Participants: Carlton P. Byrd
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000196A
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00:04 Are you looking for an exciting change in your life?
00:07 Well, get ready for a breath of new life. 00:11 And now, here he is, speaker/director of Breath of Life Ministries, Dr. Carlton Byrd. 00:19 PB: The great E. E. Cleveland had a powerful impact on all of our lives. 00:24 In his evangelistic meetings, he was known for his catchy sermon titles. 00:31 Some of you may not be old enough to remember them, and some of your have been around a while, 00:35 and you'll know this one: "Adam's mother's birthday." 00:40 "The Man Who Returned from Hell with a Story to Tell." 00:46 "Three Ways to Postpone Your Funeral." "When Seven Women Take Hold of One Man." 00:55 "When Money Is Thrown into the Streets and Nobody Will Pick It Up." 01:00 Or, "The Father Didn't; the Son Couldn't; the Apostles Wouldn't; So Who Did?" 01:10 But then there was one I liked, "Three Things God Can't Do." 01:18 And so it's from that title that we go to Carlton Byrd's style 01:23 in the Back to School Revival context. 01:27 Three Things God Can't Do. Now, you will remember quickly that God 01:33 brought the children out of Egypt. 01:35 He delivered the children of Egypt from the Egyptians by making the Red Sea 01:38 a dry highway. God did this because Israel was God's chosen--everybody say chosen. 01:45 Aud.: Chosen. PB: They were God's blessed. Come on, say blessed. 01:48 Aud.: Blessed. PB: And when you're God's chosen and God's blessed, 01:51 no devil in hell can stop God's blessing on your life. 01:54 Let folk talk about you all they want. Let folk curse you all they want, 02:01 but God says He'll bless those that bless you and He'll curse those 02:05 that curse you. That's why when you're blessed and folk are cursed, 02:09 and you wonder why they're never blessed, it's because they're 02:12 cursing God's blessed. Do I have a witness in this place? 02:15 And just because Israel is God's blessed, Israel is God's chosen, 02:18 God's look out for them. God takes care of them. God provides for them. 02:23 In the book of Numbers, specifically if you read Numbers 22 and 23, 02:27 the Bible will tell you that after defeating enemy after enemy the 02:31 Israelites moved to the Plains of Moab, and the king of Moab was a 02:35 man by the name of Balak. Balak was intimidated by the move of 02:40 the children of Israel. Balak had heard about the children of Israel. 02:44 He had heard about their military exploits. The Israelites had just 02:48 defeated the Amorites, and Balak was concerned about his territory. 02:52 He was concerned, because he was scared that the Israelites were going 02:56 to overtake his territory. That's just like God's people today. 03:02 You've got some folk intimated, and you don't even know it. 03:07 You've got some folk scared. It's not your fault, it's just a fact 03:13 that you are God's chosen. You're God's blessed. That's why some folk 03:17 look at you like they look at you. That's why some folk treat you like 03:21 they treat you, because you've got them intimidated, you've got them scared. 03:25 But let me give those folks some help today: Don't hate the player but hate the game. 03:30 Do I have a witness in this place? Israel was nothing more than a preacher and a choir. 03:37 Balak was scared of a preacher and a choir. Why? Because Balak knew God had His hand on it. 03:48 So what does Balak do? Balak calls for Balaam, the prophet of God, and Balak tells Balaam, 03:54 I want you to infiltrate the camp of the Israelites. I'm going to pay you, and I want you to go in, 04:00 and I want you to curse Israel so we can overtake Israel, because if you go in and pronounce 04:06 the curse, then I can go in and I can overtake them. But Balak was wasting his time asking 04:14 Balaam to curse Israel, because Israel was God's blessed. Ellen White says in 04:20 "Patriarchs and Prophets," that when Balaam was called to curse Israel, 04:23 he could not by all his enchantment bring evil upon them, so even if he wanted to curse 04:31 the people of God, he couldn't do it. But not only that, if you read the entire 04:36 chapters, 22 and 23, you will notice that Balak took Balaam to several places to 04:42 try to entice him to curse the Israelites. Balak thought a change in scenery would 04:49 change Balaam's mind. But I'm here to let somebody know, changing locations won't 04:55 change God's will. God blesses people not places, are you hearing what I'm saying? 