God want to get the fear out of me today? We say the punk out of us. He knew the way to do it was to put me in a situation where I had no help but him. And from that day forward, I ain't never scared.
You're listening to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford, junior senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago. I'm Steve Hiller, and before we hear why you weren't ever scared. Uh, you got to clear something up for me. Okay. Today, we say get the punk out of us. Uh, what does that mean?
Well, um.
You're talking to a suburban guy here. When?
When people get punked, it literally means that somebody did something that made you back down from something that you should not have backed down from.
Okay.
Yeah. And so, you know that. Yeah. It's a colloquialism.
All right. All right, all right. So now we move on to what the point of today's broadcast is all about. God. God getting the fear out of you. How'd he do that?
Yeah, well, I think he puts you in fearful situations, you know, and this that I'm going to share today happened when I was practically a new believer. I don't think I had been saved two years when this happened. No, not even a year when this happened. But I'll show you how it works today. Yeah. Then I was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Steeler fan into his house.
I've been in your office. Still Steeler fans, Steelers everywhere. A Chicago Bears fan.
Well, you know, I tell them we ought to be just like I am with the Steelers. Everybody ought to have no doubt as to who my allegiance is to. Amen.
It's true.
So let me tell you how it has affected me even today. Uh, rewind the video a little bit. Go back to when we came to Chicago and I shared where we were living in Humboldt Park. We moved to South Shore and it got worse. And these guys were trying to recruit my kids, and this one little gangbanger came up. This was like in the middle of the day, pulled a gun on me. And, you know, I prayed, Lord, you know, if it's my time, you know, prepare me
because I believe in thanatology. You know, that's the study of death. That is, you get dying, Grace, when it's time to die. So I actually felt like if this is the time he's going to give me grace to die. And the young man was impressed that I was not afraid that he had pulled a weapon on me. Yeah. You know, and I said, well, you know, I'm not afraid because God is on my side. You know, he
never leaves me nor forsake me, you know. And so you may be able to kill my body, but he's able to kill your body and your soul and my soul belongs to him, and I start sharing the gospel. He put the weapon in his pants. Yeah. You know. And then turned and walked away. Crazy. It's crazy. I said, yeah, I'm. I'm out of my mind for Jesus Christ, you know? Yeah. Yeah. And later on, he never came to Christ. But later on, he said, Reverend, you know, I like a person. I
like a reverend like you. The average reverend would have been. Come on now, we don't want to do this. And, you know, I mean, you just look there. You just look me in the eye. You weren't afraid at all. And I said, yeah, because I already told you, you know, God is on my side. Yeah. You know.
So. Yeah. Well, we're going to hear a different story in today's broadcast. So we're going to start, though, by opening our Bibles to Psalm 27 and continuing the message. I ain't never scared. Here's Pastor Ford.
And so Ray and I were trying to witness to a brother named hook. His name is Michael. And, uh, Mike, uh, was like, like a sinner to the max. And didn't he? He would flaunt in front of us even though we were friends. And so, you know, we'd say, you know, he say, he say you're not smoking anymore, huh? And he light up a joint and blow it in your face. Stuff like that. Yeah, he do stuff like that. You ain't drinking no more, huh? Oh, you know, he would
do stuff like that. Mike was so bad. Mike had two women that both knew that he was going with them. And he invited both of them to live with him, and they both came to live with him. So two, he living like Abraham, Hagar and Sarah and I. I never could figure out Sarah as a black woman doing that one anyway. Ain't no black woman I know now when she kicked him out. That's the black women I know, you know. But anyway. So. So, uh, two, two, ten in the morning, I get a call. Who's this? It's Hulk.
