Breaking the Mold - 1

And greetings once again in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior, welcome to another midweek live stream service from the empty auditorium of the Beacon Baptist Church on Kirkpatrick Road in Burlington, North Carolina, who would have dreamed when all of this COVID began back in March that we'd still be dealing with it. In a significant degree six months later, we are seeing some encouraging signs.

From what I can tell, the number of cases and deaths and so forth are declining, according to the official statistics. But we are still in a situation where we need to be careful, and we're trying to do that. We're trying to be careful and cautious without being fearful, keeping our lives under the constant fear of catching the COVID virus because we are in the hands of God. And we do not want to be negligent about the things that we should and can do, but ultimately we're in God's sovereign control. So we rejoice in His will for us to be healthy and well, and remembering that we are invincible in this world until God is ready to call us home. And when God is ready to call us home, we can't stay a moment longer.

These things are out of our control, aren't they? So we rejoice in God's sovereign rule and in His gracious care. Our text for tonight is from James chapter 1. A few announcements. We will be continuing our present schedule as far as our church meetings are concerned, but we are beginning to also add a few things, and I'll explain that in just a moment. But as far as our regular services, Sunday morning is our only people present service at 9 o'clock, or 930 rather, here in the auditorium. We are maintaining social distancing.

We have every other pew blocked off, and we do ask people to wear a mask if you're able to do so. But we are enjoying being able to gather together. We are enjoying lifting our voices together in song. We are enjoying the fellowship of the saints, and we are resting in the finished work of Jesus Christ and rejoicing in the salvation which He has given. Sunday night at 6 o'clock and Wednesday night at 7 o'clock, which is where we are right now, the services are being conducted only by means of the internet.

Thank you for tuning in tonight. We trust that the Lord will meet with us in this way since we are not meeting together in one location. However, Our Lady's Coffee and Courage is now gathering for regular meetings as they have in years gone by. The format is a little bit different this year, but the Tuesday morning meetings are continuing, and I'm looking at the time. It is 915 at the Beacon Fellowship Hall. The first meeting was this last Tuesday. There was a good attendance.

Again, proper social distancing and wearing masks, but a good attendance and a very profitable Bible study. And there is a nursery available for the weekday sessions. There are no night sessions this year, but there is a Saturday once a month session for those who are not able to attend on Tuesday morning.

And that one, for the first time, will meet this coming Saturday, September 12 at 10 o'clock at the home of Claudette Delorge, who lives in Greenway Park in Graham. And you need to give her a call at 892-338-8618 if you plan to attend. Next Tuesday morning here at the Beacon Fellowship Hall, there will be the 915 service again.

So that is cranking up. That has been maybe our first classroom ministry that we have resumed since the COVID restrictions. Now the second thing that we are adding is our full Bible conference, which will be October 4 through 7, Sunday through Wednesday, and we'll be having all of the regular meetings. Sunday morning at 930, Sunday night at 6 o'clock, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday night at 715.

So please keep that in mind. Mark your calendar and plan to join us for those meetings if you possibly can. Our speaker is Jim Oreck, Pastor Jim Oreck from Louisville, Kentucky.

He wrote a book that we have read and enjoyed, and some of our people heard him at a Bible conference last year at Ocean City, New Jersey, and so we have invited him to come and to minister God's word to us at that time. Beyond that, we will see. We are making plans to start back on Wednesday night by the first of the year if not before.

But the impact clubs are preparing to start in January, and so we've got that coming along and hope that we'll be able to do that according to the intended schedule. And little by little, we are trying to move back to normalcy. Now let me at this time give you our praises and prayer requests, and then I will read some missionary correspondences in just a moment. We're praising the Lord that the unborn child of Steve and Stacy Collins does not have the spinal muscular atrophy gene that they thought he had.

They thought both parents had it, but by further testing indicated that only one parent has it and the child does not. We're praising the Lord that Scott DeLorey in the Philippines is recovering from dengue fever. We're praising the Lord that Michelle Lau's mother is doing well, Betty May. And we're praising the Lord that Robert Sweet had a heart catheterization at Duke that appears to have been successful. That was a procedure that they were not able to do locally and did not really have any way to help him further, but God directed him to a doctor and to resources at Duke Medical Center that proved to be very beneficial. He's breathing better and has no chest pain. We thank the Lord.

