Participants: Carlton P. Byrd
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000509A
|
00:01 Breath of Life presents B509 Stuck - But Still Saved.
00:15 Music 00:20 Pastor Byrd: We're reading from the King James version of the Bible. 00:23 The word of God says to us today, “And lest I should be exalted 00:27 above measure through the abundance of the revelations, 00:31 there was given to me a,” what, everybody? Come on, what everybody? 00:35 "thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan buffet me, 00:42 lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing 00:46 I have besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 00:50 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: 00:54 for my strength is made perfect in” what, everybody? 00:58 Aud: Weakness. PB: “Most gladly therefore will I rather 01:00 glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 01:05 Verse 10: “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities.” 01:10 Pleasure “in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, 01:15 in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, 01:21 then am I strong.” Stuck, but still saved. 01:33 God bless us now for the next couple of minutes. 01:35 Speak to your people and speak through me to your people. 01:40 When appeal times comes move in this place, we pray. 01:43 Forgive me of my sins, in Jesus' name. Amen. 01:47 Today, you don't have to admit it, but if you're breathing, 01:56 you've got a thorn in your life. I don't have to follow you home. 02:00 I don't have to bug your phone. I don't have to eavesdrop on you. 02:08 I don't have to hack your computer. But everybody up in 02:15 this place has a thorn. Now, if you're sitting here saying, 02:21 I don't have a thorn, what is he talking about? Let me tell 02:28 you what a thorn is. A thorn is something or somebody that 02:35 repeatedly pokes you, sticks you, annoys you, hurts you, 02:42 holds you down, gets on your nerves, or causes you pain. 02:50 And even the best of us, even those of us who are Bible-toting, 02:57 scripture-quoting, hand-clapping, foot-stomping, 03:05 Amen-saying Christians, we all have a thorn. 03:10 Do I have a witness in this place? 03:13 Thorns are no respecter of persons. 03:17 These, our text lets us know, that the great 03:19 apostle Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, 03:24 preacher extraordinaire, teacher of the deep 03:29 things of God, most prolific writer in the New Testament, 03:33 church planner who established churches that spanned 03:36 the entire known world of his day, man of God, 03:39 Paul said, “I have a thorn.” Now this thorn came 03:44 not because he was a bad person. In fact, after 03:47 his conversion, Paul was a good person, but bad 03:50 things can still happen to good people. 03:53 Five times he was beaten with 39 lashes. 03:57 Three times he was beaten with rocks. 04:00 Three times he was shipwrecked, stoned. 04:05 He was in constant danger, imprisoned, 04:08 rejected by his own countrymen, naked, hungry, 04:11 thirsty, fearful, destitute. That was Paul. 04:15 But what did Paul do wrong? Did Paul sin? 04:20 Did Paul make some kind of mistake to deserve 04:23 this kind of treatment? No. These things 04:25 happened to Paul not because he was out of 04:27 God's will, but because he was in God's will. 04:29 Remember, friends of mine, God's purpose in this life, 04:32 God's purpose for you in this life is not to 04:35 make you happy, but to make you holy. 04:38 God is sovereign, sovereign over everything, 04:42 which means that everything in your life, your job, 04:44 your family, your church, everything in your life 04:49 is designed to accomplish that goal. 04:51 Don't get it twisted now when I say God wants to make 04:54 you holy and not happy. I'm not saying that God is 04:57 opposed to you being happy. But God wants something 05:00 deeper than that. God wants you to experience joy in 05:05 His presence. Remember, friends, there is a difference 05:08 between happiness and joy. Happiness, remember, 05:11 is based on an external reality. Joy is based on an 05:16 internal revelation. Somebody still don't know what 05:19 I'm saying. Let me try it this way. When I know who 05:22 God is, when I know what God has done in my life, 05:26 it doesn't make a difference what happens on the outside, 05:29 but it's based on what and who I know on the inside. 05:33 God wants us to have joy, not happiness, joy. 05:39 Not that thing that just creates an internal 05:41 response based on some external stimuli, 05:44 He wants us to have joy. Joy is something 05:47 internal based on a revelation. You all don't hear. 05:50 Let me try it this way. You hear me say this all the time. 05:52 When somebody gives you flowers, you're happy. 05:54 When someone says you preach well, you're happy. 