Participants: Carlton P. Byrd
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000014
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00:00 (Theme Song) ♪ Jesus is worthy ♪
00:11 ♪ oh yes, he's worthy ♪ ♪ worthy of ♪ 00:18 ♪ all... ♪ (Music, singing) 00:22 I want to say hello to everyone. 00:24 Dr. Carlson P. Byrd, the Breath of Life 00:26 television ministry. 00:28 Want to welcome you to the services of the Berean 00:30 Seventh-Day Adventist Church here in Atlanta, Georgia. 00:32 And I would like to invite you now to take your Bibles and go 00:35 with me to the book of John. 00:36 What book, everybody? 00:37 John. 00:38 An And we're going to need you to 00:53 leave your Bibles open to John 20:19 and throughout the 00:58 remaining portions of the chapter because we're going to 01:01 reference this through our sermon today. 01:03 John 20:19. 01:07 If you have it, let me hear you say Amen. 01:11 Amen. 01:13 Praise be to God. 01:13 John 20:19. 01:14 The Word of God says, 'Then the same day at evening, being 01:20 the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where 01:23 the disciples were assembling for fear of the" what? 01:27 They were scared of the Jews. 01:28 'Came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, 01:33 'Peace be on thee.'" Verse 20. 01:37 'And when He had so said, He showed unto them his hands and 01:44 his side. 01:45 Then were the disciples glad." 01:47 They were glad when they saw His hands and His side and 01:49 they saw the Lord. 01:49 Verse 21, 'Then said Jesus to them again, 'Peace be unto 01:54 you. 01:56 As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.' And when 02:01 He had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, 02:04 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose soever sins ye remit, 02:10 they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye 02:13 retain, they are retained.'" Verse 24. 02:17 'But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was 02:21 not with them when Jesus came." Let's understand what's 02:25 going on. 02:26 Thomas was not with them when Jesus came in and said, peace 02:28 be unto you. 02:29 Verse 25. 02:30 'The other disciples therefore said unto him, 'We have seen 02:32 the Lord.' But he (meaning Thomas) said unto them, 02:36 'Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, 02:44 and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust 02:48 my hand into his side, I will not believe.' And after eight 02:55 days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: 02:58 then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the 03:03 midst, and said (Jesus said again), 'Peace be onto you.' 03:07 Then saith he to Thomas, 'Reach hither thy finger, and 03:15 behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it 03:18 into my side: and be not faithless, but believing,' And 03:23 Thomas answered and said unto him, 'My Lord and my God.' 03:27 Jesus saith unto him, 'Thomas, because thou hast seen me, 03:30 thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, 03:33 and yet have believed.' And many other signs truly did 03:36 Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not 03:39 written in this book. 03:40 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is 03:46 the" what, everybody? 03:47 'The Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might 03:51 have," what? 03:52 'Life through his name." They want to say to Thomas, 03:58 speaking on the subject, will the real you stand up? 04:00 Will the real you stand up? 04:02 Father, we thank you, God, for this day and, Lord, as we go 04:05 into your Word, Lord, we want you to let some Holy Ghost 04:08 drops now fall on each and every one of us. 04:11 Now, God, hide me behind your cross, forgive me of my sins, 04:13 and when the appeal is made today, I pray that souls will 04:18 come forward, giving their lives to thee. 04:21 Give me clarity of heart and give thy people receptivity of 04:24 heart, we pray, in Jesus' name. 04:27 Let everyone say Amen and Amen. 04:29 Will the real you stand up? 04:34 I want you to understand today that the ministry of Jesus 04:38 Christ was really a ministry that reshaped the world in 04:43 which we live, the ways in which men thought, the ways in 04:47 which men acted were all changed as a result of Jesus' 04:52 coming. 04:53 Now, Jesus didn't just come to the earth just to be coming. 04:57 If everything was all right, Jesus would not have come. 05:01 But Jesus came, the Bible says, that we might have life 05:04 and have life more abundantly. 05:07 Are you hearing what I'm saying? 05:08 Now, you must understand and also realize, to the natural 05:12 mind, that in the days of Jesus, Jesus was 05:16 controversial. 05:17 Jesus did things that really caused great suspicion in his 05:22 generation. 