Participants: Carlton P. Byrd
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000174
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00:01 xciting
00:01 change in your life? Well, get ready for a breath of new life. 00:06 Byrd. 00:18 Now I want you to read with me, Matthew 2:1...Matthew 2:1 ...if you have it let me hear you say amen. 00:28 Dr. Carlton Byrd: Matthew 2:1, the Word says, "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, 00:36 behold, there came" what kind of men? Come on, talk to me. What kind of men? "Wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, 00:44 Where is He that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him. 00:51 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him." 01:20 worshipped him: 01:31 and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh. 01:48 Lessons from the wise men. Father God, now speak to us. We've sung, we've prayed, but now we need a word from you. 01:58 Hide me behind your cross and forgive us for our sins, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen. 02:33 the season. 02:59 we know why He was born. Although we don't know how Jesus was born, we do know for whom Jesus was born. 03:20 word. 03:34 Death and destruction would no longer have the last word. Racism and retribution would no longer have the last word. 04:06 trouble. 04:52 and he has promised you and me many mansions. You have to wait in line to see Santa. I was in Houston this past weekend, 05:48 Jesus is the Reason for the season. Do I have a witness in this place? And when you understand this, friends, 05:54 the Christmas holiday and the holidays in general will take on new meaning for you, because what will happen is, 06:00 you will make up your mind that whether or not you get a gift, that whether or not you're invited to a Christmas party, 06:17 because you'll remember that two thousand years ago, hallelujah, God gave you the best gift you could ever receive. 06:59 world? 07:10 But Herod, in his conniving way, tells the wise men, he says, go find Jesus, and when they do, 07:19 they let him know where they are so he can come too and worship the newborn king, like he wanted to worship Jesus. 07:37 I wish I had time to unpack that. Verse 9 says that when they had heard the king, they departed, and lo, the star, 07:44 which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 07:49 Number one. These wise men were looking for the star. Now, there were a lot of stars in the sky. 08:27 but it was divinely designed that they would see this star and get to the star just as had been promised. 08:35 So the star, then, was just a supernatural demonstration of the manifestation of the prophetic promise. 08:54 The star was a symbol that God was getting ready to move his people in a new dimension. In other words, 09:02 friends of mine, the thing that had been prophesied had come to pass when the star had shown in Bethlehem. 09:25 Whenever God gets ready to do something big, God always gives evidence. God always gives a sign 09:36 that God is getting ready to make a major shift in the lives of His people. God did it with a cloud of fire by day 09:45 and a pillar of fire by night for the Israelites, and then God does it in this text with a star to lead the wise men. 10:01 I'm looking out for the next shift in the spirits when God is getting ready to do something in my life, 10:09 when God is getting ready to do something in your life, when God is getting ready to do something in the life of this church, 10:16 get ready for the shift. And when you sense the shifting of the spirit of God, 10:27 Aud: Position. Get in position, get in place. The Bible says the star took the wise men to where Jesus was, 10:35 and I don't know about you, but I want to be where Jesus is. You can go where you want, but I want to go anywhere with Jesus. 11:03 and so the wise men followed the star. So if you're going to be wise, lesson number one from the wise men, 11:22 Do I have a witness in this place? Number two. When you see Jesus, you ought to learn how to rejoice. 11:43 Now, to understand their joy, let's talk about joy for a minute, because as I get older I recognize that 11:49 there are many people who mistake joy for happiness. Joy and happiness are not the same thing. 11:57 Joy is more than happiness. Happiness is motivated by an external reality. 12:04 Happiness creates an internal response based on some external stimuli. But when, friends of mine, 12:11 I know who my God is, when I know what God has done in my life, it doesn't make a difference what happens 12:19 on the outside because it's based on who I know on the inside. Joy is not based on an external reality. 