Good evening, everybody. It's
my privilege to be here. I've been so excited to see you
all, and Hannah wanted me to tell everyone here hello, but
she's sorry she can't be here. Turn with me, if you would, back
to Acts chapter 26. Acts chapter 26, in this portion
of Scripture that Brother Frank just read, the Apostle Paul is
standing on trial. He has been on trial for quite
a while. And he's standing on trial for
preaching the gospel. That's the reason. No other reason
than that. for preaching the gospel. I think
all the time about how privileged we are to be able to freely preach
and hear the gospel. There have been many times when
God's people were not able to do that. We're in a very, very
wonderful time. I pray the Lord would keep it.
But they put Him, they literally did to him what he did to so
many. Didn't he go in hailing men and
women for this gospel? Isn't that what he did? He drug
them out, threw them in prison. And now they've done the same
thing to him. Just for preaching this gospel, he went through
riots. Just imagine if a riot broke
out in Catlettsburg. He went through beatings, he
went through torture, just horrible things. Almost to the point of death,
those men left him and the only reason they left him was because
they thought he was dead. He's now being held in prison. He's been brought before judge
after judge after judge. They cannot find anything on
him other than he's preaching the gospel. And he finally said,
I appeal to Caesar, send me to the top. I want to be judged
by Caesar himself. And this man Festus said, I will
send you to Caesar, but you're going to stand before this King
Agrippa first. to see if he can help me find
something on you, find a reason to send you to Caesar. So now
he is standing before King Agrippa and chapter 26 verse 1 says,
Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for
thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the
hand and answered, for himself. Kima Agrippa, he looked him right
in the eye and he said, what do you have to say for yourself?
What do you have to say for yourself? Paul said in verse two, I think
myself happy. This is one of my favorite verses
in the scripture. I've preached from this many
times. He said, I think I'm happy. What do you have to say for yourself? Here's what I have to say for
myself. I think myself is happy. You know how sometimes you have
those days where you can't put your finger on it. You just cannot
really understand why. If someone asked you, you couldn't
explain it to them. But for some reason, you're just
happy. I want to just have it. Now, don't get me wrong. I understand
that the opposite is also true many times. And I don't know
why. I can't put my finger on why. But sometimes God does something
in this cold, dead heart. You ever feel cold and dead? Sometimes God in His goodness
reaches down and reaches in and squeezes on that heart, and it causes all of his people
to honestly say, I think myself happy. I think I'm happy. Shocking. What? I think I'm happy.
I have no reason to be, but I think I'm honestly happy. In the midst of trials, in the
midst of afflictions, God in His good time, at His good time,
still makes His people happy. He makes them happy. Let's see
this in some scriptures. Go with me to Deuteronomy 33. Deuteronomy 33, verse 26. There is none like unto the God
of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in
his excellency on the sky. The eternal God is thy refuge. and underneath are the everlasting
arms. And he shall thrust out the enemy
from before thee, and shall say, Destroy them. Israel then shall
dwell in safety alone. The fountain of Jacob shall be
upon a land of corn and wine. Also his heavens shall drop down
dew. Happy art thou, O Israel. who is like unto thee, O people
saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword
of thy excellency. And thine enemies shall be found
liars unto thee, and thou shalt tread upon their high places."
