BREATH OF LIFE MINISTRIES PRESENTS 519 Graven Images 00:00:01.76\00:00:20.75 PB: The Word of God says to us tonight in Exodus chapter 20, 00:00:20.78\00:00:23.55 verse number 4: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven"- 00:00:23.59\00:00:26.72 -what, everybody? Aud.: Image. 00:00:26.76\00:00:28.72 PB: "Or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, 00:00:28.76\00:00:31.03 or that is in the earth"--where? Aud.: Beneath. 00:00:31.06\00:00:33.29 PB: "Or that is in the water under the earth. 00:00:33.33\00:00:34.83 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: 00:00:34.86\00:00:39.10 for I the LORD thy God am a"--what kind of God? 00:00:39.13\00:00:41.24 Aud.: Jealous God. PB: What kind of God, everybody? 00:00:41.27\00:00:43.34 Aud.: Jealous God. PB: Jealous God. 00:00:43.37\00:00:45.01 "Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the 00:00:45.04\00:00:46.47 children unto the third and fourth generation of 00:00:46.51\00:00:49.64 them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands 00:00:49.68\00:00:53.15 of them that love me, and keep my"--what, everybody? 00:00:53.18\00:00:57.52 Aud.: Commandments. PB: Father, in the name of Jesus 00:00:57.55\00:00:59.29 and the intercession of the Holy Spirit, You are here. 00:00:59.32\00:01:02.56 We want You to remain here with us. Now, God, 00:01:02.59\00:01:05.43 we have fellowshipped and we have sung, 00:01:05.46\00:01:07.13 but now we need a Word from You. So God, 00:01:07.20\00:01:09.93 give us that Word tonight. If we don't hear from You, 00:01:09.96\00:01:13.00 Lord, what will we do? So, Lord, immerse me in Your Spirit. 00:01:13.03\00:01:17.01 Go beyond these printed notes, and may Your Holy Ghost 00:01:17.04\00:01:20.01 reign supreme in this place tonight. Set a captive free 00:01:20.04\00:01:25.08 tonight. Set somebody who's bound free tonight, because, 00:01:25.11\00:01:29.38 Lord, if the Son sets us free, You said in Your Word we shall 00:01:29.42\00:01:33.49 be free indeed. So tonight we want to be free in the 00:01:33.52\00:01:36.52 name of Jesus. So bless us through this Word, 00:01:36.56\00:01:38.43 love letter, and commandment two. 00:01:38.46\00:01:39.96 Forgive me of my sins. IN the name of Jesus we pray. 00:01:40.00\00:01:42.63 Let everyone say amen. Aud.: Amen. 00:01:42.66\00:01:44.00 PB: And amen. You may be seated tonight in 00:01:44.03\00:01:46.57 the presence of God. Commandment number 2, 00:01:46.60\00:01:49.64 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. 00:01:49.67\00:01:55.08 Everybody say image. Aud.: Image. 00:01:55.11\00:01:56.95 PB: In fact, say graven image. Aud.: Graven image. 00:01:56.98\00:01:59.01 PB: Now, of the Ten Commandments, it's the second 00:01:59.05\00:02:01.95 one that doesn't bother us the most. We'll argue and 00:02:01.98\00:02:06.42 pitch a fit about the Sabbath. We'll debate about lying, 00:02:06.45\00:02:11.03 adultery, stealing, but we won't spend much time on 00:02:11.06\00:02:17.73 the second commandment. And everyone says, Pastor Byrd, 00:02:17.77\00:02:20.97 you're wasting your time even mentioning this 00:02:21.00\00:02:23.07 commandment to me, because I'd never bow down to 00:02:23.10\00:02:26.04 any graven image. But it's amazing that during 00:02:26.07\00:02:30.58 Christmastime I always see a lot of people entering 00:02:30.61\00:02:34.62 the shrine of what we call the mall. And kneeling at 00:02:34.65\00:02:39.45 the altar of all of these stores that we pay more 00:02:39.49\00:02:42.92 than a tithe to get something back. 00:02:42.96\00:02:45.43 Do I have a witness in this place? [Aud. reaction] 00:02:45.46\00:02:47.30 PB: We don't use cash anymore. But we use plastic. 00:02:47.36\00:02:51.90 And we give our offerings to these gods called Dillards, 00:02:51.93\00:02:56.47 Macy's, Belk, St. Johns, Chico's, or maybe if you're 00:02:56.50\00:03:06.11 like me, on my salary, good ol' Walmart and Target. 00:03:06.15\00:03:09.75 Come on, say amen. [Aud. reaction] 00:03:09.78\00:03:11.65 PB: These gods work very strangely. In fact, 00:03:11.69\00:03:15.46 they say if you don't keep up with your payment, 00:03:15.49\00:03:19.69 we will repossess what we gave you. It's at these 00:03:19.73\00:03:23.77 altars that concerns me, because many of us are 00:03:23.80\00:03:26.77 worshiping at these peculiar temples and have no 00:03:26.80\00:03:30.44 idea that this is where we're pledging our devotions. 