I want to preach this evening on a subject which I have entitled, The Conspiracy to Kill the Preacher Discovered. You may have read in the press that there was this week a rumor of an assassination. I was the person that was supposed to have been assassinated. A police sergeant arrived at my door making inquiries of my wife, if this were so. That seems to be a strange thing, isn't it? That after a man is supposed to be assassinated, the police arrive to ask his wife, is it true? that you have lost your husband. I would like to say this evening that the fearful preacher, as he exercises his ministry, will create by his fearful witness enemies. And many attempts will be made to silence his testimony. If not by bodily attacks, then by verbal attacks on his life, on his home, on his ministry, and on his church. Conspiracy to assassinate a man's character. is just as vile as a conspiracy to kill his body. Paul was an innocent man and yet what a record Paul had. If Paul had been on trial and his record had been called for, what a demonstration that record would have caused in the courtroom. If you have your testament and you turn with me to 2 Corinthians, you will find in two passages of that great epistle, Paul outlines something of his record. First of all, In chapter 11 and verse 23, Paul says, Are they ministers of Christ? I am more. In labors more abundant, in strikes above measure, in prisons more frequent, Look at this next verse. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes he won. The sentence under the Jewish law for beating was that the person to be scourged was to receive thirty-nine stripes. Paul had one hundred and 95 lash marks upon his body. He was sentenced five times to be beaten with 39 stripes. Look at it again. Three times he was sentenced to be beaten with rods. He was in prison more times than any other of the apostles. And if you turn back in the same epistle, 2 Corinthians to chapter 6, you will find that Paul was in Tumult after Tumult. He says in verse 5 of the 6th chapter, in stripes, in imprisonment, imprisonment in Tremont. So his whole ministry was punctuated with rioting, uprising, dissension, and controversy. And yet Paul was an innocent man. He had a conscience void of offense toward God and his fellows. And yet this was the treatment that was meted out to him. Now, my friend, if we are going to be faithful in this day and generation, we too will be called upon to suffer similar treatment at the hands of the enemies of the gospel. In this portion of Scripture that I read to you, you will find that there are some lessons to be gleaned. from this conspiracy to destroy the preacher. Here we have in Acts 23 a satanic attempt to stop a fearful ministry. There is nothing that the devil hates more and dreads more than a fearful gospel ministry. This is destructive of the kingdom of darkness. And this spells doom and defeat to the armies of hell. A fearful gospel ministry. God help me to exercise it. God enabled this church to be kept faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you preach the gospel the way it ought to be preached, you'll become the target of satanic opposition. What is a faithful gospel ministry? I want you to notice that it's defined for us in verse 11. The Lord said, thou hast testified of me. The first characteristic of a faithful gospel ministry is that it is a Christ-centered ministry. Paul was not a party man. Paul was not interested in the party. He didn't associate himself with any party clique in the early church. In fact, he resisted Peter because Peter at Antioch lined himself up with the Judaizers in the early church. And Paul, the new convert, went out on a limb. and withstood even Peter to the face, because Peter was to be blamed. Paul had one interest, and that interest was Jesus Christ. A fearful ministry will exalt the Lord. A fearful ministry will not point to anything other than Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation. And could I say to you, my sinner friend, this evening, that salvation is centered, that salvation is found, that salvation alone is in Christ. And all your denominationalism and all your doctrines, and all your parties, and all your religious works, and all your religious rituals, and all the ordinances that you may believe in can never impart divine life to your soul. Christ alone can save you. A Christ-centered ministry. Do you want salvation? Look to Christ, He can save you. Do you want pardon? Look to His blood, for it can cleanse you. Do you want deliverance? Look to His name, for the name of Christ destroys the devil's works and beats back the powers of hell. And Satan trembles at the name of Him in whom we dwell, a Christ-centered ministry. Tell me, my friend, what is your relationship to Jesus Christ? I want you to notice, secondly, that a fearful ministry is a doctrinally strong ministry. Paul was strong on the doctrines. Look at him here. In verse 6, he cries out about the hope of the resurrection