I've entitled this message, Christ
Encourages Paul. Verse 11, and the night following,
the Lord stood by him. This is an appearance in his
glorified body. This is not a vision. The Lord
actually appeared in prison with him. and said, be of good cheer, Paul. What could be better than that? To have Christ himself stand
by you and say to you, be of good cheer. Now I could say these words and
they could be meaningless. Be of good cheer, right before
you, whatever. As I said, I could say these
words and it wouldn't mean a whole lot. But if he says them, they're
absolute, aren't they? I believe that Paul was depressed
and discouraged at this time. He'd been through a lot, as we've
seen, and now he is speaking to this religious council. Verse 1 of Acts chapter 23. earnestly beholding the council. Now, he'd already been rejected
on numerous occasions, and rejection is not easy to deal with. And
he had men wanting to tear him apart, and there were at least
two attempts at murder in the last few days. And everything
Paul had said up to that point had been rejected. And now he's
speaking to this council and he said, men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience
before God unto this day. Now he's looking at this religious
council who wanted his death. The high priests, the scribes,
the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the two denominations of that
day, and you could very easily call the Pharisees the fundamentalist
Baptists, and you could call the Sadducees the Unitarian Universalists. They were the conservatives and
the liberals of that day. That is who Paul is speaking
to. They're both man-made denominations. You don't find these people in
the Old Testament scriptures. I know the Pharisees didn't come
about to about 150 BC. So that denomination was only
around less than 200 years old. But these are the people he's
talking to, and he tells them, I have lived in all good conscience
before God unto this day. Now, the high priest was so offended
by that statement that he commanded them to smite him for making
that statement. Now, here's what was going on. Paul said, you fellas had me
on trial. I'm in good conscience. He's not saying I'm not conscious
of committing any sins. He said, oh, wretched man that
I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death. He was
always aware of sin. You know, one of the reasons
I've pretty much quit reading biographies, I've read a lot
of them. And in those biographies of,
you know, believers, you'll have somebody saying, well, I searched
to see if there was any known or allowed sin in my life, and
I couldn't find any. Therefore, you know, it wasn't
that well, you know, nobody believes that. And nobody can even relate
with some kind of statement like that. Men's biographies they
always try to make themselves look better or whoever's writing
the biography They always make that person look better than
they really are that happens across the board There's no such
thing as a biography or an autobiography without a bunch of lies. You
can just write that down So Paul is not saying I'm not conscience
of committing sin. He's saying in this manner you
put me on trial I'm serving the Lord I'm preaching the gospel. I'm standing for the truth. And
the inescapable implication to the high priests and the scribes
of the Pharisees are, you guys aren't. I'm the one who's standing
for the truth. I'm the one who's being faithful
to God at this time. My conscience bears me witness.
You guys are the ones who are in the wrong. And the high priest
took great offense at this. And he told the people, smite
Paul. The high priest, Ananias, commanded
them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth. Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited
wall, you hypocrite. you whitewashed wall hiding what's
underneath. God will smite you, you whited
wall, for sinnest thou to judge me after the law and commandest
me to be smitten contrary to the law? Now, interesting, Paul's
prophecy came true. Ananias was smitten in AD 66
by his own countrymen. This man who claimed to be the
high priest, God did in fact smite him. But look what it said
in verse four. And they that stood by said,
Revilest thou God's high priest. And this is God's high priest.
Are you going to talk to him in that disrespectful manner? Are you going to revile God's
high priest? Verse five, then said Paul, I
wish not brethren that he was the high priest. Now I, I asked
Lynn on the way over here, do you think Paul really didn't
know he was the high priest? I mean, Paul knew things like that. Well,
I don't know. The Bible doesn't tell us. He
could have been saying, I didn't know somebody like this could
be high priest. Or maybe he was saying, I don't know. I didn't
know he was the high priest. But at any rate, whatever the
case, he said I was wrong in making that statement. Then said
Paul, I wish not, brethren, that he was the high priest, for it
is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of the people. He admitted to wrongdoing. Now, the high priest was wrong.
