Now, the Lord Jesus Christ is
an ever-present help to the believer, to His witnesses, to comfort
them. In His power, when He speaks,
He speaks peace. And by His command, He creates
peace in our troubled hearts. And He does this. He comforts
His people. He calls us, calls us, He keeps
us, By His power, by speaking this peace in our hearts for
a specific purpose, that's so that we can tell other sinners
about Him and comfort other believers with these words of His power
and His grace. Those are the three things I
want you to see in our text tonight. Acts 23 verse 11. And the night following, is in a prison. He's being kept right now. And the
night following, the Lord stood by him and said, Be of good cheer,
Paul, for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou
bear witness also at Rome. The night following, the Lord
stood by him. The Lord is an ever-present help
in all our trouble. Our Lord said that you can expect
from this world to have tribulation. You're going to receive it from
religious folks. He said, the servant's not greater
than his Lord. Servant's not greater than his
master. As they've treated me, they'll treat you. He said, expect
it. Expect it. So much of what Paul
did here shadows what our Lord did. Our Lord came to this earth. He came to Jerusalem. Paul went
up to Jerusalem. And our Lord was accused of being
against the law, being against Moses, being against the prophets. And that's what Paul was accused
of. But our Lord wasn't against the
law and the prophets. He came to fulfill them. And
He was willingly made under the law. He was willingly made sin
to be at charges with his brethren, those given him before the world
began, to pay what they could not pay to redeem them from the
curse of the law. And he accomplished it. And Paul
did that. Paul was willing to be at charges
with some brethren to redeem them from a law that they couldn't
pay to get themselves out from under. Our Lord was taken from
prison and from judgment. Men laid hands on Him. They smote
Him. They railed on Him. That happened
to Paul here. That high priest ordered for
him to be smitten upon the face. They began to throw dust into
the air. You know what they were doing? They were looking for stones.
That's why they weren't just out there throwing dust in the
air. They were digging for stones to kill Him. And Paul, he encountered
that. Paul went through all that, as
our Lord did. And our Lord, when he finished
the work God gave him to do, when he cried out, it's finished,
and he himself gave up the ghost, he said, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. He was in control the whole time
of what was taking place. And yet, when he did that, he
was laid in a tomb, in a dark place, out of public light, And
here we find Paul in a prison. in a dark place, kept by himself. But just as the faithful father,
who in covenant agreement was satisfied, satisfaction was made
by his son, he declared God the Father just and the justifier
of all them that believe. And because God the Father was
satisfied, he would not suffer his Holy One to see corruption. He came to him and he raised
the Son of God from the dead. and set Him at His own right
hand. From henceforth expect until His enemies be made His
footstool, for by one offering He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified." And now our Lord comes to Paul. The Lord
Jesus comes to Paul and He raises him. Not resurrects him, but
He raises his spirit. He comes to him. The night following,
he stood by Paul. He stood by him. That's what
our Lord is faithful to do. Trouble is going to come, and
He said that. But here's what the psalmist
wrote, Psalm 46, verse 1. He said, God is our refuge and
our strength, and ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we
will not fear. Though the earth be removed,
though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sick, we
won't be moved. He said, I'll stand at the right
hand of the poor to save him from him that condemns his soul.
That night the Lord stood by him. The Lord stood by him. God
uses those trials like that to teach us not to trust ourselves.
