Then Saul, who was also 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. 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 him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.
The proconsul, a Roman official named Sergius Paulus, who lived on the island of Cyprus was a man who was seeking God. Typical of the officials of his time, he kept in his household his own private sorcerer, (his resident psychic or fortune teller or astrologer, if you will). This sorcerer, Bar-Jesus (or Elymas) had a great position. He was close to the proconsul and exercised a good deal of power as far as his powerful boss’s life was concerned. Bar-Jesus was not at all happy when Sergius Paulus summoned Paul, wanting to hear the word of God. So Bar-Jesus did everything he could to oppose Paul’s presence and to keep his boss from hearing what Paul had to say.
Paul was in an uncomfortable position. He had been invited into Sergius Paulus’ home, but one of the most important and influential people there was making Paul’s job quite difficult. Paul had two choices. He could be polite, enjoy a social visit, then leave. Or Paul could confront Bar-Jesus with the evil that controlled the other man. Led by the Holy Spirit, Paul chose the latter course of action. The final result?…. Sergius Paulus was saved.
Many times in our lives we are confronted with the same choice as Paul. Sometimes the best course of action is to just be polite and leave. Other times, confrontation is called for. The only way we can know which course of action to choose is through the prompting of the Holy Spirit. And the only way we can distinguish what the Holy Spirit wants us to do is to stay so in tune to Him that we recognize His voice when He speaks.
Start getting on His wave-length today. Spend time in the Word and in prayer every day so that you will know which path to take - and have the courage to take the right one – when choices are presented.
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7 NIV
Peter was in what seemed to be the most hopeless of situations. James, the brother of John, had been executed. Upon seeing how happy this made the Jews, Herod had Peter arrested, most likely planning to execute him, too. But Herod, not wanting to anger the Jews, planned to wait until after Passover to do this evil deed. So he had Peter placed in the most secure location possible. Chained with two chains, guarded by at least four men, possibly more, there seemed to be little hope that Peter would be released. In fact, Peter most likely saw his situation as totally hopeless. There was no way out. Right after Passover, Peter would be executed. Done deal.
But Herod had not taken into consideration the power of God, or the power of prayer. Many, many prayers were being offered for Peter’s release. And Peter was freed, in a miraculous and spectacular fashion.
What is your current situation? Is it as seemingly hopeless as Peter’s? Are you bound by the chains of sin or surrounded by enemies or devastating circumstances with no “earthly” way out? If so, remember Peter. Remember what the power of prayer did for him. There is a way out, through Jesus. There is no situation that the world can devise that cannot be escaped through Him. There is no power on earth strong enough to withstand what God can do if we’ll just ask Him. Your escape from your hopeless situation may not be as spectacular as Peter’s, and it may not be what you expect… but it will come. Praise God for His grace and salvation, both in eternity and right here on earth.
The first time I read this story years ago, I laughed. When I read it again today, I laughed. Why? Because it presents one of the most comical situations recounted in God’s Word. Comedy comes out of revealing human nature as it really is. And this situation with Peter is a case in point.
Peter was in prison. He’d been put there by Herod who most likely planned to execute him. Herod wanted to make sure Peter stayed put until be could be executed, so he had Peter chained - not with just one chain, but with two. Then Herod placed two soldiers on either side of him and sentries at the entrance to the prison. There’s no way anybody could get past all that, right? But Herod wasn’t planning on God’s intervention. Herod probably didn’t believe in angels… nor did Herod understand the power of prayer.
But the whole church was praying for Peter’s release. That’s a powerful thing, when an entire body of believers is praying for the same thing. So God sent an angel to release Peter from prison. At first, Peter thought he was having a vision. Even he, this great man of faith, had a hard time realizing how powerful God really is. But the chains fell away, and Peter was escorted past the guards – apparently invisible, the gate opened "by itself," and Peter was a free man!
