How Haters Hate, Part 2 - podcast episode cover

How Haters Hate, Part 2

May 21, 202524 min
--:--
--:--
Download Metacast podcast app
Listen to this episode in Metacast mobile app
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more

Episode description

When we encounter criticism, we can use it to help evaluate whether our focus is on God or whether it’s on ourselves.  If God called us to accomplish something, but we get offended when we encounter criticism about the task at hand, then we should ask ourselves—why are we offended that somebody is criticizing what God has told us to do? Pastor Ford will continue his message “How Haters Hate” and share how we can respond to criticism on the next  Treasured Truth

Treasured Truth is a listener supported program on Moody Radio.  To join our team of supporters, click here

To learn more about Pastor James Ford, Jr., click here

To learn more about Treasured Truth, click here

Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/treasuredtruth

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

S1

You can better evaluate whether your focus is on God or whether it's on you. So when you get the criticism, if God gave it to you, why are you offended that somebody is criticizing what God told you to do?

S2

You're listening to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford Jr, senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago. I'm Steve Hiller. Glad you're with us today. We're continuing our look at Nehemiah chapter two in a message called How Haters Hate. And pastor, I think that's such an important truth that you just brought out there a moment ago. You know, when we have our own plans and agenda and somebody criticizes us, it's very easy to take that personally.

But man, if our direction and vision is coming from the Lord, if they're criticizing what happened, they're actually it's like they're criticizing him.

S3

And that's exactly what they're doing. You know, if you look in the Old Testament, you'll find that they murmured against Moses. Then my question is why does it say and the people rebelled against the Lord because Moses was just his mouthpiece? Sure. You know. And so here, now he is the agent. But God is the source. And this is really liberated me in my ministry. You know, I've been pastoring for 35 years, and I've gone through some changes. Um, because, you know, God's people sometimes can

put you through changes. And one of the things I've done is evaluate criticism. Uh, quote unquote, my haters, in light of what God has called me to do when it's outside of that purview, my evaluation is greater. But when I'm doing something that God has told me to do, I'm telling you it's like water off a duck's back. I'm not going to back up, let up, give up or shut up, because this is what he called me to do. Yeah. You got to be confident in that.

S2

Well, and that's so important for us to then understand and totally know what God has called us to do. Have there been times where maybe that criticism has caused you to second guess whether God has actually called you to do that certain thing?

S3

Oh, yes. Until I evaluate it and I usually evaluate it in, you know, reevaluate my motives and all those kinds of things, I go through a litany of, you know, how God speaks to us. And when I'm confirmed in it, then, then I move on. I ask God to remove my doubts. And here's the thing, Steve. I'm going to tell you the truth that generally what I try to do is make sure before I even start, because Romans 14, Romans 15 says, whatsoever is not of faith is sin. So

my motto is when in doubt, don't. So generally, if there's any doubt about whether God wants me to do this, I wait until I'm assured that it's him. Now, sometimes it turns out to be the anchovies that was on the pizza.

S2

Right, right.

S3

You Yeah.

S2

But.

S3

Uh, that's what I try to do.

S2

Yeah, I like that answer. Well, if you can open your Bible, join us in Nehemiah chapter two as we continue the message how haters hate. Here is Pastor Ford.

S1

You can better evaluate whether your focus is on God or whether it's on you. So when you get the criticism, if God gave it to you, why are you offended that somebody is criticizing what God told you to do? Alright, you gotta be like Hezekiah. Spread it before the Lord. See what they saying about you? Right. Number five you get to see a different perspective. You don't always see everything. And sometimes a critic will help you see something that

will avoid you from crashing later on. Number six, you'll be better prepared. I remember in the early years of ministry, I go in because I'm a person of vision. My my administration tell you once I did something, a couple weeks, I'm ready to go. I'm ready to do something else. And so that's that's kind of like a fault.

S3

Of mine, you know.

S1

I'm ready to move on. Some of you know, you started the ministry. I worked with you until I thought you got it. Then you don't hear from me anymore. It ain't that I don't care. I got too many other things to do. But then I start coming in. How do I come in? Now I have pages. This is what we're going to do. This is the pole. This is the negative. This is the con. This. And then I have a OG in f s category. What's that, Pastor Ford? Only God knows for sure. Better prepared. Why?

