Shake It Off | Wendell Smith

Hey, welcome back to church home. Uh if you haven't heard, last week we celebrated 33 years of existing, which is also the age in which Jesus uh died, buried, and rose again. So, uh that's pretty cool. 33 years. And I'm really excited because this whole month we're doing some throwback messages.

Some messages from several years ago. And what you're about to witness is a message my dad spoke in the early 2000s that I think is still so true today. The message was shake it off. He's going to go to Acts 28 and you're going to see the story of Paul, one of the early leaders of leaders in the church and Christian movement.

And he's going to have this experience out in the open sea. And he's almost going to die. And then he's going to make it to shore. And then you're like, "Oh, relief. He made it to shore." only to get by a fire pit and a viper to come out of the woods and bite him.

And there the story begins. And it's wild how God protects him, heals him, provides for him, and what happens. And so my dad titles this message, "Shake it off." Here's the deal. If you are right now wondering, is God going to provide for me? Take care of me.

If you are proceeding with caution in your life, you're hesitant, you feel kind of like, man, is it worth it? Should I do it? And you need some courage, a sense that God is with you and taking care of you and is going to supernaturally provide for you.

If God told you to do it, you can do it. He's going to see you through. This message is for you. The truth is, uh, since my dad spoke this message 125 years ago, no, early 2000s, um, it has come back to my heart. It's come back to my mind several times.

Hey, whatever it is that feels like in life just bit me, feels like in life has scared me, shocked me, surprised me, hurt me, offended me, bothered me, I can shake it off. I can give it to God. I can trust God and continue to move forward. Some will say that you can't shake it off.

But I think in the same way that you'll see this story play out as my dad speaks, um, you and I can shake it off. If you've never been bit in life, um, you're eight years old. But for the rest of us, you're going to get bit in this life.

As they say, life's life life's or life happens or stuff happens and there's going to be challenges. This message is going to encourage you. Now, here's the fun part. It's old. I think my dad's wearing a suit and tie in the message, which is pretty awesome. And for some of you, you never met my dad who passed some 16 years ago.

Uh, one of my heroes, I mean, truly a great man. And the exciting thing is he actually literally lived this message. He was diagnosed with cancer. He felt completely bit and he continued to trust God, shake it off, and lived every day to the fullest. Uh, I miss him.

I really, really do. And moments like this are super encouraging. So prepare yourself. This is an oldie but a goodie. This is Shake It Off uh from my dad, Pastor Wendell Smith. Enjoy. >> This was after Paul's shipwreck in chapter 27 that the island was called Maui, excuse me, Malta.

And the natives showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold. That definitely wasn't Maui. But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand.

So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "No doubt this man is a murderer, whom though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow him to live." But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. >> However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead.

But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. In that region there was an estate of the leading citizen of the island whose name was Publus who received us and entertained us courteously for three days.

And it happened that the father of Publus lay sick of a fever and dysentery. Paul went into him and prayed and he laid his hands on him and healed him. So when this was done, the rest of the island of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed.

They also honored us in many ways. And when we departed, they provided such things as were necessary. Well, this wonderful story, of course, is based on a tragedy. The fact that they had a shipwreck. However, in the midst of the horrible storm that they were involved in, an angel appears uh to the apostle Paul and speaks to him and says uh in chapter 17 and verse 24, "Do not be afraid, Paul, for you must be brought before Caesar and God has granted you all those who sail with you."

So even though they were shipwrecked, Paul had this angelic visitation to give him a confidence. Okay, God's not finished with you yet. You're going to make it all the way to Rome. This is just a little, you know, demonic uh resistance here to try to keep you from getting there to be a witness to Caesar.

And in the meantime, you're going to go through this shipwreck. But I'm going to give you the lives of everybody who sails with you. Everybody who's with you on this ship, everyone will be preserved. I'll save everybody's life. It's good reason to stay in the ship. Amen. No matter what we go through, stay together.

See what the Lord will do. We'll go through some some rocky seas and all those kinds of things that uh people of faith sometimes face. But we will go through it. Come on. Yay. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. You don't camp there.

You don't live there. You walk through there. Amen. Amen. >> Hallelujah. And Paul goes through this. They They're shipwrecked on a a certain island. And of course, that was the providence of God. They're shipwrecked on this island and everyone escapes. Everyone is saved. Every life is preserved. And they find themselves on an island.

They discover the name of it to be Malta. There are people living there. and those people, those natives show them unusual kindness and uh kindled a fire and and it's raining, it's cold, and so forth. So, here's Paul and the prisoners and and the centurion and everybody who was on the ship.

