April 15, 2025 • 24 mins
On the next Treasured Truth, Pastor Ford will continue to help us prepare to celebrate the resurrection by reminding us that God has allows our suffering for a reason. He has allowed everything we go through, and He has a higher purpose for all of it. Now we may not be able to see or sense what that purpose is. And we especially may not like it. But God is sovereign and He’s going to make sure that His purpose is done. We’ll look at how Christ responded purpose God had for Him suffering on the cross on the next Treasured Truth.
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Episode Transcript
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S1 (00:01):
I came to tell you. Yes. Everything you go through,
God has allowed it and he has a higher purpose. Now,
you may not see it, and you may not sense it,
and you may not like it, but God is sovereign.
He going to make sure his purpose is done.
S2 (00:24):
Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford,
junior senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago.
I'm Steve Hiller. Glad you're with us today, and I
hope that you've already been encouraged a little bit by
what we just heard, because that is such an important
truth for us to internalize, to keep in mind as
we go through the difficult things of life. God does
(00:45):
have a higher purpose, and sometimes because of that, he
does allow us to go through pain and struggles and
suffering and difficulty. And like Pastor Ford just said, you
may not know it. You may not understand it. You
may not be able to figure it out. In fact,
you can be pretty miserable in it and even tell
God that. But because God is sovereign, he is going
(01:07):
to use that difficulty for his purposes to accomplish what
he wants. And so as we go through that difficulty,
understanding the sovereignty of God and trusting in that is
so important to us. And I think it's also helpful
for us to look at Jesus. I mean, here we
have God incarnate, God with skin on. And he suffered
(01:30):
and he subjected himself to the father's will, which included
drinking the cup of going to the cross. And if
Jesus had to walk through that, if he had to
go through suffering, why would it be surprising to us
that we need to go through suffering as well? You
may have heard Pastor Ford say this before. There are
(01:50):
some things that you learn in the dark that you
just don't learn in the light. So sometimes in a sovereignty,
God allows us to go through that darkness. Yes. Well,
that's what we're looking at in today's broadcast. So if
you can, I hope you'll open your Bible and join
us in Isaiah chapter 50 as we continue the message,
the blessings in a beat down. Here is Pastor Ford.
S1 (02:13):
I came to tell you. Yes, everything you go through,
God has allowed it and he has a higher purpose.
Now you may not see it, and you may not
sense it, and you may not like it, but God
is sovereign. He going to make sure his purpose is done.
I think I told you this once before. I'll just
(02:33):
repeat myself for those who haven't heard it. I remember
growing up we'd have chicken, rice, peas, carrot and corn
and that would be dinner. And even with ten kids,
we'd have stuff left over because mama always made sure
everybody was full and we'd have stuff left over. You know,
we have next day chicken, rice, peas, corn and carrots.
(03:00):
But guess what? They weren't individually on our plate, Reverend Strother.
Like they were the day before. They're in a casserole
with some kind of sauce on it. And we would say, mama,
what is this? And she wouldn't say, this is the
leftover food from yesterday. You know, she'd say, this is
Chicken Supreme. This is chicken a la king. And I
(03:27):
would tell my brothers and sisters I was the oldest.
I'd say, this ain't nothing but leftovers from yesterday. Now
I say it under my breath so she wouldn't hear me.
But God is like my mama. You wonder how in
the world all this thing, this thing, this leftover mess
in my life. Uh, somebody that messed over me, uh,
somebody that hated on me. Somebody I done went through sickness.
(03:49):
I done went through pain. This happened and that happened.
And God says, let me get a hold of it.
I'll work it together. I'll take everything that's left over
in your life. Put it together, serve it up and
give it to you. As supreme, give it to you
as Allah, King. Why, God? Because all things work together
for good to those who love the Lord and those
(04:11):
who are the called according. I'm going to make this
work for you. Don't worry about what they did to you,
because I'm working for you. Because no weapon formed against
you shall prosper. It ain't going to work. If I
(04:33):
can sing, I'd break out into it. No weapon formed
against you. But. But I don't sing. I teach the Bible.
You know what the word form means? Come on, Dave,
help me. What's the word form mean, Yasar? It's the
same word God used when he's talking about making a woman. Yasar.
(04:55):
It literally means to shape with a purpose. See what
he says. No weapon that they have shaped and purposed
against you is going to prosper. Now, he didn't say
that they weren't be able to start it. He said,
I ain't going to let them finish it. Mhm. Yeah.
