S1: Even if you're just a cop out, Christ will give
S1: you a bailout so you can break out and carry
S1: out his purposes for your life, for his glory. Jesus
S1: will supply all of our needs according to his riches
S1: in glory.
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 Hillard. Glad you're with us. As today we
S2: continue our message, Faith for your future. And pastor, we've
S2: been talking a little bit about how we can kind
S2: of discern what God has for us, how we, you know,
S2: can know what promises are ours to claim and what
S2: are not. Um, I just hear you said, you know,
S2: even if you're just a cop out, Christ will give
S2: you a bailout so you can break out and carry
S2: out his purposes for his glory. It's kind of a
S2: little bit like what we were talking about yesterday. It
S2: sounds like it's all coming down to fulfilling Christ's purposes
S2: and bringing him glory.
S1: Of course. And if you want to think of someone
S1: who was at first a cop out and then got
S1: a bailout so that they could carry out his purposes,
S1: think of Jonah. You know, God told Jonah, Jonah, go
S1: to Nineveh, which was 500 miles to the east. He
S1: chose to go to Tarshish, which is in Spain, which
S1: is a little over 2000 miles. So he went three
S1: times or four times the distance to get out of
S1: the will of God, as he did to be in
S1: the will of God. But yet what did God do?
S1: God sent a storm. Yeah. Then we find him in
S1: chapter three. Uh, he's ready now. He. He had an
S1: Uber ride, uh, to Nineveh, and God picked up the
S1: fare for him. And what did God say? And the
S1: word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time.
S1: Go to Nineveh and preach against that great city. Here's
S1: what I notice. Chapter one go to Nineveh. The message
S1: didn't change. Yeah, he just had to get the messenger
S1: where he was willing to obey. What? He didn't want
S1: to obey? Yeah. For God.
S2: Yeah, well, and very often God allows those difficult circumstances
S2: in our lives, I think, to get us to pay
S2: attention to him, to begin to recognize his voice. Because
S2: when things are going along swimmingly, it can be very
S2: easy to think, I'm just going to go about my
S2: own business. And so often it's in those tough times
S2: that God will reorient what we want and what we're doing.
S2: We're going to look at that today from Philippians chapter one.
S2: So I hope you open your Bible. Join us there
S2: as we continue the message Faith for your future. Here's
S2: Pastor Ford.
S1: See, you know, the nightingale is called the nightingale because
S1: it sings the sweetest song in the darkness. Other birds
S1: sing when the sun comes up. Huh? We got any
S1: robins in here that sing in the morning when the
S1: sun rises. Yeah, I'm blessed.
S3: And highly favored of the Lord. He got me the job.
S3: I got my house. I got my car.
S1: But the nightingale sings best.
S3: In the.
S1: Darkness.
S3: Of the night.
S1: When the night is the darkest, it sings the best.
S1: And I want to tell you I know Jesus has
S1: some nightingale. Christians up in.
S3: Here.
S1: Up in here. You done been through some stuff, but
S1: you were singing in the midst of it. You done
S1: been through some stuff, but you giving God the glory
S1: even in spite of it. You done been through the stuff,
S1: and people are looking at you and wondering how in
S1: the world can you go through that? And you just
S1: sing the praises of Jesus. You sing the glory of God.
S1: You sing about the power of the Holy Spirit. I
S1: can take it and I can make it. I don't
S1: have to fake it because I've got God in my life. Mm,
S1: I I'll tell you. I'll tell you. Yeah. And then.
S1: And then you gotta apply God's word to your life.
S1: You gotta apply it. See? See, he's aware of it,
S1: but he's applying it. What's he saying? I'm in jail
S1: right now, but I'm not going to be for long. Amen. Hey. Oh,
S1: I didn't bring my phone. I was going to have
S1: everybody take your phone out. Take your phone out. Take
S1: your phone out. All right, put it on camera. Put
S1: your phone on camera. Thank you. Now take a selfie.
S1: Take a selfie. Come on, take a selfie. Take a selfie. Okay, now,
S1: if you go on social media, here's what I want
S1: you to do. Take a selfie, put it on Facebook
S1: or whatever your social media is and then put this
S1: under it. Everybody put this under it. Look at me
S1: right now because it's the last time you're going to
S1: see me like this. I'm going somewhere. Come on, come on,
S1: take that selfie. Put it on, put it on. Look
S1: at me right now. This is the last time you're
S1: going to see me like this because I'm going somewhere.
