WEBVTT - How Haters Hate, Part 2 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.680 You can better evaluate whether your focus is on God 0:00:03.680 --> 0:00:06.319 or whether it's on you. So when you get the criticism, 0:00:06.320 --> 0:00:09.039 if God gave it to you, why are you offended 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:12.600 that somebody is criticizing what God told you to do? 0:00:18.880 --> 0:00:21.720 You're listening to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:25.040 Ford Jr, senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago. 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:28.160 I'm Steve Hiller. Glad you're with us today. We're continuing 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:30.800 our look at Nehemiah chapter two in a message called 0:00:30.960 --> 0:00:34.800 How Haters Hate. And pastor, I think that's such an 0:00:34.800 --> 0:00:38.159 important truth that you just brought out there a moment ago. 0:00:38.520 --> 0:00:41.440 You know, when we have our own plans and agenda 0:00:41.440 --> 0:00:45.560 and somebody criticizes us, it's very easy to take that personally. 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:48.280 But man, if our direction and vision is coming from 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:51.559 the Lord, if they're criticizing what happened, they're actually it's 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:52.640 like they're criticizing him. 0:00:52.680 --> 0:00:55.320 And that's exactly what they're doing. You know, if you 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:59.320 look in the Old Testament, you'll find that they murmured 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:03.760 against Moses. Then my question is why does it say 0:01:03.800 --> 0:01:08.039 and the people rebelled against the Lord because Moses was 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:12.000 just his mouthpiece? Sure. You know. And so here, now 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:16.400 he is the agent. But God is the source. And 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:20.320 this is really liberated me in my ministry. You know, 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:23.520 I've been pastoring for 35 years, and I've gone through 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:29.080 some changes. Um, because, you know, God's people sometimes can 0:01:29.080 --> 0:01:33.000 put you through changes. And one of the things I've 0:01:33.000 --> 0:01:38.400 done is evaluate criticism. Uh, quote unquote, my haters, in 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:41.320 light of what God has called me to do when 0:01:41.319 --> 0:01:46.160 it's outside of that purview, my evaluation is greater. But 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:49.000 when I'm doing something that God has told me to do, 0:01:49.440 --> 0:01:51.720 I'm telling you it's like water off a duck's back. 0:01:51.880 --> 0:01:53.920 I'm not going to back up, let up, give up 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:56.920 or shut up, because this is what he called me 0:01:56.920 --> 0:01:59.640 to do. Yeah. You got to be confident in that. 0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:04.360 Well, and that's so important for us to then understand 0:02:04.360 --> 0:02:07.480 and totally know what God has called us to do. 0:02:07.520 --> 0:02:10.360 Have there been times where maybe that criticism has caused 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:13.480 you to second guess whether God has actually called you 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:14.440 to do that certain thing? 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:18.240 Oh, yes. Until I evaluate it and I usually evaluate 0:02:18.240 --> 0:02:22.040 it in, you know, reevaluate my motives and all those 0:02:22.040 --> 0:02:26.040 kinds of things, I go through a litany of, you know, 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:29.280 how God speaks to us. And when I'm confirmed in it, then, 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:32.880 then I move on. I ask God to remove my doubts. 