S1: Jesus is saying, look, when you feel abandoned by God,
S1: get to the word. Go to the Word of God.
S1: Commit yourself to revelation. So you will see throughout that
S1: Jesus quotes in these seven last words. He quotes the
S1: Old Testament over and over and over again.
S2: Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford,
S2: junior senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago.
S2: I'm Steve Heller. Glad that you're with us today. And, pastor,
S2: I think you bring out such an important point. I mean,
S2: here we can look to no better example than to
S2: Jesus himself. We need to know the Word of God,
S2: because there are times where we feel like he's not
S2: answering our prayers, not even hearing our prayers. We feel
S2: like we're in the dark night of the soul. And
S2: you wonder, does God even care? But yet you're saying, hey,
S2: go to Scripture and cling to its truth?
S3: Yeah, well, because, you know, the Bible speaks to us.
S3: The Psalms speak for us. So whenever I'm down depressed,
S3: I like going to the Psalms because they lift me up.
S3: But but think about it. Uh, Jesus, when he was tempted.
S3: How did he overcome temptation with the word quoted scripture?
S2: Yeah.
S3: Yeah. He said, it is written, it is written, it
S3: is written. And so Isaiah said in Isaiah 5511, so
S3: shall it be. The word that goeth forth from my mouth.
S3: This is what Yahweh is saying. It shall always accomplish
S3: that which I set for it to do. It will
S3: never return unto me void. And so God says, use
S3: my word, because there's power in the word. And so
S3: in Psalm 119 he says in verses 9 to 11,
S3: wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking
S3: heed there to according to thy truth, thy word is truth.
S3: With my whole heart have I sought thee. Oh, let
S3: me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I
S3: hid in my heart that I might not sin against you.
S3: And so you know, Psalm 19 talks about the word
S3: converting the soul, enlightening the mind, and actually cleansing us
S3: from sin. So we need the word of God. It's basic. Yeah.
S3: You know, Jesus himself said it. Man shall not live
S3: by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out
S3: of the mouth of God. And so every day we
S3: need the word, and then we need to apply it
S3: so that it's not just on the pages of holy writ.
S3: It's written on my heart.
S2: Sure. Yeah. You know, I can imagine some listening today saying, hey,
S2: if I had grown up in the church, if, you know,
S2: I'd been in Awanas, you know, if I'd done these things,
S2: I understand I could have the word in me because
S2: I started when I was young, when I could remember things.
S2: But man, I'm old now, and it's so hard to
S2: memorize scripture to learn what the Bible says.
S3: I'd ask them, what's your phone number? And they would
S3: quote their phone number. I'd ask, what's your address? And
S3: they would give me their address. Did you know that
S3: when you first got your phone, didn't you have to
S3: memorize that? Just begin to have a repetitive time in
S3: the Word of God.
S2: Well, I love that. Let's go ahead and get into
S2: the Word of God. We're in Matthew chapter 27 today
S2: as we continue the message midnight at midday. What to
S2: do when you feel abandoned by God? Here's Pastor Ford.
S1: Uh, me and brother just talk about this all the time.
S1: The only reason to go to a baseball game is
S1: for the hot dogs. I don't like baseball, but I've gone.
S1: And whenever I go, give me 3 or 4 hot dogs.
S1: Because I remember when I was a shorty, I used
S1: to go to show, and folk had hot dogs, and
S1: I didn't have money for that. I just barely made
S1: it in. And whenever I got, when I got me
S1: a little money, I'd go to the show and I'd
S1: always buy me 3 or 4 hot dogs. Yeah, but
S1: I didn't like baseball. And somebody say, let's go to
S1: a game. Okay. They got hot dogs. Now, you know,
S1: I don't go at all now because I don't eat
S1: meat anymore. So. But I was interested about something. The
S1: last time I went, which is about three years ago now,
S1: and I was watching it and I said, wait a minute,
S1: I need to know something about the rules. So here's
S1: what I did. I went and I looked it up,
S1: and here's what I found, because I was interested about
S1: a pinch hitter and how that works. So so listen
S1: to the rules. A batter can be substituted anytime the
S1: ball is dead. Ball gotta be dead. The manager can
S1: use any player who is not yet in the game.