Because of criticism. Uh, number seven. It makes you hungry for heaven. Man, I'm so tired of this. I pull my hair out if I had some. But since I don't have any. Oh, I can't wait until Jesus give the shout and we'll be gone. And I don't have to pastor anymore. I know you say that about your children. Yeah. Number eight, you learn to surrender to the righteous judge because you don't always know what is positive and negative criticism, because some of the things that they're saying negative about

you are true. And so you lay it up before God. Is this true about me? Now we can deny them. He ain't going to let us deny him. Oh, you ask me. Let me show you who you really are. And sometimes. Isn't it surprising you really didn't know you were that way? I must be putting the oil to the squeak because it mighty quiet in here. Mhm. So. Yeah. Number nine, you get to reevaluate your motives for doing what you are trying to do. In other words, now why am I really trying to do this. Uh, then. Okay.

You know, they can attribute motives to me all they want. Like when somebody told me, you building this for your own personal aggrandizement. No, I'm building this because the Lord told me. Because he's getting ready to have to go to for services. And. And they're just already killing the preacher. And and we needed more room because we could have had one service. Don't say it. Don't send me any cards on it. I know we can still have one service. I know number 11 or number ten. It helps you

see God's power. If they are wrong, God will always vindicate you. Always. Just wait. Give him time. Number 11. It helps you see how people view you. So the criticism people give you, it really helps you. You know what they think about you by what they say to you. Yeah. So listen sometime number 13, it tests your commitment about what you're doing. What does it take to make you quit somebody speaking harsh to you, somebody being mean to you.

You're never going to get anything accomplished. I don't care what it is. I don't care what it is. Number 14. It drives you to your knees in prayer. It always makes me pray more. People who are your haters make you pray more than the people who support you. And number 15. It often indicates to you that what you're doing is making or going to make a difference. Here's the last one. Number 16. It's the litmus paper for your faith. Because Proverbs 2410 says, if you faint in

the day of adversity, your faith is small. And so look at them. Look at them. Look at this. They come at a critical time. Verse 18, vision. Verse 19, vision killers. Verse 18 dreamers. Verse 19 nightmares. And so in verse 18 you have protagonists. And in verse 19, here come the antagonists. Every time you try to make a mark, someone will come along with an eraser and try to erase it. Here it is. Number two. Number two. There's always a leader of the opposition. Let me read

the verse again. But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite and Gershom the Arabian heard it. Notice this symbol. Its name is first. Now look at verse ten. Look at verse ten. When Sanballat the Horonite. His name is. First look at Nehemiah four one. And it came to pass, when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. Uh, look at what it says in six one. Turn! Six one now, when it came to pass. When. Sam.

Look at verse two, that sanballat look at verse five, that sanballat. And guess what? You'll see his name all over the place. There's only two times his name is not first, and there's a reason for it. Let me give it to you real quick. The first time that his name is not first is because he has an outsider that he paid to try to get close to Nehemiah the second time. His name is not. First is because his friend Tobias has a son who's married to

Eliab's daughter, who is the high priest. So he's got people on the inside and people on the outside to come along with him, to try to destroy this thing. Y'all ain't listening to me. Mhm. Yeah. They have to have a leader. Why? Because if they don't have a leader, they go underground. See? You think they're silent. They're not silent. They're really stabbing you in the back until they get a voice. They need a sound ballot. Who is a punch? You in the face. Punch you in the nose. Kind

of a person. His name is Sam Ballot. Uh. That's Babylonian. His name is Babylonian. Now what is he, a Samaritan? Now, why does he have a Babylonian name? His name means sin is my life. Now, unless you think I'm talking about committing sin. Sin is the Babylonian moon god. Here's a man who's worshiping Yahweh. Uh, who should be supporting that? Jerusalem would get a wall. He wants it to stay down. Why? Because no wall means a weak Jerusalem. And a weak

Jerusalem means a powerful sand ballot. What was the wall all about? The wall was designed to protect. The wall was designed so that you could keep your provisions and have safety. And so he opposes Nehemiah because he wants the wall to stay. Listen to me. Mm. It's not you, per se. You say. What do you mean by that? Yeah. It's not you, per se. Uh, Sam Ballard wants what you stand for. He's against what you stand for. It's not you, per se. It's what you want to do.

