The Greatest Conversion in History (Acts 9:1-18)

• Video recording, Sun, Feb 12, 2023: The greatest, most famous and perhaps most radical conversion in history.
• ** What is your conversion story? This is my magical mystical supernatural conversion of meeting God for the first time in 1980.

What happened when Saul met Jesus?

1. Contact (Ac 9:3), confrontation (Ac 9:4a), conviction (Ac 9:4b; 2 Cor 3:18; 4:6; 1 Jn 1:5; Jn 1:4-5; 15:25).
2. Command (Ac 9:6; Mt 28:19).
3. Communion (Ac 9:9), conversation (Isa 1:18), connection, contemplation (Phil 4:8), confession (Ac 22:4; 26:10; 1 Cor 15:9; Gal 1:13).
4. Call (Jn 15:16; 1 Pet 2:9) and commission [through Ananias] (Ac 9:15-16); from God (Ac 26:16; 1:8; Mt 28:19).
5. Conversion (Ac 9:3, 17; 22:8; 1 Ti 1:15; Phil 3:7-10; 1 Cor 15:3-4).
6. Cost (Ac 9:16; I Cor 15:31) and contentment (Phil 4:11-12; 1 Tim 6:6).

Confrontation, Conversion and Calling (Isaiah 6)

https://www.facebook.com/ben.toh.9/posts/10159744412734490 Sermon in Ukraine on Nov 7, 2021.

My eyes have seen the almighty holy God. "I saw the Lord…my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty" (Isaiah 6:1, 5).

1. Do you want to "see" God (Isa 6:1, 5)? Have you?
• What does it mean to "see" God? To confront a vision of God (Isa 6:1-4; Jn 1:14; Judg 13:22; Exo 33:20)?
• Do you have a memorable "(God) moment" in your life (Jn 1:39)?
• Did Isaiah see Jesus (Jn 12:41)?
• What does it mean that God is "holy, holy, holy" (Isa 6:3; Rev 4:8)? That "the whole earth is full of his glory" (Isa 6:3; 5:30)?
• Is your God big (Isa 6:1, 5) and your problems small, or are you problems big because your God is small?
2. How do you know if you are saved? How is one saved (Isa 6:5-7)? What does it mean to:
• be convicted of sin (Isa 6:5a)? Have you felt woe? Doomed by your sins (Lk 5:8; Rev 1:17)?
• confess sin (Isa 6:5b; Ps 51:4)?
• be cleansed of sin (Isa 6:6-7)?
• be changed (2 Cor 5:17, 21)?
3. Could Isaiah not hear "the voice of the Lord" before Isaiah 6:8? Why (Isa 59:2)?
4. What does it mean to you--personally and practically--to be called by God and to serve God (Isa 6:8-13; 66:2; Eph 4:1; Gal 2:20; Phil 1:27; 1 Pet 5:2)?
5. What does God caution about calloused people (Isa 6:9-10)? Can a person become worse after studying the Bible and after knowing the Bible? Why (1 Cor 1:22-23; Mt 7:26-27; Jas 1:22-24)?

"Christians are missionaries by necessity because all that we are and do only makes sense if what we are and do is done in the name of Jesus." Stanley Hauerwas, Sent: The Church is Mission (Sermon, 7/4/2010), Working With Words: On Learning to Speak Christian.

"Give me a man in love; he knows what I mean. Give me one who yearns; give me one who is hungry; give me one far away in this desert, who is thirsty and sighs for the spring of the eternal country. Give me that sort of man; he knows what I mean. But if I speak to a cold man, he just does not know what I am talking about." Augustine.

Grace Before Obedience (Exodus 19:1-6)

Exodus 19:1-6; Key Verse: Ex 19:4b-5a

"I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me..."

Mt 28:19, 1 Pet 2:9, and Ex 19:4-6 are significant signature verses that have driven UBF over the past half century, especially the phrase "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Ex 19:6). Ex 19:1-6 shows that--in the history of God's people and God's work in the Bible--grace always precedes and comes before obedience (to the Law) and mission. Today's sermon has 3 parts, which necessarily stresses the importance of the order. In his BST Commentary on The Message of Exodus: The Days of Our Pilgrimage, Alec Motyer, OT scholar, says that this order is crucial to our understanding of the Bible:

1. The saving acts of the Lord.
2. Our responsive obedience.
3. The blessing that comes from obedience.
   

Nothing must upset this sequence. Stated differently, this biblical "spiritual order" is:

1. Grace (Ex 19:1-4): How God saves us.
2. Obedience (Ex 19:5): Our response to grace is obedience to the Law.
3. Mission (Ex 19:6): The blessing and reward of obedience (and punishment for disobedience).