Participants: Carlton P. Byrd
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000562A
|
00:02 Breath of Life Ministries Presents
00:06 Sermon B562 Can You See 00:11 [Breath of Life Theme Music] 00:20 Pastor Byrd: John, Chapter 9, verse number 1. 00:23 The Gospel according to St. John, Chapter 9, verse 1, 00:28 if you have it let me hear you say Amen. All right, the Word says, 00:32 “And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 00:37 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, 00:40 who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? 00:44 Jesus answered, neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: 00:50 but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. 00:56 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day; 01:00 for the night cometh, when no man can work. 01:02 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the,” 01:05 what, everybody? Aud: World. 01:06 PB: The world. “When he had thus spoken, 01:08 he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, 01:12 and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, 01:15 and he said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, 01:19 which is by interpretation, sent.” Everybody say sent. Aud: Sent. 01:24 PB: “Went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.” 01:29 Go down to verse number 18. “But the Jews did not believe 01:33 concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight, 01:37 until they called the parents of him that had received his sight. 01:40 And they asked them, saying, is this your son, 01:43 who ye say was born blind? How then doth he now see? 01:47 His parents answered them and said, we know that 01:52 this is our son.” We know “that he was born blind. 01:56 But by what means he now seeth, we know not; 02:00 or who hath opened his eyes, we know not.” 02:03 But “he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself. 02:11 These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: 02:14 for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did 02:17 confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.” 02:20 Put out of the church. “Therefore, said his parents, 02:23 He is of age, ask him. Then again called they the man 02:28 that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: 02:32 we know that this man is a sinner.” Verse 25, 02:37 one of my favorite in the Bible. “He answered and said, 02:41 Whether he be a sinner or not, I know not: But one thing, 02:47 one thing I do know, that, whereas I was blind, but now I see.” 02:58 Let's skip down to verse 39. We often forget this, 03:00 “And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, 03:04 that they which see not might see; and they that they 03:07 which see might be made blind. And some of the 03:10 Pharisees which were with him heard these words, 03:12 and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, 03:17 If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, 03:23 We see; therefore your sin remaineth.” Turn to your 03:29 neighbor and say, Neighbor, say, can you see? Heh heh. 03:33 Father, in the name of Jesus through the intercession 03:36 of the Holy Spirit, come into this sanctuary right now, 03:39 come over the airwaves right now, that thy people 03:42 not see me, but see Thee working and living through me. 03:45 Tonight give this Word to somebody who needs it. 03:48 Open our eyes that we might see. Forgive me of my sins, 03:52 we pray, in the name of Jesus. Let everyone say Amen and Amen. 03:57 Let me start off by saying this. I've learned this in my life 04:03 and I believe I've got some witnesses to this as well. 04:07 Everyone is not happy when you're blessed. 04:12 Let me say it one more time. Everybody's not happy 04:19 when you're successful. Let's tell the truth. 04:25 Some people are not all that happy when they see 04:29 you at alumni weekend and you're doing well and they're not. 04:34 Do I have a witness in this place? Now, I met all 04:37 the young people here at the college and they helped 04:39 me learn the everyday vernacular, and they say, 04:41 we call this, Pastor, cating. Not hating, cating. 