WEBVTT - The Blessings in a Beat Down, Part 2 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:04.600 You have to know that it's better to walk with 0:00:04.600 --> 0:00:09.440 God in the darkness than to walk alone in the light. 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:13.399 That's what he wants us to know. Jesus always put 0:00:13.440 --> 0:00:17.880 God first, even and especially in his suffering. 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:27.960 Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford, 0:00:27.960 --> 0:00:30.680 junior senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago. 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:33.199 I'm Steve Hiller. Glad you're with us today as we 0:00:33.240 --> 0:00:37.640 continue a message called The Blessings in a beatdown. And 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:40.159 for those of you who do feel like you have 0:00:40.200 --> 0:00:43.040 been beaten down in this life, and I think many 0:00:43.040 --> 0:00:45.479 of us may resonate with that, or at least at 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:48.240 some point in our life. We certainly do. I hope 0:00:48.240 --> 0:00:50.320 that you've been able to hold on to that truth 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:52.800 that Pastor Ford just shared with us. It's better to 0:00:52.840 --> 0:00:56.720 walk with God in darkness than walk alone in the light. 0:00:56.720 --> 0:00:58.680 But I think that all comes down to whether or 0:00:58.680 --> 0:01:03.480 not we truly believe God is sovereign. You know, if 0:01:03.520 --> 0:01:06.440 we're not convinced of that, it can be real easy 0:01:06.440 --> 0:01:10.800 for us to become frustrated, to give up hope, to 0:01:10.840 --> 0:01:13.319 think we're going to turn to another solution to our 0:01:13.319 --> 0:01:17.200 problems and our pain. But when we're convinced that God 0:01:17.240 --> 0:01:20.959 is sovereign, that he is in control, and that we 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:23.840 can look to him in the midst of our pain, 0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:27.640 knowing that he's not letting anything impact us that doesn't 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:31.160 pass through his hands. First, it helps us walk through 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:35.760 that difficult situation. And there's also nothing wrong with asking 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:38.840 God why he may not answer you. In fact, the 0:01:38.840 --> 0:01:41.720 answer may simply be what we've been talking about, that 0:01:41.720 --> 0:01:45.720 he is sovereign and that he is enough. Well, that's 0:01:45.720 --> 0:01:48.400 what we're looking at today from the book of Isaiah. 0:01:48.400 --> 0:01:50.480 We're in chapter 50, so I hope you'll open your 0:01:50.480 --> 0:01:53.800 Bible and join us there as we continue the message, 0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:56.920 the blessings in a beatdown. Here is Pastor Ford. 0:01:57.560 --> 0:02:01.640 And so now this third song out of these five 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:05.560 is the song of his tribulation. Now watch the song. 0:02:05.560 --> 0:02:07.120 Now what's the song? Imma get to it, Imma get 0:02:07.120 --> 0:02:08.120 to it. But I'm going to teach you a little 0:02:08.120 --> 0:02:10.960 bit if you don't mind. When I retire, I'm going 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:15.480 back to college and teach. Teach probably at Moody Man 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:20.639 or Trinity. That's what I like to do anyway. Yeah, 0:02:20.639 --> 0:02:23.680 I matter of fact I was at a convocation and 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:26.360 it was a holiness convocation. I was I was their 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:28.919 keynote speaker for the first night, and I and I 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:30.560 and I told them, I said, now if you're looking 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:32.800 for hooping, you won't get it. You'll get teaching. And 0:02:32.800 --> 0:02:38.120 when I came out, lady said, nice lecture, pastor. Yep. 