The verse says, and in that day,
verse 18, and in that day, and you might ask, what? What day? What day is he talking
about? Well, I believe he's talking
about the day of the Lord. I believe he's talking about
the day of God's power. I believe he's talking about
the day and the hour when God in His sovereign grace and mercy
appears to a man, when He appears unto one of His dear sheep. a
day when the Lord is pleased to manifest Himself. It's the
day of the manifestation of God to a poor soul, to one who is
waiting upon the Lord. He says, and in that day shall
the deaf hear the words of the book. Now, we know that all men
by nature are deaf. They are deaf to the Word of
God. They are deaf to the voice of God's Spirit until they are
made alive and enabled to hear the words of the book. And then
how many times you, being a poor child of God, have experienced
that you've taken up the Bible, and I suppose there's more Bibles
in the world today than there are maybe of any other book that
has ever been printed. Maybe more Bibles in our homes
than any other book. But I'll tell you this this morning,
that the Bible is probably the least read book of any, maybe,
that we have in our homes. Are we reading the Word of God?
But many times, as poor sheep of Christ, we take up the Bible
and we read it, but our ears are deaf. We do not hear what
the Bible is saying. We can read over and over a chapter,
and sometimes we're ashamed of ourselves that we got so little
out of the book that we've read, out of the chapter that we've
read, out of the verses that we've read. And so in that day
shall the deaf hear the words of the book. Do you long to hear
the word of God? Do you long to hear the words
of the book? Do you long that this Bible would
be made flesh and that you'd be able to understand the meaning
of Scripture, that you'd be able to receive the message of God's
Spirit into your heart? Have you longed for that? Do
you desire that? Do you hunger and thirst after
righteousness? Well, he says in that day, in
that day when the Lord is pleased to come to you, manifest Himself
to you, when the Lord is pleased to visit your household, and
to visit your soul in particular, then, he said, you'll hear the
words of this book. The deaf are going to hear the
words of this book. You hearing the Word of God is
the most important thing probably that'll ever happen in your life. You hearing from God in the word. God speaking to you off the pages
of the scripture and the scripture coming alive in your soul. You
knowing what God has said. God having spoken a word to you,
your deaf ears being opened and you hearing what God says. Now it's impossible for a deaf
man to hear. But it is not possible if God
is pleased to send His Word, where the Word of God is, there's
power, there's authority, and where the Word of the King is,
the Bible says, there is authority, and when God is pleased to speak
a word, your deaf ears will hear. They really will hear. And you
know, as a poor child of God in this world, as one who is
trying to deal with all of the tests and the difficulties and
the trials, that come to us in this world many, many times,
I need to hear a word from God. I need to hear a word. I need
for God to say something to me. And I've been in just that kind
of a case recently where I needed to hear a word from the Lord,
where I needed to be visited by God. And he goes on to say,
the deaf's gonna hear the words of this book, and the eyes of
the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness. The eyes
of the blind. You know, God's people are blind
as far as this world and their walk in this world. We're blind. There's so many things that we
do not know, we do not understand, we do not know what's happening.
And the Bible says that if a man's ways be of the Lord, how can
he know his way? And the scripture talks about
how that the Lord says, I will bring the blind by a way which
they know not, in paths which they've not known, I'll make
the darkness light and the crooked way straight. This will I do
unto them and not forsake them. The Lord is leading His people.
His people are, as it were, blind. in that that they do not know
the way. There's not a one of us here
this morning that would say, just leave it to me, Lord. I
know the way. I know the way. I just know where
to go, how to go. I know how to go about this thing
of life. I know how to make decisions,
and I can very well make the decisions that my life is concerned
with. But beloved, we know that as
God's dear people having been in the way for a number of years,
and the longer you're in the way, the more convinced you'll
become that it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps,
that no man is able in and of himself to find the way. The scripture says that his ways
are not our ways. As the heavens are higher than
the earth, so are the Lord's ways higher than our ways and
so his ways not being our way and even when we become what
we call very pious and very very spiritual we often discover that
at that very time the Lord crosses our path with his way and we're
dumbfounded and we just simply do not know what to do uh...
and then there comes a time when the Lord humbles our hearts and
we just simply must bow our knee and surrender up ourself to His
way, to the Lord's way. But you see, we're blind in this
world and we're going to see though. He says there's a time
when the eyes of the blind will see out of obscurity. There's
going to come a day, there's going to come a morning when
you pick up your Bible and your ears will no longer be dead.
