Participants: Carlton P. Byrd
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000055
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00:00 ♪ (Theme Song) ♪ ♪ Jesus is worthy... ♪
00:11 ♪ oh yes, he's worthy... ♪ ♪ worthy of all... ♪ 00:18 ♪ (Music) ♪ PB: Hello. 00:23 I'm Dr. Carlton Byrd, senior pastor of the Oakwood 00:25 University Church, along with the speaker-director of the 00:29 Breath of Life television ministry, and we're grateful 00:32 to be live from the Oakwood University Church on the 00:35 campus of Oakwood University. 00:36 In our words today we were blessed by one of our sister 00:39 institutions, the Norfolk State University Choir under 00:42 the direction of Dr. Carl Haywood. 00:44 And we're also happy that our university president and his 00:46 lovely wife are here today and that is Dr. Leslie and Dr. 00:48 Prudence Fowler. 00:51 We're ready to go to the Word of God. 00:53 If you would take your Bibles and go with me 00:54 to the book of Exodus. 00:55 What book did I say, everyone? 00:57 Exodus, chapter three is where we are going 01:00 and we're going to verse 1. 01:03 Exodus 3:1. 01:04 If you have it, let me hear you say Amen. 01:08 The Word of God says to us, "Now Moses kept the flock of 01:11 Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: 01:16 and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, 01:18 and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. 01:21 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame 01:24 of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, 01:28 and, behold, the bush burned with fire, 01:31 and the bush was not consumed. 01:34 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great 01:38 sight, why the bush is not burnt. 01:41 And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, 01:43 God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, 01:45 and said, 'Moses, Moses.' And he said, 'Here am I.' 01:49 And he said, 'Draw nigh hither: put off thy 01:52 shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou 01:58 standest is holy ground.' Moreover he said, 'I am the 02:02 God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and 02:06 the God of Jacob.' And Moses hid his face; for he was 02:08 afraid to look upon God. 02:12 And the Lord said, 'I have surely seen the affliction of 02:15 my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by 02:17 reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows: And 02:20 I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the 02:22 Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a 02:23 good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and 02:29 honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, 02:32 and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, 02:35 and the Jebusites. 02:37 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is 02:41 come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith 02:45 the Egyptians oppress them. 02:46 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that 02:50 thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel 02:57 out of Egypt.'" I don't want to be long before you long 03:02 today but we just want to challenge you with a special 03:05 subject and I want you to help me today, so do me a favor and 03:08 turn to your neighbor and say, neighbor, take your shoes off. 03:20 God, right now, as we go into your Word, speak for your 03:26 servants heareth. 03:28 God, when the appeal is made, I pray that men and women, 03:30 boys and girls will come running down this aisle 03:32 saying, what must I do to be saved. 03:36 And I'll be able to say, you only must believe on the Lord 03:39 Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. 03:40 Hide me behind thy cross, forgive me of my sin. 03:43 God, I'm so unworthy to stand here, but through your grace 03:47 and your mercy and shed blood I can stand here today. 03:50 Thank you, Jesus. 03:52 Bless us now we pray in Jesus' name. 03:55 Amen. 03:57 Take your shoes off. 04:02 Now, while the title of our sermon may be catchy, 04:05 captivating and perhaps fascinating, I plead with you, 04:11 please don't take your shoes off, because if we all did 04:15 we'd probably be surprised at what we see or, worse yet, 04:21 what we smell. 