It Had To Happen

0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:02.840 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:08.360 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.360 --> 0:00:11.080 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.080 --> 0:00:13.480 gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life. 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:18.960 Enjoy the message, all right, look at this from Acts 0:00:19.000 --> 0:00:22.959 chapter twenty seven. I pretyius message back in twenty thirteen. 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:26.280 And this is the sequel. Back then, I did a message. 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:33.720 Called it will happen. Touch somebody say it happens. However 0:00:33.720 --> 0:00:37.880 you want to take that. It's a message about faith 0:00:37.920 --> 0:00:40.320 and fear, and I want to get back into it 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:43.400 today and share with you another level of it. And 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:45.680 let me read Acts chapter twenty seven to twenty. Paul 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:50.280 is in the middle of a miracle, but he's also 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:53.080 in the middle of a mistake. And sometimes the two 0:00:53.120 --> 0:00:55.080 are the same thing. 0:00:57.040 --> 0:01:00.520 That's about perspective. Sometimes the two are the same thing. 0:01:01.760 --> 0:01:05.000 Well, the Bible says in verse twenty Acts chapter twenty seven, 0:01:05.040 --> 0:01:09.240 when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and 0:01:09.280 --> 0:01:12.560 the storm continued raging because it was one of those 0:01:12.560 --> 0:01:14.640 things that wouldn't let up. It was not the kind 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:17.640 of trial that you go through and just. 0:01:17.560 --> 0:01:18.960 Get through it. 0:01:18.959 --> 0:01:22.840 It's like when you don't see any end in sight. 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:24.160 It was that kind of thing. 0:01:25.000 --> 0:01:29.200 So what happened was they lost all their hope and 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:32.200 they quit believing that they could be saved, that it 0:01:32.240 --> 0:01:35.479 could be different, that they could be delivered. And right 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:38.360 at the time that they started to let go of 0:01:38.360 --> 0:01:41.240 their hope, God spoke to Paul in a powerful way. 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:44.280 And of course Paul was that great missionary who took 0:01:44.280 --> 0:01:47.440 the Gospel to the Gentiles, and so it was a 0:01:47.480 --> 0:01:50.000 good thing for them that he was on board. Touch 0:01:50.000 --> 0:01:51.760 somebody said, you gotta be glad you're sitting next to me, 0:01:53.160 --> 0:01:56.000 because any boat that I'm on is better because I'm 0:01:56.040 --> 0:01:56.360 on it. 0:01:57.680 --> 0:01:59.760 Come on, Come on. 0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:07.160 So the Bible says, after they had gone a long 0:02:07.200 --> 0:02:09.600 time without food, Paul stood up before them and said, men, 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:12.799 you should have taken my advice not to sail from crete, 0:02:13.160 --> 0:02:16.760 and then you would have spared yourselves this damage and lost. 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:20.320 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, 0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:24.200 because not one of you will be lost, only the 0:02:24.240 --> 0:02:25.480 ship will be destroyed. 0:02:27.480 --> 0:02:28.120 Here's how I know. 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:31.440 Last night an angel of the God to whom I 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:35.040 belong and whom I serf, stood beside me and said, 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:39.920 do not be afraid, Paul, you must stand trial before Caesar. 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:41.920 In other words, you can't. 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:43.680 Go down in this battle because I got a bigger 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:48.760 one ahead of you. And God has graciously given you 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:50.880 the lives of all who sail with you. So keep 0:02:50.960 --> 0:02:55.200 up your courage, men, for I have faith that it 0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:58.640 will happen, just as He told me. 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:02.480 Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island. 0:03:04.520 --> 0:03:07.239 So three and a half years ago I preached a 0:03:07.280 --> 0:03:09.239 message called it will happen, And today I want you 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:11.160 to announce my sermon title. Look at your neighbor and 0:03:11.160 --> 0:03:17.160 tell him, neighbor, tell him, neighbor, it had to happen. 0:03:18.760 --> 0:03:20.000 Father, I thank you for your word. 0:03:20.000 --> 0:03:22.000 I pray that it would go forth in clarity now 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:24.320 to bless the people that you've brought here to hear it. 0:03:25.200 --> 0:03:26.960 Not only would they hear it God, but I prayed 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:28.880 that they might apply it so that it can strengthen 0:03:28.919 --> 0:03:29.320 their lives. 0:03:29.400 --> 0:03:30.239 In Jesus' name. 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:33.120 Amen, on your way to your seat, touch your other 0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:34.840 neighbor that you hadn't talked to yet, and tell him 0:03:34.880 --> 0:03:44.000 it had to happen. Because Paul as spiritual as he 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:50.840 is is apparently not above telling someone I told you so, 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:53.760 because he had warned the sailors who were on this 0:03:53.840 --> 0:03:56.400 ship that was headed to Rome. They were trying to 0:03:56.600 --> 0:03:59.880 get to Italy, and Paul was on there for preaching 0:03:59.880 --> 0:04:00.480 the gospel. 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:01.560 He didn't do anything wrong. 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:05.720 But sometimes the reason that you go through things isn't 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:07.960 because of something wrong that you did. You know that right, 0:04:08.840 --> 0:04:12.080 even as a Christian, and sometimes the things you go 0:04:12.160 --> 0:04:16.320 through are directly connected to something you did right, and 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:20.200 you can't always know the reason, and that's difficult for me. 