Matthew chapter nine and verse two. I want to read five texts and there are similar words in every one of them. Matthew nine and two. And behold, they brought to him the 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. Notice those four words. Thy sins be forgiven it. Chapter fourteen. And verse twenty-seven. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good fear. It is I be not afraid. Then over to John sixteen. John sixteen and thirty-three. these things I have spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace in the world ye shall have tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome the world Acts twenty three and verse eleven Acts twenty-three and eleven. And the night following the Lord stood by him, that is, Paul, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul, for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. And the last one in chapter twenty-seven. And verse twenty-five. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer, for I believe God that it shall be, even as it was told me. Now it's quite evident. You see the words we want to emphasize five times over, be of good cheer, or in other words, cheer. That's the expression we use today. In the first incident, in connection with the palsied man, you'll read more in detail about this case in Mark chapter two. Here is this man sick of the palsy, and he was born of four. You remember how four men took it upon themselves to get this man into the presence of the Lord Jesus. We do not know who the four men are, but God does, and their names are undoubtedly written in heaven. They are among many unnamed workers in the New Testament. Many a time of personality is referred to as name is not given. We do not know who he was, but God does. And here are four men, and they are going to take it upon themselves, to carry this man into the presence of the Lord Jesus, having faith that if they only could get this man at the feet of the Son of God, he would be healed. Well, there were obstacles in the way. First of all, there was a great crowd around the house. These four men had caused to be discouraged and give up the task. Why try to buck the crowd? Why did he just push us away? Paul was trying to get a man on a stretcher through the crowd. But nevertheless, they worked their way through the crowd. Then they had to get up on the route. because all doors or windows to the Lord Jesus who was inside the house were blocked. So the only thing they could do was get up on top of the house. And this they proceeded to do. We understand in those days the stairway went up the outside of the house. These men, they would not be stopped, they would not be hindered, nor daunted in their effort, and they got them up on top of the roof. And then the amazing thing was that they decided they were going to break the roof up, at least a whole large enough to let this man down through. Now, there must have been some engineering going on at the just where the Lord was under the roof. But anyway, they discovered where he was, his location, and they proceeded to break up the roof. Well, that was quite a task, because roofs in those days were made of tile, something of that nature. There must have been quite a racket, likely a lot of dust and debris coming down. And you can imagine the people in the house wondering what's going on up on the moon. Well, finally they saw the sky and the whole began to enlarge as these men broke away at the root. Finally they got the whole thing enough to let this man down at the feet of the Lord Jesus. Now I don't know why the Lord Jesus should have used these words, cheer up or be of good cheer to this palsied man. I wonder if he saw on the fellow's face a look of bewilderment, unbelief, or at least he saw the man needed to be cheered up. He likely was concerned about his condition. Here I am a palsied man. And he likely had gone through quite a bit, bucking the crowd, being carried up the stairway and the breaking up of the roof. And that was quite a rough deal for a man who was sick. But anyway, when he got to the feet of the Lord Jesus, the Lord took a look at him. Whether there was a look of hopelessness on the man's face or not, we do not know. But we do know the Lord Jesus said, Be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven. Right away he cheered the fellow up. Be of good cheer. He didn't say be healed of the following. Because the Lord Jesus has something more in mind than the healing of the body. He says, Be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven. Christ is more concerned about the forgiveness of sins than he is the healing of the body. And so he says, Be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven them. It's quite possible the man also was healed too. But Christ puts first things first. And it may have come as quite a shock to this fellow who was wanting the healing of his body, where Christ made no reference to the body but said, Be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven. That was more than he likely expected. The forgiveness of sins, or pardon, thy sins be forgiven there. Be of good cheer. I don't know anything that ought to cheer a person up