Acts 9:1–31

0:00 Hello, church. It's good to be together. It's a joy to preach. And a joy to preach to third. This is the first of a three-part series, Lord willing, on places of Paul. We're starting in Damascus in Jerusalem in Acts chapter 9. Victoria attended a university in Dubai far from her home country of Kenya.

0:37 Our friendly Christian fellowship on campus pulled her in. I don't know exactly how to describe Victoria. She was brilliant and beautiful and, frankly, a bit sassy. Her beauty was a problem. The guys in the student fellowship tended to buzz around her, but Victoria could hold her own with her quick wit and sharp tongue. She was not a Christian, but she had a soft heart, a heart that was slowly being bruised up by life in Dubai.

1:13 For all the glitter and glam, there's an ugly underbelly, as we discovered in our 16 years of living in Dubai. But it wasn't only Dubai's hardness. Victoria was following her sin, and her sin was doing damage. Our Christian fellowship in Dubai was led by 15 full-time staff. They spoke nine mother tongues. They were a fantastic international team. And one of the teams, Sara, from Syria, befriended Victoria.

1:50 As the friendship grew, and during that time, our team decided to take a short-term mission trip, and Sara invited Victoria to go along. Now, a long-time principal for me in student ministry has always been taking students on short-term missions. We've gone to various parts of the world, but upon moving to Dubai, which many would consider to be a mission field, it was like, where do you go for a short term? Well, despite some considerable risk, we decided to take a team of students to Damascus, the capital city of Syria.

2:28 We linked arms with some Christian students who attended the University of Damascus, and we studied the Book of Acts. We studied it in an old Baptist church, you'll be glad to know, in downtown Damascus. And after studying the scriptures, we would visit the sites of Paul that we had read about that day. So we walked down Straight Street. It's a straight street. We visited the house where, legend has it, Ananias prayed for Paul to receive his site.

3:02 We went to the wall of the city where Paul was lowered down in a basket to escape those trying to murder him. We travel the Damascus Road between the city and the Golden Heights, bristling with antennas nowadays. Our Bible studies touched Victoria's heart. Sarah, a thoughtful and careful evangelist, patiently explained the good news of Jesus Christ to her. Sarah explained to Victoria that she could know God personally, intimately, and be forgiven of her sins.

3:41 All of them. Somewhere between the Golan Heights and the city of Damascus on a tour bus on the Damascus Road, Victoria humbled her heart to God, put her faith and trust in Jesus as Lord of her life. And I marveled First, that an Arab woman led a Kenyan woman to Jesus Truly, Christianity is a worldwide religion Second, though Victoria didn't know much About another conversion that happened on that road I did Victoria came to faith not far from the very place Where the Apostle Paul had come to faith So many centuries before We're going to read about that event in Acts chapter 9 The first 31 verses It's on page 917 in your pew Bible

4:44 You'll need your Bible with this We're going to walk through verse by verse And let me read for you this passage It's narrative and dramatic Okay, Acts 9, starting in verse 1. But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 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.

5:24 Now, as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him and falling to the ground, he heard a voice say to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city and you will be told what you are to do. The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight and neither ate nor drank. Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias? And he said, here I am, Lord.

6:19 And the Lord said to him, rise and go to the street called Straight. And at the house of Judas, Look for a man of Tarshish named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen a vision of a man named Ananias. Come in and lay hands on him so that he might regain his sight. But Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has the authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.

6:51 but the Lord said to him go for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name so Ananias departed and entered the house and laying his hands on him he said brother Saul the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

7:25 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized and taking food he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus and immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogue saying, he is the son of God. And all who heard him were amazed and said, is this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon his name and has he not come here for this purpose to bring them bound before the chief priests but Saul increased all the more in strength and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ when many days had passed the Jews plotted to kill him but their plot became known to Saul They were watching the gates by day and night in order to kill him.

8:19 But his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket. 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. 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 in Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus.