S1: Come on. Put it on Facebook. Put on. Let everybody know. Yeah.
S1: That's right. Do you believe? God, I don't know what
S1: you believe in God for, but do you believe him
S1: for something? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Then proclaim it. Stand on it.
S1: Come hell or high water. This is where I'm going.
S1: I don't care what kind of opposition comes my way.
S1: This is where I'm going. This is where I'm headed.
S1: And nobody and nothing can stop me. You want to
S1: know how I know? Because God done already told me
S1: where I'm going. Amen. Amen. Yeah. That's it, that's it,
S1: that's it. Okay, now you ain't put it on there
S1: by now. You slow. Paul had a word from God
S1: that his work was not done. Now, you know, we
S1: talk about all the time. Uh, James was beheaded. Peter
S1: was not. Two reasons. I'm going to give you both
S1: of them today. Here's the first reason. John 2118 Jesus
S1: told him, I'm going to read it to you. I'm
S1: going to read it to you. John 2118. He's talking
S1: to Peter. He said to him, Peter, feed my sheep,
S1: feed my sheep, feed my lambs. Verse 18, verily, verily,
S1: I say unto you, when you were young, you gird yourself,
S1: you clothe yourself, you walk wherever you would. But when
S1: you are old, you will stretch forth your hands, and
S1: another shall gird thee, and carry thee where you would
S1: not go. This he spake, signifying the death he would die.
S1: Do you see that in there? When Peter's in prison,
S1: he's somewhere between 33 and 36 years old. And guess what?
S1: Jesus told him he wasn't going to die until he
S1: became an old man. So when he was in prison,
S1: one of the reasons why he knew that he was
S1: going to get out was because God had already told
S1: him he was going to live to be an old man.
S1: So he knew even though Herod had beheaded James, he
S1: couldn't behead him because he had a word from God. Amen.
S1: Do you got a word? Do you got a word
S1: from God. You need to get a word from God.
S1: Job said in job 2312 I have esteemed the words
S1: of thy mouth more than my necessary food. Matthew chapter four.
S1: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
S1: word that comes from the mouth of God. Psalm one.
S1: Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel
S1: of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners,
S1: nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his
S1: delight is in the law of the Lord, and in
S1: his law he doth meditate day and night. So the
S1: question on the floor is not, do you own a Bible?
S1: But does the Bible own you? Let me say that again.
S1: It's not whether you own a Bible, but does the
S1: Bible own you? So we are to listen to it eagerly.
S1: We're to look to it expectantly. We are to learn
S1: from it enthusiastically. We're to languish in it entirely. We're
S1: to let it work in us effectively, and we're to
S1: love it eternally. Amen. Hmm. See, what we need to
S1: be is Bible holics. You know that? What do you mean?
S1: God's word is what we need. See if you got
S1: a headache. You take a Tylenol pill. If you have
S1: acid indigestion, you take a Rolaids pill. If you have
S1: a heartache, you take a pill. Yeah. Secondly, secondly, secondly,
S1: let me hasten. Secondly, second thing you. Well, how do
S1: you get faith for the future? Uh, you have to
S1: be enlightened, uh, by Christ's purpose for your life. Secondly,
S1: you have to be emboldened by Christ's people's prayer to
S1: your life. Listen to what he says. He says, listen
S1: through your prayers. And here's what we need to understand
S1: why I try to get you to come to prayer meeting.
S1: Because prayer is boring. Prayer. No. Prayer is power. Listen, listen.
S1: If you're taking notes, I'm just going to say em.
S1: Second Corinthians one five verses eight through 11 God incorporated
S1: human prayer in the heavenly plan Romans 1530, first Thessalonians 525,
S1: and second Thessalonians three one James 516. Be it says,
S1: the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man or woman
S1: availeth much. Abraham prayed for lot. Genesis 19. Lot was delivered.
S1: If he hadn't prayed for him, he wouldn't have been
S1: delivered with his backslidden self. You know, I remember I
S1: used to be a sanitation engineer at Pittsburgh National Airport. Uh,
S1: for those of you who who are challenged, I used
S1: to be a janitor. So I was sanitation engineer. I
S1: had the night shift. So one night and every morning,
S1: it was, like, rough because I wasn't a night shift person.
S1: Some of you who work night shift know, man. It's like, man,
S1: you know it. It's rough shift. So I'm on my
S1: way home, and every night I, you know, I have
S1: to keep my windows down so I don't fall asleep.
S1: But this night, I had worked real hard, and I'm nodding.
S1: I got the windows down. It's 530 in the morning.
S1: I'm coming from the expressway on my way home. 35
S1: miles one way. And I'm nodding and I got the
S1: windows down. Next thing I know, I done fell asleep
S1: at the wheel. And I hear, wake up. I woke
S1: up and I had crossed the median. And Pittsburgh is hilly.
S1: Y'all don't know what hills are here. And I'm on
S1: my way over in the other lane and over across
S1: an embankment. I hit the brakes and the car spins
S1: and it turns. And after a little while, you just boom.
S1: About a quarter of a mile maybe, I don't know.
S1: It stops. I'm looking around. I'm thanking God that nobody
S1: was on the road but me. I'm thanking God that
S1: whatever it was that woke me up, woke me up.
S1: So I get home and my wife is up and
S1: I said, what are you doing up this early in
S1: the morning? Cause she don't get up until her in
S1: the morning. And she said, God woke me up about
S1: 530 and told me to pray for you. I said, no.
S1: She said, yeah. And so I just started praying. I
S1: didn't know what was anything wrong with her, you know.
S1: I didn't know, I just said, God told me to
S1: pray for my husband. I'm praying for my husband. I said, girlfriend,
S1: you better be glad you prayed for your husband, because
S1: I heard about 530 when I had fallen asleep behind
S1: the wheel. Somebody say wake up! So God took your prayer,
S1: translated it into something I would understand you screaming at me.
S1: And saved my life. Yes. Yes. Peter. James. Yeah. Because
S1: of the precept that God gave him. But remember the
S1: other thing. Why was Peter saved? Because the church prayed
S1: for him. We just said it Wednesday night. The angel
S1: fetched Peter out of prison. But it was prayer that
S1: fetched the angel. Listen, if we're going to take this
S1: community and we are, we're not going to do it
S1: without prayer. Amen. Corporate prayer. Listen, 1 in 2 marriages
S1: end in divorce. That's 50%. Now, if you Google it,
S1: it'll say 44%. But that's because millennials aren't getting married as, as,
S1: as often as the previous generations. You want to know
S1: why they said they look at our marriages and say,
S1: uh uh uh uh, I ain't doing this. I ain't
S1: doing this. Uh, but it's still one and two. But
S1: if you add prayer, it goes from one and 2
S1: to 1 in 1500.
S2: If you're married, I hope that's given you something to
S2: think about. And encouragement, motivation to be in prayer with
S2: your spouse. You're listening to Treasure Truth with Pastor Ford,
S2: a message called Faith for Your Future. And if you're
S2: ever on the go and you want to make sure
S2: that you don't miss this broadcast, I hope you'll go
S2: get the Moody Radio app. You'll find it at your
S2: favorite app store, like iTunes or Google Play, or link
S2: you to it when you come to treasure Truth Radio.
S2: Let's get back to the message once again. Here is
S2: Pastor Ford.
S1: You see what prayer does because it's so hard to
S1: pray for somebody and be arguing with them at the
S1: same time. Pray for somebody. Can you imagine? You know,
S1: you both down there praying. If you prayed every night,
S1: like my wife and I try to do every night. Lord,
S1: would you do something to her? Would you tell your
S1: servant you know to get right?
S4: And, Lord, would you tell your servant to get right?
S4: And he's supposed to be a preacher?
S1: No, it don't work that way. Let me tell you
S1: how it works. When we first started doing it, I
S1: didn't know what I was doing because I would be
S1: mad at her and I'd get down to pray and
S1: in my mind would be racing. And finally, the Holy
S1: Spirit would convict me and tears would come down my eyes.
S1: And even though I knew I was right, I found
S1: myself saying, please forgive me. Yes, because whatever we're arguing about,
S1: it ain't worth our relationship. Baby forget. Then she start crying,
S1: you know, and then. And it's like. It's like we
S1: can't go to bed angry now. Like I told you,
S1: we done been up 2 or 3 weeks, but we
S1: don't let the sun go down upon our wrath. And
S1: so here it is. Here it is. Jesus prayed. Uh,
S1: is recorded 15 times in the Gospels. 11 are in
S1: the Gospel of Luke. Luke tells us about the prayer life.
S1: Now wait a minute. Jesus is God in the flesh.
S1: If he had to have a prayer life. Preaching, huh?
S1: Here it is a private prayer. Life is the secret
S1: of a powerful public life. Yeah. Huh. Prayer is paramount,
S1: not peripheral. It's essential. Not an option. Here it is.
S1: Here's the last one. You've been so gracious. He said,
S1: you gotta be empowered by the provision of Christ. Notice
S1: what he says. This is so powerful. It's rich. It's
S1: a rich verse, isn't it? For I know that this
S1: shall turn to my salvation through your prayer and the
S1: supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. The supply of
S1: the Spirit of Jesus Christ. He's saying, you gotta be
S1: empowered by the provision of Jesus Christ. See, I don't
S1: know how, but I do know who. I don't know when,
S1: but I do know who I know. It's Jesus Christ
S1: in chapter four. Here's what he does. Let me just
S1: run it down for you real quick, because it talks
S1: about the sufficiency of Christ in chapter four. Here's what
S1: he says. Here's how sufficient he is in chapter four
S1: one through three. He has the power to unify, and
S1: four through seven fortify and eight and nine purify in
S1: ten through 16, satisfy in seven, two, 19 supply and
S1: in 20 and 21 glorify. He says, here it is
S1: that we need to understand. He provides for us. He
S1: supplies it. The word is carajo. How many were here
S1: at the Bible study on Wednesday morning when we studied
S1: the word carajo? Remember that we studied the word carajo.
S1: It's the word from which we get chorus or choir.
S1: And literally what it means is back in the day,
S1: whenever they would put on a big thing and have
S1: choirs and entertainers, the person who would pay for it
S1: was the leader of that carajo. And that person was
S1: usually rich because nobody would pay them and they wouldn't
S1: be able to perform. So he supplied everything that they
S1: needed lavishly. Say, what are you talking about? Pastor 40 saying, listen,
S1: it's all in God's plan, you know, let me tell
S1: you something. I've been here 35 years and the first
S1: 30 years of ministry, we never had one page of
S1: red ink. Not one. And I used to brag about it.
S1: We ain't never had no red ink. Then in year 31,
S1: you know what happened? Red ink. I went ballistic. I
S1: was like, Lord, am I'm faithful. What have I done
S1: that I don't know about? Been there. God said, oh, no.
S1: This is by divine design. You need to understand. I'm
S1: getting ready to take you places where you don't have
S1: the money. And so I don't want you waiting until
S1: you do have the money. I want you to step
S1: out by faith. And trust me that if I called
S1: you to the responsibility, I'll give you the resources. So I.
S1: And I just did it. I just did it. I
S1: just did it, didn't I just did it. Just did
S1: it again. I should say again. Because I do it
S1: all the time. Just did it again. Yeah. Got an
S1: opportunity to go on television. Three broadcasts for the price
S1: of one. Yeah, I stepped out. I said, I'm going
S1: to do this. I already did the commercial. undo the commercial?
S1: I don't even think about it. I should have put
S1: it on right now.
S4: Had you play it?
S1: Yeah, I had a commercial. Yeah. I'm going to believe God. Amen. Why?
S1: Because he said it is God that worketh in you
S1: both of his will to goodwill and good pleasure. Get this.
S1: He said It's God's person. It is God that worketh
S1: is God's power in you. It's God's parameters. Both is
S1: God's purposes of his is God's priority, his will, God's plan,
S1: good pleasure. It's God's pleasure. It's a comprehensive supply where
S1: God promises that he is going to do everything that's
S1: necessary for us to accomplish what he wants us to accomplish.
S1: Is anybody in here like their pastor geek to take
S1: this community over? Is there anybody in here that feels
S1: called to do what nobody else has yet done?