04:47 We often want and expect that our so-called friends, 04:51 former classmates, and the people around us, 04:53 and even the family, would appreciate the journey 04:56 that we've gone through in order to get where 04:59 we are and that they would be glad and they 05:01 would be happy for us. But more times than not, 05:04 I've learned in my life that the best moments in 05:07 your life can become the greatest moments of envy, 05:09 jealousy, and frustration in somebody else's life. 05:13 But I've learned, you know, they say, don't hate 05:16 the player, hate the game. Do I have a witness 05:20 in this place? Learn to be a cheerleader, 05:23 because I've learned, if God is blessing somebody else, 05:26 if God is blessing Dr. Pollard, if God is blessing 05:30 Dr. Watkins, if God is blessing our Pastor, uh, 05:34 Burton, right here, it's just a matter of time 05:37 before God starts blessing me, because God must 05:41 be in the neighborhood. Are you hearing what I'm saying? 05:44 The people are mad because Jesus healed the man. 05:48 The people are mad because Jesus has changed the man's life. 05:52 Mad because the man's life has turned around. 05:56 Mad that he has given his life to Jesus Christ. 05:59 Mad that he's no longer what he used to be. 06:02 Mad that he's now what he should be. Who healed you? 06:07 Where is he? You must have sinned. And if you didn't sin, 06:12 your parents must have sinned because you were born blind. 06:16 And how could a person have sinned before they were born 06:19 anyway, so it had to be your parents. They must have sinned. 06:24 But I love my Jesus. Because my Jesus clears all of this up. 06:29 And he clears it up by saying, the man's blindness 06:33 had nothing to do with some sin in his life or his parents' life. 06:37 Nothing the man did brought this upon him. Nothing his 06:42 parents did brought this upon him. God was not punishing them. 06:47 God was not angry with them. God was not mad at them, 06:52 but sometimes bad things happen to good people. 06:57 Jesus said, “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents, 07:00 but that the works of God might be made manifest in him.” 07:04 In other words, you're asking the wrong question. 07:08 You're looking for somebody to blame. But quit looking 07:11 at the problem and look to the solution. 07:14 Jesus stoops down, spits on the ground, rubs mud together, 07:20 puts the mud on the man's eyes, and then tells him, “Go, 07:24 wash in the pool of Siloam.” Now remember, friends of mine, 07:28 God is all powerful. Which means Jesus could have just 07:31 spoken the word and He could have just said to the man, 07:34 I command you to see. But Jesus didn't do that. 07:37 Jesus could have put His hands on the man and said, 07:40 In the name of Jesus I command your eyes to open up. 07:45 But Jesus didn't do that either. Jesus could have 07:48 anointed the man and said, be healed. But He didn't do that. 07:52 When Jesus got ready to heal the man, He spat on the ground, 07:58 made mud out of spit, and then told the man to go 08:03 wash in the pool of Siloam. Lesson number one for us tonight, 08:07 friends, is sometimes God's method of bringing you out may 08:12 not be the way you wanted to come out. But you ought to 08:15 just be thankful God brought you out. Do I have a witness 08:17 in this place? I've learned in my life too many of us 08:21 want to be delivered in the way we want to be delivered. 08:24 But God doesn't always bring you out the way you want 08:27 to come out. When God brings ya out, sometimes you've 08:31 got egg on your face. Sometimes you've got mud in your eyes. 08:35 Sometimes you end up in a pig's pen. Sometimes you go bankrupt. 08:40 Sometimes you lose the house. Sometimes you are embarrassed. 08:43 You see, there are some people who want change in their life 08:46 as long as it doesn't cost them anything. But God's blessing 08:51 sometimes costs you something. But here we go. I want to 08:55 lose 20 pounds, but I want to eat cake and ice cream late at night. 08:59 Young people at Oakwood, I want a degree, but you don't want to study. 09:04 I want to get out of debt, but you don't want to pay anybody off. 09:08 But better yet, I want a wife, but you don't want to work. 09:12 Please, Pastor Byrd, I'm doing the best I can. [Laughter] 09:18 PB: I want a husband, but I don't want to submit. 09:27 [Audience exclaims] PB: I want the church to grow, 09:39 but I don't want to knock on doors. I don't want 09:43 to give Bible studies. I don't want to be nice. 09:48 I don't want to be flexible. I don't want to change. 