S1: So it's got to be somebody that hasn't been in
S1: the game up to this point. So then he can
S1: replace a starting player When the pitch hitter is thought
S1: to have a better chance, of course, of getting on base,
S1: hitting a home run. He comes on deck and the
S1: batter that he replaces is out of the game. He
S1: can't come back in the game. I'm going somewhere. Can
S1: you hold on for a minute? Yeah. So then the
S1: home run that he hits is not attributed to the
S1: batter whose place he took. It's called a pitch hitters
S1: home run. I thought, wow, if that's not the gospel,
S1: I don't know what is. See, it was Adam's turn
S1: at bat, and he had already struck out. And we
S1: were losing in this game of life. But the manager
S1: of the team of humanity, God the Father, called a
S1: pinch hitter whose name was Jesus Christ, to replace Adam.
S1: And he brought him out on the mound. Now, when
S1: he brought Jesus out as the pinch hitter, Adam had
S1: to sit back down and could not ever get back
S1: in the game. So then when Jesus Christ came on deck, uh,
S1: he hit the ball of salvation over the offense of
S1: eternal life on Calvary. And now we can return to
S1: Paradise because of a pinch hitters home run. Romans 512
S1: says In Adam, all die in Christ. All are made alive. See, see,
S1: see when you begin to look at them, uh. What happened?
S1: The first Adam failed in a garden, and we were
S1: separated from God. But the last Adam agonized in a garden,
S1: and we were started back towards God. The first Adam
S1: died with his bride. Uh, the last Adam died for
S1: his bride. The first Adam took us out because he
S1: ate of a tree. But the last Adam brought us
S1: back in because he died on a tree. Y'all ain't
S1: going to pray with me. The first Adam, uh, tried
S1: to hide from God because he sinned. But the second
S1: Adam had God hide from him because he took our sins. Yes. Yes. Mm. Now,
S1: that was my introduction. Amen. Now, now, I got a
S1: six point message that is equal in length to my introduction.
S1: I know you don't believe it. Watch it. I'm going
S1: to drop em, not push em. What do you do
S1: when you feel abandoned by God? Same thing Jesus did. Well,
S1: what did he do? Pastor, I'm glad you asked. You
S1: asked intelligent questions. Let's drop em. Let's not push em.
S1: First of all, I want you to notice when you feel.
S1: Is anybody ever feel abandoned by God? Can I get
S1: an amen? Amen. Amen. Are you super spiritual people. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm.
S1: Number one what do you do when it's midnight at midday. Mm.
S1: Number one commit to revelation. Alright. Where do you see that.
S1: My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me. Guess
S1: what this is. This is an 800 year old. Well,
S1: just say over 700 year old Scripture. It's taken from
S1: Psalm 22. David wrote it and he wrote it about himself.
S1: But God made it a messianic psalm. What's a messianic psalm?
S1: That it was 800 years predicting what Jesus would go
S1: through when he dies on Calvary. Now, what's so significant
S1: about that? Because it's 800 years before crucifixion? I'm not.
S1: I'm sorry. Sorry. 600 years before crucifixion Jen was ever
S1: a form of execution. Wow. And here. Now, what does
S1: Jesus do? He's in agony. He feels abandoned. So he
S1: quotes scripture. Oh, I don't have to make that. I mean,
S1: you understand it. Jesus is saying, look, when you feel
S1: abandoned by God, get to the word. Go to the
S1: Word of God. Commit yourself to revelation. So you will
S1: see throughout that Jesus quotes in these seven last words.
S1: He quotes the Old Testament over and over and over again,
S1: or the writers quoted over and over and over again.
S1: You need to commit yourself to the revelation of God. Listen, listen, listen. Uh,
S1: you know, it's like this happens to me all the
S1: time because I don't read directions. And I say to myself,
S1: every time this happens, I say, you better start reading
S1: the directions. So I'm talking to my insurance agent, and
S1: I'm telling him about this coverage that I want. And
S1: he said, okay. He said, I'll send it to you. And,
S1: and he told me what it cost. I said, well,
S1: I'll have to wait for this additional covenant. He said, no,
S1: you don't. I said, what do you mean? He said,
S1: you don't read your policies, do you? He said, we
S1: have the three for three. I said, what's that? He said,
S1: your house is covered by us, your vehicles are covered
S1: by us, and you have life insurance with us, and
S1: you have enough life insurance with us that this rider
S1: that you want, we give that to you because we
S1: cover everything that you have. Alright. I said, well doggies,
S1: look at here. And I said to my wife, I said,
S1: you know what? This is free. It's free. You sure? Yeah, yeah. Look,
S1: it's in the contract. It's in the contract. It's in
S1: the contract. Yeah. See, see see, the problem with some
S1: of us is we don't know what's in the contract. See?
S1: See if you're down and out and you need joy.
S1: That's in the contract. He. He said, rejoice in the Lord.
S1: And again I say, rejoice. If you want peace, it's
S1: in the contract. My peace I give unto you. Hey,
S1: if you want protection from your haters, he says, the
S1: Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He says,
S1: he's my rock, my sword, my shield, my will in
S1: the middle of the will. Hey, it's in the contract. Yeah.
S1: You're not reading the contract. That's why you don't know
S1: the coverage that you had.
S4: Yeah. Amen.
S1: Hey, he says you gotta commit to the word. And
S1: I gotta say it again. I know you say it
S1: all the time. So what?
S4: Amen.
S1: Do you realize, since he quoted a 700 year old
S1: or over 700 year old word, that God's word has
S1: no expiration date? There's no new and improve. The grass
S1: withers and the flower fades. But the word of our
S1: God is joy. I can trust this book.
S2: You're listening to Treasure Truth with Pastor Ford. A message
S2: called midnight at midday. What to do when you feel
S2: abandoned by God. And we're going to get back to
S2: this teaching in just a few moments here. If you
S2: ever miss a broadcast, come to our website, listen online,
S2: or stop by Treasure Truth Radio. Org stream the program
S2: through your computer or mobile device. You can download MP3's
S2: or order copies of this broadcast on CD. You can
S2: also sign up to be in podcasting the program. You'll
S2: find those links at treasure truth Radio.com. Back to the message.
S2: Here's Pastor Ford.
S1: Yeah, he said, when it's midnight at midday, when you
S1: feel like God's commit, the no second thing he says,
S1: he says, cry out. Realistically, it says about the ninth hour.
S1: Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, now, now, now,
S1: now get this, now get this. Oh, I'm sorry for
S1: all this Greek, but the But there are words that
S1: mean cry out or shout. The the number one word
S1: is bull. I say bull and it means to cry
S1: with a loud voice. But this has the root, but
S1: it has a preposition. Here we go with prepositions again
S1: it has the preposition ana a a. Now guess what
S1: ana means. Upward bow. Crying out loud. Upward. Crying out loud.
S1: Do you know what Jesus realized? His mama can't help
S1: him right now. So he cries out upwardly man, look, look,
S1: here it is. I looked it up and it says
S1: it literally means to go upward. And when it's used
S1: as a prefix, it could mean one of three things
S1: or all. It could mean doing something reflectively, which means
S1: you're thinking about what you're crying out. Uh, or it
S1: means Intensity. Or it means with regularity. Probably all three.
S1: In other words, he's crying out here. And let me
S1: tell you, I remember we live in a parsonage, and, uh,
S1: this was the parking lot. Kids would come and play
S1: with my children. We're about 8 or 9 kids in
S1: the parking lot, and all of a sudden I heard
S1: one child cry out, daddy! And out of all those children,
S1: I recognized the voice of my child. And I hit
S1: that back door. And I saw him running across the
S1: lot with a dog chasing him. And the dog really
S1: wasn't trying to get him. He was just jumping on
S1: him and everything. And he was daddy. Help him. I said,
S1: I'm coming, and he headed toward my voice. We met.
S1: I picked him up. Dogs jumping up, I said, get
S1: on out of here. Get on out of here! Get
S1: on out of here! Dog got away and my son
S1: looked at me and he said, ha! Here. It was
S1: this crying out and I responded to it. I'm telling you,
S1: we've got to be those who understand. I must tell
S1: Jesus all of my trouble. I cannot bear these burdens alone.
S1: That's it. Jesus cries out to the father, and he's
S1: real about what's going on. He just lets it all
S1: hang out. You know what I find about some of us?
S1: We fake and phony. We fake and phony. I bet
S1: you I don't want you to raise your hands. How
S1: many of you like me? Whenever there's times when I say, Lord,
S1: I don't even want to go to church, and it's
S1: Sunday morning and I'm on my way. Somebody's going to
S1: come and mess up my preaching because they're going to
S1: tell me something.
S5: I gotta talk to you right now. I know you're
S5: getting ready to preach. Well, leave me alone. But this
S5: is important. This is important. I gotta talk to you.
S5: I gotta talk to you. I gotta talk to you.
S1: Now, now. Call and make an appointment. That is honest.
S1: There are times I tell God I don't want to pray,
S1: but I am. I don't want to read the Scripture,
S1: but I am. I don't want to deal with my wife,
S1: but I am. Oh, I guess I'm the only one real. Y'all.
S1: Y'all y'all. Y'all stuck up folk talking about, you know. Yeah.
S1: That's right, that's right. Sometimes I just have to tell
S1: God how I feel. I don't feel like giving you
S1: all this money. But I.
S5: Will.
S1: I've been praying about this for a long time.
S5: I'm tired of waiting.
S4: Yes.
S1: See? He knows anyway, you're up there. No, father. I
S1: come in the name of Jesus. No. God's not afraid
S1: of how you feel.
S4: Amen. Amen.
S1: Why don't you try being real with him? That's what
S1: I tell people all the time. Look, look. If I
S1: don't like you, I'm going to tell you I don't
S1: like you. Now I love you in Jesus. See what
S1: Jesus does. He cries out with intensity. He cries out
S1: with you. You know what's going on in the inside
S1: by what he said. He says. He says, My God,
S1: my God.
S5: Why hast thou forsaken me? Why?
S1: And when you feel abandoned, you're not going to make
S1: God upset by telling him you're upset with him because
S1: of the way things are going.
S4: Amen.
S1: Somebody said, oh man, I ain't never heard no preacher
S1: say nothing like that. Notice, third thing you do converse
S1: in regular language. He says, Eli, Eli. Now guess what
S1: that is? Aramaic. It's not Hebrew. Now, why cry out
S1: in Aramaic on the cross? Because Aramaic was the lingua
S1: franca of the day. What is that? The economic language
S1: of the day, like English, is in this world. That's right.
S1: Like English is in this world. I done already told you,
S1: I'm getting ready to learn Spanish. You know. Amen. Because
S1: they they now have become more of their the second highest,
S1: I mean, their first highest minority in America. We're second now,
S1: you know. So we need to learn some Spanish. Amen.
S4: Amen.
S1: See? Habla espanol. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Y'all think I'm kidding?
S1: That's on my bucket list. I want to learn Spanish.
S1: I said man, so and so. In other words, here's
S1: here's my point I'm trying to make. See, I'm trying
S1: to help somebody who right now came in here with
S1: a smile on your face, but pain in your heart.
