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Houston's First Baptist Church is a relevant biblical community where we gather our hearts, grow our souls and give our lives as we seek to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). This podcast provides weekly messages from Pastor Gregg Matte and others. Visit us at HoustonsFirst.org to learn more about HFBC, and visit us in person the next time you're in Houston!
I'm going to ask you to turn to Acts chapter 9, please, verse 1, if you have your Bibles tonight. As you know, I have entitled this sermon, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Synagogue. Now, in case you didn't know, and I like a good joke, I must admit that I like humor. I'm not just talking about the old hee -haw, although I get a kick out of a hee -haw, but I think the funniest things are those that you just chuckle. There's just a slight inference, a slight suggestion, some things that are not really said, that you wonder what they might have said, had they been talking, what they were thinking about, had they been speaking. You say, I don't buy that. I think I look sober and somber, and I think religion ought to be just poker -faced. Well, then you don't understand God, because God likes humor, too. I believe God likes humor. If he didn't, he wouldn't have created the monkey, the parakeet, the baboon. Some of you folks. Really? He wouldn't have, but he did. I believe. I believe that. Now, you say, what does that have to do with this sermon tonight? Well, let's read it and find out. Acts chapter 9, verse number 1. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus. And suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven. And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which were journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man, but they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink. Now I want you to turn to verse 17. And Ananias, a Christian disciple, went his way and entered into the house where Paul was, Saul, and putting his hands on him, said, But Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales, and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. Now what does that do to a lot of people's doctrine? Here's a man that got saved and filled with the Holy Ghost. Then he was baptized, the Apostle Paul himself. And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus. And immediately, straightway, he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. But all that heard him were amazed and said, Is not this he that destroyed them which called on his name in Jerusalem? And came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests? But Saul increased them more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt in Damascus, proving that this is very Christ. When I was a sophomore at Oklahoma Baptist University, I went to Dr. Scarborough, the wonderful Bible professor there, and asked him privately after class, because I was sincere and interested, if there was anything funny in the Bible. I said, we talk about different theology and so forth. I said, I'd like to ask, is there any humor in the Bible, anything that's funny? And he said, well, I think that there are some things that are probably a little bit humorous. And as I began to read the Bible through the years, I have actually had a few laughs. If you'll pardon me for this, as I thought of some things that happened in the Bible, and some of people's reactions. I wonder how old Peter felt when he started walking on the water, and he was just going along like he owned the world. Pretty soon he took his eyes off Jesus and started to sink. That's kind of funny to me. I wonder what was going through his mind. I mean, what did you say? Lord, I think I'm getting wet, or what? I mean, there he goes, just starts sinking in. I heard about an old boy, a Methodist and a Baptist and a Presbyterian. They were all arguing whether they could do that. They got out, the Methodist started walking, he walked right to the shore. The Baptist preacher, he got out, started walking right to the shore. The Presbyterian got out and fell right to the bottom of the lake. Poor old Baptist looked at the Methodist and said, you suppose we ought to tell him where those rocks are? Well, now that didn't happen to appear. He was walking on the water, but he didn't last long. I wonder, I wonder if he wasn't red -faced and embarrassed when he came out of there dripping wet. Jesus Christ one day confronted some people who were stoning a sinful woman, and Jesus walked right into the middle of them and said, boys, you go ahead and stone her, but I want you who have never sinned to cast the first stone. Oh, those self -righteous, Phariseeistic people laid down their stones and turned and walked away. I'd have just liked to be in there saying, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Oh, I'd like to see that. I'd like to give them the horse laugh. Bunch of self -righteous Pharisees can give you more trouble than all the devils in hell. I'd like to see meek and mild Jesus when he walked into the synagogue and there were money changers. Now, the money changers in the synagogue were not