0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:34.600 And here's the thing, Steve. I'm going to tell you 0:02:34.600 --> 0:02:37.639 the truth that generally what I try to do is 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:41.560 make sure before I even start, because Romans 14, Romans 0:02:41.560 --> 0:02:45.359 15 says, whatsoever is not of faith is sin. So 0:02:45.360 --> 0:02:49.400 my motto is when in doubt, don't. So generally, if 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:52.600 there's any doubt about whether God wants me to do this, 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:56.960 I wait until I'm assured that it's him. Now, sometimes 0:02:56.960 --> 0:02:59.200 it turns out to be the anchovies that was on 0:02:59.200 --> 0:02:59.800 the pizza. 0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:00.440 Right, right. 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:00.989 You Yeah. 0:03:01.030 --> 0:03:01.350 But. 0:03:01.750 --> 0:03:02.950 Uh, that's what I try to do. 0:03:02.990 --> 0:03:05.070 Yeah, I like that answer. Well, if you can open 0:03:05.070 --> 0:03:07.750 your Bible, join us in Nehemiah chapter two as we 0:03:07.790 --> 0:03:11.429 continue the message how haters hate. Here is Pastor Ford. 0:03:12.310 --> 0:03:15.870 You can better evaluate whether your focus is on God 0:03:15.870 --> 0:03:18.510 or whether it's on you. So when you get the criticism, 0:03:19.310 --> 0:03:22.310 if God gave it to you, why are you offended 0:03:22.310 --> 0:03:26.710 that somebody is criticizing what God told you to do? Alright, 0:03:27.310 --> 0:03:30.270 you gotta be like Hezekiah. Spread it before the Lord. 0:03:30.310 --> 0:03:34.630 See what they saying about you? Right. Number five you 0:03:34.630 --> 0:03:38.750 get to see a different perspective. You don't always see everything. 0:03:38.790 --> 0:03:41.750 And sometimes a critic will help you see something that 0:03:41.750 --> 0:03:46.710 will avoid you from crashing later on. Number six, you'll 0:03:46.710 --> 0:03:49.590 be better prepared. I remember in the early years of ministry, 0:03:49.590 --> 0:03:51.630 I go in because I'm a person of vision. My 0:03:51.630 --> 0:03:54.869 my administration tell you once I did something, a couple weeks, 0:03:54.870 --> 0:03:56.870 I'm ready to go. I'm ready to do something else. 0:03:57.670 --> 0:03:59.550 And so that's that's kind of like a fault. 0:03:59.550 --> 0:04:00.030 Of mine, you know. 0:04:00.030 --> 0:04:02.030 I'm ready to move on. Some of you know, you 0:04:02.030 --> 0:04:04.750 started the ministry. I worked with you until I thought 0:04:04.750 --> 0:04:06.750 you got it. Then you don't hear from me anymore. 0:04:06.790 --> 0:04:08.510 It ain't that I don't care. I got too many 0:04:08.510 --> 0:04:12.110 other things to do. But then I start coming in. 0:04:12.110 --> 0:04:16.070 How do I come in? Now I have pages. This 0:04:16.070 --> 0:04:17.870 is what we're going to do. This is the pole. 0:04:17.910 --> 0:04:19.750 This is the negative. This is the con. This. And 0:04:19.750 --> 0:04:29.630 then I have a OG in f s category. What's that, 0:04:29.630 --> 0:04:35.270 Pastor Ford? Only God knows for sure. Better prepared. Why? 0:04:35.310 --> 0:04:39.630 Because of criticism. Uh, number seven. It makes you hungry 0:04:39.630 --> 0:04:41.550 for heaven. Man, I'm so tired of this. I pull 0:04:41.550 --> 0:04:44.229 my hair out if I had some. But since I 0:04:44.230 --> 0:04:47.229 don't have any. Oh, I can't wait until Jesus give 0:04:47.230 --> 0:04:49.190 the shout and we'll be gone. And I don't have 0:04:49.190 --> 0:04:53.950 to pastor anymore. I know you say that about your children. Yeah. 0:04:54.470 --> 0:04:58.190 Number eight, you learn to surrender to the righteous judge 0:04:58.350 --> 0:05:02.990 because you don't always know what is positive and negative criticism, 0:05:02.990 --> 0:05:06.349 