Good evening. Welcome to the Only the Leave broadcast. I'm your host, Evas, Elizabeth, Lydia, Benton. And as always, it's a pleasure to be able to come to your homes to share with you the good news that being the gospel.
And today I want to talk about a real conversion, real conversion. And I want to go to Acts chapter 9. Now, the next couple of sermons, of course, will be about prayer. So I want to use Paul as one of my witnesses, Saul Turnpaul, as one of my witnesses about prayer.
Acts chapter 9 verse 1 says, and Saul yet breathing out threatening and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord went unto the high priest. And desired of him letters to Damascus and to the synagogues that if any be found this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Verse 3 says, and as he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly there's shined around about him a light from heaven. Verse 4 says, and he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecute this thou me?
And he said, who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecute is. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. We know that Saul had been persecuting Christians.
He wanted them all dead. We know that the enemy wants you and I dead. Now some of us are walking around doing his bidding, the bidding of the enemy. He's talking to us.
Not only does the Lord speak, the enemy is speaking also. He fell when he fell when he got cast out of heaven, Lucifer, when he got cast out, the Bible says that a third of the angels came with him. So he is not only at work by himself, he speaks to people, he uses people to do his dirty business. And guess what?
And even the enemy, the devil will get tired of you after a while and guess what he's going to do? He's going to try to kill you. The only thing that the Lord wants to do, he wants to save you and then you in turn go and save somebody else. Jesus asked Saul, why was he persecuting the Christians?
Why was he persecuting his people? He had Jesus actually had a conversation with Saul. He didn't see him, but he knew his voice. We're walking around as if we've never heard his voice.
We're walking around as if we don't know him and that he speaks. See, he speaks to today. It's just whose voice will you cling to? He asked Saul, why was he persecuting him?
Verse 6 says, and he and he trembling and astonished, and said, Lord, what will thou have me to do? He wants to know, are you willing to ask him what does he want you to do? He's calling you today. He's calling me today, but what are we going to do for him?
What are we going to do for the kingdom? We say that we want him to come. The Lord's prayer, his prayer says that we want his kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven, but you have to open your mouth. Just as he created the world with the words from his mouth, you and I have been given kingdom, dominion, and authority, but we have to speak life.
We have to speak words of life. So he asked him, Lord, what will you have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, arise and go into the city and it shall be told the what thou shall do. Reminds me of Abraham.
He told him to leave the familiar and to go to a place that I will tell you. And he told him that he was going to make him a great nation and that his and says, I mean, his family line would be as numerous as the stars that they would not be numbered for multitude, how many people he would have, but we won't go. We won't move. When the Holy Spirit says something to us, we always question even if we actually heard his voice.
He's speaking today, but what will you do? Will you act? Will you go not knowing where he's sending you to? Will you just?
All he requires is obedience to his word and his commands. It says that, and the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. You know the Bible says to be careful to entertain strangers, for some have entertained angels unaware. If you want to be somebody's angel or used by God, you have to hear what the Father is saying to the Son in the throne room.
The Bible says that when Jesus was transfigured and he went into heaven, the Bible says that he seated at the right hand of the Father, making an intercession for you and I. But he said that we're seated with Christ in heavenly places. So if we're seated with him, if we'll just go to the throne room and sit on his lap, he'll tell us what he wants us to do. But the problem as I was saying before, we haven't gotten to know him as Father.
Why do you think that the Lord's prayer starts out our Father which art in heaven? He wants you to come to him as Father. I know many of us on the earth, we haven't had a good Father or a Father that was after God's own heart like David. We haven't had a Father that taught us the Word, but also more importantly loved us as they loved their own selves.
But you have a Father that wants to do all of that, but you have to call on him as Father and he will show you his Son and he will impart to you just as he did on the day of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit will come down and dwell among you just as in the Old Testament when they had the tabernacle. He wants the tabernacle among us. But we must come to him as Father so that we can reap the benefits as sons and daughters. Verse 8 says, and Saul arose from the earth and when he saw, excuse me, and when his eyes were open, he saw no man.
When his eyes were open, he saw no man, but they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. Many of us are walking around with our eyes open, but we've been blinded by the enemy. Open your eyes so that you can see the light of the true gospel. It's a gospel of peace and power.
Verse 9 says, and he was three days without sight and neither did eat nor drink. Verse 10 says, and there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias and he said, Behold, excuse me, named Ananias, and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias, and he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. Jesus came to Ananias in a vision. We can have dreams and visions of heaven, of things that he wants us to do on the earth, but we have to be still in his presence for these things to manifest.
When Jesus came to Ananias in a vision, what did he say? He says, Here I am, Lord. When he comes to you in dreams and visions, what do you say? Many of us automatically say that must have been a piece of dream.
