WEBVTT - It’s Your Time, Part 3 0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:03.960 You left ministry to go back to fishing. Now you're fishing. 0:00:04.280 --> 0:00:08.160 Have you caught anything? You backslid. Did you gain anything 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:10.760 by it? Now, if you said yes, let me tell you. 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:15.040 Look out! Because whatever you gain when you backslide is 0:00:15.040 --> 0:00:17.160 going to become a curse to you when you get 0:00:17.160 --> 0:00:18.360 back in the fellowship. 0:00:25.000 --> 0:00:28.520 Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford Jr. 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:31.160 Senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago. I'm 0:00:31.160 --> 0:00:33.879 Steve Hiller. Glad that you're with us. As we continue 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:37.400 a message called It's Your Time. And pastor, you bring 0:00:37.400 --> 0:00:39.920 up a sad fact, and that is that many will 0:00:39.920 --> 0:00:42.920 come to a saving knowledge of Christ. They'll begin a 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:45.800 relationship with him. But then something may happen in their 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:49.160 lives where they're really questioning and wondering, is it really 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:52.080 worth it? May decide for a season of time that 0:00:52.320 --> 0:00:55.080 they don't want to follow after Jesus. It's just not 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:57.760 worth the cost to them at that point in time, 0:00:58.000 --> 0:01:00.520 and they may go on to have other successes. They 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:03.360 may go on to experience other good things. And you're saying, 0:01:03.360 --> 0:01:05.400 if that's the case, watch out. 0:01:05.760 --> 0:01:10.960 Oh, most definitely. And uppermost in my thinking was Abraham. 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:13.760 Remember what he did? Him and lot. There was a 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:18.000 famine in the land. Now he's where God told him 0:01:18.000 --> 0:01:22.600 to be. Sometimes where God places you will be in 0:01:22.600 --> 0:01:26.480 the midst of a famine. But in Egypt they were feasting. 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:29.120 So here's what he said. I'm going down to Egypt 0:01:29.440 --> 0:01:32.640 and here's what he learned. It's better to have famine 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:35.479 in the will of God than to be feasting out 0:01:35.480 --> 0:01:38.240 of the will of God. Now, what did he bring 0:01:38.240 --> 0:01:43.520 back out of his backslidden way? He brought back wealth. Yeah, 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:45.920 he brought back Hagar. 0:01:46.600 --> 0:01:47.039 Hmm. 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:54.800 Yeah. So cattle, wealth. Hagar. All three became a curse 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:57.240 to him. You know, especially Hagar. 0:01:57.280 --> 0:01:59.360 Oh, exactly. You know, when you say occurs to him, 0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:01.000 that's the first one that comes to mind, right? 0:02:01.040 --> 0:02:03.920 No big trouble. Yeah, I mean, big trouble. I don't 0:02:03.920 --> 0:02:06.600 know what the patriarchs were thinking with 2 or 3 wives. 