WEBVTT - Treasured Truth Weekend—The Perfect Storm, Part 2 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:04.200 God knows how to bring you back to himself and 0:00:04.200 --> 0:00:07.440 some of us right now, what we're going through. It 0:00:07.440 --> 0:00:11.600 is a storm that has divine design on it because 0:00:11.640 --> 0:00:15.520 God wants to push you back to himself. 0:00:21.800 --> 0:00:25.320 Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford Jr, 0:00:25.400 --> 0:00:28.000 senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago. I'm 0:00:28.000 --> 0:00:30.000 Steve Hiller. Glad that you're with us today as we 0:00:30.040 --> 0:00:33.640 continue our look at acts chapter 27 and a message 0:00:33.640 --> 0:00:37.120 called The Perfect Storm. You know, we began to look 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:39.760 at last time how God very often will allow storms 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:42.800 into our lives for a number of different reasons. One 0:00:42.800 --> 0:00:45.560 of those reasons may be to bring us to salvation. 0:00:45.600 --> 0:00:48.400 Other times, it may be to get us, in a sense, 0:00:48.400 --> 0:00:51.800 back on track with him when things are going well 0:00:52.000 --> 0:00:56.200 in life. It can be very easy to, in a sense, 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:58.600 hit the cruise control and just coast for a while. 0:00:58.960 --> 0:01:01.240 We're no longer spending the time with God that we 0:01:01.280 --> 0:01:04.280 once did. Maybe our hearts begin to feel a little 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:09.200 bit calloused. We begin to unintentionally, slowly kind of grow 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:12.760 in pride because you're thinking, look at how well my 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:15.720 life is going here. God must think I'm doing things 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:19.759 right because he's allowing all these good things in my life. 0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:22.800 And at other times, it may just be flat out 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:26.480 rebellion that we begin to drift into. And so God 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:31.280 very often will allow some sort of storm into our lives, 0:01:31.640 --> 0:01:34.960 so that we begin to recognize that our dependence really 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:39.040 needs to be upon him and him alone. You know, 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:42.480 for the person who's struggling with pride, when that storm 0:01:42.480 --> 0:01:44.600 hits and you come to the end of yourself and 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:47.800 you realize you don't have it all together, that might 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:50.559 be just the very thing that God wanted to have 0:01:50.560 --> 0:01:53.600 happen and why he allowed that storm into your life. 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:56.720 For the person who maybe has been slowly walking away 0:01:56.720 --> 0:01:59.840 from their faith, and the rebellion seems to be growing 0:01:59.880 --> 0:02:02.560 a little bit each and every day. It may be 0:02:02.560 --> 0:02:06.160 that storm that causes us to recognize that what we're 0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:12.440 actually experiencing is God's loving discipline. Yeah, loving discipline because 0:02:12.440 --> 0:02:15.000 he wants what's best for us. Sometimes he does have 0:02:15.000 --> 0:02:17.480 to discipline us, just as a parent may discipline their 