S1: And I see it happen all the time. Folk just trying.
S1: I gotta make a way, I gotta make it. Listen,
S1: let me tell you something. And let me tell everybody.
S1: If Jesus has a plan for you, he's going to
S1: make sure you fail. As you try to make your
S1: own way. You're going to fail every time because he's
S1: got a prescribed course.
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 Hiller. Glad you're with us. As we continue
S2: a message called The Inner Me Enemy. We've been in
S2: James chapter one, and today we're going to be taking
S2: a look at one of the struggles that I think
S2: many of us face. We have this idea of where
S2: we want our life to go. We say, I want this,
S2: I want to accomplish that. I want to attain this
S2: certain thing. And then we go off in our own
S2: power to try and make that happen. And it sounds like, pastor,
S2: you're saying if you're only following your own plan, uh,
S2: don't be surprised if you run into some roadblocks.
S1: You're going to run into roadblocks. Big ones, God sized
S1: roadblocks because God has a purpose and a plan. You know,
S1: in the model prayer, we're studying that now at Christ
S1: Bible Church. Yeah. Uh, in the model prayer, he said,
S1: Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
S1: Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as
S1: it is in heaven. In other words, what is the
S1: responsibility of those of us on earth connected to the
S1: Lord Jesus Christ when we pray and when we serve?
S1: And it is God, what is it that you have
S1: decreed in heaven that we're to execute on the earth?
S1: That's not just corporately. That has to do with our
S1: personal lives as well. Uh, that I'll give you a
S1: classic example, Steve. Um, whenever I was praying about being trained, uh,
S1: for the pastorate, I got accepted in three schools, of
S1: which Moody was one. I came to Moody on a
S1: very spiritual reason. It was the only one that was
S1: tuition free.
S2: Yes.
S1: But that was in God's design. Yeah, because once I
S1: got here as a second semester freshman, the church that
S1: I've been pastoring for the last 36 years opened up.
S1: And I've been there ever since. So I matriculated here
S1: at Moody and, uh, was pastoring simultaneously as a student.
S1: And God has done some miraculous things in my life.
S1: But that wasn't my plan. Yeah. Go ahead. Say, what
S1: was your plan?
S2: What was your plan?
S1: My plan was to matriculate at Moody and then leave
S1: and go to Dallas so that I could go to
S1: Dallas Theological Seminary. And if that had happened, then maybe
S1: I would have been Tony Evans then. But that was
S1: my plan. Yeah. And then to go back to Pittsburgh
S1: and the pastor in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. So that was my plan. Yeah,
S1: but the thing about it is, I had wisdom enough
S1: to submit my plans to God. I didn't say, my
S1: kingdom come. Thy will be done. I said, thy kingdom come,
S1: thy will be done. And God showed me. LED me. Yeah.
S1: And showed me where he wanted me to be. And
S1: of course, I know this is where he wanted me
S1: to be. All the things that have transpired, even being
S1: on Moody Radio all these years. Sure is, because I've
S1: been in the great city of Chicago. Amen.
S2: Well, we could spend more time unpacking that story, but
S2: we need to get to today's message. We're in James
S2: chapter one. So, uh, grab a Bible, join us there
S2: as we continue. The enemy. Enemy. Here is Pastor Ford.
S1: Now, here's what happens. Let me put it into context,
S1: because remember what the context is. This is not devoid
S1: or separate. This is not a separate pericope. This is
S1: in the pericope of talking about how we deal with
S1: our sinful tendencies. Paragraph pericope. You know, I gotta let
S1: you know. I went to seminary. I told you that. So?
S1: So what does God do? Everything that he does is so.
S1: God so loved the world. See the measure of it?
S1: You know, it's like. It's like he just didn't love
S1: the world. He so loved the world. I mean, you know,
S1: when you put that adjective in there, it expands, uh, whatever, uh,
S1: the noun or the pronoun is, you know, it's like
S1: you come home and, uh, you know, I remember coming
S1: home and saying stuff like, you know, uh, she say,
S1: clean your room, do this, do that. I'm so tired.
S1: And and my mother would say, if tired were the
S1: prerequisite for anything being done, you'd never eat. As a
S1: matter of fact, you wouldn't have been born. So. So
S1: we put in in there he's saying, listen, the measure
S1: of the gifts, the kind of gift that he gives.
S1: It is. So now why does he do that in
S1: the context? Let me tell you why he does that
S1: in the context, because he wants you to understand that
S1: anything you could get through your sinful tendencies, God has
S1: something better. Yeah, even because the whole the whole section
S1: is in the context of trials. So he's saying, listen,
S1: everything that God does is good, even when it's bad
S1: to us. Come on. That's right. Even when it's bad
S1: to us. Now here's the point. If you take what
S1: God does not want you to have, God withholds what
S1: he does want you to have. When you give God
S1: what he wants, God gives you what you want. Okay,
S1: let me give you an example. Aiken. In the Old Testament,
S1: God said, when you go into Jericho, let me tell
S1: you something. Everything is under the ban. Under the ban,
S1: it's anathema. It belongs to me. I want it all burned.
S1: Don't keep anything. None of the jewelry, none of the clothes,
S1: none of the people. Wipe out everybody. Except where you
S1: see that scarlet cord coming down off of that wall
S1: from Rahab's crib? The scarlet thread of redemption. A symbol
S1: of the blood of Jesus Christ. That the only people
S1: who were saved in Jericho were saved by the red. No,
S1: I like that. And so he said, if you don't
S1: have that out there, you're going to die. You know,
S1: death Angel passed over every house that had the blood. Anyway,
S1: let me go on and say it. So? So then
S1: Aiken saw the Babylonian garments, and he took them into
S1: his tent and hid them in his tent. He took
S1: what God did not want him to have. Anybody know
S1: the outcome? Maybe that's why his name was Aiken. Because
S1: they took him out and stoned him. And then they
S1: stoned his family. People say, why did they stone his family?
S1: That wasn't right. Well, if he hid it in the tent,
S1: that means the whole family knew it. And so God said,
S1: I want them all punished. Now get this. He took
S1: what God did not want him to have. And what
S1: did he miss? What God wanted him to have. See,
S1: that's called a firstfruits. Jericho was the first fruits. The
S1: first fruits always go to God. Honor the Lord with
S1: the firstfruits of all thy substance and thy increase. That
S1: is the money you found on the ground. That $100.
S1: Should you tithe off of this? Or you should or
S1: break God off a piece? How about that? So what
S1: happened when they go to I, they go to I
S1: and they get whipped. Now they say it's a small city,
S1: so we don't need to take Lottie, Dottie, everybody, let's
S1: just send 30,000 men up. And the. I whooped them
S1: like they stole something. Joshua goes back and begins to pray.
S1: And God says anytime to pray, it's time to get
S1: up and find out where the sin is in the camp.
S1: So they found out where the sin is. Here's my point.
S1: If he just would have waited. Because when they took I,
S1: who knows what God said split everything else among yourselves.
S1: All he had to do was just wait. But see
S1: the sinful tendency for materialism hitting. And he said, okay,
S1: I could get this my way. I don't need to
S1: do it God's way, and I'm going to do this.
S1: And nobody knows. God knows. And so now, because you
S1: took what God did not want you to have, you
S1: do not get what God wants you to have. And
S1: I see it happen all the time. Folk just trying.
S1: I gotta make a way, I gotta make. Listen, let
S1: me tell you something. And let me tell everybody. If
S1: Jesus has a plan for you, he's going to make
S1: sure you fail. As you try to make your own way.
S1: You're going to fail every time because he's got a
S1: prescribed course and your money is tied up to your master. Wow.
S1: It's tied up to his purpose. And he ain't going
S1: to let you prosper without him. Cuz then you feel
S1: you don't need him. And so he gotta let you
S1: get out there, and he let you go. And he
S1: lets you fail. And you're supposed to say, you know what?
S1: I've been trying to do this my way. Let me
S1: see how God wants me to do it. But some
S1: of you don't. You keep doing it. You keep doing it.
S1: I gotta do this. I gotta do that. I gotta
S1: get this. It's gotta do that. I gotta do this.
S1: Go ahead. You know it's a Doctor Phil moment. How's
S1: that working for you? Ain't working. How many times does
S1: it take for you to see you're failing? Because your
S1: motivation is wrong. Our motivation should be to glorify him.
S1: Why do you work hard on a job so that
S1: people can say, wow, that person works hard. And every
S1: time you ask them, they say, because I work for
S1: Jesus and not for the job. And so the Bible says, uh,
S1: Deuteronomy 610 through 15 he says, look. And here it is.
S1: Taking the devil's bait is an indication of one thing.
S1: You have forgotten the goodness of God. Psalm 7811 he said,
S1: you forgot. I gave you this land and everything in it,
S1: and I've defeated the people because the battle is the
S1: Lord's and you forgot. And remember what is one of
S1: the things he told them? Don't get in the land
S1: and forget who put you there. That's what kills me.
S1: Why do I have to cajole people and tell them
S1: you need to come to Bible study. You need to
S1: come to worship because they don't have enough Jesus in them.
S1: That's why they've forgotten. You are not your own. You've
S1: been bought with a price. What do we gotta tell somebody?
S1: Say something for Jesus. Now, if you've been wondrously saved,
S1: you'll want to. That's what we're talking about this morning.
S1: Paul said in Galatians 614, God forbid that I should
S1: boast or glory in anything. Saved the Lord Jesus Christ
S1: and his cross. Paul said, you want to know what
S1: turns me on? Talking about Jesus and the cross of Christ.
S1: Man that's it. Psalm 106 13 through 21. He says
S1: the same thing. Second Samuel 12, seven and eight he
S1: tells David, you forgot that I put a king's anointing
S1: on a kid, and for 13 years I protected you
S1: and put you on the throne. And now this is
S1: how you treat me. You're going to kill one of
S1: your mighty men, sleep with his wife, impregnate her. You
S1: forgot how good I've been to you. Now notice the
S1: motive of the gifts. He tells us the measure of
S1: the gift. Notice the motive of the gifts. Teleoceras, our
S1: old friend. What does it mean? It means to accomplish
S1: that which you are created to do. Here it is.
S1: He says the gifts are perfect. The gifts are powerful.
S1: In other words, the first point talks about what he gives,
S1: and the second talks about why he gives it. So
S1: what does he give? Good gifts. Why does he give it?
S1: Because they're perfect. What do you mean? I have designer trials.
S1: They're designed for Pastor James for junior. Why? Because there's
S1: too much Ford in Ford and not enough Lord in Ford.
S1: So he allows those things that will get the Ford
S1: out of Ford and put more Lord into Ford. See,
S1: that's why I'm glad my name rhymes with Lord.
S2: He's got a little benefit there, and a lot of us,
S2: doesn't he? You're listening to Pastor Ford. A message entitled
S2: The Enemy. Enemy. Look at James chapter one in today's broadcast.
S2: And we're going to get back to this teaching in
S2: just one moment. I know as we are talking about
S2: the doctrine of sin, you may have some questions that
S2: come to mind. You can always ask your question of
S2: Pastor Ford. Simply come to our website. It's Treasure Truth
S2: radio.org and click on the contact link there. You can
S2: ask that question, we might answer that in a future broadcast.
S2: You can also let us know where you're listening and
S2: why you're listening. It's always so encouraging to hear how
S2: God is using this program in the lives of those
S2: who find us. Again, our website address is Treasure Truth Radio.
S2: Org and click on the contact link. Once again, here's
S2: Pastor Ford.
S1: And so that's it. So trials are given their gifts.
S1: Didn't he tell Paul that he said Paul said there
S1: was a throne, a messenger of Satan to buffet me.
S1: The word given is the word grace. There was a illness.
S1: Grace to me. The source is God. The agent is
S1: the devil. But God allowed it to happen because all
S1: things work together for good to those who love the Lord,
S1: those who are called according to his purpose. And God
S1: allowed that to happen. Because, my brethren, count it all
S1: joy when you fall into divers temptations, knowing this, that
S1: the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience
S1: have her perfect work, that you may be complete and entire,
S1: lacking nothing. So it's complete. There's nothing lacking. It's designed
S1: to bring us to the place where we will fulfill
S1: the purpose of God in our lives. What Satan offers.
S1: It may look better at first glance, but it's only
S1: designed to throw you off your square. Mm. I love this.
S1: Why is it when you pray for a tree, God
S1: gives you an acorn? When you pray for a tree,
S1: God gives you an acorn. Anybody know why? Ask me why.
S1: So that you can both grow at the same time.
S1: So you can both grow at the same time? Yes.
S1: In other words, get get this now. I'm praying for something. Lord,
S1: I want this, I want that, and instead of giving
S1: me what I want in full blown maturity, he gives
S1: me a seed. Why? Because as it grows, I learn
S1: to trust him. I learn to depend upon him. I
S1: begin to look to him in the things that I
S1: said earlier. He say, what are you talking about? When
S1: I said that it guides our footsteps. It grows our faith.
S1: It governs our focus. It guides our future. So then
S1: it guides our footsteps. It leads us to Christ. It
S1: grows our faith. We learn of Christ. It governs our focus.
S1: We look to Christ. It guides our future. We love
S1: Christ more. And so let me finish this up. Let
S1: me finish this up. And remember God said, I have
S1: found a man. Wait a minute. Wait wait wait wait
S1: wait wait wait. He told David. How old was David?
S1: He was about what? 17. I have found the man.
S1: Is he a man? No. He can't even go to war.
S1: Because in Israel. How old did you have to be
S1: to go to war? 20. I have found the man. God.
S1: Why do you call a boy a man? Because I'm
S1: not calling him according to what he is now. I'm
S1: calling him what I'm about to make him. In the
S1: 13 years as he experiences my good and perfect gifts.
S1: So the very man whose place he's going to take.
S1: I'm going to give him an opportunity. What's the opportunity? God.
S1: Two times. I'm going to give him the chance to
S1: kill him and get the throne by killing my anointed.
S1: And he refuses to do it. They said, hey, Saul
S1: in the cave. David went in there, cut off a
S1: piece of his robe. You see what I'm saying? He
S1: could have had the kingdom nine years earlier. How many
S1: of us would have said, well, God said, I'm going
S1: to be king, or he out of here now. Jack. Oh, yeah. No,
S1: that's not what he did, because he understood that God
S1: has a time frame and that that time frame. God
S1: is setting other things up so that whenever he gives
S1: you what that good and perfect gift is, it's the
S1: right time for it. Wow. It's the right time for it. Mm.
S1: And so then notice what it says. It talks about, uh,
S1: last of all, the manner of the gifts it cometh down.
S1: Let me just say this, and then I gotta stop.
S1: It's a present participle. That means the words ought to
S1: be ending in i-n-g. In other words, keeps on coming down.
S1: He doesn't give occasionally. He gives constantly. Wow. Yeah. What
S1: do you mean, pastor? He gives. It keeps coming down. Well, well,
S1: how come I don't see it? Well, sometimes I don't
S1: see it because I don't recognize the goodness of God
S1: that I got up this morning, and I put my
S1: own clothes on, and I fed my own self, and
S1: I walked out on my own power, and I could see.
S1: And I have all of my faculties. That's the goodness
S1: of God. The clock woke me up this morning. No,
S1: it did not go to the cemetery. Let the clock
S1: ring and see how many people get up. Nobody's getting up.