They're gathering sticks for the fire to keep themselves warm. And so, you know, just to just to illustrate this, you know, Paul's going out and he's gathering all these things. And here's the Apostle Paul himself gathering sticks to to prepare to help preserve life and uh you know and he's he's just doing his part just serving there on the island and and do what you whatever you got to do for survival.

And as he does so, and he's he throws the sticks on the fire, and out of the sticks, a viper fastens to his hand. That's a good-look viper, isn't it? Almost looks alive. Actually, he is. We trained him. The city church snake. No, I'm just kidding. We don't We don't have those.

So, this viper comes out and fastens on his hands. Now, according to the story, and of course, all the the natives see this and they go, you know, they're going, "Oh, he must be a murderer because even though he escaped from the sea, now you know, fate has found him and the goddess of revenge has got him by the hand, you know, and the Bible says he he shakes off the viper into the fire and you don't hear any other response from the Apostle Paul."

Now, the story goes on that the natives in verse six, and here's what they said. They were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds. You look at this and and Paul must have had a sense of humor.

They expected he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. And he didn't do any of that. He just shook it off, right? >> Warmed himself by the fire, >> had three days of celebration with the leading citizen of the island, then finds out that his father is sick, goes in, takes one of the same hands that had the viper attached to it, lays it on a sick person, and heals him in Jesus name.

That's a story. >> What the enemy means for evil, God turns it around for good. Hallelujah. No weapon formed against you shall prosper. Every tongue that rises up against you in judgment, you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. Hallelujah. Now, Had it been you or me gathering sticks and having a viper fastened to our hand.

Can you imagine? Can I have a couple of ushers up here, please? I need some some big ushers. Yeah. Stand behind me and prepare yourselves. >> Can you imagine if this had happened to you? I mean, you you know, you throw the sticks on the fire and this snake comes out.

The Bible says Paul shook it off. Most of us would go, "Oh my god. Oh my god. Do you see what this is? It's a It's a snake. Viper, cobra, coral, rattler, you know, whatever. We'd have figured out exactly what species it was. We'd have told everybody, you know, oh, how you doing?

Oh my brother, pray for me. I got a snake on my hand. You know what kind of a snake it? Oh, it's a bad snake. It in your tip. This is no gardener snake. Is there t This is a typical poisonous snake. I might die. Pray for me.

You know, and we'd faint. I mean, we'd look at that thing. You got to see it up close. It's really amazing. Can we get a closeup of that? I mean, you know, this thing's clamped on your hand. I mean, we'd be screaming, "Oh, oh, Jesus. Jesus." You know, I thank you, Lord.

You helped me escape from the sea, but now the devil's got me. Oh, tell Jenny I love her. You know, I mean, we we'd be just ready to lay down and die. 
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 Now listen, Paul has a revelation. The angel said, "I'm going to Caesar." If I'm going to Caesar, that >> that's not Caesar.

I'm on an island. I haven't made it to Rome yet. I'm not done. >> The Lord told me. >> Come on. I got some promises. >> There's some prophecies in there someplace. And by them, I can wage a good warfare. Shake it off. >> Shake it off. >> This is not unto death.

It's not going to kill you. >> Amen. >> You're going to survive this. >> God is for you. Who can be against you? >> Neither death nor life, angels, principalities, or any other thing will separate us from the love of God. Shake it off. >> I tell you what, and I learned some stuff going through this scripture.

Number one, the heat of faith stirs up devils. When you are a man or a woman on a mission and you've got something going on inside of you, you got a fire burning in you. You got some revival in you. >> When you've got fervent faith, when you got something redot and burning on the inside, when you've got something of value inside of you.

When Christ is in you, the hope of glory. When you have a destiny and it's been defined and it's been communicated and it's been declared out of your mouth, that devil wants to stop you before you can ever get there. >> Now, you need to understand something. You don't need faith for the possible. >> We wouldn't need the shield of faith unless there were fiery darts.

If we are being resisted, it's because we're doing something right. >> Like what Paul the Apostle said. He said, "Well, I went through this and I went through that and I went through all this stuff." He says, "But none of these things move me. >> Neither do I count my life dear to myself.

I just want to do what God called me to do." And he said, "I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision." God's called me to go someplace and accomplish something and I am going to do that. And when you get all stirred up on the inside, devils will get stirred up on the outside and they're going to try to resist you.

Now, I know the logic of this is like, "Oh, pastor, please pray for me. I don't want devils to come after me." But see, when you get red-hot for God, you get stronger and stronger. You can resist and and more and more and and it's no problem. You don't fear them.

