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It is written:
Acts 13:6-12-Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, 7 who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him. 10 and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? 11 And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.” And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
Here in the Book of Acts, we see an example of how the proconsul of Paphos, Sergius Paulus, had opportunity to hear the Word of God. However, there was a false teacher by the name of Elymas who wanted to turn the proconsul away from the faith. This led to a confrontation between Paul and Elymas, who was miraculously blinded by the Apostle. The proconsul then heard the Word of God “believed” which is a figure of speech in the Book of Acts for repenting and being baptized (cf. Acts 16:30-33).
I believe that there are several important lessons for us to learn and apply from these events.
First, please observe that the Gospel message is for all people who are capable of understanding. Jesus said that we are to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15). The message is for all sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). This includes kings and for all who are in authority (1 Timothy 2:1-2), since God deserves all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). This should not surprise us, since Jesus gave Himself as a ransom for all sinners (1 Timothy 2:6). The Word of God, therefore, is to be preached and proclaimed to everyone, even to kings and all in authority.
Second, the text tells us here what is to be preached: the Word of God. Notice here that the phrase “that several times in the New Testament, the phrase “the faith” (Acts 13:7) is used interchangeably with “the Word of God” (Acts 13:8). This is something that we see repeated throughout the New Testament:
Acts 6:7-Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
Acts 16::4-5-4 And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them THE DECREES to keep, which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. 5 So the churches were strengthened in THE FAITH, and increased in number daily. (Notice how “the faith” is synonymous with the Divine “decrees”).
Philippians 1:27- Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for THE FAITH OF THE GOSPEL.”
Colossians 1:23-if indeed you continue in THE FAITH, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of THE GOSPEL, which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
2 Timothy 3:8-Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist THE TRUTH: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning THE FAITH; (Notice that “the faith” is synonymous with “the truth”).
We are to proclaim the Word of God, which is today contained in the Bible.
2 Timothy 3:16-17-All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Some may argue that this does not include the New Testament since Timothy was raised in this Scripture from childhood. However, Paul quotes from the New Testament to Timothy (1 Timothy 5:18; Matthew 10:10; Luke 10:7) and clearly calls it “Scripture.” Furthermore, as former Roman Catholic Gary Henson documents:
“He began slowly, lacking even a hint of combat, “So, a good part of the books of the New Testament had not yet been written in Timothy’s childhood? And that means the verse is not referring to the New Testament when it says the Scriptures make us perfect, and thereby the verse does not mean the New Testament is our only religious authority?” “That’s right,” I answered, glad to see he got my point. “I see you have your Catholic Bible,” he said, looking and nodding once toward it. “Does it have, at the beginning of each book, an introduction that includes the date of writing?” I flipped through the pages until I found the beginning of one of the books. “Yes.” “Let’s do this,” he said as he moved to the chair next to mine, “you take my pen and notebook; I’ll take your Bible and find in the introduction of each New Testament book the date it says it was written.” Again I detected his protection of my ego from embarrassment. In Catechism school we did not study the Bible very much, if at all. So I did not know where any of the New Testament books were located, and we did not have time for me to hunt page by page. He quickly found the introduction of every one of the 27 books and told me the date each was written. After I rewrote the list chronologically, it laid before me. No date given John; 1 John; 3 John 42-50 A.D. Matthew 51 1 Thessalonians 51 2 Thessalonians 54 Galatians 57 1 Corinthians 57 2 Corinthians 57-58 Romans Pre—60 Mark 60-62 Jude Pre—63 Luke 63 Acts 63 Hebrews 63 Ephesians 63 