Turn if you will with me to Acts,
Acts chapter 27. We read a few verses beginning
at verse 22, but first let me remind you of the context of
what we're about to read. You remember in Acts chapter
20 Paul met with the elders of the churches of Ephesus. He's
on his way to Jerusalem and he tells them that they wouldn't
see his face anymore. That would be the last time.
He said, because I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem and I
don't know the things that abide me there except this, that the
Holy Spirit witnesses to me that in every city bonds and afflictions
abide me, await me. But he said, none of these things
move me. What a tremendous responsibility
Paul knew he had, and what a glorious privilege as well in preaching
the gospel because he said, that's why I'm not deterred, that's
why I'm not moved from this one great goal, that I might testify
the gospel of the grace of God. That's what Paul considered his
mission to be. Not to try to right all social
injustice or wrongs, but to testify of the gospel, the glorious gospel
of the blessed God. And Paul's words were prophetic
because soon after that, when he arrives in Jerusalem, he is
arrested. He is arrested. And he spends
two years From the time of his arrest, he was never freed again.
He was never a free man after that, I don't think. But he was
kept in captivity for two years under Felis Infestus. And then
he was put on a ship as a prisoner. That's where we find him here
in Acts chapter 27. And that voyage probably took
a year. And then He was a prisoner in
Rome for another two years, and it was probably then that he
was beheaded, a total of five years. So just about in the midst
of that, we read what takes place here in Acts chapter 20. He's
on board this ship, a prisoner, a prisoner not of Caesar, but
Paul said, a prisoner of the Lord. I'm the Lord's, whether
I'm in chains or not, I'm the Lord's, I'm his, I belong to
him. And during this voyage, a great storm arises. And this
is where we pick up the reading here at verse 22. Paul is speaking
to these men. 276 total, including Paul. Verse 22. And now I exhort you
to be of good cheer. There's a storm raging. They've
given up all hope. They've given up all hope, and
in the midst of that, Paul says, 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. Paul speaks so matter-of-factly,
doesn't he? I'm sure they wonder, man, what
are you talking about? How dare you say such things
to us? We're ready to go down. The ship's
ready to sink. Then Paul gives them the reason
for his words. He gives them the foundation
upon which he lays his hope, verse 23. For there stood by
me this night the angel of God, whose I am, not the angel, but
God, whose I am and whom I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul, thou
must be brought before Caesar, thou must be brought before Caesar. As Bobby just now sang to us.
Some through the fire and some through the flood. But all by
God's grace will be brought and led along. Saying, fear not,
Paul, thou must be brought before Caesar. And this storm's not
gonna prevent that. This is a part of it. And lo,
God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore,
sirs, Because of that, I say to you, be of good cheer, for
I believe God. I believe God. Oh, for grace
to trust him more. Someone very well said, I don't
always trust him as he should, but oh, he is nonetheless trustworthy. Paul said, I believe God. I don't
have a reason not to believe God. He's never given me cause
not to trust Him or not to believe Him, not to rely totally upon
Him. That it should be even as it
was told me. I think I can take it to the
bank. I think what God has told me, every promise that He has
made, He's able to make good on, He's able to perform. How
be it we must be cast upon a certain island. God's ways, someone very
wisely said, and God's word are best learned by experience. Remember what Brother Henry used
to say, you can't tell what you haven't experienced any more
than you can come back from a place you've never been to. It's just
impossible. And God's ways are best learned
by experience. And usually, we experience those
in times of trouble. Those are the best lessons. The
ones that we don't soon forget when God is pleased to put us
in a circumstance where we're forced. Forced. Isn't that just a fact? Where
we're forced to look to Him. We don't look for help anywhere
else. We're forced to look to Him alone.
When we learn lessons in that way, we don't forget them too
quickly, do we? As my father used to say to me,
And I've told you before, my father didn't subscribe to the
notion of ghosts standing in a corner. That just wasn't his
way. He didn't teach me that way.
Otherwise, I'd soon forgot the lesson. It wouldn't have been
learned at all. But when he laid that strap upon me, I didn't
soon forget it. And he would often say to me
before doing that, son, if you can't listen, if you can't listen,
you'll have to feel. You'll have to feel. The first
great difficulty, Robert Haldane, the writer of a great commentary
on the book of Romans said this, the first great difficulty is
to convince a man that he's a sinner. And really only God can do that.
As we mentioned in the reading from Psalm 130, out of the depths,
how in the world does a man come to realize that he's in the depths?
