We turn to Acts 22:6-10;

6 ““Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me.
7 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’
8 So I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’
9 “And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me.
10 So I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.’”

Here describes a man by the name of Saul. Saul’s name was changed to Paul, someone who relied on the Lord and he preached the gospel. Paul was sharing his testimony on how he met the Lord. When he heard this voice from heaven calling out to his name, he responded to this voice from heaven, “Who are You, Lord?”

This Lord of heaven personally introduced Himself, “I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.”

After Paul knew the God of heaven, he continued to ask a second question in v10;

So I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.’”

He asked, “What shall I do?”

Since the Lord has called out to him, there must be a purpose. In response, he asked what God wants him to do. V12;

‘“Then a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there, ‘

There was a man called Ananias who was instructed by the Lord to find Saul. At that time, Saul’s eyes were blind. After Ananias visited him, the mercy of the Lord came upon Saul; he was able to see again. This was a short 3 days process but this setback to Saul woke him up.

When Saul’s eyes were blind, he asked this God of heaven and after he has come to know this God, he also knew what God wanted him to do. Although his eyes were blinded, he could see the Lord. Sometimes it’s at a man’s dead end where they meet the Lord; sometimes God uses this method for us to find him.

Ananias said to Saul, “This God of our fathers have chosen you.” V14;

‘Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth. ‘

“He has chosen you that you will know His will.” That is the answer to what Saul should do.

What did the Lord want him to do? V15 records;

‘For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. ‘

This God of heaven had called out to Saul for him to be His witness and to bear testimony to what he had seen, heard and experienced. Saul eventually became Paul, the apostle, who was very zealous in preaching the gospel.

Before he started to bear testimony for the Lord, there was one more important thing he had to do. This is recorded in v16;

‘And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’’

When Paul asked the Lord, “What shall I do?”, the Lord wanted him to do 2 things:
To bear witness to all men what he had seen and heard.
To call on the name of the Lord to be baptised to wash away his sins.

Both of the matters are important but sequentially, the second item is to be prioritised.

When we have many things to do, we start to prioritise its importance as well as it’s order in completing the tasks. When we consider the timing, it’ll be based on the level of urgency to get things done. Just like the young couple who led us in our hymn singing earlier. It’ll be equally important when the parents and baby are crying. However, they’d first look after the needs of their child because it’s more important. After settling the child, then they can eat in peace.

In the eyes of the Lord, both matters are important. But Saul should prioritise to be baptised to call in the name of the Lord. If he doesn’t accept the baptism of the Lord, then preaching and bearing testimony of what the Lord has done will lose its meaning. The purpose of preaching the gospel is so that the people who hear you will be able to have their sins washed away.

For Saul to come to know God, the first thing for him to do was to receive baptism and this is also a crucial requirement. The Lord wants to use His baptism to wash away our sins. Let’s take a look at the Acts of the apostles. In Acts 2:38;

‘Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ‘

The apostle Peter bore testimony of the Lord Jesus. The listeners of this sermon were pricked in their hearts and asked Peter what they shall do. Peter didn’t respond by telling them to bear testimony of what they’ve sinned and heard. Instead, he asked them to repent and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. Then, they shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is of the same requirement.

After you’ve come to know the Lord Jesus, and you’ve come to acknowledge that Jesus is our Saviour, that the purpose of Him coming is to deliver His people from sins, then the method for the remission of sins is BAPTISM. This is VERY IMPORTANT.

After our sins are taken away, we’re no longer separated from God and we can mend this relationship with God. We turn to Romans 5:9-11;

9 ‘Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.’

Through His own sacrifice, the Lord Jesus shed His blood so we can be reconciled with God. After our sins have been taken away, we’re able to interact with God any obstructions.

Many religions go into great length about sin. The speaker once talked to a friend. Through exercising, he came to know our own brother. Our brother led him to the church to search the word of God. This truth seeker after searching the word of God for awhile, understood and got baptised.

In the religion he held in the past, the solution for sin is to go through sufferings. It is through a lot of self-meditation, chanting, etcetera, that they’re able to get rid of the evil thoughts they have in their hearts. But they didn’t know to what extent they had to do these things in order for their sins to be taken away.

When he came into contact with our brother and understood that to take away sin, you have to receive the Lord Jesus Christ; it is a very sure method. This is also clearly recorded in the Holy Bible. In his past religious faith, he could only try out and there was no certainty in the outcome. He thought, “if I’ve believed in such a long time and my sins still can’t be taken away, I’ve believed in vain!”

God led him to church and he slowly understood the truth. For us to take away this wall of separation between us and God, the only way is through baptism for sins to be washed away.

Ananias told him that he has to be baptised by calling unto the name of Jesus Christ. This is because only the name of Jesus can take away sins. We turn to Acts 10:42-43;

42 ‘And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead.
43 To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.”’

Peter was testifying to Cornelius and his family. He was talking about Jesus who was ordained by God to judge the living and the dead. V43;

To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.”’

