June 16, 2025 • 24 mins
When our world is falling apart and we’re trying to keep it all together, we need to understand that everything in our lives needs to be all about Christ—it just has to be! And on the next Treasured Truth, Pastor Ford will explain that in Philippians 4, Paul is essentially saying, ‘If you kill me, I’ll go be with Christ. If you let me live, I’ll live for Christ. And if you make me suffer, I’ll get a crown from Christ.’ So, bring it on! It’s all about Jesus Christ! Join Pastor Ford as he concludes his message, “How to Stay Together When Your World Is Falling Apart” on the next Treasured Truth.
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Episode Transcript
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S1 (00:00):
There's got to be all about Christ. It has to be.
So here's what Paul was saying. If you kill me,
I'll go be with Christ. If you let me live.
I live for Christ. And if you make me suffer,
I'll get a crown from Christ. So bring it on.
It's all about Jesus Christ. That's what it's all about.
S2 (00:22):
Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford,
junior senior pastor of Christ Bible Church in Chicago. I'm
Steve Hillard. Glad that you're with us as we continue
a message today from Philippians chapter four, really taking a
look at the person of Jesus Christ, his value, his worth,
what he has done for us. And pastor, it's a
great reminder that really the first and foremost thing in
(00:44):
our life really needs to be Jesus.
S3 (00:46):
Well, I tell you, we need to make him the priority,
that's for sure. I mean, that's what Scripture says. Matthew
633 but seek ye third. Nope. Second, nope. Seek ye
first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all
these other things shall be added unto you. And so
we should have a sign over our heart that says,
not for sale, because we've already been bought with a price.
(01:09):
We belong to the Lord Jesus Christ.
S2 (01:11):
I like that picture there that you've described for us,
for the person who does face difficulties of life, though,
and they have these overwhelming problems or issues in their
life where it's so tempting to take their eyes off
of Christ and fixate on their issues and problems, their
passage of Scripture, something that you go to that helps you,
(01:32):
you know, get your priority back in the right place.
S3 (01:34):
Yeah. John 1633 in the world you shall have tribulation.
But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.
We've got to keep our eyes on on the Lord
Jesus Christ. And I know you know, just like with
Peter walking on the water, there's the temptation to look
(01:54):
at the storm and to take our eyes off of him.
But I think the analogy is replete in that passage.
We sink. And so we need him then to lift
us back up and set us back on our feet
in fellowship with him. So we really need to focus
on him.
S2 (02:11):
All right. So that is one of the challenges that
some may have. Let's flip it on its head, because
I think that can be another temptation for some of us.
We know that we have Christ if we're believers and
we like him, we may struggle to say, I love
him because I have so many other good things in
my life. I a good job, a great family, good health,
(02:33):
these things. And when life's going well, it can be
easy to kind of lose your love for Christ.
S3 (02:39):
Well, I think it's easier to do it then than
it is when you're in the valley. It's easier on
the mountaintop, you know, and then it's because when we
look at our lives, and our lives are cluttered with things,
those things sometimes often replace him.
S2 (02:57):
Yeah. Yeah. Making sure that we are weeding out those
idols in our lives. Well, you're listening to Treasure Truth
and a message entitled How to Stay Together When Your
World is Falling Apart. Join us in Philippians chapter four
as we continue the teaching. Here is Pastor Ford.
S1 (03:14):
I had somebody that we're going to do something for me,
and I said, praise the Lord. And they they had
some requirements. They said, before I even do this, you
got to take care of everything that's involved. You got
to make ministry conducive for my success. I said, I
don't got a problem with that. So we sat down
and I said, what does it take to make you successful?
(03:36):
And all of it made sense. And so I had
sister gotta put it in the document and she put
it in the document. He said, okay, I'm not going
to start until you give me the document. And so
I had my secretary send the document. He called me up.
He said, look, I can't do this. You ain't send
me the document. I said, oh, man, you didn't get it,
(03:56):
did you? Look in your spam. Yeah, I looked in
my spam. I said, okay, okay, well, let me call my.
Call my secretary. You didn't send the document. I told
you over a week ago. I sent the document over
a week ago, the same day you told me to
send it. Well, he said he didn't get it. Well,
I can show you where I sent it. Okay. Did
you get the document? No. Okay. Send it to him again.
(04:19):
Send it to him again a week later. I still
didn't get the document. What do you mean, didn't get
the document? You sent the document? I send the document.
He doesn't get it. So he says. You know what?
