WEBVTT - Treasured Truth Weekend—God’s Pleasure and Your Treasure, Part 3 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:03.440 And we wonder why there are shadows in our lives. 0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:08.400 It's because we've let some moon come in between. What 0:00:08.400 --> 0:00:11.399 is a moon? A moon doesn't possess its own. It 0:00:11.400 --> 0:00:14.159 only reflects what the sun gives it. What is it 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:17.439 that God has given you? That now you've allowed that 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:18.599 to replace him? 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:28.120 This is treasure truth with pastor and author James Ford Jr, 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:30.560 senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago. I'm 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:33.000 Steve Hillard. Glad you're with us today as we're continuing 0:00:33.400 --> 0:00:35.800 a study of Luke 12 and Matthew six. It's called 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:40.360 God's pleasure and your treasure. And pastor, so often it 0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:42.640 can be tempting to do exactly what you were just 0:00:42.680 --> 0:00:45.720 alluding to there. We take something that God has given 0:00:45.720 --> 0:00:48.120 to us. He's allowed us to steward something, and then 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:51.720 we allow that to replace God in our lives. 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:55.520 It happens all too easily. Steve and I can speak 0:00:55.520 --> 0:00:58.680 from personal experience on all of that kind of thing, 0:00:58.960 --> 0:01:01.600 where I began to learn and to grow in the 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:04.160 grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 0:01:04.160 --> 0:01:09.200 And understand it's really not about the amount. It's about 0:01:09.200 --> 0:01:12.679 the attitude. Yeah. You know, and I say this all 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:15.160 the time, Christ Bible Church is tired of hearing me saying. 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:19.679 I say, you know, there's two things that everybody loves, 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:22.080 but nobody wants to talk about either one of them 0:01:22.080 --> 0:01:23.360 in church. Do you know what that is, Steve? 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:23.880 What's that? 0:01:24.319 --> 0:01:25.800 Money and sex. 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:28.279 Oh, sure. And the church is one of those places 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:30.200 where we ought to be talking about. 0:01:30.200 --> 0:01:32.920 Oh, my goodness, we ought to. I had a person 0:01:33.400 --> 0:01:37.440 really castigate me because they thought that, well, there's a 0:01:37.480 --> 0:01:40.760 lot of people that think sometimes my straight no chaser 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:44.280 mentality is not good for the pulpit. And so she 0:01:44.280 --> 0:01:47.760 sent me an email and I just asked some questions. 0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:51.360 I sent an email back. I said, do you watch scandal? 0:01:51.840 --> 0:01:57.000 Do you watch power? Do you watch Empire? You know? 0:01:57.040 --> 0:02:00.080 And she answered yes to all of them. I said, 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:03.920 then please don't critique me because I use no profanity. 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:07.920 Yeah, sure. And like you point out, culture is constantly 0:02:07.920 --> 0:02:10.920 bombarding us with what it says are behavior ought to 0:02:10.919 --> 0:02:13.720 be our attitude ought to be. Our mindset ought to 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:15.960 be the way that we, you know, should be free 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:18.239 to do whatever we want to do. Right. The church, 0:02:18.280 --> 0:02:21.080 like we were talking about in yesterday's program, needs to 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:23.200 be the voice of truth and holding onto truth, holding 0:02:23.200 --> 0:02:25.200 out truth and saying, this is God's standard. 