S1: Isn't it amazing that people who generally don't get along
S1: get along when it comes to not getting along with you?
S1: Isn't it amazing how folk that don't like each other
S1: can find a common ground when it's time to come
S1: against you?
S2: You're listening to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford,
S2: junior senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago.
S2: I'm Steve Hiller. Glad you're with us today as we
S2: continue the message how haters hate. We're going to be
S2: in Nehemiah chapter two. So you can grab your Bible
S2: and get ready to join us there. But, pastor, you
S2: bring up, uh, something I'm sure that as a pastor
S2: for many years, you've experienced many times. Seems like most
S2: of the pastors I know are walking around with what
S2: feels like a target on their back at times. And uh, man,
S2: their enemies do seem to gang up on them.
S3: Oh, yeah. Well, you know, it's only natural. I remember
S3: watching the program. It was about 15 years ago now,
S3: but they had about nine different faiths. And a Christian
S3: and the Christian was Doctor John MacArthur. And, uh, I
S3: was amazed at how. Everybody focused on him, and everybody
S3: attacked him. And he had a line that was just.
S3: So tremendous, so powerful. He said, it's amazing that you
S3: guys don't agree on many things except for agreeing against me. Yeah.
S3: That was oh, that was classic. Yeah. That was. That
S3: makes you, you know, things that make you go. Hmm.
S3: Yes yes yes, yes. And so, you know, it's par
S3: for the course. Why? Because we have the truth. Jesus said,
S3: I am the way, the truth and the life. So
S3: then Jesus is the only road to the father. Yeah.
S3: Jesus is the only truth that never changes. And Jesus
S3: is the only life that never ends.
S2: So. Exactly. And when you're going to make such an
S2: exclusive claim as Christianity does. We have to expect to
S2: have a target on your back.
S3: At times, and it's par for the course, baby.
S2: Well, as I said a moment ago, we are in
S2: Nehemiah chapter two, so I hope that you've had a
S2: chance to grab your Bible and join us there as
S2: we continue the message how haters hate. Here is Pastor Ford.
S1: Yeah, because if you don't go to the source, you
S1: don't know whether you have all the news or not.
S1: Go to the source. Wow. And they're going solely on
S1: what they're being fed. I tell you what, if I
S1: started a story right here with Elder Green and had
S1: him pass it around? I guarantee you, by the time
S1: it got to the back, we wouldn't be able to
S1: recognize it. We wouldn't be able to recognize it. Uh,
S1: I'm serious about that. It's like, uh, this actually happened
S1: to me one time. Somebody called and they said, you know,
S1: so and so is going to the hospital. And, and
S1: they may have a serious situation. So I put her
S1: on the Yahoo group. So and so is going to
S1: the hospital. They have a serious situation. And so then
S1: the person called me and said, pastor, that's not what
S1: I told you. I said, well, I know that's not
S1: what you told me, but you said they're going to
S1: the hospital. They may have a serious situation. And so,
S1: you know, I thought, okay, that's not what he meant,
S1: you know. Uh, they have a serious situation. And so
S1: I left them out. He said, well, no, no, no, no, no, pastor,
S1: that's not what I told you. You know, he's worried
S1: about going there because it may be a it doesn't
S1: it's not it don't have to be, but it may.
S1: I said, well, why don't you just say he's worried
S1: about going to the hospital? You see what I just did?
S1: I messed it up and I blamed him. He gave
S1: it to me the way he wanted it, but I.
S1: I messed it up. But I blamed him. Look at
S1: your neighbor and say, who you blaming when you know
S1: it's your fault? Uh huh. Yeah. And so it's amazing
S1: to me. Notice. Notice what number I'm on. Seven. Notice
S1: number seven. They lay aside their differences to accomplish a
S1: common goal. So they lay aside their differences to accomplish
S1: a common goal. These three have nothing in common. Sam
S1: Ballard political. He's a governor. He's a moabite. Tobiah is religious. Ammonite.