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:21.640 I always want to know. 0:04:22.240 --> 0:04:25.919 The reason, and I feel like I'm really good at 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:28.800 dealing with resistance if I know the reason for it. 0:04:29.800 --> 0:04:33.279 And even with people, I'm kind of skeptical. I don't 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:36.279 always take people at face value for what they say 0:04:36.320 --> 0:04:40.479 they want in a relationship, and I probably shouldn't be 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:43.080 so paranoid. Holly tells me I should trust people more, 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:46.120 but I think she should trust people less, so we 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:47.360 just balance each other out. 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:48.600 I really do. 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:51.000 I think you should trust people less because people will 0:04:51.000 --> 0:04:53.760 say that they want to be your friend for this reason, 0:04:53.839 --> 0:04:56.160 and sometimes there's. 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:56.080 A deeper reason. 0:04:56.160 --> 0:04:57.680 I know he can't go through life living like that 0:04:57.760 --> 0:04:59.840 you should assume the best about people and all. 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:01.400 But I know sometimes sometimes I. 0:05:02.279 --> 0:05:05.359 Get in situations where I'm like, hmm, I wonder what 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:07.800 the real reason. Even with my kids, you know, if 0:05:07.800 --> 0:05:11.000 they're too nice to me, you know, if they hugged 0:05:11.000 --> 0:05:13.640 me a little too tight and they come running a 0:05:13.640 --> 0:05:17.479 little too fast, Hey, daddy, I know that behind the 0:05:17.520 --> 0:05:18.640 affection is an ask. 0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:21.080 It happened today. I was coming out to preach. 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:22.680 I heard a noise in the bathroom back in my 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:24.520 green room, and I was in another room, and I 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:26.960 knew it was Elijah, and because I heard the pop 0:05:27.080 --> 0:05:31.279 of the the product, my hair product, And I said, 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:32.800 who's in here? And I knew it was him. I 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:35.880 was messing with him, and he said, uh, is me, Daddy. 0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:38.000 I just came to say I love. 0:05:37.880 --> 0:05:41.880 You, and I said, and to use my hair product. 0:05:42.880 --> 0:05:46.200 I know why you're really in here. You want my product? 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:53.840 And he said and because I love you? And I said, well, 0:05:53.839 --> 0:05:55.720 mostly because you want my product. And he said, why 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:56.440 can't it be both? 0:05:58.640 --> 0:06:04.039 Pretty good? Why can't it be both? And for me? 0:06:04.120 --> 0:06:07.400 I hear, Paul, Okay, he's on a ship that he 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:10.440 doesn't believe he rightfully belongs on, taking this prisoner for 0:06:10.480 --> 0:06:13.279 a crime that he didn't commit, being accused of things 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:16.240 that he didn't do. And I hear when he's talking, 0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:19.760 I kind of hear two things. I hear faith it 0:06:19.800 --> 0:06:23.360 will happen, and I hear frustration this didn't have to happen. 0:06:24.080 --> 0:06:27.640 And I hear both because watch she says, if you 0:06:28.320 --> 0:06:32.839 would have taken my advice, you would have spared yourself 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:36.720 this damage and loss. In other words, the reason we're 0:06:36.760 --> 0:06:41.640 about to wreck is because of a decision that you made. 0:06:41.960 --> 0:06:46.640 But if we stay too long in the reason, we're 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:50.839 gonna drown. Because what matters at some point you have 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:53.840 to get past at some point trying to figure out 0:06:54.080 --> 0:06:57.200 why it happened. And this is difficult. This is difficult 0:06:57.279 --> 0:06:59.360 for those of us who want to know a reason. 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:03.200 Even storly, when I call someone and and maybe they've 0:07:03.240 --> 0:07:06.000 gone through a loss of tragedy, and I say, I'm 0:07:06.080 --> 0:07:08.400 just calling to pray with you, there's a temptation for 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:11.040 me to try to give them a reason for why 0:07:11.080 --> 0:07:13.240 it happened. And when I was, when I was a 0:07:13.320 --> 0:07:16.120 rookie pastor before I became the sage of wisdom that 0:07:16.200 --> 0:07:18.240 I am before you today, can you feel me rolling 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:21.520 my eyes and myself in sarcassm I would always feel 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:23.480 compelled to give them a reason. You know, but God 0:07:23.560 --> 0:07:25.200 is going to use this for good, you know. Romans 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:28.840 eight twenty eight, eight twenty eight, Jeremiah twenty nine to eleven, 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:32.280 every little coffee cup verse. I could spit out at 0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:33.720 them just as fast as I could. 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:34.960 You know, there's a reason from that. 0:07:35.000 --> 0:07:38.520 And I realized at some point during giving people reasons, 0:07:38.840 --> 0:07:41.680 sometimes people don't need a reason when they're in the 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:44.760 middle of a storm. They just need to reassure it, say, 0:07:44.840 --> 0:07:47.600 God will not leave you alone in it. So please, 0:07:48.040 --> 0:07:50.840 when someone that you love is suffering, don't be so 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:53.360 quick to give them a reason. Don't be so quick 0:07:53.360 --> 0:07:55.560 to point your finger. Well, the reason your kids are 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:57.520 rebelling is because no, no. 0:07:57.120 --> 0:07:58.560 Now's not the time for that. 0:07:58.920 --> 0:08:00.760 People don't need a reason, And when they're going through 0:08:00.760 --> 0:08:03.360 a great time, great trial, what they need is someone 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:06.480 to reassure them that God is with you, and so 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:09.560 am I. And here's Paul standing in the middle of 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:17.360 a storm, and the reason it's happening is because of 0:08:17.440 --> 0:08:24.640 their dumb decision. Have you ever had to go through 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:28.720 a storm because of somebody else's. 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:33.000 Dumb decision. This is an. 0:08:32.880 --> 0:08:35.800 Awkward moment in my sermon because if you agree too much, 0:08:35.920 --> 0:08:36.760 the person. 