Acts 7:54-60
The Stoning of Stephen
54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.
Acts 8:1-3
1 And Saul approved of their killing him.
The Church Persecuted and Scattered
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.
Acts 9:1-22
Saul’s Conversion
1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.
11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem
Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn't he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.
Acts 17:1-34
In Thessalonica
1 When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead.“This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said. 4 Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.
5 But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. 6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, 7 and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.” 8 When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. 9 Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.
In Berea
10 As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12 As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.
13 But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. 14 The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. 15 Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.
In Athens
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” 33 At that, Paul left the Council. 34 Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.
Paul went from city to city offering his opinions and arguments on his belief in God and a Messiah who fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies...He went about his way in a pleasant and compassionate way as he met new believers...Now he had not always been like this toward the teachers of Jesus and those who had faith in Jesus...Paul was at the stoning of the Christian Martyr, Stephen...And as the witnesses were stoning Stephen, they laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul, who was later also known as Paul...And Saul approved of their killing Stephen...The Church persecuted and scattered on that day and a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria...Paul and those who did not believe in Jesus wanted His followers scattered throughout other nations...Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him...But Saul began to destroy the church...Going from house to house, Paul would drag off both men and women and put them in prison...Paul was very much against Jesus at that time...But Jesus would change all that and on the road to Damascus...Jesus converted Paul to follow Him on his trip to Damascus...And Paul did follow Him, and quickly began to preach about his new found belief in Jesus in Damascus...Paul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus...And at once, he began to preach in the synagogues saying now that Jesus is the Son of God...All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn't he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name?...And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?”...Such a quick and sudden change of belief...Yet, Paul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews that were living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah...
After Paul was converted now he went from the one who persecuted those who believed in Jesus, to being personally persecuted by fellow Jews that did not believe that Jesus is the Messiah...In Thessalonica, as was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead...“This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said...Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women...But the Jews that remained as he used to believe, fought him...And these Jews were jealous of him; so they rounded up some bad characters from the local marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city of Thessalonica...One time the Jews rushed to a house owned by Jason in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd to be punished (or worse)...But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, and Jason has welcomed them into his house...They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.”...When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil...Then they made Jason and the others post bond and before they let them go...This group of Jews were not converted and fought Paul throughout his teaching and apologetic work...For years they would defy Paul and Jesus...But Paul was armed with the knowledge and experience that he was once very much like them...He used to go house to house and drag men and women off to prison for believing in Jesus...And now he was being hunted as a Jesus follower and apostle, just like he used to do in trying to put teachers and believers of Jesus in prison...
But now as Paul taught about Jesus, he was more filled with love and a kindness...He would get to know his audiences...While in Athens he visited all the areas of interest and religion...Paul would look around the towns he visited and would study their places of interest and idols of worships...He would look at the gods they worshiped...He knew his audience, and how to speak to them...It was no longer an antagonist and protagonist relationship, it was not a we versus them mentality...Paul would get to know his audience's beliefs and tenderly and kindly speak of their ways, in context with the new Messiah, he would be talking and teaching about...
And this approach worked great as the Father and Son helped Paul, with the Holy Spirit...Once Paul made an important speech on Mars Hill in the Areopagus to its members...Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and gave this great speech: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious...For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god...So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you...“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands...And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything...Rather, He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else...From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands...God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us...‘For in Him we live and move and have our being...’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’...“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill...In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent...For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed...He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”...
Proof as Paul studied the Bible was the resurrection of the Man that He had sent to earth...
Paul has given them the overview of the Messiah that God sent and His name is Jesus...Paul studied the cities and towns he visited, and got to know the people's ways, sometimes by going to the homes of the curious people who wanted to know about Jesus, also by going to the local marketplaces, also by walking around the towns and observing the idols and their religious practices, and by knowing the local interests and ways as much as he could...He had certainly changed from the tough, hard, mean, unkind Pharisee, who watched Stephen get stoned and die, to his speech in Athens...There were people who used to be afraid of Paul, like Ananias...But Ananias would see a vision from our LORD, and was told to help Paul...Jesus had chosen Paul be His chosen instrument to proclaim His name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel...Jesus would show Paul, as he traveled, how much he must suffer for His name...And suffer he did along the way...
But Paul also was very much the genius in organizing and getting his point across about the Messiah...Being a Pharisee, and knowing the Old Testament and being the student that he was on the Scriptures, Paul knew that the Messiah, to be the One who was to come, the Christ would have to fulfill the Old Testament prophecies...And in Paul's mind and Paul's studies he had determined that Jesus had fulfilled the prophecies and is the Messiah...And it was part of Paul's custom to go to the local town's Synagogues and reason with those who were studying there...For instance in Thessalonica, as was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on different Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead...“This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said....Paul quickly knew after being converted by Jesus, that He had resurrected and He was the Christ...Jesus had rose from the dead and chose Paul as a vessel to teach others about Him...And no doubt in the three days that he was blinded by Jesus, he thought all he could about what was happening...I bet Paul remembered those parts in the Scripture that Jesus had fulfilled to be the Messiah...And over his life, Paul grew more and more powerful and wiser in His knowledge of Jesus...And over his life he preached, taught, and proved that Jesus is the Messiah...