Let's take our Bibles and turn together to the book of Acts. We're going to be in Acts chapter number 28, as we continue the series Courageous Faith. And as you find your place, would you stand together, if you're able to, as we read God's Word? Acts chapter number 28. Acts 28. And we will begin reading in verse number 1. Acts 28, verse 1. And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita. And the barbarous people showed us no little kindness, for they kindled a fire and received us every one because of the present rain and because of the cold. And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat and fastened on his hand. And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, no doubt this man is a murderer, whom though he escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. And he shook off the beast into the fire and felt no harm. How be it they looked when he should have swollen or fallen down dead suddenly, but after they looked a great while and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds. and said that he was a god. In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island whose name was Publius, who received us and lodged us three days courteously. And it came to pass that the father of Publius lay sick of the fever and of a bloody flux, to whom Paul entered in and prayed and laid his hands on him and healed him. So when this was done, others also which had diseases in the island came and were healed. who also honored us with many honors, and when we departed, they laid at us with such things as were necessary. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for how our hearts have been encouraged this morning, for the privilege that we've had to sing a worship and ascribe worth to your name. And Lord, now the privilege that we have to open your word and for our faith to be challenged. And I pray that's exactly what you would do today by your Holy Spirit to challenge us to live courageously in this present day. And we pray all these things in Jesus name. Amen. You can be seated. Well, this morning we're looking at the subject courage to overcome. courage to overcome. And we're going to learn about how to have this type of courage from the Apostle Paul as we open up the book of Acts this morning. Now for those of you that are new to the book of Acts, it really records the missionary journeys of the Apostle Paul. There were three such journeys where he went from city to city preaching Christ, discipling people, and then ultimately establishing local churches throughout much of the known world. At the end of his third missionary journey, he came back to what we would call the Holy Land, back to Caesarea, and it was there that he began praying and desiring to find his way to Jerusalem. He wanted to preach the gospel to the Jews, and he wanted to proclaim that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. He was warned in Acts 21 that this would be a very dangerous proposition for him. And he was told that he should not go to Jerusalem. And in fact, even when he finally went to Jerusalem, things turned very badly. The Bible records in Acts 24, there were men who said they would not eat until they killed the apostle Paul. And so because of that, he went back to Caesarea for his safety. And while he was being held in Caesarea, he realized the only way that he would ever have an opportunity to have his freedom again was to request on the basis of his Roman citizenship that he go and make an appeal before Caesar in Rome. And this was not uncommon. Oftentimes, when there were people that were political prisoners, or in this case, being held because of his religious faith, if they held a Roman citizenship, they could request to stand before Caesar and defend themselves. And so it was that Paul was granted to have an audience with Caesar, and he made his way on a very tiny ship, perhaps larger in those days, tiny for us in these days, a ship called Uroclidan. It was a ship that held 276 people of all various walks of life, and they left Caesarea with the ultimate destination of finding Rome and standing, in Paul's case, before Caesar. The Bible records in chapter 27 that this ship found its way into a terrible, terrible storm in the Mediterranean. And because of this storm, the ship was broken apart into many pieces, and the people went overboard, many of them holding on to wood and other artifacts from the ship. And ultimately, they found themselves on a very small island. Paul had prophesied to them that all of them would be saved, and in fact, all 276 people made their way into a small estuary there on the island of Malta where they were able to find safety and where they were able to be rescued from this terrible, terrible crash and this difficulty that they had experienced at sea. Now it was here on Malta that Paul's difficulties continued. And we'll see in just a moment how sometimes one tragedy begets another tragedy or one trial another trial. And yet with each of them, God gave Paul courage. to overcome and to continue on faithfully for the Lord. I want you to see with me this morning the facts in the case. I want you to see with me the situation the Apostle Paul experienced and perhaps you might see some parallels to your own life. Some of the things that you experience and that I experience as we travel on this journey, as we find our way through life, I think you're going to see that some of the trials have a commonality to all of us. Well, let's notice as we open up the passage this morning, if you're taking notes with me, I want you to see, first