0:02:06.600 --> 0:02:09.720 You know, you and I have one, and that's too much. 0:02:10.880 --> 0:02:12.680 We're going to keep it right there at one. Okay? Okay. 0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:16.000 Yeah, we'll keep it at one. And and then we'll 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:19.079 ask God for the power to be able to lead 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:22.720 our families. Amen. And so what happened? I mean, why 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:26.920 did God do that? We have to learn that God 0:02:26.919 --> 0:02:32.000 has to allow us to suffer the consequences of not 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:36.480 fellowshipping with him. If he allows that to be something 0:02:36.480 --> 0:02:42.760 that sustains us and adds to us, then we begin 0:02:42.760 --> 0:02:46.080 to think, what do I need God for anyway? Yeah, 0:02:46.240 --> 0:02:49.400 I did it and I was able to accomplish it. 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:53.320 But no, no, you accomplished it. But it was not 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:55.919 a blessing to you. Yeah. You know, and the Bible 0:02:55.919 --> 0:02:59.320 tells us that the Lord adds to us and he 0:02:59.320 --> 0:03:00.720 adds no sorrow to it. 0:03:01.070 --> 0:03:04.950 Hmm. That's a good word right there. And with that, 0:03:04.950 --> 0:03:08.550 let's go ahead and get into Esther chapter four as 0:03:08.550 --> 0:03:12.709 we continue the message. It's your time. Here's Pastor Ford. 0:03:13.150 --> 0:03:18.190 Those missing years, if you add up how many years 0:03:18.950 --> 0:03:22.910 the children of Israel disobey God, and he brought them 0:03:22.910 --> 0:03:28.270 under captivity, there you'll find your years. In other words, 0:03:28.470 --> 0:03:35.550 they didn't count. It didn't count. Why? Because the Captivities 0:03:35.550 --> 0:03:38.590 were given to you. Because you weren't obeying God. Somebody 0:03:38.590 --> 0:03:41.510 said this, I quote, life is like a taxicab. The 0:03:41.510 --> 0:03:46.510 meter is running, whether you're moving or standing still. Yeah. 0:03:46.510 --> 0:03:51.990 That's right. See, we focus on duration. God focuses on donation. 0:03:51.990 --> 0:03:56.830 We focus on longevity. God focuses on legacy. Somebody say, 0:03:56.830 --> 0:03:59.790 I've been saved 20 years? Yeah, but you've been out 0:03:59.790 --> 0:04:02.790 of God's will for 18 of them. So at the 0:04:02.830 --> 0:04:05.750 judgment seat of Christ, you only get credit for two. 0:04:08.870 --> 0:04:11.150 I've been a Christian 15 years, but you ain't done 0:04:11.150 --> 0:04:16.710 nothing sitting on your rusty, dusty and haven't done anything. Yeah. 0:04:17.190 --> 0:04:21.630 That's it. Jonah, go to Nineveh. And so what does 0:04:21.630 --> 0:04:23.550 it say? And Jonah paid his fare. Because whenever you 0:04:23.550 --> 0:04:26.550 disobey God, you picking up the tab? God ain't picking 0:04:26.550 --> 0:04:28.510 up your tab. I say it all the time. I know, 0:04:28.510 --> 0:04:30.270 I know, they tired of hearing it on the radio. 0:04:30.430 --> 0:04:32.550 You're shacking with the devil and want Jesus to pay 0:04:32.550 --> 0:04:36.550 the rent. Alright. The word of the Lord came to Jonah. 