more than that, and to know his sins are all forgiven. What a cheer. To know that every sin you've ever committed has been blotted out. I wonder if your heart has been cheered with those words. Thy sins be forgiven. There's nothing that will cheer that thou and cast heart of man. There's nothing that will cheer man in this hopeless condition like to know his sins are all forgiven. Be of good cheer thy sins are forgiven them. And if we could only impress upon you tonight who are not Christians, that cheer that will come into your heart when you know that all your sins have been blotted out, and that there's a welcome awaiting you. The Lord Jesus did not frown on this effort. He was not angry by being disturbed by all this commotion. He urgently was delighted about it all. Others might have complained and criticized the effort of these men, creating so much dust and noise and so much defeat coming down. Why all this? Just one person. There are hundreds around here wanting to hear this man, and they're going through all this trouble to get one palsied man down at the feet of this man, Jesus. The Lord Jesus knew what was going on, and he evidently approved of it all. For the moment he looked into the man's faith, he said, Chira, thy sins are forgiven. All this effort is not in vain. Your sins are forgiven. It always has to be an effort before people are saved, before the Lord will blot out their sin. And it's not an easy job. I know some of you have been asking people ever since God saved you. You work on your neighbors. You invite the people in the office where you work. and you're constantly asking them to come and hear the gospel, giving them tracts, praying for them, doing all you can to try and get them to come and hear the gospel so they might be saved. Many a time you feel like giving up. But don't you do. It's quite an effort. And if you think it's easy for me to be studying week after week and month after month and year after year and preaching away, preaching away, sometimes I feel as though I'm in a cabbage patch preaching a bunch of cabbage heads for all the response or the reaction you get. You can't even get the movement of a caterpillar on some of their heads. They don't seem to respond to the preaching of the gospel. But you have to keep at it. Keep at it. God says, preach my word. Preach my word. And it's not easy. Be of good cheer. We would give you all the encouragement to keep asking people and keep witnessing to them. one of these days that person will be saved. You know, I have a prayer list. In fact, last December I think I made up that prayer list, and already I've struck four names off it, people getting saved. So it pays, doesn't it? And whenever one gets saved, you strike the name off and put a P alongside it, now you can praise instead of praise. That's the only thing to have a prayer list. I've had one for years, and some are still on it. that we've been praying for for years are not saved yet. And so we encourage you to keep at it, and we encourage you who are not Christians to keep coming. There's a welcome awaiting you. Maybe you think the Lord is not interested in you. Maybe you think the Lord's not concerned about you. He certainly is. Like a young fellow in Pennsylvania, he ran away from home, brought this grace upon his parents' name and grief to their heart. Then he thought he'd like to go home. He got homesick. But would his parents receive him? That was the big question. He was in rags. He had no money. He said, well, I'm going to try it. He saved up enough money to pay his fare. And when the train neared the little station near his home, his home to be seen from the train, his heart failed him. Instead of getting off, he went on paths to the next stop. And he sat down and he wrote a note. He told his parents what he was going to do. what he had done already, how he had thoughts of coming home, and when he got to the little station, he was ashamed of his clothes and conduct, but he said, if you'll welcome me, and if you'll forgive me, I'm going to take the train back. And if I see a sheet on the line, on the line in the front of the house, he said, I'll get off. And so he waited a couple of days, told his mother in the little note, just when he'd come by. giving the mail time to get it. And when the train neared the little station, he looked up, and there must have been tablecloths as well as sheets. Every sheet in the house and the line was full. Oh, yes, not only one sheet. He asked for his mother to put out one sheet, and there must have been a dozen. There was an abundant welcome waiting. And, oh, how glad the mother and father were to see their prodigal son come home. And, friend, let me tell you tonight, God is the welcoming sinner. I can't begin to get across to you. No language of mind, no metaphors I could use, and any pleading on me, attempt, could not really get across to you the heart of God for poor sinners and how He wants you to come home. How He's longing for you to turn your footsteps toward Him. He'll forgive you all your sins. One time, T.L. Moody, who in his day was like the Billy Graham of today, He was very friendly with a certain governor, I think it was