See these Scriptures: Matt. 9:1-2; Mark 6:45-55;
John 16:33; Acts 23:11
I have come here this morning to tell you, "It will be all right." But you know, things are not all right are they? We are living in a day when there is gang violence. We are living in a day when more and more people are dying of lung cancer. In spite of 100% proof that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer, more and more of our teenagers are smoking cigarettes. Drug abuse is on the rise. And one out of every two marriages ends in divorce. People are being laid off from jobs that they had hoped would provide for their retirement. It is no longer a guarantee that the "good company" that you went to work for will be the "good company" that will take care of you.
It does not appear that things are going to be all right. But God’s Word says, "Be of good cheer." But there is no reason to be of good cheer. How can we do that in light of this present age, and these present circumstances.
Because of the Power of Jesus Christ
In Matt. 9 there is the story of the man brought to Jesus who was a paralytic.
In the KJV it says that he was sick of the palsy. If you examine the disease that the Bible is speaking of, it is much like our modern day Parkinsonism.
I don’t know if all of you know about that disease, Marie Robertson is very closely acquainted with it. My aunt died from complications of Parkinsonism.
It is an incurable disease that attacks the nervous system and ultimately results in death. This man was completely dependent upon others to take care of him. He was incurably sick with a disease that still plagues us today.
And Jesus came along and said, "Be of good cheer." It seems so glib, it seems so insignificant in light of the devastation that so many face. But the good news is, everything will be all right because Jesus still has the power to forgive sin. It sounds so easy. And Jesus does offer immediate release from the sin in our lives. If you genuinely want to repent of your sin, Jesus will forgive your sin.
Now, don’t assume that you can go right back to that sin, because repentance means a turning away from the sin, it means to turn your back on that sin, it means to go in the opposite direction. But, if you sincerely ask for forgiveness from your sin, by accepting Christ and then by confessing your sin daily, Jesus has the power to do that. The problem is, too many people live with guilt. They are forgiven but they cannot forgive themselves. And they are handicapped by the guilt that builds over a lifetime. They haven’t learned that there is one thing God cannot do. Are you aware that there is something God cannot do? One thing.
God cannot remember your sin. It will be all right because of the good cheer of the power of Jesus Christ.
Because of the Presence of Jesus Christ
In Mark the 6th chapter there is the story of Jesus sending the disciples out in a boat on the Sea of Galilee. They had just come from the plain of Gennesaret, where Jesus had taken five loaves and two small fish and fed five thousand people. The disciples were tired. Jesus was tired. So He wanted to spend some time by Himself. It is interesting the number of times Jesus would isolate himself in order to prepare Himself. People often forget that it is essential for us to spend time alone with the Father if we are going to be effective in ministry. So, Jesus sends the twelve ahead on a boat as is so often the case on the Sea of Galilee, a storm came up. I understand that it is not uncommon, given the terrain and atmospheric conditions that rather violent storms can happen in a matter of moments on the Sea of Galilee. And the disciples find themselves in the midst of the storm.
You know, isn’t that something of a parable about life. We are often confronted with storms that we never saw coming. And there are some storms that you just have to live with. I have learned as a pastor, there are times when you are thrust in the very heat of the fire. You can’t pastor a church without ending up with some smoke on your coat. If we are honest we would rather not be in the storm. But sometimes that is exactly where we are and we learn that we must stay in the storm. But Jesus came to those men and said be of good cheer, for it is I. Everything is going to be all right because Jesus is with us in the time of the storm. We don’t have to face our storms alone. Now don’t misunderstand me.
I am not telling you that you will not have to face the storms of life. I am not telling you that the storms of life will be so threatening, so devastating that it will leave you devastated. But, things do not have to completely overwhelm and demoralize you because of the good cheer of the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, be of good cheer, take courage, take heart, for I am with you. In Matthew 28, He said, "Lo, I am with you always." In Hebrews we are told that Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever. So he will never leave you. Everything will be all right because of the good cheer of the presence of Jesus Christ.
Because of the Promise of Jesus Christ
In John 15 Jesus is teaching the disciples the essentials of abiding in love with Him, with each other and what they can expect from the world. He begins chapter 16 by warning them that there is an hour coming when they will become outcasts from their own people, and He is warning them to keep them from stumbling. Then He tells them that He must go away. First, He says that they can accomplish nothing unless they are in Him, and then He tells them that He must go away. But, He explains that there will come another, a Holy Comforter, someone that will be with them at all times. He is in the flesh, and as a flesh and blood person, He can only be in one place at one time. But there will come One who will be in all believers. He will come and dwell with them. Jesus relates to the disciples the promises through prayer that they can expect. The disciples profess, what they believe is unshakable faith, in Jesus. Then in John 16:31, Jesus says, "Do you now believe? Behold an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage [be of good cheer] I have overcome the world."
Did you grasp the sequence of what Jesus has just said in that last verse.
