Participants: Carlton P. Byrd
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000545A
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00:02 Breath Of Life ministries Presents
00:06 Sermo B545 "Alternative facts" 00:12 [Breath of life theme music] 00:20 PB: John 7:40. If you have it, let me hear you say amen. 00:23 Aud.: Amen. PB: The Word says, "Many of the 00:26 people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, 00:30 Of a truth this is the Prophet. [But] others said, 00:39 This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ 00:47 come out of Galilee? Hath not the scripture said, 00:51 That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out 00:54 of the town of Bethlehem, where David was? 00:56 So there was a division." There was a what, everybody? 01:01 Aud.: Division. PB: "Among the people because of him. 01:05 And some of them would have taken him; 01:10 but no man laid hands on him." 01:17 Today I want to talk to you--not too long, 01:20 today--but I want to talk to you today about alternative facts. 01:26 [Aud. reaction] PB: Father, we ask that You bless us. 01:34 Speak through me to speak to Your people. 01:39 We give You the praise, the honor and the 01:42 glory right now even before we go into this Word. 01:44 In Jesus' name, amen. Aud.: Amen. 01:47 PB: Alternative facts. Does somebody know what I'm 01:50 talking about today? [Aud. reaction] 01:57 PB: I learned a new phrase this week. Alternative facts, 02:09 brother Lang. Ha ha ha. Before this week, 02:13 I had never heard of this before. It had never crossed my mind. 02:20 You see, I grew up in a home, in a culture, 02:24 in an environment where statements were either 02:27 true or false. I wish I had a church in this place today. 02:33 [Aud. reaction] PB: I grew up in a home where it 02:36 was either right or wrong, fact or fiction, truth or error. 02:47 I had never heard of alternative facts. I grew up 02:55 learning that a fact was a fact, a piece of information 03:02 that is objective reality. A fact is something that 03:05 is indisputably the case. Dr. McDonald, you can't 03:10 dispute a fact because a fact is a fact. I mean, 03:19 let's be honest. When you look at picture A and see 03:27 10 people in it, and you look at picture B and you 03:34 see 5 people in it, the fact is there are double 03:41 the number of people in picture A than there are 03:46 in picture B, and that's a fact. [Aud. reaction] 03:51 PB: When you say the carpet is blue, 03:57 but we're looking at the carpet, and the carpet 04:01 is really red, I don't care how much you try to 04:06 make the carpet blue, the carpet is red, 04:10 because a fact is a fact. So this is me to Christyn, 04:20 my daughter: "Christyn, is your room clean?" Christyn: 04:28 "Yes, Daddy, my room is clean." "Christyn, is your bed made up?" 04:36 "Yes, Daddy, my bed is made up." "Christyn, are your clothes put up?" 04:44 "No, Daddy, my clothes aren't put up." "Christyn, are your shoes lined up?" 04:54 "No, Daddy, my shoes aren't lined up." "Christyn, again, 05:01 is then your room clean?" "Yes, Daddy, my room is clean." 05:09 "Well, how can your room be clean if your bed isn't made up, 05:13 your clothes aren't put up, and your shoes aren't lined up?" 05:19 "Daddy, it's alternative facts." [Aud. reaction] 05:26 PB: No, it's a lie. [Aud. reaction] 05:30 PB: Get in there and clean up your room. Do I have a witness in this place? 05:37 [Aud. reaction] PB: There is no such thing as an alternative fact, 05:43 because anything alternative to a fact is not a fact. You see, 05:50 when you know what you're saying is wrong but 05:53 you're going to present it as your version of 05:55 right anyway, even when it's contrary to firsthand 06:00 accounts, photographic evidence, reputable reporting services, 06:05 and verifiable numbers, it's not an alternative fact. It's a lie. 06:12 The opposite of a fact is a lie. Using lies in an attempt 06:18 to change the truth, when the actual truth doesn't conform 06:21 to the narrative you want to tell, because it's not in 06:24 your best interests, is not an alternative fact. It's a lie. 06:27 And when truth is so unfavorable to a pathological liar 06:32 that they must invent a whole category of new lies to 06:38 describe their intentional acts of deception, 06:41 you'd better run from that person. [Aud. reaction] 06:44 PB: That person is dangerous. Lying lips are an abomination 06:50 to the Lord. A fact is a fact. A lie is a lie. 06:57 There is no in between. Either you're telling the 07:01 truth or you're telling a lie. Either you're right 07:05 or you're wrong. Either fact or fiction. You're either 07:09 in the river or on the bank. Do I have a witness in this place? 