Welcome back to
Books of the Book.
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I'm Pastor Mark Howard and I'm
here with my co-host, Jim, and
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he is my brother by the
way. We are studying the book of
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Acts. It's been an exciting book
with a lot of powerful growth in
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the early church. So much
so, Jim, that sometimes we're
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tempted to look at it as some
kind of enigma like this is a
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puzzle how they grew and it's
something that we can't have.
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But I think one of the things
we've discussed here is that the
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book of Acts is the model
for what God wants to see in the
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church today and we have
every opportunity and every
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availability of God's power
through the Holy Spirit to be
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what the church of Acts was. So
we're trying to gain and gather
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lessons from this history of the
early church that would help us
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to be more effective as
God's church in these last days.
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Now our last time together
we looked at Chapter 12 and how
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Peter was miraculously freed
from prison and the surrounding
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events of that. We're
moving into Chapter 13 now and
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transitioning to the ministry
of Paul and Barnabas or Saul and
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Barnabas as it says here in
the text. Before we go into the
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scripture I want to begin with a
word of prayer and so I'd invite
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you to bow your heads with me.
Father in heaven, I thank you
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today for your mercies toward
us. I thank you for this history
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of how the Christian church
began and I pray Lord that you
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would move upon our hearts with
a sense of responsibility that
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we are to carry forward the work
that was begun in such sacrifice
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and commitment as we look back
and see the early church. They
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began a work that now has
been entrusted to each one of us
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including our viewers. Father
I just pray that you would bless
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us as we study and help us to
know how better to apply these
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things in our lives, personally
and corporately as a church in
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these last days. We ask and
pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
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Now we're going to turn to Acts
Chapter 12, the very end of Acts
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Chapter 12, verse 25. We're
moving into Chapter 13. I hope
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you have your Bibles with you.
If not, you might want to grab
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your Bible and follow along with
us. We're going to Acts Chapter
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12 verse 25. The Bible says here
And Barnabas and Saul returned
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from Jerusalem when they
had fulfilled their ministry and
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they also took with them John
whose surname was Mark. Now in
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the church that was at Antioch
there were certain prophets.
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I'm going to pause here and say
that back in Acts Chapter 11,
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Jim, we looked at the building
up of the church of Antioch and
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we saw that Barnabas was called
to come to Antioch because he
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he had heard what was going
on there and he was so amazed at
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what the lay people were doing
in Antioch and he saw the need
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for the apostolic leadership
as well but he went and got Saul
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and called him over and then
they stayed for quite awhile
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working with the church at
Antioch and really establishing
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it. What we see here is a
transition taking place where
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Antioch is becoming home base,
headquarters, for the apostles.
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So when they finished their
ministries, it says here in
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Jerusalem, they came back now
not to Jerusalem, they came back
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to Antioch. And it says that in
the church in Antioch there were
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certain prophets and teachers,
Barnabas, Simeon who was called
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Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen
who had been brought with Herod
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the Tetrarch and Saul. As
they ministered to the Lord and
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fasted the Holy Spirit said, Now
separate to me Barnabas and Saul
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for the work to which I have
called them. Then having fasted
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and prayed and laid hands
on them they sent them away.
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So being sent out by the
Holy Spirit they went down to
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Seleucia and from there they
sailed to Cypress. Now I want
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to comment on a couple things
here. One of the things that we
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have looked at just briefly
before is that when we study
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in the Bible we come down to the
end of the Bible to the book of
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Revelation. Revelation shows
us a picture of the history of
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God's church in Revelation
Chapter 12 and it brings us down
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to the end of time and it points
out some characteristics of
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God's church at the end of time.
It refers to them, at least in
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the authorized version by
the word remnant, in the newer
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translations the rest. In
other words, those who remained
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faithful like the early church.
It makes me think of the passage
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where Jude tells us in the book
right before Revelation that we
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are to contend earnestly for the
faith which was once delivered
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to the saints. In other words,
there is a pure faith and we are
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always to contend for that pure
faith. God says at the end of
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time he's going to have a church
with a pure faith. They're going
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be the remnant, the rest, those
who remain faithful. They're
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going to be like the
early church. Two of the
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characteristics that are brought
out, Jim, are that they keep
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the commandments of God and that
they have the testimony of Jesus
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which a brief study will
show is referring to the gift of
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prophecy. You can look at
Revelation 19:10 and 22:8,9
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kind of gives that understanding
Well, if we're going to find the
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gift of prophecy active at
the end of time you would expect
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that it would have been active
in the early church and what do
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we see here but prophets and
teachers. Sometimes, like for
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example in verse 2 where it says
the Holy Spirit said. We like to
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get this idea that the Holy
Spirit was directly speaking to
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each individual and I think
you mentioned this is a previous
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episode that we really like the
idea of God coming and talking
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directly to us. We don't like as
much the fact that God may talk
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to us through some church
leader. You know, who's he to
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talk to me. I'll get my
information from God myself.
