Takers, Part 6

and try and find some encouragement in that. It's one thing to know that Bible verse, to even say you believe that Bible verse. It's quite another to live that verse out, to truly believe that. And I think some of us may struggle to really believe I can do all things well. How come when I try to do things they don't get done? How come God isn't answering my prayer in the way I want all things for real?

cotton and it isn't candy. You put it in your mouth and it disappears, leaves a sweet taste, but you get no nutritional value. And sometimes. Sometimes it happens that way. But let me tell you this, Steve, it's always because of our lack of faith. The word of God. God has given us the word. He says things like this in John 15 three now you are clean through the word that I have spoken unto you. John 1717 sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. Isaiah 5511.

So shall it be. The word that goeth forth from my mouth. It will always accomplish that which I set for it to do. It will never return unto me. Void. So the Word of God we can stand on it. Now what has to happen? There are certain areas where our faith has to be built up. But how do you build faith? Faith comes by hearing. Hearing by the Word of God. Romans 1017. So faith comes by hearing. So you see how how it all comes together.

petitions that we desired of him. And so we we have to discern what is your willingness area that job, what is your will in that area, that relationship, that sickness, whatever it is God, what is your will? Now I will say this, that God will speak to us, you know, when we desire to know, but most of the time we don't want to know it. Very often I just if I'm sick, I just want to be healed.

with gladness. Yeah. And we gripe about what we do for him. We are marching to Zion, but we don't march to Sunday school and the Wednesday night Bible study. I love to tell the story, but never witness or invite anybody to come to church. When the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there. We're not there when the roll is called down here. Wow. Now here's my point. Get this if God gave you a promise, his plan didn't change. It's not a roller coaster. He doesn't capitulate

that we got to get in there. Hang in there and hold on to what God has promised. He said, I want you to go in there. Don't listen to him. Don't watch. For hundred and 70 years, it hasn't changed. It's the same. Write down Jonah one and Jonah three. If you're taking notes, here's what happened. Go to Nineveh, chapter one. So he goes to Tarshish, which is 2000 miles. If he would have went to Nineveh. It's 500 miles, so he went four times as far to get out of the will of God as he would have done

to stay in the will of God. Then he had a fish experience, and that's what many of us need. That's a problem because some people listen. Some people are motivated by a pat on the back, some are only motivated by a foot in their behind. And so that's what it took for Jonah. And come on now, that's what it takes for a whole lot of us. And so God said chapter two foot in the behind and chapter three. Here's what it says. And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah again. Arise, go to Nineveh

and preach. Same words. Plan didn't change, but it took the fish because God's not trying to change the circumstance. He's trying to change our mind and the way we look at it. That's what he's trying to do. So let me finish this up. I said I was only going to do one point, so why did God have to urge Joshua to respond to his plan? Here it is. Here it is. People past and problems. Let me drop them. I'm not going to push them. You've been here long enough,

number one people. Moses name is prominent. Now. I got some information on that, but I'm going to let that go. I was going to tell you that his name is in this chapter more than three times in the book of Joshua, more than 60 times Moses, Moses, Moses, Moses. Here's what it says. Moses my servant is dead. And so Deuteronomy 31, uh, they're mourning the the death of Moses. It said, they mourn for 30 days. Here's what God is saying. He is dead, I am alive. Get going.

John Wesley's gravestone says this. He's one of the ones that started the Great Awakening. It says God buries his workers, but his work goes on. That's on his tombstone. That's right. And that's what God is telling him. Hey, listen. He's dead. They've been mourning for 30 days. Tell them to get up and get over there and claim that promise. One monkey don't stop my show. Now get this. Let me give one illustration here, about three of them, just to give you one. Can I give one? Say give one. Okay.

Thank you for the permission. Chapter one of Isaiah. Was he a believer? Yes. Was he preaching? Yes. What's he say in chapter six? In the year that King Uzziah died. I also saw the Lord. Now get this. He didn't see the Lord in all of his glory. Until Uzziah died. Which means? Then for five chapters of preaching, he's preaching, but not in the fullness of knowing who God is. So what happens? Uzziah had the. There's something about Uzziah. I don't have time to tell you about him. You

ought to read about him. He was a great king that usurped his vision of God. Now he didn't need to use the word also that preposition. But here's what it means. Here's what it means. He died. And at the same time I saw God. Here's my point I'm going to make it and move on. What? Uzziah is keeping you from fullness of God. What? Uzziah? You know why I asked you that? Because Uzziah has to die

before you see God in His fullness. When you ask somebody, who's your Uzziah who had to ask somebody, what's your Uzziah? Don't have to be a person. And so what happens, man? God says, listen, get people out of the way. You heard about two lines in heaven. You got to tell you about it. Two lines in heaven, you know. And there was one line, and it was like hundreds of millions of men in that line. And the sign said

men who were dominated by their wives on earth. Then there was another line with a sign that said men who were never dominated by their wives on earth, and that line where men were dominated by their wives on earth. Pastor Betts was there. I was there, Brother Yarborough was there. The newlywed Minister Swim's was there. We were all in that line. Well, then all the men in this church that were married were in there, and there was only one person in the other line. It was Pastor Green.

