take on this entire chapter chapter 22 and
you're thinking wow It's 2026 joe's doing something
different. He's got he's got a new mission in
mind here taking off bigger chunks Well, I just
want us to get the whole understanding of the
story here and I realize it's going to take some
time But I think it'll benefit us all So here's
what I want us to see first number one. I want
us to get the setting of this speech. What is
the setting? What's the context here to what
what's happening? Well Paul has finished I know
we got a dust off the cobwebs here Paul finished
his third missionary journey His desire was to
get to Jerusalem. There's a little bit of controversy
there over if it was the will of God or the will
of Paul for him to get to Jerusalem, but he makes
his way to Jerusalem. He believes in his spirit
that he needs to be there in Jerusalem, and he
gets to Jerusalem, and he meets with the elders
there, and James is there, the head elder is
there, and they say, hey Paul, we've got a bit
of an issue here. There's a rumor going around
that you are anti -Jewish law. You're anti -Jewish
customs It feels as though you're not on our
side anymore And so what we want you to do is
is we want you to take this These four people
here go and pay for their haircut get their head
shaved here Let them know that you're not against
the vows or the Nazarite Val. You're actually
not opposed to Jewish law and And the reality
was this is that Paul was against Jewish law
in regards to salvation. He preached hard against
that. The law cannot save you. Obedience to the
law cannot save you. But yet in in wanting to
obey his elders, he says, okay, I will I will
walk through this I will do this because I don't
want there to be disunity within the church I'm
not here to to to split the church over this
I can I can do this as Long as people know that
the law cannot save you He does not shrink back
from that at all Paul taught that salvation was
by faith alone in Christ alone and that the law
could not save you and so he does what the the
elders ask him to do but That was not enough
In verse 27 of chapter 21 when the seven days
were almost completed the Jews from Asia seeing
him in the temple stirred up the whole crowd
and they lay hands on him crying out men of Israel
help this man who is teaching everyone everywhere
against the people and the law and this place
He brings Greeks into the temple. He's defiled
this holy place a riot erupts in Jerusalem and
all eyes are now on Paul We need to arrest him.
In fact verse 31 of chapter 21 says that they
were seeking to kill him They wanted him dead
for speaking the truth All of Jerusalem was in
confusion and they grab him and they arrest him
Verse 35 when they came to the steps. He was
actually carried by the soldiers because of the
violence of the crowd They had to they had to
grab him and and take him away verse 37 as Paul
went to the went about To be brought into the
barracks. He said to the tree the tribune. May
I say something? And he said, do you know Greek?
Are you not the Egyptian? then who recently stirred
up a revolt and led the four thousand men of
the assassins out of out into the wilderness
and Paul replied I am a Jew from Tarsus and Cilicia
a citizen of of no obscure city I beg you permit
me to speak to the people When he had given him
permission Paul standing on the steps motioned
with his hand to the people and and when there
was a great hush He addressed them in the Hebrew
language. So here the Apostle Paul is saying
hey, let me have an opportunity here I know you've
seized me. I know you're taking me into prison,
but give me one opportunity here to speak to
the people a very Jewish dominant crowd, obviously,
being in Jerusalem, and he wanted to take this
opportunity to say, hey, I'm a Jew, let me speak
to the people. I'm not this person, this Egyptian
that you think I am that causes a riot. I'm simply
a Jew just like you. This opportunity that Paul
was given then, he began to speak to them in
the Hebrew language, probably... Even more specifically,
that is probably most likely Aramaic. This was
the common language of the Jews during that time.
And Paul was able to turn this situation into
something positive. In fact, one commentator
says this, readers expect hardship for Paul because
of the predictions of all the predictions. Paul
continually takes charge of the situation and
his custody does not truncate. his evangelistic
and missionary work, but rather offers new locations
and a new audience for his gospel proclamations
to continue. I love that. I was like, I'm getting
arrested. OK, can I just say one thing? I mean,
come on, I'm a Jew. I mean, just grant me just
one opportunity before you throw me in prison.
I'm hearing rumors you want me killed. Can you
just give me one opportunity? In fact, I'll even
speak in the language of the country. I'll even
speak in Hebrew. in Aramaic. Verse 22, he says,
brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I
now make before you. And when they heard that
he was addressing them in the Hebrew language,
they became even more quiet. Paul motions with
his hands, hey, I'm a Jew, let me speak to you.
