Much Truth in Few Words - Part 2 of 2

The Baptist Bible Hour now comes to you under the direction of Elder Lacerre Bradley Jr. O for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer's praise! The praise of my God and King, the triumph of his grace! This is Lacerre Bradley Jr. inviting you to stay tuned for another message of God's sovereign grace. Savior, make me whole, Hallelujah, what a Savior! Hallelujah, what a friend! Saving, helping, keeping, loving, He is with me to the end.

Jesus was a giant keeper, while the tempest still is high. Storms about me guide nor taint me, He my God but hears my cry. Hallelujah, what a Savior! Hallelujah, what a friend! Saving, helping, keeping, loving, He is with me to the end.

I want to thank all of you who have taken time to write us recently and I appreciate your support in helping to keep the program on the air. If you would like to help address your letter to the Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. Love sent my Savior to die in my stead, Why should He love me so? Meekly to Calvary's cross He was led, Why should He love me so?

Why should my Savior to Calvary come? Why should He love me so? Love me so! O how He agonized there in my place, Why should He love me so? Nothing with holding my sins to it face, Why should He love me so? Why should He love me so? Love me so! Why should my Savior to Calvary come? Why should He love me so?

Love me so! Today we continue with the message, Much Truth in Few Words. The text, 1 Thessalonians 1, verses 9-10, For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. Those two verses are full of doctrine. The doctrine of repentance is there, the doctrine of service, the supremacy of God, the resurrection of Christ, the second coming of Christ, salvation by Christ, and also a declaration concerning final judgment, the wrath to come from which Christ has delivered us.

I pray as we continue there today, the message will be a blessing to you. Now when we think about service, let's first look at Jesus' words in Matthew 16, 24, So what does it mean to serve? If you're going to follow Jesus, you're going to serve Him, come after me, follow me, deny yourself, deny the sinful desires that have been controlling you, deny the ambitions that you've had that would not be to His glory. Take up your cross, that's not just a burden to carry, that's a place to die.

It's talking about dying out to self. And then we look at Paul's words, And ye became followers of us and of the Lord. It doesn't mean that they were following Paul as though they were worshipping the preacher. They were following his example in keeping with what he had taught them. So they became followers of us and of the Lord, following the Lord, serving the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost. So to serve Him is to worship Him, to obey Him, to follow not only the example set, but the clear instructions Jesus has given, talking about being a bond slave, a servant that serves out of love, but is totally submissive to the master.

Turn from idols to serve the living and true God. And then next it says to wait for His Son, to wait for His Son. Well, in this we really we see confirmation of the deity of Christ, because it says the Father raised Him from the dead.

That was the first thing necessary. We're going to talk about the Son coming back, and it was certainly necessary that He come out of the grave. Then it says the Father raised Him up. Romans 4 23 says, Now it was not written for His sake alone that it was imputed to Him, but for us also to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.

Here's a confirmation of His deity. Jesus Christ's claim before His death that He would come out of the grave. Obviously, if the grave had swallowed Him up, if Jesus had never risen from the dead, it would have proven that His claims were false and that He was not the Son of God, was not one with the Father, as He declared. But the resurrection was a firm confirmation that what He declared was true. And then it says, who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification.

That's one little thing to consider. Though we were great sinners, though we were idolaters by nature, yet He says He delivered us from our offenses, delivered us from the sins by which we were condemned, delivered us from our guilt, from our condemnation, and raised for our justification. It says to wait for His Son. The coming of Jesus Christ is a wonderful, comforting, joyous truth to His people. Now to some, that sounds fearful, and many have reason to fear it, because we'll see another aspect of His coming, but right now we're talking about the positive part of it, waiting for His Son. Romans 8-22, for we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now, and not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit. Here's one of the reasons we groan, because we have the firstfruits of the Spirit.

The Spirit of God, having regenerated us, abides in us, blessing us with the fruit of His presence, gives us a strong desire to ultimately be free from this tabernacle of clay, free from this body of death, as Paul describes it, that we may be at last at home with the Lord. Even we ourselves, we groan, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. Do you not sometimes groan within yourself with all of the conflicts, all of the heartaches, all of the troubles and the difficulties of this present life, and to say, oh, what a day that will be when Jesus Christ comes back.

