God is on the Throne - Part 1 of 1

The Baptist Bible Hour now comes to you under the direction of Elder LeSaire Bradley Jr. This is LeSaire Bradley Jr. inviting you to stay tuned for another message of God's sovereign grace. I want to thank each of you who have been supporting this program and praying that God will use it to his glory. I wish I could send each of you a personal note to thank you, but that's not feasible. So just please accept this word that I'm grateful for your help and support to keep the program on the air. Recently, I delivered a message by live feed to the Fight of Faith Conference at Heritage Primitive Baptist Church in Huntsville, Alabama, where Elder Mike Stewart is the pastor. I'm going to share that message with you today.

It is entitled, God is on the Throne. Well, I'm glad to be with you this morning by this means. I certainly wish I could be there. I have such good memories of attending the Fight of Faith Conference over the years. I love you all and miss being there for the fellowship. But I'm thankful for this opportunity of being able to speak to you and ask that you would pray the Lord to bless our effort.

Let's look to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank thee for this beautiful morning and for this opportunity to be able to preach your word. Pray that you would bless all who are gathered at Heritage Church in Huntsville. Bless them throughout the day. Bless each message. I pray that you would enable me by the blessing of your Holy Spirit to speak the truth here this morning and that it will edify and comfort and be to the glory of thy name. For Jesus sake.

Amen. You may have been in conversation with someone talking about all of the difficulties that we're encountering in this day and time. May have been mention of the pandemic which has affected lives all over the world. Talk about how it has maybe come close to home.

Someone sick in your family or people that you know that have died from COVID. And you go on from that to talk about the impact all of this has had as far as jobs and various material aspects of the problem. And maybe continue as you're talking about all that you're contending with your concern about the direction our nation is heading and how the government endorses so many things today with which we very much disagree based on the teaching of God's word. So after discussion goes either you or the person whom you're talking wraps it up by saying well God is on the throne and that's the end of it. Well the fact is God is on the throne. But all you've done at that point has just confirmed that you're sound in the faith. You believe that God is on the throne but you go away from that conversation and from either hearing or making the declaration yourself God is on the throne and continue worrying continue struggling with doubt continue facing fears that you cannot overcome. And so the fact that you stated God is on the throne just seemed like a little something to throw in there that would wind things up and leave it on a positive note but there's no application of it. So I want us to consider what it means if we say that we believe God is on the throne. What should that do for us.

How should that affect our life. Some 11 verse 4 says the Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven.

And of course there are many scriptures to confirm that God is on the throne and we rejoice that that's a fact. Well if we believe that that means that I am not to fear or worry. God's word says over and over again we are not to fear. Isaiah Chapter 41 verse 10 fear that or not. I didn't just stop there say you've got to be strong and brave and not fear. He says fear not for I am with thee be not dismayed.

What more could we ask. We've admitted to God that we worship the sovereign. He's on the throne. Well if this God who is on the throne is not just at a distance but he is with us.

What a difference that makes. We can overcome fear because we are confident that his promises can be relied upon. For I am thy God. I will strengthen thee. Yea I will help thee.

What a promise. This God who is on the throne has said I will help thee. We certainly know we need help.

We need it in many many instances in life. If we recognize our own frailties and weaknesses we know that we need his help every hour of every day. He promised I will help thee. I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

And if that wasn't enough write in the same chapter. We go to verse 13. For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand saying unto thee fear not I will help thee. If a little child is fearful he loves to take hold of daddy's hand. Just hold my hand.

I feel better already. Well this God who is on the throne is so near to us he says I will hold thee by thy right hand. I want to be there. I'm not so far away that I can't help you.

I will help you. Verse 14 continues fear not thou worm Jacob and you men of Israel. I will help thee saith the Lord and thy redeemer the holy one of Israel. So remember when you make the basic statement that God is on the throne.

That's true. But if you go on fearful then you're not making the application of it. The application is yes God is on the throne but he's holding me. He's helping me. He's got me by the hand.

