18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days. ¹⁹ I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. ²⁰ I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie. ²¹ Later I went to Syria and Cilicia. ²² I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. ²³ They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy." ²⁴ And they praised God because of me."

The order of events is somewhat difficult to reconstruct, but apparently the sequence went something like this: Saul was converted on the road to Damascus. Then he preached in the city of Damascus for a little while. At that point he left to go into the wilderness of Arabia (Gal 1:17). Following this "desert" experience, he returned and preached again in Damascus, this time for a period of about three years (Gal 1:18). Then he traveled to Jerusalem, as we’ll see when we come to verse 26. From there he returned to the regions of Syria and Cilicia (Gal 1:21).

Ponder those words in verse 23, "After many days had gone by." Why the three year delay? Why didn’t Saul get on with his ministry? Didn’t the Lord tell Ananias that Saul was his chosen instrument to carry the gospel to the world? Yes—verse 15. Why then did Saul go to Arabia?

It’s hard to say. For one thing, he had a lot of theological baggage to straighten out. Remember, he was a Pharisee to the nth degree, a legalist by his own admission in Philippians 3:6. A legalist doesn’t change overnight. Can a legalist change? Sure, if he’s willing to rethink his erroneous convictions on the basis of Scripture.

But that takes time. If it’s true that Saul’s trek into Arabia took him into the Sinai desert, there’s quite a parallel. At Sinai Moses received the Law. And at Sinai Saul learned about grace—a subject a legalist desperately needs to ponder.

I think we can learn a couple of vital lessons from Saul’s "waiting" time.

1. In order to serve God, we must know Him. We cannot serve God unless we know Him. What’s more…

2. In order to serve God well, we must spend time with Him. Maybe that’s why some of us feel so powerless when we try to do something for God. We haven’t been spending time with Him. There is no shortcut to holiness. To serve God, you must know Him. To serve Him well, you must spend time with Him.

Do you have a plan for a daily time with God? Is there some point in your daily routine where you get alone with God, open His Word for the purpose of getting to know Him better, and spend time talking with Him in prayer? If not, start today. We’ll never do anything significant for God unless we make spending time with God a priority.

When God truly saves a person, there will be evidence of it—two evidences in particular—witnessing to the lost, and waiting on the Lord. Do you see those two evidences in your life? Have you presented Christ to anyone recently? Have you been spending quality time with the Lord recently?

Saul’s conversion affected four groups, according to verses 23-31.

A. Saul’s conversion affected the Jews (23-25). "After many days had gone by [after Saul’s trip to the desert and after further preaching effort in Damascus—that is, after three years or so], the Jews conspired to kill him, ²⁴ but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. ²⁵ But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall."

The Lord never told Saul it would be easy. To the contrary He gave this warning to Ananias concerning Saul, "I will show him how much he must suffer for my name (16)."

I find it interesting to ponder the Jews’ response. It’s so typical. Verse 22 says that Saul baffled the Jews, "proving" that Jesus is the Christ. But verse 23 says they ignored the proof, and conspired to "kill" Saul. Simply put…

1. They rejected the message. Then, going a step further…

2. They tried to eliminate the messenger. Don’t miss that. You can prove that Christianity is valid, but that doesn’t mean people will accept it. The classic response goes like this, "Well, I can’t argue with what you’re saying. This Jesus-stuff may be right, but it’s just not right for me."

Know this. It’s not enough to convince people. They must also be convicted, and only the Holy Spirit can do that.

It was quite a turn around for Saul. The hunter became the hunted.

Churchill once said, "Nothing is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result." In God’s providence, Saul discovered the plot and escaped from the city in a basket by night—kind of like the two spies did in Joshua 2, with the help of Rahab.

Answer this. Why did God allow Saul to fail in Damascus? The truth is, he "failed" over and over again in his ministry. This wouldn’t be the last town he was run out of. But does rejection indicate failure? If it does, you’ll have a hard time explaining Noah’s ministry—no one responded to his preaching. And Jeremiah’s ministry—they threw him in a cistern to silence him. And most of all, Jesus’ ministry—they nailed Him to a cross. Did these servants of God fail? Certainly not.

Nor did Saul. Any time you do God’s will, you have succeeded, no matter how people respond.

William Barclay suggests that this persecution actually attests to the effectiveness of Saul’s preaching. As he puts it, "No one persecutes a man who is ineffective." George Bernard Shaw once said that the biggest compliment you can pay an author is to burn his books.