of all, Paul was stranded in an unusual culture. He was stranded in an unusual culture. The Bible says in verse one, when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita, and the barbarous people showed us no little kindness, for they kindled a fire and received us everyone because of the present rain and because of the cold. Now notice first of all the place. It was called in the tongue of the Phoenicians Melita or more commonly known as Malta. The name comes from a Canaanite word and it means refuge. And by the way if you had been shipwrecked and if you were able to cling onto a board and ultimately get to the shore you would call that place refuge as well. I'm sure they were glad to see the land on that particular day. After so many days at open sea, it would have been a welcome sight. And I want you to remember this, because in the storms of life, we always have a refuge. And for those of us who are Christians, our refuge is Jesus Christ. And the Bible says in Psalm 46 and verse 1, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble. And so the place of refuge was the place called Malta. I want you to notice secondly the people that were there. The Bible refers to them as a barbarous people. You say that sounds like my neighbors. No, we're talking about people in Malta. and the word barbarous has an interesting meaning. These people were of a Phoenician descent, the Maltese language came from Africa, and these people were not known as believers in Jehovah God. Their culture was different, their faith was demonic, and they were called a barbarous people because they did not know God. These people however, were a kindly people. And this is something I want you to see. The Bible says in verse number two that they showed no little kindness but they kindled a fire and they received every one of us. I want you to learn from this that no matter where you are, no matter what adversity you may experience, that there are always opportunities and God is always making a way to provide for his own. And that even in his sovereignty, God saw fit, even in a barbarous land, even in an unbelieving land, God shows his grace. How many of you know the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord? God can touch anybody's heart at any time to bless one of His own people. You may have an unsafe boss that is unkind and maybe even barbaric with his or her language. You may have some neighbors that appear to be under some kind of a demonic influence. I want you to know that no matter where you work, no matter where you live, no matter what situation you're facing, no matter what kind of an unusual culture we live in, that even in those cultures, God can show kindness to his people. And that's exactly what happened here. The Bible tells us that these people showed no little kindness to the Apostle Paul. I was thinking this past week about a particular day when we were down at Kaiser Sunset with our son Larry who read the Scripture a moment ago. And I don't care what the world says. Hollywood is a needy city. It's a corrupt city. It's a sinful city. There's not a lot of joy in Hollywood. You don't believe it? Go down there tomorrow and drive or walk down the streets even better. You're going to find a lot of hurting people. A lot of people whose lives have been caught up into very difficult situations because of the abuse of drugs and sexual promiscuity. And all the rest of it, it's a sad place. It's a lonely place. And then when you go to a hospital in Hollywood, sometimes hospitals can be lonely places too. And the culture there and all that is surrounding you is different. And I remember as we were there and Larry was having his treatments for cancer at that time, it was a lonely day indeed for our family. And we were surrounded by a lot of unbelieving people in that city. And suddenly into the hospital room came a doctor and as he came in, he introduced himself. He was a nuclear chemist and he shut the door behind him and he said, now we're not supposed to talk about these things, but I want you to know that I'm a believer in Jesus Christ. And I want you to know that I'm praying for you. He gave me a little brown stone with a black cross. It's in my desk upstairs. And he said, I want you to keep this. He said, I'm going to be praying that God heals your son. He said, let's have a word of prayer together. And right there in that lonely place, on that lonely seventh floor of that hospital in Hollywood, California, God reminded me that He will never leave me and He will never forsake me. And I want you to understand that even in places like Malta, There are people that God can touch their hearts to be a blessing in those situations. We see the place. We see the people. But let's notice the problem. The Bible tells us in verse 2 something very simple. It says that there was present rain and there was cold. The problem is that Paul is cold. He is wet. He is stranded on this island and it was a situation that was something he certainly was not expecting. And sometimes calamity comes upon us this way. You weren't expecting a divorce. You were not expecting the financial setback. You were not expecting the trial that you're in, but suddenly you feel stranded and alone. And I might remind you that there were many people in the Bible who experienced this very emotion. Joseph was sold by his own brothers. He was stranded in Egypt, 300 miles away from his own father. Daniel was thrown into the lion's den by Darius, simply for praying to God. David had to hide in the caves of Adullam. because Saul was trying to