◄ Acts 9:22 ►
But Saul was empowered all the more, and he confounded the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.
Study Bible
But Saul was empowered all the more,

The risen Christ had changed Saul from a persecutor of the church into a witness of the gospel. The Holy Spirit strengthened him inwardly and equipped him to speak with courage, wisdom, and conviction. His growing effectiveness displayed the reality of God’s grace, for the man who had sought to destroy believers now proclaimed the Lord he had opposed.

Col 1:11 being strengthened with all power…
Eph 3:16 I ask that out of the riches of His glory…
Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

and he confounded the Jews living in Damascus

The Jewish community in Damascus knew Saul’s former purpose in coming to the city, making his testimony especially startling. Saul’s thorough knowledge of the Law, the Prophets, and Israel’s hope enabled him to answer their objections from the Scriptures. Their inability to refute him did not necessarily produce faith, but it exposed the force of the biblical evidence concerning Jesus.

Luk 21:15 For I will give you speech and wisdom…
Act 6:10 but they could not stand up to his wisdom…
Mat 22:46 No one was able to answer a word, and from that day on…

by proving that Jesus is the Christ.

Saul demonstrated that Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled God’s promises concerning the Messiah: His suffering, death, resurrection, and exaltation were not accidents but the accomplishment of God’s redemptive plan. The Scriptures that Saul had once read without recognizing Christ now testified to Him clearly. His preaching joined the central apostolic message that Jesus is the promised King of Israel and the Savior of all who believe.

Act 18:28 For he powerfully refuted the Jews in public debate,…
Act 17:2-3 As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue…
Luk 24:44-46 Jesus said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you…

Persons / Places / Events
1. Saul (Paul)
Originally a zealous Pharisee and persecutor of Christians, Saul experienced a dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus. He became one of the most influential apostles, known for his missionary journeys and epistles in the New Testament.

2. Jews in Damascus
These were the Jewish residents of Damascus who were initially skeptical of Saul's conversion and teachings about Jesus as the Messiah.

3. Damascus
A significant city in ancient Syria, Damascus was a center of trade and culture. It was also the location where Saul was headed to persecute Christians before his conversion.

4. Jesus as the Christ
The central claim of Saul's preaching was that Jesus is the Messiah (Christ), the anointed one prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures.

5. Saul's Growing Power
This refers to Saul's increasing ability to articulate and defend the Christian faith, demonstrating the transformative power of the Holy Spirit in his life.
Teaching Points
The Power of Transformation
Saul's conversion is a powerful testament to the transformative work of Christ. No one is beyond the reach of God's grace, and even the most unlikely individuals can become powerful witnesses for the Gospel.

The Role of the Holy Spirit
Saul's increasing power and ability to confound the Jews in Damascus highlight the role of the Holy Spirit in empowering believers to speak boldly and effectively about their faith.

The Importance of Proclaiming Christ
Saul's focus on proving that Jesus is the Christ underscores the centrality of this message in Christian witness. Believers are called to know and articulate the truth of Jesus as the Messiah.

Facing Opposition with Confidence
Despite initial skepticism and opposition, Saul's confidence in his message serves as an example for believers to stand firm in their faith, trusting in God's truth and power.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Saul's transformation challenge our understanding of who can be used by God for His purposes?

2. In what ways can we rely on the Holy Spirit to empower us in our daily witness for Christ?

3. How can we effectively communicate the truth that Jesus is the Christ in our current cultural context?

4. What can we learn from Saul's approach to handling opposition and skepticism about the Christian faith?

5. How do Saul's experiences in Damascus encourage us to persevere in sharing the Gospel, even when faced with challenges?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Acts 9:20-21
These verses provide context for Saul's immediate preaching in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God, highlighting the radical change in his mission and message.

Galatians 1:15-17
Paul reflects on his calling and the revelation of Jesus Christ, emphasizing that his understanding and authority come directly from God, not from human sources.

