The Conversion of Paul

Transcript

good to be with everyone this evening uh x thank you for the invitation to give x this class x a couple things have happened recently x one which you'll know about the other x probably not x uh the first is we've we've recently x finished our daily readings in the book x of acts x the book of acts begins with the work of x the twelve x and ends with the work of paul x so that's the first things happened x recently x the second one is x i've recently retired from a career as a x statistician and i i mentioned the x second of these x as an excuse for the graphic i want to x use to start class tonight maybe i'm x missing my work a bit and feel compelled x to have a little bit of statistical x analysis x so the graph that you might see on your x screen x is a frequency x table of the x uh x ref frequent the number of times the x name saul or paul x occurs x that's good x okay now yeah about that x so here's here's the graphic that i x wanted to x show you x so i've got along the horizontal axis is x the chapter number in x x and the vertical axis the height x is the number of times either the name x saul or the name paul x occurs in each of the chapters i've got x solid red and paul and black so you'll x several things pop out from this first x of all that x the apostle paul is not mentioned in the x first six chapters of the book x and then he's mentioned in chapters x 6 through x 13 x especially chapter 9 that we've just x read part of x under the name of saul x and then his name is changed to paul and x pretty much the rest of the time he's x referred to as paul rather than saul x and the the few x uh little incidences in chapter 22 and x 26 there are when paul is telling the x story x of his conversion x and he's he's quoting the lord jesus who x calls him by the name of saul x um x so all right i've had my statistics x fixed for the night x um x now it's it's it's no understatement to x say that the conversion of paul which is x chapter nine here the great big high up x reds fight x there that this is one of the most x important events x in human history x and i say that because of the profound x influence paul would have in spreading x the gospel x this was the initiation of a huge change x from saul the pharisee x to paul the apostle x and so as as we consider this momentous x event x tonight x the things that i want to emphasize are x the love of christ x and paul's response to it x paul had to learn x that jesus x was alive x he thought he was dead x not only was he alive but that he's x aware x and that he is active in the life of the x believer and that he cares x about his body x so we want to be stirred up to think of x our lord x as he is presented in acts x and x so that's the first thing the second x thing x is x i want to talk about how the grace of x god impels us x to a life of grace x now explain what i mean as we go on x now to really appreciate x the conversion of paul we need to go x back to chapter six and seven x to the murder of stephen x the first man to die for the faith of x christ x we recall stephen's defense x was accused of blasphemy for preaching x about jesus x and he was taken before what most of our x bible versions call the council x known as the sanhedrin in fact x sanhedrin is is actually a greek word uh x that means the assembly the the the x council x it was the jewish council of elders x allowed by roman law to oversee matters x of personal and religious conduct and it x was modeled after the system suggested x to moses by his father-in-law jess x jethro x who had ins who suggested it to spare x him x you know the impossible task of x governing that whole people x it was the sanhedrin x which condemned jesus x and which sent him to pilate x acts chapter 4 tells us of peter and x john before the council x arrested because of the stir caused by x the healing of the lame man x i remember the lame man who'd lane for x so many years x at the gate x and x peter and john say silver and gold have x we none but such as we give you such as x we have we give you x in the name of jesus arise and what and x they're arrested they're put in jail x they're miraculously released by an x angel and they go right back to x preaching in the temple x and they were arrested again x and beaten x now in chapters six and seven of acts it x was stephen x who appeared before the council x now stephen x is described in chapter six verse five x and by the way it'd be good for you to x have your bibles open to these early x chapters of acts x as we uh consider the conversion of saul x stevens described in chapter 6 verse 5 x as a man full of faith x and of the holy spirit x in chapter 6 x verse 8 he is described as a man full of x grace and power x he was such an extraordinary preacher x that it says in chapter 6 10 his x opponents x could not withstand the wisdom x and the spirit with which he spoke x so in chapter 6 x verse 12 x they seized him and brought him before x the sanhedrin x and here's their accusation of him x they said x this man never ceases to speak words x against this holy place x meaning the temple x and the law x for we have heard him say that this x jesus of nazareth will destroy this x place and will change the customs which x moses delivered to us you notice it's x the exact same crazy false accusation x that they had made against jesus himself x so we're probably familiar it's a it's a x wonderful episode of acts chapter 7 x that records the powerful powerful x speech stephen made in defense of the x faith x it's