What he was saying was contrary to the scriptures. And yet Paul
apologizes for speaking evil of the ruler of the people. Now
that ought to let us know that we're not to speak evil of the
ruler of the people in the position God has placed them, even if
they are wrong, because God put them there. Now remember that
God put them there. Let me read you a scripture,
Daniel 4.17. that you may know that the Most High ruleth in
the kingdom of men." Now, who's ruling in the kingdom of men
right now? As he always has been. Who's in control of every political
leader without exception? The Most High. The king's heart
is in the hand of the Lord. THE MOST HIGH RULETH IN THE KINGDOM
OF MEN, AND GIVETH IT TO WHOMSOEVER HE WILL, AND SETTETH UPON IT,
OR OVER IT, THE BASEST OF MEN." THAT'S WHAT THE SCRIPTURE SAYS. SO, THE BASEST OF MEN. THE HIGH PRIEST WAS WRONG. PAUL
CALLED HIM OUT FOR IT. YOU'RE WRONG. ARE YOU GOING TO
TALK TO THE PERSON GOD HAS PUT IN AUTHORITY LIKE THAT? I SHOULDN'T
HAVE DONE IT. I WISH NOT THAT HE WAS THE RULER
OF THE PEOPLE. BUT, VERSE 6, THOU SHALT NOT
SPEAK EVIL. THAT'S A COMMANDMENT. THOU SHALT
NOT SPEAK EVIL OF THE RULER OF THE PEOPLE. REMEMBER, GOD PUT
THAT RULER IN POSITION. And everything that that man's
doing is according to God's purpose and God's will. And that's true
with regard to everything, isn't it? It's called the sovereignty
of God. That's who he is. Verse six, but when Paul perceived
that the one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Now
this is interesting. He looks at this group of people
he's defending himself to, and half of them are liberals and
half of them are conservatives. Look in verse 8, for the Sadducees
say that there's no resurrection. I guess maybe they didn't even
believe in an afterlife. Neither angel nor spirit. But the Pharisees
confessed both. Now he knew these two religious
factions were opposed to one another. They were violently
opposed to one another. So what does he do? Look in verse
six. But when Paul perceived that
the one part were Sadducees and the other part Pharisees, he's
cried out in the council, men and brethren, I am a Pharisee. the son of a Pharisee, and of
the hope and resurrection of the dead, I am called into question."
Now, he knew in doing this that he would be putting one faction
against the other, didn't he? Now, was he right in doing this?
I don't know. I really don't know. But I do
know that he was saying, I'm standing for the resurrection.
Now, the Pharisees believed in a physical resurrection, but
they didn't believe in the resurrection of Christ. They didn't have any
understanding of the resurrection. The Sadducees said, there is
no resurrection. So both of them were completely ignorant. The
liberals and the fundamentalists or conservatives alike, they
both had no understanding of the scriptures. Yet Paul says,
I'm a Pharisee. the son of a Pharisee, and what
he was doing was bringing into light the real issue, the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ and what it accomplished. I am a
Pharisee. He knew that the Pharisees believed
in the resurrection. I'm a Pharisee, the son of a
Pharisee, and of the hope and resurrection of the dead. I am
called into question. Paul uses this to state his belief
in the hope of the resurrection. What I'm being tried for is what
the Bible has always taught. The hope of the resurrection. The same hope that Job spake
of when he said, I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he
shall stand on the latter day upon the earth, and though after
my skin worms destroy this body, I'm going to die, worms are going
to destroy this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God." Now,
this is a direct reference to the resurrection. And the point
behind the resurrection is not just believing that the resurrection
will take place, but we're talking about the hope of the resurrection.
What is the hope of the resurrection? Is it just that I'm gonna be
raised from the dead? Well, that's not a good hope if I'm raised
to be damned. There's no good hope about that
resurrection. It's talking about the resurrection of Christ, what
it actually accomplished. What's the hope of the resurrection?