05:56 When you sing well, someone tells you that, you're happy. 05:59 When you're single and someone takes you out on 06:01 a date and they pay for it, you're happy. 06:03 When somebody gives you money, you're happy. 06:06 But there's a difference between happiness and joy. 06:09 Joy is not external. Joy is internal. 06:13 Because if nobody takes me out, I'll take my 06:17 own self out. If nobody polishes my shoes, 06:20 I'll polish my own shoes. I'll pat my own 06:24 self on my own back because somebody knows 06:26 sometimes you've got to encourage yourself 06:28 in the Lord. This joy that I have, 06:31 the world didn't give it and the world can't take it away. 06:35 Paul went through a bunch of hard stuff. 06:37 On top of that, the Bible says he had a thorn, 06:40 a spike, a bristle, a pain that kept sticking him. 06:46 Some thought it was a headache. Others thought it 06:49 was epilepsy. Somebody else thought it was malaria. 06:52 Some believe it was a speech disorder, 06:54 a fleshly temptation, a spiritual temptation. 06:57 Because Paul dictated letters to scribes, 07:00 some think that Paul has vision problems. 07:03 The thorn, however, could have been a person, 07:06 an adversary, because after all, an adversary 07:10 is defined as a thorn in our flesh. Whatever 07:13 the thorn was in Paul, it kept sticking him. 07:17 It kept bothering him. It kept troubling him. 07:21 It kept harassing him. It kept unsetting him 07:24 and unsettling and hassling and harassing him. 07:27 He thinks the thorn is from Satan. The text 07:31 says he calls it a messenger from Satan. 07:35 So, three times he says, God, remove this thorn. 07:39 Three times God says no. Why would he ask God 07:44 to remove the thorn if the thorn didn't come 07:46 from God in the first place? God didn't give 07:50 Paul his thorn, but God allowed the thorn to afflict Paul. 07:54 You see, I'm learning that sometimes both God and 07:58 the Devil may want the same thing for the opposite reasons. 08:03 Satan, to annoy. God, to allow. Satan's purpose was 08:13 to annoy Paul and hinder Paul's work. God's purpose 08:18 in allowing affliction was to protect Paul from pride. 08:23 You see, Paul was just like us. Paul wanted to be affirmed. 08:29 Paul wanted to be appreciated. Paul wanted to be lifted up. 08:33 In fact, Paul loved it so much that if God had not 08:35 allowed this thorn to come to him, Paul might have 08:37 gotten the big head. Been useless to the kingdom of 08:41 God and the spreading of the Gospel. That's why God 08:43 allowed the thorn to get to Paul in the first place. 08:46 It wasn't because Paul had sinned. It wasn't because 08:49 wasn't walking in the will of God. It wasn't 08:51 because Paul had strayed from the path. Nowhere 08:54 in the Bible do we see Paul failing to carry out 08:57 the mission that God sent him to do. 09:00 God sent the thorn because God knew Paul's weakness 09:05 and propensity to sin. Paul wanted to be cured 09:09 of this thorn. Take this thorn from me. Take it. 09:14 But God says no. I won't take it. I won't get rid of it. 09:19 You got to learn to live with it. Get used to it. 09:23 Overcome it, because my grace is sufficient to bring 09:28 you out in spite of the thorn. 09:32 Now, this sounds good and we shout on God's grace. 09:36 Last week I preached on God's grace. But let's 09:38 be real today. What do we do when God says no? 09:45 There's all that flowery, happy Sabbath, good to 09:50 see you. How do we feel when God says no? 09:58 Two young boys were spending the night at their 10:01 grandparents' home and it was time to go to bed, 10:04 so the two boys knelt beside their bed to say their 10:05 prayers before they went to sleep. The youngest boy, 10:08 as he prayed, he began to pray at the top of his lungs, 10:11 “I pray for a new bicycle. I pray for a new X-box. 10:15 I pray for a new TV.” His older brother leaned over 10:20 to him and nudged the younger brother and said, 10:22 “Why are you shouting your prayers? God is not deaf.” 10:26 The little brother replied, “No, but grandma is.” 10:29 Sometimes when we pray we may wonder, is God deaf, 10:38 because we don't receive an answer or we don't get 10:43 the answer we want. But God is not deaf. God is not dumb. 10:51 God is not mute. God has promised us if we call upon 10:56 His name that he will answer us. But oftentimes we 11:00 forget that sometimes the answer is no. Sometimes 11:02 God will say yes when you deserve it, no because you 11:10 deserve better, and then not yet because the best is 11:13 yet to come. Our responsibility is just to ask. 11:19 God's responsibility is to act. 11:23 I'm learning. God can respond to our prayers in 11:26 four ways. God can give us a definite answer, 11:30 he can give us a delayed answer, he can give us 11:31 a different answer, or he can give us a denied answer. 