00:03:30.47\00:03:34.01 This love letter, love letter [Aud. reaction] two, 00:03:34.04\00:03:37.65 is not a restrictive letter in the negative sense, 00:03:37.68\00:03:40.98 but it's really a no that means yes. It is not to narrow 00:03:41.02\00:03:46.25 the lanes of life but to broaden the avenues of life. 00:03:46.29\00:03:50.19 It is not to restrict us but to liberate us. It is not 00:03:50.23\00:03:55.16 to hold us back, but this love letter is to help us through. 00:03:55.20\00:03:59.07 Remember the setting from which it was given. This law 00:03:59.10\00:04:02.87 was given when Moses was on Mount Sinai. Moses is on the 00:04:02.90\00:04:08.14 top of the mountain, and God speaks to him and 00:04:08.18\00:04:10.78 God sketches up His law on two tables of stone. 00:04:10.81\00:04:15.82 He says to Moses, Moses take these Ten Commandments, 00:04:15.85\00:04:20.12 take these ten love letters back to my people. 00:04:20.16\00:04:23.86 And while Moses is receiving these ten letters, 00:04:23.89\00:04:26.53 the children of Israel, who have been brought out of Egypt, 00:04:26.56\00:04:29.30 brought out of slavery, brought out of bondage by this 00:04:29.33\00:04:32.33 awesome God, who has written out His own words there 00:04:32.37\00:04:35.74 below the mountain, breaking love letter [Aud. reaction]2. 00:04:35.77\00:04:39.67 They're pleading with Aaron. Aaron, use your artistry. 00:04:39.71\00:04:43.65 Use your skill and make us a god that we can worship. 00:04:43.68\00:04:48.28 Aaron gives in to their demands, and Aaron receives the 00:04:48.32\00:04:52.55 silver, the gold, the bronze, and Aaron begins to make 00:04:52.59\00:04:57.16 a golden calf. Now this brings conflict, because it seems 00:04:57.19\00:05:02.10 as if Aaron here is introducing idol worship. But that's 00:05:02.13\00:05:07.57 really not what's happening. Aaron hasn't lost his love for 00:05:07.60\00:05:12.34 God. The people have not lost their love for God, but they've 00:05:12.37\00:05:15.88 shifted their loyalties. They wanted a god that was tangible, 00:05:15.91\00:05:20.92 touchable, reachable, see-able. They wanted a god they could 00:05:20.95\00:05:25.42 perceive with their senses. They wanted a god that if they saw 00:05:25.45\00:05:29.22 it, they would know how it looks; if they heard it, how it 00:05:29.26\00:05:33.63 would sound. If it spoke, how it would be uttered. If they 00:05:33.66\00:05:38.30 touched it, how it would be felt. That's what they wanted to 00:05:38.33\00:05:41.50 know. But this is why God says what He says in this 00:05:41.54\00:05:45.84 commandment. He says, if you're going to love Me, you can't 00:05:45.87\00:05:50.11 reduce me to some image. If you're going to love Me, you 00:05:50.15\00:05:54.22 can't reduce Me to some wood. If you're going to love Me, you 00:05:54.25\00:06:00.12 can't reduce Me to a golden calf. Thou shalt not make unto 00:06:00.16\00:06:01.86 thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in 00:06:01.89\00:06:04.29 the heaven above, in the earth beneath, or in the waters 00:06:04.33\00:06:06.96 under the earth. In other words, you can't image Me. 00:06:07.00\00:06:11.93 You can't draw Me. You can't picture Me. My ways are 00:06:11.97\00:06:18.14 not your ways; your thoughts are not My thoughts. 00:06:18.17\00:06:21.64 For as high as the heavens above the earth, 00:06:21.68\00:06:23.55 My ways are your ways. And that speaks of the divinity 00:06:23.58\00:06:26.75 of God, that God is above any and everything we could 00:06:26.78\00:06:29.98 ever imagine. It prohibits us from limiting us in these 00:06:30.02\00:06:34.26 human shapes and sizes that we are so accustomed to doing. 00:06:34.29\00:06:37.63 You see, what some of us want is a God we can manage. 