Who Are You, Lord?

with Pastor Micheal Oxentenko

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So let's pray and let's do our best today. Dear
Heavenly Father, we are so grateful for Jesus. We have
a lot to share, a lot to do, and a
lot to grow. And we ask you to be with
us and the love of God and to gain from
Paul's life the lessons we need in Jesus' name. Amen.
The title of the message is who are You? Lord?
And there are times in life when we have to

(00:22):
come to grips with the fact that we are not
in a relationship with the Lord, and we have to
be knocked off our horse and blinded to see the light.
And this is the case with Saul. The name Saul
in Hebrew means asked for, or it can be in
its meaning it can mean prayed for. When a child
was named Saul in the Bible, it meant that godly

(00:44):
parents God on their knees and they prayed to God
that God would would answer their prayer and give them
a boy named Saul. Because it means asked for, we
must not forget that before the apostle Paul was named Paul,
he was first called Saul. He was the brightest of
his generation. He studied at the feet of the great

(01:05):
Rabbi Gammelio, and he was a member of the Sanhedrin,
the ruling counsel of the Jews. Saul advanced in Judaism
beyond his peers. We are told he was zealous for
the tradition of the Fathers. He was patriotic toward his
country as a statesman at a very early age. In
compliance with the law of Moses. Saul was by all
appearance that's blameless. If any man could have achieved a

(01:29):
righteousness based on works of law by trying hard, Saul
was the man. There was only one problem with Saul.
The harder he tried to be perfect, the more perfection
eluded him. You see the apostle Paul, whose first name Saul,
is proof that if you are trying to gain a
perfection to be accepted by God, you will fail. The

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great Apostle to the Gentiles was a man whose righteousness
had failed, so he could proclaim and learn of the
righteousness of God that comes through faith in Jesus. The
harder he tried to be perfect, the more it ended
in personal failure. Saul was chained to a failed kind
of righteousness that is never good enough for the judgment day.

(02:15):
He was chained to a life record that was made
up of good works, good achievements, and clear successes, but
not worth one nickel to God when he stands before
the tribunal of God at the end of time, Saul
pursued a righteousness that was not God's righteousness. Now, Saul's heart,

(02:35):
like the nation he fought for, was held captive to
the forces of fear, failure, and a future judgment that
he was afraid of. Saul, whose name means prayed for
or asked for, needed someone to pray for him so
that his eyes could be opened and he could see
the truth that would allow him to be saved. Now,

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I've learned in my own life, when I'm focusing on
me too much, that's when I don't see Jesus. When
I'm focusing on the errors and faults of others is
when I fail in my life. And when I think
I'm so righteous that I con virtue signal to the
world is when I need the righteousness of God in
my life. Have you ever fallen into that trap? We

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all have. Someone needed to pray for Saul because Saul
could not save Saul from Saul. When a person spends
all their life trying to look righteous when they aren't righteous.
Sooner or later they will begin to lash out at
those who are really righteous. And Carl Jung called that
shadow projection. And they may not even know that they're

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doing this. The death of Stephen was influenced, had influenced
deeply the life of Saul. His whole life is transformed
by the martyrdom of a man who was assassinated as
he was bearing witness to Jesus Christ. Stephen was a
good deacon in the church who bore witness to the
truth of Jesus Christ. In fact, Stephen called Jesus the

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righteous one, and they killed Stephen for that. Stephen took
care of the widows. He made sure the apostles were
free to study the Word of God. He was the
model deacon who made sure that the preachers weren't doing
any and everything that they didn't need to do. And
so he did that. But guess what he did other
things too. He got his Bible. He also preached and

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taught the Word of God. He was so effective at
teaching and preaching that his enemies decided he had to
be murdered. One day, Stephen was dragged before the tribunal
of the Jews, and Saul was there as a young
man to see and hear it. All that day Stephen
preached a sermon as good as any apostle or preacher
could ever preach. Full of the Holy Spirit. He laid