kill him. John the Baptist was alone in jail because he had preached against the sin of Herod and even Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane prayed, Father, let this cup pass from me. If it be possible, let this cup pass from me. While he prayed, his own disciples slept. I'm telling you that throughout the Bible, there are people who have understood the sense of being stranded in an unusual culture. And that was exactly what the Apostle Paul was experiencing. But I want you to notice, secondly, that he was wounded by an uncovered culprit. We're going to find that in this very strange place, that the Apostle is going to have further difficulty in his life. Notice in verse 3, the Bible says, And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat and fastened on his hand." If you're taking notes, I want you to jot this down. Paul is serving. Paul is serving. He's tired, he's wet, he's stranded, he's having a terrible day, but in the middle of it, what is he doing? He's serving. Now I want to ask you a question. When you're having that type of day, When you're in that day and you're going, man, I'm just, I'm stranded in this unusual culture. How did I get here to Malta? A lot of people say to me, I never planned on living in California. How did I get here? And when things are just kind of piling up on you, I want to ask you this question. Are you a complainer or a servant? Well, I do my job, I type, I send emails, I do what I'm supposed to do. No, no, no, no, no. What's the spirit with which you do it? Are you a complainer or a servant? And we see here in Paul's life, a great lesson for all of us, that in this really terrible moment, he's getting more wood for the fire. He's going about bringing logs to the fire. I mean, he's wet, he's cold, he's an apostle. And what is he doing? He's helping. He's becoming a part of the solution rather than adding to the problem. He's doing what he can do to make this a better situation. The fire, if it was to keep going, needed wood. Somebody needed to do this job. It is like the Lord Jesus Christ himself, the Bible says, who came not to be ministered unto, but to be a minister and to give his life a ransom for many. Here we see that Paul is serving, but notice, secondly, there is a viper that is biting. And what an amazing verse, verse number three says. And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat and fastened onto his hand. Now think of this. He is shipwrecked, surrounded by a barbaric people. He's trying to have a good attitude. He's trying to do what needs to be done. He's over here helping load up fire. He's just trying to move the logs of the fire and suddenly a snake grabs hold of him. The Bible says the snake fastened onto him. How many of you can get that picture? It just fastened onto him. And some of you, there's something fastened onto you right now. I mean, you're just trying to be the best mom you can be, trying to be the best single adult you can be, and suddenly you've been wounded in the process. Suddenly something came upon you that you were not Expecting and sometimes when we're just trying to help we get hurt Like those firefighters on 9-1-1 who went into the Trade Tower Just trying to help others. They never came back some of them have debilitating diseases even to this day and Sometimes you're just trying to be a good neighbor, trying to be a good Christian, and you lose money. I've learned not to loan money to Christians, but just give it to them if you can. Sometimes you may lose some friends that you thought were really good friends, and you reached out to help them, and you got bit. You were just trying to help them, but they bit you. Paul was doing the best he could, and in that moment, was wounded. I see in Acts 28 a man who was stranded in a very unusual culture. A man who was wounded in the midst of that culture. I want you to notice thirdly, a man who was branded by unfair criticism. branded by unfair criticism. Now this is amazing. I want you to see it in verse four. The Bible says, And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hanging on his hand, they said amongst themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer. So here it is. He's cold. He's wet. He is stranded. He is wounded. He's trying to have a good attitude. He's just trying to do his job. And now people are going, well, we know why that happened. He must be a murderer, right? I mean, they couldn't even call him like a guy that runs into Walmart and steals a TV. No, no, no. They had to ramp it to murder. And there was a thought in Malta that if someone is bitten by a snake, they must be the worst kind of criminal, probably a murderer. And so he is branded as a murderer. In fact, the Bible says they even watched to see if he would die in verse number 6. They wanted to see if he would fall dead suddenly. And I want to remind you of something. If you are here because you want to mature, and because you want to be a strong Christian. I want to remind you that sometimes, even when you're doing your best for Jesus, there are people who will criticize you and who will brand you along the way. 1 Peter 2.11 says, Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul, having your conversation honest among the Gentiles, that whereas they speak evil against you, evildoers they may by your good works which they shall behold glorify God in the day of salvation Peter said look there will be people who speak evil against you but you keep doing what is right you keep doing what is good and someday they will know that you were serving God out