Jesus is a taker. The most spectacular robbery didn't happen in the movie. It happened on a hill called Calvary. Jesus is a taker who comes to take away what you don't need and give you what you do need.
Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford Jr, senior pastor of Christ Bible Church in Chicago. I'm Steve Hiller. Glad you've joined us today as we continue our look at Joshua chapter one and this idea of being a taker. And I love the clip that we just heard. Pastor, the most spectacular robbery didn't happen in a movie. It happened on a hill called Calvary.
Oh yeah, where Jesus Christ took our sins upon himself. Man, that's just so powerful that he loves us enough to allow our sins to be placed on him. And of course, we all know that in the expanse of that darkness of three hours on the cross, that fellowship was broken between the father and the son for the first time in all of eternity, because God can't look on sin. And Jesus had all of our sins, he took away our sins. And he's not only a taker, he's also
a giver. Right? But, you know, we always emphasize the fact he gave us eternal life. He gives us salvation. But see, before he did that, he took him. Amen. And so I'm so glad that he did.
Well, I think we are all glad that he did take. But as we began talking a little bit about at the beginning of the series, if we are to be like Jesus, we're called to be takers as well. He took our sin well. We got enough of sin. We don't need to take any more. In fact, we want to give him our sin. So what? What are believers to take today?
Well, I think we need to take our Bible and read it. You know, someone facetiously said, we need more than a verse a day to keep the devil away, but at least get something in the Word of God. So we need to be able to do that. We need to take time to pray. We need to begin to evangelize and take the opportunity to share our faith with other people. We also need to take the opportunity to give and to serve and to worship. So we're we're called to be takers, too.
Well, we're called to be takers, but we see examples of that all throughout the Bible. We see that in the book of Joshua, the series. We've been looking at Joshua chapter one. What do we see? Joshua taking their.
Well, God made them a promise, and he promised them a land that flowed with milk and honey. That first generation didn't believe it. and they died in the wilderness because of their unbelief. They wouldn't take what God told them to take. And Moses pleaded on their behalf and God said, okay, I'm not going to totally destroy all of them. I'll let them wander through the wilderness. And
I don't remember who it was. I think it was maybe Doctor Pink who said it took God one day to get Israel out of Egypt, but it took him 40 years to get Egypt out of Israel. And so they refused to do it. And so God shut the door because he opens the door and no man can shut it, and he shuts the door and no man can open it. And so when the door was opened, they wouldn't take it. They wouldn't walk into the land.
They allowed the giants to cause them to cower in their presence, not remembering that God said the battle is the Lord's. And so this generation now the Joshua generation is about to go in and possess the land and to take it. And I think the theme is more in keeping with we need to be proactive rather than reactive. Sure. I mean, if you look at what's happening today, Steve, uh, Christians, we are letting the world set the agenda rather than
the word set the agenda. We're becoming more reactive than we are proactive. And I know it's not every church, but many of us have a eight track mentality in an iPod world.
You're right about that. I've not heard that. But I like it. Uh, may steal that from you. I'm going to take it. I'm going to take it. I'm gonna take it.
That's good.
We're, uh, in Joshua chapter one, first nine verses as we continue the message takers, here's Pastor Ford.
David didn't know that watching his daddy's sheep was preparation for watching God's sheep. Huh? Now, listen, here's what it says. Exodus 1710. So Joshua did as Moses said. Caveat follow him as he followed Christ. That's what he was doing. Here's the principle if you don't know how to lead, finish it. You heard me say it a lot. You're not fit to follow. That's right. Joshua learned how to lead under Moses, and he was ready. I showed you his process that he went through. I'm not going to
go over it again. But here's the kicker. Here's the flip side. Elders, deacons, listen to me. Don't get mad. Listen to me. The flip side is this. Let me put it in the words of a counseling session I had here. It is there in the counseling session. And they're they're angry. I remember when they got married, I put two chairs out. They they practically sat in one pulled them together. Now, after three years, I put two chairs down and they pull them apart. And so, uh,
I say, what's the issue? She won't follow. I said, well, you know, the Bible says that you're the leader, you're the head you ought to follow. You ought to follow, sister. Why don't you follow it? She looked at him, not me, and said, I'm not following because he's not going anywhere. You can't follow a parked car. Now, let me just say something. Let me just say something, even if that is true. She did the right thing in the wrong way. And let me just tell some of you ladies who
want to try to get your husband to counseling. The reason why a lot of men don't want to come to counseling is because of what just happened. That is, they feel that you are going to castrate them in front of another man that you think has what you want them to have, that you think they don't. Did you hear me? That's why you can't get them. Because you came home talking about your pastor.
