Participants: Carlton P. Byrd
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000144
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00:01 ♪ (Theme Song) ♪ ♪ Jesus is worthy ♪
00:11 ♪ oh yes, he's worthy ♪ ♪ worthy of all... ♪ 00:18 ♪ all the praise... ♪ [music] 00:21 Pastor Byrd: Can you imagine, friends of mine, 00:22 losing everything you had? 00:25 Everything gone. 00:28 Your health, gone. 00:29 Your wealth, gone. 00:30 Your family, gone. 00:31 And then on top of that your so-called friends, who you've 00:34 given money to help out, come by and folks you helped, 00:39 because you do know the people you help the most appreciate 00:42 it the least. 00:43 [Aud. reaction]: PB: The people you've helped 00:49 come by and instead of saying "God bless you, 00:53 Brother," or, "We're praying for you, Brother," 00:57 they say no, we're just going to criticize you by saying 01:00 "The reason, Job, you're going through this must be because 01:04 you're not right with God." 01:08 The text, Job 13, expounds on the second cycle 01:12 of conversations with Job and his friends. 01:16 But after charges of being accused a sinner, my friends, 01:19 Job then says, "Let me respond." 01:23 In verse 1 and 2, Job confirms that he has seen and heard 01:27 the same thing that his friend Zophar has. 01:30 Job is not ignorant of the things that are taking 01:33 place around him, nor is he ignorant 01:35 of the theology of the day. 01:36 In verse 4, Job tells his friends, "Look, I've talked 01:39 to you enough. 01:41 I'm tired of talking to you, let me know take you 01:44 to the top. 01:46 Let me take it and talk to the One who says 01:48 the buck stops here." 01:51 Job has already heard what his friends have had to say, 01:54 and they are of no help, so now he says, 01:56 "Let me speak to the One who's in charge." 02:00 In verse number 4 then, Job goes on the offensive. 02:04 He has listened to the "wisdom" of his friends and now 02:09 he wants to speak. 02:10 You see, I must admit, I'm a little like Job. 02:13 Job was one who believed, if you're going to say what 02:16 you're going to say, then in the spirit 02:18 of reciprocity let me say what I'm going to say. 02:21 And because of this, you're going to listen. 02:24 Do I have a witness in this place? 02:26 [Aud. reaction]: PB: The Bible says Job 02:28 calls them worthless liars. 02:29 He calls them worthless doctors. 02:34 Job calls his friends worthless physicians because 02:37 they have given advice, but they have no cure for it. 02:41 We know a lot of times what the problem is, but if you don't 02:47 have a solution then I suggest you just ought to be quiet. 02:51 He says that the wisest thing you can do is sit down 02:55 somewhere and listen. 02:58 So Job then begins to ask his friends a series 03:01 of rhetorical questions. 03:03 Number one, in verse 7, he says, "Will you speak falsely 03:07 for God?" 03:09 Verse 8, he says, "Are you God's mouthpiece?" 03:13 Verse 9, he says, "When it's all said and done, where will 03:17 you stand with God? 03:21 And so, in verse 12 Job tells his friends that their wisdom 03:23 is nothing more than ashes and clay. 03:25 Job asks his friends to let him speak. 03:27 He says that once he says what he has to say, 03:29 then let the chips fall where they may. 03:33 And so he comes to the text of Scripture. 03:36 In verse number 15, "Though he slay me, 03:41 yet will I trust in him." 03:48 I like the way the Holman Christian Standard Bible 03:50 puts it. 03:51 It says, "Even if God kills me, I will have hope in him." 03:58 Regardless of what comes my way, I still will have hope 04:02 in God. 04:03 Hallelujah, friends of mine. 04:04 So then, what do you do when trouble strikes? 04:09 What do you do when the bottom falls out? 04:15 What do you do when you feel like throwing in the towel? 04:19 What do you do when you've been diagnosed with cancer 04:23 or some incurable disease? 04:24 What do you do when you or someone you love has been 04:29 diagnosed with HIV. 04:31 What do you do when your loved one dies? 04:37 What do you do when your daughter dies, when she's only 04:41 four months old? 04:45 What do you do? 04:48 Three things I want to suggest to you then Iím going to sit 04:49 down. 04:51 Number one, and this is no theological masterpiece. 