interesting that at the beginning x of it in chapter 6 verse 15 it says that x all who sat in the council and that's x the greek word for sanhedrin x the whole sanhedrin x saw that his face x was like the face of an angel x now it's possible that when it says his x face looked like the face of an angel x that yeah it doesn't mean anything more x than that you know he was sincere x he had a certain gravity about him he x was fearless he had confidence in god x but it's possible too to think that x there was some manifestation of divine x glory x like when jesus was transfigured x or when moses came down from the mount x so there stephen is before this august x council x stephen begins with an appeal x recounting jewish history and showing x how the nation had resisted god and his x messengers x and he'd been accused of speaking evil x the temple x so he x concluded by by recording from isaiah x chapter 66 now i'm gonna put it up on x the screen isaiah chapter 66 verse one x and two x but what i'd like you to do is as we x read this i'd like you to follow along x in in acts chapter x 7 x verses 49 to 51. x so acts chapter 7 verses 49 and 51 x that's where x stephen is speaking x and isaiah 66 x is what he's quoting x what i want you to notice is where he x left the script x here's isaiah 66 verses 1 until x thus says the lord x heaven is my throne and the earth is my x footstool x what is the house which you would build x for me x what is the place of my rest you know to x the jews this temple was so important x but god says all these things my hand is x made and all so all these things are x mine says the lord x but this is the man to whom i will look x he that is humble x and contrite in spirit x and trembles at my word did you x see where he left the script you know if x they were familiar with isaiah's words x which i guess they probably would have x been they expected to hear him say this x is the man to whom i will look he that's x humble and contrite in spirit and x troubles it by word x but instead stephen said you stiffnecked x people x uncircumcised in heart and ears x you always resist the holy spirit x the council was enraged x chapter 7 verse 54 x they ground their teeth x they were so angry x and right at this moment x stephen was blessed with a vision of x heaven opened x the glory of god x and jesus standing x at the right hand of god x psalm 110 is i believe x the most quoted old testament passage or x at least the most alluded to because in x the new testament because of the x frequent references to jesus seated at x the right hand of god x but on this occasion x stephen sees x the lord jesus standing at the right x hand of god x it's as though x the lord at this moment stands up x out of respect and love for stephen x the council and witnesses x turned into a riotous mob x they were yelling and carrying on x thrusting stephen out of the city x and ultimately stoning him to death x and it's here that we're first x introduced to paul in acts chapter 7 x verse 58. x it says that the crowd x stoning stephen x laid down their clothes at a young man's x feet x whose name was saul x there's a question about your courteous x you know x from all that we learn about saul later x on x his his his incredible hatred x of the christians x he makes it he makes it clear in his x later writings x and then his speeches is that i x mentioned earlier in later parts of acts x how much he hated them x so the question occurs well why wasn't x saul in there throwing stones like the x rest of them x why did he stand aside taking care of x the outer garments x the executioners had discarded x in order to perform their grizzly task x the best explanation seems to be that x paul's role was consistent x with that of a representative of the x sanhedrin x the sanhedrin x according their interpretation of the x law in deuteronomy 17 passed judgment x but the penalty was imposed by the x witnesses who brought the accusation x brother harry whitaker argues this x convincingly x in his wonderful little book studies in x the acts of the apostles x it's sometimes argued that paul was a x member of the sanhedrin x personally i'm not sure that we x be entirely confident that x um x there's a passage later on in acts where x he says he gave his vote with them and x and x that's that's the x that's the basis i think x of of this idea that paul was a member x of the sanhedrin x i'm not i'm not sure that we can x say all that much x but we do know that paul had a close x relationship with a member of the x sanhedrin a man named gamaliel x gamaliel is mentioned in acts chapter 5 x verse 34. x he's described as a pharisee who was on x the council meaning the sanhedrin x and it says there in acts chapter 5 34 x that he was a teacher of the law x held in honor by all the people x he was a very important man x interestingly x uh the the uh x jameson faucet and brown x the commentary on acts 5 x uh verse 34. this passage in particular x has this observation it says in all x probability one of that name gamaliel x celebrated in the jewish writings for x his wisdom x the son of simeon possibly the same who x took the infant savior in his arms x and grandson of hillel x who we may have heard of x as a celebrated rabbi x so gamaliel was on the council he was on x the sanhedrin x and years later x when paul is recounting these events and x he's addressing a jewish mob that had x taken him for a foreigner x he says this x in chapter 22 verses three to five he x says i am a jew x born at tarsus x insilicia but brought