If you would turn in your copy of the scripture, the book of Acts chapter 26, we return to this text today. As we read Acts chapter 26, please follow along in your copy of the scriptures as I read aloud Acts 26. Agrippa said to Paul, you are permitted to speak for yourself. Then Paul stretched out his hand and proceeded to make his defense. In regard to all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, I consider myself fortunate, King Agrippa, that I'm about to make my defense before you today, especially because you are an expert in all customs and questions among the Jews. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently. So then all Jews know my manner of life from my youth up, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation and at Jerusalem. Since they have known about me for a long time, if they are willing to testify that I live as a Pharisee according to the strictest sect of our religion, and am now standing trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers, the promise to which our 12 tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly serve God night and day. And for this hope, O king, I am being accused by the Jews. Why is it considered incredible among you people if God does raise the dead? Verse nine, so then I thought myself that I had to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And this is just what I did in Jerusalem. Not only did I lock up many of the saints in prison, having received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death, I cast my vote against them. And as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme and being furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities. Verse 12. While so engaged, as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, Saul, Saul, Why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads. And I said, who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet. For this purpose, I have appeared to you to appoint you a minister and a witness, not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light, from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sin and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in me. So King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision, but kept declaring both to those of Damascus first and also at Jerusalem, then throughout all the regions of Judea, even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance. For this reason, some Jews seized me in the temple and tried to put me to death. So having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the prophets and Moses said was going to take place, that the Christ was to suffer, and that by reason of his resurrection from the dead, he would be the first to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles. While Paul was saying this in his defense, Festus said in a loud voice, Paul, you are out of your mind. Your great learning is driving you mad. But Paul said, I'm not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I utter words of sober truth. For the king knows about these matters, and I speak to him also with confidence, since I am persuaded that none of these things escaped his notice. For this has not been done in a corner, King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do. Agrippa replied to Paul, in a short time, you will persuade me to become a Christian? And Paul said, I would wish to God that whether in a short time or a long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am, except for these chains. The king stood up and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them, when they had gone aside, they began talking to one another saying, this man is not doing anything worthy of death or imprisonment. And Agrippa said to Festus, this man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar. God of scripture, we come asking you to be with us in this hour. We pray that you would bless your word as it has been read and as it is preached to the salvation and the sanctification of your people. We pray that as we consider the conversion of Saul the persecutor to Paul the apostle, that you would remind us of the grace and the mercy that each of us has received as we have passed from death into life. being made protectors of the heavenly gift and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. We pray that by your Holy Spirit, you would convict, penetrating our defenses, working through our intellect down to our affections. God, we're asking for a miraculous work in us this day by your grace. hide the preacher behind the cross of Christ. We pray this in the name of our Savior. Amen. Last time we considered this text, particularly looking at how Paul is presented or how Paul is presenting himself in these different sections of his testimony, different parts of his testimony. I just was speaking to someone before about the points that we made last week. We we saw Paul, the Pharisee, Paul, the persecutor, Paul, the prone and Paul, the preacher. Some of you may already be frustrated. I'm going to frustrate you more. I know that it is saw the Pharisee. And saw the