How Sweet the Name - Part 1 of 2

Hey Baptist Bible Hour listeners. The Baptist Bible Hour podcast has now been divided into two separate podcast feeds, one for the Sunday edition and one for the daily edition.

Search Baptist Bible Hour on your favorite podcast platform and sign up for both programs today. The Rids of my God and King, the triumphs of His grace. This is L. Sarah Bradley Jr. inviting you to stay tuned for another message of God's sovereign grace. How I love the great Redeemer Who is doing so much for me With the joy I tell the story Of the love that makes men free Till my earthly life is ended I will send songs of love Then beside the crystal sea More and more my soul shall be Praising Jesus and His law He is everything to me And everything shall always be I will never cease to raise A song of gladness in His praise Here and in the world above My soul shall see A saving love Life and life The joyous He The precious bread Who died for me Glory be to Him forever Endless praises to Christ the Lamb He has filled my life with sunshine He has made me what I am Oh that everyone would know Him Oh that all would adore Him Oh that all would trust the love Of the mighty friend above And be His forevermore He is everything to me And everything shall always be I will never cease to raise A song of gladness in His praise Here and in the world above My soul shall see A saving love Life and life The joyous He The precious bread Who died for me Life and life The joyous He The precious bread Who died for me Isn't that a wonderful, uplifting song? Yes, we love the great Redeemer.

The reason we love him is because he is such a great Redeemer, the only one who could redeem us from our sins and save our souls. I encourage you to take time and write us this week. Let us know that you've listened to the broadcast and if you can help with the support, we'll greatly appreciate it. I also encourage you to visit our website at BaptistBibleHour.org. There you will find the current edition of the Baptist Witness, other articles and messages that you can listen to, and if you would like, you can make a donation on the website. That's BaptistBibleHour.org.

If you prefer to write to us, that mailing address is Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. Oh, said his son, they called him Jesus. He came to love, heal and forgive. He lived and died to buy my pardon. An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives. Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone.

Because I know he holds a future. And life is worth the living just because he lives. The old traditional hymns are a great blessing to the church.

They tell a story, they set forth great theological truths, and they provide words by which we can offer up praise to God. One of the best known hymn writers of days gone by is John Newton. In his early years, he lived a very rough life as a sailor and a slave trader. He would sometimes curse and blaspheme so terribly that it even surprised some of his evil companions. At the age of 23, a slave ship on which he was traveling encountered a terrible storm.

The ship began to leak, and it appeared that it was sinking. In his agony and alarm, he cried out to God for mercy. The ship was saved, and that was something of a turning point in his life as he began then to read the Bible and to pray for God's help. Eventually, that wicked man was conquered by divine grace. He was truly converted and later became a great preacher of the gospel.

He was a friend of another hymn writer, William Cooper, and the two published the only hymns. Among those written by Newton, where glorious things of thee are spoken, the Lord will provide amazing grace and how sweet the name of Jesus sounds. Stories told of him that in his last years, he was almost blind and could barely read his notes, so a helper stood beside him in the pulpit to help. One Sunday morning, John Newton had twice read the words, Jesus Christ is precious. So the helper whispered to him and said, you already said that twice.

Newton said to him, I said that twice and I'm going to say it again. The roof timbers rang as he cried out, Jesus Christ is precious. He then asked the congregation to sing the hymn that he had written a number of years before, How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds.

And we want to focus on that hymn. How sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear. It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and drives away his fear.

It makes the wounded spirit whole and calms the troubled breast. It is manna to the hungry soul and to the weary rest. Dear name, the rock on which I build, my shield and hiding place, my never failing treasury filled with boundless stores of grace. By thee my prayers acceptance gain, although with sin defiled.

Satan accuses me in vain and I am owned a child. Jesus, my shepherd, husband, friend, my prophet, priest, and king, my Lord, my life, my way, my end, accept the praise I bring. Weak is the effort of my heart and cold my warmest thought, but when I see thee as thou art I'll praise thee as I ought. Till then I would thy love proclaim with every fleeting breath and may the music of thy name refresh my soul in death. How sweet the name.

