Fly High – Acts part 28
Opening Illustration: Blue Fish TV video clip on “Man trapped in a hole.”
Thesis: Paul was a survivor and he outwitted, outplayed and outlasted the enemy! How did he do this? He did it by tapping into the Holy Spirit who empowered him with the necessary survival skills to make it all the way to the end!
Scripture Text: Acts 28:1-31 (The Message)
1Once everyone was accounted for and we realized we had all made it, we learned that we were on the island of Malta. 2The natives went out of their way to be friendly to us. The day was rainy and cold and we were already soaked to the bone, but they built a huge bonfire and gathered us around it.
3Paul pitched in and helped. He had gathered up a bundle of sticks, but when he put it on the fire, a venomous snake, roused from its torpor by the heat, struck his hand and held on. 4Seeing the snake hanging from Paul’s hand like that, the natives jumped to the conclusion that he was a murderer getting his just deserts. 5Paul shook the snake off into the fire, none the worse for wear. 6They kept expecting him to drop dead, but when it was obvious he wasn’t going to, they jumped to the conclusion that he was a god!
7The head man in that part of the island was Publius. He took us into his home as his guests, drying us out and putting us up in fine style for the next three days. 8Publius’s father was sick at the time, down with a high fever and dysentery. Paul went to the old man’s room, and when he laid hands on him and prayed, the man was healed. 9Word of the healing got around fast, and soon everyone on the island who was sick came and got healed.
ROME
10We spent a wonderful three months on Malta. They treated us royally, took care of all our needs and outfitted us for the rest of the journey. 11When an Egyptian ship that had wintered there in the harbor prepared to leave for Italy, we got on board. The ship had a carved Gemini for its figurehead: “the Heavenly Twins.”
12We put in at Syracuse for three days 13and then went up the coast to Rhegium. Two days later, with the wind out of the south, we sailed into the Bay of Naples. 14We found Christian friends there and stayed with them for a week.
And then we came to Rome. 15Friends in Rome heard we were on the way and came out to meet us. One group got as far as Appian Court; another group met us at Three Taverns—emotion-packed meetings, as you can well imagine. Paul, brimming over with praise, led us in prayers of thanksgiving. 16When we actually entered Rome, they let Paul live in his own private quarters with a soldier who had been assigned to guard him.
17Three days later, Paul called the Jewish leaders together for a meeting at his house. He said, “The Jews in Jerusalem arrested me on trumped-up charges, and I was taken into custody by the Romans. I assure you that I did absolutely nothing against Jewish laws or Jewish customs. 18After the Romans investigated the charges and found there was nothing to them, they wanted to set me free, 19but the Jews objected so fiercely that I was forced to appeal to Caesar. I did this not to accuse them of any wrongdoing or to get our people in trouble with Rome. We’ve had enough trouble through the years that way. 20I did it for Israel. I asked you to come and listen to me today to make it clear that I’m on Israel’s side, not against her. I’m a hostage here for hope, not doom.”
21They said, “Nobody wrote warning us about you. And no one has shown up saying anything bad about you. 22But we would like very much to hear more. The only thing we know about this Christian sect is that nobody seems to have anything good to say about it.”
23They agreed on a time. When the day arrived, they came back to his home with a number of their friends. Paul talked to them all day, from morning to evening, explaining everything involved in the kingdom of God, and trying to persuade them all about Jesus by pointing out what Moses and the prophets had written about him.
24Some of them were persuaded by what he said, but others refused to believe a word of it. 25When the unbelievers got cantankerous and started bickering with each other, Paul interrupted: “I have just one more thing to say to you. The Holy Spirit sure knew what he was talking about when he addressed our ancestors through Isaiah the prophet:
26Go to this people and tell them this:
“You’re going to listen with your ears,
but you won’t hear a word;
You’re going to stare with your eyes,
but you won’t see a thing.
27These people are blockheads!
They stick their fingers in their ears
so they won’t have to listen;
They screw their eyes shut
so they won’t have to look,
so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face
and let me heal them.”
28“You’ve had your chance. The non-Jewish outsiders are next on the list. And believe me, they’re going to receive it with open arms!”
30Paul lived for two years in his rented house. He welcomed everyone who came to visit. 31He urgently presented all matters of the kingdom of God. He explained everything about Jesus Christ. His door was always open.
Introduction:
The book of Acts has been revealing to us is about how we as followers of the Lord need the power and the influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The reality check from Acts is this, when we receive the promise of the Holy Spirit into our lives and we allow Him to guide us daily then the church grows daily as we are used supernaturally for the Kingdom of God.