What's wrong? Hook. What's wrong? We want to be saved, man. We want to be saved at 210 in the morning. I got up, brushed my teeth, put on my clothes. My wife said, where are you going? I said, hook called me. He want to be saved. You. You ain't going out there tonight, are you? Tell him you'll see him in the morning. He want to be saved now. I'm going now, he cried. Now I'm going now. And I got in what we call the gospel buggy. It
was a car that was given to me. It was the first miracle that God showed me whenever I turned my car in. Because I had to make a choice between keeping my car and paying my rent. And anybody knows, before I got saved, it was no contest. I keep my car. But now that I was saved, I had to pay my rent. So I had to let the car go. And so Ray said, well, let's pray and ask God, God don't give cars. And boom! Two days later I was given a car and I called it the Gospel Buggy. And so I get in the Gospel
buggy and I get ready to go. I leave Homewood, I head on up to Wilkinsburg, uh, where where hook live? Uh, when I get around the corner, uh, the car stops. I'm four blocks from his house. This is a dangerous place. Best I can tell you is it's like being in the bucket of blood at 3:00 in the morning. Amen. Amen. You know what I'm talking about. And and so and so. I'm. I'm saying, God, get this car to going. I gotta get the hook. And I can't be walking four blocks
in in this because I knew. Because, see, before, uh, the the people that I was afraid of as a Christian, uh, was me before I became a Christian. Yeah. And so and so, you know, I said, man, I got to go. Okay, Lord, you're not going to start the car. You gotta protect me. So I'm walking, I'm walking, I'm singing and I'm singing. You know, Andre Cross was big back then. Andre Crouch
was our Kurt Franklin and Tye Tribbett. And so I'm singing some Andre Crouch songs, you know, and and and and and just watching and and thinking man, you know, you used to be out in this, you know. Yeah. But that was before I became a Christian. So I come around the corner now Cemeteries here. And he lives on a dead end street. So once you walk, start walking up that street. There's only one way out. That's the back this way. So as soon as I turn
the corner, I look out of my peripheral vision. I see a guy steps to block my entrance or exit, actually, because that's what it would have been. And I begin to pray. I said, Lord, I know this scenario. I used to do it myself. Me and my brother in law Bill. That's the way we were robbed. Somebody come behind them, step out in front of him. I said, I know somebody's going to step out in front of me. And a couple doors up, guy stepped out from a walkway and I said, oh man, I ain't got no money.
And so, you know, folk, when you ain't got no money, you know, I said, okay, well, I'm just going to witness to him, Lord, I'm just going to witness to him. I said, you know, Ray said, you're a deliverer. I need deliverer right now. And I'm telling you, I didn't hardly get the words out of my mouth when I saw a light. And then I heard, whoop, whoop, whoop. Now they used to send me running. It put a smile. on my face. I turned around and looked. And them
boys scattered like roaches. When you turn on the lights. Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. Man, I'm so happy. And so he pulls up. He says, what are you doing, sir? I said, I'm going to hooks. I got my Bible. He called me. He wants to be saved. And so I'm going to save hook. Do you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior? And he said, go on, save hook. And he turned on around and moved. So then I get up to where hook lives. Now there's three floors and you would
think he lives at the first floor. You think the bottom bell was his second third? It wasn't that way. I hit the bottom bell, and, uh, as I hit the bottom bell, I'm ringing and ringing and ringing it and nothing's happening. Then I hear, step back now. Wasn't loud. It was in my head. Step back. And I stepped back. When I step back, the woman on the third floor whose bell I was ringing. That was the first one had slammed up her window and the pane fell out
and the pane fell where I was standing. She called me a whole lot of names and I was blessing God. Thank you Jesus. Hallelujah! You saved me, Lord. Twice tonight. Twice tonight. And I went in. LED. Hooked to Christ. LED. Carrying the Christ. I don't remember what his other girlfriend's name led. All three of them to Christ. It's 5 or 6:00 in the morning. I'm happy because I led three people to Christ tonight, and God brought me through all of that because he was more concerned about their
salvation than I was. And I go back to the to the gospel buggy. I said, let me see. I turned the key. It started right up. I journal, I journal from the first day. I've got all my journals. I got 42 journals, I journal. God, I want to get the fear out of me. Today. We say the punk out of us. He knew the way to do it was to put me in a situation where I had no help but him. And from that day forward, I ain't never scared. I ain't never scared, I ain't
never scared. I come to Chicago, I ain't know what was happening here. I walked up into gang areas, talk to gang bangers, going to crack houses. It don't matter because I ain't never scared like my mama used to say. They can kill me but they can't eat me. And if they eat me, I'll leave a bad taste in their mouth. And here's what God has done. He's saying, look what God has done in my car. And so now, as a pastor, let me just tell you, I ain't never scared. Why? Because God gets the devil off of
my back. Yeah, and my enemy's out of my face and my bills off my mind and ignorant folk off my job. Adult dog kids out of my house and poor church members out of my church. Then he says, I ain't never scared.