05:01 When God is walking with you, when God is taking care of you, God is with you wherever you go. 05:08 You don't have to worry about the conspiracies that try to come up against you. 05:11 You don't have to worry about the silent attacks that you're not privy to. 05:15 My Bible says no weapon formed against you is going to prosper. If God be for us, 05:21 who can be against us? But the Bible says that Balaam goes in, he looks around the 05:30 Israelite camp, and he notices how God takes care of Israel. Balaam comes back to 05:37 Balak and he says, Look, King, I went in. And I found something when I went in. 05:44 I found out some things about God. I found number one, that God can't lie. 05:53 [Aud. reaction] PB: You see, king, you want me to go in and you want me to 05:58 curse them so that you might come in and conquer him. But I need you to understand 06:03 that God is faithful to His children; that it's not in God's nature, neither is it 06:09 in God's character, to lie. If God says He's going to do something, 06:13 then God's going to do it. God said the children of Israel are blessed. 06:19 God's not a liar, and I can't change what God has said. God is not a man 06:24 that he should lie nor the Son of Man that he should repent. If God said it, 06:28 that settles it. God does not make declarations without the intent to perform. 06:35 God is not like the folk in your life who just say stuff just to be getting something. 06:39 But God says, When I speak my Word, I don't take that back. It may look sometimes it's 06:47 not going to happen, but you've got to believe it's going to happen. And I've learned 06:52 in my life that sometimes when God speaks, it may take years for the manifestation to 07:00 come to fruition. Am I talking to anybody in this place? [Aud. reaction] 07:04 PB: Has God spoken in somebody's life, and it looks like it's taking forever and ever and ever. 07:11 But I've come to remind somebody that delay is not denial. He m ay not come when You want Him, 07:19 but He's always right on time. [Aud. reaction] 07:23 PB: You've got to hear His Word, receive His Word, and then to doubt His Word is 07:30 to call God a liar. God is not a liar. The promises of God are yes and amen. 07:36 So yes is going to happen; amen, it's already done. You oughta hear that. 07:44 Yes, it's going to happen; amen, it's already done. In fact, when God speaks a thing-- 07:53 I believe I've got a witness that understands it's already done before you start it. 07:59 [Aud. reaction] PB: Which is why you'd better learn how to have a "yet" praise. 08:03 The devil's telling you you're not going to be blessed of God. You'd better tell the devil, No! 08:07 You just haven't been blessed yet. If God's going to do it. you'd better believe 08:14 that God's going to do it. If God promised you He will heal you, it's already done. 08:19 If He promised you He's going to bring you out, it's already done. 08:24 If He promised you financial clearance, it's already done. 08:29 If He's already promised you a job, it's already done. God said if my Word abides in you, 08:37 and you abide in Me, if you just ask what you will and it shall be done. 08:44 That's why we don't have to wait till it happens, we can shout now. Because God has already 08:49 spoken it in our lives. Do I have a witness in this place? And so God can't lie. I said, God can't lie. 08:58 [Aud. reaction] PB: And let me throw this in, 'cause I've got to make it practical. 09:01 Practical for back to school. If God can't lie, then His people shouldn't lie. 09:09 [Aud. reaction] PB: If God can't lie, then His people shouldn't lie. 09:19 And we've got too much lying in the church. All right, it's getting quiet. That's all right. 09:26 It used to be that a man's word was a man's bond. But too many of us are prone to fabrication. 09:33 We stretch the truth. People determine your character by what you stand for, 09:39 what you fall for and what you life for. An unconsecrated tongue is like a 09:43 torch fire in barren forest. Somebody will say something and we run with it like it's truth. 09:49 But don't be so quick to believe everything you read, everything you hear, everything you see. 09:57 Everything on the Internet is not true. Everything on Facebook is not true. Some of this stuff 10:05 is photoshopped, phony-shopped, and fraud-shopped. Everything somebody tells you may not be 10:14 the way it actually was. I tell people all the time, there are three sides to every story. Yours. Mine. 10:20 And the truth. Are you hearing what I'm saying? When somebody comes running, telling you something, 10:24 you'd better consider your source. I don't care who it is. Do I have a witness in this place? 10:29 Quit slandering the lives of other people talking about stuff you don't know anything you're talking about. 10:34 Talking about lying, I was on a plane, reading, a couple of years ago. 10:37 I was reading the USA Today. And it had an interesting article there in the Life Section, 10:42 called "Alibis for Purchase." Everybody say alibis--come on, alibis. 