00:06:37.66\00:06:41.33 A God we can control. A God that we can call on just 00:06:41.36\00:06:46.33 when we have something that needs to be done. 00:06:46.37\00:06:48.94 But don't make God into a type of spare tire God, 00:06:48.97\00:06:52.94 where you take Him out of the trunk when your life 00:06:52.97\00:06:55.41 goes flat and you ride Him until you get where you 00:06:55.44\00:06:57.75 want to go, and when you get there you put Him back 00:06:57.78\00:06:59.91 in the trunk until you need Him again. 00:06:59.95\00:07:02.62 God is beyond our management. God is beyond our control. 00:07:02.65\00:07:08.46 God is beyond any image. God is beyond any picture of 00:07:08.49\00:07:14.00 what we think He should be. Don't you reduce God's 00:07:14.00\00:07:17.00 transcendence into some temporary picture of who you 00:07:17.03\00:07:20.14 think God is or who you think God should be. 00:07:20.17\00:07:23.30 But if you do want to look at God, look at Jesus. 00:07:23.34\00:07:28.98 If you would know who God is, you must first know Jesus. 00:07:29.01\00:07:34.72 If you would have the grace of God, seek Jesus. 00:07:34.75\00:07:38.59 If you would know the love of God, you've got to love Jesus. 00:07:38.62\00:07:42.69 If you would know and have the salvation of God, 00:07:42.72\00:07:45.33 you must trust Jesus. If you desire blessings from God, 00:07:45.36\00:07:49.70 you've got to tell Jesus. If you want to know the will 00:07:49.73\00:07:52.87 of God, you'd better ask Jesus. And if you want to 00:07:52.90\00:07:56.27 live eternally with God, you'd better live in Jesus. 00:07:56.30\00:08:00.74 [Aud. reaction] PB: The best we have about God is in Jesus. 00:08:00.78\00:08:04.61 But I must confess tonight, after I go through all of that, 00:08:04.65\00:08:08.32 that I'm getting concerned in the 21st century. 00:08:08.35\00:08:11.79 I'm getting concerned that in our postmodern, 00:08:11.82\00:08:14.96 contemporary society, that I'm hearing too many 00:08:14.99\00:08:19.49 people talk about God in familiar terms. 00:08:19.53\00:08:23.63 They just wake up like they do, and they seem to 00:08:23.67\00:08:27.07 wake up and shake hands with God, like God is 00:08:27.10\00:08:29.40 their home boy. But this is the directive of this love letter: 00:08:29.44\00:08:33.78 God says, love Me, but don't approach me with 00:08:33.81\00:08:36.41 that kind of familiarity. Because whenever you 00:08:36.44\00:08:39.11 begin to reduce God, you being to approach God 00:08:39.15\00:08:41.68 in a way which is familiar and you practice nepotism with God. 00:08:41.72\00:08:46.49 None of has the right to come at God with such familiarity, 00:08:46.52\00:08:51.29 frivolity, and foolishness. In the creation narrative, 00:08:51.33\00:08:55.00 we must understand and we see why God sets the celestial 00:08:55.03\00:08:58.87 in the heavens. God puts the beasts of the field on the 00:08:58.90\00:09:03.77 earth. God deals with marine life in the waters. And God is 00:09:03.81\00:09:07.91 saying that there is no star, no moon, no sun, 00:09:07.94\00:09:11.98 no galaxy that you are to image and assume He's like. 00:09:12.01\00:09:17.72 God wants us to know tonight, you are not to look at wood, 00:09:17.75\00:09:20.46 you are not to look at gold, you are not to look at 00:09:20.49\00:09:22.89 metal on earth and say I'm like that. You are not to 00:09:22.92\00:09:26.03 look at the waters and find some mysterious moving 00:09:26.06\00:09:27.66 figure and say I'm like that. God says, the reason 00:09:27.73\00:09:30.93 why they cannot be Me is because I created them. 00:09:30.97\00:09:35.20 [Aud. reaction] PB: Creation can never speak the 00:09:35.24\00:09:39.74 creator into anything. God is the creator; 00:09:39.77\00:09:44.88 we are the creation. God is the landlord; 00:09:44.91\00:09:48.88 we are the tenants. Man was made in God's image; 00:09:48.92\00:09:53.36 God was not made in man's image. God is saying, 00:09:53.39\00:09:56.52 no image that you use is enough to define or 00:09:56.56\00:09:59.13 describe my divinity. There is nothing on earth 00:09:59.16\00:10:03.37 you can compare Me to. Your God is too small; 00:10:03.40\00:10:06.84 you've got to learn how to approach God with respect. 00:10:06.87\00:10:09.40 Approach God with reverence. How dare you- 00:10:09.44\00:10:14.61 -I hear people refer to God as "Big G" and Jesus as 00:10:14.64\00:10:19.08 "J.C." This is the reduction of the divine. 