Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Acts, chapter 23, Acts 23. In our last study. Or two, two of them kind of went
together. We considered the honest confession
of the Apostle Paul. And he was honest. When he said
this, I've lived in all good conscience before God until this
day. Especially after he was converted. He had a good conscience. And
this is what his conscience said. I am what I am by the grace of
God." He had nothing to boast in. He didn't look to his former
ways. He knew. He had made that statement before
the council and they had his face slapped. Paul said to the high priest,
God smite thee, thou whited walled. He had a good attitude. He was angry, but he left it in the hands of
Him who is the Judge. He didn't sin. He left it to
the hands of God Almighty, I will repay. Vengeance is mine, saith
the Lord. Well, this evening I'd like for
us to continue for just a few moments as we behold the continuance
of the manifestation of the grace of God that not only is found
in the Apostle Paul but in every believer. I want to speak this
evening on this subject, the possession of every believer, that which every believer possesses. The Scripture starts In verse
6 this evening it says, But when Paul perceived that the one part
were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the
council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee,
of the hope and resurrection of the dead. I am called in question. This is what I know that Paul
possessed. based on the answer that he gave
right here. He possessed the teacher of all
things, the Spirit of God. The Scripture says in Luke 12
and 11, and when they bring you, this is the Lord speaking, unto
the synagogues, unto the magistrates, powers, take no thought how or
what thing you shall answer. or what you shall say, for the
Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what you ought
to say." So I can tell you, based on the word of our Savior, that
Paul's answer, here was Paul, a man arrested for the preaching
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Standing before this
council, and there were Pharisees there and Sadducees there, and
all of a sudden, Paul gave an answer. He perceived that these
guys were on two different ends of the spectrum. Pharisees, Sadducees. And he said, I'm a Pharisee,
son of a Pharisee of the hope and resurrection of the dead. I'm called into question. The
Spirit of God gave Paul in that moment, in just right now. Paul, the Scripture says, did
not have to worry about what he was going to say. The Spirit
of God. He possessed God's Spirit. The Lord had given Paul spiritual
eyes not only to see the glory of God in the face, in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ, But he calls Paul also in the midst
of this situation to perceive the prideful nature and animosity
of the natural heart. He was, for all practical purposes,
caught. How do you handle this? What
do you do? And at that moment, our Lord
said the Spirit of God. will teach you exactly what to
say." And that's what he said. There was Paul, wise as a serpent,
harmless as a dove. I know this. Every believer possesses
the Spirit of God. They that are led by the Spirit
of God, they're the sons of God. The Lord promised, I go to be
my father, but I'll send the comforter. He'll teach you. Listen,
believer. Stop and think for a moment.
God, in His infinite mercy and grace, indwells you by His Spirit. Oh, what a companion. What a
friend. What a teacher. These Pharisees
and Sadducees, they were enemies, really, is what they were. All a Pharisee was and is today,
if there is one still today, they are whether they call themselves
that or not. Pharisees are self-righteous legalists. That's what they are. They're just self-righteous. They defend the letter of the
Scriptures and they hold firmly to the doctrine of The immortality
and resurrection from the dead, just legalist, legalist. Sadducees
are liberals. That's what they are. They deny
any future state of reward or punishment. Live for today. Eat,
drink for today. This is it. This is all of it. I mean, this is all the spiritual
life you've got right here, two ends of the spectrum. Both of
them, enemies. These two groups got together
really for one thing, the crucifixion of our Lord, banded together
because of their natural hatred of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul,
he didn't compromise his conviction. He was a Pharisee by birth. He
saw Christ truly to be the hope the resurrection of the dead,
those that die in the faith. But he saw by God's teaching
a wise answer, and he gave that wise answer. That answer wasn't
brought up from the pit of his own ability. The Lord delivered
him. That's what happened. God's people, they possess the
Spirit of God. Just think how many times Someone
would ask you something. There's been times that someone
would call and ask me a question. What do you think? And I'll be
honest with you. Boy, I think to myself, Lord,
help me. I don't know what to say. I want
to say the right thing. I want to say the honorable thing. I want to say the wise thing.
I want to be a help. Sometimes the wisest thing you
can say is, I don't know, but I do know this. The Lord said,
the Comforter, that the Father will send. In that hour, He'll
teach you all things. So I know that Paul, with every
believer, possesses God's Spirit. Secondly, the thing that I know
is that Paul possessed the promise of Almighty God to order all
things that would redound or have a result to God's glory
and be for the good of His people. A believer possesses that promise. He knows that all things work
together for good to them that love God. They possess that. They possess that truth. Possess
that promise. They know that's true. That's
a gift that is given by Almighty God. God has taught them that.
