S1: God has given us revelation about the promises that he
S1: has for us. He's already done everything he's ever going
S1: to do, and he's given the revelation without the manifestation,
S1: because there must be the demonstration of application in order
S1: to receive that manifestation.
S2: This is treasure truth with pastor and author James Ford Jr,
S2: senior pastor of Christ Bible Church in Chicago. I'm Steve
S2: Hiller and glad that you've joined us. As today we
S2: continue to look at the book of Joshua in a
S2: message entitled takers. Pastor, we've talked quite a bit about
S2: the fact that God has revealed in His Word promises
S2: that are applicable for us today. We need to rightly
S2: discern what those are. And sometimes I think well-meaning Christians
S2: can struggle with discerning what they are because they hear
S2: contrary Bible teaching. Sometimes they may hear what we may
S2: refer to as prosperity gospel and think that is a
S2: promise for me today. After all, it's in the Bible.
S2: How would it not be for me? So how do
S2: we discern, you know, those promises that are for us
S2: today versus those promises that they may hear from a
S2: prosperity gospel preacher?
S3: Well, what is timeless principle that that's what we're looking for?
S3: Principle is a timeless truth that's applicable to all believers
S3: across all generations. And so, you know, they are promises
S3: that we can claim now. Now, when I listen to
S3: the tease, if I were just to hear the tease,
S3: I would say, huh? Yeah. What's he talking about now?
S3: Now let me just share. All of my grandchildren know
S3: this pawpaw has a college fund for them. I started
S3: it when they were babies and when they were old
S3: enough to comprehend, I share it with them. I have
S3: some money that I'm going to give to you for college.
S3: I gave them a revelation, but I didn't give them
S3: the manifestation because they don't get the money until they
S3: sign up to go to college. So what happens if
S3: they don't go to college? They don't get the money. Yeah. See,
S3: they don't get the manifestation of the revelation because there
S3: hasn't been a demonstration and application of what the conditions were.
S3: Are you feeling me?
S2: I'm feeling you. I think the light bulb just went
S2: on for a few of us.
S3: All right, all right. And that's the way it is
S3: in the word of God. I mean, if it's a
S3: conditional promise and you have to ask yourself, to whom
S3: was this written? And so if it was written to Israel,
S3: some of the promises to Israel only apply to Israel. Mhm.
S3: But is there a timeless principle that applies to us
S3: as believers? Now I'm just going to be honest, sometimes
S3: we as evangelicals, we throw out the baby with the bathwater.
S3: You know, because of the prosperity gospel, we don't want
S3: to believe anything that God has said. We don't want
S3: to trust him for anything. Now, you know, the Bible
S3: says in Ephesians one three, we're blessed with all spiritual
S3: blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And so if
S3: I want to be blessed, I've got to make sure
S3: I'm in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, because everything, remember,
S3: has to do with the purpose of God. And so
S3: we don't have to ask God for a lot of things.
S3: Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
S3: and all these things shall be added unto you. So
S3: when my oldest grandson was getting ready to go to college,
S3: he didn't say, now remember that promise you made me right? No.
S3: I took the money out and gave him a cashier's check,
S3: and he said, well, thank you, Papa, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
S2: Well, that is a truth that many of us, as
S2: we've been talking about in this series, need to work
S2: on applying and strengthening our faith in that way. We
S2: look at that today from the book of Joshua as
S2: we continue takers. Here's Pastor Ford.
S3: Now, Thomas Geisel wanted to write children's books. I've told
S3: you about him before, but I want to share something
S3: else about him because he wanted to do it in
S3: his own style. Uh, he felt that his style was
S3: more creative, uh, more innovative and more captivating than what
S3: was currently going on in the marketplace at that time. Uh,
S3: the only problem with his first work was that 27
S3: publishers didn't agree with him. I said 27 publishers didn't
S3: agree with him. In other words, he was rejected 27
S3: times by 27 different Publishing companies. You said that already.
S3: Pastor Ford, how many times are you going to say it?
S3: I just want you to. How many would it take
S3: for you to give up? How many times do you
S3: need to be rejected before you give up? Uh, well,
S3: I'm saying he was 27, and here's here's what he said. Uh, one,
S3: one letter said this. This is too different from other
S3: genres on the market to warrant its selling. But why
S3: do you share it again? Because I like his attitude.
