70th Anniversary Program - Part 3

The Baptist Bible Hour now comes to you under the direction of Elder LeSaire Bradley, Jr. O for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer's praise!

The worries of my God and King, the triumphs of His grace! This is LeSaire Bradley, Jr. inviting you to stay tuned for another message of God's sovereign grace. This is anniversary month for this broadcast, as we have now completed 70 years on the air. On the first Sunday of this month, we brought a special anniversary program, as is our custom.

But since we are looking back over 70 years, we expanded to the next week, and today we will continue with that format. Our theme for this anniversary month is Grace, Grace and More Grace. We urge all our listeners to write and mention the station or the website where you receive the program.

The broadcasts are listener supported, so if you can help us with our expenses, that will be greatly appreciated. Our address is Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. And if you will request it, we will send you a CD with a message on grace, along with several hymns.

We also hope that you will visit our website at BaptistBibleHour.org. Heart in thousand, hearts and voices, sound the notes of praise above. Jesus reigns and man rejoices, Jesus reigns, the God of love. Singing citizens of yonder throne, Jesus, Jesus rules the world alone. Hallelujah, hallelujah, Jesus rules the world alone.

The feeling of loneliness can be very difficult to bear, and we've described our source of help in several of our messages. You may have felt alone and thought the Lord had forgotten you when you prayed earnestly and there was no answer. But for the child of God, the fact is, he is never alone. What a promise God has given his children.

Hebrews 13 verses 5 and 6, Let your conversation be without covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have. For he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee, so that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Never alone. I've seen the lightning flashing, and heard the thunder roll. I've felt sin's breakers dashing, trying to conquer my soul.

I've heard the points of Jesus, telling me still to fight on. He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone. No, never alone.

No, never alone. He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone. A picture of what it means to feel alone is clearly painted on the pages of scripture. The psalmist said, I was a sparrow alone upon the housetop.

I think of the little sparrow alone, subjected to the winds, the rain, and the heat and the cold. Asaph asked, Is thy mercy clean gone forever? Job said, He hideth himself on the right hand that I cannot see him. Jeremiah said, My hope is perished from the Lord. There is no time so dark and lonely as when you feel that the Lord has hidden his face. But although these men traveled in a dark, difficult place for a time, they all found relief when they turned to the Lord for help. They came to realize that they were never really alone. God was supporting them all the while. After concluding for a moment that his hope was gone, Jeremiah said, This I recall to mine, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that they are not consumed because his compassion's failed not.

They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. Never alone. In a message entitled The Unspeakable Gift, I spoke about how the Lord is always with his people. So if we were to ask someone here today, some of you who have been walking with Jesus a long time, for some of you it's been 40 years, for some of you 50, for some of you 60, some of you 70 and more, you would indeed say he's a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. He's one who has never forsaken me. I've been able to rely upon him.

I've been able to claim his promises. I've been able to say I'm satisfied with Jesus. Hymn number 590 in our book says, The longer I know my Savior, the dearer he is to me. The harder I try to please him, the better I want to be. O wonderful, matchless Jesus, his child, I shall always be. The longer I know and love him, the dearer he is to me.

Is that not your experience? The longer I know and love him, the dearer he is to me. Yes, you can say he has never forsaken me. When I've stumbled, when I've sometimes fallen down, when I've sometimes been sinking in the mire, he has lifted me up.

The world's fierce winds are blowing, temptations sharp and keen. I feel a peace in knowing my Savior stands between. He stands to shield me from danger when earthly friends are gone. He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone. No, never alone.

No, never alone. He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone. In a message entitled Hope and Anchor of the Soul, I spoke about the fact that the purpose of God is unchanging. His purpose is unchanging. No believer needs to doubt that this salvation is sure. It's certain because it relies on God's grace, not our works.

On his promise, not our effort. On his covenant, not some agreement that we might attempt to make. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine. Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.

How wonderful to have that assurance. My Father is rich in houses and lands. He holdeth the wealth of the world in his hands of rubies and diamonds of silver and gold. His coffers are full. He has riches untold. I'm a child of the King, a child of the King, with Jesus my Savior.

I'm a child of the King. Later in that message, I spoke about the uniqueness of our anchor. And this anchor, this anchor of the soul, certainly differs from those on great ships. The anchor on the ship is let down so that the ship can be stabilized. Holds the ship in place when the storms are raging and the winds are battering it about. The only unique thing about this anchor of the soul is it doesn't go down, it goes up.

And it's gone up to heaven and is within the veil. It secures us, the anchor of the soul. It gives us stability in the storms of life.

