How's that? So we're booming on to a new chapter and we'll start verse one. And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went into the high priest. We should notice a pattern here. If we were pulling back and looking at it, and I did. There's a pattern because the last chapter started the exact same way. And Paul, or and Saul, and excuse me, I'm going to make that mistake a bunch of times tonight by calling him Paul or Saul. I'm gonna try to make sure in my notes I wrote it out real big, Saul, to make sure I'm calling him the right name at this point in time. We know he becomes Paul. But right now he's Saul, but chapter eight started out and Saul. Chapter nine starts out and Saul. So I went back and looked, I'm like, that's kind of an interesting word to start out with. Well, chapter two, four, six, eight, nine all started out with and first, which is kind of interesting. But then so do 11, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 27 to 28. So 15 chapters of the 28 start out with the word and. And I'm like, that's probably something we should take notice of. You know, God is pretty specific about what he does, when he does, when he doesn't. And so it's an action book, and that, I think once it started in the beginning, and, then it just keeps progressing, and this, and that, and so it never stops, it continues on today. So right now, if they were writing the chapter that was going on today for us, it'd be Anne Cornerstone Church met on a Wednesday night, and there's the saints gathered to pray for the people of their day, for their elections, the celebrations, and lessons being taught, and studying God's word. Something that they have vowed to do together until the king calls them home or comes to rescue them from this present world. So it might be something to be written about us at this point in time and us. The book of Acts is an action book. It's a book of action about today as well. It's continued on until this day. We started at the intro saying that this book hasn't ended. It kind of ends with almost like an ellipsis, like it continues on and here we are and the final chapter will be put on when he takes us home. but it's a book of actions conducted by and. And is a conjunction, that means it's hooking up words and phrases and clauses, especially items with the same class or type. See, and, that's an additive, like this and that. Conjunction is hooking up like two boxcars and making them sound right, and that's the way it functions, that conjunction-junction, that is its function. And we find out that the song from the 1970s Schoolhouse Rock is biblical. It's about taking common-like phrases, putting it together, and we can use conjunction-junction to interpret and help us see a deeper meaning in the book of Acts, and I thought that was cool. I thought that was really cool. That's schoolhouse rock. I just wanna say, Mom, I wasn't wasting my time watching TV, learning those silly songs. At least those few commercials, right? And so that was the in-between break before everything, but it sticks with you, and it's there, and it might not be the last time it helps us in tonight's lesson, if that's foreshadowing. And that's just the first word, and. It's already kind of telling us that this is something that goes on, that God's work has begun and it will continue to go on and it's all connected. And what we do here is connected all the way back to the things that were first being done there in Jerusalem and spreading it to Judea, Samaria, and then the uttermost parts of the earth that's connected back to us. And then that made me stop and think, that's just a little word, and. And I remember when I was first studying as a young man in my 20s, I had a Strong's Concordance that I got for high school graduation. And it had every word in the Bible listed and where you could find it, you know, at what passage. And in the very back it has where someone had gone through, this was before computers, and counted and told every time the word and had been used, or the, or a, or on, or in. I'm like, man, what dedication to the word to do that. And that made me think of what Jesus Christ said, the importance of his word. Not one jot or one tittle of my word will pass away until all these things be fulfilled. Every word, every conjunction, every three-letter, one-letter, two-letter word matters to God. And that's why he's put it there and how he is using it. And that gave me the goosebumps just thinking about him. So verse one, let's read it again, and this time let it soak in a little bit. I know Anne's gonna make you wanna sing the song, but we're gonna focus this a little bit. It says, and Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest. Saul's not Paul yet, even though I might slip up calling him that. It's about to happen. Matter of fact, that's one of the topics of this chapter. There's a lot that goes on in this chapter. But it says here he's breathing out threats. Have you ever had somebody threaten you? It's not pleasant. Someone hanging something over your head, something you don't know if it's gonna come true or not, but they're threatening you with it to try to control you, to manipulate you. I know someone who had an evil neighbor and he threatened them all the time. between verbal things that he would say, through hand