For do this, for he called her sugar. You don't call me. No. You know, I heard him say he did this or that. First of all.
You don't know if he's really doing all that. Second of all, I ain't Pastor Ford. Third of all, you ain't Sister Ford. Amen. But there was a point well taken. I'm not going to call her name, even though she gave me permission, because she may not remember. She gave me permission because with 15 years to go. But when the sisters came up to me 15 years ago, she said, Pastor Ford, I don't mean any harm to you or your elders, but you know what you need to do. I said, what do I need to do? I almost
called her name. I ain't calling her name. I ain't even look at her right now. She said, take your elders to the elders store and get a refund. That's what she said. That's what she said. Why did she feel that way? Because you can't follow a parked car. Amen. Amen. Amen. And so when you look at what's going on here, I want to tell you something. I need every elder I send on an email. I need every elder not
just to read The Turnaround Church by Doctor Perry. I need them to read the top ten Mistakes Leaders make by hand. Stencil. Don't worry about it. I'll send it to you. I just want to give him to you right now. Here they are. Now, I read this book as a student at Moody. I read it again as a graduate student at Trinity, but I'm reading it now again as pastor of Christ Bible Church here. Here's the ten in a nutshell. Here's the ten top mistakes leaders make.
Here it is number one, top down attitude. You're large and in charge. Big baller shot caller, number one stunner player player from the Himalaya. And nobody can tell you anything. Number two, putting paperwork before people work. That this is all about fellowship. We are organism before we're an organization. Number three, the absence of affirmation. Paul in Romans 16 told those people and get those names. Why? Because he wanted everybody to know I'm not in this by myself.
Some of who are ministering, they're not looking for money, but they are waiting to hear somebody say thank you, I appreciate you. You're doing a job well done. Here's our tendency and let me speak for myself. Here's my tendency. The folk who are peripheral, that's where you give your time to and attention to. But the folk who are there, you know, going to stay there, you ignore them. When the Bible says the periphery of folk, you shouldn't put
any time or treasure on them. That's what it says, teach. It says. It says find faithful, available, teacher Saint Timothy 222 and the things which thou hast both heard and seen in me do and the same. Commit thou to faithful people, who shall be able to teach others also. There it is. There it is. That's called discipleship. For those of you who may not know, here it is. Here it is. Let me just drop them real quick. Number four. Uh, mistake. Leaders make no room for mavericks.
