May 20, 2022Have you ever been driving and had someone in another car roll down their window and yell at you? If you live in Quebec, you probably have. If you live somewhere other than Quebec, you probably have too. Well, yesterday, I was driving Karen to an appointment in Montreal and a lady (should I say a woman?) rolled down the window of her car and started yelling at me. I had the turn signal on, hoping that she would let our car change lanes in front of her. Although I couldn’t hear everything that she said, I caught the gist of it: our car was not in the turning lane and she was very upset that we were trying to cross a solid line in front of her. She made her point very loudly! We were in the wrong and she wanted to make sure we knew it.
On Tuesday, in our weekly Bible study group on Zoom, we looked at Acts 23 and 24. The apostle Paul was brought before a council of Jewish rulers, comprised of Pharisees and Sadducees. After Paul said “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day” a startling reaction was displayed: “the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth” (23:1-2). Paul then said: “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?” As soon as he said that, some men asked him “Do you revile God’s high priest?” Then Paul explained that he didn’t know that he was the high priest and quoted Exodus 22:28 – “You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.”
When Paul “perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees” (v. 6) – two groups that did not agree on the resurrection from the dead – he declared that he was a Pharisee. In his Study Bible, Dr. David Jeremiah observes: “As the target of both parties, Paul knew he would not receive a fair hearing, so he made it known that he was a second-generation Pharisee on trial for believing in the resurrection of Jesus. In doing so, he caused a dispute in which the Pharisees began to defend his belief in the anti-Resurrection Sadducees.” Then the commander, Claudius Lysias, “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 into the barracks”(v. 10). This was not the first time that the commander had intervened to rescue Paul – in Acts 21:32 and 22:24, he took soldiers to pull Paul away from the mob who wanted to kill him.
In Acts 23:11 we read: “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.’” How encouraging this must have been for Paul! The Lord had spoken to him when he was on his way to Damascus (Acts 9:5) and he told a disciple named Ananias “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings and the children of Israel For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake” (Acts 9:15).
If you haven’t read the book of Acts, I would encourage you to do so. If you have read it, I would urge you to read it again and ask the Lord to reveal many truths to you as you read it.
Scripture for the weekend: “I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.” Acts 24:15-16 (NKJV)
Thought for the weekend: “Conscience may be compared to a window that lets in the light. God’s law is the light, and the cleaner the window is, the more the light shines in. As the window gets dirty, the light gets dimmer, and finally the light becomes darkness. A good conscience, or pure conscience (1 Tim. 3:9), is one that lets in God’s light so that we are properly convicted if we do wrong and encouraged if we do right. A defiled conscience (1 Cor. 8:7) is one that has been sinned against so much that it is no longer dependable. If a person continues to sin against his conscience, he may end up with an evil conscience (Heb. 10:22) or a seared conscience (1 Tim. 4:2). Then he would feel convicted if he did what was right rather than what was wrong!” – Warren W. Wiersbe (from “The Wiersbe Bible Commentary”)