Monday, October 5, 2015

On 10-11-15, Acts 9:19b-31 will be our Adult Sunday School/ Uniform Series/ International Sunday School Lesson, herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as Saul Earns Credibility or Saul Begins to Preach

Saul Earns Credibility
 or 
Saul Begins to Preach
Acts 9:19b-31
October 11, 2015




Commentary 
by
Jed Greenough










Do you ever wish God would reach out and grab you and make you His tool?  Do you flounder about not knowing how “little old you” could be of service to the kingdom?

Yes, I have myself wished that Jesus would appear to me the way He did to Saul (Paul) and give me so much clarity of purpose.  It has not happened.

But when we read this account of Saul we see that Saul in his convictions was both feared and listened to because of his past.

It has been the most effective of tools to witness through our personal testimony but though we may want what happened to Saul happen to us we fail to witness.

When people know that you were healed miraculously, when they hear you were a criminal, when they know you were a drug addict and now you are not it makes a powerful message.  When people know what you were before and see what you are now they want the same thing.

Saul had a bad history with these early Christians.  They rightfully questioned the veracity of his testimony and people who know of you might do the same thing especially if you were notorious in your ways.

In today’s scripture we see that when threatened Saul kept at it.  He may have had to flee from place to place at times but eventually the truth of his conversion became evident and the success came.

I am certainly grateful for those who do not shirk from telling about the conversion in their life because there are a whole lot of us who let fear of rejection win out over their chance to witness.

There is a verse I love from Acts 5, it is verse 20.  There is a very similar story going on in that chapter like the one we read of today.  In that account Peter and other apostles were jailed for their testimony but God miraculously released them via an angel, He told them to go to the temple courts and, “and tell the people all about this new life.”

“Tell the people all about this new life”  Will you do that?



For Discussion:

  1. Discuss the immediacy of Saul’s preaching.
  2. Discuss the reasons you think God would have called Saul.
  3. Discuss the use of the words powerful and baffled from verse 22.
  4. Discuss the plan among some of the Jews to kill Saul.
  5. In 2 Corinthians 11:33 Paul mentions his being lowered in a basket as mentioned in verse 25.
  6. Discuss the disciples of Jerusalem not letting Saul join them.
  7. Discuss what Barnabas did.
  8. Were Hellenistic Jews practicing Jews or did they take on more than the Greek language?  If they were not Jews in the true sense why would they want him dead?










Upcoming Lessons


10-18-15   Peter Takes a Risk or Peter Preaches to Gentiles     Acts 10:24-38
10-25-15   Trusting the Spirit or Peter Defends His Actions    Acts 11:1-18











Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved

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