up in this city at x the feet of gamaliel x educated according to the strict manner x of the law of our fathers being zealous x for god as you all are this day x i persecuted this way to the death x binding and delivering to prison both x men and women as the high priest and the x whole council of elders the sanhedrin x bear me witness x so paul had a connection to the x sanhedrin x and it seems likely therefore that when x he is standing there x witnessing the execution but not x actively taking part x he's there x as a representative x watching approvingly x as the life x was battered out x of stephen x think about what happened x acts 7 verses 59 to 60 say this x as they were stoning stephen x he prayed lord jesus x receive my spirit x and he knelt down and cried with a loud x voice x lord x do not hold this sin against him x when he'd said this he fell asleep x some of y'all x may remember brother wally scott it's x been a number of years since he fell x asleep but when i used to live in x springfield years ago x i loved wally a lot great brother x and i remember a point a comment he made x about this episode x he said that in james chapter 5 verse 16 x which is a passage about sin and prayer x the james says pray for one another that x you may be healed x the prayer of a righteous man has great x power in its effects that's the new king x james version x the prayer of a righteous man has great x power and its effects x i love the king james version though x king j version just it just sticks with x you know the effective x fervent prayer x of a righteous man avails much x jesus x heard stephen's prayer x and i think paul did too x do you think maybe that effective x fervent prayer x availed much x i think so x though the effect was not immediate x what we read in the immediate aftermath x of stephen's murder x in chapter 8 verse 3 x is that paul made havoc of the church x the vice version says he laid waste x the church x the revised standard version says he was x ravaging it x he's described x by luke x as having dragged men and women x off to prison x the words in chapter 8 x describing paul saul at this point x describe truly vicious x violent behavior x chapter 9 begins with him x quote breathing threats and murder x against the disciples of the lord x you know it's interesting king james x said breathing breathing in x like as if but it's like he's he's x breathing it he's just in a he's in a x cloud of it x he's breathing threats and murders x against the disciples of the lord x and we're not given the details x but paul at least we're not giving them x here x but paul himself supplies them on later x occasions x for instance in acts 22 x verses 19 and 20. x and this is the episode where jesus x where x paul has been confronted x by a jewish mob x who are convinced that he's you know x foreign x and x as he's recounting to them his vision of x jesus x he said and i said lord x they themselves know that in every x synagogue x i imprisoned and beat those who believed x in me x and when when the blood of stephen thy x witness was shed i also was standing by x and approving x and keeping the garments x of those who killed him x later on chapter 26 when paul stands x before agrippa x he says i myself was convinced that i x ought to do many things in opposing the x name of jesus of nazareth x and i did so in jerusalem i not only x shut up many of the saints in prison by x authority from the chief priests but x when they were put to death i cast my x vote against them x and i punished them often in all the x synagogues and tried to make them x blaspheme x an enraging fury against them x i persecuted them even to foreign cities x and it's not only in these two speeches x in acts but also in three of his letter x letters paul writes with great regrets x about his early life x as a persecutor of the ecclesia x i imagine that most of us have things x that we look back on in our lives x where we say if only we hadn't done that x that's just a stain it's a blot it's x something x i know that god forgives but boy i wish x i hadn't done that x and that's paul's but can you imagine x what he what he had on his conscience x after all those years x saul did these things x in acts chapter 8 x and 9 x with the memory of stephen's death x and of his dying words on his mind x i should probably leave the psychology x psychologizing to others x but i can't help but wonder whether the x stirrings of conscience x were at work x he couldn't rid himself of the memory of x that fervent effectual prayer x of a righteous man x but when we come to acts chapter 9 verse x 1 saul is still breathing threats and x murders against the disciples of the x lord as i mentioned king james version x says breathing out but it's not that x it's it's just breathing them it's the x whole atmosphere which paul's living x is filled with such malice x as to seek permission from the sanhedrin x to persecute believers as far away as x damascus x paul had had x in his x persecution of the ecclesia in jerusalem x had had an inadvertent role in spreading x the gospel x because a lot of the believers x fled the city and had gone throughout x judea and samaria x and damascus somewhat further to the x north was a city with a large jewish x population x and saul was intent x on preventing the further spread of st x of preaching like stephen's x so saul goes to the high priest x seeking the authority of the sanhedrin x in his effort to thwart the spread of x what's called in chapter 9 verse 2 the x way x so armed with letters of