In the sermon titled 'Paul The Wood Gatherer,' David Green explores the events in Acts 28:1-6, where Paul, after being shipwrecked, finds himself on the island of Malta. Despite being a prisoner and having endured a long and arduous storm, Paul exemplifies a servant's heart by gathering wood for a fire built by the island's natives. This act reflects his character of service, as noted in his teachings and letters, such as in Acts 20 and 1 Thessalonians 2, where he emphasizes supporting the weak and giving selflessly. When a viper bites Paul, and he suffers no harm, the natives first suspect him of being a murderer, then consider him a god after witnessing the miracle. This incident underscores the changeable nature of human perception and the importance of maintaining a consistent reflection of Christ, regardless of others' opinions. The sermon encourages believers to develop good habits in peaceful times to withstand future trials and to serve God faithfully, irrespective of circumstances or others' judgments.

All right. There we go. So Acts chapter 28. You have your Bibles and Let's go ahead and go to verses 1 through 6, Acts chapter 28, verses 1 through 6. And when they were escaped, Then they knew that the island was called Melitta, or Malta as it's more commonly called.

And the barbarous people showed us no little kindness, for they kindled a fire, received us every one, because of the present rain and because of the cold. And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, 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 hath 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 had looked a great while and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a God." We'll stop there. This is the text that we're going to take this evening. I've entitled this Paul the the wood gatherer.

Paul the wood gatherer. We've considered Paul was an apostle, considered he was a missionary, a great preacher, evangelist. He was a Christian. Evangelist, he was a Christian, but today we see in this shipwreck that he was a wood gatherer. They ended up on this island called Melida.

This island, as I said, is more commonly known as Malta. It's an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of Sicily and Italy. If you remember, this is where they're headed. They're headed to Rome. Rome is part of Italy, one of the cities there.

He's going there because he's a prisoner of the Roman Empire. They were shipwrecked because of the terrible storm and Ended up on this island now according to According to Bible dictionary. I forget which one I was looking at when I got this information. Usually I put the reference down, but you can find this information pretty much in any Bible dictionary, but Malta is the largest of the three main islands, many small ones that make up the Maltese archipelago. It is located on the eastern part of the Mediterranean base and approximately 50 miles south of Sicily, 175 miles east of the coast of Tunisia, 210 miles north of the Libyan coast.

The island of Malta is less than 100 square miles in area. Malta is approximately 18 miles long and 9 miles wide. It has a rugged coastline full of inlets. Near the northeast tip is a tiny island now called Paul's Island, near the mouth of an inlet called St. Paul's Bay.

On the southwest side of the island, the Rebat, is a cave called St. Paul's Grotto, where Paul supposedly lived during his three months on Malta. This spot has been venerated since at least AD 1366. Of course, bear in mind that when you read of places that are named after the Bible, we don't know for sure if that's where Paul really was on that island or not. The only thing we can know for sure is that Paul was on the island because that's what Luke wrote here in the book of Acts.

He doesn't map out the island and give us details as far as where on the island they were. Someone may have handed down the information from the time of Paul, or perhaps someone read in the book of Acts and said, well I'm here on Malta, let's map out a place, call it this, and make a tourist attraction out of it. And indeed all over the Roman Empire and all over Jerusalem and Israel there are places that are like that. We can't be sure of a lot of the finer details, but we can know details. But we can know that the Bible is accurate.

Paul was there. And it's my prayer, and it should be your prayer too, that if people visit Malta and they see these place names, whether they're accurate or not, place names like this tiny island on the northeast tip called St. Paul's Island, Then near the mouth of an inlet there's a bay called St. Paul's Bay that when people see these things they will be reminded of the history that goes all the way back to the time of Paul. Now be reminded not only of Paul, but of the gospel which Paul preached.

The natives of this island were very kind to these shipwrecked individuals. In fact, because it was cold and raining, The Bible tells us Luke records that they they made a fire to help them out And in verse 3 It 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." Way back in February of this year, Brother Doug Newell the fourth, former pastor of this church, shared a post about this text and and some of y'all saw that I reshared it as I was studying for this sermon because when he shared it I thought I thought it was a good post I thought it was a good passage and so I made a note about it and go back and look at brother Doug's post and so when I came when I came to this text I remember that because of my notes and I went back to his notes there on Facebook and his post was from Jerry Bridges book the fruitful life and and this is what This is what the post said for those who haven't seen it.