0:02:25.200 --> 0:02:25.679 That's it. 0:02:25.720 --> 0:02:27.639 And if the church isn't going to do that, well, 0:02:27.680 --> 0:02:28.359 shame on us. 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:32.080 Well, you know, I challenge our assembly with this question 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:36.239 every year. Christ's Bible church, if we would shut our 0:02:36.240 --> 0:02:40.480 doors today, would the community miss us? Hmm. If the 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:44.400 answer is no, then we need to close our doors. 0:02:44.919 --> 0:02:49.239 Close our doors, or change drastically. Yeah. Yeah. Well, right 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:52.119 now we are going to open our Bibles to Luke 0:02:52.120 --> 0:02:54.880 chapter 12, in Matthew six. Hope that you will join 0:02:54.880 --> 0:02:58.880 us there as we continue a message called God's Pleasure 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:01.350 in Your Treasure. Here is Pastor Ford. 0:03:01.870 --> 0:03:04.070 See, here's what he's trying to get us to see. 0:03:04.550 --> 0:03:08.390 Christ does not just want to be the first one. 0:03:08.590 --> 0:03:11.670 He wants to be the only one. Imagine if I 0:03:11.669 --> 0:03:14.510 went to my wife and said, you know, I got 0:03:14.510 --> 0:03:19.630 nine other women, but out of all ten, you're the first. Yeah. 0:03:19.630 --> 0:03:21.110 Some of you know, some of you know what she 0:03:21.110 --> 0:03:22.710 would say. I don't have to repeat it because my 0:03:22.710 --> 0:03:25.190 wife don't already told me what happens if I ever 0:03:25.190 --> 0:03:28.389 mess up. She said, I ain't going to divorce you. 0:03:28.669 --> 0:03:33.390 But why are you sleeping at night? You'll wake up 0:03:34.350 --> 0:03:40.310 and see Jesus. I said you'll kill me in a heartbeat. 0:03:40.710 --> 0:03:43.470 Mess up on me. That's what you're going to get. 0:03:44.110 --> 0:03:47.270 I said wow. C.S. Lewis said, this way. Aim at 0:03:47.270 --> 0:03:50.470 heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at 0:03:50.470 --> 0:03:53.150 earth and you'll lose heaven and earth. And I'm not 0:03:53.150 --> 0:03:55.510 going to quote it, but Philippians chapter two talks about it. 0:03:55.510 --> 0:04:00.230 Philippians chapter two says, there are some believers whose God 0:04:00.230 --> 0:04:03.990 is their belly, who mind earthly things. And to the 0:04:03.990 --> 0:04:08.230 detriment of heavenly things that is so materially minded. We 0:04:08.230 --> 0:04:11.070 had an eclipse and I was on a plane. I 0:04:11.070 --> 0:04:12.830 didn't get a chance to see it. But what? What 0:04:12.830 --> 0:04:15.190 is an eclipse? You know what it is. It is 0:04:15.190 --> 0:04:19.950 when the moon comes between the sun and the Earth. Now, 0:04:19.950 --> 0:04:24.870 our last one was on February 28th, 1979. And and 0:04:24.870 --> 0:04:28.830 our next one is going to be April 8th, 2024. 0:04:29.710 --> 0:04:32.390 But but what happens now? You know what happens. The 0:04:32.390 --> 0:04:37.030 sun s u n r supplies our light in the day, 0:04:37.550 --> 0:04:41.029 and the moon does not have its own light. It 0:04:41.070 --> 0:04:44.750 merely reflects the light of the sun that we can't see. 0:04:45.110 --> 0:04:48.350 So the sun gives light to the moon, and the 0:04:48.350 --> 0:04:52.750 moon shines on the earth at night. Now in eclipse, 0:04:52.990 --> 0:04:57.270 the moon comes between the sun and the earth, and 0:04:57.270 --> 0:05:01.750 it causes the sun s u n to be obscured 0:05:01.750 --> 0:05:06.310 from view, and it casts a shadow on the earth. 