Luke recorded by The Holy Spirit what Jesus instructed in Acts chapter 1:
6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Jesus, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
The ministry began in Jerusalem, then expanded to all of Judea, then Samaria, and finally encompassing the uttermost part of the earth. This is where Paul’s ministry is focused. Paul’s primary enemies have the Jews at the front.
In Acts chapter 13:
2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.“
4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.
5 And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the Word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant.
6 Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus (Hebrew name),
7 who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought (desired) to hear the Word of God.
8 But Elymas (Aramaic name) the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.
Sergius wanted to hear The Word of GOD but Elymas attempted to turn him away from hearing The Word.
9 Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him
10 and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?
By The Holy Spirit, Paul used the severest of titles in addressing Elymas in a direct confrontation. Those who stand between men and Truth and, those who stand between men and GOD, will be called out and exposed by The Holy Spirit.
11 And now, indeed, the Hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.” And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
The name Elymas is Aramaic and means: an Oriental scientist, magician, a sorcerer, a false prophet. His intent was to turn people away from the Faith in Jesus Christ. How would he gain credibility? By sorcery.
Jesus proclaimed eight woes against those who promoted superficial spirituality as He spoke specifically concerning blindness in Matthew chapter 23:
16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ 17 Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?
Elymus wanted to keep his status which surely brought a stream of revenue to sustain him. His blindness confirmed to the proconsul that Paul was preaching Truth.
As we confront perversion and the Truth, The Holy Spirit will bring forth judgment to the enemies of Christ. We are simply the messengers of The Good News.
The opposition of the supernatural and the occult is one of the gravest perils threatening the Christian faith.
Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in 2nd Timothy chapter 3:
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,
7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth.
8 Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the Truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith;
9 but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.
Paul warned of the confrontations ahead. Let us solely rely on The Holy Spirit to deal with these ungodly people.