I can't start this. The first of the year. I said,
I understand, I understand. I said, tell me your email
(04:41):
address again. And he gave me his email address. He
had texted me and I saved it because I wanted
to show it to him. He had texted me and
in instead of an m. Now get this. I had
(05:03):
what was what he wanted and what was necessary and
what he asked for three weeks before he needed it
and sent it to him before he needed it. But
he didn't get it. Not because I messed up, but
because he messed up. I'm submitting to you that maybe
you'll go through this year and not get anything you
(05:24):
ask God for because you didn't meet the requirements. You
say there, yes, there are requirements. Let me give you
a couple examples. Uh, John 911 A blind man wants
to be healed. Jesus spits on the ground, makes a
mud pie, puts it on the eye. Some of y'all
have never been healed. Because as soon as y'all heard
him spit, uh uh uh uh. What are you doing
(05:45):
with that? He's making. He making a mud pie. Wait, wait.
We put it on my eyes. No, no, no. Yeah.
And a lot of you miss your miracle because it
doesn't come like you want it to come. Mhm. And
so what happens? He says go to the pool of Siloam.
Here's my question. Did he have to do something? What?
Go to the Pool of Siloam. Okay. What about. What
(06:07):
about Bartimaeus? He's blind and he hollers out, Jesus, thou
son of David! Help me! They said, shut up, the haters.
And then Jesus said, tell em to come to me.
And then blind Bartimaeus comes to Jesus. Now, here's my question.
(06:28):
He could have said, is he crazy? I'm the one
that's blind. He ought to be coming to me. Now, remember,
was there a crowd around? Jesus. You think they parted
like the Red sea and let that man through? No.
That man had to plow his way through the crowd
to come to Jesus. He was blind. And the Bible
says he threw away his blanket. Now you think it's
(06:50):
just a warm blanket? No, because in that day, you
had to have a blanket that told what your what
your infirmity was. So, uh, just say hypothetically, he had
a blue blanket because blind people had to get permission
to beg and their blankets were blue, so everybody knew
they could see you far off. You were blind or
(07:11):
you were crippled or you were this. He threw it away,
understanding that it took blind faith to believe that Jesus
Christ would make that blanket unnecessary. Mm. What about Luke 1714?
Ten lepers. Jesus said, go show yourself to the priest.
Here's what gets me. It says, as they went, they
(07:34):
didn't even get there. They just turned to go into
the direction that Jesus wanted them to go. And they
were healed. Okay, okay. See y'all. Not y'all. Not tracking
with me. Okay? Okay, okay. God's not going to send
you a husband until you start meeting the requirement. God's
not going to send you a wife until you start
meeting the. You know what that is? Quit fornicating. God's
(07:59):
not going to give peace in your family relationship until
you stop cheating on your wife, cheating on your husband. Preach, man. Preach.
God's not going to take you off of the jobless
roll until you take him off of the welfare roll.
God's not going to straighten things out with that boss
on that job until you start giving a full day's
(08:20):
work for a full day's pay. Yeah, God's not going
to change your church for you until you change for
your church. You you get what I'm what I'm saying. You.
He's not going to fill you with his spirit until
you quit getting filled with the spirit. There are requirements. See? Give.
(08:42):
And it shall be given unto you. See. Give and
it shall be given unto you. If we confess our sins,
he's faithful. And just to Proverbs three five and six,
trust the Lord with all your heart. Lean on your
own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he
will direct you. Some things in the Bible have a
then clause. Now notice this. Let me drop it. I'm
(09:02):
not going to push them. Here we go. Notice this.
Notice the parameters of prayer. Everything. That's the parameter. What
can I bring? Everything. Don't worry about anything but bring
everything to him G Campbell Morgan was with a woman
and he said, can I pray for the problems you
told me about? She said, no, I only take big
(09:23):
problems to God. I take care of little problems myself.
G Campbell Morgan said, ma'am, I'm going to tell you something.
Every problem you have is little to God. Amen. Amen. Yeah.
We need to take everything to him. Yeah. We do. Listen, listen, listen.
Joseph Scriven, anybody know him? Anybody? Joseph scribing his fiance.
He's from Great Britain. He was 25. And his fiance, uh, uh, died.
(09:49):
Drowned the day before they were supposed to get married.
For 12 years. He mourned over her. He's a believer now.
12 years. He mourned over her. Then he finally decided,
you know what? I want to get away from here.
So he sailed to Canada. While he was there, he
met a woman and her name was Eliza. And they
fell in love. And three days before they were going
(10:09):
to get married, she died tragically. He goes into remorse again.
And then he says that in the midnight hour God
gave him a poem. He wrote poems and God gave
him a poem. And then he got a letter or
telegram from his mother stating that she may be dying,
(10:29):
but he didn't have the money to go from Canada
to England. And, uh, he sent her the poem. I
don't know if you ever heard the poem. It was
called Pray Without Ceasing. Anybody ever heard it? Pray without ceasing?
You never. Oh, I think maybe you did. Uh, because
here's what the words say. What a friend we have
(10:49):
in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear. What
a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. Oh,
what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.
Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We
should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer.
(11:11):
Can we find a friend so faithful who will all
our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness. Take it
to the Lord in prayer. Are we weak and heavy laden?
Cumbered with a load of care. Precious Savior, still our refuge.
Take it to the Lord in prayer. Do thy friends
despise forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer.
In his arms he'll take and shield thee. Thou wilt
(11:34):
find a solace there. But not just the parameters of prayer.
Notice with me the particulars of prayer. I'm going to
downsize this to. There are three words here he uses
for prayer. You repeat them after me. Prosek Diocese and age.
(11:56):
Now let me tell you how he puts this together.
I'm just going to tell you the meanings and you'll
see what's going on here 127 times in the New
Testament is the main word for prayer. And and basically
it talks about the basic expression of prayer. The the
earnestness of prayer is translated in James 516. Fervent prayer
(12:17):
is asked is expectation in prayer. See how he brings
it together. He says your expressions of prayer and that
that word means you need to be going there all
the time, should be filled with earnest passion and expectation
of the promise that every time you go to prayer,
after you get rid of worry, this is what you have.
(12:41):
It's it's Hebrews 416. Let us then come boldly to
the throne of grace, to find mercy and grace to
help us in time of need.
S2 (12:52):
What a promise to keep in mind when you feel
like your world is just falling apart. That's the topic
of today's broadcast, and glad you've tuned in here to
treasure truth with Pastor Ford. We'll get back to the
message in just one moment. If you ever missed part
of a broadcast or you miss one entirely, come to
our website. You can listen to each and every program there.
Our website address is Treasure Truth radio.org. You can stream
(13:13):
programs through your computer or mobile device. You can download
MP3's or even order copies of the broadcast on CD. Again,
our website address is Treasure Truth Radio. Org back to
the message. Here's Pastor Ford.
S1 (13:25):
Third one is the priority of prayer. The priority of
prayer said, take it to God. What's what's what, what,
what's the priority of prayer? You take it to God
that that this thing he says, listen, everything that happens,
you take it to God. In East Africa, uh, whenever
the the, uh, slaves were converted, first of all, to Christianity, uh,
(13:46):
they were taught how to pray. Now they're in the
village and there's no lights and all of this. Here's
what they would do in the morning. They would set
out individually from the village, go into the jungle just
a little piece Peace and pray. The missionary said after
a couple years you could literally see trails, dozens of them,
(14:08):
leading from the village where the people were going to
do prayer. They walked down the grass and now it's
a dirt path. You could see a little enclave at
the end of it where they got down and were praying.
Once a Christian began to backslide. Everybody in the village
knew it. And here's what they would say, Deacon Meriweather.
(14:33):
They would say the grass is growing on your path.
The grass is growing on your path. See, what they
were saying is, as long as you keep walking on
that path, going to prayer every morning. Ain't no grass
going to grow. But grass is growing on your path.
(14:53):
Because you haven't gone boldly to the throne of grace
to find mercy and grace to help you in time.
You need to tell somebody this year, look at somebody
and say, don't let the grass grow. Come on, tell em.
Don't let the grass grow on your path. Now some
of us ain't got no path. All we got is grass.
(15:17):
Because all we know is a verse A day to
keep the devil away. Be like that woman who wanted
to impress the preacher. And told her five year old child. You.
You open up with prayer. And he said, I don't
know what to pray. She said, pray what? You heard
me pray. And so he said, dear Lord, I am
so sorry. I invite all these people to here on
a hot day like this. So notice what he says.
(15:42):
He says, with Thanksgiving. Now let me tell you the
power of with basically what he's saying is this with
the same passion that you asked it, thanking with the
same passion, with the same expectation that you ask have
the same in your gratitude, your thankfulness, the same expression
of prayer, same equal. Make sure it's with thanksgiving. Oh, man.
(16:06):
I like what the Harvard Hooper said. Uh, you know,
there's a guy they call him the Harvard Hooper because
he graduated from Harvard and he's a hooper. And he said,
I'm gonna thank God. In whatever I find myself, wherever
(16:28):
I find myself. And then he. Then he went into it.
He said if I were Japanese, I would say to God, uh,
if I were French, I'd say to God, merci beaucoup.
If I were Portuguese, I'd say to God, abogado. If
I were Spanish, I'd say to God, gracias. If I
were Russian, I'd say to God, spasiba. If I were Turkish,
(16:49):
I'd say to God to. If I were Norwegian, I'd
say to God, talk. If I if I were Arabic,
I'd say to God, shukran. If I were Chinese, I'd
say pray to God. If I were Czech, I'd say
to God. If I were Greek, I'd say to God, eucharisteo.
