WEBVTT - Seeing Purpose in Your Problems and Pain, Part 6 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:05.480 Remedial suffering is when God burns in character that cannot 0:00:05.480 --> 0:00:10.000 be changed. When God burns out, compromise out of our 0:00:10.000 --> 0:00:14.080 life and when God burns off carnality. 0:00:21.880 --> 0:00:25.000 Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford, 0:00:25.000 --> 0:00:28.000 junior senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago. 0:00:28.040 --> 0:00:30.440 I'm Steve Heller. Glad you're with us today as we 0:00:30.480 --> 0:00:33.120 continue our look at James chapter one and a message 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:37.680 called Seeing Purpose in Your Problems and Pain. And we 0:00:37.680 --> 0:00:40.800 all go through seasons of suffering. In today's broadcast, we're 0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:43.720 going to look at some of those reasons. Pastor Ford actually, 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:46.599 in this message pulls out five of those. And as 0:00:46.600 --> 0:00:49.319 we just heard, at least one of those, we're going 0:00:49.360 --> 0:00:51.760 to drill down a little bit deeper into today that 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:55.520 idea of remedial suffering and how often it's through the 0:00:55.560 --> 0:01:00.120 suffering that we face in life that God molds us, 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:04.319 conforms us more into the image and likeness of His 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:07.360 Son Jesus. Because if we're a follower of Jesus, really, 0:01:07.360 --> 0:01:09.840 that ought to be our goal. To be conformed more 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:13.800 into his image and likeness. But sometimes that's painful, and 0:01:13.800 --> 0:01:17.840 sometimes it's frustrating, and sometimes it feels like the suffering 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:21.040 you're in is never going to end. So having a 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:23.920 proper understanding of suffering, I think, can be so helpful. 0:01:24.200 --> 0:01:26.800 So let's open our Bibles to James chapter one as 0:01:26.800 --> 0:01:31.240 we continue this message. Seeing purpose in your problems and pain. 0:01:31.560 --> 0:01:32.839 Here is Pastor Ford. 0:01:33.440 --> 0:01:36.720 Now notice something because he says something about these things. 0:01:36.720 --> 0:01:40.560 He says, first of all, he says this. Aspects of 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:43.720 suffering that show we have the right perspective. He says 0:01:43.720 --> 0:01:47.080 they are certain. Notice, he says, when you fall into 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:50.440 divers temptation. Not if I don't need to say anymore. 0:01:50.760 --> 0:01:55.080 John 1633 in the world you shall have tribulation. Be 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:57.080 of good cheer. I have overcome the world. He said, 0:01:57.080 --> 0:01:58.920 you're going to you're going to be hated on. You're 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:01.240 going to be despised and rejected. You're going to be 0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:03.720 kicked to the curb. You ought to just. You. You 0:02:03.720 --> 0:02:08.080 better be scared when. When there's nobody hating on you. 0:02:10.720 --> 0:02:17.120 That generally mean you ain't doing nothing for Christ. Mhm. Yeah. 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:20.200 And so first Corinthians chapter ten, verse 13, there's no 0:02:20.200 --> 0:02:23.520 temptation taken you but that which is common to man. 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:25.600 But God is faithful who will not allow you to 0:02:25.600 --> 0:02:28.560 be tempted. Notice secondly, not just are they certain but 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:32.320 they're sudden. He says, when you fall. And have you 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:35.800 ever noticed that your trials, your tests, your temptations don't 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:39.359 consult your daytimer? They don't ask to be put on 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:43.760 your schedule. It just comes up and it just overwhelm you. 0:02:43.760 --> 0:02:47.200 And so he says you have no control over your pain. 