0:08:36.480 --> 0:08:43.480 Next to you is going to know. 0:08:43.960 --> 0:08:47.160 Paul says, if we would have done it this way, 0:08:47.360 --> 0:08:49.920 Oh yeah, because not everything that happens to you happened 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:53.560 because God wanted it to happen to you, And certainly 0:08:53.600 --> 0:08:56.480 not everything that happens to you happens because the devil 0:08:56.480 --> 0:08:59.080 did it. Because if the devil did it, then God 0:08:59.120 --> 0:09:01.199 had to allow it. Sometimes I think we got the 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:03.040 wrong words sometimes because I think they both start with 0:09:03.080 --> 0:09:04.880 the letter D and we get confused. Sometimes it's not 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:12.040 the devil, it's a decision. It's just too crowded in 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:13.599 church today. I need to free up some seats for 0:09:13.679 --> 0:09:16.880 the next week, so I don't want you to have 0:09:16.880 --> 0:09:20.040 to sit in parking or anything like that. It is 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:25.840 sometimes it's and so pol says, this didn't have to 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:33.280 happen like this, And those are the hardest for me, really, really, 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:35.240 the hardest for me is when I feel like this 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:41.040 was avoidable, you know, and when I feel like I 0:09:41.080 --> 0:09:43.679 could have avoided it, but yet it's inevitable. 0:09:44.920 --> 0:09:46.160 And that's attention, isn't it. 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:48.920 I was talking to one of my best friends the 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:52.520 other day and I said, a year from now, we 0:09:52.520 --> 0:09:54.400 were going through something and we were talking through it 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:57.599 and something that we couldn't understand, and I said, a 0:09:57.679 --> 0:10:01.160 year from now, we will understand why this had to happen. 0:10:02.600 --> 0:10:06.120 And he said, do you really believe that? I said, yeah, 0:10:06.160 --> 0:10:08.800 I believe that in time God will show us. He said, no, no, 0:10:08.800 --> 0:10:11.320 not that part. Do you really believe it had to happen? 0:10:13.160 --> 0:10:15.960 Because what he was doing, he was reverse engineering all 0:10:15.960 --> 0:10:17.280 the decisions that led to it. 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:19.679 And what I kind of wanted to say to him 0:10:19.679 --> 0:10:20.679 that I wasn't smart enough to. 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:21.280 Say in the moment. 0:10:21.320 --> 0:10:22.600 But I've thought about it for a few weeks now, 0:10:22.600 --> 0:10:27.520 and I want to tell you is that I've come 0:10:27.559 --> 0:10:30.360 to the place in my belief system where I no 0:10:30.440 --> 0:10:32.480 longer try to figure out whether God did it or 0:10:32.520 --> 0:10:33.720 the devil did it, because it has to. 0:10:33.720 --> 0:10:35.600 Pass through the same hands before it gets to me. 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:42.240 And I've read enough of the Bible to know that 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:44.720 God will use other people's bad decisions to get me 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:52.920 to my destiny. And I've seen enough play out to 0:10:53.000 --> 0:10:54.760 know that Joseph, at the end of his life was 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:56.720 only able to look at his brothers and say don't 0:10:56.720 --> 0:10:59.920 even worry about it because you meant it for eve, 0:11:00.679 --> 0:11:03.920 but God meant it for good. Which one was it 0:11:04.320 --> 0:11:08.480 evil or good? It was both? Why can't it be both? 0:11:09.000 --> 0:11:11.240 Why can't it be an attack from the devil that 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:14.760 God used and put to good usage and repurpose in 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:17.520 order to accomplish That's what Paul is saying. 0:11:17.559 --> 0:11:19.160 He's saying it. 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:21.800 Didn't have to happen. I don't want you to blame 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:24.920 this on God. We could have avoided this. You didn't 0:11:24.960 --> 0:11:25.679 have to date him. 0:11:25.720 --> 0:11:27.000 Your mom told you he was. 0:11:27.000 --> 0:11:30.240 Crazy, and you wouldn't listen to anybody. But if we 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:38.400 stay stuck in the reason, we'll miss the revelation. Because 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:41.440 Paul says, you know, there's a reason this happened, and 0:11:41.480 --> 0:11:44.680 it could have been avoided. But last night, while the 0:11:44.800 --> 0:11:48.400 storm was raging, last night, I was all alone, and 0:11:48.520 --> 0:11:52.000 God showed up and reminded me that his purpose is 0:11:52.040 --> 0:11:53.240 still intact even. 0:11:53.040 --> 0:12:00.480 If the ship goes down. It had to happen. It 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:01.200 had to happen. 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:06.040 Then God doesn't tell Paul a whole series of explanations. 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:12.640 He doesn't give him a reason. He gives him a revelation. 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:21.080 Revelation is more powerful than reason. So you can't fight 0:12:21.120 --> 0:12:23.880 the devil with the reason because sometimes you don't know 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:27.280 the reason. Sometimes you have. 0:12:27.240 --> 0:12:30.960 To go back to who God showed you that he was. 0:12:32.440 --> 0:12:34.240 And God is very tactical in this. So he will 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:37.080 create a situation for revelation. 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:40.640 Can I preach about this for a minute. So he 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:45.800 will let Lazarus die, and he loves Lazarus, and when 0:12:45.800 --> 0:12:49.679 they tell him that Lazarus died, he'll say, I'm glad 0:12:49.760 --> 0:12:55.200 it happened. Jesus actually said I'm glad he died. Why 0:12:55.640 --> 0:12:59.679 because now we've got a situation. And the situation is 0:12:59.760 --> 0:13:04.520 what enables the revelation. It's not just true because it rhymes. 0:13:04.559 --> 0:13:07.440 It's true because it's true. Up until this point, they 0:13:07.480 --> 0:13:10.040 knew him as healer. Now they needed to know him 0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:14.160 as resurrection. And so he said, I'm glad it went wrong. 0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:17.280 I'm glad it. When poorly Paul said we must run 0:13:17.280 --> 0:13:20.320 aground on some island, somebody say. 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:22.920 It had to happen. It had to happen. 0:13:22.960 --> 0:13:25.840 And sometimes when you ask God for a reason, he 0:13:25.920 --> 0:13:29.520 will bypass the reason and give you a revelation. You 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:32.840 still belong to me, You're still my child. See, I 0:13:32.840 --> 0:13:36.440 don't operate by reason. If I operate by reason, sometimes 0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:40.199 I'll be up, sometimes i'll be down. I operate by revelation. 