If I were Korean, I'd say to God, go! But
(17:10):
I'm American. I say, thank you, Jesus. I sing the song.
I have so much, so much to thank God to
thank God for. I have so much to thank God for.
He gives me victory. He opens doors for me. I'm
not able to see so much to thank God for.
Here it is. Last two. The results you should expect
(17:32):
the peace of God and the protection of God. That's
what he promises. Now notice he said he doesn't say
you're going to get the house back. He doesn't say
the spouse is going to come back. He doesn't say
the children are going to. He says, you get the
peace of God now, now, now, now what is the
peace of God? Inner tranquility in the midst of outer turbulence?
It comes from the word Irina. Iris I nay storm.
(17:54):
Eye of the storm. Where's the best place to be
in the storm? The eye in the center. What's happening there? Nothing. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Perfect. Peace. See,
there's three kinds of peace. There's justifying peace. Sanctifying peace.
Glorifying peace. Justifying peace is peace with God. Romans five two.
(18:14):
Sanctifying peace is peace of God. That's right here. Glorifying
peace is peace in the presence of God. That's first
Thessalonians chapter four, verses 13 through 18. He said, God
just uses to calm you down. Man was in the store.
He had his baby and said, calm down, Raymond, calm down, Raymond.
The baby was crying. Lady was watching. Calm down Raymond,
(18:36):
just calm down. Oh my goodness. Just calm down Raymond
baby went to sleep and he paid for his stuff.
And lady was waiting. She waited. She was before him
but she waited. She said I just want to tell you, sir.
I just like the way you calm down, little Raymond.
He said, lady, I'm Raymond. Yeah, that. That's it, that's it,
(19:00):
that's it. Now, here's the last one. Here's the last one.
It's in the realm that you must embrace. It's in Christ.
Everything is in Christ. It's got to be all about Christ.
You say, what do you mean it has to be?
It has to be. Why? Because remember what they told Paul. Hey, Paul,
we're going to kill you. He said, that's cool. To
(19:22):
die is gain. Well, Paul, we're going to let you live.
That's cool. To live is Christ. Well, Paul, we're going
to let you live. We're going to make we're going
to make you suffer, he said. That's cool, because I
reckon that the present suffering is nothing in comparison to
the glory that's going to be revealed. So here's what
Paul was saying. If you kill me, I'll go be
with Christ. If you let me live. I live for Christ.
And if you make me suffer, I'll get a crown
(19:43):
from Christ. So bring it on. It's all about Jesus Christ.
That's what it's all about. And so I have more,
I have more, I have more. It's the peace of God.
And he uses the word that protects. In other words,
what he's saying is there's a peace that he protects
that you have because somebody lost their job and they
were worrying. You lost yours, you were worshiping. Yeah, yeah.
(20:05):
Somebody lost their home and they were pouting. You lost
your home. You were praising because you said, well, he
got me the home. And so I can go back
to the apartment and wait till he give me another home.
My last home ain't my last home. My last man
ain't my last man. My last woman ain't my last woman.
My last job ain't my last job. Yeah, yeah. And
(20:25):
my last church ain't my last church. And so Peter
laid down. Why? Because he reminded himself of his eschatological
promise for his existential problems. So he laid down with
exceptional peace. I can hear Peter saying, order my steps
in your word, Lord. Order my steps in your word.
(20:46):
Lead me. Guide me every day. Send your anointing, father,
I pray. Order my steps in your word. Humbly I
ask thee. Teach me thy will while you are working.
Help me be still. Satan is busy, but, God you're real.
Order my steps in your word, Lord. I want to
walk worthy my calling to fulfill. Please order my steps, Lord.
(21:07):
And I'll do your blessed will. The world is ever changing,
but you are still the same. If you order my steps,
I'll praise your name. So Peter went to sleep because
he had an eschatological promise. He's not the only one
that can sleep because of it. You can too, because
he said no weapon formed against you shall prosper. That's
your eschatological promise, he said, he that dwelleth in the
(21:30):
secret place of the Most High shall dwell under the
shadow of the Almighty. That's your eschatological promise. He says,
when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Holy
Ghost will lift up a standard. That's your eschatological promise.
He said, the Lord is my light and my salvation.
Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of
(21:52):
my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?
S2 (22:01):
That is Pastor Ford here on Treasure Truth. Wrapping up
our message how to stay together when your world is
falling apart. Really, it's been a look at Philippians chapter four,
and if you've missed any of the broadcasts in the
short series, you can always listen to each and every
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(22:24):
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(22:44):
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(23:47):
a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
There's got to be all about Christ. It has to be.
So here's what Paul was saying. If you kill me,
I'll go be with Christ. If you let me live.
I live for Christ. And if you make me suffer,
I'll get a crown from Christ. So bring it on.
It's all about Jesus Christ. That's what it's all about.