10:48 Aud.: Alibis. PB: For purchase. What it was saying was this: For three hundred dollars, 10:53 you can get on the Internet and charge up an alibi. You can get receipts for plane tickets, 11:03 hotels, people that you met with, business associates, and you can buy a lie for a mere 11:12 three hundred dollars. And then, if you send in five hundred dollars you can get the elaborate package. 11:20 Somebody's looking at me, talking about what's the web address. Come on, say amen. 11:26 [Aud. reaction] PB: We have a propensity to lie, and we lie in all directions. 11:33 We lie to ourselves, we lie to others. Oh, you don't know what I'm talking about. 11:38 Let me call the roll. Makeup companies. Make up companies. Help us lie about ourselves. 11:48 When you take it off, you see the truth. Do I have a witness in this place? 11:53 [Aud. reaction] PB: I just saw on Facebook, I don't know if it's true. 11:58 Some dude married some lady, she took off her makeup. He divorced her and said, 12:02 This is not what I thought I married. Extended hair. Don't look around, look at me. 12:07 [Aud. reaction] PB: Extended nails. Extended eyelashes. Braids. Weave, and the like. 12:18 Help us lie about our--tell the truth, shame the devil. [Aud. reaction] 12:25 PB: Colognes, perfumes, deodorants--they also help us lie about our selves. 12:34 But given their purpose, maybe they're better than the truth. come on, say amen. 12:40 [Aud. reaction] PB: Clothing also helps us lie about ourselves. Some of us tell the truth, 12:47 we're robbing Peter to pay Paul. Oh, you're ___--on the outside. We look good, 12:56 with Gucci. Prada. Hugo Boss. St. Johns. Gavana. But on the inside, we're just as broke, 13:08 running to Taco Bell. I see you. [Aud. reaction] 13:13 PB: Sneaking hot sauce packets for Doritos. Running to McDonald's, getting napkins for 13:20 our dinner tables. Or better yet, right there on the corner of Jordan University, 13:24 going to Popeyes to get jelly. Come on, say amen. [Aud. reaction] 13:31 PB: Don't act like you haven't done it. Come on, say amen. 13:37 [Aud. reaction] PB: I just have to use the bathroom, and you go sneak some jelly, 13:40 and, can I just get some water? And then you head on out. Don't act like you don't 13:42 know what I'm talking about. College students, being in college is a temporary state of poverty. 13:52 But we lie. No truth in us. But God can't lie. And we shouldn't lie either. 14:01 Stop lying to yourself. You are not a size 8 anymore. [Aud. reaction] 14:08 PB: You are a 16. Preach, Pastor Byrd! I'm doing the best I can! 14:14 [Aud. reaction] PB: So take off that size 8 and go get a size 16. 14:17 Are you hearing what I'm saying? [Aud. reaction] 14:20 PB: Stop lying. [Aud. reaction] PB: Amen. Honesty is of God, and dishonesty of the devil. 14:33 I'm telling these choirs and praise teams this year, you all can't put on 14:36 size 16 and put some robes on. Come on, say amen. Stop lying to yourself. 14:42 The devil was a liar from the beginning and he's a liar now. But God can't lie. 14:49 And neither should you lie. Do I have a witness in this place? But not only that, 14:54 Balaam says, number two, Balak: God can't force us to love Him. Balaam tells Balak, 15:04 God can't make them love Him. If God could make them love Him, then we could undo it. 15:14 But they love Him voluntarily. They're loyal voluntarily. So king, it's going to be hard 15:20 for you to go in, mess with them, because they love God too much. It's going to be hard, 15:28 king, for you to pull them away from church because they love God too much. 15:33 It's going to be hard for some relationship to stop them from going to church 15:38 because they love God too much. It's going to be hard for them not to return tithe 15:44 because they love God too much. It's going to be hard for them to sit up in church 15:50 and be stuck up, because they love God too much. They don't have idols, 15:59 they don't worship Baal, like you. But they worship the God of heaven and the God of earth. 16:05 They've grown up loving Him. Unlike the folk in Moab who you force to love you , 16:11 these folk generally genuinely love God. You see, friends of mine, all the way from 16:16 Genesis to Revelation, God never messes with free will. God created us with the power of choice, 16:22 that we can love Him or not love Him. But what I love about my God is He loves us in spite of us. 16:28 And how God dealt with Israel is a demonstration of love. Yes, they were often rebellious. 16:34 Yes, they were naughty by nature. Yes, they were unappreciative of God's love, 16:40 but God never left them. I must confess today, I'm so glad some of you all are not God. 16:48 Aud.: Amen. PB: Because some of you all would leave me. You would leave other folks. 