All right, Acts chapter nine's got a lot of ground to cover, so we'll just get right to it. I can get my clicker here. And title of the lesson today, the enemy is changed. The enemy being Saul, the persecutor of the church. But he's going to have an encounter this week, in this chapter, that's going to completely change his life. It's one of the most notable conversion stories that we have recorded in Scripture. Have you ever looked at someone and said to yourself, that person could never be saved. We might not even actually think those words, but that's the feeling we get, a hopeless. It's just that, no, they would never come to Christ. And, you know, I can think of examples that I have run across in my life that I said, I don't think that person would ever be saved and God turned it around. The Apostle Paul was once persecutor Saul. He was a very unsavory character. And yet he was not only saved out of that life, but he became one of the most prominent servants of God in the New Testament. Now, this is a point of reference. Saul, the name Saul was the Greek equivalent of his name in Hebrew, but he's best known by his Latin or Roman name and that's Paul. Now he's not referenced as Paul until chapter 13 but I'm going to just use the name Paul throughout this lesson because it's the one that's most familiar to us and I don't want to try to remember to use his other name because we know him best as the Apostle Paul. Well now we start out the lesson here. The first point is the experience of Paul in verses 1 through 9. And in verses 1 and 2, I want you to see him as the crusader. Look at verse 1. And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest and desired of him letters to Damascus. to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, meaning the Christian way, the Christian walk, if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. I call Paul a crusader because he honestly and fully believed that he was doing the right thing by persecuting the church. It was a holy mission on his part. In Acts chapter 16, or John chapter 16, verse 2, it says that Jesus talking to his apostles, he says, they shall put you out of the synagogue at the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God's service. people actually think they're doing the work of God by killing Christians, by persecution of God's people. And in verse one, it says that Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples. If we look back in chapter eight, verse one, it says, After the stoning of Stephen, it says Saul was consenting unto his death. And then in verse 3 of that same chapter, as for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and hailing men and women, committed them to prison." Just to look at some of the words in those verses, when it says he was consenting unto his death, that doesn't mean he just put his stamp of approval on it. The word means that he felt gratified. He had pleasure in it. He had heard, he heard the message, we'll reference that again later, but he heard the message and he didn't like it, and he was happy that Stephen was stoned. And in this verse, it says that he entered into the house, and you understand that that's where the churches met in those days. Church buildings weren't invented for a while yet, but he would enter the house and hailing men and women. That word means to physically drag people out of the house. He was quite a character, and it says he was breathing out threatenings and slaughtered. Paul lived and breathed his crusade of persecution. It wasn't just a hobby. It wasn't just a side life. He was a hatchet man for the Sanhedrin, and he carried out his work with a religious fervor. might be compared to the radicals of our day, people that would like fly airplanes into the World Trade Center. Why was that done? They hated our God. They believe in Allah and they hate anyone that does not follow their system of belief. And that was the mindset of Paul in those days. He thought he was doing God a service. by arresting and even being responsible for the deaths of Christians in that city. Go on to the end of the verse there. It says that, breathing out threatens and slaughter, he went up to the high priest and desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues. Of course, the synagogues is where the Jews would meet to study the Word of God, and they didn't have a temple in every location, of course, they only had the Temple of Jerusalem, so those that were in outlying areas, they met at the synagogue, and they would, they didn't offer sacrifices, I don't believe, but they would study the Word of God, they would sing, and do the worship. Well, Paul would go into the synagogues to see if he could find someone that was contradicting the Judaism of the day. And what he did, he did legally. It says that he went to the high priest and desired letters to Damascus. In other words, he had the appropriate documents and he was doing this in a legal way. He made sure that he had the weight of authority behind him. And you notice that he's carrying his crusade past Jerusalem and past even Palestine. and he's going to Damascus, the capital of Syria. He was not content to focus his efforts on Jerusalem or