We fly high in the Spirit by allowing the Holy Spirit to live in us, by allowing His spirit to have 100% of our heart, and by being willing to allow Him to direct us in the things of the Lord. The Holy Spirit was sent by Jesus to empower us for the work of the ministry, and to be witnesses for Jesus Christ all over this world. This is a fact and not some myth or nice thought. Acts has proved that this is a reality and it’s available to all who believe and invite the Lord to fill them with His spirit for service to the Kingdom of God.
Horton notes:
The book of Acts begins by drawing attention to the fact that the work of Jesus was continued by the Spirit first through the apostles. But the apostles are not really dominant in the Book of Acts. The Holy Spirit is. Jesus dominates the Gospels, and in comparison, little is said about the Spirit. But in the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit is indeed another Comforter, Helper, and Teacher. Everything in the lives and preaching of the apostles and early believers still centered in Jesus as their living Savior and exalted Lord. The program to extend the gospel to the uttermost part of the earth is Christ’s program (1:8). The power to do it is the power of the Spirit, and this is not different from the power of Christ. Yet, there is running throughout the Book a new awareness of the Holy Spirit. It came, not only from their initial Pentecostal experience, but from daily consciousness of the presence, guidance, and fellowship of the Spirit and from many special manifestations of His power. Their baptism in the spirit never became a mere memory of something that happened in the distant past. It was an ever-present reality (135)…
From the Day of Pentecost on we see the Holy Spirit active in the life of the church-in teaching, in miracles, in further fillings, and new baptizings, but above all in the work of spreading the gospel and establishing the Church (148).
So here we are in the last chapter of Acts and we have learned a lot about how the Holy Spirit has lead and guided the church and its faithful members. We have witnessed the Holy Spirit do the following through ordinary everyday people like you and I:
• We have seen the Lord do Holy Spirit jail breaks.
• We have witnessed people getting saved from every walk of life, they were rich, poor, Roman, Greek, Jew and the like. We have seen religious fanatics delivered and saved. We have seen heathens delivered and saved. There were women, children, and men who accepted Jesus and were filled with His spirit. Everyone in all brackets of life where impacted by the power of the Gospel and its demonstrative power.
• We have seen how the Holy Spirit has grown the church and used men and women to plant and start churches all over the Med. Region.
• We have seen The Holy Spirit heal people from all types of diseases.
• We have seen people delivered from demonic spirits.
• We have seen people raised from the dead.
• We have seen that opposition rose against the gospel but it never had the power to stop its spread and its influence.
• We have seen kings, governors and powerful leaders impacted by the truth of the Gospel.
• We have seen the Lord send His messengers from Heaven to guide people through ship wrecks and other hardships in life.
• We have seen that nothing can stand against the Gospel!
So today we come to the last chapter and we see the Lord protecting Paul from
a deadly snake. We see him influencing a native people on the island of Malta. We see him healing people by the power of the Holy Spirit. We see him presenting the Gospel with an urgency and a passion like he had from the beginning after his Damascus road experience. We see Paul finishing strong in our historical book. We see that the Holy Spirit used Paul to change the Roman Empire and it is still amazing to reflect back on the wonderful adventure of the rise of Christianity through this era.
The church of Acts survived persecution and hardship to become the greatest influential power in the world. The Holy Spirit empowered believers and the church to be survivors and it changed the course of the Roman Empire and the course of the world. This Acts New testament church is still changing lives today and directing the course of empires. It survived drastic persecution and attempts by the enemy to destroy it. It still stands tall and powerful even in the world today. The church has thrived and survived and many men and women are testimonies to the power of the Holy Spirit which enabled them to be survivors.
T.S. - Paul was a survivor! Why? Because the Holy Spirit empowered him with the necessary survival skills to make it to the end! Not only did the Holy Spirit do this for Paul but he does the same for us today if we let Him.