because some of the things that they're saying negative about 0:05:06.350 --> 0:05:10.030 you are true. And so you lay it up before God. 0:05:10.029 --> 0:05:14.229 Is this true about me? Now we can deny them. 0:05:14.470 --> 0:05:17.070 He ain't going to let us deny him. Oh, you 0:05:17.070 --> 0:05:19.310 ask me. Let me show you who you really are. 0:05:19.630 --> 0:05:23.590 And sometimes. Isn't it surprising you really didn't know you 0:05:23.589 --> 0:05:27.469 were that way? I must be putting the oil to 0:05:27.470 --> 0:05:33.110 the squeak because it mighty quiet in here. Mhm. So. Yeah. 0:05:33.150 --> 0:05:37.230 Number nine, you get to reevaluate your motives for doing 0:05:37.230 --> 0:05:39.790 what you are trying to do. In other words, now 0:05:40.029 --> 0:05:42.950 why am I really trying to do this. Uh, then. Okay. 0:05:43.150 --> 0:05:45.950 You know, they can attribute motives to me all they want. 0:05:45.990 --> 0:05:48.550 Like when somebody told me, you building this for your 0:05:48.550 --> 0:05:51.670 own personal aggrandizement. No, I'm building this because the Lord 0:05:51.710 --> 0:05:53.590 told me. Because he's getting ready to have to go 0:05:53.589 --> 0:05:57.190 to for services. And. And they're just already killing the preacher. 0:05:57.190 --> 0:05:59.870 And and we needed more room because we could have 0:05:59.870 --> 0:06:02.470 had one service. Don't say it. Don't send me any 0:06:02.470 --> 0:06:06.469 cards on it. I know we can still have one service. 0:06:06.470 --> 0:06:11.070 I know number 11 or number ten. It helps you 0:06:11.070 --> 0:06:14.510 see God's power. If they are wrong, God will always 0:06:14.510 --> 0:06:20.190 vindicate you. Always. Just wait. Give him time. Number 11. 0:06:20.190 --> 0:06:23.870 It helps you see how people view you. So the 0:06:23.870 --> 0:06:26.510 criticism people give you, it really helps you. You know 0:06:26.510 --> 0:06:30.310 what they think about you by what they say to you. Yeah. 0:06:30.310 --> 0:06:34.950 So listen sometime number 13, it tests your commitment about 0:06:34.950 --> 0:06:37.470 what you're doing. What does it take to make you 0:06:37.510 --> 0:06:42.950 quit somebody speaking harsh to you, somebody being mean to you. 0:06:43.310 --> 0:06:45.310 You're never going to get anything accomplished. I don't care 0:06:45.310 --> 0:06:48.550 what it is. I don't care what it is. Number 14. 0:06:48.589 --> 0:06:53.190 It drives you to your knees in prayer. It always 0:06:53.190 --> 0:06:56.150 makes me pray more. People who are your haters make 0:06:56.150 --> 0:07:00.670 you pray more than the people who support you. And 0:07:00.670 --> 0:07:04.190 number 15. It often indicates to you that what you're 0:07:04.190 --> 0:07:06.990 doing is making or going to make a difference. Here's 0:07:06.990 --> 0:07:11.030 the last one. Number 16. It's the litmus paper for 0:07:11.030 --> 0:07:15.830 your faith. Because Proverbs 2410 says, if you faint in 0:07:15.830 --> 0:07:21.550 the day of adversity, your faith is small. And so 0:07:21.590 --> 0:07:23.910 look at them. Look at them. Look at this. They 0:07:23.910 --> 0:07:28.150 come at a critical time. Verse 18, vision. Verse 19, 0:07:28.150 --> 0:07:35.309 vision killers. Verse 18 dreamers. Verse 19 nightmares. And so 0:07:35.310 --> 0:07:38.270 in verse 18 you have protagonists. And in verse 19, 0:07:38.270 --> 0:07:42.030 here come the antagonists. Every time you try to make 0:07:42.030 --> 0:07:45.869 a mark, someone will come along with an eraser and 0:07:45.870 --> 0:07:49.830 try to erase it. Here it is. Number two. Number two. 0:07:50.190 --> 0:07:52.990 There's always a leader of the opposition. Let me read 0:07:52.990 --> 0:07:56.190 the verse again. But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah 0:07:56.230 --> 0:07:59.430 the servant, the Ammonite and Gershom the Arabian heard it. 0:07:59.750 --> 0:08:04.430 Notice this symbol. Its name is first. Now look at 0:08:04.830 --> 0:08:09.790 verse ten. Look at verse ten. When Sanballat the Horonite. 