3 Effective Antidotes To Spiritual Poison

Title: 3 Effective Antidotes to Spiritual Poison Scripture: Romans 12:12

Type: Expository Where: GNBC 6-12-22

Intro: When I was a young pastor the church used to meet at Montgomery Hall. We rented the building on a Sunday but was used for all sorts of events during the week. The basement area was less than optimal and without our knowledge they had an infestation of mice. In order to combat this this had put out rat poison! A toddler unwittingly ate some of this poison and we had to take her to UIHC as the excellent ER staff gave the wee girl activated charcoal and proceeded to pump her stomach. Girl safely survived the incident and is alive and well today with no side-affects! Thank God for activated charcoal. It was an antidote for her poisoning. An antidote is a medicine given to counteract a particular poison. There are poisons to the Christian life. Many. Are also antidotes. In Romans 12:12 apostle gives 3 powerful antidotes the Christian needs to take so as to overcome specific spiritual poisons.

Prop: In Rom. 12:12 we’ll realize three powerful antidotes against spiritual poison.

BG: 1. Romans written by Apostle Paul winter of 56-57AD from Corinth.

2. Several spiritual poisons must avoid in the Christian life. In Romans 12:12 we can read the antidotes to these poisons of hopelessness, impatience, prayerlessness.

3. Martyn Lloyd-Jones observes (ibid., p. 402), “Tribulation, hope and prayer always go together in the New Testament and it is a very good way of testing ourselves to ask whether they always go together in our experience. They should.”

Prop: Let’s look together at Rom. 12:12 to appreciate 3 Powerful Antidotes to Pernicious Spiritual Poisons.

I. 1st Powerful Antidote: (You) Rejoice in Hope.

A. Paul Prescribes his first Powerful Antidote.

1. Beware of the Spiritual Poison of Hopelessness.

a. Illust: Have you ever looked over a situation you or a loved one was in and uttered the words: “It’s a hopeless situation!”? Of course, we all have. Our enemy, Satan, wants to discourage us and make us feel like things will never get better...like there’s no way out. He wants us to believe that we’re all alone. Many Christians struggle with depression. Want to keep it hidden. Embarrassed. We usually isolate ourselves and feel like no one else can possibly understand. Satan wants us to keep things hidden in the dark. However, God is Light, and when we discover what He has to say and shine His light into our situation, it brings freedom and hope. People often feel embarrassed by depression or thoughts of suicide, but friend, your situation is not hopeless. Don’t give into despondency. Purpose to Rejoice! Tell someone else and get it out in the open.

b. Even godly saints can experience depression: Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon, Martin Lloyd Jones,the hymn writer, William Cowper, have suffered from severe depression. Probably some of you are depressed right now. But since joy and hope are the opposite of depression, we all should try to understand what the Bible teaches about how we can have such joy and hope, especially in the face of difficult trials.

2. Examine Paul’s Prescription to this Particular Spiritual Poison.

a. Illust: So we see Paul getting out Dr. Luke’s Lippincott’s (Spiritual) Pharmacology book. Pages thru, “What is the antidote for hopelessness?” Rejoice in hope! Listen to this wonderful quote by Dr. Robert Morgan: “When you cannot rejoice in your circumstances, you can rejoice in the anticipation of what God is going to do with them, thru them, and because of them.” (Morgan, 100 Verses, p.141) Think about that, dear friend. Your circumstance are difficult. Not making light of them. But let’s turn our attention from the circumstances to the anticipation of what God is going to do with, thru, and because of them! Let’s believe Christ for what He is going to do in our lives.

b. Illust: Most people don’t like rainy days. I love them. Probably because part Irish. A lot of people are depressed by a string of rainy days. Yet there is something to ponder: On a rainy day the sun still shines as brightly as ever in the center of the solar system. It is unchanged by our particular forecast. Same is true about our Lord. I may be depressed or discouraged but God is still omniscient! He is still omnipotent! He is still omnipresent!

B. What Does Paul mean when he tells us to: “Rejoice in Hope!”?

1. What is the Apostle’s antidote to the poison of hopelessness?

a. “rejoice” -?a????te? – Word is used 6x in the NT. Either by Paul or Luke. It means to be well, to thrive, to favorably lean towards another. (Illust: While You Were Sleeping – Joe Jr. – referring to Jack and Lucy. “You was leaning…” )