You're listening to Treasure Truth from Pastor Ford. A message from Psalm 27. I ain't never scared we're going to get back to this teaching in just one moment. I know over these summer months, many of us might be traveling. Maybe you've got a summer vacation coming up, but you don't want to miss Pastor Ford's teaching if you've not done so before, go get the Moody Radio app. That way, you can listen to treasure, truth, and many other moody
produced programs and music streaming stations whenever you want. The app is free, and it's available for your iPhone, iPad, or your Android phone or tablet. Just come to our website, npr.org. Click on the app button at the bottom of the home page for more info. Again, it's Treasure Truth Radio. Back to the message. Here's Pastor Ford.
Doctor John Adolf tells a the story. I gotta repeat, he says, uh, sister said, can you do my house blessing? He said, sure. He goes, and there's a couple people there, you know, it's afternoon. And so there are friends and family and, you know, church folk there, and they're eating little finger food and everything. And he said, he looks and on the coffee table he sees the picture of a very handsome man. So nobody asked. And he said, but he a pastor. And so he could ask some
things other people wouldn't ask. He said, who is that? Is that your boo? Because if it is now, you can't let him move into your new house. She said, oh no no no.
No no no no no no.
She said, that's my ex. That's your ex-husband. That's my ex. Wait a minute. Why do you have a picture? He said he was confused. He said he looked. She had a jacuzzi, pool, Burberry carpet, big 60 inch flat screen TV and a picture of her ex just didn't go together. He said, tell me the story. Now I want, she said. He left me and my three kids. Abandoned us. And things went from bad to worse so that we eventually, because he kept the house, put us out. Eventually we
were in a homeless shelter. But when he dropped me, it was then that Jesus picked me up. She said. And when he picked me up, he let me know. He won't do me that way. Because can't nobody do me like Jesus. Can't nobody. Do you like the Lord? Yeah. Pick you up, turn you around, place your feet on solid ground. Then she said, she said. And so then I went to school and I struggled to raise my kids and go to school. And I did it from a homeless shelter. And for three years I struggled and struggled.
But I got my RN and I started saving my money. They let me stay. I stayed there five years, then got me an apartment, and then I was in an apartment for a year. I had saved up enough money to buy me this house, and when I got this house, I told my three kids, I'm putting the picture of your daddy right there on the coffee table to always remind me that if he hadn't dropped me, Jesus never could've picked me up because I had my eyes on
him rather than on him. And now I'm serving the man who treats me better than any man ever did. And I guarantee you, every time I look at. Thank you, Jesus that I married that man. Thank you Jesus that that man dropped me. And thank you, Lord, that you helped me to realize I don't need anybody but you. That's it. Conquest in the past. Now, I got some questions for you. You trippin about a job? Didn't he get you the last job? Then can't he get you another job? Because if he did it back, then he
can do it now. Out same God right now. He healed you before. He can heal you again. He got you your last boo. How that sound? The storehouses of heaven are full. Except for booze. Mhm. And I already told you who you want. Ladies. Who you want? You want a man who will give anything to make you his everything. That's what you want. Here's the last one. And I'm done. Here's the last one. He says I ain't never scared. Celebration about Yahweh. I ain't never scared.
Conquest from Yahweh. And in other words, he's looking back. I, I gotta say it because remember what David did when he was fighting Goliath? What did he do? He looked back. He said, I'll defeat this uncircumcised Philistine. How how will you do that? Because I defeated the lion and the bear. See what he did? He went back and said he did it for me back there. A lion and a bear. Who is this uncircumcised Philistine man? That's what we need to do. That's what we need. Amen. That's what we need.
Here's the last one. His confidence about God. Verse three. His confidence about God. This is what he says. This is all we got time for today. Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war shall rise against me, in this will I be confident. See, he's saying, I'm confident, man. I'm confident about God. Oh, okay. Can I expedite this? Let me let me expedite this. Let me expedite this. Imma expedite this okay. Watch this,
watch this. Here's what he's saying. Why am I confident? Verse one. Because of what he does in the present. Verse two, what he does in the past. Now he's saying if he did it in the past and he's doing it in the present, what makes you think he's going to stop now? He's going to do it in the future. So I'm walking toward my future, and I'm walking with confidence because I know I know what God does. Okay, okay, here it is. I get you to understand it and
then we'll go home. Here it is. I'm thinking of five numbers. Now, I'm not going to tell you what my fifth number is. I want to see if you could tell me. Three, six, nine, 12, 15. I was going to say 681. No, I wasn't, because what did I do? Multiples of three. I said, wait a minute. Watch this now. Can can I, I don't I don't want to explain this. I set it up in a pattern, a pattern that is repeatable so that it's so set that I don't need to tell you where I'm going.