04:23 Do I have a witness in this place? 04:25 Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. 04:28 When communion is on the calendar and you know we 04:31 participate in the ordinance of humility, the foot washing, 04:33 then if you make sure you wear the right shoes, come on, say 04:37 Amen, make sure your feet are lotioned, your toenails are 04:41 clipped and your socks or stockings don't 04:45 have holes in them. 04:46 Come on, say Amen. 04:48 Why do we wear shoes? 04:51 Is it merely to cover torn toes, callused corns or 04:57 fatigued feet? 04:59 Let me offer you some reasons today of why we wear shoes. 05:05 Number one, I believe we primarily wear 05:07 them for protection. 05:10 The foot contains more bones than any other 05:12 single part of the body. 05:13 The foot is vulnerable to environmental hazards such as 05:18 sharp rocks, debris and the cold or hot ground, and shoes 05:21 protect against these things. 05:24 We also wear shoes, number two, because it's a social 05:28 custom, whether it's sandals, tennis shoes, boots, Stacy 05:34 Adams, ladies' stilettos, open toe, closed toe or no toe, 05:41 we all have on shoes. 05:42 But shoes are not just something of our modern world. 05:49 Shoes have been worn for thousands of years. 05:52 The earliest designs, they were simple, they were 05:56 often mere foot bags. 05:57 Everybody say foot bags. 05:59 Foot bags of leather are there to protect the feet from the 06:03 elements of the ground. 06:04 There are even biblical applications to shoes. 06:07 Paul says in Ephesians 6:15, put on the shoes of the gospel. 06:13 This is further evidence that shoes were worn 06:16 back in the day. 06:18 The Roman soldiers wore sandals that had nails driven 06:22 through the bottom to provide the soldier with sure 06:24 footing on the battlefield. 06:25 He didn't have to worry about his feet slipping in the heat 06:29 of the battle, for he was always well grounded. 06:33 The biblical application today is that we have to be well 06:36 grounded in the things of God. 06:38 We need to know what we believe, as I said last week, 06:41 why we believe what we believe and where it's found. 06:44 We need sure footing when we stand against the wiles 06:48 of the devil. 06:50 You can't fight the devil slipping. 06:54 Let me say that again. 06:56 You can't fight the devil slipping, and too many folks 07:00 are slipping. 07:02 You've got to be able to grip the ground 07:05 you walk on and stand. 07:07 Do I have a witness in this place? 07:09 So, in the text Moses has on shoes, but God tells him to 07:14 take your shoes off. 07:17 Now in the 21st century culture, directing you to take 07:20 your shoes off wouldn't sound strange or abnormal, because 07:23 people are told or expected to take off their shoes 07:27 in certain cultures or context. 07:29 You walk into somebody's house in an Asian or Arab country, 07:33 you walk into somebody's house in Sweden, Norway, Denmark 07:36 or even Canada and you better take your shoes off. 07:40 But why would God give this directive to Moses in 1400 BC? 07:46 Moses, you will remember, was the Hebrew baby 07:49 that was set out on the Nile river, who was 07:52 rescued by Pharaoh's daughter. 07:55 We know God orchestrated all of this because Moses' birth 08:00 mother, Jochebed, ended up being his nurse mother in 08:04 Pharaoh's privileged palace. 08:06 But Moses didn't forget where he came from. 08:10 Moses didn't let a little money, a nice house, a nice 08:14 car, some nice clothes and fine food to cause 08:17 him to forget his roots. 08:19 It was Moses who saw an Egyptian soldier beating 08:23 a Hebrew slave and in a murderous rage Moses, 08:26 remembering he was a Hebrew and knowing his roots, 08:30 killed the soldier. 08:33 Despite this vicious act of aggression Moses still led 08:35 an entire nation out of captivity, presided over the 08:39 people as they embraced the written covenant making them a 08:42 nation, was the instrument through which God provided 08:44 the Ten Commandments. 08:46 And then Moses, and this is why he gets all the props 08:53 from me, had to lead a stiff-necked, amnesia-plagued 08:55 people through the wilderness when all they did, help us 08:58 Holy Ghost, was murmur and complain about having to eat 09:03 fried manna, stewed manna, baked manna, barbecued manna, 09:10 curried manna, and maybe even jerk manna, even though God 09:15 had brought them out of slavery, bondage, 09:19 oppression and suppression. 