Our government official of the week is Village of Alamance Alder Member M. Barry Krauss. Some of our members who are still needing our prayers would include Rob Conrad, who is back home today, had to go to the hospital overnight once again last night, and he has been to the hospital several times recently. But this time it proved to be a dehydration and upset stomach because of the antibiotics he was on, and he was not eating and drinking regularly. So he's home and much better, for which we're thanking the Lord. Drew Guthrie has had some tests that have been concerning to her, but the doctors don't seem to be as concerned as perhaps she was.

There is something there, but the doctor is not in a big hurry. She has an appointment, I think, around the middle of October, but please remember Drew in prayer. Leanne Michael-Hannon had surgery today to remove her thyroid, and that was successful, but the last word we had was that she is having some bleeding, presumably from her throat, and some other things she'll probably, I think undoubtedly, is spending the night in the hospital. Hopefully we'll be able to go home tomorrow.

Art Pope, who suffers with COPD, will be having an MRI this next Wednesday, September 16. Debbie Red was rushed to the hospital this last weekend, and it proved to be severe vertigo, which can really throw one for a loop. It certainly did, Debbie. So we're thankful it was nothing more serious than that, but that in itself can be serious until it clears up, so we need to pray for Debbie. And we mentioned that Ann Whittington is now struggling with shingles. Please pray for Ann. Under others, Sheila Echter is having a difficult recovery from her recent major surgery. She may be in the hospital for several weeks, and then for a rehab or nursing home facility for a number of months. Her husband is the only one who's able to visit her because of the COVID-19 restrictions. Rebecca Ellis, granddaughter of Paul and Gail Ellis, will have a heart catheterization in Charleston, South Carolina, September 17.

That will be next Thursday. Tyler Rankin, Darla Hazelep's nephew's son, is home from Duke Hospital but still has double vision caused by the brain bleed that he had. The doctors anticipate that that blood will be absorbed by his body in time, and that should clear up the vision, but that remains to be seen. Also, he has hearing loss, and it remains to be seen whether that is a total hearing loss in one ear or not. But if there's any possibility of improving his hearing, he'll have to have reconstructive surgery on the bones around his ear. So he's not out of the woods completely.

He's still got quite a ways to go. And then we want to continue to pray for Becky Travis, the sister of Rose Bradshaw, who's home from the hospital and continues physical therapy. In regard to our missionaries, we continue to pray for Trevor Johnson and Paul Snyder, who are both in the States dealing with health issues and family issues.

And then, of course, our brother Stuart Waugh. In South Africa, he is recovering from a liver transplant surgery, major surgery that he had last week. He's having some symptoms of mental confusion that they had hoped would clear up by now but has not. So they're going to be doing, perhaps by now, have already done an MRI on his brain to see if there's something else going on in his head or if it's just lingering results from the surgery. And then they also determined that he has cancer in his adrenal gland, and that surgery is scheduled for tomorrow, and as far as I know, they're going ahead with that. So please pray for him. He's got a ways to go. By the way, that adrenal, or adrenal, surgery, however it is properly pronounced, was originally scheduled for yesterday, but because of his weakened condition, they held it off for two days.

But there is danger of cancer spreading, and so they need to get in there and get that taken care of. Mark Mitchell, that we are praying for, passed away over the weekend. He was a believer, and we rejoice in his home going and pray for the family left behind. We also continue to pray for David Moxley, who has cancer, will be having a scan on September 28 to determine if the treatments are causing the cancer to shrink. And we are praying for Ben Vestal, the brother of Lori Craig, who is a member of our church. Her brother Ben lives in Lynchburg, Virginia.

He's under hospice care and has declined further treatment, and so it is not anticipated that he's going to live a great deal longer. Ben was a member of our church in the early days, and we remember him with great joy. I read the words of one hymn, this hymn written by Eric Alexander, a Scottish pastor.

He wrote this in the year 2001, so it's about 19 years old now. It is a wonderful song of worship. It is a prayer. Lord, we bow before your glory manifested in your Son. Radiant with your perfect beauty, he is heaven's beloved one.

