Concerning Saul, God was sovereign in preparing him as another vessel to carry His New Testament economy to the Gentile world. God knew that He needed to prepare such a vessel.
The preparation of Saul of Tarsus to be this kind of vessel began in chapter six of Acts. If we read this book carefully, we shall see that chapters two through six are a section that presents Peter’s ministry for Christ’s propagation. Then in chapter six the preparation of another vessel begins. In Acts 6 we have the choosing of seven men full of the Holy Spirit. Among these seven was Stephen, and Stephen’s martyrdom brought in Saul.
As a new vessel, Saul was produced through Jerusalem. This means that he was not a strange vessel produced apart from Jerusalem.
The first step in the producing of Paul through Jerusalem was Stephen’s martyrdom. When Stephen was martyred, Saul heard a portion of the gospel. He may have heard Stephen say, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (7:56). To be sure, Saul heard Stephen “as he was calling upon the Lord and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” (7:59). Saul also heard Stephen cry with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” (7:60). Even though Saul had rejected Stephen and was approving of his killing, he must have considered Stephen’s words.
Saul was a very intelligent and thoughtful person, one who had received a high education. He certainly must have thought about the words uttered by Stephen when he was undergoing persecution and martyrdom. Through Stephen Saul heard the preaching of the gospel. Therefore, Saul was brought in through the persecution and martyrdom of this faithful one.
After the martyrdom of Stephen, there was a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem (8:1), and Saul was devastating the church (8:3). According to 9:1 and 2, “Saul, still breathing threatening and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to Damascus, for the synagogues, so that if he found any who were of the way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” But while Saul was drawing near Damascus, the Lord came in to deal with him. As He dealt with Saul, the Lord preached to him. If we consider the Lord’s preaching to Saul along with the word spoken by Stephen at the time of his martyrdom, we shall realize that Saul certainly was produced through Jerusalem.
After Saul was saved, the Lord used Ananias to confirm him and to initiate him into the identification with the Body of Christ by the laying on of hands (9:17). The Lord did not send Peter and John to Damascus for this purpose. Instead, He used Ananias, who must have been saved in Jerusalem and then migrated to Damascus. This is a further indication that Saul’s becoming a vessel of the Lord was accomplished through Jerusalem.
In Damascus Saul proclaimed in a prevailing way that Jesus is the Son of God and the Christ (9:20, 22). Saul’s preaching was so prevailing that before long he had disciples (9:25). However, in His sovereignty the Lord did not allow Saul to remain in Damascus. Having escaped those Jews who had consulted together to do away with him (9:23), Saul went to Jerusalem (v. 26). He went to Jerusalem because that was the source through which he was produced. However, the saints there were afraid of him, not believing that he had truly been converted, not believing that he was a disciple. “But Barnabas took hold of him and led him to the apostles, and related to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He spoke to him, and how in Damascus he spoke boldly in the name of Jesus” (9:27). Here we see that Barnabas, the son of encouragement, brought Saul into the fellowship of the Body. It was Ananias that identified Saul with the Body, but it was Barnabas who actually brought him into the fellowship of the Body.
Having considered all these matters, we can see that Saul was a vessel produced through Jerusalem. He was not one that was produced apart from Jerusalem. But although he was related to Jerusalem, the environment did not allow him to remain there. Because certain ones were attempting to do away with Saul, the brothers “brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus” (9:30).