Vice – Part 3

Saul’s Conversion Experience 

 Acts 9:1–2 (ESV): 

1 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.  

Acts 9:3 (ESV): 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him.  

Acts 26:14–15 (ESV): 

14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 

Acts 26:16 (ESV):

 16 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’  

Acts 9:26 (ESV): 

26 And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. 

Acts 9:27 (ESV): 

27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. 

The Mercy Factor

1 Timothy 1:15–16 (NLT): 

15 This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. 16 But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. 

 Shift the focus from the greatness of our sin to the greatness of God’s mercy.  

Rediscovering the Kindness of the God of the Old Testament 

Ephesians 2:4 (ESV): 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 

God can afford to restore us. 

Exodus 34:5–7 (ESV): 5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” 

Psalm 103:7 (ESV):

 7 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. 

A Brief History of Bougie

Morally Bougie

God’s Kindness is Too Extravagant to Miss

Psalm 103:8-13 (ESV): 8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. 10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. 13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.  

Our Fragility Stirs God’s Compassion

Psalm 103:14 (ESV): 14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. 

1 Peter 5:8 (ESV):

 8 . . . .Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 

• Defenseless against Satan’s attacks 

• Dependent on the grace of pastoral care AND 

• Disempowered from a fulfilled spiritual life 

Matthew 9:36-38 (ESV): 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  

Romans 7:15–25 (NLT): 15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. 18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. 21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So, you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.