June 12, 2025 • 24 mins
On the next Treasured Truth, Pastor Ford will explain that our eschatological promise is in the future—and that is our “not yet.” But our existential problem is in the present—our “right now.” So, we need to understand that we can focus on our “not yet” and it will deal with our “right now.” That’s because we know that our “right now” can’t cancel out our “not yet,” based on the promise that God has already made to us. To learn more about how God’s future plan for us can sustain us in our present circumstances, join us for the next Treasured Truth.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:00):
So you see, my eschatological promise is in the not yet,
but my existential problem is in my right now. But
you need to understand that I focus on my not
yet and it deals with my right now because I
know my right now can't cancel out my not yet,
because he already made me a promise.
S2 (00:25):
Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford,
junior senior pastor of Christ Bible Church in Chicago. I'm
Steve Hillard. Glad you're with us. As we begin a
message how to stay together when your world is falling apart. But, pastor,
we got to back up and talk about what we
just heard because I if the listeners are a little
bit like me, you're kind of scratching your head saying,
(00:46):
I need a little context here and maybe some definitions.
My eschatology eschatological promise. Yeah. That's like a, that's a,
that's a serious word you're throwing around there.
S3 (00:56):
It certainly is. I need to let people know that
eschatological promise speaks about the promise for the future. Eschatology
is the study of last things, and usually we're referring
to the things that haven't transpired yet. But God has
given us a word on them. And then existential just means,
(01:19):
you know, my living out in in my real world.
So existential problem is one that's happening right now in
my world. And so basically what I was trying to
convey was this, that when I have a promise from
God and that promise is applicable to my future, I
(01:42):
focus on that as opposed to what's happening to me
right now. And if I focus on that, that gives
me what the Bible calls hope. The I started to
say etymological construct. I'm not going to say that, Steve.
The word picture, uh, that we get from the word
hope is outstretched neck. That is, you're anticipating something coming.
(02:04):
Like you're waiting on the bus in the dead of winter.
You step out off of the curb and you look
down LaSalle Street knowing it's going to come. Just not
knowing when. That's an eschatological promise. I believe God has
said this is going to happen. So one of the
greatest is this one day I'm going to die. Mhm.
(02:24):
And yet I do not focus in on the fact
that I'm going to die, but I'm going to focus
on the fact that I will live forever with Jesus Christ. Yeah.
So what that does is it alleviates some of the
problem of death for me, because there is something after
(02:45):
death that I anticipate more than my death.
S2 (02:48):
Yeah. Well, I think that's really helpful. As we begin
to take a look at this passage from Philippians chapter
four today in this message, how to stay Together when
Your World is Falling apart, because I think there may
be some listening today. In fact, I'm sure there are
some listening today, pastor, who do feel as if their
world is absolutely falling apart. And hopefully they're hearing you
(03:11):
say one of the ways that we can get through
that challenge, and that difficulty is to take your eyes
off that problem right now and look to a great
promise in the future.
S3 (03:22):
Right. And, you know, that's not going to alleviate the problem.
That's not going to alleviate the pain and the implications
of it. But what it does is it gives you
a hope.
S2 (03:34):
Yeah. Well, with that, let's open our Bibles to that passage,
Philippians chapter four. We're looking at verses six and seven
today as we begin the message, how to stay together
when your world is falling apart. Here is Pastor Ford.
S1 (03:47):
In acts chapter 11, Herod is persecuting the church. As
a matter of fact.
S3 (03:54):
Uh, he has.
S1 (03:55):
James the disciple, beheaded.
S3 (03:59):
Chops off.
S1 (04:00):
His head. He saw that that made the people really
feel good about him. So he's a politician that got
in bed with religion and decided, well, if killing one
of them made the Jews happy, let me kill another
one of them. And so since Peter was the leader,
(04:22):
everybody knows, smite the shepherd and the sheep will scatter.
And so Herod has him arrested and has him put
in jail. So Peter is in the joint, and he
knows he's waiting to have his head cut off. Now
we react to that historically. Uh, but remember, this was
(04:47):
something that was happening to him, actually. So how would
you feel if you were in jail and knew that
at any moment you could lose your head? I mean,
if there's any time, uh, to have anxiety and fear
and frustration. Now's the time. If there's any time to
(05:07):
be worrying about what, uh, my, uh, uh, state is
going to be, now's the time. But anybody who read
the chapter know that my boy Pete is not walking
around the cell, wringing his hands, popping Prozac, popping Zoloft,
(05:28):
popping Xanax, or what's the other one? What's the other one? Yeah, yeah. Yeah,
I know about all of them. I heard about them. Uh,
but he's not doing that. What's he doing? Anybody read it? No.