09:22 Don't forget where you come from. 09:24 Don't forget how the Lord got somebody this morning up 09:28 out of your sick bed of affliction, when your body was 09:31 racking with pain, and when the doctors said, 09:34 no, Jesus said yes. 09:36 And where you had that cancer, that cancer has now 09:41 gone into remission. 09:42 Don't forget where you've come from. 09:44 Don't forget how it used to be that you didn't have two 09:47 nickels to rub together. 09:48 Or you didn't know where your next meal was coming from. 09:51 Come on, you say, Pastor Byrd, you don't know 09:53 anything about that. 09:54 Oh, yes, I do. 09:55 I was a student here and college is a temporary 09:57 state of poverty. 09:58 Do I have a witness in this place? 10:02 Don't forget how you didn't know how you were going 10:06 to get in school. 10:08 Are you hearing what I'm saying? 10:09 But God made a way out of no way and now you're eating 10:13 collard greens and cornbread. 10:16 Now you're living in a comfortable house or you're 10:19 sitting in class asking your teacher when is the next test 10:22 going to be. 10:23 Do I have a witness in this place? 10:27 Don't forget that when you were out there living it up, 10:30 doing it up, partying it up, clubbing it up, drinking it up 10:33 in places you had no business, but God rescued you. 10:38 God got you out of that scene, got you out of that 10:41 environment. 10:43 You didn't end up with something or someone 10:46 you would regret later. 10:47 Somebody knows that a few seconds of pleasure can 10:51 bring a lifetime of pain. 10:52 Don't you forget where you've come from. 10:56 Sitting up in here looking cute, wise and other wise. 10:58 You haven't always been Missionary Marvin or 11:01 Evangelist Emily. 11:03 Somebody was Lowlife Larry or Heckled Helen. 11:06 Somebody here knows that if it had not been for the Lord-- 11:11 I feel like preaching today-- if it had not been 11:14 for the Lord on my side, where would I be? 11:19 The children of Israel have forgotten where God has 11:23 brought them from. 11:24 Don't forget where God has brought you from. 11:26 Do I have a witness in this place? 11:27 Now, the years of Moses' life are divided into 40. 11:34 The first 40 years he spent as a prince in Pharaoh's court. 11:39 The second 40 years he spent as a shepherd in Midian and 11:44 then the last 40 years he spent as leader 11:48 of the Israelites. 11:49 Now, in Exodus, chapter 3 we kept up with brother Moses and 11:53 it has almost been 40 years since he arrived in Midian. 11:58 He is now almost 80 years old, Exodus 7:7. 12:02 He's at the end of this second set of 40 years. 12:06 The former prince wandered in the desert caring for sheep, 12:10 and they aren't even his own sheep, they belong 12:12 to his father-in-law. 12:14 But one day Moses led his flock near Mount Horeb. 12:21 The Bible says it's the mountain of God and on the 12:24 backside of the desert he is stopped by a strange 12:29 and wondrous sight. 12:31 He saw a bush which seemed to be on fire but it was 12:36 not burned up. 12:42 Now remember, as a shepherd Moses was familiar with seeing 12:44 bushes burn under the hot sun. 12:46 To cook and keep warm at night Moses would have been 12:50 familiar with sources of fuel for a fire. 12:53 Burning bushes were common sights in the wilderness and 12:56 Moses must have seen hundreds of them before. 13:00 But something was different this time. 13:02 A flash of fire catches his attention and so he decides 13:06 to watch for a little bit, because there was something 13:11 different about this burning bush. 13:14 Though the fire raged, it didn't consume the bush. 13:19 Let that be a lesson to you and to me, that the bush 13:22 burned but it did not burn away. 13:27 Symbolic of God's church. 13:30 Satan will try to kill the church any way he can. 13:33 The church will be persecuted, the church will be mocked, 13:37 the church will be ridiculed. 13:39 The day is going to come when the church will have 13:41 to go in hiding. 