There will come a day whenever the Word of God is read, and
where a man speaks the Word, and where God opens up your blinded
eyes, and you begin to see the way of the Lord, and you begin
to see the way that you're to take. You begin to see that,
and it comes and is open to you. Well, this is the day that He's
talking about, and it may be tomorrow for one of you, it may
be next week for some of the rest, It may be that we'll wait
for a year before we hear a word from God or the Lord comes and
shows us something and our blind eyes are able to see something
out of obscurity and out of darkness. But then in verse 19, he says,
the meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord. The meek. those that are submissive
to God, those that are waiting upon God, those that trust the
providence of God, those that leave their life and their concerns
in the hands of Almighty God, those that are not out here in
the world like the men of the world and trying to, as it were,
to glean all they can get here in this world and hook or crook
or whatever trying to get in this world all that they can
possibly get their hands on, the meek, the meek that trust
in the Lord, the meek, those that have the attitude of old
Moses. when the Lord, you know, appeared
to him. He said, well, Lord, I can't speak. I don't have the
ability to speak. He was a very meek man. The meekest
man, I suppose, according to what the Word of God teaches,
that lived in his day. A very meek man. And so, there
are many in our day and time who cast all their care upon
the Lord every day, knowing that He cares for them. There are
many every day that go to prayer and ask the Lord for daily bread. There's many that go to the Lord
every day, His dear people in this world that are tried and
tested, and sometimes they feel wrung out like a rag, and they
just simply don't know what to do about their circumstances
and their situation, and they just rest in the Lord. Somebody
says, well, why aren't you doing something? Why don't you do this
or do that? And they say, we're waiting on
the Lord. You know, Matthew Henry wrote a book on meekness. and
it was one of the most eye-opening books that I ever read. And it
was cross-grained to everything that I feel in the flesh. It
really was. And one of the things that he
said was that as the Lord's people we ought to go out to the cemetery
and we ought to study long and hard the grave and we ought to
study the silence that's in the cemetery. You know we have this
this thing about murmuring and complaining and this business
of always being upset and this business of somehow or other
feeling that we've got to get our two cents in or we've got
to get ours while we're here in this world and that things
ought to be different with us and we just deserve that they
be different with us and we're always speaking as it were from
a heart You know, the Bible says that as a man thinketh in his
heart, so is he. The Bible speaks of the heart
as something that needs to be kept, and we need to be very
careful what we say that comes out of our hearts. But this is
somehow or other the attitude. Well, if you go out and study
the silence that's in the graveyard, you know the Bible says that
we're dead? The Bible says we're dead and our life is hid with
Christ in God. The Lord's people are dead with
Christ. They died with Him. And they're
dead as we stand to the world and the things of the world.
And meekness comes from are just being silent, are just being
sometimes just not saying anything, just simply waiting on the Lord.
That's meekness. And it says here, the meek also,
the meek also shall increase their joy. They may seem to be
very melancholy at times. They may seem to be very much
cast down at times. They may seem to be as if they
were not, they just were in this world as an orphan is in this
world. That they have nothing and that
they're just waiting on the hand of God to provide and to give
to them what they need. And they're in circumstances
that are not favorable to them getting ahead and them being
able to move on, as it were, in this world and to have the
things of this world. They're not in that position.