Saving grace has given us vision, opened eyes that once were blind. He on whom we brought derision now delights our heart and mind. Such a savior, now exalted, well deserves our heartfelt praise.

Dying, he has death defeated. Risen, he reigns for endless days. Now in heaven interceding, Jesus, friend of sinners, prays for the weakest, daily pleading, all sufficient is his grace. Oh, that we might know you better, Jesus Christ, our living Lord. Let our love grow daily greater as we hear your holy word. There you have revealed your glory. There we marvel at your grace.

Feed our souls and make us like you till we see you face to face. Shall we pray? Lord, we do bow before your glory. We thank you for the revelation of that glory in your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

We thank you that in the pages of Scripture we can learn of him and see something of his glory and thereby learn more about you, Almighty God, Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, mysterious trinity three in one. Father, we bow before your majesty. We bow before your glory. We bow before your wisdom and your power. We bow before your throne and we give you grateful praise. We pray now that you will quiet our hearts before you. Help us to rest upon your word. Help us to glorify you by trusting you, by demonstrating to those around us that we are trusting you and not in our own resources. Help us, Lord, to serve you faithfully and well upon this earth and then, Lord, receive us at the proper time into your presence to learn more about your glory and to worship and serve you throughout all eternity. And we ask these things in Jesus' name.

Amen. I begin reading a thank you note that comes to us from evangelist David Morris. We were able to extend a little financial help to him recently because all of his financial support comes from meetings that he conducts week by week. He normally has a very full schedule, preaches nearly every week of the year in some church somewhere.

But with COVID, of course, so many of those meetings, nearly all of them have been canceled. And he writes, Dear Pastor Barkman and Beacon Brethren, I'm so very grateful for your generous gift and these unique and uncertain months of shutdown and restriction. I deeply appreciate your concern and encouragement, so very evident in your gift as meetings have been canceled. Thank you for your kindness in blessing my family and me in these days. May God continue to bless you.

In Christ, signed David Morris. I have the most recent letter from Missionary Dave and Julie Rudolph, who serve in South Africa. And they write, dated Tuesday, yesterday, September 8, we have frequently mentioned Dave's mother, Minnie, in our email updates. We wish to thank you for your prayers and to report that our dear mother slipped peacefully into her heavenly home last evening. We are sad that we were not able to be with her, but we are grateful that our two sons, Jared and Justin, spent time with their grandma the past few days. They brought many great joy by their visit hours before her passing. We are especially comforted by her sweet Christian testimony, so we do not sorrow as those with no hope. We will wait to hold a memorial service at her church on the garden route when we are home.

God is good. We are rejoicing about a life well lived for Jesus. David and Julie came home for a short furlough and got stranded because they couldn't return because of the COVID.

So they're waiting for things to open up so they can return to South Africa. They are living in a missionary home in Raleigh, North Carolina. And I think it's likely that they will be worshiping with us this Sunday, just coming to be with us in our worship.

We're looking forward to hopefully seeing them this coming Sunday morning. I have a letter here from Libby Dreisbach, who we supported many years in the Philippines as missionaries until God called John home rather unexpectedly and abruptly with a heart attack and left Libby without her husband. And so she writes, Dear precious supporters, I write this letter expressing my incredible thanksgiving for all your care and prayer for these many years of John and I ministering to the Lord as your servants in the Philippines. With John's sudden unexpected leaving for heaven, my grieving process was lengthy, deeply painful, yet truly beautiful as God used every moment to recreate me into his adoring child, becoming a new me through the process, beauty from ashes. You have stood with me as I have used the past nine months to take our never used but what John always desired sabbatical from full time ministry in order to become more usable for him. I've been able to train both in a new Bible story ministry and ongoing classes in life and widow coaching, which has so enriched me and changed my life. My financial support has also continued to support the water filtration and audio Bible ministries in the Philippines. For the past one and a half years, I have been specifically supplicating with God to bring me a miracle man, a husband, knowing clearly that I was meant to do this life and ministry alongside such a man.