05:24 Now, Jesus is popular now, particularly among church 05:29 folk, but many times people don't appreciate who you are 05:33 until after you're gone. 05:35 Do I have a witness in this place? 05:37 Jesus was a trendsetter. 05:40 Jesus did things out of the box. 05:43 Everything about Jesus was beyond explanation. 05:48 When we look at the fact that Jesus was born, when we look 05:50 at His birth, His birth is really beyond cosmological 05:53 astrologer explanation, because the Bible says that 05:57 when He was born there was a star shone in Bethlehem and 06:05 we've never seen a star like that before and we'll never 06:08 see a star like that again. 06:09 It cannot be explained. 06:10 As a matter of fact, when we look at Jesus' birth, we look 06:11 at His relationship in age. 06:13 His age is beyond numerical explanation. 06:16 Understand that Jesus was younger and older than his 06:20 mother at the same time. 06:22 Even before Abraham was, Jesus said, I am. 06:26 Jesus, who was Abraham's seed was also Abraham's Savior. 06:31 Jesus who was David's son was also David's Lord. 06:36 Jesus who created flesh became flesh when God reversed the 06:41 beginning, when he took a motherless woman from a man in 06:45 creation, but then took a fatherless man from the body 06:48 of a woman in redemption. 06:52 Jesus was beyond numerical explanation. 06:55 But not only that, the mind of Jesus, His mind was so sharp 07:00 that it was beyond psychological and theological 07:02 explanation. 07:04 For the Bible teaches that at the age of 12 Jesus sat in the 07:09 temple with scribes and pharisees and he mysteriously 07:13 amazed them, those who had studied law, Jesus outwitted 07:17 them with His mind. 07:18 Then, when his public ministry began at the age of 30, Jesus 07:23 was still a trendsetter because Jesus could do 07:27 multiple jobs at one time. 07:29 One day He's the Red Cross shedding blood that is now 07:35 flowing in my veins. 07:37 The next day He's the lvation Army providing 07:40 shelter in time of storm. 07:43 One day He's a hematologist, the woman with the issue of 07:46 blood. 07:47 The next day He's a podiatrist, folks that were 07:50 lame are now walking again. 07:52 One day He's an oncologist, He's healing and curing cancer 07:57 and leprosy, but the next day He's an ophthalmologist, He's 08:01 giving sight to the blind. 08:02 One day He's a gynecologist, He's giving birth. 08:07 But then the next day He's a cardiologist, He's fixing and 08:10 healing broken hearts and torn lives. 08:13 Jesus was a trendsetter, which also then made Him a rule 08:18 breaker. 08:20 Jesus didn't play by the rules. 08:23 He did things that were out of bounds. 08:25 According to Roman Law in Jesus' day it was forbidden 08:27 for there to be a gathering of Jews in one place, but my 08:31 Bible teaches me that one day Jesus had five thousand men, 08:34 plus women and children, gathered on the mountainside 08:38 to hear him speak. 08:39 And a minister with power and clarity in spite of Roman Law, 08:43 Jesus not only aggravated, if you will, Roman authority, but 08:48 Jesus was a thorn in the flesh of religious Jews also. 08:53 His disciples, they ate without washing their hands, 08:58 He healed people on the Sabbath, He traveled distances 09:03 that they didn't approve of, He touched people that they 09:07 said He shouldn't touch. 09:09 But I've learned that sometimes being in the will of 09:13 God causes you to be out of the grace of people. 09:16 Jesus had thousands of people following Him while He's 09:22 healing the sick and raising the dead. 09:24 People were excited about being close to Him, being near 09:28 Him, but when trouble came they began to desert Him. 09:34 That's not strange because all of us must go through a time 09:38 in our lives where people are not with us, that those who we 09:43 thought would always be there for us, are not there for us. 09:47 Because it is then, and only then, that you start 09:52 recognizing the faithfulness of God and the frailty of men. 09:56 You see, when Jesus was arrested, apprehended, 10:01 wrongfully convicted and nailed to a cross, all of a 10:06 sudden it was no longer popular to be called 10:09 one of His disciples. 10:10 So when we step into this text there's a great deal of fear 10:15 in the room. 10:17 A great deal of controversy in the room. 10:21 And the disciples who have been used by Jesus to heal 10:24 sick people, who have been used by Jesus to teach people, 10:28 who have been sent out two by two to effectively change 10:31 cities and revolutionize the way people think, they are now 10:35 scared. 10:37 Jesus had been crucified. 10:40 He was dead and they knew He was dead. 10:44 They laid His body in the tomb, prepared Him for burial, 10:49 put Him in a tomb like a mummy. 