Participants: Carlton P. Byrd
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000520A
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00:01 BREATH OF LIFE MINISTRIES PRESENTS B520 Watch Your Mouth
00:07 BREATH OF LIFE THEME MUSIC 00:20 PB: The Word of God says. 00:21 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in--what? 00:26 Aud.: Vain. PB: For the Lord will not hold him--what? 00:30 Aud.: Guiltless. PB: That taketh his name in--what, everybody? 00:33 Aud.: Vain. PB: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy 00:36 God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh 00:41 his name in vain. Saturday night we preached thou shalt have 00:47 no other gods before me. On Sunday night, we preached thou 00:50 shalt not make unto thee any graven image. And tonight, 00:54 the third love letter. Thou shalt not take the name of 00:58 the Lord thy God in vain. So with that, we've entitled 01:02 this message, turn to your neighbor and help me say it tonight. 01:04 Turn to your neighbor and say, Neighbor: watch your mouth. 01:09 Aud.: Neighbor, watch your mouth. 01:11 PB: Let's pray. Father, we thank You that You've allowed 01:14 us to come into this, Your house, again tonight so we can hear 01:17 another love letter from You. Lord, we want to love You in 01:20 the way You want to be loved. And so God, tonight, 01:24 You're telling us there's a certain way we ought to call Your name. 01:27 That if we love You, there's a way we reverence Your name. 01:31 There's a way we should respect Your name. So tonight, 01:35 I pray that You would speak to us. And we give Your 01:39 name the praise, the honor and the glory. In Jesus' 01:44 name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. 01:48 The directive, watch your mouth, has been said for hundreds 02:00 of years by parents telling their children to watch what they say. 02:06 If a child is getting passionate in a discussion with 02:11 their mother or father, the child just might hear 02:14 "watch your mouth." If a child starts getting sassy, 02:20 starts getting smart with their mama, their mama 02:24 just might say, watch your mouth. If a family is 02:31 going to somebody else's house for a dinner invitation, 02:35 if they're going for a dinner visit, the parents 02:37 will tell their children in the car before they get out, 02:40 now when you get in here don't touch anything, don't 02:44 run in this house, and watch your mouth. And my daddy 02:52 used to say, if you don't watch your mouth I'll 02:54 give you something to help you watch your mouth. 02:56 Do I have a witness in this place? [Aud. reaction] 02:59 PB: I don't know about you, but I grew up in a 03:01 home where a hard head made a soft bottom. Come on, say amen. 03:04 [Aud. reaction] PB: We're living in a world now where 03:06 we have all this time out, but there was no time out 03:09 in the house I grew up in. I wish there was time out. 03:12 But tonight's admonition is not just for children; 03:17 it's for adults too--God's children. The Bible is clear 03:21 in Proverbs 18:21 that the power of life and death is 03:26 in the tongue. In fact, somebody once said, if you didn't 03:29 hear it with your own ears or see it with your own eyes, 03:34 don't invent it with your small mind and share it with 03:38 your big mouth. Open your mind before you open your mouth. 03:43 Do I have a witness in this place? [Aud. reaction] 03:45 PB: In God's 10 love letters, God is telling us, look. 03:49 I love you. And if you're going to love Me, 03:52 I need you to love Me in the way that I want you to love Me. 03:56 Jesus said, If you love me keep my--what, everybody? 04:00 Aud.: Commandments.PB: And so, in commandment number three, 04:03 God is telling us watch your mouth. When you refer to Me, 04:09 when you speak to Me, there's a certain way you ought to 04:13 call My name. You're not to be careless, you're not to 04:18 be reckless, you're not to be funny, you're not to be fake. 04:23 If you love Me, call Me by My right name and watch your mouth. 