(05:18):
It's amazing. It's amazing. It is now. Now get this,
get this. You got to see what he's saying. Uh,
follow along with me. Now that I should know how
to speak a word in season to him that is weary,
let me just. Bottom line it can I. Bottom line.
Say bottom line, pastor, for it. Because you got three
more points and we want to get out of here.
We won't stay in here all day. Here's the bottom line.
(05:38):
What's he saying? Jesus said I learned and the things
I learned. I communicated that to other. Come on, help
me preach this so I can move on. Look at
your neighbor and say, neighbor, your ministry should come from
your misery. Huh? He has ministry and he's learned. No, no, no,
(05:59):
I got a bottom line. I. I got a bottom
line because I got to go ahead. I got to
drop these other three and just get out of here.
But here's what he's saying. You got pregnant out of wedlock.
You ought to be the last one. Hating on some
young girl who who got herself pregnant. No, you ought
to be running to her and saying, girlfriend. It happened
to me too. And and yeah, I was stuck on
stupid at one time and. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but listen, listen, listen.
(06:23):
God is able to sustain you. I got my education.
I got me a job. I take care of my children.
I take care of myself. I don't need a man
do anything for me. I got the man doing everything
for me. So, girl, you just lift up your head.
God can forgive you. You move on. Don't let your
haters pull you down. Don't let your haters chase you
(06:43):
out of church. Don't you let your haters talk down
to you. And when they come to you, don't hold
your head down. Lift your head up. Look him in
the eye and say yeah and you ain't never made
a mistake. Yeah. Mhm. Yeah I've repented of that. I've
asked God to forgive me, but I see. I see
one thing. I can't be messing around with you because
(07:09):
you're too busy worried about where I've been instead of
where I'm going. Amen. That's it. Amen. And so he says, yeah,
your ministry should come out of your misery. Yeah. Here
it is. Here's third one. Sovereignty of God over my listening.
Listen to what he says now. Now, you know, you know,
(07:30):
I like exposition, but I'm I'm not going to execute this. Listen,
it says he says, uh, verse four, be he waketh
morning by morning, he waketh my ear to hear as
the learned. The Lord opened my ear, and I was
not rebellious, neither turned away back. Bottom line, Jesus saying,
I listened to everything God told me. Yes, everything. Everything
(07:55):
that God told him. And so he said. Lo is
written in the volume of the book I come to
do thy will, O God. Man. If there's ever a
time when we need to learn how to listen, uh,
let me let me just do. I'm gonna see how
many remember. But but listen to this. Uh, I want
you to tell me, uh, have you ever heard of
(08:17):
this person here? Have you ever heard of this person?
Let me see. Have you ever heard of Shammua? How
many heard of Shammua in the Bible? Oh, nobody. Okay.
How many have heard of Shuafat? Shuafat? Anybody? Oh, nobody
heard of Shuafat? Okay, how about, uh. Uh. Igor? Igor. Igor.
(08:37):
Anybody never heard of him? How about, uh, Paul? T
p a l t I. Anybody? Anybody. Okay. Uh, how about, uh. Gideon. Gideon.
Anybody heard of Gideon? How about Gadi? Gadi? Anybody ever
heard of JD? How about Amiel? Am I? Anybody ever
heard of Amiel? How about Seth? Uh, s e t
(08:59):
h u r. anybody ever heard of them? How about Nobby?
How about Gale? Gale? Oh, you never heard of them?
How about Joshua? Yeah. How about Caleb? Let me tell
you why. By reading this verse in numbers 1422. Why?
(09:21):
You never heard of those other ones? Because the ten
men that I named, he says, because all those men
which have seen my glory and my miracles, which I
did in Egypt and in the wilderness, have tempted me
now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice.
Those are the ten of the 12 guys who went
(09:44):
into the land and saw that it was a land
like God promised, but they came back and they did
not listen to the report of the Lord. They didn't listen.
Who shall believe the report of the Lord? And so
God says, listen, I told you it was a land
that flows with milk and honey. I told you there
were giants. But I also told you I will fight
(10:06):
your battles. And that's what you should have came back
and said. And they came back and said, we are
grasshoppers and they are giants. He told you that?
S2 (10:16):
You're listening to Treasure Truth with Pastor Ford. A message
called The Blessings in a Beat Down. And we're going
to get back to this teaching in just one moment.