10:51 This was supposed to be it. 10:54 They were afraid. 10:55 Many had laid down their lives, their jobs and their 10:57 careers to follow Jesus. 10:58 Many of them had withstood the controversy of their families 11:01 to follow Jesus. 11:02 They had forsaken their business affairs and all of 11:06 their routines of the day to follow Jesus. 11:09 They were so sure that He was going to set up His kingdom on 11:12 earth that there was a debate about who was going to sit on 11:15 His left side and who was going to sit on His right 11:18 side. 11:19 And all those debates became totally irrelevant now because 11:23 Jesus is dead. 11:25 There seemingly was to be no kingdom and the disciples were 11:28 locked up behind closed doors, afraid. 11:33 But then all of a sudden here comes Jesus, the Jesus they 11:41 knew or thought they knew was in the tomb. 11:45 They had rolled the stone in front of the tomb to keep Him 11:49 in the tomb and to keep anybody from taking His body 11:51 out of the tomb, this Jesus appeared in the room and 11:57 ministered a word of peace in a time of distress. 12:02 Jesus said, 'Peace be unto you." Now the disciples 12:07 epitomized fear, distrust and unease, but Jesus walked right 12:12 in and He speaks peace. 12:14 This, my friends, is representative of the 12:18 disconnect we often have with God. 12:21 Because sometimes God is saying something that is over 12:24 here while you're feeling something that is over there. 12:30 Isn't it amazing how God can talk to you about prosperity 12:34 when you're on the brink of poverty? 12:37 Isn't it interesting how God will talk to you about 12:41 ministering to somebody else's need at a time when you wish 12:47 you had somebody to minister to your needs? 12:50 Isn't it amazing how God will stand up in your life and give 12:54 you a word for somebody else while you wait patiently for a 12:59 word yourself? 13:01 And it is into this depressing, dreary, drab, 13:06 desolate and dismal environment that Jesus comes. 13:10 Let me tell you something. 13:12 It was not the disciples' faith that brought Jesus into 13:16 the room, for the Bible says they were fearful. 13:20 You don't earn God's presence just because you have faith. 13:25 Sometimes God will stop by when you are faith-less. 13:31 Fearful and intimidated, He shows up anyhow. 13:36 Have you ever gotten a blessing and you couldn't even 13:39 explain how you got the blessing? 13:42 Have you ever seen God bless you at a time in your life 13:45 that you felt less than worthy of the blessing than at any 13:48 other time in your life, but God stopped by and blessed you 13:52 anyhow? 13:53 He came to the disciples, my friends, not because they were 13:57 expecting Him but in spite of them expecting Him. 14:01 He showed up anyway and said, 'Peace be unto you." But this 14:07 sermon did not move the disciples. 14:12 The message Jesus preached did not change the disciples. 14:15 Peace be unto you did not bring them to their knees and 14:20 make them say, yes, Lord. 14:22 The Bible says He said, 'Peace be unto you." They were not 14:27 changed, the Bible teaches, until they saw His wounds. 14:31 When they saw His wounds, the Bible then teaches that they 14:37 were then glad. 14:39 Let me share this with you. 14:41 Ministry is more than messages, ministry is more 14:48 than sermons, it's more than three, four or five points. 14:54 It's more than just decibel levels, because if you're 14:57 going to shout, say something worth shouting about. 15:01 Ministry is more than just breaking down Greek or Hebrew 15:03 words. 15:05 Real ministry is when people see you get wounded, see you 15:10 get cut, see you suffer and you still rise up out of it 15:15 and you say, 'Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." 15:21 Real ministry only happens when you get some blood on 15:25 you. 15:26 Study all you want, read all you want, but until you've 15:31 bled over what you believe, until you stood up against all 15:35 hell breaking loose in your life, then people are glad. 15:40 I don't want to hear you preach until I've seen your 15:43 scars, your wounds, your bruises, and then you bring 15:49 legitimacy to the faith and dignity to the Gospel. 15:53 When the Bible says they saw his wounds then they were 15:58 glad, let me illustrate. 16:01 When a man and a woman exchange marital vows at the 16:06 wedding altar and they say, 'I take you for better or for 16:11 worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in 16:14 health." That sounds nice and pretty. 16:19 But you know what? 16:21 It doesn't mean a thing until you've gone through some 16:25 sickness, some troubles, some turmoil and some way God 16:31 brings you back together again. 16:35 Do I have a witness in this place? 16:36 Legitimacy is proven through struggle. 