Look over at 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 8. Paul is speaking of
another incident that had happened earlier back at Ephesus. Listen
to what he says about that. For we would not, brethren, have
you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were
pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired
even of life. You know something of that, where
you just don't, you don't have the strength, you don't, you're
just in despair. But, we had the sentence of death
in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in
God which raiseth the dead. who delivered us from so great
a death, and doth deliver, in whom we trust that He will yet
deliver us." This is why we face these seasons. You hold your
place there in 2 Corinthians 1. We're going to come back there
a little later. But our Lord told Jeremiah, he
was going into the midst of a people, and the Lord told him, they're
not going to hear you, before he went. He told Jeremiah, they're
not going to hear you. This is what he told Jeremiah,
He said, I'll make thee unto this people a fenced brazen wall,
and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail
against thee, for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee,
saith the Lord. Now that gives you some comfort
there if the Lord is by you, if He's by you. Whatever the
prison that we find ourselves in, whatever it is, and we have
a lot of different kinds of prisons we find ourselves in, whatever
it is, it's Christ who's anointed to open the prison to them that
are bound. That's His anointing. His privilege, His right, His
joy is to open the prison to them that are bound. Under all
trials, under all difficulties, under every circumstance, no
difficulty. There's no difficulty that we
face that's going to alter, change, or hinder His power, His ability
to do what He has promised He will do. He said, I know the
thoughts that I think towards you. to the believer, to the one that's
trusting Him. He said, I know the thoughts
that I have thought toward you. Thoughts of peace, not of evil,
to give you an expected end. And nothing's going to stop Him
from bringing His people to that expected end. Nothing. Remember that. Remember that
the Lord stood by Him. The Lord stood by Him. Here's
the second thing. Back in our text in verse 11,
Christ calms our troubled hearts by the power of His command. Our Lord speaks peace into our
heart. Look at verse 11. And the night
following the Lord stood by him and said, Be of good cheer, Paul. Be of good cheer, Paul. Now this
is more than a recommendation. If you're down and I come to
you and I say, be of good cheer, I'm just simply saying to you,
cheer up. But when the Lord speaks and
says, be of good cheer, you're going to be of good cheer. You're
going to be of good cheer. Because His command, His Word
doesn't return unto Him void. When He speaks it, He speaks
it in power. And He effectually accomplishes
what He commands. He does it. He does it. In that
first hour when Paul was converted, look back at Acts 22. He said he was on his way to
Damascus, verse 7, he said, and a great light shone from heaven
round about me and I fell into the ground and I heard a voice
saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It had an
effect on him, didn't it? He didn't just speak this, and
it had an effect on him. And I answered, Who art thou,
Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou
persecutest. And he says, Them that were with
me saw the light, and they were afraid, but they heard not the
voice of him that spake to me. And look at the next verse. And
I said, What shall I do, Lord? See, he made Paul, this man who
was just so hard-hearted, and was so sure, and was so set on
his own way, and so delighting in his religion and everything,
when Christ spoke to him, he no longer went his own way. Now
he said, Lord, what will you have me to do? What will you
have me to do? Turn over to Philippians chapter
3. He brought Paul. Paul was looking at all his outward
acts. Here's what he was looking at.
Philippians 3. He says verse 4. If any man think
that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more. I
circumcised the eighth day. This is the will of man. This
is mama and daddy doing something for him. This is the preacher
doing something for you. This is you being sprinkled,
or you being circumcised, or you being dedicated, or you being
dipped, or whatever it is that men will do. This is the will
of man. I can't save you, and no man
can save you. Mama and daddy can't save you.
Nobody can save you. But Paul thought this was something. He put some confidence in that.
He said, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew
of Hebrews. This is blood. He was from a
long line of good children of Abraham, from a long line of
believers. You know his mama and daddy are
never mentioned by name in scripture. You know Timothy's mother is
mentioned because she was a believer. Timothy's grandmother is mentioned,
she was a believer. But you know Timothy's daddy
is never mentioned. They were of the stock of Israel. They
were of the tribe of Benjamin. They circumcised him the eighth
day. He was a Hebrew of Hebrews. But they didn't know God and
neither did he at that time. As touching the law, he said,
a Pharisee. Concerning zeal, persecuting
the church. Touching the righteousness which
is in the law, blameless. This is the will of the flesh.
This was him when he got old enough. He took right up where
mom and daddy left off and he took right off in his religion.
He sat at the feet of Gamaliel. He was raised up. He was taught
by that man that was not sin of God. And he was taught to
put confidence in all these things. To put confidence in his flesh.
That's the lie. That's the lie. It's not that
men don't believe the doctrine of election. It's the lie man
wants man to be the reason God did the choosing. That's the
lie. It's not that men, it's not that,
it's just the doctrine that God irresistibly calls. It's that
man wants man's will to be the one that makes the deciding factor.
