Have you ever moved away from your home to study or to work? How did it make you feel? Moving out of our comfort zone could be an adventure for some but for the majority it is difficult and sometimes depressing.
Acts 13: 1-12 said that the Holy Spirit had called Barnabas and Saul (who was also called “Paul”) to be missionaries. They were to leave their church in Antioch and take the “good news” about Jesus to people who did not know Him. According to verse 3, how did the church at Antioch respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit? They obeyed. They sent Barnabas and Saul out.
According to verse 4, the first place Barnabas and Saul went to was Cyprus. Reading from Acts 4:36 we’ll know that this was the home province of Barnabas. Most likely he had relatives and friends living there. But rather than being welcomed, what did they encounter from a sorcerer named Elymas in verse 8? He tried to keep the local leader, the “proconsul” from believing.
Why do you think Elymas opposed Barnabas and Saul? Bible doesn’t say. But it might be fear of losing his influence? Demonic deception? Have you ever-experienced opposition like this before when you tried to share with others about Jesus?
How did Saul (Paul) deal with that situation according to verses 9-11? Paul rebuked Elymas and he became blind for a time!
How did this affect the proconsul according to verse 12? He put his faith in Jesus and was saved!
When people oppose the sharing about Jesus, do you think direct confrontation (like Paul used) is appropriate? Is it better to use a more gentle approach? Depends on the situation. We must be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit & obey Him!
How would you feel if God called you to go somewhere where the followers of Jesus are persecuted? Or
Maybe the Holy Spirit isn’t leading you to go overseas, but He is telling you to share with your neighbors & friends. Are we obeying what He has already told us to do? What will you do this week?
Pray: Ask God to speak to us in a way we can clearly understand. And that we will obey what He tells us to do about taking the “good news” to people from other countries. Pray for opportunities to share about Jesus with influential people you know who are like the proconsul or like Elymas the sorcerer.
Go: To whom will you talk with about Jesus tomorrow?
1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.
2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
4 The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.
5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.
6 They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus,
7 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.
8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.
9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said,
10 “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?
11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord. - Acts 13:1-12 (NIV)
Why do you think Elymas opposed Barnabas and Saul?
ReplyDeleteI kind of can see how he would have opposed them, Iused to be the same way, I knew enough of the bible to twist things so that I could manipulate the conversation and actually swayed christians over to my beliefs and pagan ways back then...
Bible doesn’t say. But it might be fear of losing his influence?
Demonic deception?
I would say it was probably a little bit of both... yes he probably had a whole lot of influence over the proconsul and knew his time was over and would be stoned to death if he started believing what Paul said.
Have you ever-experienced opposition like this before when you tried to share with others about Jesus?
Yes, when I first became a Christian and was saved 4 years ago I contacted a few people that I had turned the other way and they acted more harshly towards me than I felt like I treated them when Iwas that way.
How did Saul (Paul) deal with that situation according to verses 9-11?
Paul called Elymas out and he became blind. Can you imagine how that would be? I kind of see this as a scene similar to when moses' staff ate the pharo's magitians staffs.
How did this affect the proconsul according to verse 12?
I believe he changed his ways and became saved.
When people oppose the sharing about Jesus, do you think direct confrontation (like Paul used) is appropriate? Is it better to use a more gentle approach? Depends on the situation. We must be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit & obey Him!
How would you feel if God called you to go somewhere where the followers of Jesus are persecuted? Or Maybe the Holy Spirit isn’t leading you to go overseas, but He is telling you to share with your neighbors & friends. Are we obeying what He has already told us to do? What will you do this week?