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, Thou the wisdom of my God and King, Thou triumphs of his grace.
This is LeSaire Bradley, Jr. inviting you to stay tuned for another message of God's sovereign grace. Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone.
Because I know he holds a future, and life is worth the living just because he lives. God sent his Son, they called him Jesus. He came to love, heal and forgive. He lived and died to buy my pardon.
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives. Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone. Because I know he holds a future, and life is worth the living just because he lives. Yes, my life is worth the living just because he lives.
Because he lives. I'm glad you're with us on the broadcast today and pray that the message will be a blessing to you. You've heard me mention a couple of times already that we're experiencing the summer slump. By that I mean as people get busy with summertime activities, the donations fall off.
And yet our expenses go right on. So if you are blessed with this ministry and want us to stay on the air, I hope you'll be impressed to help us at this time. Our address is Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. Or you can go to our website, make a donation there, and also can read the Baptist Witness and hear messages at the website.
We hope to hear from you. Living below in this old sinful world, are we a comfort can afford? Striving alone to face temptation's sword, where could I go but to the Lord? Where could I go, where could I go, seeking a refuge for my soul? Needing a friend to save me in the end, where could I go but to the Lord? My fear is grand with friends I love so dear, comfort I get from God's own Word. Yet when I face the chilling hand of death, where could I go but to the Lord? Where could I go, where could I go, seeking a refuge for my soul?
Needing a friend to save me in the end, where could I go, where could I go, where could I go but to the Lord? To the Lord. We get some interesting responses from people on our website. With some of them we can tell that they're comments made by unbelievers. With others, it seems to be coming from some who are searching and inquiring, maybe for the first time trying to resolve some issues and find answers to problems. Others are obviously from people who are believers and finding comfort and help and instruction and expressing their appreciation.
I want to respond to one of those comments that we received on our website. Dear friends, how do you put your trust in God when everything's going wrong? First of all, we would consider assumptions made. This individual says that everything is going wrong. That's one of those statements that obviously is an exaggeration and all of us are sometimes guilty of using them. Children periodically will say when they've made a request that wasn't granted, you just never let me do anything.
Now you know that's not accurate. They do sometimes get to do some things, but when they're feeling deprived, you never let me do anything. Or you're having a conflict, maybe with your wife or husband, and say, you always say that. You're always doing that. Well, it may be something that happens frequently, but it's not always.
And so it's terminology that we sometimes use when we're exasperated and we want to make our point. So when this person says everything's going wrong, that is something of an exaggeration. A lot of things are going right. The earth is still rotating on its axis. It hasn't fallen apart.
The sun is still coming up. We still have air to breathe. Multitudes of people have good health. In spite of the fact that there's a lot of sickness and infirmity, there are a lot of people that have reasonably good health. There are places in the world that people are starving, but there are many other places where there's adequate food, sufficient shelter. There are things that are going right. Now you may say, obviously the person didn't have in mind world-wide conditions. They're thinking about their own individual situation. But it's doubtful that everything is going wrong, even for the writer.
Now it can seem that way sometimes. I'm sure most of us have had days or seasons in our life where we felt everything is going wrong. It's one of those times that the day starts wrong. You punch the snooze button on the alarm, fell back to sleep, didn't wake up on time. You're running late for work.
Traffic is backed up. Maybe you wind up running out of gas. You get to work and there are all kinds of complications there. You drop something. You spill something. You get a phone call that's alarming and say, the way this day is going, I don't know how I'm going to survive it.
So it can appear at times that everything is going wrong. And the psalmist sometimes made their complaints. Lord, is thy mercy clean gone forever? Lord, are you not going to ever hear us again? We're desolate. We're in the dark. I sink in deep mire where there is no standing.
Lord, come to my rescue. But there are many daily blessings that can easily be overlooked. It makes me think about a lady with whom I was counseling a few years ago. And we were looking at the fourth chapter of the book of Philippians, verse 4 that says, Rejoice always in the Lord and again I say rejoice.