04:55 When trouble comes, you've got to learn how to trust God. 04:59 [Aud. reaction]: PB: "Trust in the Lord 05:03 with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own 05:11 understanding but in all thy ways acknowledge him, 05:15 and he shall direct thy path." 05:19 "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, 05:23 the evidence of things not seen." "Without faith 05:27 it is impossible to please God." 05:29 "God is the rewarder of those that diligently 05:32 seek him." 05:33 Friends of mine, things may get rough. 05:36 But you've got to keep trusting in God. 05:38 Things may get tough, but you've got to keep 05:42 trusting in God. 05:44 You may feel like giving up sometimes, but you've got 05:47 to keep trusting in God. 05:48 Sickness may be running through your body, but you've 05:51 got to keep trusting in your God. 05:53 You might not have a penny to your name, but you've got 05:56 to keep trusting in God. 05:58 Your marriage may be in trouble, your children may 06:01 be out of control, but you've got to keep trusting in God 06:05 because I once was young, but now Iím old, but I've never 06:09 seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging 06:13 for bread. 06:14 You have to have faith - [Aud. reaction]: 06:17 PB: in God. 06:18 Regardless of your troubles, you've got to keep trusting 06:22 in God. 06:23 No matter how you're suffering, you've got to keep 06:25 trusting God. 06:26 No matter what you deal with, you've got to keep trusting 06:28 God. 06:29 No matter what people do to you, you've got to keep 06:31 trusting God. 06:32 No matter the diagnosis, you've got to keep trusting 06:34 God. 06:35 Man's extremity is God's opportunity. 06:38 Your setback is a setup for a comeback. 06:41 [Aud. reaction]: PB: What lessons can I learn 06:45 from a setback? 06:47 A setback will teach you that something is about to break. 06:51 And I'm not talking about a breakdown or a breakup, 06:53 I'm talking about a breakthrough. 06:55 I wish I had a witness in this place. 06:57 [Aud. reaction]: PB: The very thing that somebody 07:00 in this church right now, you're dealing with right now. 07:02 Maybe a death of a friend, death of a church member, 07:04 death of a loved one, finances in trouble. 07:06 The thing you're dealing with right now, the issues 07:09 that you're confronting right now have everything to do 07:12 with your walk with God. 07:13 Friends, let's be clear. 07:14 That doesn't mean that if you're going through trouble 07:17 that it's a sign that you don't have a connection 07:19 with God. 07:21 Listen, it might not be the lack of your faith 07:24 that got you into it, but it's the strength 07:27 of your faith that's going to get you out of it. 07:29 [Aud. reaction]: PB: I'm trying to help somebody 07:32 understand that we can trust God in times of trouble. 07:38 Ellen White says in "Prophets and Kings" that "Hope 07:40 and courage are essential to perfect service for God." 07:43 She said, "These are the fruit of faith. 07:45 Despondency," she says, "Is sinful and unreasonable." 07:50 She says, "God is willing and able more abundantly 07:54 to bestow upon His servants the strength that they need 07:56 for test and trial." 07:58 Friends, she says, "The enemies of God and the enemies 08:01 of Satan's work may seem to be well laid and firmly 08:05 established." 08:06 But this is what gives me encouragement. 08:10 She says, "But God can overthrow the strongest 08:12 of beings and this I've had to learn. 08:16 He does in His own way," she says, "and His own time, 08:22 when He sees that the faith of His servants 08:26 has been sufficiently tested." 08:28 Aud.: Hallelujah. 08:29 PB: Do you all realize what happened? 08:32 That in one day Job lost all of his donkeys. 