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:49.720 You just have control in your pain. Now, let me 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:53.040 ask you a question. Say ask it. Why is it 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:56.320 so important to have the right perspective about our problems 0:02:56.320 --> 0:02:59.919 in pain, so that we see it from God's perspective? 0:02:59.919 --> 0:03:01.910 And once we do, what will happen? I'll tell you 0:03:01.910 --> 0:03:05.630 what will happen. And Scripture affirms it. What happened? Pastor, 0:03:05.630 --> 0:03:08.430 for glad you asked. You ask intelligent questions because it'll 0:03:08.430 --> 0:03:13.070 turn my fear into faith. It'll turn my sighing into singing. 0:03:13.070 --> 0:03:16.630 It'll turn my pouting into praising. It'll turn my doubting 0:03:16.630 --> 0:03:20.270 into dancing. It will turn my worrying into worship. It 0:03:20.270 --> 0:03:24.150 will turn my trying into trusting, uh, the you know 0:03:24.190 --> 0:03:26.870 what they meant for evil. God said. I mean it 0:03:26.870 --> 0:03:30.110 for good. Uh, he'll say when I pass through the waters. 0:03:30.270 --> 0:03:32.669 I will not fear because you're with me. In other words, 0:03:32.669 --> 0:03:34.510 he said, you're going to get in some water and 0:03:34.510 --> 0:03:37.150 you're going to get wet. But don't worry, the only 0:03:37.190 --> 0:03:39.790 thing you need to worry about is this I ain't 0:03:39.790 --> 0:03:42.590 going to let you drown. So you may go down once. 0:03:42.590 --> 0:03:44.510 You may go down twice, but you ain't going down 0:03:44.510 --> 0:03:47.030 three times. Because I will be with you. And so 0:03:47.070 --> 0:03:48.990 and so. I'll never forget, uh, when we're in the 0:03:48.990 --> 0:03:52.110 other church, we just got a new carpet. Green carpet. And, 0:03:52.150 --> 0:03:54.070 you know, and I don't know why we got green, 0:03:54.070 --> 0:03:57.310 I don't know. Uh, somebody said money. No, we didn't 0:03:57.310 --> 0:04:01.030 have none over there. No, we ain't got much over here. 0:04:01.750 --> 0:04:06.750 That's why it's red. Uh, but anyway. So, so so, uh, 0:04:06.750 --> 0:04:09.030 they had a wedding, and I told them. Don't put 0:04:09.030 --> 0:04:12.550 anything on our carpet. They put candles down the aisle 0:04:12.590 --> 0:04:15.630 and let the candles burn, and it seeped into the carpet. 0:04:15.990 --> 0:04:19.190 And Dennis Sanders, who was our, uh, custodian at the time, 0:04:19.350 --> 0:04:21.630 I said, man, I'm upset. I'm calling them people. Hey, 0:04:21.630 --> 0:04:22.870 they going to pay for this? If we got to 0:04:22.870 --> 0:04:24.150 get a new carpet, they're going to pay us. I 0:04:24.190 --> 0:04:26.830 told them, don't be. And he said, don't worry about it, pastor. 0:04:26.830 --> 0:04:28.870 I said, what do you mean, don't worry about it? 0:04:28.870 --> 0:04:31.070 He said, I got this. Don't worry. He said, it 0:04:31.070 --> 0:04:33.150 won't have any damage. I said, come on, man, look 0:04:33.150 --> 0:04:35.310 how deep that's in the carpet. You start scraping it, 0:04:35.310 --> 0:04:37.390 you're going to scrape the piling. It's going to it's 0:04:37.390 --> 0:04:39.710 going to look bad. He said, pastor, I got this. 0:04:39.710 --> 0:04:41.550 I said, okay, I want to see how you going 0:04:41.550 --> 0:04:43.910 to do this? He went and came back. I said, 0:04:43.910 --> 0:04:45.910 what's that? He said, it's a heat gun. And then 0:04:45.910 --> 0:04:47.710 he had this piece of paper with him or a 0:04:47.710 --> 0:04:49.870 cloth or whatever it was. And so he put the 0:04:49.870 --> 0:04:52.510 heat to it. And then he said, Now I'm going 0:04:52.510 --> 0:04:55.070 to blot it. And he put the whatever it was 0:04:55.070 --> 0:04:58.790 down there. And the wax soaked up in the blotter 0:04:58.830 --> 0:05:02.630 paper or cloth, whatever it was, and you couldn't tell. 0:05:03.470 --> 0:05:06.710 I said, wow, I gotta write that down. He