even the surrounding areas of Israel. He was going all the way to Damascus, which was about 130 miles north of Jerusalem. If Paul was from the hood, He might be what we would call a bad dude. I mean, the tough guys just didn't mess with him. He was a radical. He had a fervent zeal about what he was doing, and he believed that he was doing the right thing. And if God was willing to save one who was responsible for the deaths of many of His saints, then we have to just understand and believe that no one is beyond God's ability or His willingness to save. Is everybody going to be saved? No. But God has His people, and some of those people are ones that we would consider very, very unlikely. Now we move on to verses 3 and 4, and that's the confrontation, Paul's confrontation. As I said, he was a radical unbeliever and it took a radical experience to get his attention. Let's look at verse three. And as he journeyed and he came near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven, and he fell to the earth. And we'll get the rest of the verse in a minute, but I don't know how bright this light was. But tough guy Paul fell to the ground. I mean, it just literally knocked him down. If we had been around in these days, and maybe the Christians of that day did this very thing, we might have prayed that God would kill Paul to stop his persecution of Christians. Would we have thought to pray that Paul would be saved? As I said, we would consider that very unlikely, knowing his history. Of course, we know the end of the story, how he was converted. But if all we knew was up through chapter 8 and verse 1 of chapter 9, that's all we knew of him, we would say, God's going to have to just kill him to keep him from persecuting the people of God. But that's not what happened. We might pray something like this, Lord, take these ungodly politicians out of office. And I mean, that's OK. I'm not opposed to that. But we really ought to pray for their souls. I mean, it's obvious that many of our government leaders are not saved. They don't have any evidence of being true Christians. But President Biden is not out of God's reach, nor Nancy Pelosi or Chuck Schumer. You say, well, that's unlikely that they would be saved. It was unlikely that Paul would be saved as well. And God did a miraculous thing there. God didn't show up on the Damascus road to kill Paul, but to save him. And in the end of that verse four, he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, Why persecutest thou me? Now, in Paul's mind, he was opposing Christians and he was opposing Christianity the way that we talked about there in verse two. He was persecuting that way, but in reality, he was in opposition to Christ himself. It manifested itself in his dealings with God's people, but he was actually persecuting God himself. In Psalm 51, you remember the verse there where David said, against thee and thee only have I sinned. Now we may sin against others, in the sense of our offense being detrimental to them. But sin is defined as a transgression of God's law. And so Paul, in killing and imprisoning Christians, he was actually opposing and persecuting Jesus himself. And here, Jesus shows that he is not helpless. against those who oppose him. You say, well, why does he let this go on? Why does he let certain things go on? Why does he let atheism happen and agnosticism? And why does he allow Christians to be persecuted in the world? I don't know. I just know that that's part of his plan. But when he wants to do something about it, he can forevermore do it. And here, he's showing, by confronting Paul, that he is not helpless. Don't have a picture of the Lord sitting in the heavens, wringing his hands, and wondering how the world got in the shape it's in, and what in the world is he gonna do about it. Now this is, it's all by his permission that this happens. And there are times, and there will come a time, of course, when he's going to say that's enough and he's going to reign in righteousness and sin will be done away with. Until then, he's got a plan, a permissive plan. And we don't know why that is. In the Old Testament, God withheld Israel from attacking certain people, it says, because their iniquity was not yet full. So, in other words, he was saying, I want these people to sin some more, so that their iniquity will be full and then he's going to bring judgment upon them by the attack of the Israelites. I don't understand that. You know, I don't pretend to be as smart as God, and I hope you don't either. But whatever God does is right. The ways of the Lord are right. And when he takes a notion God doesn't take notions. Everything He does is planned. I'm just using the vernacular there, but when God decides He's going to do something about wickedness, He can do it, and He will do it. So let's move on now to verse 5, and that's the conviction that came upon Paul. And he said, this is Saul speaking now, after he hears his voice, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. Who art thou, Lord? Now notice how Paul addresses his unknown confront her as the Lord. He may not have recognized Jesus at the moment, but he knew whoever this was, he had authority and he meant business. I