Participants: Carlton P. Byrd
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000062
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00:00 ♪ (Theme Song) ♪ ♪ Jesus is worthy ♪
00:11 ♪ oh yes, he's worthy ♪ ♪ worthy of all... ♪ 00:18 ♪ all the praise ♪ ♪ (Music) ♪ 00:20 I'm throwing out a big net for a big catch 00:21 Do I have a witness in this place? 00:23 let me be clear, I did not leave Atlanta 00:25 Georgia I did not leave the 00:27 Berean church and come to Huntsville 00:30 to baptize one person. 00:32 I did not leave to come here to baptize two people. 00:37 I didn't leave to come here to baptize three people. 00:41 But the Lord sent me here to cast a big net, 00:47 to get a huge catch. 00:48 Oh, I've got a witness in this place. 00:50 I won't be satisfied until the whole city of Huntsville, 00:55 the whole city of Madison, the whole city of Tony, the 00:58 whole city of Harvest, the whole Tennessee valley knows 01:02 that there's no other name under heaven whereby 01:05 men can be saved but the name of Jesus. 01:10 Jesus, sweet Rose of Sharon. 01:13 Jesus, Lily of the Valley. 01:16 Jesus, bright as the morning star. 01:19 Jesus, my up, my down, my out, my in. 01:24 Way maker, problem solver, pain reliever, mind mender, 01:28 heart fixer. 01:29 Jesus, make me a fisher of men. 01:36 Now, let me tell you about a fisherman quickly. 01:40 I've only been fishing twice in my life, both on a men's 01:44 ministry fishing trip, and I didn't know 01:46 what I was doing. 01:47 The first time I caught nothing. 01:51 The second time I caught one fish and I threw it back in 01:55 at the end of the trip. 01:57 But I learned something about good fishermen. 02:01 Good fishermen have certain qualities. 02:04 Number one, good fishermen have patience. 02:09 Fishermen can't be impatient. 02:12 Fishermen have to learn how to wait. 02:14 Good things come to those who wait. 02:17 They know it often takes time to find a pool of fish. 02:20 So, if you are going to be good at fishing for me, 02:22 you've got to learn how to be patient. 02:25 Sometimes it takes time to pull those men 02:28 and women on in. 02:30 Number two, I've learned fishermen must have 02:33 perseverance. 02:33 Everybody say perseverance. 02:36 It's not simply a matter of waiting patiently in one 02:38 place hoping some fish will eventually show up. 02:40 It's a matter of going from place to place. 02:43 Sometimes you've got to go back again, over and over and 02:47 over again until the fish are found. 02:51 You work one area when you fish for men. 02:54 Then you've got to learn how to work that area again. 02:56 Work it over and over. 02:57 You have to work another area and then you have to come 03:00 back to work the original area, but you've 03:02 got to persevere. 03:04 Number three, a good fisherman has courage. 03:07 They'll face the sea for the cause of fish. 03:13 They'll face storm, tempest, turbulent waves, being called 03:18 names, doors slammed in your face, hot days, wintery 03:22 nights, all for the cause of catching fish. 03:26 Number four, good fishermen have to fish in the right 03:30 place at the right time. 03:33 If you talk to a fisherman who knows his stuff, 03:35 he'll tell you when and where the fish are. 03:38 You see, there are really better times to fish. 03:40 Doing a little study on this today, understand that fish 03:44 are affected by sunlight, warming trends, water depth, 03:49 storm and weather patterns, wind and tidal flows, 03:52 topography, geography and seasonal differences. 03:56 When it's bad for fishing in one location, it could be a 03:59 good day in another location, and a fisherman will tell you 04:03 that the locations may not be far apart. 04:07 The good soul winner chooses his moment 04:11 and his location carefully. 04:12 Fishermen must have good instincts for going to the 04:15 right place and dropping the nets at the right time. 04:17 Any good fisherman will tell you, make sure you fish in 04:20 water that actually has fish in it. 04:23 If there aren't any fish, you're not going 04:31 to catch anything. 