The Baptist Bible Hour now comes to you under the direction of Elder Lasser Bradley Jr. Please get Thousand tongues to see my great redeem. It must Bye. The glories of my government. The triumphs of his This is Leser Bradley Jr., inviting you to stay tuned for another message of God's sovereign grace.
Bye. Obed with me as far as thee and time the darkness thee pass for me aboard when another hell spare and comforts me Help of the heavenly To his losers of life's with old days, joys profiled, his glories pass away, change and behave all around I see. Oh thou who changes not above every passing heart one. Thy praise stand for the tender spot who I thyself might guide and stay and be through and sunshine O of thy grave Oh thy most beautiful eyes Shine through the blue and point me to the sky Heaven's morning grace and birds made shadows bleed in life, in death, or more of me.
Well, I'm glad you're with us for the broadcast today. Here in the middle of the summertime. and this is a time of the year. that I especially like. I love war.
weather. But there's one thing about summertime that brings is some uh concern And that is that as people take their vacations and Spending more Yeah. They have a tendency to forget That for us to continue these broadcasts, we have to have support.
so the support generally declined in the summer time. And so, I'm bringing this to your attention.
So, if you want us to continue on your your local station, we need your support. I ask you to pray for us, that the needs will be supplied. You can write us at Baptist Bible Hour, box seventeen oh thirty seven, Cincinnati, Ohio, four five two one seven. You can also make a donation by going to our website at BaptistBibleHour.org. There, you can read the Baptist Witness.
Also, hear the broadcast both the Sunday and daily programs.
So we look forward to hearing from you and pray that the message will be a blessing to you today. Uh Okay. Firm of foundation be saved. The Lord is lame. For your faith in His own word.
What more can He say than to you He has said? Go unto Jesus. Forever you shall fled when proof. Trials, thy pathway shall lie, my grace also fished, shall be rising. The flame shall not hurt thee.
I only design thy throat to consume, and thy grocer to refine. The soul that on Jesus still leans for repose, I will not die. I will not desert to his post that song, though all hell should endeavour to shake I'll never, no never, no save as long as we live in this world. We're going to be subject to changes. We change ourselves.
Our body changes as it gets older. Many times our thoughts, opinions, and attitudes change. The circumstances around us in life change.
Some of us old-timers say we don't particularly like change, but it doesn't slow it down. It still happens. A lot of things about the good old days that I definitely prefer. But we have to deal with the changes that have occurred and move forward. But although we live in a changing world, It's good to know.
that our Savior Jesus Christ is always the same. Hebrews chapter 13. Verse 8. Jesus Christ The same. Yesterday And today and forever.
It's interesting when we note the context. Verse seven says Remember them which have the rule over you. who have spoken unto you the word of God. whose faith follow. considering the end of their conversation.
A theme throughout this book of Hebrews is to give encouragement. To these who were having a great struggle. They had professed their faith in Christ. They were endeavoring to follow him. But having come out of the Jewish religion, they had friends and family members that were calling them to come back.
And they struggled Having been involved in that order of service all their life. It questioned, are we on the right track? Maybe we have made a mistake. Maybe we ought to return to the place. that we formerly occupied.
But the writer here says Remember those that have been your leaders. Speaks in the past tense: those who have spoken unto you the word of God. Perhaps indicating that some of those that they had heard earlier. early on in their experience had already passed off the scene. had gone on to be with the Lord.
But consider the words that they have spoken to you. Think about the example that they set. Follow their faith. Consider the end of their life. Consider the fact that They continued in the faith.
And coming down to the end, they were still trusting God, and they had this great hope of what was for them on the other side. Although Leaders come and go. Although men of God in whom you may have confidence at the moment and under whose ministry you have profited. Ultimately. They pass off the scene.
So there are changes that occur all the time. But in contrast Jesus Christ. The same Yesterday. Today and forever.
So your trust and confidence must be in him. while leaders pass off the scene. While circumstances around you change, While there are changes that occur in your own thinking. Jesus Christ. Doesn't change.
He's always the same. First then, We want to consider that change is a reality. There's constant change in the world. Kings and leaders are put up and brought down. But turn to thee.
Book of Daniel. Daniel chapter 2 in the 20th verse. And he changes, talking about God, of course, he's the sovereign ruler. And he changeth the times and the seasons. He removeth kings and setteth up kings.
He giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding. No doubt there are kings that occupy a throne today. There are leaders of nations that feel they are in absolute control of the situation. Not recognizing that they have been placed there by God Himself. God is in charge.