the governor of Illinois. The governor couldn't go to the penitentiary because the governor was going to grant a pardon to a certain criminal. And so he got in touch with Moody. He said, Mr. Moody, I want you to take this pardon to the penitentiary, and I want you to give it to the man who is to be pardoned. So Mr. Moody was glad to do it, and he went, and he stood before that crowd of criminals. They were all assembled in the auditorium. Mr. Moody got up, he said, now, he said, I have a pardon from the governor. This pardon has all the authority of the state of the governor and the nation behind it. This pardon is for some man in this audience. I don't know the man by faith, but here's his name. And he stopped, and a hush fell over that audience. You could have heard a pin drop. And you can imagine those criminals, everyone saying, or thinking in his heart, is it me? Is it me? Finally, Moody read the name, and a shout went up at the back. A man shouted, it was his name. And he came up the front, and Moody gave it to him. And after the crowd was dismissed, he took the man into a room, and he pointed it to Christ. to use it as an illustration how God has a pardon for sinners. Friend, I want to say tonight on the authority of the Word of God, I can offer a pardon to any sinner in this meeting here. The Lord knows your name. If you are a sinner, this pardons for you. Christ the just suffered for the sins of the unjust. Are you unjust? Then I can offer you on the authority of this book. and heaven stands behind it. There's a pardon for any sinner in this meeting tonight. If you want your sins forgiven, feel forgiven. Be of good cheer. I care not how much you sin. Now, what a great sinner you have been. Cheer up. The Lord will forgive you, everyone. And the only authority of heaven gives a pardon. Purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ, you may have all your sins forgiven. The next cheer up is in chapter fourteen and verse twenty-seven. It says, It is I. Be of good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid. We spoke on this last week a little bit when we were taking up, Oh, ye have little faith, but these passages are always full. You know, there's no need to repeat. The disciples are on this troubled sea, and they're without the Savior in their boat. And he says, be of good cheer. It is I be not afraid. They were afraid. They were not only afraid, they were adrift. And there was a great storm upon that lake. Christ was not in the boat. And they had a good light to be afraid in that storm. They were about to sink. Just at that time, the Lord Jesus appeared. He says, be of good cheer. Cheer up. It is I, be not afraid. I want to say, friend, if you're in this world without Christ, you have a right to be afraid. Afraid of death, afraid of judgment, afraid of meeting God, afraid of his coming again, and you unprepared. And I'm going to tell you there are going to be some sad shocks and surprises when Jesus comes one of these days. There are people that come to this chapel week after week and they tell me they're saved, but there's very little evidence in their life that they're saved. Life is an absolute contradiction. I wonder when they read the Bible last. And they think that they attend the chapel about once a month. That's all they're supposed to do. As they're witnessing to someone trying to win someone to Christ or even giving out a gospel track, they don't know what that is. If they have the nerve to say, I'm a Christian, I think they ought to take their shingle down. They're absolutely not in business, professing to be what they're not. Oh, do you think of a man who had a shingle out of town as a lawyer or a doctor, and you went in and found he wasn't what he had on that shingle? The authorities would make him take it down. A lot of people have it out, I'm a Christian. I go to the Albany Gospel chapter. You do. Well, you're not what they claim Christians should be. That's true of so many people. And I'll tell you the days coming when Christ shall return, there's going to be a lot of shocked and surprised people. Like the five foolish virgins, they've got a testimony. Yes, they've got a lamp, but there's no oil in it. There's no spirit in it. Christ says, depart from me. I never knew you. That's going to be a sad and solemn day. But if there is no fruit, you have reason to conclude there is no root. Christ said, By their fruits, he shall know. The root is that which is invisible, that the Spirit's work in the heart, something you can't see. And true enough, the foundation of God's plan is sure. The Lord knows them that are his. But he says, By their fruits he shall know. And you can't judge motives, but you can judge fruit. And if there's no fruit, you have a right to conclude there's no root. For if there is root, they bring forth some thirtyfold, some sixty, some a hundred. There's bound to be some fruit, different degrees, or degrees thirty, sixty, or a hundred, but there'll be some root if there is a root there. What surprises there will be when the Lord comes? You have a right to be afraid unless you've had a real experience with God. Afraid of the Spirit ceasing to strive, afraid