He sleep. He. Wait a minute, wait a minute. His
(05:52):
world is going to hell in a handbasket, and he sleep. Now,
that really gets to me. Uh, because how could you
go to sleep? And I think his sleep was deep
and restful. Deep, deep sleep. That's 40 and over. That's. That's.
(06:13):
Take sominex tonight and sleep. For those of you who
are commercial challenged. Yes, us 40 and over, we remember it.
But that's not what he did to go to sleep. Peter,
how could you, uh, go to sleep? Uh, at the
threat of all that's happening to you? This is more
than just losing your house. This is more than just
(06:33):
a job downsizing. This is more than just a daughter
saying I'm pregnant. This is more than a police officer saying, uh,
come to the station. I have your son. This is
more than I want to divorce. This is life threatening.
Yet this brother falls asleep. And I think he would
say to me, Pastor Ford, have you never read, uh,
(06:54):
what my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ said to me
in John 2118 118. And I said, yeah, I've read it.
Remind me, Peter, here's what Jesus said to Peter. Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, when thou wast young, you girded,
or you dressed yourself, uh, and you walk wherever you
want to go. But when you get old, when you
(07:18):
get old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another
shall dress thee, and carry you where you don't want
to go. See, in this text, Peter is about 34
years old, and I know that that 40 is the
new 30, and that, uh, 40 is the new 50,
and and 50 is the new 60. And I can't
wait because I'm so glad, uh, when they say that
(07:41):
70 is the new 60. Right? But he's young. And
so Peter would say, listen, let me tell you why
I didn't fall apart. I just fell asleep. It is because, uh,
my eschatological promise, uh, for my existential problem gave me
(08:04):
exceptional peace. Did you realize that some of you said. Huh?
I just wanted you to know I went to seminary. Eschatological.
That has to do with the future. Existential. That has
to do with right now. Here's what he's saying. He's saying, listen,
let me tell you why. I could go to sleep.
Because in my past, Jesus told me about my future,
(08:28):
which cannot be canceled out by my present. So you see,
my eschatological promise is in the not yet, but my
existential problem is in my right now. But you need
to understand that I focus on my not yet, and
it deals with my right now, because I know my
right now can't cancel out my not yet, because he
already made me a promise. And I'm preaching better than you.
(08:51):
Amen and all. Yeah, yeah. He fell asleep. He fell asleep.
Here's what Peter knew that many of us may not know.
Peter knew. If you pay no mind to what God
has said to you in His word, he'll pay no
mind on what you say to him in your prayers. Huh?
(09:15):
So he's saying, you know, order my steps in your word,
dear Lord. And so this text is a perfect segue,
because here's a man who shouldn't have peace but had peace,
and he was able to sleep in the midst of
a whole lot of mess going on. It's Philippians four
six and seven. What does it say? Be anxious for nothing.
(09:38):
But in everything with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let
your requests be made known to God. And the peace
of God that passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts
and mind in Christ Jesus. Here's what this text is
tailored to teach. Here's the timeless truth Christ's peace will
supersede all of our problems when we utilize his provision
(10:02):
to deal with them. Let me say that again. I
like the way that play Christ peace will supersede all
of our problems when we utilize his provision to deal
with them. Now we're going to talk about four aspects
of his provision in these two verses. Here it is.
First of all, I want you to notice the restrictions
(10:25):
on your emotions. Don't worry about anything or be anxious
for nothing. Now here it is. Here's what gets me.
Can I tell you what gets me? Say, tell me
what gets you. Yes. Here's what gets me. The Philippians,
who are not in jail, are being told, don't worry
by the person who is in jail that they're worried
about being in jail. It's amazing to me that you
(10:49):
have the same Christians with the same Bible and the
same Lord, but they don't respond the same way. Mm.
S2 (10:57):
So how should we respond? Well, we're going to continue
to look at this in just a moment here on
Treasure Truth. Our message today is entitled How to Stay
together when Your World is Falling Apart. And if you
miss any part of this broadcast, you can always listen
to it in its entirety online. Come to our website
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computer or mobile device. You can download or order copies
(11:20):
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(11:40):
Treasure Truth radio.com. It's a great way to listen when
it fits your schedule. Let's get back to the message.
