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! Thou the resolve by God and King, thou triumphs of his grace!
This is Lacerre Bradley, Jr. inviting you to stay tuned for another message of God's sovereign grace. Rejoice, the Lord is King, your fine King alone! Mortals, give thanks and sing, and triumph evermore!
Lift up the heart, lift up the voice! Rejoice, O Lord! Ye saints, rejoice! Rejoice, the Savior reigns, the God of truth and love! When he had first our strength, he took his seat above.
Lift up the heart, lift up the voice! Rejoice, O Lord! Ye saints, rejoice! His kingdom cannot fail. He rules your earth and heaven.
The keys of death and hell are to our Jesus' gift. Lift up the heart, lift up the voice! Rejoice, O Lord! Ye saints, rejoice! I'm glad you've joined us for the broadcast today and pray the message will be a blessing to you.
If it is, we'd like to hear from you. Address your letter to the Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. And you can make a donation at our website by going to BaptistBibleHour.org. Hallelujah! Praise Jehovah! From the heavens praise his name! Praise Jehovah in the highest! All his angels praise proclaim! All his hosts together praise him!
Sun and moon and stars on high! Praise him, O he and the heavens, and he floods above the sky! Let them praise him, Jehovah, for his name alone is high! And his glory is exalted, and his glory is exalted, and his glory is exalted far above the earth and sky! Let them praise him, Jehovah, they were made at his command!
Then forever he established his degree shall never stand! From the earth, O praise Jehovah, all ye faulty dragons all! Fire and hail and snow and vapors stormy winds that hear him call! Let them praise him, Jehovah, for his name alone is high! And his glory is exalted, and his glory is exalted, and his glory is exalted far above the earth and sky! All ye fruitful trees and seers! All ye hills and mountains high!
Creeping things and beasts and cattle! Birds that in the heavens fly! Kings of earth and only people, princes great as judges all! Praise his name, young men and maidens, aged men and children small! Let them praise him, Jehovah, for his name alone is high!
And his glory is exalted, and his glory is exalted, and his glory is exalted far above the earth and sky! Today we bring you the second part of a message entitled Rejoice Always. The text is Philippians chapter 4 verse 4. Rejoice always in the Lord, and again I say rejoice. And then we can rejoice when we follow the instruction of our context. Philippians 4 and 5. After saying rejoice always in the Lord and again I say rejoice. It says let your moderation be known unto all men, the Lord is at hand, be careful for nothing.
There's another difficult thing. Be careful for nothing means do not worry. Worry is a sin. G. Adams used to speak when he was traveling and going to different congregations and he'd say I want to ask how many people here tonight are liars?
Would you please raise your hand? And he said no hands would go up and he might ask another question or two and he said well I wonder how many here are worriers and hands go up all over the house and people with a big smile. That's me I'm an old time worrier from way back not realizing that worry is a sin.
I didn't want to admit to any other sin but glad to confess to this sin. I am a worrier. This says be careful. Don't be full of care.
Do not worry. But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Now here's a key to coming to be able to rejoice. You've got your burdens.
You've got your needs. You make your requests known to the Lord. You don't sit and mull over them.
You don't fret and fume. You take the matter to the Lord and it's essential according to the text to do it with thanksgiving. How often do we forget that? We've got a burden and so we rest quickly to the Lord and say Lord here's my burden here's my need and not one word of thanksgiving. He says to make your requests known with thanksgiving. The person that's thankful is a joyous person. Thankful for everything that God's blessed you to have. You may not have the best of health but if you're still up and going be thankful for what you've got.
Be thankful for the care that you're being given if you're been fast. Be thankful for all the list just goes on and on. The Bible is full of admonitions to be thankful. You find it repeatedly in the Old Testament. You find it over and over again in the New Testament and for one place Paul says in Colossians 3.15 he just says be ye thankful. Now I've had people say well the Bible is so difficult I just don't understand it.
Well you can understand that and that's not hard. Be ye thankful as a command. We're to regularly continually give God thanks for his abundant blessings. Are you thankful? What a privilege to be here today with the sun shining so beautifully. The songs that have been sung here this morning praise us to God and giving our attention to his word. Are we really thankful for this privilege?