16:54 But God has never left us. God never cut us off. Hallelujah, somebody. God allowed 17:00 Israel to go through some stuff in order that they might recognize His presence 17:04 and desire a relationship with Him that was beyond the surface. God's allowing 17:07 some of you right now in this place, some of you watching right now on television-- 17:12 God is allowing you to go through experience after experience after experience until 17:17 you finally realize what a real relationship with God is all about. 'Cause I'm a witness, 17:23 the only way you're going to understand what a real relationship with God is all 17:26 about where you really love Him, is you have to go through stuff. 17:29 I'm talking about some stuff. Where no one or nothing else can get you out but God. 17:38 God says I can't force you to have a personal relationship with Me. 17:44 All I can do is take you through enough stuff so that one day you'll 17:48 realize where your real help comes from. God says, I cannot force you 17:53 to return tithes and offerings. I just hope one day you'll love Me 17:56 enough to return it. God says, I can't force you to come to church, 18:01 but I hope you go through enough stuff where every Sabbath you realize 18:04 you can't wait till you get to the house of God. God says, I can't force 18:09 you to praise Me, but I hope that you go through enough stuff that you 18:15 will fall in love with Me. That you will fall in love with Me enough that 18:20 whether there's a praise team, whether there's a choir in the loft, 18:24 that whether Anthony Brown comes or not, where you'll praise Me in your car, 18:29 you'll praise me on your job, you'll praise Me in the classroom. God doesn't 18:35 force us to love Him, but we ought to love Him. Oh, how I love Jesus. 18:40 Now, for the practical application. God doesn't force us to love Him. 18:46 Stop trying to force people to love you. Church, quit trying to make people 18:54 love you who don't even like you. [Aud. reaction] 18:57 PB: In any positive relationship there must be reciprocity. 19:02 Everybody say reciprocity. Aud.: Reciprocity. 19:04 PB: Reciprocity means give and take. Reciprocity means, 19:09 if I bring the ice cream, you've got to bring the cake. 19:14 If I bring the peanut butter, you bring the jelly. 19:17 If I bring the rice, you gotta bring the peas. But I'm not bringing 19:23 ice cream, cake, peanut butter, jelly, rice and peas and you're not 19:27 bringing anything to the table. Reciprocity means, you have to love her-- 19:33 listen to me, young people--you have to love her and she has to love you. 19:39 Reciprocity means you have to love him, and he has to love you. 19:43 Quit trying to force people to love you. The first time you know 19:47 something is wrong in your relationship, when you're trying to get 19:49 somebody to love you, when the person you're so in love with you 19:52 can't even get them to say the words. You're talking about I love you, 19:58 and they're talking about, well, I care about you. [Aud. reaction] 20:04 PB: You like that, Brother Lang? I love you. Well, I'm really in like with you. 20:12 [Aud. reaction] PB: Or this is the favorite, all-time number one: 20:14 I love you. Me too. [Aud. reaction] 20:17 PB: No. If you love me, tell me you love me. Are you hearing what I'm saying? 20:21 [Aud. reaction] PB: There's something wrong when you're the one always calling. 20:26 They've got your home number, your work number, your cell number, 20:29 but you're always the one calling. There's something wrong with that. 20:32 You're always the one that's giving and they never give anything. 20:35 You're always the one that's supportive and they never support you with anything. 20:38 You're always running behind them and they never run behind you. 20:41 You ought to make up your mind that I'm coming out of these 20:43 one-sided relationships, where I've always got to give something 20:47 and I'm not getting anything in return. If I call you, then baby, 20:50 you can call me, too. If I email you, then you can email me. 20:54 If I rub your feet, then you can rub my feet. If I buy gifts for you, 20:58 you can buy some gifts for me. If I do nice things for you, 21:01 you ought to do nice things for me. You've got to make up in your mind, 21:05 I'm going to stop falling in love with people who don't even like me. ' 21:10 Cause there are some folk up in here, some folk watching, 21:15 who are in love with folk that can't stand you. 21:19 I'm going to go some more. You're in here now. But not only that, 21:26 we're talking about God can't force people to love Him, you can't 21:29 force him to love you, you can't force her to love you. There ought to be 21:31 some reciprocity when it comes to your faith system. Pretty quiet now. 21:38 Your belief system. Your moral system. Your values system. 