How to stay together when your world is falling apart.
Here is Pastor Ford.
S1 (11:52):
Now listen, there's a lot to pop Xanax about. Uh, yeah.
You know, they're terrorist threats all over now in the US.
We're hearing about them every day. Folk are coming into
churches and and they're shooting up the place. And I'm like,
Pastor Meeks, we already done said it. If they talk
about somebody coming to Christ's Bible, it's not going to
(12:14):
say there was a shooting. It's going to say there
was a shoot out. Amen. Amen. Yeah. Cuz I got
a lot of conceal and carry folk in here. And they.
And after it happened, they was walking up to me
talking about. Don't worry about it, pastor. I got you, baby,
I got you. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it, pastor,
I got you. Don't you worry about it, I got you.
(12:38):
And don't forget, we got some ex gang bangers here.
They they didn't they didn't drop their cussing in their drugs. Yeah.
And so there's a lot there's a lot to worry about.
Financial uncertainty. If there's a depression, a a a recession
on Wall Street, there's a depression on my street. We
(12:59):
got all kinds of things to worry about. Marital disillusionment.
She ready to leave? And you ready to let her?
Rebellious children, neglectful parents, governmental ineptness. There's a lot to
worry about. Personal inadequacies, personal failures, jobs, downsizing, jobs moving
(13:23):
out of the state, the country, the economy is bad.
And to make matters worse, Donald Trump is the front runner.
There's a lot to worry about. And so he says,
don't worry. Now, now I like this word. I'm going
to tell you what it is in the Greek, but
let me tell you where it came from. It came
(13:45):
from the German word. It came from the Anglo-Saxon word Warren.
And here's what it means in the German and in
the German and Anglo-Saxon it means to strangle, to choke
Anybody ever been choked? Don't. Don't let us know. We
we we don't want to know. You've been being abused
at home. What happened? It cuts your air off so
(14:10):
that you can't breathe. He said worry strangles you. Worry
chokes you. And here's the word. Here's the word in
the Greek. The Greek word is marijuana. Say marijuana. Now
you know another Greek word, marijuana means this to draw
(14:30):
in different directions, to divide at the same time. It's
trying to go in two directions at the same time.
Here's the picture. Now, I can't give you the picture,
but it looks something like this. Faith. Fret. Faith. Fret. Faith. Fret, faith. Fret.
Try to trust God and worry about it at the
(14:57):
same time. And this is what he says. Hey, you know,
what's the difference between fear and worry? Fear is more specific.
It usually has an object. Worry doesn't need an object.
One man said it this way. He said dealing with
worry is like trying to shovel smoke. Another person said
it this way. He said worry is like rocking in
(15:19):
a rocking chair. It will give you something to do,
but it will never get you anywhere. Yeah, worry is
the interest you pay on trouble that seldom comes. Psychiatrists
say 90% of the things we worry about never, ever happen.
Now notice this. Notice this. There's two things he says here.
In this first phrase, he gives a caution about worry
(15:42):
and he gives a commandment about worry. What do you mean?
He gives a caution? Stop worrying. How do you know that?
Because it's in the middle voice in the Greek. Now,
now say it's all Greek to me. Come on, say it. Yeah.
What does it mean when something's in the middle voice?
It's telling you to stop an action that's already happening.
It can be literally translated stop worrying about everything. Don't
(16:07):
worry about anything. That's literally what's going on in this text.
So when you look at what he's saying here, he's
saying there's something going on that you need to stop,
stop it, stop it, stop it, stop worrying. Huh? Then
notice it's a commandment. It's in the mood of command.
(16:27):
Which means then God is saying, I don't want you
to worry. I command you not to worry. Now, anytime
God commands us, you know what that means. Bad news.
That means we can. That means we can. So then
notice the first part. You stop worrying. I'll give you peace.
So the converse is true. You don't stop worrying. You
(16:49):
can't have my peace. Now, I don't understand it. Because, God,
you know, you command me to do something. I don't
think I can do it. Look, if I command you
to do it, you can do it. Because in the
command is inherent, the power to be able to pull
off what I'm commanding you to do. The power is
in the word that's given, and we talk about it
(17:11):
all the time. What's my favorite illustration? Come on, tell me,
Jerry curl juice. Because if you had a Jerry curl,
it wasn't a Jerry curl till you put an activator juice.