He's going to take care of me. And then Jesus said we are not to worry. Matthew chapter 10 verse 29. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing and one of them shall not fall to the ground without your father but the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore ye are more value than many sparrows.

So the sparrow is considered to be of almost no value at all. And yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Heavenly Father knowing them. I think about it when I sit on my back porch in the mornings having breakfast.

And I love to be out there when the sun is shining and coming in so beautifully and the sun rise and hear the birds sing. I just think little bird you don't know this but the sovereign God of Heaven is mindful of where you are and of your song. And He says if He takes care of the birds are you not of greater value than they are? Therefore the conclusion is Jesus says fear ye not. Fear not because God is mindfulness of the most intricate details of whatever our problems might be.

He says the hairs of your head are numbered. I remember counseling with a lady one time and she was talking about some of the things she was concerned about. And I was emphasizing the importance of taking that all to the Lord in prayer. She says oh no, no, no I wouldn't want to bother God with these little details. I wouldn't want to take up this time with that.

I don't think He'd be interested. I said if God knows the numbers of the hair on your head He's interested in detail. So no matter what the burden is, no matter what the trouble is, you can take it to Him. Circumstances may indeed be troubling but I must not fear the cause of the fact that God is on the throne. As the psalmist said, Psalm 31 15, my times are in thy hand. My good times, my bad times, my present times, my future times, they're all in His hand. So the sovereign ruler of heaven and earth is not at such a distance and far removed from us that we have no immediate connection with Him. We're in His hand. We therefore can cast out fear. Furthermore, if we truly believe that God is on the throne, we can have peace.

Nothing is out of His control. Now it may look chaotic. You look at the turmoil in the world today.

You look at the violence on the streets of many cities in America. So many things appear to us to be just complete chaos. But Psalm 115 verse 3 says, But our God is in the heavens, He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased. God is in control.

He is always at work. In the days of Habakkuk, the prophet was greatly disturbed because of the evil and violence that was in the land and he assumed God was ignoring it. God wasn't doing anything. But let me tell you, there's never a time that God is doing nothing. God is always active.

He's always accomplishing His purposes. So the fact is, although Habakkuk didn't know what it was, God had a plan. And after he pleaded with the Lord, the Lord told him what the plan was.

That the Chaldeans are going to invade the land, bringing judgment on the people. And when Habakkuk found out what the plan was, he didn't like the plan. He didn't like God's plan.

Have there ever been times in your life where you've prayed and prayed and wanted to know what God's plan was and when He revealed it to you, you didn't like it? Well, the prophet had to go to his watchtower to ponder the situation and consider what his thoughts and attitudes ought to be. And after he did, in Habakkuk chapter 2, verse 20, he wrote these words, So if we recognize the absolute sovereignty of God, know that He is in His holy temple. He is on the throne. He does rule and reign, even though we cannot understand many of the unfoldings of His providence. We must not murmur. We must not complain.

All the earth keeps silence before Him. Furthermore, if you believe that God is on the throne, you can rely on His promises. What a promise. All of us are familiar with this one in Hebrews 13, 6. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.

What a promise. No matter what the circumstances, no matter how chaotic the circumstances may appear to be around us, no matter how deep we've gone into the valley, I will never leave thee. Now there were times that various ones who wrote the Psalms were in such a dark place that felt the Lord had forsaken them. Well, is thy mercy clean gone forever? Maybe you've been there. You say, I'm just stressed and troubled and I've faced so many difficulties and setbacks and I've prayed and I don't seem to get an answer to my prayers.

I feel like He's forgotten about me. But God says, I will not leave thee. Isaiah chapter 57 verse 15 says, For thus saith the Lord, the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy place with Him that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. Here's God's promise. Though I dwell in the high and lofty places and though I inhabit eternity, I am going to give attention to that one that is of a humble spirit, revive that one that is of a contrite heart. And that's Psalm 102 verse 16. When the Lord shall build up Zion, He will appear in His glory.