0:05:06.710 --> 0:05:11.070 You already know where I'm going. For some of us, 0:05:11.070 --> 0:05:15.029 our money is the moon that has come between the 0:05:15.070 --> 0:05:21.750 s o n and us. And we wonder why there 0:05:21.750 --> 0:05:25.310 are shadows in our lives. Why we're not the light 0:05:25.310 --> 0:05:29.590 of the world. It's because we've let some moon come 0:05:29.589 --> 0:05:33.350 in between. What does a moon? A moon doesn't possess 0:05:33.350 --> 0:05:36.589 its own. It only reflects what the sun gives it. 0:05:36.630 --> 0:05:39.590 Y'all with me? It is. What is it that God 0:05:39.589 --> 0:05:45.510 has given you? That now you've allowed that to replace him? Abraham. 0:05:45.550 --> 0:05:48.830 Offer up Isaac. Why? So I can see whether you 0:05:48.830 --> 0:05:51.830 love the gift more than you love the giver. So 0:05:51.870 --> 0:05:55.190 sacrifice him to me to show me that you love 0:05:55.190 --> 0:05:57.470 me more than Isaac. And he said I love you 0:05:57.470 --> 0:06:02.029 more than what you gave me. Huh? You know, I 0:06:02.029 --> 0:06:05.510 thought it interesting, you know, and, uh, I was like, 0:06:05.510 --> 0:06:09.030 how is the moon? Which is which is 400 times 0:06:09.029 --> 0:06:14.590 smaller than the sun. Block it. And then I and 0:06:14.589 --> 0:06:18.590 then I read it on Google, on Wikipedia, because the 0:06:18.589 --> 0:06:25.710 sun is 400 times farther away from the Earth than 0:06:25.710 --> 0:06:28.870 the moon. Get it? Okay, you get it on the 0:06:28.870 --> 0:06:30.990 way home. I ain't got to tell you everything. You 0:06:30.990 --> 0:06:33.589 say what you know. What is the moon that blocks 0:06:33.589 --> 0:06:35.830 out the glory of the sun. And leaves us in 0:06:35.830 --> 0:06:38.990 the shadows? Christ was born once so that we could 0:06:38.990 --> 0:06:43.110 be born twice. Uh, Jesus took all of our sin 0:06:43.110 --> 0:06:45.710 that we could have all of his righteousness. He became 0:06:45.750 --> 0:06:49.230 poor so that we could become amazingly rich. Second Corinthians 0:06:49.230 --> 0:06:51.990 eight nine. He became poor that we became rich. He 0:06:51.990 --> 0:06:54.789 became homeless so that we could have a heavenly home. 0:06:54.790 --> 0:06:57.830 He was stripped of everything on the cross so that 0:06:57.830 --> 0:07:01.029 we could be clothed forever in his righteousness. He was 0:07:01.029 --> 0:07:04.510 forsaken so that we would never be forsaken, never be left. 0:07:04.510 --> 0:07:07.670 He was bound so that we might be eternally set free. 0:07:07.670 --> 0:07:10.910 Because whom the son sets free is free indeed. He 0:07:10.910 --> 0:07:13.270 was a servant that we may become the sons and 0:07:13.270 --> 0:07:16.150 daughters of God. He was hungry so that we could 0:07:16.150 --> 0:07:19.710 have our needs met, because he's the bread of life. 0:07:19.710 --> 0:07:23.830 He he was the one who became sin for us. 0:07:23.830 --> 0:07:27.510 He died so that we could live. And he's coming 0:07:27.510 --> 0:07:31.190 again so that we could spend all eternity with him. 0:07:32.670 --> 0:07:35.270 The priority of Christ. I say it all the time, 0:07:35.270 --> 0:07:38.510 don't I? Christ plus nothing equals everything. Everything without Christ 0:07:38.510 --> 0:07:42.910 equals nothing. The Bible teaches us he's all that we have, 0:07:42.950 --> 0:07:46.670 but he's all that we need. He's our salvation. Hebrews 0:07:46.670 --> 0:07:50.670 two one through four. He's our security. Romans 829 through 34. 0:07:50.710 --> 0:07:54.270 He's our serenity. Philippians four six and seven. He's our stability. 0:07:54.310 --> 0:07:57.430 First Peter two two through nine. He's our strength. Philippians 0:07:57.430 --> 0:08:02.310 413 and he's our supplier. Flyer. Philippians 419. If I 0:08:02.350 --> 0:08:05.710 need pastoring, he's Jehovah Rohi. If I need peace, he's 0:08:05.710 --> 0:08:09.510 Jehovah Shalom. If I need protection, he's Jehovah Nissi. If 0:08:09.510 --> 0:08:13.110 I need provision, he's Jehovah Jireh. If I need pardon, 0:08:13.110 --> 0:08:16.670 he's Jehovah. If I need a physician, he's Jehovah Rapha. 0:08:16.710 --> 0:08:20.510 If I need purity, he's Jehovah. If I need a 0:08:20.510 --> 0:08:26.430 place to abide, he's Jehovah. He's everything we need. Focus 0:08:26.430 --> 0:08:30.990 your eyes. The songwriter said turn your eyes upon Jesus. 