04:32 Are you hearing what I'm saying? 04:35 Poor timing has lost a lot of catch, both fish and men. 04:41 You have to know where the fish are. 04:44 Number five, a good fisherman will stay out of sight as 04:46 much as possible. 04:48 He doesn't want the fish to be scared. 04:50 A good soul winner keeps himself or herself out 04:52 of the picture. 04:54 He hides his own presence even his own shadow and makes 04:56 sure the fish's eyes are fixed on Jesus. 04:59 Because a good fisherman understands it's not about 05:02 us, but it's all about Jesus. 05:06 Number six, good fishermen are not lazy. 05:09 Can't get a witness in this place. 05:14 Listen to me good, theology majors, good fishermen are 05:18 not lazy. 05:21 Are you hearing what I'm saying? 05:23 I'm not waiting for Elder Evan to tell me what to do. 05:25 Good fishermen are not lazy. 05:26 I've got to come to the office every morning because 05:28 God's got something for me to do. 05:30 Good fishermen are not lazy. 05:32 Andrew, Peter, James and John were not lazy. 05:35 They were industrious, hardworking fishermen. 05:38 God, listen to me, is not in the habit of calling people 05:41 to serve him who are slothful and lazy. 05:44 Because if you're a poor worker on the job, you'll 05:47 more than likely be a poor worker for Christ. 05:50 God doesn't need any lazy soldiers in his army. 05:53 Number seven, and this is a long one, you know number 05:58 seven, you know. 06:00 Good fishermen choose the right bait. 06:06 getting quiet in here, sister hill would say, "whoo," 06:10 Bowling right down somebody's alley, right now. 06:14 Any fisherman will tell you, you have to have the right 06:17 hooks and the right bait to catch fish. 06:20 Now, in our church, I'm not talking about Oakwood, I'm 06:24 talking about the collective church, many halls and 06:28 convention centers have been rented, tents erected and 06:31 pitched, money wasted and frustrations mounted all 06:36 because people use the wrong bait. 06:41 Let me be clear. 06:43 You can't use the same bait all the time. 06:47 Sometimes a fisherman will tell you, you've got to 06:50 switch your bait. 06:51 And then you can't use the same bait that was used 10 06:54 years ago, 20 years ago, or 30 years ago. Amen. 07:02 Preach, Pastor Byrd. 07:03 I'm doing the best I can. 07:04 You have to modernize the bait. 07:09 Modernize your hooks, your rod and your methods. 07:14 The same base rod and methods that were used in Jesus' day 07:17 are not used today. 07:20 Now, the message of catching fish is the same, but the 07:25 bait, the rod, the net, the methods are different. 07:30 Too many people can't catch fish today because they're 07:33 using the wrong bait. 07:34 Too many people can't catch fish because they're using 07:38 antiquated bait. 07:40 You can't use old bait in a new world. 07:43 I heard a preacher say, you can't have eight-track 07:45 ministry in a DVD society. 07:48 And speaking of bait, you have to use different baits 07:55 for different fish. 07:58 Oh, this is good today. 07:59 Come on, say Amen. 08:01 Any fisherman will tell you, if you want a certain type of 08:05 fish you have to use a certain type of bait. 08:11 Which means, the same way you found Jesus may not be the 08:16 same way I find Jesus. 08:19 The same way Elder McGriff found Jesus is not the same 08:22 way Elder Monroe found Jesus. 08:25 Let me break it down. 08:27 The way Mamma came in may not be the way your child comes in. 08:31 Now, the bait for somebody was under a tent. 08:39 Praise God for the tent. 08:41 I grew up in ministry. 08:43 When I first came to the South Central Conference 08:45 years ago, grew up in an era where they say, listen, 08:48 before you get ordained you've got to pitch a tent. 08:51 Well, we don't have any witnesses here to join in. 08:54 They don't know about that. 08:57 You had to pitch a tent. 08:58 Are you hearing what I'm saying? 09:00 So the bait for somebody back in the days was a tent, 09:03 sweating, sawdust under the tent. 09:04 Somebody knows what I'm talking about. 09:06 And you would build a trench around the tent. 09:08 Somebody know what I'm talking about? 