She was full of doubt and anxiety and obviously had little or no joy. I said, well, in these verses, verse 4 through verse 9, we're told how we can rejoice. And one of the things is that we're to make our requests known with thanksgiving.
We pray when we approach the Lord making our request known, we're to do it with thanksgiving. So I had asked her to take a sheet of paper and just make a list of things for which she was thankful. She handed me a blank sheet of paper.
I said I couldn't think of anything. I said, how did you get here to the office today? I drove. Whose car was it? What's mine? I put that on the list. I own a car.
A lot of people don't. Where did you get the gasoline? Of course I bought it. Was it your money?
Yeah, put that on the list. You had money to buy gasoline. Wait a minute preacher, those are just little insignificant things. No, they're not so insignificant. You talk to somebody that doesn't have a car or somebody that doesn't have the money to buy gasoline.
Those are big issues. But if you have it and you had enough energy and health to get up and get out of bed in the morning and start and drive your car and go to talk to the preacher or go to work or wherever it was you needed to go, you've got something to be thankful for. Unthankfulness throughout the Scriptures is connected with those who are unbelievers, with those who are pagans. God's people are to be perpetually giving thanks. And sometimes if you're having a little difficulty thinking what should be on my list? What are some things for which I should give thanks? Literally prepare a list. Write it down.
Stir your mind so that you're remembering. Hear things for which I am thankful. Thankful I may not have the best of health, but thankful for the health I've got. May not have as many friends as I'd like, but thankful for the friends I have.
The list can really be endless. In fact, if we could ask the lady that wrote this message on our website, ask her some questions. Try to find out a little more about her situation. We might well learn that she has a comfortable place to live.
That she has enough food to eat every day. She might be in a state of loneliness and feeling that she's lost friends. And sometimes people get to the point that they think, I don't think anybody really cares.
Nobody really understands me. I could drop dead and wouldn't make any difference to anybody. Don't know if anybody would show up at my funeral. Some people, when they get in this miserable state of mind, they can really make it sound bad. But it may well be that this person has two or three friends. Maybe there are friends that are praying for this person knowing that she is somewhat depressed. And that she is not trusting God and is unwilling to trust.
So she may have friends that she's not thinking about. But it is doubtful that everything is going wrong for this writer. Secondly, assumption is made, but the fact is that everything which appears wrong is not wrong.
You may draw that conclusion sometime. That everything is going wrong, but the things that you would put on your list saying, this is wrong, this is disturbing, this is troubling, this is out of place, it may not be wrong. It may be that a person making this statement is actually suffering the consequences of sinful action.
Now I agree that that is unpleasant, but that's not wrong. God intends that when we sin that we suffer some consequences. Book of Proverbs chapter 13 verse 15. Good understanding giveth favor, but the way of the transgressors is hard. God has not promised that the way of the transgressors is going to be easy. So if you are transgressing, if you are disobedient, if you're in a rebellious state of mind, just remember God has not promised to protect the disobedience from the consequences of sin. That's part of God's plan. Furthermore, it may be that the individual who says everything is going wrong may be ignoring the goodness of God. Let's turn to the book of Romans chapter 2.
It's easy for a person to become confused in their thinking, to have a distorted view of really what's going on around them. Romans chapter 2 verse 4 says, Or despises thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. So at the very moment that it appears, according to your calculations, everything is going wrong, God may be good and gracious to you in a variety of ways.
And you're missing the point. The goodness of God should lead you to repentance. You look at the situation and by your summation it's bad.
It could be much worse. God has intervened and is good to you, the idea being that it should lead you to repentance. Furthermore, everything that appears to be wrong is not wrong. For God's children, good comes from adversity. The very things that are painful, the very things that are upsetting, the very things that may disturb us and hurt us for the moment, may be arranged by divine providence for our benefit. Psalm 119 verse 71, It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes. It's good for me. Didn't say it's something that you're going to say, that was a delightful experience. I love that period of sickness in my life.
I love this challenge of dealing with some financial reversals. No. It didn't say that it's going to give you immediate comfort as far as the circumstances of the day are concerned. But you look back and say, it's been good for me to be afflicted.