Philippians 3:4-7
Paul discusses his background and former zeal for the Jewish law, contrasting it with the surpassing worth of knowing Christ, which aligns with his transformation in Acts 9:22.
Sermons
Christian BrotherlinessJ. W. Burn.Acts 9:17-23
Divine BrotherhoodJ. W. Munday.Acts 9:17-23
Saul ConvertedW. H. Davison.Acts 9:17-23
The New Convert Proving His SincerityR.A. Redford Acts 9:19-22
Saul At DamascusE. Johnson Acts 9:19-25
The Texture of Human LifeW. Clarkson Acts 9:19-30
People
Aeneas, Ananias, Barnabas, Dorcas, Grecians, Judas, Lud, Peter, Saul, Simon, Tabitha
Places
Azotus, Caesarea, Damascus, Galilee, Jerusalem, Joppa, Judea, Lydda, Samaria, Sharon, Straight Street, Tarsus
Topics
Able, Answers, Arguments, Baffled, Bewildered, Christ, Clear, Confounded, Confounding, Damascus, Dwelling, Dwelt, Gained, Grew, However, Increased, Increasing, Influence, Jews, Kept, Power, Powerful, Proofs, Proving, Saul, Strength, Strengthened
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Acts 9:22

     2206   Jesus, the Christ
     5454   power, God's saving
     8162   spiritual vitality
     8348   spiritual growth, nature of
     8425   evangelism, nature of
     8443   growth

Acts 9:1-30

     5108   Paul, life of

Acts 9:20-22

     7755   preaching, importance

Acts 9:20-25

     5817   conspiracies

Library
'This Way'
'Any of this way.'--ACTS ix. 2 The name of 'Christian' was not applied to themselves by the followers of Jesus before the completion of the New Testament. There were other names in currency before that designation--which owed its origin to the scoffing wits of Antioch--was accepted by the Church. They called themselves 'disciples,' 'believers, 'saints,' 'brethren,' as if feeling about for a title. Here is a name that had obtained currency for a while, and was afterwards disused. We find it five times …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

A Bird's-Eye view of the Early Church
'So the Church throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria had peace, being edified; and, walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, was multiplied.'--ACTS ix. 31 (R.V.). A man climbing a hill stops every now and then to take breath and look about him; and in the earlier part of this Book of the Acts of the Apostles there are a number of such landing-places where the writer suspends the course of his narrative, in order to give a general notion of the condition of the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Grace Triumphant
'And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, 2. And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them hound unto Jerusalem. 3. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4. And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? 5. …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Copies of Christ's Manner
'And Peter said unto him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and make thy bed.... 40. But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down and prayed; and, turning him to the body, said, Tabitha, arise.--ACTS ix. 34, 40. I have put these two miracles together, not only because they were closely connected in time and place, but because they have a very remarkable and instructive feature in common. They are both evidently moulded upon Christ's miracles; are distinct imitations of what Peter had …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Directions to Awakened Sinners.
Acts ix. 6. Acts ix. 6. And he, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do. THESE are the words of Saul, who also is called Paul, (Acts xiii. 9,) when he was stricken to the ground as he was going to Damascus; and any one who had looked upon him in his present circumstances and knew nothing more of him than that view, in comparison with his past life, could have given, would have imagined him one of the most miserable creatures that ever lived upon earth, and would have expected …
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration

Paul's First Prayer
First, our text was an announcement; "Behold, he prayeth." Secondly, it was an argument; "For, behold, he prayeth." Then, to conclude, we will try to make an application of our text to your hearts. Though application is the work of God alone, we will trust that he will be pleased to make that application while the word is preached this morning. I. First, here was AN ANNOUNCEMENT; "Go to the house of Saul of Tarsus; for behold, he prayeth." Without any preface, let me say, that this was the announcement …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 1: 1855