You know, maybe as you're listening to this broadcast, a
question comes to mind about something you've heard Pastor Ford say,
or how we apply this and live out the Christian life.
We can always contact us through the website and ask
your question to Pastor Ford. Just come to Treasure Truth
(10:38):
Radio org and click on that contact link. We'd love
to know what difference this teaching is making in your life.
And if you have a question, go ahead and ask that.
Who knows, we might even answer that on a future broadcast. Again,
it's the contact link when you come to treasure Truth Radio.
Once again, here is Pastor Ford.
S1 (10:58):
Okay. Listen, are you talking about a time where we
we don't listen to God and in the church listen
to this. I think this epitomizes the fact that people
don't listen. The paradox of our time in history is
that we build taller buildings, but shorter tempers, wider freeways,
(11:19):
but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less. We
buy more but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and
smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees,
but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts,
(11:40):
yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness. We drink
too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little,
drive too fast. Get too angry. Stay up too late.
Get up too tired. Read too little, watch TV too
much and pray too seldom. we have multiplied our possessions
(12:02):
but reduced our values. We talk too much. We love
too seldom, and we hate too often. He says we've
learned how to make a living, but we haven't learned
how to make a life. We've added years to life,
but not life to years. We've been all the way
to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the
(12:23):
street to help a neighbor. We conquered outer space, but
not our inner space. We've done larger things, but not
better things. We've cleaned up the air, but we polluted
our soul. We conquered the atom, but not our prejudices.
We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but
accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait.
(12:46):
We build more computers to hold more information, to produce
more copies than ever. But we communicate with each other
less and less. I'm in the car with two of
my grandchildren and they're texting. I said, who are y'all
texting each other? Why are you texting each other? Because
we don't want you to hear what we're saying. So
(13:09):
I stopped the car and pulled over and said, give
me them phones. I want to see what they were texting. Yeah.
And so let me finish it. So he said, this
is a time of fast foods and slow digestion. Big
men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These
are the days of two incomes, but more divorce, fancier houses,
(13:30):
but broken homes. These are the days of quick trips.
Disposable diapers, throw away morality, one night stands, overweight bodies
and pills that do everything from cheer you to quiet you,
to kill you. It's a time when there is much
in the show window and nothing in the stock room. Alright.
(13:51):
That's good. Here's the last two. Take these down if
you're taking notes. Notice and this is the central part.
So take notes and say oh, you preach that before,
and sometimes it's just like I go back to it
because I haven't done this justice. You know me, it's
like every word been screaming, say something about me now.
S3 (14:08):
Say something about me.
S1 (14:09):
And I've been skipping over stuff. But here it is
the sovereignty of God in our lashings. Listen to this.
It says I gave my back to the smiters and
my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I
hid not my face from shame and spitting man. This
is what he quoted in Matthew 26 while he's on
(14:30):
the cross. And I wish I could talk about each
one of them. But what did he do? He told us,
turn the other cheek. And you know what? We feel
like they slapped me on one cheek. I want to
turn the other theirs. And Jesus said, I turned my cheek.
And then in that day, a beard was a man's glory.
And he says he plucked out his beard. Plucked out
his beard. What's the point? Here's the point that Jesus
(14:53):
is saying, I know that what I'm going through is
in the will of God. So what I'm going to
do is I'm not going to seek vengeance. I'm going
to seek acceptance. So what did he do? If you
break it down, you'll see in these two verses there's
purpose and perseverance. A lot of people got purpose, but
(15:16):
they don't have perseverance. You don't want to go through anything.
There are people. And I'm glad I don't know. There
are people who. You just ran into a problem at
the other church. There was somebody that was ignorant and
rude with a toxic personality. And instead of you dealing
with them and facing them and confronting them, you said,
Imma go to another church. I ain't got to put
(15:37):
up with this. But guess what? When you come here
after running there, you going to meet somebody just like
them and you going to keep running until you get
up in somebody's face and say, hold on a minute, homie.
Hold on a minute, girlfriend. Let me just tell you
what you're doing is biblically wrong and I'm not going
(16:00):
to accept that. So you go do that to somebody else.
You don't do that to me. Don't talk to me
like that. Don't talk to me like that. I remember
we used to have a person in here most of
the men were afraid of. And one day she called
me out. And we had three services in the old sanctuary.
And she called me out right as Sunday school was dismissed.