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out the history of Israel, how they had failed to
attain a righteousness based on faith, how they had become
a disobedient people, And that day Stephen preached a sermon
that touched the heart of Saul, not with conversion, but
with anger. Stephen was a deacon filled with the Holy Spirit,
and Saul was resisting the Holy Spirit as he held

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his coat for his execution Acts six point fifteen, and
gazing at him, all who said in the council saw
that his face was like the face of an angel.
That day Stephen told that wicked counsel that the truth
they could not escape, and because they could not escape

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the truth that drove home to their heart, they murdered him.
He told them that they came from a nation that
began with Abraham, who was a man full of faith,
who followed God where God told him to go. He
also told them that as a rule that their fathers
didn't follow God, and they didn't go where God told
them to go and do what God told them to do,

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and that is possible for us as well. At the
end of time. Stephen ended his sermon with this rebuke
for them all, including Saul, take your Bibles acts verse
fifty one. He said, you stiff necked people uncircumcised in
heardened ears. And notice what he says next. You always

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resist the Holy Spirit as your fathers did, so do you.
And which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute?
And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of
the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered.
You who received the law as delivered by angels and

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did not keep it? Now is that direct kind of preaching?
You don't get more clear than that. Saul was in
the council that day and he heard every word of
Stephen's rebuke, and Saul didn't like it at all. He
said that what right does he have to be saying

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those kind of things. Stephen was facing him down and
debating for the cause of Christ when he said this,
you who received the law has delivered by angels and
did not keep it? Saul had spent his entire life
trying to attain a righteousness, a perfection based on law.

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And here was a man that would be murdered saying,
you have been disobedient to the law. That indictment is
true for every single person here as well. And he
cut saw to the heart. When they couldn't stand his
defense of truth, they marched him out and they stoned
him to death, because when you bring the truth to

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the heart, the heart can project the darkness within upon
the one who proclaims the truth. When Stephen spoke these
clear words of truth, they dragged him outside and they
stoned him to death in public for all the sea.
And just before he died, he looked up and he said,
I see having opened the Son of Man standing at

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the right hand of God. They all knew what Stephen
was saying that day. He knew that Stephen was claiming
that Jesus is the son of Man in Danel seven
thirteen fourteen, who will come before the Ancient of days
and the final judgment. And he will appear before God
Almighty where Lucifer's sinned and rebelled, and the Father will

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appoint him to be the judge of every gentile and
every Jew the entire human race. And Stephen was telling
the Sanhedron that day that they didn't have a ghost
of a chance based on their fake perfection of making
it to Heaven without Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. Acts
eight one records, and Saul was consenting to his death.

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He was dancing on his grave, that they had murdered
this man. They murdered Stephen in public. After his friends
buried Stephen, the whole church cried and mourned for him.
That day a great persecution broke out against the Christians
in Jerusalem, and many of them fled throughout the region
Judea and scenario in the seventy week Prophecy of Daniel nine.

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The four ninety years came to its end that day
a great persecution broke out. The Apostles hung tough and
stayed back in Jerusalem. What did Saul do to those
Christians like Stephen that survived. Initially, Saul was a missionary
in his own mind, his own twisted kind of way.

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He went door to door to share his kind of
truth with those hated Christians, Acts eight, verse three. But
Saul was ravaging the church and entering house after house
he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
Does that sound like soul winning to you. No, The

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man who could not free his own heart from fear
imprisoned those whose hearts were set free by Jesus. That's
the paradox. Miracles were wrought by the apostles in Jesus' name.
It was a grand thing that had occurred in Jesus's name.
The demons were cast out. The Church grew in spite
of Saul and his hateful rantings and anger. As a

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young man, in his desperation and anger, what did he do?
Saul went after Christians, liked Stephen to kill more of
them and acts nine to one. Paul, excuse me. Saul,
breathing threats and murder against the disciples of Jesus, went
to the High Priest and asked for letters to be
sent to the synagogues at Damascus. In those days, the

