The Aftermath of Saul's Conversion to Christ

Alright, if you would take your Bible turn to Acts chapter 9. Tonight we will be in Acts chapter 9. Now in two messages we have studied verses 1 to 19 and in those messages and in those verses we studied the conversion of Saul. We saw how Saul the persecutor of Christ and the church was savingly converted to Christ Jesus as he was traveling to Damascus to arrest and to persecute more Christians. And we saw how Saul the persecutor became Paul the Apostle.

Because of God's eternal plan and purpose for Saul's life he was chosen to be an instrument of God to carry the name of Christ Jesus and the Gospel to the Gentiles and kings and to the Jews as well. Of course I am loosely quoting Acts chapter 9 verse 15 and what the Lord told Ananias. So Saul the persecutor was converted to Christ and we will see how he becomes the Apostle Paul. Now if you have not gotten those messages I would challenge you to do that.

Those two messages go together to explain his great conversion experience and we learn some lessons about what applies to us today and what does not apply to us today in relation to his conversion. Now I have pointed this out more than once that we are at the beginning of seeing two transitions in the book. We will see how the center of Gospel and church work will shift from the city of Jerusalem in the Jerusalem church to many Gentile cities in the Gentile church. This really happens starting at chapter 13. We will be there soon. Of course this does not mean that the church at Jerusalem became insignificant at all.

In many ways the church at Jerusalem remained the most respected of the New Testament churches maintaining great and much deserved respect and influence. The church at Jerusalem's position and great influence among the New Testament churches and the church leaders will be especially seen in Acts chapter 15. That is usually titled and called the Great Jerusalem Council. We will see how the main character of the book shifts from the Apostle Peter to the Apostle Paul. We get a tiny glimpse of that starting in chapter 9.

But we see this shift actually starting at chapter 13 and that is when Barnabas and Saul were sent off from the church at Antioch on the first missionary journey. But I have said several times that we will see quite a few non-apostles. We can use the term layman. We will see quite a few non-apostles, quite a few different laymen that God used in a great way. And I have said several times that we must not overlook these men and women. We are going to see some women and we must learn from them. We have already seen Stephen and Philip who were used greatly of God. And we will see a married couple a little later on, Priscilla and Aquila.

And we have just studied a great layman here in chapter 9, Ananias. And I am going to come back to Ananias a little later on. But before we move on there is one thing I want us to see, one thing I want us to notice. We can have a tendency to overlook men like Ananias and to be drawn to the dramatic. We can have a tendency to overlook men like Ananias and be drawn to the dramatic that we see in men like Saul. But that would be a mistake. Ananias was a great man of God that we can learn from. One lesson that we can learn from Ananias is this, we must obey God even when the circumstances don't make sense. He had that right in front of him.

Even when circumstances may seem dangerous. What did he say? When the Lord called him to go see Saul, I am putting it in my words, he said, "Lord, I have heard of Saul. He is killing folks. He is killing Christians. We must be like Ananias. We must obey God in the work of God for the purposes of God. And if we do, we will see that God uses us like he did with Ananias." Now tonight we will continue in our verses and we will be studying certain events that can be overlooked. Let me explain. We can be tempted to focus our attention on Saul's grand and wondrous conversion from chapter 9 verses 1 and 19.

And then we can be tempted to jump over to chapter 10 and we have this grand and wondrous conversion of Cornelius who was the first Gentile conversion. And there in chapter 10 we see the birth of the Gentile church. And if we do that, we will miss out on quite a lot. We simply need to be disciplined to study each verse, each section of scripture as we move through the book of Acts and as we move through any book study like we commonly do. So tonight we will be studying verses 19 to 31. Yes, verses 19 to 31 and what I am calling the aftermath of Saul's conversion, the aftermath of Saul's conversion.

Now when I hear the word aftermath, I think of something bad, something catastrophic. Webster defines aftermath as consequence result, a period immediately following a usually ruinous event. This reminds me of Hurricane Katrina. I think those of us who were here during Katrina, we remember the aftermath, the period right after the storm that was so ruinous. Here recently we had a couple of tornadoes south of us. Went through around the Tolertown, Columbia area and we can see the aftermath after those tornadoes went through. Well, that is what we have here, but not in the negative, in the positive.

