Okay, let's go back to Acts 23. And let me begin this by showing
you where our comfort is going to come from tonight. Verse 11
says, Acts 23 verse 11 says, And the night following, the
Lord stood by him. Don't you love that? God stood
with him. I can't imagine a more comforting
thought than hearing that God stood with a sinner. I can't
imagine that God would do that for a sinner. Why would God take the time to
do that first thing? God came down and stood by him. And he said, be of good cheer,
Paul. Here Paul is right in the middle
of all this, and he stands there and he says, you be of good cheer,
Paul. For as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou
bear witness also at Rome." This is not the end. I wonder how
many times Paul thought this is the end. This is not the end. I've ordained the outcome and
no man can stop my purpose. No man. So you be of good cheer.
Now Paul is standing before the council of the Jewish Sanhedrin. That was 70 men that God told
Moses to appoint thousands of years before to help rule the
people. But over time that council became
a little decayed. And these 70 Jewish men now have
God's apostle. He's standing on trial in front
of them, but nobody really knows why. Verse 1 says, And Paul,
earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have
lived in all good conscience before God until this day. Now we know that Paul is not
saying up to this point I have lived a sinless life before God. We know he's not saying that.
Paul said I'm the chief of sinners. That's what he said. I am the
chief of sinners. He said, I am the least of all
saints. What he's telling those men is,
I haven't done anything against your law to warrant being put
on trial by you. What have I done? And that's
an example to every believer. That's an example to us. We ought
to be law-abiding citizens. You know that? We talk about
being set free from the bondage of the law, and we have been.
But with that being said, we ought to be law-abiding citizens.
Believers ought to be law-abiding citizens. We ought to obey them
that have the rule over us. We ought to render unto Caesar
what is Caesar's. Isn't that what our Lord said?
Verse 1 says, And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said,
Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before
God until this day. And the high priest, Ananias,
commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth. You hit him in the mouth. That was Ananias' response to
Paul. I can't help but think of our
Lord in that. I can't help but see that point
us to our Lord. Turn over to John 18. This is our Lord standing before
a council. the night in which he was betrayed.
John 18 verse 19 says, The high priest then asked Jesus
of his disciples and of his doctrine. Jesus answered him, I spake openly
to the world. I ever taught in the synagogue
and in the temple whether the Jews always resort, and in secret
have I said nothing. Why askest thou me? Ask them
which heard me what I have said unto them. Behold, they know
what I said. And when he had thus spoken,
one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm
of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so? Jesus
answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil. But if well, Why smitest thou
me? If I've spoken error, point it
out." Tell me about it. Our Lord said, as they've done
to me, they will do to you. Everything that Pharisees did
to our Lord, they will do to his people for the gospel's sake.
Back over in Acts 23 verse 1 says, Paul earnestly beholding the
council said, men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience
before God until this day. And the high priest Ananias commanded
them that stood by to smite him on the mouth. Then said Paul
unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall, for sittest
thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten
contrary to the law. Paul told him, you're a hypocrite. That's what he told me. You're
a hypocrite. You have me standing here to
judge me according to the law. You know, they brought him in
saying, this man is breaking the law. And you're going to
have me smitten when I've been accused of nothing? He said,
you're a whited wall. And that's what every man and
woman is outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. A whited wall. They try to make themselves look
so good on the outside. All of this Sanhedrin, all these
Pharisees, these lawmakers and lawgivers, they tried to make
themselves look so good on the outside. Paint over all the blemishes. And they might fool men. That's
what people do in religion. And they might fool some men,
but they're not going to fool God. God looks on the heart of
the matter. Look over at Matthew 23 with
me. Matthew 23, our Lord said in
verse 25, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees. He called them hypocrites. For
you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but
within they are full of exhortation and excess. And that's what men
do. That's what men do. They try to clean up the outside.
You know, they're going to turn over a new leaf. They're going
to straighten up and fly right. It's time to stop going to hell
and start going to heaven. So they clean up the outside.
Verse 26, the Lord said, Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first
that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside
of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites, for you're like unto whited sepulchers. You're like
graves that people have mown the grass, put flowers out there,
put a nice beautiful marble headstone out there. Whited sepulchers
which indeed appear beautiful outward but are within full of
dead men's bones and of all uncleanness. Even so, ye also outwardly appear
righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and
sin. In order for a man or a woman
to be clean in God's eyes, and we must be, we must be, if we're
going to stand with Him, stand by Him, and if He's going to
stand by us, we must be clean. And in order to be clean, God
must do a work on the inside. He must do something on the inside.
God must conquer that old man of uncleanness and sin and a
new creation must be made in there, a brand new man. Christ must reign in a sinner
without Christ washing the inside of the sinner with his own blood. That sinner may clean up the
outside, but he'll never fool God. Never. And he'll never stand
in God's presence. God will not stand by him. the blood of Christ. We talk
about the blood of Christ. Oh, we need the blood of Christ.
That washing and that cleansing, that's the only hope a man has.
