Persecutor to Persecuted
Notes
Transcript
Persecutor to Persecuted
Persecutor to Persecuted
Introduction
Let us not forget the words of Jesus to Ananias in Acts 9:15-16
15 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.
16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
In the text we are going to cover today we are going to see some of the experiences that Saul would go through for the gospel message.
He meets Jesus and is transformed from Persecutor to Persecuted.
19 and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus.
20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”
21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?”
22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.
23 When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him,
24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him,
25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.
Growing and Preaching
“For Some Days”
We see here that Saul was regaining his strength and no doubt learning from the disciples in Damascus.
He was a devout Jewish man and he knew the Scriptures but his world had been rocked.
These Jewish Christians were no doubt helping him to see the reality of Christ in the Scriptures.
They were training and teaching the one who had come to destroy them.
They were in the process of Discipleship with Saul.
He was learning and growing.
Being strengthened by the believers who witnessed a transformation in his very being.
This is important for us to recognize.
Getting to know Christ takes some time and intentional study.
That’s why I encourage you to Join a Sunday School Class or take part in Growth Groups.
Because it’s important.
No Christian is an Island. We cannot grow in our knowledge and love of Jesus without meeting together and discussing the Scriptures and how to live out the love of God.
There may be some of you who may be like Saul.
Where you have heard or even memorized the Word of God, but you haven’t found the key to understanding what was written.
Let me make it clear to you: Jesus is the Key to understanding the whole of Scripture.
In Theology the practice of understanding what the Scriptures are saying is called Hermeneutics.
We find out from Jesus himself that he is the the Hermeneutical Key to unlock what is being said and done in the Scriptures.
After his Resurrection he meets some disciples on the road to Emmaus.
This is what he does.
27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
So Saul needs to relearn how to interpret the Scriptures in light of what has been revealed to him in the person and work of Christ.
After this time of recovery and learning, Saul immediately starts proclaiming Jesus in the Synagogues.
He specifically states that Jesus “is the Son of God” v. 20
This is the only time this specific phrase is used in the book of Acts.
Luke is highlighting the unique perspective and teaching of Saul.
The Son of God is an important teaching as Saul grows and writes his letters to the churches later in his Life.
This is used to prove how Jesus is who he said he is.
Son’s have a dynamic and special relationship with their father.
Jesus is no different.
In fact, this Title of Son of God is used in the OT to talk about
The people of Israel
22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son,
An Anointed King of Israel
14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men,
and the Messiah
7 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.
So this title in now applied to Jesus as the fulfillment of the promises made by God.
He is the true, holy, and perfect representative of Israel.
The perfect one called out by God to accomplish his purposes.
Where everyone else failed he was perfect.
This is important b/c that’s what humanity needed. What people continue to need.
We need holiness. We need perfection. We need a representative to stand in when we fail.
Jesus is the one who fills that need.
Jesus is the great high priest that stands in and makes atonement for our sin.
He speaks to God on our behalf cleansing us, forgiving us, and strengthening us.
Jesus has a unique relationship with the father and with each believer.
He is the perfectly obedient son that imputes (or places) his perfect obedience onto us so that we can be called Sons and Daughters.
It’s interesting that Saul went to the high priest to get permission to arrest the believer’s in Damascus, but on his way he met the GREAT HIGH PRIEST, JC, and his life was forever changed.
He went to arrest, but was instead arrested by the glory of the Savior.
This was what he proclaimed.
This was the freedom he found.
This is the life he wanted to live to honor the Son of God.
21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?”
22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.
And the change was so radical that people were dumbstruck.
They were Confused.
The one who was zealous for the destruction of Jesus followers was now the one proclaiming the coming and resurrection of the Christ.
When I was younger, my best friend would have a saying he would often repeat.
“People don’t change. They may change their behavior, but they don’t change their essence.”
He went to school to be a counselor and still held onto this belief.
I’ll be honest, I mostly agree with this statement.
People can’t change on their own.
But if submitted to the leadership and lordship of Christ they can be transformed.
Saul was the definition of what he wrote in Ephesians.
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
Death and wrath were his calling card.
He intended on rooting out the church.
His intentions were to continue to be zealous for God through murdering and imprisoning Jesus followers.
Yet there was a change.
That change came because of God’s Great mercy
Dead men and women can’t make changes.
We are all dead in our trespasses and sins.
We are all cosigned to separation from God and his goodness.
And if we stop reading at Ephesians 2:3 then it seems like there is nothing but bad news for us.
However, if we keep reading we see change. We see that change comes from God alone.
We see that the revelation of who Christ is, is at the center of that change.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
This kind of Change Confounds people as it does here in v. 22
People look at who you were before you met Christ and they ask how can you be different.
How can you the addict, you the arrogant, you the self serving, you the greedy be different than you used to be.
But God.
It comes down to God’s grace. God’s Mercy.
That he loves you too much to let you stay where you are.