persecutor. And going down, saw the prone coming up, Paul. And And I also know that Paul's name wasn't changed on the road to Damascus, but you will find throughout this sermon that I will refer to Paul as Paul, and an occasional Saul will be sprinkled in there, but we know who we're talking about. Same guy, before Christ, after Christ is saved. So we spoke last week of Paul the prone, as Paul was knocked down, and today we come to that section, the portion where Paul speaks about the actual point of his conversion. And we focus in to see today some of the aspects of Paul's conversion. So if we're gonna title the sermon, Paul's Conversion, if we're going to talk about Paul's conversion, we should probably talk about the term conversion, converted, convert, if you will. What is Why is it a good term to refer to what we are speaking of? I mean, we use words like someone is saved, someone believes, someone becomes a follower, someone becomes a Christian, but we're using the term today converted and Paul's conversion. When a person becomes a Christian, a follower of Christ, there is a change. That's not a question. That's a definitive statement. There is a change. The Bible speaks about someone becoming a disciple of Christ, becoming one of God's children, and uses words and uses terms like passing from death to life. Paul speaks in his letter to the Thessalonians about those who turn from worshiping idols to worshiping God. The point that we make here is, and the point that is made over and over again in the Bible is, there is a change that takes place. No one truly comes to Jesus and remains as they were. If they are saved, they are changed. So we use the term converted. I have a pastor friend who converted his garage into an office. It used to be a garage. Cars were parked there, probably oil stains on the concrete. That's what the, structure was made for. It was made for the purpose of being a garage, and it functioned in that capacity for a long time. But when it was converted into an office for his study, things changed. I don't know if there's an oil spot on the concrete. It's got to be, right? Is there a garage anywhere that doesn't have an oil spot on the concrete? Maybe yours, Owen? You got it, too. I mean, we've all got it. But he has carpet. So we don't see. There's been a change. There's been a change in the look. There's been a change in the environment. It's air conditioned. It feels different when you go in there. You don't feel like you're in a garage. The atmosphere has changed. Lots has changed. There are a few clues in his office, if you look closely, a few clues that will remind us what it used to be, but it's very clear that a conversion has taken place. That is the way it is when God saves a sinner. You were a sinner, lost without hope, living for self pursuing sin. But Jesus has now done a wholesale overhaul. Well, the Bible doesn't use those terms. It says new creation. There may be in your life a few hints if you look around and look closely of what you used to be. but the look has changed. The environment, the atmosphere is different. It's clear when you look at a Christian, there's been a conversion. If the conversion in your life is not evident, If the conversion in your life is not clear, I'm not saying complete. Anybody wanna just raise your hand and say, I'm complete. My sanctification is not one of us. But if the conversion is not evident, then you have good reason to examine your soul to see if you are truly a Christian. Christians are converted. So we say we speak today of Paul's conversion. The changing of Saul the Pharisee and persecutor to Paul, the humble servant of Jesus Christ and the bold preacher of the gospel. Paul's conversion was evident. He was on the way to Damascus I can't get off my nose. He was on the way to Damascus. He didn't turn around in the way his compass was pointing, but his trip changed. Things changed. So today we speak of Paul's conversion, and we look at some characteristics of it. As we said last time, every Christian's conversion, every Christian's salvation is in some ways unique and personal. We like to hear about those unique and personal things that, that, well, this is just how it happened with me, or this is just how it happened with, with my wife or my friend or with you. We like to hear about those things, but in another way, every Christian's conversion is exactly the same. So today we consider Paul's conversion and we're going to speak of some aspects that are unique to Paul that have never been duplicated. I've never heard of anyone on the road to Damascus knocked down to the ground. I mean, I've never heard that story except from him. It's unique to him. But we will also today speak of aspects of Paul's conversion, which are common to us all. And all of us will be able to say, yes, that happened to me. I say that all of us who are believers, who are in Christ Jesus, Some of you have been converted and you should listen today to the end that you will find a renewed sense of gratitude toward God for the salvation that you have received from him. Some of you have not been converted. You