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You know, he'll speak to me
directly if he's going to speak
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to me. That's
sometimes the attitude we have.
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Because the church leaders have
weaknesses and their own views
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and it's harder to
take counsel from them.
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Absolutely. You know we're human
beings and as much as a church
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leader deserves respect there's
still the human element. So we
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read in the book of Acts
and some people will say, Hey it
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says the Holy Spirit said to
them and that's how God worked
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in the early church. But keep
in mind the context. How did the
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Holy Spirit say and who did the
Holy Spirit say it to separate
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to me Barnabas and Saul but the
prophets. That's how God speaks
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to prophets, directly through
the Holy Spirit. But he doesn't
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speak to everybody in the same
way. Now sure his Spirit speaks
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and guides us but let's remember
that the Bible tells us that
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the Bible tells us that there
are gifts of the Spirit and the
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Holy Spirit works through the
gifts of the Spirit including
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the gift of prophecy and the
gift of pastors and teachers.
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So the Holy Spirit chooses
different avenues and we need
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to be willing to work in the
context of those avenues and so
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the Holy Spirit said through
these prophets, separate to me
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Barnabas and Saul for the work
to which I have called them and
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then having fasted and prayed
and laid hands on them they
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sent them away. This fasting and
praying, we see this in another
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place in the book of Acts. This
is something that they did when
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they were very focused and
serious about what they were
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about to do. And they sent them
as missionaries. It really grabs
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my attention that we don't read
much more before this of... we
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see Barnabas but Niger and
Manean and these others, we
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don't read a lot about them
prior to this. In other words,
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they don't seem to be people
very prominent, but Saul is very
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prominent. Who are they to tell
Saul what to do. But we don't
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see Saul saying anything
like that. These leaders in the
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church were spoken to by the
Holy Spirit who said set them
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apart and send them thus and so
and Saul and Barnabas submitted
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to that leadership. Once again
we see a picture of organization
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in the early church and
how God is working through that
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organization. That's
right. So we have Saul
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and Barnabas here being sent
out on their first missionary
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journey. I'd like to pick up
in verse 5 after being sent out.
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In verse 5 it says and when they
arrived in Salamis they preached
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the word of God in the
synagogues of the Jews.
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They also had John as their
assistant. This is John Mark
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that you mentioned earlier.
Verse 6 says now when they had
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gone through the island to
Paphos they found a certain
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sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew
whose name was Bar-jesus who was
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with the proconsul, Sergius
Paulus, an intelligent man.
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This man called for Barnabas and
Saul and sought to hear the word
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of God. But Elymas the sorcerer
(for so his name is translated),
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Elymas would be the sorcerer
that was spoken of earlier here,
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withstood them seeking to
turn the proconsul away from the
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faith. Then Saul who is also
called Paul, so now we're going
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to see a transition. We're going
to start seeing Saul frequently
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called Paul here
in the book of Acts.
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So wait a minute. So you said
Elymas is Bar-Jesus so we're
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talking about the
same character here.
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That's right, that right. But
Saul who is also called Paul,
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filled with the Holy Spirit
looked intently at him and said,
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O full of all deceit and
all fraud. You son of the devil,
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you enemy of all righteousness,
will you not cease perverting
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the straight ways of the Lord
and now indeed the hand of the
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Lord is upon you and you shall
be blind, not seeing the sun for
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a time. And immediately a dark
mist fell on him and he went
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around seeking someone to
lead him by the hand. Then the
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proconsul believed when he
saw what had been done, being
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astonished at the teaching
of the Lord. This is a pretty
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interesting story.
Yeah. I've never addressed
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anybody like that no matter
how cantankerous they were.
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That's right. The apostle Paul
was pretty bold here and fitting
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with the rest of the apostles
here in the book of Acts.
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But what's fascinating about
this story is that we have this
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sorcerer, Elymas, who has
somehow become connected with
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this proconsul or governor
and so he is there as Saul and
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Barnabas are sharing the word of
God and he's trying to withstand
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them. Now this could be pretty
influential because seeing that
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he was a sorcerer and was
connected, that means that
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somehow he had shown attributes
of special supernatural ability
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or he was able to accomplish
things that were above what
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would be humanly possible
and so when he withstood that
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probably caused the proconsul to
question, wait a minute, is this
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really of God. It makes
sense what Saul and Barnabas are
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saying but is this really true?
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Because Elymas had
had his confidence.
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That exactly right, and he
gained that confidence through
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that supernatural ability. We
need to be really careful about
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that. Supernatural ability
does not necessarily mean that
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something is of God. We've
mentioned that before. It's a
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common theme here in the book of
Acts. But it makes me think of a
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couple passages of scripture
that we really need to take heed
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to. One is in Matthew 24 and I'd
like to look at that one. This
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is Jesus speaking in Matthew
24 about the end of time and the
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types of things we should look
out for and in verse 24 he says,
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For false christs and false
prophets will rise and show
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great signs and wonders,
supernatural things, to do what?
