Alright well thank you very much everybody for being here this morning. I
want to begin of course first of all by saying thank you to Pastor Thompson and
Miss Sherry and their friendship and inviting us out here. We of course
always like being with them and I want to say thank you to Brother
David and his wife for running this location and running this church
plant and of course just all of you and everyone that has been a part and
helped. I know Brother Isaac's been involved a lot. Brother Ben appreciate him
opening up his home for us and of course just want to say thank you to
everybody especially all of you. I want to say thank you to all of you but of
course as the pastor of Verity Baptist Church I want to say thank you to the
Verity Baptist Church family that's with us today and of course we've got
the Johnsons and the McQueen's and Miss JC here from Sacramento and we
appreciate you coming and being here and of course we always love spending
time with you guys and being with you and you know you got to love
coming to Hawaii and I want to say thank you to all of you of course all
of you that's been wishing my wife and I and a happy anniversary. Yesterday
we celebrated 17 years of marriage. I know that seems impossible since we both
look so young but 17 years and we were able to spend it in Hawaii so
praise the Lord for that. I can't think of a better place to so thank you
to my wife for putting up with me for 17 years and we appreciate that. Of
course we're there in Acts chapter 28 and in Acts 28 I'd like you to go back
to Acts 27 if you would just to give you a little bit of the context of the
chapter Acts chapter 27 and if you look at verse 41 the Bible says this
and falling into a place where two seas met and what we find is we find the
Apostle Paul on a journey and this is actually not really a missionary
journey he's actually in prison at this time and he's traveling from a
prison in Caesarea Philippi on his way to Rome and while on that ship
they find some themselves in the middle of a storm verse 41 and falling
into a place where two seas met they ran the ship aground and the
forepart stuck fast and that word forepart means the front part of it it
stuck fast it got stuck and remained unmovable but the hinder part the back
part of the ship was broken with the violence of the waves and the
soldiers council was to kill the prisoners and this of course would have
included the Apostle Paul lest any of them should swim out and escape but
the centurion willing to save Paul kept them from their purpose and commanded
that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea and get
to the land and the rest some on boards and some on broken pieces of
the ship and so it came to pass that they escaped all safe to land so I
want you to notice that the Apostle Paul has basically been shipwrecked
while on this voyage to Rome and of course Paul was a man that had gone on
missionary journeys he had a lot of experience with ships and and he had
actually given them advice to not do this but they went ahead and did it
anyway and as a result they ended up shipwrecked I'm not preaching about
this this morning but I'll take the opportunity to say this you ought to
listen to the man of God in your life sometimes the men of God give you some
advice and you think well they're just men but you know when you've been
married for 17 years when you've been married for 20 years when you've been
in ministry for 10 years you gain to grow a little bit of experience and you
begin to see the weather and you begin to see some things and and you know
the Bible says that there's no new thing under the Sun and sometimes you
look at signs and you think that's not gonna turn out well for you you
might not want to go sailing right now you might not want to go down that
road and this is what happened they didn't listen to Paul and they end up
being shipwrecked and what we find is that at the end there verse 44 it says
that the rest some on board some on the broken piece of the ship and so it came
to pass that they escaped all saved to land so they they get to the land this
is where we pick up in verse 1 of chapter 28 it says and when they were
escaped then they knew the island so I want you to notice that the Apostle
Paul is shipwrecked and he he and the rest of the prisoners and the
guards they escaped from that shipwreck and they swim to this island now Paul
has not only been shipwrecked but he's also stranded on this island notice
verse number one again and when they were escaped then they knew the that
the island was called Oahu I mean Melita and the barbarous people showed
us no little kindness and of course that what that means is they showed
them a lot of kindness they were very kind to them for they kindled a
fire and that's just like that reminds me a lot of Hawaii you know
because you we we came here and the barbarous people showed us no little
kindness they've been very kind to us for they kindle a fire and received us
everyone because of the present rain and because of the cold and what we see
in this story is that Paul spends a little bit of time on this island
stranded and the title of the sermon this morning is Paul's island
adventure and what we see is the Apostle Paul it gets stranded on this
island he and he has this little adventure on this island before they're
rescued and you know it's funny because you know all the way back to
just you know decades ago you'd have shows on TV like Gilligan's Island you
know and and even in current times there's all sorts of shows and TV
shows about people being stranded on islands but you know the Bible tells us
about Paul being stranded on an island and the truth of the matter is that the
Bible is an extremely edifying book it's obviously a spiritual book but you
know it's also an entertaining book if you just read the Bible you'll find
a lot of parallels from the Bible where Hollywood just rips off a lot of
stories from the Word of God because here we have not Gilligan's Island we
got Paul's Island we got Paul's Island adventure I want you to notice this
morning this afternoon I want to just give you some thoughts and some
parallels in regards to I want to just get everything situated here too
like Pastor Thompson was saying I want to give you some thoughts in
regards to Paul's Island adventure and some things that we see what did Paul
do when he got to the island of Melita when he got with these barbers
people what did he do and if you're taking down notes maybe you're able to
take notes I'd encourage you to write some of these things out like you
notice first of all that Paul on his island adventure got to work when Paul
got there he didn't set up a hammock and laid out on the hammock and just