(16:20):
And I'm going to my office, I heard, Pastor Ford,
I want to talk to you. And I said, almost
called her name sister So-and-so. And I want to talk
to you. And everybody's, like, buzzing and everything. Get down.
S3 (16:33):
Here now.
S1 (16:35):
You said you did that. Yes, I did that. And
I called her down. She came in. Well, well, well,
you know, I just I'm, I got a what. No
no no no no no. Let me tell you something.
I ain't married to you, all right? Yeah, and I'm
not one of your children. Don't you ever talk to
me like that. Ever. Oh, well. I'm sorry. Y'all apologize,
(16:58):
I said. Yeah, well. Well, you know, I said it
so that everybody can hear it. Yeah. And guess what?
As long as that person was here, never did that
to me. Now I've seen her do it to other brothers,
and I try to pull their coat. Hey, she did
it to me one time. Come on, let.
S3 (17:17):
Me tell you what I did. Let me tell you
what I did. Let me tell you what I did, man.
S1 (17:22):
And you know.
S3 (17:22):
What?
S1 (17:23):
I had a brother quit his ministry leader over it
just because he didn't want to deal with her. Wow.
That's right. He says you gotta set your face like
a flint. You gotta go through some things. Yeah. And
then here's the last one. He says that you have
to know the sovereignty of God over your liberty. What's
he saying? God is over when it's going to be over.
(17:52):
I ain't going to say anything else. You're going through it.
How long has it been, pastor? I've been waiting for
God to send me a husband for 13 years. Okay.
Keep waiting. Keep waiting. Sarah and Abraham waited 25 years
for their baby. Moses waited 40 years before he got
(18:15):
into the Institute of the Holy Ghost. In 80 years
before he started. Keep waiting. Keep waiting. Well, my biological
clock is running. God can rewind it when it runs out. God,
I'm sick of this. I'm sick of this. I'm sick
of this. No! God says you will be in it
(18:35):
until I say, here's what I love. It says to
the church of Smyrna, you will be persecuted ten days. Now, now,
I don't know if you caught that. He said ten days.
Do you know what that means? Ten days means ten days.
You know what he was saying? Ten is the number
for testing. You know what he's saying? I don't care
what you're going through. One day is going to be over.
Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in
(19:00):
the morning. I need to close. And you've been so gracious.
But you remember what happened, uh, in, uh, in New
York City? Uh, there was a man by the name
of Wes Autrey, and Wes Autrey was a 50 year
old construction worker, and he had his two daughters with him. And, uh,
he always would think, like most people who traveled, uh,
that New York subway system. What if I ever fell
(19:20):
on those tracks? You know, there's two electric, uh, rails, uh, and, uh,
you could be electrocuted on those things. He said, what
if I fell in, or what if somebody else fell in? Well,
he found out one day, uh, because there was a
man who had a seizure who fell in, uh, as
the number one was coming. Wes Autrey didn't even think
(19:41):
about it. He jumped down, pulled the man in between
the tracks and covered him. The train saw them, but
couldn't stop and ran over them. The train was over them.
They cut the power so that they could crawl out.
They hollered down, are you Alright. And what said I'm okay?
And this man is okay because I covered him. You
(20:04):
and I were on the train of life. Uh, we
were waiting for the train of life. But our sin
paralyzed us and pushed us on the tracks. And Jesus
Christ covered us. He covered us and he said, we're alright.
We're both getting up out of here. And though we
(20:25):
were dead in trespasses and sin, we are alive in
Jesus Christ. Listen, there are blessings in a beatdown. And
I trust the next time you're in tribulation, the next
time you're in trial, the next time you're in trouble,
you'll remember that God wants you to bring something out
(20:48):
of the tribulation that you never would have had had
you not gone through the tribulation. And so when God
brings you to it. You need to know that God
will bring you through it.
S2 (21:06):
Providing a new perspective on trials and tribulations. That's Pastor
James Ford Jr. A message called the blessings in a
beat down. Well, you're listening to Treasure Truth and you
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(21:30):
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I came to tell you. Yes. Everything you go through,
God has allowed it and he has a higher purpose. Now,
you may not see it, and you may not sense it,
and you may not like it, but God is sovereign.
He going to make sure his purpose is done.
S2 (00:24):
Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford,
junior senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago.
