“And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus:
Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man;
who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.
But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.
Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, And said,
“O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season.”
And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand. Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at --- the doctrine of the Lord.”
- Acts 13: 6-12
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The Man with 2 Names – Episode 5
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It has been a while for Barnabas, Saul, and John Mark in Cyprus.
The island was probably selected as the first point in their journey by Barnabas – who was a Levite that was born there..(Acts 4:36), and we know from other sources that the port city of Salamis (their first stop on this journey) was his home town.
Barnabas is revered to this day in that island nation, and is the Patron Saint of Cyprus. Wikipedia has this to say…
“ According to the History of the Cyprus Church, in 478 Barnabas appeared in a dream to the Archbishop of Constantia (Salamis, Cyprus) Anthemios and revealed to him the place of his sepulchre beneath a carob-tree. The following day Anthemios found the tomb and inside it the remains of Barnabas with a manuscript of Matthew's Gospel on his breast.
Anthemios presented the Gospel to Emperor Zeno at Constantinople and received from him the privileges of the Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus, that is, the purple cloak which the Greek Archbishop of Cyprus wears at festivals of the church, the imperial sceptre and the red ink with which he affixes his signature. Anthemios then placed the venerable remains of Barnabas in a church which he founded near the tomb. Excavations near the site of a present-day church and monastery, have revealed an early church with two empty tombs, believed to be that of St. Barnabas and Anthemios. “ – Wikipedia
Despite all the factors being in the new missionaries favor (home country, known language, kinsmen Jews)- , the book of Acts tells us – they go through the island from East (Salamis) all the way to the west, to the port of Paphos – without the record of a ---single--- convert or baptism!
--Not--- the most promising of starts! …. but while they are cooling their heels at Paphos, waiting for a ship, they receive a summons from the deputy of Cyprus, Sergius Paulus.
No they are not in trouble, Sergius wants to hear the WORD OF GOD!
Now we know why they were pushed here. It was God’s intent, that this deputy, this secular, Roman, ruler, become a believer.
The Gospel, very much like this new influenza virus (sorry to bring it up – you are probably sick of hearing about it – but keep reading), is transmitted person to person! AND – that is GOD’s DESIGN!
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not –heard-? and how shall they hear without -a preacher-? And how shall they preach, except they -be sent-? As it is written, How beautiful are the –feet- of them that preach the gospel of peace, and -bring glad tidings- of -good things! “ – Romans 10:13-15, quoting Isaiah 52:7!
The spread of the Gospel is indeed a viral spread – Jerusalem was the Wuhan, Judea and Samaria like the countries of SE Asia, and now it is going International. And this was God’s plan all along!
Listen to Him talking about Israel’s, and His Christ’s role in saving the world all the way back in Isaiah.
“ Listen, O isles {Cyprus was an island!}, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me {Jesus} from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword{!}; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;
And said unto me, ‘Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. …..’
Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God.
And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, -Though Israel be not gathered-, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.
And he said, -----It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: ---------I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.” – Isaiah 49: 1-6
Israel was chosen to be an instrument of God, just as Christ was chosen to be an instrument to not only redeem Israel, but all mankind back to God!!!
Just redeeming Israel would be nice … but it is a “light” thing in God’s eyes --- saving mankind --- now that’s a God sized mission!!
Christ did NOT see Israel gathered in His lifetime as a man, nor even after His resurrection…. Yet HIS WORK was judged acceptable by God, and He is Glorious in HIS strength!!! Hallelujah!
This mission to the gentiles, you will agree with us, could ONLY have started post Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. Christ makes the disciples wait for a further 10 days after His Ascension to start this GRAND phase of the church (reach to the Gentiles) that will be a spiritual battle on this planet for the next 2000 years!
The parallel with a virus is not exact.
The Gospel is not a physical disease, but a SPIRITUAL CURE!
READ AND RE-READ : Christ came to cure our spiritual, SIN problem – to do what we COULD NOT - not to help us do what we already can quite well!
He did not come to ensure we would be fed, clothed, sheltered. God does that already – even allowing poverty and want to exist so that humans could glorify Him by serving those in need. In the unsung heroes today – policemen, firefighters, health care workers, mothers, fathers, friends … and as a community humans have all the tools they need to create a perfect world.
SIN – causes us to fight against each other instead of LOVE YOUR BROTHER – a message as old as GENESIS!!!!!
We are spiritually diseased. We have the technology to look inside our body and create designer vaccines, grow bones, replace limbs – but when it comes to Spiritual science – we are at par with prehistoric man.
Why does a man laugh? Why does a mother love? Why do we break things apart into good and evil? Why do we love the company of friends? These dear readers, are things of the Spirit – Joy , Fear, Happiness, Depression…. We are spiritual creatures – created in Gods image!
A lot of humanity is on artificial Spiritual respirators/ventilators – without even knowing it, and there are terrorists with free range spreading their poison in the population. Its why we need the Spirit to cleanse us of our daily Sin, with the same vigilance that we are washing our hands!
This spiritual spread of the Gospel vaccine is not without opposition.
In this case, it is a war of words in front of the deputy Paulus. Paul, Barnabas, and Mark, would probably have been explaining their position to the deputy, when this Jew Elymas started sticking his oar in.
Elymas is described as … a wise man and a false prophet (the Greek words are “magon” .. from which we get our word Mage, and “pseudoprophetes” – false prophet.). We have met the word Mage earlier, when we see a similar fellow called Simon (Acts 8:9-13) who was looking to buy the Holy Spirit from Peter.
The study of the Law confers wisdom, and it may be that these Jews were genuinely wise people, famed for their counsel (Simon liked to be thought of as a “great one”) – but it is no guarantee that one will be awakened to the glory of God. Simon saw the works of the Spirit, made a mistake repented, was baptized and started to follow God (read about it) … Elymas needed a Saul like persuasion.
Was it that which called Saul to look “intently” at him? Did he recognize a shadow of himself in the rebuttals that he was facing? Did he recognize the evil doctrine that was behind those arguments? (The Word tells us that he wanted the deputy to NOT believe in the apostles doctrine.) In any event, we see Paul dishing out the same medicine he was served…. The Spirit limiting Elymas’ affliction “for a season”.
It is with mixed feelings that the trio finally boards the ship at Paphos. This trip is not going the way they thought it would. The reception here is not the same as at Antioch. There are hardships and opposition…. Everybody is deep in thought, and that is where we will leave them and us, this week.
Just please note - this is the first time the 2 Names, Saul and Paul are listed together! The change is done!
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This pandemic is laying the ground for what comes next – an all-digital world, an elimination of cash as currency, tracking of individual citizens, and most frighteningly – people no longer believing in religion, directing all worship to the shrine of science. We are in a digital, information age.
Science is a blessing and an answer to prayer, proof that God intends for humans to use their brains, but the stupidities we see perpetrated in the name of religion, are what people are going to be sick of very soon – saying - … Religion did not cure a single person…. What good is it?
People are beginning to ask the hard questions – why do we have a defence budget of trillions but no capability to produce masks in times of need? Why do we spend trillions on health care but still deal with the same problems? Why do we bail out the big corporations that don’t plan for difficult times - but think that helping people who are unemployed at this point in time is going to encourage them to remain on the dole? Are you serious?
The times are coming people, keep your eye on the world – Israel has a somewhat unified government – US elections could get postponed… but it’s all in harmony with God’s plan to restore humanity to Himself….
Hallelujah!