The Baptist Bible Hour now comes to you under the direction of Elder Lassare Bradley, Jr. O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise, the thorns of my God and King, the triumphs of His grace. This is Lassare Bradley, Jr. inviting you to stay tuned for another message of God's sovereign grace. The Lord is risen indeed.
Alleluia! The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia! Now is Christ risen from the dead And become the first fruits of them that sped Now is Christ risen from the dead And become the first fruits of them that sped Now is Christ risen from the dead And become the first fruits of them that sped Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. And did he rise, and did he rise, did he rise?
Hear, O ye nations, hear it, O ye dead. He rose, he rose, he rose, he rose. He burst the bars of death, he burst the bars of death. He burst the bars of death and triumphed o'er the grave. And did he rise, and did he rise, did he rise?
Hear, O ye nations, hear it all ye care. He rose, he rose, he rose, he burst the bars of death, he burst the bars of death, he burst the bars of death, and triumphed o'er the grave. Let our cross When first humanity triumphant past the crystal ports of light And sees eternal news And sees eternal news And all immortal hail Hail, hail, hail, and all nourish your strange ears to man. Thine all the glory, man the loveless bliss. Thine all the glory, man the loveless bliss.
And did he rise, did he rise? Fear, O ye nations, fear, O ye dead. He rose, he rose, he burst the bars of death. He burst the bars of care and triumphed o'er the grave. Then, then, then I rose, then I rose, then I rose, then I rose.
and first humanity triumphant past the crystal ports of life and see eternal youth. Man, all immortal, hail, hail. Heaven all lavish of straight years to man Thine all the glory, man the boundless bliss Thine all the glory, man the boundless bliss I certainly appreciate it when you listening to the program take time to write and let us know how the Lord is using the teachings we bring from His Word to be a blessing in your life. I hope that if you want the program to continue on your local station, that you will write, and if you can help us with the support, we will certainly be grateful. Our address is the Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45217.
We continue the message today entitled, From Sorrow to Joy. The text is John chapter 16 and verse 20. Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice, and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. We've been first considering the great sorrow experienced by the disciples at this time. Jesus was going away.
They'd had the privilege of being in his company for over three years, and now the thought of his departure is overwhelming. The world would be rejoicing, feeling that they had triumphed over this man that they wanted to get rid of. And the disciples witnessed his sufferings, and so their sorrow was great. We will continue then as we go to Luke chapter 24 to observe their great disappointment. Joy, because Jesus Christ was not swallowed up by death, but was victorious over it because of his resurrection So we go back to that 24th chapter of the Gospel of Luke and see what occurred as Jesus had been walking with these Verse 25, he said unto them, O fools and slow of heart, to believe all that the prophets have spoken.
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? Don't you understand this is in accord with what the prophets of old had declared? that I should suffer, Christ should have suffered these things. And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them all the scripture, the things concerning himself. Jesus had high regard for scripture.
He quoted scripture when he was being tempted by Satan. He quotes scripture to his followers here to reassure them that things are well.
So it says, and they drew nigh unto the village, whether they went. and he made as though he would have gone farther but they constrained him saying abide with us for it is toward evening and the day is far spent and he went in to tarry with them and it came to pass as he sat at meat with them he took bread and blessed it and break and gave to them and their eyes were open and they knew him and he vanished out of their sight and they said one to another did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us by the way and while he opened to us the scriptures Now that they see who he was, he's disappeared for the moment. But they said, well, when we were walking on the road and he came and began to talk with us, we didn't recognize him, but wasn't there something special about the way he spoke? Our hearts did burn within us.
So before they had clear sight and full understanding, there was something that they felt in their hearts by his divine presence. And they arose and went the same hour and returned to Jerusalem and found the 11 gathered together and them that were with them, saying, The Lord has risen indeed and hath appeared to Simon. What good news! Jesus, who suffered, bled, and died, laid in the tomb, is now alive. And they told what things were done in the way and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.
And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and frightened. And suppose that they had seen the spirit. There's another example of how we react. We sometimes are fearful about the things in which we have no reason to be afraid.
There was no reason to be frightened. This was Jesus, their Lord, their Savior. He's alive. But they are affrighted. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled?
And why do your thoughts arise in your hearts? behold my hands and my feet that it is I myself handle me and see for the spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have verse 41 and while they yet believed not for joy and wondered he said unto them have ye any me verse 44 and he said unto them take these these are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning me.
So Jesus confirms that those many references that we see in the writings of Moses, in the prophets, in the Psalms that we call the messianic passages were pointing to him, to his coming into the world, to his life, to his death, to his resurrection. There was joy, joy because of the resurrection. Joy because sin was taken away. Jesus came for that purpose he came to redeem his people to lay down his life to pay the price that no one else could have paid no sinner could ever do enough good works perform enough satisfactory deeds pay any kind of a price that would put away one sin but Jesus Christ came laid down his life paid the sin debt for those that were given to him by the father and the covenant before the foundation of the world, purchased them, redeemed them. Ultimately, it would stand in the presence of the Father and say, behold, I am the children which thou hast given me.