They hear he starts speaking in Aramaic and Hebrew.
They become even more quiet and now they're really
on the edge of their seat. Well, they're all
standing with their fists up. Their fists are
now down and they're listening in. What does
this man have to say? Leads us to the second
point then is this, is the proclamation of Paul
verses six or actually verse three all the way
down to verse 17. Here's what he says, verse
three, I'm a Jew. Born in Tarsus of Cilicia and
been brought up in the city educated at the feet
of Gamaliel According to the strict manner of
the law of our fathers being zealous of God as
all of you are this day verse 4 I persecuted
This way to death binding and delivering to prison
both men and women as the high priest and the
whole council of the elders can bear me witness
From them I received letters to the brothers
and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those
who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem
to be punished Now this is the start of and in
verse 4 really down or you I could say in verse
3 all the way down to verse 21 This is a start
of a three -part testimony that I want you to
see there's three major parts here And you can
even be thinking through your own testimony as
you hear the testimony of Paul here. Number one,
the first part is this, life before Christ. Life
before Christ. He makes sure that they understand
this, that I, I was zealous. I was zealous of
the law. I grew up in a Christian home. I was
taught what was right from wrong. It was even
a strict manner of the law, he says. I was zealous
for God, for all the wrong reasons. I wanted
to obey the law. I was taught by the greatest
teachers, educated at the feet of Gamaliel. I
knew everything there was to know about the Old
Testament. Paul is very honest about his life
before Christ. He admits that he's a legalist.
He even says, as all of you are. He says, I was
highly educated. I was the one that knew and
understood the law. And you know what it did?
It caused me to hate Christ. It caused bitterness
in my heart. Verse four, I persecuted the way
to the death. I didn't have grace in my life.
I had a whole lot of legalism. I had a whole
lot of obedience to the law. In Philippians chapter
three, in verse four and following he says this,
Myself have reason for confidence in the flesh
also if anyone else thinks he has reason for
confidence in the flesh I have more circumcised
on the eighth day of the people of Israel of
the tribe of Benjamin a Hebrew of Hebrews as
to the law of Pharisee as to zeal a persecutor
of the church as to righteousness under the law
What is he saying? He is saying very clearly
that I tried to earn my favor with God. I was
zealous. I was under the law. I obeyed. I was
self -serving and self -saving. I wanted to know
God So that I can let people know how obedient
I am and how strict I am it was all about me
and my righteousness There's really only two
kind of people in this world There's only two
kinds of religion in this world one religion
is one that tries to save themselves And the
other one is the religion of believing that Jesus
Christ can be your only Savior. That's it And
Paul claims this I was in the one that I tried
to earn Favor with God by adherence to the law
and all it did was cause bitterness in my heart
And so I turned around and I persecuted Christians
because of it You'd go on and Philippians chapter
3 and you say but verse 6 but whatever gain I
had He says now I count it as lost for the sake
of Christ indeed I count everything as lost because
of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus
my lord for his sake I suffered the loss of all
things and count them as rubbish in order that
I may gain Christ and be found in him He gets
it not having a righteousness of my own that
comes from the law But that which comes through
faith in Christ the righteousness of God that
depends on faith. You would finally get it, but
it wouldn't be until Paul would spend his life
persecuting the church, persecuting Christ. The
righteousness that he thought he had pre -Christ
was no righteousness at all. It's all rubbish.
In regards to salvation, it was worth nothing.
His good works were not enough. Now listen, to
receive the good news of Jesus Christ, you must
be honest with yourself to say, hey, I recognize
this, I can't save myself. I could not do it.
I cannot earn my salvation. It doesn't matter
how strict, To the law to obedience it is to
to God that does not save me Salvation comes
by faith alone in Christ alone for his glory
alone And we have to be honest about the bad
news and the bad news is this before Christ you
and all of humanity is headed to hell Paul was
headed to hell and he was taking as many people
as he could with him Paul's heart was sinful
and sin -filled. It was wicked. It was Even in
his attempts to be righteous. It was wicked.