08:36 Lost all of his oxen. 08:39 All his sheep, all his animals, all his children, all his 08:42 servants except the four who came to tell him the news. 08:45 The only thing he didn't lose was his wife. 08:49 But seeing how she told him to curse God and die, maybe Job 08:52 would have been better off if he had lost her too. 08:55 Come on, say amen. 08:56 [Aud. reaction]: PB: Job was a broken man. 09:00 He had very good reason to think and feel that God 09:06 had left him. 09:08 But Job says, You can kill me, but God I'm not leaving You. 09:16 I'm not letting go that easily. 09:22 Number two: In trouble, you've got to know 09:25 the Word of God. 09:27 Knowing God's Word increases your faith and trust in God. 09:33 Paul said, "Faith cometh by hearing, hearing 09:37 by the word of God." 09:39 David said, "Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might 09:43 not sin against thee. 09:44 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path." 09:48 Peter says, in 1 Peter 5:8 that "We are kept by faith." 09:53 You see, our joy is not zeal without knowledge. 09:56 There are a lot of us who say amen, a lot of us who shout. 10:00 And folk don't know why you shout or why you say amen. 10:04 But our joy is based on a revelation. 10:06 It's based on a Word from the Most High God. 10:09 That's why I love the Word of God. 10:12 I don't care what you obtain on this side of life, 10:15 you'd better have a Word from the Lord in time 10:17 of trouble. 10:18 You can know the ruats of Hebrew, you can know 10:20 the evangelions of Greek, you can know the buenos noches 10:24 of Spanish, but like wood it will deteriorate. 10:28 Put water in a glass, it will evaporate. 10:31 The car you drive, it will depreciate. 10:33 The money in your pocket will devaluate. 10:36 Heaven and earth may pass away, but somebody knows 10:44 that the Word of God is going to stand forever. 10:49 You see, when you get enough Word in you, you can look at 10:55 folk and say, If you knew what I knew, you'd understand 11:01 why I act like I act. 11:03 Oh, y'all don't hear me. 11:04 [Aud. reaction]: PB: Let me tell you something. 11:06 Talking about when you have a Word in you, 11:08 when God's Word is in you. 11:09 When growing up, when I was growing up, in fact, probably 11:11 all of us when we were growing up there was a little toy 11:14 you used to have. 11:16 Maybe you didn't have it, but I remember having it. 11:18 I don't know if they still have it today. 11:20 I looked in the store, my daughter being a baby, 11:22 but they don't seem to have it. 11:23 But some of you may remember this, there was a toy and it 11:25 was called a See and Say. 11:28 [Aud. reaction]: PB: Anybody know what 11:30 I'm talking about? 11:31 [Aud. reaction]: PB: Everybody say "See and Say." 11:34 Aud.: See and Say. 11:35 PB: Now, for those that didn't know and don't know, it was 11:38 a round toy and it had an arrow on the toy. 11:43 And if you would pull the string, the arrow would turn 11:50 and after turning a while it would land on an animal. 11:54 And if landed on a sheep, it would say, "This is what 12:00 a sheep sounds like: Baa. Baa." 12:03 [Aud. reaction]: PB: You pull the string again, 12:08 and it would land on a cow. 12:11 And it would say, "This is what a cow sounds like: 12:14 Moo. Moo." 12:17 You pull the string again and the string 12:21 would land on a pig. 12:23 And it would say, "This is what a pig sounds like: 12:27 Oink. Oink. Oink-oink." 12:29 [Aud. reaction]: PB: What's interesting here 12:31 is the engineers of the See and Say, 12:33 they put a chip or something in the See and Say. 12:36 They recorded words, they recorded voices, 12:39 and they recorded and stored them in the See and Say. 12:41 You wouldn't know the voices were in the See and Say. 12:44 You wouldn't know the words were in the See and Say 12:46 until you pulled the string. 12:48 [Aud. reaction]: PB: I'm trying to help somebody. 12:53 Aolineís got it, but I'm trying to help somebody. 12:56 The devil's been messing with somebody's stuff. 13:01 Devil, you pulled the wrong string. 13:07 [Aud. reaction]: PB: The devil's been saying, 13:11 "You're going to be sick." 13:13 Devil, you pulled the wrong string. 13:18 "He was wounded for my transgressions, bruised for my 13:22 iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, 13:27 but by his stripes I am healed." 13:30 The devil's been messing with somebody's money. 