By the grace of God, are we "brothers"?

Brethren, how many has it happened to you that, perhaps you have read and re-read, and re-read a particular passage but there comes a time when you read it again and the Holy Spirit reveals something to you that you have never seen before? ?

Even if it's a word or two, but at the moment something about that passage kind of stands out and at the moment, you don't see it the same. And perhaps, as long as you live, you will not read that passage anyway. That happened to me with this passage. We know that the Lord has put it in the Pastor's heart, the Holy Spirit has put it in his heart that we are studying the Book of Acts together. Or as he said last Sunday, I should say, the Acts of the Holy Spirit. Instead of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, the Acts of the Holy Spirit. And reading, Acts chapter 9. I don't know in its translation, but in the translation that I have here, the editors of the Reina Valera version wrote this note, with Saulo's version. Do they have it there?

And well it should have this title. And we're going to talk a little bit about this tonight. But, two words that I had always read, for the moment they highlighted that I had read it before, but they moved me for the moment. And they're found in verse 17, of Acts chapter 9. We're going to read the context in a moment, but these two words, notice, and they are these – I'm not going to make you guess. The words, “Brother Saul.” "Brother Saul." It reads the same in English, “Brother Saul”. For now I read that verse as always, but this time the Lord stopped me at those two words.

Brother Saul – and I was moved. And for the moment I wrote in the margin of my Bible, “beautiful.” And the word, “mercy” – mercy. Brother Saul - what does it mean to be a brother, my brother? You know, even before… what the Book of Acts tells us, that even before the word Christian was invented – because the word Christian was not invented until years later in the city of Antioquia. They started calling us Christians. But from the first day the Lord began to deal with his church, we called each other "brothers." How powerful, brothers! How did we come to be that -brothers-, and why does it matter? What does it mean?

Father, we come, we are in front of your presence. We declare, Lord – we have declared your beauty and we have declared your goodness. We have brought our needs before you, we have felt your closeness. Thank you for ministering to us. I declare, Lord, that you have heard every prayer that has been raised tonight. I declare, Lord, that there has not been a need that has been brought to you, that you have overlooked and I declare that your hand is still extended to heal, to release, to raise the fallen and to perform miracles, Lord. At this moment, rest on this word, Spirit of God, and enliven it. We beg you in the name of Jesus.

Why do these words move me so much? Because they are said by brother Ananias, do you see Ananias there? And to Ananias the Lord gave him a commission, he gave him a mission, he gave him a work and it was this. Ananias – actually let's go to verse 10. The Lord said to him, “There was then in Damascus a disciple named Ananias to whom the Lord said in a vision, 'Ananias.' And he answered, 'here I am, Lord,' like a good disciple. The Lord said to him, 'Get up and go to the street called Right and look in the house of Judas for a man named Saul of Talso because here is the hour. And he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias

There was then a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, to whom the Lord said in a vision: Ananias. And he answered: Here I am, Lord. And the Lord said to him, Get up, and go to the street called Right, and look in the house of Judas for one named Saul, from Tarsus: for behold, he prays; And he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias, who enters and lays his hand on him, so that he may regain his sight. Then Ananias answered: Lord, - this man has fame - I have heard much - many, many about this man, how many evils he has done to your saints in Jerusalem: And even here he has authority from the chief priests to seize all who call on your name.”

And he could tell, including me and my family. “And the Lord said to him, go, because this is my chosen instrument, that he may bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: for I will show him how much it is necessary for them to suffer for my sake. name. Then Ananias went, and entered the house, and laying his hands on him, said...," This is the first thing Saul hears after three days of solitude and grief, "Brother Saul - Brother Greetings, the Lord Jesus, who is appeared to you on the way you were coming, he has sent me so that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Put yourself in that place now, don't just read it, transport yourself to that moment. What do you see? Do you see? Ananias laid his hands on Saul, and immediately Saul's eyes fell like scales, and immediately he received sight, and getting up he was baptized.

Brothers, but reading it that morning, maybe I saw another drama. Don't you see, Ananias enters this room. This man is alone, praying, as we have seen so many times here. The Lord uses his servant, lays hands on him and calls him, "brother." Saul knows – one of those that Saul came to annihilate, calls him brother, and says to him: I have come to intercede for you. I have come to lay hands on you, to bless you, so that you may see. And so that you are filled with the Holy Spirit.

Don't you see Saul – don't you see the tears in this man's eyes? I imagine a loss, I imagine this man until… the way I see it, Samuel version, but I imagine this man, man to man, I imagine this man holding that hand, which he places on him – moved of Grace and mercy and love that flows like... like a waterfall over the heart of this man. And I imagine, that was what knocked the scales off this man's eyes.

Now how did we get to this? This miracle, because to me, I said, wow! that is the beauty of being a Christian and always has been. This adventure of being a Christian is his essence. It comes down to moments like that. Perhaps the doctrine has changed here and there, perhaps this denomination worships this way, this other is called something else and worships this way, but this flow of this love and of the Holy Spirit when it is the Church of Jesus Christ, is one of the essentials.

Now, what is it that sets the scene? Frankly this man, Saul, had an encounter with Jesus Christ. And that changed everything. Now what do we mean by this? I do not want, brothers, to hear that phrase "encounter with Jesus Christ" - I do not want doubt to fall in this congregation, tonight, in the heart of anyone. What does that mean? I don't want anyone here to ever doubt.

“Pastor Samuel, what is it like to have an encounter with Jesus Christ? How can I have it? How do I know that I have genuinely had an encounter with Jesus Christ? And how do I get into this brotherhood?”

Brothers, and all the evidence of this is in this story. Brothers, that's why I think this title is perfect. Saul's conversion, because the recipe hasn't changed at all. For example, let's go to verse 3 – indeed, beginning with verse 1: “Saul, still breathing threats and death against the disciples of the Lord, came to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if find some men or women of this Path…” By the way, this Path, with a capital c because they had no other name for these people. At that time, we were part of that path, but we are talking about Christians.

It says, "But as he was going along the road," in verse 3, "it came to pass that as he came near Damascus, suddenly a flash of light from heaven surrounded him, and falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul," interestingly he called his name, “why are you chasing me? This being knew Saul well, but Saul replies, who are you Lord? And he said to him, I am Jesus, whom you persecute. It is hard to strike against the pricks."

Point number one, how do I know that I have had an encounter with Jesus? What is this. Point number one, first of all, if you have had an encounter with Jesus, you have converted to him and not the other way around. It seems obvious, but let's think about this. Saul at this moment – if you had stopped Saul, at that moment, before he had five minutes before he had this encounter with Jesus, this revelation – if you had asked him, 'Saul, what do you have in your hands out a death warrant for these people who are proclaiming the name of Jesus, do you consider yourself a God fearing man?

Saul would have fallen down insisting, 'Of course! Of course I fear God, that's why I do what I'm doing.' If I had asked him, 'Do you love God? - Do you think you are a good man?' 'Of course!' This man had his ideas of God. And not just any idea. This man had passionate ideas about God. This man was a man sincerely passionate in his idea of God. The only problem is that he was completely, one hundred percent, 360 degrees wrong. His ideas of God did not fit with what God was, what He is, what Jesus is, the image of the Father. The only true God, the first fruits of our redemption.

And, brothers, and why is this so important? We are living in a time, in an era in history, where preaching is being done from pulpits, especially I would say in New England and I am still talking about some evangelical churches. We were in a pastors session recently where not of the pastors, the speaker at the time, gave a speech explaining to the other pastors, that if we want to win over New England we have to allow people to ask more. Let's not be so closed, not convey the fact that the Gospel is a list of rules that God is so closed. If not to let people run on their journey and on their journey, God was going to find him and God was going to mate with his truth or his existence. The problem with that is this, like Saul there are many people who are determinedly walking on a path that is taking them totally in the opposite place of God's truth.

Brethren, it is not enough to have good ideas about God. It is necessary to reach a point where we let the Lord confront us. You know, the Lord loves you, knows you, made you, has purposes for you, and half the battle has been won. He knows you, He loves you, He has an eternity prepared for you, He has an arsenal of miracles for you that will blow your brains out, He has the knot that you bring to the Lord, and the Lord already has unwrapped it.

He's ready! He knows you by name, he called you by name, that's why you're here! Amen. He called you by name. He has conspired, as it were, so that before you were born, you would come tonight and hear that message. Amen. He knows you by name, that's half the battle. Now the other half is, if the truth is in him, if the solution is in him, if power flows from him. He declares and I know that this is the scandalous thing about the Christian faith, but I have no choice but to preach it. Because it is the truth.

He declares, "I Am." Jesus declares, “I am the truth, the way, the life. No one reaches the Father except through me." Amen.

Now connect with him and something starts to happen and at that moment how did Saul react to hearing this? Who are you, Lord? Mind you, he considered himself a God fearing man, and now he realizes it, I don't even know him. Everything I thought I knew about God, everything I brought – everything I thought I was, what I lived for, was a mistake. And the trembling and fearful… brothers, you know what? Our bodies and our minds, and our souls and our spirits react to an encounter with God. It is not emotionalism. It is not emotionalism.

What you have seen tonight is not emotionalism, it is a people, it is the reaction of a people coming before the presence of a living, good God who loves him and is powerful to act. And that happened to Saul, and trembling and fearful he said, Lord, what do you want me to do? Get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.

Point number one – we convert to Him and not Him to us. Point number two – he makes an action to obey you.

Now this can be in your heart, but at least once out loud, and we pray, we pray out loud for every being that comes and makes a decision to receive Jesus. I would say that as part of that prayer, this phrase should be included, “My Lord, I promise to obey you. I promise to obey you. My blessing will come from you."

As the Lord said, if you love me, obey my commandments. And there is no other commandment greater than this, that you love one another. But obey me. Interestingly, it says here, and "the men who went with Saul stood amazed, hearing the truth, the voice, but without seeing anyone."