that what they must do is wait on the Lord. But the scripture
says there's coming a day. There's a day when the meek also
shall increase their joy in the Lord. It's not always going to
be that way. The day is going to come when
you as a meek man Going to rejoice and going to be able to praise
God and be full of joy in the Lord and the poor among men Shall
rejoice in the Holy One of Israel the poor and I think that he
means the poor in spirit but of course we read in the scripture
that the poor have the gospel preached to them and we do know
that the Lord is many, many times makes a man poor in spirit and
empties him out in order that he could fill him, in order that
he could fill him with the true riches, in order that he could
give him. You know the scripture says that
the rich the Lord sent empty away the Lord sent them away
now they were full of themselves and they were full of the things
of this world they had plenty of everything as far as the world
is concerned but they had no capacity for the things of God
so the Lord sent them away empty the Bible says the rich he sent
away empty but the poor you know, to a poor man or to a hungry
soul, every bitter thing is sweet. God gives them a morsel. God
gives them something that will cause them to rejoice. God gives
them something that will make them glad. a poor man, a man
who waits on God, a man who trusts God, a man who says live or die,
I'll trust the Lord, a man who says if I have or have not, I'll
trust God, I'll wait on the Lord, whatever my situation is, I'll
trust the Lord, I'll wait on Him. That man, there'll come
a day when he's going to rejoice, and isn't anybody going to be
able to steal his joy from him? He'll have a time of rejoicing,
and the meek, as they increase their joy, they increase their
joy, and the poor shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. Well,
I heard a word From the Lord, and I want to share it with you
today I want you to turn to John chapter 13, and I want to show
you a few verses here now that were of special Blessing to me
and talk to you a little bit about these words now in John
chapter 13 I'd like to read here beginning in with verse 21 and
when Jesus had thus said he was troubled in spirit and Testified
and said barely barely I say unto you that one of you shall
betray me now the Lord Jesus being in this world was a man
of sorrows and acquainted with grief and And there were often
times when he experienced, he was a man who had emotions, he
was 100% man, 100% God, and he had emotions, and certainly he
was in the flesh, in a body of flesh, a body that God had prepared
him, he was without sin, he had no sin, he was born of a virgin,
But here we find that the Bible says that even Jesus was troubled
in spirit. And he testified and said, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, that one of you is going to betray
me. Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom
he spake. Now there was leaning on Jesus'
bosom one of his disciples whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore
beckoned to him that he should ask who it should be of whom
he spake. He then lying on Jesus' breast
saith unto him, Lord, who is it? Jesus answered, He it is,
to whom I shall give a sop. when I have dipped it." And when
he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son
of Simon. And after the sop, Satan entered
into him, then said to Jesus unto him, That thou doest, you
do quickly. Now no man at the table knew
for what intent he spake this unto them. I'm reading this so
that you might get the picture here of the object of our Lord
in these verses. For some of them thought because
Judas had the bag that Jesus had said unto him, buy those
things that you have need of against the feast, or that he
should give something to the poor. He then, having received
the salt, went out immediately, went immediately out, and it
was night. Therefore, when he was gone out,
Jesus said, now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified
in him. If God be glorified in him, God
shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify
him. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall
seek me, and as I said unto the Jews, whither I go ye cannot
come. So now I say to you a new commandment
I have given to you, that ye love one another as I have loved
you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that
you're my disciples, if you have love one to another. Simon Peter
saith unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him,
Whether I go thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow
me afterwards. Peter said unto him, Lord, why
cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy
sake. Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my
sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
The cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice. And
then verse 1 of chapter 14, let not your heart be troubled, you
believe in God, believe also in me. Now then, our Lord's object,
I think, throughout this portion of scripture seems clear and
plain to me, and that is that He would give a word of comfort
and establish and build up these downcast disciples. Now he saw
that their hearts were troubled and Jesus himself, as we mentioned,
was troubled in spirit. And many, many times the people
of God find themselves in just this kind of situation where
we're troubled and where we have a degree of heart trouble. Now
there was a variety of causes as to why that the disciples
at this time were discouraged while they were cast down. And
one is, as we mentioned, the master was troubled in spirit.
and then by hearing that one of them, one of the twelve, should
betray him. Our Lord had said, back in verse
18, He says, I speak not of you all. I know whom I have chosen,
that the scripture may be fulfilled. He that eateth bread with me
hath lifted up his heel against me. And this, I believe, discouraged
these disciples that they knew that one of them And so much
so that they looked on one another doubting of whom he spake. They
looked on each other saying, well, I wonder who he's talking
about? Which one of us is it that will betray him? And then
I think also that when Judas got up and left, the mysterious
departure of Judas also troubled these disciples. And when Satan
entered into him, no man at the table knew for what intent he
spake this unto him. That is, why Jesus spoke as he
did unto Judas. For some of them thought because
Judas had the bag that Jesus had said to them, buy those things
that we have need of against the feast, or that he should
give something to the poor. He then having received the sop
went immediately out, and it was night. I'm sure of this.