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:39.680 And the guy who invited me said, one day we're 0:02:39.680 --> 0:02:51.000 going to teach you how to preach, though, okay? I said, well. Yeah, yeah. 0:02:51.000 --> 0:02:53.679 And so here it is now, the song, this song 0:02:53.680 --> 0:02:56.960 we're studying has four stanzas. You know, what it stands 0:02:57.000 --> 0:03:01.910 is right. It was a verse. And then the refrain, uh, 0:03:01.910 --> 0:03:05.790 or the chorus. Now here's the difference. This one starts 0:03:05.790 --> 0:03:09.270 off with the refrain or the chorus first. See, we 0:03:09.270 --> 0:03:13.149 usually sing the stanza, then the chorus. Everybody still with me? Choir. 0:03:13.630 --> 0:03:18.910 I at least get an amen out of y'all. Anyway. 0:03:19.190 --> 0:03:21.310 So watch this. Now watch this. Come on, follow along. 0:03:21.310 --> 0:03:24.350 Follow along with me. Follow along. Watch this here. Here 0:03:24.350 --> 0:03:30.830 is the first chorus. The Lord God. Now the stanza. 0:03:31.030 --> 0:03:34.990 All the way down to verse five. Second refrain or chorus. 0:03:34.990 --> 0:03:39.270 The Lord God. Then all the way down to verse. 0:03:39.270 --> 0:03:42.030 You still with me. Verse seven. For the Lord God. 0:03:42.710 --> 0:03:46.430 And then down to verse nine. For behold the Lord God. 0:03:46.830 --> 0:03:51.830 See the chorus is the Lord God. The Lord God. 0:03:52.430 --> 0:03:55.950 The Lord God. Guess what he's trying to emphasize. The 0:03:55.950 --> 0:03:59.750 Lord God. So he gives the he gives the, the 0:03:59.750 --> 0:04:02.470 the stanza. And then he says, I want you to 0:04:02.470 --> 0:04:06.190 understand something. Let's start off with the Lord God. Why? 0:04:06.230 --> 0:04:10.070 Because we're always going to put the sovereignty of God first. 0:04:10.110 --> 0:04:15.110 That this song is about the suffering servant who obeys 0:04:15.150 --> 0:04:23.630 God despite the fact that he's going through hell. Yeah. Mm. 0:04:24.670 --> 0:04:29.190 And so I'm just going to tell you, uh, what 0:04:29.190 --> 0:04:35.230 our Lord did, and I trust that we will follow suit. 0:04:35.910 --> 0:04:39.670 You say? What do you mean? How do you get 0:04:40.070 --> 0:04:45.789 blessings in a beat down? Uh, notice it's the sovereignty 0:04:45.830 --> 0:04:50.150 of God over your life. When you're going through a 0:04:50.190 --> 0:04:53.230 beat down, the first thing you need is that chorus. 0:04:54.589 --> 0:04:57.670 The sovereignty of God over your life. Here's the second thing. 0:04:58.070 --> 0:05:02.750 The sovereignty of God in your learning. Here's the third thing. 0:05:02.910 --> 0:05:07.190 The sovereignty of God in your listening. Here's the fourth thing. 0:05:07.430 --> 0:05:12.190 The sovereignty of God in your lashings. Now y'all know 0:05:12.190 --> 0:05:15.150 why I said lashings instead of beating and suffering? Because 0:05:15.150 --> 0:05:17.349 it starts with L. I'm not going to, uh. I 0:05:17.350 --> 0:05:21.070 am not not going to alliterate. And then the sovereignty 0:05:21.110 --> 0:05:24.429 of God in your liberty. Let's walk through these real quick, 0:05:24.430 --> 0:05:27.390 and let me show you the example that Jesus leaves 0:05:27.390 --> 0:05:29.909 for you and I. He's on his way to die 0:05:29.950 --> 0:05:33.670 for our sins. And he had joy in the midst 0:05:33.670 --> 0:05:39.990 of his sorrow because, number one, the sovereignty of God 0:05:40.190 --> 