00:10:19.11\00:10:23.08 A reduction of the transcendent. When we come to God, 00:10:23.12\00:10:27.39 we ought to come to God with holiness. 00:10:27.42\00:10:29.72 [Aud. reaction] PB: We ought to glory when we 00:10:29.76\00:10:31.59 come into the presence of the Most High God. 00:10:31.63\00:10:33.43 When the angels come into the presence of God, 00:10:33.46\00:10:36.73 they immediately fall down and say, holy, holy, holy! 00:10:36.77\00:10:41.10 [Aud. reaction] PB: God continues in verse 5. 00:10:41.14\00:10:46.17 He tells us that there is a punishment for those 00:10:46.21\00:10:50.18 who reject the divinity of God. God tells us in 00:10:50.21\00:10:53.58 verse number 5, that if we're going to love Him, 00:10:53.62\00:10:55.42 we are not to bow down to anything or anybody 00:10:55.45\00:10:57.35 other than Him. And then God throws in something 00:10:57.39\00:11:00.42 else about Himself--I like this. God says in 00:11:00.46\00:11:02.89 verse number 5, let me give you an attribute of Myself. 00:11:02.92\00:11:06.56 I am a jealous God. He says, I am a jealous God. 00:11:06.59\00:11:13.23 Now, let's not misinterpret God, because this word 00:11:13.27\00:11:16.44 "jealous" is not to be mistaken for how some of us operate. 00:11:16.47\00:11:20.58 You see, when we think of jealousy, we tend to 00:11:20.61\00:11:25.05 think of it as something negative. When we think 00:11:25.08\00:11:28.92 of jealousy, we think of the husband who will not 00:11:28.95\00:11:31.55 trust his wife regardless of her years of faithfulness. 00:11:31.59\00:11:35.16 We think of the neighbor, friend, family member, 00:11:35.19\00:11:37.43 coworker who hates on us, hates on the successes of others, 00:11:37.46\00:11:43.06 and barely contains their joy at the failures of 00:11:43.10\00:11:46.40 others because he is jealous. But let me give you 00:11:46.43\00:11:50.87 some advice: Don't hate the player, hate the game. 00:11:50.91\00:11:53.04 I wish I had a witness in this place. [Aud. reaction] 00:11:53.07\00:11:54.61 PB: If God is blessing him and him and her and her, 00:11:54.64\00:11:56.11 God must be in the neighborhood and it's just a matter 00:11:56.14\00:11:58.81 of time before God blesses me. I wish I had a witness 00:11:58.85\00:12:00.58 in this place. The true object of the jealous person's 00:12:00.62\00:12:04.69 concern is themselves. They cannot tolerate the 00:12:04.72\00:12:08.12 thought of someone else having something they don't. 00:12:08.16\00:12:12.19 And so they become jealous. Jealousy is rooted in envy; 00:12:12.23\00:12:16.56 a self-serving hatred of someone because you want 00:12:16.60\00:12:21.24 what they have. Be careful of asking for what 00:12:21.27\00:12:23.97 somebody else has. If the grass is greener on 00:12:24.01\00:12:27.04 the other side, you'd better believe the water 00:12:27.08\00:12:28.38 bill is higher. I wish I had a witness in this place 00:12:28.41\00:12:30.68 [Aud. reaction] PB: There's a distinction 00:12:30.71\00:12:33.45 between envy now, and jealousy. Jealousy can 00:12:33.48\00:12:37.22 be good or bad, dependent on the object of the 00:12:37.25\00:12:41.92 jealousy and the reason for the jealousy. Envy, 00:12:41.96\00:12:45.83 which is a completely different word in the Greek, 00:12:45.86\00:12:47.76 is nearly always bad. Envy is a feeling of 00:12:47.83\00:12:51.80 displeasure over the blessings somebody else 00:12:51.83\00:12:54.37 is enjoying. Jealousy makes us want what others 00:12:54.40\00:12:57.67 are enjoying, but envy makes us want to deprive 00:12:57.71\00:13:00.68 them of that enjoyment. But God is not envious of us. 00:13:00.71\00:13:07.85 This is not what the Bible means when it says that 00:13:07.88\00:13:11.39 God is a jealous God. There is a big difference- 00:13:11.42\00:13:15.09 -listen to me carefully--between being jealous of 00:13:15.12\00:13:18.26 someone and being jealous for someone. True love is 00:13:18.29\00:13:25.87 never jealous of someone, but true love is always 00:13:25.90\00:13:30.67 jealous for the person you love. This is what God 00:13:30.71\00:13:34.74 is trying to tell us. God is trying to tell us, 00:13:34.78\00:13:37.65 I'm jealous for you. He doesn't want you worshiping 00:13:37.68\00:13:40.42 anything or anybody else. He says, I am a jealous God. 00:13:40.45\00:13:46.39 We are His people. We are the sheep of His pasture. 