That's the lie. Man's the lie. Man's the liar. If we've made the refuge, if
we've made the covenant, if we've done something, it's a lie. It's
a lie. But now look what happened. on that road to Damascus, when
the Lord brought him down. This is what Paul said. Paul
said he thought he was righteous in Romans 6, 7. He said, but
when the commandment came, what commandment? Saul, Saul, why
persecutest thou me? when Christ spoke in his heart.
He said, sin revived and I died. And Lord left him in that shape
and left him trembling and quaking and hurting and pining away and
truly for the first time in his life praying and begging God
for mercy. And then he came to him just
like that man that had been sick of the palsy all that time and
he spoke peace in his heart and he says, be of good cheer, thy
sins be forgiven thee. And you know what happens when
Christ speaks that word effectually in the heart of a sinner? He
doesn't come to the doctrines of grace. He comes to Christ. And he does this right here.
He says, verse 7, what things were gained of me, those I count
lost for Christ. That's called repentance. That's
called repentance and faith. It's called returning from your
false refuge, from your lies, from what mama and daddy did,
and realizing, I love Christ. I have to have Christ more than
my mother and my father. They may have been of the tribe
of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and I may
be a Hebrew of Hebrews, but I count it done. I don't love them more
than I love Christ. I don't have to have them more
than I have to have Christ. This is only affected by the
power, by the word of Christ speaking in the heart. And he
said, Yea, doubtless, and I count all things lost for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered
the loss of all things, and I don't miss them. It's just dumb. That's
all they are. That's all it was anyway. that
I might win Christ and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I might
know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship
of His sufferings being made conformable unto death, His death."
Now here He is. He's in the fellowship of His
sufferings. Here's Paul and he's He is suffering
just like His Savior suffered for Him. He is suffering the
very things His Savior suffered for Him. But His Savior comes
to Him and He says, 20 years later, and He says, Paul, be
of good cheer. That Word came forth with as
much power and effected as much in Paul as that word did that
put him in the dust and made him look up to Christ and say,
Lord, what would you have me to do? When Christ speaks, the
evidence is going to be you're going to repent from all your
former righteousnesses, you're going to repent from your former
experiences, you're going to repent from your former false
religion, you're going to repent from your former false doctrine,
you're going to renounce the hidden things of dishonesty,
and in true faith, You are going to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now if his words are true, this
is what he said. Thou shalt cast them away as
a minstrel's cloth. Thou shalt say unto it, get thee
hence. That is what the Lord said will
happen. Why? Because he calleth his own by
name and he leadeth them out. That is what he does. That is
what Christ does. He said, I'll hear what God the
Lord will speak. He'll speak peace unto His people
and to His saints. But let them not turn again to
folly. Paul didn't go back, did he? Paul didn't go back. Just
as the command came in that first hour, it spoke peace in his heart.
Let me show you Mark 4. Look at Mark 4. Look at this
now. Mark 4. It says here that this is that
account when the disciples had gone over and they were in the
ship. And it says, verse 37, And there arose a great storm
of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now
full. And he, that is the Lord Jesus, was in the hinder part
of the ship, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke him, and said
unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose
and rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And look what happened. And the
wind ceased and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are
you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?
And they feared exceedingly. The waves and the wind? No. They feared him. Now, They were
calmed in here now. Spurgeon said, if you fear God,
you've got no reason to fear anything else. Why? This is what he does. He
may not cause the wind and the waves to stop around you, but
when he says, in your heart, peace be still. When he calls
you by name and says, peace be still, you'll fear him and you
won't fear that stuff around you. Paul's in that prison. And
you know what Paul's worried about? Nothing. Not when Christ
came to him and said, Paul, be of good cheer. Be of good cheer. You know what happened? Paul
was of good cheer. He was of good cheer. Of good
cheer. That's the one we're talking
about. You heard this call. Am I going to hear it? Am I going
to hear an audible call? I'll tell you how you're going
to know you've been called. When you can't do anything else but
turn from everything else and follow Him. That's how you're
going to know you've been called. If you stay away from him, you
ain't been called. But if he calls you, you're coming.
