S1: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow
S1: of death, I will fear no evil. Why? Because you're
S1: going to do something though. Because you're with me. Because
S1: as long as you're with me, I ain't never scared.
S1: I ain't never scared.
S2: This is treasure. Truth with pastor and author James Ford,
S2: junior senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago.
S2: I'm Steve Hillard. Glad that you're with us today as
S2: we continue a message called I Ain't Never Scared. And pastor,
S2: there may be somebody listening today who feels like they're
S2: walking through the valley of the shadow of death, and
S2: they're trying to fear no evil, but they're shaken. They're
S2: scared right now, and they're trying to remember that God
S2: is with them, but they're just struggling today. Can you
S2: talk to that person?
S3: I would tell that person, start practicing the presence of
S3: the person of God. When we first moved to Chicago,
S3: we lived in Humboldt Park, which is largely Hispanic, and
S3: my son, my oldest son was being recruited. And for gang.
S2: Gang.
S3: Yeah. For gang. And, uh, I would walk him to
S3: school and then pick him up from school. He said
S3: to me one day he said, you don't need to
S3: do that anymore, dad. I'm not afraid. I said, you're not.
S3: Help me to understand it. He said, well, we had
S3: studied Psalm 23. He said, I realized something, that I
S3: wasn't afraid because you were with me.
S2: Yeah.
S3: But then I was discounting the fact that even when
S3: you're not with me, God is with me. Mhm. Yeah.
S3: And I felt like God is more powerful than you.
S3: And so as long as he's with me, I don't
S3: need you.
S2: It's pretty profound for.
S3: I was in seventh grade when he. When he told
S3: me that.
S2: Good for him.
S3: I said.
S2: Wow, son.
S3: You're absolutely right. Yeah. You know, and so, I mean,
S3: a seventh grader. Yeah. You know, realizes in his walk
S3: that God is more powerful than his very powerful father.
S2: Yes. Yeah. And I remember you years ago. You're a
S2: big dude. Yeah. I was.
S3: Still big. I used to be 305. Now I'm down to.
S2: Yeah.
S3: You know, so I've lost some pounds and got 40
S3: more to go.
S2: Oh. Looking good though. It kind of reminds me a
S2: little bit. I don't know if you ever watch VeggieTales, but, uh,
S2: this animated, uh, Christian TV show, uh, videos that came
S2: out years ago. And I think one of the very
S2: first ones they ever did was, uh, where's God when
S2: I'm scared? Had a great song called God is Bigger
S2: Than the boogeyman. He's bigger than the monsters on TV.
S2: And he's watching out for you and me. So every time,
S2: because I've now got little kids. And so, you know,
S2: every time they're like, I'm scared of the dark. I'm
S2: scared of this. I'm like, hey, remember that VeggieTales song?
S2: God is bigger than the boogeyman, and he's with you.
S2: He's watching out for you. So kind of similar to
S2: what you're talking about there. You're going to have to
S2: go check that out. Yeah, I think it was Junior
S2: Asparagus and his dad. Well, we are going to move
S2: on from VeggieTales here, and we're going to go back
S2: to the Book of Psalms. We're in Psalm 27 today, though,
S2: as we continue this message. I ain't never scared. Here's
S2: Pastor Ford.
S1: You praise him when heaven's coming down.
S3: Yeah, but can you.
S1: Praise him when hell is breaking loose? Uh, yeah. Yeah.
S1: You you you pray for Big Mama to live. But
S1: she died anyway. Can you praise the Lord in spite
S1: of it? Can you yet give him a praise? Yeah. Uh,
S1: you got the interview, but you didn't get the job.
S1: But can you praise God? Uh, that you are unemployed
S1: in the midst of it? Can you praise him? Uh,
S1: you've been praying for healing, and, uh, we don't put
S1: so much oil on you. We could have fried ten
S1: crates of chicken. Uh, but you ain't healed after 20 years.
S1: Can you still get up in the midst of the
S1: saints and tell everybody I will praise him. See you
S1: pray for the child. But the child is still on drugs.
S1: You pray for your for your relative and they're still gay.
S1: They're still banging your house, still in foreclosure, your spouse
S1: still cheating. The vision didn't go like you planned. But
S1: can you say, like the psalmist, I will bless the
S1: Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in
S1: my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord.
