The Ever Expanding Kingdom Of God

 

A mother camel and her baby are talking one day and the baby camel asks, “Mom why have we got these huge three-toed feet?” The mother replies, “To enable us trek across the soft sand of the desert without sinking.” “And why have we got these long, heavy eyelashes?” “To keep the sand out of our eyes on the trips through the desert” replies the mother camel. “And Mom, why have we got these big humps on our backs?”

The mother, now a little impatient with the boy replies, “They are there to help us store fat for our long treks across the desert, so we can go without water for long periods.” OK, I get it!” says the baby camel, “We have huge feet to stop us sinking, long eyelashes to keep the sand from our eyes and humps to store water. Then, Mom, why the heck are we here in the Toronto zoo?”

In Acts 13:1-12 we read about the beginning of the Paul’s first missionary journey.  Barnabas and Saul descended the mountains from Antioch to Seleucia the sea port. John was with them as their helper.  From Seleucia they sailed west across the Mediterranean to the island of Cyprus. Barnabas was the leader when the journey started.

Barnabas was from Cyprus and would have desired to preach to his people. This was not the first time the gospel had come to Cyprus, the persecuted Christian had spread the word there but only to the Jews.  Some of those who started the church in Antioch were from Cyprus (Acts 11:19-20). At Salamis they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues.

The synagogue was a natural starting point. By beginning their ministry in the synagogues, they were able to connect with those who were already familiar with the Scriptures and the prophecies concerning the Messiah. The synagogue setting provided a platform for dialogue and debate, allowing the apostles to present Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies.

Proclamation of the word of God was the central mission of Paul and Barnabas, as they sought to fulfill the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20). The focus on the word underscores the importance of Scripture as the foundation of the Christian faith. Paul would later write “the gospel...is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes... for in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed a righteousness that is by faith from first to last” (Rom. 1:16-17).

Luke summarizes the missionary work from Salamis to Paphos with only a few words; “At Salamis they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos”. Its certain they fulfilled their ministry in every place at which they visited ; but there are no details , no account of what they did or of the souls that were won.

Luke, the author of Acts, is not endeavoring to tell all the incidents of the journey. Many of them would have been of no value to the church today and would have made the history so massive that it would have obscured the more important events of Paul’s journeys. Luke selects those incidents which have their greatest lessons for us. Thus, guided by the Spirit, he has made the record a living Book for us today. We need to give special attention to the incidents Luke mentioned.

John Mark first mentioned in Acts 12:25 was a cousin of Barnabas (Col. 4:10). When Peter was rescued from prison by an angel “he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying (Acts 12:12). He was a valuable companion; he grew up in Jerusalem and was an eyewitness of many of the events in the life of Jesus. He could relate them with special power and clarity.

The phrase “they traveled through the whole island” shows the missionaries’ thorough outreach. This mirrored Jesus’ own pattern of preaching “in their synagogues throughout all Galilee” (Mark 1:39). Paul wrote later “from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ” (Rom. 15:19). Barnabas and Saul fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ In the island of Cyprus.

Luke quickly passes over the ministry in the synagogues of Cyprus and focuses on an incident where Sergius Paulus was the highest official on the Island gets saved. The very fact that he had hired a medium to be his companion was an indication that he was searching for something higher than the material world. When he heard about the arrival of Barnabas and Saul he sent for them.

 But Elymas the sorcerer whose name was also Bar-Jesus opposed Barnabas and Saul and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. Bar-Jesus was a Jew; he evidently knew the teaching of the Old Testament. As a Jew, Elymas should have been helping this proconsul to know the one true God. But, he was a false prophet and a deceiver. False prophets feign to be prophets of God. They perform supernatural things empowered by the devil.

Elymas was an attendant of Sergius Paulus. He had a position of influence and probably financial profit, with the proconsul. He quickly realized that if Sergius Paulus accepted the gospel, his job and access to this powerful man was over. Elymas had Sergius under his control and would keep him there. If the devil can control Sergius, he can control Cyprus because Sergius runs Cyprus.

Now Cyprus has been infiltrated by the gospel and the conversion of Sergius would have a broad impact. When the gospel moved into Samaria the first opposition they met was Simon the sorcerer (Acts 8:9-24). The present encounter with Bar-Jesus marks another vivid collision of Christianity with Satanic powers. Later, when they take the gospel into Macedonia (Acts 16), they will meet a demon-possessed damsel.