With the many specific lifts that only God could provide, even with a lifetime of faith building and stretching over the decades, I well-nigh gave up hope for that man. December and January were months of introspection and rearranging of my soul, yielding up my plans and brutally honest conversations, finding truths about his creating me that I had not taken time to clarify. But in God's time, God placed Bill Belton, a recent widower, right into my path. Bill and I are now engaged. Please join us in prayer for all of our nine shelter that's combined for the two families to join us in our joy. Our love story is truly a miracle from God. We are eager to begin the rest of this precious time together serving God.

And then she goes on to say, please discontinue your financial support immediately. She no longer needs missionary support and she's going to be entering into a new partnership and a new life of serving the Lord. We're grateful for this provision of God, this direction of God for our dear sister Libby Dreisbach. And finally, I have a letter from Armando and Sarah Borsini in Rome, Italy. Sarah Borsini is the daughter of Renato and Shari Giuliani that we have supported in their work in Rome for many, many years.

It's been quite such a privilege to be able to do that. And God saved Armando in their ministry and brought Armando and Sarah together as husband and wife. And now they're serving the Lord there. And he's primarily involved in the literature ministry, which is extensive and very significant. And he does translation and helping with that publishing work.

He writes, Dear brothers and sisters, this is our second letter of the year 2020. During the summer heat, God keeps giving us the strength and energy to carry on our work. In August, we will be working on several important books. We covered your prayers because we need the wisdom and ability that comes from God.

And I skipped some to go on to this part. In June, we had the privilege of publishing. This precious evangelistic booklet, Finding God in a World Fleeing from Truth, containing a selection of thoughts of Blasé Pascal, the famous scientist and Christian believer. I revised the Italian translation using the original French text. Please pray for this useful and valuable text. You know, it takes some people that God really prepares and gifts in the area of languages to be able to do this kind of work. We praise the Lord for this dear man. In a few days, the book Suffering, Gospel Hope When Life Doesn't Make Sense by David Paul Tripp will be available.

I finished the Italian translation in July. I highly recommend this volume as I consider it one of the most important books that I have translated so far. The sensitive theme is presented with biblical balance and a large dose of humility. This dear pastor has himself experienced a very serious illness and is still dealing with its irreversible consequences.

His thoughts concerning his way of facing this hard trial are genuine, honest, and scriptural. In this book, Tripp analyzes the traps in which we can fall when we receive the unwanted visit of suffering, as well as the glorious comforts of God, which we have every day, forever, as his children. I'm glad that book is now available in Italian, but it would be a great book for any of you to acquire in English.

Again, it is Suffering, Gospel Hope When Life Doesn't Make Sense by Paul David Tripp. In July, I also finished revising the biography of William Carey, Missionary to India, translated for the first time in Italian in 1956. This book needed to be corrected using the original English text and updated in the Italian language. Renato is now working on it for a final revision.

To enrich it, we are also adding some brief extracts from Carey's diary and letters. God willing, the book will be available in September. Presently, I'm working on the commentary of the First Letter to the Corinthians, written by Peter Marder Vermingli, 1499-1563, the most important Italian theologian of the Protestant Reformation, along with Jerome Zanchias.

Our text will include all his comments on chapters 12-14, which of course deals with the question of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. My work consists in revising the Italian translation in light of the original text. I hope to finish the revision by the end of this month so that the book can be available in September. In September, I will work together with Renato on the translation revision of the book The God Who Is There by Francis Schaeffer.

This important book is not easy to translate and revise due to the many compounded expressions and vital concepts. Please pray for us because books such as this are very rare in Italy. Finally, in September, I will also continue translating the commentary of Paul's letter to the Ephesians, written in 1594 by Italian Reformer Jerome Zanchias, originally written in Latin.