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:22.440 child to bring them back into right behavior and relationship, 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:26.640 to ultimately be getting good consequences down the road, they 0:02:26.639 --> 0:02:30.720 may have to experience some short term negative consequences. Very often, 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:34.200 God will allow us to go through negative consequences and 0:02:34.200 --> 0:02:38.120 storms of life because he ultimately loves us and has 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:40.799 our best in mind. He wants to conform us more 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:43.600 into the image and the likeness of His Son, and 0:02:43.600 --> 0:02:46.560 he may just use a storm to do that. We're 0:02:46.560 --> 0:02:48.560 going to continue to look at that today from acts 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:52.959 27 as we continue the message, the perfect storm. Here 0:02:53.000 --> 0:02:54.040 is Pastor Ford. 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:58.280 What is missing in chapter 34 that you have in 0:02:58.280 --> 0:03:05.549 chapter 33 and chapter 35. God speaking because God is 0:03:05.550 --> 0:03:10.389 not going to speak when we're in disobedience. He's silent. 0:03:10.389 --> 0:03:13.470 When we're in disobedience. You say, how do you know 0:03:13.470 --> 0:03:16.389 that every passage we've looked at that has that? Like 0:03:16.389 --> 0:03:19.950 when we looked at Abraham, right. He was in Haran 0:03:19.990 --> 0:03:23.950 five years and God didn't say anything. That's at the 0:03:23.950 --> 0:03:26.510 end of chapter 11. But then at the beginning of 0:03:26.510 --> 0:03:31.590 chapter 12 and the Lord said unto Abraham again, God 0:03:31.590 --> 0:03:34.910 speaking to him. Now why? Because he's on his way 0:03:35.110 --> 0:03:38.230 to where God told him to go. And the person 0:03:38.230 --> 0:03:42.590 who was impeding and stopping him from going was terror. 0:03:42.630 --> 0:03:46.910 His father. And it says, And Terah died, and Abraham 0:03:47.150 --> 0:03:50.550 looked to the Negev. Wonder who or what gotta die 0:03:50.550 --> 0:03:54.150 in your life for. You're ready to listen to what 0:03:54.190 --> 0:03:57.830 God has to say. And so what happens? God says, 0:03:57.830 --> 0:04:02.910 okay now. And God said unto Jacob, Jacob begins to obey, 0:04:03.390 --> 0:04:11.510 and God continues to answer. And so what happens? Because 0:04:11.510 --> 0:04:14.869 when we are being corrected at least two two areas 0:04:14.870 --> 0:04:19.550 in this text, uh, it affects us emotionally and it 0:04:19.550 --> 0:04:23.270 affects us experientially. Let me just walk through the text 0:04:23.270 --> 0:04:26.390 here and let me show you what happens there, designed 0:04:26.390 --> 0:04:30.910 to emotionally correct us and to experientially correct us. If 0:04:30.910 --> 0:04:33.350 you are taking notes, just write these down. I want 0:04:33.390 --> 0:04:36.870 to walk you through real quick. Uh, 14 through 20 0:04:36.910 --> 0:04:40.510 and show you what's going on. So then what are 0:04:40.510 --> 0:04:45.349 they designed to correct? Because the storm, uh, they were 0:04:45.550 --> 0:04:52.150 lost totally for 14 days. They had no destination. And 0:04:52.150 --> 0:04:56.190 problems do that to you? You can lose all your bearings. 