Text: Acts 9:19b-31 Title: Paul, A Basket Case? Sermon by Joey McLeod 3-23-2014 Calvary Presbyterian Church Mize, Mississippi Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus. Saul Preaches Christ 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. Saul Escapes Death 23 Now after many days were past, the Jews plotted to kill him. 24 But their plot became known to Saul. And they watched the gates day and night, to kill him. 25 Then the disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall in a large basket. Saul at Jerusalem 26 And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. 28 So he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out. 29 And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Hellenists, but they attempted to kill him. 30 When the brethren found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus. The Church Prospers 31 Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied. I have been making the case since we began our study of Acts, that while this book is titled “The Acts of the Apostles,” that does not tell the whole story. Probably a more appropriate title would have been “The Acts of God to Build His Church Through the Apostles.” Yes, it was the apostles at work, but they were working under the direction and the power of God through the Holy Spirit. It was God who was multiplying his people through the proclamation of the gospel message of salvation in Jesus, the Son of God. With this passage, we come to the end of one phase in the building of the church, and enter another phase, which will focus on the inclusion of the Gentiles. We now have Peter rising up as the leader of the Apostles, and Paul has been converted and will soon take center stage as the apostle to the Gentiles. Luke sums up what has taken place to date in verse 31, “So the church throughout all Judea, Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. What we are mean to see is that God is busy building his church through those who fear him while encouraging them in this work through the Holy Spirit. A Herald of Christ When we last left the Apostle Paul, he was in Damascus after seeing a vision of Jesus on the road to Damascus. He had orders from the High Priest to bind those whom he found calling upon the name of Jesus and drag them back to Jerusalem. You recall that God had also appointed Ananias to go meet him at Straight St. where he had been led by those who accompanied him, because he was blind. Ananias reluctantly goes and finds Paul and lays hands upon him and two things happen. First, he receives his sight, and second he is filled with Holy Spirit. It is in Damascus that we now find Paul haven been filled with the Holy Spirit with the disciples after some days. Luke does not specify exactly how long, time is not his concern, but from Galatians we know that it was three years between the time of his conversion and the time that he went to Jerusalem. He says that at some point he went into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. This account is likely his return trip, but it is not certain this is the case. But regardless of the timing, we find him in Damascus, filled with the Holy Spirit and of all things we find him in the Synagogue preaching Jesus. There are several words that are used for preaching throughout the New Testament, but the word that he uses here is the word for a Herald. Someone sent out in the name or authority of the king or other official to announce the king’s message to the people. Luke says that he is heralding Jesus, or preaching Jesus, that he is Son of God. A truly remarkable change of heart that can only come by the power of Christ opening our eyes to see him as he truly is. He had been going to arrest men and women who called upon Jesus name, and now he was proclaiming that this Jesus is the Son of God. You can understand the reaction by those who heard him as they were astonished saying, “Isn’t this the one destroying those calling upon this name; the one who came here to arrest Christians?” But he had seen the risen Lord. Jesus had appeared to him and spoken to him on the road and his life would never be the same. He would later proclaim, “Woe is me if I do not preach,” when writing to the church in Corinth. His message is simple, Jesus is the Son of God, which can be interpreted in a two fold sense. He is the son of God by way of eminence and the Son of God according to his nature or being. The Old Testament used the term son of God at times to describe the kings, the prophets and priests describing their relationship to God. Certainly, Jesus is the prophet priest and king that all of the Old Testament pointed toward and prophesied to come and fulfill this role. This is what I think is meant by Luke when he says that Paul was confounded the Jews by proving that Jesus is the Christ, or Messiah of the Old Testament. But Jesus is the Son of God in a greater way. As the second person of the Trinity, he is God by nature, not just by way of eminence. This same Paul would describe Jesus as humbling himself and not grasping or hanging on to equality with God, but emptying himself Ph. 2:5ff. This same Paul would describe Jesus in Col. 2 as the “Image of the invisible God… in him all the fullness of deity was pleased to dwell.” It was his person as the Son of God, the 2nd person of the Trinity, that gave value to the sacrifice made at Calvary. This was no mere man who died for our sins, but the very Son of God himself. Jesus is God in the flesh who gave his life as a ransom. It was this Jesus whom he once persecuted, that he now heralds before all who would hear. Preaching in Fear You are probably wondering where in the world I get the idea that Paul is preaching in fear? Just bear with me and I will get to that. Actually what we see is Paul / Saul is very bold, which is a point that Luke emphasizes. Verse 27 Barnabus tells the apostles in Jerusalem how at Damascus he spoke boldly in name of Jesus when they had their doubts. Verse 28 we read, “So he went in and out preaching boldly in name of Lord.” The same word used in both verses to emphasize his boldness. It is all the more impressive given the fact that his preaching in Damascus resulted in a plot to take his life. They were so intent to kill him that they were watching the gates day and