Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
May I begin today with a question? What do you believe the reputation of Jesus is in your city? How do the people of your city FEEL about Jesus, Christianity, the Bible, church going people, or people who call themselves “Christians”?
And then this question… how available in your city are things of the occult like palm readers or seances or channeling encounters with the dead? What level of fascination or interest is there in your city for things of the dark kingdom or the demonic?
Join me please in Acts 13 today, as we travel with Barnabas, Saul and their helper John Mark, leaving the great city of Antioch, sent by the Holy Spirit and the wonderful, multi-ethnic, dynamic church in Antioch, to take the Gospel of Jesus to people who did not know Jesus. Acts 13:4 says they sailed to Cyprus, the Island off the coast of Israel, and home to Barnabas. Luke writes: “When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues.”
Remember Saul was a former Pharisee, well educated in the Jewish holy books and traditions. The Synagogue was probably the place Saul felt most at home, most comfortable. Opening the Torah and other Jewish holy books and teaching from them in the comfort of the Synagogue for Saul was like putting a golf fanatic at Augusta National, or a baseball fan at Yankee Stadium or a Tennis fan at Wimbledon or a Soccer fan at the final match for the World Cup or an artist at the Louvre, or a musician in Carnegie Hall.
Yes, Saul was right at home in those Synagogues, but what Saul proclaimed in those Jewish Synagogues was radical! Saul’s message was simple yet profoundly complex and outright confrontational: Saul claimed that Jesus of Nazareth is the Jewish Messiah! His death and resurrection provide salvation BY FAITH in Jesus, to any and all persons who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus only! This was SHOCKING news!
To Jews in these Synagogues, Saul’s teaching was both fascinating and offensive. Because of his ‘pedigree’ and his vast training, Saul was normally given a fair hearing with respect, but over and over Saul’s experience was that it didn’t take long and the more senior Jews in any Synagogue raised objections to what Saul was saying and eventually opposed him, and then finally ran him out of town, declaring him to be a traitor to God and Judaism!
Luke tells us Barnabas, Saul & John Mark “…traveled through the whole island of Cyprus, until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.” (Acts 13:6-8) What do you see here my friends? Saul had begun his ‘missionary work’ in comfortable places… Synagogues. Religious people gather in Synagogues, for the purpose of discussing religious ideas, so it was very appropriate for Saul to speak the Gospel of Jesus there. But here we have a politician, a well educated attorney who asks for a private meeting to hear Saul’s Gospel. This is a new audience now, and Barnabas and Saul go to meet Mr. Sergius Paulus at HIS invitation, and probably at his home.
Does Luke’s description of the presence of a ‘sorcerer’ stir up memories in your mind? Remember when Philip took the Gospel of Jesus into Samaria, there was a sorcerer named Simon who was quite famous and became fascinated by Philip’s preaching and his miracles. He was eventually confronted by Peter (Acts 8:20-23) Now here on Cyprus island, the Gospel encounters another sorcerer, Elymas, who is advisor to the Proconsul. I wonder if you remember the Pharaoh of Egypt had sorcerers who advised him and actually duplicated some of the first miracles Moses and Aaron performed? (Exodus 7:22; 8:7; 8:18,19) And then king Nebuchadnezzar had sorcerers who advised him and interpreted his dreams, in the days of Daniel, remember? (Daniel 2:2) My friends, I wonder if there are ‘sorcerer’ type people advising the most important people of your city or nation?
What are these ‘sorcerers’? They are people who seek advice from the spirit world, especially the dark spirit world… demons and Satan himself. They may go by the name ‘diviners’ or ‘channelers’ or ‘palm readers’ or ‘spiritists’ or ‘witches’, or in the country where I grew up as a boy, they were called “hungan” and “mambo”. They are people involved in the occult. Do these ‘dark spirits’ have wisdom or power that can be transferred to these people seeking contact with them? Oh Yes! Satan and his kingdom of fallen angels are very, very powerful! Remember Pharaoh’s sorcerers duplicated Moses’s miracles to begin with, and Simon in Samaria had amazed people for many years with his miracles. So it’s not difficult for us to understand why an important government official on Cyprus island would want a sorcerer helping him. I wonder how many modern sorcerers are advising Kings and Presidents and Prime Ministers and University Presidents and Big Business leaders and Big Tech giants in 2021??
Look closely my friends at the confrontation between Saul and Elymas the sorcerer who was trying to deter Sergius Paulus the proconsul, from believing the Gospel of Jesus which Saul was presenting to him. Luke writes: “Saul, who was called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said ‘you are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right. You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? Now the hand of the Lord is against you and you are going to be blind. For a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun.’ Immediately mist and darkness came over him and Eylmas grouped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. When the proconsul saw what happened , he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 13:9-12)
Did you notice something Luke barely mentions, but is very significant? Saul changed his name to Paul here! Many Bible scholars believe his full name was Saul Paulus of Tarsus. The name Saul was undoubtedly given to him by his parents in honor of Israel’s first king Saul. ‘Paulus’ was a fairly common name in Roman educated circles, which suggested one who searches for wisdom and leadership. The Cyprus proconsul’s name was Sergius Paulus. We don’t know exactly why, but from this moment on, for the rest of his life, Saul was known as Paul.
Most Christian literature refers to him as “the apostle Paul”. He was not one of the original 12 disciples, but he meets the qualifications for ‘apostle’, because he was personally called by Jesus to be His disciple on the road to Damascus encounter. (Acts 9:4,5) He was personally trained by Jesus through the Holy Spirit in those 3 years (Galatians 1:11-15), and He was personally commissioned to his apostle role by Jesus. (Acts 9:15,16)
Notice Luke wants us to understand Paul was ‘filled with the Holy Spirit”. It’s the same language Luke uses when Peter addresses the Sanhedrin religious leaders who angrily challenged him to explain how the cripple man was healed. (Acts 4:8) It means a “fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit in power” came upon Paul as he confronted the sorcerer who was empowered by demonic forces. It was a power confrontation… the Holy Spirit in Paul vs. the demons in the Sorcerer! Have you ever witnessed such a thing, or perhaps been personally involved in such a power confrontation? This same ‘filling of the Holy Spirit’ is available to any and every authentic follower of Jesus Christ. It is not reserved only for Pastors or Missionaries or super spiritual people. Such a fresh anointing of the Spirit is normally given by God to a follower of Jesus when unusual spiritual power is needed in a particular situation.
Do you see WHY Paul struck Elymas with blindness? Paul’s description of the deceptive behavior of Elymas was direct and detailed. Deceptive influence on others is a work of the dark kingdom, of Satan himself! Do you see dark forces at work in the educational system of your country as young children are prevented from hearing God’s truth and are being taught deceptive distortions about the origin of the universe or the God assigned gender of a person?
Do you see the high profile, global entertainers advocating the deception of lifestyles totally contrary to God honoring living? Do you see politicians passing laws which impose upon citizens and businesses and schools deceptive untruths which actually erode the integrity of family and a society? This my friends is why Paul, filled and led by the Holy Spirit, took such a strong stand against Elymas the sorcerer advisor to the Cypriote Proconsul! Who is the Paul in our day, in your city or country, taking strong stands against those doing what Elymas was doing?
Let’s just pause right here my friends, and think deeply about these very important truths. Are you protecting your mind and heart, your family, from the influence of the Elymas of our day in your part of the world? Is anyone confronting, in the power of the Holy Spirit, the demonically empowered Elymas of our day where you live?
I invite you to give this serious thought and prayer, and ask God to guide you to understand the reality of this in your world, in our day!
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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