I want to speak to you a message this morning entitled, "The Poison Principle". Acts 28:1-5, I think is one of the most interesting and powerful verses in the word of God. "When they escaped they found out that the Island was called Malta. The natives showed us unusual kindness for they kindled the fire and made us all welcome because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold. But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and layed them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand they said to one another, no doubt this man is a murderer whom though he has escaped the sea yet justice does not allow him to live. But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm".
Father, this morning we thank you that you are faithful to us. God, we thank you for your word which enriches us and strengthens us. This morning we pray that in this place your word would have its perfect effect. May we decrease and may you increase, in Jesus name, amen.
Paul had just gone through an incredible storm on a ship. Paul was a prisoner, he had appealed to Ceasar and now he was on a prison ship with alot of other prisoners and the ship hit a storm, the boat after 14 days fell apart and Paul finds himself on the island of Malta. As he's there it's amazing what God begins to do through his life. Have you ever been through a storm and gone through a season where it seemed like you were in the process of cleaning everything up in your life and things were just beginning to get back in order when all of a sudden the enemy attacked? Have you ever been there? You've gone through, you thought things were getting back on track and all of a sudden out of nowhere comes another attack from the enemy.
Paul had literally just come out of a storm, literally came out of a shipwreck. He was on a journey and he knew in his inner man that God was doing something in his life. Here was a prisoner who was on his way to talk to Ceasar, the most powerful man in all the world at the time. Paul knew that he had a mission from God. Paul was walking in the power and the authority of God and he was personally and spiritually fulfilled in his life yet he was also going through one of the most difficult times.
The truth is, like all of us who would be used by God, Paul faced threats by Satan because the devil fears those who will completely surrender their life to the Lord. Every person who I have ever talked to when I started in the ministry who knew that God was going to do something through my life, they would tell me, "Marvin, when you do this it's not going to be an easy walk, it's not going to be an easy thing because you're going to become a target of the enemy". I would rather be a target of the enemy in my life than go through my life doing nothing with it. God has called us to do powerful things with our lives. Paul was in the midst of it. If our heart is set on going the distance with God and achieving all that God has for us, we are a threat to the enemy and therefore a target for him. Listen, my prayer at Harvest Community Church is that every one of us will be a threat to the enemy and that everyone of us would become a target. How many know he can't get all of us? The truth is he can't get any of us because we're protected by the Lord.
Paul was a target because in the midst of his storm he stayed faithful. Paul was a prisoner and for 14 days that storm raged on the ocean. All the soldiers and sailers were getting sick on the ship. That's a bad storm when even the ones who are used to going through them are getting ill. In the midst of that thing they began to throw over the cargo, all the prisoners were chained on the bottom of the ship and somehow in the midst of being chained Paul began to pray to the Lord. As a matter of fact, as he prayed an angel showed up and began to give him a word, "If you will do what I say and you will do what God says, every one of your lives will be spared".
Paul, In the midst of being a prisoner, one who shouldn't have had any influence became the one voice of reason on the ship. He began to talk to the people, "You haven't eaten in days, I don't care how sick you are, don't care how rough the storm is, you've still got to eat and keep up your strength". He became an encourager. He became such a leader that the soldiers unloosed his chains and he began to walk around that ship. The Bible says in Acts 27:25, "Paul stood up and said, therefore, take heart men, for I believe God that it will be just as he told me". Paul was going through the storm just like everybody else, he was hurting just like everybody else but his faith in God sustained him and it saved the lives of everyone on that ship.
Satan even wanted to make sure that Paul's life would be completely shipwrecked. Think about this, the boat didn't just slowly come to a halt and float up to the beach, the boat began to break apart, people began to jump overboard and grab onto things. When Paul had gone on to the shore, he was literally shipwrecked in his life. All Paul had when he crawled up onto that beach in Malta was the shirt on his back and his faith in God, nothing else. But that didn't stop Paul. In the midst of his life falling apart he stayed faithful. It is when Satan realizes that he can't get to you with an outside circumstance that he will try an inside attack. How many understand it's the inside jobs that do people in more than the outside jobs? Satan tried to stop Paul's work for God by a sudden infusion of poison. I want to speak to you this holiday season to make sure that in the midst of the trials of life that the enemy doesn't try to do an inside job on you, to make sure that you know that you are faithful to God and that your God is faithful to you.