8:50 So he went in and out among them in Jerusalem preaching boldly in the name of the Lord and he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him. And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarshish. So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. Let me give you the main theme of the sermon today.

9:26 The main theme is, by His sovereign grace, God chooses and prepares the most unlikely people to accomplish His most wonderful and unstoppable plan. Let me repeat that. By his sovereign grace, God chooses and prepares the most unlikely people to accomplish his most wonderful and unstoppable plan. Now, Acts chapter 9 happens after the great persecution arose in the Christian community in Jerusalem.

10:00 It follows the martyrdom of Stephen, a leader in the early church. It was witnessed and approved by Paul, Stephen's martyrdom. The persecution that arose scattered God's people throughout the region. It was the diaspora. William Larkin, in his writings about the book of Acts, says, chapter 9 is the most important event in human history apart from the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, which is the conversion of Saul to Christianity. Humanly speaking, if Saul remained a Jewish rabbi, we would be missing 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament and Christianity's early expansion to the Gentiles. But as we will see, we do not speak humanly at all about the conversion of Saul. Saul, later called by his second name, Paul, had two names, Saul,

11:06 Paul, was a zealous Jewish scholar, a member of the Pharisee sect, and he was born close to the time when Jesus was born. He was like many of you here in his mid-30s. And at that time in his life, in verse 1, he nurtured a murderous rage against Christians. So, let's be clear about who Paul was. A bigoted, bloodthirsty, deadly terrorist.

11:46 A devious one, too. We see his plan. He received special permission from the religious leaders in Jerusalem following the letter of the law against blasphemy to kill any who worshipped a man who called himself God. It did not matter if the Christians were men or women. He had them both bound and thrown in jail in verse 2. Paul was not satisfied with the arrests and executions in Jerusalem. He sought to hunt them down in Damascus, 150 miles to the north of Jerusalem.

12:22 The language, this is hard to tell in the English, but the language Paul uses, excuse me, that Luke uses to describe Paul reminds us of a murderous wolf. Yet in verse 3, Jesus interrupts this rampage on the Damascus road with a blinding light, brighter than the noonday sun. Paul's knocked to the ground. He hears a voice, a question in verse 4. Why are you persecuting me?

12:54 Paul asks, who are you, Lord? The answer is Jesus, whom you persecute. I want to draw out four important lessons for us from Paul's encounter with Jesus here. Four lessons. Number one, Jesus protects his church. Notice in verse 5 that Jesus so identifies with his church that persecution against a local church of believers is persecution against Jesus.

13:32 What a wonderful and astonishing thought that Jesus so loves, so identifies with His church that to harm the church is to persecute the risen Christ. No wonder the Bible calls the church the bride of Christ. And it's a sobering thought, brothers and sisters, that when you mutter or complain or cause division or discord in a church, remember that you are dealing with the bride of Christ. Be careful.

14:04 Jesus loves his bride, warts and all. There's no good husband in this room who would allow someone to disparage his wife without a response. How much more so the Lord of the universe about his bride, the Christ. Secondly, sincere, smart, dedicated people can be sincerely wrong. In verses 6 through 9, Jesus tells Paul to go to the city and wait for direction.

14:39 It must have been a shock for Paul to stand up and discover that he was blind. It was a bigger shock, let me tell you, to realize that everything that he believed about Christ was a lie. Paul thought he was doing God's will. He was filled with righteous anger and a zeal for God. Yet, what was missing was a divine perspective. Paul was diametrically opposed to God.

15:11 And it's stunning, isn't it? How wrong a smart man can be without revelation. It's just as true today as it was back then. How wrong we can be without a divine perspective. People who are smart, people who are zealous, people who are educated, confident they have the moral high ground, came from the right families, believes the right religion, can sincerely stake their entire life on a lie and be sincerely wrong.

15:47 In fact, it's impossible without divine revelation to see correctly. Let me recommend a prayer to you to help you see better. Especially if you're here this morning and you're not a Christian. Listen, you should know, you are so welcome. You're so welcome here. But this is a good prayer. It's a good prayer for Christians too. It's short. Oh God, let me see.

