S1: The world is not divided like people like to divide it.
S1: It is not divided geographically. It is not divided racially.
S1: It's not divided economically. It's divided by the cross that
S1: everybody in here is on one side of the cross
S1: or the other.
S2: You're listening to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James
S2: Ford Jr. Senior pastor of Christ Bible Church in Chicago.
S2: I'm Steve Hiller, and I'm glad that you're with us.
S2: You know, pastor, if we do try and divide the
S2: world geographically, racially, so many different ways you can divide
S2: that world down into so many minuscule little segments. But
S2: very simple. When we're going to divide it by the cross.
S2: You're on one side or the other. It's 1 or 2.
S2: You want a 7 or 8.
S1: You are a saint or you ain't.
S2: Yeah, that is it right there.
S1: No middle.
S2: Ground. And so I know that as we get into
S2: today's message, we're going to spend some time talking about
S2: making sure that we are telling those on the other side,
S2: on the eight side of the cross, how they can
S2: get to the saint side of the cross.
S1: Amen. That's what the Bible is really all about. I mean,
S1: it's about the redemption. There's a scarlet thread that runs throughout. Uh,
S1: but it's Luke 1910. The Son of Man has come
S1: to seek and to save that which was lost. And
S1: so the Lord Jesus Christ, I mean, he left the
S1: suburbs of heaven, came to the inner city called Earth
S1: to redeem lost humanity, of which you and I are
S1: a full part of. And we're grateful for it. We
S1: thank God, uh, that he did come. So now that
S1: he came down, we can go up. And I trust
S1: that someone who's listening will understand what the Bible has
S1: to say. Here it is in a nutshell. I love
S1: Romans ten nine and ten. It says that if thou
S1: shalt confess with thy mouth that Jesus is Lord, and
S1: believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead,
S1: thou shalt be saved. Then verse ten says this for
S1: with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the
S1: mouth confession is made unto salvation. That word Lord is curious.
S1: It's the Old Testament equivalent of Yahweh. Do you believe
S1: that Jesus Christ of the New Testament is Yahweh of
S1: the Old Testament? Well, whether you believe it or not,
S1: he is. And the text that we're going to look
S1: at today gives us what is the gospel? People say,
S1: what's the good news? He says, for I delivered unto
S1: you that which I also received, how that Christ died
S1: for our sins. That's according to the scriptures, and that
S1: he was buried, and that he rose again the third
S1: day according to the scriptures. That's the good news. And
S1: all you have to do is believe it. Thank God
S1: he put the cookies on the lower table. It doesn't
S1: matter how old you are or how young you are,
S1: we all can come to Jesus Christ through the cross
S1: of Calvary.
S2: Well, that is good news indeed. And we're going to
S2: look a little bit more deeply at that today in
S2: the book of First Corinthians. If you can join us
S2: in chapter 15 as we begin the message. Run. Tell
S2: that here's Pastor Ford.
S1: Now, someone once said that if you tell a man something,
S1: it goes in one ear and out the other side.
S1: But if you tell a woman something, it goes in
S1: both her ears and out her mouth. Now I don't know.
S1: I don't know if that's true. I, I don't know.
S1: I'd give you the preacher's name, as I told you before. Uh,
S1: but come on, we know that's not entirely true. Uh,
S1: because there are some men who gossip more. There are
S1: some amens there. Yeah. So? So don't look around, because
S1: everybody know who they are. Don't look around. Don't look around. Uh,
S1: but we all know, uh, That most of the time
S1: we like to hear things about people and we like
S1: sharing the truth. Or sometimes it's not the truth, but
S1: we don't care because we love sharing the latest news.
S1: I mean, if you think about it, uh, now they
S1: do it and it's on the internet or on Instagram
S1: or on Facebook or on Twitter, just like that. So
S1: it's told on you before you even get home. I
S1: know it to be true because I said something about
S1: my wife when she wasn't here, and then when I
S1: got home, she slapped me upside the head. I said,
S1: what's that for? She said, what you said in church.
S1: How you find out so fast? Lift up her cellphone,
S1: show me a text message. Mhm. Yeah. And so the
S1: bigger the people the greater we like to spread the news.