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high priest had no authority to rest anyone unless the
Roman authorities concurred with it. So to get this done,
they had to reach out to the secular state, corrupt
themselves by a joining of church and state, and the
wrong way to persecute true believers, That is, exactly what
is going to happen in the Mark of the Beast
issue at the time of the end, A corrupted church,

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leaning on the power of a corrupted state, will unite
to enforce the Mark of the Beast. Those letters sought
by Saul gave civil authority to rest and buy those Christians,
to convict them, and to kill them. Saul was doing
his missionary work that day to make the country clean
and peer again, as he rode his horse on the
Damascus road to capture the people that had been set

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free by Jesus. Acts nine, verse three. Now, as he journeyed,
he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed
about him, and he fell to the ground and heard
a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why do you
persecute me? And for the first time in his life,

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Saul asked the right question. In verse five, here it
is take a look sie at that verse? Howar did
I pick up that expression? Take a look sie at
that verse? It's probably my aunt Mary Anne when I
was a kid verse five, And he said, who are you?
What does it say? Lord? Friend? If you don't know

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the Lord, it's time to stop acting like you do.
Just ask the right question, sincerely, who are you Lord?
And wait for his answer instead of coming up with
something yourself that doesn't work. On the Damascus Road, Jesus
spoke to Saul and he said, I am Jesus, whom

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you are persecuting. Saul never expected an answer like that
here Jesus Christ. It didn't infide himself as the person
that Saul was at war with. It's possible to be
in the church. It's possible, thank you, doing the right things,
and you're at war with God. You're at war with
Jesus Christ in your life. Saul never thought that Jesus

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was alive to be persecuted. He didn't see Jesus in
the lives of believers. It never entered his mind that
when he's mistreating a believer, he's mistreating Jesus Christ. And
so he had missed this. Saul did one thing right
that day. He asked the question that we should ask.
He said, who are you Lord? And he called Jesus Lord.

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That's a good place to begin in your life. The
Damascus Road, friend, is the road that finds you at
the time of life when you're so sure you're right,
but you're really wrong. It's the place the light shines
from Heaven all around you, and you discover that the
Lord is alive in spite of the deadness within you,
and that he is the light in your life, in

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spite of the blindness that has overcome you. As the
Lord Jesus Christ to is the Lord. Jesus had a
right to give a few orders that day to the
man he blinded and knocked off his horse. Verse six.
He commanded us, all but rise and enter the city,
and you will be told what you are to do.

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Many people today want to tell God what they want
to do to get baptized, what they want to do
in the church, what they want to do with their lives.
But here Jesus is telling Saul what he needs to do.
We don't need to hear god God's truth on our
own terms. We need to hear God's truth on God's terms.

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Many in our time don't want to listen to those
who really know what the Bible teaches. I'm amazed today
to observe how people will turn to anything and everything
but the Bible for good decent answers, instead of letting
God's word illumine their lives. The true light that day,
knocks Saul off his horse. With Saul's face on the ground,

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Jesus said, rise. How do you like that? Jesus said, rise?
Have you ever been knocked out in life? You ever
sinned and he got a hold on you. You ever
discovered that your darkness has overtaking your life? And you're
down and you wonder if you can ever get up?
Jesus says, rise, And that's what he said at that moment.
Dear heart, Christ doesn't come to you in your darkness

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to make you stay down in the dirt when he
knocks you off your horse. He wants you to get
up and start walking toward the very place where you
can hear the truth that will set you for not
your truth, but His truth that can change you. Jesus
told Saul, enter the city and you will be told
what you are to do. Saul got up, and the

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man who was so sure he could see on his
own was blind. He was led by others to a
place where someone could help him. Saul was blind. He
was suddenly a man in need of a miracle in
his life. He was the man who couldn't guide himself,
even though he was used to guiding others as a
leader of the san Hadrian, a religious leader focusing on
his own perfection all the time. The man who claimed

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to see couldn't see a thing, So now he had
to listen to another voice to find the way. Friend,
if God blames you in life, don't be surprised if
you discover that you can still hear the voice of
the Holy Spirit in the darkness. The fearless leader who
went door to door to persecute others was now being