16:21 Let me see you. Let me see myself. Let me see how Jesus fits in all this. Pray that prayer. It's a humble prayer. It's a sweet prayer. It's a prayer God loves to answer. The long history of the Christian faith rooted in Revelation is that God is holy and just. A God who loves his creation. That we, his people, are made in his image. We have the mark of the divine on us.

16:52 And yet we're sinful, broken, separated from him by our sin. And that we have the capacity to know God. Knowing God is on his terms, not ours. Jesus is fully God and fully men. Who lived a perfect life. You become a willing sacrifice as a ransom to pay for our sin. So that we could be forgiven. So that we could become children of God. For all those who would put their faith and trust in Jesus.

17:26 He proves his words and life through his resurrection. And calls us his own. So humble your heart and ask him for his perspective on you. Ask him for that. Thirdly, we come to Jesus because of his irresistible grace. You don't notice, Paul didn't do much to become a Christian, right? He didn't choose Jesus.

17:57 Jesus chose him. Paul became a believer in Jesus, not because he made a decision for Christ, not because some skillful evangelist or apologist knocked down his arguments It's not because he was down in the dumps and needed a helping hand. No, it was God's sovereign, saving grace alone that reached into Paul's stone-cold, rebellious, dead heart, ripped it out, and put in its place a heart alive to God, a heart of flesh.

18:34 Jesus calls that being born again. And though Paul's conversion is dramatic, God's sovereign grace to Paul and to Victoria or to you or me if you're a follower of Jesus is not that different. Maybe a little more gentle, but it's the same work of grace. Fourth, Paul's conversion models the true nature of repentance.

19:12 Paul's conversion is a powerful picture of repentance. You're going the wrong way. But God humbles you in your pride to realize the foolishness of standing against the living God. And so you turn and you go the other way. It's not so much a moral turn, although that may be involved. It is primarily, at its heart, Fundamentally, a significant repentance of belief. You disbelieve, and then you turn to believe.

19:45 You turn to faith. And things follow from that. Things flow out of that. But that's true repentance. Turning from telling Jesus to shove off to following him as Lord. You know, it's interesting. Paul's blindness was not psychological, as many liberal commentators recount. It was not merely physiological. It's a spiritual statement about the nature of repentance.

20:18 We are blind, but through repentance we can see. Some of you sitting here need repentance of the first order, from disbelief to belief. Maybe you see you're not going God's way. I want to implore you to turn to God in faith. It's a gift. It's a gift offered freely. You can take it like Victoria and know God and know his forgiveness and freedom and love.

20:52 But you know, Christian, we need to develop a lifestyle of repentance. Repentance is something that happens over and over again in our lives. We need to cultivate what it means to repent on an ongoing basis. Jesus says he would not turn any who would come after him. In verse 8, the unnamed traveling companions take Paul by the hand.

21:22 They lead him to Damascus. The wolf now looks like a sheep. They lead Paul through Straight Street to a house owned by a man named Judas. Today we don't tend to name our children Judas, but it was a common name at the time. How differently Paul's entry into Damascus was from what he envisioned, right? His plan was to enter with self-righteous pride and vengeance and power. As it was, he enters humbled, penitent, weak.

21:58 He came to capture others in Damascus. He entered the city as a captive of Christ. In verse 9, he fasts and prays for three days in Judas' house. We don't know what he prayed, but we can guess. Surely Paul's injustices inflicted on others weighed on his conscience. Sitting there in a room on Straight Street, no doubt Paul grieved the innocent Christians who died from his persecutions. Does he remember the cries and the pleadings as he ripped mothers and fathers away from their children, forced them into jail?

22:36 Did he realize with horror the wickedness of his smug satisfaction from executions that he now understands as people who were innocent? Stephen, not the least of them. You know, we've talked about God's saving sovereign grace in Paul's life, but you know, Paul had been prayed for. You know that, right? In Acts chapter 7, verse 60, Stephen prays for those who murder him.

