Oh so Yeah. Doubts for sea. My great Redeemer's praise, the glories of my God and King, the triumphs of his grace. This is James Kenneth, inviting you to stay tuned for another message of God's sovereign grace. There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from in mangroves veins.
And sinners plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains. And sinners plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains. Dear dying lamb, thy precious blood shall never be. Lose its power till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more be saved to sin no more Be safe to sin no more Till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more Er since by faith I saw the stream thy flowing wounds supply Redeming love has been my theme and shall be till I die And shall be till I die And shall be till I die Redeming love has been my theme and shall be till I die Today on the Baptist Bible Hour, La Serre Bradley Jr. will conclude a message titled A Review of Divine Mercies that he began on our last program.
This taken from Joshua chapter 24. This is the second to last sermon from our series in the book of Joshua.
So I hope you're able to listen today and then join us on our next program as we start the final message in the series. We'll get started with the conclusion of a review of Divine Mercies. Right after the following song. Oh maising grace, how sweet the sound that saved the rest my thing I was lost, but now I'm found was blind, but now I see was grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears. Our presenters go rather.
And grace will be more when we sung years, bright shining thou song. We know less days to sing God's praise than when we first be gone. What a comfort then to believe Philippians 1:6, being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. That's encouraging, isn't it? to know that God who has begun a good work in you He's going to perform it.
He's going to continue with you. Not going to give up on you. Maybe sometimes you feel like giving up on yourself. You say, I'm such a miserable fader, I've missed the mark so far, I feel like giving up. God doesn't give up.
He started the work. He's carrying it on, he's going to complete it. He has called you. and he has justified you. And ultimately, He will glorify you.
Shell? We need to have a continual reminder. of what God has done. And that's exactly the way God dealt with Israel.
So I said, well, we've just heard this same thing over and over again. Do we have to hear it once more? Yes. It was God's purpose that they hear it again. And it's God's purpose that we hear repeatedly.
what He's done for us and the truth of His word. their history that particular point. Was reviewed by Moses as he anticipated what their experience would be when they came to. the land, came into the land of promise.
So Moses went over all these various details of what God had done for them up to that point. And then you look at Psalm 78. And that whole song. Goes down point by point, detail by detail, talking about the plagues that came upon the Egyptians, talking about their deliverance at the Red Sea.
Okay. You say well. Heard about that before.
Well. It was God's purpose that they hear about it again, and that they would sing about it and praise God for it. And so Some seventy eight gives a very detailed description. Of what God did for his people, not only in delivering them at the Red Sea, but bringing them through the wilderness and into the land and blessing them to possess it. And then in Nehemiah's day.
Damn. An assembly The whole Party of people. coming and it said that they stood for a fourth part of the day. For the Regan. of God's Word.
stood for a fourth part of a day. They came and were attentive. And the mercies of God were acknowledged. Point by point. Everything being reviewed.
about the fact that they had been in bondage and God sent the ten plagues and brought them out and brought them across the Red Sea and ultimately brought them across the River Jordan. And it was God's work And then Nehemiah also pointed out that the people At the wrong side. They murmured and complained in the wilderness. They came into the land of Canaan and ultimately, while they were warned repeatedly by Joshua, do not be influenced by their false gods. God hates idolatry.
Don't worship another God.
Some of them did. And Nehemiah speaks of the mercy of God. In Nehemiah 9.31 he says, Nevertheless, for thy mercy's sake, thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them, for thou art a gracious and merciful God. That person due to read rather frequently, would it not, isn't it? Consoling and encouraging to know that in spite of their failure.
For God's great mercy's sake, He did not utterly consume them.
Now there were times that He had them carried into captivity. There were times they had to suffer the consequences of their sinful actions, but He did not have them utterly destroyed. He did not forsake them. For thou art a gracious and merciful God. What does that mean to you today when you hear those words?
If you know your own weakness, your own shortcomings, You can just say, praise God that He is merciful. His mercy endures forever. He is gracious. kind to us. In spite of Of our shortcomings.
And that's not to defend any of our sinful actions. God will sin. Better repent. We're to come before him in confession. And his promise is, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
but he is gracious and merciful. How do you say Alright, Moses covered all this, Joshua covered all this. Psalm 78 covered it. Nehemiah did. That's probably enough, isn't it?
No, you come to the New Testament. and is still being covered. Stephen preached that message prior to the time that they stoned him to death, and he went all through the details of what God had done for his people Israel. And he not only reviewed what God had done, but he also described their rebellion. Because many of those that were listening to him were of the nation of Israel.
And he's pointing out that they had rebelled and sinned. Sure. In all of these accounts, certainly in this one that Stephen delivered, and all of them. It's clear that God had great disdain for false gods. for idolatry.