09:54 You'd be surprised at people who want things, 09:56 but they're not willing to go through what it takes 09:58 to get it. But how bad do you want it? Because when 10:03 you really want change, you have to tell somebody, look, 10:05 I'm past what you think about me. I'm past what you 10:09 going to say about me. You don't have a heaven or hell for me. 10:14 You don't put beans in my pot. Spit, mud, pig's pen, 10:19 whatever it takes, Jesus save me. 10:24 But lesson number two, I've also learned that sometimes 10:28 when you decide to change your life and follow the Lord, 10:31 folk will talk about you and won't let you forget 10:34 where you come from. They won't let you forget what 10:38 you used to be. They won't let you forget where you 10:41 used to go. But let me give you some advice this evening. 10:45 When your past calls, don't answer because it has 10:48 nothing new to say. Because you can't start the next 10:51 chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the last one. 10:55 People who can't forget your past, aren't worth 10:57 having in your future. Speaking of your past, 11:00 this is alumni weekend, somebody trying to hook up, 11:02 but let me give you some advice. Some of you can't 11:04 move on to your next, because you keep fooling with your ex. 11:07 I wish I had a witness in this place. [Applause] 11:11 PB: Forget people. Do what God tells you to do. 11:16 Go where God tells you to go. Don't give up. 11:20 Don't give in. Hang on in there. The race is 11:23 not given to the swift or to the strong, 11:25 but to the one that endures to the end. 11:28 Sometimes you have to go through something to 11:30 get something. Sometimes you have to go through 11:32 something so God can get the glory. No battle, 11:34 no blessing. No testimony without a test. 11:38 The man is blind. Jesus healed the blind man 11:42 with spit and mud. But the Pharisees are mad. 11:45 Why? Why would they be mad? The man's healed. 11:48 The Pharisees are mad because Jesus didn't go 11:51 to them for the healing. That Jesus didn't ask 11:54 them for permission to heal him. That they didn't 11:57 take a vote to approve Jesus' method of healing. 12:03 But that's the lesson from the test that I learn is, 12:05 some people will get mad when they can't claim 12:07 rights to your healing. They can't claim rights 12:11 to your accomplishments, your successes. 12:13 If Jesus, think about it, friends, 12:15 if Jesus had sent the man first to the Pharisees, 12:19 the Pharisees could have said, we did it. 12:22 And then it would have been all right for 12:25 the man to be healed. But because the man 12:28 got healed outside the system, outside the box, 12:33 the Pharisees have a problem and now they're 12:36 going to fight it because they can't accept that 12:38 God did it. But somebody knows God is sovereign. 12:42 God can do what He wants, when He wants, 12:45 where He wants, how He wants, and He doesn't 12:49 have to ask you or me for permission to do as He wants. 12:53 So, the Pharisees ask, is this your son who you say 12:58 was born blind? How then does he now see? His parents 13:03 answered them and said, well, we know this is our son. 13:05 He was born blind. But, verse 21, “But by what means 13:08 does he now see, we know not, or who opened his eyes, 13:11 we know not. He is of age, ask him.” I could preach 13:18 a whole sermon on that right now. He can speak for himself. 13:23 Then they called the former blind man. Who healed ya? 13:29 You ought to be giving God the praise. 13:32 Not this man you claimed who healed ya. 13:34 The man you're speaking of is a sinner. 13:37 He broke religious law and healed you on the Sabbath. 13:42 Isn't it funny how we can care more about policy than people? 13:46 Isn't it interesting we care more about religion than we 13:53 do relationship? Blind man said, look, I don't know if 14:03 he's a sinner or not. I don't know where he was born. 14:11 I don't know where he came from. I don't know where he 14:18 is right now. I don't know where he's going. 14:24 I don't know his family. I don't know his mother 14:31 or his father. I don't know if he's a doctor, 14:34 a dentist, a lawyer, teacher, or preacher. 14:38 But all I know is I once was blind, but now I see. 14:50 Do I have a witness in this place? 14:52 Now, most preachers when we preach this we 14:54 preach and we stop there, we whoop, the 14:58 Hammond organ gets to playing, we get everybody 15:01 up in a frenzy, and then we sit down. We say, ooh, 15:04 they preached today. But the story doesn't stop there. 