Acts 9:19b-31 (Wednesday Evening Bible Study)

Acts 9:19b-31

• What does it take for us to believe that a person has changed?
• Context:
• Last week in Acts 9 we covered Saul confronted by the risen Jesus.  The next part of the chapter focuses how all this changed Saul. Let’s look again at Saul’s conversion experience.  Ananias is sent by God to heal his blindness and tell him what he needs to do.  Acts 9:17-19a
  • 17 Ananias went and entered the house. He placed his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road you were traveling, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 At once something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized. 19 And after taking some food, he regained his strength.
• When we consider conversions in the New Testament we don’t find people coming to faith in Jesus simply by dreams, visions, angels or voices from Heaven, do we? In Saul’s conversion Ananias presence is essential. Saul’s conversion is authenticated by 4 elements: 2 are physical and 2 are spiritual. God heals Saul’s blindness thru Ananias and Jesus granted Saul to be filled with the Holy Spirit to enlighten him.  Ananias baptized him and Saul broke his fast and regained his strength. Healing and eating are physical symbols which coincide with the spiritual realities of the Holy Spirit and baptism and Saul changes from persecutor and preacher! 
• Acts 9:19b-22
• Saul was with the disciples in Damascus for some time. 20 Immediately he began proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues: “He is the Son of God.” 21 All who heard him were astounded and said, “Isn’t this the man in Jerusalem who was causing havoc for those who called on this name and came here for the purpose of taking them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22 But Saul grew stronger and kept confounding the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.
  • Why do you think Saul moved so quickly to preach that Jesus is the Son of God?
    • This is more than just new convert enthusiasm.  One reason Saul had just seen Jesus… another reason is that Saul must be keenly aware of how wrong he has been and don’t you think if would want to begin correcting the damage he has done?
  • Imagine the stir Saul conversion and preaching caused in the Jewish and Christian communities.
    • What was the question being asked? Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?”
  • What happens to Saul in the short time he is in Damascus according to verse 22?
    • He became more and more powerful in telling about Jesus and the gospel. Notice he baffled the Jews (meaning Saul bested them in their arguments)… proving Jesus was the Christ.  Verse 20 tells us what he was preaching… Jesus is the Son of God… proving thru scripture of the O.T. Saul had better training in the scriptures under Gamaliel, he is also filled with Holy Spirit and has his own personal experience with Jesus. And Saul was much more motivated in what he was doing.
• Acts 9:23-25
• 23 After many days had passed, the Jews conspired to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plot. So they were watching the gates day and night intending to kill him, 25 but his disciples took him by night and lowered him in a large basket through an opening in the wall.
  • How effective is Saul’s preaching?
    • Good enough that they now saw Saul as their enemy.  Paul mentions in 2 Corinthians 11:32
      • 32 In Damascus, a ruler under King Aretas guarded the city of Damascus in order to arrest me.
      • So the Jews wanted him dead but king Aretas wanted to catch him and arrest him.
  • Where does Saul go after sneaking out of Damascus?
    • See Galatians 1:15-18
    • Luke doesn’t mention it here but we know that Paul says something about where he went soon after his conversion. It is found in Galatians 1:15-18 .
      • 15 But when God, who from my mother’s womb set me apart and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me, so that I could preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone. 17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to those who had become apostles before me; instead I went to Arabia and came back to Damascus. 18 Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to get to know Cephas, and I stayed with him fifteen days.
  • What do you think Saul was doing while in Arabia?
    • Most likely the same thing he was doing in Damascus preaching that Jesus is the Christ, God’s son.  This preaching would have happened in Synagogues in Arabia. 
    • NOTE: It is tempting to draw a parallel between Paul’s 3 years in Arabia as 3 years of training under a resurrected Christ and matching that to 3 years the 12 had under Jesus teaching. But that is not what Paul said. Remember Saul/Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit he was more than capable to preach the gospel.
• Acts 9:26-30
• 26 When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, since they did not believe he was a disciple. 27 Barnabas, however, took him and brought him to the apostles and explained to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and that the Lord had talked to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 Saul was coming and going with them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He conversed and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. 30 When the brothers found out, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
  • Who does Saul try to join?
    • The Disciples; that could mean any of Christians not the 12 Disciples they were referred to now as apostles. To join means to have fellowship with them…worship with them share the Lord’s Supper with them. 
  • Do the Christians of Jerusalem have a right to be skeptical?
    • Saul been gone for at least three years and people still remember him as the chief persecutor of Christians.  They didn’t trust him.  Don’t you think it would be hard to forget the person who had one of your loved ones killed or imprisoned?
    • It is thought that the persecution of the church lessened with Saul’s conversion.
  • What does Barnabas do for Saul?
    • He vouches for Saul… Why? We don’t know for sure, both were from the same province…There is no way to know how Barnabas heard of Saul’s conversion and his preaching.  Barnabas would have been well known and respected by the church in Jerusalem.
  • Why do you think Barnabas took Saul to the apostles?
    • He thought they needed to meet Saul and if they accepted him then the rest of the church would do as well. This may mean the apostles had not heard of Saul’s conversion.
  • Exactly what Apostles did Saul meet with?
    • See Galatians 1:18-19  18 Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to get to know Cephas, and I stayed with him fifteen days. 19 But I didn’t see any of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. 
    • Maybe the rest were not in Jerusalem.
  • What did Saul do while in Jerusalem?
    • He spoke about Jesus   
    • Who did he speak too? It appears Saul returns to his old Synagogue…The Hellenistic Jews  Why them?… Remember Stephen: who was he preaching too when he was killed?  Saul maybe overestimated the influence he could have on them.
  • Again we see Saul’s preaching is effective… they cannot out smart him.  So what do they try to do to him?
    • They try to kill him. And Saul is sent off to his home town.
• Acts 9:31
• 31 So the church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
  • What is the situation for the church throughout Palestine?  What has eased off for a while?
    • Persecution.
• TAKE AWAY
  • The gospel and our Lord Jesus can still change people in a radical way today.
  • Does the church have the right to expect fruits of repentance from a convert?
  • Do we ever need a Barnabas?  Will we be a Barnabas for someone else?
  • We see in the Book of Acts that Christians looked after one another… they were concerned about each other. We need to continue to do likewise.