authority x he makes his way to damascus x suddenly there's a great flash of light x paul's later accounts in the event in x chapter 22 and 26 x say that it happened at midday x at noon time x and that the light was brighter than the x sun x some versions say that the light flashed x like light x in fact it's almost the same word x as jesus uses in luke 17 when he says as x the lightning flashes and lights up the x sky from one side to the other so will x the son of man be in his day x or perhaps more relevantly it's the same x word as is used in luke 24 verse 4 of x the shining or dazzling garments of the x angels at the tomb x there are three accounts of this event x in acts here in chapter 9 and as i x mentioned in chapter 22 x years later when he's confronting a mob x at the temple in chapter 26 when he x appears before agrippa x when we piece together the accounts x we see that the brilliant light struck x saul and all of his companions to the x ground x his companions scrambled back to their x feet but saul remained on the ground x all heard a sound perhaps perhaps like x thunder x but only saul perceived a voice x the voice said x saul x saul x why are you persecuting me x ananias barnabas and paul himself all x later said that he saw x as well as her jesus x so lying there on the ground x his eyes closed against the intense x light he had a vision of jesus x they said who are you lord x and jesus responded x i am jesus x whom you are persecuting x one of our one of our hymns that maybe x it's not the best best known him but x it's a nice old hymn it's been x our handbooks for years and years x it describes the resurrection of jesus x saying x this i won't sing it i'll i'm tempted by x one x all the toil and sorrow done x hallelujah x all the battle fought and won hallelujah x now i guess we know what it means when x it says all the toilets are done x but it's not quite right for us to x forget that jesus is the head of the x body x and that if one member suffers x one part of the body suffers x that all do x there's something absolutely profound x about jesus words x i am jesus x whom you are persecuting x think of what became evident to paul at x this moment x he thought jesus was dead x but jesus x was alive x jesus was not only alive but he was x aware x and he was active x not only that x jesus x is not dispassionately disconnected from x our troubles x we're all familiar with the lovely words x of hebrews it says we don't have a high x priest who can't be touched with a x feeling of our infirmities x you know our high priest isn't like that x why the priest high priest understands x and so we can come boldly to the throne x of grace to find mercy and grace to help x in time of need x we recall stephen's vision x of jesus standing at the right hand of x god x as the mob engulfed him x so much x that paul learned in that moment x here's something interesting x uh acts chapter 9 verse 5 has one of x these unfortunate variations on the new x testament text so if you're reading the x king james version of the new king james x you'll read that jesus said i am jesus x whom you're persecuting it's hard for x you to kick against the pricks or the x goads x now if you're reading the esv or one of x the other modern versions you'll see x that this part about kicking against the x gods is omitted x this is the unfortunate result of modern x versions basic translations on x alternative old greek texts some of x which i believe to be of quite lower x quality x but the neat thing is that when paul x recounts the same episode in acts 26 14 x it doesn't matter which version you're x using the bit about the kicking against x the goads is included so it's a genuine x uh expression of things x but what does it mean x so the term refers to an instrument used x to direct harnessed animals x a thorn-like projection x whether in the hand of the driver were x attached to the plowing mechanism itself x that would keep the animal going in the x direction they were supposed to be going x so x in other words the ox wants to stir away x off to the left so this is the left x stir away off the left he gets pricked x on this side and he straightens out x right or if he wants to go off to the x right it's a little prick on that side x it's straightened out x you know it reminds you of the power of x jesus about looking back while you're x plowing you're not going to make a great x referral you're no good for x for a plowman x what jesus was saying x was that god was already directing saul x and the soul was resisting x it doesn't seem too much of a stretch to x imagine that saul's memory of stephen x stoning x were troubling his conscience x that his furious persecution x was his way of resisting that conscience x so when jesus said it's hard for you to x kick against the goats x he was showing saul that he knew what x was going on in saul's mind x and telling him to stop resisting x you know the the conversion of paul was x extraordinary and it's in its suddenness x there's a saying we hear sometimes x of somebody having a damascus road move x when their eyes are suddenly opened x their understanding suddenly changed and x clarified x their whole course of life x redirected x certainly that was what happened to x paul we might kind of wish it was x that straightforward in our own lives x that all of a sudden all of our doubts x and weaknesses could be swept away x that we can actually hear the voice x literally of jesus x and have the course of our life changed x for most of us i suspect the example of