How to Spot People Drain Your Life: Watch The Leeches

Acts 13:4-12 puts Barnabas and Saul on the road the Holy Spirit sent them down, and trouble meets them right after the sending. The text shows a pattern that keeps happening in Scripture: after God does something major, a test comes to see whether it stuck. Jesus receives the Father’s affirmation and then enters the wilderness. Paul and Barnabas receive prayer, laying on of hands, and a clear assignment, then they meet a devil trying to block the work.

Bar-Jesus, also called Elymas, becomes the picture of a leech. The text calls him a Jewish sorcerer and a false prophet, two things that ought not sit next to each other. He attaches himself to Sergius Paulus, a man of rank, intelligence, and influence, because leeches look for access. They do not always come looking wild or obvious. They come smiling, offering comfort, finding pain points, and trying to get close enough to suck a person dry.

Sergius Paulus shows that intelligence cannot always spot the devil. His blind spot was not a lack of education but allowing the wrong spirit to attach itself to his life. Discernment, or divine intelligence, sees what regular intelligence can miss. The Holy Ghost helps God’s people recognize who was sent by God and who invited themselves in with another agenda.

Elymas tries to keep the governor from believing, because the enemy always wants to interrupt somebody moving closer to Jesus. Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, does not fight Elymas with his hands. Paul speaks plainly, calls out the deceit, and stands in the authority God gave him. God handles the punishment, and Paul does not have to force the outcome. Vengeance belongs to the Lord.

The warning reaches beyond one sorcerer in Cyprus. The leech can be a relationship, a friend, a partner, a habit, or anybody who keeps pulling a person away from productivity, purpose, peace, and closeness with Christ. The word “no” becomes necessary when constant “yes” has left somebody tired, busy doing nothing, and unable to show any fruit from the day.

The text ends with Sergius Paulus becoming a believer, astonished by the teaching about the Lord. God removes the obstruction so the governor can hear the gospel clearly. Jesus remains the answer when pain, loneliness, money trouble, or the need for companionship makes a person vulnerable. God calls His people to watch the leeches, stand with Christ, and give every burden to Jesus.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Watch who attaches to your life Elymas did not merely oppose Paul from a distance. He attached himself to a man with influence and tried to control what that man heard. Relationships require more than affection or convenience; they require discernment about what spirit is operating through the connection. God’s people cannot treat every attachment as God-sent. [23:22]
• 2. Intelligence needs spiritual discernment Sergius Paulus was intelligent, but intelligence did not protect him from a blind spot. Knowledge can organize facts, build careers, and solve problems, yet it cannot by itself detect deceit hiding behind charm. The Holy Ghost gives divine intelligence for seeing what natural ability misses. [24:44]
• 3. Tests often follow God’s blessings The Holy Spirit sent Paul and Barnabas, and trouble showed up immediately. Difficulty after a breakthrough does not automatically mean that God has abandoned the path. God can use the challenge to reveal whether faith has truly taken root and to prepare His people for what comes next. [14:26]
• 4. Stand in Christ, let God handle enemies Paul did not strike Elymas or try to manage the punishment himself. Paul spoke the truth, stood in spiritual authority, and left the judgment in God’s hands. Christ frees His people from the exhausting work of revenge while still calling them to set clear boundaries. [40:31]
• 5. Jesus exposes false sources of comfort Leeches find pain points, whether those points involve money, loneliness, companionship, or a need to feel valued. A false comfort always takes more than it gives, while Jesus meets the need without destroying the soul. God’s answer for the vulnerable place is not another harmful attachment but surrender to Christ.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [02:02] - Acts as the Church’s Roadmap
• [02:32] - Watch the Leeches
• [03:09] - Paul and Barnabas Sent by the Spirit
• [03:50] - A Jewish Sorcerer Attaches Himself
• [07:00] - Auditing the People Around You
• [08:07] - When Leeches Drain Life Away
• [12:28] - Blessing, Then Testing
• [18:34] - Sorcerers in the Camp
• [20:31] - Influence Attracts Leeches
• [24:20] - Divine Intelligence and Discernment
• [35:20] - Standing Against What Blocks God
• [40:52] - Let God Handle the Enemy
• [49:14] - The Teaching That Brought Belief
• [51:20] - Give It to Jesus

Bible Reading

Acts 13:4-12
“So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them. When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, 'You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.' Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.” [01:56]

Matthew 4:1-11
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.' But he answered, 'It is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."' Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, "He will command his angels concerning you," and "On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone."' Jesus said to him, 'Again it is written, "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test."' Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, 'All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve."' Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.” [14:26]

Romans 12:19
“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” [40:52]

Observation questions

1. In Acts 13:4–12, what mission were Barnabas and Saul sent to do, and what happened when they met Sergius Paulus?
2. What details does the passage give about Bar-Jesus/Elymas, his connection to Sergius Paulus, and his efforts to influence the governor? [04:07]
3. What does Paul do before speaking to Elymas, and what is Paul’s role compared with God’s role in Elymas’s punishment? [37:20]
4. What two reasons does Acts 13:12 give for Sergius Paulus becoming a believer? [50:37]

Interpretation questions

1. Barnabas and Saul were sent by the Holy Spirit, yet opposition met them quickly. How do Acts 13:4–12 and Matthew 4:1–11 help explain why hardship after a spiritual breakthrough does not necessarily mean a person is off course? [14:26]
2. Sergius Paulus was intelligent but still allowed Elymas close enough to influence what he heard. What does this show about the difference between natural intelligence and spiritual discernment? [24:57]
3. Elymas tried to keep Sergius Paulus from believing. What are some present-day ways a person, relationship, habit, or message can interfere with someone moving closer to Christ? [35:20]
4. Paul confronted deception plainly, but he did not physically attack Elymas or take revenge into his own hands. How does this example fit with the instruction that vengeance belongs to the Lord, while still leaving room for clear boundaries? [40:52]

Application questions

1. Is there a relationship, commitment, habit, or online influence that regularly leaves you drained, distracted, or farther from God? What fruit has that attachment produced in your peace, purpose, time, and walk with Christ? [11:43]
2. Where have you been saying “yes” so often that you are tired, busy, and unable to point to what God is calling you to produce? What could a wise, loving “no” look like this week? [09:50]
3. What pain point makes you most vulnerable to unhealthy attachments—loneliness, money pressure, the need for approval, companionship, or something else? How can bringing that need honestly to Jesus keep a false comfort from taking over? [50:56]
4. Think about a recent blessing, breakthrough, or fresh commitment to God. Did a test or temptation follow it? How might you respond differently when you recognize that challenge as a moment to stay rooted rather than give up? [14:47]
5. Is there someone in your life who discourages prayer, worship, church fellowship, obedience, or trust in Jesus? What boundary or direct conversation may be needed, while still treating that person with truth and dignity? [36:03]
6. When you feel wronged or blocked by someone, what does it look like for you to stand with Christ instead of trying to force revenge or control the outcome? What burden do you need to place in God’s hands? [41:45]