S1: And Gershom is a Arab. He's a pagan. Uh, some
S1: are from the north. Some are from the south. So
S1: they have nothing in common except one thing. They're all
S1: under Persian control. Isn't it amazing that people who generally
S1: don't get along get along when it comes to not
S1: getting along with you? Isn't it amazing how folk that
S1: don't like each other can find a common ground when
S1: it's time to come against you? Yeah. Oh, man, I'm
S1: telling you, Jesus had it. You know, if you study
S1: your Bible, some of the things in the Bible are
S1: to make you smile. At least now I know some
S1: of y'all ain't gonna ever laugh, but but but it
S1: ought to make you smile. Why? Because the Pharisees were
S1: the religious elite. They were the evangelicals of the day.
S1: And they they had a corner on morality. You know,
S1: the Sadducees, they were more more into the money thing
S1: and more into the power thing. And the Pharisees, real spiritual,
S1: you know, don't care about the body. And then the Herodians,
S1: neither one of them like them, because the Herodians were idumaeans.
S1: They were mixed Jews and sitting on the throne of
S1: their Messiah. But they all came together. Hey! Try it.
S1: I done been in it plenty of times. I guarantee you,
S1: I'll be at the health club talking about Jesus and
S1: Muslims come against me and Jehovah Witnesses come against me,
S1: and Mormons come against me, and Buddhists and all these,
S1: they all team up because they can't stand each other.
S1: But they hate me more because I tell them Jesus
S1: Christ is the way, the truth and the life. No man, woman,
S1: boy or girl come to the father but by. I
S1: tell them that the Bible says everybody that doesn't worship
S1: God through Jesus Christ is worshiping demons. First Corinthians 1022.
S1: And some of y'all ought to know, because I could
S1: preach about everything, but you let me preach about homosexuality
S1: and some of us who have homosexual in our in
S1: our family. You think you think God like the way
S1: you did that? Well, he liked the way I talked
S1: about drunkenness. He liked the way I talked about adultery.
S1: He liked the way I talked about fornication. Why wouldn't
S1: he like the way I talked about homosexuality? I said
S1: it from his word. That's right. Amen. Yeah. You don't
S1: like it? Yeah. And so. And you know what? Let's
S1: give them their kudos. What were you. What kudos. Listen
S1: to what they were able to do. They were able
S1: to come together and they were able to change what
S1: God said about male female, about marriage. And they're not 10%
S1: of our population. There's 7%. So what do they do?
S1: They came together, didn't care whether they were black or white,
S1: rich or poor, whether they lived in the country or
S1: the city. They didn't care whether you're educated or whether
S1: you're whether you had PhD or no. D they all
S1: came together. They got that thing through. Yes. And it's
S1: amazing to me that we say we're 38% of the
S1: population and we can't get nothing done. You want to
S1: know why? Because we're too busy hating on each other. Yeah.
S1: That's why. They come out of the closet. You. We
S1: ought to come out to. Yeah. Yeah. And so look
S1: at this. Eight, nine and ten. Let me, let me
S1: give it to you so we can get up out
S1: of here. Here we are. So they work on assumptions,
S1: perspectives and motives of others. They come accusing rather than asking.
S1: In Joshua 22, we study that before two they had
S1: just got done defeating the enemy. And so two and
S1: a half tribes say, we want to stay on the
S1: east side of Jordan. And they said, okay, ten and
S1: a half. We're going on the west side. And, you know,
S1: they said, West Side is the best side. And so
S1: what happens? The people on the East side said, let's
S1: build an altar that resembles that one, so that they
S1: will know in future generations if they ever forget that
S1: we belong to them. Because the river divides us, the
S1: sea divides us. Uh, then they'll see it and say, hey,
S1: they got they have something like we have. They belong
S1: to us over here. Somebody saw and said, all snap.
S1: It's on like neck bone. Oh, no. It ain't going
S1: down like that, man. You see what they doing over there?
S1: They built an altar just like this one. But worship
S1: is supposed to be on this side. They built that
S1: for worship. No. Yeah, man. Look at it. It looked
S1: just like this one over here. What do we do
S1: over here? Worship. What do you think they going to
S1: do over there? Worship. Yeah. And so you know what
S1: they did? They put on their armor to fight the
S1: ones that just won the battle with them. And so
S1: they put on all their armor. A civil war is
S1: about to break out. And so what happens? There's one
S1: person who's biblical. His name is Phineas. He says, okay,
S1: it does look like that, but we don't know anybody's heart.
