Baptist Bible Hour 71st Anniversary Program

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 praise 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.

With today's broadcast, we complete 71 years on the air with the Baptist Bible Hour and we're bringing you a special anniversary program. Our theme for this program is the help we need. The fact that we were born into a world under the curse of sin and with a sinful nature certainly says up front we have a great need. We need a Savior. Through the years we have emphasized the message of grace which points us to Jesus Christ, the Savior of sinners through whom the grace of God flows to us. What good news is the gospel of grace as expressed by the Apostle Paul that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief.

And, of course, in this matter of salvation, we need total help because we cannot save ourselves or even help to save ourselves. For 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. Wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin, how shall my tongue describe it? Where shall my praise begin? Taking away my burden, setting my spirit free, for the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me. Wonderful, the master's grace of Jesus, deeper than the mighty rolling sea, higher than the purple, brighter than the thousand, false conditions trace for you and me. Broader than the scope of my transgressions, singing, greater, more than all my sin is shamelessly chained, O magnified, the precious name of Jesus, praise His name. Wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching the Most Defiled, highest as warming power, making Him God's dear child, purchased in peace and heaven for all eternity, and the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me. Wonderful, the master's grace of Jesus, deeper than the mighty rolling sea, higher than the purple, brighter than the thousand, false conditions trace for you and me. Broader than the scope of my transgressions, singing, greater, more than all my sin is shamelessly chained, O magnified, the precious name of Jesus, praise His name. And we need help all along the journey of life.

Job 14.1 says, man that is born of a woman is a few days and full of trouble. Since we live in a fallen world, trouble can be expected, and over the past few years there has been trouble on every side. The worldwide COVID pandemic brought sickness and death to multitudes.

Businesses were closed, many permanently jobs were lost, churches and schools were closed for weeks. And so there's been great concern also about the direction of our government, the way it's been going as rules and laws have been enacted, which are contrary to scripture. There's war in Ukraine and Gaza and the prospect of war expending.

On and on the list could go. There are numerous things that have caused many to struggle with anxiety and fear. So over the past few years, I've focused on messages to give hope and comfort by pointing to our sovereign God who is the source of the help we need.

One of those messages was entitled, Help in Trouble. The coronavirus is a problem. It's a trouble we're concerned about, but it doesn't compare with what's described in this passage. If the mountains should be carried into the sea, if the earth is trembling and shaking, well, this is talking about a mighty change.

The earth being removed, the mountains being carried into the midst of the sea, the waters roaring. When we read that, we think about the tsunami a few years back that took the life of so many people in another country. But in all this, there's a reminder, God is our refuge, a very present help in trouble.

But we're talking about a refuge, a hiding place, a place of protection, a place when you go, when you feel like everything is falling apart. Psalm 63 verse 11, God hath spoken once, twice have I heard this, that power belongeth unto God. So we're talking about the fact that God is able to help. He's able to help because power belongs to God. He is the sovereign ruler of heaven and earth. There's no storm that can rage. There is no comet that can fall out of the sky. There is no virus that can go on a rampage that's out of God's control.

Aren't you glad to know that? God rules and reigns. Not only is God able to help because of his power, because of his sovereign majesty, because he's working all things after the counsel of his own will, he's willing to help. He's willing to help. He's described in this Psalm as being a present help, not a help that's at such a distance you can't reach him. Sometimes a person may have said to you, now if you ever need any help, call on me.

And you called on them and they weren't available or they couldn't help you anyway. And so he rides upon the heaven of heavens. He doth send out his voice and that a mighty voice, ascribe ye strength unto God. His excellency is over Israel and his strength is in the clouds. O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy place. The God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people.

Blessed be God. He has a mighty voice. He has all power.

Nothing too hard for the Lord. He's working his will. He's accomplishing his purpose. He's looking after his people.

He's exalting his name. He giveth strength and power to his people. We have to come before him admitting our weakness. We need help. We need his strength. We need his power. We need his grace. I need thee every hour, most gracious Lord, no tender voice like thine can beat a horn. I need thee, O I need thee, every hour I need thee.