S1: The humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. Oh, magnify
S1: the Lord with me, and let's exalt. Are there any
S1: praises in the house? Are there any who will give
S1: him the sacrifice of praise? Amen. Amen. Yeah. The sacrifice.
S1: What do you mean by that? You buy at Payless,
S1: but you praise him like you got it at Neiman Marcus. Yeah.
S1: Give him some glory. You drive a hooptie. Uh, yeah,
S1: but you drive it like you're driving a Bugatti. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
S1: You eat at Mickey D's every day, but you act
S1: like you eat at McCormick and Schmidt's every night. Yeah. Yeah.
S1: You wear polyester, but you praise him like you wear
S1: an Egyptian cotton. Yeah, yeah. Your unemployment is about to
S1: run out, but you running around acting like you're the
S1: CEO of a fortune 500 company. You live in an
S1: apartment in the projects, but you're walking with swag like
S1: you got a mansion in Winnetka. I wish I had
S1: some folk who understand how blessed they are, and can
S1: just give God some praise for how I am right now.
S1: You don't got to give me nothing else. You don't
S1: got to provide anything else. You done already done enough
S1: for me to praise you, to lift you up, to
S1: magnify you, to give your name the glory. I ain't
S1: never scared. I ain't never scared. I ain't never scared. Mm. Yeah. Mm. David,
S1: would you understand? You want me to share with the congregation?
S1: God will often change the things around you so he
S1: can expose to you the things that are really in you. Oh,
S1: somebody ought to be tweeting that. Now, that's worth taking
S1: the cell phone out and tweeting that. Let me say
S1: that again. That's Tweetable moment there. I said, God will
S1: often change things around you so he can expose to
S1: you what's really in you. See, all of us can
S1: talk a good game in church, but what about on
S1: the job tomorrow. Will you lift your hands and say
S1: thank you, Lord, that I got a job? Amen. Now
S1: look at what he's doing here. David is celebrating the
S1: easiness of God. Aren't you glad God is and never was? Was?
S1: There goes another tweet. Yeah. That that he's saying. He's saying. Listen,
S1: the Lord is my light. He's my illuminator. Uh, the
S1: Lord is my salvation. He's my liberator. And the Lord
S1: is the strength of my life. He's my generator that
S1: I've got a God that got me covered. Uh, that
S1: he's my illuminator, my liberator and my generator. He gives
S1: me power. He gives me protection. He gives me provision.
S1: Everything I need is wrapped up in his purse. Amen. Mhm.
S1: I feel good today. You get a deke? Yes, sir.
S1: He said the Lord is my light. He said, what
S1: do you mean, David? You know what I mean. Dispels darkness.
S1: You remember what happened? The four of us were were
S1: in my vehicle going to the cemetery. I looked down
S1: and I had on. I had on black shoes. I
S1: had on black pants. I had on a black vest,
S1: had on a black jacket, had on a black hat,
S1: had on a black overcoat, had a black Bible. And
S1: I looked and I had on bright. You'll be laughing
S1: at my socks. Just, just the old school man. We
S1: this old school. This is what we used to wear.
S1: Old school. Now you know. That's it. You see that purple?
S1: The purple in there, baby. Shoot. It's coordinated purple in there.
S1: Now come on. That's it, that's it. You know, your
S1: pastor got swag. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. So
S1: whenever I sit down and pull em up. Yeah, yeah.
S1: And so so so anyway, I had on brown socks,
S1: I said, look, I got on brown socks. They said, man,
S1: you should have kept them down. They're messing up your thing.
S1: But you know what happened? I got dressed in the
S1: dark and they. I'm looking at some of the brothers.
S1: I know y'all done done this before. Y'all looking at
S1: me like that. That man, that's stupid that we do
S1: that sometime in the dark. But it took the light
S1: to expose what was happening. If I'd have never come
S1: in the light, I never would have known I wasn't
S1: looking good as I thought I was looking. I never
S1: would have known I was uncoordinated. Yeah. And that's why
S1: he says the Lord is my light. You want to
S1: know why? Let me. Let me just share this with you.