0:04:56.550 --> 0:05:00.110 You know, they're coasting, going in the wrong direction, but 0:05:00.110 --> 0:05:03.910 you can't coast uphill. And so what happens here it is. 0:05:04.150 --> 0:05:08.029 Storms want to correct us, to stop us from drifting 0:05:08.430 --> 0:05:11.190 like we don't have a compass. Here's the second one. 0:05:12.270 --> 0:05:18.270 Storms correct us by causing us to be desperate. These 0:05:18.270 --> 0:05:22.070 guys get desperate. Look what they're doing. Uh, in verses 0:05:22.110 --> 0:05:24.950 16 through 18. Look what they're doing. They're doing all 0:05:24.990 --> 0:05:30.830 these kinds of things to try to help themselves and 0:05:30.830 --> 0:05:35.710 is not working. Verse 20. Because storms cause you to despair. 0:05:36.910 --> 0:05:41.190 Here's the last one. Storms cause you to draw in. 0:05:41.230 --> 0:05:44.390 That is to prioritize. So they tighten up on some 0:05:44.390 --> 0:05:48.589 stuff and they discarded some stuff. So they threw some 0:05:48.589 --> 0:05:54.670 baggage overboard. They threw aboard overboard all the non-essentials. Wait 0:05:54.670 --> 0:05:58.469 a minute. They threw over their cargo. What's their cargo? 0:05:58.750 --> 0:06:02.830 This is how they make their money. Okay. So let's, 0:06:02.830 --> 0:06:04.349 let's let's walk through this real quick before I go 0:06:04.350 --> 0:06:08.349 to the next one. Um, number one, God send this storm. 0:06:08.510 --> 0:06:14.230 And at first, this storm causes them all kind of trouble. Why? 0:06:14.990 --> 0:06:20.750 Because when you are in disobedience, you lose your moorings 0:06:21.190 --> 0:06:27.990 in the word of God. Now they're desperate. Hey, look, 0:06:27.990 --> 0:06:31.990 somebody say that's a good thing. Why is that a good? 0:06:31.990 --> 0:06:35.910 The storm made them desperate. Okay, see? See y'all looking 0:06:35.910 --> 0:06:37.909 at me like y'all don't know what I'm talking about. 0:06:37.910 --> 0:06:41.830 But you done been in a storm where you didn't said, God, 0:06:42.190 --> 0:06:44.310 this thing is really bad. I can't deal with this. 0:06:44.350 --> 0:06:47.150 If you get me out of this, I will. That's 0:06:47.150 --> 0:06:49.430 what the storm is designed to do. To make you 0:06:49.430 --> 0:06:53.550 so desperate that you're ready to do what God and 0:06:53.550 --> 0:06:55.470 I tell people all the time. Like, like a lot 0:06:55.510 --> 0:06:57.990 of times it's the ladies. Sometimes it's the man. But 0:06:57.990 --> 0:06:59.830 most of the time it's the lady. He won't come 0:06:59.830 --> 0:07:02.990 to counseling. He won't do this. And he won't do that. 0:07:03.029 --> 0:07:06.669 He ain't desperate enough yet. It's still going too well 0:07:06.670 --> 0:07:10.150 for him. Let God have him for a little bit more. 0:07:11.310 --> 0:07:14.710 Well how long? I don't know, but God knows how 0:07:14.830 --> 0:07:17.910 to bring you back to himself and some of us 0:07:17.910 --> 0:07:21.790 right now. What we're going through. It is a storm 0:07:21.790 --> 0:07:26.670 that has divine design on it, because God wants to 0:07:27.070 --> 0:07:32.750 push you back to himself. That storm is designed to 0:07:32.790 --> 0:07:37.670 bring you back to him. That's what he's trying to do. 0:07:37.990 --> 0:07:40.390 And so what do they do? Let me get to 0:07:40.390 --> 0:07:44.869 the cargo for a minute. The cargo is their livelihood. 0:07:45.190 --> 0:07:50.230 But when the storm comes and there's a danger, they're 0:07:50.230 --> 0:07:58.310 willing to throw away their provision so that they can survive. 0:07:59.590 --> 0:08:01.910 Now get this. This is why I want to bring 0:08:01.910 --> 0:08:07.870 it out. Because what at one time was so very important. 0:08:07.870 --> 0:08:11.470 We can't let this go. God can put you in 0:08:11.510 --> 0:08:16.590 a situation where it's not as important to you as 0:08:16.590 --> 0:08:19.470 it used to be. And some of you know what 0:08:19.470 --> 0:08:22.950 I'm talking about. He is not as important to you 0:08:23.510 --> 0:08:26.590 as he used to be. She is not as important 0:08:26.590 --> 0:08:32.270 to you as she used to be. That thing, that job, 0:08:32.429 --> 0:08:38.630 that car, that house is not. As you begin to realize. 