Sauls early ministry Acts 9:20-31

Introduction

Just a little while before these events Saul was on his way from Jerusalem to Damascus to capture and bring back any of the people found in that way bound to face trial for being a Christian.

On the road to Damascus Saul meets the saviour, through a bright light that blinded him and he got saved. A man by the name of Ananias showed us three characteristics of someone used by God by being available, obedient, and having faith.

Here we come to Saul’s early ministry, where we will see his preaching, the reaction of those around him, and his continuing ministry as well.

Saul’s Preaching vs. 1-3

Paul went from persecuting those who preached Jesus, to preaching Jesus immediately.

Notice the transition from vs 19 to vs 20.

He regained his strength and stayed with the disciples of Damascus for a period of time while regaining his strength and then straightway (immediately; without loss of time; without delay.) he preached Christ in the synagogues.

The place he preached; The synagogue.

The same place were Saul spent his life learning about the Messiah, to where he brought the Christians he persecuted, is now the place he is preaching about that Messiah.

We read about Saul’s upbringing in Acts 22:3 “I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.”

Saul was a trained rabbi, a former student of the most respected doctor of Hebrew law in Jerusalem, and now he was preaching Jesus as the very Son of God.

Look at the message he preached as well; Jesus is the Son of God.

For Saul to admit that would prove a changed life.

Saul, just a little while earlier was throwing people into prison for preaching this message.

Look at what the religious leaders had to say when Jesus was called the Son of God

John 5:17–18 “But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.”

This would have made the religious leaders very upset.

The audience he reached

Everyone that heard him preach were amazed.

The word amazed here means “confounded with fear, surprise or wonder.”

I can imagine being there in that city as Saul who came to throw them in prison, now preaching the same message they were being thrown in jail for, would surprise me as well.

The question they asked.

Isn’t this the guy who has been destroyed them that called in the name of Jesus in Jerusalem and was headed here to damascus with the intention of bringing those preaching this message bound to Jerusalem?

What a shock this must have been?

What can we get from the reaction of the audience?

The gospel has the power to change our lives completely. Saul’s life would never be the same because of the road to Damascus experience he had. He went from persecuting Christians to being one of the greatest missionaries to walk the earth.

Has the Gospel changed your life? It should change the way you walk, the way you talk, and the way you act.

The bible likens it to taking off old clothes and putting on new clothes

Ephesians 4:22–24 “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

This is what Saul did here, and this is how we should be when we trust Christ.

The message continued

As Saul increased in strength he continued to preach to the Jews in Damascus.

The Bible says he confounded them which means he stirred them up.

As you can imagine the Jews that were in the Synagogue were not happy that the man who was coming to stop the Christians from growing in numbers was now had joined them.

Saul’s preaching started with preaching Christ and he never strayed from that message. Here it says that he was proving that this was the very Christ.

He didn’t just use head knowledge he used the scripture as we will se later in his ministry

Acts 18:28 “For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publickly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ.”

When we tell people about Jesus, we should use the scripture!

The Jews plan vs. 23-24

After many days were fulfilled

This could have been as many as three years, as it would seem that Paul in Galatians 1 recounts this event where he spent three years east of Damascus in the Arabian desert

Galatians 1:17–18 “Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.”

After that period of time the jews took counsel to kill Saul

It seems that the Jewish leaders answer to people preaching Christ was to kill them.

They did it with Jesus, they did it with Stephen, and now they planned to do it to Saul.

Someone let Saul know of their plan to kill him.

They were watching the gates day and night waiting to kill him, they weren’t going to let him out of the city alive.

The disciples in Damascus lowered him down the city wall in a basket so he could escape without getting killed

Paul referenced this in 2 Corinthians 11:32–33 “In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me: And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.”

The Disciples in Jerusalem vs. 25-30

After they lower Saul down, he went to Jerusalem and the Bible says “he assayed to join himself to the disciples”

Assayed here means “tried”

Notice the response of the believers there in Jerusalem

They were afraid of him.

Remember he was there consenting to the death of Stephen.

After the death of Stephen, the persecution in Jerusalem by Saul got so bad that the church scattered to Judea and Samaria.

The members of that church had every reason to be scared of Saul, he was known for causing havock on Christians in Jerusalem.

Not only were they afraid of him, the didn’t even believe that he was truly a disciple.

I’m sure some of them thought that he was just coming to spy on them or to destroy them from the inside out.

It would be like the leaders of the middle east coming in to an underground church there and trying to join in with them. Everyone would be on high alert because their lives are on the line.

While all the disciples were keeping their distance and giving Saul a cold shoulder one man vogued for him.

Barnabas took Saul to the 12 Apostles and told them about his conversion

he told them how he had seen the Lord on the way to Damascus, and Saul had spoken to him

He had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus

When they heard this I’m sure they were scratching their heads wondering what was going on with Saul.

He was with them going in and out of Jerusalem

He spake boldly in the name of Jesus

He spoke against the grecians

A grecian is a jew who spoke the greek language

they would also be known as a hellenist jew

The grecians wanted to slay him

John Phillips said this “It did not take the Hellenist Jews long to endorse the opinions of their compatriots in Damascus that Saul could not be permitted to live. He was far to dangerous to the survival of Judaism, so they sought ways to have him killed.”

When the church found out they were trying to slay Saul they brought him down to Caesarea, and then sent him to his home town of Tarsus.

The continuation of the church vs. 31

After Saul had returned to Tarsus the Bible says “then had the churches rest”

They had been persecuted and now they had rest. It seems as though there was a truce between Jews and Christians as they had around 10 years of peace.

In that time of peace the church:

was edified or instructed

they walked in the fear of the Lord

Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: And the knowledge of the holy is understanding.”

They had the comfort of the Holy Ghost

continued to grow.

One commentator said this “In this lull the believers grew in grace and increased in the knowledge of God. The Holy Spirit was evident in their gatherings everywhere throughout the Holy Land. Numbers continued to be saved. It was a welcome respite.”

Conclusion

The Gospel changes lives and we see the evidence of that here in the Apostle Paul’s life. A man who once killed people for preaching Christ, was standing in the synagogues boldly proclaiming Christ as the Son of God. The Gospel changed his life has it changed yours?

Has there been a time in your life where you have placed your faith in Jesus, his death burial and resurrection? If not come today and we can show you from his word how you can be saved.

If you are saved this morning, hows your witness? are you Boldly proclaiming Christ as The Messiah? If not, ask God to grant you the boldness to proclaim him while there is still time.