S1: My mother in law, uh, took my my granddaughter Nini
S1: to her first play. And, uh, her friend went. So
S1: they were sitting, uh, my my my nanny. Nanny's here. Uh,
S1: nanny's here. Her friend's there. So the first act was over,
S1: the curtain goes down and the light goes out. And
S1: my mother in law said, when the light went out, nay,
S1: nay jumped in one jump into her lap, she said,
S1: and the boy that was two seats away. He jumped
S1: in Nina's lap in one jump, and they were saying,
S1: what's going on? Why did they turn off the lights?
S1: I'm scared. Hold me nanny. And she said, I told them, listen,
S1: let me teach you something. They put the curtain down
S1: and turned the light out because they're changing things, but
S1: they don't want you to see them changing things. So
S1: that's why it's dark. But in a few moments when
S1: they get done setting everything up, they're going to raise
S1: the curtain and turn on the light. And she said,
S1: whenever they raise the curtain and turn on the light,
S1: they they said, wow, did you see that? Everything has changed.
S1: I came to tell somebody that you need to know.
S1: The Lord is your light, that it's dark right now,
S1: in your trouble, your trial, your test and your tribulation.
S1: But the curtain is down and the light is up
S1: because God does his best work in the dark. He
S1: wants you to walk by faith, not by sight. So
S1: he can't let you see what he's setting up, but
S1: he's setting it up so that whenever the curtains go up,
S1: you done gone from one level to the next level
S1: and you just say, wow. Then hindsight, which is always 20, 20,
S1: you look back and say, if it had not been
S1: for the Lord on my side, where would I be
S1: if it had not been? Mm. Yeah. He says yeah
S1: God works in the night seasons. Mhm mhm mhm. He
S1: said I ain't never scared. Yeah I ain't never scared.
S2: You're listening to a message entitled I Ain't Never Scared
S2: from Pastor Ford, really taken from Psalm 27. And we'll
S2: get back to this teaching in just a moment. If
S2: you're ever in the Chicago area and you want to
S2: visit Christ Bible Church of Chicago and hear Pastor Ford
S2: speak live, you can get all the info you need
S2: when you come to our website, npr.org, and click on
S2: the about link. And if you ever have a question
S2: about something Pastor Ford says on the broadcast, you can
S2: send us a note at the website. We'll make sure
S2: that Pastor Ford hears from you. Just come to treasure
S2: Truth radio.org and click on the contact link. Well, if
S2: you're just joining us, we are in Psalm 27. So
S2: open your Bible as we continue the message. I ain't
S2: never scared. Here's Pastor Ford.
S1: Look. Look what he says. The Lord is my light. Mhm.
S1: The Lord is my sun. The Lord is my star.
S1: The Lord is my beacon. The Lord is my flame.
S1: The Lord is my fire. He's my luminescence. He's my incandescence.
S1: He's my phosphorescence. He's my daylight. He's my highlight. He's
S1: my night light. He's my moonlight. He's my twilight. He's
S1: my shimmer and my glimmer. He is my razzle and
S1: my dazzle. He's my brightness. He's my lightness. He's my
S1: day and he's my ray. Yeah. He could have stopped there. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
S1: I used the thesaurus. He said the Lord is my
S1: light and my salvation. He's my savior, he's my Redeemer.
S1: He's my helper. He's my chain breaker. He's my fetter taker.
S1: He's my heavy load bearer. Yeah. Huh. So he says
S1: I ain't never scared. Who should, who should I fear? What, who,
S1: what person, what doctor's report should I fear? What bar
S1: should I fear? What neighbor should I fear? What family
S1: member should I fear? What racist should I fear? No. Yea.
S1: Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
S1: death I will fear no evil. Why? Because you're going
S1: to do something, though. Because you're with me. Because as
S1: long as you're with me. As long as God is,
S1: is and never was, was and never will be, will be.
S1: As long as he is, is. I ain't never scared.
S1: I ain't never scared. Yeah. Here's the second one. Here's
S1: the second one. Here's the second one. He says, I
S1: ain't never scared because of my celebration about God his person.
S1: But then notice verse two, he says, I ain't never
S1: scared because of my conquest through God. Listen to what
S1: he says. When the wicked, even my enemies and my
S1: foes come upon me to eat up my flesh, they
S1: stumbled and fell. Man. I looked at the word stumble
S1: and I looked at the word fail. And they're closely related.
S1: And he could have used one. He didn't have to
S1: say stumble and fail, but he wants us to know
S1: in the first one. Uh, here's what the Bible says.