I said it on Wednesday. Sometimes we see new people as an intrusion when God sent them as an infusion. Now, not all because some people come from other places where they got all kind of mess, and they bring that mess in here. And when I hear that mess, I deal with that mess because it's mess and we don't want to be about mess. Amen. Number five dictatorship in decision making. That is you. It's always got to be your way or the highway. And when we were here
with Doctor Perry. Imma let you in on on elder business. Even though I ain't supposed to. I said to them, okay, you know, somebody say, okay, he's a dictator. Okay then. And I and I asked them corporately and individually, somebody tell me some something that I did that violated your authority as an elder or a pastor or a bishop in this church and didn't repent of it. Whenever, whenever I did it. And so I picked on the campus pastor, I said, Pastor Avery, in front of all the elders
and deacons. I said, what did they call me over at CBC three senior pastor. I said, what did they call you at CBC three campus? Pastor? I said, has there been anything where we have disagreed since we've been there over a little over a year at CBC three? He said, yeah, I said about eight things. Now, of those eight things that weren't biblical, no book, chapter verse. How many times did I overrule you? He said none. I said, I never said I like my way better
with doing it. Not one time, and there ain't no elder in here that can say I ever did it. Because we have elder role and that's what I abide by. Because that's our system. We're not like the other churches where the pastor is responsible for everything. We have elder rule, and I, for one, respect the God given policy, despite the fact that often it causes us problems. I've shared with the elders my personal belief is that 90% of the problems in Christ's Bible Church is because of the leadership,
not because of the membership. That's what I believe. But who or what do I know? I'm just the pastor. Number six dirty delegation. You like the limelight stuff you preach. And you there somebody else preach. Don't see you. You got a program. You there, somebody else got a program. Nobody see you. And the things you don't want to do. That's what you let other people do. Number seven communication chaos. You know what that is? Reading or singing from the
same hymnal? Just not on the same page. Number eight. Missing the clues of the corporate culture. Now you know he's going to talk about in this fellowship. Look, in the Bible, it wasn't task oriented. Everything developed because they fellowshipped they became an organism. And like an amoeba, they begin to break off and multiply. Number nine, success without success soars. Not preparing somebody to take your place. I'm not guilty of that. I've been saying it for the
last 15 years now. Sometimes, you know, I may get it wrong. And I tell you that. And I tell you and people I talk to, I say I might have got it wrong. You may not be the one. But you see what I've been trying to do for the last 15 years? Identify and raise up somebody to pass the baton. That's what Moses did. That's why God said, speak in his ear. Because you're going to die, man. Do you want somebody coming in here with a good sermon, with a good face, and able to able to sing
and mesmerize people with his voice. And then. Then, oh, ignorant folk with one vote. Vote him in. And then a year later, 33 years of ministry down the toilet. It's happening right now in some of our African-American churches in our denomination. It happens all the time. By God's grace, you will know who's taking my place in the next 5 or 6 years. I'm going to be here because I ain't pastoring all my life. No no no no no no, I'm not one of these people who going
to die in the pulpit. No. No, I'm joining Garland and we going to go fishing or something.
Well, he's not going quite yet. Stick around. He's going to be back in just a moment as we continue this message. Takers want to let you know that Treasure Truth is listener supported. And so if you're a regular listener to this broadcast and you're benefiting from Pastor Ford's teaching, I want to ask you to consider giving a financial gift to the ministry. You can give online by coming to Treasure Truth radio.org. Click on the donate button. There you can give a one time gift or an ongoing
monthly gift. Again, come to Treasure Truth radio.org and click on donate. Well, if you're just joining us, we're in Joshua chapter one. As we continue the message takers, here's Pastor Ford.
And so one last thing. Here it is in numbers 1316 God tells Joshua, change his name. Now what's his name? Say his name. Say his name. Hosea. Now, what does Hosea mean? Savior. He said, change his name. Now I like when he changed it. And not just what he changed it to. When did he change it? Right before he went into the Promised Land to spy out the land. Imma, Imma get that in a minute. What he changed it to? He said put Yahweh in front of it. Put your way in front of it. So his name now is
Yahweh saves. What's he doing when you go into the land? The battle is the Lord's. You possess your possession, but you possess it because I gave it to you. When you go in to fight. Yeah. You going to lift up a sword? But I'm the one who's going to win the battle. Don't you take my glory. So in order for you to know that I want to change your name. Now, this. This. You ought to. You ought to turn this on. Um, Huntington post and I was, you know, I'm I'm I'm trying to get a little
more computer literate. And so, you know, now to get some news, I go to Huntington Post and it says man gets job by dropping a letter in his name. I said, I want to see that because I'm talking about name on Sunday. So so so what I did was I hit it and then listened to it. I skipped the ad. He said, my name is Jose and he and he gave his last name. I think it was Menendez. Jose Menendez or something like that, he said. And I was on the internet looking for a job.