S1: I can't tell their motives. And you can't either. Can
S1: we just ask them why they did it? Or we
S1: could ask them, but it's on now. We ain't taking
S1: off our armor. We're going over there with you, too.
S1: And if they say it's for worship, we're going to
S1: jack em. Yeah, we're going to jack em. He goes over,
S1: why did you build this? Well, in future generations you
S1: might forget us and our children. So we wanted a
S1: replica not to sacrifice, but to remind you that we
S1: belong to you. And isn't it amazing the thing that
S1: they built to remind them that they belong to them,
S1: divided them? Thank God for geniuses who understand what the
S1: proverb says in Proverbs 1813. He that answereth a matter
S1: before he heareth it, it is a folly and a
S1: shame unto him. John 751 Nicodemus, when talking about Jesus,
S1: he says, doth our law judge any man before it
S1: hear him, and know what he doeth? They were trying
S1: to guess what Jesus, he said, asking, and here's what
S1: gets me. These people Sanballat, Tobiah and and Gershom. Guess
S1: who they are the least qualified to be doing this. Why?
S1: They don't live in Jerusalem, and they're not Jews. Now
S1: you apply. I don't have time, I gotta stop, but listen.
S1: You say how you apply it. How are you going
S1: to tell youth ministry workers how to do youth ministry work?
S1: And you ain't never tried to help youth ministry workers
S1: do youth ministry work? How are you going to tell
S1: somebody what to do? And you never tried to do
S1: what they're doing.
S2: It's really a helpful look at how we deal with
S2: criticism on today's broadcast. A message called How Haters Hate
S2: a helpful look at Nehemiah chapter two. You know, maybe
S2: you missed one of the broadcasts in the short series. Well,
S2: you can always listen to it online. Come to Treasure
S2: Truth Radio for. Another way to listen is to download
S2: the Moody Radio app. Now you can find that by
S2: going to your favorite app store like iTunes or Google Play,
S2: and simply search for the Moody Radio app, or we'll
S2: link you to that when you come to our website.
S2: Treasure truth radio George. All right, let's go back to
S2: the message once again from Nehemiah chapter two. Here is
S2: Pastor Ford.
S1: Here it is. Let me give you these. Let me
S1: give you the last three. The criticism usually comes in
S1: a form that is least helpful. Look at this, look
S1: at this, look at this. It says they laughed us
S1: to scorn and despised us and said, what is this
S1: thing that you do? Will you rebel against the King?
S1: Listen what they're doing. They use laughter, ridicule, and then said,
S1: what are you trying to do? Here's what they did.
S1: Bottom line, they tried to make them feel silly, self-conscious
S1: and incompetent. You didn't go to school. You don't have
S1: a degree. Here's. Here's what I see. One, two, three, four, five.
S1: Here's what haters will do. Number one, they'll jump on
S1: every mistake you make. Number two, they will undermine your influence.
S1: Number three, they will discredit your ministry. Number four. They'll
S1: attack your family. And number five, they'll talk about your mama. Now,
S1: let me get these last two real quick. Let me
S1: give you these last two. So they're attributing motive. Let
S1: me give you these last two real quick. Real quick.
S1: But listen, let me say this. Let me say this.
S1: I have to go on record to say this. Say what? Pastor?
S1: Say it. What? You say it. Yeah, I'll say it.
S1: I'm not up here trying to grind an ax. So
S1: all of you who are thinking, I wonder what happened.
S1: Why is he preaching this? Something must have happened. I'm
S1: telling you, you fit in this category. That's what you're doing.
S1: No no no no no no. Imma tell you why
S1: I'm preaching this. Because we are to turnaround church and
S1: and we are. We are gradually increasing the changes in
S1: this church. We're seeing a new cadre of leadership being
S1: raised up. So we're not throwing away the old leadership.
S1: We're passing the baton to the new leadership. And I
S1: hope that message has been coming across because I told
S1: it to the leaders over and over and over again,
S1: But I know that people don't like change. But change
S1: is here and change will continue. And so I want
S1: to make those individuals aware of what to expect because
S1: I don't want them resigning, taking sabbaticals and all those
S1: other kind of things because the opposition is going to
S1: come if it hasn't already come expected. Yeah, because you're
S1: not going to do things the way I do things.