The comical part of this story comes when Peter arrives at the home of Mary where everyone is in the upper room praying for Peter’s release. Peter calls out. The servant girl, Rhoda, hears Peter’s voice… but instead of opening the door to let him in, she gets so excited, she runs upstairs to tell everyone that Peter’s been freed. There’s poor Peter, standing outside in the cold, wishing somebody would just open the door and let him in. When Rhoda rushes into the room to tell everyone Peter is free, she’s told to be quiet, because they’re praying for Peter’s release! Their prayer had been answered, but they didn’t believe it!
How common and how typical their reaction is. How many times do you and I pray, receive an answer, and yet don’t believe the answer we receive? How many times are we surprised when God answers our prayers?
Remember this, God answers prayer… every prayer. Sometimes, He says “Yes.” Sometimes He says, “No.” And sometimes, He says, “Wait.” So, the next time He answers one of your prayers, don’t be surprised… be thankful!
It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.
James and John were two of the original disciples. At one point, these two had approached Jesus and asked to sit at His right hand and left hand when He came into His kingdom. (Mark 10:35-45 NIV) Their request sounded like a good idea at the time. They could see that Jesus was a great man. They also realized that He was the Son of God. What could be more glorious or more noble than to sit at His right and left when He came into His full glory? What better place to be than at the side of their Master? But Jesus told them that they didn’t realize what they were asking. They didn’t realize what it would require them to "drink of the same cup" as Jesus. Being granted their request did not hold promise for a wonderful, trouble-free existence. Instead, in order to drink of the same cup as Jesus, they would have to suffer and die, just as Jesus would. And, as for sitting at His right and His left, that honor was not one that Jesus had the authority to grant.
Just like James and John, you and I do not have the big picture. We have only that small, limited amount of the picture that we can see right at this moment. We have no way of knowing or understanding exactly what is in store for us in the next few moments, much less the next days or years. And, many times, when we pray, we make requests that have consequences we don’t truly comprehend at the moment we ask for them. The most common of these is praying for patience.
Many times in life, we find ourselves in situations that require much more patience than we can seem to muster. The natural reaction to this type of situation is to pray for patience. What we don’t foresee is that instead of taking a spiritual hypodermic needle and injecting patience into us, God begins to teach us patience by giving us one experience after another that requires greater and greater patience until we finally learn patience.
It is the same with everything that we pray for. God will grant our requests if we’re praying within His will, but He may grant them in ways that we don’t or can’t foresee. So remember, when you pray, make sure you really want what you’re asking for… and be prepared for what will be required of you when God grants your request.
“For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."
Although the Sanhedrin could not deny what had happened that day, they wanted to put an end to the problem… so they went to confer privately about what to do. Considering their power, they decided the best course of action was to make Peter and John shut up. They didn’t want this attitude spreading. It was a threat to their position and authority. It was a threat to their very way of life. They couldn’t have a bunch of people running around proclaiming beliefs that went against everything they stood for! They had to nip this situation in the bud. They had to stop things before they got started. So they ordered Peter and John to stop talking about Jesus… to keep their big mouths shut. What did Peter say? He said, "Do you think we ought to obey you or God? We cannot stop doing what God told us to do. We cannot stop talking about Jesus."
Peter could have quietly said, "Okay, sir. Whatever you say." Anything to get away from them… and then he could have secretly continued teaching the gospel. Or he could have stopped altogether, preferring to stay safe and sound rather than continue to risk his life. But no matter what, he might have just agreed with the Sanhedrin while in their presence, just for safety’s sake… but he didn’t. Peter was bold in proclaiming the gospel of Christ, even in the face of death. He wasn’t going to be a closet Christian. He fearlessly stood in the most dangerous spot he could stand and refused to bend to the commands of the Sanhedrin.
Pray for boldness in your own life. Pray for the ability to stand in the midst of threatening circumstances and stand up for Jesus. And don’t worry about what you’re going to say. Jesus said, "do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you." Matthew 10:19-20 NIV
"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven." Matthew 10:32-33 NIV
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. "What are we going to do with these men?" they asked. "Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name."
