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