It's not you, per se. It's the change that you're trying to bring. See, you need to understand that the only people that like change is wet babies. That's it. Yeah. And so it's not you, per se. It's what you bring. It wouldn't matter who it is. What is the goal? That's what they don't like. Mm. See, the walls are down and he has what it takes to be a good hater. Say, what are you talking about? Okay, okay. Watch this. Chapter four, verse two. Let me read it

to you. Here's what it says. And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, what do these feeble Jews? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they make an end in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the rubbish heap? On and on it goes. And here's what he tells us. It tells us that he was the governor of Samaria. What did he have? That everyone that leads some haters gotta

have power, position and prestige. Power, position and prestige. You see, some people get power, position and prestige, and they don't know how to handle it. And here's what people say. They got some power and they went straight to their head. No it didn't. No, it didn't go straight to their head. You say why you say that, pastor? Because when they got the power, they're only showing you who they really were before they got it. What do you mean by that,

Pastor Ford? Okay, I'm glad you asked. You ask intelligent questions. In other words, they knew if they showed you who they really were before they got the power, they never would have got the power. But they know once they get the power, it's hard to be put out of power.

S2

You're listening to treasure, Truth and a message called How Haters Hate. It's biblical and practical teaching on today's program, and maybe you feel like you've got haters in your life and you want to go back and listen to this teaching again. You can do so by coming to our website, Treasure Truth Radio. You can stream programs through your computer or mobile device, download MP3's, or order copies of this broadcast on CD. You'll find that in a

lot more when you come to treasure Truth Radio. Back to our message how haters hate once again. Here is Pastor Ford.

S1

Okay, numbers. Chapter 12 numbers. Chapter 16. I'm not going to turn to them, but. But you can check it out. What happened in numbers 12, Miriam comes against Moses. Moses married a black woman and she goes to Aaron and she say, Aaron. Moses married a black woman. Aaron says, okay. She said, that ain't right. We only supposed to marry Jewish people. He married a black woman. Oh, that ain't right. What are we going to do about it now? Why did she go to Aaron? Because he was closer to

Moses than she was. That's the closest he could get to power and know that he could influence someone. Because, you know, Aaron was a wimp. He built that calf. Yeah. You know, because they said, build us. Build us a. He knew God had delivered them. He knew he shouldn't have built that. And so Miriam knew it, too. If I want to get somebody with power to criticize somebody with more power, I gotta get somebody on my side. And so she goes to Aaron. Now, why is that

a violation of Scripture? You New Testament saints. Holler it out. Somebody holler it out. That's a violation of Scripture. Why? That's right. Because Matthew 18 says, if you have art with your brother or sister, you go to your brother or sister, you don't go to somebody else. Numbers. Chapter 16. Same kind of deal. Korah, Dathan and Abiram. And on they gather people together and they begin to go after Moses. Hmm. Number three, let me tell you how haters hate. Here's

the third way. They don't come forward unless they feel they've garnered enough support. If you'll notice, you notice what goes on? Uh. They're silent. And listen, let me just give you some hits. Here's how. You know somebody's trying to pull you into a hater situation. Have you heard what's going on? Here's another one. Here's another one. I'm just curious. What do you think of what they're doing? You're being drawn in. Don't become a sanctified sucker. They're

trying to draw you in. Amen. So they can go back and say, I was talking to so-and-so. Or they can say everybody's upset about this. Mm. Yeah. Let me show you something. Look at number 16 real quick. Real quick. Look what's going on in number 16. Now, this is this. I've never preached this here. I preach this all over the country, in the world. I've never preached it here. Not one time. You say, why ain't you a preacher here, pastor?

It would seem too self-serving because the title of the message is why the people oppose leaders when they're not in sin. And there are 17 reasons in the chapter. So notice what it says in numbers. Chapter 16. Listen to this. Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and on the son of Pelath, sons of Reuben took men. Now here's, here's, here's what happened. Here's what the Bible tells us first. It was Korah.

And look at his credentials. He is. He is the son of Izhar. Who is this, sir? He's a Levite. As a matter of fact, he's not any Levite. He is the priestly Levite. He is under his daddy. Levi. That man got power. And so he is the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. And on the son the sons of Reuben took men. In other words,

they went to. They went to Darom, and then Korah and Dathan went to Abiram and Korah, Dathan and Abiram went to on, and Korah, Dathan, and Abiram the on went to men. And then notice what happens here. I'll just tell you. You can read the rest of it you want. Here's what happened. So they went to them, and then they went to men. Who were the men? They went to the princes. Who's that? That's the elders and the deacons. Then they went to the people. See

what happened? This thing trickled down and it infected everybody. Everybody. Listen, churches are split. Ministries are destroyed. People are damaged, discouraged, and defeated because it's like a snowball rolling down the hill. It just gets bigger and bigger and bigger. Mm. All right. I know y'all are tired of this. Imma get you up out of here. Look at number five. Here's the fifth thing that happens when haters hate, they usually garner