That is the only hope that a man has. Now go with me back to Acts
23. Verse 1 says, Paul earnestly
beholding the council said, Men and brethren, I've lived in all
good conscience before God until this day. And the high priest,
Ananias, commanded them that stood by him to smite him on
the mouth. Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou
whited wall, for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and
commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law. And they that stood
by said, Revilest thou God's high priest? You're going to
talk back to God's high priest? Verse 5, Then said Paul, I knew
not. I didn't know. I wist not, brethren,
that he was the high priest. For it is written, Thou shalt
not speak evil of the ruler of thy people. What an example that
is to us. It does not matter who God has
placed to rule over us. It doesn't matter. It does not
matter who he places to rule over us. We shouldn't speak evil
of him. That's something to learn, isn't
it? We shouldn't speak evil of him. We ought to pray for him.
We ought to pray for him. God has already decided who our
next president will be. He purposed it from the foundation
of the world. And whoever he puts in that office,
we must bow to what he has done. The lot is cast into the lap.
If the Lord is willing, I will go vote. But the whole disposing
is of the Lord. And we need to bow to his purpose
in it, knowing it's for our good. And we may not see it. Whoever
it is, we might think, This is the worst thing that could have
happened to us. It's not. Whoever the Lord puts in that
office, he will do that for the good of his people. Somehow it
will be for the good of his people. Verse 6 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. And when he had so said, there
arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees,
and the multitude was divided. For the Sadducees say that there
is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit, but the Pharisees
confess both." Paul perceived that this council was split. All right? Half of them were
religious. Half of them were atheists. And the first thought that popped
into my mind is, how did all these men end up on the same
religious council in the first place? Is that not crazy? These are 70 men who are the
religious leaders of the Jews. Half of them are atheists. They
don't believe in the resurrection. They don't believe there are
angels. They don't believe in spirits. And they're our religious
leaders. Is that not what we have today?
Men who don't believe anything, they're our religious leaders.
And we listen to them. All error can and will unite
against the truth. Here you got atheists and religionists,
just same counsel. All error can and will unite. It doesn't matter what denomination
it is, let's all join together. They can all join together, not
the truth. Truth cannot dwell with lies. Just listen to this. This is
Luke 23. Actually, go ahead and turn.
I want you to see this. Go to Luke 23. This has always been an amazing
verse of Scripture to me. Luke 23, verse 11 says, now this
is the Lord on trial. at the time of his crucifixion.
Luke 23 verse 11, And Herod with his men of war set him at nought,
and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent
him again to Pilate. And the same day Pilate and Herod
were made friends together, for before they were at enmity between
themselves. Those two men hated each other
until Christ was put on trial. And as soon as that happened,
they became best buddies. Isn't that something? Isn't that
something? All error can and will unite
against the truth. So Paul said to this council
back in the text, Paul said, I perceive that the reason I'm
called into question is because of the message I preach. He brought
up their point of contention. The hope of eternal life that
is in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. The reason we have hope of eternal
life is because Jesus Christ arose from the dead. That's where
all my hope lies. If He arose from the dead, I
arose in Him and with Him. That's had Christ not risen,
we have no hope. All right, so Paul said, I'm
called into question because of the resurrection of Christ
from the dead. And if a man will preach Jesus
Christ crucified and risen to be the true hope of glory alone
No other works added to it. That alone, his work alone, it
is going to stir up trouble. Verse 9 says, And there arose
a great cry, and the scribes that were of the Pharisees' part
arose and 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. And when there arose a great
dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have
been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go
down and to take him by force from among them and to bring
him into the castle. Our Lord said, in this world
you are going to have tribulation. It's just going to be. They wanted
to pull him in pieces. He had to be locked up again
for his safety. They were literally going to
rip him apart. And I thought of this verse of Scripture over
in 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 2 Corinthians 4 verse 8 says this. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but we're not
in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Cast down, but not destroyed. always bearing about in the body
the dying of the Lord Jesus. We're always remembering the
dying of the Lord Jesus. Isn't that what we're doing?
Isn't that how we make it through this world? That the life also
of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. Because of the message
that Paul preached, he was troubled on every side. And I'm going
to tell you, because of the message you believe, You're going to be troubled on
every side. Paul and all who believe this
gospel, he was perplexed, he was persecuted, he was cast down,
but our text says God stood with him. God stood with him. Go back to Acts 23, verse 11
says, And the night following, The Lord stood by him. Now this is our message of comfort
tonight. Sometimes he calms the storm. Sometimes he calms his child. Sometimes the storm doesn't stop. The Lord stood by him. This was written for every single
one of his children. Every single one. Nowhere in
God's Word has he promised to make the life of a believer easy. Nowhere. Nowhere. A believer not only has all the
troubles of the world like everybody else does. I mean, everybody
has money problems, relationship problems, Everybody has that. A believer also has some spiritual
problems added to that over his own sin. And nowhere has our Lord promised
to make the life of a believer easy. But I'll tell you, from
the start of this book to the end of this book, start to finish,
He has promised to be with His people through every trial and
tribulation. every single one. He has promised,
I will be with you every single one. Turn with me over to Exodus
14. Pharaoh is chasing the children
of Israel And he has them pinned up against the Red Sea. Exodus
14 verse 10 says, And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel
lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. And they were sore afraid. And
the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord, and they said
unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou
taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus
with us to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word
that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we
may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us
to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.