0:04:36.550 --> 0:04:40.990 Go to Nineveh to preach against that great city. Jonah said, hey, 0:04:40.990 --> 0:04:44.150 he's no, I ain't going. And he doesn't go. What 0:04:44.150 --> 0:04:47.070 does he do? He paid his fare and he went down, 0:04:47.070 --> 0:04:50.270 and he went down from Jerusalem, down to a ship, 0:04:50.270 --> 0:04:52.750 down in the belly of the ship, down into the sea, 0:04:52.790 --> 0:04:56.549 down into. See what happened to him. Anytime you disobey God, 0:04:56.589 --> 0:05:02.029 the only direction you can go is down. Amen. So 0:05:02.029 --> 0:05:07.190 now he goes down. He tries to get away from God. 0:05:07.589 --> 0:05:12.590 That's a funny. You didn't laugh. How can you escape 0:05:12.589 --> 0:05:19.789 from the omnipresent God? He is everywhere. At all time. 0:05:19.790 --> 0:05:22.390 In all time. So how are you going? And he 0:05:22.390 --> 0:05:24.589 running from the presence of the Lord. Now, let me 0:05:24.589 --> 0:05:26.710 tell you what the phrase presence of the Lord means. 0:05:27.670 --> 0:05:32.750 He's running from the things that remind him of the 0:05:32.750 --> 0:05:36.109 Lord's presence, like Jerusalem and the people of Jerusalem and 0:05:36.150 --> 0:05:39.589 the Tabernacle and all those kind of things like, oh, 0:05:39.630 --> 0:05:43.030 don't act like we don't do it. We backslide. We 0:05:43.070 --> 0:05:45.750 don't come to church. We don't read our Bible. We 0:05:45.750 --> 0:05:48.789 don't pray. Why? We want to get away from the 0:05:48.790 --> 0:05:52.510 presence of the Lord. That's it. Yeah. We want to 0:05:52.510 --> 0:05:54.510 get away from it. And here's here's what I like. 0:05:54.510 --> 0:05:58.430 If you read chapter three, the word of the Lord 0:05:58.670 --> 0:06:02.710 came to Jonah a second time. Now here's what you'll find. 0:06:03.390 --> 0:06:07.950 The exact words that God gave him in chapter one 0:06:08.230 --> 0:06:11.909 are the exact words that he gave him in chapter three. 0:06:12.230 --> 0:06:17.429 God didn't change his mind about what he wants you 0:06:17.430 --> 0:06:21.830 to do. Some of you been called and you're running 0:06:21.830 --> 0:06:29.630 from God. The call's not going to change. It's not 0:06:29.630 --> 0:06:32.869 going to change. What is it that he told you? 0:06:32.910 --> 0:06:35.830 Five years ago he wanted you to do? He ain't 0:06:35.830 --> 0:06:38.909 changed his mind about it. You say? Well, then what's 0:06:38.910 --> 0:06:42.309 going on? He doesn't violate your free will. He letting 0:06:42.310 --> 0:06:45.270 you do what you want to do. See, God doesn't 0:06:45.270 --> 0:06:49.150 make us change our minds. He only sends circumstances that 0:06:49.150 --> 0:06:55.669 will make us change our mind. Wow. How many of 0:06:55.670 --> 0:06:57.310 us ever said, God, if you get me out of this, 0:06:57.310 --> 0:06:58.790 I'm going back to church. And that's why you're here 0:06:58.790 --> 0:07:00.550 right now. Let me. Let me see some hands. Some 0:07:00.550 --> 0:07:03.310 honest folk, some honest folk. There you go. There you go. 0:07:03.350 --> 0:07:07.630 That's it. In other words, listen. When you're marking time, 0:07:07.630 --> 0:07:13.390 you're maintaining, but you're not attaining. Yeah. And so what happens? 0:07:13.390 --> 0:07:19.510 You're going through the motions. Wow. Yeah. You can you 0:07:19.510 --> 0:07:23.110 can mark time. Here's the third thing you can do. 0:07:24.150 --> 0:07:30.190 You can transcend time. You can transcend time. Uh, because 0:07:30.470 --> 0:07:34.950 the past should be a springboard, not a hammock. Alright. 