I. Paul out witted the enemy – outwit
a. Outwit definition: Meaning of Outwit: To surpass in wisdom, esp. in cunning; to defeat or overreach by superior craft. To out smart, out fox!
i. n.) The faculty of acquiring wisdom by observation and experience, or the wisdom so acquired; -- opposed to inwit or nitwit. (v. t.) To surpass in wisdom, esp. in cunning; to defeat or overreach by superior craft. From 2 Dictionary
b. Paul could not have outwitted the enemy on His because he was not smart enough to do this instead He tapped into the Holy Spirit and He gave him supernatural insight and wisdom.
c. The Holy Spirit also enabled him to do miracles so as to outwit the lies of the enemy.
i. The natives observed Paul get bite by a poisonous snake and immediately started saying that he must be a murderer because he was about to die from the bite of this snake right after a his life was spared by the shipwreck. But God had other plans for Paul:
1. He did not die – he did not get sick instead this opportunity opened up the Gospel to the people of Malta and a healing revival broke out and this won the group favor with the people.
2. Paul started praying for the sick and people were healed.
3. Paul empowered by the Holy Spirit outwitted the devil – the viper’s bite by preaching Jesus and bringing healing to an island.
d. Paul was abler to outwit the enemy because he knew how to make fire. Did you notice what the first thing was that they did they made fire!
i. Fire was and is an essential ingredient in the game Survivor because with it you can boil your water to make it pure, you can cook you food, and it keeps you warm when you are cold.
ii. Do you remember my sermon “Keep the Fire Burning?”
1. It was based from Leviticus 6 and 9 where God said you must keep the fire burning and never let it go out. Why so that the altar fire would always be hot and ignited to be ready to offer up the sacrifices to God. No fire no sacrifice to God – to atoning sacrifice then for the people. The fire had to kept burning so that it would keep the people pure, and so that the people would stay focused and directed by the Lord.
2. The Pillar of fire guided them through the wilderness if you recall! It came from the fire on the altar which never went out.
3. I Thess. 5:19 says, “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire!”
e. Paul outwitted the enemy because he knew how to stay fed through out the game of survivor.
i. Paul knew that life giving water and food were essential to stay sharp and smart through the game of survivor.
ii. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.” John 6:35
1. The truth is you cannot bake bread without the fire!
iii. Jesus also said, that He is the one that gives people life giving water:
1. John 4:9-14: (The Message): 9The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, “How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (Jews in those days wouldn’t be caught dead talking to Samaritans.) 10Jesus answered, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.”11The woman said, “Sir, you don’t even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this ‘living water’? 12Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?”13Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. 14Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.”
2. Video Clip from Blue Fish TV on the power of Water!
f. Paul was able to outwit the enemy because he knew how his enemy thought and the Holy Spirit revealed this to him. Paul through the Holy Spirit knew how to out smart the enemy because he knew his tactics.
i. Satan is a deceiver, a liar.
1. He seeks to kill steal and destroy.
2. He will come even as an Angel of light to deceive people into thinking he is speaking from God and give direction contrary to the word of God.
3. Saddam has been used by the enemy this way saying people who commit terrorists acts will be guaranteed a place in heaven,.
a. The Islamic radicals have promoted that they will die and go to heaven and be honored by God. This is a lie from the pit of Hell.
b. So therefore we need to understand that if the enemy can deceive others like this he can you to. And he did years ago with the Crusades to the Middle East.
c. So much was done under the name of God but and the enemy appeared to Christians and deceived them into thinking they were speaking for God.
i. Listen to me Deception of any kind comes from the enemy.
ii. Lies and putting on Charades will get you into a lot of hot water with the Lord.
iii. The Crusades got so bad they believed that the Lord told them to send children into battle because they would win the annihilated in combat.
g. Paul knew how to outwit the enemy because he knew his goal and he knew his future destiny.
i. Ezekiel 28:12-19: “Son of man, raise a funeral song over the king of Tyre. Tell him, A Message from GOD, the Master: “You had everything going for you. 13You were in Eden, God’s garden. You were dressed in splendor, your robe studded with jewels: Carnelian, peridot, and moonstone, beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald, all in settings of engraved gold. A robe was prepared for you the same day you were created.14You were the anointed cherub. I placed you on the mountain of God. You strolled in magnificence among the stones of fire.15From the day of your creation you were sheer perfection …and then imperfection—evil!—was detected in you.16In much buying and selling you turned violent, you sinned! I threw you, disgraced, off the mountain of God. I threw you out—you, the anointed angel-cherub. No more strolling among the gems of fire for you! 17Your beauty went to your head. You corrupted wisdom by using it to get worldly fame. I threw you to the ground, sent you sprawling before an audience of kings and let them gloat over your demise.18By sin after sin after sin, by your corrupt ways of doing business, you defiled your holy places of worship. So I set a fire around and within you. It burned you up. I reduced you to ashes. All anyone sees now when they look for you is ashes, a pitiful mound of ashes.19All who once knew you now throw up their hands: ‘This can’t have happened! This has happened!’”