When Saul was converted to Christ, certain positive things happened in the aftermath. So this is how I want to approach these verses. I want us to see the aftermath of Saul's conversion in Damascus verses 18 to 25. Then the aftermath of Saul's conversion in Jerusalem verses 26 to 30. And then the aftermath in Judea, Galilee and Samaria. That is the last verse, verse 31. Now normally I would read our verses right here, but because of time I am going to hold off and we will read them on through the message. So let's get started. Number one, the aftermath in Damascus. The aftermath in Damascus.

We can say it like this, the aftermath in Damascus of Saul's conversion to Christ. And remember what Saul was traveling to Damascus to do. He had letters of authority from the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem to the Jewish Senecogs in Damascus. So that if he found any Christians in Damascus he could arrest them and bring them back to Jerusalem to be put on trial. And news of Saul's murderous threats of arrest and murder had reached Damascus when the Lord Jesus appeared to Ananias and called him to go see Saul. Ananias said to the Lord, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.

And here he has the authority from the chief priest to bind, that would be arrest, all who call on your name." So my point here is this. Saul was traveling to Damascus to arrest and persecute more Christians. The church in Damascus had heard of Stephen's death and the great persecution against the church that broke out in Jerusalem. And they had heard of Saul's activities in these events. So when they knew that he was traveling to Damascus it's safe to say that they were terrified. They had a lot to be afraid of. But we know that Saul was miraculously and wondrously converted to Christ on the road to Damascus.

And notice that three things happened in the aftermath. First, fellowship. First, fellowship. I would add to that by saying Christian fellowship. Here's where I want us to look at the verses. Acts 9 verses 18 to 19. "And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes." Remember this is when Ananias went and put his hands on him and prayed for him. "And he regained his sight. Then he," this is Saul, "arose and was baptized and taking food he was strengthened." And then verse 19 or the rest of the verse.

"For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus." Here we see that Saul had immediate fellowship with the Christians and the church. He was baptized. He took some food. He was strengthened. And for some days he was with the believers in Damascus enjoying Christian fellowship with him. Now some rhetorical questions. Rhetorical meaning let's think about them. Did the church celebrate that persecution was not coming? I'm sure. They were relieved. I would imagine. Did the church celebrate Saul's conversion and his baptism? I'm sure. I'm sure they were very relieved and very happy. Did those believers enjoy fellowship with Saul?

Think about it. They went from relief that persecution wasn't coming to joy and great worship that he was converted and then even more joy when he was baptized and connected with the fellowship. You see? And think about it. We do the very same thing today. When God saves someone within our midst we listen to their testimony. We enjoy and celebrate as they are baptized and we then enjoy true Christian fellowship with them and then they become members of our church. Then they become on the inside. And what I mean by that is this. When people are not born again and not members of our church they're on the outside.

Years ago there was a young lady in the life of our church who described her life as being on the outside. She said I was always on the outside. And then when God saved me and I was baptized and I became a member of the church then I saw myself as being on the inside. But there is a potential problem here. Saul or Paul wrote in his letter to the Galatians in chapter 1 starting in verse 15 that right after his conversion he spent three years in Arabia alone with Christ and learning directly from Christ. So what do we make of this? How do we make this timeline work together? This is really actually quite simple.

When we put all the scripture accounts that we have together it seems that the events of Saul's life right after his conversion happened this way. Let me explain. First he was converted and commissioned as an apostle. We studied that in verses 1 and 19, two messages. Second he enjoyed immediate fellowship with the church in Damascus verse 19. We just saw that. Third he began to preach Christ to the Jews in Damascus right after his conversion. We'll study that next verses 19 to 22. Then fourth he retreated to Arabia for three years of training with Christ Jesus. We see that in Galatians chapter 1 verses 15 on down.