of sincerity and truth in fact notice in 1st Peter chapter 4 and verse 14 the Bible says if ye be reproached For the name of Christ, happy are ye, for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you. On their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on his behalf." Here we see that the Apostle Paul was branded by criticism. This crowd, they wanted to put a label on him and their label was murderer. He deserves what he's got coming. That venom will take him to his death. And we live at a time when sometimes people in our culture like to quickly brand a Christian. Sometimes if we oppose something that is against the Bible, something that we should oppose, such as same-sex marriage, there will be those that will call us bigots or homophobes. There might be some who would say of you that if you conform to the Bible standard, you are a radical right-winger, you are a Bible-thumper. They might even call you a deacon, even though you're not a deacon. Lots of terms are thrown around about Christians. I've heard one the last few months, Christian nationalists. I never knew what it was. I'm not sure I completely know what it is even to this day. But I believe they mean by that that a Christian nationalist is someone that wants a theocracy. In other words, someone that wants Christians to control the government and force their views on the rest of the nation. First of all, I have no desire to control the government, nor do I have any desire to force my views on anyone, but what I do want and what I believe I should have and you should have is the freedom in the United States of America to speak out the truth of the Word of God in this day of censorship. That we have the freedom to stand and proclaim that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. What men do with that is up to them. But I want to have the freedom to proclaim who Jesus Christ is. And by the way, I read somewhere one time, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise of speech thereof. or abridging the freedom of speech or the press. I believe that we have the right in this country to worship as we please. I believe the right in this country to speak as we please. And I believe as a Bible-believing pastor today that we should exercise those freedoms and speak that truth. And this is something that Paul the Apostle was doing as a preacher. He was freely preaching out the truth of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to be reminded that while he was not always appreciated, and while many Christians before us and many in this day have had themselves branded because they simply speak the truth, don't be shocked if someone says something against you. Sometimes we talk about D.L. Moody. D.L. Moody founded the Moody Church in Chicago, the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, the Moody orphanages for boys and girls. He was a man greatly used of God. You might be surprised to know that there were people in his time who called him Crazy Moody. That's what they called him. I remember visiting in Massachusetts one summer the home of D.L. Moody, and we saw the schools, the orphanage, and I wanted to go see the home. I heard you could put D.L. Moody's coat on, and I wanted to put his coat on, and I was so happy that it was so large, and I just could swim in that coat. That was many years ago. I think the coat might fit me just fine now. I'm not sure, but I wanted to put his coat on and see a little bit about how he lived. And we were leaving and there was a man that came up to us and he identified himself as the great-great-nephew of D.L. Moody. He was an elderly man at that. I said, yes, we're just here studying a little bit about D.L. Moody. He said, oh, you wouldn't like the man. He was a narrow man. You wouldn't like Dio Mudi, and I've read many books about Dio Mudi, the great works he's done, the loving heart that he had, but here's this man saying, you wouldn't like the man, he's a very narrow man. By the way, most preachers are pretty narrow. They're about as narrow as that book right there. I'm going to tell you, they may call you a narrow man. They may call you other names. They called the Apostle Paul a murderer. They were branding him. He was called a murderer. But then, notice, the next minute, he's called a god. The Bible says in verse 6, how be it they looked when he should have swollen and fallen down dead suddenly, but after they had looked a great while and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said, he is a god. That's the world we live in. They're so fickle. They don't know what they're saying. They don't know what they're looking at. They don't know who's good. They don't know who's bad. They have no discernment. And so we see that Paul was branded by unfair criticism. We've learned this morning, sometimes Christians will be stranded in an unusual culture. Sometimes they'll be wounded by an uncovered culprit. Sometimes branded with unfair criticism. But I want to close with a great truth for you today. I want you to jot this down. Paul was rewarded by undeserved care. Paul was rewarded by undeserved care. Always remember that God has your address. Always remember that God will take care of you. Now notice this in verse 7. The Bible says, in the same quarters, were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius, who received us and lodged us three days courteously." Now notice if you would, God is going to give to Paul, letter A, a place of comfort. It's amazing to me that the very place where they shipwrecked was the very place where the chief of the