And you may say, stop right there. That promise can't involve me. If the Lord is appearing in His glory, I'm unworthy. I'm undeserving.

I'm insignificant. God's not going to care about me. But He goes on to say, When He shall appear in His glory, He will regard the prayer of the destitute and not despise their prayer. Now surely you can qualify for that. I've talked to people who would look at certain promises and say, all right, just like the one we looked at in Isaiah 57, He's going to look to that one who is humble.

Well, I fear I'm not humble enough. And you cite another promise, well, I'm afraid I don't qualify. Now, I think we can all qualify for this one, the destitute. We feel to be destitute of what we ought to have as far as our right attitude and the strength of our faith and our conduct from day to day. We feel empty and barren, but He will not despise the prayer of the destitute. And so we can rely on His promises. Furthermore, if we believe God is on the throne, we can find contentment. The Apostle Paul says in Philippians 4-11, Not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. He's admitting he wasn't born with that spirit and attitude. He learned it. That's something we must learn.

How do we do it? Well, it goes on to say in verse 13, I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. We come before the Lord and admit my spirit is sometimes restless.

I'm many times frustrated. I don't understand the unfolding of your providence. I don't understand a lot of things, but I want to be content.

I want to honor your name and I pray you'll give me the strength to do it. And so Paul says I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. Now, that doesn't mean that you are content with your failures or your sinful thoughts or actions or that you're content with a slothful, indifferent attitude. But you're content because your God, your Heavenly Father, is working all things according to the counsel of His will and working all things together for good to them that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose. Consequently, we can be content even in trials when we recognize God's hand in the matter.

Paul deals with that in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 7. Unless I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me. Now, thorn in the flesh indicates it's something painful, very uncomfortable. If you've got a thorn in your flesh, you're not going to ignore it, and there's nothing wrong with going to the Lord and asking, Lord, this situation is painful.

If it could be your pleasure, would you change it? Would you remove this thorn in the flesh? But here's the answer, verse 9. And then he says in verse 10, His initial desire, which is very understandable, Lord, whatever this situation is, it is extremely painful. It's a thorn in the flesh.

Would you remove it? But God's answer is, I have a purpose in this. I've given you this thorn that you might not be exalted above measure, that you would walk humbly before me, that you would trust me. And so Paul understands that and accepts that and says, I take pleasure in infirmities.

That's difficult to do, isn't it? None of us like infirmities or approaches, necessities, persecutions, distresses. It's something that you seek after, but he says, I take pleasure in them because they make me know how much I need the Lord. They make me conscious of my weakness, for when I am weak, then am I strong.

Oh, you find so many people today that are restless, murmuring, complaining, unhappy, saying it's just not fair, this has happened to me, or why haven't I got a better situation? A true believer in Jesus Christ seeks to occupy this position, as did the Apostle Paul, to say, I can be content in the Lord. Furthermore, if you say God is on the throne, you can find comfort in your deepest sorrows. 2 Corinthians 1, 3, Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.

Don't you love that expression? The way the Lord identifies himself in several different ways akin to this category, but to say he is the God of all comfort. You need comfort?

Where are you going to get it? Real comfort, lasting comfort, comes from God, who is the giver of it, the source of it, who comforteth us in all our tribulations, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. So many times people mean well, but they use a lot of trite phrases, they try to say some things that sound good, but they miss the whole point. They do not recognize God's hand in our troubles, in our sorrows.

God is sovereign. They're not going to find real comfort unless we've turned to our Heavenly Father who is the source of that comfort. Certainly with the sicknesses, the deaths that have touched so many homes across the country during this time of the COVID virus, we know that comfort is greatly needed and the loss of loved ones. When my wife was in the hospital suffering because of the COVID, she reached the point that it looked like she was very near death.