00:13:46.42\00:13:50.89 God is not envious of us; God has a holy zeal for us. 00:13:50.93\00:13:57.43 What God is saying is simply this: I'm not insecure. 00:13:57.47\00:14:01.87 I'm not paranoid. For who can rival the I Am? 00:14:01.90\00:14:07.48 You all don't hear what I'm saying. [Aud. reaction] 00:14:07.51\00:14:09.01 PB: I already told you in love letter [Aud. reaction]1 00:14:09.04\00:14:12.51 that I Am the Lord thy God. But I'll tell you what, 00:14:12.55\00:14:17.59 God says I'm jealous, because I will not tolerate you 00:14:17.62\00:14:20.36 giving allegiance to anyone other than me, 00:14:20.39\00:14:22.46 when I brought you out in the first place and 00:14:22.49\00:14:25.49 I will destroy any idol that gets in the way 00:14:25.53\00:14:28.83 of trying to reduce Me down to your size. You see, 00:14:28.86\00:14:35.44 anything that is other than God is just that. 00:14:35.47\00:14:39.87 It may have all the image of what you think a god 00:14:39.91\00:14:44.45 ought to look like, but it can't be God. Because 00:14:44.48\00:14:48.48 there's only one God. And the danger is this, 00:14:48.52\00:14:51.95 friends of mine: when we kneel down at the shrines 00:14:51.99\00:14:55.69 of our jobs; when we bow at the altars of our careers; 00:14:55.72\00:15:01.16 when we bow at the worshiping of our families, 00:15:01.20\00:15:03.93 our homes, our cars, our clothes and our money, 00:15:03.97\00:15:07.17 what happens is we become inferior to that which 00:15:07.20\00:15:10.07 is inferior, but your inferiority makes it superior. 00:15:10.11\00:15:13.98 What am I saying? In the Old Testament, 00:15:14.01\00:15:17.45 the people would bow down to these idols. 00:15:17.48\00:15:19.65 And when they'd bow down to them--particularly 00:15:19.68\00:15:21.65 the bells were known for their fruitfulness and there's 00:15:21.68\00:15:23.02 an agricultural worship and there's sexuality for 00:15:23.05\00:15:26.09 fruitfuness on it. So people would bow down at these gods. 00:15:26.12\00:15:28.86 Now, the problem with that is this: God's creation became 00:15:28.89\00:15:32.13 inferior and made these lifeless images superior. 00:15:32.16\00:15:35.70 And as the inferior appeals to the superior, 00:15:35.73\00:15:38.53 the inferior was saying that the superior--the idol- 00:15:38.57\00:15:41.34 -had something that they needed. But the question tonight is 00:15:41.37\00:15:44.71 this: How can that which is not give you which is what you need? 00:15:44.74\00:15:49.14 You all don't hear what I'm saying. Somebody says, Pastor 00:15:49.18\00:15:54.12 Byrd, but I don't have any images of God. But I argue that 00:15:54.15\00:16:00.46 all of us, at some time or another, have tried to cut down 00:16:00.49\00:16:05.23 God to size. Because whenever you start talking to God and all 00:16:05.26\00:16:08.13 you want from God is more money, you've reduced and rejected God. 00:16:08.16\00:16:11.03 You don't have to agree with me tonight, but I'm telling you 00:16:11.07\00:16:14.24 that when all you want from God is another car, another house, 00:16:14.27\00:16:19.21 you've rejected and reduced God. When all you think God is 00:16:19.24\00:16:24.45 good for is to give you a new suit, a new dress, 00:16:24.48\00:16:28.18 you've reduced and rejected God. God is more than the stuff you 00:16:28.22\00:16:34.79 possess. [Aud. reaction] PB: God is more than the stuff you 00:16:34.82\00:16:38.46 can buy. God is more than the stuff you can get. The earth is 00:16:38.49\00:16:43.30 the Lord's; the fullness thereof. The world and all them that dwell therein. 