When you’re persecuted, it’s proof that you’re doing something. The lukewarm don’t get attacked. The counterfeit Christian faces no opposition. But the real Christian always faces antagonism.

Saul’s conversion affected a second group in verses 26-27…

B. Saul’s conversion affected the disciples (26-27). Listen to verse 26, "When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple."

That must have hurt Paul more than anything. When the world rejects you, it hurts. But when God’s own people hold you at arm’s length, the pain goes deep. The tense of the verb indicates this wasn’t a one time rejection either. He "tried to join" them could be literally translated "he was pressuring to be joined to."

Remember, three years have passed since Saul’s conversion. He is now around 33 years old. But the Jerusalem Christians still view him as a fire-breathing, 30-year-old, Jesus-hating zealot. Yes, they’ve heard the story of his so-called change of heart. But they didn’t believe it.

"It’s a trick," the church members no doubt muttered as they discussed Saul. "That sly Saul is trying to infiltrate our ranks. He’s pretending. He just wants to get inside so he can get our names, and then he’ll pounce on us!"

Quite honestly, the disciples did the logical thing. It didn’t make sense to trust a man with Saul’s past. Some of them, no doubt, had lost loved ones because of his dirty work. So they did the "safe" thing. You can’t blame them.

But wait. Sometimes choosing the "safe" alternative is simply a refusal to believe God. When it came to the disciples’ response to Saul’s conversion…

1. Most responded with skepticism (27). Apparently, everybody did…except for one man. Barnabas. Thank God for men like Barnabas!

2. Barnabas responded with acceptance (28). "But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus."

When Saul desperately needed a friend in Damascus, Ananias stepped forward. In Jerusalem, it was Barnabas. Praise God for risk-takers!

It’s been well said that the church owes Paul to the prayer of Stephen, to the forgiveness of Ananias, and finally to the big-heartedness of Barnabas. Barnabas was a man who refused to hold a person’s past against him. Barnabas took Saul, brought him to the apostles, told them Saul’s conversion story, and then stood by him. The simple, threefold truth about Barnabas is this:

· He saw what others failed to see. You say, "I don’t get it. How did Barnabas know Saul was for real?" The answer is, he got close enough to find out.

Let’s let that sink in. We don’t learn by osmosis. Nothing magical happens simply by sitting together in a church pew for an hour on Sunday morning. We don’t get to know people that way.

When most of the disciples looked at Saul, they saw a problem to avoid. Not Barnabas. He saw a brother, a man gifted by God for service.

Most of us in the church, if we’re honest, see each other in a very superficial way. What’s worse, we’re content with that. It’s safer that way—because if you really see people, you might have to do something about what you see.

Friends, we can talk about love all we want, but the simple truth is this. You can’t love something you don’t know. Or to put it positively, if we’re going to love each other as the Lord commands, we must take steps to get to know each other. Like Barnabas did with Saul.

· He believed what others failed to believe. Remember the prediction the Lord gave to Ananias concerning Saul? "This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles (15)."

Apparently, Barnabas knew the promise God had given Ananias. My hunch is the other disciples knew it as well. But here’s the difference. Barnabas believed it. He must have reasoned, "Well, Lord, if You’ve chosen Saul, what right do we have to shun him?" Barnabas believed God had a great future for Saul—and he wanted to be a part of it.

· He did what others failed to do. Namely, he reached out to Saul. He didn’t just talk about love and acceptance. He did it. He got involved. He got close to Saul, discovered the truth about him, and then took it upon himself to integrate Saul into the life of the Body.

I’ll level with you. God in His grace has saved quite a few people in the recent past, for which we praise Him. But we have a need. We need more Barnabas’s. We need people who will come alongside these new believers, get to know them, teach them, in some cases take risks with them, and incorporate them into the life of the Body.

I challenge you. Be a Barnabas. Let’s get beyond simply smiling at each other on Sundays. Send someone a note of encouragement. Give a phone call. Send an email. Make a visit. Do it this week.

Invite a new Christian to your home for dessert after church this evening. Maybe invite a new Christian and someone who’s been saved awhile, and fellowship around the table. But don’t just hang around people you know. Carve out time to get to know someone new.