I'm Steve Hiller. Glad you're with us today, and I
hope that you've already been encouraged a little bit by
what we just heard, because that is such an important
truth for us to internalize, to keep in mind as
we go through the difficult things of life. God does
(00:45):
have a higher purpose, and sometimes because of that, he
does allow us to go through pain and struggles and
suffering and difficulty. And like Pastor Ford just said, you
may not know it. You may not understand it. You
may not be able to figure it out. In fact,
you can be pretty miserable in it and even tell
God that. But because God is sovereign, he is going
(01:07):
to use that difficulty for his purposes to accomplish what
he wants. And so as we go through that difficulty,
understanding the sovereignty of God and trusting in that is
so important to us. And I think it's also helpful
for us to look at Jesus. I mean, here we
have God incarnate, God with skin on. And he suffered
(01:30):
and he subjected himself to the father's will, which included
drinking the cup of going to the cross. And if
Jesus had to walk through that, if he had to
go through suffering, why would it be surprising to us
that we need to go through suffering as well? You
may have heard Pastor Ford say this before. There are
(01:50):
some things that you learn in the dark that you
just don't learn in the light. So sometimes in a sovereignty,
God allows us to go through that darkness. Yes. Well,
that's what we're looking at in today's broadcast. So if
you can, I hope you'll open your Bible and join
us in Isaiah chapter 50 as we continue the message,
the blessings in a beat down. Here is Pastor Ford.
S1 (02:13):
I came to tell you. Yes, everything you go through,
God has allowed it and he has a higher purpose.
Now you may not see it, and you may not
sense it, and you may not like it, but God
is sovereign. He going to make sure his purpose is done.
I think I told you this once before. I'll just
(02:33):
repeat myself for those who haven't heard it. I remember
growing up we'd have chicken, rice, peas, carrot and corn
and that would be dinner. And even with ten kids,
we'd have stuff left over because mama always made sure
everybody was full and we'd have stuff left over. You know,
we have next day chicken, rice, peas, corn and carrots.
(03:00):
But guess what? They weren't individually on our plate, Reverend Strother.
Like they were the day before. They're in a casserole
with some kind of sauce on it. And we would say, mama,
what is this? And she wouldn't say, this is the
leftover food from yesterday. You know, she'd say, this is
Chicken Supreme. This is chicken a la king. And I
(03:27):
would tell my brothers and sisters I was the oldest.
I'd say, this ain't nothing but leftovers from yesterday. Now
I say it under my breath so she wouldn't hear me.
But God is like my mama. You wonder how in
the world all this thing, this thing, this leftover mess
in my life. Uh, somebody that messed over me, uh,
somebody that hated on me. Somebody I done went through sickness.
(03:49):
I done went through pain. This happened and that happened.
And God says, let me get a hold of it.
I'll work it together. I'll take everything that's left over
in your life. Put it together, serve it up and
give it to you. As supreme, give it to you
as Allah, King. Why, God? Because all things work together
for good to those who love the Lord and those
(04:11):
who are the called according. I'm going to make this
work for you. Don't worry about what they did to you,
because I'm working for you. Because no weapon formed against
you shall prosper. It ain't going to work. If I
(04:33):
can sing, I'd break out into it. No weapon formed
against you. But. But I don't sing. I teach the Bible.
You know what the word form means? Come on, Dave,
help me. What's the word form mean, Yasar? It's the
same word God used when he's talking about making a woman. Yasar.
(04:55):
It literally means to shape with a purpose. See what
he says. No weapon that they have shaped and purposed
against you is going to prosper. Now, he didn't say
that they weren't be able to start it. He said,
I ain't going to let them finish it. Mhm. Yeah.
(05:18):
It's amazing. It's amazing. It is now. Now get this,
get this. You got to see what he's saying. Uh,
follow along with me. Now that I should know how
to speak a word in season to him that is weary,
let me just. Bottom line it can I. Bottom line.
Say bottom line, pastor, for it. Because you got three
more points and we want to get out of here.
We won't stay in here all day. Here's the bottom line.
(05:38):
What's he saying? Jesus said I learned and the things
I learned. I communicated that to other. Come on, help
me preach this so I can move on. Look at
your neighbor and say, neighbor, your ministry should come from
your misery. Huh? He has ministry and he's learned. No, no, no,
(05:59):
I got a bottom line. I. I got a bottom
line because I got to go ahead. I got to
drop these other three and just get out of here.
But here's what he's saying. You got pregnant out of wedlock.
You ought to be the last one. Hating on some
young girl who who got herself pregnant. No, you ought
to be running to her and saying, girlfriend. It happened
to me too. And and yeah, I was stuck on
stupid at one time and. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but listen, listen, listen.