0:05:44.030 over his life. So notice again, the Lord God hath 0:05:44.029 --> 0:05:47.109 given me the tongue of the learned, that I should 0:05:47.110 --> 0:05:50.270 know how to speak a word in season to him 0:05:50.270 --> 0:05:54.630 that is weary. Notice what happens. He says, you know, 0:05:55.710 --> 0:05:59.670 let me give you the bottom line of everybody who's suffering, 0:05:59.670 --> 0:06:01.870 who says, you know what, I don't want to do this. 0:06:01.870 --> 0:06:03.350 I don't want to do I don't want to go 0:06:03.350 --> 0:06:05.270 through this. And that would be all of us at 0:06:05.270 --> 0:06:08.310 one point or another. Here's what he's trying to teach us. 0:06:08.310 --> 0:06:12.990 You have to know that it's better to walk with 0:06:12.990 --> 0:06:18.710 God in the darkness than to walk alone in the light. Amen. 0:06:19.670 --> 0:06:23.270 That's what he wants us to know. Jesus always put 0:06:23.310 --> 0:06:28.710 God first, even and especially in his suffering. He obeyed 0:06:28.710 --> 0:06:32.270 God in everything. See, he wants us to know something. 0:06:32.270 --> 0:06:36.030 He obeyed God and everything, that God's purpose was more 0:06:36.029 --> 0:06:41.590 important than his pleasure, that God's purpose was more important 0:06:41.589 --> 0:06:47.109 than his pain. Alright. Yes. In the Garden of Gethsemane. 0:06:47.110 --> 0:06:53.430 What did he say? Not my will, but thy will 0:06:53.470 --> 0:06:58.470 be done. How many times did he say it? Three times. Jesus! 0:06:58.470 --> 0:07:03.310 What are you doing? I'm letting people know that as 0:07:03.310 --> 0:07:06.310 the suffering servant, if you're going to be obedient, first 0:07:06.310 --> 0:07:09.349 thing you gotta do is you gotta have the sovereign 0:07:09.350 --> 0:07:14.950 God over your entire life, your blessings and your beatings, 0:07:14.950 --> 0:07:19.070 but especially your beatings. Uh, why did my business have 0:07:19.070 --> 0:07:22.750 to go bankrupt? Why did my husband or wife have 0:07:22.750 --> 0:07:25.990 to break my heart? Uh, why did God allow me 0:07:25.990 --> 0:07:28.590 to have the sickness but heal that person on the 0:07:28.590 --> 0:07:30.630 other pew? I happen to see what they put in. 0:07:30.670 --> 0:07:34.390 They don't even tithe, I tithe. Why did God heal 0:07:34.430 --> 0:07:37.470 that person and not me? Why did Big Mama have 0:07:37.470 --> 0:07:40.830 to die? Why why why why why? There's nothing wrong 0:07:40.830 --> 0:07:44.470 with asking why. But here's what he wants to teach us. 0:07:44.790 --> 0:07:53.790 Sometimes the answer is because I am sovereign. Because I 0:07:53.830 --> 0:07:57.670 made you. And you didn't make me. Because I saved 0:07:57.670 --> 0:08:00.950 you and you didn't save me. We can't deal with that, 0:08:00.950 --> 0:08:03.630 can we? Now, now, now we'll do it with our children. 0:08:04.270 --> 0:08:07.070 We'll do it with our children. Mama! Daddy! Why do 0:08:07.070 --> 0:08:10.630 I have to do this? Everybody all together? Because I 0:08:10.750 --> 0:08:16.110 said so. I brought you into this world, and I'll 0:08:16.110 --> 0:08:21.670 take you out. And we can say. Because I said so. 0:08:21.710 --> 0:08:26.270 How many bosses on your job? Oh, we ain't got any. 0:08:26.430 --> 0:08:29.630 We gotta get some businesses in here, then. You know, 0:08:29.670 --> 0:08:32.069 how many business people do we have that own your 0:08:32.070 --> 0:08:35.830 own business? Nice and high. Amen. Do you go to 0:08:35.870 --> 0:08:40.670 your employees and say you know when you feel like it? 0:08:42.550 --> 0:08:47.670 I really would appreciate it. I hope I don't offend 0:08:47.670 --> 0:08:51.829 you by asking you this. No. Hey, this is what 0:08:51.830 --> 0:08:55.589 I want done. Get that done. Now, you may throw 0:08:55.590 --> 0:09:00.660 a please in there, but you want it done. On. Why? 0:09:00.700 --> 0:09:07.060 Because you are in charge. Jesus says, When God is 0:09:07.059 --> 0:09:10.900 in charge of your life, he can do whatever he 0:09:10.900 --> 0:09:14.100 wants to do now. Matthew 14. We studied it before, 0:09:14.100 --> 0:09:16.820 but here it is. Matthew 14. What happened in Matthew 14? 