mean, he had shined this light so bright that it knocked him to the ground and he responded, who art thou, Lord? And Jesus says, I am Jesus whom thou persecutes. And again, a second time, Jesus drives home the fact that Paul's actions are in opposition to God himself. The one Paul thought that he was serving by his misguided zeal. Paul thought he was doing God a favor, thought he was serving God. And Jesus said, no, you're not serving God, you're persecuting. God and then he said it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks or this word could be goes ox goes there was a very famous mention of ox code in the Old Testament Shamgar the judge slew I forget how many men it was. It was several hundred men that he slew with an ox goat. I've got a picture here. I hope you can see it. And you see the man plowing with the oxen, and in his hand he's carrying a long stick, and that's the goat. In other words, if the oxen start to stray, He would poke them. I've got a quote here. I've also got a frog on my throat, but I've got a quote. I don't know who said this, but It is hard for you to kick against the pricks was a Greek proverb, but it was also familiar to the Jews and anyone who made a living in agriculture. An ox goad was a stick with a pointed piece of iron on its tip used to prod the oxen when plowing. The farmer would prick the animal to steer it in the right direction. Sometimes the animal would rebel by kicking out at the prick, and this would result in the prick being driven even further into its flesh. In essence, the more an ox rebelled, the more it suffered. Thus, Jesus' words to Saul on the road to Damascus, it is hard for you to kick against the pricks. And so Jesus compares an ox or other animal, the goads weren't limited and the pine wasn't limited just to the oxen, although that was very common, but he compares Paul to one of these animals that is kicking against the goad that is being used to keep him in the right direction. Now it's my opinion that Paul was already under conviction at least since he heard Stephen's sermon, and that contained almost a full chapter of what Stephen preached to the council, to the Judaizers. And boy, I mean, he laid it out in no uncertain terms. and was very adamant that Jesus is the Savior, the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One. And of course Saul was very unhappy with that and he was consenting to his death, but I think he came under conviction. right about then. And I think he'd been fighting that conviction and he was responding with even more zeal and more fervent dedication to his work of persecution. But when the Lord appears, he tells Paul that Paul is fighting against the direction that the Master or the Father is trying to prod or turn him. In kicking against the prick or the goad, Paul is fighting against the drawing of the Father and the conviction of the Holy Spirit. And in doing so, he's driving the goad in deeper, and he's only hurting himself. And after this period of conviction, and Paul's fighting and churning and fervor and zeal, and yet all the violence that he was involved in, God picked this time to confront him and to tell him, Paul, you're kicking against the goads, you're kicking against the brakes, and you're only hurting yourself, and you need to get your way straightened out. Well, that brings us to letter D, verse six, that's the conversion. 6 And he, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? If I had to pick a particular moment that marks Paul's conversion This would be it right here. Paul has been enlightened as to the identity of the one he calls Lord. And in his second address of Christ as Lord, he shows submission to the authority and the desires of the Savior. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? I've been doing my own thing. What would you have me to do? And I think these are the actions of a saved man. And of course, Jesus told him what to do. He said, arise and go into the city and it shall be told thee what thou must do. So Paul beats the Lord. And Paul is saved, and what a mighty display of the power of God we see in these verses. If God can save Paul, he can save anyone. And that's, I think, one of the great lessons of this particular passage. One more thing here before we move on, and that is the complication. Look at verse seven. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose 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 eat nor drink." So he was blind for three days. He didn't know what was going to happen. He didn't know if he was going to get his eyesight back. But he spent those three days fasting, waiting for further word from the Lord. And we know from verse 12, we'll get there, that he had a vision from the Lord during this time. And so God hasn't just saved Paul and thrown him out to do his own thing. He's still working in his life. He lets him be blind for three days. And I'm not so sure that what God was doing was just to give Paul time without seeing anything, without watching TV or looking at Facebook, he was going to let Paul think inward thoughts about what had just happened on the Damascus Road. Well, we move on now to point number two, and that's the encouragement of Ananias. Look at 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. 