S2 (00:22):
Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford,
junior senior pastor of Christ Bible Church in Chicago. I'm
Steve Hillard. Glad that you're with us as we continue
a message today from Philippians chapter four, really taking a
look at the person of Jesus Christ, his value, his worth,
what he has done for us. And pastor, it's a
great reminder that really the first and foremost thing in
(00:44):
our life really needs to be Jesus.
S3 (00:46):
Well, I tell you, we need to make him the priority,
that's for sure. I mean, that's what Scripture says. Matthew
633 but seek ye third. Nope. Second, nope. Seek ye
first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all
these other things shall be added unto you. And so
we should have a sign over our heart that says,
not for sale, because we've already been bought with a price.
(01:09):
We belong to the Lord Jesus Christ.
S2 (01:11):
I like that picture there that you've described for us,
for the person who does face difficulties of life, though,
and they have these overwhelming problems or issues in their
life where it's so tempting to take their eyes off
of Christ and fixate on their issues and problems, their
passage of Scripture, something that you go to that helps you,
(01:32):
you know, get your priority back in the right place.
S3 (01:34):
Yeah. John 1633 in the world you shall have tribulation.
But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.
We've got to keep our eyes on on the Lord
Jesus Christ. And I know you know, just like with
Peter walking on the water, there's the temptation to look
(01:54):
at the storm and to take our eyes off of him.
But I think the analogy is replete in that passage.
We sink. And so we need him then to lift
us back up and set us back on our feet
in fellowship with him. So we really need to focus
on him.
S2 (02:11):
All right. So that is one of the challenges that
some may have. Let's flip it on its head, because
I think that can be another temptation for some of us.
We know that we have Christ if we're believers and
we like him, we may struggle to say, I love
him because I have so many other good things in
my life. I a good job, a great family, good health,
(02:33):
these things. And when life's going well, it can be
easy to kind of lose your love for Christ.
S3 (02:39):
Well, I think it's easier to do it then than
it is when you're in the valley. It's easier on
the mountaintop, you know, and then it's because when we
look at our lives, and our lives are cluttered with things,
those things sometimes often replace him.
S2 (02:57):
Yeah. Yeah. Making sure that we are weeding out those
idols in our lives. Well, you're listening to Treasure Truth
and a message entitled How to Stay Together When Your
World is Falling Apart. Join us in Philippians chapter four
as we continue the teaching. Here is Pastor Ford.
S1 (03:14):
I had somebody that we're going to do something for me,
and I said, praise the Lord. And they they had
some requirements. They said, before I even do this, you
got to take care of everything that's involved. You got
to make ministry conducive for my success. I said, I
don't got a problem with that. So we sat down
and I said, what does it take to make you successful?
(03:36):
And all of it made sense. And so I had
sister gotta put it in the document and she put
it in the document. He said, okay, I'm not going
to start until you give me the document. And so
I had my secretary send the document. He called me up.
He said, look, I can't do this. You ain't send
me the document. I said, oh, man, you didn't get it,
(03:56):
did you? Look in your spam. Yeah, I looked in
my spam. I said, okay, okay, well, let me call my.
Call my secretary. You didn't send the document. I told
you over a week ago. I sent the document over
a week ago, the same day you told me to
send it. Well, he said he didn't get it. Well,
I can show you where I sent it. Okay. Did
you get the document? No. Okay. Send it to him again.
(04:19):
Send it to him again a week later. I still
didn't get the document. What do you mean, didn't get
the document? You sent the document? I send the document.
He doesn't get it. So he says. You know what?
I can't start this. The first of the year. I said,
I understand, I understand. I said, tell me your email
(04:41):
address again. And he gave me his email address. He
had texted me and I saved it because I wanted
to show it to him. He had texted me and
in instead of an m. Now get this. I had
(05:03):
what was what he wanted and what was necessary and
what he asked for three weeks before he needed it
and sent it to him before he needed it. But
he didn't get it. Not because I messed up, but
because he messed up. I'm submitting to you that maybe
you'll go through this year and not get anything you
(05:24):
ask God for because you didn't meet the requirements. You
say there, yes, there are requirements. Let me give you
a couple examples. Uh, John 911 A blind man wants
to be healed. Jesus spits on the ground, makes a
mud pie, puts it on the eye. Some of y'all
have never been healed. Because as soon as y'all heard
him spit, uh uh uh uh. What are you doing
(05:45):
with that? He's making. He making a mud pie. Wait, wait.
We put it on my eyes. No, no, no. Yeah.
And a lot of you miss your miracle because it
doesn't come like you want it to come. Mhm. And
so what happens? He says go to the pool of Siloam.
Here's my question. Did he have to do something? What?