And, brothers, there are many who perhaps hear the voice, this is interesting – they hear the voice of the Lord, but they don't get to see it. When you make this commitment in your heart, and although perfectly... I am not saying that you will not make a mistake, I am not saying that it will be a process, I am not saying that the Lord - such are the processes of the Lord. The Lord takes you to a place and says, obey me up to here and from here I will instruct you and that... that was Saul's process while he was alive. The Lord never gave him the complete manual. The Lord told him to go to Damascus, and there he received his instructions. From Damascus, he sends him to Jerusalem, there he receives further instructions – he waits on the Lord. There the Lord takes him to Tarsus for a few years. Waiting for instructions from the Lord. From there the Lord moved him to Antioquia, that is, that is the Lord's treatment with his children.

Now you can see it as something that makes you impatient, you say, why doesn't the Lord tell me once and for all, what he wants with me in my home? Or you can see it this way, the Lord is writing his own Book of Acts about His Life and you are living a great adventure with Him. Well, first of all we converted to the Lord. We see the Lord as he is and not as we want him to be. Because the image of God that he is will always be greater than the one we invent for him.

Second, we make a decision to obey him. And third, my brothers, we enter into grace. We enter into grace. Verse 8 says, "Then Saul got up from the ground, and opening his eyes, he saw no one." Look, for three days, the last image he saw, his eyes portrayed this image. The image of the Glory of Jesus – the last thing he saw, I don't know what he saw of Jesus. I don't know if the Lord ever allowed Saul to see his face or his back as with Moses. He saw something of the Glory of Jesus and then the Lord put out his eyes. Like who says, now meditate on this for a couple of days. Meditate on… look at me and my glory for a long time and he closed his eyes.

And, taking him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus where he spent three days without seeing. And he did not eat or drink. You have not stopped to think, what would Saul think in those three days? What would your prayers be like in those three days?

Another Samuel version of the Gospel, you can receive it, you can reject it. Do you know what I imagine? I imagine that at least once in those three days, he would say, what a fool I have been! How wrong have I been! I have innocent blood on my hands. Brothers, there are many – and that is why we need grace – there are many brothers in our midst who come like this. We have a revelation from the Lord, the Lord shows us something of his glory, we can see what he is compared to what we are. And at the moment we realize, wow, I am nothing! Compared to what he is, I am nothing.

How many has this happened to? Brothers, welcome to the club. Compared to God, to his beauty, to his holiness we are nothing. But don't worry, God has a purpose with this and God doesn't leave us there.

And I am… something else, Samuel version, Second Corinthians, chapter 12, Paul says that over and over again, he begged the Lord, take this sting off me. He describes that Satan – by the way, the word Satan is Hebrew for that, “accuser”. The accuser had sent a messenger, and he begged the Lord, Lord, take that away from me. In all of Paul's letters, he never forgot the fact that he had shed innocent blood, and the Lord tells him, you know? I am not going to erase that, no matter how much you have seen, no matter how much you have experienced, no matter how much you have gone through, that happened, that happened. That happens. But Pablo, you are not going to stay like this. Did you know? When the accuser comes, son, my grace is enough for you. Because my power is perfected in your weakness. Do not worry about it because you have brothers, everything is like this, that I have rescued on the way, that I have met them, all on the way, I have revealed my glory to them, on the way. You are not alone, my grace is enough.

Let's stand up. Amen.

If you are not sure that at one time or another you have had an encounter with Jesus, I would like tonight to give you the opportunity. This is automatic. I really don't even want to do this Jesus, but I'm going to do this tonight. I'm going to give you a chance to be safe tonight. The Lord calls you by name and loves you, you have had an encounter with his glory and what awaits you is an adventure and now he frankly asks for an opportunity to show you how great and how powerful he is.

But it requires a decision to surrender and say, Yes, Lord, you are God and not me. From now on you are the one who manages my life, without conditions, without reservations, without looking back, without regretting what has happened. I promise to follow you, I promise to obey you, I invite you to fill me up. If that's you, I invite you in or raise your hand. If there is someone here, that describes you. God bless you.

God bless you, amen. My brother, if someone can accompany this young man, I invite you to come in. Alright? I invite you… Were you raising your hand? No? Maybe not. Amen.

If someone is making that decision for the first time, I invite you, raise your hand, okay. If not, amen, in the name of Jesus. Father, thank you for Jesus Christ and thank you for the miracle of the Cross and for calling us by name and showing us his glory. And, Lord, thank you for making us brothers, thank you for the miracle that is to follow you. And, Father, I ask that you bring to perfection the work that you have begun in each of my brothers.

I declare, Lord, that what is ahead of each life here, that knows you and calls out by name, is an adventure and that it has good things ahead. we bless you

Now, Lord, receive our lives, receive our offering of adoration and we declare, master, that above all things we need tonight, we need you, you are necessary and you are enough. And we love you. So we declare in the name of Jesus. Amen.