11:35 Let's be real. It's tough when God says no. 11:40 When you're praying over a loved one and you're saying, 11:43 God heal their body, and God says no. You're going 11:46 to school, you've loaned it out, you're applying for jobs, 11:50 Lord, help me get a job, and God says no. I must be honest, 11:55 I'm not real happy about the answer that God gave to Paul, 11:59 because God is no respecter of persons, it means that when 12:02 my thorn comes, God just might say no to me, too. 12:07 I can scream all I want, yell all I want, cry, beg, pout, 12:13 blame God for allowing it to come, blame everybody and 12:16 everything else for the things that I allow to overcome me, 12:18 but in the end it's my thorn that God has allowed to 12:21 come into my life and is constantly there to remind 12:24 me that I'm not nearly as much of a super Christian 12:27 that I think I am. Today, what is your thorn? 12:36 Everybody has one, because we all have thorns in our lives. 12:42 The devil knows just what to bring against you to 12:44 cause you pain and suffering. The devil is seeking 12:46 ways to kill your faith, steal your joy, and destroy 12:49 your soul. Real today, what is your thorn? 12:53 What person, what situation, what illness, 12:58 what circumstance is sticking you? What's your thorn? 13:03 A bad marriage? Disrespectful children? 13:08 Troubled grandchildren? A failed class? 13:11 A mean teacher? An excuse-making student? 13:14 What's your thorn? A pastor? A church member? 13:21 A tall man? A fine woman? An alternative lifestyle? 13:27 Pornography? An adulterous affair? A trifling coworker? 13:33 A belligerent boss? An insubordinate subordinate? 13:36 What's your thorn? A gossiping tongue? A bad attitude? 13:42 A pessimistic spirit? A judgmental outlook, a messy 13:46 disposition, a nasty temper, a cursing tongue? 13:49 What is your thorn? Cancer? Arthritis? Diabetes? 13:58 High blood pressure? Obesity? Blindness? Today, 14:04 what is your thorn? Fear? Doubt? Lack of faith? 14:13 What's your thorn? Because let's be real. 14:16 Anytime you're trying to do God's will, anytime 14:18 you're trying to follow God's way, I've learned 14:21 there's somebody the devil will send as a thorn 14:23 to stick you. For every leading Moses, there's a 14:29 murmuring multitude. For every kingly David, 14:33 there's a power-hungry Absalom. For every prophesying 14:36 Elijah, there's an upset Jezebel. For every praying David, 14:41 there's a jealous set of officers. For every Frederick Douglas, 14:45 there's a slave catcher. For every John Lewis, 14:48 there's a J. Edgar Hoover. For every Martin Luther King, 14:51 there's a Bull Connor. And for every Barack Obama, 14:54 there is a Donald Trump. Who's sticking you? 15:04 Who do you have in your life that forces you to 15:10 stay humble before God? Who is it you have in your 15:14 life that makes you stay on your knees? What kind 15:18 of thorn do you have in your life that's good to you, 15:22 but not good for you, because what your flesh likes 15:25 the Bible says you can't have? Who or what is sticking you? 15:33 But not only that, after you identify your thorn, you got 15:40 to know the purpose of your thorn. After what's sticking you, 15:45 you then must ask why is it sticking you? 15:48 Paul prayed three times, remove this thorn. 15:55 But God didn't do it, because when trouble comes, 15:59 it comes with a purpose. Your challenge was not 16:03 sent to defeat you. You challenge was sent to develop you. 16:07 Either you can--it will drive you, your thorn, 16:11 closer to God or further away from God, but God's 16:13 purpose is not to make you happy. It's to make you holy. 16:18 Your thorn is not just there to hurt you, but it's to help you. 16:23 Let's be real. Maybe you have arthritis to keep you humble. 16:28 Maybe you have arthritis or cancer because God's 16:32 trying to save you. Maybe you have bad eyesight 16:36 to keep you humble. Maybe you have a crippled limb, 16:39 some disease, or some other ailment because God is 16:41 trying to humble you. Maybe you develop some bad habit 16:44 like smoking or drinking, or even a drug habit, and you 16:48 have asked God time and time again, God, deliver me, 16:52 but that habit keeps coming back to haunt you and you 16:54 can't seem to overcome it, you can't seem to get rid of it, 16:57 you can't seem to get it out of your mind. Maybe you're 17:00 under a constant siege of hell that tries to draw you back 17:04 into your old habits and you're having a hard time resisting. 17:08 You cry yourself to sleep. You're hurting right now. 17:13 And you can't seem to touch heaven with your prayer. 