It says, Conduct is always feeding character. The character is also always feeding conduct. Paul's experience while shipwrecked on the island of Malta furnishes a good example of this relationship. The islanders built the refugees a fire because of the rain and cold. Luke relates in Acts 28 that Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and as he put it on the fire, the snake came out of the brushwood and fastened itself on Paul's hand.

Under the adverse circumstances of the shipwreck, why would Paul have gone about gathering fuel for a fire built and tendered by someone else? It's a good question, isn't it? They were the ones building the fire. Why was Paul doing this? Why didn't he just stand by the fire and warm himself?

After all, he had been going through a very hard experience. He was a prisoner, cold, all of those things. They'd just been through over two weeks of a terrible storm in the ship. Well Bridges goes on to say he didn't because it was his character to serve. Acts chapter 20 Acts chapter 20 verses 33 through 35.

Excuse me. I have coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, to them that were with me. I have showed you all things, how they're so laboring ye ought to support the weak, to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said it is more blessed to give than to receive." So this is what Paul told the elders there at Ephesus this was his life before them. He was, it was his character to serve and again in 1st Thessalonians chapter 2.

Verses 7 through 9 but we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherished their children. So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because you were dear unto us. For you remember, brethren, our labor and travail, for laboring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God." And Paul, whether he was at Ephesus or Thessalonica or wherever he was, or on an island in Malta, whether he was free or captured, a prisoner, It was in his heart to serve Bridges goes on to say he had learned well the lesson Jesus taught us when he washed the disciples feet And because it was Paul's character to serve, he gathered the brushwood instinctively. He probably did not even think about it. He did just what his servant character just what his servant character dictated at the moment.

I do train for being a prisoner of the Romans. I do train for being shipwrecked on an island? There's no amount of training that you can do to prepare yourself for that. But when you're in that situation, you do what you've always done. If it's in your heart and in your life to be bitter and to criticize and complain that's what you'll do even if you're alive and on the island but if it's in your life to serve and to help and to work that's what you'll do too.

When when training with a firearm when training with a firearm. I remember one of the things my uncle taught me. It was a different environment than what would be if there was an active shooter. But as we were standing there shooting towards the cardboard target or whatever it may be. My first instinct, what I wanted to do was to hurry up and pick up the brass every time.

He told me don't do that, Don't get in that habit. Why? Because there have been times and incidences where Police officers or FBI agents would get into an active shooter situation Somebody was shooting back at them The agent Would get killed because they were busy picking up the brass. Right? It was a motor instinct even though it doesn't make any sense.

It's what they had always done when they trained. They knew how to use their firearm. They knew how to how to make the gun work. They knew how to aim but they Were busy under the stress of everything else picking up the brass In the good times don't waste your time doing stuff that doesn't matter. Don't waste your time complaining and being bitter and all of those things.

Thank God for what you have and help others where you can and we see how that worked out for Paul. Indeed he probably didn't even have to be asked to gather the wood. He just did it because that's what he did. As he went from place to place, from people to people, this was his habit. Build those good habits during the good times so that when the bad times come you can survive, you can get through life, and you can help others.

And that's what we learned from Paul, All to the glory of God. We may never find ourselves on an island like he did. But we do find ourselves in situations when we could maybe complain about our situation, complain about the way things are going. He could have said to the captain, man if the captain would have listened to me, he could have spent all day on that island grumbling about the cold weather, grumbling about how that things hadn't gone the way that he thought they should, and by how that they didn't listen to him, but he didn't. Work with the servant's heart, get stuff done for the glory of God.

If you're stuck in the rain and rain storms will come. The cold will come. Not every day is sunshine in our lives. Work to get some firewood. Help out where you can and move on.

Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9, we can see the depth of Paul's heart as he wrote this. Romans chapter 9 in verses 1 through 3. Romans chapter 9 verses 1 through 3. As He put others ahead of Himself, this was Paul.

This was Paul. As he says, I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart, for I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." for his countrymen, the Israelites, the people who gave him so much trouble. Indeed, everywhere he went it seemed like that the Jews were causing him issues. Issues. But what's he say?

I could wish, in verse 3, for I could wish that myself were a curse from Christ or my brethren. A.T. Robertson said, in the Greek it bears out this idea that I was on the point of wishing. That I was a curse from Christ for my brethren. This is the depth of His love for others ahead of Himself.

That's a deep love. There's only one other place where this is even close to and that's in Exodus chapter 32. Exodus chapter 32. Exodus chapter 32 verses 30 to 32. Verses 30 to 32.