We plan on publishing it in two volumes, the first one in December 2020. And then he goes on and puts a few personal things that are going on with himself and his wife and their ongoing lives in the area of Rome. And with that, I ask you to open your Bible with me to Acts 11. And continuing the format that I began a few Wednesdays ago with an emphasis upon the work of missions, I turn to another text that also deals with that important matter, something that we give special attention to on Wednesday night as we read missionary prayer letters and talk about the work of missions. And here we read one of the earliest accounts of missionary labors and missionary expansion as it happened in the first century going out from the church that was established in the city of Jerusalem. It's a wonderful missionary account in Acts 11. It tells us about the gospel spreading into Syria and how God opened the door of the gospel to Gentiles. That, of course, was God's plan revealed actually in the Old Testament Scriptures but not well understood by the people of God. Even Christians, Jewish Christians in the early part of the first century didn't seem to understand how it was that God was going to bring the gospel to the Gentiles. They had the misunderstanding that the way God was going to save Gentiles was to first make them Jews and then make them Christians. The way that the Jewish Christians of the first century became Christians. They, of course, were born as Jews, reared as Jews, practiced the Jewish religion, and came by the work of God's Holy Spirit to understand that Jesus of Nazareth was the Jewish Messiah promised by God. And understanding that, they embraced Jesus Christ and became Christians, but they didn't think of themselves as those who had been converted from Judaism to Christianity. They thought of themselves as those who were now complete Jews because they had now embraced the Jewish Messiah. And their work was to preach to their fellow Jewish brethren that Jesus is the Christ.

Something that they had come to understand, often with much difficulty, and something that they wanted their Jewish brethren to understand, recognizing that many of them only came to that understanding with great difficulty. The majority of Jews never came to that understanding at all, as you know. And then they saw occasional Gentiles coming pretty much by way of Israel. Gentiles like, well, like Cornelius, the Roman centurion in the city of Caesarea, who was a devout worshiper of God in the synagogues. Along with the Jews, worshipping according to the scriptures given by Moses in the Old Testament prophets. And he came to embrace Jesus Christ, but he came first by way of Israel, and then through Israel he came to Christ.

We see the same thing with the Roman centurion in the city of Capernaum, when Jesus healed his servant. And here was a devout man who was worshipping alongside the Jews in the synagogue, and came to understand that Jesus is the Messiah. And so it's clear that the Jews had this concept that God, yes, is going to save Gentiles. Yes, the gospel is going to go out into all the world, but it's going to point Gentiles to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and from there to Jesus. And that isn't the way that God intended it to unfold, for the gospel to unfold, for the salvation of Gentiles to unfold.

And so there was a real barrier in the minds of Jewish people that had to be overcome. And that's what we're reading about in Acts chapter 11. I read now, beginning at verse 19. Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only.

See their mindset? They are going, Jesus Christ said, going to all the world. They are preaching the gospel, but they're preaching to Jews only. Their idea is, as I've already explained, that if the gospel goes beyond the Jews, it will be because God attracts Gentiles into the places, the synagogues, where the Jews worship. And they will hear the gospel alongside the Jews and will, in a sense, become completed Jews, just like these Jews had become completed Jews. But we read in verse 20, some of them, some of those who were scattered abroad, were men from Cyprus and Cyrene who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists preaching the Lord Jesus.

To the Hellenists, to the Greeks, to the Gentiles, and to those who were not worshiping in Jewish synagogues. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. Then news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord.

For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and a great many people were added to the Lord. Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch, so it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people, and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. And in those days, prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch.

Then one of them named Agabus stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which happened in the days of Claudius Caesar. Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea. This they also did and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. Well, let's break this passage down and work through it verse by verse. There are really four parts in this passage that I just read in Acts 11, 19 through 30. And I have labeled them, number one, evangelism, number two, church planting, number three, deprivation, and number four, response.

First of all, evangelism. That takes us back to verses 19, 20, and 21. And it begins by an account of faithful evangelists who were scattered because of persecution.

I read verse 19 again. Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. Faithful evangelists who were scattered because of persecution.

Now that takes us back to chapter 8. You recall, probably recall, that in chapter 6, one of the first seven deacons was Stephen. Stephen was a deacon, but he was also a powerful preacher.

Deacons aren't always gifted to preach, but they may be. And Stephen certainly was. He was a gifted preacher. And he preached in the synagogues, and he was convincing a lot of Jews that Jesus is the Christ. The Christ, the Messiah. They were looking for the Messiah. And he showed them from their own scriptures that Jesus met all of the qualifications that God gave in the Old Testament for the Messiah, and that they should therefore recognize that the God promised Messiah had come, and he was Jesus of Nazareth. And Stephen was especially gifted to persuade many to believe in Jesus, but those who didn't believe were enraged by his success and his powerful preaching and their inability to resist him and the power and the spirit with which he preached. And so they took him, and they stoned him to death.