17:16 Maybe God is allowing the thorn to remind you of how 17:21 weak and frail your flesh is. You see, your flesh and 17:27 your spirit are in constant tension. They are constantly 17:32 fighting one with another. Somebody knows what I'm talking about. 17:34 Let me make this plain. Here you go. I'm going to 17:37 her house, not me, you, you're going to her house and 17:42 you just going to stay 30 minutes. I'm going to stay 17:48 30 minutes and then I'm getting up out of there, 17:49 that's what you say. No, you're not. Well, 17:53 I'm just going to walk her to the door, kiss 17:56 her on the cheek, say goodnight. No, you're not. 18:03 Because your flesh will always make you stay longer 18:06 than you want to stay. Your flesh will always make 18:08 you pay more than what you intended to pay. Your 18:11 flesh is a mess. You cannot fight the flesh. 18:14 There is no need of you sitting up here talking 18:16 about I'm going to fight fornication. 18:18 Paul didn't tell you to fight fornication. 18:20 Paul told you to run from fornication. 18:23 Stop trying to convince yourself that your 18:26 flesh is right. You can't, your thorn is a 18:30 reminder that you daily have to go to God and 18:33 ask God for strength, ask God for power, 18:35 ask God for deliverance, and sometimes, 18:38 I'm learning in my life, that God will allow 18:41 a thorn, He will allow a handicap, He will 18:44 allow an affliction to keep you from relying 18:46 on yourself. So you will learn how to trust God. 18:52 My favorite text in Scripture is 1 Corinthians, 10:13, 18:55 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is 18:59 common to man: but God is faithful,” God is what, everybody? 19:03 Aud: Faithful. PB: “Who will not suffer you 19:04 to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with 19:06 the temptation also make a way and escape that ye 19:10 may be able to bear it.” So, no matter what the 19:12 thorn is that sticks your soul, no matter what the 19:16 thorn is that brings you pain, no matter the 19:18 temptation to go and sin, God is always providing 19:22 a way of escape. Number one, identify your thorn. 19:30 Number two, understand the purpose of your thorn. 19:35 And then finally, number three, praise God in spite 19:39 of your thorn. Now some people become defined 19:44 by their hardships while others rise above their pain. 19:47 We suffer broken relationships, broken promises, 19:50 broken expectations, but, you know what? We don't 19:53 have to become broken people. Pain is inevitable. 19:58 Misery is optional. Let me say that one more time. 20:03 Pain is inevitable. Misery is optional. And I don't 20:11 know about you, but I refuse to live in misery. 20:18 I refuse to live in gloom. I refuse to live in desolation. 20:26 This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and 20:33 be glad in it. I know that thorn is hurting you. 20:38 I know that thorn is sticking you. I know that 20:43 thorn is bothering you. But you've got to learn 20:46 how to praise God not because of but in spite of your thorn. 20:54 In spite of my feelings, in spite of my circumstances, 21:00 in spite of my thorns, I've got to be like David and say, 21:05 I will bless the Lord at all times and His praise shall 21:10 continually be in my mouth. I've got to be able to say, 21:13 “My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble 21:16 shall hear thereof, and be glad, O magnify the Lord with me, 21:20 and let us exalt his name together.” 21:23 Let me tell you, friends of mine, there's power in 21:26 your praise. There's healing in your praise. 21:28 There's deliverance in your praise. There's 21:31 salvation in your praise. There's victory in your praise. 21:36 You don't believe me, study your Bible. When Israel went 21:39 into battle in the Old Testament, most times they 21:42 never used bows and arrows, shields or swords, 21:45 all they had was a preacher and a choir. 21:50 Jericho's walls came down because of a preacher and a choir. 21:57 Gideon and the Israelites defeated that Midianites because 22:01 of a preacher and a choir. Victory has always been through 22:05 our praise. That's why wherever I am, I'm going to praise God. 22:10 Whatever I'm doing, I'm going to praise God. 22:13 Whatever thorn is in my flesh, I'm still going to praise God. 22:18 I praise God not because of, but in spite of. 22:22 I love the Aeolians, but I don't need a choir. 22:24 I love the praise team, but I don't need a praise team. 22:28 I can praise God by myself. Folk always looking at me, 22:32 talking about he sings too much. He sings too loud. 22:36 He sings too long. You can't even sing, but you know what? 22:39 That's all right because you can't sing what I can sing, 22:42 because I sing because I'm happy. I sing because I'm free. 22:47 His eye is on the sparrow. [Organ playing] I know He watches me. 22:54 So if you've never been delivered from anything, 22:56 if you've never been rescued from something or somebody, 23:00 if you've never lived through a thorn, I understand why 23:05 you don't sing. I understand why you don't praise God. 23:09 But if the Lord has done something for you, you ought to 23:13 say something. If the Lord woke you up this morning, 23:18 you ought to say something. If the Lord paid your tuition, 23:22 got you in school, somebody ought to say something. 