07:14 [Aud. reaction] PB: Now that we've established 07:16 that alternative facts aren't true, go to the text. 07:19 Jesus has gone to the Feast of Tabernacles in Judea. 07:23 He doesn't really want to go, and it took Him a while 07:25 to get there, because He knows the Jews are out to kill Him. 07:28 But He goes anyway, and He tries to keep a low profile 07:31 of His going. At the Feast of Tabernacles you've got 07:34 two groups there. You've got one group who says He's 07:37 a good man. You've got another group who says He's 07:40 deceiving people. A debate ensues about who Jesus is. 07:45 Is He a prophet? Is He not? Is He the Christ? Is He not? 07:50 What do the facts say? You see, the Christ was supposed 07:54 to come out of the seed of David, out of the town of Bethlehem. 07:57 But Jesus came out of Nazareth, and can any good thing 08:00 come out of Nazareth, which was Galilee? So we have 08:03 two groups of people, friends. One group believes that 08:05 Jesus is the Christ. They believe He's the Messiah, 08:08 God's anointed One. They believe His ministry had been 08:10 anointed at His baptism. When the Son of God went down 08:14 into the water, the Father said, "This is my beloved Son 08:17 in whom I am well pleased," and then the Holy Spirit anointed Jesus' 08:20 ministry in descending in the form of a dove. This group 08:24 believed Jesus was the Christ, but the other group denied 08:27 that Jesus was Christ, because the Messiah wasn't 08:30 supposed to come from Galilee. So because Jesus is 08:34 from Galilee, Jesus then couldn't be the Messiah. 08:37 This group ignored many miracles of Jesus, 08:40 some of which they had no doubt seen with their own eyes. 08:44 This group dismissed Jesus' powerful teaching, 08:47 which even the arresting officers had to admit 08:50 that never before had a man spoken like this man spake. 08:54 This group shrugged off Jesus' astounding claims 08:58 such as the one He had just issued in John 7:37 and 38, 09:02 to be able to give rivers of living waters to all who 09:05 believed in Him. Jesus, they felt, couldn't be the Messiah. 09:10 He couldn't be the Christ. He couldn't be God. He was just a good man. 09:18 So they tried to give some alternative facts. They weren't 09:23 interested in believing in Jesus. If they had been interested, 09:25 they would have cleared the question up of His origins very early. 09:30 But they didn't want to believe, they just wanted a 09:32 comfortable excuse to red-tag Jesus. I've learned in my life, 09:36 some people don't want to believe. Some people don't want the facts. 09:42 Some folk don't want the truth. Some folk can't handle the truth. 09:47 The text says they would have killed Jesus if they could have, 09:53 but they couldn't lay their hands on Him. Because God still 09:56 is sovereign over His enemies. Let me tell you something and 10:01 remind you that God's got your back. [Aud. reaction] 10:04 PB: Fret not thy self because of evildoers; neither 10:07 be thou envious of the workers of iniquity. God will 10:10 cut them down like the grass. I have seen God cut some 10:14 folk down in my day. God's got your back. But just like 10:19 the critics of old, I'm finding today in my conversations 10:23 in the community, across this land, that there are many 10:27 liberal theologians today who come up with all sorts of 10:30 reasons why Jesus couldn't have done the miracles that 10:32 the eyewitness accounts of the New Testament attribute to Him. 10:36 They have alternative facts. They argue. Miracles contradict 10:41 modern science. Miracles don't make sense. They believe 10:47 miracles aren't possible, so then the miracles of Jesus 10:51 could not have happened. But then, that goes against what 10:56 a miracle is. Because a miracle is a surprising and welcoming 11:01 event that is not explainable by natural or scientific 11:05 laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a 11:08 divine agency. That's a miracle. So let me be real. 11:12 I don't care how scientific we get. I don't care how 11:16 deep we get. I don't care how much we parse Greek 11:20 in the New Testament. I can't explain to you how 11:24 an old man with nothing but a stick and a stutter 11:30 could stretch forth his rod and a mighty sea part, 11:36 enabling people to walk upon dry land. But I do know, 11:40 that's a miracle. I can't explain how a donkey can be 11:46 walking down a street and all of a sudden the donkey stops, 11:49 and he starts talking to its owner. All I can tell you is, 11:53 that's a miracle. I can't explain how a furnace can be 11:59 raging with fire, but three men can stand in this 12:02 same furnace, and only the ropes burn, and they make 12:07 it out alive. That's a miracle. I can't explain to you 12:12 how lions can lie down like house dogs, play with each 12:17 other and then look at a human. They don't eat the human, 12:20 they don't scratch the human or maul the human. That's a miracle. 