I long to be with Him. We await His coming with patience, with confidence, with expectancy. We look for it because it's a great, glorious day that's coming. Paul describes it further in the fourth chapter of this book of 1 Thessalonians, verse 16. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Some of these at Thessalonica were concerned that their loved ones who had already gone on were going to miss this great event of the second coming. But Paul says, no, the dead in Christ are going to rise first.

Their bodies are going to come out of the grave and be united with their spirit. And then these which are alive and remain caught up together in the air to be with the Lord, and the wonderful truth is, so shall we ever be with the Lord. We can have our seasons of joy and blessing here, but we know that they don't last continually because as much as we spend a little time on the top of the mountain, there's going to be a sojourn down into the valley.

But here's a situation that will last forever. So shall we ever be with the Lord. Can you think of anything more wonderful than that, than to be in the presence of Jesus Christ, to see Him as He is, to enjoy His comfort, and to be able to know this is something that will never be disrupted, to be forever with the Lord. It says in Philippians 3-20, for our conversation is in heaven.

We're interested in the things of heaven. That's where our Father is. That's where our Savior is, whoever lives to make intercession for us. That's where our inheritance is.

That's where our home is that we're expecting to be someday. Our conversation is in heaven from whence we look for the Savior. Do you look for the Savior?

Do you give thought to this truth of His second coming? We look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body. Not only are we going to be with Him and be like Him, but this frail body of ours will have been changed. We'll be glorified. We shall be like Him according to the working whereby He is able to subdue all things unto Himself.

Yes, they turned from idols to wait for His Son. Oh, today, what comfort, what consolation that gives us to know that no matter how rough the path may be now, how difficult the trials are, how heavy the burdens are, there's coming a better day, a glorious day when Jesus Christ comes back. But then it also speaks of wrath. There's wrath going to be poured out.

God's wrath is going to be displayed upon some. Now, many today say, oh, I couldn't believe in a God that would be full of wrath. The God that I worship is a God of love, only a God of love. Well, God, not only is a God of love, He is love. But in His holiness, His wrath is many times poured out upon the transgressors of His law. See, when a person starts talking about, I can't believe that God would ever punish anybody, they obviously, first of all, miss the fact that God is holy, and in His holiness, He despises that which is evil. And in His holiness, He is going to do that which is just and right. Well, John 3.36 speaks of His wrath. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Makes me think about a lady I was talking to one time. She says, oh, I just know that God loves me no matter what. I mess up all the time. But you know, God loves me anyway. There wasn't any sense of remorse, any thought about repentance or the need to ask for forgiveness. It's just, I just hop along through life, messing up, doing wrong, but it doesn't bother God.

He just loves me anyway. Well, a lot of people have that mistaken idea, but God has demonstrated the fact that in His wrath, He will send judgment. He certainly sent judgment in Noah's day when the great flood came and multitudes were drowned in the depths of the waters, demonstrated it at Sodom and Gomorrah when the cities were burned with fire. He's demonstrated it many other times with various judgment that He has sent, and there are specific scriptures that make it clear that judgment is coming. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 7, and to you who are troubled, rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven. Now get this, with His mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.

My, what powerful words. Yes, for His people, they wait for His coming with great anticipation. They look for that day that Jesus will come back and they shall be with Him forever. But for those who do not believe in Him, those who do not know Him, His second coming is going to be a horrendous event, and He's revealed from heaven. He's coming in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Oh, what a terrible thing to anticipate. And then Jesus gave the lesson in Luke chapter 16 and verse 23 about the beggar and the rich man. The rich man died, and it says in Luke 16, 23, and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. Now there are those who would say, oh, I can't believe there's a literal hell.

I just can't believe that. I think God in His love would not allow such. Well, once again, it's a failure to understand God's holiness, that He hates sin and will see to it that sin is punished.

And the only way that anybody can be relieved of that punishment is that the sin debt be paid, the debt canceled, and that's only through Jesus Christ the Savior. And so this rich man lift up his eyes, being in torment, and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.

That's hard even to imagine, isn't it? To think that this man is suffering in the fires of hell and he's pleading, if this beggar that was at my gate could just dip his finger in water and put it on my tongue, as though that one little drop of water would be welcome relief. Well, he then, of course, was asking if Abraham could send Lazarus back to speak to his brothers that they might not come to this place.