Had some effect upon the minds of those disciples and then also
his announcement that he should be a little time With them look
at verse 33 little children get a little while I'm with you now
you and I can very well see where that that would have an effect
on upon our hearts and would cause us some degree of trouble
if someone were to say to us, somebody that was as dear and
precious to us as our Lord Jesus Christ, if he was in our midst
and if he had been with us for some time, he said, little children,
a little while I'm with you. I'm just going to be with you
a little while, and then I'm going to be gone. You shall seek
me, and as I said unto the Jews, whither I go you cannot come,
so now I say unto you, You cannot come and I'm just going to be
with you for just a little time. Now also, the warning that he
gave to Peter that he would deny him. Now listen to what he said
to Peter. Peter said, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? Jesus
had told him, whether I go, you can't not follow me now. But
thou shalt follow me afterwards. Peter said unto him, Lord, why
cannot I follow you now? I'll lay down my life for your
sake. And Jesus answered him, Will you lay down your life for
my sake? Verily, verily, or truly, truly,
I say unto you, Peter, the cock shall not crow till thou hast
denied me thrice. You better deny me. Now can you
imagine the atmosphere then at this time in this place when
the Lord Jesus had disclosed all these things and these mysterious
things were happening here uh... in the midst of the disciples
uh... can't you imagine the heart trouble
and jesus sensed it and so he said in verse one of chapter
fourteen let not your heart be troubled you believe in god believe
also in me don't let your heart be troubled now beloved heart
disease is an old disease heart trouble in god's people uh... is something that is very common
We have that disease, I have it, and I think you have it.
Many, many times your heart is disturbed, your heart is troubled,
and you might have not got all of the things dumped on you that
was dumped on the disciples at any one time, but you still can
wake up many mornings and not even really know why. You're
just cast down, you're just discouraged, you're just trouble in your heart.
I was talking with a dear soul the other day, and I said, well,
how are you? And she said, well, I'm all right. And I said, well, what's going
on? And she said, well, I'm depressed.
And I said, well, depressed? Yes, I'm depressed. And I said,
well, is there anything in particular? No. I don't know what it is,
even. I'm just depressed. I'm just
cast down. And so, beloved, it is that way
with God's people on many, many occasions. And this is trouble
of heart. Now, heart trouble, I think probably
you and I would say that it's very common. very common among
those who are disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. And certainly
there's no rank, no class, or condition that is exempt from
it. No bars or bolts or locks. Somebody
said you can keep it out. We're just going to have heart
trouble now and then. There's going to be times when
we're going to feel that we're deaf, where we feel we're blind,
we feel that we need a word from the book, and we feel that we
need light to come to us in our obscurity and our darkness. And from inward causes we have
this, and from outward causes, partly from the body. This old
body, some of you are getting older here, and the day's going
to come when you're going to be bothered by afflictions that
you haven't experienced before. And these afflictions are going
to be very depressing. You take note, of course, that
I said some of you are getting older and you're going to have
these outward afflictions, these afflictions in your body that
are going to cause you a great deal of trouble, a great deal
of trouble. And I'll tell you, it's no small
matter to be sick, to be afflicted in the body. And oh, for the
day when God's people, even though they are afflicted and greatly,
greatly afflicted, they'll be able to say, I'm not sick. I'm
not sick in the light of the fact that God is with them. The preciousness of the Lord
is surrounding them. The Lord's grace is greatly upon
them, and they're so intoxicated with the power of the world to
come that they say, I'm not sick. I'm not sick. I'm not sick at
all. the law it's in the lord's hands
and i don't feel uh... this sickness i'm so taken up
with god's goodness and grace and what he's promised that i
have not seen nor ear heard neither has entered into the heart of
man i'm so taken up with that that i can say is the book of
isaiah says i am not sick now then from inward causes and from
outward causes we have this heart trouble We have this heart trouble. Partly from the body as we said,
partly from the mind. A lot of times it's our minds
that give us trouble. I'll tell you what, this old
mind, there's an awful lot that goes into it. There's an awful
lot that comes out of it. And there's an awful lot that
you gotta watch it. This mind will get you in trouble.
If you think too much, if you study too much. I remember talking
recently to Steve Aquino and uh... he seemed to be on that
particular at that particular time a little upbeat and i said
what's what's going on and he said well i i i i have uh... been dealing with my mind and
i've kinda kinda got a little bit straightened out and i pretty
well got myself way down just in my thoughts And so by the
grace of God, I've been able to get myself back on track in
my mind. And I'm better now. I'm better
now. Well, from what we love in this
world, we have a lot of trouble because from what we love in
this world. You know, many, many times we
love things in this world we ought not love. The scripture
said, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
For if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not
in him. All that's in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the fathers of
the world. The world is passing away. They
that will do the will of God will abide forever. The things
that we love in this world gives us a lot of heart trouble. And
then also, those whom we love in this world can give us a lot
of heart trouble. Your children, and in your human
relationships, you can have a lot of heart trouble by and through
those people that you love in this world. And from what we
fear, also gives us a lot of trouble. What are you thinking
about? What are you fearful of? What are you fearful of? Are
you afraid of what's coming? Are you afraid to more or less
to get up every day? Are you just kind of afraid of
life? Afraid of failing? afraid of
coming down the road, coming into some very difficult and
hard places, afraid of all those mountains you've got to climb,
afraid of all those valleys that you have to go through. Are you
afraid? Are you afraid to die? Are you
afraid to get old? Are you afraid of what's coming
in your life? Are you fearful? Well, beloved,
that's heart trouble. That's heart trouble. Now, the
journey of life is just full of this trouble we're talking
about. It's full of it. The journey of life. Things being
sprung on us. I'm not going to be with you
very long. I'm going to be gone. Out of here. We've heard that
so many times. I'm leaving. I won't be here
no more. I'm leaving. You coming back?