Philippians 63 Colossians 63 Philemon 63-64 1 Peter 65-66 Titus 65-66 1 Timothy 66-67 2 Timothy 66-67 2 Peter 90’ s 2 John 96 Apocalypse “Let’s see now,” he investigated with me, “when was 2 Timothy 3: 16-17 written?” “There.” I pointed the pen and tapped at its location “66 or 67 A.D.” “And, when was the Gospel of Matthew written?” he asked. I saw Matthew at the very top. “It was the very first one written, dated somewhere between 42 and 50 A.D.,” I answered, actually enjoying the research for myself. “Gary, this is simple. You need neither me nor the Catholic clergy to tell you what the answer is. Now think, since Matthew was written somewhere between 42 and 50 A.D. and 2 Timothy 3: 16-17 was written 66-67 A.D., then Matthew could have been written as much as twenty-five years before 2 Timothy was written. Now, since Timothy was a youth in 66-67 A.D. when Paul said Timothy knew the Scriptures, then would it be possible that Timothy, as a young boy, could have known the New Testament Scriptures of the Gospel of Matthew which had already been around for some 25 years?” “No, I don’t think so.” Stupid answer, but I couldn’t say “yes.” If I did, it would destroy the first point Mr. Clay bound me never to forget: Timothy only had the Old Testament Scriptures. “Why not?” Mr. Babbitt pushed me mentally like Coach Webb pushed me physically. Hard, but for my benefit. After a few moments dragged by, it became apparent. He was waiting for me to break the silence. He was not going to answer it for me. There were no other students to answer it. Mr. Clay was not there to answer it. But even if any of them were there they all would have to answer “yes,” if they were honest. Either I walked away without answering and thereby stopped being honest, or I answered him. “Yes, Timothy as a young boy could have known the Scriptures of the Gospel of Matthew,” I consented as I clutched onto Mr. Clay’s second point. He looked at me for a moment with eyes of sympathy, not moving so much as a lip. “Gary, I know that must have been difficult for you. And you are correct; he could have known the book of Matthew and even some of the other New Testament books. But, that which makes it certain he knew the New Testament Scriptures is found in the rest of that verse. Why don’t you read it for yourself?” The rest of the verse? Mr. Clay didn’t say anything about the rest of the verse. I read with interest: “For from thy infancy thou hast known the Sacred Writings, which are able to instruct thee into salvation by the faith which is in Christ Jesus.” “Is it the Old Testament Scriptures,” Mr. Babbitt inquired, “that is able to instruct a person into salvation by faith which is in Jesus?” “Certainly not. Only the Scriptures of the New Testament can do that,” I replied with conviction. My thoughts began to click off in rapid succession. How easy was that to see! This verse, without question, refers to the New Testament Scriptures because these Scriptures are identified as those that instruct a person into salvation through Jesus. So, Timothy did know the New Testament Scriptures. What Mr. Clay said about the Scriptures in 2 Timothy 3: 15-16 being solely the Old Testament is not true! Then, in a mix of worry and anger, I wondered, Why did Mr. Clay distract my attention from this? Why did he ignore it? Why did he use only part of the verse and then twist it to make it say what it does not say? I saw his alarm when he read it, and by his prompt “remember-two-things-about-this-passage” lecture, it’s evident he is very familiar with this part of the verse. Am I getting too close to the door of a serious Catholic glitch?” (Gary Henson, The Ivory Domino, 50-53 (Kindle Edition): Charleston, AR: Cobb Publishing)
The Word of God as found in the Bible-both Old and New Testaments-is to be proclaimed to the entire world of sinful man.
Third, please notice that there will always be false prophets and false teachers. There was one who tried to turn the proconsul from the faith, and there are many today who do the same. I am reminded of the Office Of Faith that has Paula White as its’ director.
As two examples of the type of “Christianity” that Mrs. White believes in, consider her statements regarding “satanic pregnancies” miscarrying (https://youtu.be/TR_slS9qxQs) and instances of her speaking in “tongues” (https://youtu.be/VJVS9RsIrN8). I have no idea what to make of her statements regarding the “miscarriages” of “satanic pregnancies” except her words make about as much sense as does the “tongues” that she practices.
Regarding the gibberish “tongues” that are so common in charismatic church services, we should note such was commonly practiced in the first century in pagan temples of worship.