0:13:40.559 --> 0:13:43.360 I know he is good and he does good. I 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:46.000 know he's with me. I know he's for me. I 0:13:46.040 --> 0:13:49.000 know he'll never leave me nor forsake me. That's my 0:13:49.120 --> 0:13:52.600 revelation to somebody say I got a revelation. And so 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:54.760 when you get in trouble, you don't need a reason, 0:13:54.800 --> 0:13:57.439 you need a revelation. Elijah looked at me the other 0:13:57.520 --> 0:13:59.400 day and I was telling him to do something. And 0:13:59.440 --> 0:14:02.120 he's eleven years old, and so he is being visited 0:14:02.160 --> 0:14:04.920 by demons of eleven year oldness and he's coming up 0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:07.199 to me talking about Dad. I'll do it if you 0:14:07.280 --> 0:14:09.240 tell me the reason, he said. I'm not the kind 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:12.200 of person who can just do something without knowing the reason. 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:22.960 Did you ever see The Simpsons? I know you don't 0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:25.720 watch TV. You read the Bible all the time. When 0:14:25.720 --> 0:14:30.960 Homer grabs Bart around the neck, and I know I 0:14:31.000 --> 0:14:34.040 probably couldn't do that. When he said, he said, I 0:14:34.040 --> 0:14:40.480 need a reason, and I look back at him. 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:41.240 And the only thing that came to me was I 0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:43.440 looked at him. The spirit of Star Wars came on me, 0:14:43.480 --> 0:14:45.520 and I said, I got to be your father. 0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:50.600 You don't need a reason to do it, boy, you 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:52.800 need a revelation of who I am. 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:55.120 How big say say. 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:59.320 Sometimes sometimes in your life you won't know why. 0:14:59.480 --> 0:15:03.040 But I know who. Paul said last night an angel? 0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:05.560 What the god who's eying on who I said? 0:15:09.360 --> 0:15:12.000 So look high five, somebody say, I got a revelation. 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:14.200 Work. 0:15:15.080 --> 0:15:19.680 And Paul says, we're gonna make it. But the boat isn't. 0:15:22.040 --> 0:15:25.520 The boat has to break, but we're gonna make it. 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:29.960 We will suffer loss, but we will not lose what's 0:15:30.000 --> 0:15:35.480 most important. That's the promise, all right. So you know 0:15:35.560 --> 0:15:38.560 what's amazing about this story. It happened just like Paul 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:40.760 said it would. And they all got to the shore, 0:15:42.040 --> 0:15:45.360 and they got to that island, that island. Look at 0:15:45.360 --> 0:15:48.120 this in X twenty eight verse one. Somebody say it 0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:50.960 had to happen. That's the word for you today. It 0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:55.000 had to happen. And when they got there, the Bible 0:15:55.000 --> 0:15:59.200 says X twenty eight, verse one. Once safely on shore, 0:16:00.440 --> 0:16:06.600 we found out that the island was called Malta. Malta 0:16:06.640 --> 0:16:11.040 means refuge. So the grace of God does not always 0:16:12.120 --> 0:16:17.160 prevent the consequence, but it gives you a place to land. 0:16:19.480 --> 0:16:22.280 And so we must run aground on some island. And 0:16:22.320 --> 0:16:24.360 when we got there, we found out the island was 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:28.200 called Malta. And it must be a relief now that 0:16:28.240 --> 0:16:30.680 we're no longer on these open seas, because they spent 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:34.200 weeks thrashing around, wondering if they'd ever see dry land again. 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:36.120 And then they get to the place, and the Bible 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:40.480 says in verse two that the islanders showed us unusual kindness. 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:42.800 Now islanders is a kind term. 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:46.440 The actual word that is used here from Luke who 0:16:46.480 --> 0:16:50.000 wrote the Book of Acts, is barbarians, and he called 0:16:50.000 --> 0:16:53.840 them that because they didn't speak his language. Malta is 0:16:54.000 --> 0:16:58.840 an unfamiliar place, and it's an unfamiliar place. Not only that, 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:01.760 but they built a fire and welcomed. 0:17:01.440 --> 0:17:04.320 Us all because it was raining and cold. Now imagine this. 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:05.640 Can we empathize with Paul. 0:17:05.400 --> 0:17:08.040 For a minute, because he survived a. 0:17:08.040 --> 0:17:11.880 Shipwreck only to shiver in the cold of an unfamiliar 0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:16.800 island and an unfamiliar language. And he survived, but now 0:17:16.840 --> 0:17:20.439 the place where he is is unfamiliar to him. I 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:25.520 mentioned that because many times in my life I have 0:17:25.640 --> 0:17:31.520 found myself on Malta. Have you ever been to Malta? 0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:36.520 Oh sure you have, Sure you have? Is that place 0:17:37.320 --> 0:17:38.280 I'm gonna show it to you. 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:41.480 Let me show you in the map here in my Bible. Look, 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:45.240 that's where Paul started. 0:17:46.400 --> 0:17:50.560 That's where the wind blew him around for like several weeks. 0:17:52.280 --> 0:18:06.240 And that's Malta where they landed. Look usual that a 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:08.360 tiny island called Malta. 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:10.440 A little. 0:18:11.680 --> 0:18:16.520 See how small Malta is. See how tiny it is, 0:18:17.760 --> 0:18:21.720 how small it is, how strength. That's where Paul was going, 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:27.280 and that's where the wind blew it. That's where Paul 0:18:27.359 --> 0:18:29.360 had always wanted to visit Rome, where he would stand 0:18:29.359 --> 0:18:32.320 in tribal for Caesar and be used as God's great spokesman, 0:18:32.600 --> 0:18:35.080 the most powerful place in the world in his day. 0:18:35.440 --> 0:18:37.720 And that's Have you ever ended up somewhere you never 0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:40.280 planned on being? That's what I'm trying to say. Have 0:18:40.480 --> 0:18:41.480 you ever been to Malta? 0:18:41.520 --> 0:18:44.000 I need somebody over here in this section has been 0:18:44.080 --> 0:18:47.080 to Malta. Now, Malta is the place you didn't plan 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:50.760 on staying. Malta is the season you didn't plan on experiencing. 