Romans 4.25 says he was delivered for our offenses. That's why
he died. He was delivered for our offenses,
and he was raised again for our justification. You see, when
he was raised from the dead, every one of God's elect were
justified. Perfect. The law looks every
one of them over and says, there's no fault. There's no sin. There's no guilt. That's what
justification is. It's being just before God. It's not just declared it to
be just. It's being just. Being justified
before God. That's what the Lord said about
that publican. He said, after that man beat
on his breast, crying, God be merciful to me, the sinner. The
Lord said, I say unto you, that man went down to his house. What? justified, not merely forgiven
though he was, not merely shown mercy though he was, but justified. WHO SHALL LAY ANYTHING TO THE
CHARGE OF GOD'S ELECT? IT'S GOD THAT JUSTIFIED IT. WHEN
CHRIST WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD, IT'S BECAUSE GOD WAS COMPLETELY
SATISFIED WITH HIS LIFE. HE'S COMPLETELY SATISFIED WITH
HIS SIN ATONING DEATH. SIN WAS PUT AWAY. IT WAS DONE
AWAY WITH. THE HOPE OF THE RESURRECTION
IS THAT WHEN I STAND BEFORE GOD IN JUDGEMENT, THERE'LL BE NO
SIN. I stand before God without guilt
because of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ." Now that's
what Paul says the issue is here, the resurrection of Christ. And when he had so said, verse
7, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. And the multitude was divided,
for the Sadducees say there is no resurrection, neither angel
nor spirit, but the Pharisees confess both. And there arose
a great cry, and the scribes that were of the Pharisees' part
arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man." You
see, they thought, He's on our side. He believes in the resurrection. Now, they had no understanding
in that he believed in the resurrection of Christ. They didn't. All they
thought about was a physical resurrection that would one day
take place. And there arose a great cry,
and the scribes that were of the Pharisees' part arose and
strove, saying, We find no evil in this man, but if a spirit
or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God. And when there arose a great
dissension, The chief captain, fearing less Paul should have
been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go
down and to take him by force from among them and to bring
him into the castle. I suppose he was put in a cell
of some kind. And the night following, I think Paul was down. I think
Paul was depressed. And he had a lot of reasons that
could have been entering into what was going on with him. He'd
had that dissension with James and the church at Jerusalem,
where they called upon him to take the vow of the Nazarite.
And he got arrested before he could do that. He got before
the people and preached the gospel to them, giving his defense.
And they ended up saying, it's not fit that such a one should
live. Get him out of the earth. They wanted him dead. He had
faced nothing but rejection up to this point. Now, I also think
that probably the way he acted, I don't know about this, this
is speculation, forgive me if I'm wrong, but I think he was
wrong in trying to set up the Pharisees against the Sadducees
in order to justify his position. Now, maybe I'm wrong about that.
This is not inspired, what I'm saying. The Bible doesn't tell
us, but what if I said, I'm a Baptist to try to prove my doctrine,
and I'm not one of these Methodists, I'm a Baptist, and I get all
the Baptists on my side. Or I'm a Catholic, and I get
all the Catholics on my side. You know, he was using something
that's man-made in the first place, a man-made denomination.
I'm a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee, as if that has any bearing on
anything. But he knew that there were Pharisees
who would be influenced by this, and it could be that he thought
about the way he'd handled this situation, Have you ever thought
about the way you handle the situation? Do you handle it wrong?
And you just felt down, depressed, wish you hadn't done it, wish
you could take it back. And hey, Paul is in this cell,
despondent over so many things. And then the Lord appears to
him physically and says, Paul, be of good cheer. Be of good cheer. For as thou
hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also
of me in Rome. Now on six different occasions,
this being the last, the Lord said to his disciples, be of
good cheer. And if the Lord says, be of good
cheer, I have every reason to be of
good cheer. Now the first time he said it
was found in Matthew chapter nine. I've used this, these six scriptures
two or three times before over the last 40 years. One time fairly
recently, but they're just as powerful to me now as ever. Verse two of Matthew chapter
nine, and behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy,
lying on a bed. We know from the other counts,
these men came into this home and it was so crowded, they couldn't
get in. And so they brought their friend up on the roof, broke
the ceiling up. Can you imagine if that was happening
right now? All of a sudden you see the ceiling breaking up and
a man being lowered down into the room that was paralytic. And the Lord looked at that man
and he said, son, be a good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. Now, if I said to an individual,
be a good cheer, your sins are forgiven. Would that mean anything? Wouldn't
mean a thing, would it? Wouldn't mean a thing. I always
think it's, I don't know how many times people have said to
me, do you think I'm saved? Does it make any difference what
I think? If I think you're not, does that mean you're not? If
I think you are, does that mean you are? No. But if he says, thy
sins be forgiven thee, you know what? They're forgiven. And the Pharisees listening at
that time said, who is this that speaketh blasphemies? None can
forgive sin, but God only. Bingo. They got that right, didn't
they? And you know who this is speaking?
