The Baptist Bible Hour now comes to you under the direction of Elder Lasser Bradley Jr. Mm-hmm. Dozen tumblers seem My great Redeemer's praised the glories of my government, the triumphs of his race. This is LaSaire Bradley Jr., inviting you to stay tuned for another message of God's sovereign grace. Yeah.
In every trialing hour, my soul to Jesus blinds. I trust in His Almighty Power when swelling bibles rise His comforts there meet the faith of God The sure foundation of my hope is in my Savior's womb Lovell. Us sing to our reverse name Enjoy your sorrow by forever. And I dare speculate that there are some of you that listened to the anniversary program two weeks ago. and you said I need to write a letter to Elder Bradley and let him know that I'm listening.
And here it is the third weekend, and you haven't done it yet.
Now the fact is If you want us to stay on your local station, we need to hear from you and we need your support. Remember, if you write and request it, we will send you the booklet, Six Things to Remember in the Time of Crisis. And we're going to bring you the first half of that message today. Jesus said. in the world ye shall have tribulation.
In me you will have peace. But in the world There will be tribulation. It's to be expected. In many areas of our lives, We're reminded of the possibility of Facing a problem. and therefore are advised to prepare for that possibility.
You get in the car. You fasten your seat belt. You hope that you're going to have a safe trip, but in the event somebody runs into you. It's for your protection that you have on the seat belt. When I got on the airplane Friday morning.
They went through the usual presentation. Telling you to. Fasten your seat belt. And if we reach certain circumstances, there will be masks dropped down and make it possible for you to breathe. And not only that, but your seat cushion will float.
That one is always a little disconcerting to me. I think I really hadn't planned on getting in the water on this trip, but it's good to have the knowledge of what is available if that emergency should arise. Children at school go through fire drills. And nowadays even have to be prepared for What course of action to take if a shooter should arrive? Even little children.
learned to call nine one one. in a case of emergency. There are many kinds of crises that touch people's lives.
Somebody says, I just found out my son is on drugs.
Somebody says, my daughter. has run away. I remember a few years ago a man called me and said, I just listened to your radio broadcast. And I feel like I would Like for you to pray for me.
So I came home last night. There was a note on the table. My wife said I'm gone. And I've taken the children with me. Do not try to find me.
He said this was a total shock. I knew we didn't have a perfect marriage, but I had no idea. that she was troubled. to that degree. Please.
Pray for me. When a crisis of that kind comes, It's difficult to respond properly. Christians go to church. Hear preaching about the power and greatness of God. They sing hymns about his greatness.
All hail the power of Jesus' name, let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem and crown him Lord of all. It indicates we have great confidence in our Savior, Jesus Christ. Are we saying God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform? He plants his footsteps in the sea.
and rides upon the storm. And yet When trials come, Gotch people. Who've heard the truth? Know the truth. Believe the truth.
Tend to forget about it.
So it is important that we Consciously. Remember. the things that we have heard. Years ago when I was Okay. a teenager still living at home.
My bedroom is on the third floor of the house. And my mother got concerned that if there was a fire, I could be trapped up there and would not be able to escape.
So she had a company come out and analyze the situation. and they provided a rope ladder in my room so that I could escape. They placed fire extinguishers in various places around the house. And my mother felt now somewhat secure. We had a fire.
We've got all these fire extinguishers. We've got a way we can tend to it rapidly. And the house was heated by gas steam radiators. and each radiator had to be lit separately.
So one morning she was up Early. Trying to light one of those radiators. And the flame licked out Caught the curtains on fire and they just went up in flames immediately.
Now I heard somebody hollering fire. But you know teenagers like to sleep late. And I thought, boy, they'll try anything to get me up. Then somebody opened the door and the smoke started up. I said, I believe it's time to get up.
And I go down there. And here is my dear mother. with a little pan of water, throwing it on the flame. She had prepared for an emergency, but when it came, she forgot all about it. She forgot about the fire extinguishers.
And so it is with all of us. We can understand what God's Word says. about how to face trials. We supposedly are prepared. And then when they come, We have a tendency to forget.
Look at Lamentations chapter 3. Jeremiah was in a very difficult time. He said, He hath bent his bow and set me as a mark for the arrow. It's broken my teeth with gravel stones. It's made my chain heavy that I cannot get out.
And so then he says. My hope. is perished. But in verse 21 We see a turnaround. This I recall to mind.
What brought about the change? He remembered something. This I recall to mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness.
For a moment. He had forgotten. He'd forgotten the mercies of God. He had forgotten that they are new every morning. He had forgotten.
