CAN GOD USE ME?

1. CAN GOD USE ME? WHAT ABOUT ALL THE THINGS I HAVE DONE?

2. IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED. . . • THOMAS EDISON TESTED OVER 3000 FILAMENTS BEFORE HE CAME UP WITH HIS VERSION OF A PRACTICAL LIGHT BULB. • ABRAHAM LINCOLN FAILED MISERALBY AT A CAREER IN BUSINESS • HE WAS LAUGHED OUT OF LAW SCHOOL BECAUSE OF POOR EDUCATION • FROM 1838 TO 1845 HE RAN FOR OFFICE AND WAS DEFEATED 3 TIMES. • 1846 HE WAS ELECTED ONLY TO BE SOUNDLY DEFEATED 2 YEARS LATER. • HE RAN FOR THE SENATE IN 1854 AND LOST • IN 1856 HE SOUGHT THE VICE PRESIDENTIAL NONIMATION OF HIS PARTY AND GOT LESS THAN 100 VOTES. • HE RAN FOR THE SENATE IN 1858 AND LOST AGAIN • IN 1860 HE WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES ONLY TO HAVE THE WORST WAR IN THE COUNTRY’S HISTORY BEGIN • HIS PERSEVERANCE WAS REWARDED WITH UNPRECIDENTED POLITICAL SUCCESS, AND REELECTION TO A SECOND TERM IN 1864 • HE WAS ASSINATED 5 DAYS AFTER THE WAR ENDED, APRIL 14, 1865, AT AGE 59.

3. SAUL OF TARSUS INTRODUCTION TO HIM IS BOTH BRUTAL AND BLOODY ACTS 7:51-60 "You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him- you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it.“ When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.

4. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.“ At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.“ Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep.

5. “A YOUNG MAN NAMED SAUL” HE OBSERVED THE FIRST CHRISTIAN MARTYR BEING PUT TO DEATH HE HARDILY AGREED WITH THE DECISION HE HATED THE NAME OF JESUS HE BECAME THE NUMBER ONE PERSECUTOR OF THE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS ALL IN THE NAME OF THE GOD OF HEAVEN HOW DID HE BECOME THE APOSTLE WHO GAVE US 13 BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT?

6. WHO WAS HE? “A JEW FROM TARSUS IN CILICIA, A CITIZEN OF NO INSIGNIFICANT CITY” SAUL’S PARENTS WERE PHARISEES FERVENT IN FOLLOWING THE LAW OF MOSES HIS FATHER WAS A TENTMAKER, A PROMINENT MERCHANT SAUL’S MOTHER DIED WHEN HE WAS ABOUT 9 ACCORDING TO TRADITION HE WAS SENT TO JERUSALEM TO BE TRAINED IN THE BEST RABINICAL SCHOOL HE WAS A VERY GOOD STUDENT TAUGHT BY GAMALIEL, GRANDSON OF HILLEL HE LEARNED TO DEBATE AND TEACH, DEFENDING THE LAW OF MOSES AND THE TEACHINGS OF JUDAISM

7. HE LIVED TO ONE DAY BE A MEMBER OF THE SANHEDRIN (THE JEWISH SUPREME COURT) AS A YOUNG LAWYER, HE WAS IN THE CROWD LISTENING TO STEPHEN’S DEFENSE HE HATED THAT THE APOSTLES WERE SO BOLD TO PREACH JESUS IN JERUSALEM AND LEAD MANY AWAY FROM THE TEACHING OF JUDAISM THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS ARRESTED THEM AND PUT THEM IN JAIL ACTS 5:18 AN ANGEL LET THEM OUT DURING THE NIGHT ACTS 5:19 THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS FEARED THE PEOPLE ACTS 5:26 THEY FOUND THEMSELVES LOSING POWER AND FEARED ROME’S FURY

8. "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name," he said. "Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood.“ Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men! When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. SAUL HEARD PETER SAY THESE THINGS THIS YOUNG, PIOUS PHARISEE, A HEBREW OF THE HEBREWS, LISTENED ANGRILY AS THE IGNORANT FISHERMAN NAMED PETER SPOKE OF THE NOW DEAD JESUS WHO CLAIMED TO BE GOD!

9. SAUL’S RAGE WAS STOPPED BY THE COUNSEL OF HIS TEACHER, GAMALIEL “Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.“ ACTS 5:38-39 THE APOSTLES WERE BEATEN AND RELEASED ACTS 5:40-42 THEY REJOICED THAT THEY COULD SUFFER FOR JESUS’ NAME SAKE THEY KEPT ON PREACHING

10. SAUL RAVAGED THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM ACTS 8:1-3 HE DESCRIBED HIS ACTIONS TO AGRIPPA IN ACTS 26:9-11 "I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.”

11. SAUL VIOLENTLY OPPOSED THE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS HE DID IT IN THE NAME OF GOD HE WAS A RELIGIOUS TERRORIST HE DRAGGED MEN AND WOMEN OFF TO PRISON AND HAD THEM PUT TO DEATH. BUT GOD . . . TRANSFORMATION HAPPENED WHEN CHRIST ENTERED HIS LIFE I TIMOTHY I:12-13 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.

12. IF SAUL OF TARSUS WAS THE CHIEF OF SINNERS, THERE IS HOPE FOR ME AND YOU! GOD’S GRACE CAN CHANGE ANYONE NO MATTER HOW BAD WE HAVE BEEN, GOD CAN MAKE US NEW. NO ONE IS BEYOND HOPE IN GOD’S GRACE EVEN THOUGH OUR PAST IS SOILED WITH SIN, GOD IS WILLING TO GIVE US A NEW BEGINNING DON’T GET STUCK WITH WHO YOU WERE BECOME WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO BE!

13. “THE STEEL OF GREATNESS IS FORGED IN THE PIT” • ADVERSITY BUILDS CHARACTER • IT ALL DEPENDS ON OUR RESPONSE TO IT