0:18:51.240 --> 0:18:54.280 Malta is the layoff you didn't see coming. Malta is 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:57.800 the relationship you didn't see ending. Malta is the emotional 0:18:57.880 --> 0:19:01.520 place you never thought you'd experience. You saw other people depressed, 0:19:01.560 --> 0:19:02.960 you never thought you'd be depressed. 0:19:03.320 --> 0:19:04.680 You saw other people's. 0:19:04.400 --> 0:19:07.320 Kids act crazy, you thought yours would act right. Malta 0:19:07.520 --> 0:19:10.399 is that place where you're twenty eight in single. Malta 0:19:10.600 --> 0:19:12.720 is that place where someone who was there for you 0:19:12.880 --> 0:19:14.000 is no longer there for you. 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:15.879 Have you ever been to Malta? 0:19:20.080 --> 0:19:26.560 Okay, what is somebody as important as Paul doing somewhere 0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:27.719 as small as Malta. 0:19:29.600 --> 0:19:34.959 Let's find out. Let's find out. I love the Bible. Man. 0:19:35.520 --> 0:19:39.920 Bible says that Paul got to Malta, survived the shipwreck. 0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:42.560 Have you ever survived anything? Have you ever survived anything? 0:19:43.080 --> 0:19:44.120 Have you ever gave up hope? 0:19:44.160 --> 0:19:45.959 And just when you gave up hope, hope didn't give 0:19:46.040 --> 0:19:47.440 up on you and grabbed hold. 0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:48.119 Of you in the depths. 0:19:54.080 --> 0:19:56.160 I've been preaching this all weekend, but I feel something 0:19:56.240 --> 0:19:57.639 special happening right now. 0:19:58.720 --> 0:19:59.879 For somebody who is in it. 0:20:00.160 --> 0:20:06.040 Unexpected place, a strange place, a small place, a stock place. 0:20:07.080 --> 0:20:10.520 And the Bible says that those islanders were so kind 0:20:11.560 --> 0:20:14.080 to the prisoners two hundred and seventy six of them 0:20:14.160 --> 0:20:18.359 in all that they built them fire, and Paul was 0:20:18.400 --> 0:20:20.280 such a good dude that he decided to help. 0:20:22.040 --> 0:20:25.560 So they're building a fire, and Paul didn't want to stand. 0:20:25.280 --> 0:20:27.040 Over there like me at a love Week event, looking 0:20:27.119 --> 0:20:29.280 like some lazy preacher who doesn't know how to do anything. 0:20:32.480 --> 0:20:35.280 Paul grabs a pie said wood, look, it's right there. 0:20:35.280 --> 0:20:37.639 In verse three, he gathered a pile of brushwood, and 0:20:37.720 --> 0:20:40.720 as he put it on the fire trying to help, 0:20:42.160 --> 0:20:46.480 a snake came out. So let's let's go back to 0:20:46.520 --> 0:20:51.440 everything that's happened to Paul. He's imprisoned for preaching the gospel. 0:20:53.359 --> 0:20:56.840 He's shipwrecked because the sailors are too stupid to follow 0:20:56.880 --> 0:21:07.040 his advice. Now he's cold on Malta, you're talking about Malta. 0:21:09.880 --> 0:21:14.600 Stuck in strander, shivering and cold, uncertain. 0:21:14.240 --> 0:21:18.640 In an unfamiliar place, and just as he thinks he's 0:21:18.840 --> 0:21:25.320 made it to safety, he gets struck by a snake. 0:21:26.640 --> 0:21:31.680 This is almost comical unless you've been there, when just 0:21:31.880 --> 0:21:33.720 when you thought the fight was. 0:21:33.800 --> 0:21:37.440 Going to be over, here comes something else. 0:21:38.600 --> 0:21:39.320 Have you ever. 0:21:42.920 --> 0:21:47.240 And this snake pops up out of the fire that 0:21:47.359 --> 0:21:50.280 Paul was simply trying to help them build on an 0:21:50.320 --> 0:21:53.280 island called Malta, where he never even planned to go. 0:21:53.720 --> 0:21:56.840 And the Bible says it fastened itself to his hand. 0:21:57.280 --> 0:22:00.359 So this is not some quick little this is snake 0:22:00.680 --> 0:22:03.119 bit down on Paul. And what's what the people did? 0:22:03.119 --> 0:22:04.480 Because you gotta be careful about people. 0:22:05.920 --> 0:22:07.560 Let me tell you got to be careful about people, 0:22:07.840 --> 0:22:11.119 because when that happened, people will always assign a reason 0:22:11.240 --> 0:22:15.679 to why you're going through what you're going through. Well, 0:22:15.720 --> 0:22:17.080 if I were her husband, I would have left to 0:22:17.160 --> 0:22:18.960 People will say stuff like that not to you. They 0:22:19.040 --> 0:22:21.359 never say it to you. They just think it about you. 0:22:21.720 --> 0:22:23.840 They think that the reason bad things happened to you 0:22:24.480 --> 0:22:26.920 is because of something that you did. Well, the islanders 0:22:26.920 --> 0:22:29.520 are watching this guy who's got a snake on his hand, 0:22:29.680 --> 0:22:31.680 who just came crawling out of the sea with some 0:22:31.800 --> 0:22:34.880 seaweed around his ears, and he claims to be a preacher, 0:22:35.119 --> 0:22:35.879 and he claims to. 0:22:35.880 --> 0:22:36.880 Be a servant of God. 0:22:37.160 --> 0:22:39.920 And so if you're a servant of God, why isn't 0:22:40.000 --> 0:22:43.159 God protecting you? Has the devil tried to convince you 0:22:43.359 --> 0:22:46.840 lately that if you really had a God, you wouldn't 0:22:46.880 --> 0:22:50.560 be going through what you're going through. And so they 0:22:50.600 --> 0:22:59.679 stood back. They stood back and said this, dude. When 0:22:59.680 --> 0:23:02.040 they say, well, the snake hanging from his hand, which 0:23:02.119 --> 0:23:05.360 means it was there for a minute. When they saw 0:23:05.440 --> 0:23:09.440 the snake hanging from his hand, they drew their own conclusions. 0:23:10.280 --> 0:23:13.720 He must have done something wrong. He must be a murderer. 0:23:14.800 --> 0:23:21.280 He must be out of the will of God. For 0:23:21.440 --> 0:23:24.400 though he escaped the sea, the goddess Justice. 0:23:25.040 --> 0:23:26.240 Has not allowed him to live. 0:23:27.880 --> 0:23:29.879 I love the next verse because Paul preaches one of 0:23:29.920 --> 0:23:31.960 the most powerful sermons in the New Testament. 0:23:33.440 --> 0:23:35.600 Watch this. When Paul saw them all looking, he knew 0:23:35.600 --> 0:23:36.640 he had a captive audience. 0:23:37.760 --> 0:23:39.840 And verse five says that when Paul saw him looking, 0:23:40.960 --> 0:23:42.680 he said, and this may not be in your Bible, 0:23:42.720 --> 0:23:45.680 I'm reading from the TSV, the Taylor Swift version. 0:23:46.560 --> 0:23:49.159 He said, he said, players. 0:23:49.880 --> 0:23:55.960 Gonna play, play, play, play play. 0:23:56.840 --> 0:23:58.879 Come on, y'all, go back to twenty fourteen with me 0:23:59.000 --> 0:24:01.520 for a minute. And haters. 0:24:03.119 --> 0:24:08.440 Gonna hate hate, hey, hey, hey five times. That's a 0:24:08.520 --> 0:24:16.440 quintuplet in the New Testament Heartbreaker's Gonna break break. We 0:24:16.560 --> 0:24:18.359 get the point, pastor you don't have to quote the 0:24:18.400 --> 0:24:27.240 whole chorus and the verse Paul's response, that's the word response. 0:24:27.400 --> 0:24:29.480 Watch this. He didn't say a word. 0:24:30.040 --> 0:24:32.960 He didn't try to convince them that God was with him. 0:24:33.800 --> 0:24:37.280 He didn't feel sorry for himself. He didn't go on 0:24:37.480 --> 0:24:41.120 Facebook and write a response post. What's what he did. 0:24:42.080 --> 0:24:44.280 He did what you've got to learn how to do 0:24:44.880 --> 0:24:47.560 when you make it through the storm and all hell 0:24:47.680 --> 0:24:51.480 breaks loose on the shore. Come on when they talk about. 