And so what God says is you got to take
my word. His word is powerful, sharp, quicker than any
two edged sword. Well, how come it ain't doing you
(17:31):
any good? Because you ain't activated with your faith? Because
your faith activates it. Like Jerry curl juice activated your
Jerry curl. And you always know when you activated your faith.
Because you'll leave residue wherever you are. Right now. Hope
(17:52):
you got a leather couch. And so here's my question.
Why start here now? How many Bible students do I
have in here? Because if you're a Bible school, you'll say, wait,
wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait
wait wait. He says, don't worry. Then pray. How come
he didn't say pray and then don't worry. Doesn't that
(18:12):
make sense? Pray? If I pray, then, then I won't worry.
But he says don't worry and then pray. Oh, yeah,
I see it. You ever notice that? Most of the
time Jesus talked to his disciples when they have a problem,
the first thing he said is, don't be afraid. Don't
be afraid. Matthew 14. Uh, they're out on the water,
(18:36):
and the water, uh, is doing the nay, nay, boom, boom, boom, boom,
breaking it down. Bring it back up. Boom, boom. Guess what. Yeah,
it's doing the nay, nay. And these are fishermen. They've
been on this water a long time. Peter, James and
Peter and and Andrew. And they're upset. And Jesus come
(18:57):
walking on the water and and they say it's Casper
the Friendly Ghost. He says, no, it's me. Do not
be afraid. In verse 27. Then verse 32 says, he
shut the wind up. Now why didn't he shut the
wind up so that they wouldn't be afraid? Here it is.
And you know it very well, don't you, that Jesus
lets us know. The reason he's telling us this first
(19:20):
is because he has to calm the storm that's on
the inside of us before he calms the storm that's
on the outside of us. Because if he calms the
storm that's on the outside of us and leaves the
storm that's on the inside of us, that even when
he calms the storm on the outside of us, the
storm on the inside of us is still in us.
Here it is, here it is, here it is. Here
(19:41):
it is. Jesus got to deal with that emotion because
you can be out of the storm, but the storm
won't be out of you. Some of you know it.
The thing that you stressing about and and messed up
over happened years ago. The storm is still in you.
(20:03):
The person who did it may be dead, but the
storm is still in you. You still ain't forgiven, daddy.
You still haven't forgiven mama. You haven't forgiven that individual
because the storm is still in you. I heard a
person talking about the fact that there was a guy
in North Carolina or South Carolina. Uh, he went swimming.
He came back home, and, uh, he died. The coroner
(20:27):
said he drowned. They called it a dry drowning because
when he was there, he swallowed some water in the
pool that didn't go into his lungs until he he
he went to sleep and he drowned. And he wasn't
in the pool. He was out of it, but it
(20:48):
wasn't out of him. Whole lot of people like that.
Whole lot of people. So this text says, listen, stop worrying.
Then go to prayer. Why? So that when we go
to God, we go as a victor and not a victim.
That you and I realize that you can't be faithful
(21:13):
and fretful at the same time. That that there are
some people who understand God does not respond to your need.
God responds to your faith. And you going all tore
up from the floor up talking about God. And he says, okay,
everybody got needs. Let me see your faith now. You
don't believe it. I hate to get the Bible in this.
(21:34):
Hebrews 11 six, for without faith it is impossible to
please him, for he that cometh to him must believe
that he is, and that he is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek him. See, you ain't even got
to find him. All you gotta do be looking for him. Yeah,
and what is that? Faith. Verse one. Faith is the
substance of things hoped for. The evidence of things not seen.
(21:57):
It is beyond the five senses. We walk by faith,
not by sight.
S2 (22:04):
You're listening to Treasure Truth with Pastor Ford. A message
called how to stay together when your World is falling Apart. Really?
A look at Philippians chapter four today, and we're going
to continue this teaching on our next broadcast. If you
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(22:27):
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(22:50):
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(23:34):
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So you see, my eschatological promise is in the not yet,
but my existential problem is in my right now. But
you need to understand that I focus on my not
yet and it deals with my right now because I
know my right now can't cancel out my not yet,
because he already made me a promise.