0:08:09.830 --> 0:08:13.870 His name is. First look at Nehemiah four one. And 0:08:13.870 --> 0:08:17.070 it came to pass, when Sanballat heard that we builded 0:08:17.070 --> 0:08:20.350 the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and 0:08:20.350 --> 0:08:22.630 mocked the Jews. Uh, look at what it says in 0:08:22.630 --> 0:08:27.310 six one. Turn! Six one now, when it came to pass. When. Sam. 0:08:27.870 --> 0:08:30.670 Look at verse two, that sanballat look at verse five, 0:08:30.710 --> 0:08:35.110 that sanballat. And guess what? You'll see his name all 0:08:35.110 --> 0:08:38.630 over the place. There's only two times his name is 0:08:38.630 --> 0:08:41.270 not first, and there's a reason for it. Let me 0:08:41.270 --> 0:08:43.910 give it to you real quick. The first time that 0:08:43.910 --> 0:08:47.110 his name is not first is because he has an 0:08:47.110 --> 0:08:50.910 outsider that he paid to try to get close to 0:08:50.910 --> 0:08:55.270 Nehemiah the second time. His name is not. First is 0:08:55.270 --> 0:09:01.700 because his friend Tobias has a son who's married to 0:09:01.740 --> 0:09:06.900 Eliab's daughter, who is the high priest. So he's got 0:09:06.900 --> 0:09:11.459 people on the inside and people on the outside to 0:09:11.500 --> 0:09:13.980 come along with him, to try to destroy this thing. 0:09:14.860 --> 0:09:19.140 Y'all ain't listening to me. Mhm. Yeah. They have to 0:09:19.140 --> 0:09:22.300 have a leader. Why? Because if they don't have a leader, 0:09:22.300 --> 0:09:25.900 they go underground. See? You think they're silent. They're not silent. 0:09:26.700 --> 0:09:29.300 They're really stabbing you in the back until they get 0:09:29.300 --> 0:09:33.100 a voice. They need a sound ballot. Who is a punch? 0:09:33.100 --> 0:09:36.500 You in the face. Punch you in the nose. Kind 0:09:36.500 --> 0:09:40.819 of a person. His name is Sam Ballot. Uh. That's Babylonian. 0:09:40.820 --> 0:09:43.860 His name is Babylonian. Now what is he, a Samaritan? Now, 0:09:43.860 --> 0:09:47.540 why does he have a Babylonian name? His name means 0:09:47.700 --> 0:09:51.060 sin is my life. Now, unless you think I'm talking 0:09:51.059 --> 0:09:55.140 about committing sin. Sin is the Babylonian moon god. Here's 0:09:55.140 --> 0:10:00.059 a man who's worshiping Yahweh. Uh, who should be supporting that? 0:10:00.140 --> 0:10:03.699 Jerusalem would get a wall. He wants it to stay down. Why? 0:10:03.820 --> 0:10:06.900 Because no wall means a weak Jerusalem. And a weak 0:10:06.900 --> 0:10:11.059 Jerusalem means a powerful sand ballot. What was the wall 0:10:11.059 --> 0:10:14.860 all about? The wall was designed to protect. The wall 0:10:14.860 --> 0:10:18.140 was designed so that you could keep your provisions and 0:10:18.140 --> 0:10:22.620 have safety. And so he opposes Nehemiah because he wants 0:10:22.620 --> 0:10:27.500 the wall to stay. Listen to me. Mm. It's not you, 0:10:27.500 --> 0:10:30.900 per se. You say. What do you mean by that? Yeah. 0:10:30.900 --> 0:10:36.580 It's not you, per se. Uh, Sam Ballard wants what 0:10:36.580 --> 0:10:41.020 you stand for. He's against what you stand for. It's 0:10:41.020 --> 0:10:44.260 not you, per se. It's what you want to do. 0:10:45.140 --> 0:10:48.179 It's not you, per se. It's the change that you're 0:10:48.179 --> 0:10:51.900 trying to bring. See, you need to understand that the 0:10:51.900 --> 0:11:00.460 only people that like change is wet babies. That's it. Yeah. 0:11:00.460 --> 0:11:04.140 And so it's not you, per se. It's what you bring. 0:11:04.179 --> 0:11:07.020 It wouldn't matter who it is. What is the goal? 0:11:07.340 --> 0:11:13.459 That's what they don't like. Mm. See, the walls are 0:11:13.460 --> 0:11:17.660 down and he has what it takes to be a 0:11:17.660 --> 0:11:20.860 good hater. Say, what are you talking about? Okay, okay. 0:11:20.900 --> 0:11:23.340 Watch this. Chapter four, verse two. Let me read it 0:11:23.340 --> 0:11:25.699 to you. Here's what it says. And he spake before 0:11:25.700 --> 0:11:29.420 his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, what 0:11:29.420 --> 0:11:33.380 do these feeble Jews? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? 0:11:33.380 --> 0:11:36.179 Will they make an end in a day? Will they 0:11:36.179 --> 0:11:38.700 revive the stones out of the rubbish heap? On and 0:11:38.740 --> 0:11:40.900 on it goes. And here's what he tells us. It 0:11:40.900 --> 0:11:45.220 tells us that he was the governor of Samaria. What 0:11:45.220 --> 0:11:49.140 did he have? That everyone that leads some haters gotta 0:11:49.140 --> 0:12:00.420 have power, position and prestige. Power, position and prestige. You see, 0:12:00.460 --> 0:12:03.660 some people get power, position and prestige, and they don't 0:12:03.660 --> 0:12:05.860 know how to handle it. And here's what people say. 0:12:06.740 --> 0:12:09.860 They got some power and they went straight to their head. 0:12:09.860 --> 0:12:12.980 No it didn't. No, it didn't go straight to their head. 0:12:13.020 --> 0:12:16.420 You say why you say that, pastor? Because when they 0:12:16.420 --> 0:12:19.060 got the power, they're only showing you who they really 0:12:19.059 --> 0:12:21.420 were before they got it. What do you mean by that, 0:12:21.420 --> 0:12:24.059 Pastor Ford? Okay, I'm glad you asked. You ask intelligent questions. 0:12:24.059 --> 0:12:26.420 In other words, they knew if they showed you who 0:12:26.460 --> 0:12:29.500 they really were before they got the power, they never 0:12:29.500 --> 0:12:32.500 would have got the power. But they know once they 0:12:32.500 --> 0:12:35.579 get the power, it's hard to be put out of power. 0:12:38.300 --> 0:12:41.620 You're listening to treasure, Truth and a message called How 0:12:41.620 --> 0:12:45.540 Haters Hate. It's biblical and practical teaching on today's program, 0:12:45.580 --> 0:12:47.660 and maybe you feel like you've got haters in your 0:12:47.660 --> 0:12:49.380 life and you want to go back and listen to 0:12:49.420 --> 0:12:51.860 this teaching again. You can do so by coming to 0:12:51.860 --> 0:12:56.260 our website, Treasure Truth Radio. You can stream programs through 0:12:56.300 --> 0:12:59.860 your computer or mobile device, download MP3's, or order copies 0:12:59.940 --> 0:13:03.140 of this broadcast on CD. You'll find that in a 0:13:03.140 --> 0:13:07.620 lot more when you come to treasure Truth Radio. Back 0:13:07.620 --> 0:13:10.459 to our message how haters hate once again. Here is 0:13:10.460 --> 0:13:11.420 Pastor Ford. 0:13:12.059 --> 0:13:14.860 Okay, numbers. Chapter 12 numbers. Chapter 16. I'm not going 0:13:14.860 --> 0:13:16.820 to turn to them, but. But you can check it out. 0:13:16.820 --> 0:13:21.020 What happened in numbers 12, Miriam comes against Moses. Moses 0:13:21.020 --> 0:13:23.820 married a black woman and she goes to Aaron and 0:13:23.820 --> 0:13:31.020 she say, Aaron. Moses married a black woman. Aaron says, okay. 0:13:31.380 --> 0:13:34.460 She said, that ain't right. We only supposed to marry 0:13:34.500 --> 0:13:42.180 Jewish people. He married a black woman. Oh, that ain't right. 0:13:43.059 --> 0:13:46.900 What are we going to do about it now? Why 0:13:47.020 --> 0:13:50.900 did she go to Aaron? Because he was closer to 0:13:50.940 --> 0:13:54.020 Moses than she was. That's the closest he could get 0:13:54.020 --> 0:13:57.620 to power and know that he could influence someone. Because, 0:13:57.620 --> 0:14:01.460 you know, Aaron was a wimp. He built that calf. Yeah. 0:14:01.900 --> 0:14:03.820 You know, because they said, build us. Build us a. 0:14:03.860 --> 0:14:06.420 He knew God had delivered them. He knew he shouldn't 0:14:06.420 --> 0:14:08.980 have built that. And so Miriam knew it, too. If 0:14:08.980 --> 0:14:12.699 I want to get somebody with power to criticize somebody 0:14:12.700 --> 0:14:15.579 with more power, I gotta get somebody on my side. 0:14:15.620 --> 0:14:17.580 And so she goes to Aaron. Now, why is that 0:14:17.580 --> 0:14:20.340 a violation of Scripture? You New Testament saints. Holler it out. 0:14:20.340 --> 0:14:23.500 Somebody holler it out. That's a violation of Scripture. Why? 0:14:24.940 --> 0:14:28.700 That's right. Because Matthew 18 says, if you have art 0:14:28.700 --> 0:14:31.220 with your brother or sister, you go to your brother 0:14:31.220 --> 0:14:35.820 or sister, you don't go to somebody else. Numbers. Chapter 16. 