“The 1972 study by John P. Kildahl “The Psychology of Speaking in Tongues” concludes that: “… from a linguistic point of view, religiously inspired glossolalic utterances have the same general characteristics as those that are not religiously inspired.” In fact, glossolalia is a “human phenomenon, not limited to Christianity nor even to religious behavior.” (Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements by Spittler, P. 340). George Jennings in an article in the Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation expands upon the universality of the experience: “… glossolalia is practiced among the following non-Christian religions of the world; the Peyote cult among the North American Indians, the Haida Indians of the Pacific Northwest, Shamans in the Sudan, the Shango cult of the West Coast of Africa, the Shago cult in Trinidad, the Voodoo cult in Haiti, the Aborigines of South American and Australia, the aboriginal peoples of the subarctic regions of North America and Asia, the Shamans in Greenland, the Dyaks of Borneo, the Zor cult of Ethiopia, the Siberian shamans, the Chaco Indians of South America, the Curanderos of the Andes, the Kinka in the African Sudan, the Thonga shamans of Africa, and the Tibetan monks. An article in the Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation entitled “An Ethnological Study of Glossolalia” by George J. Jennings, March 1968. Other studies and sources reach the same conclusions: “Summary of Behavioral Science Research Data on Glossolalia: 1. Glossolalia is an ancient and widespread phenomenon of most societies, occurring most usually in connection with religion.” “Behavioral Science Research on the Nature of Glossolalia”, Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation; September, 1968 “There are records of ecstatic speech and the like in Egypt in the eleventh century B.C. In the Hellenistic [Greek] world the prophetess of Delphi and the Sibylline priestess spoke in unknown or unintelligible speech. Moreover, the Dionysianrites contained a trancelike state as well as glossolalia. Many of the magicians and sorcerers of the first century world exhibit similar phenomena.” G.R.Osborne, in the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 1984, page 1100. “Descriptions of ecstatic speech are common in the study of comparative religions…. The Delphic and Pythian religions of Greece understood ecstatic behavior and speech to be evidence of divine inspiration by Apollos.” C.M. Robeck, Jr., in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, 1988, page 872. “… Glossolalia is a very ancient practice it is still practiced nowadays in many religions, especially those where one seeks contact with the spirit world (witchcraft/ shamanism, voodoo) or a union mystical with the “All”. Mohamed, the founder of Islam, is probably the most famous of those who have practiced glossolalia.” “Glossolalia (Tongues) and 1 Corinthians 14” Bruno D. Granger http:// http://www.apologetique.org/ en/ rticles/ neomontanism/ BDG_glossolalia_en.htm “Enthusiastic, ecstatic, mystic, possession, trance and other kindred phenomena have long been of interest to anthropologists. Cross-cultural reviews of ethnographic data on glossolalia in particular have been published by L.C. May, Jennings, M. Eliade, among others. The practice was known in ancient India and China, and ethnographies describe glossolalia in almost every area of the world… speaking-in-tongues is widespread and very ancient.” E. Mansell Pattison Behavioral Science Research On The Nature Of Glossolalia Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation, September 1968 Research conducted by Al Carlson at the University of California and Werner Cohn at the University of British Columbia indicate that anyone can produce glossolalic speech which sounded genuine even to believers. Jimmy Jividen, “Glossolalia: from God or man?” p 163. “This survey has shown that speaking-in-tongues is widespread and very ancient. Indeed, it is probably that as long as man has had divination, curing, sorcery, and propitiation of spirits, he has had glossolalia … Whatever the explanation, it is clear that pagans as well as Christians have their glossolalia experiences.” Jimmy Jividen, “Glossolalia: from God or man?” p 74,75….The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume. Kittel, Gerhard, and Friedrich, Gerhard, Editors (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1985) Johannes Behm. Unabridged edition of the TDNT, Volume I, page 722. “Glossolalia is an ancient and widespread phenomenon of most societies, occurring most usually in connection with religion.” Behavioral Science Research on the Nature of Glossolalia Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation, September, 1968 The Term “tongues” predates Christianity and the New Testament and in fact was common in the Greek, Roman, and other cultures. “… the significance of the term ‘glossolalia’, or ‘speaking in tongues’, comes to the fore. ‘The gift of tongues and of their interpretation was not peculiar to the Christian Church, but was a repetition in it of a phrase common in ancient religions. The very phrase glossais lalein, ‘to speak with tongues,’ was not invented by the New Testament writers, but borrowed from ordinary speech.” Encyclopedia Britannica (1911), s.v, “Gift of Tongues,” by Fredrick C. Conybeare, 27: 10. “Once they began to commune with that deity, they would begin to speak the language of the gods. This was a very common practice in their culture. In fact, the term used in 1 Corinthians to refer to speaking in tongues (glossais lalein) was not invented by Bible writers. It was a term used commonly in the Greco-Roman culture to speak of the pagan language of the gods which occurred while the speaker was in an ecstatic trance. By the way, this language of the gods was always gibberish.” “The Truth about Tongues–Part 1” John MacArthur Tape GC 1871”. (C. Alan Martin, Scientific Observations of Speaking in Tongues, 437-516 (Kindle Edition))
Gibberish speaking practiced in these charismatic churches is falsely labeled as the Bible gift of tongues. However, the Bible gift of tongues was the ability to speak fluently in the language of another nation, without having previously studied such (cf. Acts 2:4-15; 1 Corinthians 14:20-21).