The whole family is present. None of them have been lost. The book of Matthew, chapter 28, verse 1, says, in the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher. Verse 5, and the angel answered and said, unto the women, fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen.
Aren't those wonderful words? They come there with heavy hearts, wanting to pay their respects. And the angel said, he's not here. He is risen. Come and see the place where he lay.
Come look at the empty tomb. He is not there any longer. And go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead. And behold, he goeth before you into Galilee. There ye shall see him.
Lo, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy and did run to bring his disciples word. What joy to know that Jesus Christ who died, was buried, is now risen from the dead. He lives. and the work which was intended to put away sin has become a reality.
That's why it came. He made it a matter that was repeated frequently in the presence of his disciples. That he came not to do mine own will as though he had some separate intent apart from that was the giving of the father. But he came specifically to do what the father had designated for him to do. He came to redeem his people.
He came to save sinners. in the book of Hebrews chapter 9 verse 24 it says for Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands which are the figures of the true but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us not only did he pay the price of redemption but he's now appearing in heaven for us nor yet that he should offer himself often as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others. For then he must have suffered since the foundation of the world. But now once in the end of the world he hath appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Put it away.
Sin is such a horrendous thing. Sin separates us from God. Sin condemns us. Sin disrupts our lives. Sin brings pain of every imaginable sort.
And we can't put it away. We can't make things right with God by our own effort, by turning over a new leaf, by a simple reformation. It an impossibility But He appeared in the end of the world He came and put away sin by his sacrifice We see the joy then because of the victory the victory accomplished at the cross. Peter made reference to that in the discourse that he delivered on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts chapter 2, verse 32. This Jesus hath God raised up whereof ye are all witnesses.
therefore being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear for David is not descended into the heavens but he saith himself the Lord saith unto my Lord sit thou on my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ reason to rejoice he was alive he had put away sin he was victorious he is now exalted reason for them to rejoice in anticipation reason for us to rejoice today in the realization that this is an event that has occurred and then the experience is repeated this experience of going from sorrow to joy was the experience of Jesus himself to start with. Back in the 53rd chapter of the book of Isaiah, verse 3 says, He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Jesus knew much sorrow. He wept while he was here on this earth. He grieved over the city of Jerusalem and said, how oft would I have gathered you and you would not?
He was falsely accused. He was sought out by his enemies and confronted by the self-righteous Pharisees and religious leaders. He was a man of sorrow. But following the sorrow came the joy. Verse 11 of the same passage, Isaiah 53.
He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many for he shall bear their iniquities. Yes, he was a man of sorrow. Yes, he saw what he would endure when he went to the cross. But he was one who saw the victory in advance.
He saw the suffering. He saw the anguish. He saw what he would endure. But he was satisfied, not disappointed. That's wonderful to see Jesus in that light as he is so clearly presented in scripture.
Not one who was defeated, not one who was disappointed, but satisfied. He paid the price and he got what he paid for. You can see that in the experience of Joseph. Joseph knew much sorrow when his brothers sold him into slavery. He knew much sorrow when he was falsely accused in Potiphar's house.
He knew much sorrow when he was forgotten for a period of two years while he was in prison. Much sorrow. But sorrow was turned into joy when the Lord elevated him and made him the prime minister in Egypt so that when the famine came, he was able to feed his own family who came seeking to buy grain. Same is true in the experience of Moses. Moses had 40 years of discouragement.
He had made a terrible mistake early on. Killing an Egyptian. Being frustrated because the Israelites were being mistreated in their enslavement. But that was not the plan by which God would deliver his people.
So Moses had to go to the back side of the desert for 40 years. No doubt there were times he felt, my life is useless. I made a terrible mistake and there's no way to ever be recovered. I'm spending my time here caring for sheep and there's no great work that God still would have for me to do but the Lord spoke to him that day in the burning bush and Moses became the great leader that directed the children of Israel to prepare for departure that they were going to come up out of Egypt and the plagues were given one after another until the death of the firstborn and finally Pharaoh said you may go and then determined to pursue them with the horses and chariots that were following. But God provided a way and opened up the Red Sea and on the other side they sang triumphantly, The horse and its rider hath he thrown into the sea.
Forty years of sorrow, but oh the joy, the blessing that came when Moses was used of God in that remarkable way. how true in the case of the Apostle Paul 2 Corinthians chapter 12 says that there was given to him a thorn in the flesh lest I should be exalted above measure now a thorn in the flesh indicates something painful if you got a thorn in the flesh you don't want it to stay there you want to get rid of it and he sought the Lord that it might be removed that he might be delivered I sought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me verse 9 of 2 Corinthians chapter 12. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. My, what a change of outlook.