23:17 Forgive them, O God. You think God didn't hear that prayer? That was for Paul. And the other's there. And as a side note, Paul would come to know God's forgiveness and mercy better than almost anyone. So much so that F.F. Bruce in his biography of Paul titled it Paul, the Apostle of the Heart Set Free. It's true.

23:50 Paul never forgot the wrongs he had done. When he shared his heart with the church at Corinth, he told them that he was the least of the apostles because he persecuted the church, and he really meant it. So, as Paul awaits at the house on Straight Street, I suppose, we suppose, that he prayed for mercy. He prayed for forgiveness. You know, when we're honest with ourselves and we gain the divine perspective, one of the first things we deal with is our sin.

24:34 I call it the gnashing of teeth moment. The Bible talks about gnashing of teeth. I never knew what that was. But I think I understand it now. It's that, oh, oh, I wish I could have that back. That hateful word. When I kissed the wrong person, when I took the money that belonged to someone else, when I was harsh to someone under my care. Oh, we long for forgiveness and mercy.

25:06 Brothers and sisters, most of you know that. You know, the other thing I suspect during those days was that Paul was putting together the truth of Jesus revealed in the Old Testament. Scripture Paul knew very well. A scholar of his ability and training could see, as Luke would write in the 24th chapter of his gospel, that all scriptures point to Jesus. Jesus is the fulcrum of the Bible. Well, at the same time that Paul is praying in verse 10, God gives a vision to a disciple in the city and calls him by name, Ananias.

25:55 Ananias' first response to the Lord is, here I am, or put another way, Lord, at your service. And that's in a grand tradition. The very words of Abraham, when God spoke to him, or Jacob, when God spoke to him, or the prophet Samuel, or Isaiah, when they encountered God. Lord, here I am. Then the Lord, in verses 11 and 12, gives Ananias the address for Paul in Damascus and tells him to go pray for Paul to receive his sight.

26:28 The Lord tells Ananias Paul's expecting him. Ananias is not very excited about this idea. Lord, he says in verse 13 through 15, I know about this man. And in effect, he tells God, you're sending me on a suicide mission. You know, Ananias' concerns mimic the most common fears of missionaries around the world. People who oppose me will hurt me. You know they have governmental authority.

27:05 After living 35 years in various places around the world, I know those fears. I know them. Lord, you want me to do what? You want me to go where? You want me to talk to who? On our dozens of short-term mission trips to really difficult parts of the world, students, invariably, almost always, almost every short-term would lose their passport.

27:40 One of them. One of them would lose their passport. Every occasion. It was scary and oh-so-irritating because I was the one that had to go deal with suspicious governmental authorities. Okay, true confession. I lost our passports. On a bus. I didn't just lose mine. I lost Leanne's and the boys. And the advice I got from a very good Christian friend, very wise man, was very helpful.

28:10 Mac, he said, don't freak out. Remember that to God, these things are just pieces of paper. It's so true. And beyond that, most of those times were opportunities for the gospel. On a different level, there were times where we put ourselves in danger because we knew the truth. We started a Muslim-Christian dialogue in Dubai. It was the first one we knew of on the Arabian Peninsula since Muhammad rode into Mecca.

28:44 Our speaker was a convert from Islam to Christianity, Thabidi, Thabidi Anyabwile. He was there. We had a meeting with the Muslim coordinators. Bassam Zawadi was the speaker. It's on the internet. You can see it. Type in Muslim Christian Dialogue Dubai. In our time together with the Muslim coordinators, I said, I just have one question.

29:16 So, now, Thabiti is a convert from Islam to Christianity, and according to the Koran, he's supposed to be executed. Is that going to be a problem? Oh, no, it will not be a problem. We will make some phone calls, which was not very reassuring. But Thabiti proudly, boldly presented the gospel. Thousands heard.