I must have had some porn, something I had, did not agree with my body, and that's why I'm dreaming. No, you need to weigh that dream with his word and ask him, When you dream, Lord, what are you revealing to me? What do you want me to do with this information? He may not want you to tell the person that you had to dream about.
He may just be telling you so that you can intercede, but you have to say, Lord, here I am so that you can get your instructions from the throne room. Verse 11 says, and the Lord said unto him, Arise and go to a street called straight and inquire in the house of Judas for one call Saul of Tarsus for behold, oh, Hallelujah. This, I get chills every time I read it. He says, Go and inquire in the house of Judas for a man called Saul for behold, he prayeth.
Don't you want God to be looking for you to send somebody to help you in the ministry and say, Hey, you may not know where Lydia is, but I can tell you where she is and she's praying. Oh, Hallelujah. Said to go, inquire in the house of Judas for Saul for he's praying. Verse 12 says, and has seen a vision, a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hands on him that he might receive his sight.
Now, Jesus shows Ananias the vision of what he's supposed to do for Saul, and not only did he show Ananias, he show Saul. Wouldn't you like to know what the Lord is planning for you? Wouldn't you like to know what you're to do before you go? You can, but you have to go to the throne room to get your instructions.
Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 30, Deuteronomy 30, and 29, excuse me, excuse me, it's actually Deuteronomy 29 and 29. It says, The secret things belong unto the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever that we may do all the words of this law. The law is his word. He will seal our instructions if we go to him and ask him what he wants us to do.
Verse 13 says, Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man how much evil he had done to thy saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on that name. But the Lord said unto him, go thy way, for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. All of us have been called by God to bear his name.
We are to go to the nations and to the world for the calls of Christ. We need to be like John crying out in the wilderness, saying, For the kingdom of God is at hand. That's our job. That's the mission.
Oh my, but we have to follow protocol and the protocol is that we know him for ourselves. Ananias said, I don't want to go to that man. You know he's persecuted the saints. People say, I don't want to hear Lydia.
I know where she's being. I know what she's done. But he says, she's a chosen vessel. We've all been chosen to do a work for the master.
When are you going to start? Oh, Hebrews 13 and 8, say Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever. He's not going to change for you nor me. Straight narrow is this way.
There is only one way to God is through Jesus Christ with the confession of your mouth. He says, he's a chosen vessel. 16 says, for I will show him how great things he must suffer for my sake. Oh, we want all God has for us, but we don't want to suffer.
I don't want to suffer either. But I'd rather let this old body, this old nasty flesh that's going to decay anyway, I'd rather suffer here than to lose out on spending eternity with my Savior. 17 says, and ananias went his way and entered into the house and put in his hands on him, said, brother Saul, the Lord even Jesus that appeared unto thee in the way that thou came is, has sent me. See, ananias was even able to tell Saul that I know that the Lord not only did he appear to me, but he appeared to you.
Don't you want that testimony today in our time that not only did the Lord give me words for you, he gave them to you so that you would know that the word I speak came from him. He said that he sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost. If you're filled with the Holy Ghost, you won't act the same as the world. Your response won't be the same as the world because you've been changed.
You've been called out to do a work for the Master. Verse 18 says, and immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scaled, and he received his sight forthwith and arose and was baptized. He received his sight immediately the scales fell from his eyes. If you call on the name of the Lord right where you are today, the scales can fall from your eyes.
If you have an addiction, that addiction can be broken today just by you at knowledge and who he is. And saying simply, Lord, I surrender. He won't you well. He won't you walk in in victory.
He won't you to be healed whole, perfect, entire, lacking nothing, but you must come to him. It says that he arose and received his sight and he was baptized. The baptism is the completion of your confession. You must be baptized.
Not only with water, but more importantly than that water is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You can be immersed in the Holy Spirit today. And all you have to do is say yes to his will and to his way today. Verse 20 says, in straight way, he preached Christ in the synagogues that he is the Son of God, but all that heard him were amazed and said is not this he that destroyed them which called on that name in Jerusalem and came hither for that intent that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests.
Some people won't believe your conversion, but they don't have to because they didn't give it to you. If you will accept him today and acknowledge that you are a sinner, but you're in search of a Savior, he promises that he will save you. You will be a be saved today and on your way to heaven. And you'll be able to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
All you have to do is call on him today and you can have the same conversion that Saul had. And you can convert many to Christ, but you have to follow on your knees and allow him to take the scales off of your eyes. This has been only belief, only belief that he's able to keep that which you commit to him today. He's Lord, he's Savior, he's King, he rules over all.
All you have to do, only believe, call on him while he is today. God bless.