Well, I don't know. I'd like to. I'd sure love to,
but I don't know whether I'll ever be back or not. I'm leaving.
And then, you know, so many goodbyes in this world. So many things
to trouble an individual's heart. The best of Christians have many,
many, John Bunyan said, bitter cups to drink between grace and
glory. Many bitter cups to drink. Between their experience in the
grace of God and regeneration, And they're entering in to eternal
glory. Is that not true? John Bunyan
knew what he was talking about. He knew what he was talking about.
He certainly was right about that. The holiest scene of God
finds that this world is a veil of tears. That's what it is.
A time when things are strung on us that just trouble us inside
the time when we hear news sometimes from afar sometimes from near
and we just have all kinds of trouble dealing with it well
there's only one way to deal with it and our lord gives us
here uh... the prescription he gives us
the sure medicine in verse one here he said let not your heart
be troubled you believe in god believe also in me So faith,
beloved, is the medicine that cures heart trouble. Faith. You must believe God. To believe
more thoroughly what you already believe. To believe it more thoroughly.
Analyze what you believe and believe it more thoroughly. It
done me good, early part of this week, Monday, I flew back on
an airplane with a fellow from out in Memphis, Tennessee, who
was a Sovereign Grace believer. And we talked a great deal about
what we believed and all, and it done me a great deal of good
to be able just to confess to him what I believed. What I believed. Done me a lot of good. It'd do
you a whole lot of good to talk it over with somebody. Visit
with somebody and talk over with them what you believe that you
might more thoroughly believe what you already believe. You
need to believe it more thoroughly. And not only that, but you need
to trust more entirely. Trust more entirely. You say,
well, you know, I've got to leave a little room over here to deal
with these things. No, the best thing for you to do is trust
entirely the Lord. Give up all of these things into
God's hands and trust Him with Him. Steve Aquino called me yesterday. We were talking and he had a
situation come up recently which which was very, very discouraging
to him. He was being sued by a fella
that he had did some electrical work for. And this fella had
waited two years, but Steve apparently was working on his box, the power
box in his home, and the box was in terrible shape. The wiring
had been very poorly installed, So Steve pulled out some breakers
and the house caught on fire. The wires just somehow or other,
the box caught on fire and there was a lot of smoke damage. And
then Steve bought a new box on his own and took it back and
installed it and did all the work. And yet the fellow's insurance
company, who paid $7,000 to clean up the house and to redo some
things, They are suing Steve now for
the money. Well, somehow or other, Steve
was just, he never thought about the fact that he had liability
insurance. And so he had been worked up for a week about it
and just thought it was the end. I mean, here I am being sued,
and I'm a Baptist preacher, I'm being sued, and this is just
going to ruin me. Not only financially, it's going
to ruin me. It's going to cost the lawyer. The lawyer's going
to cost $3,000 to represent me. And I said, Steve, don't you
have liability insurance? Well, yeah, I've got liability
insurance. I said, well, Steve, that'll take care of it. That'll
take care of it. Just turn it over to them." And
I said, they got some big lawyers, big dog lawyers that's got teeth
in their mouth and they'll take care of it for you. You just
turn it over to them. Well, boy, he got some relief
from that. He got a great deal of relief
from that. But he said, But now I've got another problem. I said,
well, what's that? He said, well, I've got to preach in the morning.
I don't have a thing to preach. I said, you know, Steve, this
is the Lord's work. You and I are involved in the
Lord's work. This is the Lord's work. And
you trust Him. You trust Him. you rest yourself
in Him and trust Him to give you a word for those people in
the morning. It's His work. They're His people
and it's His word and you trust Him. And if He's not in it, you
don't need to be in it. It's best if you not be in it,
if the Lord's not with you. And so rest in the Lord. And
so rest more unreservedly in the Lord. Lay hold more firmly. Lean back more completely. This is the prescription. This is the prescription. You
got heart trouble? You're afflicted? The Lord's
going to appear. Believe that God, believe His
Word. Believe what He said in His Word. The scripture says that the Lord's
going to keep him in perfect peace. That trust in Him, that
waits on Him. Now we'll keep him in perfect
peace, Isaiah 26 and 3, because he trusteth in the Lord. You
know, these disciples, I think they already believe, don't you?