S2 (00:25):
Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford,
junior senior pastor of Christ Bible Church in Chicago. I'm
Steve Hillard. Glad you're with us. As we begin a
message how to stay together when your world is falling apart. But, pastor,
we got to back up and talk about what we
just heard because I if the listeners are a little
bit like me, you're kind of scratching your head saying,
(00:46):
I need a little context here and maybe some definitions.
My eschatology eschatological promise. Yeah. That's like a, that's a,
that's a serious word you're throwing around there.
S3 (00:56):
It certainly is. I need to let people know that
eschatological promise speaks about the promise for the future. Eschatology
is the study of last things, and usually we're referring
to the things that haven't transpired yet. But God has
given us a word on them. And then existential just means,
(01:19):
you know, my living out in in my real world.
So existential problem is one that's happening right now in
my world. And so basically what I was trying to
convey was this, that when I have a promise from
God and that promise is applicable to my future, I
(01:42):
focus on that as opposed to what's happening to me
right now. And if I focus on that, that gives
me what the Bible calls hope. The I started to
say etymological construct. I'm not going to say that, Steve.
The word picture, uh, that we get from the word
hope is outstretched neck. That is, you're anticipating something coming.
(02:04):
Like you're waiting on the bus in the dead of winter.
You step out off of the curb and you look
down LaSalle Street knowing it's going to come. Just not
knowing when. That's an eschatological promise. I believe God has
said this is going to happen. So one of the
greatest is this one day I'm going to die. Mhm.
(02:24):
And yet I do not focus in on the fact
that I'm going to die, but I'm going to focus
on the fact that I will live forever with Jesus Christ. Yeah.
So what that does is it alleviates some of the
problem of death for me, because there is something after
(02:45):
death that I anticipate more than my death.
S2 (02:48):
Yeah. Well, I think that's really helpful. As we begin
to take a look at this passage from Philippians chapter
four today in this message, how to stay Together when
Your World is Falling apart, because I think there may
be some listening today. In fact, I'm sure there are
some listening today, pastor, who do feel as if their
world is absolutely falling apart. And hopefully they're hearing you
(03:11):
say one of the ways that we can get through
that challenge, and that difficulty is to take your eyes
off that problem right now and look to a great
promise in the future.
S3 (03:22):
Right. And, you know, that's not going to alleviate the problem.
That's not going to alleviate the pain and the implications
of it. But what it does is it gives you
a hope.
S2 (03:34):
Yeah. Well, with that, let's open our Bibles to that passage,
Philippians chapter four. We're looking at verses six and seven
today as we begin the message, how to stay together
when your world is falling apart. Here is Pastor Ford.
S1 (03:47):
In acts chapter 11, Herod is persecuting the church. As
a matter of fact.
S3 (03:54):
Uh, he has.
S1 (03:55):
James the disciple, beheaded.
S3 (03:59):
Chops off.
S1 (04:00):
His head. He saw that that made the people really
feel good about him. So he's a politician that got
in bed with religion and decided, well, if killing one
of them made the Jews happy, let me kill another
one of them. And so since Peter was the leader,
(04:22):
everybody knows, smite the shepherd and the sheep will scatter.
And so Herod has him arrested and has him put
in jail. So Peter is in the joint, and he
knows he's waiting to have his head cut off. Now
we react to that historically. Uh, but remember, this was
(04:47):
something that was happening to him, actually. So how would
you feel if you were in jail and knew that
at any moment you could lose your head? I mean,
if there's any time, uh, to have anxiety and fear
and frustration. Now's the time. If there's any time to
(05:07):
be worrying about what, uh, my, uh, uh, state is
going to be, now's the time. But anybody who read
the chapter know that my boy Pete is not walking
around the cell, wringing his hands, popping Prozac, popping Zoloft,
(05:28):
popping Xanax, or what's the other one? What's the other one? Yeah, yeah. Yeah,
I know about all of them. I heard about them. Uh,
but he's not doing that. What's he doing? Anybody read it? No.
He sleep. He. Wait a minute, wait a minute. His
(05:52):
world is going to hell in a handbasket, and he sleep. Now,
that really gets to me. Uh, because how could you
go to sleep? And I think his sleep was deep
and restful. Deep, deep sleep. That's 40 and over. That's. That's.
(06:13):
Take sominex tonight and sleep. For those of you who
are commercial challenged. Yes, us 40 and over, we remember it.