night to kill him. He only survived by being let down in a basket when their plot was discovered. The same thing happened at Jerusalem. He boldly preaches the name of Christ with the Hellenists and they too were seeking to kill him. Here as well he only survived on account of learning of the plot and being led away to Caesarea and eventually to Tarsus. Paul’s boldness stands out all the more when we step back and think about the audiences to whom Saul boldly proclaimed Jesus as Son of God and Messiah. He went straight to the synagogue in Damascus, right into the mouth of the lion so to speak, as the Jews would have most resisted the gospel message. Then in Jerusalem Luke says that he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, boldly preaching the name of the Lord. He went to the very place that had persecuted the Christians forcing them to flee. He went to the very people who had stoned Stephen. It was the Hellenists, the Greek speaking Jews, who had stoned Stephen for his testimony concerning Jesus as the Messiah, while this same Paul had held their clothes. Paul went straight to ones whom he knew would be most resistant! They would have undoubtedly considered him a traitor. As I began to think about this passage, I kept asking myself what is it that made Paul so bold? What is it that made these early Christians so bold? Obviously, the gospel message had taken hold in his heart, but he could have avoided those whom he knew would kill him. They had killed Stephen! But he didn’t avoid them, he went straight into the teeth of the predators and proclaimed that Jesus is the Son of God and Messiah. Then it dawned on me, Luke has told us where this boldness originated in his summary, “the church was being built up and walking in the fear of the Lord.” For most of us, we are more afraid of man than we are of the Lord, which is why we shrink away from sharing our faith. But for those who have seen the Risen Lord, who have believed the gospel message, the fear of God erases any fear of man. Wherever there is a fear of Lord, fear of man ceases to exist. As Jesus said, “Do not fear those who can kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Fear him who can destroy both body and soul in Hell.” Paul preached in great fear, not of man but of God, who so despises sin that he would not even spare his own son, but poured his wrath out upon him because he took upon himself our sin. The Encouragement of the Spirit But what also is made obvious in this passage is that with boldness comes resistance. As a matter of fact, it is usually a rule that the more bold one is to proclaim the name of Jesus, the more resistance you can expect. Where there is no boldness, there is no resistance. Our natural desire is to seek the approval of others, to seek the favor of our neighbors, and not their ire. We want others to like us, this bring us comfort and encouragement. This is another reason we shrink away from boldness – we want the approval and the encouragement of man. But Luke says the church had peace and was being built up as it as going in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit. Paul had many reasons to be encouraged about what God was doing through him, but it was not comfort or encouragement from man, but from the work of the Holy Spirit. When the believers in Jerusalem resisted him, not believing him, but rather fearing him, The Holy Spirit led Barnabus to bring him into the fold. God had raised up a “son of encouragement” for this occasion, just as he had led Ananias in Damascus to come to Paul. When the Jews in Damascus were plotting to kill him, their schemes were found out and the Holy Spirit provided a means of escape in a basket. When the Jews in Jerusalem sought to put him to death, their plots were discovered, and God led the brothers to take him to Caesarea. God has told Ananias, “He is my chosen instrument to carry my name before Gentiles, and kings and children of Israel… I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.” He could take great encouragement that things were happening just as the Holy Spirit had spoken, just as God had revealed. He could take encouragement, not from his circumstances, but from the presence of the Holy Spirit in his heart. If we seek our comfort and our encouragement from the world, and the men and women of the world, we will lose our boldness and the church suffers. But Luke says as they went in the fear of the Lord, and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit the church had peace, and the church multiplied. There was peace even in the midst of turmoil. The church multiplied even though it was being resisted at every step, and this was a reason for great encouragement. God’s ways are not our ways. He would lead Paul to Tarsus where he would remain for 8-10 years before Barnabus would seize him to come to Antioch. Paul was far from being stagnant and resting while there, he was being prepared by God for what lie ahead. In Galatians he informs us that he preached and he preached a lot while there during this period. Probably most if not all of the 5 times he was lashed with 40 minus 1 stripes was during this time. But he did not lose his boldness, nor his encouragement because God was simply preparing him for what lie ahead. The change that took place within Paul was nothing short of supernatural as Paul went from leaving Jerusalem to persecute the church, to leaving Jerusalem now as the persecuted. The only thing that changed was that he saw the risen Lord on the way. He came to know that Jesus was the Son of God and the Messiah. His life would never be the same! He was born from above on that day. This is God’s way to multiply his church – not through programs, not through schemes, but through his people walking in fear of him and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit. Like new-born babes that come out of the womb, you know they have life when you hear them cry out. So with the Christian, when you hear them cry out that Jesus is the Son of God, and the Messiah you know they have spiritual life. May we have this boldness, this encouragement and may God use the people of Calvary to multiply his people!
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 21:22:10 +0000
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