S1: And so if it's big news about big people we
S1: run tell that now Paul says we ought to be
S1: ready to tell the gospel as readily as we tell
S1: the gossip. Uh, yeah. That's what he's talking about in
S1: first Corinthians chapter 15. It's called the resurrection chapter, and
S1: he's going to tell us about the resurrection of our
S1: Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And basically, if you want
S1: to boil it down to what he's going to tell us,
S1: he's going to tell us that death proved that Jesus
S1: was a man, but the resurrection proved that Jesus was God.
S1: Uh huh. Yeah, he's the God man. He's God and
S1: man at the same time. Yeah. He's undiminished deity and
S1: undeniable humanity at the same time. He's 100% God, 100%
S1: man at the same time. What that means is this.
S1: He was born as a baby. Uh, but is the
S1: eternal God at the same time that he got thirsty?
S1: But he's the living water at the same. Y'all ain't
S1: going to help me in here. At the same time,
S1: he got hungry, but he was the bread of life.
S1: At the same time, he grew in wisdom and stature
S1: in favor with God and man, but he knows everything
S1: at the same time. He's in one place at one time,
S1: but in every place, at every time, at the same time,
S1: he's here and he's there at the same time. He's
S1: in my today and he's in my tomorrow at the
S1: same time, he's at the right hand of the father,
S1: and he's living in my heart at the same time.
S1: And he's coming for me, though he never left me
S1: at the same time. Yeah, he's the God man. Colossians
S1: two nine and ten. For in him dwells all the
S1: fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in him.
S1: And Paul says, run, tell that. Yeah, it run! Tell
S1: that he is risen. No, no, no, he is risen!
S1: I said he is risen! Yeah. And he gave us
S1: evidences that Christ has risen from the dead. Let's walk
S1: through him. I'm going to drop him. I'm not going
S1: to push him. Notice, first of all, the first evidence
S1: about Christ's resurrection from the dead is found in verses
S1: one and two. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the
S1: gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have received,
S1: and wherein you stand, by which also you are saved.
S1: If you keep in memory what I have preached unto you,
S1: unless I have preached unto you in vain. Now notice
S1: what Paul was saying. He's talking about the transformation of
S1: the saints. He's saying the first proof that the resurrection
S1: of Jesus Christ is real is the transformation of the saints.
S1: He uses the word saved sozo. In other words, when
S1: you look at what Paul was trying to focus on,
S1: everybody has two births or everybody should have two births.
S1: The first birth, your mother tells you about the second
S1: birth you ought to tell your mother about. And that's
S1: what Paul was talking about. This second birth. Why? Born once.
S1: Died twice. Born twice. Die once. Maybe. And so he's saying, listen.
S1: In verse one, he talks about the proclamation that led
S1: to your transformation in verse two. He's talking about the
S1: product of your transformation. He says, you receive the message
S1: and that message saves you. And it was not in vain.
S1: It means empty. That is, you heard the message and
S1: you responded to it. And the problem today in many
S1: churches is that a whole lot of people have been
S1: starched and ironed, but they ain't never been washed. Aha. Yeah. See?
S1: Not in vain. What he means is this it wasn't
S1: because of the Eightfold path of Buddhism that you got saved.
S1: It wasn't because of the five pillars of Islam that
S1: you got saved. It wasn't because of the Ten Commandments
S1: of the Jews that you got saved. It wasn't because
S1: of a 12 step program of AA or Na that
S1: you got saved. But he said it was one step
S1: that you believed in the finished work of our Lord
S1: and Savior Jesus Christ. And because of that, you got
S1: saved because the Son of God became the Son of man,
S1: that the sons of men may become the sons of God.
S1: And somebody ought to be grateful that God has saved.
S1: I wish I had some saved folk in the house. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
S1: I remember before my son became a barber, I went
S1: to a barber shop. I like the sign that was
S1: at the barber shop. I walked in and it said,
S1: In God We Trust. And then another sign was over
S1: here and it said, all others pay cash. Oh, I
S1: like that sign. I thought about it, Richie. I said,
S1: you know what? That's a good sign. You know what
S1: he's saying? No checks, no credit cards, no money orders,
S1: no debit cards, no gift cards, no link cards. Only
S1: one form of payment. Cash is king. That's what he's saying.