And when we think about that, We may initially feel like, well, I'm excused. I've got my faults and my failings, but I certainly have never worshipped an idol.
Well, no doubt we could all say we've never bowed down before God. that was made out of gold or silver, hewn out of wood. Yeah. John speaks of those idols of the heart, In 1 John 5, 21, he says, Little children, keep yourselves from idols. You can fall into idolatry without realizing it.
When you set your heart and affection on something that you put above your love for God, that is idolatry. And so as God abhorred that, In the lives of his people, they were influenced by the pagan gods around them. He shirked me. It's what happened. where we make a pillow.
an idol in our own heart. Should as Israel was frequently reminded of what God had done for them. We need to be reminded of what God has done for us. Israel was reminded that there was nothing in them to influence God's choice. He said, I didn't choose you because you were the greatest.
The fact is, you were the fewest of all people. But I chose you because I loved you. That was God's sovereign choice, not because there was anything about them that attracted his attention. And he said that to the disciples in John chapter 15, verse 16, Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. You need to give thought to that.
The show will. I love the Lord. I'm trying to serve Him. Yes, but you go back. to what put that all in motion.
Not because you chose the Lord, but because He chose you. Just amazing how many professed Christians say they believe the Bible. Yet, when confronted with this truth, have difficulty with it. Just can't come to grips with the fact that God is sovereign in his choice in choosing a people, as he says in Ephesians 1.4, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. Language very explicit, very plain.
that the whole process started. with God's choice. And then Israel was reminded of their redemption on an ongoing basis. They were to observe the Passover. Keep a lamb up for 14 days that it might be proven to be without spot and without blemish.
And then the lamb was slain. In Memory of the fact that in Egypt. They were told to put the lamb up, tested that it might be Qualified. Then sprinkle the blood upon the mercy seat. then sprinkle the blood on the door posts.
And the Lord said then concerning the angel of death that would pass through, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And they were reminded of that on an annual basis when they observed the pastor. that the basis of their redemption, the basis of their deliverance, was the sacrificial lamb, the Passover lamb that was put to death that the blood might be on the door post. And we need to be reminded of that.
Well, that's something we know, but I was Israel is reminded of it annually. We need to be reminded of it on a regular basis. And we are reminded of it in the singing of the hymns that talk about his redemptive work. We're reminded of it in the preaching of his word. We're reminded of it when we sit at the Lord's table.
And knowing that Christ are passed over. is sacrificed for us. 1 Peter 1 verse 18 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 a lamb. without blemish. and without a spot.
I'm sure that as much as we may Rejoice in the truth of his redemptive work. as much as we may be thankful for it, that we cannot fully grasp. what that really means. the precious blood of Christ. The perfect man, the spotless man, the sinless man.
shedding his blood. that our sins might be atoned for. Yet in place You're having some difficulties in life, having a bad day. You're like, everything's going wrong. I don't have much to be thankful for.
You've always got this. You've always got this. that Jesus Christ died for sinners and shed his blood to redeem you. And then God protected Israel through their wilderness wanderings. protected them and blessed them in many ways when they came into the land.
And so as they were reminded of that, We need to be reminded. of God's protection for us. Romans 8, 35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness?
or peril or so as it is written. For thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Now these are real issues described here. things that we may well encounter in life. surely we're all going to encounter some kind of tribulation.
some kind of distress. And we pay Encounter persecution. There are people today that are losing their jobs because of their Christian testimony. Because they refuse to give in to some of the things that are being expected of the employees in that company. Famine could come.
Nakedness, peril, so but it's written. that we are counting the sheep for the slaughter. This is What's to be expected? that in the world you shall have tribulation. But we're more than coffee.
Threw him the notice. But I think about being more than a conqueror. Think about those. Old Testament accounts. Let's talk about how God delivered some of his faithful servants.
When Mm. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedgevo were told to bow down before that image the king had erected. Do they refuse? And the king had them put into the fiery furnace, but they came out without even the smell of smoke on their garment.
Now remember, the king had prepared this festive occasion to bring glory to himself. because he was unveiling this image. Yeah. Not only Were these young men conquerors in that they were not consumed in the fire? They were more than a conqueror because I'm sure as the people went home, nobody was talking about the king's image, but everybody was talking about the fact those three boys went in the fire and came out alive.
What a God they serve. How marvelous that their God delivered them. And when we walk by faith, We trust God in the most difficult times of adversity. We become more than a conqueror. Because God uses the testimony.
of what he has given us and done for us. to be to the praise and glory of his name.
So we need to consider. Not only what God has done for us, but what He is doing for us. Hebrews 4.16 says that he gives grace to help. And James chapter 4, verse 6 says he gives more grace. That's a marvelous thing to consider.