Paul a Pattern of Prayer
"Go and inquire for one called Saul of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth."--ACTS ix. 11. "For this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting."--1 TIM. i. 16. God took His own Son, and made Him our Example and our Pattern. It sometimes is as if the power of Christ's example is lost in the thought that He, in whom is no sin, is not man as we are. Our Lord took Paul, a man …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

Prov. 22:06 the Duties of Parents
"Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it."--Prov. 22:6. I SUPPOSE that most professing Christians are acquainted with the text at the head of this page. The sound of it is probably familiar to your ears, like an old tune. It is likely you have heard it, or read it, talked of it, or quoted it, many a time. Is it not so? But, after all, how little is the substance of this text regarded! The doctrine it contains appears scarcely known, the duty it puts …
John Charles Ryle—The Upper Room: Being a Few Truths for the Times

"To Me to Live is Christ"
PHILIPPIANS i. 21. In connection with ACTS ix. 1--18. THERE is no more significant sign of the days in which we live than the interest society seems to be taking in the biographies of great men. Almost all the more popular recent books, for instance--the books which every one is reading and has to read--come under the category of biography; and, to meet the demand, two or three times in each season the market has to be supplied with the lives, in minute detail, of men who but for this would perhaps …
Henry Drummond—The Ideal Life

The Future of Christ's Kingdom First Group of Epistles the First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians Introduction to the Epistles of Paul +Epistolary Writings. + --The
STUDY VII THE FUTURE OF CHRIST'S KINGDOM FIRST GROUP OF EPISTLES THE FIRST AND SECOND EPISTLES TO THE THESSALONIANS INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLES OF PAUL +Epistolary Writings.+--The New Testament is composed of twenty-seven books, twenty-one of which are Epistles. Of this latter number thirteen are ascribed to Paul. It is thus seen how largely the New Testament is made up of Epistles and how many of these are attributed to the Great Apostle. In the letters of men of great prominence and power of any …
Henry T. Sell—Bible Studies in the Life of Paul

The New Testament Text and Its History.
The history of the New Testament text naturally falls into two main divisions, that of the manuscript text, and that of the printed text. A few remarks will be added on the principles of textual criticism. See PLATES at the beginning of this book. [Transcriber's Note: Transcriptions of the Plates are at the end of this e-book.] I. THE MANUSCRIPT TEXT. 1. The preservation of the primitive text of the gospels from all essential corruptions, additions, and mutilations has already been shown …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

Sharon. Caphar Lodim. The Village of those of Lydda.
Between Lydda and the sea, a spacious valley runs out, here and there widely spreading itself, and sprinkled with villages. The holy page of the New Testament [Acts 9:35] calls it Saron: and that of the Old calls the whole, perhaps, or some part of it, 'the plain of Ono,' Nehemiah 6:2, 11:35; 1 Chronicles 8:12... The wine of Sharon is of great fame, with which they mixed two parts water: and remarkable is that they say concerning the houses of Sharon. R. Lazar saith, "He that builds a brick house …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

Caphar Tebi.
And this village neighboured upon Lydda, situate on the east of it. "R. Eleazar had a vineyard of four years' growth; on the east of Lydda, near Caphar Tebi." Of it there is this mention also:-- "They sometime brought a chest full of bones from Caphar Tebi, and they placed it openly in the entrance to Lydda. Tudrus the physician and the rest of the physicians go forth"--(namely, that they might judge, whether they were the bones of men or no; and thereby, whether they were to be esteemed clean or …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

Sources and Literature on St. Paul and his Work.
I. Sources. 1. The authentic sources: The Epistles of Paul, and the Acts of the Apostles 9:1-30 and 13 to 28. Of the Epistles of Paul the four most important Galatians, Romans, two Corinthians--are universally acknowledged as genuine even by the most exacting critics; the Philippians, Philemon, Colossians, and Ephesians are admitted by nearly all critics; the Pastoral Epistles, especially First Timothy, and Titus, are more or less disputed, but even they bear the stamp of Paul's genius. On the coincidences …
Philip Schaff—History of the Christian Church, Volume I