(06:23):
God is able to sustain you. I got my education.
I got me a job. I take care of my children.
I take care of myself. I don't need a man
do anything for me. I got the man doing everything
for me. So, girl, you just lift up your head.
God can forgive you. You move on. Don't let your
haters pull you down. Don't let your haters chase you
(06:43):
out of church. Don't you let your haters talk down
to you. And when they come to you, don't hold
your head down. Lift your head up. Look him in
the eye and say yeah and you ain't never made
a mistake. Yeah. Mhm. Yeah I've repented of that. I've
asked God to forgive me, but I see. I see
one thing. I can't be messing around with you because
(07:09):
you're too busy worried about where I've been instead of
where I'm going. Amen. That's it. Amen. And so he says, yeah,
your ministry should come out of your misery. Yeah. Here
it is. Here's third one. Sovereignty of God over my listening.
Listen to what he says now. Now, you know, you know,
(07:30):
I like exposition, but I'm I'm not going to execute this. Listen,
it says he says, uh, verse four, be he waketh
morning by morning, he waketh my ear to hear as
the learned. The Lord opened my ear, and I was
not rebellious, neither turned away back. Bottom line, Jesus saying,
I listened to everything God told me. Yes, everything. Everything
(07:55):
that God told him. And so he said. Lo is
written in the volume of the book I come to
do thy will, O God. Man. If there's ever a
time when we need to learn how to listen, uh,
let me let me just do. I'm gonna see how
many remember. But but listen to this. Uh, I want
you to tell me, uh, have you ever heard of
(08:17):
this person here? Have you ever heard of this person?
Let me see. Have you ever heard of Shammua? How
many heard of Shammua in the Bible? Oh, nobody. Okay.
How many have heard of Shuafat? Shuafat? Anybody? Oh, nobody
heard of Shuafat? Okay, how about, uh. Uh. Igor? Igor. Igor.
(08:37):
Anybody never heard of him? How about, uh, Paul? T
p a l t I. Anybody? Anybody. Okay. Uh, how about, uh. Gideon. Gideon.
Anybody heard of Gideon? How about Gadi? Gadi? Anybody ever
heard of JD? How about Amiel? Am I? Anybody ever
heard of Amiel? How about Seth? Uh, s e t
(08:59):
h u r. anybody ever heard of them? How about Nobby?
How about Gale? Gale? Oh, you never heard of them?
How about Joshua? Yeah. How about Caleb? Let me tell
you why. By reading this verse in numbers 1422. Why?
(09:21):
You never heard of those other ones? Because the ten
men that I named, he says, because all those men
which have seen my glory and my miracles, which I
did in Egypt and in the wilderness, have tempted me
now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice.
Those are the ten of the 12 guys who went
(09:44):
into the land and saw that it was a land
like God promised, but they came back and they did
not listen to the report of the Lord. They didn't listen.
Who shall believe the report of the Lord? And so
God says, listen, I told you it was a land
that flows with milk and honey. I told you there
were giants. But I also told you I will fight
(10:06):
your battles. And that's what you should have came back
and said. And they came back and said, we are
grasshoppers and they are giants. He told you that?
S2 (10:16):
You're listening to Treasure Truth with Pastor Ford. A message
called The Blessings in a Beat Down. And we're going
to get back to this teaching in just one moment.
You know, maybe as you're listening to this broadcast, a
question comes to mind about something you've heard Pastor Ford say,
or how we apply this and live out the Christian life.
We can always contact us through the website and ask
your question to Pastor Ford. Just come to Treasure Truth
(10:38):
Radio org and click on that contact link. We'd love
to know what difference this teaching is making in your life.
And if you have a question, go ahead and ask that.
Who knows, we might even answer that on a future broadcast. Again,
it's the contact link when you come to treasure Truth Radio.
Once again, here is Pastor Ford.
S1 (10:58):
Okay. Listen, are you talking about a time where we
we don't listen to God and in the church listen
to this. I think this epitomizes the fact that people
don't listen. The paradox of our time in history is
that we build taller buildings, but shorter tempers, wider freeways,
(11:19):
but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less. We
buy more but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and
smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees,
but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts,
(11:40):
yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness. We drink
too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little,
drive too fast. Get too angry. Stay up too late.