13:32 Devil, you messed with the wrong somebody. 13:36 You pulled the wrong string, for my God shall supply 13:41 all of my needs according to His riches in glory. 13:43 The devil's been messing with somebody's mind. 13:46 Get thee behind me, Satan. 13:49 In the name of Jesus, God shall keep me in perfect peace 13:54 when my mind is stayed on Him. 13:56 Hallelujah, somebody. 13:57 [Aud. reaction]: PB: Do me a favor. 13:59 You're a little stiff. 14:00 Turn to your neighbor and say, "Neighbor." 14:02 Aud.: Neighbor. 14:03 PB: "Don't pull my string." 14:04 Aud.: Don't pull my string. 14:05 PB: Let me tell you something. 14:08 In time of trouble, you're going to need a Word from the Lord. 14:13 Finally, number three: In time of trouble, you're going 14:21 to need a strong prayer life. 14:24 But I want to share and suggest that you don't need a strong 14:28 prayer life just in trouble. 14:32 But you need a strong prayer life all the time, because 14:34 when you get in trouble, you're going to need something 14:36 saved up on the inside. 14:37 You need a strong prayer life because when the enemy comes 14:43 in like a flood, God will lift up a standard. 14:50 The effectual, fervent prayer of the righteous 14:54 availeth much. 14:54 The effectiveness of our prayers is directly related to 14:58 the authenticity of our walk of faith. 15:01 Now, it's tough for a hypocrite to get God's ear. 15:09 If you look on in verse 16 of Job 13, it says, "He also 15:12 shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not 15:15 come before him." 15:16 Isaiah 59:2 says, "But your iniquities have separated 15:19 between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face 15:21 from you, that he will not hear." 15:23 John 9:31, "Now we know that God heareth not sinners: 15:25 but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, 15:27 him he heareth." 15:28 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, his ears 15:31 are not open to their prayers, but the face of the Lord 15:34 is against them that do evil. 15:35 He that turneth his way, his ear from hearing the law, 15:38 even his prayer shall be an abomination. 15:44 But Jesus said, in Matthew 7:7, but "Ask, and it shall 15:46 be given you; seek, and ye shall find. 15:51 Knock, and the door shall be opened 15:57 Aud. member: Praise his name. 15:58 PB: unto you." 15:59 If my people, who are called by name would humble 16:04 themselves, and do what, everybody? 16:06 Aud.: Pray. 16:08 PB: Seek My face, turn from their wicked ways. 16:11 He said then He would hear from heaven and heal their land. 16:17 When trouble comes, you've got to pray. 16:21 You've got to pray until something happens. 16:25 You've got to pray your way through that thing. 16:28 This is the confidence we have in approaching God, 16:32 that whatever we ask, we know I've found the answer. 16:35 I've learned how to pray. 16:38 Prayer brings you into the presence of God. 16:41 Prayer changes things. 16:43 Prayer changes people. 16:45 Prayer unleashes the power of God in your life. 16:48 Jesus on the main line. 16:50 [Aud. reaction] PB: Tell Him what you want, 16:52 call Him up. 16:53 Tell Him what you want. 16:54 I serve a prayer-answering God. 16:56 The devil can't stand prayer, but the devil can't stop you 17:01 from praying, and the devil can't stop God from answering 17:04 prayer. 17:05 Whatever you want, God's got it. 17:08 [Aud. reaction] PB: Whatever you need 17:10 He will supply, my friends, it's yours. 17:12 You've got to learn how to pray without ceasing. 17:14 You've got to learn how to pray in the Spirit. 17:16 But let me caution you: you'd better remember, prayer. 17:19 You need it in time of trouble, but that's why, see, 17:22 you have to have it all the time. 17:24 Something saved up in the off season, because understand, 17:27 prayer is not for emergency use only. 17:30 Aud.: Amen. 17:31 PB: When you're in trouble, you call on God. 17:34 Kind of like when people call a "jailhouse salvation." 17:39 Where incarcerated inmates claim they're going to follow 17:42 Jesus because they're in jail, but when they get 17:45 out of jail you can't find them. 17:47 Now that's not true of all inmates, but that's true 17:51 of some. 17:52 Some of us are in a prison. 