S1: I was telling them Wednesday night, uh, brothers, I was
S1: telling them Wednesday night. Listen, I come up here and
S1: this is casual for me. The new pastor, whenever that happens,
S1: he may come up with a t shirt, Jimmy's and shorts.
S1: I have never been in the pulpit. In shorts. Never.
S1: And by the grace of God, you ain't going to
S1: see that I'm old school in the house. I'm different.
S1: I've met with some young pastors. Two weeks ago, 150 pastors.
S1: I was the only one suited and booted. I come in,
S1: they say, pastor, you may want to get comfortable, I am.
S1: I got on a vest and a tie. I am comfortable, right? Yeah,
S1: but things are going to happen. We don't want to hear.
S1: You know, Pastor Ford never did it that way. You know,
S1: Elder Green wouldn't have done it that way. And, see,
S1: you got some of these bold millennials who'll say, I
S1: ain't Pastor Ford and I ain't Elder Green. I'm so-and-so. Amen. Amen.
S1: And so it's coming. Number nine. They attack the leader.
S1: Notice what it says in here. What is this thing
S1: that you do? Will you rebel against the king? He
S1: is singular. So now they're attacking Nehemiah. Why are they
S1: attacking him, man, if you cut off the head. Uh, man,
S1: you you you are going to get some things done.
S1: You undermine the head, and it's the head of a ministry,
S1: a head. You let somebody come along and undermine you
S1: as the elder over, uh, evangelism and the feeding ministry
S1: and all of that, and see what happened. Chaos. Chaos.
S1: But but I should have picked somebody else because I
S1: don't think they're going to try to try to stand up,
S1: elder green. Stand up, Elder Green. I don't think they're
S1: going to try to undermine. I don't think they I
S1: don't think they're going to try to. And here's the
S1: last one. You've been so gracious. They never give up, man.
S1: If I wish I had time to walk you through here,
S1: let me tell you what happens. There's only 13 chapters.
S1: Read it when you go home. It's powerful stuff. Um,
S1: matter of fact, I'm doing my leadership commentary. I'm doing
S1: a book on leadership out of Nehemiah, and I'm working
S1: on it now. But anyway, here it is. Look what happened.
S1: Look what happened. Sam. Tobiah. Come. If nothing works. Sam
S1: and Tobiah and Gershom. Nothing works. Sanballat. Tobiah and the
S1: Ammonites and Ashdod. Nothing works. So you know what he does.
S1: He got somebody on the inside. You know that's. That's
S1: on the committee. And he said, you you read it.
S1: It's it's in there. It's in chapter 30. He said,
S1: get him to come into the temple and have resident there.
S1: Tell him somebody's out there getting so he'll run to
S1: the temple. So Eliab the priest said, hey, I got
S1: a room for you in the temple. It made Nehemiah say, huh? Yeah,
S1: I got a room for you in the temple, and
S1: you can come there and, uh, they're going to try
S1: to kill you, but you have safety there. Nehemiah said, now,
S1: you know I'm not supposed to be in the temple. Now,
S1: you know God will kill me if I go into
S1: the temple. If I go where you told me to go,
S1: God will kill me because I'm not a Levite. I'm
S1: not a priest. No, let them kill me out here
S1: rather than God. Kill me in there. Amen. They don't
S1: give up. They don't give up. And I'm telling you. Listen, listen.
S1: It's coming, it's coming, it's coming. So, so. So what happened?
S1: Let me. Let me close this thing down. Some of
S1: you disengage from me because you were wondering whatever happened
S1: to Skippy? When I went home, I told my mama.
S1: Skippy robbed me and took my stick. She said, that's it.
S1: No more papers. But that was $5 a week. So
S1: I thought, you know what? I'm going to take care
S1: of this, mama. If you let me, I guarantee you
S1: I'm going to be alright. I have a friend. His
S1: name is Carl Williams, but we called him Country Carl. Now,
S1: Skippy was two years older than both of us. He
S1: was my age, but country. Carl was from the country.