In fact in first Timothy 1 15 Paul says this
I am the worst of sinners He got it he could
not save himself This is where we all are If
you're a believer you once were there in fact,
I want you to see this in Titus chapter 3 Turn
to Titus chapter 3 with me There must be an understanding
in your salvation testimony that you were once
not saved You were once not saved in Titus 3
Verse 3 for we ourselves were once foolish Paul
writing of Titus including themselves we we ourselves
were once foolish disobedient led astray slaves
the various passions and pleasures passing our
days and malice and envy hated by others and
hating one another but When the goodness and
loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He
saved us. Not because of works done by us in
our own righteousness, but according to His mercy.
Listen, before you were saved, you were also
on a path headed to hell. Everyone was. It doesn't
matter if you grew up in a Christian home or
not, it doesn't matter if your parents are very
righteous. It doesn't matter the heritage of
your family. When you were born, you were born
destined for hell. And your testimony is just
as miraculous as the person that was was living
their life as maybe you'd think as a drug addict
or an alcoholic and their radical transformation
is just as radical as anybody else's in this
room. Because nobody here can save themselves.
Every salvation story is a miracle of God. Leads
to the second point then go back to Acts 22.
The second point then is this, life changed by
Christ. Verse six, as I was on my way and drew
near to Damascus, and here's Paul, minding his
own business. He's headed to Damascus to do what?
To find the Christians. You wanna say he was
headed to church? Okay, he's headed to church.
He's not headed to worship though. He might be
headed to church, but he's headed to church to
rip those Christians out of church and drag them
to jail He hated Christians he hated the way
I Persecuted this way to death. I was on my way.
Just minding my own business persecuting the
church I I was looking for Christians He was
not trying to honor Christ. He hated Christians.
He was trying to kill them. Great light shines.
We're from heaven and what? Suddenly, it's shown
around me. This is, in Paul's testimony right
here, verse six, all the way down, you can see
even to the rest of, all the way down to verse
21, this is Paul's but God moment. This is his,
but God stepped into my life moment. I was going
along this path. I was selfish. I was self -centered.
I wanted to only persecute people. I had a band
of brothers to do that with. I was even in cahoots
with the government to find the Christians to
go and persecute them. And I was going along
and doing it But God. But God had another plan
for my life. But God interjected and saved me.
But God turned my life around. And God had to
do it for Paul in this dramatic way. that would
get his attention, that would arrest his will
and show them that God is in control and Saul
here, Paul here, is not in control. Paul wasn't
looking to be saved. Paul wasn't looking to find
Christ. He was looking to find Christians, to
persecute them. Paul didn't have a desire for
God. Paul wasn't searching for God. In this God
moment, Paul was just minding his own business,
the greatest threat to Christianity at the time,
destroying church, ruining families, ruining
people's lives. But God came in and changed his
life dramatically. Arrested his soul. Changed
his life, his purpose. His eternal destiny. Theologians
call this fancy word monergism or monergistic.
It is the the single work of God in salvation.
It's not synergistic or it is the work of of
God and man kind of we're doing this together
kind of a thing until we figure this thing out
moment no this is God just saying Saul you're
saved. You're now mine. But God God chose him
God called him God changed him Paul did nothing
but respond to the work of God in his life and
had God not imposed Paul's will Paul would have
never been saved In fact look with me if you
would Paul wrote a book to the Ephesians turn
over to Ephesians if you would I want to show
you a couple passages here that they even help
us Understand this in even greater detail Ephesians
chapter 1 verse 4 says this even as he chose
us in him before the foundation of the world
that we should be holy and blameless before him
in love he predestined us for adoption to himself
as sons through Jesus Christ now here's the part
I want you to underline according to the purpose
of Paul's will. It's not what it says, does it?
It says according to the purpose of whose will?
Of his will. To the praise of his glorious grace
which he has blessed us in the beloved. Down
to the Ephesians chapter two. Verse 1 we are
dead in our trespasses sin in which you also
walked following the course of this world following
a prince of the power of the air That spirit
is now in the work of disobedience among whom?
