This passage talks about the Apostle Paul standing in front of a bunch of Jews who held a riot , and wanted to persecute Paul. Before Paul was arrested by the Roman Centurion, he was given a chance to speak to his people. Hence he tried to calm down the protest, but it did not work out and they insisted on him being imprisoned.
Paul’s speech has a lot of answers to the greatest sin he committed.
Acts 22:1-4 “Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you. (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,) I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.”
We see Paul’s past mentioned that he was just like the Jews before he became a saved Christian, he tried to empathize with them and showed them that he was just as against the Christians. We notice that in verse 3 ‘and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.‘, Paul’s past sin of constantly persecuting the Christians was actually a result rooted from his greatest sin; which is his overzealousness in serving God.
This may sound surprising, but the last part of verse 3 tells us that he was serving God from his own perspective, not of God’s. Whatever he did back then before he became a Christian was literally a contradiction to the word of God.
This applies even to Catholics and Christians, who claim how much they love Jesus Christ, but whose actions prove to be swayed from God’s scriptures.
In the Old Testament, Samuel also told Saul, that obedience is better than sacrifice.
The Arousal Of Paul
Acts 22:3-4 “shows us that Paul was aroused, which led to him being overly faithful towards and God committed actions that brought more harm than good . Nonetheless what started the arousal was because of as stated ‘I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers,'”
This indicates that Paul was not born with the overzealousness he had, he was being brought up with and taught by his people to have that kind of zealousness.
The same goes for us, are we also overzealous because of the summer camp we attend, or testimonies of our brethren and sisters?
There is nothing wrong with that, but we need to make sure that the things we are being taught are absolutely righteous and of God.
The point is don’t just go by what we hear, what we feel, what we experience because that is not rooted by the Holy Spirit. Instead, we should go by the word of God.
Galatians 5:24 “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”
This reminds us that we can’t go by our fleshly sensations and allow them to be our guideline to serve the Lord. In other words, not all our works for the ministry will be blessed by God if they are not according to His will.
The Attesting Of Paul
Acts 22:5 “As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished.”
Paul had both evidence and people who could attest to what he did. The problem is that his overzealousness howbeit contributed to his terrible track record when he first became a Christian.
We may be extremely dedicated to serving God. However, 10 years later we may be reminded of what we have done today is wrong and contributed to more bad than good. People attest to what we do or have done, so we need to always be careful, be wise with how we serve the Lord.
The message is, if it hurts others more than helping them, then we need to reconsider our effort and actions. Are we thinking more about others when we help them or are thinking about our selfish gains?
Philippians 2:4-5 “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:”
We need to think like Jesus Christ, it means focusing more on others, and less on ourselves. One thing to keep in mind is that we should not be comparing or even inputting our spiritual conviction on others because everyone is convicted differently.
The Affliction Of Paul
Acts 22:6-9 “And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.”
Despite all that Paul did that was deemed righteous in his own eyes, Jesus took it as persecution. Paul was grieving the Holy Spirit of God, and afflicting Jesus Christ.
This is something we need to always examine in terms of our actions and our works, are we truly serving God or are we crucifying Jesus again?
We definitely do not want to spend the rest of our lives thinking we have done hardcore great works for the Lord, but only to realize at the Judgment Seat of Christ that God treats them as a waste of time and effort.
The Adherence Of Paul
Acts 22:10-11 “And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.”
The problem with some of us Christians who are zealous is that we cannot sit still. We always think that we should be doing something for the Lord. Nonetheless, sometimes God requires us to sit still and wait to be told what to do.
God did not heal Paul’s blindness immediately, because He wanted Paul to learn to adhere and wait for the Lord.
Romans 10:2 “For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.”
We should use this verse to reflect on our pridefulness. If we want to serve God the right way, we need to humble ourselves, listen, and attain knowledge the right way, the Godly way, through His scriptures.
The Assisting Of Paul
Acts 22:12-13 “And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.”
Paul received his sight again and became a great Christian because of Ananias. Paul excelled in his duties as a Christian, but God wanted to teach him humility first, and it is through the assistance of Ananias.
As Bible believers, we need to also be like Ananias, to assist the overzealous or unrighteous Christians towards the right and Godly path. Be a blessing to them, do not judge or condemn them.
However, to be like Ananias, we need to follow the law and regulations of the Church, to have a good report, so that others can depend on our guidance. If our Bible-believing Churches’ good reputation is not reflected in our behavior, then it is better for us to be Paul, to learn.
The Ability Of Paul
Acts 22:14-16 “And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”
God knew and chose Paul to minister to the gentiles, because of his talent, his zealousness, and passion. It was only after he was truly being humbled, God gave him the green light to start serving Him.
1 Corinthians 14:12 “Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.”
What is our spiritual gift? We should be using those gifts to edify the Church, not for our own flesh.
The Action Of Paul
Acts 22:17-18 “And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance; And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.”
This shows Paul somehow repeating the same mistake again. He was not called to preach in Jerusalem, but he acted before God called him to.
It is important for us to slow down and observe, our Lord will show us the right path, and we need to be humble enough to see it.
The Analysis Of Paul
Acts 22:19-20 “And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee: And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.”
Paul argued with the Lord, because of his fleshly analysis, howbeit it went against the will of God. No matter how reasonable we think we can be, it means nothing if it is considered wrong in God’s eyes. Spend time analyzing our flesh, and pray to God to show us.
The Abandonment Of Paul
Acts 22:21 “And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.”
God tells Paul to abandon that place, and move on to somewhere else. God forbids our hardcore efforts in serving Jesus to end up driving us further away from Him.
A great example would be the Pharisees, thinking they were defending our Lord by attacking and persecuting Jesus Christ, but they were rebuked the hardest by Jesus, much worse than the prostitutes.
For all the zeal that we have in serving the Lord, we should be channeling that zealousness in our repentance. Our zeal to repent and get right with God will please God more than our zealousness in serving Him the wrong way.
Revelation 3:19 “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”