15:09 The chapter doesn't end with verse 25. The chapter 15:15 ends at verse 41. You see, in the text there are 15:19 two kinds of blind people. Number one, the man who 15:23 was born blind whom Jesus made see, and, number two, 15:27 the Pharisees who thought they were seeing when 15:29 they were actually blind. You see, it's one thing 15:33 to be blind and to know it, it's another thing to 15:37 be blind and not know it. You do know there is a 15:40 thing called a blind spot. You know what a blind spot is. 15:45 If you're driving your car and you're looking out your 15:48 rearview mirror as to catch and see who's changing lanes, 15:51 there are some spots you can't see. The back right 15:55 corner you can't see. The back left corner you can't see. 15:59 These are blind spots. Blind spots are created by the 16:03 fact that we don't have eyes in the backs of our heads 16:06 and it's physically impossible to see everything 16:09 at the same time. In the text, the Pharisees have 16:13 blind spots, but they're spiritual blind spots. 16:17 They can't see what God is doing. God has just 16:21 performed a miracle, but they can't see it. 16:24 And when you've got spiritual blind spots, 16:27 you might miss out on what God is doing right 16:29 in front of your face. What am I talking about? 16:32 Somebody graduated from Oakwood that should have 16:37 never even made it to Oakwood. Somebody right now 16:42 is in Oakwood that's not supposed to be in Oakwood. 16:47 Somebody's got a job they didn't apply for. 16:52 Somebody's living in a house, you know you can't afford. 16:56 Somebody has cancer, but they're being healed right now. 17:01 Somebody has a child that's on dope, but God is 17:04 healing them right now. Somebody's been out on 17:08 the streets, but God is healing them right now. 17:12 Somebody was heading to bankruptcy court, 17:15 but God is healing them right now. 17:18 Somebody's marriage was headed to divorce court, 17:21 but God is healing that marriage right now. 17:24 So, don't wait till that battle is over, shout now. 17:28 God is healing His people now. God is delivering 17:31 His people now. God is raising up His people now. 17:35 God is restoring His people now. God is saving 17:39 His people, right now. But not only that, 17:45 in the text I learned something else. 17:47 Not only will a blind spot keep you from 17:51 seeing what God is doing, but a spiritual blind 17:54 spot will keep you from seeing what you're doing. 17:58 You see, when you're driving a car and you don't 18:05 check your blind spots, and you decide to make a 18:08 lane change, you might not know it, but you might 18:12 run into the car that is riding right next to ya 18:15 and it's in your blind spot. And what you'll do is, 18:18 you'll hurt yourself and you'll hurt the other 18:22 person in the car. You all don't hear what I'm saying. 18:24 In the text the Pharisees are unaware that with all 18:29 of their theological expertise, with all of their 18:32 debate about the Sabbath, and whether it was lawful 18:34 to take a put--bit of mud and smooth it over a blind 18:38 man's eyes for the purpose of the man seeing, 18:41 with all these legal ramblings, they still couldn't 18:44 see that they were making this newly healed man wonder 18:47 about the nature of his healing. They were trying to 18:50 make him feel like some ungodly source. 18:53 Some diabolical deity. Some, uh, unholy entity 18:57 had brought about his healing. They were discrediting 19:00 his sight, as if he had no reason to be happy about his miracle. 19:04 You know what I'm talking about. Sometimes when God comes 19:07 and heals us and we come to church and we want to clap our 19:10 hands and we want to stomp our feet, and there are people 19:13 in the congregation that mean mug us. You know what 19:15 I'm talking about. They weren't happy about his miracle. 19:21 They were so hung up on their doctrines that they 19:23 were blind to what their doctrines were doing to real people. 19:26 They were hurting the man. Where the man had just been healed, 19:30 spirit, physically, they were emotionally and spiritually 19:34 wounding the brother. They couldn't see it. They had a blind spot. 19:40 They knew religion, but didn't know about relationships. 19:44 They knew the law, but they didn't know about love. 19:48 They knew the commandments, but they really didn't know 19:50 about Christ. But they knew the Lord 's Prayer, 19:53 but they didn't really know the Lord, because they were 19:56 in the sanctuary but not in the spirit. Are you hearing 19:58 what I'm saying? The Pharisees spent their lives 20:01 being religious, but before we're too critical and we 20:04 talk about them, all of us to some degree are religious. 