So they said, Pastor Ford, go over there and ask Pastor Green. We all in this line that said everybody was dominated by their wives on earth, and he's the only one over there that that was never dominated by his wife. Go over here and see how it is. He got to be over in that line by himself. I said, no, the green. The guys want me to ask you, why are you over here? Elder green said, I don't know, I'm just standing where my wife told me to stand. All I got to say is, who

has to die before you believe God? Now it could be this. Why is he so intimidated? Because Moses was big. Moses was. He's the lawgiver. He was his servant. He was the first line Moses servant. He was the assistant. Now he's stepping into some big shoes and he might be afraid. You know what? I'm gonna go here and try to take him across Jordan. And you going to tell me to tell the people to put their foot in,

and they're going to say, we a rod stretching church. See, under Moses, we ain't stepped no foot in no water. Moses came to the water and he raised the rod. You know what that means? There are people who are afraid to do what they've already done. There are people who only want to do what they've always done. And you got individuals who are coming in. I told you

last week, I'm gonna say it again. Some of us got to be very careful because we see new people sometimes as an intrusion when God gave them to us as an infusion. Gotta be careful, gotta be careful, gotta be careful. And so what do you mean? He could have said all that. Let me, let me let me give it to you. Let me give it to you and get you on out of here. Then the second one is the past. He represents the past. And they're saying, man,

we haven't done it this way before. I mean, every time I make a change, somebody asked me a question when I. When I made a change because the Bible says we ought to have elders and we had elders and deacons instead of deacons and trustees. And we got rid of trustees, and I got a call from one of my good friends. You went Pentecostal? What do you mean? You're Elder Ford and Elder Ward, and I said, I ain't go Pentecostal. I went Bible. Went Bible. The Bible

says this says, is there anybody here that believes the Bible? Oh, Amen. Amen. Amen. And so here it is. Break out the box. Why? Now unto him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask or think, according to his mighty working power in us? What are you talking about, Pastor Ford? The great commission. It is ours. Go ye therefore in all the world and preach the gospel to

every creature. Folk, listen, listen. Now, there's some good things about the past, but the past has a tendency to drag us in it. I was, I was, I was in a store and I was shopping. This was last week. And on the box it came on, it was heat wave. And me. Me and the cart just start tearing it up. I was bumping with the cart, going down the aisle, bumping with the cart. Then I heard, Pastor Ford, what are you doing? I said, oh, I got a little crick in my back. Got a little crick in my back.

Uh uh. I've been watching you all the whole hour. You went back. You went back. I said, you're right, I went back. Yeah. And it drew me back. And it wasn't all good stuff. It drew me back, too. Here's the last one. Here's the last one, he says in spite of the problem, he says, he says this. Jordan. Okay, check this out. If I said this pulpit, uh, you know what that means? I'm pointing to it. God is pointing to the Jordan. Now, what do you know about

the Jordan at this time? It's swelling. He's pointing to where he's got to go and cross to get to his promise. He's pointing to it. But right now it's overflowing and can't be crossed. Don't miss that. I don't have to explain everything. Do I know you got that? He's pointing to that provision that's across that problem. This. Jordan, there's the problem. Now here it is. God said, here's what I want you to do. I want you to do whatever you can, and then what you can't do,

I can. And then. So you come to the river. That's what he tells them in chapter three. You come to the river, stop there because you can't go any further, and then I'll take over. But get this, I want you to put your foot in it while it's overrunning. Don't wait until the problem's over. You step on it before the problem's over, because you trust God to deal with the problem. And when they stepped in the water, the water became a wall.

Just come to treasure Truth Radio org and click on the donate button. Well, let's get back to the message once again. Pastor Ford.

new everything. And so the Red sea then closes. Why? Because our salvation is separated by the cross of Jesus Christ, on which he died. So the Red sea represents the salvation. Those who are unbelievers died, and they're going to hell because of the cross. And we are alive. We can never go back because justification is once and for all. It's done by God. Therefore, even when they talked about going back, they couldn't go back because who was going

to open up the Red sea? Now they wander in the wilderness that represents Betweeners say, Betweeners, what's the betweener? It's a person who is really saved but ain't living like it because they're stuck between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. The Holy Spirit is resident Good Friday, but he's not

President Resurrection Sunday, so they're in betweeners. They're living a carnal life, which is represented by wandering in the wilderness and unbelief and not taking the possessions and the promise of God. But then Joshua represents Jesus in sanctification, where he says, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. That's justification. Take take my yoke upon you, and take. Be a taker.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me. For I am meek and lowly of heart, and you shall find rest. That's Cain and rest. That's complete rest. And so here it is, consecrated rest. And so you can have that rest. But he gets them across, because Canaan is not a picture of heaven, because you don't fight in heaven. Now we fight in church, but you don't fight in heaven. So what's he saying? Here it is. You don't fight for victory. You fight from victory. So

it's Ephesians. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Put on all of it. Now get this. And I and I close. And you've been so gracious. During my summer vacation, I went to different churches. I went to four different churches. Some of the young, up and coming preachers, I went to their churches. One of them was Charlie Church. And when I go, I sit in the back and they say, That's Pastor Ford back there.

