Saul & Ananias

xiii. Saul was getting a taste of that right then. I am amazed when I run into people that have this idea that they can make it on their own as Christians.

xiv. They don’t go to church, they don’t read their Bible, they seldom pray. They say things like – “I can get close to God on the golf course or hunting.”

xv. The Bible tells us that there will be people like this, and that this kind of mentality is not a good thing. Hebrews chapter 10 verses 24 and 25 tells us this –

xvi. 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

xvii. There are no Lone Ranger Christians. We are supposed to band together for support and encouragement, just like Saul was getting in Damascus.

xviii. We aren’t told how many days Saul spent getting encouraged, getting strengthened, but it was probably a little while. He had to get adjusted to his new life as a Christian. But, once Saul regained his strength, he set out to do what God had told him to do. We see this in our last point today, in verses 20 through 22.

g. The Fiery Preacher (Acts 9:20-22)

i. 20 Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. 21 Then all who heard were amazed, and said, "Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?" 22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

ii. Saul goes out trying to convince the Jews that Jesus was the Son of God in the local synagogues. Add to the crowd of shocked Christians all the shocked Jews who got to hear Saul, the guy being sent to Jerusalem to stomp out the church telling them that Jesus was the Son of God.

iii. Saul was supposed to be on his way to destroy, but God had other plans. Saul had no idea when he left Jerusalem what would happen. The transformation of Saul’s life was complete.

iv. Now, Saul was being used by God as an instrument in the hands of God. The synagogues were in an uproar, because here was Saul, a zealous Jew by anyone’s standards, preaching the same gospel that he had set out to quiet.

v. Saul was strengthened by the Holy Spirit, and was one of the foremost Jewish thinkers of the day. The other Jews in the synagogue were no match for him; he knew the scriptures better than they did.

vi. He proved to them that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus was the long awaited Messiah that the nation of Israel had looked for His coming for so long.

vii. This is interesting to note, because the deity of Jesus was not a big part of Peter’s earlier sermons. Jesus’ deity was foremost in Saul’s mind though, after having been through what he had gone through on the road to Damascus.

viii. As we will see next week though, Saul’s preaching and teaching were not readily welcomed by the Jews. Saul was the foremost Jewish thinker of the day, he was a member of the Sanhedrin, and one would think that he would be the most equipped person to continue taking the gospel to the nation of Israel.