S3: Here's his attitude. He had the attitude of a taker.
S3: He's going to possess his possessions. And so what he
S3: decided to do was this here's what he said I
S3: know you're going to like this. I know you're going
S3: to like it, he said. I did not get rejected
S3: 27 times. It wasn't 27 rejections. It was 27 steps
S3: to acceptance. I like that, man, I like that. Yeah, yeah.
S3: And he went on to be he went on to
S3: be published. Uh, let me Fordyce, this thing for you. See,
S3: often rejections are just steps for directions. Let me let
S3: me say it this way. Uh, God often uses our
S3: rejection for redirection. That that we're going in the wrong direction. Uh,
S3: going to the wrong things, people, places, things. And God
S3: has to give us a rejection so that he can
S3: redirect us. Some of you know what I'm talking about. Uh,
S3: because you wouldn't let them go. So God had them
S3: reject you. But now you can look back and in hindsight,
S3: because hindsight's always 20 over 20. And thank God for
S3: unanswered prayer. Amen. Thank you, Lord, for not giving me
S3: who I was begging you for. And now I can
S3: look back and see. I really didn't want that person
S3: in the first place. They weren't good for me, even
S3: though they might have been good to me back then.
S3: I know that right now who I have is better
S3: than what I ever would have had. So I thank
S3: you for the rejection. I know what some of us
S3: need to do. Here's what we need to do. We
S3: need to go out to Walmart or to Walgreens and
S3: go in the car department and send a thank you
S3: to everybody that rejected us and pushed us toward our
S3: God given possessions. That's what we are to thank you
S3: for hating on me. Thank you for lying on me.
S3: Thank you for cheating on me because you only revealed
S3: who you really was and your rejection, uh, helped me
S3: to move on. And now look who I'm with. Look
S3: what I have. Y'all ain't going to pray with me
S3: this morning, but I'm going to preach anyway. I came
S3: to preach to myself anyway. And so, you know, you
S3: you you the job you wanted that rejected you. But
S3: now the one that you've gotten is better than the
S3: one you would have had had they accepted you. And
S3: now you're glad they threw out your resume? Yeah. Sometimes
S3: to get where you're supposed to be, God has to
S3: take you out of what you should not have been
S3: in first place. Mhm. So Thomas Geisel saw rejection as what?
S3: What did he see it as 27 steps to acceptance
S3: instead of 27 rejection. You want to know why? Because
S3: he was a taker and not a taker. Yeah. He
S3: went after it and he didn't stop until it happened.
S3: So so what what will happen? Thomas went on. And
S3: to have that book published that was rejected 27 times.
S3: Then he went on to write 60 books, 48 of
S3: which are children's books. They are written in 15 different languages. Today,
S3: he has sold over 600 million copies of his books.
S3: His books were turned into four feature films, 11 TV specials,
S3: a Broadway musical, and four TV series. He has one.
S3: Thomas Geisel has won. He's won. Where? He won two
S3: Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards. The Pulitzer Prize. Uh, in
S3: in in literature and a Peabody Award. All of that
S3: because he understood. Sometimes you just got to be a taker.
S3: You gotta understand that your stumbling blocks are actually stepping stones.
S3: Somebody's gotta realize that a setback is often a set
S3: up for a comeback. Y'all ain't going to help me
S3: in here. And so what happened? Yeah, we know who
S3: he is. Who is? Who is Thomas? Thomas Geisel? Well,
S3: his middle name. And you would know him by one
S3: of his favorite characters and most well known characters, the
S3: Cat in the hat. Because Thomas Geisel is Thomas Seuss Geisel,
S3: we know him as Doctor Seuss. And I know that
S3: there's some folk I'm talking to today who are just
S3: like Thomas Seuss Geisel. Yeah, yeah. Nobody knows your name.
S3: But God has given you something that is a possession
S3: that you need to take so that everybody will know
S3: that God is a God that blesses us too. Amen. Amen.
