Sunday, January 29, 2012

The Sovereignty of God on the Damascus Road: Saul's Prey Part 1

Previous Series Links:
The Sovereignty of God on the Damascus Road: Introduction
The Sovereignty of God on the Damascus Road: Saul's Past


Who did Saul hate?

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.  ~Acts 9:1,2

The first installment of this series we began by looking at who the Apostle Paul was before his conversion on the Damascus road; the man Saul of Tarsus. The first verse of Acts chapter 9 begins by describing Saul’s state of mind; he is breathing threats and murder. I think it is important to note whom his hatred and murderous threats are directed against...

“But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord,”
Is there enough evidence to convict you of being a Christian?

Saul hates Christians; the text here could not be more emphatic. Saul was determined to pursue and destroy the early church. He would go house by house, city by city looking for people of the Way, all for the purpose of taking them bound to Jerusalem and putting them to death.

But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.  ~Acts 8:3

Here is Paul’s own testimony before King Agrippa about his former persecution of the Church...

I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.  ~Acts 26:9-11

When Saul went from city to city searching for Christians to bind and return them to Jerusalem, what would he look for? In other words, what were the distinctions of those early Christians that enabled him to identify them as disciples of Jesus Christ? Who were these people of the Way; how would you characterize them?

The first thing to consider is Saul was looking for Jews. He was not after gentile believers as they made up only a tiny fraction of the church at this time. Saul was primarily after Jewish converts as evidenced by the fact he needed letters from the high priest to the local synagogues...

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.  ~Acts 9:1,2

So, Saul arrives into town and makes contact with the local Jewish leaders to inform them what he is doing and probably to gather information about who might be a Christian. He then begins his search and what does he look for? What sort of person catches his Christian hating eye? Jesus gives us a clue about these disciples of His...

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,  ~John 8:31

The person Saul hates and wants to take bound to Jerusalem to be executed abides in the word of Jesus. The word “abide” is the Greek word μείνητε, which means “remain, continue, or stay” The point being a true disciple of Jesus Christ continues in His Word. At my house we call that “obedience”. The next installment we will review an example of a true disciple of Jesus Christ and why Saul might hate him so. Please read Acts chapter 7 and ask yourself if Saul found you during his early days, would he have taken you bound to Jerusalem?

So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. ~Luke 14:33

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