00:16:43.33\00:16:47.94 God will be your God, but you will not be God's god. 00:16:47.97\00:16:52.37 God is still in control of creation and that which He has 00:16:52.41\00:16:56.81 created. God says, because you've rejected Me, I'm a 00:16:56.85\00:17:01.22 jealous God. And He continues in verse number 5 by saying, 00:17:01.25\00:17:04.35 Because of this I'm going to curse the children of the 00:17:04.39\00:17:10.26 fathers through the generations. The text specifically states, 00:17:10.29\00:17:15.23 and I'll read it: Visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon 00:17:15.26\00:17:19.57 the children into the third and fourth generation of them that 00:17:19.60\00:17:22.57 hate Me. Now, let's understand what we've just read. This text 00:17:22.60\00:17:27.44 is not about generational curses--listen to me good. Stay 00:17:27.48\00:17:32.18 with me. When Moses was up on Mount Sinai, God told him when 00:17:32.21\00:17:37.75 you get down from this mountain, you're going to be shocked 00:17:37.79\00:17:41.06 at what you see going on. Aaron crafted this golden calf, 00:17:41.09\00:17:46.49 and now they're down at the foot of the mountain 00:17:46.53\00:17:49.00 worshiping this calf. The children of Israel are 00:17:49.03\00:17:53.13 worshiping this golden calf and they think God is in it. That's 00:17:53.17\00:17:59.04 why you'd better make sure, friends, that when you worship 00:17:59.07\00:18:01.28 God, you're worshiping God in Spirit and in truth. 00:18:01.31\00:18:03.85 Because all this we see people saying is worship 00:18:03.88\00:18:06.15 is not worship; all that looks like holiness is not holiness; 00:18:06.18\00:18:10.09 all that talks like holiness is not holiness; all that prays 00:18:10.12\00:18:13.76 like holiness is not holiness; all that shouts like 00:18:13.79\00:18:16.69 holiness is not holiness, because holiness is not about 00:18:16.73\00:18:20.06 how high you jump when you shout, but how straight 00:18:20.10\00:18:22.53 you walk when you come back down. [Aud. reaction] 00:18:22.56\00:18:24.97 PB: The devil goes to church, too. The children of 00:18:25.00\00:18:32.47 Israel are shouting on this calf, and they think 00:18:32.51\00:18:37.41 God is in it. They're trying to worship Him as if 00:18:37.45\00:18:43.45 it were it that got them out of Egypt. 00:18:43.49\00:18:46.72 They're trying to worship it as if it were 00:18:46.76\00:18:51.06 feeding them in the wilderness. They're worshiping 00:18:51.09\00:18:54.36 the golden calf like it was the One that opened 00:18:54.40\00:18:58.20 up the Red Sea. They're trying to worship the golden 00:18:58.23\00:19:02.07 calf like it was the One who gave them a pillar of 00:19:02.10\00:19:05.51 cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. 00:19:05.54\00:19:08.24 They tried to worship it and reduce God down to it. 00:19:08.28\00:19:14.35 But God told Moses: Moses, when you get down there, 00:19:14.38\00:19:20.56 you can't lock Me up into any idol or image. 00:19:20.59\00:19:26.39 Everything they used, I'm the One who made it 00:19:26.43\00:19:30.90 in the first place. And when you get down there, 00:19:30.93\00:19:34.54 Brother Moses, tell them the danger is this: 00:19:34.57\00:19:37.41 the way they worship Me is how they're going 00:19:37.44\00:19:39.64 to transfer worship down to their children. 00:19:39.67\00:19:42.51 [Aud. reaction] PB: In other words, 00:19:42.54\00:19:45.68 the tendencies of the father become the traits 00:19:45.71\00:19:49.45 of the children. What God is saying, then, is this: 00:19:49.48\00:19:54.82 I'm not sending a curse down to you, but you're 00:19:54.86\00:19:59.53 sending a curse down to your own children. 00:19:59.56\00:20:03.50 Can I be real tonight? Let me show you what 00:20:03.53\00:20:07.17 I'm talking about. Now, right about now I need 00:20:07.20\00:20:09.77 you to know, I'm speaking to the men in this place. 00:20:09.80\00:20:13.51 Verse 5 is talking to the fathers. 00:20:13.54\00:20:16.51 It's talking to the men. God--listen to me good- 00:20:16.54\00:20:20.02 -people don't like to preach this anymore; 00:20:20.05\00:20:21.35 I'm going to preach it anyhow. God has given the man- 00:20:21.38\00:20:25.52 -and I'm not a male chauvinist, so don't even begin 00:20:25.55\00:20:28.16 to think that--God has given the man in the creative 00:20:28.19\00:20:32.33 order the responsibility to be priests of the home. 00:20:32.36\00:20:36.73 Do I have a witness in this place? [Aud. reaction] 00:20:36.77\00:20:39.07 PB: Like it, love it, hate it--it's the truth. 