0:09:17.260 --> 0:09:20.060 It says, Jesus told the disciples, get in that boat 0:09:20.059 --> 0:09:24.940 and go to the other side. Here's what I love Jesus. 0:09:24.940 --> 0:09:27.020 Do you know there's a storm coming? Yes. Then why 0:09:27.059 --> 0:09:31.340 are you sending them into the storm? Because I already 0:09:31.340 --> 0:09:34.459 told them we're going to the other side. You see, 0:09:34.460 --> 0:09:36.300 I didn't say go to the middle of the Sea 0:09:36.340 --> 0:09:39.060 of Galilee and drown. I said, get in the boat 0:09:39.059 --> 0:09:41.780 and go to the other side. See, you need to 0:09:41.780 --> 0:09:46.100 understand that I sent them there because I'm sovereign over 0:09:46.100 --> 0:09:49.220 their lives. I can tell them what to do and 0:09:49.220 --> 0:09:51.820 get this. Here. Put this in your theological pipe and 0:09:51.820 --> 0:09:57.340 smoke it. They obeyed, yet they still suffered. Now I 0:09:57.340 --> 0:09:59.660 can I can go along with, you know, whenever I 0:09:59.660 --> 0:10:03.740 do something wrong and God, God is spanking me. I 0:10:03.740 --> 0:10:05.660 don't know if you like me. Sometimes I do wrong. 0:10:05.660 --> 0:10:07.860 I look up in the sky for the bolt of 0:10:07.860 --> 0:10:09.420 lightning when it don't hit me. I thank God for 0:10:09.420 --> 0:10:14.420 his mercy. Amen. Amen. But I tell you, I don't 0:10:14.420 --> 0:10:16.939 like it when I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do. 0:10:16.980 --> 0:10:19.980 Given like I should give. Serve like I should serve. 0:10:19.980 --> 0:10:23.699 Worshiping like I should worship. Witnessing like I should witness. 0:10:23.700 --> 0:10:27.260 And then something happens that tears me up. I'm tore 0:10:27.260 --> 0:10:29.460 up from the floor up. And I look up and 0:10:29.460 --> 0:10:33.740 I say, just like you. Why? Yes. And God says 0:10:33.740 --> 0:10:37.140 you're asking the wrong question. The question is not why. 0:10:37.140 --> 0:10:41.620 The question is what? Here's the question. Can you trust 0:10:41.620 --> 0:10:47.420 God's heart when you can't trace God's hand? Jesus did. 0:10:47.740 --> 0:10:52.820 What's going on here? Because and here's here's what I 0:10:52.820 --> 0:10:54.860 like about Matthew 14 two. Let me let me say this. I, I, 0:10:54.900 --> 0:10:57.420 I gotta come back to this. It says they were 0:10:57.420 --> 0:11:02.100 rowing and they had been rowing for nine hours, but 0:11:02.100 --> 0:11:05.060 it only takes six hours to get across the Sea 0:11:05.059 --> 0:11:09.900 of Galilee in good weather. So they're rowing nine hours 0:11:10.059 --> 0:11:16.860 against the wind, and it says they're only halfway. Now, 0:11:16.860 --> 0:11:19.460 I submit to you, most of would have said, let 0:11:19.460 --> 0:11:22.459 that wind blow us on back. I ain't fighting that. 0:11:22.820 --> 0:11:27.500 They wanted God's sovereignty in their life so much that 0:11:27.500 --> 0:11:31.660 they fought against the wind to keep going in the 0:11:31.660 --> 0:11:37.300 direction that God told them. And God told you to 0:11:37.300 --> 0:11:39.819 wait for a godly man or a godly woman, and 0:11:39.820 --> 0:11:42.780 instead of you waiting for Mr. Right or Miss Right, 0:11:42.780 --> 0:11:48.660 you settle for Mr. Right now. Then you find out 0:11:49.380 --> 0:11:51.819 you knew his last name was right. You didn't know 0:11:51.820 --> 0:11:57.780 his first name was always. God told you what he 0:11:57.780 --> 0:12:00.339 wanted you to do. He wanted you to have your 0:12:00.340 --> 0:12:03.260 own business, but it's so difficult. And now you want 0:12:03.300 --> 0:12:07.220 to go work for somebody else. It's a doctor filled moment. 