0:24:51.240 --> 0:24:54.120 You, when it looks like this is the end, when 0:24:54.160 --> 0:24:55.920 you've been through it and it keeps coming. 0:24:56.560 --> 0:24:59.080 The Bible said Paul, took it off to what'severn People say, 0:24:59.119 --> 0:25:03.920 shake it off, Shake it off, Shake it off right 0:25:04.040 --> 0:25:06.840 now before it gets in your system. Shake it off 0:25:07.000 --> 0:25:09.840 right now before it kills you. Shake it off right 0:25:09.960 --> 0:25:11.960 now while they're standing around watching you. 0:25:19.880 --> 0:25:23.560 You gotta do it right now, right now. You gotta 0:25:23.640 --> 0:25:24.240 shake it off. 0:25:25.040 --> 0:25:27.320 You don't take a vote from the Island committee to 0:25:27.359 --> 0:25:28.760 see whether or not they think. 0:25:28.680 --> 0:25:32.280 God is with you. No, Paul said, I got a revelation. 0:25:32.920 --> 0:25:35.800 God already told me I'm going to Rome, so I 0:25:35.960 --> 0:25:37.320 can't die on de sign. 0:25:43.680 --> 0:25:46.760 I already know he'll never leave me or forsake me. 0:25:47.320 --> 0:25:51.080 I already know I'm more than a conqueror. I already know, 0:25:58.920 --> 0:26:03.639 so if I'm going to Rome, I can't die on Malta. 0:26:08.320 --> 0:26:10.760 And when the shap fell off of Paul's hand and 0:26:10.920 --> 0:26:13.040 died in the fire, it wasn't a surprise to him. 0:26:13.920 --> 0:26:17.440 He knew it had to happen. It had to happen. 0:26:17.480 --> 0:26:20.320 Somebody said it had to happen. I had to survive. 0:26:20.720 --> 0:26:23.200 I had to make it. I had to get through it. 0:26:23.560 --> 0:26:29.960 God had to prove his power. I'll fill your presence, Lord, 0:26:32.119 --> 0:26:35.840 for everybody who's been wondering why you've been stuck on 0:26:36.000 --> 0:26:37.040 the why land. 0:26:38.640 --> 0:26:39.440 You know what I'm saying. 0:26:41.600 --> 0:26:43.840 You've been so busy trying to figure out a reason, 0:26:43.880 --> 0:26:47.320 and God is trying to give you a revelation, not 0:26:47.560 --> 0:26:54.040 just you, but everybody watching you. God wants everybody to 0:26:54.160 --> 0:26:58.440 see you shake it off. God wants everybody around you 0:26:58.600 --> 0:27:01.920 to see you trust him though he slay you. And 0:27:05.880 --> 0:27:09.880 that's why the snake had to bite him. Because faith 0:27:09.920 --> 0:27:15.000 doesn't prevent me from getting bid. Faith doesn't prevent me 0:27:15.119 --> 0:27:16.400 from washing. 0:27:16.280 --> 0:27:16.920 Up on the shore. 0:27:18.280 --> 0:27:20.440 What I love about it is that after Paul shook 0:27:20.480 --> 0:27:23.560 the snake off, the people stood back and watched to 0:27:23.600 --> 0:27:26.440 see what was gonna happen next, because that's what they do. 0:27:27.720 --> 0:27:29.480 They don't bring you an ice pack or an ass 0:27:29.520 --> 0:27:34.399 for him talk to me. They will stand there and 0:27:34.520 --> 0:27:36.480 watch you. And the Bible says that they were shocked 0:27:36.520 --> 0:27:38.639 because they expected him to swell up. You know, you 0:27:38.720 --> 0:27:40.960 got some people that are surprised that you made it 0:27:41.240 --> 0:27:44.680 and surprised you're still happy. You know, they thought when 0:27:44.680 --> 0:27:46.880 they broke your heart, you were gonna quit. But look 0:27:46.960 --> 0:27:51.640 at you in church, worshiping God, serving God, believing God. 0:27:56.160 --> 0:28:05.840 Look at you, look at you. So they're like, they're like, oh, 0:28:07.240 --> 0:28:10.120 let's see what happens next. That's somebody said, let's see 0:28:10.119 --> 0:28:15.159 what happens next. So they waited a long time, and 0:28:15.280 --> 0:28:19.280 then when they saw that he didn't swell up or 0:28:19.320 --> 0:28:26.280 turn into a walker, they changed their minds. This is 0:28:26.320 --> 0:28:30.439 why you cannot put your confidence in people. They changed 0:28:30.440 --> 0:28:34.800 their minds and said, he's a god. One minute, he's 0:28:34.800 --> 0:28:42.760 a murderer. Now he's a god one minute, Hosanna. The 0:28:42.880 --> 0:28:47.240 next minute, crucify him. That's why your response cannot be 0:28:47.400 --> 0:28:47.840 to people. 0:28:50.560 --> 0:28:53.720 Even when I preach, I love you, but I can't 0:28:53.720 --> 0:28:54.320 preach for you. 0:28:55.000 --> 0:28:56.920 I can preach to you, but I can't preach for you, 0:28:57.560 --> 0:28:59.160 because the thing that I say that you need to 0:28:59.200 --> 0:29:00.719 hear might make you cry us their arms and get 0:29:00.760 --> 0:29:03.640 an attitude. Well, sit back and take it, honey, because 0:29:03.640 --> 0:29:05.320 if God sent it, I'm gonna say. 0:29:05.240 --> 0:29:15.960 It all right. Now watch this. 0:29:16.080 --> 0:29:18.880 Let's show one more thing so he shakes up the 0:29:18.880 --> 0:29:24.320 snake they think he's gonna die, doesn't die. And cool 0:29:24.320 --> 0:29:27.120 place to end dis sermon, I think, but I want 0:29:27.120 --> 0:29:32.000 to give you something that will maybe help you. Let 0:29:32.080 --> 0:29:34.560 me just see from a show of hands, is there 0:29:34.640 --> 0:29:37.240 anybody in here who has found yourself in Malta recently? 0:29:37.360 --> 0:29:40.120 It could be a season, it could be Malta represents, yeah, 0:29:40.160 --> 0:29:42.320 that stuck place. I think these are the kinds of questions, 0:29:42.360 --> 0:29:44.520 generic questions that people ask because we know that it's 0:29:44.560 --> 0:29:47.239 guaranteed to get one hundred percent participation. I mean, who 0:29:47.320 --> 0:29:51.320 doesn't feel stuck from time to time? And that's kind 0:29:51.360 --> 0:29:54.640 of the point, isn't it is that we all must 0:29:54.720 --> 0:30:00.040 go through Malta. Wow and Paul at this point, and 0:30:00.160 --> 0:30:03.880 the story has a decision to make misery or mission. 0:30:06.160 --> 0:30:10.120 Misery or mission because we already read that it was 0:30:10.240 --> 0:30:13.200 rainy and cold, we already read that it was unfamiliar. 0:30:13.440 --> 0:30:17.520 We already read that the man almost died, and now 0:30:17.560 --> 0:30:19.080 he has a decision to make, and so do you 0:30:20.040 --> 0:30:23.720 about this season of your life. Paul didn't decide to 0:30:23.800 --> 0:30:26.760 go to Malta. Now he has to decide what to 0:30:26.840 --> 0:30:31.960 do while he's there. And he can sit and wait 0:30:32.080 --> 0:30:35.960 to get off this stupid island, or he can. 0:30:41.360 --> 0:30:47.520 He can do on Malta what he did in Jerusalem, 0:30:50.520 --> 0:30:54.000 all right, So so Paul, they think he's a god. 0:30:54.000 --> 0:30:57.560 Now, right, So they're like, they're like, hey, this guy's important, 0:30:58.200 --> 0:31:01.120 and apparently the chief of the island hears about. 0:31:00.920 --> 0:31:04.960 It, and he wants to have dinner with this guy 0:31:06.040 --> 0:31:07.320 who can survive a snake bite. 0:31:08.520 --> 0:31:13.480 So your opportunities in life will be the byproduct of adversity. 0:31:12.960 --> 0:31:17.800 That you go through. And he gets invited to the 0:31:17.920 --> 0:31:18.440 home of. 0:31:18.480 --> 0:31:21.200 The official on the island because he was able to 0:31:21.240 --> 0:31:23.680 stand up under the trial. You keep praying for the opportunity, 0:31:24.160 --> 0:31:26.040 but you don't want to stand up under the adversity. 