We needed grace in the beginning for the salvation of our soul. We've needed grace all along the journey for every difficulty we've encountered. He gives grace, he gives grace to help, and he gives more grace, an abundant supply of it. And then Psalm 103 verse 13 says this: Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust.
Isn't that comforting to realize? that just as a father pities his child. The Lord pities us in our infirmities. He knows our weakness. And he pities us.
and has mercy upon us. We need to remember that. Remember what he's doing. That he's having mercy on us from day to day. Do we give thanks for that?
How easy it is to be caught up in the difficulties, the challenges, the discouragements of life. and failed to give thanks. Fail to thank him in detail for every blessing that he gives us. And not only what he has done and what he is doing, but what he's going to do. that we have that blessed hope.
to some day Be with you. As the Apostle says in the Corinthian letter, we have a building of God and house not made with hands eternal in the heavens. Everything here is quickly passing away. that which we have on the other side. is eat turtle.
in the heavens. And 1 Thessalonians 4, 17 says, when the Lord comes back, so shall we ever be with the Lord. And then Joshua draws a conclusion. Chapter 24, verse 14, he says, Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood and in Egypt, and serve ye the Lord. What's he say?
Here's the conclusion. Seeing that we have enumerated the mercies of God that He has showered upon you. Seeing what he continues to do for you, here's a conclusion. Theodore. Serve him in sincerity and truth.
The word serve is used 15 times in Joshua's message.
So certainly he intended for the people to do more than just give a little technical acknowledgement, this is what God has done for us. He wanted it to be turned into action, that they would serve the Lord. to worship him, to obey him. And The pattern that he follows is very similar to what we see in the New Testament. For first he reviews in detail what God has done.
And then he says, now I'm calling on you to serve. And we see that repeated. In the New Testament. In the first part of the book of Romans, Paul is telling us all of the wonderful things about the grace of God, what He's done for us, how He has chosen us, how He will ultimately glorify us. And then when He gets to chapter 12, it says in verse 1, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, in view of all these things we've been talking about, in view of God's love, grace, mercy, His purpose of predestination, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
So he sang. Here is the ground. Here's the incentive. Here's the motivation for your service. Look what God has done for you.
Now, this is your reasonable service that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, that you serve. We see it also in the book of Ephesians. After telling us in chapters One, two, and three, the great things God has done for us. He comes to chapter 4, verse 1, and it says, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called with all lowliness and meekness and long-suffering. I beseech you.
Seeing what God has done for you.
Now, you walk worthy of the vocation. That is the calling. The way that you are living, you walk worthy of the name Christian. For all loneliness, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Same thing we observe in the book of Colossians.
By the time he gets to chapter 3. He says, if ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Same is true in 1 Thessalonians. Get to chapter 4 after talking about much of what God has done for us and says, Furthermore, then, we beseech you, brethren, exhort you by the Lord Jesus.
That as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. The Apostle Paul was never satisfied with the status quo. You received the teaching previously as to how you ought to walk, how you ought to live, how you ought to please God. I want you to abound more and more. I want you to be on the upper cloud.
I want to see more fruit being born. to the glory of God.
So as we considered this message, Delivered to Israel. as Joshua came near the end of his life. Let us be stirred. to give closer attention. to what God has done for us.
to live every day. with thankful hearts. for his abundant mercies. Psalm 103 verse 2 says, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not. all his benefits.
And may we hear the call to serve him. in sincerity. and truth. Heavenly Father, we thank thee for these Old Testament lessons. They're so vivid.
in bringing to our minds the truth that we should repeatedly review what great things thou has done for us. and that the conclusion drawn should be applied in our own life Seeing thy grace, thy love, thy mercy, thy blessing upon us. that we would serve thee faithfully. to the glory and honor of thy name. Here as we ask for Jesus' sake Amen.
Day by day, and with each passing moment. Straight up. Bye bye. to meet my trials here. You've been listening to LaSerre Bradley Jr.
bring the concluding portion of a message titled A Review of Divine Mercies today on the Baptist Bible Hour. I pray that God's mercies in your own life are evident and that you take the time to remember them and to thank the Lord for his working in your life. Please remember the Baptist Bible Hour ministry in your prayers. You can learn more about us on our website at BaptistBibleHour.org. We do thank you so much for listening to today's broadcast.
And until next time, may the Lord richly bless you all. But with peace and worth. Address all mail to the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45217. That's the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45217. Every day.
The Lord Himself is near me, with a special mercy for each hour. All my cares, He fain would bear and cheer me, He whose name is Counselor and Power, The Protection of His trust and treasures.