God only. And if he says your sins are
forgiven you, All your sins are forgiven sins. And the reason
all your sins are forgiven sins is because you've been justified.
He justifies you, then he forgives you. I remember a preacher once brought
a message where he entitled it, God doesn't forgive sin. Yeah, he does. And he was basing
this on justification. If you're justified, you don't
have any sin to be forgiven. It's all wiped out. Yeah, that's
true. But God forgives sins and he forgives them completely.
Listen to me. Every sin you've ever committed
and all the many sins you haven't committed yet are forgiven sins. Is that enough to cheer you up?
I don't care what you're going through. If your sins are forgiven
sins, that's a reason to be of good cheer. The Lord said this. Now, the next time is found in
this same chapter, Matthew chapter nine, verse 20. And behold, a
woman which was diseased with an issue of blood, 12 years,
she had a menstrual disease. Iron depleted, so weak, came
behind him and touched the hem of his garment, for she said
within herself, here's her faith, if I may but touch his garment,
I shall be whole. If I can come into contact with
him, I shall be whole. Now maybe about this, I shall
be whole. But Jesus turned him about, and
when he saw her, he said, daughter, be of good comfort. Same word,
be of good cheer. Thy faith hath made thee whole. Now you know as well as I do
that Christ made her whole. It was not the act of faith that
made her whole. It was Christ that made her whole.
That's what she believed. Thy faith hath made thee whole. I mean, you don't lack anything. You're whole. If you believe
the gospel. My dear friend, do you right now, as I'm speaking
to you, hang all your hopes on Christ alone. You don't have
anything else but him. Be of good cheer. Thy faith hath
made thee whole." Now, why does the Lord put such honor on faith?
Because faith puts all the honor on Him, 100%. And that's why
the Lord speaks that way. True faith puts all the honor,
it rests completely in Christ alone. And that's why the Lord
says, be of good cheer, thy faith hath made thee whole. Now the third time is in Matthew
chapter 14, if you want to turn over there. Be of good cheer, your sins are
forgiven you. Be of good cheer, thy faith hath made thee whole. Now we read in verse 24 of Matthew
chapter 14, but the ship was now in the midst of the sea,
tossed with waves for the wind was contrary. Now, I've never
experienced that, maybe some of you have, but I think it would
be terrifying. I've seen it on TV, that's the
closest I've come. When a ship is just being tossed
about by waves and you're scared to death, you have no control
in this thing. I mean, you're at your wit's
end. Verse 25, in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went
unto them walking on the sea. This is one of the very few miracles
that are included in all four gospels. And when the disciples saw him
walking on the sea, They were troubled, saying, it's a spirit. And they cried out for fear. How many times have I cried out
for fear in what I see? But straightway, Jesus spake
unto them, saying, be of good cheer, it's I. Now, with whatever is happening,
He says, it's I. It's I. I'm the one doing this.
I'm the one in control of this. Everything that is happening
is happening because I willed it. It is I. And you can't take that too far.
If you leave anything out of that, you mean there's something
that's outside of his control? And we know that all things,
Work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to his purpose. Now the fourth time was with
regard to blind Bartimaeus. He'd been crying. You can read
about this in Mark chapter 10. He'd been crying, Jesus, thou
son of David, have mercy on me. That's what he wanted. He knew
who Christ was. He's the son of David and he's
asking for the right thing, mercy. Mercy, that's what I need, I
need mercy. I don't want what I deserve,
I need mercy. Now the only time anybody ever
asks for mercy is when their sin is all their fault. As long
as I'm a victim, I'm not gonna ask for mercy. But when my sin
is all my fault, I don't have anything else to plead. Jesus,
our son of David, have mercy on me. Is that your prayer right
now? Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. You know what
the crowd did? They said, hush up, Bartimaeus.
