Acts chapter 23 is going to be the Scripture text for today. Acts chapter 23. But before I read the Scripture, I want to give you the context. You recall, if you were here, a couple weeks ago that Paul was attacked by a mob in the temple. He was falsely accused and they just about beat him to death before the Roman officers intervened and carried him away to the Roman barracks. And they needed, though, some determination as to what this man has done. Should he be turned over to the Jewish authorities to face trial? And so they requested that the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of the Jews, convene and try to determine what this man has done wrong. And so now in chapter 23, Paul has been given an opportunity to speak for himself, and we read in chapter 23 verse 1, then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. And the high priest, Ananias, commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, God will strike you, you whitewashed wall, for you sit to judge me according to the law. And do you command me to be struck contrary to the law? And those who stood by said, do you revile God's high priest? Then Paul said, I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest. For it is written, You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people. But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other part Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. Concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead, I am being judged. And when he said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection and no angel or spirit, but the Pharisees confess both. Then there arose a loud outcry. And the scribes of the Pharisees' party arose and protested, saying, We find no evil in this man, but if a spirit or angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God. Now when there arose a great dissension, the commander, fearing lest Paul might be pulled to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them and bring him into the barracks. But the following night, the Lord stood by him and said, be of good cheer, Paul, for as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome. Join me in prayer. Heavenly Father, I pray that as we read this scripture about how you encouraged the Apostle Paul, I pray, Lord, that you will encourage anyone this morning who is discouraged, who may be hurting, who may be troubled. And I pray, Lord, as we face trouble in the future, Lord, help us to remember what you did for the Apostle Paul. Lord, help me as I preach this morning, and I pray and ask this in Jesus' name, amen. Have you ever been discouraged? I would say you probably have. Especially in this situation that we're reading about today was a man who was doing what he thought was right. And yet in spite of doing the right thing, he faced opposition, he faced persecution, he faced difficulty in his life. You know, there may be times in your own life where you have done what you thought is the right thing. And yet things went badly. Sometimes in a marriage you do all you can to make your marriage work and to help it to be the kind of marriage you want and yet things just don't turn out so well. Or you try to be the best parent that you can be and yet sometimes those children don't turn out the way you would like them to. Yes, there are times when we do what we think is right, we do the best we can, and yet we face difficulties, we face trials, and we get discouraged. Jesus Christ always did what was right, yet most of His family didn't believe in Him. His nation turned against Him. Even the disciples fled from him when he was arrested and did not try to defend him other than Peter using that sword at that moment. And yet, think of how he suffered. Think of the difficulties that he faced. Well, this morning I want to share with you how Paul faced difficulties and how Paul most likely faced discouragement and how the Lord ministered to him in his time of discouragement. And I want to share with you the fact that God will minister to you. in your time of discouragement as well. Now let's think first of all this morning about the fact that we all need encouragement. We have all been there. We have all been discouraged. And Paul had some difficult situations and circumstances that he faced in chapter 22 and in chapter 21. He had to stand before the ruling council of the Jews and try to defend himself against false charges. And let's see how his defense develops in chapter 23. And I want you to note, first of all, the fact that Paul affirmed that he has stayed true to God. In verse 1, notice what he says. He, looking earnestly at the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. He had been accused of wrongdoing, and yet Paul affirms, listen, I've done My whole life, only what I thought and believed was right. I have lived with a clear conscience. Now how many of us could say that? I'm sure that every one of us have had times where our conscience has bothered us and accused us of something we've done wrong or said that was wrong, and yet Paul was a Pharisee. He believed in living strictly according to the law, and he lived a blameless life as a Pharisee. Even when he was persecuting the church, he was doing what he thought was right. And here recently, he decided to bring this offering to the Jewish people from Gentile Christians and Jewish brethren in other countries. He was doing what he thought was right. He was hoping in Jerusalem to bear witness for Christ and to win some of his Jewish brethren