12:24 I can't explain how water can be turned into wine. 12:29 How a woman can touch the hem of somebody's garment, 12:31 and she find more medicine in that garment than from 12:33 any doctor anywhere. I can't tell you how somebody can 12:38 be dead and then Jesus can just speak a word and they 12:40 can come to life again. I can't tell you how people have 12:45 stage 4 cancer. The doctors have given up on them to die, 12:49 but yet today they're alive and well. Students, 12:53 I can't tell you how your balance was seven thousand dollars. 12:57 Seven thousand dollars on Monday, but then on Friday 13:01 you've been financially cleared. That's-- 13:04 [Aud. reaction] PB: --a miracle. And I still 13:09 believe in miracles. I still believe in a God who 13:16 can see what I can't see. I still believe in a God 13:20 who can say what I can't say, who can go where 13:24 I can't go, who can reach what I can't reach. 13:27 I still believe in God. But in the world in 13:31 which we live today, there are many people who 13:33 think highly of Jesus and His teaching, but they 13:36 don't believe He's God. Alternative facts. 13:40 In fact, there's a movement on the rise, 13:43 if you study carefully, that questions the 13:44 authenticity of Jesus. They doubt the legitimacy 13:47 of Jesus. They doubt the validity of Jesus. 13:49 They disbelieve the genuineness of Jesus. 13:52 They question the realism of Jesus. They 13:54 are subscribing to alternative facts. 13:58 Was Jesus God? Was He the Messianic Savior 14:03 who came to this earth to rescue His people, 14:05 or was He just an important figure in earth's 14:08 history, but one who was not nor claimed to be 14:10 the divine Messiah. Did Jesus really perform a 14:14 work on the cross that brought about my salvation? 14:17 Or was He just a dedicated religious person who was 14:20 actively involved in the social and spiritual world 14:23 of His day, but who never performed or offered the 14:26 unique and solitary means of salvation for the 14:28 entire human race? Is Jesus the only way to salvation, 14:35 and is He really a member of the triune God: 14:39 The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost? Or is 14:43 Jesus just among one of many ways by which a 14:47 postmodern person can come to know and experience God, 14:50 but who has never accepted or advocated the worship 14:53 of God Himself as Jesus Christ in the flesh. 14:57 Was Jesus the really only begotten of the Father? 15:03 So these questions come from a heretical brand of naysayers, 15:06 doubters, rebel rousers, modern-day haters of Jesus who 15:10 are confusing Christianity, dividing our churches, 15:13 bamboozling our children, and presenting alternative facts. 15:17 In case you didn't know: Jesus is under fire in the 15:26 public eye. Atheism is on the rise. Agnosticism is 15:31 on the rise. Scholars who have subjected Jesus to 15:35 scrutiny in their private studies and disclosed their 15:38 conclusions in close academic circles are now waging 15:41 their battle through the public, printed, and social media. 15:44 We come here, and we think everybody believes like we do. 15:47 You've got a whole lot of folk that don't even 15:48 believe in Jesus, that don't even believe in God. 15:52 Let me remind you today that everything on the 15:55 Internet is not true. Not everything you hear is correct. 15:59 Mama said, "Believe none of what you hear and 16:01 half of what you see." Jesus understands. 16:04 He predicted this future. We knew that the 16:08 devil was a lie. Don't believe the alternative facts. 16:11 So today, I'm going to give you two facts and 16:12 then I'm going to sit down. John 7:40 and 41, 16:16 they give us facts. Let me be clear today. 16:19 Fact number one: Jesus is a prophet. 16:23 [Aud. reaction] PB: I said, Jesus is a prophet. 16:29 Prophets in the Bible had several functions. 16:33 Number one, prophets were spokesmen for God. 16:36 It was Jesus who said in John 5:30, 16:38 "I can of mine own self do nothing . . . 16:40 because I seek not mine own will, 16:42 but the will of my father which has sent me." 16:44 Jesus then said in John chapter 10, verse 30, 16:46 "I and my Father are one." So then, if Jesus 16:49 does the will of God, the Father; if He and 16:52 the Father are one, then He must speak for God. 16:55 Number two, Jesus is a prophet because prophets 16:57 foretold future events through divine revelation. 