Participants: Carlton P. Byrd
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000036
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00:01 (Theme Song) Jesus is worthy...
00:11 oh yes, he's worthy... 00:15 worthy of all... 00:18 (Music) PB: Ezekiel is assigned by 00:24 God to preach to these dry, dead bones. 00:28 But you know what? 00:30 As Ezekiel begins to speak the Word, revival takes place. 00:34 As Ezekiel begins to speak the Word, reanimation 00:39 takes place. 00:41 But not only reanimation, because as he spoke the Word, 00:44 reanimation became the reassembling of life. 00:46 For it's not nearly enough to reanimate life, 00:50 but life that has been dismembered has 00:53 to be reunited. 00:54 So now God says, I will give you the reassembling of life, 00:58 and at that moment, God begins to reverse the process 01:03 of decomposition. 01:05 He says, Preach the Word. 01:08 And as Ezekiel began to preach the Word, look at 01:13 decomposition reverse itself. 01:16 God says, breath will enter the life. 01:19 Tendons will fill the bones. 01:20 Flesh will come upon the tendons. 01:24 And then skin will come upon the flesh. 01:27 That is the reversal of the process 01:29 of decomposition, for when one dies, breath leaves 01:33 the body, the flesh begins to deteriorate, the skin 01:36 and flesh begin to decompose, the tendons begin 01:39 to disintegrate, and then there is nothing left 01:41 but bare skeletal remains. 01:42 God says, my Word, sharper than any two-edged sword, can 01:51 reanimate and reassemble life. 01:55 Let me be clear tonight. 01:57 It is our duty to preach to all men, despairing of no one. 02:04 We are to sow beside all waters, we are to preach in 02:08 season and out of season. 02:10 Preach it when it's not even popular, because you can't 02:14 be popular and prophetic at the same time. 02:18 When it's two people, we are to preach just as hard as if 02:22 it were two thousand people, because God said, 02:26 wherever there are two or three gathered in the midst, I 02:29 shall be in the midst of them. 02:32 God can quicken the dead, God can raise life 02:37 up among the dead. 02:39 God is the Resurrection and the Life. 02:41 God is the Alpha and the Omega. 02:43 God is the Beginning and the End. 02:45 God is the First and the Last. 02:49 All we've got to do is preach God's truth 02:51 in God's strength. 02:53 God is sovereign. 02:54 God will quicken whom he will, when he will, where he will, 02:59 and how he will. 03:00 Ezekiel begins to preach. 03:02 I'm getting a little happy right about now. 03:05 Ezekiel begins to preach, and when Ezekiel begins to preach, 03:09 the Bible says revival begins to take place. 03:12 And you all know what happens when revival takes place. 03:14 The preacher gets to preaching. 03:16 The choir gets to singing. 03:18 The organist gets to playing. 03:20 The Holy Ghost gets to moving. 03:22 The people get to shouting. 03:24 Prayer warriors start praying. 03:26 Demons start trembling. 03:28 Souls stop sinning. 03:30 Gossipers stop gossiping. 03:32 Politicians stop politicizing. 03:35 Ezekiel begins to preach to dry, dead bones. 03:46 And in the bones, the Bible says, revival takes place. 03:49 And they begin to fix themselves together, and 03:52 clothe themselves in flesh. 03:54 Ezekiel begins to see that, yes, there's still 03:57 a God who sits high, but he looks down low. 04:01 And so now Ezekiel begins to get a little happy. 04:05 Ezekiel begins to stomp his feet a little bit. 04:07 Ezekiel begins to lift his hands a little bit. 04:10 Ezekiel begins to whoop and holler a little bit, because 04:12 he's thanking God for dry bones. 04:15 Because his valley, his revival, let him see God 04:20 perform orthopedic surgery. 04:22 Then let the ankle bone be connected to the leg bone, the 04:27 leg bone be connected to the knee bone, the knee bone be 04:31 connected to the hip bone, the hip bone be connected to the 04:34 back bone, the back bone be connected to the shoulder 04:38 bone, the shoulder bone be connected to the neck bone, 04:41 the neck bone be connected to the head bone, and oh, 04:45 dry bones! 