Evil Never Wins

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

EVIL NEVER WINS

Acts 13:6-12

6 They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7 who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10 "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? 11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable 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. 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

NIV

Here we see the difference between a magician and the power of God. It may be true that Elymas the sorcerer was able to perform some parlor tricks, but whatever he did was from the pit of hell or the devil's trickery. However, there is no real power or authority from the evil one, only tricks, illusions, and falsehood. Paul and Barnabas saw right through Elymas and called him a child of the devil and an enemy of all that is right. When a person, who is a child of the devil, opposes the word of God, Jesus, and all that is right,Their main agenda is to attempt to destroy anyone who lives according to what is right because they are following Jesus. We can see this truth throughout our world as those who oppose what is right protest against the truth of God. However, Saul and Barnabas, knowing the power of God and being filled with the Spirit, told Elymas that the hand of the Lord was against him. Evil never wins when the hand of God is at work, which is always in those who accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, as they are also filled with the Spirit. Believers do not need deceit and trickery as the children of the devil do. That is all evil can do, deceive and trickery, but the believer has the power of God. Paul called down blindness on Elymas, and someone had to lead him by the hand. Yet,  by performing magic or trickery, he was already blind to the truth of God. He lived with a blind heart, and now he had blind eyes. Evil never wins. The power of God worked through Paul and Barnabas, and now the proconsul's eyes were opened to the truth, and he believed. He was amazed at the teaching about the Lord. This is where believers live, in the teaching about the Lord, and in the power of God, being filled with the Spirit, seeing the truth overcome evil, for evil never wins.