That doesn't mean that every leader that ascends the throne or occupies a place of leadership. is an honorable, godly individual.
Sometimes the Lord raises up kings and leaders apparently as a judgment on the people. But God is still the one that raises them up. and brings them down. There are changes among the nations of earth because of conflicts and wars. There are nations that You still exist.
A few years ago? They're not even there anymore. There has been a coup in the new Group took it over, and the country is completely changed. The name was changed. Various circumstances bring about change, so that while you would normally think here's something that's stationary.
Here is a country that is identified by its name and its history and the legal documents that Bind it together. Yeah. A disruption comes, and there is a complete and total change that occurs. Certainly. There are many changes taking place in our own country.
that disturb us. We could never have imagined a few years ago. That some of the things that are allowed on television today would have been allowed. The code was dramatically different. just a few years ago.
Who would have ever thought? that there would be a debate going on about what constitutes marriage. Who would have ever thought? that some of the attitudes that are so prevalent and continue to increase in popularity in our land could ever have occurred. Where our founding fathers were God-fearing men.
And The Bible has been so much respected by multitudes in our land over the years. These changes are disturbing. Makes us wonder. what the future holds, what our young people will encounter. As the years pass on, Change occurs.
As we get older, I hear older people sometimes say, well, you know, most of the Good friends I had years ago, and most of my family members have already passed on. Life is so different for me today. Reached the place that a person can no longer drive an automobile. Life is dramatically Changed. The hymn writer Pen these words.
Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day, Earth's joys grow dim. its glories pass away. Change and decay in all around I see O Thou who changest not, Abide. with me.
Now something changes. are good. I'm thankful that there's been some changes as far as transportation is concerned. First church I've pastored. Couldn't get an automobile back into the community in the wintertime because of the mud.
And I rode an old white mule around to visit the congregation. I prefer going in an automobile. And I'm thankful for the improvement in automobiles. The ones we ride in today are definitely an improvement over the old model. A that I learned to drive in.
I'm not sure if I can do it. I'm thankful that And I wanna go on an appointment. I've gotta good auto wheel to drive to get there or if time requires it that I can get on an airplane and go. When I read about some of the old preachers, like George Whitfield, who made several trips back and forth from England to the United States, and it took him three months to cross the ocean. I think How challenging.
I'd say, Brethren, I'm getting ready to go on a preaching trip. It's going to take me three months to get there, and if I stay a while, it'll take me three months to get back. Who knows when you'll see me next? I uh I think I would uh had difficulty even crossing the ocean on a nice ocean liner doesn't sound all that appealing, but on the vessels that were available back in those days and spend three months at it. I'm glad there's been some changes when it comes to transportation.
I'm uh thankful for the change as far as communication is concerned.
Some of you young people probably never heard of a party line. But in the old days You may have had a dozen people on your line.
So you picked up the phone, somebody's already talking, and you had to wait till they got through. And then maybe you missed it, and the next person got on, you had to wait till they got through. Of course, there are a lot of nosy people who stayed on the line to see what the neighbor had to say. But who would ever have thought that we would now have our personal cell phones? In the comic strips when Dick Tracy used to have a two-way wristwatch, We just were amazed and said, My, what if they ever really invented something like that, thinking that was a total impossibility.
And now all this stuff your cell phone does. I haven't figured mine out totally yet. I just used a little bit of it, but I'm pleased to be able to communicate that way. Think of that. In the early days when I started on radio 61 years ago, I would never have imagined that people could carry a little gadget in their pocket and.
Listen to me anytime they want to hear me. Just total change in communication. Thankful for it. Thanks for further. the improvement in medication.
Think about All the things that are available to us now, and the skill that doctors have. what they're able to do for you in case of uh emergency. While some medications can be detrimental, there are obviously a lot of them that are good, and we're thankful for it.
So, some changes are good. But Some changes are destructive. Trials themselves can bring about a complete and dramatic change in one's life. an extended illness. The death of a loved one.
It's a significant change. Person says Things will never be the same. And I won't. Because This change has occurred. Jeremiah said in his prophecy, Jeremiah chapter four, in the twentieth verse.
Destruction upon destruction is cried. for the whole land is spoiled. Suddenly. Are my tents spoiled and my curtains in a moment? Suddenly.
Change often comes suddenly. It's unexpected. They get a phone call. You can't believe the bad news. Have a hard time adjusting.
Surely this can't be. Suddenly. Trouble comes. Trials come. Loved ones.
are claimed by death.