04:49 Hear the Word of the Lord. 04:51 I am a witness that preaching the Word of God will stir up 04:58 and wake up dry bones. 05:02 Thank God for his Word. 05:05 I've asked myself many times, how can people come to church, 05:11 hear the Word and leave the same way? 05:13 Is it because they got the reanimation and the 05:18 reassembling? 05:20 But see, that's not the end of the process. 05:23 Because when you read the Word of God, it says to us in verse 05:27 8 that these people, although they now had shape and form, 05:31 they still had no breath in them. 05:34 Ezekiel had a measure of success in preaching. 05:41 A measure of success in preaching to the bones, and a 05:45 wonderful success it appeared to be. 05:48 The bones came together. 05:50 Bone to bone. 05:51 But the Bible says that there was no breath in them. 05:56 Ezekiel had done his work in the preaching, but there was 06:00 still something else that was needed. 06:04 Ezekiel must now prophesy to the wind to breathe on the 06:09 slain and make them live. 06:11 When Ezekiel does this, the Bible says that the wind 06:15 comes, and there stands up an exceeding great 06:19 army of living wind. 06:21 And that's just like some of us. 06:25 Many of us hear the Word to give us information 06:29 on how to live. 06:31 Enough of us get the Word to get inspiration to 06:34 reassemble life. 06:36 But without the indwelling presence of the Holy Ghost 06:41 that restores life, life is meaningless. 06:46 Some of us look alive, but we're dead. 06:50 Some of us are playing games with God, jiving with life, 06:54 but that's all right. 06:56 The day will come, keep on living, as the old folks say, 07:00 "Live long enough," and you will find yourself in a 07:04 valley, and you'll say, not only must I reanimate and 07:07 reassemble the Word of God, but I need a Word that 07:12 can restore life. 07:13 Life only comes from God's Holy Ghost. 07:16 Let me be clear to the preachers out there, elders, 07:19 teachers, deacons, teachers in Sabbath School, 07:22 let me be clear. 07:24 The most soul-stirring preaching will not 07:28 create life. 07:30 Ezekiel has to still prophesy to the wind. 07:37 He had to prophesy to the Holy Ghost that he would breathe 07:41 life into those dry, dead bones. 07:45 The wind here is the garden, it's the power of light, as is 07:48 typical of the Spirit of God. 07:49 The word of God says in Genesis 2:07, it teaches that 07:51 God formed man of the dust of ground, breathed into his 07:54 nostrils the breath of life, man became a living soul. 07:56 Dust plus breath equal living soul. 07:58 Man didn't come from monkey, man came from God. 08:02 God says, don't just speak the word, Ezekiel. 08:08 Now I want you to speak and prophesy to the wind. 08:12 I want you to speak to that which is alive and animate it. 08:15 And I want you to speak to the invisible and 08:17 watch the invisible and the incomprehensible move into 08:19 that which is no more than a corpse. 08:23 And move that corpse to a moving, living body, into a 08:26 spirit-breathing person. 08:28 The Bible says, Ezekiel stood up, lifted up his head back 08:34 and spoke to the wind and said, Wind, from the four 08:39 corners of the earth. 08:41 And the wind, the Bible says, began to rock God's spirit 08:45 around the bones, just like Ezekiel had walked backward 08:49 and forward from the bones. 08:51 The way that Ezekiel had walked from side to side and 08:53 surveyed the remains. 08:54 Now the winds would follow the same footprint 08:58 patterning of Ezekiel. 08:59 They would blow from the north, the south, the 09:03 east and the west. 09:04 They would envelope that which was dead and now you can begin 09:07 to see the chest expand, the lungs begin to move, and the 09:12 hands begin to take shape at the reassembling and now 09:15 the revitalization of life. 09:17 That's what the Spirit of God, hallelujah, does. 09:20 It makes that which was dead alive again. 09:24 Preaching the word doesn't slowly generate. 09:29 Preaching doesn't only give life, only God gives life. 09:32 Only God woke you up this morning. 