O bless me now, my Savior, I come to thee. And then we brought a series of messages designed to help the lonely. After learning of the report of the Surgeon General that loneliness has become an epidemic and is causing many health problems, I brought the message, never alone, reminding the child of God that he has the promise of his heavenly Father, I will never leave thee. Our next message was considering one another, looking at several of the one-anothering verses, pointing out that if we fulfill these admonitions, we'll be involved with people and there will be little time for loneliness. Well, then I thought about the fact that if a person is struggling with loneliness, they're often cast down and might say, I just can't minister to others.

I am too weak. So our next message was, God uses the weak, and I followed that up with help for the fainting. As you know, our emphasis on this broadcast is to bring the message of grace, and grace is the underlying foundation of everything we've been talking about these last few weeks. It is because of grace that God can say, I will never leave you. It's because of grace that you're blessed to love one another and to be comforted by one another's fellowship.

It is because of grace that God uses the weak and because of grace that strength is given to the fainting. One of the messages to which we referred was entitled, Never Alone. I remember Martin Bates was a member of this church. It was always an encouragement to me. He attended faithfully when he was on up in his 90s. This usual comment when he shook hands with me going out the door, well, I learned something today. That always encouraged me to think, here's a man in his 90s that hasn't given up on learning something.

He still wants to learn. He took a trip driving himself to Florida when he was about 98 years old. I think he continued driving until he was 99. Then I visited him in the nursing home when I think he was 101 and getting near the end.

He'd always been a strong, stalwart individual. I remember that day when he said, Brother Bradley, I need comfort. I need comfort. I put my arm around him and prayed with him.

I said, I want to tell you about the one that'll give you the comfort you need. You know him because you've trusted him for many years. You've expressed your love for the Gospel, for Jesus Christ, the Savior of sinners.

He's the friend that's taken closer than a brother. He'll give you the comfort. Isaiah 46 verse 4 says, and even to your old age I am key. Even to whore hairs will I carry you. I have made and I will bear, even I will carry and will deliver you. So the promise is, even to old age. Not only does he say, I will not desert you, I'll not forsake you, but I'll carry you. What a promise. When you're weak and fragile and you feel like you just can barely get along, the Lord said, I will carry you.

Seems so incredible. How could a woman forget her nursing child? But even if they should forget, I will not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands. Thy walls are continually before me. Your name graven on the palm of God's hand. A way to express to you that you have a connection with him.

He's not going to forget about you. And then he says Isaiah 43 verse 2, when thou passes through the waters, what? I will be with thee. Never alone. You're passing through the deep waters, the cold waters. Never alone. And Psalm 23 verse 4, yea, though I walk through the valley, the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Do you believe his promises?

On we could go. The Bible's full of them. How then can we sit idly by and mourn and grieve and complain and say, I feel so much alone? God says, if you're one of his, you're never, you're never alone. I've seen the lightning flashing and heard the thunder roll. I've felt since breakers dashing, trying to conquer my soul.

I've heard the voice 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.

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.

He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone. Romans chapter 8 verse 35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation? Oh, sometimes in the deepest trials.

You can feel like you're separated, but the trial cannot separate you. Or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword. As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are counted as sheep for the slaughter.

Now here's the answer. Who can separate us? Nay, none, no one, absolutely no one, no thing, no circumstance, no condition, whatever it is. In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us for I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present or things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which has given us in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Is that not enough? Disturb joy in your soul and say whatever the future holds, whatever may come, I am not alone and nothing can separate me from the love of God. When you're discouraged, remember I will never leave thee. When you're depressed, remember, never alone. When you're fearful, remember, never alone. When you're doubting, never alone. When you're confused, never alone. When you're suffering anxiety, never alone.

When you're feeling lonely, never alone. When you're facing death, I will be with thee, never alone. I wish that everybody here could say I claim that promise. But some of you have never come by faith to Jesus Christ as your Savior, and you can't claim that promise. Yet here's another promise.

