• Luke 10:17-19  God gave us authority over the power of the enemy and the snakes and scorpions will not injure you
  • Jesus did not say that nothing was going to bite you but it won’t hurt
  • The scorpion here is Satan
  • Satan was the voice that challenged people to forsake the will of God for their life and follow him
  1. The Cheek
    1.  (Matthew 5:39) If someone slaps you on the right cheek turn to him the other also
    2. This does not mean that we should just keep getting beat up
      1. Right cheek and most people right handed so you were backhanded which means you were slapped to be insulted and humiliated
      2. This would leave a mark on your face
      3. By turning the other cheek, we are able to take the focus off the red marks and change it to focusing on the character of Christ
  2. The Slap
    1. Acts 23:1-5
    2. Paul is before the high priests (the authority over him) and he begins to speak
    3. The High Priest orders Paul slapped
    4. This was not a love tap — maybe more of a punch
    5. Paul moves in the flesh doesn’t turn the other cheek, he responds in the flesh
      1. He begins to let the spirit of the people around him get into him
    6. Someone close to Paul brings correction to Paul
      1. He was slapped wrongfully, but what God cared about was the response of his church (Paul)
      2. Christian means little Christ so we need to respond like Christ. 
    7. (1 Peter 2:23) “When he was reviled he did not revile in return; when he suffered he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.”
    8. Our part — “Put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander” (1 Peter 2:1)
      1. The word for slander is the exact opposite for the word bless
      2. “Slander” means “to treat with contempt or humiliate”
      3. We are not called to humiliate those who come against us and have humiliated us with a slap across the face — we are called to live differently
      4. (Romans 12:20, 21) Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good
    9. Paul, who was wrongfully treated, apologizes for his action
    10. The high priest and Paul did not become best friends, but Christ was formed in Paul and others around Paul are affected rather than the spirit of the high priest getting into Paul
  3. People’s Opinions
    1. (Acts 27) Paul is a prisoner of Rome on his way to Rome
    2. They board an Alexandrian Grain ship hold 200 tons and were the size of the US Constitution — 230 feet in length  
    3. People’s opinions go up and down pretty fast
      1. Prisoner that no one listens too (Vs 10)
      2. Sailers give up and just sail (Vs 15)
        1. Tie ropes around it to stop it from breaking up
      3. Throw the cargo overboard (Vs 18)
      4. All hope was gone (Vs 20)
      5. An angel spoke to me (Vs 21)
        1. None will lose their lives (Vs 22)
        2. Eat something and be encouraged (Vs 34)
      6. Soldiers want to kill the prisoners (Vs 42)
        1. Swim to shore with rip tides
        2. All make it
    4. Paul serves by gathering sticks (28:3)
    5. Bit by a snake and islanders feel he is a murderer (Vs 4)
    6. He doesn’t die and people feel he is a God (Vs 6)
  4.  The Snake Bite
    1. Why love the unlovable?
      1. God wants to form his character in us
    2. After the slap, Paul is more Christ-like
    3. He is going to pray for the father of the chief official, but satan wants to grab onto the hand God wants to use to minister
    4. Satan will always try and latch onto something we are to use to advance the kingdom whether it is a slap or a snake bite
    5. PROMISE: Nothing will hurt you — it doesn’t say nothing will bite you
    6. Paul was able to shake it off in the fire and minister
    7. Christ formed in us