He wants everyone to understand that he had a personal experience with Jesus Christ. No one taught him the gospel he's preaching. He learned it directly from the source. These are his credentials as an apostle, the meaning of which is "to send, to appoint, to commission, to authorize". Saul has seen the risen Christ. He has been commissioned by Him to be an apostle of the gospel, mainly to the Gentiles. Saul doesn't need the permission of the apostles at Jerusalem to preach in Jesus' name and he doesn't need to be affiliated with them to be a true apostle of Jesus Christ. His appointment is a divine appointment, proven by the signs and wonders that accompany his preaching. He doesn't need the apostles' stamp of approval; he has Christ's stamp of approval. He has the utmost respect for the apostles, but his first impulse at his conversion is not to go and meet with them but to start preaching the truth of Christ right where he is in Damascus. He already has the authority to do this because Christ has given him the authority. It's only after three years that he goes to meet with the believers at Jerusalem. This trip to Jerusalem is what we are going to look at in today's study.
"When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple." (Acts 9:26) We recall from yesterday's study that a plot is afoot at Damascus to kill him, so his friends let him down outside the wall in a basket. It seems like an opportune time to make the journey back to Jerusalem and, while there, meet the followers of Christ in that city. But their reaction is one of horror rather than welcome. Just like the believers at Damascus, they fear his conversion is false and that he has ulterior motives against them.
The believers at Jerusalem have likely heard of Saul's dramatic conversion, but they haven't seen him with their own eyes for three years, and they find it difficult to believe that the man who once hated them has actually become one of them. But there's a man at Jerusalem named Barnabas who is willing to accept Saul's profession of faith. He's willing to give him a chance. This is the same Barnabas Luke introduced us to in Acts 4, "Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means "son of encouragement"), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet." (Acts 4:36-37) His real name is Joseph but he's been nicknamed Barnabas because of his encouraging personality.
"But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus." (Acts 9:27) Barnabas is one of the heroes of the Bible. It takes heroism to be an encourager and it takes heroism to give people the benefit of the doubt. Heroes don't always carry large swords; sometimes they simply possess big hearts. Barnabas is willing to listen to every detail of Saul's conversion and to hear the stories of everything that has been happening at Damascus, including the nighttime escape of Saul. Would a man risk his life for the gospel if he didn't believe in it? Barnabas doesn't think so. People are sometimes willing to die for a lie if they don't know it's a lie, but it's just not human nature to be willing to die for something we know is false. Saul is a true convert. His preaching is sincere. The miracles that accompany his preaching are the proof that he is a messenger of the gospel of Christ. Losing the prestige of being a Pharisee, losing the social and political respect that were his in Jerusalem, and almost losing his life in Damascus are further proofs that Saul is just as much of a Christian as anybody else Barnabas knows.
Because Barnabas boldly stands up for Saul, the believers at Jerusalem accept him. "So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord." (Acts 9:28) What a testimony this is to the citizens of Jerusalem of the transforming power of Christ! They once knew Saul as a zealous persecutor of the Christians and now he is preaching in the name of the One he once hated.
"He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus." (Acts 9:29-30) The Hellenistic Jews are the ones who hotly debated with Stephen and delivered him to the Sanhedrin for trial. These are the ones who made up false accusations against him. These are the ones with whom Saul was once in complete agreement when they felt Stephen deserved to be put to death for blasphemy. So now Saul goes to them and tries to show them the error in their ways. These are the same errors he was once guilty of, so he hopes to show them the truth of the gospel he now believes in. He hopes to convert them. Instead they devise a plot to kill him. Once again the Lord makes certain the plot is known so that Saul can escape with his life. His friends at Jerusalem give him safe escort down to Caesarea and he heads north to his hometown of Tarsus from there.
"Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers." (Acts 9:31) There appears to be a lull in the persecution of the church, during which time it grows mightily. The church is unstoppable. It grows in times of peace and in grows in times of persecution. In fact, I think it would be safe to say it grows faster in times of persecution. Perhaps if we had a little more opposition against us today we would not be so complacent about our faith. We would not be lax about prayer or slack about spending time in the word of God. When my husband and I leave for church services in a little while, I highly doubt anyone is going to try to stop us or arrest us or take our Bibles from us. No one is going to threaten us with death if we don't renounce our faith and agree to blaspheme the name of our Lord. How would we feel if this were the case? Would our faith be more real to us? Would the word of God be more precious to us? Would our love for Christ be enough for us to risk our lives for Him? I have a feeling persecution is going to come against the church, and it makes me sad and afraid to think about it, but the church has always prospered under persecution. Revival tends to break out in times of persecution. If the Lord allows such a time to come, He intends it for our good. So today let's remember how precious our religious freedom is. No one is stopping us from worshiping our Lord, so what excuse do we have if we don't worship Him?
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