16:41 You can't say you're faithful if you've never been tested. 16:43 Too many folks, I say it all the time, test a lie instead 16:48 of testify. 16:50 But you can't testify until you've been through a test. 16:55 When Jesus shows up, shows them the wounds in His side, 16:59 the nail prints in His hands, it is at that moment that the 17:04 disciples, the Bible teaches, are glad. 17:07 They are all rejoicing. 17:08 They were all excited, except one of them. 17:13 One of them wasn't there. 17:15 One of them was missing. 17:18 Now, understand, throughout His ministry Jesus had taught 17:23 the power of the set. 17:26 What do I mean? 17:27 Even though they were glad, the value of their joy could 17:30 not be complete in the absence of their brother. 17:34 Let me illustrate. 17:35 You can go to the store and buy some expensive shoes. 17:38 You pay a lot of money for them, but if you lose one of 17:42 them, the one you have left can be just as pretty as it 17:45 was before but it has no value because the other shoe is 17:48 missing. 17:50 Jesus taught the power of the set. 17:54 He said if you have 99 sheep and you know one of them is 17:58 missing, you leave the 99 and go after the one because the 18:03 power is in the set. 18:06 Now you have to remember, Bible students, they have 18:08 already lost Judas. 18:10 There's nothing that they can do with Judas. 18:14 Judas actually filled his purpose in his betrayal. 18:17 So you really can't count Judas as missing because what 18:20 he was called to do he had already done. 18:23 fulfilled the prophecy that one would betray Jesus. 18:27 Judas commits suicide. 18:29 Judas is dead and that leaves eleven disciples. 18:33 But the Bible says in the text that there are only ten 18:38 disciples in the room. 18:41 The Bible says, 'But Thomas was not there." Have you ever 18:48 been in church, have you ever been in service and looked for 18:52 somebody you were ministering to, praying with all week on 18:54 the phone, the preacher was saying exactly what they 18:57 needed to hear and you said, he or she should have been 19:00 here today. 19:01 It's a shame that folks won't be faithful because sometimes 19:06 your breakthrough is in your being faithful. 19:09 There's something you miss when you're not there. 19:13 The Bible says, 'Forsake not the assembling of yourselves 19:16 together" but so much the more as you see that they have 19:20 Jesus' coming fast approaching, because there's 19:22 something you miss when you're not there. 19:25 One word from God, I'm a witness, one word from God can 19:29 turn an entire situation around, but you can't get the 19:35 word if you're not here to receive the word. 19:37 There's a ministry of presence. 19:40 Think about it. 19:41 Suppose the woman with the issue of blood had missed the 19:44 service that day. 19:46 Suppose blind Bartimaeus had decided that he was going to 19:49 stay in the bed and he wasn't going to be sitting on the 19:52 side of the road, he would have missed the service that 19:54 day. 19:55 Suppose the lame man at the pool of Bethesda had not been 19:59 in the water that day. 20:02 Thomas was not there. 20:04 But when the disciples found him, the Bible teaches, they 20:07 came together and they were excited and they began to tell 20:11 Thomas all the things that the Lord had done. 20:15 Oh, Thomas, man, you missed it. 20:18 You should have been there. 20:19 It was incredible. 20:20 It was crazy praise. 20:22 It was awesome church. 20:23 We had praise all over the place. 20:25 Jesus showed up, Jesus Himself, Jesus was in the 20:29 room. 20:31 And you know how it is when you're excited about 20:33 something? 20:35 You want other people to be excited, too, and when you're 20:39 glad, you want other people to be glad too. 20:42 Are you hearing what I'm saying? 20:44 When I'm excited in Jesus, I don't know about you, but I 20:48 want to be around other folk who are excited in Jesus. 20:51 I don't like hanging around dry, dead folk. 20:55 I don't like coming to church and being around people who 20:59 are not happy in Jesus. 21:01 I refuse to be a prisoner in my own church. 21:05 Because there's something about the joy of the Lord, the 21:09 joy of the Lord is your strength. 21:13 And let me tell you something, you can't fake it. 21:14 Either you have it or you don't. 21:20 Do I have a witness in this place? 21:21 But instead Thomas, joining in the fellowship with the other 21:27 disciples, Thomas says, I'm not hearing this. 21:32 I ain't about all that. 21:34 Unless I see the nail prints of His hands and put my finger 21:39 into the print of the nails and thrust my hand into his 21:44 side, I'm not hearing it. 21:47 I will not believe what I can't see. 21:51 I will not trust what I can't touch. 21:54 I will not risk what I can't count. 