The normal life of a believer should be that of being filled with the Spirit. But, here the filling by the Spirit was to specifically equip Paul for a special task-the confrontation with Elymas. This demonstrated the Spirit's role in empowering believers to overcome opposition and perform God's work. It reflects the promise of Jesus that the Spirit would guide and empower His followers (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:8).

The Holy Spirit enabled Paul to see the very heart of Elymas. Paul became the voice of the spirit, an instrument of Judgment. The words that follow are surprising. They would startle the age in which we are living; We are not accustomed to such language. Gazing at Elymas directly Paul said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness”. This was great boldness given that the person being addressed was an attendant of the highest ranking man in the Land.

Deceit is used of a snare to catch an animal, or of bait to trick a fish. The name Elymas comes from two words. One of them means wise and the other means powerful; perhaps Elymas was both. Deceit and fraud,” implies that he was practicing an imposition and that he knew it. Bar-Jesus means son of salvation. Elymas was posing as one who could point people to the way of salvation. But he was a deceiver diverting people from the true righteousness.

Bar-Jesus was not a son of Jesus, he was a son of the devil; Satan “masquerades as an angel of light.” (2 Cor. 11:13-15). Paul exposed this man for what he was. Why did Paul use such fierce words? The severest words of the Bible are reserved for those who stand between men and truth and between men and God. Jesus reserved His most severe confrontation for spiritual leaders who professed to know the truth, but were actually hindering others from the truth (Matt.23:13-32).

Paul said  to Bar-Jesus “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.” The phrase "hand of the Lord" is a biblical metaphor for God's power and authority. Its often used to describe God's active involvement in human affairs . In this context, it indicates that God is directly opposing Elymas the sorcerer, who is attempting to hinder the spread of the Gospel.

The temporary nature of Elymas's blindness suggests both judgment and mercy. The temporary blindness of Elymas parallels Saul's own experience on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:8-9). How strange it must have felt for Paul to cast a temporary spell of blindness upon Elymas. Paul’s blindness seemed to be a merciful thing, giving him time to reflect and repent. Perhaps God was being merciful to Elymas as well.

The proconsul came to faith, in spite of Elymas’ best efforts to prevent it. Here is the irony – the man who sought to keep the proconsul from the faith actually becomes an instrument by which God brings the proconsul to faith. Elymas's attempt to hinder the gospel only resulted in a demonstration of God's power and the furtherance of His kingdom. God's plans cannot be thwarted by human opposition.

Sergius was convinced that Elymas was an impostor and that the doctrine of Paul was true. Sergius belief marked a significant moment in the early church, as it represents the acceptance of the Gospel by a Gentile of high status. The belief of such a prominent figure would have had a considerable impact on the spread of Christianity in the region.

A false prophet misleads people into believing something is from God when it is not. Jesus warned that in the last days false prophets would try to deceive even the elect if it were possible (Matt. 24:24-25). Peter predicted that many will follow their ways and will bring the way of truth into dispute. In their greed these false teachers will exploit you with stories they have made (2Pet. 2:1-3).  These false teachers are everywhere today. The church is losing credibility and is rarely consulted in matters of importance.

Today there are many who are being moved by the charm and glamour of a supernaturalism which is not from God; supernaturalism driven by the love of gain and not the love of man. This opposition to the true faith is one of the gravest peril threatening the Christian faith. The prerogative of striking someone blind was limited to the apostles! But the obligation to confront serious error falls on every believer when the occasion arises. To guard against their deceit one must know the word of God to be able to quickly and easily detect error.

The encounter between Sergius Paulus and the missionaries illustrates how God orchestrates meetings for the purpose of spreading His word. The proconsul was an intelligent man. We often shy off from sharing the gospel with the intelligent people, fearing that they will tear apart the simple truth that we have to share. But many of them are so aware that in spite of all their intelligence, they don't have the answer to the most crucial questions in life.

The change of Saul’s name to Paul occurs here (Acts 13:9). Luke simply records that his name was also Paul. From this point to the end of the book, Luke speaks of him by the Roman (Gentile) name,Paul, instead of the Jewish name ,Saul. This dual naming at the beginning of his ministry to the gentiles highlights the apostle's role in bridging Jewish and Gentile communities. This fulfils the prophecy of being a light to the Gentiles (Isa. 49:6). 

The use of both names underscores the universality of the Gospel message. From this point on there is change of leadership. Paul takes the lead, he now comes to prominence. His action when they came to the court of Sergius Paulus was that of a man taking the lead in the great new movement. We read “from Paphos, Paul and his company set sailed to Perga” (Acts 13:13). Until this point it has been Barnabas and Saul.