A Slave for Christ Part 10
Scriptures: Acts 9:18-31
Introduction:
Several weeks ago I shared with you a story of a man who had abused and murdered people and got away with it. He was never arrested or paid any recompense from his crimes. Before many of you found out that I was referring to the Apostle Paul, you’d taken the stance that even after the man accepted Christ and began his preaching ministry, you would have struggled listening to him because of his background. It would be hard to separate and/or forget the atrocities he committed just because he now claimed to be a Christian. Your feelings were actually similar to those of some of the Jews when they first heard of Paul’s conversion. Again, as I stated in that message, this was why his interaction with Ananias was so important. Only Paul and the men with him knew what Jesus had said to Paul on the road to Damascus. But, since Paul’s men worked for him, it could be judged that they would say or do anything that Paul wanted them to say or do. Because of this, their testimony of Paul’s conversion would not have been accepted by many of the Jews. Ananias, however, was a disciple who served Christ. He became the proof that Paul needed. Ananias had an interaction with Christ and was told that Paul’s conversion and works were ordained by Christ Himself. Where the Jews would not accept Paul or his men’s testimony, they would accept the testimony of Ananias (or someone familiar with Ananias’ interaction with Paul, i.e. Barnabas.)
I shared with you last time that Paul became a slave for Christ immediately upon his call. When Jesus told him to go into Damascus, he went immediately – no questions asked. He just got up and went and waited for what would be revealed to him. This morning we will begin examining what Paul did and how his choice to become a slave for Christ affected him and those around him, including some of the original disciples who walked with Christ. Let’s begin where we ended last time in Acts chapter nine and verse eighteen.
I. Paul Begins to Preach Christ
“And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; and he took food and was strengthened. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.’ And those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, ‘Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests? But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ. When many days had elapsed, the Jew plotted together to do away with him, but their plot became known to Saul. They were also watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death; but the disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket.” (Acts 9:18-25)
When Ananias arrived and laid his hands on Paul, Paul received his sight and was baptized. Shortly thereafter Paul began to preach that Jesus was in fact the Christ. As he began his public ministry, the Jews, just as you stated last time, were amazed that this same man who had destroyed Christians in Jerusalem and was coming to Damascus to do the same was now preaching Christ. Even though some doubted, Paul continued on in what he was called to do and he was so effective that he became a threat. The disciples at Damascus lived in peace with the other Jews who had not accepted Christ. But when Paul accepted Christ, he unnerved the other Jews. Now you may think it was because they felt his conversion was a major betrayal, but it was much more than that. Paul was a threat because of his knowledge. Paul had studied the Scriptures as a Pharisee so he had a firm foundation of the Old Testament better than any of the disciples who walked with Christ. Paul, after his conversion, was able to link the Old Testament to what he now understood about Christ. Let me explain.
In verse twenty-two of chapter nine, the following is recorded, “But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ.” How was Paul able to prove this when the other disciples could not? Why was Paul’s testimony so much more a threat to traditional Judaism that that of the other disciples? How could Paul prove that Jesus was truly the Christ? He could prove it not because of his conversion and his one on one interaction with Christ, but because of his understanding of the Old Testament. Paul was the only one, after his conversion, whose understanding of the Old Testament allowed him to see what Jesus had done while on earth and compare that to what the Old Testament had prophesied about Him. In the Old Testament there are over four dozen major predictions about the Messiah. Isaiah revealed the manner of the Messiah’s birth (of a virgin); Micah pinpointed the place of His birth (Bethlehem); Genesis and Jeremiah specified His ancestry (a descendent of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, from the tribe of Judah, the house of David; the Psalms foretold of His betrayal, His accusation by false witnesses, His manner of death (pierced in the hands and feet, although crucifixion hadn’t been invented yet), and His resurrection (He would not decay but would ascend on high). These are just some of the predictions contained in the Old Testament of which only Jesus fulfilled them all. Jesus was the only one to fulfill each and every one of these predictions. I believe that Paul being the learned man that he was linked his knowledge of the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah with what truly happened with Jesus. Paul knew for certain, based on the prophecies and his interaction with Jesus that Jesus was the Messiah. So as he began his public ministry, Paul did not speak as most of the disciples who had been “unlearned, normal men,” he spoke as an educated man who could go toe to toe with any educated “spiritual leader” of the time.