island lived. And he had many supplies, and he apparently had an abundant home, and he invites the apostle Paul to come into his home, and the Bible says in verse 7, and lodged us there courteously. It was with a very kind manner that they said, come in, come on in, how can we help you? I thank God for 1 Peter 5, 7. It says, cast all your care upon the Lord, because He cares for you. The psalmist said in Psalm 27, I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. Some of you might say, you know, sometimes I feel stranded in this land. Sometimes I feel wounded. I'm just trying to do good, but it feels like the world bites back. Sometimes, in my life, I feel branded. People make fun of my faith. But wait a minute. I want you to see that Paul was blessed by God and that God had provided the needs of his life. We see he was given a place for comfort. I want you to see, secondly, he was given power for ministry. The Bible says in verse 8, And it came to pass that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux, to whom Paul entered in and prayed and laid his hands on him and healed him. Here was a man in the island who had some form of internal problem, some type of dysentery perhaps, something that was causing a near-death experience. And we understand that the Apostle Paul came in and had been given apostolic power and authority to heal this man by his prayer. In verse number eight, God gave him power to minister. I find it interesting. Traveling with Paul throughout all of his missionary journeys, and even on this journey, was someone named Luke the physician. But the Bible doesn't tell us that Luke gave him some antibiotics. The Bible tells him that God healed the man by the prayer of the apostle. Paul had been used of God in a great way. Let me say quickly, God does not always heal everyone. And we know in 1 Corinthians 12, 2 Corinthians 12 rather, Paul went to the Lord three times for his own ailment, and he prayed that he would be healed. And God said, My grace is sufficient for you. If God does not heal us, He gives us grace in the hour. In fact, in 2 Timothy 4 and verse 20, the Bible says, Erastus abode at Corinth, but Trophimus have I left at Miletus sick. In other words, sometimes God would use the healing to show a people like the people of Malta, the power of the gospel is real. And that is exactly what he did in this case. He gave power to Paul for ministry. He gave power through prayer. Notice thirdly, he gave power for a busy work. I want you to see something in verse nine. The Bible says, so when this was done, others also which had diseases in the island came and were healed. Soon, Paul was so busy that people came from all over the island. They were coming saying, we need help. We have a sickness. We need to know how to have power over the demonic influence on our family. And so God gave Paul a place for comfort. God gave Paul power for ministry. And thirdly, watch this now, God gave Paul provision for the ministry. God is going to take care of His man in Malta, and God will take care of you. And I want you to see this in verse 10, the Bible says, who also honored us with many honors. And when we departed, they laded us with such things as were necessary. There were so many people being helped at Malta that finally there were people from throughout the island that were coming and they gave many honors unto the Apostle Paul. They were fixing value upon him. They were saying, we don't understand everything about this man, but he's brought value to our island. He's healing our people. He's telling us about Jesus. History records that from this moment until the day in which we live, there has been Christianity in Malta. It began right here with God's miraculous manifestation, with the preaching of the Gospel. And you know, there will always be the haters. There will always be those branding the Christian with unkind labels. But there are also people, even in the Antelope Valley, when you pull them aside, they'll say things like, I don't know where this city would be without Lancaster Baptist Church. That church is doing a lot of good with the bus kids. That church is doing a lot of good, helping people get off of drugs. That church is helping our city to be a better place. And that's what was happening here. People were honoring the Apostle Paul because of the work that was being done. They gave honor to the one who labored. And then notice, secondly, they gave supplies to the one who labored. Look at that in verse 10. They laded us with such things as were necessary. They said, Paul, as you get ready to go back on your way to Rome, we want to give you some things for your trip. We want to help you. By the way, when you're saved, that's your heart. When you're saved, you want to help the work of God go forward. And they gave him the things that were necessary. Don't miss this. Look in your notes at Philippians chapter 4 and verse 11. Paul was writing to another church that supported him. And he said, not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. I know how to be abased, I know how to abound, everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. Verse 13, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Now here it is, verses 18 and 19, don't forget it. It says, But I have all, and abound I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God. When you give an offering to the Lord, it is well-pleasing to God. And this church at Philippi had scent offerings, and Paul said it's well-pleasing to God. Now look at verse 19, But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Now, Paul