We all once lived in passions of our flesh carrying
out the desires of the body who who who did oh
we all did We all carried out the desires of
the bind and the body and were by nature children
of wrath like the rest of mankind verse 4 but
who but God But God God was rich in mercy. God
has great love towards us, which he loved us,
that when we are dead, he made us alive together
with Christ by grace you have been saved. And
in that moment, Saul met the Savior and went
from being the hit man from hell to being the
holy man from heaven. From being a... Persecutor
of Christ to proclaiming Christianity a total
change of the heart and will a total picture
of repentance This was Paul Verse 10 he says
what should I do Lord? Rise go with me into Damascus
there you'll be told all it is appointed for
you to do and since I could not see The brightness
of light I was led by the hands to Damascus verse
12 and one ananias a devout man according to
the law well spoken of the Jews lived there came
to me standing by me and said to me brother Saul
receive your sight and at that very hour i received
my sight i saw him and he said the god of our
fathers appointed you to know his will to see
the righteous one and to hear a voice from his
mouth for you will be a witness for him to everyone
what you have seen and heard and now Why do you
wait, rise and be baptized and wash away your
sins calling on His name? Verse 16, notice this.
It says, rise, be baptized and wash away your
sins calling on His name. You're not saved through
baptism. Water does not save you. We need to
be clear on that. Baptism does not save you.
I want us to be clear on that. But there is there
a modifier to what He is saying. There, and what
modifies that sentence in verse 16 is the final
phrase, calling on His name. That's what saves
you. Calling on His name. In Acts 16 -32, when
the Philippian jailer asked Paul, what must I
do to be saved? Paul could have very well said,
hey, you need to be baptized. They didn't say
that. What did he say to the Philippian jailer?
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will
be saved as clear as a question as he could possibly
get as clear as an answer as you could possibly
get And in obedience You follow up in the baptisms
of water Romans 10 13 another book that Paul
wrote to the book to the Church of Rome said
whoever calls upon the name of the Lord Will
be saved. This is the message of salvation Paul
was saved by faith. That's how everyone is saved.
By faith, through the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
No one is saved apart from belief in Jesus Christ.
Peter said, there's no other name under heaven
by which we will be saved. Acts 412. Jesus said
I am the way the truth in the life. No one comes
of father except through me I Want you to notice
something here verse 12, there's a man Ananias
a devout man according to the law well spoken
of by the Jews. This was the man that came up
to To Saul Paul put his hand on him and he began
to help Paul understand the gospel he helped
him to To know the truth he was the one that
said in verse 14 the god of our fathers appointed
you to know his will to see The righteous one
and to hear a voice from his mouth. I think this
is important for us to understand even in testimony
those Who have helped share the gospel in your
life? Who was it who is it that that came into
your life and said let me explain what's going
on Let me explain the gospel. I mean, Ananias
had to go to a man who was persecuting the church
and say, okay, Lord, I'm going to obey you in
this. I hope I don't get killed. I'm going to
obey you in this. He teaches Saul the gospel.
Ananias had no idea that Saul would turn around
and become Paul. the greatest theologian and
missionary and church planter ever and the one
to write 13 New Testament books Ananias was just
being faithful to obey God and Paul mentions
him here so that the Jews know hey, he's a devout
man. He's well spoken of You can go and ask him.
This is exactly what happened in my testimony
and I think this is even important for us as
we as we contemplate and understand our our own
testimony that we know the people and we've thanked
the people who shared the gospel with us. Those
who've come in our life and said, hey, let me
tell you about Jesus. Let me explain the gospel
even further to you. Just this last Christmas
Eve, I just want to share an email that I got.