This is the reason that the Jews sought to kill Paul. When Paul began to preach that Jesus was the Christ, he could actually prove it through Scripture. We accept Christ by faith because of what we have read. Paul accepted Christ based on fact, not faith. One, he understood Scripture and he knew the prophecies of the Messiah contained in the Old Testament. Two, after he met Jesus on Damascus road, his mind was open. I believe during the time he was blind and waiting for Ananias to come and open his eyes that his mind went through everything that he had learned of the Old Testament. I believe he began to see the prophecies with his mind’s eye and then think about what he knew about Jesus. By the time Ananias opened his eyes and Paul began to preach Jesus, I believe Paul had come to the decision that truly Jesus was the Messiah spoken of in the Old Testament. With this revelation, he began to preach Jesus and according to verse twenty-two, prove that He was in fact the Christ. This is why He became a threat and this is why the Jews planned to kill him. His message about Jesus was unlike the other disciples. The Jewish leaders did not have a lot of respect for the other disciples because they were not educated men. They did not have a fancy degree from which to base their understanding of religion on. Because these disciples were not learned men, the Jewish leaders could easily discount them as being easily swayed because of their lack of “Scriptural knowledge.” These simple men believed Jesus because He taught them to believe in Him. Paul on the other hand was totally different as he did have an understanding of the Old Testament Scriptures. When Paul spoke, he spoke as one of them, an educated man who could convince the people based on proof, not heresy. He could speak of Jesus based on what had been written about Him versus what others had said about Him. He could speak of Jesus as the Messiah as proven unequivocally by prophecy of the Old Testament and his proof was very convincing. For this reason Paul had a target on his back. Let’s move on to Paul’s escape from Damascus and his reception in Jerusalem. Let’s continue with verse twenty-six.
II. Paul Arrives In Jerusalem
“When he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to Him, and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. And he was with them, moving about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. And he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death. But when the brethren learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus. So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.”
(Acts 9:26-31)
When Paul escaped from Damascus, he went to Jerusalem expecting to join group with the other disciples. However, when he arrived, they would not accept him because they did not believe that he had really become a disciple of Christ. You see, human nature has not changed. We are the same way. When someone we know who has lived a life of sin comes to the Lord, we question if they are really sincere. When they want to get active in ministry we question their abilities and their motivations because all we can see is what they were, not what they have become through the power of Christ. The disciples knew what Paul had been and could not accept what he had become through Christ. It took Barnabas bringing him before the apostles (original disciples) before anyone else would accept him. (According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Levite of the original priestly tribe from the Old Testament. He was the one who sold a track of land and brought the money and laid it at the disciples’ feet. Barnabas would later become Paul’s traveling partner.) Barnabas brought Paul before the apostles and told the story of what Paul had experience while traveling on the road to Damascus. He told them about Paul’s conversion; his interaction with Ananias; and how Paul began to speak boldly that Jesus was in fact the Christ. It was through his testimony of Paul that he was accepted as a disciple and began to preach in Jerusalem.
Verse twenty-nine speaks of Paul arguing with the Hellenistic Jews (those Jews who spoke Greek) and how they were attempting to put him to death. This specific group of people that Paul was talking to had yet to accept Christ as had some of their peers (Acts 6:1). While Paul was talking (and arguing) with them about Christ being the Messiah, he threatened their belief to the point where they too sought his death. Once again the disciples had to sneak him out of town. Imagine if you will what it would take for a person to want to kill another person because of a difference in beliefs. Paul’s knowledge was so strong and so convincing that everyone he talked to either believed he was correct in his assertion that Jesus was the Messiah or they wanted to kill him because he was so convincing. If what you’re doing or saying is not convincing anyone that you’re serious you’re not a threat. I am amazed that Paul was the only one of the disciples who stood out so forcibly that those who disagreed with him could not just agree to disagree; they had to shut him up permanently.
Now here is the interesting part; verse thirty-one records the following: “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.” After they removed Paul from the city the church now enjoyed peace. No one was after them any longer. Once Paul quit persecuting the Church, no one else bothered, at least not to the extent that Paul did. The Church began to grow and prosper in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. These are two separate things. First there was a fear of the Lord meaning that people began to recognize Christ as the Messiah and began to come into obedience of His word. Second there was the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Remember what Jesus had promised to send the Holy Spirit and it is the work of the Holy Spirit that began to draw people to the Church. They had to see and witness something that they had not experience before – the real Christ.
How does Paul’s experience relate to ours? Paul was a sinner; so were you and I. Paul had an interaction with Jesus and accepted Him as His Savior; so did you and I. Paul had to change and renounce some of the things he believed prior to his interaction with Jesus in order to start down the path Jesus had placed him on; so should you and I. Paul was so convincing in his belief that Jesus was the Messiah that he was able prove it with Scripture; so should you and I.
The difference between how we’re living and how Paul chose to live is that he chose to sell out 100% to Christ. Have you sold out yet or are you just going through life hoping no one notices you? I can tell you right now that you’re on Christ’s radar.
Let me close with this. On April 23, 2012, the show 60 Minutes aired a broadcast about the abuse of Arab Christians who were being massacred by the Israelis and others. The show was considered so “controversial” that the Prime Minister of Israel called and asked that the show not be shown. Now imagine that you were a Christian living in Holy Land in 2012. You are a minority among Jews and Muslims. Would you freely practice and confess your faith if you knew it would cost you your life? Some people will not practice their faith in this free world; we can only imagine what their response would be if they really came under pressure to stand up and confess Christ in an area where Christianity was not accepted. Paul was a slave and he would have chosen to die for his confession that Christ was Lord. Are you?
Until next time, remember regardless of your circumstance, you’re blessed!
