When we arrived at Paphos, we were amazed at the prosperity of the city. Like Salamis, Paphos was a port city on the southwestern coast of the island. By this time we had traveled nearly 90 miles.
A meeting was arranged with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. He had heard about this "Gospel" and being an intelligent man, wanted to hear the case for Christ with his own two ears - nothing wrong with that! We were only too happy to oblige. The trick was, that he had a dodgy
attendant - Elymas. This man had weasled his way into the confidences of the Proconsul and, I'll tell you, he was NOT happy to see us at all.
Right away we knew him for what he really was - a sorcerer and a false prophet. At our every testimony, sermon or prayer Elymas would snort, sigh and stir up a ruckus against us. This was incredibly distracting for those who were trying to listen to our message and finally Paul had had enough - this is what he said: (I still get a chuckle when I remember it! The look on Elymas' face...)
"You son of the devil! You are an enemy of everything that is right! You
are full of evil tricks and lies, always trying to change the Lord's truths into
lies. Now the Lord will touch you, and you will be blind. For a time you will
not be able to see anything—not even the light from the sun."
Well - that did it! Nothing like the authority of Holy Spirit coming on somebody to get the job done. As soon as Paul spoke those words, Elymas was blinded - wandering around with his arms outstretched before him, grasping for someone to lead him along. When Sergius Paulus witnessed this - he immediately believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and was saved.
It was at this encounter that my friend Saul began to use his Roman name - Paul. It made sense to us - because the name Paul was more familiar to Greeks and Romans and Saul the Jew would not have as much sway as Paul the Roman Citizen. As our time in Paphos came to an end and we set our sights on Perga, we knew that our message had to go beyond just the Jews. So whatever it took to win them to Christ - we would do.
From Paphos, we booked passage on another ship heading northwesterly, about 170 miles, for the southern coast of Asia Minor and Perga.
A meeting was arranged with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. He had heard about this "Gospel" and being an intelligent man, wanted to hear the case for Christ with his own two ears - nothing wrong with that! We were only too happy to oblige. The trick was, that he had a dodgy
attendant - Elymas. This man had weasled his way into the confidences of the Proconsul and, I'll tell you, he was NOT happy to see us at all.Right away we knew him for what he really was - a sorcerer and a false prophet. At our every testimony, sermon or prayer Elymas would snort, sigh and stir up a ruckus against us. This was incredibly distracting for those who were trying to listen to our message and finally Paul had had enough - this is what he said: (I still get a chuckle when I remember it! The look on Elymas' face...)
"You son of the devil! You are an enemy of everything that is right! You
are full of evil tricks and lies, always trying to change the Lord's truths into
lies. Now the Lord will touch you, and you will be blind. For a time you will
not be able to see anything—not even the light from the sun."
Well - that did it! Nothing like the authority of Holy Spirit coming on somebody to get the job done. As soon as Paul spoke those words, Elymas was blinded - wandering around with his arms outstretched before him, grasping for someone to lead him along. When Sergius Paulus witnessed this - he immediately believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and was saved.
It was at this encounter that my friend Saul began to use his Roman name - Paul. It made sense to us - because the name Paul was more familiar to Greeks and Romans and Saul the Jew would not have as much sway as Paul the Roman Citizen. As our time in Paphos came to an end and we set our sights on Perga, we knew that our message had to go beyond just the Jews. So whatever it took to win them to Christ - we would do.
From Paphos, we booked passage on another ship heading northwesterly, about 170 miles, for the southern coast of Asia Minor and Perga.
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