said, 0:05:06.710 --> 0:05:08.390 I knew you was going to use it as a 0:05:08.390 --> 0:05:12.429 sermon illustration. Yes, I am, because that's what God wants 0:05:12.430 --> 0:05:15.350 to do with us. Uh, that there's something in my 0:05:15.350 --> 0:05:19.750 character that just ain't right. And God says, oh, man, 0:05:19.750 --> 0:05:22.270 he's stubborn and hard. It's in the warp and the 0:05:22.270 --> 0:05:25.190 fiber of his soul. And so I need some heat. 0:05:25.310 --> 0:05:27.790 And he puts the heat of the conviction of the 0:05:27.790 --> 0:05:30.630 Holy Ghost on me. And then he blots it out 0:05:30.630 --> 0:05:33.270 with the Scripture, because I'm clean through the word that 0:05:33.270 --> 0:05:35.470 he's spoken unto me, and it blots out. And I 0:05:35.470 --> 0:05:38.510 look and I say, wow, I'm new in that area too. 0:05:38.630 --> 0:05:40.870 And so what you need to be crying out, say, 0:05:40.870 --> 0:05:45.789 what do we need to be crying out for? Boom 0:05:45.790 --> 0:05:55.310 boom boom. Mhm. Fire. Boom boom boom. Oh when it's hot. 0:06:00.350 --> 0:06:04.910 And God makes it hot because we've got a toxic personality. 0:06:04.950 --> 0:06:08.470 Give me some heat. We've got a fornication. Adultery. Give 0:06:08.510 --> 0:06:13.029 me some heat. Gossiping. Backbiting. Jealousy. Lying. Give me some heat. 0:06:13.070 --> 0:06:19.310 Turn up the heat. Give me some fire. In other words, 0:06:19.310 --> 0:06:22.070 it's Romans 828. All. All things work together for good 0:06:22.070 --> 0:06:24.310 to those who love the Lord. And so we have 0:06:24.310 --> 0:06:26.789 to have a right perspective. Regal prerogative. Let me finish 0:06:26.790 --> 0:06:29.590 this real quick. We have to. The third way. A 0:06:29.589 --> 0:06:33.630 mature believer sees purpose in their problem plan. Is, are 0:06:33.630 --> 0:06:36.670 y'all tired of the word? Okay, okay. Can I can 0:06:36.670 --> 0:06:40.990 I do one more? Thank you very much. Amen. Amen. 0:06:41.630 --> 0:06:47.390 You have to understand the refining process that takes place. 0:06:49.029 --> 0:06:51.229 He says in verse three, listen to this. Knowing this, 0:06:51.230 --> 0:06:55.510 that the trying of your faith works. Patience. Wow. That's powerful. 0:06:56.029 --> 0:06:57.750 That's that's. Now, look, some of you won't come to 0:06:57.750 --> 0:07:00.270 Bible study, so I got to bring Bible study to you. Okay. 0:07:00.350 --> 0:07:02.750 There are five kinds of suffering in the Bible that 0:07:02.750 --> 0:07:04.790 I find. Let me. Let me give you the five. 0:07:04.830 --> 0:07:07.110 If you take notes, you you may want these first 0:07:07.110 --> 0:07:11.150 kind of suffering is religious suffering. It's religious suffering. You 0:07:11.150 --> 0:07:15.550 say what? What what is that? It's when you suffer 0:07:15.550 --> 0:07:18.910 because your religion puts a stipulation on you that God 0:07:18.910 --> 0:07:24.270 does not. So every religion is false. Yeah. And and 0:07:24.270 --> 0:07:28.870 here's what first Corinthians 1022 says. They are not worshiping God. 0:07:28.910 --> 0:07:33.030 They are worshiping demons. Did you hear what I said? 0:07:33.550 --> 0:07:38.230 They're worshiping demons. I didn't say that. Don't shoot the mailman. 0:07:38.270 --> 0:07:42.110 It says it in first Corinthians 1022 that all religion 0:07:42.150 --> 0:07:46.310 other than Christianity is the worship of demons. They think 0:07:46.310 --> 0:07:48.710 they're worshiping God, but they're. Okay, let me give you 0:07:48.710 --> 0:07:51.550 an example. In India, people were starving. But it's not 0:07:51.550 --> 0:07:55.670 caused by a food shortage or by overpopulation. It's the 0:07:55.670 --> 0:07:59.310 result of religious belief because they are Hindus and Buddhists 0:07:59.310 --> 0:08:01.870 and they believe that that roach that you killed this 0:08:01.870 --> 0:08:05.190 morning was probably your Uncle Willie, who died ten years 0:08:05.190 --> 0:08:09.390 ago and came back as a roach. And so you're 0:08:09.390 --> 0:08:13.670 not allowed to kill rats, mice and cows. And so 0:08:13.870 --> 0:08:16.710 get this now. Why is there a hunger problem? Because 0:08:16.750 --> 0:08:19.950 of its religious suffering. Because you can't kill a cow. 0:08:20.230 --> 