S3: And so he uses middle name. And in our text
S3: we have seen that Joshua is being told by God,
S3: I want you to be a doctor. Seuss. Uh, but
S3: that when you look at the promised Land, you need
S3: to be a taker and you need to take your
S3: God given possession. So here's the theme that God will
S3: give us the manifestation of his revelation when we meet
S3: his qualifications for his possession. So this this text is
S3: tailored to teach this timeless truth. There are six qualifications
S3: required by us to possess our God given possessions. Here
S3: we go. Review the two and then move on and
S3: finish the four. Number one respond to God's plan. That's
S3: verses one and two. Listen to what it says now
S3: After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord,
S3: it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua
S3: the son of nun, Moses minister, saying, Moses, my servant
S3: is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou
S3: and all this people unto the land which I do
S3: give to them, even to the children of Israel. Stop!
S3: Here's what he's saying. Joshua is now time to respond
S3: to my plan. Moses is dead, but God programmed. It
S3: continues on. So you mourn for 30 days. That's enough.
S3: That's enough delay on my program. Get you up. And
S3: all of these people respond to my plan. And in
S3: verses one and two, respond to my plan in spite
S3: of people. Don't worry about the fact that Moses is
S3: dead and that people may say, well, when Moses was
S3: our pastor, we did it this way, Joshua. Move on.
S3: Don't let anybody despise your youth, your newness, any of
S3: that kind of stuff. So in spite of people, but
S3: then in spite of the past, because we've not always
S3: done it this way before, and we've not always gone
S3: this way before, and we need new direction with new
S3: ministry springing up with new people that we don't know.
S3: Some of you said, who are some of those folk?
S3: And so, in spite of the problems, they're looking at
S3: a swelling Jordan. And God points to the Jordan, say
S3: you're going to go over this, Jordan. So he says,
S3: respond to the plan. Don't let anything stop you. Be
S3: a taker. So remember what he said. Here's the outline
S3: of the book. Take my people in. That's chapters. What?
S3: How many been here? All messages okay, that's chapter chapters.
S3: What one through five. That's right. And take those people out.
S3: What chapters are those? That's right. Six through 13, I
S3: mean 12. And then take that place over. See take, take, take,
S3: take my people in chapters one through six. Take those
S3: people out verse chapter 6 to 12 and take that
S3: place over chapter 13 through 22. So God is saying,
S3: I want you to be a taker. Now, remember, there
S3: was over 2 million people who died in the wilderness
S3: because they would not possess their God given possessions. Look
S3: at your neighbor. Come on, come on. Help me preach this.
S3: Look at your neighbor. Say, neighbor. You can't have a
S3: five star church with two star people and a one
S3: star vision. Amen. Amen. And so they failed to believe God.
S3: Hebrews chapter four, verse three. It says, and you look
S3: at it later on, it says that because the promise
S3: was not mixed with faith, those who had the promise
S3: didn't go into the land. They all died in the
S3: wilderness because of unbelief. So they didn't have faith. Now
S3: remember what we said? We said that that faith is
S3: like Jheri curl activator, that if you had a Jheri curl,
S3: it wasn't going to come into fruition and look good
S3: until you activate it with the Jheri curl juice. But
S3: it was the activator that really made the Jheri curl.
S3: Am I right about it? Some of y'all had a
S3: Jheri curl. Y'all know that? Yeah. And so he's saying.
S3: He's saying I got a promise and you activate it
S3: by faith. Here's my plan. And they didn't believe it.
S3: And if you don't believe it, you don't get it. See,
S3: they acted like they didn't know that the God above
S3: you is greater than the problems around you and the
S3: fear inside of you. Let me say it again. That's tweetable.
S3: That's Tweetable. They didn't realize that the God above you
S3: is greater than the problems around you and the fear
S3: that's within you. Amen. And so then Doctor Martin Luther
S3: King Junior said, faith is taking the first step, even
S3: when you don't see the staircase. That's it.
S2: Well, that is it. And that was Tweetable just a
S2: moment ago. Speaking of tweeting, you can always follow Pastor
S2: Ford on Twitter. You can also like us on Facebook.
S2: And we'd love to connect with you and interact with
S2: you on social media. That way you'll find those links
S2: when you come to our website. It's Treasure Truth Dawg.