17:55 We're bound and we're chained by circumstances. 17:57 And when we're in our jail, when we're in our prison, 17:59 we have a jailhouse salvation. 18:01 God, if You'll just deliver me from this one thing. 18:03 And then, when the Lord does it, we are nowhere to be found. 18:06 [Aud. reaction] PB: You'd be amazed at people 18:10 who come to God because they had a car accident. 18:14 They lost a job. 18:15 They discovered a lump in their body somewhere. 18:19 They're failing a class and they're trying to graduate. 18:23 But today, that's not the kind of faith I'm talking about. 18:27 Understand, you have to have a daily prayer walk with God, 18:30 because when you have a daily walk, when life gets tough, 18:33 when life knocks the wind out of you, your intimacy, 18:36 your communication, your connection, your prayer 18:39 life with God is so strong that you can withstand whatever 18:43 the devil throws your way. 18:46 [Aud. reaction] PB: That's why the devil 18:49 couldn't deter Job. 18:53 That's why, regardless of what his friends told him 18:55 in those conversations, it did not distract Job. 18:58 You all, Job lost his wealth, Job lost his health, Job lost 19:03 his entire family, but Job never lost his faith in God. 19:12 Aud.: Amen. 19:13 PB: "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." 19:19 Job had a "yet" praise. 19:21 It may not happen now, but yet he knew it was coming. 19:24 The devil told God, yes Job is serving you, yes Job 19:32 is rich, yes Job has a good name. 19:37 Everybody likes Job, he has good kids. 19:40 His wife looks good, Job is all that. 19:42 But the devil said, God, if You move those hedges 19:45 that you have around him, I'll make Job curse You 19:51 to Your face. 19:53 Because the devil thought that Job's faith 19:56 was in his stuff. 19:59 But God said, I'll remove the hedge around his wealth, 20:03 I'll remove the hedge around his health, I'll remove 20:05 the hedge around his family, but don't touch his life. 20:10 Why was God able to say that to Satan? 20:12 He was able to say it because God knew Job's faith was not 20:16 in what Job possessed, but Job's faith was in the God 20:19 that possessed him. 20:21 [Aud. reaction] PB: So the enemy started shaking 20:26 everything in Job's life. 20:31 He shook any and everything he could, but the one thing 20:34 that the enemy could not shake. 20:36 The one thing that mattered most couldn't be shaken. 20:43 "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood 20:50 and righteousness. 20:53 'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him 20:59 at His word. 21:00 Just to rest upon His promise, just to know thus 21:05 saith the Lord." 21:07 Can you imagine Satan saying to his imps, saying to his boys, 21:12 what's that noise I hear over there? 21:17 Is that Job, praising God? 21:22 Didn't I tell you to mess with his stuff? 21:25 We did. 21:28 Didn't I tell you to burn up his crops? 21:32 We did. 21:35 Didn't I tell you to mess with his children? 21:38 We did. 21:41 Didn't I tell you to destroy his marriage? 21:46 We did. 21:48 And you mean to tell me he's still praising? 21:51 He's still worshiping? 21:53 He's still thanking God? 21:55 Aud.: Amen. 21:57 PB: He is. 21:59 Because I will bless the Lord at all times and His praise 22:07 shall continually be in my mouth. 22:10 Let me tell you something. 22:11 I'm going to sit down, but somebody needs to praise 22:13 Him. 22:15 Somebody needs to thank Him. 22:17 Somebody needs to have an attitude of gratitude because 22:21 in spite of every storm, in spite of every test, in spite 22:25 of every trial, in spite of everything you've gone 22:29 through, God still brought you through. 22:32 [Aud. reaction] PB: Somebody ought to praise 22:35 Him. 22:36 I've learned to praise Him not because of, but in spite of. 22:41 And let me tell you, if you don't praise Him, 22:45 the rocks are going to cry out. 22:49 And I tell you this, we don't need a rock concert 22:52 up in Oakwood. 22:54 But somebody knows, we need to praise Him. 22:57 I said, we need to praise Him. 22:59 We need to praise Him. 23:00 We walk by faith, we live by faith, we see by faith. 