0:08:38.830 --> 0:08:41.230 What should it profit a man if he gained the 0:08:41.230 --> 0:08:44.309 whole world and lose his own soul? You begin to 0:08:44.309 --> 0:08:47.270 realize I have to seek first the kingdom of God 0:08:47.270 --> 0:08:51.270 and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added 0:08:51.270 --> 0:08:57.790 unto me. It's like this storm is designed to correct us. 0:08:57.830 --> 0:09:02.540 Storms change you. You're no longer to be who you are, 0:09:02.780 --> 0:09:06.140 but you can't become who you're supposed to be until 0:09:06.140 --> 0:09:10.900 you let go of who you are. Mm. Go ahead, 0:09:10.900 --> 0:09:20.579 look back, take a retrospective analysis and see you wouldn't 0:09:20.580 --> 0:09:25.220 be who you are now or where you are now 0:09:26.020 --> 0:09:33.540 without them storms. Mm. So the storms help them to 0:09:33.580 --> 0:09:36.900 cancel what was behind them so they could get what 0:09:36.900 --> 0:09:40.540 was ahead of them. How many of you your past 0:09:40.540 --> 0:09:49.620 is keeping you from your future? They threw some baggage overboard. Yeah. Yes. 0:09:49.620 --> 0:09:53.420 He takes from us to give to us. And so 0:09:53.460 --> 0:09:57.099 then he takes something from them and they get something 0:09:57.300 --> 0:09:59.860 that they've never had. Here's the third one. Then I 0:09:59.860 --> 0:10:05.060 got to stop. So God has storms to inspect us, 0:10:05.059 --> 0:10:08.780 to correct us. Here's the third one to protect us. 0:10:10.179 --> 0:10:15.860 So notice what goes on 21 through 25. But after long. Abstinence. 0:10:15.860 --> 0:10:18.579 Paul stood forth in the midst of them and said, sirs, 0:10:18.700 --> 0:10:22.660 you should have hearkened unto me, and not loosed from Crete, 0:10:23.020 --> 0:10:26.699 and to have gained this harm and loss. In other words, 0:10:26.700 --> 0:10:30.819 some loss is because we didn't listen. Then he says, 0:10:30.860 --> 0:10:32.740 and now I exhort you to be of good cheer, 0:10:32.740 --> 0:10:35.140 for there shall be no loss of any man's life 0:10:35.140 --> 0:10:38.380 among you but of the ship. For there stood by 0:10:38.420 --> 0:10:40.780 me this night the angel of God, whose I am, 0:10:40.780 --> 0:10:43.780 and whom I serve, saying, fear not, Paul. Thou must 0:10:43.780 --> 0:10:46.420 be brought before Caesar. And lo, God hath given thee 0:10:46.820 --> 0:10:50.580 all them that sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of 0:10:50.580 --> 0:10:53.060 good cheer, for I believe God, that it shall be 0:10:53.059 --> 0:11:02.020 even as it was told me. Wow! He says the 0:11:02.020 --> 0:11:07.660 storms come to protect us. Here's what I find about storm. 0:11:07.660 --> 0:11:11.380 In the storms of life, God is still in control. Amen. 0:11:11.900 --> 0:11:15.579 I know it's Bible study, but Amen. Remember, it may 0:11:15.620 --> 0:11:19.860 be over your head, but it's under his feet. And 0:11:19.860 --> 0:11:26.100 so sometimes we see their problems can be blessings in disguise. 0:11:30.059 --> 0:11:32.660 I know it is so hard to have that perspective 0:11:32.700 --> 0:11:36.340 as we're walking through storms, but Pastor Ford is so right. 