He became the first Christian martyr. And after his death, the persecution cranked up. That's what we read in chapter 8. Now Saul, we read about him in chapter 11.

Something happened between chapter 8 and chapter 11. But Saul was consenting to his death, that is, Stephen's death. At that time, a great persecution arose against the church, which was at Jerusalem. And they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house and dragging off men and women, committed them to prison. Therefore, those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.

And that statement is now picked up in chapter 11. Now those who were scattered after the persecutions arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. So that thought is introduced in chapter 8. Persecution is scattering the Christians out from Jerusalem, away from the persecution, fleeing persecution.

And they're going preaching, preaching the gospel as they go. Now the reason why the information in chapter 11 doesn't continue immediately upon that statement in chapter 8 is because we do need to learn about some other things that happen in between, including, and most significantly, the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, who was persecuting the church, and was on his way to Damascus in an activity of persecution, a mission of persecution, when he was arrested by Jesus Christ on the Damascus road. And Jesus showed Saul that he was absolutely wrong about the Messiah and about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Saul was convinced that Jesus was not the Messiah, that he was in fact a deceiver. He had deceived people into thinking that he was the Messiah, but that he wasn't. Why was Saul, who was a student of the Old Testament scriptures, why was Saul so convinced that Jesus was not the Messiah when others studying the same evidence, the same scriptures, the same information that they had about this Jesus of Nazareth had come to the opposite conclusion, that he was in fact the Messiah? Well, there are two answers to that question, one on the ground level and one on the level of the heavens.

In other words, there's a human reason and there's a divine reason. From the human standpoint, Saul and others like him studying the Old Testament scriptures about the Messiah had focused primarily upon those scriptures that foretold a reigning Messiah, a glorious Messiah, a ruling Messiah, a king, someone who comes to sit upon the throne of David and to recover David's throne of glory, recover the kingdom, the great kingdom that was built under the reign of David and became even more grand and glorious during the days of Solomon, David's son, and then of course went into gradual decline after that over the centuries until here in the first century there is no kingdom, there is no king, Rome rules over Israel, they are the servants of Rome and they chafed at that and they longed for the Messiah and they longed for this promised king to come and they focused on those scriptures that portrayed Jesus in his glory and power and reign and majesty and they tended to discount the scriptures that talked about his suffering and his dying, which are included in the Old Testament, but it's possible to study the scriptures selectively. In fact we'll all do that if we are not careful.

We'll even do that to some extent if we are careful. We do that because we don't understand truth perfectly, but we ask God the Holy Spirit to help us to study the scriptures comprehensively, to take into account all the information that the scriptures give us upon any subject so that we don't become guilty like these first century Jews of ignoring truth about Messiah. And of course now we know that both strands of truth are absolutely correct. The promised Messiah is a reigning king, but the promised Messiah is also a crucified lamb. And it turns out that that part, his humiliation and his death, took place in his first coming, but there will be a second coming. And in his second coming he will come in glory and majesty to rule and to reign. But they didn't understand that.

That's the human level. And that's why Paul, or Saul, later to be called Paul, that's why Saul was absolutely convinced that Jesus Christ was a deceiver. He's not the Messiah. He was crucified.

He died. He can't be the Messiah. He's not ruling and reigning. He didn't rescue Israel from political bondage to Rome. He didn't sit upon David's throne. He hasn't restored David's glorious kingdom. He can't be the Messiah.

Absolutely not. And Saul was absolutely convinced on the basis of his understanding of Scripture that Jesus was not the Christ. And he was wrong, wrong, wrong. Again, I caution you to understand, you can be very certain of things that you believe you understand from Scripture and could possibly be wrong. And so Jesus struck Saul down on the Damascus road. Jesus spoke to him from heaven. When Saul was struck down on the Damascus road, he knew he'd been struck down by God.

This blazing light, this voice from heaven. He knew that God was speaking to him. And so he said to this voice that spoke to him, he said, Who are you, Lord?