Then fifth he returned to Damascus. We see that in chapter 9 verses 23 to 25. We'll look at that tonight. Sixth he made his way to Jerusalem three years after his conversion to Christ and we see that in chapter 9 verses 26 to 30. Galatians also explains that in chapter 1 verses 18 to 24. Now this is my point here. First we must study the totality of God's Word to get the fullest picture available. We must study all of God's Word to get the fullest picture available. So right here we study Acts and we study Galatians and it gives us the full picture. Now that takes time and it does take work. Sometimes it takes some guidance.

But second and more practical and relatable to our everyday Christian life. When someone comes to faith in Christ we have immediate fellowship, Christian fellowship with them. Well I've already covered that but notice this. We have prolonged Christian fellowship. Let me restate that. When someone comes to faith in Christ we have immediate Christian fellowship. Paul enjoyed that immediately. Then we have prolonged Christian fellowship. Three years later he comes back to Damascus. With Saul and the church at Damascus we see this immediate Christian fellowship and this prolonged Christian fellowship.

And we should see this in the life of our church and even with believers we connect with in other churches. But then second, the second thing we see here is service. We see service or we could say it like this preaching because we see that he did start preaching. Look at verse 20, verses 20, 21, and 22. And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogue saying he is the Son of God. And all who heard him were amazed and said, "Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose to bring them bound before the chief priests?

But Saul increased all the more in strength." That would be spiritual strength. "And confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ." Here we see that Saul began preaching Christ to the Jews and even in the synagogues now immediately after he was converted, immediately after he was baptized and admitted into the church there in Damascus. But look at what he preached. Look at his message. First in verse 20 we see that he preached that Jesus was and is the Son of God. All the translations say the same thing. And look at the great significance of this part of his message.

By declaring that Jesus was the Son of God, he was declaring that Jesus was and is who he said he was all along. And that Jesus was and is actually God. And notice the implications of this for the Jews. If Jesus was the Son of God, therefore God, then they were accountable to Jesus as God, the very Son of God. Then second in verse 22 we see that he preached that Jesus was and is the Christ. All the translations say the same thing. And notice the great significance of this part of his message in preaching. By declaring that Jesus was the Christ, he was declaring that Jesus was and is the promised Messiah of the Old Testament.

And look at the implications of this for the Jews, those he was preaching to. If Jesus was the Christ, the promised Messiah spoken of and promised all throughout the Old Testament, then they were accountable to Jesus as the Messiah of the Jews, their Messiah promised and spoken of throughout the Old Testament. So look at how all of this, this twofold sermon applied to those Jews. Paul was calling them to believe and to be converted just like he was. He was calling them to repent and believe that Jesus was and is Lord and that he was and is the promised Messiah, Savior.

He was calling them to become Christians, believing in Jesus as Lord and Jesus as God, Savior, who was sent to save them from their sin and sinfulness. And look at the response of the Jews. Verses 21 and 22 tell us that they were amazed that the man who had been persecuting the church at Jerusalem was preaching Jesus. They were amazed that the man who was coming to Damascus to arrest Christians was now a Christian and a believer as well. And not only that preaching Christ. I like how William McDonald describes the reaction of the Jews. I'm quoting him. He says, "Constrination resulted among his Jewish hearers.

They had understood that he hated the name of Jesus. Now he was teaching that Jesus is God. How could it be? No doubt they said how could it be? They were amazed." Now notice the implications for us and people today. If Jesus was and is the Son of God, therefore God, then all are accountable to Jesus as God. Let me state that again. If Jesus was and is the Son of God, therefore God, as he claimed to be all along, then all men and men are accountable to Jesus as God. And if we look to heaven and say, "As Saul, who are you Lord?" Well he answers saying, "I am the Son of God." I'm Lord. I'm the Son of God. I've God come in the flesh.

Then all men and men are accountable to Him as God, the Son of God. A question, do we relate to Him as God? Or do we somehow relate to Him as something less than God? If Jesus was and is the Christ, therefore the promised Messiah, which means Savior, then all who hear the message of Christ are responsible to place their trust in Him as Savior. And if we look to Jesus and see that He is the promised Messiah, which means Savior, then we are responsible to place our trust in Him as our Savior to save us from our sin, our sinfulness, and also to save us from ourselves.