How does he ever come to the place where he confesses? If
ever I'm brought out of this, if ever I'm saved, God Almighty
is going to have to do it. My circumstance, my situation
is such. I am such a sinner. If I'm saved,
it'll take a miracle. It'll take a miracle of God's
grace. God will have to reach down and pick me up. Out of the
depths is where I am and I'll remain there if God Almighty
doesn't rescue me. It takes a miracle of God's grace
to convince a man that he's a sinner. I'll tell you what, that Pharisee
that we read about in Luke 18, When he went to the temple that
our Lord spoke about, and he spoke that parable, we're told,
to certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and
despised others, the Pharisees in particular. And he spoke the
parable to such as those, and he said that Pharisee, or rather
the publican, went up to the temple to pray. Two men went
up to pray, and one went in proud. And he left proud. One went in
thinking he had need of nothing and he left in the same frame
of mind. He went out just like he came in. A proud, self-righteous
Pharisee. But there's a publican, there's
that rare individual Oh, he's so rare. He's lost. He's lost. Ask him. He won't
argue. He won't tell you about his goodness.
He won't claim anything. He'll stand, watch him, listen
to him. Look how he acts. This poor man's
miserable. He's a rare individual. He says,
I'm the sinner. I'm the sinner. I'm worse than
the worst. I'm the sinner. Oh God, be merciful
to me because I'm the sinner. Only God in mercy and grace can
bring a person into that state and how thankful we are that
he does so. But Haldane went on to say, The
second great difficulty is to persuade a believer, after God
saves him, that he's forever safe in Jesus Christ. To convince him that he's in
the hand of the Great Shepherd, and no matter how severe the
trial, No matter how great the heartache or heavy the burden,
nothing can separate him from that great grasp that the Son
of God has upon him. No man can pluck him out of his
hand. In our voyage to the city of
the living God, the church, and every individual, that's who
the church is. It's not this building. This
building's not the church. The church is meeting in this
building today, a part of Christ's body. And every individual of
the church, more or less, there's no exceptions to this, meet with
storms and tempest in their life's threatening shipwreck. And at
times while we suffer these things, we're tempted to think all is
lost. Because the heaven seems like,
on this occasion we read of in Acts 27, there's no light from
the sun. The sun is darkened. We read
in verse 20, when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared,
and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved
was taken away. All hope that we should be saved
was taken away. All hope in themselves. Again,
spiritually speaking, what a blessed place to be brought to. When
all hope that we should save ourselves is taken away, then,
then, God in grace enables us to behold the Lamb of God, like
the article in your bulletin this morning, old Simeon. You
know that's the only place we ever read of Simeon, there in
that passage in Luke 2. Never read about him before that
or after. Oh, but what a glorious biography. What a biography. He said, Lord,
I've seen your salvation. He had Christ in his arms and
faith in his heart and he said, I'm ready to die because I've
seen your salvation. And he was in the temple. And
you remember how much furniture there was in the temple. There
was the censer, there was Aaron's rod that budded, there was the
mercy seat, the angels over the mercy seat, there was the holy
place and then there was the most holy place. But Simeon's
eyes were not directed to any of those things. They were just
shadows and types. They can't say they were only
pictures of Him that was to come. And when He came, God told Simeon,
there He is. There's my salvation. And Simeon
was gazing upon the Lord of glory. Not a thing, not a doctrine,
but a person, a living Savior. When all hope was gone, that
we should be, was taken away, that we should be saved, Paul
said, be of good cheer. reminds me of what David said.
Oh, David, the man after God's own heart. But he wasn't exempt
from trials, was he? He wasn't exempt from heartache.
The sword never left his house. He said even on his deathbed,
though my house be not so with God. And on more than one occasion,
he said to himself, why art thou cast down, O my soul? Why are
you disquieting within me? Why are you so depressed? Is
what he was asking. And then faith answers. The triumph
of faith responds, I will yet praise God. I will yet praise
God. It's in those circumstances that
Paul stood up and said, I exhort you to be of good cheer. Be of good cheer. The title of
my message is that. Cheerful believing. Child of
God. If Paul could speak these words
to unbelieving men, regarding deliverance from a storm at sea.