Acts chapter 4 in the 12th verse says, Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. First we would consider the sweetness he conveys. Now the name of Jesus is certainly not sweet to all men. There are some who ignore it.

There are some who oppose it. There were those during his ministry here on earth that spoke critically of him. In John chapter 8 verse 13, The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself, thy record is not true. Stood in the face of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and called him a liar.

Thy record is not true. On another occasion they said, We know that thou hast a devil. And ultimately they cried, Crucify, crucify. Obviously to these individuals the name of Jesus was not sweet. And some today would say, Well, he was just another religious leader. There are many great religions in the world. And Jesus headed up Christianity, but there are many capable, outstanding individuals who have functioned in such a capacity. Some would say he was a great prophet, but they deny that he was the Son of God and the Savior of sinners. But while there are multitudes today that find no sweetness in the name of Jesus, we know that there have been those through the years that have found that the sweetest name of all.

And I hope that's the case with you today. Saul of Tarsus was a bitter enemy of the church, persecuting it, seeking to wipe out its testimony, despising the gospel of Jesus Christ. But after that transformation on the road to Damascus, what a difference. He wrote in Philippians chapter 3 and the 13th verse, Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, this above everything else, this is the purpose of my life, this is what I'm all about, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth to those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ was more important to him than anything else in life. He said, I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. He depended upon him every day, every hour for the wisdom he needed, the strength he needed.

He was looking forward to that happy day that he would see him and be with him forever. Certainly, the name of Jesus was sweet to the apostle Paul. And as he wrote to the church at Thessalonica regarding their experiences, he had come among them preaching this good news of Jesus Christ and him crucified. Notice what he says about their response in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 5, For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. And ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sakes, and ye became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost. These at Thessalonica, worshippers of idols, were so affected by the power of the gospel as it was applied by the Holy Spirit that they turned from their idols. They received the word, though in affliction, yet with much joy. The name of Jesus was sweet and precious to them.

Peter had failed miserably, denying his Lord, claiming that when he was accused of being one of his followers, that he knew nothing about him, had nothing to do with him. But it was ultimately evident that Peter loved Jesus. When Jesus asked him three times, Do you love me?

Do you love me? He said, Lord, you know that I do. And Peter had obviously matured spiritually when he was moved upon by the power of the Holy Spirit to write his first epistle in 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 18. He says, for as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

He has this focus where it needed to be now. He realized that Jesus Christ was not just a great teacher and a friend that he accompanied during the years of his ministry. Jesus Christ was his savior. It's through the precious blood of the lamb that you're redeemed. And in the second chapter, he speaks of it again as it would relate to all believers. It says, to whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men but chosen of God and precious.

Yes, disallowed or rejected of men. Isaiah had prophesied he would be despised and rejected of men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. But while multitudes scoff at his message, while multitudes go their way today having no interest in him at all, I ask you, is he precious to you? Chosen of God, he was the one ordained to come carry out the work necessary at Calvary's cross for the redemption of those that were given to him in the great covenant. And precious, special, unique. He's precious to believers.

Now 1st Corinthians chapter 1 speaks of the fact that the Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But there are those to whom he is precious. For he says, we preach Christ crucified and while he is a stumbling block to those who are looking for some sign and seek that to prove, but to those that are called, he is the wisdom and power of God. Have you had that experience of being humbled with a sense of your sin and brought to the realization there is no hope for sinners apart from Jesus Christ? You may have been brought up in a Christian home, so you've been familiar with the name Christian all your life. If somebody had asked you early on, you would have said, well yes, I believe in him.

But has there come that experience where it's not just a matter of saying, I know that a man named Jesus lived and I know some of the stories about his life, but I'm trusting him. I'm believing in him as my savior. So after thinking about the sweetness he conveys, we think about the blessings that he brings. The hymn says, it soothes his sorrows. The name of Jesus soothes our sorrows. Jesus spoke so tenderly to his disciples when he was preparing to go away. John 14 verse 1, let not your hearts be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in me.