04:29 In love letter number three, God is protective of His name. 04:33 He tells us to proceed with caution in handling His name. 04:36 His name is not to become common; His name is not to be casual; 04:41 His name is not to be cavalier. This shouldn't surprise us, 04:45 because names are important to us. Let me ask this tonight: 04:51 How many of you, when you were picking names for your children, 04:56 you wouldn't give a certain name to your child because 04:59 every time you heard that name, it would elicit a certain 05:04 negative response from you. Now, if we tell the truth and 05:08 shame the devil tonight, maybe you stayed away from a 05:10 certain name because the name was the name of a classmate 05:14 from your childhood that you couldn't stand. Maybe you 05:18 stayed away from a certain name because the name reminded 05:22 you of your past, maybe an old boyfriend or an old girlfriend. 05:27 Don't say amen too loud. Maybe you stayed away from a 05:31 certain name because it carried a negative connotation. 05:36 I mean, I must be honest: I've never met a little girl 05:38 by the name of Jezebel. [Aud. reaction] 05:42 PB: I've never met a little boy by the name of Judas. 05:47 I do not hear young people today calling or naming their 05:50 children Adolph Hitler or Saddam Hussein. Why? Because 05:56 the actions of these persons were so bad, nobody wants 06:00 to be associated with bad names. But tonight, 06:04 I'm going to tell you about a good name. A good name 06:07 of a good God. God gave us His name. His name is Yahweh, 06:14 which I've said every night means I Am That I Am. Oh, 06:18 I wish I had a church in this place tonight. 06:21 [Aud. reaction] PB: If you study your Hebrew, 06:23 you will discover that in biblical times God's 06:27 name was off limits to be pronounced. The people, 06:31 the common people, couldn't even pronounce God's name. 06:33 The only people that were given license to pronounce 06:36 God's name were the high priests. None of the Hebrews, 06:39 none of the Israelites, would ever pronounce His name, 06:41 because His name was holy. His name was what, everybody? 06:44 [Aud. reaction]Holy. PB: And because God viewed the 06:47 sacred in such lofty terms, no human being would be 06:50 allowed to utter the name of God from their mere mortal lips. 06:55 In fact, the high priest would only speak God's name 07:00 on two occasions. They would number one speak God's 07:02 name on the Day of Atonement, and number two on the 07:05 Day of Tabernacles. But not just anywhere on that day, 07:08 it had to be spoken in the temple. Because a holy name 07:12 to a holy God is designated to a holy place. You all 07:16 don't hear what I'm saying tonight. You see, before 07:19 the priests would even utter God's name, the priests 07:23 would have to go through a ceremonial ritual. 07:26 A ritual of purification. So when they got to the name, 07:30 they would have to be purified in order to announce the name. 07:34 That's like before we eat, I pray you wash your hands. 07:38 Are you hearing what I'm saying? I pray that after you 07:40 use the restroom, you wash your hands. Come on, say amen. 07:43 [Aud. reaction] PB: I was in the airport one day and 07:44 we were in the men's restroom, used the restroom, 07:46 and I went to wash my hands. One man just walked out, 07:48 then he wanted to shake my hand after he walked out of 07:50 the bathroom. God's name was so holy in those days that 07:58 even before they announced His name, they purified themselves. 08:04 They washed themselves and then the secretaries, 08:09 known as the scribes, who wrote the law. 08:12 All they had to as copyists was to write on 08:15 a piece of paper with a pen that they had seen 08:18 in the law, but they didn't even do that. First, 08:21 they made sure that they got the skin of a kosher animal. 08:25 Secondly, they made sure they had special ink formula. 08:30 Thirdly, they purified themselves through the 08:34 washing of their bodies and the reciting of prayers, 08:36 even before they began to write the law. That's why, 08:40 when I come into God's house, when I come into the 08:43 presence of God, before I speak to anybody I'll 08:46 find myself in just a little corner, and I want 08:49 to bless God's name. I want to say thank You, Lord, 08:52 for allowing me to come in Your house tonight. 