of sin and its consequences, afraid of Satan. Be of good cheer. It is I, be not afraid. I wonder if you're cheered up tonight and you're not afraid because you really do know the Lord Jesus Christ. Be not afraid of man and friends. Oh, there are some when they're afraid of men. The fear of man bringeth a snare, the Bible says, and some are not Christians because they're afraid of what people will say. Afraid of what the folks they work with will say. Well, I know the ones who head the list. in the book of Revelation twenty-one and eight and they're fearful and the unbelieving the whoremongers and so on shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone so you see the one that heads the list the fearful you're afraid to confess Jesus Christ you're afraid of men others too they're afraid of a little persecution The devil's children don't mind letting the world know who they belong to. Sinners crush and swear and tell their dirty stories. They don't mind the world knowing who they serve and who they belong to. And it's strange that Christians should be reserved about letting the world know they belong to Jesus Christ. It ought to be brought up in the part of the country where I was. You'd get jolted a few times. A young couple up there got married. And I know this old preacher. He attended their wedding, and they were going off on their honeymoon. Well, he said, I'll see you at the station. He was glad to go at the station. Of course, the young couple were glad that he was going at the station with them, at least until they found out what happened. So he climbed on to the coach with, and as it happened, there was a seat right inside the door, and the coach was crowded. There was no vacancy. And he chatted and he talked with a minute or two, and then the conductor called out, all over, ready to go. The old preacher poured up and said, folks, he said, this young couple tell me they're saved and go to heaven. He said, I've got to get off. They'll tell you all about it. He really put them on the spot, didn't he? Everybody looked at the young couple. He said, this young couple tell me they're saved on the way to heaven. He said, I've got to get off. They'll tell you all about it. That really pulled them out in the light, didn't it? Well, if you're a Christian, you're not going to mind it. He should have appreciated that and gave him a wonderful opportunity. What an introduction. He was already introduced. All he had to do was go ahead and preach. Be not afraid, he says. It is I. Here's the be not afraid or the cheer up of his presence and his power. In other words, he said it is I. There's his personality. It wasn't an angel. He said it is I. his personality. Then think of his punctuality. He arrived at the right time when they thought they were going to sing. Jesus appeared. How punctual the Lord Jesus is. How grand he is in emergencies. Why, when you think, in the upper room here are the disciples huddled in the upper room for fear of the Jews. Just at the moment when they heard footsteps, and they were scared to death, He appeared in their midst, he says, fear not. He came at the very moment when they thought the authorities were going to apprehend them. He's a very present help in times of trouble. He's always punctured. And it says in connection with that incident in the upper room, then Jesus came. The emphasis on the little word then, at the appropriate moment, then Jesus came. My how punctual our Lord is, and on this occasion he came at the right moment, walking on the water. You know he comes when I need him at that very moment, if the need is great enough. If the situation demands it, he'll be right there. Sometimes there are delays. But if the situation demands it, he's right there. All of a sudden you get the news, that someone's ill, maybe a loved one's been killed. Ah, he rushes to your aid with the strength and grace to endure. He doesn't wait two or three months after to give you his presence and his sustaining grace. He gives it here right then. He's so punctual, he's on the spot when you need him. Here's his punctuality, when I need him most. And there is his potentiality. His personality, His punctuality and His potentiality. My, what great potential. It's the Lord. He's the master of the sea. He can do this. What potential there is in Jesus Christ? Is there anything too hard for the Lord? Not a thing. He said, Cheer up. Did his eye be not afraid. You notice how he calmed their hearts as well as calmed the seas. He's able to do that. The moment he calmed the sea and stepped into the boat, their hearts were at rest. And friend, if you let this Christ, the master of the sea, into your heart, with his cheer, be of good cheer. His presence and his power will be yours. But I've experienced that circumstance. Then we have the other one over in John. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace, and the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. How wonderful. Peace. The good cheer of peace. In Christ. Peace. In the world tribulation. How to that is. The world. I have overcome the world. And what a world to overcome. What an obstacle to overcome. The world. Because it's a sinful world. And it's a sad world. My, what people don't do to try and avoid the fact that this is a sad world, all you have to do is go to that hospital and go up and down those corridors and look upon the faces of the patients and the relatives. And if you're not saddened, and that's only one little hospital in this nation. You can go to other institutions. You can go to insane assignments. You can go to orphanages. You can go to old folks' homes, not to just mention this place. Go to the penitentiary. Go to homes of correction for boys and girls. Think of the institutions in this country. And I'll tell you, any one of them will make you sad. And there's enough walk in the streets that are not in these institutions to cause you sad. It's a world of sadness. Sad world, it's a lost world. It's lying in the arms of the wicked one. It's a guilty world, according to Romans. The law was given that every mouth may be stopped and all will become guilty before God. It's a hell-bound world, according to Ephesians two one. It's a doomed and hopeless world. It's the arena upon which God will pull out those judgments in the book of Revelation. Ah, yes, it's got a dark future, this world. Let me tell you something. It's a hateful world. What did the Lord Jesus say? Marble not if the world hated you. It hated me before it hated you. Now, here's a little bit of encouragement for those of you who get hated for Christ's sake. And you get it. He said, don't marvel. The world hates you. It hated me. Well, if it hated him who was perfect, who was sinless, who was the Son of God, who went about doing good, healing all who were oppressed of the devil for God was with him, If the world hated him, I can understand it hating me, who can fail and do. I have my mistakes. He had none. If the world hated him, it's got a whole lot more reason to hate you and hate me. So he cheers us up. He says, cheer up. Marvel not that the world hates you. It hated me before it hated you. You've got it coming. I know it's hard to bear at times. People seem to dislike you. They hate you. Why? Because you belong to Christ. Old Brother was just telling me today. He had a place of business. Preachers, even preachers, come into his place of business. Asked him what church he goes to. I go to the Albany Gospel Chapel. That's it. His bishop thought you opened the fridge of their door. The marvel not that the world hates you. The more you seek to go over this book, and the more you stand for this truth, the more the world's going to hate you. Make no mistake about that. If you were in a modernistic church and you could do anything that the world does, you'd drink, you gamble, you're cross, you're swearing, you do anything on Lord's Day like you do any other day, you're just like the world. The world's not going to hate you. You're just what they want. But you take your stand in the office. You take your stand in that community. Take your stand for Christ. Your manner of life, your Christian principles, are such a rebuke to that other crowd. Instead of commending you, they'll hate you. Because you're a rebuke to them. Why did Cain hate his brother and then murder them? He was of that wicked one because his own works were evil and his brothers were righteous. Marble not that the world hate you. It'll hate It hated Christ, for it hated you, and we can accept it. So he says, cheer up. Here's peace. In the world he shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. Isn't that wonderful to know he has overcome the world? And you know, here's a remarkable thing. The Bible says in John one ten he was in the world, and the world knew him not. He's the creator of the world. He came into this world and he owned it. And the world knew him not. Now, think of you walking into your own business. And the people in that business working there didn't even know him. They didn't even recognize him. Jesus Christ came into the world, his own hands had made. He came unto his own, his own received him not. He was in the world, and the world knew him not. The unrecognized king. One time when King George was living, King of England, he decided he was going through this little orphanage. And of course news got there that the King was coming. All the youngsters were on their best behavior and the matrons she went around and gave orders that they all be ready, nicely cleaned, cleaned and dressed, prepared for the visit of the monarch. Of course other visitors came and went and came and went. About four o'clock, in came this fine gentleman with three or four others. He went from one bed to another, went over to one little fellow, especially, had them on the cheek, said a few nice words to him and passed on. Finally the hour came, no more visitors. In the time for their children to be better down for the night, to settle down for the night, and the matron came this one little fellow, he was crying. She said, what's wrong? He said, I didn't see the king. The king didn't come. Oh, she said, but the king did come. Well, I didn't see his crown. Well, she said, don't you remember the nice man that came over and said those kind words to you and patted you on your cheek? Yeah. Well, that was the