S2: I also want to remind you, if you're ever in
S2: the Chicago area, you can visit Christ Bible Church and
S2: hear Pastor Ford speak live. Information at our website. Treasure
S2: Truth radio.org. Back to the message. Here's Pastor Ford.
S3: See, see, I, I tell you all the time. Let
S3: me repeat it. Can I repeat it? Say repeat it, pastor. Yeah, yeah.
S3: Faith gives you insight like it is foresight. I mean, no, no.
S3: Faith gives you insight into foresight. Like it's hindsight. Okay,
S3: I got that right that time. So even the way
S3: you respond to it, guess what? I'm always trying to
S3: grow and I, I, I believe I have a teachable spirit.
S3: Now some things I'm not going to move on because
S3: I'm settled in it. But if you show me some
S3: things and I go back and restudy and stuff and say, whoa,
S3: I don't have to back up off of this. I
S3: used to say, boom, you know, I do that all
S3: the time. I'm not. So I used to sign my books.
S3: God bless you at the end. God bless you. And
S3: then I'm reading the book of Ephesians, and I realize
S3: that's not the most biblically accurate thing to say to
S3: a person, because Ephesians one three says, we are blessed
S3: past tense with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in
S3: Christ Jesus. So I start, I start saying, God has
S3: blessed you already. Somebody say, God bless you, pastor. I say,
S3: God has blessed you already because that's in the past tense.
S3: It's this. It's it's what's in this book, in this chapter,
S3: what we're talking about now that God has given us
S3: revelation about the promises that he has for us, he's
S3: already done everything he's ever going to do, and he's
S3: given the revelation without the manifestation, because there must be
S3: the demonstration of application in order to receive that manifestation.
S3: And so, in other words, that's why we're talking about
S3: what do they have to do to possess this? God
S3: has some things that he wants them to do in
S3: order to possess it. And so he says, the land
S3: I have given you past tense. It's already yours. All
S3: you got to do is walk in it. And so
S3: then notice God's plan gives you direction and dimensions. What
S3: do you mean, Pastor Ford? It tells you which way
S3: to go. And it tells you what your parameters are,
S3: where you can't step outside of this and step inside
S3: of that. Uh, you know, I didn't get a chance
S3: to introduce her. She's going to kill me. But that's okay,
S3: because I want to introduce her right now in my sermon.
S3: Miss Shawn Diaz. Stand up, stand up, miss Shawn, dear.
S3: Look at it. Look at it. I saw her eyes cut. Boy.
S3: She said, ooh, Imma get you. She's working with us
S3: in our marketing and media along with my son right now,
S3: and we're trying to put together a larger media team,
S3: but she is off the chain. Amen. You may be
S3: seated and and she she's just so creative. And this
S3: social media stuff, she didn't even told me because I
S3: don't post all the time. She even told me when
S3: I should post on Facebook. I say, man, now you know,
S3: that's deep, that's deep. So she's real good. I'm, I'm
S3: really pleased to be learning some stuff, uh, from the
S3: both of them about, uh, marketing and media. But anyway,
S3: that's that's her forte. She's got her degree in that
S3: she's very good at it, and she's going around with
S3: job interviews. And she got offered a job at NBC. Yeah. Yeah.
S3: One of the big three. And she turned it down.
S3: And she turned it down for a company of which
S3: I have never heard. And as I was trying to
S3: think what she told me, the name of the company was,
S3: I couldn't even remember it. And when I, when I
S3: heard the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey said,
S3: I said, wow, I wish I had had that and
S3: worked that in the beginning of my message. Because why
S3: didn't you want that job? They're offering a bigger salary
S3: than the one you got. Yes, but they only do TV.
S3: And I want a company that does TV, radio, internet, computers,
S3: social media. I want a company. And this company does
S3: it all. So I won't be locked in to just television. Now,
S3: maybe one day I'll accept the job at NBC. But
S3: for right now, I want to get all that exposure.
S3: Because one day I want to have Shonda Williams Media Corporation.
S3: I said, man, that's it. I mean, I kind of
S3: felt like, uh, you know, uh, the A-Team. I love
S3: it when a plan comes together and God says, I've
S3: got a plan for you. Now God's plan, let me
S3: tell you, you're either on the way or in the way.