selling books or records. They were cheating the people. I mean, they were just pretending to be one thing and there were another, and they were actually lying and cheating the people. Jesus didn't say anything. He just sat down and stroked his beard, and patiently the Bible says, I wonder how long it took him, wove from nothing a little whip. And I just sat there and looked at him. I wonder if a scowl or grin or what happened came on his face as he just kept twisting and twisting. And he walked over and said, how do you do, boys? Maybe ask him the time of the day. Maybe he asked him where they were from, what they were doing. But he knew, and then without a moment's notice, he picked up that whip and just beat the daylights out of them. And money flew all over the place, and the money changers went racing out of the temple. I'd like to have seen that. I think that would have been pretty funny to tell you the honest truth. You know, one of the most humorous things in the Bible, they were having a prayer meeting, like a bunch of Baptists. They really didn't believe anything was going to happen, and they just prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed. You see, Peter was in jail. And they were praying, oh, God, get Peter out of jail. Lord, bring about his release. And right in the middle of the thing, they came and knocked at the door. And Rhoda, the little maid, went to the door, and she came back and said, it's him. I said, what do you mean? It's who? Peter. Oh, you're crazy. Now, that's what they said. One of them said it must be a ghost. They said, no, it's really him. You're kidding. And they who had been praying for his release were the most surprised when it happened. Now, that's funny. I'd like to have seen that. I bet old Peter was saying, I told you so. You know what I'd like to see? I'd like to see old Moses with the fifth army closing in from Egypt's armies coming in on his trail, and the water split wide open, and he went racing across on the other side, and old Pharaoh punched in God's miracle, and God swallowed him up, and old Pharaoh went bouncing off into the water, and Moses went off over the hill saying, ha ha, Pharaoh's dead, and I'm glad. I bet that was something. Now, that would have been downright funny. It really was. But you know, I think one of the most amusing things in all the world must have been the looks on the faces of the Jews when the biggest antagonist of the gospel became its biggest protagonist. I call this sermon, a funny thing happened on the way to the synagogue. Three things, young preachers. Number one, he was on the way. Number two, something did happen. Number three, it was indeed a very, very strange thing. First of all, he was on the way. Now, it's good to be on the way. I like to see people who know where they're going in life. I think a young person ought to be on the way. I think you ought to know where you're going. I think you ought to have a goal. I think you ought to keep records. I think you ought to devise plans. I think you ought to know how you're going to get there, and organize, and get systemized, and keep score on how you're doing, and achieve a goal. It's good to be on the way. But this man was very different. He was on a religious way. Now, he was not a bum. He wasn't a drunk and a skunk. He wasn't a ne 'er -do -well. He was one of the most religious people in the world, and he was always reciting his own religiosity as a testimony of what he used to do without God, and how Christ had changed his life, and what he was now in Christ. He said, you religious Jews don't have a thing on me. He said, I was way ahead of you, and yet I was still lost without Jesus Christ. He was on a very stubborn way. With the tenacity and endeavor of a bulldog, he stayed with it he knew where he was going he was going to rid the world of every person who was a follower of the way you see the expression the way used to be called christianity it used to be what they call christianity jesus said i am the way the truth and the life and his followers were known to the heathen world as followers of the way and he was going to destroy every follower of the way and fill the prisons with them now look he went to the chief of the synagogue and he said i want you high priest to give me some letters authorizing me to not only preach against and work against but throw into jail and destroy every single christian in the world and he got those letters and he desired of him letters to the damascus synagogue in damascus he gave them to him verse 3 says and as he journeyed he came near damascus he was literally on the way to the synagogue when it happened he knew where he was going and knew how he was going to get there it was a very sincere way with all of his heart he believed he was right but he was wrong a lot of people in this world believe that they can be baptized and go to heaven and be good and go to heaven and work out their own salvation and leave the new birth and the blood of christ and jesus all out of go to heaven they're sincere but they're sincerely wrong heard about a man once who got up in the middle of the night he took some medicine thinking it was medicine