Great is thy faithfulness. But when he remembered it, It brought about a change. Recently, I brought several messages from the book of 2 Peter, chapter 1. Several times, Peter refers to the importance of remembering. 2 Peter 1 verse 12 says, Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them and be established in the present truth.
I'm not going to neglect to remind you. I want you to have these things always in your memory. Verse 15. Moreover, I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.
So it says, after I've departed, after I'm gone, I want these things that I have taught you to continually be in your mind. I want you to be able to remember them.
So there are some specific things that we ought to keep in mind Remembering In our times of trial, Tribulation, trouble of whatever sort they might be. Number one. God is still on the throne. If we're going to think right. We need to remember that.
To say, well, that's really rather basic, well it is. But when troubles come to us unexpectedly, We have a tendency to forget that. If we're going to think right, We have to keep in mind God is on the throne. We get to looking at the trouble. We look at our trial.
We feel the hurt and the pain. Began to wonder then. How am I going to get through this? What does the future hold? What does this mean, not only for the present, but in days to come?
How am I going to cope with some changes in my life. But again and again, the Scriptures remind us God is sovereign. Psalm 115 verse 3, But our God is in the heavens, he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Isn't it reassuring to know that our God is in the heavens and He is working His will and He is going to accomplish that which He pleases? Habakkuk chapter 2 and the 20th verse.
But the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him. That's reassuring. The Lord is in his holy temple. And what's to be our response?
Let all the earth keep silence before him. Daniel chapter 4 verse 35. He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, What doest thou? It may seem to us that things are out of control. when we face trials.
Your plans are disrupted. You feel confused. You may reach the place that Jeremiah described to feel hopeless. But God is at work. Habakkuk was troubled.
Thinking that God was ignoring the situation that he was facing, the difficulties that he encountered. But he discovered that God is never idle. He's always at work. And that's when he then recorded those words that we just read. The Lord is in his holy temple.
Let all the earth keep silence before him. Isaiah chapter 46, verses 9 and 10. Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. God is sovereign. Aren't you glad God's on the throne?
God as it worked. His counsel will stand. And that being the case, There's no place for worry. Worry is a sin. And no doubt most of us are prone to worry at some time or another.
But if we're worrying We've forgotten. God's in charge. God is ruling and reigning. Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount said there was no need to worry. He talked about the sparrows.
A little bird. God sees every spare that falls. He feeds them. Are you not? of a greater value than they are, he says.
Joe. Let us not worry. But trust. in the God who rules and reigns. Number two.
There are things that I cannot control. By human nature. We want to be in control. Little children would like to control what time they go to bed, but generally they're not given that option. There is a rule in the house and they have to comply with it.
We don't like for our schedule to be disrupted. We wanna Eat when we want to eat, sleep when we want to sleep. Do what we want to do when we want to do it. And so we would like to be in control. Most of us, when we're in an automobile, would prefer to be in the driver's seat.
You're at least in control of what's happening. Other advisors in the car may be telling you that they're not totally content with the way you're handling the matter, but at least you have the personal satisfaction of being in control. It can be differences of opinion about What music? You're going to listen to if you're traveling in the car or even at home and Certainly, the difference of opinion is often very apparent when young people are intrigued by some of the. Popular music of the day, and they see no reason why they shouldn't be allowed to listen to it.
And feel that their freedom is greatly being restricted if they can't make their own choices. I like being in control of what I'm doing, what I'm reading, where I'm going, what I'm looking at, what I'm listening to. But there are many things. that we cannot control. You can plan a picnic.
Or a vacation. But you can't control the weather. The forecast may be given. I'm always a little amused when you watch the What a report. on T V.
And the newsman may say to the weatherman, Well, what have you got in store for us now? Hope you can do better today than you did yesterday, as though he's in charge. All he's doing is making a prediction.
Sometimes he's right, sometimes he's wrong. You can't control. The weather. Psalm 147, verse 17 says, He casteth forth his ice like morsels. Who can stand before his cold?
He sendeth out his word and melteth them. He causeth his wind to blow and the waters to flow. God's in control of the wind, God's in control of the rain, God's in control of the snow, all of these things. You may pray for a sunny day, and it may not be God's pleasure to give it to you. You cannot control it.
And so You should. pray that God will bless us to have honorable people in the realm of government. It's good to pray for good government. It's good to speak out. It's good to be careful about who you vote for, hoping that you will have the best possible people filling those offices, but you cannot control it.
Daniel chapter 2, verse 21 says, And he changeth the times and the seasons, he removeth kings and setteth up kings. Cotton's still in charge.