And there are many storms that we encounter. And now, here is a portion of a message entitled, Sitting at the Feet of Jesus. We find that Mary was sitting at Jesus' feet listening to his words while Martha, her sister, was careful and troubled about many things. We first noted what this posture reveals as Mary sat at Jesus' feet.

And then we talked about the benefits received. And we find that one of the benefits is that when we sit at the feet of Jesus, we receive peace. We think of that occasion when Jesus brought peace in the midst of a storm. The Gospel of Mark, chapter 4, verse 37, it says, And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship so that it was now full. It's a dreadful thing to be on a ship in the time of storm. The wind is blowing, the waves are lashing against the ship and it's being tossed about. But when the water begins to come overboard and it's full, the ship is now full of water. You say, we're in dire circumstances.

Surely we will soon be destroyed. And he was in the hindering part of the ship asleep on a pillow. And they awake him and say unto him, Master carest thou not that we perish?

And you may have said that in the midst of some of your troubles. Lord, you promise not to leave me, but I'm not able to sense your presence. Do you not care?

Do you not care? And he arose and rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. And then at verse 41, they said to one another, What manner of man is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?

How marvelous it must have been to witness that. Now the fact is, even with Jesus asleep, they were in no danger. With Jesus on board the ship, it was not going to sink. And the fact is this, Jesus could have blessed them to ride out the storm. It was His pleasure here to bring the storm to an end.

But the lesson we need to learn is this. Yes, He is able. He is able to speak His Word and in an instant there can be a great calm. When there has been turmoil, when there has been trouble, when there have been problems, He can bring them to a quick conclusion. But the fact is also, if you continue on board the ship to be tossed about, and you're in the storm with Jesus on board, it's alright.

He's going to see you through. Jesus gives us peace today in the storms that we encounter. We need to recall those former times that are described so often in scripture, clearly indicating that God is not only the God of the hills, but of the God of the valleys. And we must believe that He's the same today. I think about Elijah when he was on Mount Carmel.

Oh, what a day that was. Prophets of Baal cried and cut themselves and went through all kinds of ceremonies hoping that their God would rain down fire upon the sacrifice. But the day passed and there was no answer because there was no God. But Elijah, praise the Lord, rained down fire from heaven that this people may know, thou art God and I am thy servant. And the fire licked down out of the sky, burned up the sacrifice, burned up the altar, and licked the water out of the ditch. And the people cried, the Lord, He is God.

What a day of triumph. Oh, Elijah must have felt to be indeed on top of the mountain. God is with us today. God is blessing. God is lifting up His name.

God is glorifying Himself. And so in keeping with the law that idolaters should be put to death, Elijah had the prophets of Baal put to death. And then Jezebel sends him word, by this time tomorrow you'll be dead. And Elijah runs for his life. He goes a little distance and lays down under the juniper tree and says, It is enough, Lord, take my life.

Now I count that a valley. He was in a deep place, a dark place. His very man who had such triumph on top of Mount Carmel now is down under the little bush saying, Lord, I just want to die.

No need to go on. Well, is God the God of the valleys? Indeed He was. He sent an angel to touch Elijah, woke him up and said, Arise and eat.

He gave him something to eat, to sustain him. He was there not only with Elijah on the mountain, but with Elijah in the valley. And then Elijah had a glorious consummation to his whole life that you could say was a mountain peak experience because it says, Behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire. And Elijah went up by whirlwind into heaven.

Thought about a great departure. Oh, yes, God protected his servants. Jezebel didn't kill him.

And he went to heaven with a chariot of fire, being caught up in a whirlwind. But someone today, they say, I've been having some serious thoughts when I hear about so many people all over the world dying because I don't know that I could say with the psalmist to go through the valley of the shadow of death, I would fear no evil. The thought of death alarms me, causes me trouble. You may feel that your case is unique. One person might say, Well, I'm just so great a sinner, I can't imagine that God would save me.

But he's the God of the valleys as much as the God of the hills. There's no case too hard, there's no sinner too great, there's no one that has sunk so low, but what God's grace is sufficient to rescue him and save him. Somebody else might say, Well, what bothers me? I would like to claim salvation, but I just haven't had the experience that I've heard other people describe. Let me remind you of this. Your salvation is not in your emotion. It's not in how you feel. It's not even in the strength of your faith. Faith is the gift of God.

God gives it to us or we wouldn't have it. By grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. But you see, the one who is the Savior is Jesus. No other name given under heaven whereby we must be saved.

So if you've come to the end of yourself, you know you're a sinner, you need help, you need salvation, hear what he says. And know everyone that thirsteth, let him come and drink. If you're weary, come and rest. Our God, the God who is the creator of heaven and earth, the God of the Bible, the God that we worship, is not only the God of the hills, he's the God of the valleys. And whatever valley we may pass through in days to come, let's not forget it.