0:14:35.860 --> 0:14:39.260 Same kind of deal. Korah, Dathan and Abiram. And on 0:14:39.300 --> 0:14:45.940 they gather people together and they begin to go after Moses. Hmm. 0:14:46.460 --> 0:14:49.900 Number three, let me tell you how haters hate. Here's 0:14:49.900 --> 0:14:53.500 the third way. They don't come forward unless they feel 0:14:53.660 --> 0:15:00.010 they've garnered enough support. If you'll notice, you notice what 0:15:00.050 --> 0:15:03.810 goes on? Uh. They're silent. And listen, let me just 0:15:03.810 --> 0:15:07.410 give you some hits. Here's how. You know somebody's trying 0:15:07.410 --> 0:15:12.050 to pull you into a hater situation. Have you heard 0:15:13.410 --> 0:15:19.170 what's going on? Here's another one. Here's another one. I'm 0:15:19.170 --> 0:15:23.690 just curious. What do you think of what they're doing? 0:15:26.370 --> 0:15:31.890 You're being drawn in. Don't become a sanctified sucker. They're 0:15:31.890 --> 0:15:35.370 trying to draw you in. Amen. So they can go 0:15:35.370 --> 0:15:39.010 back and say, I was talking to so-and-so. Or they 0:15:39.010 --> 0:15:45.170 can say everybody's upset about this. Mm. Yeah. Let me 0:15:45.170 --> 0:15:47.890 show you something. Look at number 16 real quick. Real quick. 0:15:48.330 --> 0:15:51.210 Look what's going on in number 16. Now, this is this. 0:15:51.210 --> 0:15:53.330 I've never preached this here. I preach this all over 0:15:53.330 --> 0:15:55.490 the country, in the world. I've never preached it here. 0:15:55.530 --> 0:15:59.450 Not one time. You say, why ain't you a preacher here, pastor? 0:15:59.690 --> 0:16:02.690 It would seem too self-serving because the title of the 0:16:02.690 --> 0:16:06.210 message is why the people oppose leaders when they're not 0:16:06.210 --> 0:16:10.850 in sin. And there are 17 reasons in the chapter. 0:16:12.610 --> 0:16:16.930 So notice what it says in numbers. Chapter 16. Listen 0:16:16.930 --> 0:16:20.170 to this. Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son 0:16:20.210 --> 0:16:23.010 of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, 0:16:23.010 --> 0:16:25.810 the sons of Eliab, and on the son of Pelath, 0:16:25.850 --> 0:16:29.210 sons of Reuben took men. Now here's, here's, here's what happened. 0:16:29.210 --> 0:16:31.890 Here's what the Bible tells us first. It was Korah. 0:16:32.090 --> 0:16:35.530 And look at his credentials. He is. He is the 0:16:35.530 --> 0:16:38.210 son of Izhar. Who is this, sir? He's a Levite. 0:16:38.250 --> 0:16:40.490 As a matter of fact, he's not any Levite. He 0:16:40.490 --> 0:16:46.170 is the priestly Levite. He is under his daddy. Levi. 0:16:48.170 --> 0:16:51.570 That man got power. And so he is the son 0:16:51.570 --> 0:16:54.690 of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, 0:16:55.410 --> 0:16:58.610 and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. And on 0:16:58.650 --> 0:17:02.130 the son the sons of Reuben took men. In other words, 0:17:02.130 --> 0:17:05.369 they went to. They went to Darom, and then Korah 0:17:05.369 --> 0:17:07.970 and Dathan went to Abiram and Korah, Dathan and Abiram 0:17:07.970 --> 0:17:10.850 went to on, and Korah, Dathan, and Abiram the on 0:17:10.850 --> 0:17:14.650 went to men. And then notice what happens here. I'll 0:17:14.650 --> 0:17:16.050 just tell you. You can read the rest of it 0:17:16.050 --> 0:17:18.490 you want. Here's what happened. So they went to them, 0:17:18.490 --> 0:17:20.290 and then they went to men. Who were the men? 0:17:20.330 --> 0:17:23.010 They went to the princes. Who's that? That's the elders 0:17:23.810 --> 0:17:25.930 and the deacons. Then they went to the people. See 0:17:25.930 --> 0:17:34.650 what happened? This thing trickled down and it infected everybody. Everybody. Listen, 0:17:34.650 --> 0:17:38.730 churches are split. Ministries are destroyed. People are damaged, discouraged, 0:17:38.730 --> 0:17:45.010 and defeated because it's like a snowball rolling down the hill. 0:17:45.369 --> 0:17:52.730 It just gets bigger and bigger and bigger. Mm. All right. 