Adrian
Old-Sunday Worship August 17th, 2025
  • Hallelujah What A Savior (Gethsemane)

      • Hebrews 11:29–12:2ESV

      • Hebrews 11:29–12:2ESV

  • O The Deep Deep Love Of Jesus (Ebenezer)
  • My Faith Looks Up To Thee (Olivet)
  • Doxology

      • Acts 9:1–22ESV

  • “The Doctrine of Repentance”

    K. Adrian Scott
    August 17, 2025
    Textual Introduction.
    Today we are about to embark on the biographical journey of a rather notorious man in the New Testament named Saul; Saul of Tarsus, to be exact.
    Saul was born of Jewish parents in Tarsus of Cilicia, in modern day Turkey. Apparently, Saul’s family were citizens of Rome and moved to Jerusalem, which was then under the authority of the Roman government when Saul was a young boy.
    Now living in Jerusalem as a young adult, Saul became an ardent student of the Jewish Law and was mentored by the most famous and well-respected Rabbi Gamaliel. Rabbi Gamaliel was a leader of the Jewish Sanhedrin Court which was then the highest court within the Jewish court system during the early centuries of the Christian era. In fact, it is said that there were branches of the Sanhedrin Court in most Jewish cities and towns, but there was only one Great Sanhedrin which was seated in Jerusalem. The Great Sanhedrin presided over a variety of legal matters ranging from political to criminal disputes to civil and matter involving the Jewish Temple.
    Rabbi Gamaliel gained notoriety in the New Testament book of Acts, chapter five for his wise counsel to representatives of the Jewish religious sect called the Sadducees. The Sadducees, out of jealousy had arrested the Lord’s apostles, and according to verse 33 even wanted to kill the apostles but for fear of causing a riot by the people, brought them before the legal council including the high priest.
    When questioned by the high priest who was representing the council and asked, ‘why do you continue to preach in the name of Jesus,’ Peter, serving as the spokesperson for the apostles said in verse 29, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him. When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them” (vv. 29b – 33).
    “But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. And he said to them, ‘Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. So, in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, ‘for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God! So, they took his advice, and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name” (vv. 34-41).
    Context.
    Now, the first mention of Saul of Tarsus is in a previous chapter to our text, chapter 7, verses 58-60. There we learn more about this man than we might care to since he is front and center in the tragic and brutal attack and subsequent murder of Stephen, one of seven men “of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom” chosen to serve as deacons in the early church. Do you notice the Lord does not need many, but he calls the faithful to serve. Deacon Stephen was by the biblical account, a faithful man of God who served Christ’s Church since its infancy.
    You may ask, ‘why was this noble, godly man murdered?’ The answer is; Stephen was murdered simply because of religious bigotry; Stephen loved Jesus and was preaching the message of God’s love in the person of Jesus Christ. In describing Stephen, the scriptures also say, “And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people” (6. 8). In chapter seven Stephen is murdered by a crowd who had become enraged because of the powerfully convicting, gospel message Stephen preached, fully inspired by the power of the Holy Spirit to the crowd who had providentially gathered in that courtroom. This angry mob thought they had gathered to condemn Stephen to death, but according to the plan of God, they were in attendance so that they might hear the heart-pricking, deeply convicting message of the gospel in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. While these rabblerousers were in the courtroom to see Stephen sentenced to death, they were given a lifeline through the gospel of our Lord Jesus by the very one they were planning to kill. In this regard, Stephen’s forthcoming death resembles the death of Jesus Christ, Stephen’s Lord and ours, who was killed while He was extending heaven’s olive branch and wanting all people, even His haters, to be saved!
    Saul, in all his insane zeal, was one of the most troublesome and dangerous and lethal characters in that crowd who would ever confront the message of the Gospel. Please take note for here we plainly see the danger of ‘impure’ religion. In the New Testament book of James, chapter One, James explains the difference between ‘pure’ ‘faultless’ or ‘worthwhile’ religion verses worthless religion and in the context of speech, which is what James is focusing on in Chapter One, worthless religion is marked by those who will not ‘bridle their tongues’ (v.26).
    Further, those who have allowed themselves to be held captive by ‘impure’ religion, such as this mob who attacked Stephen in Acts 7.58 – “Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him.”
    These persons who were led to commit such atrocities in the name of religion were people whose minds had been subjected to false teaching, and their consciences were whitewashed, and their wills had become enslaved! What could be sad than a person who is convinced they are right while they are wrong? And how tragic is the case of a people or a person who believes they are on the side of good, even God’s good, when in truth they are perpetuating evil?
    So, we can conclude from this episode that it is not enough to be zealous in our religious pursuits, but it is imperative that in our zeal, there also must be knowledge – “It is dangerous to have zeal without knowledge, and the one who acts hastily makes poor choices” (Proverbs 19.2, NET Bible). But the godly Deacon Stephen was murdered for no good reason but was simply due to the hate-filled, irrational actions of those who were deceived into believing they were serving the purposes of Almighty God, which could not have been further from the truth. We have witnessed this truth played out in the suicides and murders within some religious cults in America as well as other countries in our world.