And do people somehow, some way look for something else or someone else to save them from their sin and sinfulness? People do that all the time. Now let's go back to Saul. I like what the Bible scholar Jim Boyce says here about Saul in this time in his life, and I'm quoting him. Boyce says, "If you had said to Saul at this stage, Paul, we want you to write down a theological statement of what you understand about the Christian faith. This is what Paul would have written down. One, Jesus is the Son of God. Two, Jesus is the Christ." That's what he preached. And look church, we should be preaching and declaring these same two facts.

We should be preaching this. He is God and He is Savior. And men and man all are responsible to Him as God, and He is the only Savior. But then third, persecution. The third aftermath is persecution. We see this in verses 23 on down to verse 25. Look at your copy of God's Word. "When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him. But their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him.

But his disciples, or these disciples, took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket." Now here the English Standard says that when many days had passed, and we need to understand that this period of time is referring to what Paul said in Galatians 1 starting in verse 15. That three year period where he went to Arabia. Listen to Galatians 1 verses 15 to 18. I'll read the verses. Paul's writing to the church at Galatia saying, "But when he who had set me apart before I was born and who called me by his grace," see he understood saving grace in his apostolic calling.

Verse 16, "was pleased to reveal his son to me in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles. I did not immediately consult anyone, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me. But I went away into Arabia and returned again to Damascus." You see how it fits together? Verse 18, "Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas," that's Peter, "and remain with him fifteen days." So the point right here is this. Immediately after Saul was converted to Christ and after Ananias prayed over him and those scales fell off, several things happened immediately.

He was baptized, he joined or had fellowship with those believers in Damascus and he immediately began to preach Jesus as the Son of God, the promised Messiah to the Jews in the synagogues in Damascus. But after many days, three years away from Damascus, it seemed that he returned to Damascus. And what did he do when he came back? It certainly seems that he went right back to preaching and the Jews began to plot and plan to kill him. He just picked up where he left off. And notice the response of the believers in Damascus, the church now, to this persecution.

The Jews were watching the city gates night and day looking for Saul because they wanted to kill him. Scholars and historians tell us that cities in this time were surrounded by walls with gates for protection from invaders. So the only way in or out of the city was through the gates. And so we see that through an opening in the wall, a window or something of that sort, he was let out of the city safely in a basket. So look at what we have here in verses 19-25. The aftermath of Saul's conversion in Damascus.

After he was baptized, he was admitted to fellowship with the church and immediately he began to preach Christ to the Jews and in the synagogues to the amazement of those Jews in the city. And after three years in Arabia with Christ, Saul returned to Damascus and the Jews plotted to kill him because he picked up right with his preaching. But God allowed Saul to escape being lowered by his Christian brothers over the wall in a basket. Now in application, take a step back and see that Saul's conversion brought the gospel to Damascus. Yes, the church was there.

Yes, there were believers there, but we will see a little later that Saul was a great lightning rod. But we also see right here that he was a great fireball. And what I mean is Saul's conversion brought the gospel into Damascus in an unusual way. The aftermath of his conversion was the gospel was let loose through this fireball of a man. And the same should be said of us. Questions in response to that. What is the aftermath of our lives? What will be the aftermath of our lives in our families, in our church, and in our community? We learned Sunday morning that we should be living the life of faith all of the days of our life.

And when we get to the end of our life, our family and our church families should be able to say, "Let's put this on his or her tombstone." They live the life of faith. Well, we should leave the gospel in our aftermath. The gospel in our families, communities, jobs. When we pass, people should say, "Yes, he left the gospel. She left the gospel everywhere." All right, next, number two, the aftermath in Jerusalem. The aftermath in Jerusalem. It seems that after Saul escaped from Damascus, he went straight to Jerusalem and made an attempt to connect with the disciples in the church there. But we will see that he met some resistance.

Look back at the verses, verse 26, just the one. And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples and they were afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. But why the hesitation? Do you think the believers in Jerusalem had heard about what had happened to Saul some three years before? Sure. It's a safe bet to assume that they knew of what had happened. But remember, Saul was the war horse smelling blood in the battle of persecuting believers to the point of death some three years before. And look, he was no small war horse. We've already seen that. He was no small war horse of persecution.