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 Solomon. breath and have seen a vision, seen in a vision, a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him that they might receive his sight. As I said, Paul had a vision that there would be someone coming to him and God even revealed the name Ananias to him and God revealed to him that Ananias is going to lay hands on you and is going to restore, you're going to receive your sight once again. So, the first thing we have is the directive, which I've already mentioned. God is telling, the Lord is telling Ananias what he's supposed to do. He says you get up and go to the street called Straight. And we have a straight street in Cincinnati, as a matter of fact. It goes right up to where Deaconess Hospital used to be, and it's about this steep. So, if you ever go on a straight street, make sure your car is tuned up. But anyway, he said, you're going to go to a straight street, you're going to go to the house of Judas, and you're going to ask for Saul, Tarsus, Gabriel, Barry. specific in his instructions to Ananias. And he said, you go there and see Saul. He's praying. He's praying and he's waiting for you. And I've already given him a vision that you're coming and that he's going to receive his son. Secondly, we notice the doubt on the part of Ananias. Look at verse 13. Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man how much evil he had done to the saints of Jerusalem. And here, it means here in Damascus, he had authority from the chief priests to bind all the call on thy name. Lord, are you sure you've got the right guy here? I've heard about this man. I've heard about Paul. I mean, even without CNN and Facebook, whatever, the word about Paul got around fast. And of course, there were always people traveling. There were traders that traveled. And one thing that they did was pass on news from one place to another. And this was newsworthy, the persecution of the church. by Paul, and so Ananias is sort of doubting this thing. Lord, you're sure you're right about this. Well, notice the Lord's declaration in verses 15, 16. But the Lord said unto him, go thy way. Get up and go, Ananias. For he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. Now, notice what Jesus tells Ananias about Paul. First of all, he says, he's a chosen vessel unto me. Listen, I'm glad that God chose me. I would not have chosen him. but he came to me. No man can come unto Jesus, Jesus said, except the Father which hath sent me draw him. And so, Paul was chosen by God to be not only a Christian, but to be a vessel A vessel is something that carries things around, that can transport a liquid or some other substance. And he, Paul, was to be a vessel for the Lord. Not only that, but he used to bear my name before the Gentiles. and also kings and the children of Israel. Notice he mentions the Gentiles first, and we know that Paul became primarily an apostle to the Gentiles. He did not ignore the Jews. And a matter of fact, when Paul would go to a new city, the first thing that he would do would be to go to the synagogue. And usually for about three Sabbath days, he would teach the people there and dispute with them and with the Jews, but he was known primarily as the disciple, the apostle to the Gentiles. And not only that, then in verse 16, I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. He's going to be privileged. to suffer great things for the cause of Christ. And you remember, I think it was Peter and John that, in the book of Acts, that rejoiced because they were counted worthy to partake in the sufferings of Christ. I'm not happy about suffering when it happens, but it is a privilege to be counted worthy to suffer as Christ suffered. He said, look, if they hated me, they're gonna hate you. If they persecuted me, they're gonna persecute you. So rejoice in that. Not rejoice because of it necessarily, but rejoice in those persecutions because you know that you're identified with the Savior. So that's the declaration. Now we notice the diligence in verses 17 and 19. Ananias put up his argument, the Lord shut it down, so Ananias went. He went his way and entered into the house, and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, like that, called him brother, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest hath sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scaled, and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized." Now, there's a lot there. Ananias may have still had his doubts, and he may have gone in fear and trembling, but he was an obedient disciple of the Lord. And he went to Paul and called him Brother Saul. Paul, listen, this was Paul's very first Christian friend. And I've had Christian friends all my life. I grew up in a Christian home. Some people are saved right out of wickedness, right out of a wicked environment, and they need people to befriend them. Be aware of that. See if you might be a friend that would make a difference in a new Christian's life. And he went to Paul and he told him, first of all, that he would receive his sign, which I'm sure made Paul happy. And he didn't