0:07:35.630 --> 0:07:38.470 Some people live so far in the past that their 0:07:38.470 --> 0:07:43.710 future is gone by the time they get there. Don't 0:07:43.710 --> 0:07:50.790 let your history wreck your destiny. What did Paul say? 0:07:51.230 --> 0:07:55.830 I'm pressing this. Come on. Everybody knows it. One thing 0:07:55.830 --> 0:08:00.710 I do forgetting. I press. Well, Paul, wait a minute, 0:08:00.710 --> 0:08:03.350 wait a minute. That's two things. No, it's one thing. 0:08:03.910 --> 0:08:06.910 If I'm going to press, I have to forget. Yeah. 0:08:07.190 --> 0:08:11.790 You know what the word forget means? It's a Greek word. Aphiemi. 0:08:11.830 --> 0:08:16.230 Here's what it means. Let it go. Let it go. 0:08:17.390 --> 0:08:19.869 When are you going to let it go? I know 0:08:19.870 --> 0:08:22.790 some things were very difficult. I know that there were 0:08:22.790 --> 0:08:25.070 some dastardly things that have happened. But when are you 0:08:25.070 --> 0:08:29.630 going to let it go? Way, way back in the past. 0:08:29.630 --> 0:08:34.750 Why are you going to let your past override your 0:08:34.750 --> 0:08:40.470 present and your prophetic? God is able. You can go 0:08:40.470 --> 0:08:42.950 through it. I read the story of one of the 0:08:42.950 --> 0:08:49.110 Miss America. She was Italian and, uh, very beautiful woman. 0:08:49.590 --> 0:08:53.350 And she went into a restaurant. She was the only 0:08:53.350 --> 0:08:57.150 one there. The owner grabbed her, took her in the 0:08:57.150 --> 0:09:04.459 back and raped her. That's devastating. She was devastated and 0:09:04.460 --> 0:09:08.420 she was a believer. God, how could you allow something 0:09:08.420 --> 0:09:11.780 like that to happen to me? And I serve you. 0:09:13.179 --> 0:09:16.380 Fast forward the video. You know what she's doing now. 0:09:17.059 --> 0:09:22.179 She heads a ministry that ministers to rape victims. Right. 0:09:23.100 --> 0:09:28.459 God does that. Anybody ever heard of Johnny Erickson? Tada! Anybody? 0:09:28.980 --> 0:09:32.020 And she was a beauty queen, too. Dived into a 0:09:32.020 --> 0:09:36.220 pool that had shallow water and, uh, became a paraplegic. 0:09:37.500 --> 0:09:41.460 Now she has the number one ministry in the world 0:09:42.179 --> 0:09:48.260 that ministers to people who are paraplegic. And she ministered 0:09:48.260 --> 0:09:50.740 to all of them. I did her camp up in Minnesota. 0:09:51.300 --> 0:09:53.620 I mean, there were there were down syndrome children. There 0:09:53.620 --> 0:09:56.100 were I mean, it was it was like, uh, I mean, 0:09:56.100 --> 0:10:03.300 just fantastic ministry going on. There was a banker there. 0:10:03.300 --> 0:10:06.500 I gotta tell you his testimony. You would know who 0:10:06.540 --> 0:10:10.380 these people were. Uh, some of them were very poor. 0:10:10.620 --> 0:10:13.900 Some of them were very rich. All of them came free. 0:10:14.340 --> 0:10:17.420 I was there as the camp pastor for the week. 0:10:17.900 --> 0:10:19.700 And so I preached a message in the morning. A 0:10:19.700 --> 0:10:21.940 message in the evening. Message in the morning. Message in 0:10:21.940 --> 0:10:26.540 the evening. And so I preached ten times, uh, that week. 0:10:27.660 --> 0:10:30.660 So I'm sitting in there and this one brother, a 0:10:30.660 --> 0:10:34.540 Hispanic brother, start crying. I can't take it. I can't 0:10:34.580 --> 0:10:36.580 take it. I can't take this kid. I can't take 0:10:36.580 --> 0:10:40.940 this kid. And all these men got up and start 0:10:40.940 --> 0:10:45.060 smothering him with love. And they were all crying. And 0:10:45.059 --> 0:10:46.900 you know me. I'm a crybaby. I ain't had nothing 0:10:46.900 --> 0:10:48.740 to cry about. But since they was all crying, I 0:10:48.740 --> 0:10:51.700 didn't want to be left out. I started crying too. 0:10:52.940 --> 0:10:56.260 And then this one guy said. I know how you feel. 0:10:56.660 --> 0:11:00.300 My son has the exact same malady that your son 0:11:00.300 --> 0:11:02.819 has and this is what we've been able to do, 0:11:02.860 --> 0:11:05.699 he said, I'm going to give you my number. He said, 0:11:05.700 --> 0:11:07.300 I'm going to be with you, brother. I'm going to 0:11:07.300 --> 0:11:11.059 stick with you. So so, you know, I, I afterward, 0:11:11.059 --> 0:11:15.219 I was talking to this guy. It was a bank president. 0:11:16.500 --> 0:11:18.220 I said, oh, really? He said he said, let me 0:11:18.220 --> 0:11:20.780 tell you something. He said, I used to be so proud. 0:11:20.780 --> 0:11:24.819 I used to be so arrogant. He said, because, you know, 0:11:24.940 --> 0:11:30.020 I make about $6 million a year. Wow. So let 0:11:30.020 --> 0:11:36.100 me have your car. Who's your car, bro? So what happened? 0:11:36.620 --> 0:11:42.100 God gave us a down syndrome child. Changed my life. 0:11:43.700 --> 0:11:47.500 He said I made a commitment to Jesus Christ. And 0:11:47.500 --> 0:11:51.860 I haven't turned around. I haven't turned back. And he said, 0:11:52.020 --> 0:11:56.700 God gave me that child because I needed to be 0:11:56.740 --> 0:12:02.699 humbled to where my $6 million was his $6 million. 0:12:03.940 --> 0:12:06.740 And that man told me, he said, uh, we live 0:12:06.740 --> 0:12:10.620 on about a half $1 million a year, and the 0:12:10.620 --> 0:12:17.900 rest of it I give away. He said. And I 0:12:17.940 --> 0:12:23.459 served with Johnny and this board and these people, and 0:12:23.460 --> 0:12:28.220 I just help people with their children. I said, wow, 0:12:29.020 --> 0:12:33.540 that's powerful, man. That's transcending time. Yeah. If you go 0:12:33.540 --> 0:12:37.380 back in the Old Testament, you'll see, uh, Methuselah, his 0:12:37.380 --> 0:12:41.700 name means after he dies, it will come. So God 0:12:41.700 --> 0:12:49.500 gave him the the name of Methuselah. Now, uh, about 0:12:49.500 --> 0:12:57.780 369 years Enoch was born. So you have 600 years 0:12:57.780 --> 0:13:05.700 before Methuselah dies. So what happened? His father's name meant 0:13:06.140 --> 0:13:10.300 after he dies, it will come. And what did Enoch do? 0:13:10.900 --> 0:13:15.100 Enoch walked with God, and he was not because God 0:13:15.140 --> 0:13:15.780 took him. 0:13:18.980 --> 0:13:22.260 This is treasure. Truth with Pastor Ford. A message called 0:13:22.260 --> 0:13:25.059 it's your time. And we'll get back to this teaching 0:13:25.059 --> 0:13:28.220 in just a moment. Hey, I know many of us 0:13:28.220 --> 0:13:30.580 live busy lives. You're on the go, and it can 0:13:30.580 --> 0:13:33.500 be hard to listen to Pastor Ford's teaching at the 0:13:33.500 --> 0:13:36.020 same time every day on the radio. I totally get that. 0:13:36.020 --> 0:13:38.100 I'm right there with you. But if you don't want 0:13:38.140 --> 0:13:41.060 to miss it, you can always listen online by coming 0:13:41.100 --> 0:13:44.500 to Treasure Truth Radio org. You can also begin podcasting 0:13:44.500 --> 0:13:46.540 the program. That way you'll have it on hand and 0:13:46.540 --> 0:13:48.819 