She already had a pre-existing lung condition and then she got pneumonia and then had trouble with her heart and it didn't look good at all. And I learned anew the anguish that one will feel in a time of loss when a dear loved one is taken away. Thankfully, God was gracious, heard our prayer, restored her and brought her home for which we are very thankful. But what happens when death does occur? Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 4.13, But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. He's not suggesting that you're going to be brave and strong and never shed a tear. You may shed many tears, you may grieve and moan and groan, but you're not sorrowing as those that have no hope.

You have a bright hope. Verse 18 says, Wherefore comfort one another with these words. Well, what are these words? These words concern the fact that Jesus Christ is coming back and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Oh, what a comfort to know that one has been taken from us. We know we're not going to have their company anymore in this life. And our heart aches and we grieve.

But it's not a dismal outlook. It's a bright hope as we rest, as the apostles said, and hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. It makes us look forward to that day.

What a day that will be. When Jesus Christ comes back and the saints of God are all with him and they have glorified bodies and there'll be no more sin and there'll be no more sickness, there'll be no more sorrow, there'll be no more death. But eternal praises render to our victorious Savior forever. Yes, we can have comfort in our deepest sorrows and we can have joy as we go along facing the daily difficulties of life. We talked about Habakkuk.

Habakkuk learned that he could rejoice in the Lord even in the darkest of times. In Habakkuk chapter 3 verse 17, it says, although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vine. The labor of the olive shall fail and the field shall yield no meat.

The flock shall be cut off from the field and there shall be no herd in the stall. That's a dismal picture painted, is it not? Nothing's going right.

Nothing's out of place. There is no harvest. This is a desolate time. So did he murmur? Did he complain? Did he give up in discouragement?

No. Verse 18, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. Yes, Paul tells us we're to rejoice evermore.

I understand that's sometimes extremely difficult. We can be cast down. We can say with the psalmist, I sink in deep mire where there is no standing. Oh, Lord, restore to me the joy of thy salvation. But we can rejoice. And we're not rejoicing in our emotion.

We're not rejoicing in the circumstances of the day. We're rejoicing in the Lord, in his sovereign rule, knowing that he is on the throne and that God is working all things according to his good pleasure. And furthermore, we can have joy because not only do we say God is on the throne as though, well, he's up there somewhere.

He's at a distance from us. But we have access to the throne room. Hebrews 4 16, let us therefore come boldly under the throne of grace, so that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. It had a marvelous privilege that we can communicate with this sovereign ruler who is on the throne. The God who is on the throne is your father. If you've come to faith in Jesus Christ, then you've been adopted into his family. And God is your father. So it's not just a matter of saying, well, God's on the throne, like out there somewhere. I don't know what's going on or what God's doing.

I'm going to go on worrying and fretting and doubting and dealing with troubles in a very negative way. I know. When you understand this sovereign ruler cares about you, he knows where you are. He knows you intimately. He knows your circumstances. He is your father.

You can therefore rejoice. The hymn writer said, my father is rich in houses and lands. He holdeth the wealth of the world in his hand, of rubies and diamonds, of silver and gold. His coffers are full and his riches untold.

A tent or a cottage, why should I care? They're building a palace for me over there. Though exiled from home, yet still I may sing, oh glory to God, I am a child of the king. So the one who rules and reigns to say God is on the throne is to speak of him as king and then to know I'm a child of the king.

What joy that ought to bring me. And I pray to bring joy to each of you today. Heavenly Father, we thank thee for the wonderful truths of thy word. We rejoice to know that in these difficult, challenging times, thou art on the throne. And we know that as our father, you care for us. And we look to thee for the strength and courage and hope that we need every day. Bless each one at the meeting at Heritage Church. Oh, Heavenly Father, help each of us as thy people to shine as lights in a dark world. Blessed for thy name's sake, we pray. Amen. My Father is rich in houses and lands, beholdeth the wealth of the world in his hands. We should indeed declare that God is on the throne, but then we should make the application of this truth as we trust him from day to day. And what a blessing to know that though God is on the throne in heaven, we have access to the throne room because he is our Father. If you'd like to get this message on CD, request it when writing us. Until next week at this same time, may the Lord richly bless you all. Amen. Amen.