0:11:36.340 --> 0:11:38.020 And we're going to get back and explore this a 0:11:38.020 --> 0:11:40.900 little bit more deeply in just a moment. But if 0:11:40.900 --> 0:11:42.860 you're walking through a storm right now, you may want 0:11:42.860 --> 0:11:44.940 to listen to this teaching again. You can do so 0:11:44.940 --> 0:11:48.780 by coming to our website, Treasure Truth Radio. Stream the 0:11:48.780 --> 0:11:53.860 programs download or order copies of the broadcast on CD. Again, 0:11:53.900 --> 0:11:58.140 you'll find that at Treasure Truth Radio. If you're just 0:11:58.140 --> 0:12:01.420 joining us, we're in acts 27 Again, here's Pastor Ford. 0:12:02.020 --> 0:12:04.580 I want you to notice something with me. Notice in 0:12:04.580 --> 0:12:10.300 verse 23 they have the presence of the Lord. Notice 0:12:10.340 --> 0:12:14.900 in 22 and 25 they have the promise of the Lord. 0:12:15.940 --> 0:12:19.179 Notice in verse 24 they have the purpose of the Lord. 0:12:19.179 --> 0:12:21.380 Let me say it again in verse 23. There's the 0:12:21.380 --> 0:12:24.780 presence of the Lord in 22 and 25 there's the 0:12:24.780 --> 0:12:28.700 promise of the Lord in verse 24, there's the purpose 0:12:28.700 --> 0:12:34.460 of the Lord. What should we do? Verse 25 and 26, 0:12:34.460 --> 0:12:40.900 three things. Number one, stand on the promise. Surrender to God. 0:12:41.780 --> 0:12:46.900 Strengthen your faith. All three of these, that's what they do. 0:12:47.020 --> 0:12:49.579 You say, what do you. What do you mean? Well, 0:12:49.580 --> 0:12:51.980 with the promise of God, we stand on a promise. 0:12:51.980 --> 0:12:54.620 That's what he does. In verse 24, he stands on 0:12:54.620 --> 0:13:00.860 the promise. Then 25, Surrender to God. Uh, then 22 0:13:00.900 --> 0:13:06.060 and 25. Based on the promise, you strengthen your faith. 0:13:07.020 --> 0:13:12.939 God sent an angel. Why? Because when you've done everything 0:13:12.940 --> 0:13:16.780 that you can do, God will always do what you 0:13:16.780 --> 0:13:20.460 can't do. And so God sent an angel to do 0:13:20.460 --> 0:13:24.220 for them what they could not do. Look for your angel. 0:13:24.940 --> 0:13:27.940 Look for your. You're going through a storm. Look for 0:13:27.940 --> 0:13:34.340 your angel. And so God will not save you until 0:13:34.340 --> 0:13:40.059 you quit trying to save yourself. They stopped three times. 0:13:40.100 --> 0:13:44.620 Verse 22, the ship will be lost. Verse 26, you'll 0:13:44.620 --> 0:13:47.500 be cast on an island. In other words, it won't 0:13:47.500 --> 0:13:50.380 be all fun and games. But Imma get you out 0:13:50.420 --> 0:13:54.980 of this, huh? I was in the Marine Corps. I 0:13:55.020 --> 0:13:58.620 found out the hard way. Uh, because you have to. 0:13:58.660 --> 0:14:01.580 You have to qualify to swim. Let me show you 0:14:01.580 --> 0:14:03.860 how they do you in Marine Corps. Teach you how 0:14:03.860 --> 0:14:06.900 to swim. They throw you in water. So they threw 0:14:06.940 --> 0:14:09.860 me in the water and I said, can't swim. You 0:14:09.860 --> 0:14:12.660 better start. Start moving them arms or something. So I 0:14:12.660 --> 0:14:15.380 move my arms. I'm. I'm beating the water. And then 0:14:16.020 --> 0:14:20.860 it's my arm choking. My drill instructor got in and 0:14:20.860 --> 0:14:25.220 swam around me. I'm thinking to myself, man, these people 0:14:25.220 --> 0:14:30.460 are going to kill me. He's standing around swimming around 0:14:30.460 --> 0:14:33.540 me instead of grabbing me, and then I could feel 0:14:33.540 --> 0:14:38.900 myself losing consciousness. Then I felt his arm and he 0:14:38.900 --> 0:14:43.500 took me out. They pumping water out of me and 0:14:43.500 --> 0:14:49.340 I'm saying, man. So I didn't ask him. Then when 0:14:49.340 --> 0:14:52.740 we were graduating 13 weeks later, I said, I want 0:14:52.780 --> 0:14:58.220 to know why you almost let me drown. He said, no, 0:14:58.220 --> 0:15:02.210 I didn't. You say you don't know anything about swimming? 