amazing teaching

There’s an amazing thing that happened when Paul and Barnabas were witnessing to the proconsul of Paphos that I never paid much attention to before.

You see, the proconsul had a Jewish sorcerer who advised him. Yeah, that’s amazing all by itself – a Jewish sorcerer? God abolished sorcery way back in the days of Saul, so you wouldn’t think most Jews would have a chance to become good at it. But there he was, countering everything the two evangelists said. Finally, as related in Acts 13:9-12, Paul had had enough: 

“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? Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.’

“Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.”

OK, it was also amazing that Paul was able, by the power of God, to instantly rebuke and punish this man. But, to me at least, that’s not the most amazing thing.

The amazing thing that struck me is that the proconsul, seeing all this, believed, not because of the miracle, but because he was amazed by the teaching about the Lord. He was won over by Paul’s words, not by the miraculous sign.

It’s a reminder to me that the Gospel truth has power all by itself; the words of scripture alone can accomplish all the God desires in this world. We might like signs and miracles and spectacle; we might think our witness is boring compared to the fleshly delights that Satan dangles. We often are tempted to add things to worship that will draw people in, and to add things to our witness that might win people over.

But all God asks us to do is faithfully bring his words to people. He does the rest. 

That’s good, because I doubt I’ll ever strike a man blind. But I can bring the Gospel.