The Spirit in Paul

Acts 13:6-12 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 Bar-Jesus 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, and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over Bar-Jesus, 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.
 
PAUL confronts a demon-possessed man named Bar-Jesus, who opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. We don’t know what Bar-Jesus did or said, but he must have been very aggressive against Barnabas and Paul. As the demons had recognized Jesus’ power over them, the demon in Bar-Jesus understood Almighty God’s power was in his evangelists. The unholy spirit knows that one word from God’s Spirit-empowered men will end his authority in Paphos.
   Anointed to remove the demon, Paul speaks, “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. You are going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun.”
   Paul’s words define evil: 1) The sin-guided life is full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Without God’s righteousness, the sinner’s heart only knows the devil’s deceit. Such people can even seem good in their words and actions. But even they are deceived. 2) Evil causes people to think it is good to prevent the right ways of the Lord. In whatever culture we live, there are customs, rules and attitudes that keep us from knowing God’s ways.  
   God has given Paul the power to confront and defeat the evil spirit, and he does so. “Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun.”
   The Spirit strikes Bar-Jesus with the same authority he used to change Saul’s life. Saul had been completely helpless in his blindness. God gave Saul time to come to terms with his sin and with the Lord’s authority. Saul quickly recognized his life was no longer his own. God had chosen Saul, and Saul’s unbelieving heart became a believing heart.
   We don’t know how Bar-Jesus responded to his blindness, but God’s power amazed the proconsul. Hopefully the proconsul would be even more amazed at God’s power to transform this man who wanted to hear the word of God.
   From this point on, Paul becomes God’s dominant evangelist. God has used Barnabas to mentor Saul for several years. It’s now time for Paul to become the primary teacher of the gospel to fulfill God’s amazing call on his life.
   When God calls you, he continues to mature you into the person he has prepared for you to be.