He said God's Israel is a happy people. They're a happy people. Turn with me over to 2 Chronicles
chapter 9. 2 Chronicles 9, I love this story. And when the queen of Sheba heard
of the fame of Solomon, and as we read this, don't we love seeing
our Lord Jesus Christ in Solomon. When the queen of Sheba heard
of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions
at Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels that bear
spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones. And when
she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that
was in her heart. And Solomon told her all her
questions. And there was nothing hid from
Solomon which he told her not. And when the queen of Sheba had
seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,
and the meat of His table, and the sitting of His servants,
and the attendance of His ministers, and their apparel, and His cupbearers
also, and their apparel, and His ascent by which He went up
into the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. And
she said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in
mine own land of thine acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit, I believed
not their words until I came and mine eyes had seen it. And
behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me,
for thou exceedest the fame that I heard." Can you imagine when
we finally see the Lord Jesus Christ in all of His glory ascend
up to His throne. Bless our hearts. We're trying
to do the best we can. I'm going to tell you the half
is so far from being told. The glory, the wisdom. We've heard of His wisdom. The
all wise. We had no idea it was wisdom
like that. You know, the scripture says before we ever even ask
a question, he'll answer us. Didn't that what he said? Before
they ask, I'll answer. Oh, the wisdom. Not only does
he know the answer, he knows the question. She said, I had no idea, and
she said in verse seven, happy are thy men. And happy are these
thy servants which stand continually before thee and hear thy wisdom. They are so happy. She said,
that's what stands out to me, is that they that serve you,
these servants of yours, they're so happy. They're so happy to
be in your service, just to be in your service. Bear with me over to Psalm 144. Psalm 144 verse 15 says, Happy
is that people that is in such a case. Yea, happy is that people
whose God is the Lord. That's a happy people. A lot
of people's God is not the Lord. They have to make Him Lord. They
haven't made Him Lord yet. Happy is that people whose God
is the Lord. Across my page in Psalm 146,
verse 5 says, Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his
help, whose hope is in the Lord his God. That's a happy people. Now the Apostle Paul told King
Agrippa, he said, I think I'm happy. I think I'm happy. And do you know that our Lord
has told us to be the same thing? All of his people, he said, this
is what I want you to be in our Lord's own words. This is how
he said it. He said. Be of good cheer. That's what he said. This is
how I want you to be. He said be of good cheer. Be happy. That's what he says
continually. Be happy. Be happy. I wrote down five different times
that our Lord said that. Be of good cheer. Five different
times that he said be happy. And in those five times, along
with that line, along with be of good cheer, he's given us
five different reasons to be happy. five reasons from the
Lord to be happy. The first one is in Matthew chapter
9. Matthew chapter 9 verse 1 says, And our Lord entered into a ship
and passed over and came into his own city. And behold, they
brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed. And the other gospels tell us
that our Lord was in a house preaching the gospel. And they
couldn't get in. So they climbed up on the roof
and started ripping the tiles off of the roof. And if that's what it takes for
you to hear the gospel, do that. If you own a ladder, do that. If you don't, go borrow one.
If that's what it takes for you to hear the gospel, get on the
roof and rip the roof off. I'm being serious. We're going
to go meet God in just a couple of minutes. And at that moment, oh my goodness,
what will the gospel be like? But there were so many people
in that house, they couldn't get in. So they had their friend
lying on a bed, sick of the palsy. And they took him up on that
roof and they started ripping that roof off. And they lowered
their friend down with ropes and lowered him right in front
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And our Lord looked up at those
four men. He put Himself in that house
on purpose. He gathered all those people
on purpose just so they could go up there and rip that roof
off. And He looked up at those four men, and it says in verse
2, Jesus seeing their faith, seeing what He had done for them,
seeing what He had put in them. Faith was not of themselves,
that was His gift to them. Jesus, seeing their faith, said
to the sick of the palsy, Son, it's time for you to be happy. Be of good cheer. Thy sins be
forgiven. Is that not for us? Son, your sins are forgiven. Verse three says, And behold,
certain of the scribes which sit within themselves, this man
blasphemous. And Jesus, knowing their thoughts,
said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? He knew their
thoughts, he knew their hearts. For whether it is easier to say,
Thy sins be forgiven thee or to say, Arise and walk. but that
you may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive
sins. Then saith He to the sick of
the palsy, Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thy house. And
he arose and departed to his house." What do you think? Think
he was happy? You think that man was happy?
Can you imagine being on the bed all your life, sick of the
palsy? And not only do you hear, son,
your sins are forgiven, but now He has risen, picked up that
dead and called home. We don't need any other reason
to be happy than just in knowing that our Lord has said, I will
forgive their iniquities and I will remember their sins no
more. No more. I lay down my life. I give my body, I give my blood. Just knowing that makes us say,
makes God's people say, I think I'm happy. I think I'm happy. No matter
what's going on in this life, when you get a hold of that,
no matter what's going on in this life, When the Lord lets
us get a hold of that, your sins are forgiven. I think I'm happy. That makes me happy. The second reason is in Matthew
14. Look with me over at Matthew
chapter 14. Verse 22 says, Straightway Jesus constrained
His disciples to get into a ship and to go before Him unto the
other side while He sent the multitudes away. And when He
had sent the multitudes away, He went up into a mountain apart
to pray. And when the evening was come,
He was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst
of the sea, tossed with the waves, for the wind was contrary. And
in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them walking
on the sea. And when the disciples saw him
walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit.