In my father's house or many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you, I'd go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there ye may be also. What a comforting passage to soothe our sorrows. In a time when we have to say goodbye for the present to our loved ones, to believe that they've gone on to be with the Lord is such a tremendous comfort.

He says, I'm going away, but I'm going to prepare a place for you and ultimately we're going to be together. It couldn't be any greater consolation. And in chapter 16, the 20th verse, Jesus says, Verily, verily, I say unto you that ye shall weep and lament. Speaking of the fact that when he was crucified, it was going to be a time of tremendous sorrow and grief for his disciples. And the world shall rejoice.

These who had rejected him would feel we've gotten rid of this man that we consider to be a blasphemer. They shall rejoice and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. Though you will grieve greatly, though your sadness will be extremely deep, all that will be turned into joy following his resurrection to see that he is alive.

He has conquered sin, Satan and death. It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds. In the fourth chapter of the book of Luke, Jesus went to the synagogue, picked up the scriptures and began to read and read a prophecy concerning himself.

Verse 18 of Luke 4, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor and hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and the recovering of sight to the blind and to set at liberty them that are bruised to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. He came to bind up broken hearts, to heal the wounded. Now obviously when he's talking about a broken heart, he's not talking about somebody that's just disappointed because things have not gone their way in life. The prophet recorded these words concerning our God, that he looks to that one that is of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. That is one who is broken hearted because they have been convicted of sin. They see their wickedness before a holy God. They mourn, blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted. They mourn because they know they have offended him.

As much as they like to roll back the clock and undo many of the things in their past, there's no way they can get rid of it on their own. Only through the shed blood of Jesus Christ can sins be washed away. He heals his wounds and drives away his fear, the hymn writer says.

And how true. Over and over again there are admonitions in the scripture that we are not to fear. Fear not, fear not, fear not, recorded repeatedly by the prophet Isaiah. And then in Luke chapter 12 verse 32, Jesus speaks once more tenderly to his followers. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

In comparison to the multitudes that oppose them, they were but a little flock. He says don't be afraid because my Father has determined to give you the kingdom. Don't be afraid. When Jesus speaks those words, they have meaning. You may have had a situation where you were full of anxiety and fearful and somebody said, now, cheer up, don't be afraid, but they didn't give you any reason not to be afraid.

Just frivolous words don't go far. But when Jesus says, fear not, there's reason for us to take heart and to be assured of his promises that he will never leave us nor forsake us. That we might boldly say the Lord is our helper. And then the hymn continues, "'Tis manna to the hungry soul." Which reminds us of the words of Jesus in John chapter 6 verse 32. Then Jesus said unto them, fairly, fairly, I say unto you, Moses gave you that bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven, for the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord evermore, give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. When he speaks of coming to him, he's speaking of believing on him. You come to him by faith, you come to him believing on him and you find that he is the bread of life. He feeds our hungry soul.

He sustains us. You well know that if you neglect eating natural food, you're going to feel something wrong. I don't feel right. After a little while, if you continue to not eat, you're going to say, I can't function properly. I don't have the strength.

You know you need to eat on a consistent basis. Well certainly that's true in the spiritual realm. You begin to feel your weakness spiritually. You say, I'm struggling against discouragement, against temptation.

I have a hard time to keep going. Are you feeding on Jesus Christ? You say, what does that mean preacher? It means you believe on him. You read what he taught and you embrace it and you trust him.

Without me you can do nothing, he says. And so you acknowledge that and you rejoice that there is manner for the hungry soul. Surely we can rejoice today in the truth penned by John Newton in this hymn, how sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear.

It does indeed soothe his sorrows and drives away his fear. Be sure to write us and until next week at the same time may the Lord richly bless you all. Although with sin defied, Satan accuses me in vain, and I am owned a child.

And I am home, the child. The Baptist Bible Hour has come to you under the direction of Elder LeSaire Bridley, Jr. Address all mail to The Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. That's The Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. Here may the rock on which I build my shield and hiding place, My never-failing praise rebuild with boundless stores of praise, Jesus, my shepherd, husband, friend, My prophet, priest, and king.