00:20:39.10\00:20:44.24 Men need to be men; women need to be women; 00:20:44.27\00:20:49.98 and women need to let the man be the man. 00:20:50.01\00:20:53.75 Preach, Pastor Byrd. I'm doing the best I can! 00:20:53.78\00:20:57.19 [Aud. reaction] PB: Men are supposed to be 00:20:57.22\00:21:00.12 the priests of their home and their families. 00:21:00.16\00:21:03.69 But as a priest, brothers, you've got a responsibility 00:21:03.73\00:21:08.20 to transfer the spiritual down to your children. 00:21:08.23\00:21:11.53 In other words, your children will worship 00:21:11.57\00:21:14.24 what you worship. If they see you worship your job, 00:21:14.27\00:21:17.34 they're going to worship their job. If they see 00:21:17.37\00:21:19.47 you worship your money, they're going to 00:21:19.51\00:21:20.98 worship their money. If they see you put 00:21:21.01\00:21:22.51 everything else in front of them, then they 00:21:22.54\00:21:23.95 will put everything else in front of their children. 00:21:23.98\00:21:25.91 And so, God says to the men: In the creative order, 00:21:25.95\00:21:29.18 I have put you as the priest of the family, 00:21:29.22\00:21:31.42 and as priest of the family, whether you're 00:21:31.45\00:21:33.79 in the house or not. If you have children--' 00:21:33.82\00:21:39.36 cause any man can make a baby, 00:21:39.39\00:21:44.47 but it takes a man to father a child. 00:21:44.50\00:21:46.77 [Aud. reaction] PB: If you are a father 00:21:46.80\00:21:50.74 and have children, you have a responsibility 00:21:50.77\00:21:52.64 to transfer the God that you worship down to them. 00:21:52.67\00:21:57.61 And what's wrong in our world today is this: 00:21:57.65\00:22:01.18 our people are under a curse because the priests 00:22:01.22\00:22:04.79 of our families have worshiped other gods 00:22:04.82\00:22:07.79 than the true God. If you don't believe me, 00:22:07.82\00:22:11.69 all these deaths, shootings, immorality, 00:22:11.73\00:22:16.60 drugs, gang-banging are a result of a godless society. 00:22:16.63\00:22:22.44 You can call them bad all you want, 00:22:22.47\00:22:24.81 but you can trace it back to a preceding generation 00:22:24.84\00:22:27.98 of a father who neglected giving God to his children. 00:22:28.01\00:22:32.08 Brothers, if we would just become the priests in 00:22:32.11\00:22:37.45 the culture, in our world, in our home, God will 00:22:37.49\00:22:41.72 begin to revolutionize where we live, and what 00:22:41.76\00:22:44.46 we need to do is to let our children see that 00:22:44.49\00:22:46.90 there is an Authority that's greater than us. 00:22:46.93\00:22:50.73 [Aud. reaction] PB: Somebody needs to let children 00:22:50.77\00:22:55.37 know that it's all right to stand up and worship God. 00:22:55.40\00:23:00.14 But also, every now and then, men you ought to 00:23:00.18\00:23:04.18 let your wife, your children, your mama, your woman, 00:23:04.21\00:23:09.42 your girlfriend, your fiancée, see you down on your 00:23:09.45\00:23:14.79 knees in the presence of God. [Aud. reaction] 00:23:14.82\00:23:18.36 PB: Let me tell you something. My wife and I, 00:23:18.39\00:23:20.90 we have three beautiful daughters, and I know my 00:23:20.93\00:23:22.60 girls love me. And they look at me as some 00:23:22.63\00:23:24.83 big-time preacher. But every now and then, 00:23:24.87\00:23:28.10 I've got to get down on my knees to let them 00:23:28.14\00:23:32.44 know that I answer to an Authority that's greater 00:23:32.47\00:23:35.68 than I am. Greater is He that is in me than he 00:23:35.71\00:23:40.08 that is in the world. But some folk come to 00:23:40.12\00:23:42.65 church and act like they're too good to bow down; 00:23:42.68\00:23:46.15 that they're too good to mess up their pants; 00:23:46.19\00:23:49.02 they're too good to mess up their suits; they're 00:23:49.06\00:23:51.73 too good to mess up their dress. Put a run in 00:23:51.76\00:23:54.76 their stockings or mess up something. 00:23:54.83\00:23:56.83 But I tell you what, in the name of Jesus, 00:23:56.87\00:23:59.90 when your survival is dependent upon God, 00:23:59.93\00:24:03.41 if bowing down is all I've got to do, I'll lay out! 00:24:03.44\00:24:08.84 I'll fall prostrate. I don't care if it's carpet or concrete. 