gestures, by slowing down the way he would look as he would go by, just tormenting them. Just for what? Living next door. It was not fun. It was not pleasant. It was very traumatic to the family. The police were called. They knew. But hey, he hadn't done nothing. All he did was look and throw some words. It's a free country. And it is a free country. But man, they just threatened against them and knew they were just kind of waiting. So then, you know, with that kind of thing going on, every noise you hear in the night, it's not just something you can just roll over, right? What was that? Every time you have car trouble, did somebody mess with it? My brake's okay? Every time a tire was low, was that on purpose? Or was it just because it turned cold? What was that? You know, just, it gets in your mind and it stays there. They ended up eventually moving, just to have some kind of peace. That's not always an option. that just makes you sick. And there's no rest from anything, on anything, because of threatenings. And Paul, sorry, Saul is not just breathing out these threats, letting it be known what he's going to do if he finds you. But it goes on, and it uses a very descriptive word here in the King James, it says, and slaughter. Slaughter, that's a ugly descriptive word, isn't it? Not only does he threatening you, he's threatening you with slaughter. The ESV puts murder. The New Living Translation has eager to kill. That's kind of descriptive too. He's eager to kill those that he's opposed to. NIV puts murderers. That's hardcore, right? Not only does he like, he can't just be, well, they're of some different group than me. No, he's gotta go after them and try to snuff them out. He sees it as that vehemently opposed to the religion that he holds to that he wants to go after them and kill them. That's not Judaism. But man, Paul is a zealot. He's going after him. He has taken it to the point where you violated God's word, and God does talk about if you make my name in vain in order to be stoned, and you're calling this man Jesus Christ God, and he's gone after him, and he might be a little sensitive because he just stood at the feet of Stephen, right? And Stephen's acting like a Pharisee. Matter of fact, he argues against the Sadducees with very Pharisaical terms, and man, he has made some sense out of the scriptures that the others haven't. I don't think that's wasted on, Gamaliel, a star student here, Paul. I mean, Paul is the top of his education. He's a young man, and he has been put into the position where they think he's on the Sanhedrin. He has power, he has influence. He is now this zealot to go out, and it says here he's threatening them, and they've talked about, J. Vernon McGee talks about the Book of Acts, and when it starts out, he goes, it's a youth movement. These were young people. The old people sat in their ways. It was harder for them to see. They finally come around. But it was the youth that got it. It was the youth that jumped on it. Jesus Christ has taken my sins. Jesus Christ is the Messiah. I could see that. I could see how this is. And it was these young people. Stephen was a young man as it comes. Paul's a young man at this, or Saul's a young man at this time. And so this is the only encounter they have together. But I believe what Stephen said and how Stephen said it, and the look on Stephen's face where they had to say, this man looks as if he's an angel, has affected Saul to the point where it brings him to this road that he's coming up on. But he's not just threatening generically, but it says he's threatening here the disciples of the Lord. And the disciples here are not just the 12 apostles, that's the apostles. The disciples here are the believers of the apostles and of Jesus Christ. And so it's the whole church, he's going after all of them. How would you like that if we're all gathered together? I know we've played underground church, but what if it was the knock at the door, and we're like, who's that? Were we expecting anybody else? I think everybody made it. Is this the time? Are they gonna come in? Are they gonna raid us? Is this gonna be the one? That all the time, we've gathered together, we're here, who's driving by the road? We take notice, are they taking pictures of license plates? Who's here? Is this gonna cost me the rest of the week when I get home? That kind of fear. In the Through the Word app, if you haven't tried it yet, I'll give another little plug for it, it's pretty good. And the teacher there, as he describes this chapter, he likens Paul unto Darth Vader. And especially at the end of Rogue One, right before the beginning of New Hope, if I'm talking nerd speak here, the original Star Wars as it gets in, it builds right there, and it builds and it makes him evil. And he's getting ready to board, and at this point he's boarding Leia's ship because they've stolen the plans to the Death Star, they've got it to him. He's gotta get a hold of it, because if they can blow up the Death Star, it's drastic, but he's coming in there like a death juggernaut. He just starts out with that breathing, that Darth Vader. and it's coming, and then the lightsaber lights, and then he wields it like a juggernaut as he comes in. This is Saul at the early church, and I hope I've done a good job building that picture, but I also