more support the longer they persist. Okay, follow me again. Watch this. Uh, verse ten, chapter two, verse ten. Follow along. When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the servant, the ammonite. How many people are there? Two. Look at verse 19. Sanballat the Horonite. Tobiah the servant. Ammonite. Gershom the Arabian. How many people are there now? Three. Okay, now turn to chapter four, verse seven. Chapter four, verse seven. But it came to pass when Sam, Tobiah and the Arabians

and the ammonites and the astronauts. How many are there now? Five. Is that five? Did I count that right? One. Two. Three. Four. Oh, yeah. Five. What's happening? This thing is building, isn't it? It's growing, isn't it? More people are jumping on board. What's happening here? There are people who were not convinced, but somebody who was their friend now is believing it. And so that's my friend. I'm going to believe it. And somebody that's on my team now is believing. So I'm going to

believe it. Mm. Now watch this. Turn to chapter six, verse one. Now, it came to pass when Sanballat, Tobiah and Gershom the Arabian, and the rest of them, you see that he, he, he been listening to them. Why you stop listening? The only thing I can think of is now there's too many of them. It's. It's an old school phrase. We used to say Buku. There's buku of them. There's bunches of them. It's Ray-Ray, them Pookie in them. All them. And so what happened? Man, this

thing has gotten out of hand. Negativity spreads like cancer. And if you don't cut it out, it grows, and it will consume your whole body. Mm. Wow. Sorry about that man who said told his pastor I only come to church. Why don't you come to church? Because there's too many hypocrites. Oh, come on now. Don't paint everybody with a broad brush there. The church is filled with hypocrites. So pastor said okay. Alright then. He said, uh, you got a pig farm, right? Yeah. He said, I'm coming

out next week. He said, really? Yeah, yeah, I want to buy a pig. Okay. Come on. Pastor goes out. He says, okay, let me see this. He said, I got the big best pigs in the county. Nobody has better pigs than I have. He said, okay, give me that one right there. Which one? That little one right there. He said, no, you don't want that. That's the runt of the litter. No, I want to buy that one, the pastor said. And I'm going to take it into the whole county and show everybody the kind of pigs

that you grow. You'll get that on the way home. Yeah. In other words, you can't be known by your worst. It's like. It's like, why don't we do that to people? Why do we identify them by their worst? Rahab the. But she's not anymore. She's in the line of Jesus Christ. Blank Bartimaeus. He ain't blind now. He's been healed. Why you keep calling them by what they used to be and not what they are now. Everybody makes a mistake. You're right. I tell you, I remember one time I

was getting all kind of criticism. That was early in the ministry. And I thought to myself, you know what? If half the things folk are saying about me are true, I don't like me either. Yeah. Number number six. Number six. They generally speak from a limited perspective. Notice what it says and they heard. Remember verse ten chapter two. And he heard. We saw it in chapter six verse one. And he heard, he heard, he heard what's wrong? He's

working on second hand information. He never talked to Nehemiah. Look at your neighbor and say, go to the source. Yeah, because if you don't go to the source, you don't know whether you have all the news or not. Go to the source.

S2

It's really some practical and biblical teaching today from Pastor Ford here on Treasure Truth. Our message is called how haters Hate. You know, the purpose of these messages is not just to provide you with knowledge of the Bible. It's to help you be obedient to Christ. So with that in mind, we're always on the lookout for resources that you can use to develop your faith in practical ways. And this month, we've been talking about a book by R.A.

Torrey called How to Witness to Anyone. Now, you can likely recall a situation in which you wanted to share your faith, but you felt hesitation or uncertain about what to say. Well, How to Witness to Anyone is a collection of Bible verses arranged topically that will guide you and encourage you as you talk about the good news. So keep the book in a convenient location, or you can grab it and browse through it in your spare moments, and you'll find yourself immersed in God's Word, all the

while you're training and equipping your mind for evangelism. Request a copy of How to Witness to Anyone when you give a gift of any amount to treasure truth. Call us at 888 644 7660 or go online to Treasure Truth Radio.com. If you prefer to write, you can send a check in the mail or address. Is Treasure Truth, 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten. Well, I'm Steve Hiller. Our producer is Amy Rios. I hope you'll join us again next time for more Bible teaching from

Pastor Ford here on Treasure truth. A production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.

Transcript source: Provided by creator in RSS feed: download file
For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android