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Acts 9:23-31  SAULS MINISTRY AT JERUSALEM

Introduction:  

	In our previous text we learned about the ministry of Saul of Tarsus in 
the city of Damascus.  In our text today Saul will leave the city of Damascus 
and return to Jerusalem and we will learn about his brief ministry in this city.  
	

I.  Saul prior to leaving Damascus

	V. 23, “And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to 
kill him.”  Luke, the writer of the Book of Acts, does not tell us how many days 
went by after Saul came to Damascus before the Jews plotted to kill him and 
forced him to leave the city.  However, in his letter to the Galatian churches 
Saul himself gives us an insight into the time element.  He informs us that 
three years went by before he returned to Jerusalem.  
	Saul did not spend all of that time in Damascus, even though he apparently 
spent most of it there.  In his letter to the Galatians he tells us that he left 
Damascus for a brief space of time and went into a desert place in Arabia.  It 
was there that he was caught up into heaven and received instructions personally 
from the Lord about the truths of God and how to carry out the ministry that God 
had in store for him.  I guess you could say that Saul got his seminary training 
in heaven and that the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, was his instructor.  
  	We read about this in Galatians 1:11-18.  “But I certify you, brethren, 
that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.  For I neither 
received it of man, neither was I taught [it], but by the revelation of Jesus 
Christ.  For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' 
religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:  
And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, 
being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.  But when it 
pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called [me] by his 
grace,   To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; 
immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: Neither went I up to Jerusalem 
to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned 
again unto Damascus.  Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see 
Peter, and abode with him fifteen  days.”  
	He speaks about this event again in II Corinthians 12:1-7.  “It is not 
expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of 
the Lord.  I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the 
body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) 
such an one caught up to the third heaven.  And I knew such a man, (whether in 
the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)  How that he was 
caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for 
a man to utter.   Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, 
but in mine infirmities. For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a 
fool; for I will say the truth: but [now] I forbear, lest any man should think 
of me above that which he seeth me [to be], or [that] he heareth of me.  And 
lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, 
there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, 
lest I should be exalted above measure.”  
	From these Scriptures we learn that Saul left Damascus and went to Arabia, 
that he was taught personally by Jesus, that he returned to Damascus and 
continued his ministry there and that he did not leave Damascus and go to 
Jerusalem for a period of three years.  Saul had been in Damascus for three 
years before the left to go to Jerusalem.   
	The thing that caused Saul to leave Damascus was an effort on the part of 
the Jews to kill him.  Somehow Saul learned about their plot.  V. 24, “But their 
laying await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill 
him.”    In the huge city of Damascus it would have been a difficult task to 
conduct a house to house search for Saul.  But it was a relatively simple thing 
to watch the gates of the city.  The Jews persuaded the governor of the city to 
post guards around the clock at all of the gates of the city of Damascus.  
	But Saul knew about their plot to kill him and about the guards posted at 
the gates and by the help of the members of the Damascus church, he was able to 
escape.  V. 25, “Then the disciples took him by night, and let [him] down by the 
wall in a basket.”   Saul was a small man and could easily fit into one of the 
large produce baskets which were normally used to haul vegetables and other 
items to the market.  Apparently one of the Christians had a home which was 
built on the wall of the city.  The Christians just tied a stout rope to the 
basket, put Saul in it and lowered him to the ground outside the walls of the 
city.  Saul then slipped away into the night and made his journey back to the 
city of Jerusalem, from which he had come three years earlier.  

