August 20
Bible Reading: Acts 13:4-12
Acts 13:7-8. “He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.”
C. S. Lewis’ classic, The Screwtape Letters, speaks of a fictional correspondence between devils trying to tempt a human soul away from God. The letters are from a senior demon named Screwtape to his nephew Wormwood, who’s been assigned to darken the soul of a man called “the patient.” Screwtape instructs Wormwood to direct the patient toward his worst emotions, vice, and corruption, and away from reason and virtue. Though fictional, the book speaks to the reality of the divergent voices, sourced in either good or evil, that would work to lead us to either know (and grow) in Jesus or remained darkened in our understanding.
Sent off from the church in Antioch, the Spirit worked to bring Barnabas and Saul to meet with the governor of the island of Cyprus, Sergius Paulus. He was the man placed there by the Roman senate to handle the control and governance of the entire island. In those days, it was common, even for a man of intelligence like Sergius Paulus, to use private wizards, fortune tellers, who dealt with magic and spells. Elymas was that man for Sergius, and the words he spoke did not come from God. In fact, when Paul and Barnabas began to share the word of God, it was Elymas who opposed them “seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith” (Acts 13:8).
The proconsul ultimately came to faith in Jesus, as he “was astonished at the teaching of the Lord,” but Paul had to intervene to silence Elymas’ deceptive voice. In sharing the gospel, we engage the enemy of souls in spiritual combat. He seeks to hold people in their spiritual darkness through all his deceitful devices. It is as we prayerfully led by the Spirit that we lay hold of the divinely powerful weapons that work to destroy the enemy’s fortresses (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). Our part is to clearly and boldly proclaim the truth, as God grants opportunities. Who knows when God might privilege us to witness someone being turned, just as with Sergius Paulus, “from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God” (Acts 26:18).
Satanic opposition to the gospel is not a possibility but a certainty.
THE BATTLE IS THE LORD’S!
The battle is the Lord’s!
The harvest fields are white;
how few the reaping hands appear,
their strength how slight!
Yet victory is sure,
we face a vanquished foe;
then forward with the risen Christ
to battle go!
The battle is the Lord’s!
Not ours in strength or skill,
but his alone in sov’reign grace,
to work his will.
Ours, counting not the cost,
unflinching, to obey;
and in his time his holy arm
shall win the day.
The battle is the Lord’s!
The Victor crucified
must with the travail of his soul
be satisfied.
The pow’rs of hell shall fail,
and all God’s will be done,
‘til ev’ry soul whom he has giv’n
to Christ be won.
The battle is the Lord’s!
Stand still, my soul, and view
the great salvation God has wrought,
revealed for you.
Then, resting in his might,
lift high his triumph song,
for pow’r, dominion, kingdom, strength
to God belong!
LookingtoJesus 