Get up too tired. Read too little, watch TV too
much and pray too seldom. we have multiplied our possessions
(12:02):
but reduced our values. We talk too much. We love
too seldom, and we hate too often. He says we've
learned how to make a living, but we haven't learned
how to make a life. We've added years to life,
but not life to years. We've been all the way
to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the
(12:23):
street to help a neighbor. We conquered outer space, but
not our inner space. We've done larger things, but not
better things. We've cleaned up the air, but we polluted
our soul. We conquered the atom, but not our prejudices.
We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but
accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait.
(12:46):
We build more computers to hold more information, to produce
more copies than ever. But we communicate with each other
less and less. I'm in the car with two of
my grandchildren and they're texting. I said, who are y'all
texting each other? Why are you texting each other? Because
we don't want you to hear what we're saying. So
(13:09):
I stopped the car and pulled over and said, give
me them phones. I want to see what they were texting. Yeah.
And so let me finish it. So he said, this
is a time of fast foods and slow digestion. Big
men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These
are the days of two incomes, but more divorce, fancier houses,
(13:30):
but broken homes. These are the days of quick trips.
Disposable diapers, throw away morality, one night stands, overweight bodies
and pills that do everything from cheer you to quiet you,
to kill you. It's a time when there is much
in the show window and nothing in the stock room. Alright.
(13:51):
That's good. Here's the last two. Take these down if
you're taking notes. Notice and this is the central part.
So take notes and say oh, you preach that before,
and sometimes it's just like I go back to it
because I haven't done this justice. You know me, it's
like every word been screaming, say something about me now.
S3 (14:08):
Say something about me.
S1 (14:09):
And I've been skipping over stuff. But here it is
the sovereignty of God in our lashings. Listen to this.
It says I gave my back to the smiters and
my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I
hid not my face from shame and spitting man. This
is what he quoted in Matthew 26 while he's on
(14:30):
the cross. And I wish I could talk about each
one of them. But what did he do? He told us,
turn the other cheek. And you know what? We feel
like they slapped me on one cheek. I want to
turn the other theirs. And Jesus said, I turned my cheek.
And then in that day, a beard was a man's glory.
And he says he plucked out his beard. Plucked out
his beard. What's the point? Here's the point that Jesus
(14:53):
is saying, I know that what I'm going through is
in the will of God. So what I'm going to
do is I'm not going to seek vengeance. I'm going
to seek acceptance. So what did he do? If you
break it down, you'll see in these two verses there's
purpose and perseverance. A lot of people got purpose, but
(15:16):
they don't have perseverance. You don't want to go through anything.
There are people. And I'm glad I don't know. There
are people who. You just ran into a problem at
the other church. There was somebody that was ignorant and
rude with a toxic personality. And instead of you dealing
with them and facing them and confronting them, you said,
Imma go to another church. I ain't got to put
(15:37):
up with this. But guess what? When you come here
after running there, you going to meet somebody just like
them and you going to keep running until you get
up in somebody's face and say, hold on a minute, homie.
Hold on a minute, girlfriend. Let me just tell you
what you're doing is biblically wrong and I'm not going
(16:00):
to accept that. So you go do that to somebody else.
You don't do that to me. Don't talk to me
like that. Don't talk to me like that. I remember
we used to have a person in here most of
the men were afraid of. And one day she called
me out. And we had three services in the old sanctuary.
And she called me out right as Sunday school was dismissed.
(16:20):
And I'm going to my office, I heard, Pastor Ford,
I want to talk to you. And I said, almost
called her name sister So-and-so. And I want to talk
to you. And everybody's, like, buzzing and everything. Get down.
S3 (16:33):
Here now.
S1 (16:35):
You said you did that. Yes, I did that. And
I called her down. She came in. Well, well, well,
you know, I just I'm, I got a what. No
no no no no no. Let me tell you something.
I ain't married to you, all right? Yeah, and I'm
not one of your children. Don't you ever talk to
me like that. Ever. Oh, well. I'm sorry. Y'all apologize,
(16:58):
I said. Yeah, well. Well, you know, I said it
so that everybody can hear it. Yeah. And guess what?
As long as that person was here, never did that
to me. Now I've seen her do it to other brothers,
and I try to pull their coat. Hey, she did
it to me one time. Come on, let.
S3 (17:17):
Me tell you what I did. Let me tell you
what I did. Let me tell you what I did, man.
S1 (17:22):
And you know.
S3 (17:22):
What?