0:08:30.990 --> 0:08:33.709 Look full in his wonderful face. And the things of 0:08:33.710 --> 0:08:36.150 earth will grow strangely dim. In the light of his 0:08:36.150 --> 0:08:39.190 glory of grace. He's the good Shepherd. He died for us. 0:08:39.190 --> 0:08:41.790 He's the great shepherd. He lives for us. He's the 0:08:41.790 --> 0:08:45.070 chief shepherd. He's coming for us. And so Scripture teaches 0:08:45.070 --> 0:08:48.270 us our eyes should be on him. Why? I'm glad 0:08:48.270 --> 0:08:51.550 you asked. You ask intelligent questions. In him. We live 0:08:51.550 --> 0:08:54.750 and move and have our being. And apart from him 0:08:54.750 --> 0:08:57.070 we can do nothing. He's the source of our life. 0:08:57.070 --> 0:09:00.030 He's the sustainer of our life. He's the very substance 0:09:00.030 --> 0:09:06.620 of our life. We need Jesus as a priority. Now 0:09:06.620 --> 0:09:08.540 notice this and I'm going to go ahead and let 0:09:08.540 --> 0:09:10.540 you get on out of here, because what you find 0:09:10.580 --> 0:09:13.780 is he clarifies for us, some people, well, what does 0:09:13.780 --> 0:09:16.340 it mean to make Christ your priority? Seek ye first 0:09:16.380 --> 0:09:20.340 the kingdom of God, the plan and program of Christ. 0:09:20.860 --> 0:09:22.819 How do I know I have him as a priority? 0:09:22.860 --> 0:09:26.060 Because I have his plan and program as my priority. 0:09:26.059 --> 0:09:28.100 We're going to study it on Wednesday night. Our father, 0:09:28.100 --> 0:09:30.620 who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, 0:09:30.660 --> 0:09:34.380 thy will be done. The word church is in the 0:09:34.380 --> 0:09:37.780 book of Matthew three times. Can anybody guess other than 0:09:37.780 --> 0:09:41.340 the choir, how many times it's in the word kingdom? 0:09:41.340 --> 0:09:44.620 Is there no 119? Now don't start counting. Do it 0:09:44.620 --> 0:09:49.500 when you go home. 119 times the word kingdom. Do 0:09:49.500 --> 0:09:54.300 you think it's an important word? Oh, yes. What does 0:09:54.300 --> 0:09:56.100 this have to do with bottom line in Pastor Ford? Okay, 0:09:56.100 --> 0:09:57.300 I will, because you said you're going to get us 0:09:57.300 --> 0:10:02.700 out of here. Okay. The sovereign rule and reign of 0:10:02.700 --> 0:10:07.940 God over his people. He said, the kingdom of God 0:10:07.940 --> 0:10:09.740 is in you. Why is the kingdom of God in me? 0:10:09.740 --> 0:10:13.780 Because the King is in me. And the King brings 0:10:13.780 --> 0:10:17.819 with him his kingdom. And I am just an ambassador. 0:10:17.980 --> 0:10:21.420 So what's an ambassador? An ambassador? We're ambassadors. You know 0:10:21.420 --> 0:10:23.660 that already. You know that already. Who are we? We 0:10:23.700 --> 0:10:26.420 came in here. Why? Because this belongs to God. Up 0:10:26.420 --> 0:10:28.820 in here. This belong to God. Up in here. Up 0:10:28.820 --> 0:10:32.100 in here. When we come in, we are kingdom citizens. 0:10:32.100 --> 0:10:37.620 And this is where we come as ambassadors. We represent 0:10:37.660 --> 0:10:41.540 another place. Uh, that is, we're from heaven for real. 0:10:41.540 --> 0:10:44.460 And we represent heaven here on earth. And so we 0:10:44.500 --> 0:10:46.620 come here, and this is our. What do you call 0:10:46.620 --> 0:10:51.620 that place where ambassadors live? Embassy. Embassy? This is our embassy. 0:10:51.620 --> 0:10:54.380 I couldn't think of getting old. This is our embassy. 0:10:54.940 --> 0:10:58.500 And we come here. Why? To get instruction from the 0:10:58.500 --> 0:11:02.420 king to go back out into the world and be 0:11:02.420 --> 0:11:07.540 an ambassador, to take heaven to earth, to take heaven 0:11:07.860 --> 0:11:10.179 so that we can get him out of hell. That's 0:11:10.179 --> 0:11:13.900 who we are. You come in here for the Kingdom agenda. 0:11:13.900 --> 0:11:16.620 Where's Tony Evans when I need him? And so here 0:11:16.620 --> 0:11:19.300 it is. Let me just. Bottom line this. Hey, bottom line, 0:11:19.300 --> 0:11:23.980 pastor for Elder Robert Brown, when he was a member 0:11:23.980 --> 0:11:26.140 of our church, he was the first person I saw 0:11:26.140 --> 0:11:28.740 had this shirt because he worked for the IRS. And 0:11:28.740 --> 0:11:32.140 it said, In God We Trust. On the back of it, 0:11:32.140 --> 0:11:35.460 it said, all others we audit. You've seen that before. 