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led into the city to hear a message from one
of those hated Christians that he had to rest and kill.
Saul should have died that day, but he didn't die
because Jesus Christ loves his persecutors. The description of what
happened is very similar to what happened to the prophet
Daniel Daniel ten seven to eight. And I, Daniel alone

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saw the vision. For the men who were with me
did not see the vision. But a great trembling fell
upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. So I
was left alone and saw the great vision, and no
strength was left in me. My rating appearance was fearfully changed,
and I retained no strength. God appeared, Christ appeared to
Saul in much the same way he appeared to the

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prophet Daniel Acts ninety seven. The men who were traveling
with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no wine.
So similarity here, Daniel was the greatest of the prophets
who prophesied for the whole world in its future. Daniel
saw the pre incarnate Christ when others could not see him.
Like Daniel, Saul was chosen to be the greatest of

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the apostles to reach the whole world with prophetic truth.
The Mare of Daniel nine, the Gospel of Isaiah fifty
three merged into the Apostolic Gospel for the world. In fact,
Isaiah had predicted the very spot where he'd be knocked
off his horse, the land of Naphtali and Zebulun Galilee

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of the Gentiles. A great light has shone. That's the
Damascus road. God knocked him off his horse to fulfill
the prophecy of Isaiah. Suddenly Saul was standing on the
same ground as the prophet Daniel was. He was blind,
but he was being called for a purpose in life.
Act nine ten. Now there was a disciple at Damascus
named Anonius. The Lord said to him in a vision Anonius,

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and he said, here, I am Lord. You see that's
what Paul. That's what Saul had said, Who are you Lord?
Of course, Antonia says, here, I am Lord. See. The
theme is we need Jesus's Lord in our life. Christ
is talking here to Anonius, and Anonius is talking like Saul,
but with understanding. In the vision, Anonius has no problem

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answering the Lord until Saul's name comes up Acts nine
to eleven. And the Lord said to him, rise and
go to the street called straight. Isn't that better than
a street called crooked? A street called straight? And inquire
in the house of oh who judas for a man

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of Tarsus named Saul. For behold, And here's the good part.
What does the Bible say? He is? What come on?
He's praying? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Hey,
that's how lives are changed when someone is praying. The
Lord is listening Verse twelve. And he has seen a
man named Annanias I love the way Jesus is interacting

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with Anonius. He has seen a man named Anonius come
in and lay his hands on him so that he
might regain his sight. Huh. Saul was in the house
of Judas praying. The man who couldn't see, who shouted
out threats, who was so sure he was right, was
suddenly blinded so he could see the light. Saul began

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to pray earnestly for his sight, and the Lord showed
him that a man named Anonius would come and lay
hands on him so he could see again. This is
the only claim to fame for Anonius in the Bible.
His only recorded deed for Jesus is simply going to
someone's house and touching them so they can see. Friend,

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you may not be skilled at anything in the church
except the gift of touching people's lives with kindness. You
may not be a great preacher or a convincing teacher,
but you have friends, and you have poured your love
and life into them for Jesus' sake. You may bungle
most of what you do in the church and mess
up when you read or do this or that up front,

(19:58):
and you may have a half we have talent instead
of a whole talent. Friend, if Jesus sends you to
someone's house to touch his or her life, you may,
in Jesus's name, affect the whole world by changing the
life of one person with kindness. You may not be

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a great teacher of the Word, but you may affect
the life of someone who will become the very person
you are not. Paul would become the apostle to the world.
And Anius was not jumping over barrels to do the
Lord's will. That day he began to object to the
Lord about his selection of converts. I've seen that too.