0:08:24.470 Every cow is sacred. So then one cow could feed 0:08:24.470 --> 0:08:29.190 seven people. Which means then, since they have 200 million 0:08:29.190 --> 0:08:33.830 sacred cows, they could feed. If they just chopped them 0:08:33.830 --> 0:08:39.350 boys up into Big Macs and Whoppers, they'd be able 0:08:39.350 --> 0:08:47.950 to feed 1,400,000,000 people. But their religion prohibits it. And 0:08:47.950 --> 0:08:52.030 the mice and the rats consume 50% of the stored 0:08:52.030 --> 0:08:56.950 grain in India. See? Religious suffering. Then secondly, and I 0:08:56.990 --> 0:09:02.020 gotta hasten on, there's rapacious suffering. Say Replaces what is rapacious. 0:09:02.020 --> 0:09:07.699 Rapacious is demonic suffering like the man in Mark five. Uh, 0:09:07.740 --> 0:09:10.220 he was touched not by an angel, but touched by 0:09:10.220 --> 0:09:13.660 a demon. And there were how many demons in him? 0:09:13.660 --> 0:09:19.300 How many thousand? 6000 demons. Now, that shouldn't surprise you, 0:09:19.300 --> 0:09:22.740 because some of y'all got more than that. I done 0:09:22.740 --> 0:09:24.780 dealt with some of y'all, and here's what I love 0:09:24.820 --> 0:09:26.420 about it. I have to I have to make this 0:09:26.420 --> 0:09:30.020 comment because it says. And they said, Jesus said, what 0:09:30.020 --> 0:09:32.660 is your name? And they said, now get this, they 0:09:32.660 --> 0:09:36.020 is plural because there's 6000 said is singular because only 0:09:36.020 --> 0:09:39.500 one spoke for all. Alright, well I said the church 0:09:39.500 --> 0:09:44.739 had that kind of unity. What is your name? Everybody 0:09:44.740 --> 0:09:47.460 would be saying her name. My name, my name. Joe Keisha. 0:09:47.500 --> 0:09:52.980 My name. Laquisha. My God, no, we're Christ Bible Church anyway. 0:09:53.420 --> 0:09:58.579 And so, uh, there's rapacious suffering. Then thirdly, there's retributive suffering. 0:09:58.580 --> 0:10:01.220 You say, what is that? That's that suffering for our sin. 0:10:01.220 --> 0:10:04.699 John 514. Uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh 0:10:04.700 --> 0:10:08.460 uh John 513 through 17. That is some some of 0:10:08.460 --> 0:10:10.700 us are suffering on our own. It's kind of like 0:10:10.700 --> 0:10:12.579 I tell you all the time, you say, God, why 0:10:12.580 --> 0:10:14.980 am I in this financial trouble? Why you let this happen? 0:10:14.980 --> 0:10:17.780 And God says, my name ain't on. None of them 0:10:17.780 --> 0:10:22.700 slips on any of them credit cards. Yeah. Amen. Then 0:10:22.700 --> 0:10:27.620 there's redemptive suffering. What's redemptive suffering? Write down second Corinthians 0:10:27.620 --> 0:10:31.740 one three through 11 if you're doing that, uh, because 0:10:31.780 --> 0:10:35.500 redemptive suffering is when you don't suffer for yourself, that 0:10:35.500 --> 0:10:38.700 your suffering is so God can connect to somebody else. 0:10:38.700 --> 0:10:40.620 There was one year my wife was in the hospital 0:10:40.620 --> 0:10:43.580 five times for two weeks at a time. Three of 0:10:43.580 --> 0:10:47.819 those two sets of weeks, she led a nurse to Christ. 0:10:47.820 --> 0:10:50.380 So three people came to Christ while she was in 0:10:50.380 --> 0:10:54.740 the hospital. And we rejoiced because we said that suffering 0:10:54.740 --> 0:10:57.179 wasn't for you. That's suffering because you can go in 0:10:57.179 --> 0:11:00.380 there and witness. When Pastor Betts was in the hospital. 0:11:00.420 --> 0:11:04.740 He led people to Christ. And so here God allows 0:11:04.740 --> 0:11:08.220 us sometimes to suffer so that other people can be blessed. 0:11:08.220 --> 0:11:11.180 But here it is in this text. Uh, it's called 0:11:11.179 --> 0:11:14.620 remedial suffering. Let me give you the definition of a 0:11:14.620 --> 0:11:17.620 very handsome preacher on the South Side of Chicago. Uh, 0:11:17.620 --> 0:11:22.660 Pastor James Ford junior. Here's what he said. And I quote. 0:11:23.700 --> 0:11:30.619 Remedial suffering is a special course of study for helping 0:11:30.620 --> 0:11:36.860 students in the University of the Holy Spirit to overcome 0:11:36.860 --> 0:11:47.580 deficiencies in specific character, skills, ability, knowledge, or wisdom. Go ahead. 