He's promised he'll be with us in the deep, dark places of the valley. It is good to acknowledge that God is on the throne, but sometimes there is failure to depend on this truth in our daily lives. One of my messages this past year was entitled simply, God is on the throne.

We introduce it by saying that you might be in conversation with someone. They mentioned the crisis with COVID. They expressed their fear as to what it may mean for the future. So after a time of discussing troubles, you'd say, well, God is on the throne.

But how is this truth applied? Many times after a declaration of God's sovereignty, we go right on fearful, doubting, and worried. If we embrace this truth by faith, we will not worry. He says, fear not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed.

What more could we ask? We've admitted to God that we worship this sovereign. He's on the throne. Well, if this God who is on the throne is not just at a distance, but he is with us, what a difference that makes. And overcome fear because we're confident that his promises can be relied upon. For I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee.

What a promise. This God who is on the throne has said, I will help thee. We certainly know we need help.

We need it in many, many instances in life. If we recognize our own frailties and weaknesses, we know that we need his help every hour of every day. And he's promised, I will help thee. I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

And if that wasn't enough, write in the same chapter. We go to verse 13. For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear not, I will help thee. If a little child is fearful, he loves to take hold of daddy's hand. Just hold my hand.

I feel better already. Well, this God who is on the throne is so near to us, he says, I will hold thee by thy right hand. I want to be there. I'm not so far away that I can't help you. I will help you. And verse 14 continues, fear not, thou worm Jacob and you men of Israel. I will help thee, sayeth the Lord and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. So remember when you make the basic statement, God is on the throne.

That's true. But if you go on fearful, then you're not making the application of it. The application is, yes, God is on the throne, but he's holding me. He's helping me.

He's got me by the hand. He's going to take care of me. So if by faith we embrace the truth that God is sovereign and we're trusting him as our present help, we can also have great joy. Furthermore, we can have joy because not only do we say God is on the throne as though, well, he's up there somewhere, he's at a distance from us, but we have access to the throne room. Hebrews 4 16, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Isn't that a marvelous privilege that we can communicate with this sovereign ruler who is on the throne? The God who is on the throne is your father. If you've come to faith in Jesus Christ, then you've been adopted into his family, and God is your father. So it's not just a matter of saying, well, God's on the throne, like out there somewhere. I don't know what's going on or what God's doing. I'm going to go on worrying and fretting and doubting and dealing with troubles in a very negative way.

I know. When you recognize God is on the throne and he is your father, it's not just embracing a doctrine, but now you have genuine peace. I mentioned we have a CD with the message Grace, Grace, and More Grace that we will send to all who write and request it during this anniversary month. Also, several hymns are included. Some people mention that they particularly enjoy the congregational singing.

Here's a portion of one of those that's on the CD. Singing Singing Singing Singing Singing The Gospel of Grace points us to the only hope for fallen sinners. As our great high priest, he is touched with the feeling of our infirmities.

Isn't that marvelous? To know I can come to Jesus, not trying to hold anything back, but admit, Lord, I am weak. I need Thee desperately. I acknowledge my unworthiness, but there's nowhere else to go. I come to You. He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities and ever lives to make intercession for us so He bleeds our keys.

Oh, yes, come. Come to Him with your heavy heart today, trying to struggle against satanic attacks as He would discourage you. Come, come unto me, says Jesus. Jesus, what a friend for sinners, Jesus, lover of my soul. Friends may fail me, foes assail me, Thee, my Savior, makes me whole. Hallelujah, what a Savior. Hallelujah, what a friend.

Saving, helping, keeping, loving, He is with me to the end. I remind you once more that this is anniversary month for the Baptist Bible Hour. It is letter writing month. We encourage all of our listeners to write.

We keep a record of the response from each station, so if you'd like for us to remain on your station, be sure to write and mention the call letters or tell us about the website where you hear the program. If you request it, we will send you a CD with the message Grace, grace, and more grace along with several hymns that I believe you'll enjoy. Our address is Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. Also, I encourage you to go to our website at baptistbiblehour.org. There you can hear both our Sunday and daily programs and can view the Baptist Witness, which we have published for the last 70 years.

Also, you can make a donation on our website. I'm glad you've been with us today and hope you will join us next time. Until then, may the Lord richly bless you all. Even when my heart is breaking, He my comfort helps my soul. Hallelujah, what a Savior! Hallelujah, what a Friend! Saving, helping, keeping, loving, He is with me to the end. Jesus, what a Guide and Keeper!

What the deathless still is... 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. Hallelujah, what a Savior! Hallelujah, what a Friend! Saving, helping, keeping, loving, He is with me to the end.