Why? Because I learned more about God and His Word. I learned His truth.
I learned His statutes. God was dealing with me. And then we turn to the book of Job chapter 23, and find this suffering soul speaking to this issue. Verse 10, But he knoweth the way that I take. When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
What's Job saying? For God's children, good comes from adversity. So when he has tried me, there's going to be a good outcome. I'm going to come forth as gold.
Dross is going to be consumed. I'm going to be conformed more to the image that God has in view. The third assumption that is made, which is a false assumption, that because everything appears to be wrong, I am justified in my refusal to trust God. This writer says, how can I put my trust in God when everything is going wrong?
So obviously it comes to the conclusion, anybody ought to understand this. How can I trust Him? I'm perfectly justified in my unwillingness to trust God, because things are just not going right. God would have to be operating on my standard. God would have to be doing for me what I would want to be done. God would have to smooth out my path for me to be able to trust Him. But if He's not working according to my plan, anybody ought to see it.
I couldn't possibly trust Him. But we turn to the book of Isaiah chapter 55. Verse 8 says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, sayeth the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. So here are your thoughts.
You view the situation saying things are rough, things are not going well, therefore, anybody ought to see it. I can't trust God. God says, you're here at this level, I'm way up above it. My ways, my thoughts are higher than yours. You haven't been able to understand what I'm doing. You can't figure it all out. And so you're making some assumptions, and they are false assumptions.
They are incorrect. Let's look at the 40th chapter of Isaiah. Verse 13, Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being His counselor, hath taught Him? Who's been able to teach the Lord? Who's able to sit down and say, Lord, things are not going well, and I want to counsel you. I want to give you some input about how things ought to be going. And if you do it my way, I'll trust you.
I'll demonstrate some faith and have confidence in you. Verse 14, With whom took He counseled, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge, and showed to Him the way of understanding? Nobody has been able to counsel God. His way is higher than our ways. And God has not asked for counsel and would not receive it if you volunteer it. So, seeing that there are assumptions made in this person's statement, we then go on to think about truth considered.
There's some truth that's being overlooked that needs to be considered. First of all, God is good, so everything can't be bad. God is good. Psalm 25, verse 8, Good and upright is the Lord, therefore will He teach sinners the way. Good and upright is the Lord. Now, I realize when men begin to speculate and they set their standards and lay out their terms, they sometimes come to the conclusion, God can't be good. Because if He was, He would stop all of the violence that's going on the world over. God would immediately end the hunger that many experience.
God would wipe out all pain. But when those statements are made, it's clear that the person doesn't have an understanding of the holiness of God, the greatness of God, the sovereignty of God, how God is working, what He's doing, and why. The scripture continues to maintain God is good. Psalm 136, verse 1, Give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endureth forever. Give thanks because He is good. Psalm 145, verse 9, The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works. Not only is the Lord good as far as His character is concerned, He is good in a practical way to all. Good to all. Now, of course, somebody may want to object to that. Say, well it hasn't been good to me because I've suffered all my life.
Had a miserable childhood, came from a dysfunctional family, had nothing but what would be described as hard luck ever since. God is not good, but here is a declaration that God is good to all. Lord, let me praise Thee in the morning, while the day is new. Let me praise Thee at the moon-time, I'm leaning true.
We have evidence every day that we live that God is good. As Jeremiah the prophet said, His mercies are new every morning. He sends the rain upon the just and the unjust. In spite of our sinfulness, He is merciful to us and remembers our frame that we are but dust. I hope that you will write us, and until next week at this same time, may the Lord richly bless you all. Lord, I must come to Thee for comfort, to Thee, Lord, alone.
All that we may do for others can't for sin atone. Lord, we know that Thou is jealous, that the poor are always with us, and that Thy love is jealous. Let us love Thee more. 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. Lord, let me praise Thee in the morning while the day is new. Let me praise Thee at the moon-time I'm leaning to. Let me not forget to praise Thee, for since on the cross they nailed Thee, Thy love has never...
