Based on Acts 22:30 – 23:15 (New King James Version)
“The next day, because he wanted to know for certain why he was accused by the Jews, he released him from his bonds, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down and set him before them. Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, ‘Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.’ And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, ‘God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary to the law?’ And those who stood by said, ‘Do you revile God’s high priest?’ Then Paul said, ‘I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’’ But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, ‘Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!’ And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; and the assembly was divided. For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection—and no angel or spirit; but the Pharisees confess both. Then there arose a loud outcry. And the scribes of the Pharisees’ party arose and protested, saying, ‘We find no evil in this man; but if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God.’ Now when there arose a great dissension, the commander, fearing lest Paul might be pulled to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them, and bring him into the barracks. But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, ‘Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.’ And when it was day, some of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. Now there were more than forty who had formed this conspiracy. They came to the chief priests and elders, and said, ‘We have bound ourselves under a great oath that we will eat nothing until we have killed Paul. Now you, therefore, together with the council, suggest to the commander that he be brought down to you tomorrow, as though you were going to make further inquiries concerning him; but we are ready to kill him before he comes near.’”
There are people that think that the Apostle Paul made some mistakes in the things he did, but we understand through the Word, through the things that were written of his life, that although he was not perfect (because only God is perfect), the Apostle Paul hardly made any mistakes, but actually quite the contrary, he said and did God’s will. So, why talk about Paul’s actions? The purpose is not to glorify Paul because all of the glory belongs to the Lord, but rather, it’s to help understand that even though we may be on point with our decisions for the Lord, that does not mean that life will be easy and full of victories like many proclaim and teach. As a principal part of this sharing, we will see that the truth will more than likely bring difficulty and cause divisions, sooner or later.
To start dealing with this issue, we need to see what the Lord Himself said, as it is written: “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” Matthew 10:34-39. Now then, why did the Lord give this warning? Is God’s desire really to cause divisions, to cause pain and suffering, and even for us to lose our lives? No. The will of God is not necessarily to cause us suffering. God is not a sadist. If we see the beginning of things, when He finished His creation, we read the following: “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” Genesis 1:31. God had made everything very good. We don’t see that He established suffering and evil in what He made, but quite the contrary. What changed everything then? Sin. When man fell in sin, death and suffering and problems, and so on entered the world. So, can we say that God made man for suffering? Absolutely not.
Now, why did the Lord Himself say that He had come to bring dissension and problems? Because of the same sin problem, because He knows that the great majority of people will prefer to follow and please their sinful desires than serve God Almighty. For example, when everything was fine and man fell in sin, what happened? The devil tempted man, but he didn’t force him to do anything. This is what we read regarding the events that occurred: “Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” Genesis 3:4-5. There was no long speech given by the serpent. He first planted the doubt in what God said, that they were not going to die. And then, he fed envy for God, for them to want to be like God. And from there, we already know the rest, right? Not much has changed since then in general. The great majority of people continue in the issue of defying what the Lord says, and in their envy for God, because they want to be like God, to have the power to do as they please and for everything turn out just fine. But reality will never change. Satan will never be like God no matter how much he envies Him and tries to sabotage everything God does. And even less, man will never conquer death on their own, and the consequences of sin will continue being the same, for the wages of sin is death, no matter how much man tries to convince themselves of the contrary. This feeling of rebellion and envy is what causes these divisions and problems to those that wish to follow the Lord. This is what causes suffering. That is the price that the Truth of God bears, because we are fighting against dark powers. But also, the great majority of people are more pleased in following sin’s deviations, and they let themselves be easily seduced by their own lusts. That is the struggle we saw in Paul’s life in this passage. Paul had done nothing wrong, but quite the contrary. He was suffering persecution for the Truth, because men desired sin more than the Truth of God.
So then, what should we do if we truly desire to have something that is really worthwhile? Love God despite the circumstances, as it is written: “But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’” 1 Corinthians 2:9. We need to overcome through the Lord, and not be cowardly. For it is also written: “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” Revelation 21:7-8. So then, do you understand that it is more worthwhile following God’s Truth rather than letting ourselves be overtaken by Satan, by those that let themselves be seduced by evil, and even by our own evil desires? Lord bless! John