But that's not what he did to go to sleep. Peter,
how could you, uh, go to sleep? Uh, at the
threat of all that's happening to you? This is more
than just losing your house. This is more than just
(06:33):
a job downsizing. This is more than just a daughter
saying I'm pregnant. This is more than a police officer saying, uh,
come to the station. I have your son. This is
more than I want to divorce. This is life threatening.
Yet this brother falls asleep. And I think he would
say to me, Pastor Ford, have you never read, uh,
(06:54):
what my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ said to me
in John 2118 118. And I said, yeah, I've read it.
Remind me, Peter, here's what Jesus said to Peter. Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, when thou wast young, you girded,
or you dressed yourself, uh, and you walk wherever you
want to go. But when you get old, when you
(07:18):
get old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another
shall dress thee, and carry you where you don't want
to go. See, in this text, Peter is about 34
years old, and I know that that 40 is the
new 30, and that, uh, 40 is the new 50,
and and 50 is the new 60. And I can't
wait because I'm so glad, uh, when they say that
(07:41):
70 is the new 60. Right? But he's young. And
so Peter would say, listen, let me tell you why
I didn't fall apart. I just fell asleep. It is because, uh,
my eschatological promise, uh, for my existential problem gave me
(08:04):
exceptional peace. Did you realize that some of you said. Huh?
I just wanted you to know I went to seminary. Eschatological.
That has to do with the future. Existential. That has
to do with right now. Here's what he's saying. He's saying, listen,
let me tell you why. I could go to sleep.
Because in my past, Jesus told me about my future,
(08:28):
which cannot be canceled out by my present. So you see,
my eschatological promise is in the not yet, but my
existential problem is in my right now. But you need
to understand that I focus on my not yet, and
it deals with my right now, because I know my
right now can't cancel out my not yet, because he
already made me a promise. And I'm preaching better than you.
(08:51):
Amen and all. Yeah, yeah. He fell asleep. He fell asleep.
Here's what Peter knew that many of us may not know.
Peter knew. If you pay no mind to what God
has said to you in His word, he'll pay no
mind on what you say to him in your prayers. Huh?
(09:15):
So he's saying, you know, order my steps in your word,
dear Lord. And so this text is a perfect segue,
because here's a man who shouldn't have peace but had peace,
and he was able to sleep in the midst of
a whole lot of mess going on. It's Philippians four
six and seven. What does it say? Be anxious for nothing.
(09:38):
But in everything with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let
your requests be made known to God. And the peace
of God that passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts
and mind in Christ Jesus. Here's what this text is
tailored to teach. Here's the timeless truth Christ's peace will
supersede all of our problems when we utilize his provision
(10:02):
to deal with them. Let me say that again. I
like the way that play Christ peace will supersede all
of our problems when we utilize his provision to deal
with them. Now we're going to talk about four aspects
of his provision in these two verses. Here it is.
First of all, I want you to notice the restrictions
(10:25):
on your emotions. Don't worry about anything or be anxious
for nothing. Now here it is. Here's what gets me.
Can I tell you what gets me? Say, tell me
what gets you. Yes. Here's what gets me. The Philippians,
who are not in jail, are being told, don't worry
by the person who is in jail that they're worried
about being in jail. It's amazing to me that you
(10:49):
have the same Christians with the same Bible and the
same Lord, but they don't respond the same way. Mm.
S2 (10:57):
So how should we respond? Well, we're going to continue
to look at this in just a moment here on
Treasure Truth. Our message today is entitled How to Stay
together when Your World is Falling Apart. And if you
miss any part of this broadcast, you can always listen
to it in its entirety online. Come to our website
treasure truth radio org. You can stream programs through your
computer or mobile device. You can download or order copies
(11:20):
of the broadcast on CD. Another way to listen is
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link you to those when you come to our website.
(11:40):
Treasure Truth radio.com. It's a great way to listen when
it fits your schedule. Let's get back to the message.
How to stay together when your world is falling apart.
Here is Pastor Ford.
S1 (11:52):
Now listen, there's a lot to pop Xanax about. Uh, yeah.
You know, they're terrorist threats all over now in the US.