09:11 And when it would rain you would go and hold 09:13 those two center poles. 09:14 Somebody knows what I'm talking about. 09:17 And then, we didn't have screens like we have, back 09:19 then in those days with the bait, but what we had to do 09:21 was go to Walmart, or back in the day in Huntsville 09:26 we had Food World. 09:27 Anybody remember Food World? 09:29 You had Food World or Walmart and you would have to go get 09:31 you a screen, a sheet, you know what I'm talking about. 09:35 A sheet, a queen or a king sized sheet. 09:37 Oh, you don't know what I'm talking about. 09:39 We didn't have this like this. 09:41 We used to go to Lowe's or Home Depot and we used to 09:44 have to get 2 x 4s and we would dig and put them 09:46 in the ground. 09:47 Then go get that sheet and staple that sheet 09:50 on those 2 x 4s. 09:51 Somebody knows what I'm talking about. 09:53 And that was our screen. 10:02 But I recognize now, Dr. Pollard, the bait for 10:06 somebody else may be in a church with air conditioning. 10:11 You all better say Amen. 10:13 I'll cut it off and you will be in a mess. 10:17 Air conditioned. 10:28 Looking at projector screens, controlled by PowerPoint. 10:35 I had a young preacher say to me one time, 10:36 we don't do tents anymore. 10:37 Okay. 10:38 You don't do tents, do something. 10:41 The bait for somebody may have been singing "Love 10:46 Lifted Me." Or the bait for somebody today maybe singing 10:50 "Hallelujah, You're Worthy to be Praised." The bait for 10:54 somebody may have been the King's Heralds quartet. 10:57 The bait for somebody else may have been the Blenrights. 11:02 The bait for somebody may have been the Aeolians. 11:05 The bait for somebody else may be Voices of Triumph or 11:08 Dynamic Praise. 11:10 The bait for somebody may have been the pipe organ. 11:13 The bait for somebody else may have now been 11:17 the Hammond organ. 11:20 The bait for somebody may have been E. E. Cleveland 11:22 or E. C. Ward, but the bait for somebody 11:25 may be now Carlton P. Byrd. 11:29 You have to use different bait for different fish. 11:37 Going a little deeper. 11:44 Any good fisherman will tell you, you have to catch fish 11:47 before you clean fish. 11:51 Do I have a witness in this place? 12:01 How can you clean something you haven't caught? 12:12 When we're fishing for men, too often we want to clean 12:16 them before we catch them. 12:19 Ooooh-ah. 12:23 I'm doing the best I can. 12:25 You have to be perfect, you have to have it all together, 12:31 you have to have it ready for translation, you've got to 12:35 know the 2300-day prophecy, the 70-week prophecy, and the 12:37 sad thing is many of us don't even know it. 12:40 We've only heard about it and can't explain it. 12:45 But we want to put people through a scrutinized 12:48 screening process and all they want to do is join the 12:51 body of Christ. 12:54 And I can't understand this, but how can one sinner deny 12:57 another sinner the privilege of joining God's church? 13:02 Hallelujah. 13:06 Does anybody know that all have sinned and come short of 13:08 the glory of God? 13:10 Does anybody know that we're all sinners saved by grace? 13:13 Does anybody know anything about sanctification? 13:16 God's imparted righteousness. 13:18 That it's the work of a lifetime. 13:22 That day by day we grow into the knowledge 13:26 and love of Christ. 13:27 I am not the same person I was 20 years ago 13:29 when I was a student here. 13:32 Sanctity, it grows you. 13:34 I've been in the church all my life, third generation, 13:37 paternally and maternally. 13:39 I've told you that. 13:40 But I can't expect somebody to gain in 40 days 13:42 what it's taken me almost 40 years to get. 13:48 And you know what? 13:51 Paul says I'm teaching it. 13:53 So, to my church family, to the student body, 13:55 be patient with me. 13:57 God is not through with me yet. 14:01 Well, you've got to be like us. 14:03 You've got to look like us. 14:07 You've got to dress like us. 14:08 You've got to smell like us. 14:10 No, just be like Jesus. 