0:12:07.260 --> 0:12:09.060 How some of this stuff working for you? 0:12:11.980 --> 0:12:14.500 It's a good question. Even if it's coming from Doctor Phil. 0:12:14.900 --> 0:12:18.220 You're listening to Treasure Truth with Pastor Ford and a 0:12:18.220 --> 0:12:20.980 message called The Blessings in a beatdown. And we're going 0:12:20.980 --> 0:12:23.260 to get back to this message in just one moment. 0:12:23.660 --> 0:12:25.740 You know, if you ever miss a broadcast or part 0:12:25.740 --> 0:12:27.500 of a broadcast or you just want to listen to 0:12:27.500 --> 0:12:30.939 it again, come to our website. It's treasure truth. Org. 0:12:31.100 --> 0:12:34.140 You can stream programs, download mp3's, or order copies of 0:12:34.140 --> 0:12:38.900 this broadcast on CD. Again our website address treasure truth radio.org. 0:12:39.820 --> 0:12:42.580 Back to the message. Once again here is Pastor Ford. 0:12:44.020 --> 0:12:48.180 See what's going on in this darkness. I was reading 0:12:48.179 --> 0:12:51.220 about the nightingale and and and the nightingale was a 0:12:51.220 --> 0:12:55.380 fantastic bird. It's one of the sweetest songs in nature. 0:12:56.340 --> 0:12:58.979 As a matter of fact. But it doesn't sing anything 0:12:58.980 --> 0:13:03.900 in the daylight. It only sings at night. Ergo, the 0:13:03.900 --> 0:13:09.060 name Nightingale. Listen to what, uh, Wikipedia said about Nightingale. 0:13:09.059 --> 0:13:11.900 The song of the Nightingale has been described as one 0:13:11.900 --> 0:13:16.660 of the most beautiful sounds in all of nature inspiring songs, 0:13:16.860 --> 0:13:23.579 fairy tales, opera books and a great deal of poetry. Look. 0:13:23.580 --> 0:13:27.100 Look at this, look at this. This bird waits till 0:13:27.100 --> 0:13:32.260 the blackness of night to give the sweetest song. Isn't 0:13:32.260 --> 0:13:37.460 that what Jesus is doing on Calvary? Jesus is doing 0:13:37.460 --> 0:13:42.460 his best work on Calvary when things are at their worst. 0:13:44.700 --> 0:13:48.300 And that should be our example. You say, hey man, 0:13:48.300 --> 0:13:51.500 come on, Pastor Ford. I like what Thomas Watson said. 0:13:51.500 --> 0:13:57.020 When reason cannot wade, faith swims. Look at the people 0:13:57.020 --> 0:14:01.340 who accomplish some things of which we are aware. Look 0:14:01.340 --> 0:14:05.140 at the fact that John Bunyan. It was not until 0:14:05.140 --> 0:14:08.660 John Bunyan was in Bedford Prison that his mind broke 0:14:08.660 --> 0:14:12.980 free to etch upon the pages of history A Pilgrim's Progress. 0:14:13.020 --> 0:14:16.220 Let me quote the Harvard Hooper. And it wasn't until J.S. 0:14:16.260 --> 0:14:19.340 Bach was stone blind that he was able to see 0:14:19.340 --> 0:14:22.660 how to write the B minor mass. It wasn't until 0:14:22.660 --> 0:14:26.100 Rembrandt was flat broke that he made the world rich 0:14:26.300 --> 0:14:30.780 with his art. It wasn't until Beethoven was deaf in 0:14:30.780 --> 0:14:33.860 both ears that he heard the Ninth Symphony and wrote 0:14:33.860 --> 0:14:36.500 it down. How bad? Anybody remember what he did? Come on, 0:14:36.500 --> 0:14:38.940 holler it out. What did he do? He couldn't hear. 0:14:39.140 --> 0:14:41.780 So how did he finish it? He cut the legs 0:14:41.780 --> 0:14:46.380 off the piano and played it on the floor and 0:14:46.380 --> 0:14:53.860 felt the vibrations. All right. Mm. Yeah. It wasn't until 0:14:53.860 --> 0:14:57.420 George Frideric Handel was paralyzed on the right side that 0:14:57.420 --> 0:14:59.850 he was able to pull up with his left hand 0:14:59.850 --> 0:15:02.770 and pull down the Hallelujah chorus. Out of the clouds. 0:15:02.810 --> 0:15:06.010 It wasn't until the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. 