Surely every believer is justified. He's justified in doing the same,
saying to himself with regard to all the affairs of this life,
be of good cheer. It doesn't matter what your present
circumstances might be. If you belong to God, if you've
been born by his spirit, born again, you have every reason
to be of good cheer because it is well. It is well with your
soul. Turn if you will to Psalm 32,
another Psalm of David. It shall be well with the righteous. These two verses here tell us,
give us abundant cause to be of good cheer. One word for the
word blessed is happy. Did you know that? A translation
would be Happy is he whose transgression is forgiven. Blessed is he whose
transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Oh yeah, that
man has every reason to be of good cheer. Happy, blessed is
the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. He doesn't do it. and imputeth not iniquity, and
in whose spirit there is no guile." Oh, happy is that man. The world
looks and says, oh, that man is blessed. That's got a big
bank account. That man is blessed who, like
the rich fool, said, I've got so much, I've got to build greater
and bigger barns to put them in. No, that man is not blessed. The man is blessed who knows
the Son of God. Whom do men say that I am? Our
Lord asked his disciples on one occasion. Oh, some say that you're
John the Baptist or Elias or Jeremiah or some great prophet. But whom do you say that I am?
Whom do you say that I am? Oh, blessed is that man who can
say with Peter, we know who you are. I know who you are. Let
others say what they will. It doesn't affect what I know
to be so. You are the son of the living
God. You're the Christ. And you remember
what our Lord said to him? Sure you do. Blessed art thou,
Simon Peter, because flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you.
Flesh and blood didn't teach you that. My father's done something
for you, Peter. My father's done something for
you that he's not done for everybody. He didn't do it for Judas, and
Judas saw the same things you saw, experienced the same things
you did, but he doesn't know. He doesn't believe in his heart
that I'm the son of God. Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah. Be of good cheer. When all hope
was gone, And so far as outward circumstances were concerned,
in the midst of terrible darkness and a raging storm, Paul tells
them, be of good cheer. Paul found reasons why he should
be of good cheer. Remember this, child of God,
again referring to the song that Bobby just sang. He who sins
the trial for his glory and for my good will supply sufficient
grace. Has it not been so in your case?
I think sometimes we read of Men, women, in the word of God,
Job for example. Oh my, what a trial, what a heartache. What a burden that man went through.
And yet he says, I know that my Redeemer liveth. And we look
at Job and say, man, I wish I was like him. He had something that
I don't have. No, Job was just like he did.
He was no different than you. You know why Job endured what
he did. You know how he did. God gave
more grace. This is what James said. But
he giveth and he giveth and he giveth more grace. Has that not
been your case? Is there not times the devil
came to you to tempter that liar? And just as he did Job's whisper
in your ear and say, why don't you just throw in the towel?
Why don't you just curse God and die? How much more of this
can you take? And why didn't you? Why didn't
you? Because he giveth and he giveth
and he giveth more grace. Those who know the Redeemer know
that when they are weak, it's then that they're really strong.
When we're poor, we're rich. And when we're empty, we're full.
And when we die, we really live. He who sends the storm steers
the vessel. Psalm 46, another of the Psalms. Listen to this. Verse 1, Psalm
46. God is our refuge and strength.
God is. God. Oh, my soul. God, he's my refuge. God, the everlasting God, he's
been our dwelling place in all generations. If he's my refuge,
my hiding place, how safe I must be. God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble. Therefore, if that is true, will
I not fear? Though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though
the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains
shake with the swelling thereof, Selah, God is in the midst of
her, that is, his church, and she shall not be moved. God shall
help her and that right early. And God says, I am the Lord. I am the Lord. I change not. Another hymn. change and decay
all around I see. Carlos, like it or not, every
time we look in the mirror, there's another gray hair. Like it, put
dye on it, get grease and formula, do what you want, but it doesn't
change the fact, change and decay all around I see. O thou who
changes not, thou who changes not, thou who has the dew of
thy youth, Thou who changest not, abide with me. Mr. Spurgeon said this. A changeable
God would be a terror to the righteous. They would have no
sure anchorage, like Paul said. During the storm, he cast his
anchor upon the rock of ages. And he said, be of good cheer.
Mr. Spurgeon said, a changeable God
would be a terror to the righteous. They would have no shore anchorage
and amid a changing world they would be driven to and fro in
perpetual fear of shipwreck. If God changes, I would be in
perpetual fear of shipwreck. I would have no shore anchor
for my soul. If God could love me today enough
to send his son to die for me and as some teach, hate me enough
tomorrow to cast me into hell for those same sins? That must be a changeable God.