had laid his life on the altar. He said, Lord, everything that I am, everything that I have, I give it to you. Now, several years later, he is in a place called Malta. A strange culture, he's stranded there. A strange culture, he's wounded there. A strange culture, he's branded there. And yet in the midst of all of those trials, God gives him a house to stay in. God gives him food for the journey. God gives him supplies for the rest of the journey. Why? Because there is a promise in the Bible, my God shall supply all of your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. And when you yield your life, and when you yield your giving to the Lord Jesus Christ, no matter what comes your way, no matter how stranded you feel, God will take care of you. That's what Paul was experiencing. He was experiencing the mighty hand of God. Yes, he was stranded in Malta, and he might have said, like some people say, why am I here, God? I never planned to come to Malta. Why did you bring me here? Listen to me. Some of you might say, I never thought I'd be in California. Did you ever stop to think that God may have brought you here actually to bless you? Paul never planned to be in Malta, but God blessed him mightily in Malta. The best place to be in your life is in the center of the will of God. To be where God wants you to be, that's the place of blessing for your life. I'll say amen to that point right there. That's the truth. Now, Paul was stranded in a very unusual culture. Paul was wounded when he was just trying to help. Paul was branded by people that didn't understand him. But ultimately, he was rewarded by God. Now I want you to see something that we skipped just a minute ago. How did Paul overcome? Where did the courage come from? How can you overcome? How can you find the blessing of God in your life? I think there's a key How can you be blessed in Lancaster? How can you be blessed in the Antelope Valley? I think there's a key, verse five. The Bible tells us that when he was wounded, verse five, he shook off the beast into the fire and felt no harm. I want you to see a man when things were really getting tough, the problems were really mounting up, that he took the beast, and he shook it off in the fire, and he kept trusting the Lord. I meet people all the time, and I'll say to them, hey, Joe, how's it going? I'll say, what you doing, Joe? Oh, just holding my snake. Just holding on to my snake here. Well, Joe, that happened seven years ago. Yeah, but I was wounded. I was wounded. You never believe. Hey, Sal, how's it going? What you doing, Sal? Just holding my snake. By the way, how ridiculous would that be if they really held the snake? But how ridiculous is it that people hold on to something that happened 12 years ago? How's it going? Oh, pretty good. Some of you are holding several snakes. You're ticked off at a relative. You're ticked off at someone at church. You're mad about something that happened then. You're mad about something that happened last week. You're just holding your snakes. God doesn't use people that are holding snakes. You can't serve if you're holding a snake. You can't give a cup of cold water if you're holding your snake. Snakes move around. They cause problems. They cause stress, they cause migraines if you're holding your snake. I truly believe one of the reasons that God continued blessing the Apostle Paul is because he shook it off. He said, I got better things to do than hold that snake. I wonder what it is today that you need to shake off. What is it that you need to throw down that you need to provide forgiveness for through the grace of God? He said, but wait a minute. I've been stranded by people who said they love me. I've been wounded by people. I've been branded by people. They call me bad names. Oh, if that's the case, then you better hold on to your snakes. Or maybe God could give you the courage and the grace to say, yeah, I've been stranded. I've been wounded. I've had people call me names. But God's going to have to take care of all of that. I've got better things to do than to walk around holding a snake. And one other thing about snakes. In the Bible, the snake is a picture of Satan himself. When Satan tempted Eve, he came as a serpent. Snakes represent sin and Satan. And I want to tell you something. You might be here this morning and you have never accepted Christ as your Savior. You've never accepted His forgiveness. You don't know for sure that you're saved. People are singing, saved, saved, I'm saved. And you're looking at them like, from what? And that's okay. To be saved, though, from your sin is the greatest salvation of all. It's one thing to be saved from a sinking ship, but to be saved from sin. But in order to be saved from sin, you have to be willing to admit that it's sin. You can't say, hey, Jesus, take me to heaven. Now, I'm going to keep on living in fornication. I'm going to keep on doing the drugs. I'm going to keep on doing the stealing. I'm going to keep on holding onto the snakes. But go ahead, Jesus, save me. I'm not gonna ever, look it, I'm just, I'm not gonna change, I don't wanna go to church too much, but save me. No, no, no, you wanna be saved, you need to confess that you are a sinner. And you need to turn to Jesus Christ and say, Lord Jesus, I ask you to come into my heart and forgive me for my sin. You see, in order to be saved, you gotta throw down that snake, and in order for you To really have victory in the Christian life you've got to throw down the snake and get back to serving the Lord Jesus Christ.