S1: And when I thought about our salvation, as Paul talks
S1: about it in verses one and verse two, he says, listen,
S1: there's only one form of payment for sin, and that's
S1: the blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The
S1: songwriter said, what can wash away my sin? Nothing but
S1: the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again?
S1: Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh precious is the
S1: flow that makes me white as snow. No other fount
S1: I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Leviticus 1711
S1: I've given the blood upon the altar as an atonement
S1: for sin. Hebrews 922. Without the shedding of blood, there
S1: is no remission. First Peter chapter one, verses 18 and 19.
S1: For as much as you know that you've not been
S1: redeemed from corruptible things, such as silver and gold, from
S1: your vain conversation received by tradition of your fathers. But
S1: but thank God for the. But. Yeah, but with the
S1: precious blood of Jesus Christ. As of a lamb without
S1: spot and without blemish. Oh, thank you Jesus. Amen. I'm
S1: praising him all by myself. Sure. Hey, there's a word
S1: here that I gotta point out to you. Just one word.
S1: I ain't got time for all of it, you know that.
S1: But the word received. Oh, that's a powerful word. Because
S1: the word received is not the regular word to get something.
S1: You receive salvation? No, the object of salvation. But it's my.
S1: Say my. Now, that Greek word means this. It talks
S1: about the object plus. What's the plus? It not only
S1: says that you receive something, it says how you received it.
S1: So here's what he's saying. He's saying, listen, when you
S1: heard this gospel, it made you happy. You received it
S1: with joy. Amen. And that's what he tells us. He
S1: tells us, listen, that. That whenever we accept the Lord
S1: Jesus Christ. Oh, yeah, we will be happy. Yeah. That's it.
S1: And so he wants us to know that the transformation
S1: of the Saints has done this. Uh, why? Because the
S1: Bible says, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he's
S1: a new creature. Old things have passed away. Behold, all
S1: things have become new. That is, I remember, uh, back
S1: in the old sanctuary, major Matthew was an elder, and, uh, Dino, uh,
S1: was on the drums. And a lady looked up at
S1: the service and she laughed. And I wanted to know
S1: what was so funny from the pulpit. So I caught
S1: her after the service. I said, I saw you look
S1: at the pulpit and laugh. What was so funny? She said, well,
S1: I looked at our pastor. He's an ex-drug pusher. I
S1: looked at our elder. He's an ex crackhead. I looked
S1: at our drummer. He's an ex gangbanger. And I thought,
S1: God sure must be desperate these days. And I said
S1: to her, sis, God is not desperate. God is merciful. See,
S1: the operative word is ex. That's the operative word. Now, now,
S1: anybody who saw Malcolm X knows that, Malcolm said when
S1: they asked him in the interview, why do you use
S1: an X Mr. X? And he said, because as a
S1: slave my name was taken away. I don't know what
S1: it is. So the X in math is the unknown factor.
S1: So I use x. Well, I use x too, but
S1: it's not because of the unknown, it's because of the unknown.
S1: Because I am an ex-drug pusher. I am an ex adulterer.
S1: I am an ex child abandoner I am an ex.
S1: I'm an ex ex ex. And see, that's what the
S1: gospel has done. It has transformed me and I ain't
S1: the only X in here. There's some X liars and
S1: some ex-chiefs and some X pornography viewers and some X
S1: drug head and some x hoes and some x pimps.
S1: There's some X in here. I ought to have some
S1: noise in here because there's everybody in here is an
S1: X something. Come on man if you saved he saved
S1: you from something. And so you're x Amen. Amen. Amen.
S2: Amen. Indeed. That is good news, isn't it? That Christ
S2: comes and he saves us from what we once were,
S2: and he puts a new heart in us. We are
S2: a new creation once we come to know him. What
S2: a great way to begin this message. It's entitled run,
S2: Tell Dat, and we're going to continue this teaching in
S2: just a moment. If you want to make sure that
S2: you don't miss one of the future broadcasts in the
S2: short series, though, come to our website it's Treasure Truth Radio.
S2: Org sign up to begin podcasting the program, or you
S2: can download the Moody Radio app. That's a great way
S2: to listen on the go when it's convenient for you.
