When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.When Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join himself to the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple.And when he was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: and they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.
5 sermons cite this verse
… something like scales, and he received his sight at once, and he arose and was baptized. And then in verses 26 and 27, later on in the chapter. And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him and did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas, good old Barnabas, took him and brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road and that he had spoken to him and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. there may be doubters to your personal transformation. Just keep going. After realizing that it is indeed the same man that they all knew, the people, they ask him, how is it that you can now see? We've known you your whole life. We've known that you've been blind since birth. How can you see? This doesn't just happen. And in verse 11... he gives a pretty succinct version of the story, you know, a very guy version of the story, just necessary details, no extra details, you know. …
… He sees the potential. Acts chapter nine, verse 26. Go back a few verses, chapters. When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him, and they did not believe, and he had truly become a believer. Then Barnabas brought him to the apostles and told them Saul had seen the Lord on the road to Damascus, and the Lord had spoken to Saul, and he told them that Saul had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. I love that. So Barnabas takes his credibility, and he had a lot of it. He was loved by everybody, and he put it on the line for the newly converted Saul and said, listen, I'm vouching for this guy. He's a real Christian. And that's something that we all need in life. We need a Barnabas. Or you need to be a Barnabas. Let me say that again. We all need a Barnabas or an encourager or we need to be a Barnabas encouraging others. …
… He sees the potential. Acts chapter nine, verse 26. Go back a few verses, chapters. When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him, and they did not believe that he had truly become a believer. Then Barnabas brought him to the apostles and told them Saul had seen the Lord on the road to Damascus, and the Lord had spoken to Saul, and he told them that Saul had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. I love that. So Barnabas takes his credibility, and he had a lot of it. He was loved by everybody. And he put it on the line for the newly converted Saul. He said, listen, I'm vouching for this guy. He's a real Christian. And that's something that we all need in life. We need a Barnabas. Or you need to be a Barnabas. Let me say that again. We all need a Barnabas or an encourager, or we need to be a Barnabas encouraging others. …
… resources to encourage, leveraging your influence for the sake of others. I love this passage, this is Acts chapter 9, when Saul came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing he was really a disciple. 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 the Lord. Now this is a fascinating passage of encouragement because all of us have a measure of leadership and social capital that we get to take risks on other people and bring them into leadership when people are suspicious about them. The early church defaulted to fear and self-preservation because the reputation of Saul and Barnabas does something amazing. You know what he does? listens to Saul, meets with Saul. And instead of having a spirit of fear and self-preservation, he goes up to this man who is a least likely candidate to become an apostle and to write most of the New Testament. But he saw something early when everybody else saw nothing. And he said, I want to make sure that this man becomes all that he is called to be. So he absorbs the institutional relational risk and in so doing ends up empowering and leveraging his influence to release the influence of another person. Everybody loves a winner when they've risen. …
… come to know faith in Christ. Listen to what verse 26 says in Acts chapter 9. When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples. This is Saul. But they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple, which you would be the same if he was going out trying to kill your friends and then one day says, well, now I'm a follower of Christ. Well, why don't you talk with somebody else? So listen to what happens in verse 27. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord. The Lord had spoken to him and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name. So Saul stayed with him and moved about freely in Jerusalem. We see Barnabas risking to advocate for this new guy named Saul that nobody else liked. Look over in chapter 11. Look in chapter 11, verse 22. Church begins to grow at Antioch. …