Some changes are destructive. But then it involves Turning to the world. Paul said in 2 Timothy 4.10, Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world. When you think, here's a man that labored with the Apostle Paul. What a privilege.
to be able to serve with such A great Servant of the Most High God. And did this man Maybe over a period of time. began to look at the things of the world around him. began to perceive that he's missing out on so much. I'm not satisfied to endure the hardship that there was as being a follower of Christ.
Damus. had forsaken me. When you see people who go for a time Following Christ, it seems. at least giving lip service to the idea that they love him. and they want to honor him.
And little by little they grow cold. Little by little the world comes in. And finally they make a dramatic turn and they're gone. Or how sad it is. But there's a change because one embraces.
false doctrine. And teaching. that disrupts their lives spiritually. Paul warned the church at Ephesus in Acts chapter 20. 20 in the 30th verse.
He said, and of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. The Bible has a lot to say about false prophets and false teachers. You can rest assured that Satan is very cunning. When he uses someone to influence other people to move in the wrong direction, he transforms himself into an angel of light. False prophet may have a pleasing personality.
Maybe very well spoken. They seem to present ideas that Are intriguing. This is something different. I haven't heard this from anybody else, but surely there must be something to it. Raise questions about what you've already heard.
Cause you to become suspicious and cynical and critical. And after a while. person is embracing ideas. that take them away from the fundamentals of the gospel. Over the years, I've had people suggest to me, Well, you ought to be teaching on this subject, you ought to deal with this issue, you ought to deal with that.
I said, I'm called to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and I pray that I'll never compromise with that. How sad to see when a person is happy at one time in their life to talk about Jesus. To talk about what he means to them, to talk about the gospel of his grace. And then they become enamored with Some other subject matter. become more interested in politics than they are in true religion.
become more interested in speculation and theories and philosophies that they are in the message of God's Word. How sad. To see Those changes.
So some changes are needed. When a person makes the wrong turn, They're going down the wrong path. They're thinking the wrong way. They need to change. Isaiah chapter fifty five, verse seven.
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. And let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. That's good news, isn't it? If a person is awakened to the fact that they've gone down the wrong path, They've turned to the world, or they've turned to some terrible sin, or they've turned to error. They make come to the conclusion Well, I have uh I've ruined it.
There's no hope for me. But the Lord says he will have mercy. If you return to the Lord, if you come in confession of your sin, acknowledging your error, your sin, your neglect. Confess it to him. He will abundantly pardon.
There's need for change. Over and over in the scripture. There's a call to repent. To repent means to change. I've talked to people who were very proud of the fact, I haven't changed in 50 years.
Well, you're in bad shape if you haven't, because we're confident there's at least one thing over 50 years that you should have repented of. And so there is a need to repent, which means there's a need to change. Not The change to appease somebody else Not chains to fit into the world, but the kind of positive chains that the Lord calls for.
Sometimes churches need to change. In those letters to the seven churches of Asia, Jesus Christ, the head of the church, was continually calling for change. Revelation 3:19. He says, as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent.
Repent. This is Jesus Christ calling on a church. to change. It's so easy. over a period of time.
for churches to become self-satisfied. One of the churches said, We're rich and increased with goods, have need of nothing. We're in great shape. The Lord says, You're poor and miserable and blind. You can't even see yourself.
So there needs to be A change. to turn from error and from evil. Yeah. Use our splendid vanity and pride. I'm here.
Bearing that my Lord was crucified. Knowing not it was for me either. I Come on. Mercy that was great, and grace was free. BOOOOOOO And there was multiplied to me.
Yeah. Our own experience tells us that life is full of changes. And the scriptures, of course, confirm it. that there are many changes which occur. that are difficult to face and deal with.
But there are some positive changes, and there are areas where change should be made to the glory of God. Just as we have looked at this passage in Revelation 3:19, the Lord was calling upon that church to change, to repent. And so there are areas of our lives where we need to be constantly examining ourselves and praying that the Lord will search us and make us to know what is within us that we may indeed change in the right direction to His glory. I hope that you will write us, and until next week at this same time, may the Lord richly bless you all.
Now my raptured soul can only see God. Mercy then was great, and grace was free. AHHHHHHHHH And there was multiplied to me. Yeah. Every burden soul from liberty had come.
The Baptist Bible Hour has come to you under the direction of Elder Lassaire Bradley, Junior. Address all mail to the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio, four five two one seven. That's the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio, four five two one seven. Uh The love that true salvation's plan. the grace that brought it down to man.
Oh no. Fighting both the god is the night. Mercy there was great, and grace was free. OOOOOOOOO But there was once implied to me. No.
And my burden sold from limb birds, he has come. Glory