Ask the Lord to give you a couple of prayer partners. It need not be formal. Approach a couple of people and ask them to pray with you before or after a Sunday service on a regular basis.

Jesus picked twelve men and invested three years of His life into them. They ate together, traveled together, took boat rides together, discussed Scripture together, and prayed together.

You say, "But I only do those kinds of things with my family." But beloved, isn’t that what we are? Yes, we are the family of God.

C. Saul’s conversion affected his old friends (28-30). As a result of Barnabas’s risk-taking, here’s what happened—verse 28: "So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord."

Remember, this is Saul’s old stomping ground, Jerusalem. By his example Saul seems to be saying, "When the Lord changes your life, those who know you best should know it." So Saul preached Christ to his old friends.

How’d they respond? Verse 29--"He talked and debated with the Grecian Jews, but they tried to kill him." Saul did what Stephen had done (see 6:9)—he preached Christ to the Grecian Jews. And he received the same response. Rejection, just as predicted. Know this about Saul.

1. His goal wasn’t to be popular. Rather…

2. His goal was to be obedient. It should be no different for us.

Again, our responsibility isn’t to get results. It’s not to make people believe. Our job is to make the good news known, and leave the results up to God.

In Saul’s case, here were the results—verse 30, "When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus." Saul’s arrival in Jerusalem obviously stirred up a hornet’s nest. The believers thought it best for Saul—and for the good of the church—that Saul leave town. And so he did. He went to Tarsus, his home town.

By the way, we don’t see Saul again in Acts until Acts 11:25, which is when Barnabas recruited him for service in Antioch. That took place seven years after Saul left Jerusalem—that’s right, seven years later—and about ten years after his conversion.

We learn a vital lesson from this. No one is indispensable. We may think we’re the only person that can carry on a ministry, but that’s not true. Pastor Kent Hughes shares some advice a friend once gave him, "When you think you are indispensable, go stick your hand in a pail of water, then pull it out and see what kind of hole is left." Hughes continues, "The church will go on fine without you or me, and God sometimes lets us know that by putting us on the shelf for a while as he prepares us for further (and even greater) service."

Saul knew how to function on the front lines. He also knew how to serve in obscurity.

Perhaps you’re in a time of waiting. Be encouraged. God’s ways may not be ours, but He knows what He’s doing. You say, "But nothing seems to be happening in my life." That doesn’t mean that nothing is happening. "It only means," as James Boice puts it, "that we cannot see it. God is working. In fact, one of the joys of getting older in the Christian life is that you begin to see some of the things God is doing. Problems we prayed about earlier are being resolved. People whom we might have given up on early in life we now see changed. So do not give up. Keep your eyes on the Lord."

Good counsel. One final group affected by Saul’s conversion…

D. Saul’s conversion affected the church (31). "Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord."

In the Greek text, the term "church" is singular. Yes, there are individual, local churches. Paul wrote to the church in Philippi, and to the church in Ephesus, and so on. There is a sense of individuality about each local congregation. Each "church" has its own personality, style, and contribution to the kingdom ministry.

But the New Testament also emphasizes the corporate nature of the Church. No one assembly can rightly say, "We are the church. You are not." William LaSor is right, "If the local church is truly part of the Body of Christ, then it is part of the Church universal."

Luke says it was a time of peace for the church. It certainly wasn’t a time for complacency and inactivity. Things were happening. The church was growing in two ways.

1. The church grew in strength. The term "strengthened" could be translated "built up" [in the KJV it’s "edified"], and in other contexts refers to the erection of a building. There was internal growth. There was also external growth…

2. The church grew in numbers. If your child didn’t grow, you’d have reason for concern. You’d probably go to the doctor to find out what’s wrong. Healthy children are supposed to grow. The same is true with healthy churches.

A healthy church should experience growth in strength and numbers. No, numbers aren’t everything, but they are one vital indicator that God is at work.

Acts 9:31 is an important verse in the book of Acts. It’s kind of like a mile marker on a highway. Verse 31 indicates that the early church has now completed phases 1, 2, & 3 of the mission Jesus gave in Acts 1:8. In less than ten years, the church had reached Judea, Galilee, and Samaria. That left only one phase to go, reaching the Gentiles, and Luke devotes the rest of Acts to that story.

What happens when God truly saves a sinner? Here’s the bottom line.

1. There is cause for rejoicing. What’s more…

Acts  Sermon Series