But God says, I change not. Paul said the gifts and the calling
of God are without repentance. Talking about God. God will never
retract what he gives. God will never change his mind.
I change not, he said. Our heart leaps for joy as we
bow before one who has never broken his word or changed his
purpose. Several things. Three or four
things that Paul and every child of God has reason to be of good
cheer. First of all is this, the presence
of God. Look again at what Paul said.
For there stood by me, in verse 23, this night the angel of God. God, whose I am. I belong to God. I've been bought
with the price. I'm not my own. I'm His responsibility. God, whose I am and whom I serve. The Lord, for the last time,
appeared to His disciples on Mount Olivet. The last thing
he said to him before he sent him out into that God-hating
world, that Christ-rejecting world, before he sent him out
to preach the gospel in that world beginning at Jerusalem,
his last words to them were this, and, Lo, I am with you always. I'm with you always, even unto
the end of the world. Again, child of God, I ask you,
have you not found that to be so? Have you not found that to
be so? In your darkest time, have you
not found that to be so? In your weakest moment, have
you not found that to be so? I'm with you always. When you're
lying up on a bed and the tears are just streaming from your
cheeks, have you not found that to be so? He comes to you and
whispers as only he can He speaks to the heart. Only
he can. Such words as these, I'm never
going to leave you. I'm never going to forsake you.
Or like this, let your conversation be without covetousness and be
content with such things as you have for he has said I will never
leave you. I'll never forsake you. Another
hymn. When the storms of life are raging,
stand by me. When the storms of life are raging,
like they did for Paul, stand by me. When the world is tossing
me like a ship upon the sea, thou who rulest wind and water,
thou who rulest wind and water, stand by me, knowing that God
is with me. The everlasting God is my refuge. Be of good cheer. And here's
another reason. Paul knew that he belonged to
God. Again, we just read it in verse
23. Paul knew that he belonged to
God. The Lord calls his people his
sheep. That's what David said, that
most famous of Psalms. Just about everybody knows it.
The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. And
what gave David comfort? And what gives every child of
God comfort is the life and the welfare of the sheep is not their
own responsibility. It's not. The welfare and keeping
of the sheep is the responsibility of their shepherd. He's been
charged with it. He's charged, he's responsible
for watching over them. Oh my, that makes me cheerful. That makes me happy. the Son
of God in that everlasting covenant of grace. God the Father committed
us into the hands, the safekeeping of Jesus Christ. Christ became
our surety. He agreed. He agreed before the
world was ever created. He agreed to be responsible for
all his sheep. He pledged to God, his Father,
that he would do everything necessary, everything that a holy God required,
to bring all of his sheep back to glory. That all that the Father
gives him, he says, I promise, I pledge, I'll be their surety. And their surety was one, sort
of like a cosigner. Well, I did that one time and
it proved to be a bad mistake. Co-signed for a fella and ended
up paying that debt myself because he didn't live up to it. So when
he missed the payment, they'd call me. The Son of God is surety
to all of his people. He's responsible for them. And
when he came to this earth, it was for them. When he was made
like unto his brethren, it was for them. When he said, Lo, I
come to do thy will, O my God, it was for them. And he said
for them he lived, for them he died, for them he arose, for
them he's seated right now at the right hand of God making
intercession for them. And one day, by his grace, the
great and faithful good shepherd will bring all of his sheep before
the throne of God, and he'll say, Father, here they are. None's
lost. I've lost none. I've lost none. Hallelujah. What a Savior. The
Lord is my shepherd. Be of good cheer. We belong to
God. God doesn't look to you, child
of God, to satisfy his law. He doesn't look to you to do
that. You can't. But Jesus Christ did. God looks
to him. God doesn't look to you or expect
you to keep yourself. Isn't that good news? He looks
to Jesus Christ. The Son of God, he's our shepherd. Be of good cheer. Listen to this. God himself tells us who he looks
to. Behold, I'm reading from Isaiah
42, behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him.