0:17:52.730 --> 0:17:54.449 I know y'all are tired of this. Imma get you 0:17:54.450 --> 0:17:58.250 up out of here. Look at number five. Here's the 0:17:58.250 --> 0:18:03.170 fifth thing that happens when haters hate, they usually garner 0:18:03.170 --> 0:18:07.010 more support the longer they persist. Okay, follow me again. 0:18:07.010 --> 0:18:10.449 Watch this. Uh, verse ten, chapter two, verse ten. Follow along. 0:18:10.450 --> 0:18:13.730 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the servant, the ammonite. 0:18:13.770 --> 0:18:19.850 How many people are there? Two. Look at verse 19. 0:18:20.050 --> 0:18:24.250 Sanballat the Horonite. Tobiah the servant. Ammonite. Gershom the Arabian. 0:18:24.250 --> 0:18:28.490 How many people are there now? Three. Okay, now turn 0:18:28.490 --> 0:18:33.250 to chapter four, verse seven. Chapter four, verse seven. But 0:18:33.250 --> 0:18:36.330 it came to pass when Sam, Tobiah and the Arabians 0:18:36.330 --> 0:18:42.330 and the ammonites and the astronauts. How many are there now? Five. 0:18:42.770 --> 0:18:47.850 Is that five? Did I count that right? One. Two. Three. Four. Oh, yeah. Five. 0:18:49.930 --> 0:18:56.330 What's happening? This thing is building, isn't it? It's growing, 0:18:56.609 --> 0:19:01.570 isn't it? More people are jumping on board. What's happening here? 0:19:01.570 --> 0:19:04.730 There are people who were not convinced, but somebody who 0:19:04.730 --> 0:19:07.890 was their friend now is believing it. And so that's 0:19:07.890 --> 0:19:10.650 my friend. I'm going to believe it. And somebody that's 0:19:10.690 --> 0:19:13.489 on my team now is believing. So I'm going to 0:19:13.530 --> 0:19:19.369 believe it. Mm. Now watch this. Turn to chapter six, 0:19:19.810 --> 0:19:23.250 verse one. Now, it came to pass when Sanballat, Tobiah 0:19:23.250 --> 0:19:27.810 and Gershom the Arabian, and the rest of them, you 0:19:27.810 --> 0:19:31.129 see that he, he, he been listening to them. Why 0:19:31.130 --> 0:19:33.090 you stop listening? The only thing I can think of 0:19:33.130 --> 0:19:36.010 is now there's too many of them. It's. It's an 0:19:36.010 --> 0:19:39.450 old school phrase. We used to say Buku. There's buku 0:19:39.490 --> 0:19:43.090 of them. There's bunches of them. It's Ray-Ray, them Pookie 0:19:43.090 --> 0:19:47.770 in them. All them. And so what happened? Man, this 0:19:47.770 --> 0:19:51.890 thing has gotten out of hand. Negativity spreads like cancer. 0:19:51.890 --> 0:19:54.570 And if you don't cut it out, it grows, and 0:19:54.570 --> 0:20:02.330 it will consume your whole body. Mm. Wow. Sorry about 0:20:02.330 --> 0:20:06.130 that man who said told his pastor I only come 0:20:06.130 --> 0:20:08.170 to church. Why don't you come to church? Because there's 0:20:08.170 --> 0:20:11.129 too many hypocrites. Oh, come on now. Don't paint everybody 0:20:11.130 --> 0:20:14.410 with a broad brush there. The church is filled with hypocrites. 0:20:14.890 --> 0:20:18.650 So pastor said okay. Alright then. He said, uh, you 0:20:18.650 --> 0:20:20.530 got a pig farm, right? Yeah. He said, I'm coming 0:20:20.530 --> 0:20:22.810 out next week. He said, really? Yeah, yeah, I want 0:20:22.810 --> 0:20:25.810 to buy a pig. Okay. Come on. Pastor goes out. 0:20:25.850 --> 0:20:27.409 He says, okay, let me see this. He said, I 0:20:27.410 --> 0:20:30.170 got the big best pigs in the county. Nobody has 0:20:30.170 --> 0:20:32.369 better pigs than I have. He said, okay, give me 0:20:32.369 --> 0:20:34.930 that one right there. Which one? That little one right there. 0:20:34.930 --> 0:20:36.649 He said, no, you don't want that. That's the runt 0:20:36.690 --> 0:20:39.090 of the litter. No, I want to buy that one, 0:20:39.090 --> 0:20:41.730 the pastor said. And I'm going to take it into 0:20:41.730 --> 0:20:45.129 the whole county and show everybody the kind of pigs 0:20:45.130 --> 0:20:52.050 that you grow. You'll get that on the way home. Yeah. 0:20:52.250 --> 0:20:55.890 In other words, you can't be known by your worst. 