But it was said, if they won't hear Moses and the prophets, they wouldn't hear one reason from the dead. But you can see the literal suffering of hell. Maybe you seldom give thought to what you have been rescued from, what salvation has done for you, not only to transform your life that you turned from idols to serve the true and living God, but to rescue you from the suffering that will be endured by multitudes.

And, you know, one of the things today when we have our troubles and we know we can go to the Lord and expect that he will hear us and that he will help us and whatever trouble we have, it's temporary. It's not going to go on forever. But to think of being in hell and there is no help, there is no escape, there is no one to rescue.

He said there's a great gulf fixed and neither would pass from hence to you cannot in either direction. One cannot pass from heaven to hell. It's a horrible thing to think about. It's really beyond our ability to fully comprehend, to think of one suffering forever under the wrath of God.

But that's the lesson we learn. Matthew 25 41, Then shall he say unto those on the left hand, Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. That's the judgment that's coming.

That's the punishment that will be meted out. But Jesus delivered us, delivered us from the wrath to come by his sacrificial death. Romans 5 6 says, For when we were without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Aren't you glad to know that he died for the ungodly? If you see yourself as being an ungodly sinner, an unworthy sinner, you rejoice to hear the good news of the gospel that he died for sinners. 2 Corinthians 5 21 says, For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. He made him to be sin for us. What an amazing thing that Jesus Christ, the spotless Lamb of God, the perfect Son of God, had our sin put upon him.

That again is a magnitude that is beyond our comprehension. How was it that Jesus in those hours on the cross suffered the wrath of God, suffered the hell for all of those who were given to him by the Father and ultimately would have been condemned there. He was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

When you see your sinfulness and your unworthiness and then think today that in Jesus Christ he sees you in the righteousness of his Son. Made the righteousness of God for us. Hebrews 9 28, For Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many and unto them that look for him shall he appear without sin unto salvation.

He was given to bear the sins of many only by that sacrificial death, only by his suffering at the cross, only by the fact that he bore the guilt that we then might be free and redeemed. So we see it is Jesus who delivers. It is Jesus who rescues us from the wrath to come. We could not deliver ourselves.

We couldn't even assist in the matter. He is the one and only Savior and surely we find great comfort from this truth. 1 Thessalonians 5 9, For God hath not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us that whether we wake or sleep we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together and edify one another even as you do. And so here's something about which you can comfort yourselves and comfort one another to understand that whether we're alive when he comes back or whether we've already died, whether we wake or sleep, we will live together with him as he defined it in that fourth chapter from which we already read. Oh, we look forward to his coming with great joy.

It would be wonderful if he came today and we pray, as the book of Revelation records, that even so come quickly, Lord Jesus. Indeed, we can say that in these two verses there is much truth. May we be comforted by the truth to learn once again to be reminded of what Jesus Christ has done for us. That as we have been convicted of our sins and by the enabling power of the Holy Spirit of turn from idols to serve the living and true God, that we wait in great anticipation for his coming. He comes having delivered us from the wrath that is coming. If there's any here today who do not have the comfort of salvation because you have never believed on Jesus Christ, I hope that you will understand there is only one way to escape the outpouring of God's wrath and that is to be covered with the righteousness of Jesus Christ because your sin debt has been paid. He says, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.

Yes, he says, him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out. Heavenly Father, we thank thee for the wonderful doctrines, the wonderful truths that are in these two verses of scripture. We pray that thou would enable us to rejoice in them and to happily anticipate the coming of our Savior. We rejoice to know that at some time we will be forever with the Lord. May this truth influence our life so that we are motivated to serve thee and honor thee from day to day in all that we do.

For Jesus sake, Amen. There is coming a day when the heart shall come, no more clouds in the sky, no more tears within the eye. All is peace forevermore, on that happy golden shore, what a day, glorious day that we'll be. Yes, there are many people who say that doctrine is not important, but look how much doctrine is in just these two verses. Indeed it is important because it forms our view of who God is, of his holiness, of his grace, of his mercy, how thankful we are for the truth here given us through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and using the Apostle Paul to pen these words. I hope you will take time to write us and until next week at this same time may the Lord richly bless you all. The Baptist Bible Hour has come to you under the direction of Elder Lesair 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 we'll 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 we'll be.