S1: No weapon formed against you shall prosper. In other words,
S1: they can form it, but it can't prosper. In other words,
S1: they can use it to try to use it against
S1: you and they can put it against you. But whatever
S1: they're putting against you for is not going to happen.
S1: And so he says, listen, I look back in the
S1: past and I remember what God did. And so now
S1: I just trust him. I gotta share this. It's one
S1: of my favorite, favorite stories. Uh, here's what happened to
S1: me when I, when I got saved. Uh, I was
S1: going around witnessing. I asked God, let me witness in
S1: every bar, pool hall, juke joint, uh, that that ever, uh, I,
S1: I sold drugs in. And before I left Pittsburgh to
S1: come to Chicago. God showed me. He let me fulfill
S1: that promise I made to him everyone that was still open.
S1: You know, and some of em. Some of them I
S1: used to shut down before I got saved. And some
S1: of them, I shut them down after I got saved. Amen.
S1: Because I walk in there with the Bible and and
S1: quote the scriptures and and chase everybody up out of there.
S1: As a matter of fact, I was barred from some bars.
S1: I was deep because I'd go up in there just.
S1: And they wouldn't, you know, people would. Whenever I would
S1: go up to put my arms around, have my Bible
S1: go put an arm. They start backing away because they,
S1: they said in the community, don't let him touch you
S1: because he got some kind of touch. Everybody he touch
S1: and open that Bible to, they get religious. And so, uh,
S1: Ray and I were trying to witness to a brother
S1: named hook. His name is Michael. And, uh, Mike, uh,
S1: was like, like a sinner to the max. And didn't he?
S1: He would flaunt it in front of us even though
S1: we were friends. And so, you know, we'd say, you know,
S1: he say he say you're not smoking anymore, huh? And
S1: he light up a joint and blow it in your face,
S1: stuff like that. Yeah. He do stuff like that. You
S1: ain't drinking no more, huh? Oh. you know, he would
S1: do something like that. Mike was so bad. Mike had
S1: two women that both knew that he was going with them,
S1: and he invited both of them to live with him,
S1: and they both came to live with him. So two
S1: he living like Abraham, Hagar and Sarah and I. I
S1: never could figure out Sarah as a black woman doing
S1: that one anyway. Ain't no black woman I know. Now,
S1: when she kicked him out, that's the black women I know,
S1: you know. But anyway. So. So, uh, two, two, ten
S1: in the morning, I get a call. Who's this? It's Hulk.
S1: What's wrong? What's wrong? We want to be saved, man.
S1: We want to be saved at 210 in the morning. Mhm.
S1: I got up, brushed my teeth, put on my clothes.
S1: My wife said, where are you going? I said hook
S1: called me. He want to be saved. You, you ain't
S1: going out there tonight are you. Tell him you see
S1: him in the morning. He want to be saved now.
S1: I'm going now, he cried. Now I'm going now. And
S1: I got in what we call the gospel buggy. It
S1: was a car that was given to me. It was
S1: the first miracle that God showed me whenever I turned
S1: my car in, because I had to make a choice
S1: between keeping my car and paying my rent, and and
S1: anybody knows, before I got saved, it was no contest.
S1: I keep my car. But now that I was saved,
S1: I had to pay my rent. So I had to
S1: let the car go. And so Ray said, well, let's
S1: pray and ask God, God don't give cars. And boom!
S1: Two days later I was given a car and I
S1: called it the Gospel Buggy. And so I get in
S1: the gospel buggy and and I get ready to go.
S1: I leave Homewood, I head on up to Wilkinsburg, uh,
S1: where where hook live? Uh, when I get around the corner, uh,
S1: the car stops. I'm four blocks from his house. This
S1: is a dangerous place. Uh, best I can tell you
S1: is it's like being in the bucket of blood at
S1: 3:00 in the morning. Amen, Amen. You Chicago folk know
S1: what I'm talking about. And and so and so I'm saying, God,
S1: get this car to going, I gotta get the hook.
S1: And I can't be walking four blocks in in this
S1: because I knew. Because, see, before, uh, the, the people
S1: that I was afraid of as a Christian, uh, was
S1: me before I became a Christian. Yeah. And so and so,
S1: you know, I said, man, I got to go. Okay, Lord,
S1: you're not going to start the car. You got to
S1: protect me. So I'm walking, I'm walking, I'm singing and
S1: I'm singing. You know, Andre Cross was big back then.