0:15:02.850 --> 0:15:07.770 Did I swim? He said I had to let you 0:15:08.770 --> 0:15:12.890 see struggling. Because if I would have grabbed you while 0:15:12.890 --> 0:15:17.650 you had strength, you would have pulled both of us down. 0:15:18.450 --> 0:15:21.570 So I had to wait until you were helpless in 0:15:21.570 --> 0:15:25.250 order to help you. You better get tired of helping 0:15:25.250 --> 0:15:28.250 God out because he don't want your helping. He don't 0:15:28.250 --> 0:15:30.410 need it now. He does want you to do everything 0:15:30.410 --> 0:15:32.850 you can do, but the things that you can't do, 0:15:32.890 --> 0:15:37.770 he wants you to do those things. And listen, listen, 0:15:37.770 --> 0:15:40.410 listen listen listen, listen I love this, I love this, 0:15:40.410 --> 0:15:43.370 I love this because when you look at what's going 0:15:43.370 --> 0:15:46.210 on here, it's amazing to me. Let me tell you 0:15:46.210 --> 0:15:48.170 the story first. I might have told it to you before, 0:15:48.170 --> 0:15:52.970 but anyway. Corrie ten boom and her sister. The hiding place. 0:15:52.970 --> 0:15:55.489 I don't know if you've read it. Great book. And 0:15:55.530 --> 0:15:58.970 they were hiding Jews from the Nazis. Uh, she's Dutch 0:16:00.210 --> 0:16:02.730 And they found the Jews, and they put her whole 0:16:02.730 --> 0:16:06.170 family in prison, and her and her sister were put 0:16:06.170 --> 0:16:11.050 in prison. And in the barracks there were nothing but fleas, 0:16:11.170 --> 0:16:14.850 and the fleas were biting them. And, uh, Corrie would 0:16:14.850 --> 0:16:19.850 have devotions, uh, with the barracks every day. And when 0:16:19.850 --> 0:16:22.930 her sister said, I can't stand these fleas, God has 0:16:22.930 --> 0:16:25.090 allowed this to happen to us. And then he brings 0:16:25.090 --> 0:16:28.290 us to a place with fleas. She said, we have 0:16:28.290 --> 0:16:31.930 to thank God because the Bible says in everything give 0:16:31.930 --> 0:16:35.170 thanks not for everything. In everything give thanks. For this 0:16:35.170 --> 0:16:37.930 is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 0:16:37.930 --> 0:16:40.810 And so she said, Thank God for the fleas. I 0:16:40.810 --> 0:16:43.530 can't do it. I can't do it. So Corrie did it. 0:16:43.530 --> 0:16:46.730 She thanked God for the fleas. Well, they found out 0:16:46.730 --> 0:16:51.050 later on none of the women in their barracks were used, uh, 0:16:51.090 --> 0:16:54.010 in the experiment rooms. They were taking women and doing 0:16:54.010 --> 0:16:57.410 all kind of things, experimenting on their bodies. The Germans did. 0:16:57.410 --> 0:16:59.970 If you've known anything about the Holocaust, you know what? 0:17:00.130 --> 0:17:02.450 Some of the things they did, and then they would 0:17:02.450 --> 0:17:05.010 do some things to women and and then murder them 0:17:05.010 --> 0:17:06.690 and all that kind of stuff. They were doing all 0:17:06.690 --> 0:17:09.650 kind of things, but not one woman from the barracks, 0:17:10.690 --> 0:17:13.810 because they found out that the German soldiers didn't want 0:17:13.850 --> 0:17:17.730 to come and told those barracks because of the fleas. 0:17:20.250 --> 0:17:23.290 And so here you have this. And then here's what 0:17:23.330 --> 0:17:29.129 God said. Watch this. Where does God want Paul? Rome. 0:17:29.850 --> 0:17:33.010 How does he get there? He gets there on a 0:17:33.010 --> 0:17:38.410 prison boat. Not the love boat, Paul. All of this 0:17:38.410 --> 0:17:43.129 is designed for you to fulfill your destiny and your purpose. 