21:58 I'm an empiricist, I'm a scientist, I a post-modernist. 22:02 I've got to see it, feel it, taste it, touch it, try it, 22:06 handle it before I believe it. 22:07 Now remember the story. 22:12 Jesus has only 40 days to show Himself alive on earth before 22:16 His ascension back to heaven. 22:19 Jesus does not have time to waste, but yet the Bible says 22:23 that Jesus makes a second trip. 22:28 Thomas walks around with his skepticism all week long, but 22:34 eight days later, the Bible says, Jesus returned to the 22:39 same room where the disciples had gathered before, but this 22:44 time Thomas is there, and although the doors were shut, 22:50 although the doors were locked, Jesus got in the room. 22:56 You do know that Jesus doesn't care anything about closed 23:05 doors, locked doors, restrictive covenants, class 23:11 distinctions or bell curve speculations. 23:16 Jesus walked through the locked door, stood in the 23:20 middle of the room and says for the second time, 'Peace be 23:25 unto you." Now remember, the original ten disciples are 23:30 already convinced. 23:32 They're already persuaded. 23:34 They're already excited. 23:35 And Jesus Himself, follow me carefully, Jesus Himself, not 23:40 His representative, not His ambassador, not His angels, 23:45 not the royal diadem, but Jesus Himself comes back for 23:54 one person. 23:57 Now, somebody got that? 24:01 That makes me want to shout right there, because I want to 24:06 think Jesus came back just for me. 24:13 He didn't have to do it, but He came for me, in spite of my 24:19 unbelief, He came for me. 24:22 Let me call the roll today of your unbelief. 24:25 Jesus came for you. 24:28 He didn't come to Thomas because Thomas was holy. 24:31 He didn't come to Thomas because Thomas was praying. 24:34 Thomas was faith-less, the Bible says, but Jesus still 24:37 came to him. 24:39 Ah. 24:42 I wish I had a witness in this place. 24:45 I wish there was somebody in this church right now who is 24:48 grateful that Jesus came just for you. 24:52 He came and He showed up just for you. 24:57 He came, showed up. 25:00 He came through the door, appeared unto Thomas. 25:03 What does that tell me? 25:04 Well, you didn't come to Jesus, Jesus came to you. 25:08 When you couldn't come to Jesus, Jesus came to you. 25:12 When you are messed up in your mind, confused in your heart, 25:16 Jesus still came to you. 25:19 Now, let me be real right now, loosen you up a bit. 25:26 I know some of us get on your nerves because we shout too 25:30 much, holler too loud, church is too long, we wave our hands 25:35 too much, and we say Amen all the time. 25:39 But the reason why we are so demonstrative in our praise 25:43 and worship is because when I look back over where I was and 25:47 to think that Jesus would come and get me. 25:54 I don't mean to get on your nerves, but I've got to thank 25:56 Him. 25:57 I don't mean to ruffle your feathers, but I've got to 25:59 worship Him. 26:01 I know you may not be used to it, but I've got to magnify 26:04 Him because Jesus came just for me. 26:10 PB: Be sure to join us again next week as we continue to 26:14 explore the Word of God. 26:16 Remember, God's got a Word just for you from his Holy 26:20 Bible. 26:21 Also, I'd like to invite you to become a Breath of Life 26:24 television ministry partner. 26:25 How can you become a partner? 26:27 Just give us a call at 877-BOL-OFFER. 26:41 If you would like to write us you may do that as well. 26:45 The address is shown on your screen and we'd love to hear 26:48 from you. 26:52 Finally, you may reach us by logging onto our website, at 26:55 www.breathoflife.tv. 27:00 Again, thank you for tuning in. 27:05 We look forward to seeing you again next week. 27:08 May God continue to bless you. 27:10 >: Two thousand years ago Jesus did something especially 27:14 for you. 27:15 He died on the cross of Calvary. 27:18 That day you were on His mind. 27:20 Our offer this week is Max Lucado's 'He Did This Just for 27:24 You." This easy to read, inspirational book reveals 27:26 what God did to win your heart. 27:30 Let Max Lucado beautifully lay out the way home to our 27:34 heavenly Father through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. 27:37 Call today and ask for 'He Did This Just for You." It's yours 27:41 for a gift of $5 or more. 27:43 The toll free number is 877-BOL-OFFER. 27:46 That's 877-265-6333. 27:49 Or you may write to Breath of Life, Box 340, Newbury Park, 27:54 CA 91319. 27:58 Remember to include your gift of $5 or more. 28:01 Get up close and personal with a passion and promise of 28:04 God Almighty in 'He Did This Just for You." 28:10 (music) PB: Jesus never called Thomas 28:15 'Doubting Thomas." 28:19 God wants you. 28:22 You ought to rejoice over what God is Getting ready to do. |
Revised 2015-02-06