S2: Not only can you listen to Treasure Truth, but other
S2: moody radio programs and internet radio stations. Again, you'll find
S2: the link to the app at Treasure Truth Radio. Org.
S2: All right, let's get back to the message again. Here's
S2: Pastor Ford.
S1: Notice secondly with me notice the second truth that undergirds
S1: the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He says the transformation of
S1: the saints. Then secondly, he says the truth of the scriptures.
S1: Notice what it says in verses three and four, for
S1: I delivered unto you first of all that which I received,
S1: how that Christ died for our sins, according to the
S1: Scripture that he was buried, and that he rose again
S1: the third day according second reason. The truth of the scriptures.
S1: In verses three and four. Now here's what Paul does.
S1: I love this because Paul is going to tell us
S1: that it's proven in two ways, by the content of
S1: the scriptures and by the confirmation of the scriptures. Jesus
S1: Christ has rose from the dead. So he gives the content.
S1: What is the content of the good news? What should
S1: we run and tell? It is the death, burial, and
S1: resurrection of Jesus Christ that God became. A man, came
S1: down here, hung, bled and died on an old rugged cross,
S1: was buried in a borrowed tomb. So he went from
S1: a borrowed womb to a borrowed tomb. But then, as
S1: everybody has said early Sunday morning he got up. And
S1: so the three men on the cross in John 1918.
S1: And there were three crosses. Everybody know that there's a
S1: thief on the left of Jesus, and Jesus is on
S1: the middle cross, and there's a thief on the right
S1: of Jesus and the thief on the left of Jesus. Uh,
S1: he represented somebody who died in sin. And the thief
S1: on the right, he represents somebody who died to their sin.
S1: But Jesus in the middle is the one who died
S1: for our sin. And so one died in sin, one
S1: died to sin, one died for sin. And so the
S1: one on my left, uh, he was on the cross
S1: of rebellion and the one that was on my right,
S1: he was on the cross of repentance, but the one
S1: in the middle, he was on the cross of redemption
S1: or remitting our sins for us, taking all of the
S1: filth of all that we've ever done in word or deed, word,
S1: thought or deed. And he took those sins on himself
S1: and so on. The one on my left rejection was
S1: taking place. The one on my right a receiving was
S1: taking place, but the one in the middle remission was
S1: taking place. I came to tell somebody that the world
S1: is not divided like people like to divide it. It
S1: is not divided geographically. It is not divided racially. It's
S1: not divided economically. It's not divided nationally. It's divided by
S1: the cross that everybody in here is on the one
S1: side of the cross or the other, that you're on
S1: the left side of the cross where you're going to
S1: die in your sin, or you're on the right side
S1: of the cross where you're going to die to your sin.
S1: Because in the middle, Jesus died for your sin. And
S1: the job of this preacher and every preacher holler at me.
S1: Preachers wave at me. All the preachers in the house.
S1: Our job is to get you from the left side
S1: of the cross, over to the right side of the cross.
S1: That's our job. Because there's only two kind of people
S1: in the world. You're either a saint, help me Christ
S1: Bible or an ain't. That's right. A saint or an ain't.
S1: And so he wants us to know. Listen, that this
S1: is the content of the gospel here. That man was dying.
S1: He only had about an hour and a half left,
S1: and he told his family, I don't want y'all in here,
S1: but I want my lawyer, and I want my broker.
S1: Call him and tell him. Get here as quick as
S1: they can. And sure enough, they got there. And when
S1: they got there, they felt honored. You want your family
S1: and you're letting us in. Why? He said, because I
S1: want to die like my Lord Jesus Christ. I want
S1: to die between two thieves. Yeah, yeah. The content is
S1: the gospel, and it determines where you will spend eternity.
S1: Somebody asked me, do you preach the full gospel? I said, yes,
S1: I do. I preach the full gospel. I preach that
S1: Jesus was God who became a man who died on
S1: an old rugged cross, buried, and then rose again the
S1: third day, ascended in the right hand of the father,
S1: and is soon coming. King. That's as full as it gets.
S1: It doesn't get any fuller than that. That's it. And
S1: so it is. And we know it. It is the
S1: content of the gospel that saved us. Okay. Alright, alright. See,
S1: it was the gospel that took that 40 out of
S1: your hand and put a Bible in it. It was
S1: the gospel that turned your cursing tongue into praising lips.