but it was poison he was sincere but he was sincerely wrong and the next day he was sincerely dead sincerity is no substitute for the truth the bible says there is a way that seemeth right unto man but the end thereof are the ways of death brother he was hell bent for leather if ever a man lived he knew where he was going he was going to get there and god had to intervene and the second word is this something happened i mean something really did happen now the bible tells us that he was as he was going along on the way on his own way suddenly there was a great light from heaven he heard a voice and trembling he fell to the ground now you say i haven't had a damascus road experience but the fact that you are coming to church and seeking god says to me that god will probably come to you not out of the whirlwind of life but in a very normal quiet way the men that god gives this kind of a cataclysmic experience are those that he just has to knock some thunder into he was going the other direction he was going away from him as far as he could he had spoken to him over and over and Saul wouldn't listen and god broke the man and the bible says he began to tremble he interrupted the plans of the ethiopian eunuch as he was going along and he came into that shirt and he was saved the philippian jailer had no need or no time or no use for god and god sent an earthquake at midnight god sends earthquakes in men's lives when they are not seeking him and i believe that god will give every one of us a real opportunity sometime in our life to be saved but he had to do something big and dramatic and drastic in the life of this man who was going away from him but something literal did happen the bible says he became blind that's good he became blind to the things of the world so he could see jesus the bible says that he fell from his horse that's good he was not the animal which he was riding he was knocked down to his knees so he could look up and see jesus that's good the bible says he began to tremble and those theologians who have always wondered why it is that paul's writings were always with faint hand and why he had an eye disease and why he was slow of speech ought to go back to the story of his conversion and i think they'll find all the answers this proud arrogant strong man was going away from god like a big pompous pious somebody and when god hit him brother he was never the same again he was slow of speech here it says he began to stutter lo lord who are you i don't think he ever spoke the same again he never got a he never forgot that experience with god and you know what i think that difficulty with these eyes that they think he probably had were the result of the fact that he was so blinded by the shekinah glory of god he never ever really saw anything else very well after that and the difficulty with which they had to read they had they had in reading his letters because his hand was trembling He couldn't read too well, although when God came into his life and knocked some sense into his head, he began to tremble, and I don't think he ever stopped trembling. I believe every question about the answer to the Apostle Paul's personal characteristics, which are of such theological interest, can be dated to the fact that he had an experience with God that he never got over. Oh, something happened all right. The last word is this. It was a very, very peculiar thing. I can imagine Paul's first sermon. I would like to have heard his first explanation. The Jews were dumbfounded. Here is this one who persecuted us, who persecuted the church, is now preaching for the church. Here is the one who hated Christ, now loves Christ. He was our biggest champion, is now the biggest antagonist of the Jewish faith. He's preaching this Christ. My, how their mouths must have fallen open. I'd like to have seen the first bunch of Jews he walked up to and said, hey boys, let me tell you what happened to me on the way to Sunday school this morning. The funniest thing happened. I saw this light. I would like to have heard that first testimony. The funniest thing happened on the way to the synagogue. You'll never believe this. Let me tell you boys what happened to me. He was never the same, and neither were they. A very peculiar thing did happen considering what you and I know about human nature. First, a very proud man became a very humble man. Look at verse 5. He said, who art thou, Lord? He made him his Lord. He wasn't cocky, Mr. Arrogant, somebody. When God took him apart, I mean he took him apart. Now look, an independent man became an obedient man. He said, Lord, what will thou have me to do? He had been in the business of saying what he was going to do, but something happened in his life. He said, Lord, now what do you want me to do when you meet God face to face? You know what I have found? That individual that is really born again, I mean gets the old -fashioned shouting new birth, repentance, no soul, mourners bench kind, if you want to call it that. You don't have to argue him into being baptized or going to prayer meeting on Wednesday night or giving to Christ and his work. You can't keep him from it. Gerald, you say to a new