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Grace Bible Church

4000 E. Collins Rd.   P.O. Box #3762   Gillette, WY  82717   (307) 686-1516

 

- Preaching the Living WORD through the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 -

 

 

 

 

SAUL, THE PERSECUTOR BECAME THE PERSECUTEE

(Ac 9:22-31) 5/25/14

Grace Bible Church, Gillette, Wyoming

Pastor Daryl Hilbert

 

I.     PERSECUTION FORCED SAUL OUT OF DAMASCUS (22-25)

A.    In Chapter 9 of Acts, Saul, the persecutor of the “Way,” came face to face with the resurrected Christ on the road to Damascus (Ac 9:1-9). Having been led into Damascus, Saul was given instructions as well as healed from blindness by Ananias (Ac 9:10-21). Saul then began to immediately proclaim the resurrected Christ and was met with difficulty from both unbelievers and believers (Ac 9:22-30).

B.    [22] Having begun to fellowship with the Damascus believers and proclaim Jesus, Saul “was increasing in strength” as a believer. It shows that Saul was being edified through the Spirit, and this edification was enhanced by doing what believers are to do. Saul was becoming more powerful in his understanding and articulation of the Truth so that he was confounding the Jews. “Confound” is the Greek word sugcheō and means to bewilder or confuse (cf. LXX Ge 11:7, 9 cf. Ac 2:6; 21:31). Saul was confounding the Jews in that he was supposed to be the leading persecutor against Christianity but was in fact defending their beliefs. But he was also confounding them in a mighty defense of “proving” (sumbibazō - put together by teaching, hence prove, make known, conclude, LXX Ex 4:18:16; Ac 16:10) that Jesus was the Christ. Being, a Pharisee, Saul had a great knowledge of the Old Testament. He was growing mighty in the Scriptures as he was able to put them together and show that Jesus was the Messiah.

C.    [23] We read that “many days had elapsed” (hāmerai ikanai,cf.  ikanos, “many considerable days”; Lk 8:27). This expression refers to a considerable time interval. If we cross reference with several other passages (Ga 1:17-24; 2Co 11:32-33), we can summarize Paul’s early movements: 1. Jerusalem (Ac 9:1-2), 2. Damascus (Ac 9:3-22), 3. Arabia (Ac 9:23a; Ga 1:17 cf. Ga 1:11-16), 4. Damascus (Ac 9:23b-25; Ga 1:17; 2Co 11:32-33), 5. Jerusalem (Ac 9:26-29; Ga 1:18-20), 6. Caesarea (Ac 9:30), 6. Tarsus (Ac 9:30; Ga 1:21-24). It seems quite natural to take the expression “many days had elapsed” as the time when Saul went to Arabia to be instructed by the Lord (Ga 1:11-16), after which he returned to Damascus. While there was an interval in between Saul’s stay in Damascus, there was no interval in Saul’s bold proclamation of Jesus as we will see.

D.    So strong was his case for Christianity that the Jews could not just dismiss his arguments. Instead, they began to “plot” (sumbouleuō - counsel together, conspire) to kill him (anaireō - take away or violently kill, Mt 2:16; Ac 26:10; 2Th 2:8). In an interesting turn of events, “the persecutor became the persecutee.”

E.    [24] Saul found out about the Jews’ plot to “put him to death.” The Scriptures do not say whether he purposely avoided them or not. However, the Jews were vigilantly “watching” (paratāreō - keeping close watch) the gates “day and night.”

F.     [25] The phrase “his [Saul’s] disciples” may have referred to those who had come to Christ through Paul’s preaching. They were certainly disciples and followers of Christ. In response to finding out the plot to kill Saul, they provided a means of escape at night. Saul was lowered “through” (dia with the genitive) the wall (a window in the wall) in a “large basket” (stupis - large hamper sometimes made of braided ropes). Paul wrote of this event in 2Co 11:32-33, which included the involvement of “Aretas the king,” of Nabatean Arabia (located near Damascus and different from modern day Arabia). Evidently, while in Arabia, Saul continued his faithful preaching and had incited the king’s anger to also search for Saul in Damascus..

II.    THE CHURCH ALSO WAS SKEPTICAL OF SAUL (26)

A.    [26] Saul went to Jerusalem and the first thing he did was attempt to “associate” (pres. infinitive of kollaō - glue or join together, Ac 5:13; 10:28) with the disciples.

B.    However, all of the disciples were “afraid” (phobeō - fear, Eng. “phobia”, i.e. Saulophobia) of Saul. They were fully aware of Saul’s fierce reputation for apprehending believers as well as his part in stoning Stephen.

C.    Having heard of Saul’s supposed testimony, they would not believe it (pres. part. - pisteuō - “not believing”). They thought that he was not a genuine disciple but merely attempting to deceive them.

III.  BARNABAS TOOK SAUL TO THE APOSTLES (27)

A.    [27] However, Barnabas was in Jerusalem. He was the same individual spoken of as the charitable “son of encouragement” in Ac 4:36.