08:55 Do I have a witness in this place? 08:57 What am I trying to say? The name of God is holy. 09:01 The name of God is holy. God's name is not to be played with. 09:09 If you're going to love God the way God wants to be loved, 09:13 then use His name right. God is saying in the text, 09:16 watch your mouth. Don't misuse My name. 09:21 Let me illustrate tonight just a little something. 09:24 Now, if I pulled out this energy drink. 09:27 If I pulled it out and I started drinking in 09:31 front of you, you'd probably say, oh, 09:33 Pastor Byrd's drinking a drink. But, 09:34 as I look at this bottle--it's an energy drink- 09:36 -and I look at the name that's on it. Byrd. 09:39 There's something interesting about this name 09:43 Byrd on this energy drink. You can't see it, 09:47 but after the Byrd here there is a little R 09:50 in the corner on this can, and it has a meaning, 09:54 that little R. There's a little R after the name Byrd. 09:59 And do you know what the R stands for? The R stands 10:02 for trademark. Everybody say "trademark." 10:05 Aud.: Trademark. PB: That means that the name 10:07 of this energy drink, Byrd, is the sole property 10:11 of that company; that the company owns the name, 10:16 and all rights to the name. I'm getting there. 10:20 But what would happen if I took a plain cup of 10:23 water in a clear glass, I added some caramel 10:27 coloring to it, put some sugar in it, 10:30 and then put a Byrd label on it and tried to 10:33 sell it to the public. I would probably get sued. Why? 10:40 I put the same name on my product that was on their product. 10:48 So someone may ask, Well, Pastor, what's wrong with that? 10:51 What's the problem with that? What's so important about a name? 10:55 But the name is so important, because the name stands 10:59 for who you are as a company. Everything that you are 11:03 as a company, your entire reputation, is wrapped up 11:07 in that name and you get made when someone else uses 11:11 your name in an inappropriate way. When I was in college, 11:15 I used to be a server, and I served as a waiter 11:20 at a restaurant. And I learned when I was a server, 11:23 that a customer who is satisfied with their meal will 11:27 probably recommend that restaurant to another person. 11:31 But a customer who is not satisfied with their 11:34 meal will warn seven other people to stay away 11:39 from that restaurant. Are you hearing what I'm saying? 11:41 You never really hear about the good; you always hear 11:44 about the bad. You can go to Walmart a hundred million times, 11:46 but the one time you have a bad experience, 11:48 you're not going back to that Walmart. 11:50 Are you hearing what I'm saying? A good reputation, 11:53 a good name, is vital to the growth of any business. 11:57 Companies are very jealous about their reputations. 12:00 They work had to keep their reputations strong. 12:03 If their reputation goes down, so does their business. 12:06 They get mad when people use their name without their 12:10 consent or in an inferior product like my version of 12:13 this energy drink. If companies feel that way, 12:19 how do you think God feels when we use His name 12:26 in the wrong way? Are you hearing what I'm saying? 12:30 God is not happy when we misuse His name. God is not 12:35 pleased when we misuse His name. In fact, God gest 12:38 angry when we misuse His name. The Word says, 12:41 thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy 12:44 God in--what, everybody? Aud.: Vain. 12:45 PB: For the Lord thy God will not hold him 12:47 guiltless that taketh His name in--what? 12:50 Aud.: Vain. PB: I like the way The Message Bible puts it. 12:52 It says, no using the name of God, your God, in curses 12:56 or silly banter. God won't put up with the irreverent 13:03 use of His name. To put it in legal terms, 13:08 God will not drop his suit against those who 13:12 use His name in an improper way or without 13:16 His permission. To take in vain means to use 13:22 God's name in a careless or flippant manner. 13:26 It means to treat it with no more respect 13:30 than any other word or name in the dictionary. 