Leave me alone. Leave me alone. I'm on vacation. Well, come and pray for us. No, no, I'm sticking right back here. I ain't I'm not saying anything. I'm not doing anything. And they say you're on vacation. Yeah, because if I'm a good pastor, I need a break from them. And if I'm a poor pastor, they need a break from me. I say both of them's going on. And then. And then he closed and I said, I'm using that.

I'm using that when I go back. He said, when he came there, he's only been there three years, and God has taken him from 100 to 1000 in three years. That man, that's great growth. And and so he said when he went in, there was a big awkward piano on the stage and they needed more stage. So he said, man, I need to get rid of that piano. But he found out that that piano was 78 years old, and some of the members had given their money to get

that piano. So he knew as a wise pastor, if you move that piano, they're going to throw you up out of here. Amen. Because some things you just don't touch. You're doing sitting in my seat. I've been sitting in that seat for 25 years. I've been sitting in that seat as long as Pastor Ford been a pastor at this church. You're in my seat. And so and so he said, well, let's fix it. So he called a piano company. They came in and looked at it and they said, I'll tell you what, we'll give you a

brand new electric baby, grand piano and some money. Just give us that. He wasn't born. He was born at night, but not last night, he said. I said to myself, wait a minute. They're going to give me a brand new electric baby, grand piano and money for this old thing. Uh, so guess who he called? He called in the same guy that fixes our stuff. The old guy from Indiana, he came in and he said, let me tell you this piano. They wanted to give me this. He said,

let me see. He opened the. What do you call that thing? This. The lead. I thought I had to tinkle. He opened the lid. He looked in. He said, uh huh. He said, let me tell you something, pastor. Don't you sell that piano. He said, it's worth more than 3 or 4 brand new baby grand pianos and money broke. He said, well, wait a minute. He just looked at it. He said, no, you you missed it. He said, I looked in there. It didn't look like anything to me. He said, let me show you what you missed. And

he looked in there. And you know what? He missed the name. The name in the piano was Steinway. It was a handcrafted, handmade piano worth about 200,000. Broke, broke. What's the name of this book? Joshua. Do you know what the equivalent is in the New Testament? Jesus. It means the same in Hebrew, Yahweh is Savior, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sin. His name means Yahweh is Savior. Do you know what you have in the name? There's

healing in the name of Jesus. There's power in the name of Jesus. There's joy and peace in the name of Jesus. And so that's the name we can possess it. Why? Because everything we want. John 15. If you ask anything in my name, all I do is get a checkbook from heaven. And I write in, in the name of Jesus. Lord, I claim this in the name of Jesus. That's the name. Oh, you know Jesus, the one who spoke the nothing and nothing listened to his voice until nothing that was not

became everything that is. Yeah. Jesus, Jesus. Yeah. The one in Hebrews 11 three that said he spoke the world worlds into existence. He said. Light, be and light was the Jesus or the one who made wet water come out of a dry rock? Jesus, that's the one. Yeah. The one who turned a waterway into a parkway and a freeway. Yeah. Jesus. That's the name. That's the name that's above every name. Jesus. Yeah. The one who turns some sardines and some crackers into a Moby Dick sandwich. Jesus.

The great provider. The one who turned the praise team into the United Forces of the United States of America. Jesus. Yeah. That one who said everything that you need is found in me, in his life. Jesus is our example. First Peter 221 and his death Jesus is our Redeemer. First Corinthians 15 three and his burial Jesus is our scapegoat. Romans 425. In his bodily Resurrection. He's our justification. Romans 425. Jesus didn't break out of the tomb. Jesus walked out

of the tomb. Why? Because there's power in the name of Jesus, he and his ascension. He is the head of the church. First Colossians 118 and 19. In his second coming, he's the hope of the believer, the blessed hope, and for all of eternity. Jesus is our God and King, the King of kings and the Lord of Lords. Everything that I need is found in him. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. There are no limitations. There are no barriers. Take the lid off. Break out

the box. Come on, Christ Bible, let's do this thing. It's in the name of Jesus that we need to do it. Come on, help me call that name Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus, Jesus. Because there's power in that name. There's redemption in that name. There's salvation in that name. For there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Amen.

Listen online at Treasure Truth radio.org. Thanks for listening today and thanks to our producer, Amy Rios for Pastor Ford, I'm Steve Hiller. Treasure truth is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.