are still today to hear how Jesus saves a sinner and to hear the call to your own soul. And you should believe in Jesus for salvation, repenting of your sin. So we begin. We consider now in the first place that Paul's conversion was extraordinary. Paul's conversion was extraordinary. We find details in the text, especially in verse 13. We read that a light shone on the road that was visible to Paul as well as the others who were in his traveling party. A light brighter than the sun. This is unique. None of us have seen a light from heaven like this. It just occurs to me Oh, if you've ever watched a welder, you shouldn't watch a welder, right? But if you've ever watched it, that's the brightest thing I can think of. Because in the broad day, in the midday, when a welder is welding, that light is glowing, it's bright, it's brighter than the sun. But none of us have seen a light shining from heaven like this light, this light This light is not welding. This light is nothing less than the glory of the risen Christ shining on them on that road that day. This glory light is enough to knock them all to the ground. Now it says they were all on the ground. Whether this is because they shrank back from such a bright light or whether it's because the light had the power But it had effects which they all experienced. Nobody was standing upright. But there are some effects that only Paul experienced. Paul alone was blinded. There were effects which only Paul felt. Paul alone understood the words of the Lord Jesus. all the others heard a noise. Now whether they heard the noise and didn't understand the language, there's things we don't know here. Perhaps they heard the noise but didn't understand the language, or perhaps they just heard noise and didn't recognize it as a language. Paul understood the words that Jesus Christ spoke to him that day. The light, the voice, All of this was extraordinary. And all of us can look to our own conversion and we can say, in some sense, it was also extraordinary. Maybe not like Paul's, but in order for God to bring a rebellious enemy to faith in Jesus Christ, God does some extraordinary things. When I think about the series of circumstances that caused me to change my course of life, to start attending church as an adult man, it wasn't like Paul's Damascus Road experience. But when I look and consider those circumstances in my own conversion, it was extraordinary what God has done But I'd also like for us to consider, as God did this extraordinary thing, I'd like for us to consider the ordinary. The light, the vision from heaven, the blindness, all these things were spectacular, but we can say that Paul's conversion was at its base, at last, brought about by the voice speaking to him. I mean, isn't that what it was? It was the voice of Jesus speaking to Paul. And that, that's pretty ordinary. The word of God to a sinner. Every person who is saved has exactly this same testimony. I heard the voice of Christ. Now maybe you haven't put it in those terms. Maybe you haven't thought about it in those terms. But if you were a Christian, you would say, I heard the word of Christ. I heard. And even when we would say, I had heard before, but I hadn't really heard, and then I heard. This was Paul's testimony. And this is the testimony of everyone who is saved. I've heard the word of Christ. We say that the reading and especially the preaching of the word of God is an ordinary means of grace. And when God is pleased to bless it, to save a sinner, that sinner hears the voice of Jesus to their sinful heart. And they respond with Paul and say, yes, Lord. We hear the voice of Christ. Paul's conversion was extraordinary. Secondly, we discover in the text that Paul's conversion was directly opposed to his own state of mind. Paul's conversion was directly opposed to his own state of mind. Paul was not seeking Jesus. Paul was not seeking a religious experience to better his life. He was seeking Jesus' followers to end their life. But he was not seeking to better his life by a relationship with Jesus. Paul wasn't dissatisfied with the state of his own soul. Paul believed that he was serving God and serving God well and with zeal, even though what he was doing was sinful. Paul had not read an apologetics thesis where he was brought face to face with facts that he couldn't explain. Paul was only thinking of Jesus. Only thinking about Christianity in terms of ending Christianity. In terms of making the name Jesus something that no one ever spoke of. He was absolutely and definitely set at polar opposite of the Christian mindset. You couldn't get any farther from Christianity than where Paul was. His conversion came at this time. Paul is one case in a multitude which teaches us that the Bible is true when it says, no one seeks God. All we like sheep, all we like sheep have gone astray. Each one turned to his own If you wonder what way you are following and you have a name for it, you, according to the scripture, have turned to your own way. We may have differences of mind within the cesspool of sin, but no sinner is thinking outside of the bondage of sin. No