The Scripture says that there arose, verse 9, a great cry after
there was a division, verse 7, between the Pharisees and Sadducees. There arose a great cry, and
the scribes that were of the Pharisees part of Rose, and they
strove, saying, We find no evil in this man, but if a spirit
or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God."
Now here is the thing. These two groups were together,
and they got Paul there, and they were getting ready to get
him. And Paul, by the Spirit of God
teaching him something, wise, wise, wise, Wise as a serpent. Picked it up. These are Pharisees
and Sadducees. He told them, he said, I'm a
Pharisee. The Pharisees, whoa, wait a minute. He's a Pharisee? Well, we don't find any evil
in this man. Because if a spirit or an angel
has spoken to him, let us not fight against God. Have you ever
noticed how religious people get. I mean, just trying to make
it appear as though that they're so spiritual. Often people, if I don't know
who they are, I'll almost try to go out of my way to not tell
them that I'm a preacher. Because I have to listen to more
religious stuff. There was a decision that these
Pharisees made to now side with Paul, if nothing more, just on
the surface. But we are with him. He is a
Pharisee. We don't find any fault in this
man. Here is what every believer possesses. He knows that all things work
together. What happened in this group?
I'll tell you exactly what happened. The Lord left those two groups
to themselves to do what they naturally desired. They were
really enemies at heart. They really were. And the only
reason they were even joined together was because of their
hatred and resentment to that preacher. of the gospel of free
grace. Had it not been for that, these
guys wouldn't have been together. They didn't like each other.
They didn't think alike. And if two people don't agree,
how are they going to walk together? What happened was Almighty God
let them just do exactly what they wanted to do, go to fighting
again. And it was for God's glory and
Paul's good. The only thing that carnal man
is concerned about is himself. When they realized that Paul
was a Pharisee, they started fighting each other
again. Because in their mind, they said, you know what? He's
one of us and y'all ain't. We're against you. We don't find
any problem. These two groups absolutely manifested
the heart of every man in Adam. It's all about me. It's what
I think. This is the way I see it. Well,
I've always been told. Some of the self-righteous Jews
were told by the Lord in John 8, verse 44, Ye are of your father
the devil. and the lust of your father you
will do. He was a murderer from the beginning,
an abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. And
when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar,
and the father of it." Just like when the Lord came down when
they were building the Tower of Babel. He came down and He
confounded all of their languages. They were all speaking one language.
They were going to build this tower into heaven. And the Lord
came and He confounded them. They couldn't speak. They didn't
understand each other. The brick masons didn't understand
what the guys that were mixing the mortar were doing. And these
fellows over here that were making the bricks didn't know how to
tell the guys. Nobody could communicate. He
let them do what they wanted to do. He just left them to themselves. Oh, if God Almighty leaves a
man to himself. to think the way that he thinks
that things are. If God leaves a man to himself
and doesn't arrest him, perfect example, Saul of Tarsus on the
road to Damascus. Religious. Oh, he was so religious. He said of himself formally concerning
the law, I was blameless. Not one thing you can find wrong
with me. Letters of authority from this
group now that he's standing before right now. Going to get
those of the way. And what did Almighty God do
in infinite mercy and grace? He stopped him. Think back how God Almighty stopped
you. how He arrested you, how He showed
you the fallacy of your ways. Paul possessed the Spirit of
God, the Spirit of Wisdom, the Teacher. Here he was. Possessed God's Spirit to know. Secondly, he possessed the knowledge
taught by the Spirit of God. that all things work together
for good. And he watched Almighty God take
that group and leave them to themselves. You know, these men
started fighting. Think about that Scripture. Psalm
76, 10, Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee. The remainder
of wrath shalt thou restrain. And thirdly, Let me tell you
what Paul, along with every believer, possesses. He possessed the divine
encouragement of God's presence and promise of His calling. In
verse 11, it says, And the night following the Lord stood by him,
and he said, Be of good cheer, Paul, for as thou hast testified
of me in Jerusalem, So must thou bear witness also at Rome." Now,
I shared with you last week or so that thought. Maybe I was studying this part
because I know I brought this up. But I thought about that
nurse that told me, don't worry, I'll be standing right here.