Well we know there are people in other parts of the world that are being persecuted and don't have this privilege. May we thank God for it. May we thank him for his saving grace. Oh what a blessing that is to give thanks continually for what God has done for us. And then the passage goes on to say and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Where you've been troubled you've been worried. Now you're not worrying anymore. You're giving thanks. You're praising God.
You're thanking God and he's going to bless you. He's going to keep your heart and mind through Christ Jesus and that's not the end. Finally brethren, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. Now there's Paul's think list.
So here's what you're to think about. You think about things that are depressing you, troubling you, evil thoughts, sinful thoughts, well you need to come back and you can pray. Lord create in me a clean heart. Bless me to be able to think right. I want to think on those things that are honest and those things that are just, those things that are pure, those things that are lovely, the things that are of good report.
Think on these things. And then it says those things which you have both learned and received and heard and seen in me do and the God of peace shall be with you. I was counseling with a young man one time and I gave him an assignment for his homework to study this portion of scripture we had already been over together and I said I want you to utilize it every day, do what it says and come back next week and we'll talk about it. He came back the next week and said well it didn't work preacher. I did what it said.
I gave thanks and I tried to think on the things that are on that list but it didn't work. I said so you just tried that how long? One day and it didn't do me any good.
Well you missed an important part of it. The verse says and these things do and that word do means to practice. You don't just do this one time.
You do it every day. Continue to practice it. Continue to give thanks. Continue to rejoice. Continue to think on the right things.
Use Paul's think list to give you guidance as to what you ought to be focused on. And so you can rejoice in the sovereignty of God and the fact that God's on the throne and therefore he works all things together for good to them that love God and are called according to his purpose. You can rejoice in his promises. What promises?
What marvelous promises? I will never leave thee nor forsake thee that we may boldly say the Lord is my helper. What more could you ask than to have the Lord as your helper and to have his absolute promise I will not forsake. Yes there are times we feel forsaken. The psalmist described that many times.
Lord where are you? I cried, shout and you shut out my prayers said Jeremiah. I feel that you forsaken me but in reality even when the psalmist was saying I feel empty, I feel cold, I feel deserted.
Underneath were still the everlasting arms to hold him up. Yes the promise is I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Then I love that promise in Hebrews 4 when he invites us to come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
How many times of need do you face in a single week? Every morning when I get up I say Lord this is another day and I'll come back another time at your invitation because I'm coming not in my own name but in the name of Jesus who is the intercessor. I'm coming to obtain mercy.
I need it. I thank you for what I've had but I need more and this is a time of need. This is another day with its challenges. I need help and you've promised to give grace to help in time of need. What a wonderful promise. You can rejoice in that. Lord I'm glad I don't have to face this day by myself.
Face its challenges, its questions, its disappointments. I'm coming to you claiming the promise that you provide grace to help in time of need. And then what joy it brings to look at what is stated in the latter part of Romans chapter 8. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. The trial of the present, whatever may come in the future, no power, no creature, life, death, nothing, absolutely nothing can separate us from the love of God. So rejoice, rejoice, rejoice always to know that.
Oh how marvelous. I've talked to people in years gone by who believed that you could have an experience of salvation and then lose it. That you could fall from grace.
I remember one time I was preaching up in the mountains of Kentucky and I ran into the preacher from a little church down the road and he said, oh I wish you could have been with us in our meeting last night. He said, I think he said it was ten souls were saved and five of them it was the first time. Well thankfully we only need to have a first time because salvation is complete and sure through Jesus Christ. We can therefore rejoice. Rejoice that you have been delivered from the wrath to come. There's coming a day of wrath. Jesus Christ will return in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the gospel. And according to First Thessalonians 1 10, if you're a believer in Jesus Christ you have been rescued from the fire. Isn't that something to rejoice in? Rejoice daily in it. There's coming a time of great judgment.
There's coming a time of flaming fire but I've been delivered from it because of the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. I praise his name. I rejoice in him. I want to express my gratitude to him. I want to express to him my love as you sang in the hymn this morning. More love to thee, O Christ. And you can rejoice in what's coming.
The best things are out in the future. The death of a Christian is an actual wonderful homecoming. It's not a tragedy. It's something to give us comfort and peace. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5 8, We are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. So when a Christian leaves this earth, the body is still here but their spirit has gone to be present with the Lord. What could be any better than to be present with the Lord?