0:11:36.100 --> 0:11:38.260 So he came. He said, we may be leaving Pastor Ford. 0:11:38.260 --> 0:11:40.940 I said, oh man, no, no, no, he's my finance 0:11:40.940 --> 0:11:46.580 elder bad boy, you know. And I said, no man. No, no, no. 0:11:46.900 --> 0:11:49.260 He said, yeah. I said, well why? What's happening? He said, 0:11:49.260 --> 0:11:52.780 they want to give me a promotion. So yeah. And 0:11:52.780 --> 0:11:55.060 it's not, you know, because some people will sacrifice their 0:11:55.059 --> 0:11:59.380 Sunday worship for extra $100 a month. I said, well, 0:11:59.540 --> 0:12:01.340 what are they offering you, if you don't mind me asking? 0:12:01.380 --> 0:12:06.380 He said they're going to make me a department head 0:12:06.380 --> 0:12:10.860 over a tri state area. So. Yeah. What kind of 0:12:10.860 --> 0:12:11.900 money are you going to give you, if you don't 0:12:11.900 --> 0:12:16.980 mind me asking? 30,000 a year, I said to myself. 0:12:16.980 --> 0:12:20.820 He gone. Because you know how it is when we 0:12:20.820 --> 0:12:23.020 always project on other people. Because I know I'd have 0:12:23.020 --> 0:12:27.460 been gone. A couple weeks later, he came back, he said. 0:12:28.900 --> 0:12:31.180 I said, I know you're getting ready to say when 0:12:31.179 --> 0:12:34.540 y'all are leaving. We're not. I said, you're not leaving. 0:12:34.580 --> 0:12:38.100 They they rescinded it. He said, no, I turned it down. 0:12:39.140 --> 0:12:47.100 You turned it down? Why? Get this. Because I went 0:12:47.100 --> 0:12:51.020 down for a couple days where they were going to 0:12:51.020 --> 0:12:54.900 get our house. I looked around the area and there 0:12:54.900 --> 0:13:00.740 wasn't a sound church anywhere. And I'm not moving my 0:13:00.740 --> 0:13:05.300 family to a place where we're not getting the kind 0:13:05.300 --> 0:13:14.780 of spiritual food we're used to. So I turned it down. Man. 0:13:16.300 --> 0:13:19.340 That's a pretty powerful story here on treasure. Truth. You're 0:13:19.340 --> 0:13:22.500 listening to a message called God's Pleasure and Your Treasure. 0:13:22.500 --> 0:13:25.339 And we'll get back to this teaching in just one moment. 0:13:25.660 --> 0:13:28.700 Maybe you've got a story about a way that God 0:13:28.700 --> 0:13:31.060 has used something Pastor Ford has been preaching on to 0:13:31.100 --> 0:13:34.140 impact your walk with Christ and to help you grow 0:13:34.140 --> 0:13:37.340 in your relationship with him. We'd love to hear your story. 0:13:37.380 --> 0:13:39.620 You can give us your feedback or even ask a 0:13:39.620 --> 0:13:42.780 question when you come to our website. It's Treasure Truth 0:13:42.780 --> 0:13:46.140 Radio org. Click on the contact link. Let us know 0:13:46.140 --> 0:13:49.420 where you're listening, why you listen, and what difference Pastor 0:13:49.420 --> 0:13:52.140 Ford's teaching is making in your life. Just come to 0:13:52.179 --> 0:13:56.380 treasure Truth Radio and again click on contact. Well, if 0:13:56.380 --> 0:13:58.980 you're just joining us, our message is called God's Pleasure 0:13:58.980 --> 0:14:01.260 and Your Treasure. Let's get back to it. Here is 0:14:01.260 --> 0:14:02.100 Pastor Ford. 0:14:02.700 --> 0:14:05.420 Then notice not just the purposes of Christ, the purity 0:14:05.420 --> 0:14:09.100 of Christ. Seek ye first his kingdom and his righteousness. 0:14:10.260 --> 0:14:12.219 What do you mean, his righteousness? And then we know 0:14:12.220 --> 0:14:14.740 about it. I'm not going to take time because righteousness 0:14:14.740 --> 0:14:18.180 is first imputed, then it's implanted, then it's imparted. What 0:14:18.179 --> 0:14:20.700 are you talking about, Pastor Ford? See, what he's saying 0:14:20.700 --> 0:14:25.820 is this living right is more important than living well off. 0:14:27.220 --> 0:14:31.020 Because if you'll live well off, I mean, you'll live, right? 