S1: And I mean to tell you, God, I change my
S1: message because I felt that God was leading me to
S1: do this because of the people who have lost loved ones,
S1: because the people I know in this congregation, who have
S1: loved ones in the hospital This is the best. Just
S1: left here to go with her husband. That's a faithful man.
S1: He loved the word, the scriptures been faithful and and
S1: and and he's got cancer. That's eating his brains up.
S4: Amen.
S1: Can you imagine? You don't know her seeing her, Minister.
S4: Right?
S1: Don't think she doesn't have some issues. Some problems? Don't
S1: think they're not agonizing. God, why? There are people who
S1: don't love you sitting up in there. How come you
S1: didn't give it to them?
S4: Alright. Alright.
S1: Mm. And so he just listen and just use regular language.
S1: I was with, I was with some people and, uh,
S1: there was a new believer, I just let this, this
S1: person of Christ about two days ago, three days ago
S1: he come, he come. And I said, well, we're praying,
S1: come on in with us. And so, uh, these guys,
S1: they wanted to show how much they knew they was
S1: in a prayer battle. Ever hear them prayer battles? Oh,
S1: thou God that dwelleth in the highest heaven. Thou art immutable. Voracious.
S1: You are the God that is you know, and they
S1: changed their tone of voice and, you know, and they
S1: just doing it, they're just doing it. And I'm saying
S1: to myself, oh man, we got a new believer here.
S1: He does not know what sanctification is. He does not
S1: know what glorification is. He does not know what epilepsy is.
S1: I don't know what animism is. So then it comes
S1: time for him to pray. And I say, okay, you
S1: can pray now too. And he said, uh, uh, I
S1: don't want to pray. I can't pray like that. And,
S1: and my friends got upset at me. I know they smile,
S1: but I knew they was upset because I immediately said, uh, uh,
S1: you don't gotta pray like that. God ain't looking for
S1: you to pray.
S5: Like.
S1: That. Well, you know, you prayer is a conversation with God.
S1: You know how you talk to me, talk to him
S1: the same way. And then he begin to pray. Uh,
S1: Pastor Green, he said he said, Lord, I, I just
S1: all I know is this I don't know, you know
S1: who you are, and I know I accepted you as
S1: my savior. I know I'm hurting on the inside. And
S1: they told me you can help me. So would you
S1: please help me? It was this real man.
S2: A real pertinent message as we approach Easter. Pastor Ford
S2: has called it midnight at midday. You're listening to Treasure Truth,
S2: and you can find out more about us when you
S2: come to the website Treasure Truth Radio. You know, when
S2: it comes to the Bible, there are basically three types
S2: of people. Those who see the Bible as just another
S2: book filled with wise sayings, genealogies, maybe a few crazy
S2: stories or visions. Then there are those who believe that
S2: the Bible is marginally important. They don't read it very often.
S2: Maybe they think it's too difficult to understand, but the
S2: last group understands the Bible as it really is. It's
S2: the Word of God, the only book with a message
S2: that can save a dying world and introduce humanity to
S2: Jesus Christ. So I guess my question is, which of
S2: these categories do you fall into? You know, maybe it's
S2: somewhere in between. You're still trying to figure out what
S2: this ancient holy book is. Well, wherever you're at, we'd
S2: like for you to have a copy of a book
S2: by John MacArthur called Why Believe the Bible? Now, this
S2: is a practical resource that reveals the truth about the Bible.
S2: It'll help you grasp its meaning for your daily life.
S2: You can request a copy when you give a gift
S2: of any amount to treasure truth. Call us at 888644
S2: 7660 or come to our website treasure. Truth. Radio.com. Again,
S2: our phone number is 888644 7660. And the website is
S2: Treasure Truth Radio. I'm Steve Hiller. Our producer is Amy Rios.
S2: Join us again Thursday as we continue midnight at midday.
S2: That's here on Treasure Truth. A production of Moody Radio,
S2: a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.