unto the Lord. He was doing only what he thought was right in this situation. And yet terrible things happened to him as we see in chapter 22. There he was in the temple. He had been going through a purification ritual, trying to please the Jews, trying to open hearts to the gospel witness. And on the seventh day of that ritual, some Jews surrounded him and falsely accused him and began to beat upon him. As he stands before the council, he is probably still hurting from the beating that he had received. Here he was in prison, robbed of his freedom, wondering what was going to happen to him, terrible things that happened to him in spite of the fact that he was simply doing what he thought was right. Furthermore, his message seemed ineffective. As he ministered among the Jewish people, very few probably were won to the Lord by his testimony and by his witness. As he got the opportunity to speak to the very mob that had been beating him and surrounding him, they listened. But then as soon as he spoke about ministry to the Gentiles, they turned against him and would not listen to him. And as far as we know, no one in that mob was converted to Christ. Here he is standing before the Sanhedrin. And even though he was able to get some to agree with him theologically on the resurrection and angels and so forth, probably none of the Sanhedrin were converted to Christ. His message, His mission to Jerusalem was largely ineffectual. And then furthermore, he couldn't get a fair hearing. He's standing before the Sanhedrin and he has just begun to speak in the high priest orders that he be struck. He realized very quickly that he was not going to get a fair hearing in this kind of a situation. And so the Apostle Paul as he stood before them he claimed and affirmed that he had lived in all good conscience and as we read here the high priest ordered that he be struck by one of the temple police standing next to him and they must have obliged him and stung with the injustice of what just happened the apostle Paul said to the man who ordered that he be struck God is about to strike you, you whitewashed wall. By the way, you remember how Jesus called the religious leaders whited sepulchers? Oh, how they looked so nice and clean on the outside, but inside were full of death and corruption. And that must have been in mind of Paul when he said what he did here in verse 3. He said, you judge me according to the law and yet you order me to be stricken contrary to the law, you hypocrite. Basically, he was saying the Jewish law demanded that no one was to be punished except at the mouth of two or three witnesses. In other words, according to Jewish law, you are presumed innocent until proven guilty and yet here he's already being punished even before a charge has even been brought against him. Paul realized the situation that he was facing. By the way, as soon as he said what he did to the high priest, someone informed him, �Do you know who you�ve just spoken against like that? That�s the high priest.� And realizing that, He immediately apologized and quoted scripture in the last of verse five, you shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people. Oh listen, if I'd have realized he was a high priest, I would not have said what I said in the tone in which I have just said it. As Paul believed he was still bound by that Jewish law, even so, To what degree we are bound by that Jewish law, that law of the Old Testament. Indeed, Paul acknowledged his mistake and his quotation, I believe, is based on Exodus 22 verse 28, you shall not revile God nor curse a ruler of your people. And that's not just Old Testament. In the book of Jude, he criticized false teachers who reject authority and speak evil of dignitaries. Folks, we are living in a highly charged political environment. And there's a lot of evil speaking of people that's going on in politics. When Barack Obama was president, I disagreed firmly against his position on abortion and a number of other moral issues. But I also tried to be careful not to speak evil of the man. It's one thing to speak against their policies. It's something else to speak evil of the man. And we Christians today should be careful not to violate this principle of scripture of speaking evil of a ruler of our people and certainly a leader of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ in any of those situations. And Paul taught us that and showed us that by his own example. And so here he is standing before the council realizing that he is not going to get a fair hearing. And so he knows if they can agree on a charge and if the Romans will allow it, he will be tried and convicted in a Jewish court and either spend the rest of his life in prison or perhaps they would even get permission to have him put to death. And so Paul is shrewd. He's wise. And have you ever heard the axiom divide and conquer? Well, he realized that's what he needed to do to protect himself from an unjust court. And so he said, men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead. I am being judged. Indeed, Paul proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus. He proclaimed the resurrection of believers based on the resurrection of Jesus. He knew that a number in that council believed in the resurrection. He knew that the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection. He knew that by making this statement, it would likely lead to a division within the council, and hopefully they could not even agree on a charge, and that's exactly