It was sent here to the office. It was actually
sent while I was standing right here at a Christmas
Eve in teaching, and I just share this email
to you by way of encouragement to you and in
no way want to offer or bring praise upon myself,
but I feel like it's important just for us to
understand and illustrate what I'm saying. About
20 years ago, Aaron and I were in college ministry
together. 20 -some years ago, we were doing college
ministry. Some of you are like, there's no way
you're that old. And I appreciate that. We're
not that old. About maybe even more than that
than 20 years ago. And we led a Bible study there
for five years. About 50 to 80 college students
in our Bible study at different times would come
and go. And anyway, a letter came through and
Paige, who works in the office, got it and she
forwarded it to me even that night. And I opened
it up and I read it and I just want to read it
to you. It says this, Merry Christmas Eve. I
don't have Joe Pemberty's email anymore, but
I wanted to reach out and thank him for his ministry
so many years ago. 20 years ago, during a college
group white elephant party, he came up and asked
me, are you happy? It caught me off guard, and
over the next 30 minutes or an hour, Joe asked
me many questions about sin in my life, called
me out on sin that had pervaded my heart and
thinking. I was ensnared and without a doubt
God used Joe to convict me and admonish me right
there, sitting outside of that Coca -Cola themed
house. He was so well used by my Savior to prune
sin from me and continue to shepherd me despite
my failing. I don't know what kind of year you're
having, Joe, but please know that God's work
through you is part of my testimony. and in the
way the Spirit worked that evening changed my
life. I don't know what happened to that bear
-shaped brownie pan that I won, but I do know
that I left that party broken, open, and no longer
strangled by that sin. I pray that your ministry
to your family and to your flock excels still
more. Merry Christmas I got to open that up on
Christmas and think back I Had no idea what I
was doing when I was 23 years old When was the
last time you think the person who shared the
gospel with you When's the last time you encouraged
that person who came alongside and said hey you
need Jesus You're acting out of line. That was
Ananias. He came in, obviously called of God,
just obeying God to come into his life and use
him. Each time he says, Ananias came in, Ananias
came in. It's important to realize, why is this
important? Because you didn't do it. The story
isn't about you. Your testimony actually isn't
about you. Your testimony is about God and those
who came into your life that God used to change
your life. Third part of this testimony, number
three. Life's mission for Christ. Now your life's
mission is for Christ. Look at verse 15. Your
sins calling on his name when I returned to Jerusalem
and was praying in the temple I fell into a trance
and saw him saying to me make haste get out Jerusalem
quickly because they will not accept your testimony
about me and I said Lord they themselves know
that in one synagogue after another I am prisoned
and beat those who believed in you and when the
flood or excuse me when the blood of Stephen
your Witness was being shed I myself was standing
by and approving and watching Over the garments
of those who killed him and he said to me go
for I will send you far away to the Gentiles
Paul now has a new Mission a new life entirely
changed Radically changed his purpose and mission
now is to get the gospel out to the Gentiles
He's a new man on a new mission building now
the kingdom of God. In Acts 9 and verse 15 he
says, go for he is a chosen instrument of mine
to carry my name before the Gentiles and to the
kings and to the children of Israel. He now has
a new purpose. Even in Ephesians 3, 8 he says,
I am the very least of all the saints. This grace
was given to me to preach to the Gentiles the
unsearchable riches of Christ. Paul's life, listen,
it was different once he came to know Christ
than it was before. He had new desires. He had
new obedience. All that information that he learned
as a child and and all that information that
that he grew up with and obeying the law now
it all made sense to him all of that isn't there
for for For him to obey in this strict manner
to obtain righteousness know all that that understanding
of the law was for him to recognize There's no
way I could obey the law to earn righteousness
to be saved He got it and now that obedience
to the law makes sense It's obedience to the
law so that he can fulfill his purpose in life,
which is to give God the glory as he shares the
gospel to the laws. He was changed. He was different.
Does your testimony include new desires that
are different from your old life? Are you different
than you were pre -Christ? What is your purpose
in life? Now notice this number three to wrap
it up here number three third major point here
is this we have now animosity from the audience
Alright, the last thing he says is he's gonna
send us to the Gentiles Well, they didn't like
that verse 22 up to this word. They listened
to him. They're all in they listened to him,
right? They raised their voices and said away
with such a fellow from the earth for he should
not be allowed to live They're shouting, they're
throwing their coats, there's dust flinging into
the air. One commentator said this in verse 22
where it says, there's dust flinging in the air.
One commentator says this, they couldn't find
rocks so they grabbed the dirt and threw it at
him. That's how upset they were. They ordered
him to the barracks, they want him flogged, they're
shouting at him. And he says this, is it lawful,
verse 25, is it lawful for you to flog a man
who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned? And when
the centurion heard this, He stopped for this
man is a Roman citizen Animosity has arisen They
want him dead They wanted Paul killed In fact
in verse 12 look at chapter 23 in verse 12 when
it was day the Jews made a plot and bound themselves
by an oath either to eat To not eat or drink
till they had killed Paul. That's how upset they
are. And here's the point I want to make in this.