of the dead. My Paul was doctrinally strong. His was a ministry presenting the full doctrines of the gospel. The doctrines of the gospel are unpalatable to man's carnal mind. Man wants to be able, with his philosophies and ideologies and theologies, to reason about the gospel. But the gospel is not reasoning. The gospel is a revelation. Friend, you are not saved by reason. You are saved by simple faith in Jesus Christ. and the doctrines concerning Christ have got to be emphasized. Of course, it is unpopular to believe in the infallible Christ today. It is unpopular to believe in His virgin birth. It is unpopular to believe in His miracles. It is unpopular to believe that He is God manifest in flesh. It's unpopular to believe that he died by bloodshedding and arose again in bodily resurrection. It's unpopular to believe that he bodily ascended into heaven and that he's bodily coming again in clouds with great glory. But praise God, we will preach this Christ, the Christ of the virgin birth, the Christ of miraculous living. the Christ of atoning death, the Christ of bodily resurrection, the Christ of wonderful exaltation, and the Christ who is coming again in power and great glory. Now you start preaching about the Savior and emphasize these doctrines and the old carnal mind will rise against you. And those who have made a goddess of reason and exalted reason to the throne will cry out against you. My, the natural mind and the carnal mind hates the exaltation of Christ. But I emphasize Christ. My friend, I cry against all false doctrines and all false ways of salvation. Could I say that the third characteristic of a fearful ministry is that it is establishment destructive. It is against the establishment, the usual way of doing things. It is against the union that has taken place between the Lord's church and the world. We live in a day when the church is established, when it is formed on by the authorities, when it is popularized by the politicians. I want you to notice there was a note of condemnation in Paul's ministry. My Paul went against the current, didn't he? He didn't go with a stream. Any old dead trout can go with a stream. But Paul was swimming against the current. Old Paul cried out against this old high priest. He called him a whitened wall. Paul believed in denunciation and condemnation. I want you to notice that. He said that his ministry was a saver of life unto life, but also death unto death. And if I exercise a faithful ministry, I will cry out against sins in the political sphere, sins in the domestic sphere, sins in the moral sphere, and sins in the ecclesiastical sphere. Every man of God, true to his gospel charge, will be a reformer in his day and generation. He'll pull down the idols of man. and exalt Jesus Christ and Christ alone. These are the characteristics of a faithful ministry. And because Paul exercised this ministry, there was a conspiracy against him. I want you to notice three things about this conspiracy. I want you to notice it was a large conspiracy. More than 40 people decided to destroy him. Don't you see these conspirators meeting behind the closed doors? And they sit down, and they're presided over by Constable Hatemonger. And he says, we have got to destroy this preacher. We have got to silence Paul. We have got to bring to an end the agitation that Paul has started across the world. And so they conspired that they would silence the man of God. I can see them whispering, planning, scheming, conniving and conspiring. more than 40 of them. This conspiracy, friend, has its parallel in the present conspiracy of this land to destroy the freedom of Protestantism and to destroy the voice of truth in this pulpit. This week in the courts of this land there will be many statements made, and these statements will be made with one him and one object, and that him and object is to discredit the preacher and to destroy his credibility in this community. I was talking to a man who comes for trial tomorrow, and he said to me, the special branch officer that questioned me said, we will wrack Peasley. We will wrack his church. We will wreck him forever. I'm not wrecked yet, friend, I want to tell you that. I want to tell you tonight, friend, you'll not touch God's servant. And I'd like to tell the scheme of this government that we have, which is not a government, and this lying chief that has sat over us. To destroy us, I want to tell you, friend, that when the Lord stands by you, you'll be delivered. I want to say that tonight. Yes, we'll destroy them. They have tried to destroy me before. Us dying, and behold, we live. Do you remember the first time I was behind the prison bars? the pontiff of Ulster, O'Neill himself said, in pontifical ecclesiastical language, with his nasal twang and whine, Paisleyism is dead. I want to tell you, friend, the cause that he impiously stands will live when the bones of an eel decompose in the dust. Let me tell you that tonight. And if there are any