ii. Satan’s goal is to lift his throne above the Lord’s but here is a news flash he has already been cast out of Heaven and he lost. He will be judged in the end and he does not have the power nor the ability to defeat the Lord God Almighty. Judgment and condemnation are in the near future for this fallen angel so don’t be deceived by him.
h. Paul knew that to outwit the enemy you had to have wisdom and that all starts with God.
i. Proverbs 1:1-7 - A Manual for Living (The Message)
1. 1These are the wise sayings of Solomon, David’s son, Israel’s king— 2Written down so we’ll know how to live well and right, to understand what life means and where it’s going; 3A manual for living, for learning what’s right and just and fair; 4To teach the inexperienced the ropes and give our young people a grasp on reality. 5There’s something here also for seasoned men and women, 6still a thing or two for the experienced to learn—Fresh wisdom to probe and penetrate, the rhymes and reasons of wise men and women. START WITH GOD 7Start with GOD—the first step in learning is bowing down to GOD; only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning.
2. Listen, Christian you on your own do not have the wisdom and the insight to outsmart the devil but with the wisdom of God you will be able to defeat him in your life.
3. Solomon is our example of a man filled with the supernatural ability of wisdom.
a. 2 Chronicles 1:1-12: Solomon son of David took a firm grip on the reins of his kingdom. GOD was with him and gave him much help. 2Solomon addressed all Israel—the commanders and captains, the judges, every leader, and all the heads of families. 3Then Solomon and the entire company went to the worship center at Gibeon—that’s where the Tent of Meeting of God was, the one that Moses the servant of GOD had made in the wilderness. 4The Chest of God, though, was in Jerusalem—David had brought it up from Kiriath Jearim, prepared a special place for it, and pitched a tent for it. 5But the Bronze Altar that Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was in Gibeon, in its place before the Tabernacle of GOD; and that is where Solomon and the congregation gathered to pray. 6Solomon worshiped GOD at the Bronze Altar in front of the Tent of Meeting; he sacrificed a thousand Whole-Burnt-Offerings on it. 7That night God appeared to Solomon. God said, “What do you want from me? Ask. 8Solomon answered, “You were extravagantly generous with David my father, and now you have made me king in his place. 9Establish, GOD, the words you spoke to my father, for you’ve given me a staggering task, ruling this mob of people. 10Yes, give me wisdom and knowledge as I come and go among this people—for who on his own is capable of leading these, your glorious people?” 11God answered Solomon, “This is what has come out of your heart: You didn’t grasp for money, wealth, fame, and the doom of your enemies; you didn’t even ask for a long life. You asked for wisdom and knowledge so you could govern well my people over whom I’ve made you king. 12Because of this, you get what you asked for—wisdom and knowledge. And I’m presenting you the rest as a bonus—money, wealth, and fame beyond anything the kings before or after you had or will have.”
b. Solomon became a Spirit filled survivor because of God’s gift of Wisdom!
i. Paul outwitted the enemy because he had a shelter that protected him from the elements.
i. Psalm 61:1-8: O God, listen to my cry! Hear my prayer! From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety, for you are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me. Let me live forever in your sanctuary, safe beneath the shelter of your wings! For you have heard my vows, O God. You have given me an inheritance reserved for those who fear your name. Add many years to the life of the king! May his years span the generations! May he reign under God’s protection forever. May your unfailing love and faithfulness watch over him. Then I will sing praises to your name forever as I fulfill my vows each day.
1. The Lord is our shelter in this life and His protective covering will, enable us to be a Spirit filled survivor!
T.S. – Paul was enabled by the Holy Spirit and given wisdom from God so that he could outwit the devil and make an impact with his life for the Kingdom of God. He was also able to outplay the devil in life of survivor because he was once again empowered by the Holy Spirit.
II. Paul outplayed the enemy – outplay
a. Outplayed definition: (v. t.) To excel or defeat in a game; to play better than; as, to be outplayed in tennis or ball (From 2 Dictionary).
i. Paul could not match the enemy with his own physical and mental skills instead he needed to out play the Devil with the Help of the Holy Spirit like Jesus did.
ii. Paul knew how to outplay the others because he knew the importance of treating people with love and respect.
b. Paul knew unlike the game Survivor that honesty and integrity are essential to out play the enemy in life.
i. To win at the game of Survivor in real life you have to be honest and be a person of integrity.