king. He didn't recognize the king. Christ came into this world and the world knew him not because he didn't come with all the fanfare and blowing of trumpets told it as a king. Ah, he was a babe of Bethlehem. He's known by the kind deeds and the words he speaks. The little fellow said, And that was the king I didn't recognize. Jesus Christ is coming to you tonight. And I question that you're recognizing it. Oh, the people that are going to wake up in hell. Well, why did I miss the Savior? He didn't come my way. He did. He came to that servant you listened to that night. And he knocked at your heart. He came when that loved one died in your family. He came when you were taken suddenly sick. He came to you in many ways. trouble is you didn't recognize it you didn't realize that was the law speaking to you trying to win your heart how do you think he's going to come to you do you think he's going to come down the heavens in a chariot do you think he's going to send Gabriel and announce that he's coming to your house and heart no friend he comes to you through his word that's how he comes to you and by his Holy Spirit the trouble is you don't recognize that fact what a tragedy that'll be When you awaken in eternity to find the king came and went, and you didn't recognize him. And so, he says, this world did not recognize him. There's another sad incident. Mozart, the great composer, was interested in a young lady, became quite serious. Then one day she gave him up, broke it off. And then Mozart began to display his genius. And when he was acclaimed by the world, their great Mozart. One day a friend of this girl said, well, what do you think now? Why did you give Mozart up? See what you would have been if you would have been married to that great composer. Why did you give him up? She said, all I saw was a little man. I didn't recognize the greatness of his genius. Old people today, they don't recognize the greatness of our blessed Lord. They see him but as a little man. Yes, the Bible says that. The Lord Jesus is a root out of a dry ground. The world doesn't recognize him. Friend, let me tell you this, the day is coming when you realize and recognize his greatness. It would be too late then. Your opportunity is gone. He's coming to you now, through his word, through the gospel message, through the gospel story, and every day affairs, he's speaking to your heart. You'll discover someday that he did come and you didn't recognize it. You missed your chance. But he says to those who are saved, he says, be of good cheer. He said, in the world you're going to have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. In other words, tribulation, on the one hand, triumph on the other. Cheer up, Christian. Yes, you're going to get tribulation. There'll be trials and troubles and temptations and tribulation. You're going to get it. In the world you shall get tribulation. It's got to come. that here it is, cheer up, be of good cheer. Triumph is ahead. I've overcome the world. Although all of the world has been to you, I'll overcome it in the end. Then we come to that other cheer up in Acts, twenty-three eleven. We have much time for this. Paul's noble defense before the Jewish council, life was in hourly jeopardy, and he says, The Lord stood by me and said, Be of good cheer, Paul, but as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness of me at Rome. What was the Lord practically saying to us? Paul, Paul, be of good cheer. I'm standing with you. You're all right. They can't hurt you. I'm with you to defend you. Just cheer up. Not ahead of your head will perish. The Lord stood with them and said, Cheer up. Get your chin up, Paul. Everything's all right. I'm the one who was in the den of lions. When Daniel was there, I shut the lion's mouth. I was with those in the furnace of fire. Even the flames didn't singe a hair of their head. I was with them walking in the furnace. Paul, I'm walking with you. Don't worry. Be of good cheer. Though I'm with you always, even unto the end of the age. Cheer up. The last one is in chapter twenty-eight of Acts, twenty-seven, verse twenty-five. He says, Be of good cheer. I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me. Here is the cheer up of promises, precious promises. He says, Be of good cheer. I believe God that it shall be even as it was told. Just as God promised it, so it shall be. It shall be. I don't know how many years ago that verse struck me. It must be twenty-five years ago, and I underlined that in my Bible. Although I've had many Bibles since, I underline every new Bible I get. But those were under those words. I put them off. I believe God did shed them even as it was told. Be of good cheer. I believe God. Oh, these promises, how precious these promises are. Peter speaks to them as precious promises. Heaven and earth shall pass away, says the Lord Jesus, but my word shall not pass away. I believe God shall be, even as it was told me. These promises are divine. They're unchangeable. They're exceeding great. They shall not fail. Not one of them. The Bible says not one of them shall fail. His precious promises. I believe God, it shall be, even as it was told me. He says