The Knight of God
Heinrich Suso Acts ix. 16 As the song of him who singeth, Playing on a harp of gold, So to me was Christ's evangel In the days of old. Thus across the lake of Constance Went I forth to preach His Word, And beside me sat the squire Of a noble Lord. None in all the ship so knightly, None so bravely dight as he-- "Tell me," I besought, "thine errand Yonder o'er the sea." "I go forth," he said, "to gather Many a knight and noble bold; They shall tilt at joust and tourney, Whilst fair eyes behold. …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

Such, we May Believe, was that John the Monk...
21. Such, we may believe, was that John the Monk, whom the elder Theodosius, the Emperor, consulted concerning the issue of the civil war: seeing he had also the gift of prophecy. For that not each several person has a several one of those gifts, but that one man may have more gifts than one, I make no question. This John, then, when once a certain most religious woman desired to see him, and to obtain this did through her husband make vehement entreaty, refused indeed this request because he had …
St. Augustine—On Care to Be Had for the Dead.

Whether any Preparation and Disposition for Grace is Required on Man's Part?
Objection 1: It would seem that no preparation or disposition for grace is required on man's part, since, as the Apostle says (Rom. 4:4), "To him that worketh, the reward is not reckoned according to grace, but according to debt." Now a man's preparation by free-will can only be through some operation. Hence it would do away with the notion of grace. Objection 2: Further, whoever is going on sinning, is not preparing himself to have grace. But to some who are going on sinning grace is given, as is …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether the Form of this Sacrament Is: "I Absolve Thee"?
Objection 1: It would seem that the form of this sacrament is not: "I absolve thee." Because the forms of the sacraments are received from Christ's institution and the Church's custom. But we do not read that Christ instituted this form. Nor is it in common use; in fact in certain absolutions which are given publicly in church (e.g. at Prime and Compline and on Maundy Thursday), absolution is given not in the indicative form by saying: "I absolve thee," but In the deprecatory form, by saying: "May …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether one Ought to Dispute with Unbelievers in Public?
Objection 1: It would seem that one ought not to dispute with unbelievers in public. For the Apostle says (2 Tim. 2:14): "Contend not in words, for it is to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers." But it is impossible to dispute with unbelievers publicly without contending in words. Therefore one ought not to dispute publicly with unbelievers. Objection 2: Further, the law of Martianus Augustus confirmed by the canons [*De Sum. Trin. Cod. lib. i, leg. Nemo] expresses itself thus: "It is …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

The Beginning of the New Testament
[Illustration: (drop cap T) Coin of Thessalonica] Turn to the list of books given in the beginning of your New Testament. You will see that first come the four Gospels, or glimpses of the Saviour's life given by four different writers. Then follows the Acts of the Apostles, and, lastly, after the twenty-one epistles, the volume ends with the Revelation. Now this is not the order in which the books were written--they are only arranged like this for our convenience. The first words of the New Testament …
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making

The Doctrine of the Church i. Definition; Distinctions.
1. OLD TESTAMENT. 2. NEW TESTAMENT. 3. THE CHURCH; CHRISTENDOM; KINGDOM. II. THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH. 1. IN PROPHECY AND PROMISE. 2. HISTORICALLY FOUNDED. III. MEMBERSHIP IN THE CHURCH. Conditions of Entrance; Characteristics. 1. REPENTANCE AND BAPTISM. 2. FAITH IN THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 3. REGENERATION. 4. PUBLIC CONFESSION OF CHRIST--BAPTISM. 5. ADHERENCE TO THE APOSTLES' DOCTRINE. 6. CHARACTERISTICS. IV. FIGURES UNDER WHICH THE CHURCH IS PRESENTED. 1. THE BODY OF CHRIST. 2. THE TEMPLE OF …
Rev. William Evans—The Great Doctrines of the Bible

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