You realize you have authority over them. Amen. And so you want to take more territory and take more authority and take more dominion and stuff comes against you. And you just learn to shake it off. >> Say, "Pastor, I I don't know if I can I can do this.

I can go through all these things." Sure you can. The Lord will strengthen you. In fact, he will not allow you even to be tempted beyond what you are able. He knows how wimpy we are. He remembers our frame. Knows that we are dust. As a father pies his children, so the Lord has pity on those who fear him.

No, he knows. He knows how weak we are at times. But now let the weak say I am strong. And of course he tells us in the New Testament, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God. It's not just you trying to be strong.

It's Christ is strong in you. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Amen. 
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 The second thing I've learned is that the struggle of faith stirs people's opinions. The struggle of faith stirs people's opinions. Well, so he's got that disease, does he? Well, I I kind of wondered, you know, about him, you know.

I I thought maybe there was something going on there, you know. Well, you know, some got faith, some don't. >> Whatever. People are going to say stuff. People say stuff at two times in your life. When you're going through a horrible circumstances, people will be very opinionated. When you are failing and you are just having a horrible time, people will talk.

And guess what? When you succeed and you're successful and you're doing great, people will talk. So, forget what people say. There's only one opinion that really matters. Amen. Keep your confidence in that. That's why you got to meditate in it day and night. You meditate in the day because people are going to have opinions and talk to you during the day. you meditate at in it at night because you're going to try the the devil's going to try to remind you about what they said, but you got to go right back to what he said and you got to reshift your thinking and you got to renew your mind and then be transformed by the renewing of your mind so you can prove what is that good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.

You got to keep fighting the fight of faith. Stay in the word. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. If I'm going to have faith, it's a struggle of faith. I'm fighting the fight of faith. And if I'm going to fight this fight and I'm going to overcome this fight and I'm going to win this fight, then I'm going to have to stand strong on the word of God and on the opinion of God. >> The third thing I learned is that attack against faith stirs a believer's spirit.

You got to shake this thing off. Now, it's you doing the shaking. It does the attaching, but you're the one that's got to do the shaking. >> Yeah. Yeah, >> get off of me. Get off my Bible, bad snake. You got to do something. >> And when you get attacked in your faith, it ought to stir you up.

You shouldn't quit and lay down and just die. you know, well, you got this or there goes your finances or your spouse is leaving you or your children are backsliding or the future looks bleak and you know, the devil just tries to paint these pictures and bring horrible prognosis to our minds that the life is overwhelming and it's going to be horrible and things are going to go from from bad to worse.

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 >> Shake that thing. >> Shake it off. Don't don't believe all that stuff. Don't just lay there and soak it in and say, "Oh, yeah, you're probably right." Oh, I've had this snake for years just hanging on my hand. Well, how come you didn't shake it off? Well, no.

I mean, it it's really attached. He He's got fangs, you know. It's It's really bad. You Have you seen him? You see the colors? >> Isn't that pretty? Yeah. Some people have ugly snakes. I got a really pretty pretty nice one, you know, and we just walk around.

We just think it's another appendage. I got 10 fingers and one snake, you know. Get over it and shake it off. >> Amen. You weren't made to have that kind of thing. >> This attack against your faith should stir something in you. >> Should stir something in you.

The Bible says resist the devil. >> Doesn't say commune with him. >> Have a conversation with him. >> Oh now, devil, come on now. If you'll back off and take this sickness back and and and quit hassling me, then I'll then I'll I'll I'll be I'll be a good Christian.

I'll be a good lukewarm typical American Christian if you will just, you know, back off and leave me alone. Even if he said yes, he's a liar. >> You got to resist the devil. >> Resist the devil. >> I'd ask for another usher, but I don't want to hurt him.

But you know, if you had somebody up here and you're resisting that person, well, you can do it verbally, of course, and that's spiritually and verbally is how we do it with the devil. But physically, if you were resisting someone, I mean, you'd stop them. Let's just say they were trying to get in your house and you didn't want them.

They knocked on the door. You open the door and they start barging in. They're a stranger. You don't know. Hey. Hey. What's the deal? No, I need to come in. No, you don't need to come in. Yes, I need to come in. The nastier they get, the nastier you ought to get.

Resist the devil. You get out of here right now. My wife's on the phone calling 911 and the police are on their way in the name of Jesus. >> I mean, you got to get something in you. >> You got to get stirred up. >> This is a fight.