S1: It was the gospel that took you from the party house,
S1: the jailhouse, the crack house, the frat house, the school house,
S1: the penthouse, the bar house, the outhouse, the white house,
S1: even your house. And brought you to the church house. Yeah,
S1: it was the gospel that took that blunt, that bud
S1: from your lips. And now you get high on the
S1: Holy Ghost. It was the gospel that stopped you from
S1: sleeping around with every woman that was stupid enough to
S1: sleep with you. And now you're celibate. If you're single
S1: or if you're married, you are homosexual. You get your
S1: sex at home. Mhm. Yeah. Yeah, sister. It was the
S1: gospel that kept you from getting your self esteem, from
S1: the fact that you have a man, and then you
S1: now get your self esteem from the fact that you
S1: have the man Jesus Christ, that all your girlfriends think
S1: that you are crazy because you left a man you
S1: could see to hook up with a man you can't see.
S1: And now the man that you can't see is taking
S1: better of you than the man you could see. And
S1: so you're grateful that he came with the gospel of
S1: Jesus Christ. Touched your life. Touch your heart, young people.
S1: I know you're glad that the gospel help you understand
S1: that it's not the label on your clothes that give
S1: you value and worth, but that your name is written
S1: in the Lamb's Book of Life. Hallelujah to the Lamb
S1: of God. Yeah, it was the gospel. Yeah. That content
S1: that wrote our name in the Lamb's Book of Life.
S1: It was the gospel that put God in our heart
S1: and pep in our step and sense in our head,
S1: and a Bible in our hand and a song on
S1: our lips and a smile on our face. Because I
S1: know some of y'all ain't cracked a smile yet. You
S1: have to buy better makeup. But not just the content
S1: of the scriptures. Notice the confirmation of the scriptures. Two
S1: times it says according to the scriptures. Now you gotta
S1: understand something. The first extant manuscript that we have of
S1: the scriptures were written approximately A.D. 45 by Mark John Mark.
S1: The first gospel, of which all the other gospels are,
S1: got some of their information and, well, a lot of
S1: their information. And so when it says here the Scripture
S1: is talking about the Old Testament Scripture. Now Paul says,
S1: let me tell you something. This is not new and improved.
S1: This is not something that you're hearing for the first time,
S1: he says. Back in the Old Testament, everybody began to
S1: tell you about the fact that Jesus would die, be buried,
S1: and rose again and rise again the third day in
S1: the Old Testament. So you take Isaiah, what we call
S1: the fifth gospel in the Old Testament. What did he say?
S1: He said that he was wounded for our transgressions, bruised
S1: for our iniquities, and the chastisement of his peace was
S1: upon us, and by his stripes we were healed. 700
S1: years before Jesus ever came to Calvary, Isaiah said in
S1: the scriptures, he's going to die, be buried. And now
S1: his resurrection is confirmation that you can trust the Bible,
S1: that you can trust it. As a matter of fact,
S1: you know what amazes me in Psalm 22? It talks
S1: about the fact that Jesus would be crucified. Well, wait
S1: a minute. This is at least 400 years before Rome
S1: ever started using crucifixion as a means of execution. So
S1: God said, I done already set this thing up. He
S1: is delivered up because of the foreordained counsel of God.
S1: And God says he going to die on a cross.
S1: And people back then were saying, what is a cross?
S2: Well, unfortunately we do have to pause the teaching right there.
S2: Great point from Pastor Ford and we'll continue this message
S2: in title run. Tell that next time right here on
S2: Treasure Truth. If you want to make sure that you
S2: don't miss any of the Treasure Truth broadcasts, you can
S2: simply come to our website and you'll find them there.
S2: And while you're at the website, I want to ask
S2: you to consider clicking on the donate link because we
S2: are a listener supported ministry. We depend on your generosity
S2: to pay for all the costs associated with keeping this
S2: program on the air. Again, come to treasure Truth Radio
S2: org and click on donate. Thanks for doing that. And
S2: thanks also to our producers, Amy Rios and Ryan McConaughey.
S2: For Pastor Ford, I'm Steve Hiller. Treasure truth is a
S2: production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.