emissaries of this despicable regime that calls itself a government in this meeting tonight, let me tell you, friend, that all your scheming And all your planning, and all your lying, and all your perjury, and all your bribery can't touch God's people. If there's a God in heaven, it's a large conspiracy. Someday we'll call their names. I want you to notice something. It was a religiously inspired conspiracy. They went to the chief priest. They went to the moderator and the archbishop and the president. The hatred against this church, make no mistake about it, doesn't emanate in the first place from political circles. The hatred against this church and this preacher emanates from the ecclesiastical leaders who are intent on selling us out to pulperite. And because this voice has raised itself in this province, and we have stood on the walls, and we have sounded the trumpet, and we have alerted the people to the salient of poverty, these religious players will try to destroy us as they survey their empty pews tonight. the anger and bitterness is in their hearts. Do you see this church, friend? It stands as a monument to what God can do. Do you see this building, friend? This building stands as a monument that God lives and that Christ still saves and that the Bible is still true. And this preacher, He should have been discredited and silenced and kicked out long ago, but thank God he's still here, bearing witness to small and great, saying none other things than those that are written in the book should come to pass. I want you to notice, friend, it was a desperate conspiracy. They took a solemn oath that they wouldn't eat or drink. I'm sure they were hungry. Yes, my other men have sworn that they will destroy this testimony. I could write a book upon the plots of the field in this church. I could write a volume upon the schemes and plans of men to destroy the testimony of the people of God in this house. And they have sworn that by every method known to corrupted men, they shall destroy the house of God and the people of God. Paul was the object of a conspiracy. But let me tell you something. Not only have you the satanic attempt to stop a faithful ministry, you have the divine preservation of a faithful ministry. How does God preserve it? Look at it, friend. Look at verse 11. The Lord stood by him. That's a great verse, isn't it? The Lord stood by him. You know how the Lord preserves a faithful ministry? He preserves it by standing by His people. I'd rather have the Lord standing by me than all the ecclesiastical nitwits of our day. I'd rather have the Lord standing by me than all the religious twits of our day. I'd rather have the Lord standing by me than the crowds of man and the good wishes of man. The Lord stood by me. He was with me. And this preacher can say the Lord has stood by him. by good report and evil report, in tumults and in imprisonment and in misreporting, the Lord has stood by us. It is the Lord's presence that counts, friend. And if you have God's presence, you can face the battle with peace in your heart. And you know what else? Not only the Lord's presence, but the Lord's promise. He says, Paul, your ministry is not over yet. They think they have finished you, but the greatest day is before you. You know, after Paul wrote this, he went away and he evangelized in Spain and around France and was released, first of all, from Caesar after his first imprisonment. He had a long way to go. Some people think the ministry of this preacher is over. We are only starting, Frank. We are just commencing, and if this is the beginning, hallelujah, what shall the end be? Oh my friend, God's promise, as you have been faithful in this place, God will give us a testimony to the ends of the earth. Friend, we have God with us, and what a God. God who never slumbers, who never sleeps. I'm glad, friend, that the Lord gives us promise before the old conspirators get together. The Lord's in first. Don't you notice that? The Lord said to him, in the middle of the night, I'm with you. On the next day, the devil says, I'll destroy you. But the Lord was in first. He's always first, isn't he? The Lord is always a step ahead of the devil. Make no mistake about it. If this preacher hadn't been behind prison bars during the early part of this year, I would be behind bars tonight. And I am the person that the authorities are after, don't make any mistake about it. They are after this preacher. But God said, He was a step ahead of them. He said, you old schemers, I'll put Peaslee in the prison. And then you can bring every charge you like, but how could he conspire and how could he blow up places if he was in the prison cell? Prison number 636. Oh yes. By the way, I should have said something. It just reminded me. that number. You know, I said to the old man that enlisted me at the prison, I said, if that was 666, I wouldn't take it. So it's well at 636. But a man came to me this morning with a check for six pounds, six shillings