S3: Come on, tell somebody. If you're in the way. Get out!
S3: Get out of the way! Come on, go on. Yeah.
S3: Then secondly, we saw. Rest on God's promises. Rest on
S3: God's promises. That is verses three and four. Look at
S3: verses three and four. Verses three and four. Every place
S3: that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, uh,
S3: that I have given unto you, as I said unto Moses,
S3: from this wilderness and this Lebanon, even until the great river,
S3: the river Euphrates unto the great sea. Toward the going
S3: down of the sun shall be your coast. Now, God,
S3: what are you saying? What are you doing? God is
S3: letting them know. Listen, listen. You've got to rest on
S3: the promises I gave you. Promises. Now a lot of
S3: people make promises. Uh, you got some people who say, uh,
S3: loan me some money until payday Friday and somebody can testify.
S3: Don't raise your hand. You might be sitting next to him,
S3: or they may be in the sanctuary. Uh, but what
S3: did they do? They didn't tell you which Friday. And
S3: they didn't tell you which year? Some. Come on. Some
S3: of us know there's folk now trying to look away
S3: because they know they owe us money. And they look,
S3: they say sitting over here and they and instead of
S3: looking at me, they're looking at the wall because they
S3: know you looking from over there. Because you moved from
S3: over there. Because they ain't paid you your money yet.
S3: And then walk up in here talking about praise the Lord,
S3: acting like they don't know they owe you money? Yeah, yeah.
S3: You saw us up here. Why do you think I
S3: said suppose. Because you never know what's going to happen.
S3: Because we made that promise. I so and so do
S3: take you so and so as my lawfully wedded spouse
S3: to have and to hold, in sickness and in health,
S3: in poverty until death do us part. And I tell
S3: you all the time, some of us, it's just until
S3: death do us part. Yeah. People make promises. I'll call
S3: you back later on today. We're going to hook up
S3: later on this week. Come on now. I mean, how
S3: many have been told that and and heard from the
S3: person yet? Come on, come on. Look at look at
S3: look at the hands. Look at the hands. Yeah. And
S3: so what? Oh, here's the here's one. I'll pray for you.
S3: Look at that. Look at that, everybody. Everybody's saying, man,
S3: what a farce. You know, and so we make promises.
S3: But we need to understand here. God makes them a promise.
S3: And he says, listen, I want you to understand two things.
S3: You've got to personalize the promise. And I told you
S3: what I do. I put my name there. I put
S3: my name there. Uh, pastor for can do all things
S3: through Christ who strengthens him. Pastor Ford has never seen
S3: the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. Pastor Ford
S3: is the head and not the tail. Pastor Ford that
S3: knows the plans that God has for him. Plans for
S3: good and not for evil, to bring him to a
S3: desired end. Pastor Ford, pastor for I personalize it. But then.
S3: But then you got to participate. Notice what he told them.
S3: Walk in it. Walk in it. It's yours, but you're
S3: not walking in it. You're not possessing your possession. God
S3: says you gotta walk in it. Oh, yeah. I know
S3: the tests are hard, but you got to go to
S3: school in order to get that degree. You ain't going
S3: to get it at home. And so we need to
S3: do that. This neighborhood is ours. He's given it to us.
S3: We're a lighthouse, a beacon. Man, we we got to
S3: do it. We've got to do it.
S2: A real practical application for Christ Bible Church. But also,
S2: how many of us can listen to this Bible teaching
S2: and think of areas in our life where we've got
S2: to do it. We've got to take it. You're listening
S2: to Treasure Truth, a message called takers. It's from Joshua
S2: chapter one, and Pastor Ford has been on this passage
S2: of scripture for a number of days. If you've missed
S2: any of the broadcast, come to Treasure Truth radio.org and
S2: you can always listen online. You know, we're able to
S2: bring you this Bible teaching each and every day because
S2: of your generosity. So to those of you who have
S2: given a gift in the past, thank you for doing that.
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S2: We could use a one time gift or an ongoing
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S2: Pastor Ford, I'm Steve Hiller. Treasure truth is a production
S2: of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.