14:14 By beholding we become changed. 14:18 And let me tell you something, that's not 14:20 watering down the gospel either. 14:21 That's the gospel of fact. 14:23 I want people to fall in love with Jesus. 14:25 Don't fall in love with Carlton Byrd, fall in love 14:27 with Jesus, because if you don't fall in love with Jesus 14:30 you will be a dry devil in the pool, go down in water, 14:32 come up a wet devil. 14:33 You all don't hear what I'm saying. 14:36 Jesus said, if you love me, keep my, what? 14:37 It's about a relationship, not solely about religion. 14:39 It's about love, not legalism. 14:42 It's about Christ not a creed. 14:44 Number nine. 14:49 A good fisherman knows how to secure fish on the hook. 14:57 Now, when a fish feels that hook, the fish struggles 15:02 to get free. 15:04 This might involve the fish jumping, making a long run, 15:08 swimming, swimming back against the line, swimming 15:11 against obstacles. 15:13 When you fish for men and they feel the Holy Ghost 15:19 hook they may struggle to break loose. 15:25 But you've got to keep your cool and work with that 15:28 fish's movements to reel them back on in. 15:32 Don't get discouraged when that fish is trying 15:35 to get off that hook. 15:36 You keep that hook steady and you reel that fish 15:39 right back on in. 15:40 Then number ten. 15:43 A good fisherman will pray before they fish. 15:48 Lord, protect me as I'm out here on the sea. 15:53 There are a lot of dangers out here at sea. 15:56 But Jesus, keep me. 15:59 The soul winner has to pray before they fish. 16:02 Lord, lead me, guide me, protect me as I am fishing 16:09 for men, women, boys and girls. 16:13 When Jesus called the first disciples, Jesus gathered 16:17 together the first fish-catching crew 16:20 of his church. 16:21 They were the original band of originally evangelists he 16:23 called to fulfill the gospel commission. 16:25 They were his first partners in ministry. 16:27 Jesus had the power and right to accomplish the work to 16:29 proclaim the gospel by himself. 16:33 But this was not Jesus' plan. 16:35 Jesus could have done it alone, but this was not his plan. 16:40 From the beginning of his ministry his plan was to use 16:43 disciples to win disciples to win disciples. 16:48 He would command his disciples to do other things 16:51 but his first call to them was, follow me, and I will 16:56 make you fishers of men. 16:59 The work of evangelism, the work of fishing for men out 17:02 of the sea of sin, the work of rescuing people from the 17:05 breakers of hell is the greatest work 17:08 the church will ever do. 17:09 God has called all of us to be fishermen and fisherwomen, 17:13 to reach men, women, boys and girls. 17:14 I was reading an article this week and I discovered that 17:16 95% of all Christians have never led anybody 17:19 to Jesus Christ. 17:23 We are all to be witnesses. 17:25 We are all to preach Christ. 17:27 We are all to teach Christ. 17:29 We are all to live Christ. 17:30 We are all to speak Christ. 17:32 We're the laborers in the field for Christ. 17:34 The greatest work in the heart of God, the greatest 17:36 concern in the mind of God is evangelism. 17:38 Winning the lost is God's great concern, not only the 17:42 Father, but also the Son's greatest concern. 17:46 Jesus said in Luke 19:10, the Son of Man has come to 17:49 seek and to save that which was lost. 17:52 The work winning the lost is the Father's concern, the 17:54 Son's concern, but also the concern of the Holy Ghost, 17:55 for it is the Holy Ghost who comes along, according to 17:57 John 16, to convict men of sin and righteousness 17:59 and judgment. 18:00 It is the Holy Spirit who comes upon the church and 18:02 after we have received the Holy Spirit we are now 18:05 made witnesses. 18:06 In the New Testament, friends of mine, you will discover 18:08 that the Apostles' greatest concern is evangelism. 18:11 Paul said, I am ready to preach the gospel for I am 18:14 not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 18:16 For it is the power of God as a salvation to everyone 18:19 that believeth. 