one seeks God. Thinking about good things would be good. And the Bible says no one does good. We are in bondage and as dead sinners, content as Paul was. How can anyone believe when they look at the conversion of Paul, when they look at the conversion of Todd Gill, when they look at the conversion of anyone, how can anyone believe that Jesus saved sinners who decide on their own to come to him? Now, all sinners are not persecutors like Paul. We may not all be on the way to Damascus. But no sinner is on the way to Jesus. That's not the path we're on. No sinner comes to God. Like Paul, we are diametrically opposed to the righteous God. Haters of God, haters of Jesus Christ. Can't we see the ignorance and the idiocy of saying things like, I made a decision for Christ. Now, I'm going to tell you, I've probably said that. And if you've said it, we're just going to leave that in the past, but let us learn moving forward. That's a foolish statement to make. I made a decision for Christ. Dear Paul, as he says, while I was a fierce, this is me putting words into Paul's mouth, but listen for the truth of it. While I was a fierce enemy of Jesus, after Jesus stopped me dead in my tracks and blinded me, after he crushed my pride, after he removed any sense of self-righteousness that I had, I made a decision for Jesus. How silly to speak in that way. Salvation for Paul and salvation for everyone who is a believer is directly opposed to our own state of mind before we are saved. That's part of the miracle of salvation. God changed our stubborn minds and he broke through our hard hearts. God did that. Paul's conversion was directly opposed to his own state of mind. And what we have to do is when we look at these things, we have to say, wait, what is my understanding of the gospel? What is my understanding of how Jesus saves a sinner? And if it doesn't match what the scripture teaches us, then we need to change our thinking to fit scripture. Paul's conversion. was extraordinary. Paul's conversion was directly opposed to his own state of mind. Thirdly, we learned that Paul's conversion was by grace without works. Some of you are thinking, well, that's no surprise. But let's look. If we add up all the works that Paul had up to this point, they all total up to enemy of God, killer of Christians, imprisoner of innocent men and women. Paul's work sums up to an overwhelming condemnation. That's what he had up to this point on the road to Damascus. What was Paul doing? Just consider his testimony. What was Saul of Tarsus doing in the for Jesus column? What was he doing? Remember, Jesus said, if you're not for me, you're against me. What was Paul doing? What was Saul doing in the for Jesus column? Everything he did, came up against Jesus, and he was doing gangbusters in that column. He was doing great in the against Jesus. What works of Saul's could contribute in any way to his salvation? How much of Paul's work could be added in? His work would have had the opposite effect, just like your work. You're good stuff. The things you say, this is my best. All of that in your life is nothing but evidence to condemn you to an eternity in hell. And don't hear me condemning you because in my lost state, I'm in the same boat. I'm in the same way. The best we've got. is just fodder, just kindling for hell. Now you may be better than your neighbor. You may be better than your buddy. You may be better than me. That wouldn't be that hard. But none of us are even in the same universe as Jesus Christ when it comes to sin. And what is required for a man, or for a woman, for a child to be saved? What is required? Righteousness. And our best stuff, sinner, your best stuff is disgusting, vile, putrid filth. I'm not overstating that. The idea that we get from Isaiah, that's the idea we get from the word of God. So it's not just my opinion. So who can say, well, I made a decision for Christ. And as I came to Jesus, I brought with me, what? Whatever comes from you is tainted It is ruined with the stain of sin. So Jesus comes to the sinner and brings everything. Faith is required. And we learn in Ephesians that faith is the gift of God. Repentance is required. So this twin gift, faith and repentance, twin gifts, This twin gift of repentance accompanies faith and is also given to a sinner who Christ is saving. Perfect righteousness is required. Perfect righteousness. So Jesus says, here, you take my robe of righteousness and you are clothed in my righteousness. Paul wrote to the Romans, In chapter three, where then is the boasting? Can you see where Paul can brag on his conversion? There's no room here. There's no room for a person who is truly saved by Christ. He writes, where is the boasting? It is excluded by what kind of law? Of works? No, by the law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. Paul's conversion was by grace alone, without any works of his own. And so it is with everyone who is saved by Jesus Christ. It is all of Christ. Now we have to pause here because of verse 20. And I'll hurry. Paul's conversion was by grace without works, we need to consider a place for works