And it came to pass on the morrow that Moses said unto the people, ye have sinned a great sin, and now I will go up unto the Lord, perventure I shall make an atonement for your sin. Moses returned unto the Lord and said, O this people have sinned a great sin and made them gods of gold. Yet now if thou wilt forgive their sin and if not blot me I pray you out of thy book which thou hast written." It's not easy to estimate the love that Paul and Moses had for these people. But Bingle wrote and said, he said it this way, it's not easy to estimate the measure of love in Moses and Paul, for our limited reason does not grasp it, as a child cannot grasp the courage of warriors. The depth of love that they had for others exhibited in Paul on that island as he gathered some wood.

The small things, the little things that add up into a big thing. But as he was gathering that wood, as he was putting those sticks into the fire, it must have warmed up more than just his body. It warmed up more than just his hands because the Bible tells us that a poisonous snake came out of the heat and fastened on his hand. As Christians we've got to be aware of this. Either the serpent or the lion will attack us even in those times when we try to do good for others.

Even in those times when we've got some good intentions, the serpent will be there to bite. St. Corinthians chapter 11. St. Corinthians chapter 11, Verse 3, he said, But I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

And then again in 1st Peter chapter 5 1st Peter chapter 5 and verse 8 says, Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary The devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour, whom resists, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren there in the world. The devil, called a serpent, lion, he will attack at those times even when we're trying to do our best. So we've got to be on the watch. We've got to be careful about these things. And even as we look at this text, we understand that we need to be in mind keep in mind that we are also being watched we're being watched by the world I brought this out in the first day we met in this living room in first Corinthians chapter four first Corinthians chapter four 1st Corinthians chapter 4 verse 9 says, for I think that God has set forth us apostles last as it were appointed to death for we are made a spectacle to the world and to angels and to me we're made a spectacle that's the Greek word that's used there is the word where we get our word theater.

The world is watching. And they were watching Paul, those natives. And as they saw what happened, They come up with some pretty clever ideas about what was going on with them, didn't they? Verse 4 of Acts 28 says, 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 hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. These folks were barbarians.

They didn't know anything about the law of God, but they had the law of God written on their hearts. They didn't know anything about the Old Testament scriptures, but they knew something about but they knew something about morality to a certain degree. They had an idea that there's a judge and that there's right and wrong. When they saw this, they said, well, vengeance has got hold of him. He must have been a murderer.

Even though he had survived in the sea he's gonna die now not only did they know some things from their hearts but they knew some things that they'd seen with their eyes people don't get bit by poisonous snakes and live not normal. Verse 5, and he shook off the beast under the fire, felt no harm. If we were to think of Paul in our modern vernacular, we would say that Paul was an alpha male. He was a tough guy. You know, he shook the beast off.

He shook the snake off. I would have been screaming like a girl. Snake gets hold of me. I don't like snakes. All that sort of thing kind of creeps me out.

But Paul says he just shook the snake off. Suffered no harm. He suffered no harm. Verse 6. Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen or fallen down dead suddenly, but after they looked a great while, saw no harm come to him, changed their minds and said that he was a god.

These natives, they expected him to swell up, they expected him to die suddenly, but none of that happened. So they changed their mind, they said, well, he must be a god. Something to consider in all of this. We kind of bring this to a close and think about all that's happening here. Men's opinion of us will change.

And sometimes very quickly. Sometimes we'll go from being the hero to being the villain. Sometimes we'll go from being the hero to being the villain. Sometimes we'll go from being the villain to being a hero. But whatever the case may be, whatever men's opinion is of us, Let us make sure that we are a good reflection of Jesus, no matter whether the people think of us as a murderer or as a God.

No matter if they want to put us up on a pedestal or they want to take us out back and stone us. Whatever the case may be, our lives cannot hinge on the opinions of men. What does God think of me? And furthermore, what am more what am I doing in this life? In 1st Peter chapter 4, 1st Peter chapter 4, Begin verse 12, going down to verse 16, it says, Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened unto you, but rejoice." 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 13, but rejoice inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

And if you 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 this behalf.

If someone says that we're a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or a busybody in other men's matters, let it be a false accusation. Don't let it be the truth. Let it be a false accusation. Let it be a slander. But let us always be chargeable as a Christian.

Whether we're out spreading the gospel or gathering wood, whatever it may be, may we always be a good reflection of Christ, a good representative of Jesus in the world that we live in. Whether we're among the Christians that we know and love, the church here, or whether we're around the barbarians, whoever we're around. Let's make sure that we're being a good representative of Jesus. With that I'll go ahead and close. We'll have a season of prayer and I'll go ahead and get this turned off.