23:10 And you know what? 23:11 From my church family to the Breath of Life family, 23:15 you know what brings me to church every Sabbath? 23:18 You know what brings me to worship God every week? 23:24 Because I believe in a God who can do things I can't do. 23:30 I believe in a God who can reach things I can't reach. 23:34 I believe in a God who can say things I can't say. 23:40 If I didn't believe in a God like that, I wouldn't come here. 23:50 I wouldn't work like I do. 23:54 I wouldn't run these revivals like I do. 23:59 But I still believe in God, I still believe He can heal 24:05 your body. 24:08 I still believe He can raise the dead. 24:12 I still believe He can save your children. 24:16 I still believe He can break those habits. 24:21 I still believe He can provide. 24:23 I still believe. 24:31 And you've got to believe. 24:35 He can deliver your son. 24:39 You've got to believe that He can save your daughter. 24:44 You've got to believe that He can save your family. 24:48 That He can heal your body. 24:51 You can't just come down here for prayer, come to church 24:54 and sing hymns and see who's here and who's not here. 24:56 You've got to believe that He can break chains, that He can 25:03 destroy strongholds. 25:06 You've got to believe that He can meet your financial needs. 25:11 Somebody right now is going through it financially. 25:14 I've got in my office right now a folder this thick 25:18 with requests from you, but you've got to believe. 25:28 You've got to believe you're the head, not the tail. 25:34 That you're above, that you're not beneath. 25:39 That you're the lender, you're not always 25:41 the borrower. 25:43 That the second half of your life is going 25:45 to be better than the first half of your life. 25:47 Aud.: Amen. 25:48 PB: You've got to believe that the best is yet to come. 25:55 You've got to believe that your latter is going 25:59 to be greater than your former. 26:00 Today, I still believe, I still trust God, 26:05 I still pray to God. 26:07 I still study God's Word. 26:09 "Though he slay me, yet; yet will I trust in him." 26:21 Some of you don't understand why I do this. 26:24 You don't understand why I get passionate, why 26:28 I get emotional. 26:29 You don't know like I know what He's done for me. 26:34 You don't know what God has done. 26:37 I was depressed, I was down, I thought the world 26:40 was against me, but I still believed. 26:48 You've got to trust Him. 26:50 Trust Him without limits. 26:53 Trust Him when you can't trace Him. 26:57 Trust Him when you can't see Him. 27:01 You gotta TRUST. 27:04 >: The Breath of Life gift offer this week is "Help In 27:06 Daily Living," a practical guide to everyday blessings 27:09 by renowned Christian author Ellen G. White. 27:12 The book contains four powerful chapters on having 27:14 true and lasting relationships, developing 27:17 godly characters, walking a practical daily faith 27:20 that brings blessings and staying the course 27:22 of being a light in the darkness until the Lord returns. 27:25 You'll discover the benefits of trials, the importance 27:28 of little things, the influence of living a consistent 27:31 Christian life and the joy of the Lord. 27:34 "Help In Daily Living" is yours for a gift of $5.00 27:36 or more. 27:37 Just call our toll-free number, 877-BOL-OFFER. 27:41 That's 877-265-6333. 27:44 Please have your credit card ready when you call. 27:47 Or, you may write to us to request your copy. 27:49 Just send your check to Breath of Life, P.O. Box 340, 27:52 Newbury Park, CA 91319. 27:54 Break out of the ordinary life and into the 27:58 extraordinary life God intended for you to live. 28:01 Get your copy of "Help in Daily Living" today. 28:03 PB: Can you imagine, friends of mind, losing everything 28:08 you have? 28:09 Everything gone. 28:13 Your health gone, your wealth gone, your family gone, 28:15 and then on top of that your so-called friends, who you've 28:19 given money to help out, come by and folks you helped, 28:24 because you do know the people you help the most 28:26 appreciate it the least. |
Revised 2015-02-06