you can listen whenever it's convenient for you. You can 0:13:48.820 --> 0:13:50.820 also listen on the go if you have the Moody 0:13:50.820 --> 0:13:54.580 Radio app. It's free and available for your iPhone, your iPad, 0:13:54.580 --> 0:13:56.940 or your Android phone or tablet. And you can find 0:13:56.940 --> 0:13:58.939 it by going to your favorite app store, like the 0:13:58.940 --> 0:14:01.740 iOS App Store or Store, Google Play and searching for 0:14:01.780 --> 0:14:03.860 Moody Radio, or we'll link you to it when you 0:14:03.860 --> 0:14:06.780 come to our website. Just stop by Treasure Truth Radio. 0:14:08.380 --> 0:14:10.940 Let's get back to the message from Esther four again. 0:14:10.980 --> 0:14:12.300 Here is Pastor Ford. 0:14:12.740 --> 0:14:14.819 Now you got to do some work on your own now, 0:14:14.820 --> 0:14:16.820 but here's what you're going to find. Write down first 0:14:16.820 --> 0:14:20.220 Chronicles 1232. That'll help you see what's going on. What? 0:14:20.220 --> 0:14:26.020 What happened? His daddy became the one that helped him 0:14:26.020 --> 0:14:30.100 transcend time. He believed that after his daddy died, it 0:14:30.100 --> 0:14:34.220 will come. And so he placed his faith in Yahweh, 0:14:34.580 --> 0:14:37.020 and God took him. I like the way the old 0:14:37.020 --> 0:14:40.900 preacher would say it. He say, Enoch and God was walking, 0:14:41.060 --> 0:14:44.980 and they were talking and fellowshipping and and finally, uh, 0:14:45.180 --> 0:14:48.100 they stopped talking. And God said, well, you know, Enoch, 0:14:48.260 --> 0:14:51.020 you're closer to my house than you are to your house. 0:14:51.060 --> 0:14:54.900 Why don't you just come on to my house? So, yeah, 0:14:54.900 --> 0:14:58.540 that's it, that's it, that's it, that's it, that's it. 0:14:58.820 --> 0:15:01.970 And so we thank God. Here's the last one we 0:15:01.970 --> 0:15:06.690 need to redeem time. The Bible says redeeming the time 0:15:06.890 --> 0:15:09.810 for the days are evil. Let me let me just 0:15:09.810 --> 0:15:13.130 tell you, you can make up for lost time. Uh, 0:15:13.130 --> 0:15:15.570 we know it. In acts 13, we have the failure 0:15:15.570 --> 0:15:18.090 of John Mark. Uh, he goes to the mission field 0:15:18.090 --> 0:15:21.530 with the Apostle Paul and Barnabas, and he leads the 0:15:21.530 --> 0:15:25.930 mission field, and Paul is upset. Uh, but but Paul says, 0:15:25.970 --> 0:15:27.570 you know, a person who puts their hand to the 0:15:27.570 --> 0:15:30.010 plow and turns back is not fit for the kingdom. 0:15:30.050 --> 0:15:32.730 So he doesn't want anything to do with John Mark. 0:15:33.650 --> 0:15:36.370 But why does he change? Why does he say at 0:15:36.370 --> 0:15:39.290 the end of his life in Second Timothy he says, 0:15:39.290 --> 0:15:43.489 Bring John Mark with you, for he's profitable for the ministry. 0:15:44.170 --> 0:15:47.210 Well what happened? I mean, you know what happened. You 0:15:47.210 --> 0:15:50.210 know what happened. Uh, Mark leaves the mission field. Who 0:15:50.210 --> 0:15:56.410 does he hook up with? Barnabas. Barnabas, his uncle, becomes 0:15:56.410 --> 0:15:59.890 the son of encouragement and says, okay, just because you 0:15:59.890 --> 0:16:02.410 make a mistake. Paul is the great apostle, but he 0:16:02.410 --> 0:16:05.890 ain't always right. And so you can be forgiven. God 0:16:05.890 --> 0:16:08.690 is the God of not a second chance, but another chance. 