And they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto
them, saying, Be of good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid. I know if you belong to him.
You have heard Him say that to you. I know you have. If you
belong to Him, you have heard Him say that to your heart. Something devastating comes along.
It always does, doesn't it? Something
devastating comes along. Something that strikes so much
fear. in us. So much doubt in us. One little word straight into
the heart. Fear not, it is I. No matter what it is. No matter
what it is, this flesh says if it's a good thing, God did it.
If it's a bad thing, the adversary did it. No matter what it is,
it is I. Fear not. I know how bad it looks. I know how bad it feels. It is
I. Sometimes I worry, all the time
I worry about the things that are going to transpire between
now and the end of my time on this earth. I have no idea what's
around the corner. I worry about my children a lot. I worry about the ministry in
Kingsport quite a bit. I worry about the ministry as
a whole. Every time the Lord reminds me
in my heart, whatever it is, it is I. Every single time I'm reminded
of that, It thrills me. It's like I forget. I forget. And then His Word comes to me
and reminds me. It is I. Is it going to be easy? No. No. I got a letter a few years ago
from a dear, dear man who attended this congregation. A man I love
very, very much. Can't wait to see him again.
The Lord in his goodness and kindness and love and mercy chose
to bless him and honor him by taking him home. But in his letter, he began that
letter to me by saying, Jackie and I are currently enjoying
our love between the tribes. When I read that, I thought that
is the wisest way I've ever heard anyone look at life. There is going to be trial, after
trial, after trial, after trial. You know what those trials are? Leaning us to Christ. Every single
one of us makes us want to take one step closer to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Trial after trial, is it easy? No, it's not. But every time
He says, don't be afraid. Isn't that what He said? Don't
be afraid. Rest. Wait. Trust. It is I. Be of good cheer. Just
be happy. It is I. Every time he reminds
me of that, I believe I can honestly say. The reasons continue. Go with
me to John 16. John 16 verse 33 says, These things have I spoken unto
you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall
have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. That means gotten the victory.
I have overcome, I prevailed over all of your enemies. All of your enemies. The adversary,
when he was cast out of heaven, he was cast to this earth. We
get in our mind that he was cast to this fiery place called hell.
He was cast to this earth. He has been here ever since.
He walks to and fro in this world. seeking whom he may devour. He fires fiery darts. But our God said, I have overcome
every bit of it. I've overcome every bit of it.
Turn with me over to 1 John chapter 4. Verse 1 here says, Beloved, believe
not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of
God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. I don't know that that statement
has ever been truer than it is right now. People trust preachers? Don't do it. Trust anybody but
a preacher. Try all the preachers. How do
we try them? By the Word of God. Verse 2,
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God, every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. Rarely will
you find a preacher confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh,
in everything that that means. God manifests in the flesh, the
Christ, the only mediator between God and man, the only savior
of sinners. Verse three, every spirit that
confesseth not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not
of God. And this is that spirit of Antichrist. Where have you
have heard that it should come? And even now already, is it in
the world? You are of God, little children,
and have overcome them because greater is he that is in you
than he that is in the world. That's the reason you have overcome
because he overcame and he's in you. Christ in you. Chapter five here, verse one
says, whosoever believe it, that Jesus is the Christ. What? Thank you, Christ. He is
born of God. And verse 4 right here says,
Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory
that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh
the world? But he that believeth that Jesus
is the Son of God. God manifest in the flesh. Whoever
is looking to Christ totally can be of good cheer. Our sins
are forgiven. In Christ, our sins are forgiven. He is in absolute control. It is Him. He has defeated all
of our enemies. And if you'll turn with me to
Acts chapter 27. Acts 27, this is the account
of Paul, his perilous sea voyage where his ship went down and
he was shipwrecked on the island of Malta. The ship in this story
represents Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 20 says, When neither
sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us,
and all hope that we should be saved was then taken away, But
after long abstinence, Paul stood forth in the midst of them and
said, Sirs, you should have hearkened unto me and not have loosed from
Crete and to have gained this harm and loss. And now I exhort
you to be of good cheer." Here this great storm is. He said,
you should have never loosed from Crete. You should have listened
to me. Now I'm commanding you, be happy. 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, 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 sail with thee." He said, Every man
that is in this ship is going to be saved. And that is the
truth of the gospel. Every soul that is in Christ
is going to be saved. Not every soul who has obeyed
those ten commandments. Not every soul who has done the
best he can. Not every soul who has made his
decision. Every soul that God put in Christ
is going to be saved. Every single soul. No life will
be lost. Only the life of the ship. Only
the life of the ship. That's the good cheer of the
gospel. Verse 39 right here says, And
when it was day, they knew not the land, but they discovered
a certain creek with a shore into the which they were minded,
if it were possible to thrust in the ship. And when they had
taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and
loosed the rudder bands, and hoist up the mainsail to the
wind, and made toward shore. And falling into a place where
two seas met, they ran the ship aground. And the fore part stuck
fast, and remained unmovable, but the hinder part was broken
with the violence of the waves. And the soldier's counsel was
to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out and escape.