29:49 In verse 15, God practically ignores Ananias' even greater concerns that we had about passports and a dialogue. Ananias has an existential threat. It's as if Ananias' objections, though, are trivial to God. god's response is so short it's easily missed paul the lord says will carry the name of jesus to the gentile world like nuff said and when we look at world history we see it's true it seems so normal to us that perhaps we're not filled with the all we should have the idea that an arab woman like sarah could lead a kenyan woman such as victoria to Jesus seems no big deal.

30:43 But in Paul's day, it's difficult for us to imagine how crazy, how beyond belief it was to think that this new Christian faith would become a worldwide religion. God's plan is unstoppable. And He uses us to do it despite our fears and concerns. Besides, God knows Paul's days of harming Christians are over rather than causing suffering for the name it will be Paul's turn to suffer for the name verse 16 and suffer he does as we'll see in the next two Sundays as we look at other things in the life of Paul but what joy too I love what Kent Hughes says about Paul instead of exhaling threats of death he helped men and women find life in Jesus Instead of incarceration, he brought liberation.

31:44 What a miracle. This past week, we gathered missionaries from around the world for a congress of like-minded, long-term missionaries to write a journal for churches wanting to pursue healthy missions. It's been a three-year project. And one of the joys of our time together each year has been interviewing all 60 of these missionaries. Oh, oh my word, how they have suffered. But the stunning thing, the great joy was the joy as we gathered.

32:24 And to hear of the blessings that come from seeing others follow Jesus such that all of them would say these are light and momentary suffering. alongside Paul. Well, Ananias obeys the word of the Lord in verse 17. He lays his hands on Paul, a kindness to a blind man, and then he prays. I love that Ananias calls Paul brother.

32:56 You see that? Here's what John Stott says in his commentary in the book of Acts. These words may have been the first words that Saul heard from Christian lips after his conversion and they were words of fraternal welcome they must have been music to his ears what? was the arch enemy of the church to be welcomed as a brother? was the dreaded fanatic to be received as a member of the family?

33:28 yes it was so scales fall from his eyes? In verse 18, Paul sees. His blindness and recovery of sight are images of all who come to faith. I once was blind, but now I see. Again, in verse 18, we read about Paul's first steps as a Christian. It's just a couple verses, but they're oh so significant.

34:00 Don't skip over them. First, in baptism, he publicly professes his faith. Second, in verse 19, he joins the fellowship of believers. And third, in verse 20, he proclaims that Jesus is the Son of God. This is a pattern for all true new believers. There's a declaration of faith in baptism. There's a seeking fellowship in a church. And there is the proclamation to others of the truth of Jesus.

34:32 It staggered those who heard. What an unlikely convert. Furthermore, as Paul witnesses, notice he is strengthened. He's not beat down. He's strengthened as he boldly shares the faith in verses 21 and 22. I find that to be a pattern too. A bold witness for Christ? Or even just a risky step when you step out and try and share with your neighbor or talk to a co-worker, talk to a fellow student.

35:06 It strengthens you. Alex Duke gave a great sermon and touched on those who feel weary in their faith, feel maybe a little blah about walking with the Lord. he did a great job on that I want to add one thing to that sermon take a risk for God step out and share your faith even small steps God will multiply Luke records in verse 23 that Paul stayed for many days in Damascus we know from the book of Galatians those many days were actually three years his witness back in Damascus was so powerful that eventually the religious leaders sought to kill him in verses 23 and 24

36:09 the danger was so great that his disciples who come to faith under Paul's ministry notice there are disciples of Paul now three years later they take Paul by night to escape over the city walls in a basket in verse 25. And aren't we glad there would come a day when Paul would be killed for his faith, but there was much more in store for Paul's ministry before he was poured out like a drink offering in Rome. Paul returns to Jerusalem, yet far from the honor one would expect from the Christians, he was met with skepticism and fear in verse 26.

36:51 It must have been a lonely return, rejected by those from his former life, shunned by his new community. But Barnabas, in verse 27, true to his name, encourager, comes to the rescue, explaining to the disciples how Paul had seen Jesus on the road to Damascus and how he had preached boldly. And so the Christians in Jerusalem accepted Paul into fellowship.