13:34 And what you call God is a big deal to God, 13:38 because God's name reflects His nature, 13:42 and He's spent eternity building His name. 13:47 God's name is trademarked. God's name is 13:51 copyright protected. I show respect for my 13:55 God when I handle His name with care. 13:58 Are you hearing what I'm saying? [Aud. reaction] 14:00 PB: It's important to know who and what 14:03 to take seriously. Nothing should be taken 14:06 more seriously than God, and giving God 14:08 proper respect starts with His name because 14:10 God's name represents who He is. So let me 14:13 give you some different areas. Let me 14:15 get practical, now, when the name of God 14:17 is used in vain. Number one: two major 14:21 ways that God's name is misused. 14:24 You can misuse God's name in your words; 14:29 in how we talk. That's why the admonition, 14:33 watch your mouth. And I'm not saying go to 14:36 a mirror and look at your mouth. What am 14:38 I talking about? Well, let's talk about 14:40 the misuse of God's name through words. 14:43 Number one, irreverent titles for God. 14:46 I was talking to somebody one day and they 14:48 said that as a preacher, I had a hot line 14:51 to the "big guy." I said, the "big guy"? 14:56 You mean, God Almighty? You mean, 15:00 the I Am That I Am? I'm saying God's name 15:06 is to be reverenced. God's name is to be respected. 15:09 I don't see anywhere in Scripture where we 15:11 call Him the "big guy." God is not the 15:15 "man upstairs." God is not "big daddy in heaven." 15:19 God is God. God is Yahweh. God is Elohim. 15:25 God is El Shaddai. God is Jehovah. 15:30 God is God. God is I Am That I AM. 15:35 God is not the "big guy," 15:37 God is not the "man upstairs," 15:39 God is not "big daddy in heaven," 15:41 God is God. [Aud. reaction] 15:45 PB: But not only that, cursing. 15:49 It's quiet now; you all were shouting on the other. 15:54 [Aud. reaction] PB: Profanity. Somebody says, 15:58 "But it's just a word." And He is just my God. 16:02 It's disrespect to God. I was doing a study of 16:07 the word profanity. Everybody say "profanity." 16:10 Aud.: Profanity. PB: Profanity literally 16:12 means away from the temple. Profanity occurs 16:16 when we take something sacred, like the name of God, 16:21 and we treat it irreverently. But the Bible 16:25 says in Romans 12:14, "Bless those who persecute you," 16:30 but "bless and do not curse." You and I are 16:34 called to speak blessings, not cursings. 16:38 Profanity says something about the person 16:41 who uses it. Profanity is the use of strong 16:44 words by weak people. Jesus said that the words 16:48 we use expose what's on the inside of us. 16:53 But it's not just the cursing, it's also 16:55 what I call the substitute cursing, 16:57 or the veggie cursing. What do I mean by 17:00 veggie cursing? You know, we have veggie 17:03 meat this, veggie meat that. They say it's 17:06 not real chicken, it's veggie chicken. 17:09 So sometimes we don't have real cursing, 17:11 we have what I call veggie cursing. 17:13 What do you mean, veggie cursing? Well, 17:15 some people don't use God's name in vain outright; 17:18 some of us have simply substituted words 17:20 like "gosh," "golly," "geez." These are 17:27 polite ways to be profane, but it's 17:30 still profanity. Preach, Pastor Byrd. 17:34 I'm doing the best I can. [Aud. reaction] 17:37 PB: And I'll "amen" myself. 17:38 Sometimes you got to encourage yourself in the Lord. 17:41 [Aud. reaction] PB: How else do you profane 17:43 with words? Irreverent use of God the Father's name, 17:49 Jesus the Christ's name, and the Holy Ghost's name. 17:54 The misuse of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, 17:57 the misuse is not to be trivialized because the 18:01 same Jesus Christ that you yell out when someone 18:05 makes you mad is the same Jesus Christ that can 18:09 save you from sin. And if we reduce God's name to 18:14 no more than when somebody makes us mad; 18:17 if we reduce God's name to no more than we 18:20 miss a basketball shot or a golf putt; 18:23 no more than when we slam our finger 18:25 in the door, then we dishonor the name of God. 18:30 Another way we misuse God's name is when we 18:34 carelessly and casually just throw His name 18:38 out all over the place. What am I talking about? 