II.  Saul at Jerusalem

	“V. 26, “And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself 
to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was 
a disciple.”  Once Saul had reached Jerusalem he made contact with the 
Christians and tried to attend one of their gatherings.  The Christians at 
Jerusalem would not let him in.  They were afraid to let him in.  Three years 
had gone by since Saul had made havoc of the church in Jerusalem, but they well 
remembered the havoc that he had wrought.  In all probability they had heard 
reports that Saul had made a profession of faith in Jesus and had been baptized 
and had joined the church at Damascus, but they refused to believe those 
reports.  They apparently thought that this was one of Saul’s tricks to learn 
the whereabouts of the few Christians who remained in Jerusalem.  Even now when 
Saul himself declared to them that he was now a Christian, they did not believe 
him and they refused to let him in.  
	It was only when Barnabas, in whom the Jerusalem Christians had great 
confidence, vouched for Saul that Saul was now a born again Christian and that 
he had done much at Damascus to promote the cause of Christ that they accepted 
Saul and let him in.  
	From this we learn a valuable lesson for all of us.  People do not usually 
accept us as a genuine Christian just because we say that we are.  They accept 
us for what they have seen in our lives.  Up to this point the Jerusalem 
Christians  had seen nothing but bad in the life of Saul.  Neither will people 
believe that we are worthy of their confidence and trust just because we say 
that we are Christians.  They must first see in our lives the kind of Christian 
conduct that will convince them that we are really Christians before they will 
fully believe it.  This ought to challenge us to live the kind of life that a 
genuine Christian ought to live so that our testimony ;of our faith in Jesus 
Christ will be believed.  
	The Christians at Jerusalem had seen in the life of Barnabas the kind of 
godly living which gave them great confidence in him as a Christiawn.  .  
Therefore, when Barnabas said that Saul had been saved and baptized and is, 
indeed, a genuine Christian, they believed him.  V. 27, “But Barnabas took him, 
and brought [him] to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the 
Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly 
at Damascus in the name of Jesus.”  
	Once the Christians at Jerusalem had reason to believe that Saul was 
really saved they gladly received him into their meetings.  We have no reason to 
believe that  Saul actually joined the Jerusalem church, because he was there 
only fifteen days.  But during those fifteen days he was warmly welcomed into 
their fellowship.  V. 28, “And he was with them coming in and going out at 
Jerusalem.”  Apparently the Christians had several meetings in those fifteen 
days, and Saul of Tarsus was welcomed as a Christian brother.
	In verse 29 we see that Saul was not content to just meet with the 
Christians in their assembly.  He went out into the city of Jerusalem and made 
contact with the unsaved people of the city and he preached Jesus to them.  Saul 
reminds me a great deal of Bro. G. D. Walters.  You could not be in a 
conversation with Bro. Walters very long about anything before he would turn the 
conversation and be preaching to you about Jesus.  That is the way Saul of 
Tarsus was after he got saved.  V. 29, “And he spake boldly in the name of the 
Lord Jesus...”  Saul knew that these people knew his past and that they knew how 
severely he had persecuted the Christians.  That did not hold him back.  If 
anything, it seemed to make him more determined to speak up now for Jesus rather 
than working against Him.  
	Once Saul got an opening to talk to someone about Jesus, he just wouldn’t 
let up.  (V. 29), “... and disputed against the Grecians...”  The word, 
Grecians, in this verse does not mean that they were of Grecian blood.  Rather 
the Greek word which was used in the original writing of the Scripture means 
“One who has lived among the Greek people, speaks the Greek language and has 
adapted Greek customs.”  In this passage and many other passages of Scripture, 
it refers to people of the Hebrew blood line, who had lived in foreign lands 
where the Greek language and Greek customs prevailed.  
	These were people with whom Saul of Tarsus could identify.  That is the 
kind of upbringing he had.  He grew up in the city of Tarsus, which was Gentile 
city.  He had grown up speaking the Greek language.  He could speak the Hebrew, 
but, living among Gentiles, he chiefly spoke the Greek language.  He had lived 
among people who had Greek customs and he, himself, from his youth had adapted 
many of those Greek customs to his own life.  Saul found it easier to make 
conversation with Grecian Jews in the city of Jerusalem than with those who had 
been born and reared in Judah.  
	So he talked with the Grecian Jews and sought to persuade them that Jesus 
is indeed the Christ whom the Old Testament prophets had promised.He sought to 
persuade them that Jesus is the Son of God, that He is the Savior of men and 
that He had risen from the grave.  When they expressed doubt, he quickly pointed 
them to the Old Testament Scriptures that proved his point.  He reasoned with 
them and showed the Scriptural proof that what he was saying is the truth.  
	(V. 29), “... but they went about to slay him.”  Saul may have been 
successful in persuading a few of the Grecian Jews to Christ, but if he did Luke 
says nothing about it.  At the least he gave them all something to think about 
and perhaps some got saved later as a result of his testimony.  But the majority 
of them refused to believe Saul.  They not only refused to believe him, but they 
set out to kill him.  That is, they discussed among themselves how they might 
put him to death without getting themselves into trouble with the Roman 
authorities.  They evidently came up with some kind of plan and were just 
waiting for an opportunity to carry out their plan.  
	But once again, God came to the rescue by somehow letting the Christian 
brethren learn about the plan.  The Christians then  immediately very quietly 
escorted Saul out of Jerusalem and he returned to his hometown of Tarsus.  V. 
30, “[Which] when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent 
him forth to Tarsus.”  

III.  Relief for the churches

	 V.  31, “Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and 
Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the 
comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.”  Luke tells us that at long last 
the persecution which the Jews had launched against the followers of Jesus had 
quieted down.  The persecution of the Christians was motivated by the hatred 
which the Jews had toward Jesus.  Their hatred of Jesus had brought about His 
crucifixion.  Their hatred of Jesus had caused the arrest of Peter and John when 
they healed the lame man at the Gate Beautiful. Their hatred of Jesus had 
brought about the arrest of all of the apostles.  It brought about the stoning 
of Stephen.  The stoning of Stephen had inflamed Saul of Tarsus who launched a 
vicious tirade against the Jerusalem church and then went off to Damascus to 
persecute Christians there.  Now three years after the salvation of Saul, the 
persecution finally subsides and the churches have peace and rest at last.  
	Yet the persecution had spread Christianity much more rapidly than it 
would have spread otherwise.  When Saul started his onslaught it was against the 
one and only church in existence, the church at Jerusalem.  Now, only three 
years later, there were many churches.  In verse 31 Luke speaks of churches 
throughout all Judea, Galilee and Samaria.  Furthermore, there was at least one 
church in the foreign nation of Syria.  That was trhe church at Damascus.  What 
a tremendous growth!  Nothing but the marvelous power and the providential care 
of God can account for such growth coming at a time of such severe persecution.  