13:43 But the church in every age, under the most severe 13:47 persecution will be kept by the presence of God 13:51 from being destroyed. 13:52 Hallelujah, somebody. 13:54 Now, the Bible does not give the bush a name, 13:59 does not give it a name. 14:01 Zion bush, holy bush, redeeming bush, Julius bush. 14:08 We don't even hear of popular places, persons or things 14:14 named for the burning bush today. 14:16 You don't hear of a burning bush SDA church. 14:20 You don't hear of a burning bush university. 14:26 Burning bush community center. 14:28 Burning bush worship center. 14:29 It's just a bush on fire. 14:33 But that's just like God. 14:35 God often manifests himself in fire. 14:38 In Genesis 15 he was represented by a pot of fire. 14:41 In Exodus 13 he was a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar 14:44 of fire by night. 14:45 In Exodus 19 he descends on Mount Sinai with fire. 14:48 In Deuteronomy 4 Moses says that God is a consuming fire. 14:53 In 1 Kings 18, God sets Elijah's altar on fire. 14:57 Jeremiah said God's word was like fire shut up in his bones. 15:03 In Act 2 on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Ghost 15:07 came, it was described as tongues of fire. 15:10 In Revelation 1:14, Jesus is said to have eyes of fire. 15:14 And in Revelations 20 it says that the wicked will be cast 15:19 in the lake of fire. 15:22 The Bible says that no man can see God's face and live, so 15:26 God appears in Exodus 3 in a way that conceals his 15:30 totality, but also makes himself known. 15:34 For Moses this was an ordinary day. 15:37 But on this day the ordinary becomes extraordinary, the 15:42 usual becomes unusual. 15:45 A burning bush, a burning bush that is not consumed? 15:51 And so, in verse 3 Moses says, I will turn aside to see this 15:55 great sight, why the bush is not burned. 16:01 The New Living translation says that Moses said to 16:04 himself, amazing, I must go over to see this. 16:07 The lesson here is that when we turn to see God, God will 16:10 surely speak to us. 16:12 But all of a sudden, verse 4, the bush begins to talk. 16:18 Moses, Moses, that's just like God. 16:23 God can speak to anything or anyone. 16:25 If God can speak through a donkey, if God can speak 16:30 through a bush, then surely God can speak 16:34 to you and to me. 16:35 For the first time in the book of Exodus God speaks. 16:39 God calls Moses from a burning bush. 16:43 God calls his people in different ways. 16:47 Samuel heard God call him by name as a child in the temple. 16:50 Jacob wrestled with the Lord all night long. 16:53 Joseph dreamed about God's will. 16:56 Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James and John away from their 17:00 fishing nets. 17:01 Matthew left his tax collector position behind. 17:04 Zachias was called from a sycamore tree. 17:08 Jesus appeared to the disciples in the upper room. 17:11 Paul met the Lord on the road to Damascus. 17:15 How has Jesus called you? 17:18 Where were you when Jesus called? 17:22 God calls Moses from a burning bush. 17:26 God calls Moses from fire. 17:28 Why does God call from fire? 17:33 Number one, fire consumes. 17:35 Fire what, everybody? 17:37 Deuteronomy 4, we said it earlier. 17:40 Moses says that God is a consuming fire, which means 17:43 that everything God touches, everything God has ownership 17:46 over he wants to consume. 17:47 Listen to me carefully, challenge your mind. 17:51 God doesn't destroy. 17:53 God consumes. 17:57 That's why when Moses looked at the bush it was consumed by 18:01 fire, but it was not destroyed. 18:05 That's the same thing God wants to do with us. 18:10 He doesn't want to destroy us, he wants to consume us. 18:15 This bush should have been destroyed in less than 10 18:19 minutes, but the miracle here is not the bush but the fire. 18:24 The fire of God kept burning and burning and burning. 18:28 This blazing fire, my friends, that sets the bush on fire and 18:33 kept burning and consumed it, but it didn't destroy it and 18:35 then it shone through it, is a sign and symbol for what God 18:39 wants to do to his church. 18:41 God wants to set the church on fire. 18:44 God wants his spirit to blaze in every area of our life. 18:49 God wants us to burn with a passion for Jesus Christ. 