0:31:26.480 --> 0:31:29.560 So somebody say it had to happen. I had to 0:31:29.640 --> 0:31:33.040 go through something. I had to prove perseverance. That's the 0:31:33.120 --> 0:31:35.720 only way my faith could grow to enable the opportunity. 0:31:37.400 --> 0:31:39.200 So there was an estate nearby look at this. In 0:31:39.280 --> 0:31:43.640 verse seven, there was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, 0:31:44.720 --> 0:31:48.240 which is incidentally a baby name that is available to 0:31:48.320 --> 0:31:49.960 any of you who are looking for something to name 0:31:50.000 --> 0:31:54.760 your child that will get them beat up. And this 0:31:54.880 --> 0:31:57.160 guy's important, and he wants to see the guy who 0:31:57.400 --> 0:32:01.520 was able to stand up after the snake and survived 0:32:01.560 --> 0:32:04.800 the shipwreck, and he welcomed all of them into the 0:32:04.920 --> 0:32:08.840 home and showed generous hospitality for three days. And I'm 0:32:08.880 --> 0:32:12.640 imagining Paul's thinking this is nice. But at some point 0:32:12.760 --> 0:32:16.040 during Paul's stay he learns that Publius. 0:32:15.640 --> 0:32:16.240 Has a problem. 0:32:16.320 --> 0:32:21.120 Touch somebody say, Publius has a problem, And Publius's problem 0:32:21.240 --> 0:32:27.480 is about to become Paul's opportunity because Publius's father was 0:32:27.560 --> 0:32:30.160 sick in bed with the Malta fever. 0:32:32.520 --> 0:32:33.200 And it's bad. 0:32:34.600 --> 0:32:39.840 He's got temperatures in dysentery, and Paul, when he heard 0:32:39.880 --> 0:32:44.080 about it, went in to see him. Now the way 0:32:44.160 --> 0:32:47.040 I picture it, and maybe I'm using too much imagination, 0:32:47.560 --> 0:32:50.400 but I imagine that they're sitting down to a meal 0:32:50.960 --> 0:32:54.240 and Paul sees somebody wheeled into the room and says, 0:32:54.320 --> 0:32:58.080 who's that, and Publius says, it's my dad, and Paul says, 0:32:58.160 --> 0:32:59.040 what's wrong with him? 0:32:59.480 --> 0:33:03.120 And Publicia says he's sick and there's nothing we can 0:33:03.240 --> 0:33:03.880 do about it. 0:33:04.240 --> 0:33:08.160 Imagine about right here is where Paul started smiling, which 0:33:08.240 --> 0:33:11.280 seems kind of weird, but maybe this is the moment 0:33:11.400 --> 0:33:15.360 that Paul realizes there was a reason I went through 0:33:15.480 --> 0:33:19.640 the storm. There was a reason the hurricane hit. There 0:33:19.800 --> 0:33:22.880 was a reason the ship had to break apart. There's 0:33:22.920 --> 0:33:25.600 a reason we had to run aground on Malta. 0:33:26.560 --> 0:33:31.160 Paul said, can I see you? Can we have a moment? 0:33:33.440 --> 0:33:35.320 And the Bible says that when Paul went in to 0:33:35.400 --> 0:33:39.440 see him, he prayed for him. Wow, and watched the 0:33:39.520 --> 0:33:43.560 next part. You can love this. You look kind of military. 0:33:43.600 --> 0:33:48.520 Can I use you for an example? Sit down, everybody, 0:33:48.560 --> 0:33:53.440 sit down. Paul went in. 0:33:56.240 --> 0:34:00.200 And prayed for him, and after prayer, somebody say, it 0:34:00.280 --> 0:34:03.400 had to happen. Come on, Missouri, it had to happen. 0:34:05.040 --> 0:34:07.240 You had to be here at this sermon today. There's 0:34:07.280 --> 0:34:08.440 something God wanted. 0:34:08.200 --> 0:34:08.759 To speak to you. 0:34:08.960 --> 0:34:12.800 You had to be here with the zz top beard 0:34:12.960 --> 0:34:14.960 go to You had to be right. 0:34:14.920 --> 0:34:25.480 There in that section. And Paul put his hand on Publius'. 0:34:25.400 --> 0:34:30.600 Dad's head, and when he put his hand on his head, 0:34:31.760 --> 0:34:35.440 the Bible says he was healed, which is a miracle 0:34:35.600 --> 0:34:39.239 all in its own. But what made it even more 0:34:39.280 --> 0:34:43.399 amazing to me was to realize that the same hand 0:34:44.360 --> 0:34:48.400 that the healing came through was the same hand that 0:34:48.560 --> 0:34:52.759 had a snake hanging from it just three days ago. 0:34:54.440 --> 0:34:57.399 Oh, come on, you all start praising God right now. 0:34:57.680 --> 0:35:09.239 What you went through? That didn't tell you that? So 0:35:10.000 --> 0:35:13.319 let me have your check station. Paul says, I can't 0:35:13.440 --> 0:35:16.000 keep the snake from biting me. Touch somebody say it 0:35:16.080 --> 0:35:19.440 had to happen. The other day, Abby came up to 0:35:19.520 --> 0:35:21.800 me and she said, Elijah. 0:35:21.440 --> 0:35:23.759 Just bit me. I said, did you bite him back? 0:35:24.760 --> 0:35:25.759 She said no, sir. 0:35:26.160 --> 0:35:29.920 I said, go upstairs and tell your brother. You can 0:35:30.040 --> 0:35:33.080 bite me again if you want to. But Daddy said 0:35:33.200 --> 0:35:36.480 to tell you, if you bite me, I bite back. 0:35:36.880 --> 0:35:40.000 Now that might not be good parenting, but this is 0:35:40.160 --> 0:35:50.759 good preaching. Somebody tell the devil I'm bite that, I'm 0:35:50.840 --> 0:36:02.520 bite back. Same hand that the snake bit became the 0:36:02.600 --> 0:36:03.919 hand that the healing came from. 0:36:04.760 --> 0:36:06.760 What did you go through that you wish you wouldn't 0:36:06.800 --> 0:36:08.919 have gone through? That you never should have gone through 0:36:09.360 --> 0:36:12.120 I came to declare over your life. It does not 0:36:12.400 --> 0:36:17.399 matter the reason. What matters is your response. You're on Malta. Now, 0:36:17.880 --> 0:36:21.000 Malta is what you make of it. The Bible says, 0:36:21.160 --> 0:36:24.879 after he laid his hands on that man's head, word 0:36:25.000 --> 0:36:25.799 got around. 0:36:25.600 --> 0:36:26.520 The whole island. 0:36:26.880 --> 0:36:29.840 This guy's got something, This guy's got something. 0:36:29.920 --> 0:36:31.400 This guy knows somebody. 0:36:31.960 --> 0:36:34.040 When he put his hand on the father's head, the 0:36:34.120 --> 0:36:37.880 Bible said, the whole island came and all of a sudden, 0:36:38.040 --> 0:36:42.719 now Publius had to turn his house into a certain building, and. 0:36:42.840 --> 0:36:48.200 The whole island got healed. It had to happen. It 0:36:48.400 --> 0:37:00.800 had to happen. It had to happen. Island got you. 0:37:02.320 --> 0:37:04.200 I'm sorry I messed up your hair, but it had 0:37:04.280 --> 0:37:04.680 to happen. 0:37:08.800 --> 0:37:10.520 I feel like I got something on me right now 0:37:10.640 --> 0:37:18.960 to tell somebody the release. It's about the release. 0:37:21.680 --> 0:37:23.680 When Paul was going through the storm, he said, we 0:37:23.800 --> 0:37:26.200 must run aground on some island. Somebody say it had 0:37:26.239 --> 0:37:32.719 to happen, and Paul thought he needed Malta. But it 0:37:32.800 --> 0:37:37.560 turns out Malta needed Paul. 0:37:43.600 --> 0:37:51.160 There's a purpose for it. I don't need a reason. 0:37:51.200 --> 0:37:54.759 I got a revelation. God is with me. He is good, 0:37:54.800 --> 0:38:01.040 he does good. It had to happen. It had to happen. 0:38:02.160 --> 0:38:06.359 I'm not saying God did it. I'm saying he'll use it. Now. 0:38:09.360 --> 0:38:13.759 What are you gonna do on Malta? That small place. 0:38:15.200 --> 0:38:18.000 You've been changing diaper still and like nobody appreciates you. 0:38:18.480 --> 0:38:24.360 That's your Malta. You've been praying for a ring and 0:38:24.440 --> 0:38:27.120 you can't even get a text back. That's your Malta. 