He said. I have filled up no less than 50 jobs a day for the filled out application, for 50 jobs a day for two months, and not one response. I began to think, something's wrong. Let me try something. So I took one letter out of my name, the S, and now I was Joe and not Jose, he said. One week went by and I got offers. Yes, we're looking for someone with your qualifications and blah blah blah blah. And here's what he said. He said what got me was I only resent my application to the same people
who had rejected me as Jose. See? He dropped the letter out. God said, drop some letters in it. Change it from Hosea to Yeshua. Yeshua? What do you mean, Yeshua? That. That I want you to know you're not the Savior. I'm the Savior. So what I want you to do is change your name, because you don't have the capacity to be able to do what needs to be done, but I do. The capacity to perform and to possess your possession is in the name. Okay. Y'all ain't gonna
pray with me. Listen, listen, listen, listen. If I gave you a check, I got my checkbook. Where is it? If I wrote you a check for $1 billion. Anybody want me to write them? One? I'll write you one. I'll write you one for $1 billion. You want to write? Okay, I'll write you one. But when you get it, Can I just tell you something you may not know? When you take it to the bank, it's going to have more rubber than Goodyear. Got tired. Since it's for $1 billion,
they're probably not just going to write insufficient funds. They're going to stamp it. Insufficient funds, insufficient funds, insufficient funds. Then turn it over. Insufficient funding. But if Bill gates walked in here and wrote you a check for $1 billion, or Warren Buffett came in here and wrote you a check for $1 billion, or if Oprah Winfrey came in here and wrote you a check for $1 billion. Now your bottom line has changed. You want to know why?
Because in the name of Ford, there was not the capacity, but in the name of Oprah and and and Warren Buffett and Bill gates that they have great capacity. That's what he says. I want you to change that name. And I don't know about you, but I'm so grateful that God has given us a name. Not just any name, but it's the name about which Moses inquired. It's the name of an individual that said, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I will give
you rest. It's the name that David sang about, and it's the name that Peter was wild about. It's the name that John wrote about. It's the name that's above every name that at the sound of that name every knee shall bow. Every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. It's the name that has the capacity to give you a so great salvation. It's the name that has the capacity to take away your sins. It's the
name that God has given. Now, let me let me just close because I came to tell somebody Jesus is a taker. The most fantastic, spectacular robbery didn't happen in the movie. It happened on a hill called Calvary over 2000 years ago. Jesus is a taker who comes to take away what you don't need and give you what you do need. Because he's a taker, he comes to take who you shouldn't have, to give you who you should have because he's a taker. See, on Calvary he
took the sting out of death. On Calvary, he took victory from the grave. You want to know why he's a taker. He took the power from the devil. You want to know why? Because he's a taker. He took souls out of hell. You want to know why? Because he is a taker. I don't know about you, but I'm glad he's a taker. Because he took away my sadness and gave me gladness. I'm so glad that he's a taker. Because he took away my darkness and gave me light. I'm so glad he's a taker because he
took away my brokenness and gave me his wholeness. I'm glad he's a taker. He took away my fear and gave me his faith. I'm glad he did. He took away my depression and gave me joy. I'm glad he's a taker because he took away my sin and gave me salvation. And Isaiah said it this way surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Why? Because he's a taker. He's a taker. And in this book, let me give you now the theme. Here's the theme of this text. God will give us the manifestation of
his revelation when we meet his qualifications. So for the next three Sundays, we're going to talk about the qualifications for possessing your possessions and becoming a taker. Here it is. Verses one and two respond to God's plan. Verse three and four rest in God's promises. Verse five rely on God's protection. Verse verse six through eight readily obey God's precepts. of verse nine, realize God's presence and then let him through. 15 Recruit God's people. Takers.
Well, that is the title of today's broadcast takers from Joshua chapter one and will continue this teaching next time. Do hope you make it a point to tune in. If you ever miss a program, you can always come to our website and listen online. You can also sign up to begin podcasting the program. That's a great way to make sure that you don't miss a future broadcast, and that you have it just sitting there waiting for
you to listen whenever it fits your schedule. You'll find links at our website to sign up for the podcast. When you come to Treasure Truth radio.org and click on the Stay Connected bar. Well, thanks for listening today. Thanks also to our producer, Amy Rios for Pastor Ford, I'm Steve Hiller. Treasure truth is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of the Moody Bible Institute.