He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not
cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flask shall he
not quench. He shall bring forth judgment
unto truth. He shall not fail. He shall not
fail. Call his name Jesus. He shall
not fail. He shall save his people from
their sins. It is finished. Redemption is
obtained. Eternal righteousness is brought
in. Sin has been put away. He shall not fail. He won't even
be discouraged. I heard John Chapman preaching
from this text one time and he said, if you knew, if you knew
whatever you put your hand to, if you knew every task you undertook,
you would not fail. You wouldn't be discouraged either,
would you? The Son of God said, Concerning him, God says, he
shall not fail. Therefore, be of good cheer. A third thing, a third reason
Paul found, and so should we, of being of good cheer is this. God is sovereign. God is sovereign. Now there's the foundation for
everything. God is sovereign. When you say God is sovereign,
we simply mean this. God is God. God is God. He's God over all. He's God Almighty. When I hear these fellas say,
if God had his way, I just want to stop and say, wait a minute,
who is that? Who are you talking about? It's
not the God of the Bible. It's not the God of Scripture.
It's not God as he describes himself. God says, I always have
my way. I have my way always. I have
my way in the whirlwind and in the storm and the clouds are
just the dust of my feet. What do you mean if God has his
way? Listen to this. Not unto us,
O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy
and for thy truth's sake. Wherefore should the heathen
say, Where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever He hath
pleased. He always does. And it pleased
Him to make you His people. It pleased Him to bruise His
Son. It pleased Him to call sinners
by His grace. Be of good cheer. John Calvin
wrote these words. He said, seeing there's a pilot
that steers the ship in which we sail, who will never allow
us to perish even in the midst of shipwrecks, there is no reason
why our minds should be overwhelmed with fear or overcome with weariness. The Lord has his way. In the
midst of tribulation, he has stood by me. In the midst of
tribulation, he has stood by me. When the host of hell is
sailed, and my strength begins to fail, thou, who has never
lost a battle, has stood by me. Verse 24, Paul said he told him
to fear not, that is this angel, this messenger of God, fear not,
Paul, thou must be brought before Caesar. And lo, God hath given
thee all them that sail with thee. You must be brought before
Caesar. Actually in chapter 23, our Lord
told Paul as he sat in jail, in prison, Paul, fear not, be
of good cheer, thou must be brought before Caesar. And so he reminds
him of that again here. There are some must things God
has determined for his glory. The exalting of his son and the
salvation of his people. These two things are tied together.
They are must-be things. Listen to what our Lord himself
said not long before he was crucified. Luke chapter 18, verse 31. Then he took unto him the twelve
and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things
that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man might
take place, perhaps shall be accomplished. No, he said they
shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto
the Gentiles, and he shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated,
and spitted upon, and they shall scourge him and put him to death.
And the third day he shall, he shall rise again. John chapter 12. And Jesus answered
them saying, the hour has come that the Son of Man should be
glorified. These are must be things. Verily,
verily I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fallen at the
ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. In 1 Corinthians 15 verse 25
we read concerning Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, the mighty
God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. We read
that he must reign. He must reign. Well, who's going
to stop that? He must reign. He must reign
the glorified God. Christ declared plainly when
he walked this earth, I came down from heaven not to do my
own will, but the will of the Father who sent me. God sent
his Son on a mission. A mission to accomplish the eternal
redemption of his people. Not to make it possible, but
to accomplish it, to obtain it. God sent his son to save his
people from their sins. And Christ said, Father, I finished
the work you gave me to do. Anything less than that would
not honor his Father. But Christ magnified the law
of God. by satisfying it completely,
keeping the law's precepts while he lived, suffering its penalty
when he died, and he did both to the full satisfaction of God
who sent him. In other words, he got the job
done. He got the job done. He must
reign also to accomplish his purpose. As I said, as Christ
said, he came into this world for a purpose and he did not
fail. Oh, glorious, glorious thought.
Happy is the man that knows this. He put away, Christ put away
sin by the sacrifice of himself. And he brought in an everlasting
righteousness. And He must reign in order to
bring all those that He purchased with His precious blood to glory.