0:16:08.690 --> 0:16:11.490 So come on, man, let me encourage you. Come with me. 0:16:12.250 --> 0:16:15.650 And so he goes with Barnabas. And then later on, 0:16:15.650 --> 0:16:20.490 Barnabas passes him off to Peter. Yes, sir. And Peter says, man, look, 0:16:20.490 --> 0:16:24.850 I denied him three times, so don't worry about it. 0:16:24.850 --> 0:16:31.170 And and Paul then began to recognize, hey, you know what? 0:16:31.170 --> 0:16:34.090 I kicked him to the curb when I should have 0:16:34.090 --> 0:16:38.450 done what Barnabas and Peter did. I should have developed him, 0:16:39.450 --> 0:16:43.850 is what I should have done. Alright. And thank God. 0:16:44.850 --> 0:16:49.850 How many know what the first gospel written. Written in A.D. 45. 0:16:49.850 --> 0:16:58.370 What's the first gospel? The gospel of John. Mark. Mark. 0:16:58.570 --> 0:17:04.250 Is John Mark had not. Somebody said we can redeem time. 0:17:04.290 --> 0:17:07.690 Had somebody not said that God can restore the years 0:17:07.690 --> 0:17:10.410 that the locust and the canker worm have eaten. Had 0:17:10.410 --> 0:17:13.090 somebody not said that God is a God of a 0:17:13.130 --> 0:17:16.570 second chance, a third chance, a fourth chance, I don't 0:17:16.609 --> 0:17:20.170 know what you're, uh, trying to overcome right now, but 0:17:20.170 --> 0:17:23.210 you can't overcome it because greater is he that's in 0:17:23.210 --> 0:17:25.930 you than he that's in the world. Because you're more 0:17:25.930 --> 0:17:28.770 than a conqueror through him that loved you. And you 0:17:28.770 --> 0:17:32.290 need to recognize and acknowledge the fact God wants to 0:17:32.290 --> 0:17:35.730 use you with all your flaws, with all your failures, 0:17:35.730 --> 0:17:38.810 with all your foibles, with all the things that are 0:17:38.810 --> 0:17:42.330 wrong with you. God says, step out with what is 0:17:42.330 --> 0:17:48.169 right and let me deal with what is wrong. Mm. 0:17:49.850 --> 0:17:53.290 You can start all over again. I can imagine Peter 0:17:53.290 --> 0:17:56.490 telling him the story. Say, you know, I denied him 0:17:56.490 --> 0:17:59.850 three times. And then I went back to fishing and 0:17:59.850 --> 0:18:03.730 eight guys follow me. And what was Matthew doing following me? 0:18:03.770 --> 0:18:06.930 He was a money man, not a fish man. But 0:18:06.930 --> 0:18:09.490 he followed me. He shows you the power of my leadership. 0:18:09.730 --> 0:18:12.409 I had the keys to the kingdom, he said. And 0:18:12.410 --> 0:18:16.730 then we were there on my fishing boat. And then 0:18:17.490 --> 0:18:22.490 somebody hollered from the shore, children! And we looked at 0:18:22.490 --> 0:18:25.889 was Jesus, and we're grown men. And he called us children. 0:18:26.290 --> 0:18:29.930 What a comforting, comforting word, because it meant no matter 0:18:29.930 --> 0:18:35.090 what you do, you're still my children. Amen. Then he said, 0:18:35.410 --> 0:18:41.330 have you caught anything? We said we fished all night 0:18:41.330 --> 0:18:46.090 and we've caught nothing. He was looking at us, John Mark. 0:18:46.090 --> 0:18:50.730 And he was saying, is what you're doing working for you, right? 0:18:51.730 --> 0:18:55.250 You left ministry to go back to fishing. Now you're fishing. 0:18:55.930 --> 0:19:00.290 Have you caught anything? You backslid. Did it? Did it 0:19:00.290 --> 0:19:04.409 benefit you? Did you gain anything by it? Now, if 0:19:04.450 --> 0:19:07.090 you said yes, let me tell you. Look out. Because 0:19:07.090 --> 0:19:10.929 whatever you gain when you backslide is going to become 0:19:10.930 --> 0:19:13.650 a curse to you when you get back in the fellowship. 