Jesus says, him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out. You come to him by faith and you can say, never alone, and you'll have to say, it's by his grace that he brought me, never alone. I want to pause in this 71st anniversary broadcast to thank the Lord for blessing us to be on the air through all these years, and I want to thank all of you who have prayed for us and have helped to support the work. I encourage you to write us during this anniversary month and mention the call letters of the station over which you listen to the program, or the website where you receive it. A few years ago, we offered our booklet, Six Things to Remember in the Time of Crisis. The message of the booklet fits our theme of this month, the help we need.

So we're offering it again. If you would like a copy, request it when writing. Our address is Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. I also encourage you to visit our website where you can read The Baptist Witness. That's at baptistbiblehour.org.

Another of the messages I referred to earlier was entitled, Help for the Fainting. Help for the Fainting, the text is Isaiah chapter 40 beginning with the 27th verse, and I will read the text once more. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, my way is hid from the Lord and my judgment is passed over from my God. Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not, neither is weary.

There is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles.

They shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint. Lift me up above the shadows, for the storms are raging high. Lift me up, my blessed Savior, lift me to thy bosom fly.

There no evil thing can touch me over on the shining side. Lift me up above the shadows, let me evermore abide. Lift me up above the shadows, lift me up above the shadows, lift me up, and let me stand.

On the mountain tops, the melting tops, the melting tops, the melting tops, the melting, let me plan. Lift me up above the shadows, out of sorrow into joy. Lift me up above my grief, Lord, give me gold for my alloy.

Been when death was claimed by spirit, and the storms of life are past. Lift me up above the shadows till in heaven I stand at last Lift me up above the shadows Lift me up above the shadows Lift me up and let me stand Let me stand On the mountains of glory Let me dwell Let me dwell in the land and then we see here help provided verse 26 of isaiah 40 lift up your eyes on high and behold who hath created all these things that bringeth out their hosts by number he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might for that he is strong in power not one faileth here's where we get our help god says i'm going to give you strength i'm going to give you power so that you will not faint so he says lift up your eyes behold who have created all these things so he says take note of god's creation by the greatness of his might he has done it all he is strong in power he does not fail in verse 28 hast thou not known hast thou not heard that the everlasting god the lord the creator of the end of the earth fail if not neither is weary god doesn't get tired god doesn't faint god doesn't have to remove himself from active duty for a while and then we wonder how are we going to make it god is on the throne every day day in and day out he is there doing what is his pleasure to the glory of his name for the benefit of his people he's the creator the creator of the end of the earth fainted not neither is weary and there's no searching of his understanding now look at the things that are stated about god just in this passage he's the creator he has great power he's strong in power he's the everlasting god he does not faint he is not weary if i'm speaking to somebody today who feels to be fainting discouraged may feel hopeless i point you to the one who has all power and who delights to hear the cry of those that are in great need and then somebody today may feel faint discouraged about your own salvation you've been waiting for a feeling you wanted to have some kind of impressive experience that would satisfy your own mind and convince others but i urge you today look to jesus don't be depending on how you feel and how you would like for all of this to sort out hear what jesus said in john chapter 3 verse 14 and as moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life just as moses lifted up that serpent of those who were bitten by serpents looked upon it jesus says in like manner son of man is going to be lifted up he was he was lifted up on the cross he says the one now that believes in him look look to jesus look to him he says this one shall not perish but have eternal life see there's hope for those who feel faint because our strength our hope our help is in our god who is a god of great power soul Let shadows of dry thirst demand Be high in my life in the depths of His love And God will be there with His hand And God will be there with His hand Today we have brought you our 71st anniversary broadcast with the theme, The Help We Need. I hope you've been encouraged to recognize that help is the sovereign God of heaven and if we come to Him by faith, He not only is the ruler of heaven and earth, He is our Father. And He has encouraged us to come boldly to the throne of grace where we receive this help that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. I encourage you to write us during this anniversary month.

We look forward to hearing from you. And until next week at this same time, may the Lord richly bless you all. In the depths of His love And God will be there with His hand And God will be there with His hand With the wordless blessings each moment He crowds And filled with His fullness divine I sing in my rapture, oh glory to God The Baptist Bible Hour has come to you under the direction of Elder LeSaire Bradley Jr. Address all mail to The Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217 That's The Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217 A trythirsty lamb, he hideth my life in the depths of His love And covers me there with His hand