THE BOOK OF ACTS PAUL LP11 The Bible gives us little information about the Apostle Paul in his early years. But Paul refers to himself in many places and we come to know something about him. He was born into a pious Jewish family of the tribe of Benjamin. His father was a Pharisee and later in life Paul himself became a Pharisee. His home town was Tarsus. It was a large city, and meeting place of the Mediterranean and the eastern world. There were many different races in this town along with its colony of Jews. Tarsus was known for its university. This was a place where teachers could lecture to students about the thought of the day. The city was a free city. This meant that it was governed by its own laws and not those of the Roman empire. In addition. Roman citizenship was granted to certain citizens of the day. Paul s father was a Roman citizen; Paul was born a Roman citizen. In Tarsus there were many religions. The Roman government recognized the uniqueness of the Jewish religion and granted the Jews special privileges and exemptions. These applied to all Jews who practiced their religion and also to all who were converted. The emperor-worship requirements were modified for the Jews to meet their scruples. Instead of bringing offerings to the emperor and his family in pagan temples, the Jews were permitted to pray for them in their synagogues. Roman laws respected the laws of the Jews. Paul, who was called Saul at this time, was a Pharisee. He was very interested in the protection of the Jewish religion. He saw in Christianity something which interfered with the religion he had been brought up to believe in. About 32 AD a man by the name of Stephen was stoned to death. This was the beginning of the persecution of those who believed in Christ. Saul was the chief persecutor, working in close cooperation with the council, which undoubtedly assigned part of the temple police to help Saul find the Christians, both in Jerusalem and elsewhere. Saul was like a wild beast ripping into the body of the church. He made havoc of it and forced those he found to deny Christ or be killed. Saul soon turned his attention to Damascus, some 150 miles to the northeast of Jerusalem. Since this was an ancient and important trade center, many Jews lived there. Saul sought from the Jewish council authority to transport any Christian he found back to Jerusalem. The Jewish church had the power to move back to Jerusalem any Jew who had moved from Palestine for any reason. Those who had turned Christians were now hunted down. Near Damascus Saul experienced an unexpected turn of events. About noon a very bright light from heaven shone on him. Falling to the ground Saul heard a voice speaking to him. His companions also heard the voice but did not know or understand what the voice said to Saul. Jesus appeared personally to Saul to show him that he was the risen Christ, and the Messiah foretold by the prophets. This confrontation made Saul see that he had to reject everything he had cherished before - his personal holiness as a Pharisee, which he had considered as God s gift; his dream of the earthly kingdom of the Messiah. What he was and had set his life s goal on was now shattered.
As a result of this confrontation Saul was blinded for a few days. He was led by his companions to the home of Judas. God had prepared a man by the name of Ananias to come to Saul and tell him of the mission Christ had for his life. This Ananias did. Ananias laid his hands on Saul, who was then filled with the Holy Spirit, and he regained his sight. After this Ananias baptized him and took him some food. Thus Saul s strength returned. Saul the persecutor was now Saul the confessor. He went to the synagogues and proclaimed Christ as the Son of God. But the Jews didn t want to hear this. The testimony by this man, who had been sent to remove Christians, that Jesus was the Christ, angered the Jews. His use of the Old Testament to show that Jesus was the looked-for Messiah was so overwhelming that they could not answer him. As a result they planned to murder him. Saul s life was in great danger. Since the gates of the city were carefully watched so that he could not escape, some of his friends let him down through an opening in the wall in a basket. That evening Saul headed for Jerusalem, back along the road he had recently traveled as a persecutor of Christ. In Jerusalem Saul met Peter and learned more from him about Jesus. For the next eight years Saul dropped out of sight. He kept active in his missionary zeal but it was not until the year 43 AD when a man by the name of Barnabas came to Tarsus seeking a man called Saul that we hear about him again. Thus Saul went with Barnabas to the missionary church of Antioch, Syria. One of the first things they did was to take an offering to the church at Jerusalem. But there Saul entered into an argumentative discussion with Peter about how one is to become a Christian. Should he first be a Jew and then a Christian or can he be a Christian without the Jewish Law? James, John, and Barnabas stood with Saul. They recognized that he had been called to serve Jesus by bringing the message to the Gentiles. In the church at Antioch were a number of prophets and teachers, men who were blessed with special gifts of the Holy Spirit. From this group Barnabas and Saul were chosen to begin a missionary journey to the west. Now you will need a map on which to follow the journeys of Saul. Look in your Bible or use another reference book. First locate Antioch of Syria on the map. This is the starting point. Taking with them John Mark, Barnabas and Saul left Antioch for Seleucia about 16 miles away. Here they boarded a ship sailing for Cyprus 60 miles to the west. Saul now began to be referred to by another name. Saul was his Jewish name. Paul was the name by which he was known among the non-jews. Every Jew in the Dispersion had such Jewish and non-jewish names. Here Paul becomes a leader among the Gentiles and is known by his Gentile name. Leaving Cyprus the group sailed north to Pamphylia. Here John Mark left the group and returned to Antioch. Paul and Barnabas soon left Perga to make the difficult journey up through the rugged Taurus Mountains to Pisidian Antioch, some 130 miles away. Pisidian Antioch was the chief city of the province of Galatia. As a free city it had an elective form of self-government. Many Jews lived there. Paul and Barnabas went to the synagogue on the Sabbath. Probably they sat on the seats reserved for visitors and distinguished strangers. After the opening prayers and the reading from the Torah and the prophets, the leaders of the