S1 (17:23):
I had a brother quit his ministry leader over it
just because he didn't want to deal with her. Wow.
That's right. He says you gotta set your face like
a flint. You gotta go through some things. Yeah. And
then here's the last one. He says that you have
to know the sovereignty of God over your liberty. What's
he saying? God is over when it's going to be over.
(17:52):
I ain't going to say anything else. You're going through it.
How long has it been, pastor? I've been waiting for
God to send me a husband for 13 years. Okay.
Keep waiting. Keep waiting. Sarah and Abraham waited 25 years
for their baby. Moses waited 40 years before he got
(18:15):
into the Institute of the Holy Ghost. In 80 years
before he started. Keep waiting. Keep waiting. Well, my biological
clock is running. God can rewind it when it runs out. God,
I'm sick of this. I'm sick of this. I'm sick
of this. No! God says you will be in it
(18:35):
until I say, here's what I love. It says to
the church of Smyrna, you will be persecuted ten days. Now, now,
I don't know if you caught that. He said ten days.
Do you know what that means? Ten days means ten days.
You know what he was saying? Ten is the number
for testing. You know what he's saying? I don't care
what you're going through. One day is going to be over.
Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in
(19:00):
the morning. I need to close. And you've been so gracious.
But you remember what happened, uh, in, uh, in New
York City? Uh, there was a man by the name
of Wes Autrey, and Wes Autrey was a 50 year
old construction worker, and he had his two daughters with him. And, uh,
he always would think, like most people who traveled, uh,
that New York subway system. What if I ever fell
(19:20):
on those tracks? You know, there's two electric, uh, rails, uh, and, uh,
you could be electrocuted on those things. He said, what
if I fell in, or what if somebody else fell in? Well,
he found out one day, uh, because there was a
man who had a seizure who fell in, uh, as
the number one was coming. Wes Autrey didn't even think
(19:41):
about it. He jumped down, pulled the man in between
the tracks and covered him. The train saw them, but
couldn't stop and ran over them. The train was over them.
They cut the power so that they could crawl out.
They hollered down, are you Alright. And what said I'm okay?
And this man is okay because I covered him. You
(20:04):
and I were on the train of life. Uh, we
were waiting for the train of life. But our sin
paralyzed us and pushed us on the tracks. And Jesus
Christ covered us. He covered us and he said, we're alright.
We're both getting up out of here. And though we
(20:25):
were dead in trespasses and sin, we are alive in
Jesus Christ. Listen, there are blessings in a beatdown. And
I trust the next time you're in tribulation, the next
time you're in trial, the next time you're in trouble,
you'll remember that God wants you to bring something out
(20:48):
of the tribulation that you never would have had had
you not gone through the tribulation. And so when God
brings you to it. You need to know that God
will bring you through it.
S2 (21:06):
Providing a new perspective on trials and tribulations. That's Pastor
James Ford Jr. A message called the blessings in a
beat down. Well, you're listening to Treasure Truth and you
can find out more about this ministry when you check
out our website. It's Treasure Truth Radio. You know, in
order to respond to our trials with faith, it's not
just enough to wait for them to arrive. We have
(21:30):
to be building and growing in our relationship with God
long before the trials occur. And listening to this program
is one way of doing that. And so is your
membership in a local church. But we also take great
care to choose resources each month that will build your
faith and increase your understanding of the Bible. Right now,
when you give a donation of any amount, we're going
(21:50):
to send you a foundational resource from Doctor John MacArthur.
It's a book called Why Believe the Bible? And this
book is divided into three segments of five chapters each.
We first tackle. Can we really believe the Bible? Then
what does God's Word do for us? And then finally,
how to get the most from God's Word? As you read,
you're going to gain confidence in the Scripture and learn
(22:12):
how to effectively apply it to your life. So give
your gift and request. Why believe the Bible? Call us
at 888644 7660 or go online to Treasure Truth Radio.com.
You can also send a check in the mail. Our
address is Treasure Truth, 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois
(22:33):
606 ten. You know when you give to treasure truth.
You're helping us fulfill the Great Commission as we teach
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So again, call us at 888644 7660 or come to
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(22:55):
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(23:16):
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more about becoming a monthly partner when you come to
the website Treasure Truth Radio. Org or ask about that
when you call us at one 888 644 7660. I'm
(23:37):
Steve Hiller. Our producer is Amy Rios. Join us Wednesday
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here on Treasure Truth. A production of Moody Radio, a
ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
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