Paul persecuted the church before he was born again. He thought he was doing God a favor, even defending God, because of his view that claiming Jesus Christ was God was blasphemy. He was a zealous Pharisee.
Galatians 1:13 "For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it."
On the road to Damascus, God blinded Paul so that he would see with Spiritual eyes. He had a vision of the resurrected Christ, which caused him to stop his persecution. Annanias restored his sight through a miracle, and he had a radical change of heart and began preaching in Damascus.
This account of Paul and his conversion resonated with me this morning as I pondered what Christians encounter in our day within the church.
Those who are persecuted by those who say they are believers are the ones who proclaim the Word of God and expect it to be followed.
The worst persecutors of authentic believers are those who do not want to obey the scriptures. The believers hearts have been changed by Christ when they trusted in Him, and the pretenders, the modern Pharisees, attempt to silence them for disrupting their man-made traditions, which come in many forms.
There are modern-day Pharisees within the church who make up their own rules, do not seek God, but rather seek the education of men to learn how to manipulate and control the people.
The Pharisees in Jesus day were the religious leaders who counted themselves as superior to the believers, hating the dedication to Christ they saw in those who had been transformed by Christ.
Matthew 23:1-33 "Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:
2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.
3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.
4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
5 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long;
6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;
7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.
8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers.
9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.
10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah.
11 The greatest among you will be your servant.
12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees
13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. [14]
15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.
16 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’
17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’
19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
20 Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.
21 And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it.
22 And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.
23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.
28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.
30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’
31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
32 Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!
33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?"
Today's Pharisees add to God's Word to fit their culture, and they detract from God's Word to fit that same culture. If God's word doesn't say what fits their fleshly desire, they change His Word, and instead of repenting from their sinful nature, they enhance and defend it through their own deception..
These modern Pharisees pretend to have authority over the believers, resist correction from them and refuse to allow them to speak unless they have permission from them.
And worse, they punish and demean those who do not accept their views and even call out their false doctrines and human rules.
The very people who preach against the Pharisees of Jesus' day are the ones who act just like they did, only claiming to love Christ while at the same time denying His Word!!!
