Nobody wants to play the fool. Some of us are so afraid of being duped, laughed at, or mocked that we live with constant anxiety. We can’t make any real progress in life, because we’re always looking over our shoulder to see if we’ve missed out on something along the way. In doing so, we fulfill the prophecy we most wanted to avoid, and that’s a shame.
God wants something far better for us than that. God wants us to know love, kindness, and truth. He gets no pleasure in seeing his children drowning in deceit. He hates evil, injustice, and lies.
In this morning’s sermon, we learn in Acts 13 about strict judgment that God issued on a deceiver named Bar-Jesus. This man was a magician who was able to do impressive things—so much so that he captured people’s attention and convinced them that he was a trustworthy representative of the ways of the Lord. In truth, he was a fraud and an enemy of God.
When this false prophet began interfering with the ministry efforts of Paul and Barnabas, God powerfully intervened. Instead of focusing all our attention on the most fantastic elements of this text, however, we’ll dig into the root causes that motivated God to act judicially. This tells us a lot about God’s concern for us and his deep desire that all people have the opportunity to hear his truth.
You and I have so many opportunities to read and hear God’s truth straight from scripture. If we neglect those opportunities, we set ourselves up to believe whatever sounds good and seems right to us. That, my friends, is a great way to end up looking like a fool.
— Patrick Barber