We're hearing about them every day. Folk are coming into
churches and and they're shooting up the place. And I'm like,
Pastor Meeks, we already done said it. If they talk
about somebody coming to Christ's Bible, it's not going to
(12:14):
say there was a shooting. It's going to say there
was a shoot out. Amen. Amen. Yeah. Cuz I got
a lot of conceal and carry folk in here. And they.
And after it happened, they was walking up to me
talking about. Don't worry about it, pastor. I got you, baby,
I got you. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it, pastor,
I got you. Don't you worry about it, I got you.
(12:38):
And don't forget, we got some ex gang bangers here.
They they didn't they didn't drop their cussing in their drugs. Yeah.
And so there's a lot there's a lot to worry about.
Financial uncertainty. If there's a depression, a a a recession
on Wall Street, there's a depression on my street. We
(12:59):
got all kinds of things to worry about. Marital disillusionment.
She ready to leave? And you ready to let her?
Rebellious children, neglectful parents, governmental ineptness. There's a lot to
worry about. Personal inadequacies, personal failures, jobs, downsizing, jobs moving
(13:23):
out of the state, the country, the economy is bad.
And to make matters worse, Donald Trump is the front runner.
There's a lot to worry about. And so he says,
don't worry. Now, now I like this word. I'm going
to tell you what it is in the Greek, but
let me tell you where it came from. It came
(13:45):
from the German word. It came from the Anglo-Saxon word Warren.
And here's what it means in the German and in
the German and Anglo-Saxon it means to strangle, to choke
Anybody ever been choked? Don't. Don't let us know. We
we we don't want to know. You've been being abused
at home. What happened? It cuts your air off so
(14:10):
that you can't breathe. He said worry strangles you. Worry
chokes you. And here's the word. Here's the word in
the Greek. The Greek word is marijuana. Say marijuana. Now
you know another Greek word, marijuana means this to draw
(14:30):
in different directions, to divide at the same time. It's
trying to go in two directions at the same time.
Here's the picture. Now, I can't give you the picture,
but it looks something like this. Faith. Fret. Faith. Fret. Faith. Fret, faith. Fret.
Try to trust God and worry about it at the
(14:57):
same time. And this is what he says. Hey, you know,
what's the difference between fear and worry? Fear is more specific.
It usually has an object. Worry doesn't need an object.
One man said it this way. He said dealing with
worry is like trying to shovel smoke. Another person said
it this way. He said worry is like rocking in
(15:19):
a rocking chair. It will give you something to do,
but it will never get you anywhere. Yeah, worry is
the interest you pay on trouble that seldom comes. Psychiatrists
say 90% of the things we worry about never, ever happen.
Now notice this. Notice this. There's two things he says here.
In this first phrase, he gives a caution about worry
(15:42):
and he gives a commandment about worry. What do you mean?
He gives a caution? Stop worrying. How do you know that?
Because it's in the middle voice in the Greek. Now,
now say it's all Greek to me. Come on, say it. Yeah.
What does it mean when something's in the middle voice?
It's telling you to stop an action that's already happening.
It can be literally translated stop worrying about everything. Don't
(16:07):
worry about anything. That's literally what's going on in this text.
So when you look at what he's saying here, he's
saying there's something going on that you need to stop,
stop it, stop it, stop it, stop worrying. Huh? Then
notice it's a commandment. It's in the mood of command.
(16:27):
Which means then God is saying, I don't want you
to worry. I command you not to worry. Now, anytime
God commands us, you know what that means. Bad news.
That means we can. That means we can. So then
notice the first part. You stop worrying. I'll give you peace.
So the converse is true. You don't stop worrying. You
(16:49):
can't have my peace. Now, I don't understand it. Because, God,
you know, you command me to do something. I don't
think I can do it. Look, if I command you
to do it, you can do it. Because in the
command is inherent, the power to be able to pull
off what I'm commanding you to do. The power is
in the word that's given, and we talk about it
(17:11):
all the time. What's my favorite illustration? Come on, tell me,
Jerry curl juice. Because if you had a Jerry curl,
it wasn't a Jerry curl till you put an activator juice.
And so what God says is you got to take
my word. His word is powerful, sharp, quicker than any
two edged sword. Well, how come it ain't doing you
(17:31):
any good? Because you ain't activated with your faith? Because
your faith activates it. Like Jerry curl juice activated your
Jerry curl. And you always know when you activated your faith.
Because you'll leave residue wherever you are. Right now. Hope
(17:52):
you got a leather couch. And so here's my question.
