Good
morning. They found a magician, a Jewish false prophet who was with the
Proconsul, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.
But the magician was opposing them, seeking to turn him away from the faith.
But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his
gaze on him, and said (remember – whenever it says that someone is filled with
the Holy Spirit, they usually say something right afterward), you who are full
of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness
(whee doggies Paul, that’s quite a mouthful), will you not cease to make
crooked the straight ways of the Lord? Of course by now the magician is
thinking sticks and stones… Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and
you will be blind and not see the sun for a time. And immediately a mist and a
darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by
the hand. So it was not just useless words that Paul was uttering – they had
power through the Holy Spirit. And because of this, the proconsul believed when
he saw what happened, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord. Father thank
You that You send the people who are needed to bring someone to the Lord. As
long as the one sent listens to the Holy Spirit, there is nothing that can be
done to prevent those people from coming to salvation
Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me
Good morning. Paul then gives a list of a lot of things that he has gone through as an apostle. I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. There could be many people that you listen to either in church or through the Internet or other means; but there was only one person (as a general rule it was a person) that lead you to Christ. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. He was saying that just like a child imitates his or her father, they were to imitate him. He says that again seven chapters later. Since it is easy to forget some things about people we have not seen in a while, Paul says that he sent Timothy to them to remind them of his ways which are in Christ, just as he taught everywhere in every church. Some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. I shall find ou...
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