because verse one, let's start in 19. So King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision, but kept declaring both of those, first to Damascus and also to Jerusalem, then throughout Judea and even to the Gentiles. So Paul is declaring here, he's declaring the gospel, calling sinners to Christ. What is he declaring? That they should repent and turn to God. Uh-oh. Performing works meet for repentance. Performing deeds appropriate to repentance. Works meet for repentance. Salvation is by grace through faith apart from works, but salvation is not absent from works. We're not saved by works, but we are saved for works. We're saved unto works. We are saved, if you will, so that we will work. Works has a place. The works that are mentioned here are evidence that a work of grace through faith has taken place. It's not the work of saving, but it's evidence that that saving work has taken place. Works indicate if a conversion has happened The old man produced works, fruit, if you will. The old man produced fruit of the flesh, sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy. fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. Where the old man couldn't accomplish, these works couldn't bring them about, the old man lusted after them. The old man was desirous of these Fruits of the flesh. His works brought forth sin. But after conversion, the old being done away with and the new creation coming, now a converted person produces works, produces fruit. That doesn't change. Fruit is still produced, but what the fruit is changes. Because the nature has changed. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against these things there is no law. They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its affections and its lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us walk There's a place for works and we Christians need to understand what that place is. We are not saved by works, we are saved for works. About repentance, Jacobus says this, repentance is not only a duty, it's a privilege. Have you thought about that? Too many times we think about repentance as turning away from the thing we love, turning away from the thing that we enjoy. Jesus is taking away our favorite deed. Jacobus says, no, repentance is not only a duty, it is a privilege, like turning back from a yawning pit or from a fearful, dangerous precipice, turning back from a den of lions, from danger and death. This is turning from darkness to light. The fourth and final place, Paul's conversion was instantaneous. I know we've been here a while. I want you to stay with me though. Some teach a false doctrine called progressive justification. That a man is justified progressively. Roman Catholics, Anabaptists and others. And by the way, you may hear, if you talk to very many people, that we Baptists, we Reformed Baptists, we come from the Anabaptists, not anti-Baptists, that's different. We come from the Ana, A-N-A, Anabaptists. That is not true. Let me say that again, because I think you might have missed it. We do not come from the Anabaptists. The Anabaptists and the Catholics held this doctrine of progressive justification. And I think we see this false doctrine in some form among some theonomists in our day. When you, brothers and sisters, see a video from Doug Wilson or another teacher about male leadership, yes, I said his name, you need to know. When you see a video about male leadership in the home and in the church, and you say, man, that's good stuff. It is. That's good stuff. The poison is hidden underneath. When you see something come from these teachers about the political state of our country, there may be truth. As one man used to say, the best lie is stuffed in the skin of a truth. The idea with the Roman Catholic Church, with the Romans, and with others who are holding this in some adaptation or in some adjustment of this doctrine of progressive justification. The idea is this, that a sinner is initially justified, initially justified by baptism, in the case of the Roman Catholics, as an infant. baptismal regeneration. They're initially justified there. And then they live their life working on gradual or progressive justification. Jesus helps. And together, what you do and what Jesus did will hopefully be enough. I say hopefully because there's never a confidence, there's never an assurance of salvation. It's a hope-so salvation, a maybe-so salvation. Final justification, they teach, is only after you die and then you see if it all balances out. Paul, on the road to Damascus, didn't ramp up to salvation. He wasn't on the improvement path. He was instantaneously and completely justified on the road to Damascus. His sin laid to the account of Jesus Christ. Christ's righteousness applied to Paul's account. He was completely forgiven of all sin, past, present and future and inherited. Paul was a lost sinner when he hit the ground, and when he got up in an instant, he was a saved saint. So it is with all salvation, with all justification of sinners. Paul did not turn over a new leaf You know what happens when we turn over a new leaf? We find out it's rotten