Okay, you ready for this? Truth -tellers are
not wanted in a culture of liars. Truth -tellers
are not wanted in a culture of liars. That's
where we live. We should not be surprised by
this. They hated Jesus who spoke the truth. They
will hate all truth -tellers. They hated Peter,
they hated John, they hated Paul, they hated
Jesus, and guess what? Christian, they're gonna
hate you. Because you speak the truth about heaven
and hell and how to get there. You speak truth
about Jesus Christ. You speak truth about right
and wrong. And this is what Paul was doing. Simply
speaking the truth living out what he was appointed
to do by God They didn't beat him why because
he says he's a Roman Citizen now remember he
started out by saying what I am a Jew Right so
that gives him an opportunity to speak and he
comes to the end and he goes hey by the way I'm
also a Roman citizen. Oh wait. Well now we can't
beat you now. We can't flog you In Matthew 10
-16, Jesus says this, be wise as serpent and
innocent as doves. Right? He's even speaking
in the context of persecution. Right? We don't
just turn off our brains. No, we stay wise. We
stay innocent. Be wise in our evangelism. Paul
saved his own life by saying he's a Jew and he
saved his life again by saying he's a Roman citizen
both statements there are true verse 29 so those
who are about to examine him withdrew from him
immediately and the Tribune was also frayed for
he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and
that he had bound him He's like close up here,
I just want to Read this one quote to you. So
the last thought to put in your mind before we
go into communion. It says this Paul Was an extremely
rare individual. Yeah, you think It was uncommon
to find such an educated intelligent devout drew
Jew who was also a Roman citizen God would use
this unique background to use Paul in a special
way Even as he wants to use your unique background
and your testimony to use you in a special way.
Right? Hey, you've got a story to tell, believer.
You were saved by God through Jesus Christ. That
is radical. That is amazing. And it is a clear
picture of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And God
is going to use your background. God is going
to use your gifting. God is going to use your
story. for the glory of God as you share that
with the people around you. Well, we get an opportunity
to now take of the communion elements together
as a church, something that we love to do as
a church. I'm going to ask our deacons to come
forward. have Shay and the rest of the team come
up and lead us in worship and I Want us uniquely
this Sunday as we think about Communion and as
the elements are being passed we always want
you to just have an opportunity to have silence
and I want you to think about that moment that
God saved you and maybe it is you don't have
like a clear clear moment like the Apostle Paul
is but Would you just thank the Lord for the
gospel? Maybe it is that you even take this time
in communion to thank the Lord for the people
that he brought into your life to tell you about
the gospel Make this moment here as you hold
the bread and the cup in your hand about gospel
transformation that you are a Living example
of the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's
not about you. It's about God. About his son,
Jesus Christ, and what he had done on the cross
for you. Just take a moment in the quietness
of your heart to meditate and think about those
things. Already said it to you, but in Acts 4
12 there is salvation in no one else For there
is no other name under heaven given among men
by which we must be to us would go on and write
a letter to the Corinthians talking about the
Lord's Supper in this moment that we're even
taking now as a church. They say this in verse
23 of chapter 11, for I received from the Lord
what I also delivered to you that the Lord Jesus
on the night when he was betrayed he took the
bread and when giving thanks he broke it and
said this is my body which is for you. Do this
in remembrance of me. Church let's take the bread
in remembrance of the death. Jesus. After he
took the bread he took the cup and he said this
in the same way he took the cup after supper
saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance
of me for as often as you eat the bread and drink
the cup you proclaim the Lord's death. until
he returns. Church, in remembering the forgiveness
of sins that you have, the new covenant that
you have in Jesus Christ, let's proclaim the
Lord's death until he comes together. Lord Jesus,
thank you for the way that you have worked in
our hearts when we were dead in our trespasses
and sin. You made us alive together with Christ,
for by grace we have been saved. Not of ourselves.
It is the gift of God. Thank you, Lord. Lord,
thank you for the way you have shaped everyone
here and the testimonies that they have. All
unique, all different. But what unites us is
that God saves. What unites us is that it is
the power of God unto salvation And Lord, maybe
there's someone here who's thinking after hearing
this message that they're not sure about their
testimony Maybe they're going wait a minute.
I didn't I haven't thought through that Lord
would you by your spirit? Convict those hearts
and use this time in your word to soften and
draw those hearts to you even bring greater clarity
to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's in his name
we pray, amen.