I think he was already beginning to have doubts about what he believed and the mission that he was on in persecuting Christians. Who are you, Lord? And what did the voice from heaven, the voice of God, say to him? I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. I'm Jesus. Who are you, Lord?

I am Jesus, the Lord of glory, the Lord in heaven. The Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is Jesus, whom Saul was persecuting, who is now in heaven, resurrected from the dead and sitting upon the throne of the universe. Saul's understanding of Scripture was flipped upside down in a matter of about two seconds or less. Suddenly, he saw Scriptures in an entirely different light. He who was a student of Scripture realized that the conclusions he had drawn and was adamant about, was absolutely certain were correct, were not correct. They were wrong.

He had been wrong, and he needed to change his whole perspective, and he did in an instance. Now, I said this can be explained on the human level because these scholars had studied the Old Testament Scriptures and had focused on certain Scriptures to the neglect of others, and the ones they focused on were the ones that they delighted in. They were looking for a reigning Messiah to liberate them from Rome and to elevate Israel to the place of glory and honor once again. That's what they delighted in. That's what they longed for. So that's what they focused on. And so they missed truth that was so very vital.

That's on the human level. But what's the other answer? The other answer is it takes the work of God, the work of God's Holy Spirit to open the mind, to open the heart, to cause truth, to come shining into the soul, to give sinful men and women, fallen sons of Adam, a spiritual understanding which they don't have of themselves, to give them the ability to understand Scripture as it truly is. And that's what Saul received was this powerful illumination that came to him from heaven and completely reversed his thinking.

Now, this is what is taking place in between chapter 8 and chapter 11. Now Saul is a Christian. Now Saul is a preacher. Now Saul is an evangelist. Now Saul is an apostle called to that by the Lord Jesus Christ. And at the time we come to chapter 11, Saul is back in his hometown of Tarsus because he had to flee from Damascus because the Jews would have put him to death there if they could have got their hands on him. And then he went to Jerusalem and pretty soon the Jews found out he was there and they were determined to kill him.

And so he escaped and went to Tarsus far, far away from the Jewish zealots. And there he was no doubt preaching, no doubt evangelizing, but we have no record of anything that took place during the time he was in Tarsus. And it would be easy therefore to conclude, though we can't be dogmatic about this, but it would be easy to conclude that even though he was preaching and evangelizing, there was not a lot of spiritual fruit, visible fruit from his labors. It's always fruitful to preach the gospel, but it doesn't always bear visible fruit. Our job is to preach the gospel, but the results are in the hands of God.

He is the one who determines where there's going to be a great harvest, and he's the one who determines where there will not be such a great harvest. And here's the great apostle Paul who turned out to be one of the most fruitful preachers that have ever lived and who had lots and lots and lots and lots of conversions of churches planted of visible fruit for the Lord Jesus Christ in the course of his lifetime. But he was not universally fruitful in every location where he went, even in the accounts we find in the book of Acts. We find places Paul went and there were very few conversions, maybe just one or two, not even enough apparently to establish a church. And then he went other places and bang, the gospel just exploded and many were saved and churches were started. And that happened more often actually than in the more barren places, but there were some barren places such as the city of Athens. Paul preached in Athens. There's no record of a church left behind when he left Athens. And then he went not far from Athens to Corinth, and there he preached and a strong, thriving church was established.

What made the difference? Those who don't understand the sovereign rule of God say, well, Saul was off his game in Athens. He wasn't preaching as fervently. He wasn't using the right methods and techniques. He got a little careless, got a little slack and lax and didn't have the results.

And recognizing that, no doubt, in disappointment as he left Athens, he determined to double down and work harder and be more energetic and more winsome and more persuasive, and therefore he had better results in Corinth. Nonsense, nonsense, nonsense. There's not an indication of that anywhere in the Scriptures.

The difference is in the sovereign will of God. In Athens, a couple of folks believed. Not many, but a couple of folks believed. Who believed in Athens?