18:53 God wants to consume us with his fiery presence so we shine 18:56 with his glory, so that the world might know that there 19:00 is God and there is none other. 19:03 But secondly, fire purifies. 19:08 Now, there are only two ways, primary ways, 19:11 you can clean something. 19:13 Either you wash it or you burn it. 19:17 That's why the Lord showed Noah the rainbow sign. 19:21 He said it won't be water, but fire next time. 19:27 He purified the earth once by water at the flood and at the 19:32 end of the millennium he will purify the earth by fire. 19:36 Now, when you burn a metal, you heat it as hot as you can 19:41 so the impurities will come to the surface and you 19:43 wipe it off. 19:44 In biblical times that's what a refiner did. 19:47 They would put metal in a furnace over and over again 19:50 until they knew the metal was clean and the metal was pure. 19:53 And the way the refiner would know the metal was pure was 19:56 once he looked at it, he'd see the reflection of his face 20:01 in the metal. 20:03 You all don't hear what I'm saying. 20:05 That's what God wants to do in our lives. 20:08 He won't leave us the same way we are. 20:11 He'll chase after us until we change. 20:15 He wants our sins, he wants our weaknesses, he wants our 20:18 bad ways, he wants our bad attitude, anything that's 20:21 holding us back, he wants it all to go through the furnace 20:25 of his presence so that all the impurities of our hearts 20:29 will come to the surface so that the reflection of Jesus 20:33 will be seen in everything we say and do. 20:39 Number three, fire brings light. 20:42 Remember, God led Israel, a pillar of cloud by day 20:46 and a pillar of fire by night. 20:50 Everything outside of the camp was covered in darkness 20:55 but when others looked at where the children of Israel were 20:59 all they saw was fire reflected by light. 21:04 When God's church is on fire, we can be the light that 21:09 shines in the darkness of the world. 21:13 Darkness is defined as the absence of light, but darkness 21:17 alone cannot dispel light because the smallest glimmer 21:21 of light can dispel the greatest darkness. 21:24 Which means, I don't care how dark this world might be, just 21:28 a glimpse of light can change this world and turn it 21:32 upside down. 21:33 We need God's fire. 21:36 We need God's light. 21:37 Light doesn't originate with you, light doesn't start 21:41 with me. 21:42 You're just light leading to the light. 21:44 Ellen White said, I'm the lesser light leading 21:46 to the greater light. 21:48 The problem with many of us is we're too busy trying to get 21:50 close to folks thinking they're going to give us light. 21:55 But they're not THE light. 21:58 I don't care how deep they are, how many scriptures they 22:02 can quote, how many songs they can sing, 22:05 they're not THE light. 22:07 Jesus is the light that shineth in me. 22:12 When the fire comes, your light shines. 22:15 When the fire comes, people will be drawn to the light. 22:18 Let your light so shine before men that they may see your 22:21 good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. 22:25 Go be a light. 22:30 Verse 4, notice that when Moses, look at your Bible 22:35 carefully, when Moses refers to God as the Lord, the Bible 22:41 prints Lord, L-O-R-D, if you notice, in small caps. 22:47 Now you look at verse 4, notice he doesn't say capital 22:51 L, lower case o-r-d. 22:52 Capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. 22:56 Lord is in small caps. 22:58 Why? 22:59 What's the significance and meaning of this? 23:01 It is translating the Hebrew name Yahweh. 23:06 Yahweh is the personal name of the one true God, the creator 23:10 of heaven and earth. 23:12 Yahweh is the name which reveals his people 23:16 and his covenant. 23:17 Yahweh reminds us, friends, that we are not dealing 23:21 with a generic god, but we're dealing 23:23 with a specific God, the God who makes himself known. 23:29 The God who sent a plague of lice, frogs and blood to let 23:33 Pharaoh know who he was. 23:36 The God who parted the Red Sea. 23:39 The God whom the Hebrew midwives feared. 23:42 The God who heard their groaning to remember his 23:45 covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 23:47 The God who delivered the people of Israel. 