18:20 It was Paul who said, I am made all things to all men 18:23 that I might by all save more. 18:26 Christ's greatest concern is to win people for himself. 18:31 God's greatest concern, the Holy Spirit's greatest 18:33 concern, the Apostles' greatest concern and the 18:36 greatest concern of the early church was to make 18:39 disciples of Christ. 18:41 When they were scattered, the Bible Acts says they went 18:45 everywhere preaching the gospel to win 18:48 people for Jesus. 18:50 This should be our greatest concern, winning souls 18:52 for Christ. 18:53 This is the greatest task that we must be 18:55 about this time, task. 18:56 At the same time evangelism is also a great paradox. 19:01 Last lesson. 19:02 Winning people to Jesus Christ is paradoxical 19:05 in this sense. 19:08 Jesus said, whosoever would save his life shall lose it. 19:13 But whosoever shall lose his life for my sake 19:16 shall save it. 19:18 In other words, in saving others we lose ourselves. 19:24 Or in losing ourselves in the task, 19:27 we will win others. 19:29 So evangelism, in a sense, is the sacrifice 19:33 of the greater for the lesser. 19:35 It is a sacrifice of the worthy for the unworthy. 19:39 It is a sacrifice of the strong dying 19:42 that the weak might live. 19:44 It is not the survival of the fittest, but is the sacrifice 19:47 of the fittest. 19:49 And this is the time, Oakwood, church, university, 19:55 Oakwood community, for us to take a hard look at the 20:00 subject of evangelism. 20:04 We like giving money to evangelism. 20:07 We like preaching evangelism. 20:09 But when somebody comes to that door that doesn't look 20:12 like us, don't let them come in here and mess up our 20:16 beautiful church. 20:18 We have a great church, a great history, a great 20:22 building, a great people. 20:25 We've learned God's great truths. 20:27 We have great fellowship. 20:29 But listen to me good, because I've been there. 20:31 If you're not careful you can become so impressed with your 20:34 greatness that you forget about lost people. 20:39 We can be so busy singing our own music that we forget that 20:43 somebody out there needs to hear the song, too. 20:47 We can like it so much in here that we forget 20:50 about out there. 20:53 We sing what we want. 20:56 We preach what we want. 20:59 We become so isolated, and I'm talking about myself too, 21:02 isolated, insulated and incestual in our ministry 21:07 that we forget about the great commission of God that 21:10 he has called us to do. 21:12 And the fruit of incest is always something retarded. 21:21 And we have retarded churches because we have forgotten the 21:30 great gospel commission, go ye therefore, teach all 21:36 nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the 21:40 Son and the Holy Ghost. 21:41 It's fishing time, and this gospel of the kingdom shall 21:45 be preached as a witness unto all rthe world, 21:47 then shall the end come. 21:48 It's fishing time. 21:50 Fear thou not for I am with thee. 21:53 Be not dismayed for I am thy God. 21:56 I will strengthen thee. 21:57 Ye, I will help thee. 21:58 I will uphold ye with the right hand of my 22:00 righteousness. 22:01 It's fishing time. 22:03 If God be for us, who can be against us. 22:07 It's fishing time. 22:08 Fret not thyself because of evil doers. 22:12 Neither be thy envious of the word because of iniquity, God 22:14 shall cut them down like the grass. 22:17 It's fishing time. 22:19 They that wait upon the Lord, God shall renew their strength. 22:24 They shall mount up on wings as eagles, run and not get 22:28 weary, walk and not faint. 22:30 It's fishing time. 22:32 And I saw another angel flying in the midst of 22:38 heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach 22:41 unto them that dwell on the earth, to every nation, 22:44 kindred, tongue and people, saying with a loud voice, 22:46 fear God, give glory to him for the hour 22:50 of his judgment has come. 22:52 And worship him that made the heavens, the earth, the seas 22:58 and the fountains of water. 23:01 That's why I'm a Seventh-Day Adventist Christian. 