12:27 Joy is based on an internal revelation. Which means joy can't be taken from you. Joy can't be stolen from you. 12:37 This joy that I have, the world didn't give it, and the world can't take it away. 12:44 Which means that this joy that I have, people can't take it from me because people didn't give it to me in the first place. 12:51 The devil can take what he wants, but he can't take my joy. My joy is not based on some external stimuli 12:59 but my joy is based on internal reality. Happiness is fleeting and temporary. But joy is enduring and everlasting. 13:11 My joy is based on the knowledge that Jesus is my King. The Bible says they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 13:22 They were delighted. They were blissful. They were elated. They had joy. And friends, 13:31 when I look now at this being the final Sabbath of 2014, when I look back over what God has done in my life, 13:39 He started out this year giving my wife and me a healthy baby girl, hallelujah, somebody. 13:53 but understand, my joy is not dictated by 11:00 am worship at Oakwood. My joy is not dictated by what somebody gives me. 14:17 I have joy in my house, joy in my car, joy when I come to church. This is joy unspeakable. 14:25 And when I follow Jesus, and when I find Jesus, I have joy. But not only did they have joy. 14:33 Lesson number three, the Bible says they worshipped. They did what, everybody? They worshipped Jesus. 14:40 Go to verse 11, the (a) portion. Verse 11, the (a) portion, says, "And when they were come into the house, 14:47 they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and they fell down, and" did what, everybody?" Aud: Worshipped. 15:29 When I walk up in the Oakwood church, when I walk up into God's sanctuary, when I come into the presence of God, 15:37 something happens when I move from the outside to the inside. When you come to this point in your life 15:44 and you understand that bowing down is an act of submission, you understand who Jesus is, that Jesus is King of Kings. 15:51 Anybody know He's King of Kings? That he's Lord of Lords. You ought to worship Him--listen to me good--for who He is. 15:58 Not just for what He's done. Not just for what He's going to do. But you learn to worship Him for who He is. 16:11 And friends, if you don't bow down now, one day you will be made to bow down. 16:17 Because my Bible says the day is coming where every knee shall bow and every tongue is going to confess that Jesus is Lord. 16:27 Everything you have is because of who He is. It's not always about the what of God, but the who of God. 16:37 Too many of us want the what of God and not the who of God. What can God get for me? What can God do for me? 16:47 Seven ways to this, five ways to that. Can God get me a house? Can God get me a car? Can God get me a job? 16:55 If I'm a single woman, can God get me a man? If I'm a single man, can God get me a woman? 17:00 Your problem is, you're looking at the what and not the who. Well, who is God? 17:08 Every day someone's asking the same question. Is God hiding His face from our problems? 17:14 Why do bad things happen to good people? Does God really hold my destiny in His hands? 17:24 The Breath of Life Ministry has the perfect answer in a beautiful new book called "How Can I Understand the Bible." 17:43 It's your gift free with your donation of any amount. Contact us at www.breathoflife.tv. Or call us at 1-877-265-6333. 17:58 Now, back to Dr. Byrd with a message already in progress. 18:02 Dr. Byrd: I'll tell you who God is. Let me tell you this way. Christmastime. It was prophesied who God is. 18:08 Who God is in Isaiah, chapter 9. One thousand years before Jesus, the Son of God, even came to this earth. 18:29 But somebody's still asking, who is He? Verse 6 continues in Isaiah 9. It says, "His name shall be called Wonderful." 18:41 Everybody say wonderful. Aud: Wonderful. Let me stop right there, because someone's still not getting it. 18:50 let me help you understand. If something and somebody asks you, what was it like? and you couldn't find the words, 18:57 all you could say is, wonderful. How's that new car? Wonderful. How's that new house? Wonderful. 19:08 How's that new baby? Wonderful. How's your husband, how's your wife, how are your kids? Wonderful. 19:15 Has anybody ever had that kind of relationship with God that He is so good to you that you just say, wonderful. 19:23 I mean, when it crosses your mind, wonderful. When you look back over your life, wonderful. 19:30 Well, I may not be bowling down your street, you may not see Him as wonderful, but maybe you understand "Counsellor." 20:01 I'll be your direction, I'll be your guidance, I'll be your advice, I'll be your counsel. 