21:44 Your love and understanding for God and the things of God. 21:47 I'm tired of seeing people with all this godly promise on their life, 21:51 and as soon as you meet somebody you can't go to church. 21:54 You don't want to hear anything about God, and you let them bring you 21:58 down to their level. Now you're too tired to come to church, 22:02 too tired to come to Sabbath school, can't go to choir rehearsal. 22:05 Now you don't have anymore money to return tithe and offering to give to God, 22:08 because you travel around the world, hanging out with them, 22:10 going from city to city buying any and everything for them. 22:13 And God says, Why don't you bring them up to your level? 22:18 Why don't you say to them, if you're going to be with me, 22:20 you're going to have to come to church. Because as for me and my house, 22:26 we're going to serve the Lord. Do I have a witness in this place? 22:29 You'd better tell them, I believe in salvation. I believe in 22:34 the Second Coming of Jesus. I believe in the Sabbath. 22:38 I believe in commitment, I believe in honesty, I believe in integrity, 22:43 I believe in good credit. Hello, somebody. [Aud. reaction] 22:48 PB: Stop forcing people to love you that they don't like you. 22:51 The problem is, you think that God is giving them to you for you 22:55 to change them. God has not called you to social work. 23:01 [Aud. reaction] PB: Let me tell you something. Can I be real today? 23:06 You can't change anybody. You can't do it. Only God can change. 23:13 And you ought to know by now that if they're not doing what God says do, 23:18 you should know they're not going to do what you say do. Do I have a witness 23:21 in this place? Stop playing yourself. Stop loving folk who don't love you. 23:28 Men, when the relationship is of God; women, if the relationship is of God, 23:31 then your goals, your dreams and your desires that God has placed within you 23:35 will be the same goals, dreams and desires that God will place in your spouse. 23:39 There is no way you can want good credit and they don't. There's no way you can 23:44 want salvation and they don't. Are you hearing what I'm saying? There is no way 23:49 that you can want the best out of life and they don't. Why? You're flesh of my flesh, 23:54 bone of my bones. What hurts you ought to hurt me. What makes you happy ought to 24:01 make me happy. Stop trying to force people to love you. 24:05 Let me give you some more. Reciprocity. They must love you, and you must love them. 24:14 Now, I love contemporary music. Oo, hallelujah. But I'm with the old school 24:18 and we're getting away from some of this stuff, and I'm about to bring it back. 24:21 Somebody going to get mad, but that's all right, I love you anyhow. 24:25 Pastor Byrd is convinced that Christians ought to marry Christians. 24:32 [Aud. reaction] PB: Oh, you don't like that. Christians ought to date Christians. 24:42 Are you hearing what I--I'm trying to help somebody. [Aud. reaction] 24:46 PB: No pun intended to other faith groups but Christians ought to marry Christians. 24:51 And notice I said Christians before I said Adventists, because there are some 24:54 Adventists that are not Christians! [Aud. reaction] 24:59 PB: Heh-heh-heh-hey! [Aud. reaction] 25:02 PB: Let me tell you something. If dogs can get with dogs, cats can get with cats, 25:17 and if fish can get with fish, then Christians--and even Seventh-day Adventist Christians-- 25:23 ought to get with Christians. And Seventh-day Adventist Christians. 25:28 How can two walk together lest they agree? You don't have time to be 25:32 changing anybody, you need to get yourself right. [Aud. reaction] 25:36 PB: Stop trying to force people to love you, who can't stand you. 25:44 If God doesn't do it, then you can't do it either. Finally, the last thing. 25:54 God says number three: Balaam says to Balak, God can't fight and lose. 26:08 God can't fight and lose. Now look at verse number 22 one last time. 26:19 The Bible says that God brought them out of Egypt and he has, as it were, 26:25 the strength of a unicorn. God brought them out of Egypt, and he has, 26:32 as it were, the strength of a unicorn. Now, Israel was always the underdog, 26:40 but God--thank You, Jesus--always delivered them. Which means, there's nothing 26:47 you're going through that God can't deliver you up out of. 26:52 Aud.: Amen! PB: Now, remember: Israel was nothing more than 26:55 a preacher and a choir. A preacher and a what, everybody? 26:58 Aud.: Choir. PB: And when you hear-- 28:09 Thank you for joining us for another exciting broadcast. 28:13 We'd like you to partner with us as we offer the Breath of Life to a dying world. 28:19 All of our sermon titles and DVDs can be purchased at www.BreathofLife.tv. 28:25 Until next time, God loves you. |
Revised 2015-08-27