S5: Yes. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
S1: Mm. Well, let me close. But I tell you, Romans
S1: five eight says this. But God commendeth his love toward us,
S1: in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. See,
S1: God became one of us, that he might say, all
S1: of us. Christ was nailed to the cross to bridge
S1: the gap that take us from sinner to saint, that
S1: takes us from hell to heaven. He died that we
S1: might live. He suffered for our sins. That we could
S1: be forgiven and saved from our sins. Jesus is the
S1: answer to our agony. He is the balm for our bruises.
S1: He's the cure for our crisis. He's the deliverance for
S1: our depravity. Eraser for our heirs. Yes. Guess what? You're
S1: never too low to be lifted by him. You're never
S1: too dirty that he can't cleanse you. You're never too broken.
S1: That he can't fix you. You're never too damaged. That
S1: he can't redeem you. You're never too sinful that he
S1: can't save you. You're never too lost that he can't
S1: find you. You're never too empty. That he can't feel you.
S1: You're never defective. That he can't restore you. See, it
S1: doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if you've
S1: been left out, shut out, dropped out, put out, dranked out,
S1: cracked out, whacked out, smoked out, stepped out, turned out.
S1: Locked out. Even if you're just a cop out, Christ
S1: will give you a bailout. So you can break out
S1: and stand out and carry out his purposes for your life,
S1: for his glory. Jesus will supply all of our needs
S1: according to his riches in glory. I wonder today, is
S1: there anybody who came, who understands what God wants to do,
S1: why he brought you here this day to hear this message?
S1: Because he got something for you to do and he
S1: tired of all the excuses. Jesus died for our sins,
S1: not for our excuses. Excuses are like noses. Everybody got one.
S1: But you've got to be able to stand up and say,
S1: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Now,
S1: I don't know what it is, but I know that
S1: it's something that God sent you here for today. And
S1: if that's you, I don't want to know that you
S1: came in and you were a little discouraged, but you said,
S1: you know what? I'm going to take this word that
S1: God has given me, and I'm going to stand out
S1: for Jesus Christ and stand up for Jesus. I just
S1: want to see who you are. Just stand up. That's
S1: all you gotta do. Just stand up. God ministered to me.
S1: I'm going to go out. I don't know what it is, pastor.
S1: You don't know what it is. But I'm going to
S1: do this. I'm going to. It may be education, it
S1: may be a job. It may be a business. I
S1: don't know what it is. It may be reconciliation. I
S1: don't know what it is, but whatever it is, you're
S1: standing and saying, I'm going to go out here and
S1: I am going to have enlightenment by Christ's purpose. I'm
S1: going to be emboldened by Christ's people's prayer, and I'm
S1: going to be empowered by Christ's provision.
S2: Does Pastor James Ford Jr. And a message called Faith
S2: for Your Future. You're listening to Treasure Truth and you
S2: can find us online at Treasure Truth Radio. Well, this
S2: program exists to encourage you in your walk with Christ
S2: and to equip you to live out your faith at home,
S2: at work, or wherever you may be. We do that
S2: through Pastor Ford's teaching, but also through the resources that
S2: we provide each month. Right now, when you give a
S2: gift of any amount to treasure truth, we'll send you
S2: a book by rotary called How to Witness to Anyone.
S2: If you struggle to come up with answers when skeptics
S2: question you, or you have trouble dealing with a self-righteous
S2: or indignant person who challenges your faith, this book will
S2: be a helpful companion for you. It's a collection of
S2: Bible verses arranged topically that will equip you to speak
S2: with confidence as you share the Good news in any situation.
S2: So give a donation and request how to witness to
S2: anyone when you give a gift of any amount to
S2: treasure truth. Call us at 888644 7660 or go online
S2: to Treasure Truth Radio.com. If you prefer to write and
S2: send a check in the mail, our address is Treasure Truth,
S2: 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten. As you
S2: read the book How to Witness to Anyone, you'll find
S2: the courage to step outside yourself, to share your faith
S2: with others, and you'll be prepared with the words to say.
S2: So give a donation and request your copy. Call us
S2: at 888 644 7660 or go online to Treasure Truth Radio. Hi,
S2: I'm Steve Hiller. Our producer is Amy Rios. Join us
S2: again tomorrow as we begin a message called How Haters Hate, treasure,
S2: truth with Pastor Ford is a production of Moody Radio,
S2: a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.