MacArthur says Saul must have seen to them to be the quintessential wolf in sheep's clothing, not trying to destroy them from without as he had previously done, but from within. I think those are safe assumptions. The believers in Jerusalem were simply scared to death of Saul. I think about it like this. I'm sure they had some flashbacks. They might have struggled with some post-traumatic stress, having seen Stephen stoned and the church scattered. But notice how things changed. First, fellowship. We see Christian fellowship, just like in Damascus, verses 26 to 27.

And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples and they were afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas, Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord who spoke to him and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. Here we see that Barnabas stepped up to resolve the problem. Barnabas, who was and is called the son of encouragement back in chapter 4, verse 36. He stepped forward so as to bring Saul into fellowship with the church.

Now we are not told why it was only Barnabas who stepped forward like this, but he did. And the verse tells us that Barnabas explained to the believers in the church how Saul had come to faith, what happened on the road to Damascus, and how he preached in Damascus. But before I continue into Saul's service in preaching in Jerusalem, I want us to see just how serious Saul took fellowship with the believers. Let me restate this because this is very important to see. I want us to see how serious Saul took fellowship with believers with the church.

From these verses right here, after his conversion and three years later, we can see that Saul took associating with, or we can say becoming a member of, the church at Damascus and the church at Jerusalem. Very, very serious. He could have stayed alone. He could have gone out preaching on his own, but he did not. He was an apostle. He very well could have said, "I am an apostle. I have been given apostolic authority." So he could have gone out on his own, but he did not because he knew that was not God's way. He knew that Christians are not supposed to operate solo. So he sought fellowship, association.

It's not wrong to use the word membership. He sought fellowship, association, connection with the church at Damascus, then the church at Jerusalem. Then later we'll see that when he is called out to go, he was there doing the same thing with the church at Antioch. I pause here before I get into some application and lessons for us. How many people refuse to take church fellowship, take church association? We could use this word membership serious. So many go out and start churches and do this and do that, quote unquote, for the Lord, and they bypass church membership, church association, church fellowship. It's terribly unbiblical.

Terribly unbiblical. Now there's a lesson here. We believe in meaningful church membership. We believe in tangible, meaning you can put your hands on it, meaningful church membership. So much so that for believers to become a member of Grace Life Church, we have membership classes culminating in a membership covenant whereby we covenant together in church membership as individual Christians and as an identifiable local body. If you see me come in and out of the church, you will see me with my computer bag. Usually I have my Bible and notes and things like that. Most all the time there are two particular books that are in that bag.

They stay with me all the time. One of them is a copy of our church statement of faith which you see me pull out and quote from time to time when I'm preaching. It's one of the older copies, tattered and torn. In the other book that you see me have is our church membership information book. I refer to it sometimes. I look through it sometimes and you know what? The past couple of months I have been reminded that we are overdue for a church membership series, revisiting what we believe about church membership. One more thing here. Look at how God used Ananias and then Barnabas to introduce Saul to these churches.

Remember I said we don't overlook these non-apostles. Look how God used Ananias and Barnabas to help facilitate Saul coming into fellowship with these believers in churches. Remember we can't overlook the laymen. We learn from them. The challenge here for us is this. We must be encouragers and facilitators like Ananias and Barnabas with brothers and sisters and then also when God brings people in our church. But then second we see service. We see service and you'll notice it's just like a service in Damascus preaching. Verse 28 on down to the beginning of verse 29. "So he went in and out among them." That's the church.

"He went in and out among them at Jerusalem preaching boldly in the name of the Lord and he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him." Here we see that after Saul was accepted into the fellowship of the church at Jerusalem he began to move in and out between the fellowship, those believers and preaching into the community, preaching to the Jews especially the Hellenists. I love what John MacArthur says here. MacArthur says Saul picked up where Stephen left off. Remember he was debating the Hellenists. That's good. MacArthur says Saul just picked up where Stephen left off. So this is simple.