23:03 I'm an Adventist because I'm looking forward 23:05 to Jesus' coming. 23:07 Advent means coming. 23:08 That's why I keep the seventh-day Sabbath, because 23:11 the seventh day is God's seal. 23:13 It bears God's name, his title and his territory. 23:18 His name, the Lord thy God. 23:20 His title, he made everything so he created. 23:23 His territory, the heavens, the earth, the sea, the 23:26 fountains of water and all that in them is, 23:28 that's the world. 23:29 It's rooted in our fourth commandment. 23:32 So it's fishing time. 23:34 Here is the patience of the saints. 23:37 Here are they that keep the commandments of God, 23:39 and the faith of Jesus Christ. 23:43 It's fishing time. 23:46 Blessed are they that do his commandments. 23:49 Not just read his commandments. 23:52 Do his commandments. 23:55 That they may have a right to the tree of life and may 23:58 enter in through the gates into the city. 24:02 It's fishing time. 24:04 But the greatest fishing expedition was when two 24:09 thousand years ago Jesus put his life on the line. 24:16 He didn't hang on a fishing line, but he hung on 24:18 Calvary's cross. 24:20 There is a fountain filled with blood drawn 24:23 from Emmanuel's veins; and sinners plunged 24:26 beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains. 24:28 When I survey the wondrous cross on when the Prince of 24:32 Glory died, Jesus paid it all. 24:35 All to him I owe, sin has left a crimson stain, but he 24:41 washed it white as snow. 24:43 And I'm so glad today Jesus went fishing for me. 24:48 Is anybody glad Jesus went fishing for them? 24:53 I'm so glad Jesus died to save me. 24:58 I'm so glad Jesus called me. 25:02 And let me tell you all something, I love the Lord 25:06 and I won't take it back. 25:08 I said, I love the Lord, and I won't take it back, because 25:11 he's been so good to me. 25:15 So good, so good, so good to me. 25:18 Two things, and let me sit down. 25:22 Number one, the time of our fishing on earth 25:25 is soon to end. 25:28 God is about to draw in the nets. 25:33 The choice is whether we care enough about people to be a 25:36 part of the fishing process. 25:39 Number two, the response of Peter, Andrew, James and John 25:47 to Jesus' call was the same. 25:50 Remember what we read. 25:51 They immediately left what they were doing 25:59 and followed him. 26:02 Their obedience was instant and without hesitation. 26:07 When Jesus calls a person to discipleship there is no 26:11 excuse for delay or disobedience. 26:15 So today, he's calling someone today to fishing for 26:23 men, women, boys and girls. 26:27 Jesus is calling somebody today to obedience and 26:35 obedience without delay. 26:44 PB: Thank you very much for tuning in and watching Breath 26:47 of Life today. 26:48 We do hope that you were blessed by our ministry and 26:51 that we gave a healing word in a hurting world. 26:55 In order for Breath of Life to continue ministering, 26:58 we need you. 26:59 We need your prayers. 27:01 We need your support. 27:02 We want you to know that any and all donations, small or 27:04 great, they are sincerely welcome and appreciated. 27:09 To contact us or to make your donation, please feel free to 27:12 give us a call at 877-BOL-OFFER. 27:18 Or you may write to us at Breath of Life, P.O. Box 340, 27:23 Newbury Park, CA 91319. 27:35 Feel free to log onto our web site at www.breathoflife.tv. 27:44 >: The Breath of Life gift offer this week is 27:46 "Help in Daily Living," a practical guide 27:49 to everyday blessings by renown Christian author 27:51 Ellen G. White. 27:52 "Help in Daily Living" is yours for a gift 27:53 of $5.00 or more. 27:55 Just call our toll-free number, 877-BOL-OFFER. 27:58 That's 877-265-6333. 28:02 Please have your credit card ready when you call. 28:04 Or you may write us to request your copy. 28:06 Just send your check to Breath of Life, P.O. Box 340, 28:10 Newbury Park, CA 91319. 28:14 when we are fishing for men too often. we want to 28:18 clean them before we catch them. 28:20 gotta look like us gotta dress like us 28:25 no, just be like Jesus. |
Revised 2015-02-06