First of all, He promises them peace. Then He promises that in the world we will experience tribulation. But everything will be all right because Jesus has overcome the world. Ladies and gentlemen, young people, we will have tribulation in this world. It is the promise of God. But the good news is we can also have peace even in the midst of that tribulation because of the promise of Jesus Christ.
Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. Because Jesus has overcome the world, we have hope. And we need to hang on to that hope. Because of the good cheer of the promise of Jesus Christ, we can have peace even when we are in the midst of the most trying, the most devastating situations. And yes, even when it seems as if Jesus has left us, He says, that He will never leave us and that if we abide in Him, we can have peace in the midst of our troubles, our heartaches.
Marcel Sternberger lived in Long Island, NY. Every day he boarded the 9:02 train to go to the city to his job. He had become so accustomed to this train that he was acquainted with the people on the train and they were like family.
For years, day in and day out, the 9:02 to NYC. Day in and day out the same routine.
One day Marcel Sternberger decided to not go into work on the 9:02 and instead, he went and spent the morning with a sick friend. He decided that he would wait and take the 12:00 train. That day, as he boarded the train, he realized that he didn’t know anyone, as he usually did. There was only one seat left on the entire train. He took it thankful that he would not have stand up the whole way into the city. As he sat there he noticed that the man sitting next to him was reading a Hungarian newspaper. He knew that it was Hungarian because Marcel was also Hungarian. He asked the man if he was looking for a job. This man said, no, he was looking for a name. He explained that during WWII, he had been taken to Rubecken in the Ukraine where he was made to bury the Russian dead. During his absence his wife was taken to Auschwitz, and while man were exterminated, some lived and were rescued during the liberation.
After all these years, he had heard that some of the survivors had made their way to America. He knew that she would have come into the country by way of Ellis Island. He also knew that his wife, if she had survived, she would advertise in a paper that he would be sure to read. So everyday, he bought a newspaper and looked through the personals column looking for her name. Marcel Sternberger asked this man her name. He said, Maria Vasckin. His name was Bellow Vasckin and his wife’s name had been Maria Vasckin. Marcel Sternberger was thoughtful for a moment. Then the train arrived at the station. He grabbed Bellow Vasckin by the arm explaining that he needed to make a phone call. He remembered meeting a woman at a party the previous Saturday night. She had given him her phone number. As he found a pay phone, he took a piece of paper from his pocket, dialed the phone, asked if this was the woman he had met at the party.
She told him she was the same woman. He asked her if she had a husband. She said, that she had a husband when she was in Hungary, but that he had been taken to the Ukraine and she had been taken to Auschwitz. She didn’t know if he was still alive.
Marcel Sternberger asked her what her husband’s name was, she said Bellow Vasckin. He turned to the man and handed him the phone. For the first time since they had been separated years before Bellow and Maria Vasckin spoke, husband and wife. What had been lost, had been found.
When this story appeared in Reader’s Digest years ago, they said, "There will be those who will be skeptical, who will say that this was just one of those coincidences. But we think that God rode that train that day and He made a way for this woman and her husband to be reunited." Just a chance happening. So often we don’t realize that what we are experiencing is part of the divine plan.
Because of the Plan of Jesus Christ
In Acts chapter 23, Paul has been arrested in Jerusalem. He has been all over that part of the world starting churches. He has set the pattern for our modern day missionaries around the world. He has set in motion the salvation of the Gentiles. And he has come to Jerusalem to report on the missionary activities. But the Jews hear that he is in town and he is seen and they even accuse him of bringing Gentiles into the Temple, just because he was seen in the company of the Gentiles. He is taken into custody and is about to be beaten. He declares his Roman citizenship and is saved from a beating, but then the commander had him brought before the Jewish council. Paul does just like he always did, he begins to witness to them about Jesus Christ. As he does, a fight breaks out and the commander takes him into custody, for his own protection. And on the night immediately following this, the Lord Jesus stood as his side and said, "Be of good cheer; for as you have solemnly witnessed to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also." Folks, sometimes we are exactly in the midst of our storm, in the midst of our tribulation, because of the will of God for our lives.
Paul had witnessed in all kinds of situations. He had suffered physical abuse, being beaten, he had been shipwrecked, he had known hunger and lack, he had also known abundance, but he had learned that wherever he was, whatever his circumstances, he was on a mission for Jesus Christ and nothing, not even his own devastation, not even his own wife leaving him would stop him from proclaiming the gospel wherever he went.
And now, all of this had been preparation for the final crowning event of his life. He was going to Rome, he was going to be imprisoned and ultimately he was going to be executed ... all for the sake of the gospel. And Jesus comes to him and says, be of good cheer, because this is part of the plan for your life. Everything will be all right because of the plan of Jesus Christ.
Ladies and Gentlemen, young people, many will say that it was merely a coincidence that led Paul to be imprisoned and taken to Rome, but I think that God rode with Him all the way, and God prepared him for the final act of his life, an act that would enable the Almighty to say moments after his death, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." He will make a way for everyone of us, everything will be all right.
Be of good cheer.