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Lord brings people in the church that maybe aren't dressed right,
who have issues, who have backgrounds, who have sinned. And
some people say, wait, do we want that person in
our church? Does the Lord want that person in our church? Yes?
And so I had an IASI him him, Saul, come on, Lord,
not him, Acts nine thirteen. But Antonius answered, Lord, I

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have heard from many about this man we call that
hearsay how much evil he has done to thy saints
at Jerusalem. That was the truth. And here he has
authority from the chief priest to bind all who call
on thy name. Then Jesus tells Antonius why this man
is so important to him Verse fifteen. But the Lord

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said to him, go for he is a chosen instrument.
And what does it follow In the text of Mine
of mine to carry my name before the gentiles and
kings and the sons of Israel. Sixteen, for I will
show him how much he must suffer for the sake
of my name. Antonius didn't argue with the Lord anymore,

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Thank goodness, he got up, he left his house. He
went to the house of Judas. Now the name of
Judas seemed appropriate for the life of Saul, didn't it.
Judas was the betrayer, and that's exactly what Saul had done.
Judas betrayed the Lord, and Saul persecute those who loved
the Lord. And an Aias found Saul in the house

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of a Judas. Jesus would have reached out to Judas.
If Judas had just stayed around long enough to be converted,
he would have reached out to him. But he hung himself. Friends,
Jesus forgives the brokenhearted those who turned to him. Even
if they're in the house of a Judas, they can

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become children of God. Saul was the apostle that Jesus
chose in the house of Judas to replace Judas. In
many ways, the disciples cast Lot from Athias, and sure
enough he was enrolled among the twelve and God affirmed
that is okay. But Jesus chose Paul to be that
special disciple who had sinned in those grievous kind of

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ways like Judas, to reveal the power of the Gospel
of forgiveness to the world. And Paul got it so
crystal clear it wouldn't hurt us. Seventh day evidence to
remember what the Apostolic gospel is. It has three vital components.
At its core. Christ did what he died for our

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sins of first importance, according to the scriptures, that he
was buried to take them away, and that he rose
on the third day, based in Romans four twenty five,
for our acceptance and justification. Now, you can't preach that
if you've not been a forgiven person. You can't tell
others what the Lord means in your life, if you
have not experienced the brokenness and the forgiveness of a

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loving God. The name of Judas was appropriate. Acts nine seventeen.
So Anoni asked to part and enter the house, and
laying his hands on him, he said, I love this.
He didn't say, Saul, what do you say? You're looking
at the Bible with me? What do you say, brother Saul?
That's before he's baptized, that's before he's fully converted. He's

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looking to the future. He sees promise in this betrayer,
this assassin. He's he his hope for the future. He says,
Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on
the road by which you came, has sent me that
you may regain your sight and be filled with the
Holy Spirit. Of all the things he could call Saul

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that day the last The list was long and odious, persecutor, murder, assassin, evil, reviler,
son of the devil, monster of a man, torment or, terrorist, troublemaker, insurrectionist.
Know none of these that day, just Brother Saul. And

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that day Saul discovered that Jesus is a friend who
seeks to save the worst of sinners, sinners who think
they are doing the work of God by hurting and
tormenting others. Christ loves his persecutors. That day Saul discover
that Jesus is Lord, and that his people who follow
him from the heart are brothers and sisters in the Lord.

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Saul knew the ancient psalm that spoke of the truth
in this way Psalms one hundred and thirty three is
an amazing psalm. Behold, how good and pleasant it is when
who dwell in unity? What does the text say when
brothers dwell in unity? Next verse goes on to say,
it is like the precious oil. It's like the precious

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oil upon the head, running down upon the beard, upon
the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of
his robes. Is that's the Holy Spirit. That's an image
of the Holy Spirit. It's like the dew of herm
and another image of the Holy Spirit which falls on
the Mountain of Zions, which comes from Heaven to earth.
For there the Lord is commanded the blessing life forevermore.