have a video. So if Michaela can show it, and hopefully with this music on it, get this feeling, the people that are fighting against Darth Vader is the church, and the last ship as it flies out at the end is the church as it spreads, taking the gospel around. Darth Vader is Saul. Oh, that's me. How'd I do there? Me too. That guy sounds great. Play, there we go. That's the feeling that should have invoked in us as we see this. That kind of, he's coming after us, he's coming after us. They have now jumped and the church has fled. Now Paul's like, they've gone to Damascus. I need to go get papers from the authority. I go to Emperor Palpatine and get the right, keep the metaphors going together. But he goes after them. That's the kind of the fear, the dread, he's coming. That's how they felt. Well, they're locked in and he's coming, he's on the way. That's the emotion that should invoke into us as he's doing this. And so that's Saul looking out at the end, getting ready to go to the high priest and that's how verse one's in. And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went into the high priest. It's like they've left and they've gone. I've got to chase him, we can't let him get away. Of course, God is using this and even using Saul without even knowing it, to spread the gospel. We talked about that last few weeks, you know, how the persecution of Saul was forcing the gospel out from their comfort zone in Jerusalem and put it into Judea, Samaria, and then the uttermost parts of the earth. And so now we see it fleeing out. And so he's going. That's the feel the church had, and we kind of need to understand that because we always know, well, he's gonna be Paul. He eventually throws in a Palpatine, but he's a bad, bad guy. Remember the first time you see, he's terrifying. Verse two, and he desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether there were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. He's gone after to get the letters. That means basically the authority to go and to capture them. This is why I often say that he had a double O license. He's like a double O seven means the double O meant you had a license to kill. He basically has that. He's been given the papers, go get them. You're free to do this. Here he says specifically they want us to bring in them bound. He's gonna tie them up, put them in fetters or chains. and bring them back to Jerusalem for a trial where he hopes they will be stoned like Stephen just was, but he's gonna just bring these men, no, men and women, the heartless nature of this, that he's going to go after men and women to bring them back, break up families, tear parents away from their children to do whatever, to bring them back, because he thinks he's that right. This is the way he lives. If he's right, he's all in. We'll see how God uses that for an advantage, right? Because Paul's all in. When Paul's all in, Paul's all in. once he changes him to Paul. But here he's still Saul. So Damascus, Damascus was way north of Jerusalem. It's 136 miles north. It took way too long for me to figure all this out, but it's 136 miles away. To put it out from here, to give you perspective, we've all been to Florida, right? We're Hoosiers, that's where we go most of the time in Florida. 136 miles exactly is Elizabethtown, Kentucky, so about halfway through Kentucky. Two and a half hours by car, you've just gone through Louisville, you're still going a little bit further, and you're like, ah, we should've stopped at the rest area. You're like, we got one last chance here in Elizabethtown, there it is. That's two days and two hours if you walk 24 hours a day. I don't know why Google has that on there, who's gonna do that? But it does, and you can click it and it's gonna take you two hours and two days doing that. And I was just trying to think of what's it like to be bound. in distress because someone is breathing threatenings to you. Not just threatenings, slaughter. Threatening you with slaughter. And he's dragging you 136 miles while you're bound and threatening you and then probably berating you the whole time while you're dragging you all the time while you're having to walk yourself. You think they gave you a car or a cart or a donkey? No, you're the one walking. If you can't keep up, you know, the horse will probably drag you and whatever else. And so all that against them, these murderous threats. Not knowing about your family, what about your kids? Did you get separated from your wives? Is she in your group? I don't know. All that going on, that's Saul. This kind of threat, that kind of threat that we watched. So they're bound and they are distressed and he's wanting to drag them back 136 miles to get back to Jerusalem. Saul heard they were there, so he gets these papers to go after them. And I've heard some of the preachers are saying, I wonder after his conversion why he dipped those papers. Rip them up, burn them, put them on his wall like that's who I used to be. I don't know. I think a lot of us probably have some mementos of who we used to be, but we'd probably like to get rid of them. Paul was that way. Everybody forgives Paul, but Paul. Notice also in this verse that the early church was called the way. It says he desired letters to Damascus, to the synagogue. If he found any in