synagogue sent to Paul and Barnabas the question, Do you have anything to say to encourage the people? Paul took this opportunity to speak of Jesus, the Messiah who had come. Paul stood and began to speak. We have a copy of one of his sermons in the 13th chapter of Acts. Read Acts 13:16-41. On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear more. But the Jews were filled with jealousy and spoke out against Paul and Barnabas. As a result they had to leave this city and move on to another. At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went again to the synagogue. Here they spent a long time in teaching and preaching. When the time came for them to move on again, they went to Lystra. Here they were mistaken for gods even though they preached against idol worship. Jews had followed them from Antioch and Iconium and, finding Paul, had him stoned and dragged out of the town, thinking he was dead. Many of his new friends came to him also thinking him to be dead, but he regained consciousness and returned to town. The next day Paul and Barnabas left Lystra and traveled to Derbe. After a short time they retraced their steps and returned to Antioch in Syria. The journey had taken them about 1,400 miles. This trip is known as the first missionary journey. Soon after Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch trouble broke out. Some men had come to Antioch from Judea and taught that if a man is not circumcised he is not saved. This trouble began to spread in the early church. So the church at Antioch sent Paul and Barnabas to the church at Jerusalem to settle this dispute. After the discussion the leader of the Jerusalem church, James, pronounced the judgment found in Acts 15:13-21. Please read this. Note in verse 19 that the Gentiles were not required to be circumcised. Verse 20 places four requirements on them, however. Now Paul and Barnabas again returned to Antioch. The church at Jerusalem sent two men back with them, one of them being Silas who would accompany Paul on his next journey. Shortly Paul and Silas left for Tarsus, Derbe, and Lystra. At Lystra Timothy joined them. Here they shared the results of the meeting at Jerusalem. They journeyed on and at Troas God sent Paul a vision directing him to come over to Macedonia. This was the ancient home of Alexander the Great. Along the way they went to Philippi. Here a woman by the name of Lydia became a Christian. It was also here that a woman possessed by a demon followed Paul and when he drove out the demon the owners turned the town against Paul and Silas and had them beaten and thrown in prison. Despite their lacerated backs and uncomfortable position Paul and Silas sang sons and prayed to God. At midnight God caused an earthquake to throw open the doors of the prison and stocks were unfastened. The jailer was ready to take his life until Paul told him they were still there. The next day they were released from prison. Then they turned to their travels once again. Going over the famous Engatian Highway, they chose Thessalonica as their destination. Here they spent some time teaching about Jesus but again the Jews organized people against them and they were driven out of the town. So Paul went to Berea.
The troublemakers from Thessalonica followed and stirred up trouble for them there but the faithful protected them by the Aegean Sea, and a strong circle of believers became a flourishing church. From here they went to Athens. Athens was a city where people from all over came to hear the latest news. It was a place where one could talk about Jesus Christ. There was a court in this town which had the supreme authority in religious, moral, and cultural matters. Paul and Silas were invited before this court and in Acts 17 we have his speech before the court. Read Acts 17:22-32. Soon after this Paul left for Corinth. This city was the commercial center of Greece. It was here that Paul met Aquila and Priscilla. Their home served as the meeting place for the church. Paul supported himself by working as a tentmaker. After a long stay in Corinth Paul left for home by going through Ephesus and then Caesarea to Jerusalem, and then north to Antioch. Thus the second missionary journey came to an end. After a short time Paul left Antioch to begin his third missionary journey. At Ephesus a silversmith whose business was making idols was worried about this new Christian religion. The Christians didn t worship idols and he was concerned for his business so he stirred up the people against Paul. After things had calmed down Paul left for Macedonia and went over to Greece. From there he traveled to Troas and Miletus and back to Jerusalem, ending this third journey. In Jerusalem Paul was arrested when the Jews incited a crowd claiming that he was saying things against the Jewish religion. Paul was arrested and brought to trial. The things he was accused of were proven to be false but because of the political situation at the time the Roman governor brought Paul to Caesarea and there he stayed under house arrest for two years. Then Felix was replaced by Festus and, seeking to aid the situation between the Romans and the Jews, Festus kept the case open. Paul knew that he must not be moved back to Jerusalem so he demanded to be tried by the Emperor in Rome. In the summer of 58 AD Paul was turned over to Julius, the captain of a troop of soldiers, and plans were made to make the long trip to Rome. The small ship left the coast of Syria and stopped at Myra. Here Paul was allowed to visit with the Christians, the Aristarchus and Luke probably went along. Here at Myra Julius was fortunate to find a grain ship leaving for Rome. The ship must have been in government service since Julius later assumed command. This was a poor time of the year to sail. A storm caught the ship and pushed her off course. The results were that the 276 passengers on the ship were shipwrecked just off Malta and had to swim for shore. All arrived safely and Paul gave thanks to God. Julius made arrangements with another grain ship that had been put into a harbor on Malta to take them to Rome when the sailing season began again. Thus Paul arrived on Italian soil and began the 150 mile walk to Rome. At the 43rd waystone from Rome, Christians came to visit with Paul. After reaching Rome Julius handed Paul over to the proper officials. Paul was allowed to live in a home with a soldier guarding him until it was time for his trail. Soon people came to Paul to hear about Jesus.
During these two years in Rome Paul spoke about Jesus Christ boldly to all people with whom he had contact. We do not know very much about the trail or the end of Paul s life. Tradition states that he was set free but at a later date captured again and this time placed in a prison. When Nero burned down the city of Rome the Christians were blamed and many were put to death. Those in the prisons would have been the first to die.