0:17:43.130 --> 0:17:46.090 Remember what happened. Why is he on that ship? Because 0:17:46.090 --> 0:17:48.330 they wanted to kill him. And he said, I'm a 0:17:48.330 --> 0:17:51.290 Roman citizen. He was wise as a serpent, harmless as 0:17:51.290 --> 0:17:53.210 a dove. I'm a Roman citizen. So he had to 0:17:53.210 --> 0:17:56.730 appeal to Rome. I'm appealing to Caesar. So he gets 0:17:56.730 --> 0:17:59.530 on a boat. That's a prison ship that to go 0:17:59.650 --> 0:18:05.770 to Rome, huh? Isn't that amazing? God used his haters 0:18:05.770 --> 0:18:09.930 to become his elevators. That he gets him to Rome. 0:18:10.090 --> 0:18:13.850 But he uses people that don't even like him to 0:18:13.890 --> 0:18:17.490 do it. That's another sermon for another day. Yeah, God 0:18:17.490 --> 0:18:20.770 used the folks that were against Paul to get Paul 0:18:20.930 --> 0:18:25.650 where God wanted him to go. I saw that movie life, 0:18:25.650 --> 0:18:28.169 and at the end I wrote it down. I said, oh, 0:18:28.170 --> 0:18:31.729 that'll preach one day because Eddie Murphy and and and 0:18:31.730 --> 0:18:34.930 Martin Lawrence, Ray and I forgot the other guy's name. Uh, 0:18:34.930 --> 0:18:39.410 but anyway, uh, there is a fire. Next thing you know, 0:18:39.570 --> 0:18:42.690 he runs in Ray Ray, and the place burns up 0:18:42.690 --> 0:18:47.970 and falls down. Next scene, they're in Yankee Stadium, and 0:18:47.970 --> 0:18:52.409 they're watching the game. Here's what I wrote down. They 0:18:52.410 --> 0:18:55.490 got where they had been talking about where they want 0:18:55.530 --> 0:19:00.290 to go all those years in prison, Risen, but they 0:19:00.290 --> 0:19:03.850 had to go through the fire to get there. Y'all 0:19:03.850 --> 0:19:08.410 ain't going to pray with me. Mhm mhm mhm. Yeah yeah. Shadrach, 0:19:08.410 --> 0:19:12.050 Meshach and Abednego who remembers who remembers what happened. The 0:19:12.050 --> 0:19:16.410 only thing was burned was the ropes that bound them. 0:19:16.410 --> 0:19:19.770 So while they were in that fiery furnace, the only 0:19:19.810 --> 0:19:23.130 thing God allowed to be burned is the ropes that 0:19:23.130 --> 0:19:28.770 the world had on them that bound them. God burned 0:19:28.770 --> 0:19:32.330 them off. He set them free in the midst of 0:19:32.330 --> 0:19:39.010 the fire. God's trying to set you free, in other words, 0:19:39.010 --> 0:19:42.410 to strengthen your faith. The old song used to say, 0:19:42.450 --> 0:19:49.250 keep your head up and never give up. Verse 22 0:19:49.369 --> 0:19:56.889 good cheer. Do you know that the nightingale only sings 0:19:57.410 --> 0:20:06.570 in the darkness? But it's the sweetest song in the night. Mm. Yeah. 0:20:07.369 --> 0:20:11.330 And so there it is. We begin to understand God 0:20:11.369 --> 0:20:17.969 is doing something in our lives. Well, my time is gone. Uh, 0:20:17.970 --> 0:20:20.370 but when you look at what's going on here, let 0:20:20.369 --> 0:20:23.210 me quote the Harvard Hooper again. I love this guy. 0:20:23.410 --> 0:20:25.970 This is not original with me, but I love quoting 0:20:25.970 --> 0:20:29.370 him because what he said was so powerful. I just 0:20:29.369 --> 0:20:32.530 use it all the time. And at the Harvard, Hooper 0:20:32.570 --> 0:20:34.889 is at a church in Detroit. Uh, he went to Harvard, 0:20:34.890 --> 0:20:36.889 and he's a hooper. That's why they call him the 0:20:36.890 --> 0:20:39.690 Harvard Hooper. And here's what he said. Now, I can't whoop. 