Exposing Impostors

TBC Book 3, Chapter 19
Acts 12:19-25; 13:1-12
Already the famine was having an impact, and the people of Tyre and Sidon realized they needed a strategy for dealing with King Herod Agrippa. The coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon were dependent upon grain from Galilee—located in Herod’s domain of Judea. Previously their leaders had quarreled with Herod. But now, to avoid having their food supply cut off, they knew they must make peace with him, and they knew who could assist them.
Blastus, a trusted attendant to the king, agreed to help them obtain a hearing for their appeal. Perhaps the meeting could take place during the festival in honor of Claudius Caesar.
On that day, Herod was sitting on his throne, wearing a silver robe that dazzled in the sunlight. So when he began his speech, the people seized their opportunity and played to his ego.
“This is the voice of a god, not a man!” one man called. Others shouted out in agreement. Soon many in the crowd began lauding Herod, as if he were a god.
Herod loved it. And because he accepted their praise—rather than give praise to God—an angel of the Lord immediately struck him with a fatal disease. The pain was so intense that he had to be carried from his throne. Five days later, Herod died.
But the church thrived, because the word of God continued to spread, and an increasing number of people put their faith in Christ.
During this time, Barnabas and Saul had completed their assigned task, delivering gifts from the church of Antioch to help believers in Jerusalem cope with the famine. Then they prepared to return to Antioch, taking with them John Mark, a cousin of Barnabas, to assist them.
Now the church at Antioch had a number of prophets and teachers, including Barnabas, Simeon (called Niger), Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who grew up with Herod Antipas), and Saul. One day while they were fasting and worshiping, the Lord spoke to the church by the Holy Spirit, saying, “Set apart Barnabas and Saul for the work I have called them to do.”
So after the Spirit spoke through the prophets, the church’s leaders continued to fast and pray regarding the word they had been given. Then they laid hands on Barnabas and Saul and prayed over them, commissioning them to go forth, led by the Holy Spirit.
Accompanied by John Mark, the two men traveled to Seleucia then set sail for the island of Cyprus, the destination revealed to them by the Spirit. After landing at Salamis, they first went to the synagogues there and proclaimed God’s word to the Jews in that city.
Over many weeks they traveled throughout the island, proclaiming the word of God and presenting the gospel of Christ. When they arrived at Paphos, a port city on the west side of the island, they encountered a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, referred to as Elymus (meaning “sorcerer”), an attendant for the Roman official Sergius Paulus.
Now the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, was an intelligent man, and when he learned of Barnabas and Saul, he sent for them, because he desired to hear the word of God. But Elymus actively opposed them and tried to dissuade the proconsul from their message of faith in Christ.
Then Saul (whose Greek name was Paul) looked intently at Elymus. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Paul declared, “You are a son of the devil and an enemy of all that is right, full of deceit and trickery! Will you never stop perverting the ways of the Lord? By the hand of the Lord you will now be made blind, unable to see even the light of the sun.”
Immediately, Elymus became blind. He groped about wildly, begging for help. When the proconsul saw this, he believed, and he was amazed by their teachings about the Lord.
Then Paul and his partners departed, eager to see what the Lord was preparing next.
TBC 312
Acts 12:19-25; 13:1-12
Already the famine was having an impact, and the people of Tyre and Sidon realized they needed a strategy for dealing with King Herod Agrippa. The coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon were dependent upon grain from Galilee—located in Herod’s domain of Judea. Previously their leaders had quarreled with Herod. But now, to avoid having their food supply cut off, they knew they must make peace with him, and they knew who could assist them.
Blastus, a trusted attendant to the king, agreed to help them obtain a hearing for their appeal. Perhaps the meeting could take place during the festival in honor of Claudius Caesar.
On that day, Herod was sitting on his throne, wearing a silver robe that dazzled in the sunlight. So when he began his speech, the people seized their opportunity and played to his ego.
“This is the voice of a god, not a man!” one man called. Others shouted out in agreement. Soon many in the crowd began lauding Herod, as if he were a god.
Herod loved it. And because he accepted their praise—rather than give praise to God—an angel of the Lord immediately struck him with a fatal disease. The pain was so intense that he had to be carried from his throne. Five days later, Herod died.
But the church thrived, because the word of God continued to spread, and an increasing number of people put their faith in Christ.
During this time, Barnabas and Saul had completed their assigned task, delivering gifts from the church of Antioch to help believers in Jerusalem cope with the famine. Then they prepared to return to Antioch, taking with them John Mark, a cousin of Barnabas, to assist them.
Now the church at Antioch had a number of prophets and teachers, including Barnabas, Simeon (called Niger), Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who grew up with Herod Antipas), and Saul. One day while they were fasting and worshiping, the Lord spoke to the church by the Holy Spirit, saying, “Set apart Barnabas and Saul for the work I have called them to do.”
So after the Spirit spoke through the prophets, the church’s leaders continued to fast and pray regarding the word they had been given. Then they laid hands on Barnabas and Saul and prayed over them, commissioning them to go forth, led by the Holy Spirit.
Accompanied by John Mark, the two men traveled to Seleucia then set sail for the island of Cyprus, the destination revealed to them by the Spirit. After landing at Salamis, they first went to the synagogues there and proclaimed God’s word to the Jews in that city.
Over many weeks they traveled throughout the island, proclaiming the word of God and presenting the gospel of Christ. When they arrived at Paphos, a port city on the west side of the island, they encountered a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, referred to as Elymus (meaning “sorcerer”), an attendant for the Roman official Sergius Paulus.
Now the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, was an intelligent man, and when he learned of Barnabas and Saul, he sent for them, because he desired to hear the word of God. But Elymus actively opposed them and tried to dissuade the proconsul from their message of faith in Christ.
Then Saul (whose Greek name was Paul) looked intently at Elymus. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Paul declared, “You are a son of the devil and an enemy of all that is right, full of deceit and trickery! Will you never stop perverting the ways of the Lord? By the hand of the Lord you will now be made blind, unable to see even the light of the sun.”
Immediately, Elymus became blind. He groped about wildly, begging for help. When the proconsul saw this, he believed, and he was amazed by their teachings about the Lord.
Then Paul and his partners departed, eager to see what the Lord was preparing next.
TBC 312
"Take up the shield of faith, . . . the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
—Ephesians 6:16-17