this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. There's a couple other places where it's called that and Acts 19, we'll see it again, it's called the way. And Acts 28, verse 27, it's called the sect, a strange sect. You know, it's like there's Judaism, there's a strange sect that said that this man died and rose again the third day and they're all following him. And then later we get the name Christians, but it's, right now they're just calling it the way, probably because that's how they'd invite people. Let me show you. Jesus Christ said he is the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes with the Father but by him. And it's a cool name, and I wish it was a name that we could use or something we could advertise or play after. But Satan does a good job of taking whatever God does for good and he means it for evil. And he wants to taint it, he wants to blacken it. And so there is a cult by the name of the way that masquerades itself as Christians, but they aren't. They have a lot of the same words, a lot of the same doctrine, or a lot of the same sounding doctrine, a lot of the same distinctions that you would think you would find in a church or a biblically based church. but they're just enough different. That's why we're to test all things, examine all things and hold fast to that which is good or what this was just true. That's why we need to know the true gospel. We needed to know sound doctrine so it can be exposed and we would not get wrapped up into the lies of these other cults. Actually, this is called the way. It denies that Jesus is God. Bing, bing, bing, bing, bing. There's a first alarm. Who do you say that Jesus Christ is? Matter of fact, I've got a note written in the front of my Bible that says, this is one of the tests. If you know if someone's of God or not, who do they say Jesus Christ is? And if they say he's anything but God in the flesh, alarm bells should be going off. They deny that Jesus is God. They have no use for the Old Testament or the Gospels. They are an epistle-only church. And the sad thing about that, there's a lot of churches that are here closer to us that hold to a doctrine like that, that say that most of the Bible's not relevant, that we're only an epistle only. That sets you up for error, because the epistles themselves tell you that the Old Testament is an example for us, and how do you get all the types and the shadows and pictures unless you have the types and the shadows and pictures, or examples and those things there? You're so blindsided, it sets you up for error there, but there's some, even in Whiteland, that teach that. Bible. It's not the word of God, but it contains the word of God. It sounds very spiritual. No, it's the word of God. It's God breathed. The word of God is written by inspiration of God. The Bible tells us Timothy were to have. There's one in Indianapolis. I'm pretty sure I've never seen one in Bloomington. I think they've got every cult out there probably. They are officially based out of Ohio, and so this is a sect that started, or this cult that started here in the United States in the early, I think he started preaching it as an official church in the 1950s, but it's still alive and well today. When I worked in Indianapolis, sometimes they'd be out and about, and I'd be like, oh, this is a church, oh, it's the way. That's not right, that's not good, and so, against them. As a matter of fact, I've got this book of beliefs, and it has a whole big, section on them on the way and it breaks it all down, comparing them to Christianity and things like that. So if you ever hear of any strange religion or anything, I do have a book you can borrow and look. I think Dave has the same book. Didn't you buy this one? Yeah, and so there's a couple we can help you out if you're looking up or you wanna know some distinctions on something weird or you don't know, we can help look it up for you. It's in there. That's them, so they've tainted it so we don't use it. So we also need to be wise when we test all things. Just because somebody sounds Christian or acts Christian, or we're carrying a Bible, we talk about Jesus, but this is a different Jesus that are not looking at the Bible the same way. Oh, that's right, I forgot he was in the way. Yeah, we did this, I thought it was just recent, yeah. Yeah, he came to the service here once, didn't he? Yeah, yeah, so yeah. All right, good. So yeah, three resources. So if you know anybody in the way, we can help you out. So that's good, that's why the church gathers together to kind of help prepare against those things. Verse three says, and as he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven. And he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Who's Saul been persecuting? The body of Christ, the church, Christians, right? And that's how Christ sees it. If you're picking on one of mine, you're picking on me. If you're persecuting one of mine, you're persecuting me. Christ sees us as that close association with Him. That's why He says if you offend one of these little ones, it's better if you'd have a millstone tied about your neck. We have to be careful how we treat Christians. even one another, right? Because if we're all in the Christ, you know, husband's how we treat our wives, wives how we treat her husband, parents how we treat her kids. We are God's family, we are pictures and we are types and we are there. And God defends his and here Christ is like, hey, hey, hey, why are you persecuting me? Because your persecution is me because they're an extension of me. So it's nice knowing that we're that close to him. It's nice knowing that he sees us that we are the body of Christ. And he sees them as us and us as him. Verse five, and he said, who art thou, Lord? Which is already pretty telling of this encounter so far, right? He's calling him Lord. Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. We all must answer that question. Who art thou, Lord? Who do you say Jesus is? That's the counter that every person has to give an account for. Who do you say that Jesus is? God would probably ask all, who do you say my son is? Is he a liar, a lunatic, or your Lord? That's how C.S. Lewis puts it. The three options that you have, but it's important on how you answer. And so here, at least Saul's asking right, who are you, Lord? And Jesus tells him, I'm the one you're persecuting. These that you're after, it's me. He's seen Stephen already crying out saying, I see Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father. Saul's probably standing there looking, I don't see anything. Now all of a sudden somebody in the sky is saying, you see me now? He's got his attention right, he's down, he's in the dirt. And then Jesus gives him, I'll tell you who I am. I am the I am, I am. And I probably did not get missed on Paul. I am Jesus. That is the tetragrammaton, the I am that I am. I am him. In the Gospel of John, he says seven I am states was there. It would associate himself back to the burning bush, I am. And so he gives him I am, the name of God. I am Jesus Christ. You've seen the Father, you've seen me. I'm sure Saul's heard the stories and he knows. So Saul's already calling him Lord. And I'm thinking because Stephen's message has been bouncing around in his head since he heard it. It put him into a rage to go after them because he didn't like it and it made him feel uncomfortable. A lot of times that's kind of how it is before someone comes to a saving knowledge of him. But now he's been defeated. He's met his Lord. He's down on the ground. He sees him from the sky. There's a bright light that comes against him. And then Jesus adds this part that's in some Bibles and some leave it out, but I think it's, Good, and it says, why have you kicked against the pricks? A lot of people don't like it just because it's a weird saying. They don't know what it means because we don't use that, but the prick means a sting, like a bee or a wasp or a scorpion, something that stings against you. Or an iron goad, like an ox goad, like Shagomar carried around in the Old Testament that he defeated the Philistines with. You poke them to get them to go, prod them along the way. I heard, and I tried verifying it today and I couldn't find it on the internet I have now, but I remember it being preached that it was a board that was behind the animals that had little sharp points on it. It was spikes that if they weren't pulling their side or they weren't wanting to go and the wagon came into them, it would poke them to motivate them to keep walking and go the way they were supposed to. That's annoying and painful, so you might kick against it, but it's not there to hurt you. It's there to make sure you keep going right, that you're going the way you're supposed to go, so that you are doing what you're supposed to be doing. I think Jesus is saying, I've been trying to steer you, and every time I've tried to steer you, you are kicking against the things that I put there. Why are you being so hard-headed? Why are you running into my obstacles and then oppose him in that way? So toward the point where Christ is like, I have to meet you and call your attention. I think his truth has been coming against him. And why are you kicking against the truth? Why are you wrestling against it so hard? And so these are his tools that he's using to bring him to this point. Verse six, I think we see him surrender. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what will thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, arise, go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. Think he surrenders, he's down, he's already fallen to the dirt, now Christ has told him to arise. Arise, get up, he does. And we have to remember too, if he was going to try to transport the Christians that he found 136 miles and bound, he's more of the gang leader here. He's got the thugs with him, you know, so he's got a band of people that are traveling with him. And we hear about them at this verse, verse seven. And the men which journeyed with him, these would be the people that we're gonna. bind up the men and women and drag them back. They stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And so all they know is that something's going on, and he's in a trance over here, and they are hearing it. And we're gonna hear this account through the book of Acts at least two more times, because Paul was ready to share his testimony. And that's a testimony for you and I. Are you ready to share your testimony? Are you ready to tell how you encountered God? Are you ready to tell how he brought you to the point where you were down in the dirt, and you