IV.  The change in Saul an example to all  

	Yet we cannot help but notice more than just the tremendous change in the 
number of churches.  We cannot help but notice the tremendous change that came 
in the life of Saul of Tarsus.  Saul had been the chief persecutor of the 
Christians.  No one had persecuted the Christians as fiercely as Saul did.  Now 
he has become the chief promoter of Christianity.  No one was promoting the 
cause of Christ as zealously as Saul.  He had once sought to destroy all 
Christians.  Now he seeks to persuade all men to become Christians.  He once was 
a persecutor.  Now he is the persecuted.  He once sought to take the lives of 
Christians.  Now his own life is sought because he is a Christian.  He once was 
willing to take the lives of others because they were Christians.  Now he was 
willing lay down his own life in order to promote the cause of Christ in the 
world.
	How could anyone who knew Saul or even knew about him see such a 
tremendous change in his life and still doubt that Jesus is the Christ?  Surely 
there had to be a good reason for this change.  Surely Saul would not make such 
a complete turnabout in his life without good reason .   How can anyone today 
read the Bible account of this change in his life and still doubt that Jesus is 
the Christ, the Son of God.  
	The only thing that can account for the change that came into the life of 
Saul of Tarsus is the he had a real genuine experience with Jesus Christ on the 
road to Damascus.  He became thoroughly convinced that Jesus is the Christ of 
God.  He became absolutely sure in his heart and mind that Jesus has arisen from 
the grave and that He is the Son of God.  He became one-hundred percent certain 
that Jesus was and is man’s  only hope of heaven.  He became there was no way 
for him to avoid the torments of hell except by the grace of God which was 
extended to him through Jesus Christ.  He became certain that there was no way 
for any man, woman, boy or girl to go to heaven except by faith in Jesus Christ.  
So he committed his life fully to the task of telling others about Jesus.  
Everywhere he would go he would tell people about Jesus.  He would do more than 
just tell them, he would seek to show them by Scripture that Jesus is their only 
hope of heaven.  He would do all he could to persuade them to put their faith in 
Jesus Christ.   
	The change that we see come in Saul of Tarsus is an example of the change 
that is needed in all men.  The first change that should come to each one is a 
change of mind.  Men should lay down all of their preconceived ideas about how 
to get to heaven which are contrary to what God teaches in the Holy Bible.  Saul 
of Tarsus had such a change of mind.  The Bible teaches that there is no way 
that anyone can go to heaven by his own works of righteousness.  Just as long as 
one is trying to get there by his own good works, just that surely he will fail 
to get there at all.  Each and every man, woman, boy and girl needs to turn to 
Jesus and call upon Him trusting Jesus and Jesus only for the salvation of his 
soul.  Romans 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord 
shall be saved.”  This is the kind of change that came in me.  This is the kind 
of change that has come in many of you.  If this change has not already come in 
you, then this is the kind of change you need today.
	The change that each and everyone needs is a change of the heart.  Saul of 
Tarsus had such a change.  His heart was changed toward Jesus.  His heart was 
changed toward the Christians.  His heart was changed toward the church.  That 
which once he had hated and persecuted, he now loved.  This is the kind of 
change that came in me.  I was never aware that I hated Christians.  I was never 
aware that I hated the Lord’s churches.  But I can look back upon it now and say 
that I most certainly did not love the church.  I did not love the Bible.  I did 
not love the Lord.  But now I can truthful say that I do.  I love the Lord.  I 
love His churches.  I love His people.  I love His cause.  This is the kind of 
change that is needed in everyone.  
	Another change that is needed by everyone is a change in his live.  That 
kind of change most certainly came in the life of Saul of Tarsus.  His life was 
completely turned around.  That kind of change came to my own life.  It came 
even before I ever thought about becoming a preacher.  It came about because I 
was a Christian.  Not everyone needs to surrender to the ministry, but everybody 
needs to be saved and after getting saved then everybody needs to have a 
complete turnabout in his lifestyle.  Saul of Tarsus was not a perfect man even 
after he was saved and surrendered to preach.  Neither did I become a perfect 
man.  I would like to be.  I try to be.   But I am not.  I am far from it.  But 
I am also a far cry from what I used to be before I was saved.  There needs to 
be a change in everyone who has trusted Jesus as his Savior.  Everyone needs to 
have the idea which is expressed in one of the great hymns.  The hymn says, 
“Have thine own way, Lord.  Have thine own way.”  

Conclusion:

	There are some changes that need to be made in the life of each one of us.  
Let me ask:  Has this change taken place in your life?  If not, are you willing 
to make that change?  Are you ready to make it now?  If so, then let me invite 
you to come and make your commitment made known this morning.  Let that change 
start right now in this service.