And Saul grew stronger and stronger in his spirit and in his words. None of the Jews in Damascus could answer him, as he showed that Jesus us the Anointed One, the Christ? But he did not stay long in Damascus. After a time he left the city, and went away to a quiet place in the desert of Arabia, where he stayed for a year or longer, thinking upon the gospel and learning from the Lord.
And again Saul came to Damascus and again he preached Christ and salvation through his name, not only for Jews, but for Gentiles, all people besides the Jews. This made the Jews in Damascus very angry. They formed a plan to kill Saul, and they watched the gates day and night, hoping to seize him as he went out. But Saul’s friends, the disciples of Jesus, brought by night to a house on the wall, and let him down in a basket to the ground, so that he escaped from his enemies and went away in safety.
THE WALL WHERE SAUL WAS LET DOWN IN A BASKET, AS SHOWN TO-DAY
Saul now journeyed back to Jerusalem. He had left it three years before, a bitter enemy of Christ; he came to it again a follower of Christ. But when Saul sought to join the believers in Jerusalem, they were all afraid of him; for they could not believe that one whom they had known as the fierce destroyer of the church was now a friend to Jesus. Then Barnabas, the man who had given all his land to the church, as we read in Story Three, believed in Saul when he heard his story, and brought him to Peter, and told how he had seen the Lord in the way, and how boldly he had preached in Damascus in the name of Jesus. Then Peter took the hand of Saul, and received him as a disciple of Christ. For a few weeks Saul stayed in Jerusalem; and he preached in the synagogues of the Jews, as Stephen had preached before, that Jesus is the Saviour not only of Jews but also of Gentiles ("Gentiles" was the name that Jews gave to people of every other nation except their own).
DAMASCUS
When Saul preached that Gentiles might be saved in Jesus Christ, it made the Jews angry, just as it had made Saul himself angry in other days to hear Stephen preach this same gospel. They would not listen to Saul, and they sought to kill him, as they had killed Stephen. One day Saul was praying in the Temple and the Lord came to him once again, and Saul saw Jesus and heard his voice saying, "Make haste, and go quickly out of Jerusalem, for the people here will not believe your words about me."
Then Saul said to the Lord, "Lord, they know that I put into prison and beat in the synagogues those who believed on thee. And when thy servant Stephen was slain I was standing by and was keeping the garments of those who stoned him."
And the Lord said to Saul, "Go from this place; for I will send thee far away to preach to the Gentiles."
Then Saul knew that his work was not to preach the gospel to the Jews, but to the Gentiles, the people of other nations. The disciples in Jerusalem helped him to get away from his enemies in the city, and led him down to a place called Caesarea, on the seashore. There Saul found a ship sailing to Tarsus, a city in Asia Minor. Tarsus was Saul’s birthplace and his early home. He went again to this place, and in that city he stayed for a few years, safe from the Jews. He was a tent-maked, and he worked at his trade while preaching the gospel in Tarsus. And we may be sure that Saul would not be silent about the good news of the gospel. He preached in Tarsus and in all the places near it.
TARSUS
Now Saul the enemy had become Saul the friend of the gospel, all the churches in Judea, and Samaria, and Galilee, had rest and peace. The followers of Christ could preach without fear; and the number of those who believed grew rapidly, for the Lord was with them.
All through the land, from Galilee down to the desert on the south, there were meetings of those who believed in Jesus as the Saviour, and the apostles Peter and John went among them to teach them the way of life.
What Peter Saw by the Sea
Acts ix: 32, to xi: 18.
As the church was now planted in many cities throughout the land of the Jews, Peter, who was a leader among the apostles, went from place to place visiting the believers in Christ and preaching the gospel. At one time Peter went down to the plain beside the Great Sea, and came to a city called Lydda. There Peter found a man named Aeneas, who had the palsy, and culd not walk, and had been lying on his bed eight years. Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ makes you well; rise up and roll up your bed."
Then at once Aeneas arose, and was well; and he took up the roll of matting on which he had been lying so long, and laid it away. All the people in Lydda and in Sharon heard of this great work, and many turned to the Lord.
There had been living at Joppa, not far from Lydda, a very good woman, whom everybody loved. She was called "The Gazelle," which is the name of a beautiful animal, like a deer. For her name in Hebrew was Tabitha, and in Greek was Dorcas, words which mean "Gazelle". Tabitha, or Dorcas, was a believer in Christ, and like her Lord, she loved the poor and helped them. By her work and by her gifts.
DORCAS HELPING THE POOR
While Peter was at Lydda, Dorcas was taken ill and died. They laid her body in an upper room, and then they went two men to Lydda for Peter, begging him to come without delay. Peter went to Joppa at once; and when he came to the house where the body of Dorcas was lying he found the room filled with widows and poor women, who were weeping, and showing the garments which Dorcas had made for them. But Peter sent them all out of the room; and when he was alone with the body of Dorcas, he knelt down and prayed. Then he turned to the body and said. "Tabitha, arise!"
LYDDA AS SEEN TO-DAY
And She opened her eyes; and when she saw Peter she sat up. Peter took her by the hand, and raised her up; then he called into the room the widows and the believers in Christ, and showed Dorcas to them, alive and well. The news of this wonderful work, of life given to the dead, amazed all the city of Joppa, and led many to believe in Christ. Peter stayed many days in Joppa, at the house of a man named Simon, who was a tanner, and lived near the sea.
THE HOUSE OF SIMON THE TANNER IN JOPPA AS IT NOW IS
At that time an officer of the Roman army was at Caesarea, about thirty miles north of Joppa, beside the Great Sea. His name was Cornelius; and he was the commander of a company of a hundred soldiers. We would call such an officer "a captain" but in the Roman army he was called "a centurion". The centurion Cornelius was not a Jew, but a Gentile, which was the name that the Jews gave to all people except themselves. Yet Cornelius did not worship idols, as did most of the Gentiles. He prayed always to the God of Israel, and feared God, and gave to the poor; and he taught his family to worship the Lord.
One day, in the afternoon, Cornelius was praying in his house, when an angel came to him and called him by name, "Cornelius!" Cornelius looked at this strange and shining being, and he was filled with fear, but he said, "What is it, Lord?"
And the angel said to him, "Cornelius, the Lord has seen your gifts to the people and has heard all your prayers. Now send men to Joppa, and let them bring to you a man named Simon Peter. He is staying in the house of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea."