WEBVTT - The Privilege of Worship, Part 2 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:04.720 Praise belongs to you. It's fit for you. It's custom 0:00:04.720 --> 0:00:08.039 made for you. It was designed for you. You and 0:00:08.039 --> 0:00:11.159 you are the only one that's worthy of all of 0:00:11.160 --> 0:00:18.079 our praise. Because you, God, let us come into your presence. 0:00:25.040 --> 0:00:28.000 Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford, 0:00:28.000 --> 0:00:30.720 junior senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago. 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:32.599 I'm Steve Hiller. Glad you're with us today. As we 0:00:32.640 --> 0:00:36.600 continue to look at Psalm 65 and the privilege of 0:00:36.600 --> 0:00:40.400 worship and pastor, yesterday, we began to talk about the 0:00:40.400 --> 0:00:44.440 fact that we worship God. We praise him differently than 0:00:44.440 --> 0:00:48.520 we may compliment or encourage someone else because of who 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:51.040 he is. And it sounds like you're saying when we 0:00:51.040 --> 0:00:56.560 understand who God truly is and when we understand who 0:00:56.600 --> 0:01:00.560 we really are, the natural outcome of that is going 0:01:00.560 --> 0:01:01.520 to be praise. 0:01:01.920 --> 0:01:06.160 Amen. Amen. Preach it. Steve. You know, I saw a 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:11.280 popular talk show host. Uh, he had his show at 0:01:11.280 --> 0:01:17.039 the white House when Barack Obama was president. And there 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:20.160 was one interesting part in there where he got a 0:01:20.160 --> 0:01:25.240 little upset because it was his show. But people kept 0:01:25.240 --> 0:01:30.759 coming to President Barack Obama and saying something to him. 0:01:30.880 --> 0:01:33.759 So one little boy came to this talk show host 0:01:33.760 --> 0:01:36.280 and said, how are you doing? Mr.. So and so. 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:39.880 And he said, wow. Finally somebody said something to me. 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:42.919 I wrote it down. I said, what's wrong with him? 0:01:43.400 --> 0:01:48.160 He is in the white House. Yeah. Who cares about 0:01:48.160 --> 0:01:51.640 the person whose show it is? When you're in the 0:01:51.640 --> 0:01:55.720 presence of someone in their house. Yeah. You know, and so, 0:01:55.760 --> 0:01:58.840 I mean, it just relates to what we're talking about here. Sure. 0:01:58.880 --> 0:02:01.520 I mean, we're in his house. or I'm not talking 0:02:01.520 --> 0:02:05.240 about the building that we worship. Psalm 24 one the 0:02:05.240 --> 0:02:08.040 earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof the world, 0:02:08.040 --> 0:02:11.960 and they that dwell therein. Everywhere we are, we are 0:02:11.960 --> 0:02:16.720 in his presence. He is omnipresent, and so we always 0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:20.800 ought to have an attitude of worship wherever we are. 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:23.400 This is our father's world. 0:02:23.480 --> 0:02:26.760 Yeah, absolutely. And, uh, he has created us, as we 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:29.320 were talking about yesterday. You know, he is the one 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:32.400 who has created us. And as sinful as we are, 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:36.000 as you said, he allows us, you know, sinful people 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:38.959 to enter into his holy presence. That's right. When you 0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:42.400 begin to wrap your brain around that and understand what 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:46.400 sin truly did to Jesus, as I said earlier, yeah, 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:48.079 you're just bound to worship him. 0:02:48.080 --> 0:02:51.000 And let me deal very quickly with those of you 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:54.800 who are listening right now. Those of you who said, well, 0:02:54.800 --> 0:02:59.359 I don't feel worthy to worship him. None of us 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:04.390 are right. We don't worship him because we are worthy. 0:03:04.590 --> 0:03:08.669 We worship him because he is worthy. I hope that 0:03:08.669 --> 0:03:12.110 sets you free to worship him no matter what's going 0:03:12.110 --> 0:03:13.190 on in your life. 0:03:13.470 --> 0:03:16.510 Well, join us in Psalm 65 as we continue a 0:03:16.510 --> 0:03:20.710 message entitled The Privilege of Worship. Here is Pastor Ford. 0:03:21.350 --> 0:03:26.390 If we know we owe God worship, then we will 0:03:26.389 --> 0:03:30.510 understand as a privilege. That's our thing. That's our thing. Now, 0:03:30.510 --> 0:03:32.150 the six reasons why I'm only going to give you 0:03:32.150 --> 0:03:39.710 one today. That's all. Just one. Amen. Amen. I thought 0:03:39.710 --> 0:03:41.710 I could at least try to get a amen on 0:03:41.710 --> 0:03:43.910 something like that. I got six points. I'm only going 0:03:43.910 --> 0:03:46.550 to do one, but everybody know it's going to be 0:03:46.550 --> 0:03:55.070 a long one point. Hey, do you know, because we 0:03:55.270 --> 0:04:00.990 have a God who embraces us, we know we owe oh, God, 0:04:00.990 --> 0:04:04.830 we know worship is a privilege because verse one, we 0:04:04.830 --> 0:04:08.790 can come into his presence. Oh, you making light of that? 0:04:08.790 --> 0:04:11.230 Listen to what he says. Praise waiteth for thee, oh 0:04:11.230 --> 0:04:15.190 God in Zion, and unto thee shall the vow be performed. 0:04:15.190 --> 0:04:18.229 What's he talking about here? Yeah, he's saying, listen. Praise 0:04:18.670 --> 0:04:22.349 belongs to you. It's fit for you. It's custom made 0:04:22.350 --> 0:04:25.710 for you. It was designed for you. You. And you 0:04:25.710 --> 0:04:29.430 are the only one that's worthy of all of our praise. 0:04:29.589 --> 0:04:38.109 Because you, God, let us come into your presence. You know, 0:04:38.110 --> 0:04:40.950 sometimes what I do is, uh, I will go places 0:04:40.950 --> 0:04:43.510 and I'll say to people, I say, uh, I'm glad 0:04:43.510 --> 0:04:46.790 to be your guest speaker. And, uh, you know, like 0:04:46.790 --> 0:04:49.310 Janet Jackson told her last husband, don't worry. I ain't 0:04:49.310 --> 0:04:52.230 going to keep you long. And then I'll say, but, 0:04:52.230 --> 0:04:57.550 you know, if you really knew me who it is 0:04:57.550 --> 0:05:00.469 that's speaking to you, you wouldn't have let me come 0:05:00.589 --> 0:05:06.349 up in here. But if I knew who I was 0:05:06.350 --> 0:05:12.230 speaking to, I wouldn't have came up in here either. Now, listen. 0:05:12.230 --> 0:05:14.469 And this is what I will share with them. We 0:05:16.150 --> 0:05:22.910 even look at it sometimes with ourselves and say, that 0:05:22.910 --> 0:05:26.390 person ain't worthy to come into my circle, or I 0:05:26.390 --> 0:05:29.910 ain't worthy to go in that person's circle. But yet 0:05:29.910 --> 0:05:33.630 we have a God where none of us are worthy, 0:05:33.950 --> 0:05:37.830 that invites us to come into his presence. Man, that 0:05:37.830 --> 0:05:42.870 is powerful stuff that the God of the universe is 0:05:42.870 --> 0:05:45.750 inviting us into. See, y'all don't understand that you don't 0:05:45.750 --> 0:05:47.830 get the impress of that. But notice what he says. 0:05:47.830 --> 0:05:51.270 That's why it's only one point, because he says that 0:05:51.270 --> 0:05:56.710 this is an invitation to his person, to his place, 0:05:56.830 --> 0:06:01.110 and to his praise. Yeah, it's his person, his place 0:06:01.110 --> 0:06:03.910 and his praise. Now notice this. Notice what he says. 0:06:04.029 --> 0:06:06.710 He says praise waited for thee. What's he talking about? 0:06:06.710 --> 0:06:08.830 And we're going to emphasize this a little more when 0:06:08.830 --> 0:06:11.910 we leave. In other words, they're all gathered together and 0:06:11.910 --> 0:06:14.950 they're waiting for the manifested presence of God. Because whenever 0:06:14.950 --> 0:06:18.270 God shows up to a worship service, uh, things begin 0:06:18.270 --> 0:06:20.430 to happen. He dwells in the midst of the praises 0:06:20.430 --> 0:06:23.270 of his people. Which means then if you ain't praising, 0:06:23.270 --> 0:06:26.030 he ain't coming. So they said, we owe you praise. 0:06:26.029 --> 0:06:28.190 So guess what? We ain't going to start til you 0:06:28.190 --> 0:06:30.589 show up. And so that's why you have a call 0:06:30.630 --> 0:06:33.190 to worship and an invocation. The call to worship is 0:06:33.190 --> 0:06:35.510 say you get rid of everything you're getting ready to do. 0:06:35.550 --> 0:06:38.589 Straighten up your face. Look like you glad to be here. 0:06:38.630 --> 0:06:41.830 Quit texting. Quit. Quit doing this. Quit doing because God 0:06:41.830 --> 0:06:44.910 is about to show up now. God, we invoke your presence. 0:06:44.910 --> 0:06:47.549 Would you show up and show out? We got ready. 0:06:47.550 --> 0:06:50.630 Now here comes God. And when God comes, he begins 0:06:50.630 --> 0:06:53.029 to show out. And he says, I'll let you come 0:06:53.029 --> 0:06:58.390 into my presence. And I'm telling you, it's powerful. Now 0:06:58.390 --> 0:07:00.430 I want you to notice it's based, first of all, 0:07:00.550 --> 0:07:03.190 on his person. Get this. This thing is just getting 0:07:03.190 --> 0:07:08.070 me today. Praise Waiteth for thee, O God. There's this person. Now, 0:07:08.070 --> 0:07:10.910 what does he do here? Get this, get this. Here's 0:07:10.910 --> 0:07:14.870 what he says. You can come into my presence based 0:07:14.870 --> 0:07:20.750 on my person, based on two things. Passion for my 0:07:20.750 --> 0:07:26.350 person and power from my person. Wait a minute. Get this, 0:07:26.350 --> 0:07:30.430 get this. Why couldn't he have said praise Waiteth for thee, 0:07:30.430 --> 0:07:34.230 O God, in Zion? Why say, oh, Imma tell you why? 0:07:34.270 --> 0:07:38.870 Because he wants God to know. We have passion for 0:07:39.110 --> 0:07:43.870 your person. We're passionate about you. We're passionate about you. 0:07:43.870 --> 0:07:48.390 Oh God, we're passionate, we're passionate, we're passionate about you. 0:07:48.470 --> 0:07:51.190 In other words, what's O for? O is the O 0:07:51.230 --> 0:07:55.150 of excitement. O is the O of exuberance. O is 0:07:55.150 --> 0:07:58.550 the O of enthusiasm. O is the O where? I'm 0:07:58.550 --> 0:08:01.190 so glad that I get a chance to come to 0:08:01.190 --> 0:08:04.989 worship God. That I ain't going to leave without praising him. 0:08:05.030 --> 0:08:17.110 I'm not going to leave without saying thank you. Passion. Okay. 0:08:17.470 --> 0:08:20.310 You know, we have a phrase chasing Jason. Uh, I 0:08:20.310 --> 0:08:22.270 don't know. They probably don't say it now because they 0:08:22.270 --> 0:08:24.630 didn't change. That was. That's old. But remember what it meant. 0:08:25.150 --> 0:08:29.870 It meant you were chasing your first high that you 0:08:29.910 --> 0:08:34.470 got when you shot heroin. Or when you snorted coke 0:08:34.670 --> 0:08:37.750 that first time. Uh, look, some of y'all, some of 0:08:37.750 --> 0:08:46.470 y'all know everybody looking so innocent. What's he talking about? Coke. 0:08:46.510 --> 0:08:51.310 He talking about a Coke and a smile. No. You 0:08:51.350 --> 0:08:53.750 got that? Bruises right around your nose. You know what 0:08:53.750 --> 0:08:58.750 I'm talking about. And they call it chasing Jason. Let 0:08:58.750 --> 0:09:02.860 me tell you why. Because the first time you do it, 0:09:03.620 --> 0:09:07.660 it is so powerful that every other time you do 0:09:07.660 --> 0:09:11.220 it is less. You are never able to get that 0:09:11.220 --> 0:09:15.500 first high, but everybody's chasing that first high. And here's 0:09:15.500 --> 0:09:20.940 what the songwriter says. Oh, I'm not chasing Jason. But 0:09:20.940 --> 0:09:24.220 I do know there's no high like the Most High. 0:09:28.860 --> 0:09:32.420 Come based on this person. Now check this out. When 0:09:32.420 --> 0:09:34.939 I first came, there was a brother here. He's casket clean. 0:09:35.460 --> 0:09:38.339 His name is Major Matthew. He's a pastor now. And man, 0:09:38.340 --> 0:09:40.380 this boy is cleaning the Board of Health. And so 0:09:40.380 --> 0:09:43.819 I said to him, I said, man, uh, man, I 0:09:44.059 --> 0:09:46.740 love those pocket squares. I've never seen them like that. 0:09:46.740 --> 0:09:49.820 And he said, oh, I get em made. My Korean tailor, 0:09:49.820 --> 0:09:53.699 he makes them along with my shirts and and my ties. 0:09:55.059 --> 0:09:59.620 I said, man, look, I said, you get your shirts tailored. 0:09:59.820 --> 0:10:02.260 He said, yeah, where do you get yours? I said, 0:10:02.300 --> 0:10:07.300 I get mine from the Salvation Army. That's it, that's it. Hey, 0:10:07.340 --> 0:10:08.980 ain't no shame in my game. You know what I 0:10:08.980 --> 0:10:11.620 used to do? I wouldn't go to Salvation Army in 0:10:11.620 --> 0:10:16.100 the hood. I'd go to the suburbs. Yeah, I go 0:10:16.100 --> 0:10:19.140 to suburbs, baby. And do some shopping in the second 0:10:19.179 --> 0:10:21.020 hand store in the sun. And I come in and 0:10:21.020 --> 0:10:23.699 people say, oh, that's a tailor made. One time I 0:10:23.700 --> 0:10:27.220 got about six shirts and they were monogrammed. They were. 0:10:27.220 --> 0:10:31.140 They were Egyptian cotton. And the first Egyptian cotton shirts 0:10:31.140 --> 0:10:32.900 I ever had. I got all six of them because 0:10:32.900 --> 0:10:35.460 they was the only ones in my size, because I 0:10:35.460 --> 0:10:39.620 was wearing a 22 then. And I got those shirts. 0:10:39.660 --> 0:10:41.940 I got those shirts to the Jones. But the only 0:10:41.940 --> 0:10:47.220 problem was they were monogrammed. D and I remember the 0:10:47.220 --> 0:10:49.579 first time I come in and everybody said, wait a minute, 0:10:49.580 --> 0:10:54.540 Pastor Ford, they're dead. And I said, yeah, I said, 0:10:54.540 --> 0:10:57.820 d d eternally mine. 0:11:04.780 --> 0:11:07.900 Are you listening to, Pastor Ford? And if you've been 0:11:07.900 --> 0:11:10.020 listening to this radio program for any length of time, 0:11:10.020 --> 0:11:12.939 that probably doesn't surprise you too much, does it? You're 0:11:12.940 --> 0:11:15.620 listening to a message called The Privilege of Worship. Really 0:11:15.620 --> 0:11:19.020 a look at Psalm 65 and spending a little time 0:11:19.020 --> 0:11:21.340 in Psalm 116 today as well. We're going to get 0:11:21.340 --> 0:11:23.500 back to this teaching in just a moment. But if 0:11:23.500 --> 0:11:26.660 you happen to miss any of the broadcasts in the series, 0:11:26.660 --> 0:11:29.340 you can come to our website, listen online, you can 0:11:29.340 --> 0:11:32.500 download MP3's, you can stream the program or order copies 0:11:32.500 --> 0:11:37.580 on CD. The website is Treasure Truth radio.org. Well, again, 0:11:37.580 --> 0:11:40.420 let's get back to the message. Here is Pastor Ford. 0:11:41.179 --> 0:11:44.620 Yeah, yeah. But yeah, he had a monogram. And so 0:11:44.620 --> 0:11:46.780 I said, man, I'd like some of them. So he said, 0:11:46.780 --> 0:11:49.460 you know what I'll do? I'll take you to my 0:11:49.460 --> 0:11:52.420 Korean tailor. Come on, let's go. Monday. Then we get 0:11:52.420 --> 0:11:54.500 something to eat. So we went and we went to 0:11:54.540 --> 0:11:57.699 the Korean tailor. And he had he spoke English. That 0:11:57.700 --> 0:12:02.580 was sprinkled with the Korean accent. He said, ah, major. 0:12:02.780 --> 0:12:07.380 How are you? Major Matthews and Major? Everybody know how 0:12:07.380 --> 0:12:09.540 he is. If you don't know him, you. He don't 0:12:09.540 --> 0:12:13.020 mean no harm. But he said, oh, I'm fine. How 0:12:13.020 --> 0:12:16.980 are you? And I'm looking. I'm saying he say, no, no, pastor. 0:12:16.980 --> 0:12:18.540 He said we we talk like this all the time. 0:12:18.580 --> 0:12:21.220 You know, he liked me to relate to him, you know. 0:12:21.220 --> 0:12:24.020 And so he said, this is my pastor, Pastor Ford. 0:12:24.020 --> 0:12:26.540 He said, hey, Pastor Ford, I said, I'm doing fine. 0:12:26.540 --> 0:12:30.260 How are you? And, uh, he said, uh, I want 0:12:30.260 --> 0:12:33.660 you to make him some pocket squares. He wants four. And, uh, 0:12:33.700 --> 0:12:36.380 he looked at major. Ah, major, he said, would you 0:12:36.380 --> 0:12:38.820 do it for my pastor? He said, okay. So he 0:12:38.820 --> 0:12:40.939 told me what to give him as a down payment. 0:12:40.940 --> 0:12:43.300 Come back four days later and they'll be done. I 0:12:43.300 --> 0:12:47.059 came back, I walked in, he said, ah, Major Matthews. 0:12:47.820 --> 0:12:51.579 And I said to myself, no, pastor James Ford Junior, 0:12:51.860 --> 0:12:55.180 I ain't Major Matthews. I'm way better looking than him. 0:12:57.100 --> 0:12:58.819 So I got the pocket squares. I paid for them. 0:12:58.820 --> 0:13:00.660 They were really nice. I nice. I said, oh man, 0:13:00.660 --> 0:13:03.060 I'm going back and get some more. They said, go ahead. 0:13:03.059 --> 0:13:06.059 So I went back. I walked in, he said, Major Matthews, 0:13:06.460 --> 0:13:09.820 and I said, I'm Pastor Ford. So I ordered four more. 0:13:10.059 --> 0:13:12.740 So when I came back to pay the bill, he said, oh, 0:13:12.860 --> 0:13:15.699 Major Matthews. I said, excuse me, sir, I don't mean 0:13:15.700 --> 0:13:18.620 any harm, but why do you keep calling me Major Matthews? 0:13:18.620 --> 0:13:22.420 I sign the receipts. Pastor James Ford, junior. So my 0:13:22.420 --> 0:13:24.620 name is Pastor James Ford. He said wait wait wait 0:13:24.620 --> 0:13:29.979 wait wait wait. No no no. See this big job? 0:13:30.740 --> 0:13:37.140 Long time, very little money. So every time you want 0:13:37.140 --> 0:13:38.860 them done. I don't do this for no one else. 0:13:38.860 --> 0:13:40.819 I don't do this for no one else. Only for 0:13:40.860 --> 0:13:45.700 Major Matthews. And so, since I know getting very little 0:13:45.700 --> 0:13:48.980 money when you come in, I have to say to myself, 0:13:49.340 --> 0:13:54.460 Major Matthews, major Matthews, I do this for Major Matthews. 0:13:54.740 --> 0:13:59.140 Too much work, too much time, too little money. Major 0:13:59.140 --> 0:14:03.020 Matthews I came to tell somebody today. You get the 0:14:03.020 --> 0:14:06.980 privilege of coming into the presence of God, and you 0:14:06.980 --> 0:14:11.140 don't have what it takes to come. But every time 0:14:11.340 --> 0:14:16.819 he sees Jesus, you can come into his presence. Here's 0:14:16.820 --> 0:14:19.900 what the writer of the book of Hebrews said. He said, 0:14:20.260 --> 0:14:22.980 we have not a high priest who cannot be touched 0:14:22.980 --> 0:14:26.260 with the feeling of our infirmities. But in all points 0:14:26.260 --> 0:14:30.820 was tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, 0:14:31.060 --> 0:14:38.260 because we have Major Matthews as our salvation, Jesus Christ, 0:14:38.620 --> 0:14:42.340 come boldly to the throne of grace, that you may 0:14:42.340 --> 0:14:47.780 find mercy and grace to help in time of need. 0:14:47.940 --> 0:14:51.380 You can walk up into the Holy of Holies. You 0:14:51.380 --> 0:14:55.220 can walk up into the presence of Jesus that you 0:14:55.220 --> 0:14:59.700 don't need a pastor and you don't need an elder. 0:15:00.370 --> 0:15:14.410 All you got to do is come into his presence. Now, look, 0:15:14.890 --> 0:15:17.690 he doesn't stop there. No. He says, yeah, we get 0:15:17.690 --> 0:15:20.890 to come into his presence. But but listen, he says 0:15:20.890 --> 0:15:26.650 secondly that we not only have come into his presence, 0:15:26.650 --> 0:15:29.010 we have the privilege of his person. We have the 0:15:29.010 --> 0:15:33.330 privilege of his place. Look at what it says. Oh, Zion. Uh. 0:15:33.330 --> 0:15:36.650 Praise waited for thee, O God, in Zion. Now everybody 0:15:36.650 --> 0:15:41.530 knows what Zion is. What's Zion? Jerusalem. The city of God. Yeah, 0:15:41.530 --> 0:15:43.610 the city of God. In other words, go through the 0:15:43.610 --> 0:15:46.890 Bible and you will see. Jerusalem is the city that 0:15:46.890 --> 0:15:52.410 God has chosen for his manifest presence. Uh, so Jerusalem 0:15:52.410 --> 0:15:55.330 is the center of the world? As a matter of fact, 0:15:55.330 --> 0:15:59.450 when we were there two years ago, I tell you, 0:15:59.530 --> 0:16:01.610 I broke out in goosebumps. And every time I talk 0:16:01.650 --> 0:16:05.090 about it, I break out in goosebumps because we walked 0:16:05.130 --> 0:16:07.610 up to Jerusalem. Because anytime you go to Jerusalem, you 0:16:07.610 --> 0:16:10.570 gotta walk up. And when every time you leave Jerusalem, 0:16:10.570 --> 0:16:13.570 you gotta go down. Yeah. And that's why God did 0:16:13.570 --> 0:16:15.970 it that way. Because he wanted you to know, anytime 0:16:15.970 --> 0:16:18.250 you come to the city of God, you're going up. 0:16:18.530 --> 0:16:21.890 And anytime you leave it, you're going down. And so 0:16:21.890 --> 0:16:24.930 I went there and I went to places where Jesus 0:16:24.930 --> 0:16:27.970 was in the city of Zion. When I went to 0:16:27.970 --> 0:16:30.690 the Garden of Gethsemane, uh, we sat down, just the 0:16:30.690 --> 0:16:34.369 four of us, and had communion, and there were tears, 0:16:34.410 --> 0:16:37.730 and we were crying because we're in the very garden 0:16:37.730 --> 0:16:41.490 where Jesus shed, as it were, drops of blood as 0:16:41.490 --> 0:16:45.130 he prepared to go in to suffer and die for us, 0:16:45.130 --> 0:16:48.730 but didn't want to go in his humanity, but then said, 0:16:48.730 --> 0:16:51.770 come on, let's be going. Could you not watch with 0:16:51.770 --> 0:16:55.090 me for one hour and got up and died on Calvary? 0:16:55.090 --> 0:16:57.650 And then when I went into the tomb. And guess what? 0:16:57.650 --> 0:17:00.530 You can't walk up in the tomb. You got to 0:17:00.530 --> 0:17:04.530 bow down to get in the tomb. Yeah. And so 0:17:04.570 --> 0:17:08.010 I bowed down and went in the tomb. I couldn't 0:17:08.050 --> 0:17:10.130 take it. I had to come out of there. I 0:17:10.130 --> 0:17:12.690 just was crying so profusely. I had to come out. 0:17:12.690 --> 0:17:16.369 I couldn't stay in. Oh, he lay here. He lay. 0:17:16.410 --> 0:17:19.570 And looking at that slab. He lay here, my lord, 0:17:19.570 --> 0:17:24.609 and then went to Jordan and got baptized and, uh, pastor, pastor, uh, 0:17:24.609 --> 0:17:27.449 Hickman baptized me and I baptized him. And then, uh, 0:17:27.450 --> 0:17:30.650 Pastor Marty baptized deacon Mark Ingram, and deacon Mark Ingram 0:17:30.650 --> 0:17:33.209 baptized him. And there were about 25 places where you 0:17:33.210 --> 0:17:36.850 could be baptized in Jordan. When I came out, I said, fellas, 0:17:37.210 --> 0:17:39.930 the Holy Ghost just gave me a revelation. They said, 0:17:39.930 --> 0:17:43.649 what's that? All those people there, they should have waited 0:17:43.650 --> 0:17:46.330 to get to this spot, because the Holy Spirit told 0:17:46.330 --> 0:17:53.770 me this is exactly where Jesus got baptized. But you 0:17:53.770 --> 0:17:56.410 get the idea. If you ever get a chance to go, 0:17:56.450 --> 0:17:59.290 oh please go. I know you want to go to Hawaii, but. Oh, 0:17:59.290 --> 0:18:01.409 if you can go to Israel, go to Israel. I 0:18:01.410 --> 0:18:03.010 know you want to go to Jamaica and the Bahamas, 0:18:03.010 --> 0:18:06.609 but if you get a chance, you will never forget it. 0:18:08.130 --> 0:18:11.850 Standing on the Mount of Olives, looking out upon the 0:18:11.850 --> 0:18:16.010 whole city of Jerusalem, having our guide say, as we 0:18:16.010 --> 0:18:19.370 look from left to right, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that 0:18:19.369 --> 0:18:22.290 has slain the prophets, how I would have gathered thee 0:18:22.330 --> 0:18:25.490 like a chicken gathers her hens. But you would not. 0:18:25.490 --> 0:18:27.889 And he began to cry. And as we were watching, 0:18:27.890 --> 0:18:30.010 and he made us move from left to right and 0:18:30.010 --> 0:18:32.650 right to left, we just sitting up there for big 0:18:32.650 --> 0:18:41.530 old African American guys just sobbing like babies. Oh. Yeah. 0:18:42.170 --> 0:18:45.330 What a place, what a place. You know, we don't 0:18:45.330 --> 0:18:49.090 have that now. We don't have Zion here, but we 0:18:49.090 --> 0:18:51.970 do have a place now. We know that we're saints 0:18:51.970 --> 0:18:54.290 and that we're the church. But you know what this 0:18:54.290 --> 0:18:57.810 building is? This building is the embassy of heaven. And 0:18:57.810 --> 0:19:01.050 we are ambassadors of Jesus Christ. This place is not 0:19:01.050 --> 0:19:03.490 our home. So every time we come here, we are 0:19:03.490 --> 0:19:07.210 on home soil. When we walk out and step on 0:19:07.210 --> 0:19:10.530 that sidewalk, we're on foreign soil because we are pilgrims 0:19:10.530 --> 0:19:17.650 and strangers in this earth. And so it's a privilege 0:19:17.650 --> 0:19:20.970 to be able to come into this place. How many 0:19:20.970 --> 0:19:25.250 know that? Well, at least as many of you didn't 0:19:25.250 --> 0:19:31.530 lie as the people at the 8:00 service lied, because, no, 0:19:31.530 --> 0:19:34.770 you don't. There's a whole lot of us that don't. 0:19:34.810 --> 0:19:40.130 We've got too many schmoes. S o how many? Remember 0:19:40.170 --> 0:19:46.090 what that means? Schmo. Go ahead. What does it mean? 0:19:47.810 --> 0:19:52.970 Sunday morning. Okay. You say, what are you talking about? 0:19:53.330 --> 0:19:56.129 I did this probably about ten years ago. I updated them. 0:19:56.130 --> 0:20:00.729 Let me give you Christ's Bible. Church stats. That's to 0:20:00.730 --> 0:20:04.010 tell you how we love this place. 25% of our 0:20:04.010 --> 0:20:07.850 congregation only come one Sunday a month. That's first Sunday 0:20:09.210 --> 0:20:12.170 when Hebrews 1025 is a command that says, forsake not 0:20:12.170 --> 0:20:14.929 the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some 0:20:14.930 --> 0:20:17.209 is exhorting one another so much the more as you 0:20:17.210 --> 0:20:19.730 see the day approaching. Yeah, you see the day of 0:20:19.730 --> 0:20:25.850 Christ coming. Amen. You should go to church more, not less. Yeah. 69% 0:20:25.850 --> 0:20:28.450 don't come to Bible study, even though the Bible says 0:20:28.450 --> 0:20:32.370 in acts chapter 241 and 42, they continue steadfastly in 0:20:32.369 --> 0:20:37.609 the apostles doctrine and fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayers. 72% 0:20:37.609 --> 0:20:39.970 of our people don't give at least 10% of their 0:20:39.970 --> 0:20:43.170 income to God as a whole. We average 2%. The 0:20:43.170 --> 0:20:46.890 world averages for, well, we average 2.5%. And the world 0:20:47.369 --> 0:20:51.889 gives to their charities 4.5%, which means then unbelievers give 0:20:51.930 --> 0:20:55.250 about two times as much as believers give, and we 0:20:55.250 --> 0:20:57.369 say we're going to heaven and say they're going to hell. 0:20:57.410 --> 0:21:01.760 Yet they're more concerned about what's going to happen on 0:21:01.760 --> 0:21:05.080 this earth in an earthly existence with no hope of heaven. 0:21:05.080 --> 0:21:07.600 And it's not a cash issue. It's a commitment issue. 0:21:07.720 --> 0:21:10.520 You know what? Some of us spend more money going 0:21:10.560 --> 0:21:13.480 to the movies than we do giving to God. Some 0:21:13.480 --> 0:21:16.880 people spend more money on getting their lottery tickets than 0:21:16.880 --> 0:21:20.360 they give to God. Listen, most of you now don't 0:21:20.359 --> 0:21:22.639 look around at your neighbor. I'm talking to your neighbor, 0:21:22.640 --> 0:21:25.800 not you. Most of you would have more to give 0:21:25.800 --> 0:21:28.000 to God if you would give God some of your 0:21:28.000 --> 0:21:31.480 beer money. If you give God some of your wine money, 0:21:31.480 --> 0:21:34.000 if you give God some of your reefer money, if 0:21:34.000 --> 0:21:38.480 you would spend on God what you spend to go 0:21:38.480 --> 0:21:44.520 to a show, 65% aren't involved in any ministry within 0:21:44.520 --> 0:21:46.760 the church. They're not using their gifts for the body. 0:21:46.760 --> 0:21:51.800 According to First Corinthians 12, 89% don't come to corporate 0:21:51.800 --> 0:21:56.560 prayer Wednesday or Saturday. It's a sad state of affairs, 0:21:56.560 --> 0:21:59.080 but yet we all say we love Jesus. 0:22:01.600 --> 0:22:05.119 Well, those are really sobering stats, aren't they? You're listening 0:22:05.160 --> 0:22:08.640 to Treasure Truth with Pastor Ford. A message called The 0:22:08.640 --> 0:22:12.040 Privilege of Worship. You know, here at Treasure Truth, we're 0:22:12.040 --> 0:22:14.560 not a substitute for your local church. In fact, we 0:22:14.600 --> 0:22:17.280 hope that the teaching you hear from Pastor Ford helps 0:22:17.280 --> 0:22:20.040 to equip you to become more involved in your church 0:22:20.160 --> 0:22:23.480 and then help you disciple and invest in other believers. 0:22:24.160 --> 0:22:26.959 As a listener supported ministry, we really do rely on 0:22:26.960 --> 0:22:28.960 the generous gifts of people like you who believe in 0:22:28.960 --> 0:22:32.199 our mission, who understand the importance of Christian radio and 0:22:32.200 --> 0:22:35.240 want to see this program continue. So you can give 0:22:35.240 --> 0:22:40.640 your support when you call us at 888644 7660 or 0:22:40.640 --> 0:22:44.680 come to our website, Treasure Truth radio.org. You can also 0:22:44.680 --> 0:22:46.639 write and send a check in the mail. Our address 0:22:46.640 --> 0:22:52.880 is Treasure Truth, 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten. 0:22:53.440 --> 0:22:55.680 When you give a donation today, we're going to send 0:22:55.680 --> 0:22:58.479 you a book by Pastor Ford called Seven Reasons Why 0:22:58.520 --> 0:23:02.120 God created marriage. Whether marriage is still on the horizon 0:23:02.119 --> 0:23:04.240 in front of you, or you're looking back at your 0:23:04.240 --> 0:23:06.760 wedding day in the rear view mirror, God's Word is 0:23:06.760 --> 0:23:10.359 something important to say about marriage. Our culture is inundated 0:23:10.359 --> 0:23:13.719 with negative messages about marriage. Whether it's the high divorce 0:23:13.720 --> 0:23:16.280 rate or the increasing number of people who are living 0:23:16.320 --> 0:23:20.440 together instead of getting married, this book gives a biblical response. 0:23:20.880 --> 0:23:24.080 So give a donation and request seven reasons why God 0:23:24.080 --> 0:23:30.640 created marriage. Call us at 888644 7660 or go online 0:23:30.640 --> 0:23:34.920 to Treasure Truth Radio.com. And thanks in advance for partnering 0:23:34.920 --> 0:23:37.800 with us as we share the gospel here on your station. 0:23:38.720 --> 0:23:41.280 I'm Steve Hiller, our producer is Amy Rios. Join us 0:23:41.320 --> 0:23:44.320 again next time for more Bible teaching from Pastor Ford 0:23:44.480 --> 0:23:48.640 here on Treasured Truth. A production of Moody Radio, a 0:23:48.640 --> 0:23:50.879 ministry of Moody Bible Institute.