But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their
purpose and commanded that they which could swim should cast
themselves first into the sea and get to land, and the rest,
some on boards and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it
came to pass that they escaped all safe to land." They were
clinging to the broken pieces of that ship. Our Lord's body was broken. The head remained broken. His
body was broken. He refers to His people as bone
of His bone. Even though His body was broken
into pieces, not one of His bones was broken. Psalm 34 says, He
keepeth all His bones. Not one of them is broken. This is a great reason to be
of good cheer. Good cheer. The only life that
will be lost is the life of our Savior. The life of the Lord
Jesus Christ. One more reason. Last one. This
reason applies to all the other reasons we've given. Our God
has said to His people, be of good cheer because our sins are
forgiven. It is I. Whatever it is, He's
in control of it. He said, I have overcome the
world. I've defeated all your enemies.
He said, no life that is in Christ is going to be lost. No life
that is in Christ is going to be lost. If you need Christ,
you are saved. Here's the last reason. Last
reason we'll get tonight. Right here in Acts 27, verse
25 says, Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer,
for I believe, God, that it shall be even as it was told me." If He said it, then it is going
to come to pass. We stand up and we quote the
Word of God. And what we are doing is believing
and hoping in and clinging to the promises of God. were holding
to His promise. If He said it, then it is going
to come to pass. If He said it so, then it's so. If He said He shall not fail,
He shall not fail. If He said He cannot lie, He
cannot lie. If He said not one word will
return void, not one word will return void. Not one word. We can put our stock down. All
our hope, all our trust, it's going to be exactly like He said
it was going to be. Exactly like He said it's going
to be. If He said it's finished, it's finished. If He said, I
will never leave you, He will never leave you. I like that. That'll make the people happy. Here's my declaration. It's not
a question. It's not a suggestion. Here's
my declaration. You are happy. Whether you know
it or not. Whether you realize it or not.
If you belong to Christ, you're happy. You're happy. You'll be happy
for all eternity. I want to close this by reading
an article to you that Brother Bruce Crabtree wrote. As soon
as I read this, the last line caught me. I just fell in love
with it. Listen for the last line, okay?
This is the verse he wrote it from. He wrote it from 1 Timothy
2, verse 5, which says, For there is one God and one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus. One God, one mediator between
God and man, the man Christ Jesus. This is what he wrote. I must approach unto God by Christ
Jesus because I am holy. God must approach unto me by
Christ Jesus because he is. In Christ Jesus, I, a poor sinner
and God, a holy and heavenly father. Have an honest and sincere
communion, one with another. His holiness is not violated,
and my sin is not imputed, but all is washed away." He said,
Oh, sweet fellowship. Oh, easy walk. Oh, joyous friendship. Oh, happy marriage. He said the same thing Brother
Paul said. Same thing all of God's people
say in Christ. I think of myself. I am very grateful really to
be here. And I sincerely pray the Lord's
blessing on this Bible school this week. I pray the Lord will
bless the efforts and bless the teachers and bless the children.
I sincerely pray the Lord will save the children here. I pray the Lord will save the
children in Kingsport, save the children everywhere. He had mercy
on us. I promise we take it for granted. But if he will save
our children by putting them in Christ, we'll all be together
forever. One congregation, no separation.
I promise we'll have a wonderful We'll hear him stand up in his
pulpit. It's this word. So I'm grateful to you for doing
this. And may the Lord bless us. Thank you very much.