King of Kings Worship Center's video: Peter Roselle: Paul s Transformative Journey on the Road to Damascus

Peter Roselle: Paul's Transformative Journey on the Road to Damascus Peter speaks at King of Kings Worship Center on 7/10/2022 You’ve been “blessed to be a blessing.” (Genesis 12:2) Pay it forward! For more videos, subscribe to King of Kings YouTube Channel here: https://bit.ly/2TRObAR If you need help with a personal problem email info@kingofkingswc.com. Donate to King of Kings here: http://www.kingofkingswc.com/donate/ Then Paul... you could read his story, in Acts is where we actually see the event when he was on the Road to Damascus. Here, he is just retelling the story to King Agrippa because he is on trial, and needs defend himself from the charges, because he wants to go to Rome. God told him to go to Rome, but there's a lot of steps along the way. And he retells his story a couple of times. And this is in near the end of the Book of Acts. There's only 28 chapters. Here we are in 26. And he's talking to King Agrippa, and he says, "I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Anybody here before you were saved, mock Christians? Yeah, me too. My mom was the one that was witnessing me. And you know, I just didn't want to hear what she had to say. I called her a Jesus freak. Little did I know I would be leading the Jesus freaks someday. Right? Funny how that works. God had given her a word through her brother, who was also, who was a pastor. He said, when you think of your son picture him with his hands lifted up worshiping the Lord. And at the time I was a bouncer in a bar on the Fort Lauderdale strip. And you wouldn't want to go to that bar, I promise you that. So I mean that's about as far from where I was as what he was telling her to pray for me. And again, you know, ironic then the music that I was learning in the world turned into worship music for the Lord. You know, God could do anything. He's turned around God. Even when you don't see it, He's working. Even when you don't feel it, He's working. He's the way maker. Woo. There's a reason that song is so popular. We pray it even when I don't see it yet I'm witnessing. I'm believing God that they're going to have a turnaround. They're going to meet somebody that's going to shake them up in a good way and point them in the right direction. So, I thought I had to do a lot of things to tear down the church. Verse 10, "This I also did in Jerusalem and many of the saints I shut up in prison having received authority from the chief priests. And when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them." I'm a murderer trying to snuff out this new movement that was against the Bible. "And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities. And while thus occupied on my way to the foreign city called Damascus with authority and commissioned from the chief priests" at midday, the phone rang. I didn't recognize the ring either, and it didn't go into voicemail. It popped out and everybody knew something was going on. Like they all saw the light. They didn't all hear the voice, right? "Along that road I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun shining around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground" which means they all saw it, right. "I heard a voice speaking to me." Hello, Paul? Can you hear me? Can you hear me now? How's the signal? Pretty bright. Pretty loud and clear. "And it was saying right in my Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It's hard for you to kick against the goads." It's hard for you to fight for what I want you to do. You're out killing Christians. Clearly God had tried to speak to Paul, still Saul at this point, and he had been blocking that out. He was there when Stephen was martyred. And I have a feeling when he says I have this thorn in my flesh. [2 Corinthians 12:7] You could debate that another day. We'll talk about was that a physical sickness or could it have just been the memories of all the things that he did in this stage of his life prior that, you know, you could say that would be the devil reminding him. It would be if it's condemnation. But if it's not condemnation and it's just the conviction of the Lord saying, That's not me anymore. I'm a new person, I'm going to go the complete other way. And now I'm going to advance God's kingdom. And I think Paul did a pretty good job of that. I don't know about you, but I'd give him a good grade. He's definitely an inspiration to me as a marketplace guy. He was a temp maker. Didn't have to be. Pretty good, right? He wanted to still be with the lost and not float up into some church bubble and only ever be around Christians all the time because you can lose a little bit of your edge.