0:15:06.050 --> 0:15:10.290 Was jailed in 1963 that he became eligible for the 0:15:10.330 --> 0:15:15.450 Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. It wasn't until Fanny Cosby 0:15:15.850 --> 0:15:19.490 was blind that she could see to write. Jesus, keep 0:15:19.490 --> 0:15:22.810 me near the cross. Savior. More than life to me. 0:15:22.850 --> 0:15:28.530 Blessed assurance Jesus is mine. Pass me not, O gentle Savior. 0:15:28.530 --> 0:15:33.850 And almost 3000 more gospel hymns that we sing. She 0:15:33.850 --> 0:15:38.690 wrote them while she was blind. See? Flowers must be 0:15:38.690 --> 0:15:43.970 crushed to yield the sweet fragrance of a perfume. Grain 0:15:43.970 --> 0:15:48.210 must be threshed. And then ground, and then kneaded and 0:15:48.210 --> 0:15:50.930 beat into flour. And then put in the oven before 0:15:50.930 --> 0:15:56.250 it can become toast. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Metal must submit 0:15:56.250 --> 0:16:00.330 itself to the fire before it becomes bling bling. Blink. Yeah. Yeah. 0:16:00.370 --> 0:16:02.930 A diamond. You know what it is? It's just coal 0:16:03.570 --> 0:16:08.530 that yielded to, uh, 600 degrees of heat. £5,000 of 0:16:08.530 --> 0:16:12.650 pressure over a long period of time. You know what 0:16:12.650 --> 0:16:16.890 a pearl is? Irritation in an oyster. Oyster gets sands 0:16:16.890 --> 0:16:19.290 in it. Then it secretes sand, and the sand gets 0:16:19.290 --> 0:16:22.130 around it to ease the irritation. Then more sand gets 0:16:22.130 --> 0:16:24.530 in and more irritation and more sand gets in. And 0:16:24.530 --> 0:16:29.130 finally you got a pearl. Something that we value came 0:16:29.130 --> 0:16:34.290 out of the tribulation of an oyster. Amen. The sovereignty 0:16:34.330 --> 0:16:37.490 of Yahweh God. Over. Here's the second one. Notice the 0:16:37.490 --> 0:16:40.850 second one. What kind of blessing do we have in 0:16:40.850 --> 0:16:43.850 the beatdown? The first one is you learn the sovereignty 0:16:43.890 --> 0:16:46.850 of Yahweh God over your life. The second one is 0:16:46.850 --> 0:16:50.730 you learn the sovereignty of Yahweh God over your learning. 0:16:50.770 --> 0:16:53.250 Listen to verse four A the Lord hath given me 0:16:53.250 --> 0:16:55.570 the tongue of the. Learn that I should know how 0:16:55.570 --> 0:17:00.370 to speak a word in season to him that is weary. 0:17:00.690 --> 0:17:04.810 And so here it is. Jesus learns something in suffering. That's. Oh, 0:17:04.810 --> 0:17:06.970 I wish I could get us to understand that. That 0:17:06.970 --> 0:17:10.610 we learn. You going all off and and being tore 0:17:10.609 --> 0:17:13.330 up from the floor up. And you fail to realize. 0:17:13.330 --> 0:17:15.290 I just want to get out. Just get me out 0:17:15.290 --> 0:17:17.770 of it. I need know God is trying to do 0:17:17.770 --> 0:17:21.050 something in the midst of what you're going through. Jesus 0:17:21.050 --> 0:17:24.730 is the obedient servant. Here's what it says. Hebrews five eight. 0:17:24.930 --> 0:17:29.170 He learned from the things that he suffered. Alright, if 0:17:29.170 --> 0:17:32.930 Jesus needed to learn from his suffering, you don't think 0:17:32.930 --> 0:17:38.810 that we need to learn from our suffering? See, there's 0:17:38.810 --> 0:17:42.490 some things you learn in the dark. You don't learn 0:17:42.490 --> 0:17:45.290 in the light. I wish I could get some help, 0:17:46.170 --> 0:17:49.810 I wish I could get some help that you learned 0:17:49.810 --> 0:17:55.170 how to love Jesus in the dark when you had 0:17:55.170 --> 0:17:59.050 nobody else, and you was a gang enforcer, and you 0:17:59.050 --> 0:18:02.050 had hit rock bottom when you was in the light 0:18:02.050 --> 0:18:04.770 and everything was going well. You weren't looking for Jesus. 