S1: But the goodness of the Lord is that he's faithful.
S1: And that the the sun came up when it was
S1: supposed to. And it's going down when it's supposed to.
S1: That the air that I'm breathing, I just take it
S1: for granted. That's why the Bible says, let everything that
S1: have breath praise take the breath test. Do you understand
S1: that even the fact that we can breathe. If you
S1: knew that the earth was two centimeters closer to the sun.
S1: We burn up two centimeters away from the sun. We
S1: would freeze It's the goodness of God. I share with
S1: my family and some of you know it. You were here. Uh,
S1: I lost ten family members, immediate family members in two
S1: years and did all of their homegoing and funeral services.
S1: And people were saying, how can you do it? How
S1: can you do it? Because I focus in on who's left,
S1: not on who's lost, because I focus in on the
S1: fact that even though God has chosen to take my
S1: son in 1999, I still have two left. That's how
S1: I do as a pastor. You know, it used to
S1: be when people leave, it break my heart. I said,
S1: why they leave? I mean, what happened? Hey. You know. Hey, man. Okay.
S1: They're gone. It gives me more time to to minister
S1: to the people who are still here. You know, people come,
S1: people go. Hey. Alright. If that's what God is leading
S1: you to do, I ain't tripping, you know? Yeah. Okay. So,
S1: so so what does he do in verse 16? He
S1: looks ahead and he says, see the judgment of sin.
S1: Then verse 17, look around and see how God has
S1: been good to you. Verse 18, look inside and see
S1: how you have been born from above, and you possess
S1: the divine nature. So then I can't get to it
S1: right now. Finish it. Lord willing, next week. But. But
S1: what's he going to talk about? Begot you again by
S1: the word of truth. Now he's hooking it together and
S1: he's saying, listen, you have been born again. Christ lives
S1: in you. Now what do you have to do? You
S1: got to feed your spiritual man. You've got to feed
S1: your spiritual woman. You've got to this. This is supposed
S1: to be the icing on the cake every day, getting
S1: into the Word of God every day, fellowshipping with the
S1: Lord every day, meeting with him, fellowshipping with him. Because
S1: what you're tuned into, you're turned into.
S2: That's Tweetable right there, isn't it? What you are tuned into.
S2: You are turned into. You're listening to Treasure Truth with
S2: Pastor Ford. A message called the Inner Me enemy. I
S2: look at James chapter one in today's broadcast. Well, we've
S2: already had a number of broadcasts in the short series,
S2: and if you've missed any of those, you can always
S2: come to our website and catch up. Simply stop by
S2: Treasure Truth Radio and there through your computer or mobile device,
S2: you can stream the program, you can download MP3's, or
S2: you can order copies of this broadcast on CD. Just
S2: simply stop by Treasure Truth radio.org. Well, if you ever
S2: want to find out more about Pastor Ford or you
S2: know you're going to be in the Chicago area and
S2: you'd like to hear him speak live, you can get
S2: all the information you need by coming to our website
S2: and clicking on the about link. Now there's also a
S2: link to the church's website on the bar that says
S2: Stay Connected. That's a great little bar to look for
S2: because in addition to the link to the church's website,
S2: you'll be able to find links to our Facebook page,
S2: our Twitter feed, and a link that will allow you
S2: to download the Moody Radio app. So again, come to
S2: Treasure Truth Radio org and look for that bar that
S2: says Stay Connected. Hey, before we go, just briefly want
S2: to remind you that Treasure Truth is listener supported. That
S2: means we depend on both your prayers and your financial
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S2: you're a regular listener and you're benefiting from Pastor Ford's teaching,
S2: would you give a gift? Simply come to our website,
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S2: says make a donation. We really do need to hear
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S2: thanks for listening today and I hope you'll join us
S2: next time. Treasure truth is a production of Moody Radio,
S2: a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.