This whole weak body will be glorified at the resurrection. And there will be no more sickness, no more aches, no strokes. Revelation 21 4 says, Neither shall there be any more pain. Oh, I'm sure everybody here has experienced pain of one sort or another. Pain can be severe.
You can reach the point to say, I don't know that I can endure it anymore. But there, in the presence of the Lord, there will be no more pain. Those tears of deep hurt and disappointment will be wiped away. Revelation 21 4, God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. Isn't that marvelous to anticipate? Think I'm going to be in a place where there's no sickness, there's no sorrow, there's no disappointment, there's no guilt, there's no sin.
But I am secure in the presence of my Savior to live with Him forever. Those failing eyes with the vision growing dim will be able to see Him in all of its glory. 1 John chapter 3 verse 2 gives us that promise that we shall see Him as He is. Isn't that marvelous to consider? You've been singing about Jesus, praying to Jesus, hearing sermons about Jesus, reading about Jesus, and in that great day, see Him as He is.
Our tongue sometimes says things that we regret. But we'll falter no more. We'll be singing according to Revelation 5, 9, Thou art worthy, for Thou was slain and has redeemed us to God.
Can you imagine that? It's wonderful to sing together here, and the voices blend and the praises go up to God. But think of being in heaven with a perfect body, a perfect voice, and to sing with that heavenly choir, Thou art worthy, for Thou was slain and has redeemed us to God. You can rejoice in anticipation.
You may say, Lord, I'm having a bad day today, but I'm looking forward to that better day, and that gives me joy to anticipate being at home with You. All of our frustrations will be ended. There are many frustrations.
In spite of all of the good things that we have to enjoy, there are many times we become frustrated. But Psalm 17, 4 says, I shall be satisfied when I awake in Thy likeness. Is anybody going to say, well, I wish it had been another way.
I was anticipating something different. It's going to be so much better than what you can imagine that you're going to be perfectly satisfied. And if you're rejoicing in the Lord, the fear of the future will be gone.
How many times a person may say, well, things are going OK today, but I just look down the road and I see bad times for this country. I see troubling times financially. I don't know what's going to happen. I just can't help but worry about it.
Well, let's go back and remember worry is a sin, so that's not one of your jobs to be worrying about the future. You do not need to fear, or Thessalonians 5, 18 says, so shall we ever be with the Lord. No more fear, because your position with Him is permanent forever to be with the Lord.
No change, no dreadful circumstances that would cause you to lose your place in His family. Well, let's think. Amid the sorrows of life, we can rejoice in the Lord now. Because God is the God of hope, the God of comfort, the God of all grace. When you ponder that, is there not reason to rejoice? Do you sometimes forget it in a moment of disappointment and frustration and you forget the God that I serve?
The one who is my Heavenly Father identifies himself as being the God of hope, the God of comfort, the God of all grace. But there may be some of you who have never experienced this joy because you've never come to Jesus. Oh, you may have had fun and sometimes happiness, but it fades quickly and doesn't sustain you in the dark times. The joy of the Lord is one that you can have now and then rejoice forever in heaven with the Savior. And Jesus says, come unto me and I will give you rest. If you never come to Him, I pray you'll come to Him today. And Jesus says, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. If that's your experience, but you've never publicly confessed your faith and followed the Lord in baptism, I urge you to come forward and make that confession of faith when we stand to sing in a few moments. But I conclude by reading the words of an old hymn that describe what we've been trying to say here this morning. Come, humble souls, ye mourners, come and wipe away your tears, adieu to all your sad complaints, your sorrows and your fears. Come, shout aloud the Father's grace and sing the Savior's love.
Soon shall you join the glorious theme in loftier strains above. God, the eternal mighty God, to dear names descends, calls you his treasures and his joy, his children and his friends. I will praise him, I will praise him, praise the Lamb for sinners slain.
Give him glory, all you people, give him glory, all you people. Sometimes we know it is difficult to rejoice when the way is dark and the burden is heavy. But the fact is, in the most difficult of times, we can still rejoice in the Lord. We're not relying on our emotions but on the promises of God and we rejoice that he's still on the throne. We rejoice salvation is by grace.
There's something to give us joy every day that we live. I hope that you'll tune in at the same time next week and until then, may the Lord richly bless you all. Give him glory, all you people, give him glory, all you people.
For his blood can wash away each stain. 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. I will praise him. I will praise him. I will praise him. The Lord.