When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, we will hear you again on this matter. So Paul departed from among them. However, some men joined him and believed, among whom was Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

Maybe three or four, maybe half a dozen. We're given the name of two that we know for sure, and then just the word others. But as I say, there's no indication that a church was left behind. I'm sure that those who were saved, however many there were, half a dozen or fewer, probably met together and studied the Scriptures and prayed, but there wasn't apparently a congregation large enough to actually establish a church and to appoint elders and to see that church established. And yet Paul goes to Corinth, just the opposite. God's Spirit comes in great power. In fact, Paul had a vision in the night at a time when he was somewhat discouraged in Corinth about whether what he was doing was being effective or not. And Jesus came to Paul in the middle of the night and said, don't be discouraged. I still have many people in this city.

They were his. I have many people in this city, but they haven't come to faith in Christ yet. You're going to have to preach the Gospel to them, and they will.

I will give them to you. I have given them to Christ, and I will give them to you in the preaching of the word. And so, continue on, be persevering, be encouraged, and continue on. That was God's doing. God did that in Corinth.

God kept Paul in Corinth, even when Paul might have left more quickly, prematurely. God didn't do that in Athens. That's the sovereignty of God at work.

There's no other way to explain that except by the sovereignty of God. It's his work. It's his choice. It's his decision.

He is sovereign in these matters. Well, I think time has pretty well caught us short. We just got our toe dipped into this passage tonight. But Lord willing, we'll come back again next Wednesday night and take it up from here and continue on. But now shall we bow our hearts together in prayer. How we praise you, Heavenly Father, for your saving power and for your marvelous grace. How we praise you, Heavenly Father, that your love laid hold on us. You have saved and cleansed and filled us that we might be channels of your grace to others. And, oh, Lord, we long to be that. We praise you tonight that this unborn child of Steve and Stacy Collins does not have the S.M.A.

gene. How we rejoice in this blessing. We thank you that Scott Delory has recovered from his dengue fever in the Philippines. We rejoice in this good report of Betty May, the mother of Michelle Lau.

And we're so grateful for the help you gave to Robert Sweet that now his arteries are unblocked and he's without chest pain and he is recovering nicely. We thank you for it. We desire, oh, Lord, to lift up before your throne those government officials that you have placed in our lives. We pray especially tonight for the village of Alamance Alder member Barry Krause. We commit him to you and pray that you will guide him and direct him and provide for him and give him insight into your truth. Father, we pray for all of our government officials from the greatest to the least. From the national level down to the local level.

From the White House down to the courthouse. We pray, oh, Lord, that you might work in the lives of all of these people and that you might use them to enable your people to live quiet and peaceable lives. We pray for Rob Conrad that you might continue to strengthen him. We pray for Drew Guthrie as she awaits her next doctor's appointment in October. We pray for Leanne Michael-Hannon as she's recovering from her thyroid surgery today.

And for Art Pope as he has his MRI next week. We pray for Debbie Redd that you might strengthen her and help her to recover good health once again. And we pray for Ann Whittington that you might touch her body and relieve her of the difficulty and pain of the shingles. We pray for Sheila Echter who has a long road of recovery that you might strengthen her. And we pray for Rebecca Ellis as she has his heart catheterization next week in Charleston, South Carolina. We pray for Tyler Rankin thanking you that he's home from Duke and his life is no longer in danger as it was.

And yet, Father, there are some lingering effects of this accident. And we pray that you will restore his vision and his hearing once again if you'd be pleased. And we pray for Rose Bradshaw's sister, Becky Travis, as she's dealing with recovery from her broken leg.

We pray, O Lord, for our missionary brother, Stuart Waugh. We thank you. Oh, we thank you. We thank you for finally bringing him to this liver transplant. And we thank you for the report, even today, that his liver is functioning well.

That it has accomplished the purpose for which this surgery was arranged. But, Father, there are now other issues and we commit him to you for these. Lord, we pray that you'd clear his mind and we pray, O Lord, that you will give him successful adrenal gland surgery tomorrow. We pray that cancer will be arrested and will no longer threaten him. We pray that he will recover and will be able to serve you for some years to come. We pray for the family of Mark Mitchell. We pray for David Moxley and we pray for Ben Vestal, this dear brother in Lynchburg, Virginia, that you might minister much to him during this time of his weakness. And now, Father, we commit our lives to you and to your gracious kindness. Please direct us and uphold us and strengthen us as we ask these things now in Jesus' name. Amen.