Acts 9:26-31

                                                                 Acts 9:26-31

And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him. And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.  So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

As Saul leaves Damascus, he decided to return to Jerusalem where he had been before his conversion.  He is a new and zealous believer and may have had high expectations as to what God might use him to accomplish in that great city.  However, disappointment and danger are what he experienced.  He may have thought that he would have a long and fruitful ministry as one of the leaders in the church at Jerusalem.  God had different plans for his life that would take several years to develop.  Our expectations are rarely our experience, but God is in control of all these things and calls us to trust Him to know what is best.

 

SAUL IS DISTRUSTED IN JERUSALEM: Expectations and experiences can be dangerous.  Saul may have expected to be well received in the Christian community.  The idea that the former persecutor of the church was now a member should have been a comfort and relief.  If this was Saul’s expectation, he was surly disappointed.  The believers he had persecuted in the past were not so quick to forget what he had done and wondered if he was just putting on an act to get inside information.  The members of the church in Jerusalem had past experiences at the hand of Saul that were painful and continued to inflict loss.  He had been instrumental in killing a beloved leader in the church and imprisoned their mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers.  The experiences of the past tend to influence the present greatly.  While this may be a common reaction, it discounts the power of God to change lives.  God is not bound by our expectations or experiences.  He is working according to His all-wise agenda to bring about reconciliation and transformation in a lost world.

 

SAUL IS DISLIKED IN JERUSALEM: The believers in Jerusalem were slow to believe that Saul’s conversion was genuine.  Barnabas was used of the Lord to recount his testimony and assure the church of God’s working in his life.  This gave Saul more latitude to be able to serve and use his gifts in the church as well as the city.  He spoke boldly of Jesus in the church and debated the Hellenists.  This term refers to Jews who had assimilated into the Greek culture and often only spoke Greek or Aramaic having abandoned Hebrew.  Some of these Jews had genuinely converted and a dispute was raised in the early days of the church because their widows were being neglected in the food distribution.  However, some Hellenists had assimilated far more than just language and actually had converted to the Greek polytheistic beliefs and were now seeking to integrate this form of idolatry into the Jews and potentially the church.  Certainly, it must have been this second form of Hellenism that Saul was combating.  His message about Jesus and his debates with the Hellenists made him very unpopular in the city and the culture at large.  It is important to contend for sound doctrine no matter how unpopular it may be.

 

SAUL IS DISLOCATED FROM JERUSALEM: The threats against Saul’s life made it necessary for him to flee from Jerusalem and he went back to his hometown of Tarsus.  This must have been both frustrating and humbling for Saul.  His expectations of joining the leadership team in the church at Jerusalem were obviously not going to take place.  However, God still had great plans for this man and these “bumps” were simply a part of God’s preparation process.  It seems that Saul’s leaving Jerusalem brought a season of peace and growth to the church.  They walked in the fear of the Lord and were multiplying.  The Spirit of God was comforting them after a season of intense suffering and persecution.  God knows what His body needs.  There are times when suffering and hardship is necessary to accomplish the mission of the Lord.  However, He is also faithful to give seasons of rest and encouragement.  No matter what circumstances we encounter, our job is to walk in the fear of the Lord, depend on the Spirit, and make disciples.

 

APPLICATION: Don’t allow your expectations to lead you down the road to disappointment.  Don’t allow your past experiences to cause you to distrust the work of God in your life or the lives of others.  Be an encouragement to those who are in need of it.  Strive to be a peacemaker within the body of Christ.  Boldly proclaim the Word of God and the Gospel.  However, be careful not to do so in a way that is contentious or prideful.  It is the Good News of God’s love.  Be humble and recognize that no matter how difficult, dangerous or discouraging our circumstances become, God is in control and using these things for His glory and our good.