want to... Nobody wants to go around blind. Personally, you know, it doesn't say here that in verse 18 that he received his sight. It says he received sight. It doesn't say how much of his sight, it wasn't and I'm thinking this was not his original level of vision and I think this was the thorn in the side, a corner of the flesh that Paul carried throughout his life. We have indications that Paul had poor eyesight, and this is probably where it happened. But if you disagree, you can go ahead and be wrong. I'll allow it. I think I'm going to lapse in my joke. But not only did Woody receive sight, But it says he will be filled with the Holy Ghost. And Paul was. And he exhibited that all through his life. And by the way, there's no difference between the Holy Ghost and the Holy Spirit. And I've heard people try to make a distinction between those two. Well, it's the same person. Not only that, it's the same word. You say, well, why does some places it say Holy Ghost and the other places it says Holy Spirit? Well, that was the, I think the fact that there were multiple translators of our Bible and some chose to use one word and some chose to use another. It's like the word agape. In some places, it's translated love. In other places, it's translated charity, like in 1 Corinthians 13. So, don't get hung up on that. Don't get hung up on, is it the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit? Either one is fine. And, you know, when we think of ghost, that word becomes, it's got a connotation there. So we mostly say Holy Spirit, but there's no difference saying the Holy Ghost. And he said, you're going to be filled with the Holy Ghost. Well, then we see that Paul submitted to baptism. As soon as he received his sight, he arose and was baptized. Now, obviously, there are some that overemphasize the importance of baptism and make it a condition of salvation. And we know that's not true. And, you know, when Philip preached to the eunuch, the eunuch said, what does it mean for me to be baptized? He said, if thou believest with all thine heart, In other words, the entire faith of the eunuch had to be in Jesus Christ. And what did he say? He said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He didn't say, I believe my baptism is going to save me. He said, I believe in Jesus. And so we know that baptism is not a condition of salvation, but while some over-emphasize baptism, others under-emphasize baptism. We believe that baptism is important over and over in the scriptures. We read that those who received Christ as Savior were glad to submit in obedience to being baptized. And Paul immediately took the next step in his Christian life by identifying with the gospel, which is what baptism portrays. He identifies with the gospel in baptism. Now, let's move on. I've only got two minutes to do the whole rest of this, but the exuberance of the new convert, and we're not going to have a whole lot to say more about these things. I'll just give you the points and read the verses. In verses 20 through 22, in verse 20, Paul has a new sermon. And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues that he is the Son of God. Quite a contrast from what he was promoting in his unsaved days. He hated Christ, but now he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. He not only has a new sermon, but a new standing. In verse 21, but all that heard him were amazed and said, is not this, he that destroyed them, is called on his name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring him back another chief priest. Can this be the same guy? Boy, he has changed. And so he had a new standing. among uh i think among believers and unbelievers alike and then he had a new strength verse two but paul increased the more in strength and confounded the jews was dwelt at the vastus proving that this is very Christ, or truly the Christ Jesus, the Son of God, was truly the Christ, or the Anointed One, which was the One they had been looking for, for centuries, the Messiah, and they didn't receive Him, for the most part, when He came. But Paul is proving to these, confounding and proving to these disciples, or I'm sorry, to the Jews at Damascus, proving. In other words, he had enough. Paul was smart in the things of the Word, and it didn't take him long to start preaching and confounding and proving to the Jews that Jesus Christ was the Christ. They may not have received him, but they couldn't argue with what he said. Well, notice that's the escape from the persecutor, verse 23. And after many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him. But their laying awake was known of Saul, and they watched the gates day and night to kill him. Then the disciples took him by night and let him down by the wall in a basket." First thing we see, the plot of the Jews. The same ones that were no doubt rejoicing in his persecution, now they, it says, after that many days were fulfilled. They began to see after a while had gone by, they saw that Paul really had changed. And he was not the same opposer of Christianity that he used to be. And so they plotted to kill him. Notice secondly, the prescience of Paul. It says, their laying awake was known. of Saul. Whether he