0:38:34.840 --> 0:38:37.200 I never wanted to be on Malta, but Paul said, 0:38:37.239 --> 0:38:39.200 now that I'm here, who can I heal? 0:38:43.920 --> 0:38:47.360 A matter of fact, y'all got any more snakes? I 0:38:47.480 --> 0:38:50.799 wish another snake would bite me because if that much 0:38:51.000 --> 0:38:53.200 power could come from the pain, who. 0:38:53.120 --> 0:38:56.680 Else can I heal? Who else can I heal? God? Won? 0:38:56.719 --> 0:38:59.200 Did you bring me desmoss me Malta? 0:39:06.400 --> 0:39:10.120 And while they were getting ready for a wreck, God 0:39:10.600 --> 0:39:13.080 was positioning them for a revival. 0:39:20.719 --> 0:39:25.320 This is the mistake that turned into a miracle, that 0:39:25.480 --> 0:39:26.600 turned into a mission. 0:39:29.080 --> 0:39:31.440 And I want you to know today, whoever is for 0:39:32.880 --> 0:39:34.880 the forty eight percent of you that God sent me 0:39:35.000 --> 0:39:38.880 to preach to, who are spending three months on Malta 0:39:39.000 --> 0:39:39.319 right now? 0:39:41.360 --> 0:39:44.759 I want you to know that your supply is in 0:39:44.880 --> 0:39:51.400 your assignment. Did you get it over here? Your supply 0:39:52.520 --> 0:39:55.600 is in your assignment. He could have sat there on 0:39:55.840 --> 0:39:59.960 Malta moping about what he went through on the age 0:40:00.160 --> 0:40:04.080 at sea, but he turned it into a mission and 0:40:04.200 --> 0:40:07.399 the whole island got healed. Maybe what you went through 0:40:07.560 --> 0:40:15.880 wasn't even about you. Maybe it's generational. And that's what 0:40:16.000 --> 0:40:18.239 I told my dad before he died. I said, I 0:40:18.360 --> 0:40:20.160 know your life was hard. I know it was a 0:40:20.239 --> 0:40:22.320 living hell. I know your father abused you. 0:40:22.560 --> 0:40:25.920 I know you had to suffer through many things, but 0:40:26.080 --> 0:40:29.880 you broke it. You broke it. 0:40:33.120 --> 0:40:35.560 It had to You had to go through it so 0:40:35.800 --> 0:40:39.160 I wouldn't have to, so I could preach, so I 0:40:39.280 --> 0:40:50.320 could stand Sometimes it's not about us. And Bull decided 0:40:50.360 --> 0:40:54.520 to bite back, with his hand still swollen from the 0:40:54.560 --> 0:40:58.239 snake bite, sucked that. 0:40:58.360 --> 0:41:01.200 Poison out and turn it into power. 0:41:07.800 --> 0:41:11.880 I thought, am I calling the sermon? I'm bitter, but 0:41:12.040 --> 0:41:16.400 I'm not bitter. I'm a pretreci that in three years. 0:41:18.280 --> 0:41:21.640 I'm appreciate that in bars, in battles in two weeks. 0:41:23.400 --> 0:41:26.880 But for now, God wanted you to know that it 0:41:27.000 --> 0:41:27.640 had to happen. 0:41:30.080 --> 0:41:36.120 It had to happen, even the rejection. My friend said, 0:41:36.120 --> 0:41:38.560 do you really believe that it had to happen? 0:41:39.960 --> 0:41:43.880 And I said, well, I don't know, but you know 0:41:43.960 --> 0:41:49.000 what I choose to It made me who I am. 0:41:49.080 --> 0:41:52.719 What I went through, it made me who I am. 0:41:59.280 --> 0:42:00.000 I want to look in the. 0:42:00.120 --> 0:42:02.800 Camera because we have fourteen locations right now, and I 0:42:02.880 --> 0:42:05.200 want you to stand on your feet at every location 0:42:05.680 --> 0:42:11.919 and realize that healing is in your hands. That God 0:42:12.000 --> 0:42:16.040 brought you to Malta, and when you're in the middle 0:42:16.080 --> 0:42:20.600 of a storm, it seems like there's often no sense 0:42:20.640 --> 0:42:25.759 of guidance, and when your boat is being blown around 0:42:25.800 --> 0:42:27.640 and you have no control over it, it's a scary 0:42:27.719 --> 0:42:30.160 thing to be out on the Mediterranean Sea with nothing 0:42:30.760 --> 0:42:35.440 to look at for light, and to arrive at a 0:42:35.520 --> 0:42:39.480 cold place only to be met by the sting of 0:42:39.560 --> 0:42:40.040 a viper. 0:42:41.400 --> 0:42:41.600 Yeah. 0:42:43.360 --> 0:42:45.319 I've been there before in my own life, but God 0:42:45.400 --> 0:42:50.040 sent me with a message for you today. It had 0:42:50.080 --> 0:42:55.799 to happen because while the wind was controlling the boat, 0:42:57.040 --> 0:43:04.600 God was controlling the wind. I'm not saying he did it, 0:43:07.120 --> 0:43:09.560 but if God allowed. 0:43:09.160 --> 0:43:13.600 It, you can accept it. And if you can accept it, 0:43:15.440 --> 0:43:18.200 the very place where you were injured will be the 0:43:18.400 --> 0:43:21.160 very place that your purpose comes forth. 0:43:20.960 --> 0:43:31.239 From It had to happen. It had to happen, even 0:43:31.280 --> 0:43:36.960 the mistakes. It had to happen because God needed me 0:43:37.120 --> 0:43:39.040 here in Malta. 0:43:40.120 --> 0:43:45.960 Right now, Father, I have declared your word to your people, 0:43:47.440 --> 0:43:55.000 and you have promised your blessing upon it. Father, I 0:43:55.080 --> 0:43:59.239 pray that today would represent a shift in the perspective 0:43:59.320 --> 0:44:05.960 of everyone who has seen themselves as stuck on Malta. Church, 0:44:06.000 --> 0:44:07.520 I want you to repeat this out loud after me. 0:44:07.560 --> 0:44:12.319 It's a paradigm. Chief say, I'm not stuck. I'm stationed. Now, 0:44:12.400 --> 0:44:14.440 clap your hands and give God praise that He's got 0:44:14.520 --> 0:44:17.040 you right where. Come on, He's got you right where 0:44:17.120 --> 0:44:21.920 he wants you. There is an assignment on Malta with 0:44:22.160 --> 0:44:28.840 your name on it. Even if they did it, God's 0:44:28.920 --> 0:44:29.600 gonna use. 0:44:31.080 --> 0:44:32.160 This is my Malta. 0:44:34.239 --> 0:44:37.120 And the Bible says in verse ten that when they 0:44:37.160 --> 0:44:41.000 were ready, when the assignment was completed, they honored us 0:44:41.040 --> 0:44:41.600 in many. 0:44:41.440 --> 0:44:45.360 Ways, and when we were ready to sail, they furnished 0:44:45.440 --> 0:44:49.319 us with the supplies we needed. God said, if. 0:44:49.239 --> 0:44:52.520 You'll do what I put you there to do, I 0:44:52.600 --> 0:44:55.960 will give you what you need for where I'm taking you. 0:44:56.320 --> 0:45:01.239 Who is this message for this is my mam, This 0:45:01.440 --> 0:45:02.239 is my mall. 0:45:02.360 --> 0:45:02.560 Tom. 0:45:03.719 --> 0:45:08.480 I'm done crying, I'm done regretting, I'm done wishing. 0:45:09.239 --> 0:45:13.279 God here, I am lit your asks. God, you brought me. 0:45:13.400 --> 0:45:18.160 Here to this season, to this comment dot doll therecle, 0:45:18.520 --> 0:45:19.279 this is me. 0:45:19.960 --> 0:45:24.560 This is my thank you for joining us. 0:45:24.920 --> 0:45:27.360 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:45:27.480 --> 0:45:30.920 this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:45:31.400 --> 0:45:33.839 You can click the link in the description to give now, 0:45:34.480 --> 0:45:37.799 or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for more 0:45:37.840 --> 0:45:41.480 information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:45:41.960 --> 0:45:43.200 You can share it with your friends. 0:45:43.560 --> 0:45:45.800 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:45:45.880 --> 0:45:47.960 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:45:48.040 --> 0:45:48.839 Elevation Church. 0:45:48.960 --> 0:45:50.560 Thanks again for listening. God bless you.