Go to the Pool of Siloam. Okay. What about. What
(06:07):
about Bartimaeus? He's blind and he hollers out, Jesus, thou
son of David! Help me! They said, shut up, the haters.
And then Jesus said, tell em to come to me.
And then blind Bartimaeus comes to Jesus. Now, here's my question.
(06:28):
He could have said, is he crazy? I'm the one
that's blind. He ought to be coming to me. Now, remember,
was there a crowd around? Jesus. You think they parted
like the Red sea and let that man through? No.
That man had to plow his way through the crowd
to come to Jesus. He was blind. And the Bible
says he threw away his blanket. Now you think it's
(06:50):
just a warm blanket? No, because in that day, you
had to have a blanket that told what your what
your infirmity was. So, uh, just say hypothetically, he had
a blue blanket because blind people had to get permission
to beg and their blankets were blue, so everybody knew
they could see you far off. You were blind or
(07:11):
you were crippled or you were this. He threw it away,
understanding that it took blind faith to believe that Jesus
Christ would make that blanket unnecessary. Mm. What about Luke 1714?
Ten lepers. Jesus said, go show yourself to the priest.
Here's what gets me. It says, as they went, they
(07:34):
didn't even get there. They just turned to go into
the direction that Jesus wanted them to go. And they
were healed. Okay, okay. See y'all. Not y'all. Not tracking
with me. Okay? Okay, okay. God's not going to send
you a husband until you start meeting the requirement. God's
not going to send you a wife until you start
meeting the. You know what that is? Quit fornicating. God's
(07:59):
not going to give peace in your family relationship until
you stop cheating on your wife, cheating on your husband. Preach, man. Preach.
God's not going to take you off of the jobless
roll until you take him off of the welfare roll.
God's not going to straighten things out with that boss
on that job until you start giving a full day's
(08:20):
work for a full day's pay. Yeah, God's not going
to change your church for you until you change for
your church. You you get what I'm what I'm saying. You.
He's not going to fill you with his spirit until
you quit getting filled with the spirit. There are requirements. See? Give.
(08:42):
And it shall be given unto you. See. Give and
it shall be given unto you. If we confess our sins,
he's faithful. And just to Proverbs three five and six,
trust the Lord with all your heart. Lean on your
own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he
will direct you. Some things in the Bible have a
then clause. Now notice this. Let me drop it. I'm
(09:02):
not going to push them. Here we go. Notice this.
Notice the parameters of prayer. Everything. That's the parameter. What
can I bring? Everything. Don't worry about anything but bring
everything to him G Campbell Morgan was with a woman
and he said, can I pray for the problems you
told me about? She said, no, I only take big
(09:23):
problems to God. I take care of little problems myself.
G Campbell Morgan said, ma'am, I'm going to tell you something.
Every problem you have is little to God. Amen. Amen. Yeah.
We need to take everything to him. Yeah. We do. Listen, listen, listen.
Joseph Scriven, anybody know him? Anybody? Joseph scribing his fiance.
He's from Great Britain. He was 25. And his fiance, uh, uh, died.
(09:49):
Drowned the day before they were supposed to get married.
For 12 years. He mourned over her. He's a believer now.
12 years. He mourned over her. Then he finally decided,
you know what? I want to get away from here.
So he sailed to Canada. While he was there, he
met a woman and her name was Eliza. And they
fell in love. And three days before they were going
(10:09):
to get married, she died tragically. He goes into remorse again.
And then he says that in the midnight hour God
gave him a poem. He wrote poems and God gave
him a poem. And then he got a letter or
telegram from his mother stating that she may be dying,
(10:29):
but he didn't have the money to go from Canada
to England. And, uh, he sent her the poem. I
don't know if you ever heard the poem. It was
called Pray Without Ceasing. Anybody ever heard it? Pray without ceasing?
You never. Oh, I think maybe you did. Uh, because
here's what the words say. What a friend we have
(10:49):
in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear. What
a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. Oh,
what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.
Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We
should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer.
(11:11):
Can we find a friend so faithful who will all
our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness. Take it
to the Lord in prayer. Are we weak and heavy laden?
Cumbered with a load of care. Precious Savior, still our refuge.
Take it to the Lord in prayer. Do thy friends
despise forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer.
In his arms he'll take and shield thee. Thou wilt
(11:34):
find a solace there. But not just the parameters of prayer.
Notice with me the particulars of prayer. I'm going to
downsize this to. There are three words here he uses
for prayer. You repeat them after me. Prosek Diocese and age.
(11:56):
Now let me tell you how he puts this together.
I'm just going to tell you the meanings and you'll
see what's going on here 127 times in the New
Testament is the main word for prayer. And and basically
it talks about the basic expression of prayer. The the
earnestness of prayer is translated in James 516. Fervent prayer
(12:17):
is asked is expectation in prayer. See how he brings
it together. He says your expressions of prayer and that
that word means you need to be going there all
the time, should be filled with earnest passion and expectation
of the promise that every time you go to prayer,
after you get rid of worry, this is what you have.
