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, you Child of the Devil, you Enemy of all Righteousness, will you not cease to Pervert the Right Ways of the Lord?
And now, Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall 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. - Act 13:6-12
In the passage above we see Paulus who was trying to Believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ being hindered by Elymas.
Paul's reaction was not: "I guess that is Elymas's right as an UnBeliever."
Rather, Paul manifested the indignation of God as Jesus spoke of here:
But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which Believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. - Mat 18:6
The result was that Elymas was taught a lesson and Paulus became a firm Believer.
Note that Elymas was a Sorcerer. A Sorcerer is a person who perform Evil magic in order to Deceive.
We have allowed America to be filled with Elymus types.
You can call them 'experts', Educators, talk-show hosts, politicians, Government officers, etc. But they are nothing more than Sorcerers.
They are enemies of Christ and the Kingdom of God and should be dealt with exactly as Paul dealt with Elymas.
The first things Paul did was set his eyes on Elymas. He did not speak suddenly but allowed the HolyGhost to fill him with the right words.
The words that Paul spoke were a strong rebuke,
- he described the nature of his spirit, his words and his actions
- he identified him as a ChildOfSatan
- he identified him as an Enemy of Righteousness
- he asked him if he would stop perverting the right ways of the Lord
- he then cursed him with blindness (symbolic of his Spiritual blindness)
Why is this account in the Scriptures?
I believe it is there to inform us how to deal with the Enemy.
We mostly focus our thoughts on Evangelism, Preaching, Teaching, Singing and Ministry to the Lost. And that is a good thing.
But, the Church is to come against the GatesOfHell. In the passage above Paul came against the GatesOfHell which were trying to keep Paulus inside.
We have allowed our Government and the other six mountains of influence (SevenMountains) to strengthen the GatesOfHell.
They are now a powerful Hindrance to the Gospel of the Kingdom. We must deal with the powers that have set themselves against Christ as directly and powerfully as Paul did with Elymas.
Souls are at stake. In America, Freedom is at stake.
I challenge you and I challenge myself to put of the whole Armour of God, take up the Sword of the Spirit (the Word of God) and to headlong into battle against the Elymas spirit in our country.
We can and will be victorious because the same Spirit of God that empowered Paul is ready and waiting for us to offer ourselves as instruments of God's judgment against those who hate Christ, the Lord.
. .. but the people that do Know their God shall be Strong, and do exploits. - Dan 11:32