20:08 But then maybe he's not wonderful to you, maybe he's not counselor, but then maybe you understand "mighty God." 20:34 He's a mighty God. He kept you from divorce court. He's a mighty God. He dried your weeping eye; He's a mighty God. 20:43 He kept you from losing your mind; He's a mighty God. He kept you when you lost that son, when you lost that daughter, 21:00 I wish somebody knew that He's a mighty God. He's the one that when the enemy came against you, 21:05 He said, no weapon formed to get you is going to prosper because He's a mighty God. 21:12 Well, maybe you don't understand that. You don't understand wonderful, you don't understand the counselor, 21:18 you don't understand He's a mighty God. So you say, who is He? Well, the text said he is now an everlasting Father. 21:26 You do know what everlasting means. Everlasting means it transcends time. God says, I'm Alpha and Omega. 21:36 He says, I'm the beginning and I'm the end. He says, I'm the first and I'm the last. God said, nobody made me. 21:45 I made myself. I am self-existent. I am uncreated. Nobody put me in position. 21:54 God says, you didn't vote me in and you can't vote me out. God says, the buck stops with me. 21:59 He says, I'm God, I'm CEO of the universe. King of kings and Lord of lords. He says, I'm not bound by your time clock. 22:08 Because before there was a sun, moon or stars, there was God. Before a man and a woman, water or whale or wind, there was God. 22:18 Before a day, a week, a month, there was God. Before there was anybody to sing a song to Him, pray a prayer to Him, 22:24 preach a sermon for Him, there was God. Jesus, who was born 2,000 years after Abraham, yet He said He was before Abraham. 22:33 Jesus, who was David's son, was also David's Lord. Jesus, who was Abraham's seed, was also Abraham's Savior. 22:53 but then he turned around and took a fatherless man from the body of a woman in redemption. 22:58 He's the everlasting Father. But then, maybe He's just Prince of Peace. 23:11 When the devil was messing with your mind, and you didn't know how you were going to come out, but Jesus said, 23:18 "I'll keep you in perfect peace if you just keep your mind stayed on me. 23:34 I've learned in life peace is not the absence of tension, but peace is security in the midst of tension. 23:41 It's not the what of God, but the who of God. And friends of mine, on this final Sabbath of 2014, 23:53 you've got to make up in your mind that if God does nothing else for you, and I know that sounds good, 24:08 if you don't get a Christmas card from anybody, and you get to the point in your Christian experience that you say, 24:16 Lord, I just worship you for who you are, I just worship you because you're Jehovah Jireh, you're my provider, 24:34 I just want to bless your name because you're Jehovah Nissi, my banner. I worship you because of who you are. 24:42 Then finally, the fourth lesson from the wise men: that you've got to give God thanks, and show him thanks with appreciation. 25:07 gold, and frankincense and myrrh." Quickly here, I don't have time to go through it all, but let me just say this to you: 25:18 People always say and think that there were three wise men. But the Bible never quantifies the number of wise men. 25:53 Are you hearing what I'm saying? Now, gold was worth a lot. It was an appropriate gift for a king. Frankincense was incense. 26:20 Jesus, the Messiah, was going to have to die. So at his birth he had to get the gift of gold as the king, 26:33 he had to get frankincense as the incense and prayers going to heaven. But he also had to get myrrh as 26:40 an embalming perfume because there would come a day that Jesus would have to die. 26:45 Like the wise men, we've got to learn how to worship the Messiah, Jesus Christ, a prophet, priest and king. 26:57 And any time you come in contact with Jesus, you have to give him thanks, show your appreciation for Jesus Christ. 27:06 But you know what I've learned? You really can't appreciate anybody unless you understand their purpose. 27:20 He'll never know because he'll never understand that this woman is praying for him, nurturing, taking care of him. 27:24 purpose, 27:34 that he's covering her, that he's protecting her, that he's providing for her. That's purpose. 27:40 A child will never appreciate a parent until they understand purpose. Even in the spiritual realm, 27:46 you'll never appreciate your pastor, your church, this ministry, until you understand its purpose. 27:54 When you get the purpose, then you'll understand. And that's why so many people don't understand Christmas, 28:02 because they don't understand true purpose. And when you don't understand true purpose and understand it, 28:09 then you take it for granted. You know what Jesus' purpose was? We were messed up in sin. We were -- in iniquity 28:12 Thank you for joining us for another exciting broadcast. 28:16 We'd like you to partner with us as we offer the Breath of Life to a dying world. 28:21 All of our sermon titles and DVDs can be purchased at www.breathoflife.tv. Until next time, God loves you. |
Revised 2015-01-24