Atos 13
G. Campbell Morgan · Citado em PreceptAustin
Atos 13
Morgan wrote "“I do not for a moment imagine that the assembly heard a voice. That is the mistake we too often make. We try to force ourselves into ecstasies in order to hear the voice, then we imagine we hear it!” Jack Andrews on the Holy Spirit said - When we are sensitive to the Holy Spirit we can hear what He says to us. They discerned the Spirit’s voice. The Holy Spirit doesn’t use wasted words. It is interesting to note that when we get serious about seeking the Lord Jesus that He will speak to us and we will discern His will. They were serious about seeking the Lord and they were sensitive to the Spirit. They were busy ministering to the Lord and fasting and it was during that time that the Lord clearly spoke to these men about His will. When the Spirit calls He knows where we are, who we are and what we are doing! He called their name. There was no mistaking who the Lord was calling. Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul - Notice the phrase "for Me," indicating these two are God's holy possession for God's holy purpose. They are no longer their own (even as we are no longer our own! cf 1 Cor 6:19,20+). THOUGHT - There is a principle inherent in the Spirit's charge to set apart these two men. God's work calls for separation from the world.
Atos 13
Morgan asks regarding Paul's Spirit filling - "What was the result of this filling? Clear discernment; he knew this man through and through, not by his own cleverness, not by mere intuition, but by that immediate filling of the Spirit which became illumination, enabling him to see to the very heart of the man who stood confronting him. He described him in character, "Full of all guile and all villany, son of the devil, enemy of righteousness." Then he described his sin, "Wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? " So this sudden enduement of power meant discernment and speech, speech that was definite, attacking, vehement. We speak of the wooing winsomeness of the Spirit, and thank God., we cannot say too much thereof. "The fruit of the Spirit is love." The final and perfected issue of the work of the Spirit in the heart of man is love. But the Spirit of love is a Spirit of fire, and that for very love. Why the fierceness of this description? Why the blunt speech that fell like scorching fire upon the heart of the man who listened? For love of Sergius Paulus; because this man (Elymas) by his teaching, his greed, and by his endeavor to retain position at the court, would "pervert the right ways of the Lord," withstand the Word of God, attempt to prevent this man entering into the fullness of life. For the sake of Sergius Paulus this Spirit of God immediately equipped Paul, so that he saw and knew and spoke, and became the instrument of judgment! You who are full of all deceit and fraud - Elymas was "filled to the brim" with evil! In Paul's description note his triple use of “all” indicating this man's total depravity in every sense! Full (abounding) (4134)(pleres from pleos = full, pletho = to fill) means filled up as opposed to empty (as of a hollow vessel - Mt 14:20, 15:37, Mk 6:43). Of a surface, covering every part (leprosy in Lk 5:12). Figuratively, as used here in Acts 13 Paul uses pleres to characterize Elymas as full of, abounding in, thoroughly endowed with deceit and fraud! What a contrast with Luke's uses of the Son of God Who was "full of (pleres) the Holy Spirit" (Lk 4:1+) and His disciples like Stephen who was "full of (pleres) faith and the Holy Spirit" (Acts 6:5+, cf similar use in Acts 6:3), "full of (pleres) grace and power" (Acts 6:8+) and "full of (pleres) the Holy Spirit" (as he fell asleep in Jesus) (Acts 7:55+) and Barnabas who was "full of (pleres) the Holy Spirit and of faith." (Acts 11:24+) The last use by Luke is in Acts 19:28+ where the pagan idol worshipers were "filled with (pleres) rage" because of the denigration of Artemis. Here is one principle to take away from this survey of "pleres" - what fills a person controls a person - The Ephesian pagans were controlled by rage and wanted to kill Paul and Silas. Elymas was full of deceit and controlled by deceit. In short Elymas the deceiver was himself deceived! When