As soon as he was accepted into the church he began to serve by preaching to the Jews. Third we see persecution. Look at verse 29 in verse 30. "And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists but they were seeking to kill him." That's the persecution. "And when the brothers learned of this they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus." Here we see the results of Saul's preaching. The Hellenists were completely opposed to Saul and his preaching of Jesus. So much so they sought to kill him. Just like in Acts chapter 8 verse 1 when Saul and the Jews turned on Stephen and killed him.

The Jews turned on Saul and they sought to kill him as well. And I wonder if Saul had some flashbacks here. I wonder if Saul had a little post-traumatic stress going on here. I wonder if Saul felt guilty and shame because he was standing in the same place wearing the same shoes as Stephen. And just like in Damascus we see that the church heard that Saul was in danger and they got him free from that danger and the threat of death. To free Saul from danger and death they sent him down to Caesarea which was a seaside, portside town on the Mediterranean. And then notice he went on down to Tarsus which was his hometown.

I thought about it like this. Maybe he went to the beach for vacation in Caesarea and then he went home to Tarsus. It was a Mediterranean seaport town. Now I know I am interjecting some humor there. We just know that he went to Caesarea and then he went to Tarsus. But I will take advantage of this by saying vacations are good and sometimes going home and visiting family is good. Anytime I hear of y'all going on vacation I always try to encourage you because vacation is good. It is called rest. So look at what we have here in these verses.

The aftermath of Saul's conversion in Jerusalem after being converted and accepted into the church now at Damascus and serving out of the church. He spent three years in Arabia being taught by Christ personally. Then after returning to Damascus and being run out of town Saul went to Jerusalem. And after some hesitation from the church and some help from Barnabas Saul was accepted into the fellowship at Jerusalem and the same thing happened. After preaching Christ to the Jews he was run out of town again. And notice something we are starting to see with Saul. A pattern. A pattern of behavior.

This is the pattern associating with the local church serving in and out of that local church. You see? Associating with the local church being a part of the fellowship of that local church and serving in and out of that local church. And we will see this pattern all the way through the book of Acts. He never operated independently of the local church. And take note of what this should teach us. We should have the same pattern in our lives. After we are converted we should associate, join a local church, ministering and serving in and out of that local church just like Saul.

And look folks I am in no way patting myself on the back but I can go back down through the history of my life since I came to faith and it has always been about being a member of a local church and serving in and out of that local church. Ever since I have been converted and our other elders are the same way. Keith, Tommy and Jared since they have come to faith in Christ they have always been associated with the local church serving in that local church in and out of that local church and their families as well. And if that had not been their pattern I never would have put them forward to be elders in the life of the church. Never.

And then number three the aftermath in the entire church. The aftermath of the entire church. Now we only have one verse here but there is quite a lot going on in this verse. Let's read verse 31. So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was built up and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit it multiplied. Now it is easy to see that the circumstances for the church and the churches all throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria changed. And there are two reasons for the change. And there are several markers of church growth seen as a result of the change. The first reason for change.

Saul left. Saul was gone. For a few years Saul was out of the picture and we see that he does not come back into the picture until Acts chapter 13 when someone goes to get him. But we have been seeing that Saul was a lightning rod. Yes he was a fireball for the gospel but he was a lightning rod. He was literally the lightning rod of persecution for the church. He was the lightning rod in those who hated Jesus and the church. And as a result the lightning hit Saul therefore the lightning hit the churches every time.

But when Saul left the scene for a few years the lightning of persecution died down and the light of peace came over the churches. And the second reason for this change is politics. Political reasons. Scholars tell us that at this time Pilate was ousted as governor and Herod Agrippa tightened down. So it limited the Jews and what the Jews could do in the land. So the Jews were literally hindered from persecuting the Christians because of political reasons. And look church God is in control of politics, presidents and governments. If government control and persecution comes against us as a church that's his will. That's his will.

But if we enjoy peace and freedom that's his will as well. So for two reasons the church went from persecution to peace. Saul the lightning rod of persecution was out of the way off the church scene and politics hindered the Jews and their persecution. And as a result the churches grew in many ways. And Luke mentions how they grew. First the King James says they were edified. The English standard says that they had peace and the amplified says that they enjoyed peace. This simply means that they enjoyed peace from persecution so they were built up and they were strengthened. The Bible scholar A.T.