18:42 People are always coming up to me, talking about, 18:45 "Pastor, the Lord told me to tell you." Has anyone 18:52 ever told you that? The Lord told me to tell you. 18:58 So I'm now starting to answer--I'm getting a 19:00 little older now, so I can answer a little better 19:02 now--so, I say, "No He didn't. Because if He did, 19:05 He would have told me, too." Are you hearing 19:06 what I'm saying? [Aud. reaction] 19:08 PB: When you study the Word of God, 19:11 when the prophets said in the days of old that 19:13 "the Lord said," it always happens that the 19:18 Lord had already said it to them and they 19:21 were just repeating what the Lord had already said. 19:24 And to all of the Lord-sayers out there, 19:27 you need to make sure that when you say 19:29 "the Lord said it," that the Lord truly said it. 19:32 Do I have a witness in this place? [Aud. reaction] 19:35 PB: Better tread softly on that phrase, 19:36 "the Lord said." It may make you sound spiritual; 19:40 it may make you sound holy, and the spiritually 19:44 ignorant may be impressed by that. But one of the 19:48 ways to know that the Lord said it is to always 19:51 make sure that when somebody tells you "Well, 19:55 the Lord told me to tell you"; tell them, 19:58 "Well show it to me in the Word of God, 20:01 because if it isn't in the Word, it doesn't 20:03 deserve to be heard." Because if God tells 20:05 me something; if God tells you something; 20:08 God's not going to tell us anything that 20:10 contradicts His Word. "To the law and to the testimony, 20:13 if they speak not according to this word, 20:16 it is because there is no light in them." 20:19 I don't need you to tell me "the Lord said." 20:25 But not only that, I don't need you to tell 20:30 me that the Lord told me to tell you, you've 20:34 got troubles. Everybody has troubles. 20:41 That's so general, it doesn't mean a thing. 20:43 But you know, the Lord said it when someone 20:47 can tell you the day, the time, the Scripture, 20:52 and then you can start listening. Are you 20:55 hearing what I'm saying? Folk say it all the time, 20:58 "the Lord told me to tell you, you're going through it." 21:00 Who in here isn't going through it? "The Lord told 21:04 me you're facing an issue." Everybody is facing an issue. 21:08 If there's something you need to say to somebody, 21:11 don't hide behind the holy name of God. 21:16 Another one. God's name is not to be looked 21:23 upon as some spiritual lucky charm to get you 21:27 more stuff. Let me say that again: God's name 21:34 is not to be looked upon as some spiritual 21:38 lucky charm to get you what you want. 21:43 God's name is not to be used as some magic 21:47 wand to get me what I want. God is God, 21:52 and God's name should not be used as a 21:56 marketing ploy for anybody. The Bible says, 22:00 "But my God shall supply all of my needs 22:05 according to his riches in glory." 22:08 So I don't have to use God's name as 22:11 a marketing ploy to get what I want, 22:14 because God already told me He's going 22:16 to give me what I need. [Aud. reaction] 22:18 PB: Let me throw this in: You'd better even 22:21 watch people who come to you in the name of 22:24 the Lord, trying to make a dollar off you. 22:27 Or politicians who mention God's name in 22:35 the right place, at the right time, just 22:40 in order to gain a certain constituency of voters. 22:44 Or better yet, all these singers, rap artists, 22:50 sports figures who have a Grammy award in one 22:55 hand but in the other hand they have a mic, 22:58 thanking God for winning a Grammy. 23:00 How is God going to bless somebody for winning 23:04 a Grammy, who's singing ungodly music? How is 23:12 God going to bless a sports star who's got 23:15 a trophy in one hand and a 32-ounce in another hand? 23:21 Don't misuse God's name in words. But not only that, 23:30 don't you misuse God's name, not just in words but 23:39 in your actions, in your lifestyle, in your behavior. 