And let us not forget the role that Mrs. White played in the tragic events of January 6, 2021:
“In testimony before Congress July 2021, two policemen recounted what happened to them on that fateful day as they sought to defend the Capitol: “The mob of terrorists were coordinating their efforts… shouting ‘heave, ho,’ as they synchronized pushing their weight forward crushing me further against the metal doorframe,” [Dennis] Hodges said. “A man in front of me grabbed my baton… he bashed me in the head and face with it, rupturing my lip and adding additional injury to my skull.” MPD Officer Michael Fanone, meanwhile, detailed how he was “electrocuted again and again and again with a taser. I am sure I was screaming, but I don’t think I could hear my own voice.” 9 How on earth did this happen, right here in our country, as impassioned Americans in the name of patriotism viciously attacked these DC policemen? What in the world went wrong? Yet it gets even worse since, in the eyes of the watching world, this was a Christian event, more specifically, an evangelical Christian event. And it was called an insurrection—an evangelical Christian insurrection on behalf of Donald Trump. At least that’s how the secular media presented it. Writing for Rolling Stone on January 31, 2021, Sarah Posner began her article with these words: The January 6th Save America March, where then-President Donald Trump incited a crowd to attack the U.S. Capitol, opened with a prayer. Trump’s longtime spiritual adviser and White House adviser, the Florida televangelist Paula White, called on God to “give us a holy boldness in this hour.” Standing at the same podium where, an hour later, Trump would exhort the crowd to “fight like hell,” White called the election results into question, asking God to let the people “have the assurance of a fair and a just election.” Flanked by a row of American flags, White implored God to “let every adversary against democracy, against freedom, against life, against liberty, against justice, against peace, against righteousness be overturned right now in the name of Jesus.” And this was just the opening paragraph. She continued: Within hours, insurrectionists had surrounded the Capitol, beaten police, battered down barricades and doors, smashed windows and rampaged through the halls of the Capitol, breaching the Senate chamber. In video captured by The New Yorker, men ransacked the room, rifling through senators’ binders and papers, searching for evidence of what they claimed was treason. Then, standing on the rostrum where the president of the Senate presides, the group paused to pray “in Christ’s holy name.” Men raised their arms in the air as millions of evangelical and charismatic parishioners do every Sunday and thanked God for allowing them “to send a message to all the tyrants, the communists and the globalists, that this is our nation, not theirs.” They thanked God “for allowing the United States of America to be reborn.”” (Michael L. Brown, The Political Seduction of the Church: How Millions Of American Christians Have Confused Politics with the Gospel, 10-12 (Kindle Edition): Washington, D.C.; Vide Press)
A Christian and minister standing on the Word of God would have tried to steer President Trump away from the terroristic rhetoric of that fateful day. A Christian and Gospel minister would have reminded the President that violence and a call to arms is not the God approved way in the New Testament era to implement political change and reform (Matthew 5:44-45; Romans 12:17-21). Yet from every indication, Mrs. White refused to speak up and speak out against the events of January 6. She encouraged and empowered our President in the events of that occasion, and shares her responsibility with him in her role on that occasion.
Our President has already shown frightening judgment of even the most basic elements of Christianity. He has proclaimed that he is as loved as the Second Coming, should be welcomed as the rightful King of Israel, is Divinely mandated to be the Caretaker of planet Earth, and was made by God to be the Shepherd of all mankind, “who will never leave nor forsake them.” These are all indicators of what the Bible calls “antichrist” (see https://marktabata.com/2024/02/10/donald-trump-and-antichrist/). Within his first month of his second term, President Trump has (among other ungodly deeds) pardoned fifteen hundred legally convicted terrorists-some of whom assaulted over a hundred police officers in an attempt to overthrow the American government- (https://marktabata.com/2025/02/17/speaking-up-for-and-standing-up-with-the-brave-police-survivors-of-january-6-2021/), initiated policies that have led to children and Christians who have fled persecution being locked up in cages (https://marktabata.com/2025/02/25/christian-will-you-be-offended-by-our-government-locking-up-innocent-children-in-cages-like-they-are-in-a-zoo/), and promoted videos of huge golden statues of himself in the land of Israel, featuring bearded men dressed as women while dancing (https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/114068387897265338).