1. Proverbs 10:9: The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.
2. Proverbs 11:3: The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.
3. Proverbs 12:17-19: A truthful witness gives honest testimony, but a false witness tells lies. Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.
c. Paul outplayed the enemy because he knew the importance of a Team working together and the strength that comes from other players in the game of Survivor.
i. In our chapter I see as Paul journeyed closer to Rome other brothers and sisters in Christ came out to encourage him and strengthen him as he drew closer to Rome.
1. This thought is reflective to what I said last week about ability to survive ship wrecks is a team effort. To survive and be a survivor requires teamwork from your tribe.
d. Paul knew the importance of the crew and all the others of sticking together. This was not become every man for himself they needed each other to make it to safety.
i. The Body of Christ is stay together not fragment.
1. 1 Cor. 12:12-27: (Message): 12You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you’re still one body. It’s exactly the same with Christ. 13By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive.14I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge. It’s all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. 15If Foot said, “I’m not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don’t belong to this body,” would that make it so? 16If Ear said, “I’m not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don’t deserve a place on the head,” would you want to remove it from the body? 17If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? 18As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.19But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn’t be a body, but a monster. 20What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. 21Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, “Get lost; I don’t need you”? Or, Head telling Foot, “You’re fired; your job has been phased out”? 22As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the “lower” the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. 23When it’s a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. 24If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn’t you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair? 25The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, 26the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.27You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your “part” mean anything.
a. A fragmented body does not function properly! We need each other in times of crisis!
b. We can do all things through Jesus who strengthens us! The Lord wants us to stick with each other through the crisis times and understand that we need each other.
ii. He also knew how to keep the team focused on the current task so as to complete the immediate work required to survive.
1. Paul knew that to out play the enemy your team had to be doing the right thing at the right time.
a. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says there is a time for everything under heaven. Listen to King Solomon’s words: There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under Heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to rebuild. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to lose. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak up. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.
2. You have to know what time it is if you want to be able to outplay the enemy at the game of Survivor.
a. You need to be able to figure out puzzles.
b. You need to be able to dive.
c. You need to be able to swim.
d. You need to be able to run.
e. You need to have balance.
f. You need to have a good memory.
g. You need to have endurance.
3. So therefore we must be prepared to do what is necessary at the moment to get on to the next round.
T.S. – Paul was able to outplay the enemy because of the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and his willingness to do the right thing at the right time. Paul because of his ability to outwit and outplay the enemy in the end outlasted the enemy.
III. Paul outlasted the enemy – outlast
a. Definition of Outlast: (v. t.) To exceed in duration; to survive; to endure longer than (From 2 Dictionary).
b. Paul outlasted the enemy by the Help of the Holy Spirit too. In other words the Holy Spirit helped Paul to finish strong.
c. Paul outlasted the enemy because he made the right alliances.
i. The first and most importance alliance you can make is with the Lord.
1. Romans 8:28-39 (The Message): God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. 30After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.31So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? 32If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? 33And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? 34Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. 35Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:36They kill us in cold blood because they hate you. We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.37None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. 38I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, 39high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.
a. The word promises us that nothing can sever our relationship with the Lord. Paul went through the life and even into his death knowing this truth.
b. He knew that his biggest alliance was with the Lord and that was the key that would make him a survivor in the end.
ii. Paul also made alliances with other believers in the Lord like Timothy.
1. Philippians 2:19-22: I plan (according to Jesus’ plan) to send Timothy to you very soon so he can bring back all the news of you he can gather. Oh, how that will do my heart good! 20I have no one quite like Timothy. He is loyal, and genuinely concerned for you. 21Most people around here are looking out for themselves, with little concern for the things of Jesus. 22But you know yourselves that Timothy’s the real thing. He’s been a devoted son to me as together we’ve delivered the Message.
2. You see, by the time Paul wrote these words from prison in Rome, Paul and Timothy had served together for more than ten years, ever since Paul’s second great missionary journey.
d. Paul outlasted the enemy because he played by the rules. The story of Samson shows the importance of playing by God’s rules:
i. Judges 13-16 - Is the life story of Samson – a great man of strength and physical ability.
ii. Samson’s strength came because of the supernatural empowerment of the Lord.
1. The Lord gave him supernatural strength to defeat the enemy of the Israelites in a time of evil.
2. As long as Samson followed the rules of God he would be empowered to defeat the enemy but when he broke all those rules he lost his power.
