Just added, a new message preached by Mr William Houston from Acts chapter 9:
The Conversion of a Christian – Acts chp 9 – William Houston – 23042017
Preaching God's Grace, in God's Son, from God's Word, by God's Spirit
Just added, a new message preached by Mr William Houston from Acts chapter 9:
The Conversion of a Christian – Acts chp 9 – William Houston – 23042017
Just added, a new message rpeached by J Stewart Gillespie from 1 Corinthians chapter 15:
1 Corinthians chp 15 vs 10 – What Made Paul Great – J S Gillespie – 24052016
outline notes from this message:
What made Paul great?
One of the greatest historical figures!
What made Paul great?
He had a number of great abilities / opportunities in life:
Paul was:
Yet a million miles from God and a hater and persecutor of Christ.
All of this simply made Paul a monster.
What made Paul great?
‘but by the grace of God I am what I am’ (1 Co15:10)
This was a Grace:
Pauls personal experience of Grace
A grace that made Paul what he was (Acts 9):
Character of Paul:
Conversion of Paul:
The Hound of Heaven
Francis Thompson:
I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the midst of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
Up vistaed hopes I sped;
And shot, precipitated,
Adown Titanic glooms of chasmed fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbèd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat—and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet—
‘All things betray thee, who betrayest Me’.
Pauls conversion was:
Paul did not know what was happening, ‘who art thou Lord?’
This conversion of Paul in Acts 9 was a personal revelation of Jesus, by Jesus (v5), followed by an immediate commissioning of Saul to service (v6).
The Lord took Paul to a place of total dependence upon Himself, a place of dependence and need:
‘brother Saul’ – brought into the family of God he had persecuted (9:17)
Saul transformed to Paul:
Gods Grace did not conclude at conversion
Gods Grace commenced at conversion
The encouraging truth is this – that the grace God gives, is the grace that continues with us, that grace never leaves, that grace is never removed by God!
Paul realised and practised this truth
Consider the potential when such a truth is realised and practised!
‘I laboured…yet not I but the grace of God which was with me.’
We do not work alone
We do not preach alone
We do not labour alone
A purpose for Grace in his life
There are some things which we can fritter away our life doing, which is not worthy to be called a man!
Look back at all the way God has:
Has God done this for a purpose?
Grace had saved Paul but not just so that Paul had:
This was grace with a purpose / prospect
Grace to live for God / serve God
Paul would spend the rest of a life he almost messed up serving Christ!
Not distracted by the:
But to:
For Christ
This Grace bestowed on Paul was not wasted.
What does it mean for a grace to be ‘not in vain?’
It means to:
Paul in his ministry reached out to:
Paul preached to Jews, gentiles, Greeks and Romans, Roman soldiers, Chief captains, Centurion, Sanhedrin, Chief Priest, Felix and Druscilla, Festus, Agripa and Bernice in Acts of the Apostles.
What has grace achieved in our life?
Sometimes we might be tempted to look at the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ and at those who preach the Son of God, crucified, buried, rejected and resurrected, and to scratch our head and wonder; ‘Is that it?’
God was about to change the world forever, through the service of a converted persecutor of the church;Saul of Tarsus. In Acts chapter 9 Pauls ministry gets off to an ignoble start as he is bundled into a basket and lowered down a city wall at night! Is this the man that will turn the western world upside down? Where is the power in that? The ‘dynamite’ of God lay not in who Paul was but in what he had found in Jesus Christ! This was a Bomb in a Basket. Taken from :