0:20:56.810 --> 0:20:59.800 It's like. It's like, why don't we do that to people? 0:21:00.320 --> 0:21:05.959 Why do we identify them by their worst? Rahab the. 0:21:07.760 --> 0:21:10.880 But she's not anymore. She's in the line of Jesus Christ. 0:21:12.119 --> 0:21:16.320 Blank Bartimaeus. He ain't blind now. He's been healed. Why 0:21:16.320 --> 0:21:18.800 you keep calling them by what they used to be 0:21:18.800 --> 0:21:23.240 and not what they are now. Everybody makes a mistake. 0:21:24.720 --> 0:21:28.119 You're right. I tell you, I remember one time I 0:21:28.119 --> 0:21:30.080 was getting all kind of criticism. That was early in 0:21:30.080 --> 0:21:33.200 the ministry. And I thought to myself, you know what? 0:21:33.720 --> 0:21:37.960 If half the things folk are saying about me are true, 0:21:38.320 --> 0:21:44.959 I don't like me either. Yeah. Number number six. Number six. 0:21:44.960 --> 0:21:48.320 They generally speak from a limited perspective. Notice what it 0:21:48.320 --> 0:21:52.400 says and they heard. Remember verse ten chapter two. And 0:21:52.400 --> 0:21:55.639 he heard. We saw it in chapter six verse one. 0:21:55.640 --> 0:21:59.639 And he heard, he heard, he heard what's wrong? He's 0:21:59.640 --> 0:22:04.959 working on second hand information. He never talked to Nehemiah. 0:22:05.000 --> 0:22:08.240 Look at your neighbor and say, go to the source. Yeah, 0:22:08.280 --> 0:22:11.040 because if you don't go to the source, you don't 0:22:11.040 --> 0:22:15.680 know whether you have all the news or not. Go 0:22:15.680 --> 0:22:16.760 to the source. 0:22:20.119 --> 0:22:23.400 It's really some practical and biblical teaching today from Pastor 0:22:23.400 --> 0:22:26.359 Ford here on Treasure Truth. Our message is called how 0:22:26.359 --> 0:22:29.640 haters Hate. You know, the purpose of these messages is 0:22:29.640 --> 0:22:32.280 not just to provide you with knowledge of the Bible. 0:22:32.280 --> 0:22:34.920 It's to help you be obedient to Christ. So with 0:22:34.920 --> 0:22:37.600 that in mind, we're always on the lookout for resources 0:22:37.600 --> 0:22:40.960 that you can use to develop your faith in practical ways. 0:22:41.400 --> 0:22:43.840 And this month, we've been talking about a book by R.A. 0:22:43.840 --> 0:22:47.240 Torrey called How to Witness to Anyone. Now, you can 0:22:47.240 --> 0:22:49.960 likely recall a situation in which you wanted to share 0:22:49.960 --> 0:22:53.200 your faith, but you felt hesitation or uncertain about what 0:22:53.240 --> 0:22:56.000 to say. Well, How to Witness to Anyone is a 0:22:56.000 --> 0:22:59.480 collection of Bible verses arranged topically that will guide you 0:22:59.480 --> 0:23:02.000 and encourage you as you talk about the good news. 0:23:02.560 --> 0:23:05.199 So keep the book in a convenient location, or you 0:23:05.200 --> 0:23:07.439 can grab it and browse through it in your spare moments, 0:23:07.720 --> 0:23:10.320 and you'll find yourself immersed in God's Word, all the 0:23:10.359 --> 0:23:14.200 while you're training and equipping your mind for evangelism. Request 0:23:14.240 --> 0:23:16.159 a copy of How to Witness to Anyone when you 0:23:16.160 --> 0:23:18.840 give a gift of any amount to treasure truth. Call 0:23:18.840 --> 0:23:24.159 us at 888 644 7660 or go online to Treasure 0:23:24.160 --> 0:23:27.920 Truth Radio.com. If you prefer to write, you can send 0:23:27.920 --> 0:23:30.160 a check in the mail or address. Is Treasure Truth, 0:23:30.200 --> 0:23:36.320 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten. Well, I'm 0:23:36.320 --> 0:23:38.960 Steve Hiller. Our producer is Amy Rios. I hope you'll 0:23:38.960 --> 0:23:41.200 join us again next time for more Bible teaching from 0:23:41.200 --> 0:23:45.600 Pastor Ford here on Treasure truth. A production of Moody Radio, 0:23:45.960 --> 0:23:48.359 a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.