I think they did. I think they already believe,
but they ought to believe more. Jesus said, you believe on me.
Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. You believe
in God and he said just believe also in me. Trust me. Trust my
wisdom and trust me. Now there was a word that came
to me yesterday that impressed my heart a great deal and enabled
me to be in a kind of frame of mind where I could come here
this morning and where I could speak to you. And we find over
in the Word of God, if you were to turn with me to Matthew chapter
9, I want you to look at this with me. I won't spend much time
on this, but I want you to see this as we close out our thoughts
here this morning. Listen, beloved, there is nothing
holy, there is nothing sanctifying about gloominess, or about despondency,
about morbid pessimism. There isn't anything about it
that is becoming to a child of God. When we're in that kind
of a state, listen, that is the exact opposite of the fruit of
the Spirit which God has given by His Holy Spirit to His people. You could read in the book of
Galatians chapter 5 that the fruit of the Spirit is love and
joy, and so on and so forth. And you can read that in that
fifth chapter of the book of Galatians. But to be cast down,
to be gloomy and despondent, to be troubled in heart, is just
the opposite of what we ought to be. Now, the Holy Spirit is
our comforter. I want to mention that to you.
The Holy Spirit is our comforter, not our tormentor. If you're being tormented, then that's not the Spirit's
work. The Holy Spirit's work is to comfort His people. But here in the book of Matthew,
chapter 9, I want you to look, if you will, at the second verse. Here is this fellow that was
sick of the palsy. And in verse 1 it says, And he
entered into a ship, that is, Jesus did, and he passed over,
and came unto his own city. And, behold, they brought to
him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed. And Jesus, seeing
their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good
cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee. Now, beloved, when we're cast
down and we are dishonoring our Heavenly
Father, many, many times we need to hear the Word of the Book.
And the Word of the Book to me yesterday was, Son, be of good
cheer. Be of good cheer. Now, the word
cheer means to be put into good spirits. It means to be merry
of heart. And it means, it comes, there's
a word called, it's hilarious. And this signifies that readiness
of mind, that joy, joyousness, which prompts an individual to
do the things that he ought to do as a child of God. For an example, we read in 2
Corinthians 9 and 7 that God loveth a cheerful or a hilarious
giver. One that has joy in their hearts
and is ready of mind to do what they ought to do. They're prompted
by the cheerfulness of their heart to do as God would lead
them to do. And so here we find, and I want
just to point out a few places to you, where this word cheer
is used. And son be of good cheer. Son
be of good cheer. The deaf is going to hear a word
out of the book. and the meek are going to rejoice
in the Lord, and we are going to, as God's people, the Lord's
going to come to us, and He's going to do something in us,
and He's going to say something to us. Our heart trouble will
be taken away. We'll be able to believe God.
The day is coming. The day of the Lord, the day
and the time is coming. And you need to believe that.
And here's this man who's sick of the palsy. The Lord said to
him, Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee. Now I
want you to understand that this man was still paralyzed. He was
forgiven though. He was still paralyzed, but he
was forgiven. And that is reason enough to
be of good cheer, son. The Lord says, you just be of
good spirits. even though you paralyzed you'd
be a good spirit by scenes be forgiven the so here is the day
that this man this death man as it were this man who uh... Needed so desperately to hear
a word from the Lord. Here's the day in which he heard
it son Be a good spirits be comforted be courageous Thy sins be forgiven
thee then also look in this same chapter at verse 22 verse 22
and here's where the woman that came to Jesus which had the disease
with an issue of blood 12 years and came behind him and touched
the hem of his garment. For she said within herself,
if I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned
to him about, notice her day. Here she is. Don't you think
she need to hear a word from the Lord? Don't you think she
need it? uh... that uh... a word from the book
as it were she needed to hear from god but jesus turned him
about and when he saw her he said daughter be of good comfort
well that word comfort there is the same word translated cheer
in other places daughter be of good cheer thy faith hath made
thee whole be of good cheer Other words, be of good spirits. There's
no need to be cast down despondent and know you spent all your living.