Only the name of Jesus has the authority to wash the sins of men. Peter, in the process of him preaching the gospel, personally experienced the power of the name of Jesus. He asked the lame to walk by commanding him to get up in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. He also baptised men in the name of the Lord Jesus. He also experienced a time when the Lord Jesus sent them out to preach the gospel. He came back to Jesus to tell him all the things they’ve done. He told Jesus, “Because of Your name, even the evil spirits submit to us!”

The name of Jesus can:
Drive out demons
Cause the lame to walk
Break down the separation between God and men.

Peter says, “There’s no other name given to men under heaven, because this is the name that can save!” This is found in Acts 4:12;

‘Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”’

You may have status or a lustrous background and because of that your name can be useful under certain circumstances. But, your name cannot:
Drive out demons
Cause the lame to walk
Give people salvation

Because men are helpless and weak. Only the God of heaven is truly effective.

The God of heaven has called out to Saul that the first thing he has to do is to arise, get baptised and call on the name of the Lord. Before you bear testimony for the Lord, your sins have to be washed away. When your sins are washed away, your life will be in Jesus Christ. The Lord will preserve you.

The speaker will share a testimony:

Sister Huang was born in 1945. Her testimony can be found in our Holy Spirit Times. When she was 13, she started to work in the temple to help out in various works like collecting money from people to solve their problems. For example: if your child is unwell and keeps crying, you’ll go to these people who have practiced certain methods to take fright away from the child.

When she was 80, she changed her faith and decided to be baptised in the Lord Jesus. Why was there such a change?

When her eldest son was born, she felt something was wrong; her son wouldn’t drink milk, he seemed so sickly as if he was going to die. She tried to take away the evil spirit in her own child with chant and some magic. However it was ineffective. She decided to seek help from another master who was more powerful than her to help solve her problem. It still was ineffective and she started to worry.

She recalled that her grandmother believed in Jesus. She asked her grandmother to help her if it would be effective to rely on Jesus. Her grandmother told her, “You must have faith and pray with faith to the Lord Jesus. He will heal your child.”

She prayed in the name of Jesus together with her grandmother.

After the prayer, her child could immediately drink milk. He regained his health. She was thinking if this was a coincidence that he has regained his health. As she thought so, the condition of her child deteriorated to his original state. She asked her grandmother, “Didn’t you say that if I believed in Jesus, he’ll be well?”

Her grandmother replied, “You doubted and didn’t have faith!”

She was shocked, “How did she know I was doubting?”

Once again, she prayed with faith to God. After the prayer, her baby became normal again. She started to think if this was another coincidence and the moment she thought this, the condition deteriorated. This happened 4 times. On the 5th time, she told Jesus, “Lord Jesus, if You heal my son completely, I’ll believe in You and be baptised.”

It’s through that prayer was she able to see the work of God on her son. Because she saw this miracle that was so vivid, she changed her faith to believe in Jesus.

Her husband was not supportive and was in fact opposed to her decision. He instructed her to never bring their second child to be baptised. If not, nobody would worship him when he dies. She agreed.

Their second child was a daughter. Her condition wasn’t good as well because she fell ill when she was born. She continued having fever. She went to a big hospital to find a specialist to treat her daughter. The doctor told her, “Please bring her back and prepare that she’ll leave anytime.”

In her great sadness she started to think, “If the Lord Jesus can heal my son, He’ll heal my daughter.”

She decided to not be bothered by the comment of her husband and brought her for baptism. Thank God after her baptism, her daughter regained her health.

When her husband found out that their daughter was baptised, he was very angry. He told her sternly to never baptise the third child. When her third child was born, she didn’t dare tell her husband he was brought to baptism until he was 2. This child rode a tricycle from home and rushed out of the house. No one was watching over this child and he went out to the main road; a truck came by and knocked him down. When the child was on the ground, a motorcycle went over the child. In normal circumstances, we say, “This person surely will die!”

When the mother heard this cry for help, she quickly rushed out to find her child and found him uninjured. She knew it was the help of Jesus. She was thinking if her child should be baptised to be in the Lord. Later on this child in his sleep would start to cry. She was thinking if the linen of the blankets weren’t clean and hence was crying.

The next day, she was arranging the blankets the child was doing when she discovered a snake in the blanket of the child! She didn’t dare to kill the snake and had to call her neighbour for help. The neighbour said that this was a very venomous snake (百步蛇). She was wondering why the snake was just lying there peacefully without biting the child. She had experienced twice the Lord preserving the life of this child. She brought the child to baptism. Her husband was very angry but she decided to move him slowly with love and he later came to believe and was baptised as well.

She experienced the stark contrast before her faith before and after believing in Jesus.

After we’re baptised, we belong to the Lord and kept by the Lord to be preserved. The name of Jesus can heal our weaknesses. We also have to call on the name of the Lord Jesus to be baptised and wash away our sins.

May the Lord help all our truth-seekers so you may understand the word of salvation.