They Are Hysterical Acts 21: 27-31 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
The Jews in Jerusalem were hysterical when they thought Paul had defiled the temple. Of course, they were wrong. He had come to give them the truth and yet they viciously accused him and tried to kill. Hysteria is a behavior exhibiting overwhelming or unmanageable fear or emotional excess. You are seeing hysteria on public display in our country today. Some are even calling for the death of the president and for bodily harm to his family. Why are they hysterical?
They are angry – Acts 19:29-34 – and when people get angry they are irrational. They are like Shimei who railed on David, a man after God’s own heart [2 Sam 16:5-8]. They’re mad because their expectations are not being met and so they rage [Ps 2:1].
They are wicked – Prov 12:6 – the words of the wicked (words are what they use) are to lie in wait for blood (that’s what they are calling for). You can’t expect the natural man to be civil and moral. They are not new creatures in Christ. Therefore, they are more inclined to be like Cain when they confront truth and righteousness. And they’re more inclined to treat you like Abel.
They are deceived – Prov 12:20 – they don’t know the truth. Their delusion is that we are under fascist rule with this administration. Fascism is a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader that exalts nation above the individual. That’s not our form of government today. They say they don’t want fascism. They say they want socialism or communism. Yet fascism is exactly what they are going to get. Every socialist nation eventually becomes totalitarian. You know from Bible prophecy that the world will be under global fascism with the coming antichrist.
The antichrist’s rise will be accompanied by the delusion that comes to those who don’t love the truth and who don’t believe the truth [2 Thes 2:10-12]. And truth is what is being ignored and attacked day and night in schools, media, universities, politics, and even churches. It’s just like Solomon said in Prov 15:14, “the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.”
They are hypocritical – Prov 11:9 – like antifa. By definition, fascists stand for the forcible suppression of opposition. That’s what antifa does. They are forcibly suppressing their opposition. They censure, malign and forcibly stop people who don’t agree with them. They forcibly suppress their opposition like fascists; yet they call themselves anti-fascists. Therefore, they are hypocrites. Their speeches are hypocritical. They are what they accuse their opponents of being. In other words, they are guilty of the offenses they ascribe to their adversaries.
What should you do?
Trust the Lord – Ps 118:5-9.
Don’t be intimidated – Ps 56:3-4, 11 – they want you to be afraid. Don’t be afraid of them.
Speak the truth – Prov 12:19 – don’t argue with their lies. Jesus didn’t argue with the lies of the Pharisees. He just told the truth.
And realize that you aren’t going to make them go away. You should lead individuals to Jesus Christ, but you are not going to change the opinions of people who are determined to destroy themselves and our country by their refusal to believe the truth. As Solomon said, “It is abomination to fools to depart from evil,” [Prov 13:19].