That He can transform a murderous megalomaniac like Saul into his chosen instrument to serve the Church for more than 2000 years after his death is nothing short of a miracle.
Saul should confound you. He should encourage you. He should challenge you.
Nothing is keeping God from extending his mercy and grace out to you.
You simply have to accept it and he will transform you.
He will work in you.
He wants to be in relationship with you.
His grace is greater than your sin.
“Where sin abounded, grace abounded more.”
You can’t out sin the grace of God.
Saul is a great example of that truth.
He was so radically changed by the gospel message, that he went about proving the truth that Jesus was the Son of God. v.22
We see that he was increasing in strength.
This would be spiritual strength.
Growing in spiritual wisdom.
This is similar to what we saw with Stephen as he stood before the Sanhedrin.
The wisdom that he received from God was too much for anyone to combat.
This should be comforting for each believer.
You don’t have to know everything all at once.
Saul didn’t have all the answers, but he continued to grow.
He continued to educate and delve deeper into the knowledge of Christ.
This is what it means to love God with all your mind.
Increase in wisdom, knowledge, and through that you will increase in Faith.
We shouldn’t believe in God with a Blind Faith.
We should seek out answers to difficult questions.
We should ask difficult questions.
We should rest in the Fact that we won’t know everything, but we can know the One who does.
I am going to do a quick shameless plug for Sunday School.
I will tell you that one of my favorite things to do is answer and work through difficult or challenging questions.
That seems to happen quite often in our Sunday School Class and I pray that each of you will come out and Join us one Sunday Morning at least to try it out.
Persecution for Preaching
Back to the Text:
“By proving that Jesus was the Christ” v. 22
This word proving holds with it the idea of bringing together.
Like putting puzzle pieces together to make something apparent.
He was taking the same scriptures that he had studied and out of them proved that Jesus was the Christ.
Making connections between what they knew and what was revealed in Jesus.
Completing the Picture.
Like when you do a puzzle.
First, you start with the edges. The Corners.
Then, you fill in the middle.
The OT Scriptures before Jesus were the framework. The edges. The Corners.
Then Jesus comes and he fills in the middle and completes the picture.
The response to what Saul was preaching brought anger and hatred upon him.
“When many days had passed” v.23
Luke is the king of under exaggerated time telling.
Like that friend that says I’ll be there in five minutes and an hour later they still aren’t there.
Those family members that believe time is relative or merely a suggestion.
We will have lunch at noon and by 2 they still aren’t there.
Anyway, Luke takes some liberty with his way of telling time, but we do have from Saul’s own writings how long he was in Damascus.
We find in Galatians that Saul was didn’t enter into Jerusalem for Three years after his conversion.
We see that he was preaching.
Regardless of the time structure we have to see that the ones who had been cheering Saul on as he was persecuting the followers of Jesus were now his enemies and wanted to kill him.
How the table had turned.
The Persecutor has be come the persecuted.
In fact, we read that the plot to kill Saul became so apparent that he had to leave Damascus.
He had to flee the place where he had come to preach the gospel.
And how did Saul escape.
They lowered him out of a hole in a basket.
Why did he have to use a basket lowered out of a hole to escape.
Because his enemies were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him (v. 24)
Now, remember the stature and pride that Saul had before he met Jesus.
Do you think that he would have allowed himself to be lowered down in a basket?
Some scholars state that this basket was not an ordinary weaved basked used for lowering goods down the wall.
In fact, some state that this type of basket was used to dispose of human waste.
That this basket might have been filled with excrement would be a humbling reality for Saul.
This is the first instance of the Prophecy that Jesus stated over Saul’s ministry
16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
He was chased away from this town. He was plotted against. They wanted to murder him for speaking against their belief.
So he had to flee. He had to run away. He had to escape.
He had to climb into a basket, probably filled with human waste, and trust his new friends to lower him down.
26 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.
27 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 at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus.
28 So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord.
29 And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him.
30 And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
When Saul finally makes it back to Jerusalem after a 3 year hiatus, he intends to meet with the Disciples.
He intends to meet up with those who he had come to destroy and now wants to join them in brotherhood for the purpose of the gospel.
But much like Ananias they are afraid.
They think that he is a spy. They think that he has come to trick them into trusting him.
And lets not forget, that they had felt betrayal before.
They had witnessed the ultimate form of betrayal when Judas traded Jesus for 30 pieces of Silver.
They know the pain of the double cross, of back stabbing.
They didn’t want to go through that again.
So they were worried, they were scared, they were guarded.
Then we see Barnabas again.
The last time we read about Barnabas is back at the end of chapter 4.
He sold some land and gave the proceeds to help the church serve the needs of those less fortunate than himself.
Remember his name means “Son of Encouragement”
He is the golden retriever of people.
He wants people to know the good news and encourages them along the way.
He is one of those guys that always sees the best in people.
He is always happy go lucky.
He is always a blessing to be around.