0:18:04.770 --> 0:18:08.090 But whenever you got down and out and you said, oh, 0:18:08.210 --> 0:18:10.410 what am I going to do? You begin to look 0:18:10.410 --> 0:18:13.970 up for your redemption draweth nigh, and you can let 0:18:13.970 --> 0:18:17.490 somebody know you can be gangbanging all you want, and 0:18:17.490 --> 0:18:21.330 God can take you from a gangbanger to an elder. Amen. 0:18:22.770 --> 0:18:27.409 Some of you know, see, Mother Teresa said it this way. 0:18:27.570 --> 0:18:29.850 You will never know that Jesus is all you need 0:18:29.890 --> 0:18:35.929 until Jesus is all you have. And what did Paul say? 0:18:35.970 --> 0:18:40.330 I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to 0:18:40.369 --> 0:18:42.210 be content. I won't keep you much longer. I'm going 0:18:42.210 --> 0:18:44.530 to hasten it. But. But it's getting exciting to me now. 0:18:44.570 --> 0:18:48.090 I I'm really I feel my help coming on. Oh, oh, 0:18:48.290 --> 0:18:51.369 oh it's a it's a TV moment. Uh, I'm getting 0:18:51.369 --> 0:18:57.010 ready to get in the flow. What does that mean? No, no. 0:18:57.010 --> 0:18:59.970 What are you talking about? I mean, it's like you 0:19:00.010 --> 0:19:04.730 don't know what God wants to do until you allow 0:19:04.730 --> 0:19:09.450 him to teach you something in the rough times. My brethren, 0:19:09.450 --> 0:19:12.010 count it all joy when you fall into divers temptation, 0:19:12.010 --> 0:19:14.730 knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 0:19:14.770 --> 0:19:16.850 But let patience have her perfect work, that you may 0:19:16.890 --> 0:19:21.090 be complete and entire, lacking nothing. Tribulation worketh patience in 0:19:21.090 --> 0:19:24.250 the world you shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer. 0:19:24.250 --> 0:19:27.010 I have overcome the world. Jesus teaching us, listen, I'm 0:19:27.010 --> 0:19:30.890 on my way to Calvary and you need to understand something. 0:19:31.210 --> 0:19:33.770 You can see things in the darkness that you can't 0:19:33.770 --> 0:19:36.890 see in the light. Guess what? The stars are out. 0:19:37.250 --> 0:19:40.010 If you could look through these windows up here, you 0:19:40.010 --> 0:19:43.010 don't see any. But how many people from the country. 0:19:43.050 --> 0:19:46.820 I mean, real country folk. Okay. We have 3 or 0:19:46.820 --> 0:19:50.610 4 who are willing to admit it. I'm from the country. 0:19:50.850 --> 0:19:54.050 Let me tell you what I know. You can see 0:19:54.050 --> 0:19:56.929 the stars in the day. Now, how many of you 0:19:56.970 --> 0:19:59.330 know know how that can happen? I'm not going to 0:19:59.450 --> 0:20:00.649 call on you, but I just want to see how 0:20:00.650 --> 0:20:03.730 many know you from the country where I'm a country folk. 0:20:05.170 --> 0:20:08.369 Here's how you can see the stars in the daytime. 0:20:08.369 --> 0:20:12.369 Any day when you go back south to Big Mama's house. 0:20:12.930 --> 0:20:15.690 And that old whale that she used to have and 0:20:15.690 --> 0:20:18.850 get water from. But now she's got running water. Take 0:20:18.850 --> 0:20:21.970 a ladder. Put it down in that well, get on 0:20:22.010 --> 0:20:24.930 that ladder. Go down in that well and look up, 0:20:24.930 --> 0:20:28.010 and you will be able to see the stars in 0:20:28.010 --> 0:20:31.370 the daytime. You want to know why, say why? Because 0:20:31.369 --> 0:20:36.090 the well is pitch black so that it becomes the 0:20:36.090 --> 0:20:40.449 lens through which you are viewing and not the sun, 0:20:40.970 --> 0:20:45.370 so that you can see the stars in the daylight 0:20:46.010 --> 0:20:51.889 when you're in the depths of a dark well. I 0:20:51.930 --> 0:20:55.290 came to tell somebody, look, and this is what he says. 0:20:55.290 --> 0:20:58.250 Listen what he says. He said, well, no, I'm not. 0:20:58.250 --> 0:21:00.240 I can't pass it up. I can't pass it up. 0:21:00.240 --> 0:21:03.159 Because what did. What did Joseph say? You meant it 0:21:03.160 --> 0:21:06.880 for evil. God meant it for good. What was he saying? 