He must do that. All those He redeemed when He
died, He now reigns in glory to bring every one of them to
be with Him where He is, that they too may behold His glory. And the Good Shepherd wills that
they be with Him where He is. Christ must reign to save His
people. It is true to say that Christ
has saved his people. He is saving his people and he
shall save his people. He must reign to save all his
people from all their sins and our great God and Savior shall
do exactly that. He's able. He's able. Shout of God. When you look at that rebel daughter
or son or brother or sister or parent or companion, unwilling, unable to come to
Christ. Oh, but then turn your eyes away
from them and look at Christ. Oh, look at the Son of God exalted
on high and given a name above every name. See Him who is able
to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him. Multitudes,
multitudes of sinners have come to Him, have come to the fountain
of living waters and have drank, have drank and gone away to live
forever. Yes, he's able to save from sin's
very presence when he brings us all to the Father's house
and that multitude of redeemed sinners shall all sing hallelujah. We read this in Revelation. They
all cast down their crowns and sing hallelujah for the Lord
God omnipotent reigneth. When Christ shall come with shouts
of acclamation and take me home what joy shall fill my heart
that I shall bow in humble adoration and there proclaim my God how
great thou art." In Revelation chapter 4, John saw a door opened
in heaven and a voice saying unto him, John come up hither
and I will show thee things that must be hereafter. Some must be things. Be of good
cheer. And a fourth thing. Paul was
fully convinced of God's faithfulness. Paul was sure that what God had
promised, he was able to perform. Paul, you must be brought before
Caesar. And he was. God had made an absolute
promise of deliverance and safety to Paul. And Paul said, that's
why I told you to be of good cheer. I believe God. I believe God. Paul, like Abraham,
was persuaded that what God promised he was able to perform. I love
this verse of scripture in Joshua. Old Joshua, the successor of
Moses. Moses' protege, so to speak. Or Moses was his. When that man
of God lay dying, that man who had taking the children of Israel
from the hand of Moses and brought them across Jordan into the promised
land. He called them around him one
day, the elders of Israel, and he said, Behold, this day I'm
going the way of all the earth. And you know, you know, child
of God, as I read these words here in Joshua 23, verse 14,
can we not all say the same? Is this not our testimony, each
one of, each and every believer? Joshua told them, you know in
all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has
failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake
concerning you. All are come to pass unto you
and not one thing has failed thereof and so shall it be. I believe God. When he says be
of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee in spite of my corrupt nature. In spite of my yet indwelling
sin, I believe God. In the days of Judah, in his
days rather, Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is his name, whereby
he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. In the teeth Of
all my sins, I'm not like some professing Christians who have
reached the state of sinless perfection. No, no, no. The old man is not one whit better. He's not gotten any better, and
he won't. But in the teeth of that reality,
in the teeth of all my sins, I believe that Christ is my righteousness
still. My good works don't improve his
righteousness, and my bad works, my sins, do not mar his righteousness. This robe that the Son of God
puts upon every believing sinner never loses its shine, never
loses its luster, never loses its acceptance before God. Whatever
doubts and fears I may have, Oh, God, give me grace not to
doubt this, that he is my righteousness still. When I read words such
as this, be of good cheer. I believe God. Being confident
of this very thing, that he which had begun a good work in you
will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. And also this,
now unto him that is able to keep you from falling. That's
no small task. and to present you faultless
before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy to the only
wise God our Savior be glory and majesty, dominion and power
both now and forever. Amen. I read the other evening
again a story that I had forgotten. One that Mr. Spurgeon told. There
was a large sum of money given to Roland Hill to give to another
pastor, a poor pastor. And Mr. Hill, for some reason,
thought it was best not to give it all to this man at one time
than to give it to him in installments. So he sent him a portion of it
in an envelope with just these words, more to follow, more to
follow. In a short time, another envelope
arrived at the poor pastor's house with the same words written
on it. More to follow. At regular intervals,
there came a third and a fourth until he had received the entire
sum. More to follow. Spurgeon went
on to say, when God forgives our sins, there's more forgiveness
to follow. Oh, I'm glad of that. He justifies
us in the righteousness of Christ, but there's more to follow. He
adopts us into his own family. Behold what matter of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
sons of God. There's more to follow. He prepares
us for heaven, but there's more to follow. He gives you grace
upon grace upon grace, but there's more to follow. He helps us to
old age, but there's still more to follow, such as this. They shall see His face. Oh, do you believe that? then
be of good cheer. Look at verse 44 here in Acts
chapter 27. Look how it ends. Just as Paul
said, and so it came to pass that they escaped all safe to
land because God leads his dear children along. Harken unto me,
O house of Jacob and all the remnant of the house of Israel
which are born by me from the belly and which are carried from
the womb. And even to your old age I am
he, and even into whore hairs will I carry you. I have made
and I will bear, even I will carry and will deliver you. When I'm growing old and feeble,
stand by me. When I'm growing old and feeble,
stand by me. When my life becomes a burden
and I'm nearing chilly Jordan, Oh, thou lily of the valley,
stand by me. That is much like what David
said. Though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, because thou, thou,
my everlasting portion, thou who loved me and gave yourself
for me, thou art with me. Be of good cheer. God bless you.
Thank you for your attention.