0:11:47.620 --> 0:11:54.099 Say wow. Now make it plain, pastor. Okay. It's simply remedial. 0:11:54.100 --> 0:11:59.620 Suffering is when God burns in, when God burns out 0:11:59.620 --> 0:12:03.020 and when God burns off, you say, what's he burning when? 0:12:03.059 --> 0:12:07.820 God burns in character. That cannot be changed when God 0:12:07.860 --> 0:12:12.380 burns out. Compromise out of our life. And when God 0:12:12.420 --> 0:12:14.939 burns off carnality. 0:12:17.580 --> 0:12:20.900 You're listening to Treasure Truth with Pastor Ford. And really, 0:12:20.900 --> 0:12:24.020 I think a helpful look today at why God allows 0:12:24.020 --> 0:12:26.740 us to suffer in the midst of that pain and 0:12:26.740 --> 0:12:29.100 in the midst of that suffering, it can be very 0:12:29.100 --> 0:12:33.500 tempting to get angry with God and to doubt that 0:12:33.540 --> 0:12:36.780 he has our good in mind, but good to be 0:12:36.780 --> 0:12:40.500 reminded that he does indeed use that suffering for his purposes, 0:12:40.500 --> 0:12:43.819 his good purposes. Well, we're going to get back to this. 0:12:43.820 --> 0:12:46.220 Look at James chapter one. In just one moment. I 0:12:46.220 --> 0:12:48.020 want to let you know if you ever miss a broadcast, 0:12:48.020 --> 0:12:51.420 you can always order these programs on CD. You can 0:12:51.420 --> 0:12:55.380 also stream the broadcast or download MP3's. You'll find the 0:12:55.380 --> 0:12:57.220 links to do that when you come to our website. 0:12:57.220 --> 0:13:00.780 It's Treasure Truth radio.org. While you're there. Hope you'll spend 0:13:00.780 --> 0:13:03.579 a little extra time and check out the different links. 0:13:03.580 --> 0:13:05.540 You can see the books that Pastor Ford has written, 0:13:05.540 --> 0:13:07.699 find out more information about him and more. Just come 0:13:07.700 --> 0:13:11.180 to treasure Truth radio.org. Again, here's Pastor Ford. 0:13:12.780 --> 0:13:15.059 Someone that said a brook would lose its song if 0:13:15.059 --> 0:13:20.339 God removed the rocks. Yeah, that's true, that's true, that's true. Listen, listen, listen, 0:13:20.340 --> 0:13:22.620 let me tell you this real quick and I'm almost 0:13:22.620 --> 0:13:25.860 ready to let you go. See, there's some things you 0:13:25.860 --> 0:13:28.100 think are working against you are actually working for you. Okay. 0:13:28.140 --> 0:13:32.700 If you ask Wallace Johnson, uh, he understood the refining process. 0:13:32.700 --> 0:13:35.220 If you ask, uh, Wallace Johnson. Wallace Johnson. What's the 0:13:35.220 --> 0:13:36.860 worst day of your life? You know what Wallace Johnson 0:13:36.860 --> 0:13:39.780 would say? Say what would he say? Wallace Johnson would 0:13:39.780 --> 0:13:43.020 say it was when I got fired from the sawmill 0:13:43.260 --> 0:13:46.780 of which I worked for 20 years. You say, uh, 0:13:47.140 --> 0:13:50.540 Wallace Johnson, what's the worst day of your life? I mean, 0:13:50.540 --> 0:13:52.620 the best day of your life. Wallace Johnson would say 0:13:52.620 --> 0:13:54.500 the best day of my life is when I got 0:13:54.500 --> 0:13:57.540 fired from the sawmill that I worked for for 20 years. 0:13:57.540 --> 0:13:59.660 Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. I mean, 0:13:59.660 --> 0:14:01.980 I'd be looking at Wallace like you're looking at me 0:14:01.980 --> 0:14:03.660 right now. Wait a minute. How can it be the 0:14:03.660 --> 0:14:06.100 best day and the worst day at the same time? 0:14:06.100 --> 0:14:09.140 And here's what Wallace Johnson would say. He would say, yeah, 0:14:09.140 --> 0:14:12.060 it was the worst day. Uh, because my boss fired 0:14:12.059 --> 0:14:14.660 me out. Uh, but it was the best day because 0:14:14.700 --> 0:14:17.820 God wanted to lead me to my destiny. But I 0:14:17.820 --> 0:14:21.100 was too wrapped up in my history. So God then 0:14:21.180 --> 0:14:24.380 had to have my boss fire me out so he 0:14:24.380 --> 0:14:28.980 could take me up. Alright, so I began to realize 0:14:28.980 --> 0:14:33.340 that since I wouldn't leave the job, God had the 0:14:33.340 --> 0:14:36.580 job leave me. See, that's why I tell you that 0:14:36.580 --> 0:14:39.860 all the time. All the time I tell you that 0:14:39.860 --> 0:14:42.980 there's some people, uh. That you were my friend. I 0:14:42.980 --> 0:14:45.260 thought it was my friend. No, they were good for 0:14:45.260 --> 0:14:47.420 you where you were. They were not for you where 0:14:47.420 --> 0:14:52.180 you're going. Come on. You can say something. You can 0:14:52.180 --> 0:14:57.380 say something. Look at somebody say, hey, neighbor, quit giving 0:14:57.380 --> 0:14:58.860 penthouse access. 