on both sides. Sinner, you don't need to turn over a new leaf. You don't need a reboot. You need a recreation. You need God to remove the stony dead heart from you and put in a living heart that beats after Christ. There are progressions for Christians. We call that sanctification. As God roots out our hidden sins and our unknown sins, as he builds in us a love for himself and a love for fellow believers and a love for righteousness and even a love for our enemies, there are progressions. There are plenty of gradual things in the Christian. but justification is not one of them. Paul's conversion was instantaneous. Just like every person who Jesus Christ saves, you're in a horrible pit of sin and Jesus brings you up out of it in a moment. So we've considered Paul's conversion briefly. It was extraordinary. It was directly opposed to his own state of mind. It was by grace alone, apart from works, and it was instantaneous. And now we see in the text responses. There are two responses in the text, and then we'll consider a third. First consider Festus' response in verse 24. While Paul was saying this in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, you are out of your mind. Your great learning has driven you mad. Festus, the governor, was a godless man. Well, he actually worshiped many gods, but no true God. And the mind of Festus did not even consider that Jesus, who was dead, from the dead. He said that's absurd. So he recognizes it. It is nice that he recognizes Paul's great learning, I guess. It is great learning, but he concludes that your great learning has made you out of your mind. You're crazy. That's what's being said here. Many in our day consider the claims of Christ, consider the beliefs of Christians, And they say that's no more than just crazy talk. They agree with Festus' assessment. And they will at their death join him in an eternity of unspeakable horrors, having rejected Jesus Christ and his freely offered grace in this life. They will spend eternity in a graceless, merciless hell. He responded to Paul. Agrippa also responded. Agrippa claimed to believe in God and to believe the Old Testament Scriptures, but Agrippa was too prideful to believe in the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and to repent of his sin. His love for sin and his pride became his downfall, and countless others who have followed in his footsteps. Love of sin, The pursuit of satisfying self, that will busy a person all the way to eternity. The pursuit of satisfying self. But you'll never find satisfaction by pursuing satisfaction. You'll pursue satisfaction even paying the price of your own soul. So many have read this, Agrippa says, almost you persuade me to become a Christian. That's the way that King James translates it. Almost you persuade me to become a Christian. There's been a lot of bad sermons about almost Christians. No such thing as an almost Christian. What's said here is not, Paul, if you talked a little longer, I would become a Christian. What's said here is more, I'm gonna use the term sarcasm. You are gonna persuade me? In just a few minutes of you talking, I'm gonna be persuaded to become a Christian? Ha! He was too prideful. Senator, you may puff yourself up. Will you too be too high and too lofty to listen to a preacher like Paul? Will you also, with Agrippa, be too strong-willed to humble yourself before Jesus? Agrippa and a multitude of prideful sinners will never know the end of suffering, eternal torment. These are two responses from these men in scripture that we have, but there's a third response. The response is yours. The scripture speaks the truth about your sinful state. You are in need of a savior. You need forgiveness of sin. You need a righteousness that is not your own. King Agrippa was too prideful. Festus was unwilling to accept that Jesus rose from the dead. Senator, you can come to Jesus today believing in him for salvation. Turn from the pit, turn from the dungeon of danger, turn from death to life, turn from darkness to light, turn to Jesus. Paul closed his address by expressing this desire that he had, that everyone in that audience would believe in Jesus, would be like he, a true disciple of Christ. Beloved, I would like to express that same sentiment as Paul today. The best thing that I can pray for you, the desire of my heart is the best thing for you. That is that you will be saved today. Christian, we consider the conversion of the apostle and we're reminded of the great grace of God. We should thank him that we are recipients of his covenant blessings. God, we are debtors to your mercy. We are beneficiaries of your grace. We thank you for the covenant grace by which you have stooped down to commune with You have saved us from the guilt and the bondage of sin through the blood of Jesus Christ, the only Redeemer of God's life. God, we ask that you would be gracious and that you would save another lost soul. We ask that you would bring our children to saving faith, save our loved ones, save our neighbors, and help us as your people. to be a testimony to your grace. In Jesus name we ask all this. Amen.