0:21:06.880 --> 0:21:09.680 Now we talk about it all the time. He understood 0:21:09.680 --> 0:21:13.679 God had a purpose and that his purpose was greater 0:21:13.680 --> 0:21:17.080 than his need to have freedom from pain. He knew 0:21:17.119 --> 0:21:20.359 that his purpose was greater than his need to be 0:21:20.359 --> 0:21:23.000 free from the pit. He knew that his purpose was 0:21:23.000 --> 0:21:26.520 greater than him being free from Potiphar's. He knew his 0:21:26.520 --> 0:21:31.440 purpose was greater than his need to be free from prison. 0:21:31.640 --> 0:21:35.280 And it wasn't even about the palace, even though that's 0:21:35.320 --> 0:21:38.480 it was about Psalm 105 106. Here's what it says. 0:21:38.480 --> 0:21:41.640 He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who they 0:21:41.640 --> 0:21:48.119 bound in fetters, and they hurt him. His pain was 0:21:48.119 --> 0:21:50.320 for God's purpose. 0:21:53.480 --> 0:21:56.679 You know, if you're facing trials today, maybe experiencing a 0:21:56.680 --> 0:21:59.640 season of pain, then take hope in the fact that 0:21:59.640 --> 0:22:02.800 God does have a plan. You're listening to Treasure Truth 0:22:02.800 --> 0:22:06.040 with Pastor James Ford Jr. And today's message called the 0:22:06.040 --> 0:22:09.240 blessings in a beat down. You know, of course, some 0:22:09.240 --> 0:22:12.680 pain just seems too great. It threatens to even overwhelm 0:22:12.680 --> 0:22:15.000 our faith. And maybe that's what you're feeling today. And 0:22:15.000 --> 0:22:18.040 you're wondering, why does the Bible even true? Can I 0:22:18.040 --> 0:22:21.000 trust the promises that seem to be in there? Well, 0:22:21.000 --> 0:22:23.720 in the book Why Believe the Bible? Doctor John MacArthur 0:22:23.720 --> 0:22:27.640 provides compelling answers to questions like this and shows that 0:22:27.640 --> 0:22:31.480 the Bible is not only reliable, it's God's primary means 0:22:31.480 --> 0:22:33.679 of speaking to us, even in the midst of the 0:22:33.680 --> 0:22:36.800 most difficult situations. So when you give a gift of 0:22:36.800 --> 0:22:38.840 any amount to this ministry, we're going to send you 0:22:38.840 --> 0:22:41.880 a copy of doctor MacArthur's book. Again, it's called Why 0:22:41.920 --> 0:22:47.840 Believe the Bible? Just call us at 888644 7660 or 0:22:47.840 --> 0:22:51.679 go online to Treasure Truth radio.org. If you prefer to 0:22:51.720 --> 0:22:54.200 write and send a check in the mail, our address 0:22:54.200 --> 0:23:00.439 is Treasure Truth, 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten. 0:23:01.359 --> 0:23:03.720 You know why believe the Bible isn't just a book 0:23:03.720 --> 0:23:06.720 for people who are struggling. It's also a powerful tool 0:23:06.920 --> 0:23:09.400 that will equip you to explain your faith to friends 0:23:09.400 --> 0:23:12.560 or family members who ask why you trust such an 0:23:12.560 --> 0:23:15.920 old book like the Bible. So read doctor MacArthur's book 0:23:15.920 --> 0:23:19.040 for yourself and get a good grip on what you believe, 0:23:19.320 --> 0:23:21.960 and then pass this book on to another person and 0:23:21.960 --> 0:23:24.960 you can discuss what it says. Just give a donation 0:23:24.960 --> 0:23:28.920 to support, treasure, truth and request. Why believe the Bible again? 0:23:28.920 --> 0:23:34.440 Our phone number is 888644 7660. And our website is 0:23:34.440 --> 0:23:39.240 Treasure Truth radio.org. I'm Steve Hiller. Our producer is Amy Rios. 0:23:39.280 --> 0:23:41.879 Join us again tomorrow for the conclusion of the series. 0:23:41.880 --> 0:23:45.840 The blessings in the beatdown. Treasure truth with Pastor Ford 0:23:45.840 --> 0:23:49.080 is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody 0:23:49.080 --> 0:23:50.160 Bible Institute.