Satan tried to stop Paul before he even got moving and that's how he goes after us. Spiritual poison starts with a bite or an attack, it starts with pain, it strikes on an exposed area that's vulnerable. How many of you have a few vulnerable areas in your life? We need to recognize these things.
Poison starts with a bite and works its way through the body until it attacks the heart. It begins by paralyzing through fear and through pain and then the poison stops the heart. It stops us from caring, from feeling and even truly living. How many know that's how the enemy wants to do the inside job? The poison principle is a strategy the enemy uses to try to stop all of God's children from fully accomplishing and enjoying all that God has for their life. How many know that God has a plan for your life today and that he wants you to enjoy your life? He called us not only to be fulfilled in what we're doing but to like what we're doing and to like the life that we're living.
Satan will try to poison us and put venom in our hearts. Discouragement, hurt, unforgiveness or anger, frustration, until the bitterness begins to poison us against God and against the work that he has for our lives. Listen, I came here this morning to do business with the body of Christ because God wants us to live free and whole in Jesus name.
Hebrews 12:15 says, "Looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness spring up and cause trouble and by this many become defiled".
By poisoning one who is on fire for the Lord, many others can get hurt. How many of you have ever seen people who have been on fire for God, they have been living under the power of the annointing of the Holy Spirit, they love God so much, then all of a sudden they come through trials? They're walking in faith, they've trusted the Lord, they've been faithful, the storm has rocked them but they have not been shaken. Then as soon as they come out, when they are stronger than ever, the enemy tries to inflict something on the inside. There's something wonderful about those who love the Lord with all their hearts, soul, mind and strength. There's something about those people that love other people more than themselves and they take care of ministry and the word of God. But have you ever noticed that many times when those who have been on fire for God begin to get hurt, that's when others begin to get hurt?
I want you to think about this, Satan went for Paul's hand right while he was serving. Paul was shipwrecked just like everybody else, he had just been through the storm just like everybody else and here comes everybody onto the shore. Some people will just lay on the beach and other people will start gathering sticks to build a fire. Paul was one of the people gathering the sticks to build the fire. He was saying, "I know we've been through a storm but I want to show you that God is faithful, we're on dry land now and we're going to get going". So Paul is already in the process of serving, he never stopped, never thought it was his time for a vacation. In the midst of serving the enemy came out and gripped onto his hand. The enemy knows if he can get to the servants hand, he understands that the hand follows the heart. The hand always follows the heart.
The attack on Paul was strategically timed and placed. Paul was in a prominent time of growth in his life. It was hard but he was thriving, he was tired and he was vulnerable but he was still serving God even in the midst of it all and that is when the enemy struck. Those who serve God powerfully have clean hands and pure hearts. If Satan can defile either one of them, the grace of God may still flow to your life but it will no longer flow through our life. How many know God wants his grace to flow through us to others?
Psalms 24:3-4 says, "Who may ascend to the hill of the Lord or who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart". Job 17:9 says, "If the righteous will hold to his way and he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger".
It's when you're reaching out and doing everything you know for the betterment of others that out of the heart of the situation the serpent comes to poison our heart and our attitude in life. Satan will grab on to the very hands that have been an extension of God's love to others. I want you to notice that the first thing that was nailed on Jesus were his hands. Satan first messed with Jesus' head, the crown of thorns were there. Jesus received the blows to the head through the rod and the plucking of his beard. Satan will mess with your head but when he can't mess with your head any longer, he's going to go for the hands that reach out. Satan goes for the hands because he understands man's natural tendency. How many of you have ever hurt your hand before? When you've cut your hand or hit your hand what happens? It balls up into a fist. Why? First to protect itself. The truth is that the human flesh will immediately go for the protection.
