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Bible Study: Lutz, Florida
Rightly
Dividing the Word of Truth
2
Timothy 2:15
Is there more than
one gospel in effect today?
Part
X
Saul born an Israelite
of the tribe of Benjamin, speaking the Aramaic and Hebrew languages from
childhood, an ardent student of Pharisaism and a strict follower of the Torah
also made great advances in Judaism beyond many of his contemporaries.
This
man, this persecutor of those who came to believe that Jesus is the Son of God,
had a personnel encounter with this same Jesus on the Damascus road.
After
that encounter, his life and his mission were significantly changed.
Saul
was converted under the Covenant Gospel
in the year 37 AD (approximately.)
We
know his conversion was genuine because both his personality and his life style
changed 180 degrees. But there’s
more.
After
learning the “good news,” Jesus is the Son of God; Jesus is the Messiah…, Saul then
boldly preaches Jesus to his
brethren in Damascus.
Think
about it. When someone hears a piece of
“good news,” do they run home, shut the doors, the windows, and then hide? I don’t think so. What do they do?
They
want people to know what they know! You
can’t keep good news inside you!
Our
family just experienced the birth of our grand-son. Believe me – this is good news. AND we did not keep the information to
ourselves. We told everyone we know.
Pertaining
to the gospel of our salvation, we are NOT to keep silent.
We
Believers are not members of a “secret society.” We are to “share” our faith.
Others
need to hear the “good news.” The
Apostle Paul writes,
Romans 10
15Bb: “HOW
BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET (nothing attractive about feet really, especially when
you consider the times. The roads were
dusty, people threw their waste in the roads, and the people traveled about either
barefoot or wearing sandals. Feet were
filthy; but this is about people of faith) OF
THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS (bearing the gospel) OF GOOD THINGS.”
According
to Scripture, “confessing” our faith
is an essential part of our salvation process.
What does this book say?
Romans 10
8: But what does it
say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR
MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART” - that is, the word of your faith which we are
preaching (and
not something else totally different),
9: that if you (what) confess with your mouth (read
carefully) Jesus is Lord, and believe in
your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10: for with the
heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the (what) mouth he (or she) confesses, resulting in salvation.
There
is a process. Clearly then, once you
become a Believer, you are to tell someone.
And
you keep on telling people about your faith.
I
don’t mean to say you quit your job, stand on a street corner, and hit people
over the head with your brand new Bible until they pay attention to you. But believe me opportunities will show up. Your responsibility is to be ready when it
happens.
We
know Saul was ready. We read about his “immediate” response after hearing the
gospel. He marched to a Jewish synagogue
and unashamedly told them what he knew.
He preached “Jesus is the Son
of God” to the Jews.
Now
I’m not going to pretend to know the mind of another.
But
I’m going to presume that after Saul met Jesus on that road he was in a state
of SHOCK or something to that
effect. Think about it. Saul had just met Jesus.
Jesus
is Jehovah…the Creator God…the God Almighty.
This
Jesus who Saul had been at war with all these years is in fact God…
Furthermore,
Saul now realizes his Savior, the Messiah, had come, and not only did he miss
it (along with the majority of the Israelite nation) but they are guilty of
crucifying Him. Saul was not himself. I think he may have been experiencing some
“fear” as well.
Saul
persecuted Jesus Believers. The faces of
the men, women, and children he ran to ground and returned to Jerusalem to be
tried by the Jewish Council for blasphemy were also on his mind, in my opinion.
I’m
also certain he remembered the voice of Stephen
whose last words were, “Lord, do not
hold this sin against them.” Remember, Saul stood nearby holding the cloaks
of the men who were stoning Stephen to death.
Acts 8
1: Saul was in
hearty agreement with putting him (Stephen) to death.
And
then there’s this…
“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4b)
Ever
have a phrase running around and around in your head? I bet Saul did.
I
don’t want to labor the point I’m making here.
I just want you to be aware that Saul wasn’t sitting there in Judas’s
home those three days without a thought in his head.
I
also want you to be aware that these are real people we are reading about in
the Bible. I mention this from time to
time because we tend to forget this truth.
Remember,
Saul was three days without sight in the house of Judas.
He
neither ate nor drank during his time there.
(Acts 9:9)
But
I imagine he had plenty of time to think, in my opinion.
Acts 9
19b: Now for
several days he was with (who) the
disciples (not the apostles) who
were at Damascus,
20: and immediately
he (Saul)
began to proclaim Jesus in the
synagogues, saying, “He (Jesus) is
the Son of God.” (We all know by
now, if you’ve been following this teaching series, that this is the message of
the Covenant Gospel which is linked to the Abrahamic Covenant. Another point I want to remind you of is
this. You aren’t going to find any
gentiles in a Jewish synagogue.)
I
know what some of you are thinking?
Why
did Saul preach to the Jews and not to the gentiles?
The
only gospel Saul is aware of (at this time) is the Covenant Gospel.
The
only people, as far as Saul knows, that God is working with are the Jews.
This
is all the information Saul has to work with at this time.
Saul
is NOT aware of his special calling (ministry) to the gentiles YET.
The
Lord Jesus Christ has not revealed any “mysteries” to His new apostle yet.
Let’s
not get ahead of Scripture. Let’s not
put anything in there before it’s time…
Some
people do…
Saul,
hoping to convince his fellow Israelites that they’d missed their Messiah, but
it’s not too late – went about to each synagogue in the region preaching Jesus
to them.
How
did they respond to this man and his preaching?
Acts 9
21: All those
hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in
Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for
the purpose of bringing them (Jesus Believers) bound before the chief priests?”
(Were
they more focused on the messenger or the message would you say?)
22: But Saul kept increasing in strength (became bolder in
preaching Jesus) and confounding the
Jews (clearly Saul message is intended for Jew only. I see no indication he preached to gentiles at
any time) who lived in Damascus by
proving that this Jesus is the Christ (How did Saul do this? He used the Old Testament. It’s all he had.)
As
Saul continued to preach Jesus to these Jews in Damascus, his confidence grew
and so did his faith. I don’t think it
would be too much a stretch to say the Holy Spirit was leading this man
too. But what about his audience are
they being swayed by Saul’s preaching?
What does the book say?
23: When many days
had elapsed, the Jews plotted together to do away with him,
(These
Damascus Jews planned to kill Saul just as soon as they could arrange it.)
24: but their plot
became known to Saul (Saul’s
preaching convinced a few Jews evidently and these new disciples warned him
about the threat). They were also watching the gates day and
night so that they might put him to death;
(Saul
was not going to be able to “sneak” out under the cloak of darkness. Every exit was being watched. But these Jews did not consider Divine
Intervention.)
25: but his
disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall,
lowering him in a large basket.
26: When he came to
Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples (not apostles), but they were all afraid of him, not
believing that he was a disciple.
27: But Barnabas
took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he
had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how at
Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus.
28: And he was with
them moving about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name
of the Lord.
29: And he was talking and arguing with (both Jew and Gentile – no! Read carefully) the Hellenistic Jews (Hellenistic Jews = Jews who adopted Roman social/community practices, the primary group that made up the Hellenists were the Sadducees); but they were attempting to (do what exactly) put him to death.
30: But when the
brethren learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to
Tarsus.
(To
be continued)
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Copyright 2011
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Rights Reserved
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
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