The Word Made Plain

Guest (Female): Welcome to The Word Made Plain with Senior Pastor Tony Clark of Calvary Chapel Newport News in Virginia. Currently, Pastor Tony is teaching a study in the book of Acts. Please open your Bible to Acts chapter 13, verses 9 through 12.

Tony Clark: Now, we talked about last time we were together how this was the place where Saul's name was officially changed to Paul. Not necessarily officially, but you have to understand Paul was a Roman citizen, and because he was a Roman citizen, he had a Roman name, which was Paul. But he also maintained his Hebrew name, which was Saul.

Now, I thought that it was very interesting that Luke, the author, tells us that Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit. Why is that? This stood out to me because Luke didn't want anyone to think that what Paul said or did in the following verses was done in the flesh or apart from God's Spirit. And so, Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him. Because Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit, he had the gift of discernment that First Corinthians 12:10 talks about.

He was able to see past the flesh of Elymas and see Satan working behind the scenes. Just like Jesus operated very beautifully in this gift of discernment in Matthew chapter 16 and verse 23, when he had to tell his disciples he had to go to the cross. Peter spoke up and said, "Far be it from you, Lord, you shall not go to the cross." And Jesus looked at Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan, for you are an offense of me. You are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." And so here is Paul operating very beautifully, and even though Elymas was there, he saw Satan working behind the scenes.

Look at what he said to him in verse 10. If this is not a mouthful, I don't know what is. He said in verse 10, "O full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?" All I can say is wow. What a mouthful. He said that Bar-Jesus, or Elymas, his Greek name, was full of all deceit. The Greek word is "dolos," and it means a snare or a trap. In other words, Bar-Jesus was not what he appeared to be to the people, especially to Sergius Paulus. He was seeking to trap Sergius Paulus and keep him from believing the gospel.

So, not only was he filled with all deceit, but with all fraud. The Greek word is "rhadiourgia," and it's an amazing word. It only appears here in the entire New Testament. It originally meant ease or a readiness in turning the hand to anything good or bad. And so, this Greek word is neutral. It is neither good nor bad. The context tells us how to use this particular Greek word, whether to use it in the negative sense or in a positive sense.

Seeing that it was connected to Elymas, who was full of all fraud and all deceit, this word is used in the negative sense. And so, Elymas had a readiness in turning others toward wickedness. He had an ease in turning people towards evil, like he is doing here with Sergius Paulus. Then Paul called him a son of the devil. What an incredible title to give him. Many people today in our politically correct world would have said, "Well, Paul, you're judging him. Why did you call him a son of a devil? You're judging him."

Remember how I said in verse 9 that Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit? Luke did not want anyone to think that what he is saying to Bar-Jesus or Elymas was in the flesh. It was of God. He was speaking under the inspiration of God himself when he called him a son of the devil. The reason why is because his name was Bar-Jesus, which is Aramaic for "son of Jesus." Paul said, "You are far from being a son of Jesus, but you are a son of the devil instead."

He was Bar-Jesus, but in name only. There are a lot of people today who call themselves Bar-Jesus, or a son of Jesus. They claim to be a son of Jesus, but when you look deeper into their lives, they are a son of the devil. How can I say that? Easy. Because in our politically correct world, we like to say that we're all God's children. No, we're all God's creation, but not all are God's children. Paul said that Bar-Jesus was a son of the devil.

The Bible teaches this in First John 3:10. Some of you need to write this down. First John 3:10 says, "In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother." In other words, this verse is teaching us that there are only two groups of people in our world today. Number one, there are children of God, and number two, children of the devil. That's it. The entire human race can fall into one of these two categories.

How can we know for sure whose child we are? The verse goes on to say, "Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother." Here are a couple of ways right here. You have to ask yourself, do you practice righteousness in your daily life? Do you practice what is right in the eyes of God? Then the second question to ask is, do you love your brother? Or are there some people in your life that you hate? You can't stand? Then through your anger and hatred, you have murdered them in your heart, according to Jesus in Matthew chapter 5, verses 21 and 22.

Then First John 3:12 tells us the characteristics of a son of the devil by giving us a biblical example of Cain. It says when you are like Cain, notice who was of the wicked one, which is a reference to Satan, and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's were righteous. A son or daughter of Satan allows jealousy and envy to murder someone in their hearts because what they did or are doing was accepted and yours rejected.