You can tell me by the pattern. Did you get it that God has set up a pattern in your life? He has done things for you and for me that nobody else could do. And he set up the pattern and he says, listen, you know, I'm going to take care of you in the future because I took care of you in the past. I'm taking care of you, of the present. What makes you think if your salvation is justification in the past, sanctification in the present, and glorification in the what future? Let me read it to you.
Romans 829. What does he say? Them who? He justified them. He also foreknew them. He foreknew them, he also glorified. Glorified is past tense. God, why do you tell me about the future tense of my salvation in the past tense? Because when I look at it, it's already done. It's already done. Up. It's already done. Yeah. You can be confident about your future because it's already done. It's already done. And and and so am I. Because when you look at what he's telling us, listen, he's saying I ain't
never scared. Uh, but but here, here, here it is. You know, and I know that immediately this is talking about David. Ultimately, it's pointing to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When he says, the Lord is my light. This is the first time in all of Scripture we're almost halfway through the Bible when he uses the word light as a metaphor for God first time. Now it's called the law of first mention. The first time means something.
The Lord is my light. John 812 Jesus Christ is the light of the world, that we are stumbling in darkness without the light. And those of us who have him. Because when he says salvation, he's not talking about justification. He's talking about sanctification, that he illuminates us and he allows us to understand that he is all we have, but he is all we need. Have you found that out yet? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Uh, II worship him and serve him because his bond is love. His burden is light.
His goal for me is abundant life. And so he is the one who is the power of the powerful, the Ancient of Days, the ruler of ruler, the leaders of leaders. And, uh, he is the one that we need. He's the one who is, who was and who is to come. And so you need to know that you ain't never got to be scared. Why? Because when you fall, he lifts you up. And when you fail, he forgives you. When you're weak, he's your strength. When you're lost, he's
the way. When you're afraid. He's your courage. When you stumble. He steadies you when you're hurt. He heals you. When you're broken. He mends you. When you're blind. He leads you. When you're hungry. He feeds you. When you face trials. He's with you. When you face persecution. He shields you. When you face problems, he comforts you. When you face loss, he provides for you. When you face death, he'll be there to carry you home. Absent from the body. Present
with the Lord. And so he is the God who is my light and my salvation, my strength, in whom I trust. I never scared, I never scared. Father, we pray that you'll bless the truth to our hearts, for Christ's sake.
Amen. Well, can you say with Pastor Ford that God is your light and your salvation? If the answer is no, you can change that right now by turning your life over to Christ. Just call 888. That's one 888. Need him. You're listening to Treasure Truth. You can find us online at Treasure Truth Radio.com. Well, it's no exaggeration to say
that we're experiencing a marriage crisis in our culture. You can't turn on the news or scroll through social media without coming across concerning stories about how God's plan for marriage is being twisted and distorted to reflect the cravings of sinful people. Even in the church, marriages are in need of help and many are unsure where to turn.
In the book seven Reasons Why God Created Marriage, Pastor Ford presents God's will for marriage, and he explains why it's so important to follow the principles laid out in Scripture. You can request a copy of this book when you give a gift of any amount to treasure truth. Call us at 888644 7660 or go online to Treasure Truth Radio. You know, statistically, most people will get married at some point in their life. Unfortunately, many will also get divorced.
But what if many of these divorces could be prevented by a biblical understanding of marriage? What if your marriage could grow even while your faith and understanding of God's Word also grows? As you read seven Reasons Why God Created Marriage. You'll begin to grasp God's incredible plan for marriage as a source of strength and faith for your life. So give a donation and request your copy today. Call us at 888644 7660 or go online to Treasure Truth Radio.
I'm Steve Hiller, our producer is Amy Rios. Join us again tomorrow for more Bible teaching here from Pastor Ford. That's on treasure Truth. A production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.