3. See Judges 13:3-5:
a. The angel of the LORD appeared to her and said, “You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son. Jdg 13:4 Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean, Jdg 13:5 because you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”
4. What were the rules that the Nazirite had to follow to keep his power?
a. No wine – no fermented drink to touch his mouth.
b. No contamination from and unclean source was to be eaten.
c. Not to cut his hair.
5. Samson lost is power because he broke all three vows to the Lord.
a. Judges 14:8, 9 – shows that he ate honey from an unclean source which was found in the carcass of a lion. (Note he did not tell his parents about it.)
i. Judges 16:1 – He had sex with a prostitute which also made him unclean in the eyes of the Lord.
ii. These two incident broke the vow of eating and participating in anything unclean.
iii. Offense number one
b. Judges 14:10 – reveals he prepared a feast as was customary – note the reference to the vineyards in Timnah from verse 5 and then the customary feast for the Philistines included wine for the feast many theologians believe that Samson drank wine at this feast.
i. This would have violated his vow to the Lord.
ii. The second offense.
c. Judges 16:17 – he told this sinful women his last vow of not cutting his hair and she betrayed him by having his hair cut off.
i. Samson told her that if his hair was cut then he would lose his Spirit empowered strength.
ii. He knew that he had broken the other two vows already and this would have been the last vow.
iii. This was strike three and he was out of the will of God and as a result he lost his power to outplay the enemy.
e. The power and the ability to outlast the enemy of our heart is rooted in getting help from the Holy Spirit. We need to be Spirit filled today and Spirit empowered today!
i. We have to be rooted in Holy Spirit and allow Him to overwhelm us with His presence and His power.
ii. We have to make sure that people in this world and even in some church circles do not take away the promise and the dream of an Acts New Testament Church.
1. We must hold fast to the promise from Jesus!
2. We must not let anyone steal it from us!
3. We must pursue this promise and claim for us and our church today.
4. We must seek the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and never give up on the Spirit Filled life.
5. We must remember Jesus Words!
a. Acts 1:8: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
f. Video Illustration from the movie “The Pursuit of Happyness!” – When we have a dream we have to go after it and never let anyone steal it from us!
Conclusion:
Paul was a Spirit filled survivor and God used him to lead an empire, a crew of sailors, a group of prisoners, a group of soldiers and an entire island to Jesus just in this chapter. But the truth was Paul was a survivor who wrote ½ of the New Testament. He planted churches all across the Middle East and into Southern Europe. He led thousands to Jesus from the Jewish nation and from the Gentile nations.
Paul influenced his island hosts by demonstrating the power of the Holy Spirit to protect him and them from deadly snakes, shipwrecks, and the like. Paul used the gift of healing on this island to reveal the Power of the Gospel so that others would believe in Jesus. Paul influenced the Roman guards by praying for people and they themselves saw how they were supernaturally healed. I want you to notice from our text how Paul shares how they spent time with the Christians as they progressed to Rome. Notice the word “They!” This was the soldiers and the other prisoners and they got to see first hand how the Christian community came out to greet Paul and them in different places. Paul had influenced the Christian community and now the Christian community was influencing Paul and the others. Paul influenced Jews and non-Jews even in Rome or wherever his adventure brought him. Paul had an urgency about him even in our text today and it motivated him to preach the Gospel to anyone who wanted to listen. Paul was filled with the Spirit and it empowered him to be a survivor and to help others to become survivors. Paul at the end of our chapter is said to have had an open door policy while under arrest. Paul was ready in season and out to preach and teach the gospel any time of that day from his house jail cell. And the result of Paul’s life and his being a survivor for the Gospel changed the course of Christianity and grew the Kingdom of God all over this world.
New Life listen closely to this thought today: We are still in the Acts New Testament era today! God stills moves like He did in the book of Acts. And He wants to move like this book has revealed to us over the last few months. I was listening to a TV preacher last Sunday and he kept repeating this phrase in his sermon while I was listening. This phrase resonated through my spirit and my heart. He kept saying, “The Spirit of Lord is giving a prophetic word to the church today, ‘Read the book of Acts and be the church of the book of Acts!’” I at times wanted to jump up and yell at the TV we just preached our way as a church through this book! New Life Community Church is going to be and Acts New Testament Church!
Altar call: Here is the bottom line Saints! The Lord wants to move like He did in Acts today and tomorrow so let’s take the time to invite Him to do so! Let’s invite Him to empower us here at New Life to become like Paul a Spirit filled Survivor which changed the course of His world.