what happened. And so the Apostle Paul, is facing a very difficult situation. And the point I want to make is that with all that he was facing in recent days, with all that he was facing now, and perhaps in the future, he was in a very difficult and discouraging situation. The Roman authorities had to come into the council and take him out by force and take him back to prison in the barracks. And he spent the rest of that day and the rest of that night and then we read in verse 11 about how the Lord gave encouragement to Paul. And as God gave Paul encouragement at a time of discouragement in his life, even so God will give encouragement to you at times of discouragement in your life. 2 Corinthians chapter 1 and verses 3 and 4 talks about the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our tribulation. When you go through those times in your life where you have done what you thought is right and yet you get negative reaction and pushback and even persecution, when you face other situations in your life where you become down and discouraged, I want you to know that God is always there to encourage you. And I want to share with you two ways that God encouraged Paul in this situation. First of all, by his presence. We read in verse 11 that the following night the Lord stood by him. Now what happened? Could it be that the Lord actually appeared to Paul in prison and let him know of his presence in that way? It's possible. At the very least, Paul sensed the presence of God in a very real way as he was praying, as he was in that prison that night. God made his presence known. And as Paul was later taken to face trial before the Roman authorities, we read about a similar situation. In 2 Timothy 4, verses 16 and 17, Paul said, at my first defense, no man stood with me. You know, Paul had won thousands of people to the Lord. He had planted perhaps dozens, hundreds of churches. He had many missionary associates. And yet, when it came time for his trial, he said, no man stood with me. That's enough to discourage you, isn't it? But notice what Paul went on to say, notwithstanding the Lord stood with me and strengthened me. Once again, God proved faithful that in a difficult time in his life, he stood with Paul. He made his presence known. You know, there's a little axiom that I have believed for a long time. You stand for God, and God will stand by you. You can be sure of that. And we see that illustrated right here in this text of scripture. And so when you face difficult and discouraging times in your life, then pray and God will make his presence known in some way. But the second way that Paul was encouraged by the Lord was by his words. Notice he spoke to Paul. He says, be of good cheer, Paul, for as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness in Rome as well. What did he say to Paul? Be of good cheer. I looked up the original word and how it's found elsewhere in the New Testament and discovered that that little phrase is found mostly in the Gospels where Jesus himself said to others, be of good cheer. He said that to someone who was about to be healed or about to be helped in some way. And so when he said that to Paul, he was familiar with the words of Jesus when he was on earth. He knew what that meant. When you're down and discouraged, Jesus says to you, be of good cheer. I don't feel like it. I don't feel like it. The Apostle Paul later wrote from prison, Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. Now how can you rejoice and be of good cheer when you're facing such terrible circumstances? Let me try to illustrate it to you. Do you realize that if you think of some painful experience of your past, you will relive that painful experience all over again and experience hurt all over again. On the other hand, if you anticipate by faith what God is going to do in your life, you can begin to rejoice even now by faith. And God is about to work in this situation and he gave his promises as we'll see in just a moment. And Paul could begin to rejoice even now before the clouds had been blown away. And there's nothing but blue sky for Paul to rejoice in. Yes, he gave him words of encouragement. Now he could have remembered in John 16, how Jesus spoke to his disciples. He was about to be crucified. He was about to leave them. And yet Jesus encouraged them with his words. For example, in verse 20, he said, most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned to joy. In verse 22, Therefore you now have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you. And then in verse 33, In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. Rejoice, because in me you will have the victory. You will not be defeated. This problem will not last. You will have the victory through me. The Lord had previously given words of encouragement. And so when you face difficult situations in your life, turn to the word of God. The Bible has so many promises that will encourage you. But we also see that the Lord in this present situation gave him words of encouragement. First of all, by commending him. You see that in verse 11? Paul, as you have testified for me in Jerusalem. Paul, I want to commend you for the fact that you have testified of me in Jerusalem. You've borne witness of me. You've been a faithful servant. And he commended him for being so faithful to testify of the Lord. But also, he gave him a promise. He encouraged him with his promise. So you must also bear witness at Rome. Paul, you're not staying here in Jerusalem. You're not