And if you're troubled and you're tossed and you just don't have
any rest about you through this trial or whatever this prison
is you're in, you know when he stood by you and when he spoke
in peace? When you got peace. When the peace comes. You know
who you praise for both? Him. Him alone. He did it. That's who I'm talking about.
That's who this one is, brethren. He saves in power. And He speaks peace in power. And He keeps His people in power. This other Jesus, this one that,
I don't even, it don't even resemble this God. Well, I'm going to
show you one more thing here before we move to the next point.
Look at Isaiah 43. Why is it that you turn? What
is it that causes you to turn? The source and the substance
of this good cheer is God our Savior seen in the face of Christ
Jesus, seeing His person and seeing His work. This is what
he said. This was the reason. Chapter 43, verse 1 of Isaiah.
But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he
that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, for... That word means because. Here's the source. Here's the
substance of our good cheer. Right here. For I have redeemed
thee. I bought you. I've called thee
by thy name. He said, be of good cheer, Paul. Didn't he? Be of good cheer,
Paul. I've called you by name. Thou
art mine. You're mine. Is God going to
lose anything that belongs to him? When thou passest through
the waters, He didn't say if, He said when. When thou passest
through the waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers,
they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. Why? What's the reason? What's
the source and substance of all this? I am the Lord thy God,
the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. That's why. That's why. You see
Him, when you see Him, you will see nothing else as beautiful,
nothing else as lovely, nothing else as comely, and everything
else will become as a mistress cloth. Everything. And you'll
follow Him. You'll be willing with everything
you've got to give yourself and follow Him. Here's the third
thing, back in our text there. Our Lord calls and He keeps and
He comforts each believer for one specific purpose. Look at
our text. He says, verse 11, And the night
following, the Lord stood by him and said, Be of good cheer,
Paul, for... Here's the reason. As thou hast
testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also
at Rome. The Lord saves sinners to save
sinners. And the Lord comforts believers
to comfort believers. That's His purpose for doing
it. Let me show you that back in 2 Corinthians over there where
we were just a minute ago. 2 Corinthians 1, look here in
verse 3. Blessed be God, even the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God
of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that
we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble." With
what? By the comfort wherewith we ourselves
are comforted of God. You know what I'm doing tonight?
I'm doing that. I'm endeavoring to do that to
you. For as the sufferings of Christ
abound in us, Paul followed in the footsteps of Christ to Jerusalem.
And he suffered just as Christ suffered. The Lord said His people
would. but so our consolation also aboundeth
by Christ." The Lord stood by him. The Lord said, be of good
cheer, Paul. And whether we be afflicted,
it's for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual
in the enduring of the same suffering which we also suffer. Or whether
we be comforted, it's for your consolation and salvation. And
our hope of you is steadfast, We know this, we know this for
a fact, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye
be also of the consolation. No evil sands or mites about
that. You're going to be comforted.
You're going to be comforted. And the Lord saved Ananias. Remember
Ananias, he told Saul when he called him, when he called Paul
on the road to Damascus, he sent him down there to Damascus. And
he sent one named Ananias to him. You know why the Lord saved
Ananias? To send him to Paul. To send
him down there to Paul. To tell Paul. Look over there
at Acts 22 verse 14. It's why He saved Ananias. To
send him down there. Verse 13, He came unto me, and
stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And
the same hour I looked up upon Him, and He said, The God of
our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know His
will, and see that just one. And shouldest hear the voice
of his mouth, for thou shalt be..." And this is why he saved
Paul. "...for thou shalt be his witness
unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard." You remember
back before this, back when Paul was in Corinth, Paul was tested,
he was down in the Spirit. And the Lord came to him and
the Lord said, Be not afraid, but speak. Hold not thy peace.
And here's the reason He gave to him. For I have much people
in this city." That's why he spoke that peace to him and said,
don't be afraid, speak. The Lord comforted him here.
Look over in Acts 27. The Lord comforted Paul here.