I'm going to glory in my infirmities because even through the thorn in the flesh, I'm having a closer walk with my God. I learn of my weakness and so I find strength in him. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong. Has that not sometimes been your experience?
The trials come. There is a thorn in the flesh. You beg the Lord earnestly to remove it. Say, I don't see how I can go on with this pain in my heart, with this difficult situation that I have to live with day in and day out. Lord, if you love me, why don't you hear me?
Why don't you change the situation that I'm dealing with?
Now, surely it is evident that the Lord loved the Apostle Paul. He was Saul of Tarsus, an enemy of the church, its greatest enemy, finding satisfaction in putting Christians to death. But the Lord spoke to him on the road to Damascus. Saul Saul why persecutest thou me notice he was persecuting Christians but Jesus said in the process you're persecuting me why persecutest thou me oh what a change Lord who art thou he cries I Jesus whom thou persecutest and then what the next Lord what wilt thou have me to do There immediately a transformation Immediately he humbled He brought to the place to see Jesus Christ as Lord Obviously the Lord loved him, and the Lord intended to use him, and the Lord did use him in a mighty way.
So we might ask the question, why? If God loved this man, if God had chosen this man as a unique vessel in his service, using him as an apostle, using him as a great evangelist, using him in writing a great portion of the New Testament. Why would he give him a thorn in the flesh?
Well, the answer is here, lest I should be exalted above measure. God gave me the thorn in the flesh to keep me humbly dependent upon him. And God many times gives us our thorn in the flesh, our trials, our burdens. and we tend to become impatient. We say, I just don't understand why God doesn't change my situation.
Why doesn't he give me a smoother path to travel? But he has a reason in it. And when you ultimately see his working in your life, you can finally say, my sorrow is turned into joy. Because I can see that in those difficult times, even in the night seasons when he had hidden his face I look back upon those times with pleasant memories because as difficult as they were I learned some things I could not have learned any other way I learned about my weakness I learned about his greatness I learned about his promises that I could rely upon them I learned that the strength that I needed and that he gave was not my own it was his I've come to have a closer walk with him.
Sorrow turned into joy. And in some degree all of this life is filled with sorrow in comparison to that which is to come. It doesn't mean that we go around with heavy hearts all the time because as a matter of fact we're commanded to rejoice. Rejoice always in the Lord and again I say rejoice as Philippians chapter 4 in the 4th verse. but there are sorrows that must be faced you cannot help but grieve over your own failures and your own sins and your own lack of zeal and commitment that sometimes you become aware of you cannot help but grieve when you see the departures of others that you love that go down the wrong path you cannot help but feel sorrow when you see some of the turmoil and confusion that exists in this world so you're looking forward to something better Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 17, For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
So in the midst of the sorrows that you experience now, you anticipate that day that your sorrow shall be turned into joy. And the joy you'll have in the resurrection, the joy that you'll have in the presence of Jesus is a joy that shall not be taken away from you. That's what Jesus said to these disciples. That joy that you shall have shall not be taken away. It's a joy that you will have forever.
The sorrows then of God's children will be turned into joy. But for those that are enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season, there's a day of judgment coming. Psalm 11, 6 says, Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest. This shall be the portion of their cup. Jesus said in Matthew 13, 42, There shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.
where do you stand? no doubt multitudes today who are reveling in the pleasures of this world giving themselves over to a sinful course feel that they're reaping the greatest benefits that one could have in life but their joy will be turned into sorrow but if you are a child of grace whatever sorrows you encounter in some measure even here and ultimately imperfection over there will be turned into joy. That joy comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Do you see him today as your hope, your salvation, your Savior? There is coming a day when the holy succumb No more clouds in the sky No more tears in the eye From sorrow to joy Jesus said that the very event, his departure, his crucifixion, his death that brought the disciples such sorrow would bring them joy because as a result of his work at the cross and his triumphant resurrection he brought them joy and it brings us joy today to know that Jesus Christ is alive, that he accomplished the work that was given him of his father to do, that he paid the price and redeemed lost, ruined sinners.
In our lives, we have seasons of sorrow, but as we trust him, we can find joy even in the most difficult of times knowing that he uses those trials to draw us closer to him and reveal more of himself. I hope that you will write a sentence until next week at this same time. May the Lord richly bless you all. There'll be no sorrow there, no more burdens to bear, no more sickness, no pain, no more parting over there. and forever.
The Baptist Bible Hour has come to you under the direction of Elder Lissaire Bradley, Jr. Address all mail to the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. That's the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. What a day that will be When my Jesus I shall see When I look upon His face, the one who saved me by His grace, when He takes me by the hand and leads me through the promised land, what a day, glorious day, that will be.