I know that you give it all to these quacks and they haven't
been able to do anything for you. And I know that you need
help. I know you do. But be of good
comfort. Be of good cheer. Get rid of
your heart trouble. Get rid of it. Believe me. Trust
me. Thy faith. You having believed
me your faith has made you whole and then there's another verse
of scripture that I want you to see and that's Matthew chapter
14 Look in Matthew chapter 14 and look at verse 27 And you remember the story that
Jesus had constrained his disciples to get into a ship. These are
everyday life events, is what they are. And that's what I'm
trying to show you. That this heart trouble and this need of
the day of the Lord and this need of a visit from God, all
of it is just everyday experience for God's people. And they got
into the ship and had to go over to the other side. And when he
had sent the multitude away, he went up into the 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.
They cried out for fear, but Jesus spake unto them, but straightway
Jesus spake unto them saying, Be of good cheer, be of good
spirits, it is I, be not afraid, it is I. Now you see he appears
to them when the ship was in the midst of the sea tossed with
the waves, the wind was contrary, picture that in your own life.
What would, how would that translate? Well, every one of you could
get up and say, now here's the way it translates in my life.
Last week, on Wednesday, so and so and such and such. I mean,
I was out in the midst of the sea. I was tossed up and down
in the waves. And the wind, oh, it was so contrary. Did you ever get up and you felt
like all day long something was just blowing you back? That you
just could not get going? You couldn't accomplish what
you wanted to accomplish? Listen, that's where the disciples
were. And the Lord Jesus came. He came. That's that day we were
talking about earlier. Out of Isaiah 29, verse 18. That's the day. He came. And
He said, you be of good cheer. Be of good cheer. It is I Be
not afraid. I got this thing under control.
I've got this situation here under control. And the presence
of Christ and the realization of his providential rule should
cause us to be of good cheer. Is that right? It should cause
us to be of good cheer. And that's what the Lord said
to me yesterday. He said, be of good cheer. I
got this thing under control. I'll take care of this thing.
You just trust me. You rely on me. Just cast yourself
on me and don't try to work this thing out. Lord, I don't have
any wisdom to go forward. I don't know what to do. I don't
know how to deal with this and that and other things. Just cast
yourself on me. Be of good cheer. Be of good
spirits. They don't need to be gloomy
and despondent and cast down and despair. No need! Just be
of good cheer. Be of good cheer. I'll take care
of it. Trust my providential rule. Okay? And then another verse
is John 16 and 33. I'd like for you to turn there
and look at this. John 16 and verse 33. Our Lord, again, had been speaking
to them, the disciples. In verse 28, He said, I came
forth from the Father and am come into the world. Again, I
leave the world and go to the Father. And His disciples said
to Him, Lo, Lord, now speakest thou plainly and speakest no
proverb. And Jesus, in verse 31, said, Do you now believe?
He said, Behold the hour, yea, is now come that you shall be
scattered, every man to his own. You folks are going to all be
scattered, and you're going to leave me alone. I'm going to
the cross, and when they take me and lead me into fireless
judgment hall, you all are going to scatter, every man to his
own. And yet, he said, I'm not alone
because the Father is with me. These things I've spoken unto
you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you'll have
tribulation. In the world, you're going to
have trouble. In the world, you're going to have many days when
you're just not going to know how to deal with things. You're
going to have heart trouble many days. But be of good cheer, but
be of good spirits. This is not something that's
to overwhelm you and to drive you to the point of suicide, drive you to the point
of doing something that would bring reproach on your God this
is not this is not what this is about Jesus said in the world
you're going to have trouble that word tribulation is trouble
but you be of good spirits be comforted be comforted be courageous
stand like a man, and be believing, trusting the Lord, I have overcome
this world. I've overcome it. I've already
gone before you. I've already gone before you.
I started this thing a long time ago, and I'm going to have to
wash myself here, or I'm going to jump a rabbit, and first thing
you know I'll be off on another track. But I get to thinking
every once in a while about how the Lord how the Lord was looking
out for me before he saved me. About how he's looking out for
me in this world and how he looked out for me since he saved me.