37:22 And once again, we see how important it is for Christians to join with other believers. Paul was never a lone ranger Christian. He was always a part of the community. And we see both in Ananias and Barnabas the need for believers to welcome those into the fellowship, however unlikely and different they may be. Church, we pray weekly for diversity in our church.

37:56 But we must be ready to be an answer to that prayer as we welcome into our midst those who might seem unlikely believers or those still on the road to faith. I was an unlikely believer. My high school years were filled with waywardness and rebellion. a couple weeks ago, three weeks ago, I went to my 50th high school reunion.

38:29 There were people there so old, they didn't even recognize me. And I had the great joy of telling people, you know, my life has really changed. I've come to Jesus, and he's made all the difference. I want to highlight three quick things about Paul's preaching in Jerusalem. I know we have many people here who aspire to preach. I pray that you will.

39:01 I thank you for your preparation that you're getting here in this church and in seminary if you're in seminary. Three C's I want you to remember, those of you who aspire to preach. Number one, When Paul preached, it was Christ-centered. He preached that Jesus was the Son of God regardless of the audience. When I pastored a church in Iraq, I was told by a missionary of all people that when I preached, I needed to play to the crowd.

39:40 And then this missionary showed his ignorance of the Bible when he said Jesus and Paul entertained the crowds. And I said, no, no, brother, we preach Christ and him crucified. Secondly, it was courageous, Christ-centered and courageous. Paul preached in the face of rejection and persecution and even death. Thirdly, it was costly.

40:13 As the Lord told Ananias, I will show Paul how he must suffer for the name, and suffer he did. But as Bonhoeffer says, suffering is the badge of true discipleship. Unable to refute Paul's arguments, the opposition plots murder of Paul in verse 29. The church leaders in Jerusalem recognized the danger to Paul, so they spirited him away to his hometown of Tarshish. God had great things in store for Paul and in verse 31 we read that the church had peace and it was built up throughout all Judea, Galilee and Samaria walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit it multiplied now notice here Luke is not talking about individuals he's talking about the church and he outlines what often happens when the church stands firm against turmoil and opposition.

41:15 So notice, number one, there was peace, freedom for a time from those who had harmed the church. And secondly, the church was strengthened and grounded. That is, they went deep into two things. The teaching of the apostles, or that is, the word of God and the love of the fellowship. Thirdly, as a community, right here in this one verse, the church pursued holiness. That's the meaning of the fear of the Lord. So when we talk about the fear of God, we're talking about godliness, about holiness.

41:48 And fourthly, the church knows the comfort of the Holy Spirit, who is after all called the Comforter. And fifthly, and finally, as the church expanded and multiplied, they multiply, they grow. That's the clear pattern, actually, in the whole book of Acts. Opposition, perseverance, growth. Paul's conversion is only the beginning.

42:20 There's much more in store for Paul and all who follow Jesus faithfully for you and for me. Victoria Manguela grew in her discipleship with the Christian Fellowship Group in Dubai. She joined our staff team and reached out to students in the universities of the Arabian Peninsula. Eventually, she moved to study under Deepak Raju at Capitol Hill Baptist Church to become a biblical counselor. She fell in love.

42:53 She married a Christian brother. They have beautiful children. And she's helping others follow Jesus to this day. married Rami from Egypt. I officiated the wedding. You want to have a good time? Go to an Arab wedding. They live in Canada. They have sweet children. They're active members of a healthy church there. So just as in Paul's day, the believers continue to multiply in Damascus, in Dubai, Toronto, D.C., and Louisville, Kentucky.

43:41 Next week, we'll look at Paul midway through his ministry. Let's pray. Lord God, we thank you for the fact that we have this unbelievable privilege to be a part of your unstoppable plan we're grateful for that we would pray oh God that we would see your sovereign grace in our lives knowing that you use the most unlikely people to accomplish your most wonderful plan we pray in Jesus name Amen