a person is deceived by definition they don't even know it! Paul elaborates on this spiritual principle explaining to Timothy in his last letter that "evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving (active voice = their volitional choice) and being deceived (passive voice - indicating the effect comes from without - the end up deceiving their own heart! Woe! cf Jer 17:9)" (2 Ti 3:13+) Deceit (1388)(dolos from dello = to catch with bait) literally refers to a fishhook, trap, or trick all of which are various forms of deception. Dolos is a deliberate attempt to mislead, trick, snare or "bait" (baiting the trap in attempt to "catch" the unwary victim, in this case Sergius Paulus) speaking lies (cf like father, like son = "father of lies" - Jn 8:44). It is a desire to gain advantage or preserve position by deceiving others. A modern term in advertising is called "bait and switch" where the unwary consumer is lured in by what looks like an price too good to be true! Dolos - 11x in the NT - Mt. 26:4; Mk. 7:22; Mk. 14:1; Jn. 1:47; Acts 13:10; Ro 1:29; 2 Co. 12:16; 1 Th 2:3; 1 Pe 2:1; 1 Pe 2:22; 1 Pe 3:10 John MacArthur on full of all deceit - Like a cleverly disguised snare, Bar-Jesus was not what he appeared to be to his unsuspecting victims. Larry Richards explains that dolos "picks up the metaphor from hunting and fishing. Deceit is an attempt to trap or to trick and thus involves treachery...Deception sometimes comes from within, as our desires impel us to deceive. But more often in the NT, deceit is error urged by external evil powers or by those locked into the world's way of thinking." (Richards, L O: Expository Dictionary of Bible Words: Regency) Fraud (4468)(rhadiourgia from rhadiourgias = ready to commit wickedness) is used only here in the Bible and means mischief, recklessness. Gilbrant notes that "The earliest attested meaning of rhadiourgia is “self-indulgence” (Liddell-Scott). It is from the root rhadios in the sense of “light or unburdened” (Bauernfeind, “rhadiourgia,” Kittel, 6:972). The classical use is employed by Xenophon to also refer to the love of a lazy and effeminate life. By the Second Century B.C. the word had come to denote various acts of wrongdoing, mischief, and petty crime (Liddell-Scott). In the papyri it is used in the specific sense of theft but more generally of false pretenses or fraud (Moulton-Milligan)." The result of rhadiourgía is rhadioúrgēma which describes wicked schemes or plots ("crime" in Acts 18:14). Marvin
Atos 13
Morgan observes that in Paul's vehement rebuke of Elymas there is yet "a touch of wonderful tenderness discoverable at the heart of the fierce fire. Paul said to him, "The hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season." The blindness was the material symbol of the man's spiritual condition; and Paul, speaking not of his own will, or of his own choice, not pronouncing upon him a doom which he thought he deserved, but becoming the very voice of the Spirit of God speaking out of that sudden equipment, pronounced upon him that judgment of blindness "for a season." How long it lasted no one knows. What was the issue in the case of Elymas, no one can tell. We must leave it at the point where it is left in the narrative." (Acts of the Apostles) At leas Paul did not put a heavy millstone on his neck as Jesus had warned declaring "whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea." (Mt 18:6) And you will be blind and not see the sun for a time - His physical blindness was but a picture of his spiritual blindness. The fact that it says for a time indicates this blindness in not permanent. This in turn reflects the mercy of the Lord, which would give this son of the devil to consider the claims of Paul. Could we see Elymas in Heaven? Clearly, that is possible. Blind (5185)(tuphlos from tuphlóo = envelop with smoke, be unable to see clearly) can refer to literal blindness (Mt 9:27, 28; 11:5; 12:22; Lk 7:21, 22; Jn 9:1, 2, 3.; Acts 13:11 Lv 19:14; Job 29:15) but more often is used in the NT to describe spiritual blindness. Elymas was made physically blind because he was spiritually blind! As Furneaux put it "It was a judicial infliction; blindness for blindness, darkness without for willful darkness within”