16:59 In speaking on God's behalf, sometimes the message 17:02 would include predicting the future. Jesus predicted 17:06 the future when He told His disciples that He has to 17:08 go to New Jerusalem, He has to suffer many things, 17:11 He would be killed but on the third day He'd rise again. 17:14 This prophecy is fulfilled in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 17:18 Jesus also foretold that after His ascension, 17:21 the disciples would receive power. Power, 17:25 after the Holy Ghost had come upon them. Acts 2 17:28 records the fulfillment of this prophecy. 17:30 The apostles received the Holy Ghost. 17:32 The apostles received power, and the apostles 17:35 turned this world upside down. Three thousand 17:38 were baptized in one day; 4,000 were baptized 17:41 in another day. People were added to the church daily. 17:45 A third function of a prophet was that the prophet 17:48 was able to heal and display miracles. 17:52 Moses displayed miracles, parting the red sea. 17:57 Elijah performed a miracle when he called 18:00 down fire on Mount Carmel. Elisha performed 18:03 a miracle when he made the ax head float in the water. 18:07 And in all the gospel accounts, Jesus performed 18:11 many miracles and man healings. Jesus fulfilled 18:13 the requirements of a prophet in title, word and deed. 18:16 He spoke for God, His prophecy came to pass, 18:20 He performed miracles, because Jesus was a prophet. 18:24 But not only was Jesus a prophet, fact number two: 18:27 Jesus is the Christ. Don't you let anybody tell 18:31 you that Jesus was not the Christ. The Old Testament 18:35 Messianic prophecies were found to be uniquely 18:37 fulfilled in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. 18:39 Now, in the Bible there are hundreds of prophecies. 18:43 But let me indulge you with just a few today. 18:46 According to Micah 5:2, the Messiah was to be born 18:51 of a virgin, to be born of a virgin in Bethlehem. 18:56 We know the fulfillment. Mary conceives, 19:00 impregnated by the Holy Ghost. Bore a son 19:04 and called His name Jesus. He was born in Bethlehem, 19:08 wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 19:12 Prophecy number two: According to Genesis 49:10, 19:16 the Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah. 19:19 Through Judah, through the Davidic line, Jesus came. 19:23 Number three: According to Zechariah 9:9, the Messiah 19:27 would present Himself riding on a donkey. Jesus rode 19:31 in on a donkey at His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. 19:35 You do remember this week, don't you everybody, 19:38 because at the beginning of the week they shouted Hosanna!, 19:41 but at the end of the week they shouted Crucify him!, 19:44 which means you can't put your trust in people One 19:47 day they'll say this, the next day they'll say that. 19:50 You'd better put your trust in Jesus Christ. 19:53 [Aud. reaction] PB: According to Psalm 22, 19:56 the Messiah would be tortured to death. Jesus 20:00 was battered, bruised, beaten, and then He died 20:05 on Calvary. According to Isaiah 52 and 53, 20:09 the Messiah's life would match a particular 20:11 description including suffering, silence, 20:13 and his arrest, death, trial, burial in a rich 20:15 man's tomb, and resurrection. Jesus suffered, 20:18 but Jesus never said a mumbling word. 20:22 Jesus died on Calvary. Jesus was buried in 20:27 a rich mam's tomb, named Joseph. Jesus died 20:31 on Friday, lay resting in the grave on the Sabbath. 20:35 But the Bible says on the third appointed day 20:38 Jesus got up with all power in His hands. 20:42 But then, after I read all of that, 20:44 on top of all of that, more than all these evidences, 20:48 I know Jesus was the Christ, because Jesus 20:52 Himself claimed to be the Messiah. When the 20:56 woman came to Him and said, I know that the 20:58 Messiah is coming, He replied, "I who speak 21:03 to you am He. And if Jesus had never made 21:08 that claim to be the Messiah, why would we 21:10 even bother to prove that He was? His own claim 21:14 lays the groundwork for the rest of the evidence. 21:17 The only satisfactory explanation is that the 21:19 resurrection actually occurred, just as the Bible says. 21:23 And because it does, there's solid benefit and reason 21:27 for accepting the Messiahship of Jesus. 21:30 Jesus was a prophet. That's a fact. Jesus was the Christ. 21:36 That's a fact. Jesus was the Messiah. That's a fact. 21:43 Jesus was God. That's a fact. In the beginning was the Word, 21:50 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 21:54 And the Word became flesh, dwelt among us, and we 21:59 beheld his glory, full as the glory of the only 22:02 begotten of the Father. A preacher tells a story 22:05 that in his early days in ministry he was a teacher 22:08 at a seminary. And in one of his classes, he wanted 22:13 a new way of teaching his students the doctrine of Christ. 22:16 So he told his students, "Young men, take out a 22:21 sheet of paper. And divide that paper into three columns." 22:24 In the first column, the students were to write every 22:28 scriptural passage where Christ was spoken of as the God-man. 22:33 In the second column, the students were to write all the 22:37 passages where Christ was spoken of as God alone. 22:41 But in the third column, the students were to write 22:45 all the passages where Christ was spoken of as man alone. 22:51 Column one, the God-man. Column two, God alone. 22:58 Column three, Man alone. Again, column one, the God-man. 23:07 Column two, God alone. Column three, Man alone. 23:16 At the end of the class period, the teacher picked 23:20 up all of his students' papers and he tallied 23:24 them all together. The summary paper was badly balanced. 23:31 The first column was filled. The second column was filled. 23:37 But on the third column, nobody ever found a passage 23:42 speaking of Christ as man alone. Why? Jesus, 23:49 the Son of God became a man so that men might become 23:56 the sons of God. He came from the bosom of the Father 24:01 to the bosom of a woman. He put on humanity so that 24:06 we might put on divinity. He came from heaven where 24:09 the rivers never freeze, winds never blow, 24:11 flowers never fade, and nobody's ever sick. 24:14 In infancy he startled a king. In boyhood he 24:18 puzzled wise men. In manhood he ruled the course of nature. 24:22 He's the God-man. Two natures harmonized but never 24:25 completely blended. In His divinity He's God's way to man, 24:29 and in His humanity He's man's way back on up to God. 24:32 He came to bless and not to curse. That's a fact. 24:36 He came to lift up and not to cast down. That's a fact. 24:41 He came to help and not to hurt. That's a fact. 24:45 He came to give life and not death. That's a fact. 24:50 He came to set the captives free. That's a fact. 24:54 He came to reveal His Father's love. That's a fact. 24:58 He came to give rest to the weary. That's a fact. 25:02 He came to be a blessing to the whole world. 25:04 That's a fact. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. 25:10 [Aud. reaction] PB: That's a fact. To give sight to the blind. 25:16 That's a fact. He was a prophet. He was Christ. 25:23 He was the Messiah. That's a fact. 25:28 That's not an alternative fact. And one day soon, 25:33 He's coming back. [Aud. reaction] 25:37 PB: Let me tell you as I get ready to take my seat, 25:41 no matter what happens in this life. No matter if I 25:45 don't make it; no matter if you don't make it. 25:48 I believe in Him, and that's a fact. I'm not dealing 25:56 with alternative facts. I stake my claim in Jesus, and that's a fact. 26:05 Church, I'll be 45 in a month or so. I've come too 26:10 far to turn back now. I've believed too long to 26:16 stop believing now. Some trust in horses, 26:20 some trust in chariots, but I trust in the name of our God. 26:26 'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him at His word. 26:33 Stop playing church. Stop playing yourself. 26:39 Either you're with Him, or you're not. 26:41 Either you're in the river or on the bank. 26:44 It's either truth or error. Choose you this 26:48 day whom you're going to serve. But as for me 26:50 and my house, we're going to serve the Lord. 26:53 The devil is a liar. The devil is the father of lies. 26:57 The devil is creator of alternative facts. 27:02 [Aud. reaction] PB: But you've got to trust Jesus. 27:06 You can't trace Him, you can't see Him, 27:13 but you've got to trust Him. I trust Him. 27:20 And that's a fact. He's prophet, He's priest, 27:32 and He's King. He's prophet, He's Christ, 27:41 He's Messiah. And I trust Him. 27:47 You may not know the evangelions of Greek; 27:53 you may not know the buenos nochas of Spanish; 27:59 but friends of mine, get to know Jesus. 28:03 And learn to trust Him. And that's a fact. 28:11 Is He really the Prophet? Is He really the Christ? 28:16 Yes. Don't let people tell you 28:17 >: Thank you for joining us for another exciting 28:19 Breath of Life television broadcast. 28:21 Tune in next week at the same time, 28:23 as Dr. Byrd will deliver another dynamic message 28:25 from the Lord, just for you. 28:30 Until next time, may God bless you. |
Revised 2017-02-02