were humble enough to say, save me, Lord Jesus, and he does? Saul's often ready to tell that. Paul tells at least two more times. And we learn from those account that they saw a light and they heard noises, but they didn't see any person and they couldn't make out what it said. And to me, I guess it probably sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher or parents right there. That's all they could hear. And it wasn't anything. What's he doing? What's going on? They don't know. And so it's probably something like they heard it, but they don't know what's going on. Something is encountered going on, but they're left out. That's just him and him alone. And I wonder how much that is, that Stephen was telling him what he saw and no one else saw it, so now he's like, hey, he's testifying to the truth, now you're gonna testify to the truth, people aren't gonna understand you. So he has that, verse eight. And Saul rose from the earth, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did he eat or drink. Three days, you know, three is a magic number. Yeah, it's a schoolhouse rock reference again for all the gooback. And I had a t-shirt that I wore in my 30s, I think, I got it, and three's a magic number, and had the hand coming out, and I'd have to perform it any time, but I remember that, and I'd have to sing it, but listen to these lyrics from this. So I go and I look it up, and I'm not gonna tell you about three being a magic number, This is what the lyrics to Schoolhouse Rock is from 1973. Somewhere in the ancient mystic trinity, we get three as a magic number. The past, the present, the future. Faith, hope, and charity. The heart, the brain, the body give you three as a magic number. A man and a woman had a little baby, yes they did. and they had three in the family. That's a magic number. And then the rest of the song's about counting and math, and I don't remember that part. But, it was not my strong suit. But it's 1973, it starts out with the Trinity. And the pictures of the Trinity, from everything from past, present, and future, to faith, hope, and charity, to the heart, brain, and the body broke down to the three, so soul, mind, and spirit, you know, we might have that. It gives you a magic number. The Bible, uses three as a number, you know, because everything that's in the Bible all has a point and a purpose, right? It's all there. And we come to find out that even numbers, you know, kind of have trends that go across. Seven is the number of completion, you know, and the 10's a number of commands, you know, because we have commands or rules, and two's the number of witness. So we have that three. Let's see, three days, it's usually three days, then after three days, something big happens, or old becomes new, or there's a big turn, there's an event that happens after three days. On the third day, the earth brings forth vegetation. It was dead and nothing there, now all of a sudden it brings forth life on the third day. Isaac was dead to Abraham for three days. That's a pretty neat study. It's kind of you have to really glean the truth and you have to take the Old Testament and the New Testament together. So those who don't have the Old Testament are missing out on a miraculous type of Christ and all that because they don't read the new and the old together to find out that to Abraham, Isaac was dead for three days before he was given back to him alive. Joseph, when he's in the jail with the baker and the butler, that he tells them, in three days you'll be fulfilled. In three days there'll be a change in your course. And one of them lived and one of them died, you know, in that three days. Joshua was, three days they prepared to cross the Jordan and to take the promised land. You know, they prepared for three days and then it happened. Esther fasted for three days before she went forth to approach King Ahasuerus, you know, to say, let my people be free, you know, through that, you know, release this curse from Haman. Jonah was three days in the belly of the whale. Moses was asking for a three-day journey to go out, and Moses was hidden for three months before he's rescued. It seems like death, and all of a sudden life is given, because for three months, I think the other day, I said three years. That'd have been a big kid in that little bull rock, that little ark, but he was three months, and in the little, hid in the bulrushes. Three is everywhere between holy, holy, holy. They always mention God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, three. Sham, Ham, Japheth, three. Three pilgrim feasts that required to travel. One of them is starting today, Feast of Booths. We'll celebrate ours one night on Friday. So those are the three pilgrim feasts. Jesus celebrated three Passovers during his ministry. Mary stayed with Elizabeth three months. Jesus at 12 was missing for three days. Jesus takes three men on the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John. Faith, hope, and love are the three virtues. Heaven has three gates on either side. Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit all point to this. Hosea 6 talks about it'll be three days then God will return after they ask. It'll take three days after they make the request that he returns and rescues them. And Jesus said he would rise in three days. It's a magic number. It's a number of chains. It's a number where it comes. And I'm sure that's just the tip of the iceberg. I'm sure there's more in the scriptures as you pull through it. But it's not there on accident. And if you start to have eyes to see, you'll see these little nods to, ooh, something's about to happen. We just had the number three pop in, and all of a sudden it becomes aware to you. But here, he's been blind three days. Something's about to change. Verse nine, and he was three days without sight, and neither did he eat or drink. I wonder what he was doing. What do you think he's doing for three days when he can't see? What would you be doing? I'd probably be praying, right? Lord, I don't know what just happened. Lord, I'm not sure what's going on. Lord, I'd like to see you again. Lord, my life has turned upside down. I have invested so much in Judaism. We know later Paul says, I count it all but dung. I was a Jew among the Jews. And he goes, I count it as stinking waste. I forfeit all for Christ. Verse 10, and there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. And to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias, and he said, Behold, I'm here, Lord. I think because he's a good Bible student and he knew from Samuel that he's like, oh, I should probably just say behold, here I am. He didn't have an Eli to run to. But verse 11, and the Lord said unto him, arise and go into the street which is called straight and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he prayeth. And he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him that he might receive his sight. That's specific. God says, I want you to go to this guy. Oh, he lives on Straight Street. He's at Judas's house. This is probably the best thing they had to a street address on this street named Straight. Judas is there, he's in there. You'll find a guy blind. You go in, he's waiting for you. You just have to say your name. He'll know it's you. Put your hands on him. Then he'll receive his sight. All you have to do is be obedient. Sounds easy. But remember who Saul is. Saul, last time we saw him, he's on the edge of the ship with a lightsaber in his hand, breathing out threatenings, breathing out slaughter, going to get papers to come kill you, and you find he's in your town. You're like, well, you want me to go to this guy? This guy's the enemy. This guy's evil. You want me to do that? Verse 13, then Ananias answered the Lord. I've heard many of the things of this man. He's like, I bet. How much evil he hath done to the saints in Jerusalem. I've heard, I can tell you stories. The stories have come to us. Verse 14, and here he hath authority from the chief priest. He knows he's got letters to bind all that call on thy name. He said, I'm sure I'm on his hunting list. I know he's coming after me. I bet he is. Lord, he's a scary dude. Verse 15, but the Lord said unto him, go thy way for he is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and to the children of Israel. For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. He says, I've chosen him. Trust me, I've chosen him. I will use him. And I'm gonna tell him he's gonna suffer. Yeah, he has caused a lot of suffering, but he will also suffer a lot. He suffers a lot. And Ananias doesn't wrestle. He states his first opposition, but he's a good example for us. He goes. Verse 17, and Ananias went his way, and he entered into the house. And putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, Faith right there, right? God has told me he's gonna use you, that you're a chosen vessel. Last I heard of you, you're an evil being coming here to kill us all. My name's probably on your list. But God said you're one of us. He calls him brother. You think that was a balm of Gilead to Saul? Brother. Brother Saul, the Lord even Jesus that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest has sent me. He's got inside information, God's told him. That thou mightest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost. So Paul, or Saul's already believed. So now he's coming with the laying on of hands, and he's gonna be a witness to it, so why didn't this happen immediately? Again, I think it's like with back in Samaria, there has to be a witness so that someone can testify, and we'll see that that comes out later, that the disciples are terrified of him when he comes to town, but someone stands up and testifies for him, and it comes down from Ananias before it gets to Barnabas. Verse 18. There's no delay. He already knows the story. He knows who Christ is. He knows what happened. Those who followed him and believers' baptism. Then God can use them. He's like, I am going to be used. God has a message for me. God has something for me to do. God has told me he's going to use me. And so I've repented of my sins. You've laid the hands on me. I've filled the Holy Ghost. The first thing I have to do, I have to follow a believer's baptism. Let's be baptized. And so they take him, since he's repented and trusted, they take him to be baptized, and he is. So now he's useful for the Lord's service to go forth. And so he's done that, verse 19. And when he had received meat, because he hadn't eaten for three days, he was strengthened, Then with Saul, certain days with the disciples, which were at Damascus, and so he