Truth is we need more Barnabas’ in our lives.
Barnabas has heard about Saul.
He probably has friends or contacts in Damascus that have told him about the Change that Saul has had.
So Barnabas goes ahead and vouches for Saul.
He brings Saul into the inner sanctum and retells the story of Saul’s encounter with Jesus.
And that he had been preaching Jesus in Damascus boldly and with death threats coming at him.
All Followers of Christ should have a Barnabas in their life.
We need one to encourage us, to help us, to vouch for us.
Especially new Christians that are new to this whole following Christ thing.
It’s hard.
It’s hard to fight the flesh.
It’s hard to continue to walk in obedience to Christ.
It’s hard to grow in a relationship with Christ.
It’s hard to remember grace.
It’s hard for people to look at you and see that there has indeed been a change.
That you are different.
That Christ has transformed you.
That’s why we need a Barnabas so we don’t have to walk alone.
I want to encourage you to find a Barnabas, but I also want to encourage you to be a Barnabas.
We need Christian Community.
We need loving and supportive relationships within the Body of Christ.
We can’t live this life alone we need help.
Don’t think that this isn’t important.
Because it is of the utmost importance.
Because Barnabas vouches for Saul, the disciples accept him into their fold.
What does Saul do after he is accepted.
He goes out preaching the name of Jesus Boldly.
Do you see how important the preaching of Jesus is?
Twice in this passage (v. 27 &28) Luke tells us that Saul is preaching boldly.
He isn’t preaching Christ for recognition.
He isn’t preaching Christ for selfish ambition.
He isn’t preaching Christ to atone for his sins.
He isn’t preaching Christ for any other reason than the fact that people need to know Jesus.
If we are honest with ourselves, what is the main reason that you don’t tell others about Jesus?
If what we say we believe is actually true then isn’t it the greatest news there is?
If what we say we believe is actually true than isn’t it unloving not to tell others?
If what we say we believe is actually true than how would we fell if we never heard it?
What is the absolute worst that could happen if we told someone the gospel?
The Absolute worst thing would be if they decided to kill us, but the most realistic thing is that we would be labeled a religious weirdo, freak, or lunatic.
We don’t have to worry about being plotted against for our murder.
We don’t have to sneak out of the city in a poop basket.
We don’t have to endure intense persecution.
and yet we are so intimidated by others that we neglect to tell them about the one who could change their life.
We don’t want to offend them. We don’t want to hurt their feelings.
We don’t want to ruin our relationship with them.
Do we see how trivial these things are in the grand scheme of things?
I’m not saying be a jerk.
I’m not saying to stop loving them.
I’m saying that the truth offends, but it also sets us free.
We need to pray for boldness in our faith. We need to pray for boldness to tell others about the good news of Jesus.
We read here that Saul is arguing and challenging the Hellenists.
This is the same group of Jewish People that decided to murder Stephen.
And know that Saul still stands before them and tells them of the same Jesus that Stephen was murder for telling them about.
Then they sought to kill him too.
So he had to make another escape
He fled once again.
We won’t read about Saul til Acts 11:25.
He flees back to his home and country of origin.
We don’t know exactly what he was doing in Tarsus, but if these stories are any example of how he lived we can bet that he was going around preaching the gospel.
That he was studying and growing in his knowledge and faith of JC.
He spends between 7-10 years in Tarsus.
So from his conversion to his being used as a chosen vessel by God is somewhere between 10-13 years. 3 years in the Desert and Damascus and 7-10 years at home.
This should be comforting for those of us who have a desire to be in the ministry, but we don’t feel prepared yet.
God will work it out all in his timing.
Trust in him.
The final thing we see in this story is a time of peace
31 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.
Peace and Growth
The Persecutor had become the persecuted and there was a time of peace comfort and grace in the church.
The mission of the church was moving forward and the people of the church were multiplying.
Many were coming to know Jesus.
Many were walking by faith and growing in the fear of the lord and comfort of the HS.
The church that had endured persecution, imprisonment, and even death now recieved a time of peace and growth.
This is a mercy of God that even in the event of trials and difficulties God will still move his mission forward.
God will still grow his church.
God has not abandoned us or forgotten us.
He is still with us and he is the one that sustains us.
Have hope my brothers and sisters.
If you don’t know this Jesus we speak of, if you haven’t placed your faith in him and him alone
I invite you to give your life to him.
I invite you to find life in Jesus.
He is calling to you will you answer him?
If you are a follower of Christ I want to ask you what do you believe are the next steps in your faith?
Is it to Join this church as a member?
Is it to follow Jesus’ instruction of being baptized?
Is it to become a disciple maker and tell others about the good news of the gospel?
What is Jesus asking you to do?
Confess a sin, step out in faith, Give it all to him.
We are going to sing a couple of songs. I pray that during this time you will reflect on what Jesus would have you to do.
I’ll be available for anyone if they wish to talk.
Let’s pray.