09:36 The alarm clock didn't do it. God did it. 09:40 Only God can sustain your life. 09:43 The doctor didn't do it. 09:44 God did it. 09:46 God is life. 09:48 All life begins in God and flows from God. 09:51 All life lives through God and by God. 09:55 He is the life of life. 09:57 He is the giver of life. 10:00 He is the sustainer of life. 10:01 He is the way to life. 10:02 He is the way of life. 10:03 He is the way for life. 10:04 He is the way in life. 10:05 And he's a joy for my life. 10:08 God says, Ezekiel, the revival you have just witnessed in 10:14 the valley is a picture of my people, a picture of my 10:19 people who are despairing. 10:21 A picture of my people who are dismembered. 10:24 A picture of my people who are dead. 10:27 A picture of my people who have an erroneous 10:28 interpretation of who I am. 10:29 For they believe that I'm a God who is localized in one 10:32 place, but they have forgotten that I am not only the God of 10:35 Abraham at Mount Mariah, but I'm the God of Moses 10:38 at Mount Sinai. 10:39 The God of Isaac by the well, the God of Jacob by Bethel. 10:42 I'm not localized to any place. 10:43 I'm the sovereign Lord. 10:45 I'm omnipresent. 10:47 I'm everywhere all at the same time. 10:49 Wherever you are, I am. 10:51 Wherever you go, I've already been. 10:53 But the question is, can these bones live? 11:00 They can if hope is rebirthed in them. 11:03 Some of us here today, we need a little hope. 11:07 Anybody need a little hope? 11:08 We need that which will give us the invigoration to 11:11 continue on when everything around us seems 11:14 to be against us. 11:15 You need a little hope. 11:16 That's how you live life. 11:18 You live your life hoping your way through. 11:21 Let me be clear. 11:22 I hope my way through life. 11:24 I can remember preaching once, and this lady said, "Son, you 11:29 hoped me today." As an educated young preacher, 11:35 I thought I needed to correct her with her English and tell 11:40 her that what she meant to say was that I helped you today. 11:44 She said, "No, son, if you had helped me I 11:48 would have told you. 11:50 I said you hoped me. 11:53 You hoped me today." And that was the word of God, just 11:57 every now and then, it hopes us, hopes us into new 12:03 possibilities, hopes us into new perspectives, hopes us 12:06 into new dynamics, hopes us into new energy, hopes us into 12:11 meaningful purpose for existence. 12:14 The word of God hopes us. 12:19 Verse 11, the interpretation. 12:21 This is the house of Israel and they're saying that our 12:31 bones are dried up, our hope is lost, we are cut off. 12:34 But God says, these bones can live, you can live again. 12:42 I don't know who I'm preaching to tonight, but maybe the 12:46 worst of life has gotten the worst of you, but you 12:50 can live again. 12:52 Maybe life has gotten the worst of you, 12:55 but you can live again. 12:56 Maybe you've got sickness running through your body, 13:00 but you can live again. 13:02 Maybe you don't have a dime to your name, but you can 13:06 live again. 13:08 Maybe your children have run away from the Lord, but train 13:12 up a child in the way he should go and when he is 13:15 old he will not depart from it. 13:16 You can hope again. 13:18 So, Pastor Byrd, how can I hope again? 13:24 I'm so glad you asked. 13:25 The answer: prophesy. 13:29 Everybody say prophesy. 13:30 And so Ezekiel picks up in verse 12 where he left off in 13:35 verses 4 and 5. 13:36 He says in verse 12, prophesy. 13:38 Say to them, thus saith the Lord God. 13:44 I will open up your graves, call you to come up out of 13:48 your graves and bring you to the land of Israel. 13:51 Number one, God says I'm a resurrection. 13:53 I'm going to give you resurrection. 13:55 I'm going to give you hope through resurrection. 13:57 This is the resurrection of those who are despaired, 13:59 dismembered and disappointed, dead and disillusioned and 14:04 those who have been exiled is a picture of those of us who 14:08 need a hope from God that whatever graves we might be 14:13 in, God's going to lift us up. 14:15 And the grave he's speaking of is that he's going to lift the 14:18 chains of death. 