23:28 If the Lord has brought you through that cancer, 23:31 somebody ought to say something. If God has helped 23:34 you raise those children by yourself, somebody 23:40 ought to say something. Who cares what side of 23:43 town you're from? Say something. Who cares how 23:46 many degrees you have behind your name, say something. 23:49 Who cares what folk going to say about you, they don't 23:51 have a heaven or hell for you, say something. 23:54 Is that the redeeming of the Lord? Say something. 24:00 You've got to learn how to praise God in spite of your thorn. 24:05 You see, when I was a little boy, grew up in church, 24:07 born in the church, you ain't going to out-church me. 24:10 I've eaten more Grillers than everybody. Come on, say Amen. 24:16 I used to watch people and I just see people praise God. 24:21 Down in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Mt. Olivet Seventh-Day 24:26 Adventist Church, 649 Northwest 15th Way, triple 3, double 1. 24:30 And I used to look at some folk when they feet start to 24:35 tap and back in those days we didn't have carpet everywhere, 24:37 just carpet in the aisles. Somebody knows what I'm talking about. 24:41 And in between the aisles where we used to sit it was a 24:44 concrete floor. People wanted to elevate, 24:47 say, we need carpet everywhere, but there was 24:49 something good about that concrete floor, 24:51 because when the organist got to playing, 24:53 the pianist got to playing, you could hear 24:56 them people tapping their feet, by and by when 24:59 the morning. . . Somebody knows what I'm talking about. 25:01 But I used to look at folk in that church when 25:03 they used to get happy. There used to be an old mother, 25:06 an old deaconess, that every time my daddy started 25:08 preaching something to get excited, she used to get 25:10 to walking just like this. And I used to look at that 25:14 lady and I said, something's wrong with that lady. 25:16 That lady is crazy. But now that I've gotten a 25:20 little older, I understand that lady a little bit more. 25:22 [Organ begins to play] 25:24 You see, some people have been bruised, but they're here. 25:27 Some people have been battered, but they're here. 25:30 Some people have been laid off, but they're here. 25:33 Some people have been talked about, but they're here. 25:36 Some people have come out of some hellish situations, 25:41 but they're here. Some folk have had not one, not two, 25:46 not three, but four or five thorns in their flesh, 25:50 but they've learned how to praise God in spite of their thorn. 26:00 And today, I'm so glad that God enables us to bear the thorn, 26:10 to suffer it, to overcome it, and defeat it every time it comes. 26:20 When God told Paul that his grace is sufficient, that's what God meant. 26:28 That God's grace will bring us through the sticking and poking of 26:32 the thorn every time if we only stay humble. If we only 26:37 remain committed. Soul out and on fire for God. You see, 26:44 I don't fear anybody. I don't fear--God has not promised 26:50 me a spirit of fear. God has promised us victory in all things. 26:56 May in all things. Don't you know we are more than conquerors. 27:01 I once was young, but now I'm old, but I've never seen the 27:03 righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. We know that 27:06 all things work together for good to them who love the Lord. 27:08 He may not come when you want Him, but he's always right on top. 27:11 Victory is mine. God's grace is sufficient. 27:16 But your strength is made perfect in weakness. 27:23 So, when you're weak, you're strong. Friends, 27:30 I don't care what the devil throws your way. 27:33 I don't care what the Devil puts in your path. 27:37 God's got you. I said, God's got you. God's got 27:42 a plan for your life and no Devil in hell can stop you. 27:50 Nobody can hold you down. Nobody can keep you back. 27:54 What God has for me, it is for me. A thorn is just a 28:00 reminder, but a thorn is not a stopper. Because what 28:07 God starts, no man can stop. Whatever God has willed 28:13 Thank you for joining us for another exciting Breath of 28:16 Life television broadcast. Tune in next week at the same time, 28:20 as Dr. Byrd will deliver another dynamic message from the Lord, 28:24 just for you. Until next time, may God bless you. 28:27 - end - |
Revised 2016-03-18