0:14:31.460 --> 0:14:35.620 He'll help you live well off. Life does not consist 0:14:35.620 --> 0:14:38.860 in the abundance of things that you possess. It's being 0:14:38.860 --> 0:14:44.820 before doing. It's communion before conduct. You can do without being, 0:14:44.820 --> 0:14:49.020 but you can't be without doing. See, every Christian has 0:14:49.020 --> 0:14:52.060 a throne in an altar on their heart. If you're 0:14:52.060 --> 0:14:54.220 on the throne, Jesus on the altar. And why should 0:14:54.220 --> 0:14:57.380 he be on there? He already sacrificed himself. But if 0:14:57.380 --> 0:15:00.370 you're on the altar, Jesus on the throne Can't have 0:15:00.370 --> 0:15:03.570 it both ways. It's either or, not both. And. And 0:15:03.570 --> 0:15:07.050 the Bible says we're to be vessels under honor. That 0:15:07.050 --> 0:15:09.370 is God going to use us whether we clean or dirty, 0:15:09.370 --> 0:15:13.890 but he rather use us clean his purity, his righteousness. 0:15:13.890 --> 0:15:17.010 Which brings us to the last part. Notice then, your 0:15:17.010 --> 0:15:21.130 perspective must change. Your passion must be the catalyst. Your 0:15:21.130 --> 0:15:25.490 priority must be the Christ. Now notice your promise from 0:15:25.490 --> 0:15:31.010 Christ and all these things shall be added unto you. 0:15:31.010 --> 0:15:33.970 Let me break it down real slow. First of all, 0:15:33.970 --> 0:15:38.210 it's a complimentary promise. What do you mean? It's connected 0:15:38.570 --> 0:15:42.730 to the previous and serves as conjunction that serves as 0:15:42.730 --> 0:15:47.610 an equal sign to show continuity or continuation. Seek ye 0:15:47.650 --> 0:15:52.930 first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all 0:15:52.930 --> 0:15:55.610 these things. And see. In other words, if I don't 0:15:55.610 --> 0:15:59.890 see Christ, if I don't have his plan and program first. 0:15:59.890 --> 0:16:03.130 If I don't have his purity in my life, then 0:16:03.130 --> 0:16:09.650 I should not expect to get his provision. Shouldn't expect it. 0:16:10.410 --> 0:16:14.530 And so it's complementing its comprehensive promise. Why? Because it 0:16:14.530 --> 0:16:17.330 says all these things. I'm not going to ask you 0:16:17.330 --> 0:16:20.410 what all means. Then it's a conveyed promise. What do 0:16:20.410 --> 0:16:23.010 you mean? He gives it to you? Now, I don't 0:16:23.010 --> 0:16:26.090 understand why people can't get this. I don't know, because 0:16:26.130 --> 0:16:28.450 I guess greed is in our nature. We think about 0:16:28.490 --> 0:16:31.770 as the great theologians. De La Soul said, me, myself 0:16:31.770 --> 0:16:34.210 and I. And I guess I'm guilty of it too, sometimes. 0:16:34.210 --> 0:16:37.090 But here's what I find. The more mature I become 0:16:37.090 --> 0:16:42.450 as a believer, the less I ask God for stuff. Amen. 0:16:43.370 --> 0:16:48.690 I really do. Why? Because I understand if I just 0:16:48.810 --> 0:16:54.610 live right, he's going to have me live well. So 0:16:54.650 --> 0:16:57.810 some people look now it's like, okay. It's like, oh, 0:16:57.810 --> 0:16:59.570 I drive a nice car. Now I live in a 0:16:59.690 --> 0:17:01.610 nice house. Well, you should have saw me when I 0:17:01.610 --> 0:17:05.850 was living in the parsonage. You saw me when I 0:17:05.850 --> 0:17:09.970 was driving the orange and white cab station wagon with 0:17:09.970 --> 0:17:12.369 bondo on the top, where I took the things off, 0:17:12.369 --> 0:17:14.850 and the big old, big old bondo on it because 0:17:14.850 --> 0:17:16.729 I didn't know how to do all that stuff. I 0:17:16.730 --> 0:17:22.130 just wanted to stop the rain. And there have been 0:17:22.130 --> 0:17:24.129 plenty of churches, and I've shared them with you over 0:17:24.130 --> 0:17:27.530 and over again, at least three in the past. Mega churches. 