S1: Corn fed, bull throwing, cow milking. I'm serious. He was.
S1: I mean, he was country. He not only country. And
S1: he was country strong. I'm telling you, fast on a
S1: track team, you know, all that kind of stuff. Real quiet. Dude.
S1: And and we were friends, and I went to Carl,
S1: and I said. I said, Skippy rob me, man. He said, yeah,
S1: because he was a courier boy, too, but he had
S1: a different route. He said, Skippy, Rob, okay, I tell
S1: you what I'm going to do. We do my route early,
S1: then I'm gonna help you do your route. And so, uh,
S1: we do his route, then we do my route. Now,
S1: here's what Skip would do. This is a wall. Okay?
S1: Skip would put half his body out the wall and
S1: half behind it and then look like that. That was so,
S1: you know, he was there. You better not run. He
S1: came out. He said, who's this? Got somebody else, too.
S1: And country. Carl said, that's my friend. You rob my friend? Yeah.
S1: What about it? Bill. Bam, bam. Country, Carl. Joked that boy,
S1: I mean he and you know, because whenever he came down,
S1: I kind of backed up behind Carl. Man. Carl had
S1: that jacked him up, whooped him, and then took his
S1: money and gave it to me. Then while he had
S1: it down with his foot on his chest, said, let
S1: me tell you something. This is paper route. He's going
S1: to do it by himself, because if he sees you,
S1: you going to see me? I delivered paper for two years.
S1: As a matter of fact, there are times when I
S1: saw Skippy. Yeah. Let me tell you something. Jesus is
S1: your hater handler. Because whenever you and I were being
S1: whipped by the world, the flesh and the devil and
S1: took everything that we possess. Why? Because the devil came
S1: to kill, steal and destroy. But Jesus Christ came into
S1: the picture, died on Calvary, and became our hater handler.
S1: And he handled the world, the flesh and the devil.
S1: And he beat them on Calvary's cross. And then he
S1: let them know whenever you see them they are more
S1: than conquerors, because I love them. They don't fight for victory.
S1: They fight from victory. Then he took back what the
S1: devil took from us, and he blessed us with all
S1: spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So here's
S1: all I got to say. Bring on the hate. Bring
S1: the haters on because I'm going to step aside and
S1: let my hater handler handle my haters.
S2: You know, if you're facing criticism and conflict in your life,
S2: when Pastor Ford's message today certainly offers encouragement and hope.
S2: You're listening to Treasure Truth, and if you'd like to
S2: get a copy of today's program, you can request it
S2: when you come to our website. Treasure Truth radio.org. Just
S2: look for how haters hate. Well, here on Treasure Truth,
S2: we believe that God's Word is sufficient for all of life,
S2: and we present Scripture with clarity and simplicity so that
S2: listeners everywhere can hear the truth and be transformed. And
S2: you can join us in this ministry by becoming a
S2: monthly partner. Now, when you automate your giving, it allows
S2: us to focus on our mission without worrying about how
S2: to make ends meet. Become a monthly partner today. When
S2: you call us at eight, eight, 864, four 7660 or
S2: go online to Treasure Truth Radio.com. When you become a
S2: monthly partner or you give a single gift of any amount,
S2: we're going to say thanks for your support with a
S2: book by Ari Tori called How to Witness to Anyone. Now,
S2: this practical resource is a compilation of Bible verses that
S2: will equip you to share the gospel on any occasion.
S2: Topics include dealing with backsliders, becoming a mature believer, and
S2: dealing with the self-righteous. Plus, there's a chapter devoted to helpful,
S2: soul winning hints to give you courage and insight in
S2: sharing the gospel effectively. So give a donation and request
S2: how to witness to anyone. Call us at 888644 7660
S2: or go online to Treasure Truth Radio.com. And if you
S2: prefer to write and send a check in the mail
S2: or address is Treasure Truth, 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago,
S2: Illinois 606 ten. I'm Steve Hiller. Our producer is Amy Rios. Tomorrow,
S2: Pastor Ford challenges us with a question. Have you gone
S2: public with your praise? Be listening tomorrow for treasure. Truth.
S2: A production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.