In proclaiming Christ

[Acts 9:19b-31]

The person who repents, in other words, those who have encountered Jesus and been transformed, are called to live an even more transformed life. To be more specific, we have a responsibility to live a life of transformation. So, what leads us to further progress in a transformed life?

Living in faith and hope advances transformation.

Faith leads us to abandon self-satisfaction, self-reliance, and self-absorption. It directs us towards Christ and fosters communion with Him. Hope maintains assurance and dispels coldness and despair.

Living in repentance and obedience advances transformation.

Repentance is a humble sincerity that, with a sorrowful and ashamed heart, turns from wrongdoing to seek what is right. Obedience is striving conscientiously according to God's revealed will, without exceptions for our own convenience.

Living in dependence and expectancy advances transformation.

Living in submission and perseverance advances transformation.

Living in praise and dedication advances transformation.

Living a life of fellowship and service also fosters progress in transformation (Internet).

Saul lived a transformed life after repentance. He received a calling to live an even more transformed life, a calling that can be summarized based on Acts 9:15-16 into two main aspects: (1) The mission of proclaiming the gospel and (2) the mission of enduring hardship. Reflecting on Acts 9:19-31, I want to meditate on these two missions and pray that we may apply them in our lives.

First, in proclaiming Christ, we need to gain strength.

Look at Acts 9:22 - "But Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah." After encountering Jesus on the road to Damascus, Saul obeyed the Lord's command, entered Damascus, met Ananias, received his blessing, regained his sight, was baptized, ate, and became strengthened (vv. 17-18). He then spent several days with the disciples in Damascus (v. 19). During this time, he immediately began proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God in the synagogues, astonishing all who heard him (vv. 20-21). Naturally, people were amazed because the one who had once persecuted those who believed in Jesus was now transformed and boldly proclaiming the gospel. However, instead of being weakened or discouraged by this astonishment, Saul gained even more strength to prove, based on the Old Testament Scriptures, that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the Christ, which caused confusion among the Jews living in Damascus (v. 22). So, what was the strength that Saul gained? It was not physical strength from eating more food (v. 19). It referred to spiritual power (Park). In the end, Saul, in his spiritual strength, demonstrated with clarity, based on the Old Testament, that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah, causing perplexity among the Jews in Damascus (v. 22) (Yoo). What exactly was the spiritual power that Saul gained?

I hope and pray that spiritual power may be applied to all souls in our church in four ways. These are the 'Power of Prayer,' 'Power of the Holy Spirit,' 'Power of the Word,' and 'Power of Love.' Spiritual power is closely related to spirituality. So, what does spirituality mean? The spirituality mentioned in the Bible means becoming like the personality, life, and thoughts of Jesus Christ (Internet). In other words, spirituality refers to spiritual qualities or spiritual disposition. Therefore, to say that spirituality is excellent means that spiritual qualities are excellent. Spirituality does not refer to supernatural or miraculous abilities, but rather to moral and character-based attributes. Unfortunately, it seems that many people perceive spirituality as the ability to perform supernatural or extraordinary feats. The Lord has promised to call those who labor and carry heavy burdens to come to Him for rest. He also says that taking on His yoke and learning from Him is the way to find rest for our souls (Mt. 11:28-30). True spirituality can be said to reach the point where one can find rest even while bearing the yoke. The state of being crushed under the weight of the yoke, unable to gather one's thoughts, cannot be called spirituality. The Lord's yoke is easy, and His burden is light, He says. The weight of the cross is never light, but because of love for the Lord, and carrying it out of love for Him, it can feel light. This is the spirituality-based power that underlies spiritual power (Internet). We should yearn for this kind of power. Just as Jesus carried His cross, we should pursue spiritual power that allows us to feel light even while bearing our own crosses. To do this, we need to grow in our knowledge of Jesus Christ. We must strive to become more like Him. Therefore, our church specifically seeks and pursues four types of power: the power of prayer, the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of the Word, and the power of love.

Second, in proclaiming Christ, we can expect persecution.

Look at Acts 9:23 – “After many days had gone by, the Jews conspired to kill him.” D

"After many days," meaning ‘after a long time has passed’ (Yoo), the Jews in Damascus who had heard about Saul's testimony that Jesus is the Messiah, meaning the Christ, conspired to kill him (v. 23). So, they kept watch day and night at all the city gates of Damascus in order to kill Saul (v. 24). Saul, upon learning of this plot, was helped by his disciples to escape the city by being lowered down in a large basket through an opening in the wall, during the night (v. 25). One interesting point here is that the word "kill" in the phrase "conspired to kill Saul" in verse 28 is the same word that appeared in our previous reflection on Acts 8:1, where it mentioned Saul was there, giving approval to Stephen’s death. In other words, before Saul encountered Jesus in Damascus, he had been actively involved in persecuting the early Christians, and now, after believing in Jesus as the Messiah (Christ), he narrowly escaped a plot to kill him by the Jews in Damascus. Isn't that intriguing? The same Saul who had taken a leading role in the stoning of Stephen was now facing the danger of being eliminated by the Jews for boldly testifying to Jesus Christ. Saul began to bear both the mission of testifying to the gospel and the mission of enduring persecution, just as the Lord had chosen him to do (9:15-16) (Yoo). Even Jesus Himself, during His earthly ministry, experienced opposition from worldly rulers like Herod and Pontius Pilate, as prophesied in Psalms 2:1-2. In a similar way, Paul, following the example of Jesus, faced persecution and threats from the Jews who conspired to kill him.