Boy, this is a thought that went through my mind, Neil. The Lord
stands by me. I'm telling you, you can look
around, you can stop, you can consider. I tell you what a comfort it is
to be with this realization. the Lord stood by him. Be of
good cheer. That's what he said. Be of good
cheer. Why? The Lord stands by. With everything that, humanly
speaking, Paul could have looked around and worried about, here's
the assurance of the comfort that every believer possesses
The Lord is here. It's okay. It's okay. All things that could be considered a blessing. Men talk about, I've been blessed
of the Lord. You tell me something in the
midst of the need of a believer that will top this. The Lord
stood by him. Just then my mind went to the
day of judgment. All men are going to stand before
the throne, the great white throne of God's judgment. All things
are going to be made manifest. Let me ask you this. If the Lord stands with you,
for you, and you stand in Him, be of good cheer. If Almighty God has eternally
answered for me, be of good cheer. These Pharisees,
these Sadducees, they started off, they hated Paul, and whenever
they They started kind of bickering between the two. They still hated
Paul. The chief captain, fearing that Paul
would be pulled in pieces, locked him up in that castle and commanded
these soldiers to stand by him. And Paul said to him, the Lord
stood with me. All others will forsake you. I started to say might. No, they
will. You give it the right set of
circumstances. There's only one Friend. There's
only one Friend that will never, never, never leave you. In the hour of your need, He
said, I will not forsake you. I won't leave you. And I'm telling
you, by faith, a believer says, Lord, I believe you. I see through a glass darkly.
Oh, but I look. You'd be surprised how hard you
look when you need Him. I need you. You look. I thought about that the other
day, Gary. I was thinking about that Scripture.
We see through a glass darkly. And that went through my mind.
Oh, Lord, let me look. I know. I know the frailty of
this flesh. Lord, You say it. You say it.
And Your Word that is absolutely substantial and this frail, Creature
of the dust. You see it. I'll stand with you. Lord, teach me that. Lord, help me. Be of good cheer. As thou hast testified of me
in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. And I'm going to tell you something.
Paul was assured. God Almighty will get me there.
I'll be there. Here the servant draws comfort
from the Master. The gospel of which Paul said,
I'm not ashamed, is going to have to be preached in the place
of God's choosing. Obviously, the Lord had a people
there, and He surely will call His people out of darkness through
the preaching of the gospel. It must be preached. That's what Paul possessed. He
possessed God's Spirit. His teacher. His guide. Led by. His sealer. Sealed. The Spirit of God. His
comforter. Be of good cheer. Paul's attitude. He stated in
1 Timothy 1.12, I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who hath enabled
me for that He counted me faithful, putting me in the ministry. What a joy. What a privilege. In closing,
turn with me to 2 Corinthians 6. 2 Corinthians 6. I want to read
verses 3 to 10. and then close talking about
what we possess. Let me ask you this. If you know
that Almighty God has taught you that number one, you possess
Him by His Spirit. You possess God the Holy Spirit. You possess the assurance of
knowing that God who rules and reigns in this earth, in this
universe, that He's ordered all things after the counsel of His
own will. And you possess the assurance that while He's with
you, by His Spirit in this world, that He's ordering everything
for His glory and your good. And thirdly, you know that He stands with you. Be of
good cheer. Let me ask you this. What else
do you need? 2 Corinthians 6 giving no offense
in anything that the ministry be not blamed. A believer strives
after a walk of honor I'll tell you this, no believer places
any confidence whatsoever in what he's done to be what
merits his stand before God. No believer looks at anything,
any attitude he has as his merit before God. But I will tell you
this, every believer is concerned with maintaining that conversation,
that walk that's honorable before God for God's honor, God's sake. Giving no offense in anything
that the ministry be not blamed, but in all things approving ourselves
as the ministers of God in much patience, in afflictions, in
necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in
tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings. Let me tell you
something. We ought to, in all these things,
patience, afflictions, necessities, distresses, stripes, everything
that we are brought through in this life, we strive, we long for, knowing
that all the while it is Christ that worketh in you to will and
to do, if He is a good place, that keeps you. But this is the
desire. I want to maintain integrity.
I truly desire. I want to walk with some integrity. Whatever He brings me through,
whatever I'm called upon to suffer, I know this. I can't keep myself. I know this. How many times have I thought
lately of this? Just these two words, Brother
Scott, these two words right here come to my mind. Everlasting
arms. I just, I'd think of that. The
everlasting arms. I want to walk with integrity. I do. And I know that in myself,
I can't. I can't. In myself, I don't have
it. Lord, help me. Help me. For Your honor, my good,
for the witness of Your sustaining grace, help me. By pureness, verse 6, by knowledge,
by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,
by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of
righteousness on the right hand, on the left, by honor and dishonor,
whether I am treated with respect or disrespect. That is what Paul
says, honor or dishonor. By evil report or good report.
Whether you have something good to say about me or whether you
don't have something good to say about me. As deceivers get
true. as unknown and yet well known,
as dying and behold, we live, as chastened and not killed,
as sorrowful yet all way rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich,
and listen to this, as having nothing and yet possessing all
things. In the Lord Jesus Christ. What does a believer possess?
All things. Christ is all and in all. In Him, by Him, through Him. His Spirit teaches. It teaches me. Everything is working together
for good. Be of good cheer. The Master is here. That's a
good thought.