0:20:39.690 --> 0:20:43.970 I'm just going to read it. Well, he starts off 0:20:43.970 --> 0:20:47.969 by saying, uh, that all of us go through trials 0:20:48.490 --> 0:20:53.290 to get us somewhere that storms are designed by God 0:20:53.810 --> 0:20:57.570 to carry us somewhere. And then he begins his little run. 0:20:57.650 --> 0:21:01.359 It was not until John Bunyan was in Bedford Prison 0:21:01.359 --> 0:21:04.440 that his mind broke free to etch upon the pages 0:21:04.440 --> 0:21:08.800 of History of Pilgrim's Progress. It wasn't until J.S. Bach 0:21:08.840 --> 0:21:12.160 was stone blind that he was able to see how 0:21:12.160 --> 0:21:16.000 to write the B minor mass. It wasn't until Rembrandt 0:21:16.000 --> 0:21:18.920 was flat broke that he made the world rich with 0:21:18.920 --> 0:21:23.080 his art. It wasn't until Beethoven was death that he 0:21:23.080 --> 0:21:26.120 heard the Ninth Symphony and wrote it down. It wasn't 0:21:26.119 --> 0:21:30.240 until George Frideric Handel was paralyzed on the right side 0:21:30.720 --> 0:21:32.560 that he was able to reach up with his left 0:21:32.560 --> 0:21:36.680 hand and pull down the Hallelujah Chorus out of the clouds. 0:21:36.680 --> 0:21:39.080 And it wasn't until the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King 0:21:39.080 --> 0:21:44.359 Jr was jailed in 1963 that he became eligible for 0:21:44.359 --> 0:21:49.880 the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. In other words, we 0:21:49.880 --> 0:21:52.480 look at this thing. Here's what the Scripture says that 0:21:52.760 --> 0:21:55.880 you need to study it for yourself. I am, you know, 0:21:55.880 --> 0:21:57.840 I said, okay, I've been quoting it, but I never 0:21:57.840 --> 0:22:00.200 studied that. I need to study that verse. Here's what 0:22:00.200 --> 0:22:04.560 it says. Hebrews five eight even though he were the son, 0:22:05.560 --> 0:22:10.359 yet he learned obedience by the things that he suffered. 0:22:10.720 --> 0:22:13.000 Now the thing I do know that's talking about his humanity, 0:22:13.040 --> 0:22:19.719 not his deity, that Jesus in his humanity learned obedience 0:22:19.920 --> 0:22:25.840 through suffering. Now, if Jesus can learn it through suffering, 0:22:26.560 --> 0:22:30.399 don't you exempt yourself from it? And the Bible says, 0:22:30.400 --> 0:22:34.120 And Jesus grew in wisdom, stature in favor with God 0:22:34.119 --> 0:22:36.480 and with man. Let me ask you something. If there 0:22:36.480 --> 0:22:40.879 were 14 words to summarize your life, uh, 18 years 0:22:40.880 --> 0:22:45.720 of your life, what 14 words would they be for Jesus? 0:22:45.760 --> 0:22:49.280 It was. He grew in wisdom and stature and favor 0:22:49.480 --> 0:22:53.320 with God and with man. Perfect storm. 0:22:55.200 --> 0:22:58.600 Why wouldn't all of us want those 14 words to 0:22:58.760 --> 0:23:02.520 describe our lives. You're listening to Treasure Truth, a message 0:23:02.520 --> 0:23:06.200 called The Perfect Storm. Really? A look at the majority 0:23:06.200 --> 0:23:09.800 of acts chapter 27. And we're going to continue this 0:23:09.800 --> 0:23:12.239 teaching on our next broadcast. But if you can't be 0:23:12.240 --> 0:23:14.640 by your radio, come to the website right now. Sign 0:23:14.640 --> 0:23:17.240 up for the podcast or download the Moody Radio app. 0:23:17.440 --> 0:23:19.600 Both of those are free, and it makes it possible 0:23:19.600 --> 0:23:22.200 for you to listen at your convenience. Just come to 0:23:22.240 --> 0:23:26.560 treasure Truth Radio. Hey, quickly before we go, this is 0:23:26.560 --> 0:23:29.800 a listener supported ministry, which means we depend on your 0:23:29.800 --> 0:23:32.720 financial generosity to keep this program on the air. Would 0:23:32.720 --> 0:23:34.840 you give a gift? If you'd like to stand with 0:23:34.840 --> 0:23:37.800 us as a giving partner, come to Treasure Truth radio.org 0:23:38.040 --> 0:23:40.760 and click on the link that says make a donation. 0:23:40.800 --> 0:23:43.440 Thanks for doing that and for listening today. Thanks also 0:23:43.440 --> 0:23:46.480 to our producer, Amy Rios, I'm Steve Hiller. Treasure truth 0:23:46.480 --> 0:23:49.760 is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody 0:23:49.760 --> 0:23:50.879 Bible Institute.