23:46 Let me tell you something: your character affects 23:49 God's credibility. [Aud. reaction] 23:54 PB: Your character affects God's credibility. 24:01 God's name is not just about conversation, 24:05 but God's name is also about conduct. 24:09 We can also profane the name of God through 24:12 our bad conduct, our bad actions, and our 24:17 bad attitudes. I wish I had a witness in this place. 24:20 This command, this love letter by God goes 24:24 beyond our words. The way you live can be a 24:28 smear on the name of God. Your works must 24:33 testify to your words. There cannot be 24:36 inconsistency with your words and then 24:40 inconsistency with your actions. What do I mean? 24:43 You cannot collect offering with one hand 24:46 and not shake hands with the other hand. 24:48 You cannot sing with one voice and then 24:51 not speak with the other voice. Don't be 24:54 bad advertisement for God. You call yourself 24:58 a Christian; you name yourself a Christian. 25:01 A Christian is the derivative of 25:03 God the Son's name, Christ, because a 25:05 Christian is a follower of Christ. 25:08 I remember reading an article about a soldier 25:11 in the army of Alexander the Great. And this 25:13 soldier deserted his post in the heat of the battle. 25:16 When asked what his name was, the soldier 25:19 stuttered in fear. "What's your name?" 25:23 He responded to Alexander the Great, " 25:25 Alexander, my lord." To which Alexander 25:28 the Great said, "You've got three choices, then. 25:31 Either number one, you're going to fight; 25:33 number two, get out of the army; or number three, 25:37 change your name." I wonder sometimes if 25:42 God is thinking something like this: 25:45 How dare you slap My name with a life like yours, 25:50 claiming to be a Christian and not living like one. 25:53 Having a form of godliness but denying 25:56 the power thereof. Jesus said in Mark 7:6, 25:59 "This people honoreth me with their lips 26:02 but their heart is far from me." They will 26:04 know we are Christians by our love. 26:06 If you're going to carry His name; 26:08 if you're going to wear His badge; 26:10 if you're going to carry the name of Jesus, 26:13 then you must carry it proudly. 26:15 Do I have a witness in this place? 26:17 [Aud. reaction] PB: But let me go a step further. 26:19 A gentleman by the name of C. R. Smith was one 26:25 of the founders of American Airlines. 26:30 And he once was flying his plane and had 26:34 a stopover in Nashville, Tennessee. 26:37 And when he got to Nashville, got off the plane, 26:41 and as he's walking through the corridor there 26:44 he finds two desks saying American Airlines 26:49 in the corridor of the airport. At one 26:53 desk a phone was ringing, and it was 26:56 just ringing, ringing and ringing. 26:58 At the desk next to it, there was 27:01 seated a man, feet were propped up on 27:06 the desk, and the man was reading a newspaper; 27:10 and he had a shirt on, and it had American 27:13 Airlines on it. It had the logo and the 27:18 name of American Airlines on his shirt. 27:21 Which means, he was an employee of 27:24 American Airlines. He was wearing the name. 27:29 Somebody's going to get this in a minute. 27:31 Smith walked up to the man and said, 27:34 "Your phone is ringing." Now this man 27:38 didn't know who Smith was. Smith just said, 27:40 "The phone is ringing." The man said, 27:42 "That's for reservations; I'm maintenance." 27:46 Furious, Smith walked over to the desk, 27:49 picked up the phone and began talking to 27:52 a man who urgently needed to get to California. 27:56 Smith, off the top of his head, rattled 27:58 off the schedule from memory to the man, 28:00 and he hung up. The man from maintenance 28:03 couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. 28:05 He said, "Hey. That was pretty good. 28:08 Do you work for American?" Smith said, 28:11 "Yes, I do," -- 28:14 >: Thank you for joining us for another exciting 28:15 Breath of Life television broadcast. 28:17 Tune in next week at the same time, 28:19 as Dr. Byrd will deliver another dynamic message 28:22 from the Lord, just for you. 28:24 Until next time, may God bless you. 28:26 END |
Revised 2016-06-15