There is a very popular school of thinking out there that goes something like this; It doesn t matter what you believe, as long as you are sincere.

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2 There is a very popular school of thinking out there that goes something like this; It doesn t matter what you believe, as long as you are sincere. But the advocates of this philosophy simply couldn t have thought this thing through. If they had, they would realize how absolutely absurd this notion really is.

3 For example, a very honest and sincere nurse is working at a local hospital She sincerely gives YOU some medicine that instead of healing YOU, it actually makes YOU violently ill. YOU very nearly die. Is that O.K. with YOU? Does her honesty make everything right? Is her sincerity enough (for example) when your life is on the line?

4 It takes more than sincerity to make one s faith true or right. I mean, one may possess an honest heart, great integrity and be extremely sincere in their intentions, but if they put their faith in something that is simply not the TRUTH, if they ingest some teaching into their lives that is not from God (but from the evil one)... there can (and will) be very dire consequences. Even death.

5 Take the young man featured in today s text. Was he Honest? As the day is long. Did he possess Integrity? Absolutely. Was he Sincere? He couldn t be MORE SINCERE. But along the way he had ingested a wrong belief that was not only deadly to himself, but also to others. He decided this new Jesus Movement was a sham. So he had made it his life s work to destroy it.

6 His name was Saul and the first time we meet him in Scripture his is a participant in the stoning of Stephen. He was sincere in what he was doing. But what he was doing was sincerely wrong.

7 We in America live in a mostly free society. Everyone has the legal right to their own opinions about earthly things. But the Kingdom of God is not a democracy. It s Christ s Kingdom. No one who lives in Christ s Kingdom has the Spiritual right to teach or enforce any teaching contrary to the Sound Doctrines of His N.T., (2 Tim 4:3 ff; Titus 1:9; 2:1), no matter how sincere they may be.

8 From all we can tell, Paul was an honest and sincere man, (Acts 23:1; 24:16; 2 Tim. 1:3). He actually thought that God wanted him to do exactly what he was doing But he was wrong. Again, just thinking a thing to be right does not make it right, regardless of how honest or sincere one may be.

9 Paul s confessions of wrong doing: Acts 22:4 - [There] I persecuted this Way even to the point of death, tying up both men and women and putting them in prison. Acts 26:10 - And not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons by the authority I received from the chief priests, but I also cast my vote against them when they were sentenced to death

10 His ultimate emphasis is entirely on God s grace, which made it possible for him to RE-learn the genuine TRUTH of God and to RE-pent of his hateful and misdirected ways, obeying the GOSPEL and being washed clean from every past sin, even the sins of murder and destruction...

11 1 Tim. 1: I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.

12 In Acts 9, Saul has NOT YET learned of God s Truth, and according to the text he is savagely attacking anyone who disagrees with his own interpretation of the Faith. A.T. Robertson says that the original language describes a man for whom threatening and slaughter had become the very breath that he breathed, like a warhorse who sniffed the smell of battle.

13 Warren Wiersbe (Be Dynamic) imagines Saul thinking that since- Jesus of Nazareth was dead, why would anyone really expect him to believe that this crucified nobody was the promised Messiah? According to the Law, anybody who is hung on a tree is accursed [Deut. 21:23]. Would God use a cursed prophet as his Messiah? Impossible! His followers may preach that Jesus is both alive and doing miracles through them

14 But their power comes from Satan, not from God. This is a dangerous sect, and I need to eliminate it, before it eliminates our historic Jewish faith!

15 Saul did not dream up his doctrinal stand He actually had almost 1400 years of the Law on his side. He was highly trained Pharisee, educated under Gamaliel (22:3).

16 And in regards to his actions, he didn t just fly off the handle, he was authorized by the High Priest of Jerusalem, [no less] to go to Damascus and destroy the church meeting there (Acts 9:2). Indeed, the journey itself to Damascus was approximately 150 miles, which only shows how very sincere Saul was in his opposition to Christianity.

17 Acts 9:3-6 - As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Who are you, Lord? Saul asked.

18 Acts 9:3-6 - I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting, he replied. Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.

19 I thought he was persecuting the church? He was. The church is Christ s Body (1 Cor.12:12,27; Col. 1:18). You can t persecute the Body without persecuting the Head as well.

20 Saul had a great deal of knowledge about religion, but he had been wrong on the one central issue of all of God s Word - The True Identity of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus was not a heretic as he supposed. Jesus was Israel s Messiah. This one central fact forced him to rethink and to rearrange his entire Theology.

21 Do you believe this? It is essential to your salvation. Jesus himself said; Unless you believe that I am He, (The Son of God) you will die in your sins (John 8:24) and He told the 11, He who believes (that I am the Son of God) and is Baptized (into My name) shall be saved. (Mk. 16:16)

22 I notice that Saul was told he must go into the city and there be told there What he must do to right with God. You see, Saul was still lost on the road to Damascus. He was sincerely lost, but he was lost. He was still uninformed as to what he must do to BE SAVED by God Saul was not saved on the road to Damascus. He was saved when he was baptized (Acts 9:18; 22:16)

23 I after 3 days of study and prayer he is told by God s faithful disciple Ananias to Arise and be baptized and wash away his sins, calling on the name (or saving authority) of the Lord, (Acts 22:16, also see Acts 9:18). That s when he was saved. That s when everyone becomes saved.

24 From Pentecost onward, we have heard Peter and the rest of the Apostles preach this True Gospel in the Temple, and before the Sanhedrin, and in the streets and everywhere they could. It all based on the TRUE Identity of Jesus.

25 When Stephen preached his majestic sermon, [which apparently Saul witnessed first-hand], he offered a very clear indictment against those who had defied God s plan, by resisting the teachings of the H.S. and by clinging to their outdated traditions rather than recognizing Jesus as Lord.

26 At its root, Saul s conversion, like that of every believer, is a dramatic change of mind and heart, a genuine surrender of our ignorance for His TRUTH, particularly in regard to the personhood and work of Jesus of Nazareth.

27 When Saul cried out Who are you Lord? (Acts 9:5), he probably meant Sir or man. (not the LORD of LIFE) But Jesus is not just a sir or a man. Jesus is The way, the TRUTH and the Life. No man comes to God except through Him, (Jn. 14:6).

28 Saul needed to learn this, (Rom. 10:10) and then on the basis of WHO Jesus is, he was able to obey the Gospel (Acts 2:38), and dedicate himself to the preaching of this TRUTH throughout the world.

29 Ananias tells Saul that s why he was saved: To proclaim Christ s name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel, (Acts 9:15) and to become Christ s witness to all people. And Saul did. It wasn t easy. But he proved himself faithful by never returning to the ways of the past.

30 Saul was always sincere, but before his conversion, he was sincerely wrong. When he was finally taught the TRUTH, he sincerely repented of his ignorance and he sincerely embraced the TRUTH. What about You?

31 And, now that you know the SINCERE TRUTH, can you SINCERELY continue to live in your life as you re living now?

32 When it comes to your salvation, sincerity alone it is not enough. You must be sincerely RIGHT. Are you right with God?