said well you know someone's gonna come rescue us I want you to notice that
Paul got to work notice verse 3 there of Acts 28 the Bible says and when
Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire there came a
viper out of the heat and fastened on him I want you to notice that Paul and we
say this often about the Apostle Paul he's what you would call a type-a
personality he was the type of guy that was just busy he always wanted to be
doing something he always wanted to be producing something he just survived
this shipwreck he's landed on the island but while everybody else is
probably laying on the island soaking in the Sun the Apostle Paul you'll
notice he gets right to work he gathered a bundle of sticks and laid
them on fire he begins to gather these sticks and prepare a fire because
they're gonna need this on the island and of course Paul on this island
adventure got to work and I would say this to Sure Foundation Baptist Church
here in Honolulu we're celebrating two years of ministry what I would
encourage you is on this island on this island adventure called Sure
Foundation Baptist Church Honolulu I would encourage you to get to work
you know it's a beautiful place where you are it's a beautiful place to
relax and to enjoy it and I would definitely encourage you to take time
to enjoy this island and enjoy some some rest and relaxation and obviously
we believe in the principles of rest we don't keep the Sabbath day as New
Testament believers but we understand there's a principle there of working
hard and resting and taking time to relax and this afternoon we'll take
some time to fellowship and relax but let me tell you something this
church ought to do on this island what the Apostle Paul did on this island
and he got to work he and you said well what did Paul do he started
gathering sticks he started assembling sticks you said what should
we do on this island we should start gathering people our job is to
gather people and reach them with the gospel of Jesus Christ see today
we're here celebrating two years of a church plant we're also here for a
mission strip there's been a mission strip that has happened on this island
this last week 43 salvations this week and praise the Lord for that the
Apostle Paul he's stranded on an island but he's also a missionary and you
know we can see what Paul would do whenever he would get to a place on his
mission strips or on his missions program you're there in Acts 28 go back
with me if you want to Acts chapter 13 let me highlight some of these for you
you say what is it that Paul did on his missionary journeys I want you to
notice because the Bible documents for us two of Paul's missionary journeys
and it's a pretty consistent thing that he does Acts chapter 13 look at
verse 42 Acts 13 verse 42 and when the Jews were gone out of the
synagogue the Gentiles besought that these words might be
preached to them the next Sabbath day see Paul shows up and he's preaching
the gospel he's going to the Jews the Jews go out of the synagogue the
Gentiles catch ear of it and they besought Paul that these words might be
preached to them the next Sabbath day they said hey the next Sabbath day
could you preach to us what you preached in the synagogue could you
preach to us what you preached to the Jews and I want you to notice what Paul
does whenever he started a mission strip whenever he went to plant a
church verse 43 now when the congregation was broken up many of the
Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas who's speaking to
them persuaded them content to continue in the grace of God notice verse 44 and
the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the Word of
God you say what would Paul do when he show up in a city when he show up
in a location to conduct a mission strip to plant a church you know what
he would do he would gather as many people as possible he tried to get as
many people as possible to hear the gospel to hear the the the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ in fact the Bible says that came out almost the
whole city together what to God it would be said this church that the
whole city of Honolulu would hear the gospel as a result of the
soul-winning efforts of sure Foundation Baptist Church look down at
verse 47 I want you to notice this was a consistent thing with Paul he moves
from this location to another location notice was 47 for so hath the
Lord commanded us saying I have set thee to be a light to the Gentiles
that thou shouldst be for salvation unto the ends of the earth notice verse
48 and when the Gentiles heard this they were glad and glorified the word
of the Lord and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed notice
verse 49 and the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region I
mean when Paul showed up somewhere you say what was his plan what was his
goal his goal was to get as many people as possible to hear the gospel
to gather as many people as possible to get the biggest crowd and to
publish the Word of God throughout all the region so what should we do on
this island we should publish the Word of God throughout this entire island
this entire island and this should be the goal of sure foundation Baptist
Church that everybody that lives on this island would know about this church and
more importantly about the Christ that you preach the gospel that you preach
that it would be said of this place that the word of the Lord was
published throughout all the region and notice it's not just the gospel it's
the Word of God the entire Word of God it's everything everything like
pastor Thompson was preaching this morning everything we believe everything we
hold true everything we hold dear and not just about the salvation but about
discipleship about sanctification about the culture and about you say well why
should we preach about the culture because Christians need to learn about
the Christian culture is that what should our culture be it should be
Christ notice chapter 14 look at verse 1 chapter 14 verse 1 is that what
did Paul do everywhere he went it was it was to the point it was like a
habit he was obnoxious about it everywhere he went he went around
gathering people gathering people he gets to the island of Molita's and and
and he's now in prison he's not there to plant a church but it's just
what he does he starts gathering sticks everywhere he goes he's just gathering
things acts 14 look at verse 1 and it came to pass in iconium that they
were both together into the synagogue of the Jews and so spoke so spake
notice that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks
believed what was Paul doing gathering people everywhere he went he was
gathering people acts 17 if you would act 17 and by the way the Bible
doesn't say this is just my thoughts but I bet you Paul was
gathering sticks to start a fire knowing that people would be gathered to
the fire and when they got there be like oh you like my fire yeah yeah
of course of course you can sit by my fire if you don't mind me
preaching the gospel to you act 17 we just know that's how Paul was I'm
preaching through the book of Philippians right now at our church and
you know when others would say about Paul being imprisoned in Philippi Paul
Paul would say I'm not the one in prison they're the ones in prison
they're chained to me and they've got to hear the gospel act 17 look at
verse 2 and Paul as his manner was went in unto them and three Sabbaths
they reasoned with them out of the scriptures opening and alleging that
Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead that this
Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ notice verse 4 and some of them
believed and consorted with Paul and Silas you say what should we do here
here's what we should do preach the gospel you say well they won't all all
believe I know that but some of them will believe and some of them
believed Paul is gathering people with the gospel notice and consorted you see
that word consorted there it means to habitually associate with Paul and Silas
you say what should we do we should go reach the people that live on this
island you say not all of them will believe I know but some of them will
believe and some of them we can consort with them we can associate with them
we can assemble with them we can congregate with them we can
fellowship with them we can disciple them and we can help them grow notice
what it says there at the end of verse 4 and of the devout Greeks a great
multitude and of the chief women I love this phrase not a few I love how
the Bible says not a few he could have said a lot but not a few is a
little more dramatic I think he's like it's not just a few it's not a
few it's a lot the great multitude we we found a lot of people we reached a
lot of people I would say 43 people saved this week is not a few look at
verse 10 same chapter Acts 17 verse 10 Acts 17 verse 10 and the brethren
immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea who coming hither
went into the synagogue of the Jews these were more noble than those in
Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness of mind and
search the scriptures daily whether those things were so notice verse 12
therefore many of them believe also of honorable women which were Greeks and of
men not a few so what did Paul do what was Paul doing he was gathering
people everywhere he went he was gathering people he gets to the island
Melita he starts gathering these things that what should we do on this
island we should gather as many people as possible preach the gospel to
as many people as possible you say and then why won't you notice what Paul
did go back to Acts 28 that's our text for this afternoon acts 28 notice verse
3 again and when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks aren't you knows
what he did and laid them on the fire why don't you notice Paul did not
only gather sticks and we can take that as a picture or a representation
that we should go about gathering people we should be assembling people we
should be reaching men and women and children you say how many a great
multitude you say how many not a few you say and then what you know what we
should do we should be setting them on fire for God throughout the Bible
you find that fire is a picture of the Holy Spirit of God or the power
of the Holy Spirit you're there in the book of Acts go back to Acts
chapter 2 look at verse 1 Acts chapter number 2 and verse 1 we're gonna
spend most of our time this and this sermon in the book of Acts we're all
gonna look at some other passages but we'll be in Acts mostly Acts chapter 2
notice verse 1 the Bible says and when the day of Pentecost was fully come
they were all with one accord in one place and suddenly there came a sound
from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled all the house where
they were sitting of course the day of Pentecost when the power of the
Holy Spirit came down they were filled with the Spirit the Holy Spirit came
upon them this is not when they got the indwelling of the Spirit but this
is when they received the power or the filling of the Holy Spirit notice verse
number 43 and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire and
it's sad upon each of them once you notice that fire is a representation of
the Holy Spirit in the Bible John chapter 5 you don't have to turn there
I'll just read it for you John chapter 5 and verse 35 Jesus said this about
John the Baptist he was a burning and a shining light and he were willing for
a season to rejoice in his light 1st Thessalonians 5 19 says this quench
not the spirit the word quench means to extinguish the spirit there is being
represented by fire that you can quench that you can extinguish and the Bible
tells us hey quench not the spirit you say why because when somebody's
filled with the spirit when they've got the Holy Spirit of God and the
power of God upon their lives they're on fire for God the Bible says in
Hebrews 12 29 for our God is a consuming fire you say what should we
do here in in this island we should gather people and set them on fire for
God it's not just enough to get them saved now obviously we want to get as
many people saved as possible but it's not enough to just get them saved we
need to get them saved and help them get on fire for God at Verity
Baptist Church over the last 10 years my wife and I have done our best
to not only lead a church that is reaching people but lead a church that
is setting people on fire for God I'm talking about taking people that
weren't soul winning and now they're soul winning they weren't reading their
Bibles and now they're reading their Bibles they weren't living for God and
now they're living for God they weren't faithful to church and now they're
faithful to church they weren't raising their children with the right
culture of Christianity of the Lord Jesus Christ and now they are you say
what are we doing it's called life change it's called discipleship it's
called catching them on fire getting them on fire for God you say to the
point you say to what point to the you know to the point where they would
choose to go on vacation and go soul winning make a mission strip their
vacation and and and reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ I like I
like that song we sing set my soul afire Lord for thy holy word burn it
deep within me let your voice be heard millions grow up in darkness in
this day and hour I will be your witness fill me with thy power the second
stanza says set my soul afire Lord for the lost and sin give to me a passion
as I seek to win help me not to falter never let me fail fill me with thy
spirit let thy will prevail set my soul afire Lord in my daily life far
too long I've wondered in this day of strife nothing else will matter but
to live for thee I will be your witness as you live in me set my
soul afire Lord set my soul afire you say what was Paul doing he was
gathering sticks and he was setting them on fire he said what should we do we
should gather people and set them on fire for God help them to get on fire
that the Holy Spirit of God would begin to burn in their life and that
God would become a consuming fire in their lives Paul on his island
adventure you say what do you do he relaxed he drank out of a coconut not
of a pineapple he might have done those things and I don't think there's
anything wrong with doing those things but you know what you ought to do you
ought to get to work get busy about reaching people like you notice
secondly this morning not only do we see that the Apostle Paul got to work
if you go back to Acts 28 look at verse 3 like you notice secondly this
morning Paul got to work and as a result Paul on his island adventure got
attacked you notice verse 3 and when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and
laid them on the fire notice there came a viper out of the heat and
fastened on his hand what is a viper it is a venomous snake Paul goes about
gathering these sticks setting them on fire and what jumps out at him a
venomous snake a serpent a viper fights him and fastened on his hands
Revelation 12 and verse 9 you don't have to turn there in fact you go with
me to the book of 1st Corinthians if you would you're there in Acts go to
Romans 1st Corinthians 1st Corinthians 16 while you go there I'll read to you
from Revelation 12 and verse 9 the Bible says this and the great dragon
was cast out that old serpent you say who's the serpent and that great
dragon was cast out that old serpent it's the old serpent because it's the
same serpent that was in the Garden of Eden notice called the devil and
Satan which deceived the whole world and he was passed out into the earth and
his angels were cast out with him here we have a viper that strikes out at
the Apostle Paul when he's gathering these sticks and laying them on the
fire and let me sell something to sure Foundation Baptist Church and
every soul winning church all over the world when you start gathering
people preaching the gospel to them and setting them on fire for God you
better be care you better understand that a venomous serpent probably gonna
jump out and latch at you too it's called the devil in fact let me just say
this whenever Christians take advantage of the great opportunity to
preach the gospel understand this great opportunity always comes with
great opposition 1st Corinthians 16 and verse 9 the Bible says this Paul
said this for a great door and effectual what is that a great
opportunity you know what we have here in Hawaii you know what you have
here in Hawaii a great opportunity you know what we have I appreciate the words
of Pastor Thompson about reaching the Pacific you say why do you go to Hawaii
to to to preach the gospel is it because it's a beautiful place to
visit you know why we go to Hawaii to preach the gospel because it's
receptive and it's a beautiful place to visit say why do you go to the
Philippines because it's receptive say why do you go to Mexico because it's
receptive you know why why why do they go to Africa because it's receptive
there's a great door there's a great door of opportunity and you know we've
started a church obviously we have Brother Stuckey doing a great job now
two churches from Verity Baptist Church have been planted in the
Philippines and we've got a vision for the Philippines and all the
islands of the Philippines to be reached with the gospel and I hope that your
foundation will reach all the islands of Hawaii I believe I'll sign Pastor
Thompson during the break I believe that we should all have the heart to reach
all people obviously but I do believe that God sometimes burdens individuals
in certain locations I know that I have a heart for California I know that
Pastor Thompson has a heart for for Washington and we have a heart for the
west coast of the United States of America but he's got a church here in
Hawaii we've got a church in the Philippines and I've got a heart for
the Pacific as well I want to see all sorts of brown people saved I want to
see all sorts of brown whether they're Aztec or Samoan or Filipino or Guam
or whatever we have a great door of opportunity to reach people with the
gospel of Jesus Christ but with a great opportunity comes great
opposition for a great door and effectual is opened unto us and there
are many adversaries don't miss that these things go hand in hand for a
great doors first going to 69 for a great door and effectual is open unto
me that's the opportunity and there are many adversaries that's the
opposition with great opportunity comes great opposition when you start doing
something and reaching people and preaching and changing the culture and
changing the lifestyle of individuals to just mark it down a viper's headed
your way a venomous serpent's gonna come out and strike at you and attack
you and it's called the devil go back to Acts 13 Acts chapter 13 in my
first point I went through and showed you a bunch of references of the Apostle
Paul going through and reaching people with the gospel on his missionary
journeys gathering people with the gospel what I didn't show you is that
all of those verses have connected with them opportunity and opposition let
me highlight it for you I read this to you just a few minutes ago acts 13
44 and the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the
Word of God great opportunity doesn't that sound so encouraging doesn't that
sound amazing I mean wouldn't every preacher want that to be said of their
community of their city that they stood up to preach and came almost the
whole city together to hear the Word of God that's a great opportunity verse
44 but that also is coupled with verse 45 but when the Jews saw the
multitude they were filled with envy and spake against those things which
were spoken by Paul contradicting and blaspheming see with great
opportunity comes great opposition look at verse 49 I showed you this verse and
the Word of the Lord was published throughout all the region is that a
great verse wouldn't every church want that to be said of them I mean I
hope it's sad a Verity Baptist Church that the Word of the Lord was
published throughout all the region I'm sure Pastor Thompson would love it
for it to be said in Vancouver Washington and Portland Oregon that the
Word of the Lord was published throughout all the region as a result of their
ministry up there that's a great opportunity but that's connected to
don't miss out on don't forget about verse 50 but the Jews stirred up
the devout and honorable women and the chief men of the city and raised
persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them out of their coast
see you have these verses that give us great opportunity and then you see
great opposition coupled with them verse 44 verse 45 verse 49 verse 50 look at
verse 1 of Acts chapter 4 14 excuse me Acts chapter 14 look at verse 1 great
opportunity and it came to pass in Iconium that they went both together
into the synagogue of the Jews and so spake that a great multitude both of
the Jews and also the Greeks believe doesn't that sound great great
opportunity don't miss verse 2 but the unbelieving Jews stirred up the
Gentiles and made their minds evil affected against the brethren aren't
notice that every time you see Paul doing great things taking advantage of
great opportunity he's also confronted with great opposition look
at verse Acts 17 look at verse 4 Acts 17 verse 4 and some that believed and
consorted with Paul and Silas and of the devout Greeks a great multitude
and of the chief women not a few great opportunity look at verse 5 but
the Jews which believe not moved with envy took unto them certain lewd fellows
of the base of sort and gathered a company and set all the city on an
uproar and assaulted the house of Jason and sought to bring them out to
the people great opportunity great opposition look at verse 12 same
chapter Acts 17 verse 12 therefore many of them believed also of
honorable women which were Greeks and of men not a few doesn't that sound
great that sounds like a great opportunity don't miss verse 13 but when
the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the Word of God was
preached by Paul at Berea they came hither also and stirred up the people
see the Bible teaches us this concept that whenever you attempt great
things for God and you're accomplishing great things for God the devil will
set his targets on you see Paul on his island of adventure he got to work
but you know Paul on his island adventure he got attacked the devil will
put a target on churches accomplishing things for God and with great
opportunity comes great opposition so look you say in our two years of
ministry we've already had maybe some attacks and I'm here to tell you
the more you do for God the more attacks will come III wish I could tell
you something different oftentimes our churches and the churches we fellowship
with sometimes they're called the new IFB churches your churches sometimes
people will criticize us and say you guys all right you have all this drama
why do you have all these enemies why are people constantly attacking you
question I have is why people constantly attacking Paul everywhere he's
going he's being attacked he's being slandered he's being lied about there
they're bringing accusations against them they're trying to get him in
prison they're trying to get him in trouble why because with great
opportunity comes great opposite you say nobody's attacking those old IV
churches because those old IV churches aren't trying to do anything
they're not making an uproar they're not gathering as many people as
possible they're not going out trying to reach as many people as gospel with
the gospel and even when they are they're not trying to set them on
fire for the Word of God obviously there are good churches everywhere and
good old IFB churches but I just tell you this when you try to do great
things for God expect the Viper with great opportunity comes great
opposition go back to Acts 28 look at verse 4 I said number one this
morning Paul on his island adventure got to work I said number two Paul on
his island adventure got attacked why don't you notice thirdly this morning
this afternoon Paul on his island adventure was misunderstood why don't
you notice verse 4 and when the barbarians saw the venomous beasts
cuz remember Paul he gets to work right he gets on the island picks up
all the sticks starts to set a fire and then out of that fire comes a
venomous beast and by the way don't be surprised if the devil comes out of
the sticks you just gathered you said what's that it's called a Judas Iscariot
sometimes we gather people and we gather some snakes along with them and
when the barbarians saw the venomous beasts hang on his hand they
said among themselves I want you knows what they said it amongst
themselves they said no doubt this man in reference to Paul this man is a
murderer whom though he hath escaped the sea yet vengeance suffereth not to
live and of course these were heathen this was the belief of karma or the
belief of this heathenistic you know nature's out to get Paul and here's
what they're saying they Paul gets bit by a snake and they said oh this
guy he was a prisoner and he was on he was shipwrecked and the universe or
the earth you know nature was trying to kill him and and he survived that and
and now he's been bit by the snake no doubt this man is a murderer whom though
he had escaped the sea yet vengeance suffereth not to live they're saying
those things are happening to Paul because he's a bad guy Paul was
misunderstood you know it's funny about the story Paul's the only
innocent guy there Paul's on a ship with bunch of prisoners and he's the
only one that actually didn't do anything wrong you know I really prison always
tells you they're innocent Paul was actually innocent I mean Paul's just like
he what is he being sent to Rome for for preaching the gospel he hasn't hurt
anybody hasn't stolen from anybody hasn't done anything wrong the Roman
soldiers were wicked people the other prisoners were wicked people Paul was
doing the work of God and notice Paul's the one that got struck with the
venomous snake and you know what the islander said they said oh he must be
a bad guy they misunderstood him go to 1st Corinthians chapter 4 if you
would axe Romans 1st Corinthians chapter 4 they misunderstood Paul you
know what people say about our type of churches first works map the church
gets bombed and you know what people say he deserved it he you know they
must be bad people that's why that happened to them
Pastor Thompson gets persecuted and gets protested up and sure foundation
we get protested in Sacramento and people say oh you guys must be bad
people well Paul got bit by a snake and they said oh he must be a bad guy
no you know what he's the good guy that's why he's getting bit by the
sake 1st Corinthians 14 and verse 13 says this being defamed Paul said being
defamed he says he says they don't they don't say the right things about
me they don't believe the right things about me
positive I'm misunderstood and when the barbarians saw the venomous beast
hang on his hand they said among themselves no doubt this man is a murder
whom though he had escaped the sea yet vengeance suffered not to live and
then Paul writes in 1st Corinthians 14 13 he says being defamed we entreat we
are made as the filth of the world and are the offspring of all things
unto this day the word offspring means something that is thrown away Paul
says you know in the world we're defamed in the world we are made as
the filth of the world and are the offspring of all things unto this day
the world looks at us and they want to throw us away they want to get rid
of us they say we're the filth we're defamed he says I write not these
things to shame you but as my beloved son I warn you let me tell you
something if you get involved in a church that is actually gonna preach
the Word of God it's actually gonna try to get people saved and try to
set people on fire get ready to be defamed you know what they say about
us they say we're the problem because because we don't want our children to
be exposed to a bunch of filthy faggots because we don't want our children to
be exposed to a bunch of filth and pornography and transvestite because we
believe that a man should marry a woman they should raise godly children
they should live right and live pure they look at us as we're the
offspring we're not the ones on board right now everybody's falling all
over themselves right now in the month of June every company Amazon and
no matter what company they're all falling all over themselves to make sure
everybody knows we're their allies we're on board we're for this and we say no
we're not it's filthy and the world says you're the problem you know what
we are we're misunderstood when you align yourself with God you'll align
yourself against the world I like the song so little time the third
verse says despite the heat the seasons toil the hardship the broken
hearts over those we cannot win misunderstood because we're off peculiar
still no regrets we'll have but for our sin you know that in the Christian
life you'll be misunderstood you know why you say why would we
misunderstood because we're off peculiar people they can't understand
why it bothers us to go down to the beach and see a bunch of naked people
and they think what's the problem we're like you're the problem your
drunkenness is the problem the problem at the beach we're gonna enjoy the beach
and the millennial reign of Christ it's gonna be great but we're misunderstood
because we're off the killer they say why do you gotta raise your kids
that way why do you have to believe those things why do you have to say
those things why do you have to preach those things why do you have to live
that way you know what Paul Paul was on his island of adventure he was
misunderstood he was the most innocent the most righteous man there and they
all looked at him and said he's a problem there's something wrong with him and on this island on this island the
greatest thing that could happen to this island is for a church like this
to show up and get people saved and get people growing and restore
marriages and help parents parent their children properly and change the culture
the best thing that could happen is for a church like this to reach as many
people as possible and set them on fire but just realize that some people will
misrepresent you they'll say you're a cult they'll say you're the bad guys
you're not loving you're not accepting no we're the most loving Paul
on his island adventure he was attacked Paul on his island adventure he got to
work Paul on his island adventure he was misunderstood why don't you notice
the fourth thing go back to Acts 28 look at verse 5 I'll do my best to move
quickly Acts 28 verse 5 we see that Paul had this venomous beast latch on
to him I love verse 5 many sermons have been preached out of verse 5 and
he shook off the Beast into the fire and felt no harm I love the phrase
there shook off the Beast when I was a kid growing up you'd play a sport you
play baseball or whatever and you get hit by a ball or you get injured
somehow walk it off walk it off shake it off you say pastor what do you do
when the venomous beast attacks you you shake it off and he shook off the
Beast into the fire and felt no harm you know what the Bible says in
James chapter 4 and verse 7 submit yourselves therefore to God resist the
devil and he will flee from you you just shake them you just shake them
off he'll flee from you you shake off the Beast into the fire and felt no
harm I want you to notice what happens here in our story he gets bit
by the snake they misunderstood him they misrepresent him they lie about him
say he must be the bad guy he shook off the Beast into the fire and felt
no harm notice verse 6 acts 28 verse 6 how be it they looked he got he got
bit by a snake and they looked when he should have swollen or fallen down I
want you to notice those two words fallen down dead suddenly but after
they had looked a great while and saw no harm come to him like a bunch of
superstitious heathens they changed their minds and said that he was a god
you know that Paul on his island adventure got to work and you know
you know that Paul on his island adventure got attacked and you know that Paul on his island
adventure was misunderstood but I want you to notice fourthly this afternoon
Paul on his island adventure stood when others expected him to fall he got
bit by a snake and they were looking the Bible says they were looking at him
this became like a sport to them they they were a spectators they
it says how be it they looked when he should have swollen or fallen down
dead suddenly but after they had looked a great while they're looking at
him saying we've seen other people get bit by snakes and usually by now
they've fallen over usually by now they've gotten swollen usually by now
they're foaming at the mouth or they're they're they're dying but this
guy they saw no harm come to him you know Paul stood Paul stood after he
was bit by the snake go to the book of Ephesians if you would Ephesians chapter
6 if you're there in the book of Acts you go past Romans first second
Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Acts Romans first second Corinthians
Galatians Ephesians you say pastor well how should we deal with the
attacks of the devil you shake him off and you stand no point in going to a
frenzy find me some the cure does anybody have the cure you know this
anti-venom he shook him off and stood you said what should we do when we get
attacked look this church if you do what you're supposed to do this church
will be attacked on this island the LGBTQ mafia is alive and well here as
well they're gonna jump out of that fire and they're gonna bite you they're
gonna attack you this church in the two years of its existence has already
been attacked you've already fought some battles you've already had some ups and
downs and some issues you say what do we do you stand Ephesians chapter 6 and
verse 10 the Bible tells us what to do when the devil attacks Ephesians 6 and
verse 10 finally my brethren be strong in the Lord the Apostle Paul here is
using military terms he's about to give us the great armor of God and and
the idea of a military a warrior going out to fight a battle he says
finally my brethren be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might put
on the whole armor of God and we can preach a whole series out of the armor
of God and what that means and those different pieces but I want you notice
the purpose of putting on the whole armor of God he says put on the whole
armor of God you say that we could do what Paul that ye may be able to
stand that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil you
said what did Paul do when he got bit by the venomous beast he shook off
the beast into the fire and he stood they said he should have fallen down
but he stood they said he should have got swollen but he stood they said he
should have died but he stood put on the whole armor of God that ye may be
able to stand against the wiles of the devil for we wrestle not against
flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against
the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wakeners in
high places notice verse 13 wherefore Ephesians 6 13 wherefore the word
wherefore means for that reason for what reason the fact that we're
wrestling not against flesh and blood but we are wrestling we are engaged in
spiritual warfare against the principalities the powers the rulers
of the darkness of this world the spiritual wickedness in high places he
says wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to
notice our King James Bible always serves as its own dictionary it defines
itself so in verse 11 he says put on the whole armor of God that ye may be
able to stand and sometimes people say well I don't know what that means
what does that mean to stand well he's about to explain it to us in
verse 13 he says wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God just like
he said in verse 11 he says that ye may be able to and then he defines it
a little more for us he says withstand he says I'm so you're supposed to stand
but he says Paul Paul what Paul would say when I told you to stand in verse
11 I didn't mean stand like you're standing around I'm just that what are
you doing you know you ask teenagers what are you doing hanging out like
like a bat like I don't I don't understand you know but it's just that
you know we're just standing around doing nothing positive Nora when I say
stand I don't mean stand like you're standing around doing nothing he says
what I mean is I want you to withstand he says wherefore take unto
you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil
day and having done all to stand I notice he says having done all to
stand right you're just standing there what are you doing I'm putting all
my energy and effort into standing right here it takes all my mental ability to
just stand no standing around is pretty easy with standing requires you
to put all your energy into it you say what do you mean it's a military
term it's the same ideas when you watch the documentaries about the Civil
War or the Revolutionary War when these armies would go into battle and
you would have a line of one side going against a line of another side and
you might have seen those documentaries where where you'll you'll you'll have
the captain or the general on a horseback riding back and forth on the
line and what's he saying he's saying stand your ground don't give them any
us any room with Stan it's the same idea that you would use in a in a
football concept I'm not a football guy I don't know a lot about football
that's obvious by our performance at the Red Hot Preaching Conference a couple
of years ago but you know Patrick Thompson's into football he knows a lot
about football apparently you know I don't know what the term is but you
know you see these big football players right there on that line what's
that line called line of scrimmage defense you know what's that called
when they get down is it right the line of scrimmage there's a term right
like the three-point stands right and what's the point you know you can sit
there say hey I need you to stand right here now they're like hi poof
yes most Christians are doing the ball gets high then they get tackled
and they're like where'd that come from see Paul says Paul says I want
you to stand you say what do you want us to do Paul positive no no I
want you just stand need to withstand you need to get ready because the
devil's coming at you the devil's gonna try to push you up the devil's gonna
try to stop you let me tell you something the devil's gonna try to stop
this church you say what do we know you stand you say like standing around
no like withstand like like put your energy into it like wherefore take
unto the whole armor of God that you may able to withstand in the evil
day and having done all to stand stand therefore having your loins good
about withdrew and James he said submit yourselves therefore to God resist the
devil what does the word resist mean it means to withstand it's the action
or the effect of withstanding against something you say what are we supposed to
do we are supposed to stand when the devil attacks when the battles come we
don't give them any ground let me tell you something Christianity has
given too much ground to the world already we've lost too much ground
already it's already accepted the LGBT garbage is already accepted we're all
we've already lost ground you say what do we do we got to withstand we can't
give him any more ground we got to resist the devil we got to withstand
the devil we got to stand up and fight see everybody expected Paul to
fall over dead but you know what he did he stood he shook off the bees
and they said he should have swollen he should have fallen down dead but he
stood say what did Paul do on his island adventure he got to work what
did Paul do on his island adventure he got attacked you said what did Paul do
on his island adventure he was misunderstood what did Paul do on his
island adventure he stood when others expected him to fall let me give you
one last one we'll finish up go back to Acts 28 look at verse 7 Acts 28 verse
7 and the same quarters were possessions of the chief men of the
island whose name was Publius who received us and lodged us three days
courteously and it came to pass that the father of Publius lay sick of
a fever and of a bloody flux this is an abnormal discharge of fluid he was a
sick man to whom Paul entered in and prayed and laid his hands on him and
healed him so when this was done others also which had diseases in the
island came and were healed you know what Paul did on his island adventure
he healed the sick he said what can we do we had to heal the spiritually
sick go to Luke chapter 5 we're almost done we'll look at Luke and Matthew
we'll finish up Luke chapter 5 look at verse 31 Luke chapter 5 and verse 31
Luke chapter 5 and verse 31 notice what Jesus said and Jesus answering
said unto them they that are a whole need not a physician but they that are
sick I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance you know Paul
healed the physically sick but our job is to heal the spiritually sick they
that are holding not a physician Jesus said but they that are sick he
said I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance go
to Matthew chapter 9 look at verse 36 Matthew 9 36 if you go backwards past
Luke into the book of Matthew Matthew 9 36 the Bible says this but when he
saw the multitude this is Jesus but when he saw the multitude he was moved
with compassion on them because they notice why is he moving compassion
because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no
shepherd then saith he unto the disciples the harvest truly is
plenteous but the labors are few pray ye therefore the Lord of the
harvest that he will send forth labors into his harvest you know Paul healed
those who were physically hurting physically sick we should heal those who
are spiritually hurting and spiritually sick the Bible says that
Jesus he looked he saw the multitude and he was moved with compassion he
cared you said why because they fainted and were scattered abroad you
know what I believe Hawaii is filled with it is a beautiful island people
come here to relax people come here to enjoy themselves people come here to to
take a break and I think those are all good things but you know I think
that a lot of people come here to try to escape their hurt a lot of
people think that Beach is gonna make them happy they think surfing
every Sunday is gonna make them happy they think getting drunk and parties and
drugs and alcohol they think that all those things are gonna bring them joy
and happiness and I'm not against having time to relax obviously we're
against drunkenness and all those things but let me tell you something I
believe that there are people all over this island not just here all
over Sacramento all over Washington all over anywhere all over everywhere
and wherever there are people you will find people that are scattered
abroad as sheep having no Shepherd people that are hurting people that need
help people that just need somebody to care is that what should we do on this
island you should find those people they're trying to they're trying to to
to escape their problems through drugs alcohol through pleasure through through
hedonism and what they need is the Lord Jesus Christ Paul went around and
heal the sick you know what we should do heal the spiritually sick Paul on his
island adventure found the people that needed help and he helped them and you
and I need to do the same you know people think of Hawaiian they think of
Waikiki and they think of the tourists but you go up and down into
these areas you're gonna find a lot of other native Hawaiians here and they
just need somebody to love them they need somebody to care about them they
need somebody to bring them the truth they need somebody to preach them the
gospel they need somebody to tell them let me tell you let me show you how to
have a proper marriage and let me show you how to rear your children
correctly and and let me show you how to how to work hard and how to
provide for your family they just need somebody to love them
Paul went around helping those who needed help you and I should do the
same this church should do the same Paul on his island adventure healed
the sick and this church on their island adventure needs to heal the
spiritually sick go back to Acts 28 look at verse 10 look at verse 9 just
for a little bit of context so when this was done others also which had
diseases in the island came and were healed who also honored us with many
honors and when we departed they laid it us with such things as were
necessary you know Paul's island adventure ended you know Paul's he
wasn't on the island for a long time you know how it ended a ship came and
picked him up and the people he helped honored him you know that our
lives on this earth are but for a moment
so how long is the pot island adventure of sure Foundation Baptist Church gonna
last for I don't know how it's gonna last for but I can tell you how it's
gonna end one day the great ship of Zion with the captain the Lord Jesus
Christ is gonna come and pick you up off this shore and take you to
another shore and all that will matter is what was done for Christ so
make good use of your island adventure not everybody gets to live in paradise
not everybody gets to live to say like the Apostle Paul we're living the
Christian Gilligan's Island we get to live on paradise but you know what
paradise on earth is nothing in comparison to the paradise of God we
should give our lives we should give our lives to work to love people to
reach people realizing that we'll be attacked realizing that we'll be
misrepresented realizing that we'll be lied about because one day the ship is
coming to take us home and we want to make sure that we've not wasted our
time let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer heavenly father thank
you Lord for the story in the book of Acts thank you for how it
highlights for us what the Apostle Paul did on this island of Melita and Lord
I pray you'd bless this church I pray you bless the leadership here and then
you would help this church to enjoy everything that this island has to offer
but to realize that their time here is just very short and help us to make
good use of the time help us to get to work help us to reach people set
them on fire for God help us to heal the sick spiritually help us to love
people and help those that need help and when the attacks come when the
snakes bite help us to stand help us to withstand help us to resist help us
not to quit and help us to realize that one day the ship from heaven is
coming to carry us home only one life so soon shall pass only was done for
Christ will last in the matchless name of Christ we pray amen
Oh
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