This is why Cain killed his brother Abel in Genesis 4. So too, you murder other siblings or coworkers because what they did was accepted by the boss or the parent and yours were not. This is devilish activity and shows whose child you belong to. So, Paul called Bar-Jesus a son of the devil. Then he called him an enemy of all righteousness, meaning that he did all he could to twist and pervert the righteousness of God to point people away from the Lord.

Paul was making a reference to how Bar-Jesus was an enemy of all righteousness, how he was twisting the way of righteousness and trying to turn Sergius Paulus away from the faith. This is why Paul said in the last part of verse 10, "Will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?" Unfortunately, Satan has put people like Bar-Jesus in pulpits around the world twisting and perverting the straight ways of the Lord.

The Greek word for perverting is "diastrepho," and it means to distort, to corrupt, or to turn away. How we see church leaders who are really Elymas or Bar-Jesus in disguise, who are perverting and distorting and twisting the straight ways of the Lord. Any time you use the word of God and pervert the word to get people to turn from the straight ways of the Lord, you have become an Elymas, a Bar-Jesus.

There's another scripture in Second Corinthians 11, verses 13 through 15. It said that Satan can transform into an angel of light, and his ministers can transform themselves into ministers of righteousness. In other words, they can transform themselves into Bar-Jesuses or Elymas in disguise to pervert, to twist, and to distort the straight ways of the Lord. There is always a harsh discipline for those like Elymas who try to get people to turn from the straight ways of the Lord.

Look at what happened to Elymas in verse 11. It says very clearly, "And now indeed the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time. And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand." Not only did Paul give him a tongue lashing in verse 10, but now God's hand of judgment will be upon him. And it came in the form of blindness.

Why was this judgment so severe? Because it is one thing for you to go astray, but when you intentionally lead others astray, the judgment is severe. Listen to what Psalm 1, verse 1 says. It says, "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful." When we stand in the path of sinners, blocking the way and keeping them from getting to Jesus, the judgment is severe.

It's one thing for us to go astray, but when we get others to go astray, the judgment is severe. This goes for parents intentionally keeping their children from coming to church, or reading their Bibles, or going to church activities. I've seen this so many times. I've seen where there have been children who have come to church here and they give their life to the Lord. They go back and tell their parents, and their parents are like, "You ain't going back to that church." "Yeah, well, I gave my life to the Lord." "No, you ain't going back. Don't let me catch you reading your Bible either." Wow. This is the kind of judgment that will be severe upon people doing this.

However, even in judgment, God is merciful. That amazes me about God. Even when he judges, he is merciful because, even though he was blinded, it was only temporary. The middle of verse 11 says "not seeing the sun for a time," which could be approximately one year based upon Revelation 12, verse 14. It talks about three and a half years and describes three and a half years as "time" singular, "times" plural, being two years, and "half a time," which is six months.

So you put time, times, and half a time, and that is three and a half years in total. So if Elymas was blinded for a "time," he was probably blinded for approximately one year, showing that even in God's judgment, he is very merciful. I can't help but to believe that Paul chose this judgment thinking of how God had to blind him in Acts 9, verse 8, and how his physical blindness opened his eyes to see how spiritually blind he was.

I believe that he was hoping that the same thing would happen to Elymas. However, Satan is still blinding the minds of people today. In Second Corinthians 4, because remember Satan is a master imitator, whatever God does, Satan will try to do as well. In Second Corinthians 4, verses 3 and 4, it says, "But even if our gospel is veiled, it's veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ should shine on them."

Everyone who does not believe the gospel of Jesus Christ is blinded by Satan and is thus a child of Satan. What a powerful statement. This includes our relatives, our friends, and our coworkers. Satan is trying to do all he can to keep them from the light of the gospel lest they should believe. And so, he will place an Elymas in their way. He will place a Bar-Jesus in their way to try to pervert the straight ways of the Lord.

You try to befriend this person and look for an opportunity to share Jesus Christ, the light of the gospel, with them. Satan will see it, and he will always bring an Elymas or Bar-Jesus to try to pervert the straight ways of the gospel that you're trying to share. This is why it's a spiritual battle. This is why it's our job to spend time daily in prayer for these people who are in our lives, that we can be full of the Holy Spirit and we can look past the flesh. We can look past the Elymas or the Bar-Jesus and see Satan working behind the scenes.