heard about this through ordinary channels or whether he received a special warning, a vision or something directly from God, God saw to it that Paul was aware of his danger. And then the protection of the disciples in verse 25, they took him by night, let him down by the wall in a basket. Next, the exhortation from Barnabas. And I wish I had time to talk more about Barnabas, but verse 26. And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed, or tried, attempted to join himself to the disciples, but they were all afraid of him and believed not that he was a disciple. So notice the reticence. of the apostles. They feared because they knew his past. They doubted. They didn't believe he was truly saved. They might have thought that it was a trick to infiltrate the church or the Christian community. And this was certainly a kick in the teeth for Paul. I mean, Paul, no less than any of the rest of us, he needed encouragement. He needed fellowship. Well, thank the Lord for a man named Barnabas. If it would have been left to the apostles, the chosen ones, then he would have just been left on the outside. Verse 27, we see the reassurance of Barnabas. 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 in the name of Jesus. So Barnabas, first of all, he told of Paul's conversion experience, and then he related the fact that he had been preaching already in Damascus Barthas, by the way, was nicknamed the son of consolation back in Acts chapter 4, and he lived up to his nickname. He reassured the apostles and he encouraged Paul, the new Christian. Now the embracing of the former enemy. Verse 28. And He was with them coming in and going out in Jerusalem. So the first thing we see is He was included. Coming in, going out, that means in the daily walk of life. He was with the disciples, not just an hour a week, but He was connected to the church there in a very, very real way. He was in passion, verse 29. And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Grecian. He spake boldly and he disputed. It's not really my thing to argue with Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons. Some people do like that and I applaud that, but it's really not my thing. But we are said, are told to be ready to give an answer for our faith. He was in peril. Look at the last part of verse 29. But they went about to slay him. Twice now, Paul has experienced plots against his life, and he is going to live under this cloud of threatening for his entire ministry. And that's just something he learned to live with. Then the apostles intervened in verse 30. which when the brethren knew about the plot to slay him, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him forth to Tarsus. That was Paul's home city, by the way. And maybe he went, maybe they sent him down there to get a breather from the danger. Maybe it was an opportunity to share with his family about the radical change in his life. I want to make this point, and I know I'm over time, It is not necessarily wrong to remove yourself from life-threatening situations in the course of serving God. And I've already heard this about the missionaries in Ukraine, for example. And there's danger there. And many of them have left. And I've heard people say something like, well, if those missionaries in Ukraine, if they had faith, then they wouldn't leave the country just because there's a war going on. Is your own faith that strong? That's easy to say when we live here. But I think it's important to follow God's leading. But in most cases, you're more useful to God alive than you are dead. So I don't think that they did anything wrong by sending Paul away from the danger. And it's true that sometimes the leadership of the Lord does involve some danger. I think, you know, Jim Elliott, Nate Saint, and the other men that perished there in Ecuador. But they didn't go on a suicide mission. They really believed that they could make a difference. And they did, in their depth. But that was a special circumstance. God calls us to be wise as serpents. And if a missionary has a family, for example, that should be a consideration. Well, lastly, the enhancement of the churches. As a result of all this, what happened? Verse 31. then had the churches rest. In other words, they were eased. God knows when a church or an individual needs a break from opposition, and he won't push you past the breaking point. Secondly, they were edified. It says the churches rest throughout all Judea, Galilee, Samaria, and were edified. In other words, built up and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost were multiplied. So they were enlarged as well. The churches were blessed. Persecution has always engendered stronger Christianity and stronger churches. So, I'm not saying we're going to face this kind of persecution tomorrow, but be ready for it and just resolve now that you're going to serve God no matter what. Let's pray. Father, thank you for this passage of Scripture and thank you for the Apostle Paul and his conversion. What a wonderful thing that was. What a wonderful missionary he became. Help us to be on the call in that respect. Blessing the service to follow. Now I'm a pastor as he preaches. In Jesus' name, amen.