Seeing Evil For What It Is

Seeing Evil For What It Is

Acts 13:9-10 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, "You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?" Thoughts for Today: Paul (from now on Saul will be called by his Roman name of Paul) and Barnabas received opposition from Elymas the sorcerer -- who was an attendant to the proconsul of Cyprus. In a moment of great clarity, fueled and filled with the Holy Spirit, Paul looked straight at Elymas and saw him for what he truly was: child of the devil, enemy of everything that is right, full of all kinds of deceit and trickery, and guilty of perverting the right ways of the Lord! Those are some pretty strong words which were spoken by Paul in the Spirit and deserve our taking a little closer look at: * Child of the devil: 1 John 3:9-11, "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother." * Enemy of everything that is right: Isaiah 45:24 "They will say of me, 'In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength.' All who have raged against Him will come to Him and be put to shame." * Full of all kinds of deceit and trickery: John 8:43-44 [Jesus speaking], "Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." * Perverting the right ways of the Lord: Proverbs 2:12-15, "Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways." Here's what Paul said to Elymas: you can't be from God because you don't do what is right; you are raging against the Lord and He will (eventually) put you in your place; you are full of your father the devil and his lies (there is no truth in you); and finally, you are guilty of knowing the right ways of the Lord yet leaving those straight paths to delight in doing evil. To make it simple, Paul is saying -- "You know what you are doing is evil, but you do it anyway because the devil is your boss." Questions to Ponder: Have you ever met anyone like Elymas? Many people I meet who are not Christians do wrong because they don't have a moral compass, so they don't know the right way to do things. Not so for others. These people know without a doubt that what they are doing is wrong, yet they do it anyway. Paul spoke against the Elymas' of the world with complete conviction and without fear. How and why? Because he was filled by the Holy Spirit and saw clearly Elymas for who he really was. When was the last time you were that clear when faced with evil?