23:49 Yahweh is the true God. 23:51 Yahweh is the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob. 23:54 Yahweh is the architect of the universe, creator of the 23:59 earth, captive freer, soul seeker, way maker, 24:07 strong deliverer. 24:09 Yahweh, my God, your God. 24:14 Moses with a trembling, scared voice said, Yahweh, here I am. 24:20 God says, don't come any closer. 24:23 Take your shoes off, because the place where 24:25 you're standing is holy ground. 24:28 Notice, the text does not say clean ground, the text does 24:32 not say comfortable ground, but it says take your shoes 24:39 off, because you're standing on holy ground. 24:42 Why was this ground holy? 24:45 First, any place where we meet God, it's holy ground. 24:49 It can be on the mountain top, it can be in the valley low, 24:52 any place where we meet God is holy ground. 24:54 Holy means set apart, set aside. 24:58 And let me warn you, we talked about holiness in the Sabbath 25:00 school lesson, but let me remind you because everything 25:03 that looks like holy is not holy. 25:06 Everything that talks like holy is not holy. 25:08 Everything that walks like holy is not holy. 25:12 Everything that acts like holy is not holy. 25:15 Everything that shouts like holy is not holy. 25:19 To be holy is to be set aside and set apart for God's use. 25:21 The Sabbath is holy. 25:24 Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it what? Holy. 25:26 The tithe is what? Holy. 25:28 All the tithes of the land, whether the seed of the land 25:30 or the fruit of the tree it is the Lord's, it is holy 25:33 unto the Lord. 25:35 The sanctuary is holy. 25:36 The Lord is in his holy temple. 25:40 God told Moses, Moses, you're standing on holy ground. 25:44 God set the ground aside for use. 25:48 We can not program, friends of mine, where we will meet God. 25:50 We cannot program when we will meet God. 25:52 We just have to be ready to meet God. 25:54 Are you hearing what I'm saying? 25:56 The Breath of Life gift offer this week is: 25:58 "Surprised by Love" by pastor and 26:00 international speaker Elizabeth Viera Talbot. 26:02 Find out how people in the Bible were surprised 26:05 by God's love. 26:06 Adam and Eve were surprised, the deceitful serpent and the 26:09 Pharisees were surprised. 26:10 It surprised the disciples and even the heavenly angels. 26:13 And God's surprises of love continue all around us today. 26:17 Journey with Elizabeth as you get a fresh view of the 26:19 greatest story ever told, from the kidnapping 26:22 of God's children to the rescue, from the ransom 26:25 to the reunion. 26:26 "Surprised by Love" is yours for a gift of $5 or more. 26:29 Call our toll-free number 877-BOL-OFFER. 26:35 That's 877-265-6333. 26:38 Please have your credit card ready when you call. 26:40 Or you may write us to request your copy. 26:43 Just send a check to Breath of Life, 26:44 P.O. Box 340, Newbury Park, CA 91319. 26:49 Get your copy of "Surprised by Love" today. 26:51 Be encouraged and touched by the unexpected rescue 26:54 of God's children. 26:57 PB: Thank you very much for tuning in and watching 26:59 Breath of Life today. 27:00 We do hope that you were blessed by our ministry 27:03 and that we gave a healing word in a hurting world. 27:08 In order for Breath of Life to continue ministering, 27:11 we need you. 27:12 We need your prayers. 27:13 We need your support. 27:15 We want you to know that any and all donations, 27:17 small or great, they are sincerely 27:19 welcome and appreciated. 27:21 To contact us or to make your donation, please feel free to 27:25 give us a call at 877-BOL-OFFER. 27:30 Or you may write to us at Breath of Life, P.O. Box 340, 27:36 Newbury Park, CA 91319. 27:48 Feel free to log onto our web site at www.breathoflife.tv. 27:57 If God can speak through a donkey... 28:00 If God can speak through a bush... 28:02 Then surely God can through you and through me. 28:05 God wants to set the church on fire. 28:10 Put on the shoes of the Gospel We need sure footing when we 28:14 stand against the wiles of the devil 28:18 Take your shoes off 'cause the place that you're 28:20 standing is holy ground. 28:22 "Yahweh" is the personal name of the one true God. |
Revised 2015-02-06