So in our trials, There are things that we would like to control. And we can be very frustrated when we get to the place I want to be in charge here. I want to control this. I want to have my way. And until you come to grips with the fact that there are things you cannot control, you will only add to your continued frustration.
You have to rest where the psalmist did, Psalm 31, verse 15. My times are in thy hand. That's a comfort. That helps you. in any time of stress or difficulty.
My times. My present time, my future times, my good times, my bad times. My times. are in thy hand. Number three.
Trials are for my benefit. Trials are difficult. If they weren't difficult, it wouldn't be a trial. Trials are painful. A long-term illness.
can be such a great trial. Not only for the person who is suffering, but for the family members and caregivers. The death. of a family member. Major financial problems.
A divorce. It is said that one of the most traumatic experiences that anybody can encounter is a divorce. It's the person who has said, I love you. We'll be together. for life.
And what they say is. I wore out. I'm leaving. How devastating. Dealing with a rebellious child.
Trying to decide particularly if they're of age that It's now a question: do I let them continue to stay in the home and be a source of constant conflict, or do I tell them you've got to leave? To do that. Tell.
somebody you love, they've reached the point that you have to leave. It's a tremendously difficult decision. A heart-rending experience.
So everything About A trial. Is Painful. challenging difficult And so you say, How can you then say trials are for my benefit?
Well, the Apostle Paul was given the thorn of the flesh. And it was painful. Who wants a thorn in their flesh? We don't know exactly what that trial was, but he prayed three times: Lord, remove it, Lord, remove it. God's answer was, My grace is sufficient for thee.
But to understand that God is in our trials, that He has a purpose, it changes our outlook. Our immediate response is, I don't understand this trial. I don't see why it's come my way. I don't understand why it's come at this time. There's so many ramifications to it.
But Job said In his great trial, the hand of God hath touched me. He didn't say, I want to get up a group and go after the Sabaeans and retaliate. because they've hurt me. He said, the hand of God. Have touched me.
David said, It is good for me that I have been afflicted. that I might learn thy statutes. He didn't describe what the affliction was in that case, but he said it was good for me. because I have learned To obey. to be submissive.
to thy word. Paul said Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. We have a great promise. Romans 8:28. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.
That promise is not made to everybody, that's made to a particular people. Those that love God. The ones that love God are the ones who are called according to His purpose. That's the promise. It doesn't say that everything that happens to us It's good.
Sickness is not good. Accidents are not good. Many things could be enumerated as far as the trials that touch our life that are not good in and of themselves, but that's not what the text says. He says he will work them together for good. You may say.
I just don't see how this applies in my case. I don't see it. I'm devastated. How can any good possibly ever come out of this situation? The text doesn't say you're going to see it.
The text is a promise, a declaration about God's work, and we are to believe what he says. even when we don't understand. God can take those darkest scenes, those most painful burdens, those greatest disappointments, and bring something good out of them. Continuing in that chapter 8, when you get to verse 36, it says, As it is written, for thy sake, we are killed all the day long, we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Get this, nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
you sometimes feel I don't think I can even survive. This trouble. This burden is so heavy. This trial is so great. But the promise is you'll not only survive, you'll be more than a conqueror.
Loving me there. I knew Him calling. With voice so sweet, burdens of life I brought him, knelt at his wounded feet. Not from that love and several wonderful change let's free. Master of Surrey never a friend like thee.
Sing of a friend so loyal, sing of a friend so true, giving his gifts so royal blessings that they are new, King of heaven. Heavenly glory, lowly of earth was He. Master, we sing thy sorry. Never was one like Thee. There are principles that we've been taught repeatedly as we've listened to the preaching of God's Word.
We have read his promises. We've embraced them. In a time of difficulty, it's easy to forget.
So, I hope as we bring you this message, six things to remember that it will be a benefit to you. I hope that you will write us and until next week at this same time, may the Lord richly bless you all. Master indeed. Abiding, shadows of earth must flee. Ever thy children guiding, never alight like thee.
Sing of a friend so glorious, sing of a friend so true, giving his gifts so royal, blessings that they are new. King of the heavenly glory, lowly of earth was he, Master, we sing thy story, never was one like. Giving me gifts immortal, life that endures foreign, opening the heavenly portal, leading in royal way, crowning with joy excelling. The Baptist Bible Hour has come to you under the direction of Elder Lessere Bradley Jr. Address all mail to the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45217.
That's the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45217. Of the friends of Loyal, sing of a friend so true, giving his gifts so royal, blessings that they are new. King of the heavenly glory, lowly of earth was he, Master, we sing thy story, never was one like thee.