And there's a good picture of that in the scripture about that
tree. You remember that our Lord was
walking along and this fig tree hadn't borne any fruit. And somebody
said, cut her down, cut her down. And the man said, well, no, don't
do that. He said, I'll dig about it and
water it. And if it don't have any fruit
on it next year, you can cut it down. And you know, there
was a time when the Lord, I'm sure, passed by me and the intercessory
work of our Lord started in the life of his sheep before they
were ever converted. And God said, cut that center
down. and the Lord Jesus said no don't
cut him down I'll dig about him and I'll water him and he'll
bear fruit there'll be fruit there next year and there came
a time when the Lord did water me about dug up the soil around
as it were and the Lord caused me to be fruitful well that's
a rabbit I was telling you about but I mean these are things that
just just just enter into my mind this morning but anyway
i'm in the uh... uh... sixteen chapter john where
the with the lord said i will come i will become out i'm out
in front of you i've been out in front of you before you were
ever Well, before you came forth out of the womb, I was out in
front of you. I've been out in front of you from old eternity.
I've been in front of the Lord's people. I've overcome the world
on the behalf of my people. I've overcome it. All right?
And then there's another verse that I want us to see. And that's
over in the book of Acts. And that's the last one. Acts
chapter 27. Acts chapter 27. And we take
note here Verse let's look at verse 21
through 25 Remember Paul was on ship and
there was a huge storm And the tempest lay on us and
all hope that we should be saved was then taken away in verse
20 but after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst
of them and said sirs I You should have hearkened unto me, and not
have loosed from Crete, to have gained this harm and loss. And
now I exhort you, verse 22, to be of good cheer, for there shall
be no loss of any man's life among you but of the ship. I
exhort you to be of good spirits. For there stood by me this night
the angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve. There's that
day of the Lord, that day when God the day of his manifestation,
the day of his revelation, the day when God comes and speaks
and gives a word and the deaf ears are opened and the blind
eyes see. 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 say with thee, Wherefore, sirs, be
of good cheer. Wherefore, sirs, be of good spirits
for I believe God he learned a lesson didn't he he said I
just believe God I believe what God told me and God just told
me and so I'm telling you you you be of good cheer it shall
be even as it was told me God's gonna deliver us he will deliver
us and so you just trust him and I'll tell you what I can't
stand here before you this morning and say that I always believed
God regardless of what happened in my life at every given time.
That I always just could trust Him unreservedly and rest without
a murmur. I can't stand here and tell you
that. But here this morning, I can stand here and I can tell
you that I believe God. I believe He's an absolute sovereign.
I believe He's a God of purpose. And I believe that every one
of his children, that he cares for each one of them. And I believe
that God has a word for each one of us this morning. A word
that would get us through. A word that would see us through.
A word that would enable us to face whatever we have to face.
A word. A word from the book. A word
from the book. Be of good cheer. I believe God
that it shall be even as it was told me." Now brethren, I'd just
like to say this in closing. I'd like to say that sometimes we're afraid to be
upbeat. Sometimes, you know, we get in
such a state of mind that we're a little bit afraid to act too
happy. We're a little bit afraid to
be of good spirits. Somebody said, well, what do
you got to be happy about anyway? Why, you're as happy as if you
was in your right mind or you're not,
you wasn't in your right mind or whatever. But beloved, listen,
you got nothing to fear about being of good cheer. Nothing
to fear. Nothing to fear about being of
good cheer. You have nothing to fear. And
don't worry about it. Somebody said, well, I don't
want to get too happy, you know. First thing you know, I'll get
slapped down. Well, the Lord said, be of good cheer. Listen. If you are of good cheer, it'll
be catching to everybody around you. If you're a parent, your
children are bound to take up on it. Bound to pick up on it.
If you're of good cheer. If you're not, they're bound
to pick up on that too. And you don't want to plague
your children. with that frame of mind. You
want to believe God, don't you? You want to believe God. Go back. Rehearse. Look. Trust. Pray for the day when
God would give you a word out of the book and encourage you. I've got to have one all the
time to keep going and I think all of us people do. I think
you've got to hear from the Lord And I think God has a day that
He's going to visit you. And trust Him to do it. When
you get into a very difficult, tight, trust Him to visit you
and to give you help and to give you strength and to enable you
to overcome. But the prescription is believe
God. Believe God. Trust Him. Trust
Him for His grace. Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smiling face. Father, in the name of Jesus,
I cast all my care upon you this morning. And thou dost know all
of the care that we have. And we cast it all upon you,
the best we can. Give us strength and grace and
backbone to be able to endure all that must be endured. Give
us thy help and thy blessing and strengthen us. Oh, thank
you for remembering us and coming to us. and causing us to have
a day of power and a day of manifestation and realization, a day of the
opening of the eyes and the opening of the deaf ear. Thank you. Thank
you, dear Lord. In Jesus' name, amen.