Robertson points out that the construction of the language tells us that they kept on having peace. They kept on enjoying peace because persecution had stopped. He says and I'm quoting many of the disciples came back to Jerusalem and the apostles began to make preaching tours out from the city. Why were they able to do that? Persecution had subsided. Peace was among the churches. Second they were built up the English standard says. This word built up right here it means to build a house to erect a building and this speaks to the church being built up spiritually. Albert Barnes simply says they were built up, increased, and strengthened.

Third the English standard says they were walking in the fear of the Lord. The King James says they were going on in the fear of the Lord. This means they were walking, they were living, they were going about life not casually but in the fear and the reverence of the Lord. Robertson says of this walking this speaks of Christian conduct the manner of life. He says the idea is that of travelers going to a particular place and even walking on a particular path and this fear of the Lord speaks of fearing the Lord with reverence for him and his commandments. Then fourth they were enjoying evangelistic growth.

The English standard says the church multiplied. The amplified says it continued to grow in numbers. Robertson adds to this by saying the multiplication of the disciples kept pace with the peace, the edification, the walking in the fear of the Lord, the comfort of the Holy Spirit. You see? So verse 31 we see the aftermath of Saul being shipped off on vacation and then home. I know I'm adding that in the equation.

We see the aftermath of him being off the scene down to Caesarea and Tarsus but on a serious note we see the aftermath the church throughout Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace without persecution being built up in wisdom, virtue, and faith and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort and encouragement of the Holy Spirit it continued to grow in numbers and I'm quoting the amplified there. Now the lesson right here is this and this is a serious one. We take the seasons that the Lord brings to us and I'm not talking about fall and winter and spring and summer.

There are seasons and times that the Lord ordains for his church and we embrace those times. We embrace those seasons. I'll give you an example. Years ago in our old Nola Baptist Church days we went about five years not seeing anyone profess Christ and be baptized. Five years. There was a period of time where we had folks leave the church. We had some difficulties and some divisions and we lost about 35-38% of our church. We went through a period of time where we had more leaving. We went through a period of time where we moved and we replanted and everything was new and starting over.

We've had times where we've had conversions and baptisms and additions. We've had times where we've had quite a few people seeking church membership and they're being added to the church. We've had times where it appears that nothing is going on spiritually. We're just kind of going through the motions. But simply Christ Jesus is the Lord of his church and he ordains certain times and seasons for us. And get this church. We are responsible to be faithful to the work of the church and allow God to determine the seasons of the church. We should be faithful.

Faithful in attendance, faithful in service, faithful in worshiping like Abel, faithful in walking with God like Enoch, faithful in obeying God like Noah, faithfully living the entire life of faith like Abraham and take the different seasons of the church as they come. And look church, if we are not faithful in the lean difficult times we will never be faithful to receive times of peace and growth and prosperity. You hear that? If we are not faithful in the lean difficult times we will never be able to receive times of peace and growth and prosperity. And I'm going to pick on pastors right now. I've seen many pastors.

They couldn't take the lean difficult times and they bailed. Well they never got over the hump to the times of peace and prosperity. And look folks if we are not faithful in the hard, painful, really difficult times. If we are not faithful in the hard, painful, really difficult times then we can never receive from God being built up in wisdom, virtue and faith and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort and encouragement of the Holy Spirit to continue to grow in numbers. Of course I'm quoting the Amplified and I'll add a little more here. This takes time, faithfulness, more time, patience, endurance and more time.

Faithfulness, endurance, more time and more time. You see? Now take a step back and notice what we have here from verses 19 to 31. The events after Saul's conversion to Christ. The aftermath of Saul's conversion to Christ. And look this was some good aftermath. Even the persecution. And again church we can overlook these verses between Saul's conversion and then when the Gospel comes to Cornelius in chapter 10. But we have so much here. So the title of the message, the aftermath of Saul's conversion to Christ. Let's pray and commit this message to the Lord and then we will look at some prayer needs as we always do.