14:20 Get thou away from you. 14:21 And God says, I'm going to resurrect your life. 14:23 You know he can do it because God is not only a God who 14:26 works on the area of impossible, but God, Yahweh, 14:29 knows how to weave his way out of a grave. 14:32 Whatever looks like it has God bound can't keep 14:36 God down too long. 14:37 It's just long enough for us to see the picture that it 14:41 looks impossible. 14:42 And God says, keep on looking, because I'm the God that can 14:47 show you it can open up. 14:50 Oh, I wish had time. 14:53 Let me say it anyhow. 14:54 I don't get down here all the time. 14:57 If you're looking for a nickname, 14:59 call God, the God that opens up. 15:03 He opened up the Red Sea. 15:07 He opened up Sarah's womb. 15:10 He opened up Hannah's womb. 15:12 He opened up jail doors for Peter. 15:16 He opened up Philippian doors for Paul and Silas. 15:20 But on the third appointed day, after he was crucified on 15:25 Friday, lay resting in the grave on the Sabbath, the 15:30 Bible says on the third appointed day the grave doors 15:33 opened up, tomb doors opened up for Jesus. 15:38 He's the God of the open. 15:40 And let me tell you something. 15:43 God can open up the doors in your life. 15:45 God gives resurrection and resurrection always gives 15:48 hope or possibility. 15:49 For when you look at resurrection, resurrection 15:52 says that God laughs at death's face. 15:57 Whenever you find yourself in a situation that looks as 16:01 hopeless, purposeless and meaningless, remember, 16:04 we have a God who will open things up. 16:07 We have a God of resurrection. 16:09 Hallelujah, somebody. 16:11 Because after every crucifixion there must be a 16:13 resurrection. 16:14 God can give new life. 16:17 He's a new life giver. 16:19 He says in verse 13, I will open up the grave and bring 16:26 you out of death. 16:28 Then he says in verse 14, I will put my spirit in you and 16:34 you shall live and I shall place you in your own land. 16:39 Hah, hallelujah, somebody, let me stop right there. 16:43 Not only is there resurrection, but there's 16:46 also reunion. 16:47 I said not only resurrection, but there's also reunion. 16:52 You all don't hear what I'm saying, somebody? 16:54 Oh, when we get to heaven, I'm going to be excited to see God 16:57 Jesus, but when we get to heaven, my Bible says, for the 17:00 Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with 17:03 a voice of the archangel, and the trump of God and the dead 17:06 in Christ shall rise first. 17:07 There's going to be union and reunion, hallelujah, somebody. 17:10 I see a scene. 17:17 If God had turned his back on the Hebrew children, but God 17:21 wanted his people to see that he cannot be localized. 17:24 He cannot be domesticated. 17:25 God is saying, you cannot dictate to me the way you want 17:28 me to operate for exile was not Babylonian power, 17:32 but it was my power. 17:34 You're not in Babylon for exilic purposes because they 17:37 overthrew my country, but I allowed them to overthrow you 17:40 so that exile could become your discipline. 17:44 I better pause there for a moment because there are some 17:48 of us in here tonight who are living in our own exile. 17:56 Let me talk to my colleagues. 17:57 Give you some hope. 17:59 Some of us, we are away from all hopeful possibilities. 18:03 You're in a district, maybe 10 people, 20 people, 30 people, 18:10 no money, no people, no resources, but you're there, 18:12 not because God is not faithful, but maybe you're 18:13 there because God is faithful. 18:16 Because God, I've learned in my life, that God allows 18:19 certain things to come our way to prove to us again and again 18:24 that he's the one who can get us out of what we find 18:28 ourselves in. 18:30 Do I have a witness in this place? 18:32 You better understand, the blessings of God are not on 18:35 places, the blessings of God are on people. 18:38 I wish I had a witness in this place. 