x peter is closer to our existing x our experience x peter you remember peter had worked x diligently with jesus over the three x years of his ministry and with great x enthusiasm x but he still had a conversion to come x so that jesus could say to him in luke x chapter 22 verse 32 when you have been x converted x strengthen your brothers x right x when you've been converted x for most of us our conversion is an x ongoing process x i suspect it was for paul too x there was an immediate conviction x that but much that had to be thought x through x much to change x in fact paul took years where we pieced x together the chronology of paul's life x uh taking into account x uh galatians x paul's record of things in galatian x there was a matter of years that he was x in arabia x where before his his his real ministry x took place x but nonetheless x right away after jesus had appeared to x him and he's left blind x his companions led him by the hand the x rest of the way to damascus and he spent x three days fasting x neither eating their drinking x and we can imagine in our thoughts x what changes took place to his x understanding during those days x maybe we get a shadow of understanding x what took place in his mind x from reading x uh x from x his later letter to the philippians x chapter 3. x i have a slide for it but you know what x i think i'm going to do i think i'm x going to x bring it up here on the screen x so that we can have a look at it x together philippians chapter 3. x and then part i want us to pay attention x to is beginning to chapter x 3 verse 4 and goes to verse 14. x paul says x you know i might x have confidence is this big enough for x everybody maybe i make a little bigger x i think i can do it x let's see x look at that huh x wonders of computer technology x is that big enough x excellent x okay verse 4 x paul says i might have confidence in the x flesh flesh x verse 4 x if anyone else thinks he may have x confidence in the flesh x i'm more so x now just before we read on x if we were to talk about what's it mean x to have confidence in the flesh x like what might we think of x we might think of a big fat bank account x nice 401ks x we might think of a nice house x we might think of x physical strengths and vigor x we might think of good smarts x all these kinds of things good looks all x all the thing that's that's probably x what we would x we would think about when we were x talking about confidence in flesh let's x look at what paul says x if anyone else thinks he may have x confidence in flesh i more so x circumcised the eighth day x of the stock of israel of the tribe of x benjamin a hebrew of the hebrews x concerning the law of pharisee x concerning zeal persecuting the ecclesia x concerning the righteousness which is in x the law blameless x so he was circumcised x he was of the stock of israel's tribe of x benjamin he was one of those apostate x northern tribes x he was a hebrew of the hebrews in other x words they spoke hebrew in the house he x understood x the language x you want to know about the law he was a x pharisee x was he passive no no he was zealous x you could see it his persecution of the x ecclesia x as far as anything law said x nobody x could accuse him he was blameless x these are the things that paul calls x confidence in the flesh x isn't that striking x like it's all the outward trappings x of x religiosity it's all the things that x everybody else looks at and says oh yeah x that paul he's pretty religious this guy x paul calls that confidence in the flesh x that's a pretty sobering thing because x you know it x it's x a very clear message of the scripture x beginning to end x the gods looks x he doesn't want us going through the x motions x he wants a genuine x service to him x that is in the inner man x so paul says in philippians 3 verse 7 x what things are gained to me x these i have counted loss for christ x verse 8 yet indeed i also count all x things loss x for the excellency of the knowledge of x christ jesus my lord for whom i have x suffered the loss of all things and x count them as rubbish x that i may gain christ and be found in x him x not having my own righteousness which is x from the law x but that which is through faith in x christ x the righteousness which is from god x by faith x and we hear an echo there of romans x chapter 4 where it talks about imputed x righteousness that if we have faith x that god counts that as righteousness x and so paul says his desire is to know x jesus x and the power of his resurrection the x fellowship of his sufferings x being conformed to his death if by any x means i may attain to the resurrection x from the dead x now i used to always think that if paul x was saying gee i hope i make it to the x resurrection x um i don't think that's what this is x about x what he's saying is he this is romans 6 x going on here you know romans 6 is where x we talk about baptism as being a burial x with christ and we're buried with him so x that we can raise be raised to a new x life x and paul's saying i want to be raised to x that new life x and he says in verse 12 not that i've x already attained or i'm already x perfected x but i press on that i may lay hold of x that for which christ jesus has faith x hold of faith x brethren i kept do not count myself to x have apprehended but one thing i do x forgetting those things which are behind x and reaching forward to those things x which are ahead i press x toward the goal x for the prize of the upward calling of x god in christ jesus x what a