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To deceive, if possible, even
the elect. So he says, hey, at
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the end of time what's going
to be used to deceive people is
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supernatural powers and miracles
signs and wonders. Then if you
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look in Revelation Chapter
13 it speaks of this power that
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causes people to worship the
beast and receive the mark of
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the beast and it says in verse
14 of Revelation 13, And he
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deceives those who dwell on the
earth by those signs which he
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was granted to do in the sight
of the beast. So the deception
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at the end of time will
happen by signs and supernatural
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miracles. That's the first point
But secondly, we're thankful
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that God has a supernatural
power that always exceeds that
00:12:06.24\00:12:10.29
of the devil and those that
he instigates. There are certain
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things that God allows, but he
can always conquer or give more
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than what we see here in
Acts or in any situation of
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supernatural powers. So in light
of that I think we need to look
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just briefly at the book
of Exodus Chapter 7. In Exodus
00:12:28.22\00:12:31.85
Chapter 7 we have a fantastic
story in which Moses is called
00:12:31.89\00:12:37.16
to go before Pharaoh to begin
setting the people of Israel
00:12:37.19\00:12:41.98
free from slavery and bondage.
So Aaron is instructed, Moses'
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brother to cast his rod down
in front of Pharaoh to show that
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he's sent of God and it says in
Exodus 7 and verse 8, Then the
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Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron
saying, When Pharaoh speaks to
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you saying show a miracle for
yourselves then you shall say to
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Aaron, Take your rod and cast it
before Pharaoh and let it become
00:13:05.48\00:13:09.08
a serpent. So Moses and Aaron
went in to Pharaoh and they did
00:13:09.11\00:13:12.68
so just as the Lord commanded.
And Aaron cast down his rod
00:13:12.71\00:13:15.86
before Pharaoh and before his
servants and it became a serpent
00:13:15.90\00:13:19.75
but Pharaoh also called the wise
men and the sorcerers, Okay so
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this is exactly what Elymas was
in the book of Acts, a sorcerer.
00:13:23.01\00:13:27.07
So the magicians of Egypt, they
also did in like manner with
00:13:27.11\00:13:30.42
their enchantments. So they were
able to create a serpent out of
00:13:30.46\00:13:34.08
a pole too, or rod or whatever
it was. Verse 12, For every man
00:13:34.12\00:13:37.85
threw down his rod and they
became serpents, but Aaron's rod
00:13:37.89\00:13:41.70
swallowed up their rods. So even
though there was supernatural
00:13:41.74\00:13:45.52
power, at the end of the
day God's power was greater. And
00:13:45.56\00:13:48.75
then you see the same thing
happen as they went through the
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10 plagues of Egypt. The
magicians were able to copy
00:13:51.97\00:13:55.26
certain plagues, but then when
they got to the plague of lice
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they couldn't copy it and then
finally when they got to the
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plague of the boils they
couldn't even stand before
00:14:00.70\00:14:02.50
Pharaoh because they were
covered with boils and couldn't
00:14:02.54\00:14:05.46
do anything to remove them.
So we need to remember that what
00:14:05.50\00:14:08.64
we see here is fitting to what
we will see at the end of time
00:14:08.68\00:14:12.45
and that is that the power of
God, even when we see the power
00:14:12.49\00:14:16.22
of the supernatural in
the enemy, the power of God is
00:14:16.26\00:14:20.82
always greater. And it was
because of Paul and his faith
00:14:20.86\00:14:25.66
in this particular, I don't
want to call it a curse, that's
00:14:25.70\00:14:29.91
probably too strong a word, but
it was certainly a punishment
00:14:29.95\00:14:34.08
that came upon Elymas when he
said, Now the hand of the Lord
00:14:34.12\00:14:37.94
is upon you. You shall be
blind. And this sorcerer who had
00:14:37.98\00:14:41.40
supernatural power was all of
a sudden made to look very weak
00:14:41.43\00:14:45.87
and powerless before Paul and
Barnabas. So that is what really
00:14:45.91\00:14:49.75
the proconsul looked at and when
he saw that he said these words
00:14:49.78\00:14:53.91
that make such sense are of God
because clearly the power of God
00:14:53.94\00:14:58.03
is in charge here. Yeah,
absolutely. Well you know
00:14:58.06\00:15:01.94
the main point here is
that while we know God can work
00:15:01.98\00:15:05.79
miracles and will work miracles
in our day, the enemy also is
00:15:05.82\00:15:08.84
going to work miracles. So
our safety will not be found in
00:15:08.87\00:15:11.89
looking for the miracles but
looking at the message behind
00:15:11.93\00:15:14.92
the miracles. But we
also don't need to be
00:15:14.95\00:15:16.93
afraid of the enemy's
supernatural power because
00:15:16.97\00:15:19.58
God's is much greater.
Absolutely. Well we need to go
00:15:19.62\00:15:21.97
to a break and I hope you stay
tuned. We'll be back in just a
00:15:22.01\00:15:24.56
minute and talking
more about the book of Acts.
00:15:24.60\00:15:26.80