Click here for the Acts 9:26-31
26 When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the followers. But they were all afraid of him, because they did not believe he was a true follower. 27 Then Barnabas helped him by taking him to the apostles. He explained how Saul had seen the Lord and how the Lord had spoken to him. Barnabas also said when Saul was in Damascus, he had spoken bravely in the name of Jesus. 28 Saul moved about freely with the followers in Jerusalem and told everyone about the Lord. 29 He was always arguing with the Jews who spoke Greek, and so they tried to kill him. 30 But the followers found out about this and took Saul to Caesarea. From there they sent him to the city of Tarsus. 31 The church in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria now had a time of peace and kept on worshiping the Lord. The church became stronger, as the Holy Spirit encouraged it and helped it grow. ~ Acts 9:26-31
Today, we return to Acts 9 where the Apostle Paul has become a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Unlike Paul, most people do not experience a bright flash from the heavens along with a radical encounter with the Lord Jesus Himself. For most, our faith in the God of the Bible was formed in a moment in life when we realized we needed help and so we turned to God for that help. At that point we began to learn of His faithfulness through which our faith in Him grew. We do not grow in our understanding of God's great faithfulness without facing our fears head on. When we are found avoiding our fears, we are found avoiding God. In 1 John we learn that perfect love casts out all fears. Only God has perfect love. So, getting to know God and His love for us and walking daily with Him, enables us to be defined by something much greater than our fears. It is then that our fears serve us rather than we serving them.
In v.26 of today's passage we read, "When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the followers. But they were all afraid of him, because they did not believe he was a true follower."
Many would think that the change that came about in the Apostle Paul happened over night. It didn't. As is noted in Galatians 1, three years elapsed before Paul started preaching about the Lord Jesus. After he came to faith in the Lord Jesus as his Savior, he immediately went to Arabia where he spent three years. Then he returned to Damascus and preached the gospel as we have seen. Then he went to Jerusalem as we will see in today's passage.
In Galatians 1:15-18 we read, "15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, 16 to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. 18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days."
When Paul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried over and over to be a part of the fellowship there but the fear of the believers there prevented it. Their fear had debilitated them. This is ironic since Paul was going everywhere to preach Christ to the lost, even at the greatest of peril. We are really good at allowing the Lord to come into our lives through the pleasant experiences of life. We are reluctant to welcome His blessings through the not so pleasant experiences of life. It is the Lord Jesus who is the best antidote to our fears. The Bible reminds us that "fear is the beginning of wisdom." This type of fear is "the fear of the Lord" which is the healthiest emotion because it brings us to the place of understanding the greatness of our God. The more we experience His faithfulness, the more we will see how we can depend upon Him. Depending on God brings wisdom. So, we are wise to expose ourselves to our fears because through them we see Him more clearly.
I find it quite instructive that the Lord addresses our fears in the Bible more than anything else. Of course, the answer is the fear of the Lord which includes the terror of being away from Him. We do not grow in our faith in the Lord until we address our fears head on. It was the Lord who forced Israel while in the desert to face their greatest fear by looking at the serpent on the pole. The Apostle Paul had been converted for three years and was a changed man, but the fear of the past wouldn’t allow the believers in Jerusalem to believe that he was a changed man. Rather, they probably thought it was a ploy to get them to let their guard down, and then they would all be rounded up and arrested. Their faith was wrongly in their ability to evade Paul.
In v.27 of today's passage we read, "Then Barnabas helped him by taking him to the apostles. He explained how Saul had seen the Lord and how the Lord had spoken to him. Barnabas also said when Saul was in Damascus, he had spoken bravely in the name of Jesus."
The fear of the Apostles in Jerusalem opened the door of opportunity to Barnabas whose name means "son of encouragement." Barnabas was introduced to us in Acts 4 where the apostles gave him the name Barnabas. He had land in Cyprus which he sold and he gave the proceeds to the church. Through his generosity, Barnabas encouraged the church. He, as the son of encouragement, took Saul of Tarsus in and then he took him to the apostles. After telling the apostles about his conversion, the apostles changed their approach to Paul. Barnabas befriended Paul at just the right moment. In similar fashion to how Ananias did earlier in this chapter. Somebody once said, "A friend is one who comes in when the rest of the world goes out."
In v.28-30 of today's passage we read, "28 Saul moved about freely with the followers in Jerusalem and told everyone about the Lord. 29 He was always arguing with the Jews who spoke Greek, and so they tried to kill him. 30 But the followers found out about this and took Saul to Caesarea. From there they sent him to the city of Tarsus."
The word of Barnabas was sufficient to convince the Apostles that Paul was no longer a threat but rather a true brother in Christ and a defender of the faith. From this point onward Paul was accepted among all of the believers. Paul had become a defender of the name he once tried to destroy. Many of those in Jerusalem would surely have known him personally. His life as a Pharisee gave him great and detailed knowledge of the Scriptures. Paul used the many oratory skills the Lord had given him to talk with the unbelievers about the Lord Jesus. This man who once stood and guarded the garments of those who stoned Stephen became the greatest defender of the gospel. His was a story only given by God. The Jews were so threatened by Paul, the believers in Jerusalem saw it fit to send him away to safety in Tarsus.
In v.31 of today's passage we read, "The church in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria now had a time of peace and kept on worshiping the Lord. The church became stronger, as the Holy Spirit encouraged it and helped it grow."
With Paul sent off to Tarsus, the narrative in Acts now focuses on the believers in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria who found great rest out of their worship of the Lord. It was at that point that the emperor of Rome, Caligula, set up idols in Jerusalem. This made the Jews so angry that they concentrated their efforts against Caligula and consequently left the Christians alone for a period of time. With the departure of Paul and the Jews' preoccupation with Caligula pushing his idols, the church experienced some much needed rest.
As a result, the Church grew both spiritually and numerically. People always wonder how a church is built. Man does not build churches. Oh, he builds buildings but only God builds the church. He does so by building believers. He builds believers through spiritual edification. He does this through the study of His Word and Prayer. Then multiplication as God sees fit happens. Most people become a part of a body of believers because of the changed lives of those whom they know there. This is the only way God ever intended the church to grow. Rick Warren once aptly said, "There is no growth without change, no change without fear or loss and no loss without pain."