convert, Jesus is coming in. They say, where, where, where, where? They believe it. They expect it to happen right then. We go on and on and on just like we don't really believe it at all. This man became obedient to Jesus Christ. He said, what do you want me to do? And he told him what to do and he went ahead and did it. The last word is this, a very little man became a very big man. I like what he says here in the middle of the sixth verse. What do you want me to do? And the Lord said unto him, arise. When he was knocked into submission, when God took him apart, he didn't just quit there. He does what he always does. He does what he's in the business of doing. He put him back together again and he made him the great man of the new Testament. He went to his knees and broken submission and surrender. And after he got down on his knees, after he got in the right relationship to God, where God could break him and melt him and mold him and put him together again, he said, now stand back up, man. Arise. And he arose. And the world has never gotten over the fact that he arose. He still stands. Brother, he was never taller than when he stood a new man in Jesus Christ. And today, 20 centuries later, the influence of this man still counts. A very, very big man. Where are you going in your life? Little did this man comprehend what was going to happen in his life. Now there are those who try to explain it away and say, well, he just had a fit of epilepsy. He was given, they say, to epileptic seizures and at the core, a rainstorm. Well, if that's the case, then we ought to pray for an epidemic of epilepsy and a seizure of rainstorms because whatever happened to him ought to happen to every one of us. This world could stand a whole lot more of what this man experienced. The great intellect school and the great schools of Gamaliel and Nicodemus and all of the great scholastic intellects of his day, now that brain, now that genius, now that insight and personality was given to Christ, he who was a little man because he was his own man became a big man because he became God's man. I cannot but believe that there are some here tonight who have just gone on in your own way for a long time and God has been trying to intervene and speak to you for a long time and you ought to stop and listen for a long time tonight. We have a young man who is on our staff and we had two fine college football players join our church this morning, incidentally. We have a fine young man on our staff who is our student representative at Rice University. He's won about 30 of his friends to Christ recently. He's a guard on the Rice football team. His name is David Stockwell. David has a brother who is 22 years of age. For four years, he's gone through West Point University. His brother graduated from West Point three weeks ago. Straight, tall, proud, handsome young man. They have a tradition up there. I guess it's sort of like the Navy men throwing their caps in the air, only a whole lot more expensive. Almost all of the West Point boys buy a Corvette, a vet that teenagers call it, upon graduation from West Point. He got his the next day. It had less than 3 ,000 miles on it. This morning about 11 o 'clock, he drove it into a tree and was instantly killed. And David is now on the way to Shreveport to be with his mother and father to attend the funeral on Tuesday. This was a young man in the bloom of life. He happened to be a Christian. Just out of West Point, the world at his feet, brand new car, the future before him. For some reason, we may never understand. God said, your days are numbered. Prepare to meet your creator. It can happen just that fast to the strongest college student, the wealthiest businessman, man, the poorest down and outer, or the most fine teenager in this building tonight. When God moves in, God moves in. Prepare to meet thy God. Be ready to meet the Lord. Let him into your life in salvation, lest he have to come and do something drastic to arrest your attention. May we bow our heads and pray. Our Father, take this simple little outline and these brief thoughts and impress upon us the fact that this business of salvation and the claims of the gospel of Christ on our lives and heaven and hell and judgment and death and life and eternity are no light matter. The telephone always rings. The letter always comes and God steps in and interrupts. Here was a man riding along who least expected it and God intervened and struck him to his knees and he said, O God, what will thou have me to do? Dear Lord, the intervention of God in our lives may come for some of us, not in what will thou have me to do, but in prepare to meet thy God. There may be no more time of preparation. We thank thee that this brother of David's was prepared and a Christian man. We know there are hundreds listening to this broadcast and many worshiping in this building tonight at First Baptist Church that are not saved, that are not ready to meet God. Dear Lord, before God intervenes to change things, may we willingly have the good sense to fall on our knees and say, Lord, what will thou have me to do? For we pray in Jesus' blessed name. Our heads are bowed and eyes are closed.