and sixpence. And he said, Mr. Paisley, I got this from the tax people as a rebate, but I couldn't use it. I want to give it to the building fund. He says it's 666. So I've got that check. So that's another six pounds, six shillings and six pence for the building fund. And we appreciate that. But let me say this to you, Frank. The Lord is a step ahead. Oh, what a God we have. And you know what he says to Paul? He says, Paul, be of good cheer. And when these conspirators were arranging it all, God had a knees dropper. He is a fellow listening in. Yes. God has people who listen in for us. My, how many times this church has been a step ahead because God has somebody listening in for us. Yes. And it was Paul's nephew. And he heard the whole story. And he went to the chief captain and he told him the story. And the men were preparing to lie in wait and bring Paul. And Paul was riding a horse away to Caesarea. And when the next day came, Paul had gone. Hallelujah. The Lord overruled it all. And whatever plot and plan man may bring against us, let us be confident in this one thing, that he that hath begun a good work in us will perform it until the day of his appearing. Do you think, friend, that God built this church to have an empty? Do you think that God raised this testimony that the devil might get the victory over it? God raised this testimony to glorify His name. This church is God's laugh at apostasy and potpourri. And God says, see those free Presbyterians? That despised bunch of people? Who are they? Do you remember Tobias said, if a fox went up and ran against the wall, it would knock it down. That's what they said about us. We're a lot of nobodies. And God took the nobodies to glorify His Son. There's nothing good in any one of us. This preacher of begotten desserts would be in hell. This church if it was blessed according to our feeble faith, it would be empty. It would never have been done. But God blesses us because He cannot deny Himself. He is a faithful God. Do you know Him, friend? Let me tell you something. You may know, and I'm sure you do by this time, that I'm laboring tonight under a physical healment with this very severe cold on me. If I had considered myself, I wouldn't have been in this house tonight. I was in bed all day yesterday, but last night I felt I must get out of bed and go to see a dear man who's nearing the end of the journey, a dear man of God. This man was an elder in the Irish Presbyterian Church, and the minister of the church lunged an attack on me. And this man rose out of his pew and he said, I'll never be in a church where God's servant is attacked. And he left and he came and associated himself with this house and with this testimony. And now he's near the end of the journey. And I went and held his cold hand last night. And we read together the chapter through which he came to Christ, the fifth chapter of Romans. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And he took my hand and he squeezed it. And I said to him, Cecil, the Lord is with you. He says, yes, the Lord is with me. And he's in the valley. And soon shall the cold waters of death be parted, and our brother's emancipated soul, freed from the tabernacle of clay, will enter into the Father's rest. And as I stood there with this cold hand in mine, I said, thank you, Lord, for a Savior who can help you to live. Thank you, Lord, for a Savior who can help them to die. Thank you, Lord, for a Savior that takes our soul to heaven and presents us bountless before the presence of the infinite glory of the everlasting triune Jehovah. Let me ask you something. When you come to the passing of the river, as you will, and so will I. When the dark shadows gather around you, when the swirl of death's cold Jordan waves comes about you, will it be well with your soul? Tell me, are you anchored for God's eternity in the Rock of Ages? Tell me, my friend, do you know Christ, whom to know as life everlasting? Or when your friends hold your cold hand and dying, will it be a long and tragic farewell? I was only saying good night to my brother and my friend. I'll meet him in the morning, but would it be goodbye to you? You've got to answer that tonight. My earnest prayer is that you'll come to Christ. Man and woman, make sure you're saved. Get your faith first. Answer tonight in the Son of God. Start for heaven tonight. Say yes to Jesus. Come and be healed by His blood. May God help you to come for Jesus' sake. Amen. Let's bow our hands. Father in Heaven, Thou hast helped us tonight to preach Thy Word. And now, Lord, we're going to draw in the net And we're so weak and helpless and impotent, but, O God, we bless Thee that Thou art strong and mighty to deliver. We just pray, now, that Thou wouldst glorify Thy name and the salvation of the lost. We thank Thee for the testimony of our brother. We bless You, our God, that it's well with him. He's going home to the glory land. May many a soul start for heaven tonight and be in time.