profound change x took place in changing soul the pharisee x into paul the apostle x acts chapter 9 x tells us in verse 18 to 22 that x immediately after ananias restored his x sight x paul was baptized x and he shared fellowship with the x believers he'd come to persecute and x went into the synagogue for proclaiming x jesus can you imagine what a stir that x made in fact chapter 9 verse 21 says all x who heard him were amazed x twenty years later x when paul wrote his first letter to the x ecclesia in corinth x reminding them of his preaching to them x and mentioning the pivotal occasion of x his conversion and its consequences x he mentions these things in first x corinthians chapter 15. x it's the it's the resurrection chapter x and i'm going to read um x verses four to ten first corinthians 15. x i've got a couple of these verses up on x the screen here for you x first corinthians 15 verse four x for i delivered to you as of first x importance what i also received x that christ died for our sins in x accordance with the scriptures x that he was buried that he was raised on x the third day in accordance with the x scriptures x and that he appeared to cephas peter x then to the 12th x then he appeared to more than 500 x brethren at one time most of whom are x still alive paul's arguing that the x resurrection is a fact x and you know x you can talk to peter you can talk to x the 12 there's 500 other people most of x them still alive x verse 7 x then he appeared to james x then to all the apostles x last of all x as to one untimely born x he appeared also to me x for i am the least of the apostles x unfit to be called an apostle x because i persecuted the ecclesia of god x but by the grace of god x i am what i am x and his grace toward me was not in vain x on the contrary x i worked harder than any of them x though it was not i but the grace of god x which is with me x so saul the pharisee became paul the x apostle x and he was blessed with the appearance x of the risen lord jesus to him x i want us to take note here of verse 10 x first corinthians 15. x paul says x by the grace of god x i am what i am x these are the kinds of words that you x know people say them kind of x almost flippantly maybe x but when you think about paul x goodness x by the grace of god x i am what i am x paul gave all the credit to god x for his conversion x but notice what he says next x his grace toward me x was not in vain x on the contrary i worked harder than any x of them meaning the apostles x see paul was not of the mind x that god's grace means our works don't x matter x like some folks x think or that we might even be inclined x to think sometimes ourselves x in ephesians chapter 2 verse 10 paul x presents the same balance he says we are x his workmanship x created in christ jesus for good works x see so it's god's work we're his x workmanship x but we're created for a purpose x and and we don't want his grace to be in x vain x right paul says by the his grace toward x me was not in vain x it's created for good works x that's why in romans chapter 2 paul says x that x to those who by patient continuance and x well-doing seek for glory and honor and x immortality god will give eternal life x but there's a seeking x there's a response x to god's grace x this damascus road experience was not x the end of the story for paul it's just x the beginning x there's something else to note x every one of paul's epistles check check x me out on this later on if you get a x chance every one of his epistles starts x with the phrase or something like it x may the grace of god be to you x and everyone ends x with x may the grace of god be with x you x it surely can't be a coincidence i'm x there i ain't going to be a statistician x again x the two must mean something different x and notably the same thing happens here x in first x verse 10. first of all god's grace was x toward paul x in his conversion x and then later on it was with him x throughout his life x so i believe that in his letters paul is x starting out by seeking god's blessing x of favor x and that he always ends seeking that x such favor abide with us x the first i suggest has to do with god's x initiative and the second x with its consequence in gracious living x it's remarkable that in x uh the um x the gospel of luke x the same pattern is evidenced in the x youth of jesus x first we read that he that the favor of x god was upon him and then 12 verses x later that jesus increased in x wisdom and stature and favor with god in x man or grace with god and man x so my point is x god's grace x provides the initiative x but x then we must respond x what an example we have from the apostle x paul x so as we consider the conversion of paul x it's a good time for us to contemplate x our own conversion x our own growing awareness x of christ as alive and aware x and active x and full of love and compassion x as the head of the body when one one x member suffers x he suffers with x jesus is alive x he ever lives x to make intercession for us x we can have confidence when we come to x the throne of grace to find help in time x of need because we know that he's a x compassionate high priest why won't we x avail ourselves of that x would we act as though x jesus isn't aware x and the other thing is x like paul x we give all credit to god x for his abundant grace toward us x it is his that is the saving initiative x and we committed ourselves x to giving our best in service x so that's it x that's uh x the conversion of x i guess x soul not paul x sol tupole