Why start here now? How many Bible students do I
have in here? Because if you're a Bible school, you'll say, wait,
wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait
wait wait. He says, don't worry. Then pray. How come
he didn't say pray and then don't worry. Doesn't that
(18:12):
make sense? Pray? If I pray, then, then I won't worry.
But he says don't worry and then pray. Oh, yeah,
I see it. You ever notice that? Most of the
time Jesus talked to his disciples when they have a problem,
the first thing he said is, don't be afraid. Don't
be afraid. Matthew 14. Uh, they're out on the water,
(18:36):
and the water, uh, is doing the nay, nay, boom, boom, boom, boom,
breaking it down. Bring it back up. Boom, boom. Guess what. Yeah,
it's doing the nay, nay. And these are fishermen. They've
been on this water a long time. Peter, James and
Peter and and Andrew. And they're upset. And Jesus come
(18:57):
walking on the water and and they say it's Casper
the Friendly Ghost. He says, no, it's me. Do not
be afraid. In verse 27. Then verse 32 says, he
shut the wind up. Now why didn't he shut the
wind up so that they wouldn't be afraid? Here it is.
And you know it very well, don't you, that Jesus
lets us know. The reason he's telling us this first
(19:20):
is because he has to calm the storm that's on
the inside of us before he calms the storm that's
on the outside of us. Because if he calms the
storm that's on the outside of us and leaves the
storm that's on the inside of us, that even when
he calms the storm on the outside of us, the
storm on the inside of us is still in us.
Here it is, here it is, here it is. Here
(19:41):
it is. Jesus got to deal with that emotion because
you can be out of the storm, but the storm
won't be out of you. Some of you know it.
The thing that you stressing about and and messed up
over happened years ago. The storm is still in you.
(20:03):
The person who did it may be dead, but the
storm is still in you. You still ain't forgiven, daddy.
You still haven't forgiven mama. You haven't forgiven that individual
because the storm is still in you. I heard a
person talking about the fact that there was a guy
in North Carolina or South Carolina. Uh, he went swimming.
He came back home, and, uh, he died. The coroner
(20:27):
said he drowned. They called it a dry drowning because
when he was there, he swallowed some water in the
pool that didn't go into his lungs until he he
he went to sleep and he drowned. And he wasn't
in the pool. He was out of it, but it
(20:48):
wasn't out of him. Whole lot of people like that.
Whole lot of people. So this text says, listen, stop worrying.
Then go to prayer. Why? So that when we go
to God, we go as a victor and not a victim.
That you and I realize that you can't be faithful
(21:13):
and fretful at the same time. That that there are
some people who understand God does not respond to your need.
God responds to your faith. And you going all tore
up from the floor up talking about God. And he says, okay,
everybody got needs. Let me see your faith now. You
don't believe it. I hate to get the Bible in this.
(21:34):
Hebrews 11 six, for without faith it is impossible to
please him, for he that cometh to him must believe
that he is, and that he is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek him. See, you ain't even got
to find him. All you gotta do be looking for him. Yeah,
and what is that? Faith. Verse one. Faith is the
substance of things hoped for. The evidence of things not seen.
(21:57):
It is beyond the five senses. We walk by faith,
not by sight.
S2 (22:04):
You're listening to Treasure Truth with Pastor Ford. A message
called how to stay together when your World is falling Apart. Really?
A look at Philippians chapter four today, and we're going
to continue this teaching on our next broadcast. If you
ever miss a program or part of a program and
you want to go back and listen to what you
missed or even just listen to it again, you can
always come to our website. It's Treasure Truth Radio. You
(22:27):
can stream programs through your computer or mobile device. You
can download or order copies of this broadcast on CD. Again,
our website address is Treasure Truth radio.org. While you're there,
I want to ask you to consider giving a gift
because we are a listener supported ministry. And that's exactly
what it sounds like. We depend on those who listen
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(22:50):
the way that we're able to pay for production costs
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you Pastor Ford's teaching each day. So if you're benefiting
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to make a donation? Just come to our website. It's
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(23:11):
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(23:34):
it's like listening on demand. Again, you'll find those links
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on the Stay Connected bar. Well, thanks for listening today.
Thanks also to our producer, Amy Rios. I'm Steve Hiller.
Treasure truth is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry
of Moody Bible Institute.
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