Cheer Up My Brother Acts 27:13-36 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

There’s an old favorite hymn called “Farther Along” and the chorus goes like this, “Farther along we’ll know all about it, farther along we’ll understand why, cheer up my brother, live in the sunshine, we’ll understand it all by and by.”  The exhortation was to cheer up my brother.  And hopefully from our text we can give you something to help cheer you up.  You need to cheer up when you are down.

You’ll get down when you are:

Overworked – Acts 27:16 – when you are stressed to the max with things and with the cares of this world.

Hopeless – Acts 27:20 – here they couldn’t see the sun.  We get to where we can’t see the Son [can’t see the light of day].  One man said that it is better to glance at your trouble and gaze at the Savior

Tired – Acts 27:27 – they had no rest.  Jesus said, “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  The trouble is that you don’t want to take the time to come to Jesus.

Scared – Acts 27:29 – fear causes panic which releases adrenaline and sucks the energy right out of you.  You feel dread and you are defeated before you ever get to the fight.

Undernourished – Acts 27:33 – here they hadn’t eaten food for 14 days.  Spiritually, when we go without the food of God’s word, we become spiritually anemic.  Sometimes you might be reading but you’re not getting fed [not being nourished].  Church is a great place to get fed.

You’ll cheer up when you:

Pray to God – Acts 27:21-24 – George Mueller prayed till he was happy in the Lord.  Paul had real fellowship with the Lord in his prayer.

Fear Not – Acts 27:24 – you will begin to cheer up when you quit worrying so much.

Nourish in God’s words – Acts 27:34 – take the word of God and read it.  As Pastor James said, “It is not how much you read; it is how much you digest.”

Believe God – Acts 27:25 – prayer and Bible reading won’t do you any good until you really believe what God said [1 Thes 2:13].

Thank God – Acts 27:35 – Paul said, “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”  This is what one preacher called developing the attitude of gratitude.

Conclusion: Notice the result in Acts 27:36, “Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat.”  This cheer came upon them while they were still in the storm and before they went through the shipwreck.  You don’t have to be safe in the harbor to be of good cheer.  You can experience that now!!