0:14:59.290 --> 0:15:00.410 We forgive him. 0:15:01.090 --> 0:15:06.410 To lobby level people. That's right. That's right. Because every 0:15:06.450 --> 0:15:08.610 hotel I stayed in to get to the penthouse, you 0:15:08.610 --> 0:15:12.890 need a key card. Mm. So, Wallace Johnson, how could 0:15:12.890 --> 0:15:16.090 it be? Well, yeah. See, because five years later, I 0:15:16.130 --> 0:15:20.729 became a millionaire. And before I died, I became a billionaire. 0:15:20.730 --> 0:15:23.570 Because once I got fired from the sawmill, I began 0:15:23.570 --> 0:15:26.010 to think. What did I dream about? I dreamed about 0:15:26.010 --> 0:15:29.010 as a Christian. Since I'm a pilgrim and stranger, I 0:15:29.050 --> 0:15:32.290 dreamed about the fact that maybe I could have help 0:15:32.290 --> 0:15:35.290 strangers who are coming from different places and coming to 0:15:35.330 --> 0:15:38.330 a foreign place that maybe they've never been to before. 0:15:38.330 --> 0:15:40.650 And I can roll out a welcome mat, and I 0:15:40.650 --> 0:15:43.610 can give them accommodations, and they can have food and 0:15:43.610 --> 0:15:45.970 meet other people coming from all over the place that 0:15:45.970 --> 0:15:49.810 they may never meet again. And so Wallace Johnson became 0:15:49.810 --> 0:15:57.090 the co-founder of Holiday Inn. Now explain refining, uh, look, look, look, 0:15:57.090 --> 0:16:00.290 here's what God is doing, this refining process. What about it? 0:16:00.330 --> 0:16:02.570 Here it is right here in a nutshell. Here it is. 0:16:02.570 --> 0:16:05.570 Here's the refining process okay, so everybody know what a 0:16:05.570 --> 0:16:08.570 concept car is okay. A concept car is a car 0:16:08.770 --> 0:16:14.170 that the manufacturer, uh, tests in private. They run them 0:16:14.170 --> 0:16:17.130 into the wall. You ever see them commercials? Yeah, those 0:16:17.130 --> 0:16:19.330 are concept cars. Here's what they want to do. They 0:16:19.330 --> 0:16:23.450 want to make sure that they're good enough for the public. 0:16:23.690 --> 0:16:27.210 So they crash them in private to approve them because 0:16:27.210 --> 0:16:31.490 the word trying is to approve. So they try it 0:16:31.490 --> 0:16:34.330 so they can approve it to make sure that when 0:16:34.330 --> 0:16:37.810 it goes public, it'll be able to withstand what it's 0:16:37.810 --> 0:16:43.730 up against. Me go on this side. Maybe you understand it. 0:16:44.490 --> 0:16:48.490 And so we are God's concept cars. What he's doing 0:16:48.490 --> 0:16:52.530 right now is he's crashing you on the little stage 0:16:52.770 --> 0:16:56.090 to make sure that he's preparing you for the big stage. 0:16:57.010 --> 0:17:00.010 So you don't understand. You don't understand, uh, what he 0:17:00.010 --> 0:17:02.930 does is he doesn't want to make himself look bad, 0:17:02.930 --> 0:17:04.890 so he has to build us up. And so he 0:17:04.890 --> 0:17:07.730 crashed that fender don't work. He puts this fender on us. Okay. 0:17:07.770 --> 0:17:10.050 And so let me make it plain. Here it is. 0:17:10.050 --> 0:17:12.890 God says, I want to deal with you in private 0:17:12.890 --> 0:17:15.010 so I can get you ready for public so that 0:17:15.010 --> 0:17:17.810 you don't embarrass me or yourself. So what God is 0:17:17.810 --> 0:17:20.129 saying is, listen, I want to get on your last 0:17:20.130 --> 0:17:23.050 black nerve, your last white nerve, your your last yellow 0:17:23.050 --> 0:17:26.490 nerve in this small place. And whenever you have victory there, 0:17:26.490 --> 0:17:28.490 I know I can put you in a big place. 