We can be filled with the Spirit and say what Paul said in verse 10. We will have the strength, the power, and the anointing to be able to say what Paul said. That we can be filled with the Holy Spirit and see past that person trying to pervert the straight ways of the Lord, and we can call it for what we see it as: sin itself. Satan trying to blind the minds lest the light of the gospel should shine on them.

The end of verse 11 says when the hand of God was upon him, "immediately a dark mist fell on him and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand." I believe that there are many people like Elymas, blinded spiritually, seeking someone to lead them by the hand to the light of Jesus Christ. The question is, will it be you? Will it be me? Through prayer, I pray that we, through the power of the Holy Spirit, can lead them to the light of Jesus Christ.

Whether you believe it or not, this world is walking around blinded. We see them because we're in the light. We see them walking around blinded, looking for someone to lead them by the hand. Will it be you? Will it be me? Will we point them to the light? Will we grab them by the hand and bring them to the light of Jesus Christ? Or will we be too afraid to do it? This is why we need to be filled with the Spirit of God. Filled with the power of God's Holy Spirit so we can have the power to grab these folks by the hand who are blinded and lead them to the light of Jesus Christ.

Look what it says there in verse 12. "Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord." The proconsul believed not only because of what happened to Elymas. He believed, being astonished, I want you to notice, at the teaching of the Lord. This is why you hear me say so many times: the great need of the church today is teaching.

We need to teach them. Everyone wants to see the miracles and all this kind of stuff. Sergius Paulus wasn't necessarily blown away by Bar-Jesus suddenly being blinded. He was astonished at the teaching of the Lord. Please listen to me. There are many people out there blinded, looking for you to grab them by the hand and bring them here so they can be taught, so they can be astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

I guarantee you Sergius Paulus was blown away that there's a God out there that loved him so much that he would send his son to die for his sin. He was astonished at the teaching of the gospel, which is about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, who I'm sure he's probably heard of, came to this earth to die for his sins. He was blown away. He was astonished. That Greek word "astonished" is "ekplēssō," and it means to be amazed, to be struck with astonishment. He was blown away and astonished that Jesus would die for his sin.

He was amazed at that. There's not a day that goes by that I'm not amazed and astonished. Struck with amazement at what Jesus Christ has done for me on Calvary's cross, how he's forgiven me of all of my sin—past, present, and future—how he's shown mercy to me. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. He's been merciful to me. Are you astonished at the teaching of the Lord? Are you astonished that Jesus Christ died for you?

Are you astonished that your sins are forgiven through the cross of Jesus Christ? Are you astonished at that? I'm amazed. I'm struck with amazement. I am "ekplēssō," amazed that the Lord would do that for me for my sin. I'm more amazed now that I've been walking with the Lord for over three decades. I'm more amazed now than I ever have been that he would do that for me. This is what blew Sergius Paulus away. What else happened? Well, you have to wait until next time to find out what happened.

Let me conclude by asking, whose child are you? Are you a son of God, or are you a son of Satan? You can become a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ. John 1:12 says, "For as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe on his name." And so, salvation is waiting for you in the open arms of Jesus Christ as you repent of your sins and accept him as your Lord and Savior. He will make you one of his children.

Will you come today? He offers salvation for you. Will you come and say, "O Lord, I'm sorry. Forgive me of my sin. I believe you died on the cross and were buried and rose again. Come into my heart. I make you my Lord and Savior. Help me to live for you from this moment forward, in Jesus' name." There are many people who've prayed that prayer and have become children of God. The way you know that prayer took is that it will result in a changed life.

You, too, every day will be astonished. You'll be struck with amazement. You will be amazed that Jesus Christ died for your sins. Children of God appreciate what God the Father has done for them. Will you come today? There's going to be people available to pray with you. You can come and get things right with God today, the God who loves you and sent his son to die just for you.

Let's pray. Father, thank you for your goodness and your wonderful works to the children of men. Thank you, Lord, for the gospel. Thank you for shining the light of the gospel. Lord, there are people here today who have brought their friends and coworkers and family members who are blinded, and they took them by the hand and brought them here today. May they be astonished at the teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. May they be astonished, O Lord, at what you've done for them on Calvary's cross. And Lord, as the light has been shining on them through the teaching, may they receive that light. May they receive that light today, in Jesus' name. Amen.

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