(Special Note:: President Trump is here following in the pagan role of that wicked king, Nebuchadnezzar, with this last action (Daniel 3)).
We need to all be praying earnestly that President Trump will be surrounded by those who will proclaim New Testament Christianity to him. This is in the hopes that he will himself repent and be saved (1 Timothy 2:1-6), and also in hope for the good of our nation, and for the world.
Finally, it is enlightening here that Sergius Paulus is referenced in non-biblical sources. These also hint at his conversion, and demonstrate a powerful lesson for us regarding suffering for the Lord. Cooper documents:
“In Book II of his famous Natural History, Pliny names eighteen Latin authors whom he has relied upon for much of his information in the second and eighteenth books of his history, and among those names is that of Sergius Paulus. 12 This is most interesting. Sergius Paulus, it appears, was a writer on Natural History in his own right, though his works are now lost, and even more interestingly, Pliny has much to say in his second and eighteenth books about the island of Cyprus-and its magicians-where Sergius Paulus was Proconsul. To be quoted and relied upon by Pliny as an authority, your scholarly credentials had to be second to none, and Sergius Paulus was clearly highly esteemed as an author on Natural History for Pliny to rely on his work as he did. Against this background, Luke’s statement concerning Sergius Paulus-that he is “a prudent man” (Acts 13: 7)-takes on added meaning. The word Luke uses, and which is translated ‘prudent’ in the KJB, is ‘sunetos,’ meaning prudent, wise, sagacious, shrewd and discreet–in a word, learned. That would be a curious detail for some forger to have added, for outside of Pliny, there is no indication that Sergius Paulus pursued any intellectual interests at all. Clearly, he was something more than just a Roman aristocrat. Luke was certainly aware of that fact, and he duly noted it for us. Luke, moreover, is right in other fine details concerning Sergius Paulus. For example, he refers to him as the ‘anthupatos’ (translated as ‘deputy’ in the KJB) of Cyprus (13: 7). This is precise and entirely accurate, for ‘anthupatos’ is the Greek word for Proconsul, and that was Sergius Paulus’ office. He was made Proconsul of Cyprus by the Emperor Claudius in AD 46 and probably remained in office for the next two, perhaps even three years. And here’s where things start to get really interesting. Fig. 4 If contemporary inscriptions are anything to go by (and how can they not be?), then this is what appears to have happened. Sergius Paulus was Proconsul of Cyprus, where he sat and governed, as it were, as the voice of Caesar. Then he became a Christian under Paul’s preaching; and then he was recalled to Rome where, according to another inscription which was found in Rome in the late 19th century, he was given the job of looking after the river Tiber as it flowed through the city. 13 To go from being the voice of Caesar, one of the top jobs of the empire, to being a comparatively minor civil servant responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the city’s riverbanks (removing rubbish and corpses), is some comedown, and it needs explaining. It is akin to a Prime Minister being demoted to parks superintendant. There is no record of any particular matter in which Sergius Paulus disgraced his office. And had he disgraced it in any treasonable sense, then he would surely have paid the penalty for that. Moreover, it would have been recorded in the annals of Claudius’ reign. But there is nothing except this inscriptional evidence for his drastic and sudden demotion. Could it, perhaps, have had something to do with the insurmountable difficulty with which Christians in public office were faced in those days?–namely the pagan rituals and oaths which would have had to be satisfied in order for the office holder to continue in his post?” (Bill Cooper, The Authenticity of the New Testament Part 2: Acts, the Epistles and Revelation, 426-454 (Kindle Edition): Creation Science Movement)
We cannot be certain that Sergius Paulus’ demotion was due to his faith as a Christian, yet this would certainly make sense of the available evidence. Regardless, these things bring to our remembrance that being a follower of Jesus will bring about suffering and hardship (cf 2 Timothy 3:12; 1 Peter 4:16). It could even result in some people in positions of power being demoted as they stand on the Word of God.
There are many important lessons that we may learn from Elymas, Paula White, and President Trump.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen.