Sermon Tone Analysis
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OPENING
Remember I told you a couple weeks ago, that spiritual warfare is not a one time event.
It is a daily battle.
We evicted some demons and told some devils to get out of town.
But, as we said, they are eventually going to try to come back.
So we’ve got to be prepared for their attacks and ready to know how to respond when they do.
Today, we’re going to learn how to “Shake If Off Into the Fire.”
SCRIPTURE
BACKGROUND
Paul Faced Persecution
To understand how Paul got to where he was in our Scripture reading today, we’ve got to look back at his ministry.
Paul (Saul) was a Pharisee and a persecutor of Christians.
Paul encountered Jesus on the Road to Damascus in Acts 9 and was converted.
It would be nearly 14 years before Paul would begin his three missionary journeys.
During this time Paul received the revelation of Christ and the Cross and God ignited an evangelistic fire in Paul to preach the Gospel.
Throughout Paul’s ministry he faced almost constant persecution.
God told Ananias, who prayed for Paul to recieved his sight after his Damascus Road conversion, that Paul would “suffer many things for My sake.”
Paul would go on to suffer tremendous persecution for the sake of the Gospel.
5 times Paul recieved 39 stripes.
3 times Paul was beaten with rods.
Paul was stoned.
Paul was shipwrecked 3 times.
Paul was thrown into prison.
Paul was in constant peril and on several occasions had to escape from people who were trying to kill him.
All this caused Paul to write these words:
Paul Suffered as a Good Solider of Jesus Christ
Paul preached the Gospel all over the known world.
But the one place Paul had not preached, and the one place he longed to go, was Rome.
Rome was, of course, the capital of the Roman Empire, and the hub of Roman culture and religion.
And Paul desired to spread the Gospel there.
So when he found himself under arrest in the house of the Roman governor Felix, and then later Festus, he appealed for his trial to be presented before Caesar, since Paul was a Roman citizen.
This led to Paul being transported as a prisoner to Rome.
So Paul was put on a ship and they set sail for Italy.
But there was trouble almost as soon as they set sail.
They were trying to sail during the winter season, which was a time when dangerous storms could come up out of nowhere.
Paul tried to warn the captain, but he didn’t listen to Paul and kept sailing anyway.
And it turned out just like you think it would.
They faced a Powerful Storm
There as a powerful headwind called an Euroclydon that put the ship in peril.
They fought the storm for almost two weeks and tried everything to save the ship, but all efforts failed.
But Paul told them that God had sent an angel to encourage him that God had a plan for Paul’s life in Rome, so he was not going to die in this storm.
And God told Paul also that no one else on the ship would die either; all 276 people on board would survive.
God also spared Paul’s life from the soldiers who wanted to kill all the prisoners after the ship ran aground.
But the centurion ordered that none of the prisoners be killed.
So they all jumped overboard and swam to land.
This is where our Scripture passage picks up.
Paul and his traveling companions find themselves shipwrecked on the Island of Malta (or Melita in some versions).
Interestingly, Malta or Melita, means sweet like honey.
God shipwrecked Paul in a sweet place.
But Paul was attacked by a venomous viper in the middle of what should have been a sweet place.
MESSAGE
There are all types of vipers.
Vipers of Painful Attacks
Paul faced attack after attack.
The persecutions didn’t discourage him.
The beatings and the stonings didn’t stop him.
The shipwrecks didn’t dissuade him.
But now, even after all that, when it seems like he’s in a safe place, and a sweet place, he has to face another painful attack.
Vipers like to inflict painful attacks.
You might as well get ready, because if you are doing something good and you are on the right track, vipers are going to attack you.
Vipers can’t stand someone else’s success.
And their attacks are intended to cause you pain.
Vipers of Judgmental Criticism
As soon as Paul was attacked, the natives started criticizing him.
“He’s under attack so he must be guilty or he must be doing something wrong.”
“He survived the shipwreck, but he’s obviously guilty because now he’s been bitten by a deadly viper.”
Vipers like to attack with judgmental criticism.
If you are serving God with all your heart, understand you have a target on you.
The venom of criticism is coming your way.
Criticism can be constructive, but it is too often destructive.
Destructive criticism most often comes when we are trying our best and we are still falsely accused, misunderstood, or misrepresented.
A man once said to John Wesley (the father of the Methodist movement), “Mr.
Wesley, I pride myself in speaking my mind; that is my talent.”
“Well,” said John Wesley, “the Lord wouldn’t mind if you buried that!” (You should weigh your words carefully before you place the burden of them on others!)
Vipers of Negative Attitudes
After Paul shook the viper off into the fire, everyone expected Paul to die.
The natives knew that the viper that bit Paul was deadly.
The Bible says they sat for a long time waiting for him to swell up and die.
Do you find it troubling that apparently no one offered to help him?
Vipers like to attack with Negative Attitudes.
Have you ever been the victim of negative attitudes?
(give examples)
Vipers will use their negative attitudes to spread a bunch of lies and garbage against God’s people.
Negative attitudes are contagious and will multiply quickly.
You need to know something about vipers.
Vipers don‘t like the fire.
Notice that the viper didn’t come out until it felt the heat.
The viper was in the bundle of sticks.
It was cold and raining so the viper was slow and lethargic.
But as soon as it touched the fire and felt the heat, it started moving and launched an attack.
When we turn up the heat of the Holy Ghost in our lives, it is going to invite all kinds of creatures.
Where there is a true move of the Holy Ghost taking place, vipers are going to come out of the woodwork.
Somebody might say, “I don’t know what you’re talking about because I haven’t seen any vipers like you’re talking about.”
Well, that might be because you don’t have any fire.
Get a white hot blazing fire of the Holy Ghost in your life or in your ministry and it is going to stir up some vipers.
Vipers are going to come at you when you’re trying to do something good.
Paul was attacked when he was trying to do something good.
Paul was gathering sticks to help keep the fire going.
He appreciated those who created the fire, but he was doing something good by helping to tend the fire.
Paul was about ministering to others, not about having others minister to him.
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