going to die here in Jerusalem. You are going to Rome. And when you get there, you also are going to testify before the Roman authorities, perhaps before the emperor himself. The apostle Paul is about to get an all expense paid trip to Rome. You see, when he wrote the book of Romans a few months or a year or so before this, he told them, I want to go to Rome and preach the gospel there also. Well, God's going to arrange it. Boy, how encouraging is that? And so he encouraged him by his words of commendation and by his promise. And so, Paul, a few months later, from prison, wrote this, The things which happen to me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel. The Apostle Paul got opportunities to witness to lots of Roman soldiers and to Roman authorities. From prison, he wrote several of the books of the Bible which we now have, which we probably would not have had, had it not been for these circumstances in his life. Listen, God is on the throne and he is going to work things out. You be encouraged. A doctor was dealing with a patient about surgery on the ear, and the patient was concerned about the surgery, and the doctor said, this may hurt you, but it will not injure you. And the trials that God allows into your life may hurt, but they are not going to bring lasting injury. God will bring healing. God will always bring hope and comfort. You can count on that. And just as God encouraged Paul with his presence and with his words. May we also be ministers of encouragement. When you see a believer who is discouraged, may you minister to them with your presence and with your words. Well, finally this morning, we see why Paul could be so encouraged after this appearance by the Lord. Now in verses 12 to 15, things were going from bad to worse. Forty men put themselves under a curse, literally it says, that if they did not kill the apostle Paul, may God cast them into hell. and to reinforce their vow, they said, we will not eat or drink until this man is dead. Now that's high motivation, isn't it? You don't get to eat or drink until you do what you say you're going to do. Their plot was to ask the commander to have Paul brought to the Sanhedrin and on the way they would ambush him and kill him and anybody that stood in the way. Humanly speaking, that plot was sure to result in the death of the Apostle Paul. But we have a God who's on the throne of the universe. He knows everything. He providentially saw to it that somehow, someway, Paul's nephew heard about the plot. And he visited Paul in prison. He told Paul about the plot. And he was able to speak to the commander about the plot. And the plot was thereby spoiled. Yes, God was faithful to look over his servant and to protect him. It kind of reminds me of the book of Esther. You know, you don't read about God in the book of Esther, but yet God was at work in the book of Esther. He providentially arranged so that beautiful Esther would be chosen as the queen of the Persian king. And when an attack against the Jewish people was brought to light, Esther was able to intervene on behalf of her Jewish people and they were spared. Yes, God's on the throne. He's the one who overrules the affairs of men and he did so for the apostle Paul. But not only did he help him providentially, but he also helped him powerfully. In verses 23 and 24, it says, he called for two centurions saying, prepare 200 soldiers, 70 horsemen, and 200 spearmen to go to Caesarea at the third hour of the night and provide mounts to set Paul on and bring him safely to Felix the governor. Okay, you got 40 men that have vowed to kill Paul. Well, God arranged for 470 men armed to protect Paul and escort him by night to the safety of the headquarters of the governor. That's the kind of work that my God can do to protect His child, to protect His servant. And if God can work like that for Paul, He can work like that for you in your life. Listen, all look dark and gloomy for the Apostle Paul, and yet God showed Himself strong on his behalf. Bernard Gilpin was a reformer of the Protestant Reformation. And meanwhile, Queen Mary had ascended the throne. She was a Catholic and she did everything she could to fight against the Protestant Reformation. And so Bernard Gilpin had been arrested and charged with heresy and he was to go to London to stand trial and most likely to be executed. And yet, in that situation, as they were preparing to leave, he broke his leg. And while they were tending to his broken leg and while he was getting healed of his broken leg and ready to be transported to London, the Queen died. And so as a result, he was not to face trial after all. God, God is over all. God is over all. That's the kind of God that we serve. And so when you face trials and difficulties in life, you just remember. that God loves you and God cares about you and he wants to say to you, be of good cheer. I'm in charge of this. Trust me. Look to me. Look to the promises of your word and I will see you through. Would you bow with me in prayer? Heavenly Father, we come to you in prayer and I thank you. I thank you, Father, that you are on the throne and you showed yourself strong on Paul's behalf and you encouraged him at a time of discouragement in his life. And I pray especially for anyone in this service this morning who has been discouraged by the difficulties and trials of life that you too will let them know of your presence, let them know of your promises, let them know of your providential power. And I pray and ask this in Jesus' name, amen.