And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not. stand still and
see the salvation of the Lord, which He will show to you today. For the Egyptians whom you have
seen today, you shall see them again no more forever. The Lord
shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace." And the Lord did fight for him,
didn't He? He closed the Red Sea on the Egyptians. Verse 30
says, ìThus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hands of
the Egyptians. And Israel saw the Egyptians
dead upon the seashore. And Israel saw that great work
which the Lord did upon the Egyptians. And the people feared the Lord
and believed the Lord and His servant Moses.î Be of good cheer. Moses said, cheer up. The Lord
shall fight for you. He'll fight for you. I love that.
Look at Isaiah 41 with me. Isaiah 41 verse 10 says, Fear
thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee, yea,
I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand
of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed
against thee shall be ashamed and confounded. They shall be
as nothing. And they that strive with thee
shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt
not find them, even them that contended with thee. They that
war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of naught. For I, the Lord thy God, will
hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, And
ye men of Israel, I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy
Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." Be of good cheer. Be of good
cheer. Not only will I stand by you,
I'll hold your hand. I'll hold your right hand. That
comforts my heart. Look at Isaiah 43. Verse 1 says, But now thus saith
the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel,
fear not, for I have redeemed thee. You know what that means?
I died for you. I died for you. If we could ever
get a hold of that. He died for me. I redeemed. I've called thee
by thy name. I've called you out of darkness.
Thou art mine. 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." How? How is that possible? How will
we not be burned? I've always loved that story
of the wagon train. Back in the settlement days,
people settled out west, you know, Oklahoma and California
and all those places. And they used to travel in a
wagon train because it was safer. A lot of dangers, and going by
yourself wasn't safe. And when they would When they
would travel, this wagon master would send a scout out on a horse
a couple of miles in front of the wagon train to just scout
for danger. And one of the dangers was prairie
fires. That grass was, you know, blowing
in the wind and dry grass, and if it caught fire, it would just And so on one of these trips,
a scout was out in front, and sure enough, he found a prairie
fire, huge prairie fire. And he ran that horse, he turned
around and ran that horse as fast as he could back to the
wagon master and told him, there's a prairie fire, it's raging,
it's coming right at us. So the wagon master told the
men to scrape some grass back and set fire behind the wagons. And after that fire burned out
a little bit, he said, now let's ease the wagons back. And a man was sitting in his
wagon, and he had his little boy in his lap, and here they
sit waiting. All of a sudden, over the horizon, here it comes. And that little boy said, Daddy?
He said, What is it, son? He said, I'm scared. He said,
Scared of what? He said, I'm scared of that fire.
He said, Son, you have nothing to be afraid of. We're standing
on burnt ground. We're standing on ground that
has already suffered the wrath of the fire. And it cannot suffer
again. As long as we're standing right
here, we will not be touched. That fire consumed everything
in its path, but it didn't touch them. It never touched them.
Standing on burnt ground. Fear not. The one who redeemed
us, the one who took that wrath is saying, fear not. Fear not. That's what Christ did for us.
He suffered that wrath for us. He took the burn for us. Look
at Romans 8 with me. I'm going to be quick and wrap
this up. Romans 8. Romans 8 verse 31 says, What shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? Does that ever get a hold of
you like it gets a hold of me sometimes? If God be for us,
who or what on this earth can be against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us. The one who stood for
us, the one who stood before God
Almighty bearing our sin, carrying the weight of our sin, The One
who stood on our behalf and took the blame, He opened not His
mouth, He took the blame and He took the punishment and He
paid it all. The One who stood for us stands
with us. And that's amazing news. If He
stood for us, He will stand with us. Now go with me to Hebrews. Go to Hebrews chapter 13. Solomon wrote, a friend loveth
at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. He also wrote,
there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Who's
that? That's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's called the friend of sinners.
He is not ashamed, the scripture says, to call us brethren. He's not ashamed to call us brethren. In time of trouble, He will stand
by us. He'll comfort us. He'll do every
child the same way that he has done for Paul in our text. Hebrews
13 verse 5 says, Let your conversation be without covetousness, and
be content with such things as you have. For he hath said, I
will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. so that we may boldly say,
the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto
me." Won't fear it. After the Lord delivered the
children of Israel through the Red Sea, we were there in Exodus
14, after he delivered them and after they saw those Egyptians
laying there on the shore, They all started singing. That's how
the next chapter starts. Exodus 15. They all started singing. The Lord is my strength and my
song for he has become my salvation. And he is our salvation isn't
he? He is our salvation. Knowing that He is standing by
us, is there anything we want more than to know He is near? Our salvation is near. Knowing
that He is standing by us, we can be of good cheer. We have
much to cheer about. We truly do. We have much to
cheer about. I can't wait to see in glory
this extreme number of people without hindrance cheering for
the King, the Savior, the Redeemer. We have much to cheer about. Our God is with us. That makes
me happy. Be of good cheer. All right,
let's stand together.