In proclaiming the gospel of Christ, we, like Paul, should be prepared to bear the mission of enduring persecution. In other words, we should be willing to bear both the mission of testifying to the gospel and the mission of enduring persecution, just as Paul did. Here, it is important to keep in mind a couple of key principles regarding the mission of enduring persecution:

We should remember that when we bear the mission of testifying to the gospel in the midst of the great power that God gives us, persecution may also come.

When we look at Acts 9:22, where Saul gained strength to testify that Jesus is the Christ after many days had passed, we learn the lesson that when we bear the testimony of the gospel in the great power of God, we should not forget that great opposition and persecution may also arise. Of course, the phrase "after many days," or "after a long time has passed," in verse 23 refers to the three-year period of Saul's life in Arabia (Park). We can therefore say that the lesson we learn about enduring persecution is that it may come after a period of spiritual training in the wilderness, just as in the case of Saul. Ultimately, we should expect temptations, persecution, and suffering to arise, just as Jesus faced them in the wilderness after His spiritual training, and just as Saul faced the danger of persecution and threat after gaining greater strength through the power of God.

We should accept, by faith, the truth that enduring suffering for the sake of Jesus' name (v. 16) is a gift of God's grace.

Philippians 1:29 states, "For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him."

Third and last, in proclaiming Christ, we need significant encounters.

Look at Acts 9:27 - "But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus." Because the Jews in Damascus conspired to kill Saul, he had to escape from the city through the help of his disciples and headed to Jerusalem (v. 26). He wanted to associate with (have fellowship with) the disciples of Jesus there, but they were all afraid of him and did not believe he was truly a disciple. At this moment, the Lord granted Saul a precious encounter. This encounter was none other than his meeting with Barnabas. Barnabas, whose name means "son of encouragement," had been isolated and lonely due to his opposition and persecution from the Jews on the outside and the unbelief of the disciples of Jesus on the inside (not believing Saul's conversion). He took Saul to the apostles and shared the account of Saul's conversion and how he boldly testified to the gospel in the name of Jesus in Damascus. As a result, Saul was able to boldly proclaim the gospel in Jerusalem, just as he had done in Damascus (. 29). However, when the Hellenistic Jews sought to kill Saul, he had to be sent off to Tarsus with the help of the brothers once again. Here, there are a few things we should consider:

We should reflect on the negative aspects of fear and mistrust.

In other words, the disciples in Jerusalem were so afraid and distrustful that they did not believe Saul had truly become a disciple, which ultimately led to Saul's isolation. The cause of this was the fear and mistrust of the disciples in Jerusalem. In the end, the fear within us generates mistrust towards others, making it impossible for us to truly have fellowship with them in the Lord. If Saul had not received the help of Barnabas and continued to be isolated from the disciples in Jerusalem, one might wonder what would have happened.

We need to consider positive encounters.

In other words, we should reflect on the invaluable encounter that Saul had with Barnabas. It seems that there were three crucial encounters in Saul's life leading up to this passage: (a) The first and most important encounter was undoubtedly with Jesus on the road to Damascus. (b) The second encounter was with Ananias, one of the disciples, after Saul entered Damascus. (c) Then, the third encounter in today's passage was with Barnabas. We also need such encounters. Of course, meeting Jesus should be the most fundamental encounter, and thereafter, in our encounters, we should have someone like Barnabas, a senior or an encourager in the faith, someone beneficial to us in our service to the Lord.

Like Barnabas, we need to actively pursue encounters.

Looking at Acts 9:27, it says that Barnabas “took” him to the apostles. Here, the Greek verb for "took" is used, which appears 18 times in the New Testament and carries the meaning of "grasping tightly" or "seizing." It is commonly used to convey the idea of "seizing forcibly" (Lk. 20:20, 23:26; Acts 16:19, 17:19, 18:17, 21:30, 33, 23:19). This shows that Barnabas did not act on Saul's request or insistence, but rather took the initiative to grasp Saul and lead him to the apostles. While others were afraid to even approach Saul, Barnabas, on the contrary, reached out to him, firmly held onto him, and guided him to the apostles.

What were the results of Saul, now transformed, coming to the early Jerusalem church? Look at Acts 9:31 - "Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers." With the once fierce persecutor Saul converted, the church found external peace. Ultimately, at this time, the church advanced with two crucial elements: fearing the Lord and being encouraged by the Holy Spirit. As they grew in their reverence for the Lord, they also experienced spiritual peace. Moreover, the church saw an increase in the number of believers. This is a result of the enriched inner life of the church. A church lacking in spiritual power cannot secure an increase in the number of believers (Park).

In proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ,

James Kim