0:17:27.570 --> 0:17:31.890 You know, Common candidate one right here in the south suburbs. Come, 0:17:31.930 --> 0:17:37.050 candidate know. Come preach. Know. Why don't you want to 0:17:37.050 --> 0:17:38.810 come preach? Because I'm afraid I get there and see 0:17:38.810 --> 0:17:41.409 all them people. And you treat me this way and 0:17:41.410 --> 0:17:44.810 treat me nice. And I be telling Christ Bible. God 0:17:44.810 --> 0:17:49.330 has called me to go somewhere. No, I ain't taking 0:17:49.330 --> 0:17:53.610 no chance because I don't trust me. And what did 0:17:53.609 --> 0:17:56.449 he do? He added things to me. He added it 0:17:56.450 --> 0:17:59.010 to me. I didn't seek any of it. I didn't 0:17:59.090 --> 0:18:00.850 ask for any of it, you know. You know, a 0:18:00.850 --> 0:18:02.930 couple people who are new say, you know, what's this 0:18:02.930 --> 0:18:06.090 with the pastor's anniversary? I didn't ask for that. No, 0:18:06.090 --> 0:18:07.530 I ain't going to turn it down, but I ain't 0:18:07.570 --> 0:18:11.810 ask for it. I was here for 11 years and 0:18:11.810 --> 0:18:14.209 refused to let him do it. Until they just pressure 0:18:14.250 --> 0:18:18.730 me and pressure me, and they pressured me and said, 0:18:18.730 --> 0:18:20.970 you know what? We want to appreciate you. You mean 0:18:20.970 --> 0:18:23.250 we can't appreciate our own past? What's the Bible say? 0:18:23.250 --> 0:18:25.570 You always quoting the Bible? Well, the Bible say give 0:18:25.609 --> 0:18:28.210 honor to those who do. And finally I said, okay. 0:18:31.690 --> 0:18:33.810 They wanted to give me water and towels and all that. 0:18:33.810 --> 0:18:39.450 I can get my own. I can carry my own Bible. No, 0:18:39.450 --> 0:18:45.090 somebody told me that's my ministry to the Lord. Alright. 0:18:46.010 --> 0:18:49.930 I'm not going to argue with you. Amen. But my 0:18:49.930 --> 0:18:52.609 point is this. I didn't ask for any of it. 0:18:52.970 --> 0:18:56.369 I didn't ask stuff just to be dropping in my lap, 0:18:56.369 --> 0:19:00.410 not looking for it. Why? Because Oz. I'm just living 0:19:00.410 --> 0:19:02.570 the way he wants me to live. Why? When Christ 0:19:02.570 --> 0:19:04.689 is our pleasure, he gives us his treasure. Let me 0:19:04.690 --> 0:19:06.369 tell you a story. If you want to read it 0:19:06.369 --> 0:19:08.890 in its entirety, what you ought to do is just 0:19:08.890 --> 0:19:15.409 go to Wikipedia and Google Chris Tucker and go to Wikipedia. 0:19:15.570 --> 0:19:19.410 Here's what you're going to find. Chris Tucker was born 0:19:20.210 --> 0:19:25.330 to a Pentecostal family. His mother and father are gloriously saved. 0:19:25.330 --> 0:19:29.650 They love the Lord Jesus Christ. And Chris Tucker wasn't 0:19:29.650 --> 0:19:32.090 saved even though he grew up in the same family. You. 0:19:32.130 --> 0:19:35.050 Some of y'all know what I'm talking about. And so 0:19:35.090 --> 0:19:37.850 he hooked up with Ice Cube and they did. Friday. 0:19:39.330 --> 0:19:44.810 He made under $100,000. So he became a Christian in 1997. 0:19:44.810 --> 0:19:49.010 And Tiny Lister, anybody know tiny the big dude? He's 0:19:49.010 --> 0:19:51.609 a Christian. They all they both go to the same church, 0:19:51.690 --> 0:19:55.770 same church with Denzel and that's a Bishop Blake's church. 0:19:56.290 --> 0:20:00.050 And Tiny Lister said, man, you're a Christian now. You 0:20:00.050 --> 0:20:03.210 got to cut all that cussing out. Christians don't cuss, 0:20:04.850 --> 0:20:08.530 he said. Yeah, you're right, you're right, you're right. So 0:20:08.530 --> 0:20:12.290 he cut the cussing out of his comedy. Now Ice 0:20:12.290 --> 0:20:14.090 Cube came back and said, we're going to do next 0:20:14.090 --> 0:20:19.530 Friday and Friday three. Chris Tucker turned them down because 0:20:19.530 --> 0:20:21.930 he don't cuss no more. And the script was nothing 0:20:21.930 --> 0:20:28.050 but cussing. Jackie Chan was looking for a comedian that 0:20:28.050 --> 0:20:30.730 was African American to work with him, but Eddie Murphy 0:20:30.770 --> 0:20:34.770 turned him down. Chris Rock turned him down. That opened 0:20:34.770 --> 0:20:38.450 up the door for Chris Tucker, but Jackie Chan said, no, 0:20:38.450 --> 0:20:41.290 that guy cusses too much and somebody said he doesn't 0:20:41.290 --> 0:20:47.010 do it anymore. So Jackie Chan brought him onto Rush 0:20:47.050 --> 0:20:52.850 Hour and he made in Rush Hour two. $20 million 0:20:53.090 --> 0:20:59.250 rush hour three. $25 million and 20% of the box office. 