So he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out. And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Hellenists, but they attempted to kill him. When the brethren found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus. Acts 9:28-30

Three observations:

Paul spoke boldly in the name of the Lord. The best way to verify that conversion is for real is to be outspoken an favor of Christ and the gospel. In Saul’s case, he literally preached. But even if one is not an open air preacher, our lives must preach Christ as well. This lends credence to the validity of our profession—not only to others, but to ourselves, resulting in assurance of salvation.

But they attempted to kill him. Because Saul was so adept at arguing convincingly for Christ and the gospel, and exposing the folly of opposing viewpoints, they sought to kill him! This is a typical reaction of those who cannot defend their positions. They may not literally try to kill us, but they will resort to character assassination. Isn’t that what Christ’s opponents in the world do in our day? If we make a point, and they have no legitimate response, they call us “haters,” (racists, sexists, homophobes, or any of the other baseless accusations commonly hurled at people with whom the world disagrees).

They brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus. Again, the first response to physical persecution is to try to avoid it. Saul again “escaped” to safer pastures. But he did not stop preaching Christ and the Gospel!