Hurting hands have a hard time holding or bonding with others. Those with sensitive hands that once reached out, now close in instead of reaching. I remember one time I had hurt my hand, we were working at the ranch and I had blisters all over my hands from working hard. These are preachers hands and they don't have a whole lot of callouses. I used to be ashamed of that but the truth is they do a lot of other things. I remember when I was working and using the shovel and by the end of the day even with gloves on I had some of the biggest blisters. After that I was walking into a store with my wife and she reached out to grab my hand and I pulled back because it hurt. How many know that even a nice touch begins to hurt?
Satan will go for the hands because they are a sensitive place. He knows that hurting people hurt people. Have you ever noticed how many of God's people fight and quarrel among themselves? It's usually because they're hurting. Hurting people usually withdraw from others and hands that used to be extended in mercy simply reach for themselves. I want you to hear me, when the focus of an individual's life is on themselves, that person can become selfish. The devil loves it when God's church becomes self focused. That's why satan went for Paul's hand, to try and keep him to himself.
Paul sets a good example of what to do when Satan bites you when you're going through. It's amazing, that viper reached out of the fire and grabbed onto his hand and Paul shook it off. How many know when the devil grabs on to your life and tries to inflict poison, you need to shake it off and do it quick. I'm not telling you to suck it up and deal with it, I'm telling you to shake it off and not let the poison sink in. Acts 28:5 says, "But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm". There was no way he was going to allow that thing to stay on, he shook it off.
Church, I want to tell you that the enemy will go after Christians, especially in this day and age like never before and he's going to go after the hands that serve. He knows that if you're going to be faithful in the storm then he's going to try and inflict the poison inside. I want to tell you that there are some people that are more fascinated with the snake on their arm then they are over the joy that the poison didn't hurt them. The longer you admire the snake, the more venom it pushes into you and then it becomes your fault. There are some people when they get bit, they look at that snake and dwell on it. Shake it off because the longer that snake hangs onto you, the more venom it's pushing in, and the more venom it pushes in, the more destruction that it does. There are too many people walking around looking at the thing that the devil did to them. Shake it off.
Luke 10:19 says, "Behold, I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you". That is good stuff. There are too many wierd pentecostals who are now taking snakes into the church. That's goofy, backwoods stuff to be doing. I lived in Appalachia for awhile, I know what I'm talking about. Hear me now, the Bible says this, "that no deadly thing shall hurt you". I have seen Christians who have been bit by snakes accidentally and they didn't die. I have seen Christians who have picked up spiders and have been bit by black widows or brown recluse and they haven't died but listen, although that does apply to the natural this is a spiritual verse. When the devil messes with you and tries to inflict you with poison it will by no means hurt you. How many know that's good stuff?
Listen, there are many people who are waiting to see what will happen to you once you get bit. The world is watching. Paul knew this, his life was not his own. This is a man who was on the same ship with murderers and prisoners and in the midst of the storm he kept his calm, he gained the attention and the blessing of those who were in authority over him and he even became one who was leading them. Now he winds up in this strange place on the island of Malta and the snake grabs onto him. I want you to look at verse 6, "However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead but after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm had come to him they changed their mind and said that he was a God". People are always fascinated to find out what's going to happen to you when you get hurt. All these people were just watching. Listen, it is important that after we shake off the snake, after we shake off what the enemy is trying to do to us, that we continue to live for the Lord.
A few years back I had the privilege of meeting a man by the name of Jimmy Ritter. His brother, David Ritter, led worship at Phoenix First Assembly. When Jimmy was 16 years old, his father ran a logging camp out in Washington state. One day when they had been working hard and there seemed to be a lull in the activity on the logging site, Jimmy crawled up into the prongs of the grapple hook that come to pick up the logs. He crawled in there to take a nap because there was no schedule to do any more work. While he was napping, his dad crawled up into the cab of that grapple hook just because he wanted to clean up the site a little bit and didn't know that his son was asleep in there. Just as he reached down the claws to pick up those logs, Jimmy woke up hearing a snap and it was his back. His dad heard a sudden scream not realizing that his son was in there and immediately let go of the hydraulic button and Jimmy became paralyzed for the rest of his life. He's a quadrapalegic, can't use his arms or his legs, only 16 years of age.