(12:41):
It's it's Hebrews 416. Let us then come boldly to
the throne of grace, to find mercy and grace to
help us in time of need.
S2 (12:52):
What a promise to keep in mind when you feel
like your world is just falling apart. That's the topic
of today's broadcast, and glad you've tuned in here to
treasure truth with Pastor Ford. We'll get back to the
message in just one moment. If you ever missed part
of a broadcast or you miss one entirely, come to
our website. You can listen to each and every program there.
Our website address is Treasure Truth radio.org. You can stream
(13:13):
programs through your computer or mobile device. You can download
MP3's or even order copies of the broadcast on CD. Again,
our website address is Treasure Truth Radio. Org back to
the message. Here's Pastor Ford.
S1 (13:25):
Third one is the priority of prayer. The priority of
prayer said, take it to God. What's what's what, what,
what's the priority of prayer? You take it to God
that that this thing he says, listen, everything that happens,
you take it to God. In East Africa, uh, whenever
the the, uh, slaves were converted, first of all, to Christianity, uh,
(13:46):
they were taught how to pray. Now they're in the
village and there's no lights and all of this. Here's
what they would do in the morning. They would set
out individually from the village, go into the jungle just
a little piece Peace and pray. The missionary said after
a couple years you could literally see trails, dozens of them,
(14:08):
leading from the village where the people were going to
do prayer. They walked down the grass and now it's
a dirt path. You could see a little enclave at
the end of it where they got down and were praying.
Once a Christian began to backslide. Everybody in the village
knew it. And here's what they would say, Deacon Meriweather.
(14:33):
They would say the grass is growing on your path.
The grass is growing on your path. See, what they
were saying is, as long as you keep walking on
that path, going to prayer every morning. Ain't no grass
going to grow. But grass is growing on your path.
(14:53):
Because you haven't gone boldly to the throne of grace
to find mercy and grace to help you in time.
You need to tell somebody this year, look at somebody
and say, don't let the grass grow. Come on, tell em.
Don't let the grass grow on your path. Now some
of us ain't got no path. All we got is grass.
(15:17):
Because all we know is a verse A day to
keep the devil away. Be like that woman who wanted
to impress the preacher. And told her five year old child. You.
You open up with prayer. And he said, I don't
know what to pray. She said, pray what? You heard
me pray. And so he said, dear Lord, I am
so sorry. I invite all these people to here on
a hot day like this. So notice what he says.
(15:42):
He says, with Thanksgiving. Now let me tell you the
power of with basically what he's saying is this with
the same passion that you asked it, thanking with the
same passion, with the same expectation that you ask have
the same in your gratitude, your thankfulness, the same expression
of prayer, same equal. Make sure it's with thanksgiving. Oh, man.
(16:06):
I like what the Harvard Hooper said. Uh, you know,
there's a guy they call him the Harvard Hooper because
he graduated from Harvard and he's a hooper. And he said,
I'm gonna thank God. In whatever I find myself, wherever
(16:28):
I find myself. And then he. Then he went into it.
He said if I were Japanese, I would say to God, uh,
if I were French, I'd say to God, merci beaucoup.
If I were Portuguese, I'd say to God, abogado. If
I were Spanish, I'd say to God, gracias. If I
were Russian, I'd say to God, spasiba. If I were Turkish,
(16:49):
I'd say to God to. If I were Norwegian, I'd
say to God, talk. If I if I were Arabic,
I'd say to God, shukran. If I were Chinese, I'd
say pray to God. If I were Czech, I'd say
to God. If I were Greek, I'd say to God, eucharisteo.
If I were Korean, I'd say to God, go! But
(17:10):
I'm American. I say, thank you, Jesus. I sing the song.
I have so much, so much to thank God to
thank God for. I have so much to thank God for.
He gives me victory. He opens doors for me. I'm
not able to see so much to thank God for.
Here it is. Last two. The results you should expect
(17:32):
the peace of God and the protection of God. That's
what he promises. Now notice he said he doesn't say
you're going to get the house back. He doesn't say
the spouse is going to come back. He doesn't say
the children are going to. He says, you get the
peace of God now, now, now, now what is the
peace of God? Inner tranquility in the midst of outer turbulence?
It comes from the word Irina. Iris I nay storm.
(17:54):
Eye of the storm. Where's the best place to be
in the storm? The eye in the center. What's happening there? Nothing. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Perfect. Peace. See,
there's three kinds of peace. There's justifying peace. Sanctifying peace.
Glorifying peace. Justifying peace is peace with God. Romans five two.