    Again, referring to Saul of Tarsus, he was guilty of assisting those who were stoning Stephen; literally holding the coats of those who were throwing deadly stones at Stephen until he was dead.
    Preaching Point.
    At some point Saul must be held personally accountable for his actions because not all Pharisees were murders. Sadly, in many large groups, regardless of their ideologies, there are always going to be some member or members who are ‘loose cannons’ who misrepresent the mission of their organization. We have it in the Christian Church just as Saul represented a smaller portion of the Pharisees in whom he was a member. Let me further say, it is not only hate groups in America that are stockpiling lethal weapons hoping there will be another civil war, but there are also so-called Christians who are also stockpiling weapons and who perpetuate the idea that they will one day see their agenda for America be imposed upon every citizen of the United States, either willfully or through violence.
    Saul is a man full of religious conceit, that is thinking he religious intelligencia, and he is so convinced he has God’s favor, he has become enraged to where he has targeted the small band of Christians who were called people of “the Way.”
    Saul then, is an accessory to the murder of Stephen, cheering his attackers on, sneering and spouting hateful speech toward Christ’s followers, especially Stephen. This is the reality which Saul will have to live with for the rest of his life. Yes, Saul stood by holding the coats of those who were attacking Stephen, watching and cheering as his comrade’s hurled stones, boulders at Stephen until his body could stand their torment no more. What a cruel and hardened heart this Saul of Tarsus was! He is the one who had the intelligence and the political connections to acquire the consent to carry out this vigilante injustice. Saul was a hateful and dangerous man. Acts 8, verse 1 says, “Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death.” Then verse 3 says, these words, “But Saul began ravaging the church (attempting to destroy the church), entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.”
    Preaching Point.
    In chapters seven and eight specifically we see the great persecution of the early Church, and in those same chapters and including chapter nine, we witness the power of conviction by the person of the Holy Spirit.
    The work and mission of the Church of the Living God is not a spectator sport! If you are on the sidelines and watching the Church of Jesus Christ being held captive by our perverse culture like Saul, and you are content to do nothing about it, you doing the work of the enemy of the Gospel. If you are satisfied watching the Church struggle for its life and are not willing to help her, you’re doing the enemy’s work. If you are indifferent to the church’s mission in this world and can watch churches dying and being shut down for lack of interest or concern, then we are doing the work of the enemy!
    Culturally, Saul was a well-educated man, even though by his actions in persecuting Christ’s Church, he appeared highly ignorant. Do we see how even the God-given gifts of intellect as well as other gifts are of no apparent good use when we are under the control or influence of the one who is the enemy of not only the Church, but of everyone!
    Chapter Nine gives us more information about the irrational and impure works of those with impure religion. Verse one says, “Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.”
    The Proposition.
    So, for our edification, here is a person who claims to be a strict adherer of the Law and is spewing hateful speech and murderous threats against Christians! Does not the Law say, ‘thou shalt not murder’ (Numbers 20) ?’ Saul is so anxious to condemn these believes, he breaks the very Law he has studied and says he has believed all his life! While supposedly defending the honor of the Law, Saul is breaking the Law. How hypocritical is this!
    This man is literally murdering in the name of God and imprisoning both women and me while they wait to be sentenced and executed as well as Saul was.
    Who leads a person or a group of people to threaten; or bomb or shoot other people? Doesn’t the Bible teach, “God is love” ( 1 John 4.16) and God created all people in the very image of God?
    Saul is confused. He is living in spiritual darkness! His actions reflect a twisted theology that mirrors the same spiritual influence that caused Cain to execute his own brother, Abel, and therefore, he drew the attention of God because these same scriptures teach, we cannot love God and at the same time hate one another. The Lexham English Bible records 1 John 4. 20-12 saying, “If anyone says, ‘I love God’ and hates his brother, he is a liar, for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen is not able to love God whom he has not seen. And this is the commandment we have from Him: that the one who loves God should love his brother also.”
    Saul is condemning others while it is him who is under the condemnation of God as one guilty before God! He is a hardened and perverse sinner; this Saul of Tarsus is blind to the true knowledge of God, and further, he is deaf to the voice of God. At this point in his life, he is a notorious enemy of Christ’s Church, and if he is an enemy of Christ’s Church, Saul is an enemy of Christ, the living Son of God. Saul is calloused to the truth, and even the most casual observer of this ‘wild man’ may reasonably conclude Saul is a hopelessly lost soul.
    The Sermon in a Sentence.
    I want to tell you something, no matter how messed up you might have become through your associations, the things you read or have been taught, God can fix you!
    “Hate is so ugly!

      • Acts 5:29–41ESV

      • Acts 6:3ESV

      • Acts 6:8ESV

      • James 1:26ESV

      • Acts 7:58ESV

      • Acts 8ESV

      • Acts 8ESV

      • Acts 9:1–2ESV

      • Numbers 20ESV

      • 1 John 4:16ESV

      • 1 John 4:20ESV

      • Acts 3:19NLT

      • Daniel 9:9NLT

  • Jesus What A Friend For Sinners (Hyfrydol)

      • Galatians 1:3NLT

Adrian
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