S1: Andre Crouch was our Kurt Franklin and Tye Tribbett. And
S1: so I'm singing some Andre Crouch songs, you know, and
S1: and and and and just watching and and thinking man,
S1: you know, you used to be out in this, you know. Yeah.
S1: But that was before I became a Christian. So I
S1: come around the corner now cemeteries here. And he lives
S1: on a dead end street. So once you walk, start
S1: walking up that street, there's only one way out. That's
S1: the back this way. So as soon as I turn
S1: the corner, I look out of my peripheral vision. I
S1: see a guy steps to block my entrance or exit, actually,
S1: because that's what it would have been. And I begin
S1: to pray. I said, Lord, I know this scenario. I
S1: used to do it myself, me and my brother in law, Bill.
S1: That's the way we were robbed. Somebody come behind them.
S1: Step out in front of em, I said, I know
S1: somebody's going to step out in front of me. And
S1: a couple doors up, God stepped out from a walkway
S1: and I said, oh, man, I ain't got no money.
S1: And so, you know, folk, when you ain't got no money,
S1: you know, I said, okay, well, I'm just going to
S1: witness to him, Lord, I'm just going to witness to him.
S1: I said, you know, Ray said, you're a deliverer. I
S1: need deliverer right now. And I'm telling you, I didn't
S1: hardly get the words out of my mouth when I
S1: saw a light. And then I heard, whoop, whoop, whoop!
S1: Now they used to send me running. It put a
S1: smile on my face. I turned around and looked. And
S1: them boys scattered like roaches. When you turn on the lights.
S1: Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about, man,
S1: I'm so happy. And so he pulls up. He says,
S1: what are you doing, sir? I said, I'm going to hooks.
S1: I got my Bible. He called me. He wants to
S1: be saved. And so I'm going to save hook. Do
S1: you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?
S1: And he said, go on, save hook. And he turned
S1: on around and moved. So then I get up to
S1: where hook lives. Now there's three floors and you would
S1: think he lives at the first floor. You think the
S1: bottom bell was his second third? It wasn't that way.
S1: I hit the bottom bell, and as I hit the
S1: bottom bell, I'm ringing and ringing and ringing it. And
S1: nothing's happening. Then I hear, step back now. Wasn't loud.
S1: It was in my head. Step back. And I stepped back.
S1: When I step back, the woman on the third floor
S1: whose bell I was ringing, that was the first one,
S1: had slammed up her window. And the pane fell out
S1: and the pane fell where I was standing.
S2: Well, a dramatic place to hit the pause button in
S2: this message from Pastor Ford, but we're going to continue
S2: this next time. Well, this is a listener supported ministry.
S2: It's really your donations that keep treasure truth on the air,
S2: broadcasting the truth each weekday. Now we want to give
S2: a special thanks to our monthly partners, those who give
S2: generously and at times sacrificially, to keep these broadcasts on
S2: the air. You can become a monthly partner right now
S2: by calling 88644 7660, by going online to Treasure Truth radio.org.
S2: Or you can send a check in the mail. Our
S2: address is Treasure Truth, 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois
S2: 606 ten. Whether you become a monthly partner or you
S2: make a single gift in the amount of your choosing,
S2: we'll send you a book by Pastor Ford with our thanks.
S2: It's called seven Reasons Why God Created Marriage. You know,
S2: marriage is a partnership where both partners have an equal
S2: responsibility toward each other. And above all, both partners have
S2: an obligation towards Christ. In Pastor Ford's book, you're going
S2: to learn how to reset your marriage and build it
S2: on the fundamentals laid out in the Bible. You know,
S2: most of us wouldn't dream of building a house without
S2: first checking the blueprints, making sure we're doing it right.
S2: But it's astonishing how many couples try and build a
S2: marriage without first understanding what God intends it to be.
S2: Whether you're married, engaged, or praying for a future spouse,
S2: it's time to start building the right way. Give a
S2: donation and request seven reasons why God created marriage. Call
S2: us at 888644 7660 or go online to Treasure Truth Radio.
S2: I'm Steve Hiller. Our producer is Amy Rios. Join us
S2: next time for the conclusion of this message. I am
S2: never scared. That's right. Here on treasure. Truth. A production
S2: of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.