18:40 For they got themselves into exile long before Babylonia 18:47 had come and taken them. 18:49 They had abandoned God. 18:51 They had estranged themselves from God. 18:53 They had become unfaithful to God. 18:56 And God says, I've got to straighten my people out 18:59 with the hand of discipline. 19:00 And sometimes I've learned in my life that God will 19:05 discipline us just for the purpose to get the best out of 19:08 us of what he has put inside of us. 19:10 God says, I will reunion you back to your land. 19:16 And as I have promised you, I have not forgotten my covenant 19:20 promise that I made to your forefathers and forebears. 19:23 I know where your land is. 19:25 I still have the title deed. 19:28 Even though the symbol has been destroyed, remember 19:31 I am the holy temple. 19:33 You don't need brick and mortar, you can go out to any 19:36 place, the desert place, the wilderness place, and call 19:40 on my name. 19:42 I am just as much God on the outside as I am 19:47 God on the inside. 19:48 I can be worshipped not only in the temple but also 19:52 on the terrain. 19:54 God says, I'm going to bring you back home to a place just 19:57 flowing with milk and honey. 19:58 I'll take you back to the land where your forefathers used to 20:01 pray to me, build their altars and dig their wells. 20:04 I'm going to bring you back to the place where your 20:07 homestead was. 20:08 He says, I'll resurrect you, I'll reunion you, and then 20:10 there's restoration. 20:13 And restoration is this, verse 14, that until my spirit 20:17 reigns in you, you cannot be my people. 20:22 Church, too many of us are living on what Henry David 20:27 Thoreau calls the quiet edge of desperation, because we're 20:31 trying to live and accomplish God's work without being 20:36 empowered by the presence and the restoring presence 20:40 of the Holy Ghost. 20:41 You can't be alive if you don't have the Holy Ghost. 20:45 The only way you are God's child is you have to have 20:48 the Spirit of God. 20:50 Are you hearing what I'm saying? 20:52 The Spirit of God is what equips us, enables us, and 20:54 empowers us. 20:56 God's people will always be in exile even if they go back to 21:01 their land if they don't have the presence of the Holy Ghost 21:04 dwelling in their lives. 21:05 That's why some folk can be in exile, and like Maya Angelou 21:13 says, I know why the caged bird sings. 21:17 The caged bird sings not because it's in a cage, but 21:21 because the spirit in the cage cannot be bound by the cage. 21:24 Too many church folk can't sing, can't smile, can't 21:34 rejoice, can't praise God because they're looking at the 21:40 cage and not the liberation of the spirit. 21:45 But in the name of Jesus, I'm looking at what 21:49 the Spirit of God is getting ready to do in 21:52 somebody's life. 21:53 Too many people only rejoice when that which is in you has 21:57 been brought to life again. 21:59 But God needs people who are on fire for him. 22:06 God needs people who will be stirred up. 22:09 God needs people who are looking for revival, for he 22:14 who has no fire in himself cannot warm others up. 22:19 So, if the sleeping folk would wake up, if the lukewarm folk 22:25 would fire up, if the disgruntled folk would sweeten 22:29 up, if the discouraged folk would cheer up, if the 22:33 depressed folk would look up, if the discontented folk would 22:37 lighten up, if the cutthroat folk would build up, and if 22:40 the gossiping folk would shut up, then the work of God could 22:48 be finished in God's world. 22:50 Come on, say Amen. 22:53 God says, I'll resurrect you. 22:56 I'll reunion you. 22:59 I'll restore you. 23:01 And then he says in verse 14, then you will know that I am 23:06 the Lord God, Yahweh, Jehovah, Sovereign. 23:18 Let me tell you all something, the only reason that God takes 23:23 us through life's processes is that when we leave God's house 23:28 we will know who God is. 23:31 God says, you have forgotten who I am. 23:34 And so I need to give you a history lesson of who I am. 23:38 So God closes up this text and says in verse 14, then shall 23:42 ye know that I am the Lord. 23:49 I have spoken it, I have performed it, in other words, 23:56 I am that I am. 23:58 He says, that who I am, I am that I am. 24:01 I am everything you need. I am your brains. 