goes around and he meets these that he came. He's probably like, Ananias is probably like, hey, let me show you around to the brethren around here, and Paul's like, oh, any of these guys on this list? He's like, yeah, all of them. Oh, okay, yeah, I'm not going to kill you, but I know where you all are, and they turn around and fellowship, and then he tells them the encounter, and they minister to him, the one who's breathing out life-threatening things to him as they pray for him and intercede for him. How healing was that for Paul? The regret that he has of every Christian's face that he's been party to whatever he'd done to him, let alone if it was just Stephen. The unworthiness of what he's saying. How could you use me? How do you do this? And now these people are forgiving him. and they ministered to him, and they strengthened him, and they not only feed him with meat, I'm sure they fed him with the word, and Paul's probably already making all the connections with the Holy Spirit in him now, that probably the Old Testament is being opened. I mean, we study, and we try to go down deep and keep up with Paul. Peter, when he testifies of Paul later, he says, he says hard things to understand. It's like, I've been, but man, he goes down deep, stays down hard. That's hard for me to keep up all the time. So he testifies of what, and he calls everything that Peter's, or Paul says is scripture, Peter does. And so he gives him the right hand of fellowship eventually. Verse 20, and straightway, he preached Christ in the synagogues that he is the son of God. He doesn't waste any time. He begins to then preach. He begins to then proclaim. He begins to say, I've made the connections. He is the son of God. And he could probably go down and show more scriptures than any of them have been taught thus far. Verse 21, but all that heard him were amazed and said, is not this he that destroyed them which called on the name in the Jerusalem and came hither for that intent that he might bring them bound unto the chief priest? He knew, they knew the orders had been released. They knew what the orders were. They knew why he was there. But now they're amazed and they're testifying that God can change a Saul into a Paul. Verse 22, but Saul increased the Moor in strength and confounded the Jews what dwelt at Damascus, proving that he was the very Christ. So he begins preaching and proclaiming, and I'm sure the thugs that he brought with him are now like, what do we do? He came to arrest him, we're gonna drag him back now, he's one of them. Verse 23, and after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him. We gotta stop this guy. If there's one that's gonna be promoting Christ, you know, it's not just the ones who ran here. Now him, he's the one, he's worse than all of them. He's preaching and proclaiming, he's even making sense, and I don't wanna hear him. They're running around stopping up their ears like Pharisees. Verse 24, but their laying wait was known to Saul, so they're laying in wait to catch him. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him, so they're waiting. When he leaves, we'll kill him at the gate, we've got him. Then the disciples took him by night and led him down the wall in a basket. He's trusting now all these that he came to kill with his life as they lay him down and put him down with a basket. And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he is saved to join himself to the disciples, but they were all afraid of him and believed not that he was a disciple. Yeah, they're like, yeah, we know this guy. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way. and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus the name of Jesus. And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem, and he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Grecians, but they went about to slay him. And which when the brethren knew, they brought him to Caesarea and sent him forth into Tarsus. Then had the church rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria and were edified and walking in fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost was multiplied. So they send him back home, he's from Tarsus, go back home, talk to your family, tell them, get him out of Dodge a little bit, let it cool down. The church gets a little break, so not only has Saul changed to Paul, though we don't have his name yet, but Saul has been converted and he's now on our side and preaching, so they have a little bit of break there. Also, Caligula, Caesar, has been adamant that they put an erect, a statue of him in the temple. and he is so adamant, he is bringing and amassing soldiers to come down and forcibly make them put his image in the temple as an idol to be worshiped, and they have been putting that pressure against them, and there's been wars and skirmishes and fights, but at the same time when this happens, Caligula dies. And now all of a sudden the pressure is off and the armies retreat and Israel hasn't gone. And I think that was because God said, no, the next time someone puts their image in there, it'll be the antichrist in the end days. And so he makes sure that Caligula stops it and it doesn't happen to come out because he says, no, not yet. That happens in the future. So it sends out, gives the church a relief for a little bit.