They told him to hold his peace. And you know, whenever anybody
cries for mercy, somebody's gonna be telling you, whether it's
somebody inside of here or somebody out there, they're gonna say,
there's no point in this. There's no point in this. Hush this up.
Hold your peace. But what I love about Bartimaeus
is he cried the more a great deal. Didn't stop him. You see, if you ever need mercy,
you will not stop. You won't, because you know it's
all you got. You know you have no other options.
I mean, there's no other way to turn. You will continue to
cry for mercy. And as he continued to cry, the
scripture says Jesus stood still. He always hears that cry. He
always hears that cry. And it stopped him. He was on
his way to Jerusalem. I'm sure before that all kinds
of people were saying different things and he didn't respond.
But he hears this cry. Jesus stood still and commanded
him to be called. And then those same folks who
said, hold your peace Bartimaeus said, be of good cheer, rise,
He calleth thee. Be of good cheer. Rise up. He calls you. Your right to come
to Christ is because He calls you. Because He commands you
to. Don't try to figure out, well,
what if I'm not one of the elect? What if Christ didn't die for
me? What if I don't have faith? What if all these what ifs that
we'll come up with? He commands you to come. Right now. Not waiting for anything
to happen. Not waiting to get better. Let
not conscience make you linger, nor fitness fondly dream. The
only fitness He requires is to have a need of Him. I got that.
Be of good cheer. Rise. He calls thee. You know what old Bartimaeus
did? He had that old garment. He cast it away. That old garment
of his own covering, he cast it away. And he rose and he came
to Jesus. And then on the Lord's last night
with his disciples, He made this statement in John
chapter 16 verse 33. These things have I spoken unto
you that in me, don't miss that. These things have I spoken unto
you that John 13 through 17 was the whole speech. Could be he
means everything he'd said up to this point from the time he
first revealed himself to them. These things have I spoken unto
you that in me you might have peace. Not in your works, not
in your knowledge, not in your efforts, not in your intentions. These things have I spoken to
you that in me you might have peace. Now, all I have peace
is in Him. That's it. The only peace I have is that
everything God requires of me is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I am in Him. Eternally united to Him. The only thing that gives me
any peace is not my faith, is not my repentance, it's not my
knowledge, it's not my prayer life, it's not my efforts in
striving against sin. The only thing that gives me
peace is in Him. These things have I spoken to
you that in me, you might have peace. In the world, you're gonna
have tribulation. You're gonna have trial. You're
gonna have trouble. You can just write that down.
It'd be a good cheer. I have overcome the world and
you're gonna be brought into glory on my coattails. I have
overcome the world. And then the last one is in our
text. He says to Paul, his discouraged servant, who had met nothing
but failure. And I personally believe that
he felt bad about the way he'd handled things. And he was just
discouraged. And what's the Lord say? Be of
good cheer, Paul. Be of good cheer. as thou hast
testified of me. And this was a blessing to me
to think about. Here's Paul's testimony, him,
as you've testified of me, who I am. That's the testimony I
wanna hear. I wanna get my personal testimony.
I'm not even interested in it. Here's the testimony I wanna
hear of him, who he is. What he did, he put away sin. Where he is now, seated at the
right hand of the Father, what he's doing, ruling and reigning,
making intercession for all his people. Now, I've privileged
you to bear witness of me here in Jerusalem. Well, you're going
to Rome to do it now. So, Paul, cheer up. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that you would give us the grace to hear. We first ask that you
would say to our hearts, be of good cheer. We don't want to
be a good cheer when you haven't said it. But would you say to
each heart here, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee, thy
faith hath made thee whole. It's I. Be not afraid. Rise, he calleth thee. In me
there's peace. Lord, say, speak that to us.
Don't let us merely hear the words of a man, but speak that
to us. And let us have this blessed
privilege of being of good cheer, because you told us to be of
good cheer. In Christ's name we pray, amen.