0:19:16.609 --> 0:19:21.609 You don't believe me? Ask lot. Ask Abraham. They backslid, 0:19:21.609 --> 0:19:25.129 and he came out of Egypt with Hagar and a 0:19:25.130 --> 0:19:29.410 whole lot of cattle and wealth, and it became a division, 0:19:30.090 --> 0:19:34.450 a diversion. And so he said, yeah. And then he said, 0:19:34.450 --> 0:19:36.490 cast your net to the other side. And we pulled 0:19:36.490 --> 0:19:45.649 up 153 fish. And I remember why I left Jesus 0:19:45.650 --> 0:19:51.290 for fish, and he gave me fish. So now I 0:19:51.330 --> 0:19:54.450 pulled off my outer coat and jumped in the water 0:19:54.730 --> 0:19:57.449 because I left him for fish. Now I'm leaving the 0:19:57.450 --> 0:20:02.010 fish for him Because I realize he is the one 0:20:02.010 --> 0:20:06.609 who is my supply. He is my peace. He's my reconciler. 0:20:06.650 --> 0:20:09.370 He's the one that I. In him I live and 0:20:09.369 --> 0:20:12.570 move and have my being. And without him I can 0:20:12.570 --> 0:20:16.970 do nothing. And I swam to him. Amen. And when 0:20:16.970 --> 0:20:21.530 I got there, it was like he was saying, now, Peter, 0:20:21.530 --> 0:20:25.890 that you only want me. Come on, let's eat some fish. 0:20:26.970 --> 0:20:34.330 And he had fish. Catfish already fried Louisiana hot sauce 0:20:34.330 --> 0:20:39.970 bottle right beside him. Spaghetti in the pot, the coleslaw 0:20:39.970 --> 0:20:44.010 in the bucket and the Kool-Aid in the mason jar. 0:20:45.130 --> 0:20:50.010 He had everything there. And then he said to me, Peter, 0:20:50.530 --> 0:20:57.330 do you love me? Then get busy, son. Peter, do 0:20:57.330 --> 0:21:04.080 you love me? Get busy, son. Peter, do you love me? 0:21:04.760 --> 0:21:10.200 Get busy, son. Because I'm going to turn your cowardice 0:21:10.200 --> 0:21:14.280 into courage. And I need you to preach the gospel 0:21:14.280 --> 0:21:17.640 on the day of Pentecost. To reverse what happened at 0:21:17.640 --> 0:21:21.920 the law. Because at the law, 3000 people died when 0:21:21.920 --> 0:21:26.640 the law was given. Uh, but when you preach on Pentecost, 0:21:26.680 --> 0:21:31.840 3000 people will be saved. I'm going to reverse what 0:21:31.840 --> 0:21:39.760 happened over 2000 years. And, Peter, I'm going to use you. 0:21:41.720 --> 0:21:46.119 I hope some of you peters out there will realize 0:21:47.440 --> 0:21:53.879 it's your time. Yeah. Bless the truth to our hearts. 0:21:53.880 --> 0:21:56.320 Our father, we pray for Christ's sake. 0:21:57.640 --> 0:22:01.600 Amen. Pastor Ford, as we're wrapping up this message from 0:22:01.600 --> 0:22:05.760 Esther chapter four entitled It's Your Time. Have you ever 0:22:05.760 --> 0:22:08.240 missed one of the broadcasts in the short little series, 0:22:08.240 --> 0:22:10.280 or you just want to listen to it again? I 0:22:10.280 --> 0:22:12.639 do hope you'll come to the website. There you can 0:22:12.680 --> 0:22:15.280 download an MP3 for free, or you can stream the 0:22:15.280 --> 0:22:18.479 broadcast or even order a copy on CD. Get started 0:22:18.480 --> 0:22:22.680 when you come to treasure Truth Radio. Now, pastor, there 0:22:22.680 --> 0:22:24.640 are a lot of places that we can choose to 0:22:24.680 --> 0:22:27.960 put our money and to expect some sort of return 0:22:27.960 --> 0:22:30.959 on investment. 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