24:07 I am your water. 24:09 I am your shelter. 24:11 I am your shield. 24:12 I am your buckler. 24:14 I am that I am. 24:15 I am Adonai. 24:17 I am Lord of every lord, for one day every knee is going to 24:21 bow, every tongue is going to confess that Jesus 24:25 Christ is Lord. 24:26 I am God Almighty. 24:28 I am Elohim, the plurality of my own deity. 24:31 I am El Elyon, the God of the mountain. 24:37 But if that's too far for you, God says, I can come to where 24:40 you are. 24:41 He says, I am Jehovah Jireh. 24:44 When you need a sacrifice then I will provide. 24:46 I am Jehovah Shalom. 24:48 When you can't sleep at night, I am your peace. 24:51 I am Jehovah Rapha, when your body is wracking with pain, 24:54 I'll be your healer. 24:56 I am Jehovah Nissi, when you're fighting life's 25:02 battles, I'll lift up banners. 25:04 We've already won. 25:06 Don't wait until the battle is over, shout now. 25:09 Do I have a witness in this place? 25:12 If that's too far for you, God says I'll be 25:15 your leaning post. 25:17 Any old folks know about the leaning post? 25:19 In times of trouble, some of you grew up in 25:21 houses like that. 25:23 When mom and daddy say, he'll be your leaning post in 25:27 time of trouble. 25:30 When you're getting your old age, he says I'll be your 25:32 walking cane. 25:33 In your lowly, midnight hour, I'll be your company Keeper. 25:35 When your eyes are filled with tears, I'll wipe the tears 25:38 from your eyes. 25:39 When your heart gets heavy, I'll be your burden bearer. 25:42 A heavy load sharer. 25:44 A mind fixer. 25:45 A heart regulator. 25:46 A will out of no will. 25:47 A problem solver. 25:49 Do I have a witness in this place? 25:51 He says, I am that I am. 25:52 Old dry bones! 25:54 Hear the word of the Lord. 26:00 Too many of us are in the salvation train, but too many 26:03 of us are in the sleeper. 26:04 Old dry bones. 26:06 Hear the word of the Lord. 26:08 Oh, come magnify the Lord with me and let us exult his name 26:11 together. 26:13 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. 26:15 His mercy endures forever. 26:16 Praise God from whom all blessings flow. 26:19 Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me, 26:24 bless his holy name. 26:29 May the Lord bless you is my prayer. 26:35 PB: I would like to thank you very much for tuning in to the 26:37 Breath of Life telecast today. 26:38 I do hope that you were blessed by the word 26:42 from God today. 26:43 I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to 26:47 become a partner of the Breath of Life television ministry. 26:49 That's right, you may give a tax deductible donation and 26:53 partner with us as we seek to give hope and peace of mind to 26:57 the dying world in which we live. 27:00 To contact us, feel free to give us a call at 27:03 877-BOL-OFFER. 27:13 Or feel free to write us at the address shown 27:15 on your screen. 27:17 Finally, you can reach us by logging on to our website 27:20 at www.breathoflife.tv. 27:25 Again, thank you very much for tuning in today and we want to 27:29 thank you in advance for partnering with our ministry. 27:31 May God continue to bless you. 27:35 >: The Breath of Life gift offer this week is "What the 27:37 Bible Says About Death." Just call our toll-free number, 27:40 877-BOL-OFFER. 27:43 That's 877-265-6333. 27:46 "What the Bible Says About Death" is yours for 27:49 a gift of $5 or more. 27:50 Please have your credit card ready when you call. 27:54 Or you may write us to request your copy. 27:56 Just send your check to Breath of Life, P.O. Box 340, 27:59 Newbury Park, CA 91319 PB: God can quicken the dead. 28:09 God can raise life up among the dead. 28:12 God is the resurrection and the life. 28:15 God is the Alpha and the Omega. 28:17 God is the Beginning and the End. 28:19 God is the First and the Last. 28:21 Some of us look alive, but we dead. |
Revised 2015-02-06