Acts 9:19-25

                                                                     Acts 9:19-25

For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus.  And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”  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?”  But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.  When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.

The transformation the Lord makes on the life of Paul is amazing.  He goes from being a persecutor of the church to being persecuted for Christ.  Once His eyes were open to the truth about Jesus as Messiah, the Gospel became obvious to Him.  The Lord’s mission became his and the rest is the history that Luke records in this book called Acts.  Once we truly understand the identity of Jesus and the truth of the Gospel, life and its purpose should change forever.  God’s mission must also become our mission.


SAUL ANNOUNCES JESUS: Saul’s first response to having his sight restored and being strengthened physically is to go to the Synagogue and proclaim Jesus to the people there.  His main message was to prove to the people that Jesus was the Son of God and that He was the promised Messiah.  Those who heard him were amazed because he had been persecuting those who proclaimed this same message.  They had been dreading his arrival because of the promises to persecute them.  Now, here he was striving to convince the Jews of the identity of Jesus.  Who Jesus is must be the center of our message.  Jesus has become popular as a teacher and spiritual guide or example of morality.  While He is all of those things, it is fundamental to identify Him as God.  He was not just another great man.  He is the perfect man fully God.


SAUL ANNOYS THE JEWS: The proclamation of Jesus as Messiah and Son of God was greatly offensive to the Jews.  As Saul gained more experience proclaiming Christ, his messages became even more powerful and convincing.  This was very threatening to the Jews and offensive to them as they had been responsible for calling for His crucifixion.  They, like Saul had done earlier, decided to “double down” on their rejection of Christ and began to plot to kill Saul.  There really are only two choices when it comes to the message of Christ.  We can either repent of our sin and recognize Jesus as the Son of God who died to forgive us of sin or reject Him and those who seek to proclaim the Gospel.  Unfortunately, many generations throughout history have chosen to reject Christ an persecute His followers.  However, there have been those who respond in faith.  No matter what the response of men might be, our job is to continue to proclaim Jesus. 


SAUL AVOIDS THE JEWS PLOT: The Jew’s plot to kill Saul was put into actions with people taking turns watching the gate of the city both night and day.  In their minds, they were justified is seeking Saul’s death because he was committing blasphemy by claiming that Jesus was the Son of God.  Just as Saul had felt justified in killing Stephen, these men now feel justified in seeking to kill him.  The ability of the human mind to rationalize is a rather concerning thing.  We must be very careful not to allow our hearts and minds to be guided by our own rationalizations but must hold them captive to the Word of God.  It did not matter to Saul what Stephen had demonstrated from Scripture just as it did not matter to these men that Saul had proven Christ’s identity from their own Scripture.  They were convinced that they could not be wrong.  However, God was at work and Saul became aware of the plot and his new brothers in Christ helped him escape the city by lowering him from a window in the city wall.  We too are called to proclaim the identity of Jesus no matter what the cost or circumstance.  Opposition to this message should not take us by surprise.


APPLICATION: Our main task it to tell other about Jesus.  He is the Son of God and the sacrifice for sin.  Apart from Him there is no forgiveness.  This is not a popular message and it will often meet with opposition and even violent threats.  However, God is able to thwart those threats when it is His will.

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