The Bible says, "Cast down imaginations. Come on. The Bible says, "Cast off the works of darkness." The Bible says, "Lay aside every weight and sin that so easily besets you." The Bible says, "Fight the good fight of faith." >> We're not called to stay. We're called to go into all the world and proclaim the gospel.

Amen. Lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. Amen. Drink any deadly thing. It will not hurt you. Take up serpents >> and shake them off. >> Come on. I mean, these are the things that a believer is called to. It is a fight. The Greek word that's used here to shake it off is the same word Jesus used to shake off the dust.

Go to a city and they don't receive you. Just shake it off, you know. Well, we've probably all physically done that. Have you gone on a hike or something or been at the beach in the sand or whatever it may be and you just you come back in and you're just shaking the stuff off. >> That's what you need to do with the devil. >> Shake him off.

He has no If he has no place in you, by the way, you only give place to the devil by sin. If he has no place in you, shake him off. He's got no place to lay hold of. He can't latch on here. He can't latch on here.

He can't latch on here, you know. No, I only listen to good things. No, he can't latch on here. I only speak good things. Amen. He can't latch on here because I only do good things. And these are holy hands. He can't latch on down here because I only go the places where God tells me to go.

Come on. He got no place in me. You got to shake it off. Cast off the works of darkness. The last thing that I learned is that breakthrough stirs a ministry. >> I love it. The same hand that was snake bitten heals the sick. >> Shake off discouragement. >> Listen to me this morning.

Somebody's here. You need this and you need it now. Come on. You can do this. >> You can do this. >> Daniel made it through a den of lions. Three Hebrew ch kids made it through a furnace filled with fire. Come on. Moses made it through the Red Sea.

All of these things. Paul made it through his persecutions. Hezekiah made it through his sickness. Job made it through his sufferings. Jesus made it through the tomb for you. One of my favorite parts as that message ends is the observation my dad makes that the very hand that the viper had bitten, God would use as Paul would lay his hands on dying and sick people and they would be miraculously healed.

Isn't it wild? that God can take the very weakest thing in your life, the thing that's been assaulted and attacked, the thing that maybe you're even embarrassed of, and he can turn it into a source of healing for others. I know right now maybe you're watching this and if this is hitting home with you and you're feeling this, you're thinking to yourself, I'm going to try to get through this.

But what maybe you don't even realize right now sitting where you are watching this is the very thing you think you can barely get through is going to be a source of strength for others to get through what they're getting through. I know it's a lot to take in when you're like, "Bro, I'm just trying to get this through get through this myself, let alone think of others."

But I want to encourage you. And I'm not entirely sure who I'm talking to, but I think God is going to use the weakest point of your life, your heart, your soul, and he's going to use it as a source of healing and health for others. But I do want to say if we can serve you, help you, and encourage you, we want to do that literally right now.

Pastor Chat is available. If you're not familiar what with what pastor chat is, it is a group of wonderful pe wonderful people just like you uh that we say are pastors, leaders, and they're ready to chat. That's why we call it pastor chat. Um and they want to encourage you, pray with you, or just be a listening ear to what you're facing and what you're going through.

There are different kinds of bites in this life. And some I'll admit it's like I'm going to be okay. I'm going to be fine. others, you're not sure if you're going to recover. So, wherever you are in the myriad of pain and loss and bites, um we want to help you.

We want to pray with you. And perhaps, like I have done many times, by God's strength and grace, we can shake it off. And when we shake it off, we keep it moving. Um there is a lot more life for you to live. So much more life for you to live.

It's interesting. My dad used to say, "The proof that you're still sucking oxygen on planet Earth is that God still has a plan in play and in place for you. There's more life for you to live and you're here for a reason. So together, we're going to shake it off."

Again, I know I'm repeating myself, but if Pastor Chat can help you, it's available right now. We'd love to chat with you and pray with you and encourage you. Uh this is going to be a fun month. I'm really excited. Again, I know I said it earlier, but we are 33 years young now as a community.

And next week, we've discovered several years later, I ended up speaking from the same passage. And uh I think it'll be an encourage an encouragement to you. The title of that message was do not proceed with caution. And it uh it was years later that I spoke from Acts 28.

And I'm really excited to share that with you next week. So, it's going to be a fun month as we go back into the archives and find the uh the oldies but goodies. So, I love you church and I see you next week and thanks for watching. >> Holy are you, Lord God Almighty.

Worthy is a lamb. Worthy is lamb. For you are holy. Holy. Are you Lord God Almighty? Worthy is the Lord. >> Worthy is the Lord. Oh, holy, holy, holy you are God. Almighty 
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