That man today is a wonderful man of God. He could have allowed the enemy to poison his life. He loved the Lord at 16 years old. This is a family that has been touching people for Jesus for a long time. Jimmy now paints some of the most beautiful pictures that you could ever see with his teeth, absolutely gorgeous pictures of what God has done in nature. This man will go everywhere and share the gospel of Jesus Christ. He will say, "I thought what happened to me was the worst thing that could ever happen in my life but God has been faithful". He's got a beautiful wife and 3 beautiful children. I don't know how you do all that when you're a quadripelegic but how many know that God is a blessing? I want to tell you it's a wonderful thing. Wherever he goes, people watch and wonder what his attitude is going to be like but he decided this, "I may sit in a wheelchair for the rest of my life, I may not be able to take care of myself, but God has been faithful to me". How many know that people were watching to see what happened? God is faithful.
When Satan infected Adam and Eve with his poison in the garden, his intent was to infect and affect every one of Adam's children. Satan bites us many times to turn whole families from God. I want to encourage us this morning, we must refuse to let that happen. I wonder how many children have grown bitter because of the hurts that their family sustained in ministry or sustained from the church. I want to tell you right now you must shake it off for the sake of your kids. It doesn't matter what the enemy is trying to do to you but there are lives at stake. How many other people have been touched by your life and they're watching to see what you will do.
What Satan is after is the healing that flows through our hands into the lives of others. Acts 28:7-9 says, "In that region there was an estate of the leading citizen of the island whose name was Publius, who received us and entertained us courteously for 3 days. And it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery, and Paul went into him and prayed, and he layed his hands on him and healed him. So when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed". Satan's design is to stop us before God's healing power can flow through us and touch many people's lives.
Many people are praying for others with no results because their hearts and hands are full of venom. They've been bitten, they don't want to reach out to touch. I want to encourage you church to refuse that. Shake the enemy off into the fire. Refuse to let others be robbed of their healing and of their situation being restored. Paul's hand ministered healing. Because he did, his life and the lives of others became a living example of Christ's love and power and determination for all of us.
Paul, when he showed up on that island, before he could get going into the heart of things, the enemy tried to stop his ministry flat in his tracks. Before he knew it that whole island had seen the power and love and the glory of God. Think about what happens when the Lord shows up in a place. On the island of Malta, just south of Sicily, out in the middle of the ocean, were a bunch of people living out there who had never heard the gospel before and the enemy tried to stop the one person in his tracks who could bring it to them. Paul shook it off and said, "I'm not going to let the devil do this, God needs to come to this island and touch the lives of these people". Pretty soon God opened doors and everyone that was sick on that island was made well by the one that the enemy tried to poison. Satan may try to poison you, shake it off. I'm not telling you to shake the situation off, shake him off. Listen, don't give him a foothold, don't allow him to have his way, don't allow that venom to penetrate.
Paul went from a snake bite on his hand, to healing with his hand, to a pen in his hand. Paul could have had the poison pen, instead he wound up writing the words of love for us to read today. We get an account of what happened as he sat in prison, he wrote some of the most beautiful letters that you and I depend on today. God speaking through him so that we can live this life in the power, and know the love and the hope of God and take that hope to others.
2nd Corinthians 3:3 says, "Clearly, you are an epistle or a letter of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink but by the spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh that is the heart". We are a living letter of what God has done. Do you realize that? Everybody is reading our life to see who God really is. My prayer is that when people read me they'll see Jesus. That's what God did through Paul.
Listen to me, shake it off, let your hands be tender hands and as we grow older let's both our hearts and our hands grow softer. I want to speak this to you If you've been hurt and the enemy has tried to put bitterness, fear, anger, or disappointment in you to the point where you've become ineffective. You once had that word of God in your heart and you used to share it with others and had that fire of God burning in your belly. Something came in and started doing stuff with the hands, then it began to defile the heart. Have you ever noticed sometimes when you're hurting that you justify sin? That's not a hand issue, that's a heart issue. That's what the enemy is wanting to do. Listen to me, shake him off and don't allow that poison to come in. Let the healing word of the Lord begin to speak into your life, let it change you and refine you and let him heal you. How many believe that if we will let that word come and have its way in us then God can have his way through us?