0:21:00.119 --> 0:21:02.639 Were you trying to say, I'm not telling you. If 0:21:02.640 --> 0:21:06.440 you quit cussing, you're going to become a millionaire? I'm 0:21:06.440 --> 0:21:08.880 not telling you that, but I'm trying to show you 0:21:08.880 --> 0:21:12.800 what happened. What happened with Chris Tucker? He sought first 0:21:12.840 --> 0:21:15.920 the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And what did 0:21:15.920 --> 0:21:17.960 God do? Say, I'm going to open up some doors 0:21:18.000 --> 0:21:20.879 for you that ain't never been opened. You honor me. 0:21:20.880 --> 0:21:23.040 I'm going to honor you. It's like the widow in 0:21:23.040 --> 0:21:25.199 first Kings 17. He said, what do you have in 0:21:25.200 --> 0:21:27.200 your house? I got a little meal and I got 0:21:27.200 --> 0:21:29.400 a little oil. And he said, well, make me a 0:21:29.400 --> 0:21:31.960 little cake first. And then she made him a little 0:21:31.960 --> 0:21:36.080 cake first. And everything was multiplied because she sought first 0:21:36.119 --> 0:21:39.520 the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And all those 0:21:39.520 --> 0:21:43.359 things were added unto her. And that's what I came 0:21:43.359 --> 0:21:48.640 to tell you today, that whenever you have Christ's pleasure, 0:21:48.800 --> 0:21:53.240 you'll also get Christ's treasure. And if you think you're 0:21:53.240 --> 0:21:57.320 going to get what he has apart from doing what 0:21:57.320 --> 0:22:01.600 he says do, Who is never going to happen. 0:22:03.600 --> 0:22:06.080 It's a good reminder and challenge as we wrap up 0:22:06.080 --> 0:22:08.960 together here on Treasure truth. A message is called God's 0:22:08.960 --> 0:22:11.880 Pleasure and Your Treasure, and you can listen to this 0:22:11.880 --> 0:22:15.159 broadcast again when you come to our website. It's Treasure 0:22:15.160 --> 0:22:21.159 Truth radio.org. That's treasure Truth Radio dot. You know, pastor, 0:22:21.160 --> 0:22:24.800 we often hear the word stewardship in Bible teaching and 0:22:24.800 --> 0:22:28.280 Christian radio. But how does that apply to supporting a 0:22:28.280 --> 0:22:30.840 program like Treasure, Truth or Moody Radio? 0:22:31.280 --> 0:22:35.280 Well, I think we need to understand that everything is 0:22:35.280 --> 0:22:39.120 God's by ownership and it's ours by stewardship. A steward 0:22:39.119 --> 0:22:44.640 is a manager of somebody else's things, okay? And so 0:22:44.680 --> 0:22:48.040 we understand it all belongs to God. And what we 0:22:48.040 --> 0:22:52.680 want to do is we have trusted God to provide 0:22:52.680 --> 0:22:56.400 us in our giving. Now we ask God to guide 0:22:56.400 --> 0:22:59.880 us in our giving. And what we do is we 0:22:59.880 --> 0:23:01.960 begin to pray and to ask, you know, we support 0:23:01.960 --> 0:23:05.360 our local church, and then we give to the organizations 0:23:05.359 --> 0:23:08.240 that build us up and edify us. The word edify 0:23:08.240 --> 0:23:11.280 is an interesting word, literally means to build a house. 0:23:11.600 --> 0:23:14.440 And when you listen to moody radio programs like treasure, 0:23:14.480 --> 0:23:18.560 truth and other Moody sponsored programs, you're being built up 0:23:18.560 --> 0:23:21.840 in your most precious faith, and you want to make 0:23:21.880 --> 0:23:25.400 sure that that kind of thing can continue where you 0:23:25.400 --> 0:23:27.240 grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord 0:23:27.240 --> 0:23:31.760 and Savior Jesus Christ. And that can't happen unless we 0:23:31.760 --> 0:23:34.200 have individuals who will give. 0:23:34.560 --> 0:23:36.960 Well, you can give online by coming to Treasure Truth 0:23:36.960 --> 0:23:40.560 Radio org and clicking on the donate button. Well, thanks 0:23:40.560 --> 0:23:42.920 for doing that and for listening. Thanks also to our producer, 0:23:42.920 --> 0:23:45.960 Amy Rios for Pastor Ford, I'm Steve Hiller. Treasure truth 0:23:45.960 --> 0:23:48.920 is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody 0:23:48.920 --> 0:23:50.040 Bible Institute.