0:17:28.490 --> 0:17:30.890 That is, if I can get you to have patience 0:17:30.890 --> 0:17:33.050 at home, you'll have patience on the job. If I 0:17:33.050 --> 0:17:35.570 can keep you from cussing somebody out in church, I 0:17:35.570 --> 0:17:38.730 can keep you from cussing somebody out at the job. Uh, 0:17:38.730 --> 0:17:41.490 I can make sure that whenever somebody cuts you off 0:17:41.490 --> 0:17:44.010 on the Dan Ryan, that you give them the whole hand, 0:17:44.010 --> 0:17:46.570 praise the Lord and not just tell them that they 0:17:46.570 --> 0:17:50.650 are number one. And so there it is. What does 0:17:50.650 --> 0:17:54.730 it do? The refiners processing. What are you talking about? 0:17:54.730 --> 0:17:57.250 Here's what the metallurgist does. He puts the gold in 0:17:57.250 --> 0:18:00.090 the fire and he turns up the crucible to make 0:18:00.090 --> 0:18:02.449 it hot. Why? So it can melt. Because when it melts, 0:18:02.450 --> 0:18:04.810 the dross comes to the top. Then he takes a 0:18:04.810 --> 0:18:07.450 scooper and scoops off the dross. And he's got gold 0:18:07.450 --> 0:18:10.090 that's purer. And he does two things. Come on, somebody 0:18:10.090 --> 0:18:13.650 knows it. Holler out. What does he keep his hand on? Thermostat. 0:18:13.650 --> 0:18:16.970 Because he controls the temperature with the thermostat. If it's 0:18:16.970 --> 0:18:22.570 not on long enough, then the impurities won't be burned up. Uh, 0:18:22.570 --> 0:18:26.250 but if it's too long, the metal will be burnished 0:18:26.410 --> 0:18:29.250 and it will be destroyed. So he knows exactly how 0:18:29.250 --> 0:18:31.930 high to make the fire. He knows exactly how long 0:18:31.930 --> 0:18:34.250 to keep you in it. Just stay in the fire 0:18:34.290 --> 0:18:37.850 because you need to understand whatever in you ain't out 0:18:37.890 --> 0:18:40.810 of you yet, or that thing wouldn't be bothering you 0:18:40.810 --> 0:18:43.610 like it is. How do I know God is done 0:18:43.609 --> 0:18:47.170 when it ain't bothering you like it's bothering you now then, 0:18:47.170 --> 0:18:54.050 you know. God has worked it out of you. And. 0:18:54.050 --> 0:18:56.050 And I'm done. You've been so, so kind to me. 0:18:56.050 --> 0:18:59.130 Let me just tell you. What is God doing? He's purifying. 0:18:59.130 --> 0:19:04.250 He's transforming. Think what God did. God transformed Moses from 0:19:04.250 --> 0:19:08.209 a murderer into a liberator. He transformed Joseph from a 0:19:08.210 --> 0:19:10.570 prisoner to a president. He didn't have to show his 0:19:10.570 --> 0:19:14.330 birth certificate. He took David from a kid to a king. 0:19:14.410 --> 0:19:17.690 He took Paul from a persecutor to a preacher. He 0:19:17.690 --> 0:19:20.330 took Rahab from a woman of the night into a 0:19:20.330 --> 0:19:22.570 woman of the light. He took the woman in John 0:19:22.570 --> 0:19:26.730 chapter four, from where she was shacking to she start sharing. Yeah, 0:19:26.730 --> 0:19:30.570 that's our God. He's into the transformation business. We ought 0:19:30.570 --> 0:19:33.450 to know it. Because he did what? He gets treasure 0:19:33.490 --> 0:19:36.690 out of trash. He gets jewels out of junk. He 0:19:36.690 --> 0:19:40.330 gets glory out of garbage. He gets riches out of rubbish. 0:19:40.330 --> 0:19:44.130 He gets diamonds out of debris. He gets righteousness out 0:19:44.170 --> 0:19:47.330 of riff raff. He gets majesty out of a mess. 0:19:47.330 --> 0:19:50.970 He gets worship out of waste. He gets deliverance from 0:19:50.970 --> 0:19:54.490 a drug addict. He can get praise out of a prostitute. 0:19:54.490 --> 0:19:58.130 And hallelujah, out of a homosexual. He can turn a 0:19:58.130 --> 0:20:01.970 pole dancer into a praise dancer. He can turn a 0:20:01.970 --> 0:20:05.770 drunk into a deacon and he can turn somebody illicit 0:20:05.770 --> 0:20:11.730 into an elder. That's our God. He has conformed us 0:20:12.010 --> 0:20:15.890 into his image. So remember, the next time your back 0:20:15.890 --> 0:20:19.370 is against the wall, remember that his back was against 0:20:19.369 --> 0:20:23.450 the cross. Yeah. Who suffered like Jesus? Who was God 0:20:23.450 --> 0:20:26.290 in the flesh? Foxes have holes. Birds of the air 0:20:26.330 --> 0:20:29.570 have nests. And the Son of man hath nowhere to 0:20:29.609 --> 0:20:33.330 lay his head. Think about it. Born in another man's manger. 0:20:33.330 --> 0:20:37.290 Preach in another man's town. Ate at another man's table. 