to you tonight, you are not Christians, you accept me, and I'll forgive you all your sins. You accept them, and it shall be, even as he has promised. Your sins will be forgiven. He tells you tonight, if you'll take them, you'll have peace with God. You take them, and it shall be. Even as he has said, you'll have peace with God. He says to you, look to me. and you shall have everlasting life. Look to me with a look of faith, and you shall have everlasting life. You look, and it shall be, even as He has said it. He also says, you trust me, and you shall never perish, and it shall be, even as He has spoken it. You believe on Him, and He says, you'll pass from death unto life. Why don't you say, O Lord, I believe your word? that it shall be even as you have said it. I will pass some death unto life if I believe on you. He will turn you from darkness into light. If you come to him, he has promised it. You believe him. I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me. Jesus Christ has said, I will come again and receive you unto myself. I believe, God, that it shall be even as He has spoken. The Bible closes with, Behold, I come quickly. I'm going to say this. If you want any evidence that the Lord is coming, open your eyes. The world in every aspect, politically, economically, militarily, morally, religiously, the world in every aspect of Crying out at the top of its voice, Jesus Christ is coming. And I believe God that it shall be, even as you have told me in his work. He says, the dead in Christ shall rise. He said it. And I believe God, it shall be, even after you have spoken. The dead in Christ shall run. And he also tells us the living shall be changed. in a moment in the twinkling of an eye, and I believe God, that it shall be even as he hath told me. He can't go back in his word. And he says further, I shall be with him, and I shall be like him. That's true of every Christian. And I am simple enough. You might say foolish enough to believe God, that it shall be even as he hath told me. That's what he said. I believe God that it shall be even as he had told me. He said there will be no more sin in that coming day, no more sorrow, no more pain, no more tears, no more debt. For the former things have passed away, and I believe God, it shall be just as he said it. Though not one of his words can fail. God is not a man that he should lie, or the Son of Man that he should repent. have he said it, and shall not make it good. He certainly will. Everything hinges on that statement. I believe God that it shall be, even as he hath told me. Therefore, Paul says, be of good cheer. Cheer up. I believe God that it shall be, even as it was told me. But remember those of you who will not believe God, you're making God a liar. If you want text for that, First John five, ten. He that believeth not hath made God a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son, and this is the record that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life. You either believe it, and experience it, or you'll make God alive. But how wonderful to say, I believe God that shall be, even as he hath told me. In other words, he won't change. And I just want to say this in closing. He said this, for those who reject him, bind him hand and foot, take him away, cast him into outer darkness, There shall be weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth, and it shall be just as he said. For those of you who reject it, you'll experience it in that day when you'll recognize him as King of Kings, as Lord of Lords, the one who cannot lie, the one who fulfill every promise and every threat that he made. Tonight, wonder if you'll come to Christ, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that set me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but his path from death unto life. That wonderful verse, so then Isaiah fifty-five and eleven. God says, My word shall not return unto me, void. It shall accomplish that which I please. It shall prosper in the thing where too I send it. God says, My word has gone forth out of my mouth, and it shall be. just as I have said. How wonderful, yet how solemn, how sad are those who are lost. We will not accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and as Lord. If you have believed the things I had mentioned are true with you, you have the forgiveness of your sins, you have peace with God, you have everlasting life, you'll never perish, you'll pass from death into light, from darkness into night, And you're waiting for the coming again of the Lord Jesus. Judah, I believe God. It shall be, even as it happens to. This is the little nugget that the Christian picks out of the word in places in the little casket in your heart. That's it. It's there. You carry it with you whenever you go, wherever you go. Even when you sleep. and in your unconsciousness there in your little heart, is that little gem, that Jew, a divine Jew, it shall be. It shall be, even as he has declared. Shall we pray? Our Heavenly Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus, we ask thy blessing upon thy word, thankful for these precious promises given to us. We thank thee for the occasions upon the