For a reason, look over in verse 22. He's in a hurricane. Waves are coming all in the ship,
all over the ship, and the ship's about to be broken up. Look what
he says, verse 22. And now I exhort you to be of
good cheer, for there shall be no loss of any man's life among
you, but of the ship. For there stood by me this night
the angel of God. The Lord Jesus Christ. whose
I am and whom I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul, thou must be
brought before Caesar. And, lo, God hath given thee
all them that sell with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer,
for I believe, God, that it shall be even as it was told me." You
see, everything that God has ever done for me, choosing me,
redeeming me, protecting me all my years of rebellion, calling
me by His grace, preserving me, growing me, keeping me, is teaching
me this Word. Every trouble, every trial, every
affliction, everything to bring me right here, right now, to
comfort you with the consolation that I've been comforted with.
Not to speak things I'm talking about in theory, I'm telling
you something I know. I'm telling you something I know.
And that's why he saves centers. That's why he comforts centers,
so you can bear witness of him. I've told you the illustration
before of when I used to haul hay down in the South. And it'd
be so hot. And you'd be out there picking
those hay bales up. And they'd be so heavy, the square bales.
They'd be just packed so tight. And you're picking them up. And
you look down that road. It's just a long row of hay bales
on the ground. And you've got to get them all
on that truck and get to the barn and unload them. But you
knew, sooner or later, you'd come into the last one, and it's
gonna be loaded up, and when that happens, you're going home.
You're going home. As long as we're in this field,
right here, and this sun is bearing down, and we're in trial, and
we're enduring all this suffering that we have to endure, remember
this, if you're here, If we're here, it's because God still
got some sheep. And He's going to call those
sheep out. And that's why we're here. And when the last one's
called out, we're going home. We're going to the shade. We're
going to the shade tree then. You're those first saints that
you ever heard preach the true gospel, the true Christ. Were those feet precious to you? Are you glad the Lord didn't
take them out of the earth until they could preach that gospel
to you? That's what he told that gathering.
He wanted to go with the Lord right then. He said, no, go home
and tell your friends what great things the Lord's done for you. Go tell them. I was talking to
Marvin. Pastor Marvin Stoniker, and he
was telling me that, you know, Brother Scott Richardson was
scheduled to preach. Marvin was going on vacation
down to Tennessee to see his new grandbaby and what have you.
And Brother Scott was scheduled to preach that Wednesday night.
And Marvin asked him, he said, do you think you're going to
be up to preaching Wednesday night? He said, yeah. I've got
something to say if the Lord's willing for me to say it." And
that Tuesday morning, the Lord took him home. But do you realize
what a blessing that is? To have something to say right
up until the day the Lord takes you home. I've got something
to say if He's willing for me to say it. That's a good way
to go, isn't it? Well, here's the last question.
Did the Lord succeed in His purpose for Paul to preach at Rome? Look
over at Acts 28. Is He going to succeed in His
purpose for you, for me? Is He going to succeed? Look
at Acts 28 verse 23. And when they had appointed him
a day, there came many to him into his lodging, to whom he
expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning
Jesus, both out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets
from morning till evening. And some believed the things
which were spoken, and some believed not." Look down at verse 30. Paul dwelt two whole years in
his own hired house and received all that came in unto him, preaching
the kingdom of God and teaching those things which concern the
Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no man forbidding him." The Lord
said he would, didn't he? The Lord said he would. He said
that's why he's preserving him. Calling a ravenous bird from
the east and the man that executeth my counsel from a far country,
God said. Yea, I've spoken it, I will also
bring it to pass. I have purposed it, I will also
do it." When he says, I'll give you pastors after my own heart
that will feed you with knowledge and understanding, he means it.
He means it. And when he promises to comfort
you, he said, I will not leave you comfortless. I will come
to you. Because I live, you shall live
also. That's what he said. And at that
day you shall know That I am in my Father, and ye in me, and
I in you. How am I going to have some assurance?
I guarantee you, it's not going to be by something you do. It's
going to be by Him coming to you and comforting you. And in
that day, you're going to know. You're going to know. You abide
in Him, and He abides in you, and you abide in the Father.
I hope that's a blessing to you.