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We don't have life unless we have the spirit of
God life. We don't get the spirit of God by
trying hard, by trying to prove ourselves to God. We
get the Holy Spirit when we're praying. Like Paul, we've
been knocked off our horse. We see ourselves as sinners,
and God sends a man or woman into our life
who calls us brother, and they lead us to Christ,

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so we are born again. That happened to Paul. The
dew and the oil of the Holy Spirit came upon him.
Saul was accepted that day as a dear brother in Jesus,
not because of works of righteousness, but because he prayed,
and he asked God to forgive him for his sins,
to open his blind eyes to help him live for

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him with the right motives, not self righteous motives. And
God forgave him, and God forgave Saul, and dear heart,
God can forgive you. And God opened his eyes, and
God made Saul a member of his family. Saul's name
means asked for or prayed for in Jesus' name. Antonius

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asked God for Saul, brother Saul, my brother Saul. He said,
the Lord has shown me that you have been praying
Acts ninet eighteen. Immediately, something like scales fell from his eyes.
He regained his sight. Then he arose and I like
what it says? Next? What did you do? He was,

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what baptized? Is that a good thing? Now? Dear heart,
there could be someone here who knows that you need Jesus.
You've not been baptized, or you've fallen away. You need
to be rebaptized. Raise your hand. If you're in that group,
raise your hand. We want to baptize you in God's timing.

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If that's the case, keep them high, because I can't
see without that hands high. Okay, you know, dear heart,
the Lord will be with you too. He didn't have
to wait eternity to be baptized to have that renew
in his life happened. The textas clear that sal didn't
eat food or drink or water for three days and nights.

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That means he was at the point of death when
Anonius found him. He wouldn't have made it if someone
had not reached out to him in love to share
Jesus with him. And before Saul did anything else for
the Lord, Antonius baptized him into Jesus Christ, a glorious
thing to do, Acts nine nineteen, and Saul took food

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and was strengthened. For several days he was with the
disciples at Damascus and in the synagogues immediately. How long
did it take him to witness? Immediately? What does it
say he proclaimed Jesus saying he is the son of God.
It didn't take him long at all? Why because he
had been filled with the Holy Spirit. Sault took food

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and Saul was strengthened that first meal that Saul ate
was no doubt the Lord's supper. He ate bread that day,
knowing for himself that Jesus is the bread of life,
he ate bread with brother Ananias, who was not ashamed
to call him brethren and to reach out to him
any shame and need and brokenness in Jesus' name to
save the man. And when the scales fell from Saul's eyes,

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he saw the truth, not a truth, the truth, and
he was baptized as a forgiven man into Jesus Christ.
How long did it take brother Saul to start sharing
his faith in Jesus immediately? Friends, we don't need to
wait a lifetime to share Jesus. We need to just
get on the job and do it. When you come

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to your Damascus road in life, when you fall down
from your horse, and when you discover that you are
blind in the light of jesus glory, we discover that
your perfection's rags and the light of his perfection as
the righteous one. It is then you discovered that it
is the Lord who raises you up. When you bring

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your sins to Jesus, Jesus brings you to the table
to fellowship. He brings you to a brother of love,
a sister who loves you like Ananias who has been
forgiven just like you were. And when the scales fall
off your eyes, it is your privilege to say, like
Saul said, it is Jesus who save me. He is

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the Son of God. And the Bible says Saul went
everywhere preaching Jesus, God be praised. May we do the same,
their heavenly Father. Where the man on the horse or
the woman on the horse. At times in her life
when we think we have it all together and we

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don't have a thing without Jesus and Father, I pray
that you'll just move on every heart here who needs you.
And may they, in the silence of this prayer, because
I'm gonna pause for a second, the silence of this prayer,
say Jesus, who are you, Lord? And may they hear
you speak to them. I am Jesus, Thank you Lord,

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that you are Jesus. We don't want to persecute you.
We want to live for you. We want to give
our lives in service for you. We want to be
about helping others come to you. Bless your church. Give
us a good week. May the meeting go well tomorrow,
the organizational meeting. Lord, we didn't have a lot of
time to prepare for this meeting. You let both churches together,

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cause both churches have needs. You know my health challenges.
This last year has been very rough. You know that
you've brought me through that, and you know that others here,
Lord have been through various things. And so we are
linking with a church to combine our efforts to help
men and women come to you. Give me energy, Lord,
give us energy, Give us faithfulness for those who need Jesus.

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And thank you off the charts that you will in
Jesus name. Amen,