00:24:08.88\00:24:14.82 If my people who are called by My name would humble 00:24:14.85\00:24:20.32 themselves and pray. Ask and it shall be given; 00:24:20.36\00:24:27.86 seek, ye shall find; knock and the door shall 00:24:27.93\00:24:33.47 be opened unto you. Do I have a witness in this place? 00:24:33.50\00:24:36.17 [Aud. reaction] PB: Church, we've got to pray, 00:24:36.20\00:24:38.34 and we've got to pass it down! But God's got one 00:24:38.37\00:24:44.01 more thing in this love letter. Look at verse number 6. 00:24:44.05\00:24:47.62 God says, "And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that 00:24:47.65\00:24:50.89 love me, and keep my commandments." What God is 00:24:50.92\00:24:58.23 saying is this: If you introduce your children that God is above 00:24:58.26\00:25:04.07 everything, and that God is creator of everything. If you 00:25:04.10\00:25:08.64 pass that down to your children, then your children will 00:25:08.67\00:25:12.51 pass that down to their children. And then, 00:25:12.54\00:25:17.05 your children will pass it down to their children 00:25:17.08\00:25:19.31 and your children's children will pass that down 00:25:19.35\00:25:22.55 to their children. And they will pass it down to 00:25:22.58\00:25:26.15 their children. And they will pass it down to their children. 00:25:26.19\00:25:29.89 I'm going to take my seat, but let me say this: 00:25:29.92\00:25:32.69 Go on and get the job; go on and get the promotion. 00:25:32.73\00:25:36.73 Make the money, get the house, get the car, get the clothes. 00:25:36.77\00:25:43.94 But God doesn't care anything about that. As long as you don't 00:25:43.97\00:25:49.44 make that represent who He is. Stop going around talking about, 00:25:49.48\00:25:54.78 you know what? Because you got the car, you've got divine 00:25:54.82\00:25:59.32 favor, when a drug dealer has a nicer car than you. What kind of 00:25:59.35\00:26:04.83 favor does he have? Excuse my English, but you've got 00:26:04.86\00:26:11.70 something he ain't got. You've got joy, when everybody's 00:26:11.73\00:26:19.17 sad around you. I wish I had a church in this place tonight. 00:26:19.21\00:26:22.48 [Aud. reaction] PB: You've got peace when folk can't 00:26:22.51\00:26:25.98 sleep at night. You've got hope in hopeless situations. 00:26:26.01\00:26:32.29 When folks start talking about where you live and start 00:26:32.32\00:26:35.79 talking about what you've got, tell them no, no, no. 00:26:35.82\00:26:38.86 You're looking in the wrong place. You're looking at 00:26:38.89\00:26:42.80 the wrong person. I want you to look at God, who owns 00:26:42.83\00:26:47.54 everything that I have. Where I live, what I drive, 00:26:47.57\00:26:54.04 what I wear, it all belongs to Him. Bless the Lord, 00:26:54.08\00:26:59.01 O my soul and all that is within me bless His holy name! 00:26:59.05\00:27:05.25 The Lord is my Light and my salvation, whom shall I fear. 00:27:05.29\00:27:10.89 Whatever you need, God's got it. Give God the praise 00:27:10.93\00:27:13.80 tonight all over the building. 00:27:13.83\00:27:17.63 But God says, if you want Me to free it up, 00:27:17.67\00:27:25.31 learn how to bow down. That's all I want you to do, 00:27:25.34\00:27:35.85 is bow down. Prostrate yourself. Open up your hands. 00:27:35.88\00:27:46.16 Open up your hearts. Open up your mind. Open up your mouth, 00:27:46.19\00:27:56.97 and bless His name. Folk are talking about if I had 00:27:57.01\00:28:00.34 ten thousand tongues. God says, why don't you s tart 00:28:00.38\00:28:02.68 with the one tongue you've got right now! 00:28:02.71\00:28:06.15 [Aud. reaction] PB: If you're going to love Him, 00:28:06.18\00:28:09.82 love Him in the way-- 00:28:09.85\00:28:13.15 >: Thank you for joining us for another exciting 00:28:13.19\00:28:15.52 Breath of Life television broadcast. 00:28:15.56\00:28:17.33 Tune in next week at the same time, 00:28:17.36\00:28:19.63 as Dr. Byrd will deliver another dynamic message 00:28:19.66\00:28:22.36 from the Lord, just for you. 00:28:22.40\00:28:24.77 Until next time, may God bless you. 00:28:24.80\00:28:27.10 END 00:28:27.14\00:28:42.15