The men of the Sanhedrin were a hard-headed lot. They saw the change in Peter. They saw that this common fisherman could stand boldly before them and proclaim the truth. They saw that the beggar had been healed. They admitted that there was nothing they could say to refute the situation. But their minds were closed beyond that point. They refused to listen to the important part. They refused to acknowledge that they were wrong, and that Jesus - the very Jesus they had caused to be crucified – was the Messiah. Their ears were shut and their hearts were closed off as tight as a drum. There was no way Peter was going to get through to them. He was casting pearls before swine.
Have you ever been in a situation like that? I have. I worked in an office where, not only was I the only Christian, everyone else there was involved in more evil practices than you can imagine. Drugs, pornography, and witchcraft were among the long list of gross habits and hobbies and sidelines. Every sentence that was spoken was generously peppered with profanity. Every thought and opinion expressed was filled with perverseness and evil. They knew I was a Christian. They had found out my first day on the job when I refused an assignment my employer had given me because it went against everything Jesus stands for. I had even offered to leave right then, setting the president of the company straight when he claimed to be my boss, telling him that he was merely my employer and that Jesus was my boss. However, since he really needed my particular talents on staff, he asked me to stay on… so I did. And I went through six months of the worst persecution I have ever experienced. Every day, different employees would actually look for things they could do to try to upset me. As time went by, it became harder and harder to make myself go to work, knowing what I would face when I got there. But I kept telling myself that these people needed the Lord (and they did!) and that I had to stay there and continue to witness to them. Finally one day as I drove home, I had hit the end of my rope. Eleven different incidents had happened in that one day, with the final one at 4:30 in the afternoon being so vile that I can’t describe it to you here.
That night I went home and prayed and began to search the scriptures, looking for guidance as to what to do. And the Lord gave me several scriptures, including Matthew 10:14-16 (NIV) - "If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." That meant, separate myself from them… shake the dust off my feet in repudiation of their rejection of the message of Jesus Christ… turn my back because of their pointed rejection of the gospel. That was not an easy thing for me to accept or to obey. On the practical side, I needed that job. I needed the income. On the spiritual side, I had a hard time with the concept of not continuing to witness to those people. But I did obey, and I did leave. Because it was not me who would bring those people to Jesus - if they should ever come to Him. It was Holy Spirit. I had done all I was supposed to do.
If you find yourself in that same type of situation, pray for discernment and wisdom. And remember…. your job is only to plant the seed. The Holy Spirit is the one who will water it and make it grow.
"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
This statement can arouse more opposition than any other statement a Christian can make. It did for Peter. It still does today. Just try making this statement in a group of people, including even some professing Christians, and watch how many hackles go up. Suddenly, you’re judgmental. Suddenly you’re narrow-minded. Suddenly you become one of those pious, self-righteous, hellfire and brimstone, Bible-beating Jesus freaks. Suddenly, you are trying to single-handedly condemn half the world to hell with your narrow minded doctrine.
But this isn’t a matter of man-made doctrine. It isn’t a matter of interpretation of scripture. It isn’t the same as the debate on whether Saturday or Sunday is the Sabbath. It isn’t the same as whether the world was created in six literal days or over a period of thousands or millions of years. It isn’t the same as the debate over which translation of the Bible is “correct”. And it isn’t about all the other arguments that have arisen over the years that split the Body of Christ into a multitude of segmented denominations. This is a statement of fact made by Jesus Himself. Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6 NIV
Jesus is not just a great teacher. He’s not just another great religious leader. He’s not the same as any other person who has ever lived. No other person is the only begotten Son of God. No other person was born of a virgin. No other person is God Incarnate, the great I AM. No other person fulfilled every prophecy made about His Incarnation. No other person is 100% God and 100% man. No other person died for our sins. No other person rose from the dead and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty making continual intercession for you and me. No other name will cause every knee to bow and every tongue to confess that He is Lord.
Although some may say that this is a narrow-minded view, in reality, it’s wider than any other. Because when Jesus was lifted up on the cross, He spread his arms wide enough to take in the whole world – if only they will accept Him. Praise God that He gave those of us who do believe such a sure and certain way to spend eternity with Him.