0:20:37.330 --> 0:20:42.290 Wore another man's crown. Suffered another man's beating. Took another 0:20:42.290 --> 0:20:46.810 man's disgrace, bore another man's sin, and died in another 0:20:46.810 --> 0:20:50.970 man's place. The Bible says in Hebrews five eight, even 0:20:50.970 --> 0:20:55.170 though he were the son, he learned obedience by the 0:20:55.170 --> 0:20:59.399 things that he suffered. Jesus died in agony need so 0:20:59.400 --> 0:21:02.880 we could live life abundantly. And you ought to give 0:21:02.880 --> 0:21:08.040 him praise because of the refining process where he's turning 0:21:08.040 --> 0:21:11.320 you into who you are now, to who you are 0:21:11.320 --> 0:21:14.520 to be, where he's taking you from, where you are now, 0:21:14.760 --> 0:21:17.920 to where you are to be. And that is part 0:21:17.920 --> 0:21:21.320 of the process of your getting there. So I came 0:21:21.320 --> 0:21:25.240 to tell somebody, and I'm done, that your setback is 0:21:25.240 --> 0:21:30.760 a setup for your comeback. God is taking you somewhere. 0:21:31.520 --> 0:21:32.480 Go with God. 0:21:35.600 --> 0:21:38.920 That is pastor and author James Ford Jr. A message 0:21:38.920 --> 0:21:43.639 called seeing Purpose in your Problems and Pain. And if 0:21:43.640 --> 0:21:46.720 God has been using Pastor Ford's teaching in your life, 0:21:46.720 --> 0:21:49.399 we'd love to know about that. You can always drop 0:21:49.400 --> 0:21:51.840 us a note through the website. Just come to Treasure 0:21:51.840 --> 0:21:55.120 Truth Radio and fill out the contact form. You can 0:21:55.119 --> 0:21:57.760 also put a letter in the mail. Our address is 0:21:57.760 --> 0:22:05.400 Treasure Truth 820 North LaSalle Boulevard. Chicago, Illinois. 606 ten well, 0:22:05.440 --> 0:22:08.240 Treasure Truth is a ministry that's based on the passionate 0:22:08.280 --> 0:22:10.439 teaching of God's Word. But, you know, we live in 0:22:10.440 --> 0:22:13.240 an era when God's Word is under attack. So maybe 0:22:13.240 --> 0:22:16.360 you have some secret doubts that you just buried deep inside. 0:22:16.680 --> 0:22:20.200 You've never admitted them to anyone, but you're longing to 0:22:20.240 --> 0:22:22.920 have these doubts resolved. Well, we'd like you to have 0:22:22.920 --> 0:22:25.879 a book by Doctor John MacArthur. It can help you 0:22:25.880 --> 0:22:28.560 put your doubts to rest. The book is called why 0:22:28.560 --> 0:22:31.480 I Believe the Bible, and it's a clear explanation of 0:22:31.480 --> 0:22:35.160 the important truths about Scripture that really every Christian should know. 0:22:35.760 --> 0:22:37.600 When you contact us with a gift of any amount, 0:22:37.600 --> 0:22:39.680 we're going to send you a copy so you can 0:22:39.680 --> 0:22:43.600 be confident that the Bible you believe is God's inerrant word. 0:22:43.920 --> 0:22:46.520 Just ask for the book. Why Believe the Bible by 0:22:46.520 --> 0:22:52.680 John MacArthur? When you call us at 888644 7660 or 0:22:52.680 --> 0:22:56.880 go online to Treasure Truth Radio dot, you know your 0:22:56.880 --> 0:22:59.840 one time gift to this ministry are hugely important, but 0:22:59.840 --> 0:23:03.000 so are those who have become monthly partners. You know, 0:23:03.040 --> 0:23:05.960 the expenses to keep this radio program on the air 0:23:06.000 --> 0:23:08.479 come due each and every month. And so those of 0:23:08.480 --> 0:23:11.720 you who stand with us on a monthly basis really 0:23:11.720 --> 0:23:14.800 are such an encouragement in helping us meet the need 0:23:14.960 --> 0:23:18.040 to keep this broadcast ministry on the air. Now, if 0:23:18.040 --> 0:23:20.960 you are able to become a monthly partner by auto 0:23:20.960 --> 0:23:23.440 gift at a level of $30 or more, we're also 0:23:23.440 --> 0:23:26.040 going to say thank you with a special 50% discount 0:23:26.040 --> 0:23:28.800 to everything in the Moody Publishers Store. You can find 0:23:28.800 --> 0:23:32.600 out more about this when you call us at 888644 0:23:32.720 --> 0:23:38.919 7660 or come to treasure Truth Radio. I'm Steve Hiller, 0:23:38.920 --> 0:23:41.879 our producer is Amy Rios. Join us again tomorrow for 0:23:41.880 --> 0:23:44.920 more Bible teaching here on Treasure Truth with Pastor Ford. 0:23:45.200 --> 0:23:49.920 A production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.