B.    He was the first disciple in Jerusalem to receive Saul into the fellowship. This was not a foolishly blind hospitality, but rather a wise spiritual discernment of Saul’s testimony.

C.    Barnabas then “took hold” (epilambanomai - emphatic idea of take) of Saul and brought him to the apostles (Peter and James, Ga 1:18-19). He also gave the initial description of Saul’s testimony to the apostles, namely, that Saul saw the Lord, the Lord spoke with Him, and that Saul spoke boldly of Christ wherever he went. It was a clear description of one who was genuinely saved and genuinely called to apostleship by Christ.

IV.  PERSECUTION FORCED SAUL OUT OF JERUSALEM (28-30)

A.    [28] Saul was brought into the association of the apostles and the church in Jerusalem. Characteristic to Saul, he continued to speak boldly in the name of the Lord and he did so freely and without being unencumbered (eisporeuomai cf. Ac 8:3; 28:30).

B.    [29] In his freedom of proclaiming Christ, Saul found himself “speaking” and “arguing” with Hellenistic Jews. Being from Tarsus, Saul spoke Greek and was able to speak with these Hellenists in their language. Furthermore, the Greek language was developed in a cultural of inquiry and debate. The word “argue” (sutāteō) does not mean simply to get into a heated argument. The word sutāteō literally means to “seek to put together”, i.e. bring the facts together to seek the truth or conclusion. It certainly includes the idea of presenting a set of arguments to prove one’s case or conclusion. It is variously done through inquiry (Lk 24:15), discussion (Mk 9:10, 16), debate (Mk 1:27), and disputation (Mk 8:11; 9:14; Ac 6:9). As pointed out earlier, Saul had increased in giving strong biblical arguments to prove that Jesus was the Messiah. His arguments were so powerful that they produced powerful enemies in these Hellenistic Jews. As a result, they began to “attempt” (epicheirō - lit. put hand to, concerted effort) to put him to death.

C.    [30] The brethren learned of this death threat and like the Damascus disciples, devised a plan for his escape. One commentator wrote, “The church soon discovered that it was almost as bad having Saul with them as against them. He quickly stirred up a hornet’s nest, and, no doubt in the minds of some, as much for their own good as his, they decided to send him home.” According to Ga 1:18, Saul had only been in Jerusalem for fifteen days before the attempt on his life.

D.    The decision of the brethren may have been influenced by a vision that Saul had described in Ac 22:17-22. Saul was told by the Lord to leave Jerusalem for he had work to do among the Gentiles far away. Therefore, the brethren brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus (cf. Ga 1:21).

V.    LUKE’S PROGRESS REPORT ON THE CHURCH (31)

A.    At this time in his writing, Luke included another progress report for the early churches “throughout all of Judea and Galilee and Samaria” (2:47; 6:7; 9:31; 12:24; 16:5; 19:20; 28:30-31).

B.    The church experienced “peace” both internally and externally from severe persecution for a time. They were being “built up” (oikodomeō) and edified so that they were growing strong in their faith and the proclamation of the faith. They were going on in the “fear of the Lord.” This implies that they were living according to the Lordship of Christ in all aspects of their lives. It also implies that they were faithful in witnessing, knowing that the Lord’s judgment would come upon all who did not place their faith in Christ. They were growing in the joy and “encouragement of the Holy Spirit.” And finally, they were “increasing” in numbers as they continued to be faithful witnesses.

VI.  OBSERVATIONS AND APPLICATIONS

A.    The church is to grow in times of persecution and times of peace. No matter what the circumstance, the church is to grow spiritually, whether in peace or persecution. The goal is always the same and that is that the church is to grow spiritually and constantly move forward. Each believer will either increase or impede his growth and the growth of the church.

B.    Every believer should be equipped to give strong biblical arguments. What do you believe? Why do you believe it? Why should others come to believe it? How well you can answer these questions is an indication of how well you are equipped in defending the faith. Certainly we are called to defend the faith the best we can at any given moment. However, we are to be growing in the ability to always be ready to defend the faith (1Pe 3:15). Even Saul went away to grow in defense of the faith.

C.    Powerful arguments for the truth produce powerful enemies. It should not come as a surprise or a mark of failure that when we make strong biblical arguments for the Lord that we find strong opposition. The Holy Spirit convicts the lost with the logical conclusions of the truth. Sometimes we equate the disapproval of others as failure, when in reality their disapproval is the approval of God (2Th 1:4-7; 2Ti 3:12).

 

In Conclusion, God changes all believers from persecutors to persecutees. He changes us from scoffing skeptics to defenders of the faith. He encourages us to grow in peace and in persecution, he equips us to vigorously defend the faith, and He allows powerful enemies against Christianity. But it is a change that we willingly accept in exchange for knowing Christ our Savior. It is expressed by Saul when he penned in Php 3:8

                More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,         for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