(18:14):
Sanctifying peace is peace of God. That's right here. Glorifying
peace is peace in the presence of God. That's first
Thessalonians chapter four, verses 13 through 18. He said, God
just uses to calm you down. Man was in the store.
He had his baby and said, calm down, Raymond, calm down, Raymond.
The baby was crying. Lady was watching. Calm down Raymond,
(18:36):
just calm down. Oh my goodness. Just calm down Raymond
baby went to sleep and he paid for his stuff.
And lady was waiting. She waited. She was before him
but she waited. She said I just want to tell you, sir.
I just like the way you calm down, little Raymond.
He said, lady, I'm Raymond. Yeah, that. That's it, that's it,
(19:00):
that's it. Now, here's the last one. Here's the last one.
It's in the realm that you must embrace. It's in Christ.
Everything is in Christ. It's got to be all about Christ.
You say, what do you mean it has to be?
It has to be. Why? Because remember what they told Paul. Hey, Paul,
we're going to kill you. He said, that's cool. To
(19:22):
die is gain. Well, Paul, we're going to let you live.
That's cool. To live is Christ. Well, Paul, we're going
to let you live. We're going to make we're going
to make you suffer, he said. That's cool, because I
reckon that the present suffering is nothing in comparison to
the glory that's going to be revealed. So here's what
Paul was saying. If you kill me, I'll go be
with Christ. If you let me live. I live for Christ.
And if you make me suffer, I'll get a crown
(19:43):
from Christ. So bring it on. It's all about Jesus Christ.
That's what it's all about. And so I have more,
I have more, I have more. It's the peace of God.
And he uses the word that protects. In other words,
what he's saying is there's a peace that he protects
that you have because somebody lost their job and they
were worrying. You lost yours, you were worshiping. Yeah, yeah.
(20:05):
Somebody lost their home and they were pouting. You lost
your home. You were praising because you said, well, he
got me the home. And so I can go back
to the apartment and wait till he give me another home.
My last home ain't my last home. My last man
ain't my last man. My last woman ain't my last woman.
My last job ain't my last job. Yeah, yeah. And
(20:25):
my last church ain't my last church. And so Peter
laid down. Why? Because he reminded himself of his eschatological
promise for his existential problems. So he laid down with
exceptional peace. I can hear Peter saying, order my steps
in your word, Lord. Order my steps in your word.
(20:46):
Lead me. Guide me every day. Send your anointing, father,
I pray. Order my steps in your word. Humbly I
ask thee. Teach me thy will while you are working.
Help me be still. Satan is busy, but, God you're real.
Order my steps in your word, Lord. I want to
walk worthy my calling to fulfill. Please order my steps, Lord.
(21:07):
And I'll do your blessed will. The world is ever changing,
but you are still the same. If you order my steps,
I'll praise your name. So Peter went to sleep because
he had an eschatological promise. He's not the only one
that can sleep because of it. You can too, because
he said no weapon formed against you shall prosper. That's
your eschatological promise, he said, he that dwelleth in the
(21:30):
secret place of the Most High shall dwell under the
shadow of the Almighty. That's your eschatological promise. He says,
when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Holy
Ghost will lift up a standard. That's your eschatological promise.
He said, the Lord is my light and my salvation.
Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of
(21:52):
my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?
S2 (22:01):
That is Pastor Ford here on Treasure Truth. Wrapping up
our message how to stay together when your world is
falling apart. Really, it's been a look at Philippians chapter four,
and if you've missed any of the broadcasts in the
short series, you can always listen to each and every
one online. Just simply go to our website. It's Treasure
Truth Radio. You can download MP3, you can stream the program,
(22:24):
or you can order copies on CD. Again, you'll find
those links when you go to Treasure Truth Radio Dot. Well,
if you are listening in another part of the world,
we'd love to hear from you. You can visit the
contact page of our website, let us know where you're
listening and leave us your comments. We'd be so encouraged
to know of the reach of this Bible teaching program.
(22:44):
And if the Lord is using this program in your
life in a specific way, maybe it's helped you heal
a marriage, or helped you get a better handle on
your finances, or understand what it means to have a
personal relationship with Jesus. We'd love to hear your story
as well. Just visit Treasure Truth Radio.com and click on
the contact page. Now, all of these stories that we
(23:05):
hear in the great ministry happens because so many people
give generously to this ministry. When we talk about listener
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operating costs of bringing you Pastor Ford's teaching each day.
So if you are benefiting, would you connect with us
(23:26):
and give us the feedback? Would you also give a
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a donation. Again, it's all at Treasure Truth radio.org. Well,
thanks for listening today. Thanks also to our producer, Amy Rios.
I'm Steve Hiller. Treasure truth is a production of Moody Radio,
(23:47):
a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
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