20:09 Pastor Byrd included. Because there's nothing as 20:12 dangerous as turning yourself over to a room full 20:15 of church folk when you've messed up. [Audience responds] 20:20 PB: We have rules for which we have no scriptures. 20:26 [Audience responds, applause] PB: We have all kinds 20:33 of concepts and ideas for what is appropriate 20:36 and inappropriate. We kill people over things that 20:39 we realize later, really, it wasn't that deep. 20:42 And where we have scriptures, we don't search them 20:45 for appropriateness or contextual correctness. 20:48 Many times we just hurl them after the fashion 20:50 of our fathers without questioning the possibility 20:53 that our fathers could have been wrong. 20:55 So what we do is, we kill our sons, our future, 20:59 trying to be loyal to our fathers, our past, 21:01 and our future is destroyed by our commitment 21:04 to our history because we love our history 21:07 more than we seek our destiny. [Applause] 21:11 PB: We're spiritually blind. We can't see 21:16 what God is doing. And then we can't see what 21:19 we're doing. Today, can you see? 21:25 I hear people all the time after I preach 21:28 in this church, and I've got, I preach across country, 21:31 but I hear people all the time, preach, 21:33 Pastor Byrd, preach it, tell them. [Applause] 21:39 PB: Have you ever thought that God is trying to 21:52 tell you something? Can you not see? Can you not 21:58 see what God is doing? Can you not see what 22:02 you are doing? The man was physically blind, 22:08 but the Pharisees were spiritually blind. 22:11 And spiritual blindness is worse than physical 22:15 blindness, because physical blindness can be healed, 22:18 but spiritual blindness resists healing. 22:22 Here we now have a blind beggar seeing more 22:27 clearly than the religious leaders. 22:29 So, Jesus says, as He closes out the chapter 22:32 in verse 39, For judgment I have come into this 22:36 world so that the blind will see and those who 22:40 see will become blind. For all their knowledge 22:46 of scripture, for all of their religious practice, 22:50 for all of their experienced information and expertise, 22:54 they still missed the kingdom. A poor, blind man found it. 23:00 Their eyes were closed. His eyes were opened. 23:06 You can enter the kingdom if you're physically blind. 23:11 But, friends, you can't get to the kingdom if you're 23:14 spiritually blind. Somebody is blind in this place. 23:20 Not physically blind, but spiritually blind. 23:25 Somebody needs to see. Can you see? 23:32 We are Oakwood, eager to learn, depart to serve, 23:38 can you see? When you go back to your home church, 23:44 when you go back to your home city, can you see? 23:49 God by the power of the Holy Ghost brought you to 23:53 alumni weekend just so you can hear the Word being 23:57 preached this weekend. God is about to set somebody free. 24:01 Something's about to happen. Something is about to move 24:06 in this place. Something is about to take hold of you. 24:09 You've cried long enough. You've been depressed long enough. 24:13 You've been talked about long enough. You've been 24:16 blind long enough. But God is about to do something. 24:20 Mud and all, I'm in, any way you bless me, I'll be satisfied. 24:29 You see, I refuse to live in misery and die in misery. 24:34 I refuse to live in a earthly hell, then die and go to 24:39 an eternal hell. That's too much hell. Are you hearing 24:41 what I'm saying? A breakthrough has got to come. 24:45 You see, I've learned in my life that I've got to 24:48 praise God, not because of, but I've got to learn 24:52 how to praise Him in spite of. You've got to get 24:56 to the point in your life where you have to say, God, 24:58 I praise ya, in spite of my circumstances. 25:01 In spite of my situation. In spite of my unemployment. 25:06 In spite of my finances. In spite of my feelings. 25:10 In spite of my illnesses. In spite of my sicknesses. 25:15 In spite of them, I will bless the Lord at all times 25:20 and His praise shall continually be in my mouth. 25:24 My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. 25:26 The humble shall hear their love and be glad. 25:29 Oh come and magnify the Lord with me and let us 25:33 exalt His name together. I know what Jesus has 25:36 done for me. I know Jesus has set me free. 25:42 And I don't know where He came from. I don't 25:46 know if He's a saint or a sinner. I don't know 25:51 what school He went to. I don't know if He went 25:54 to Oakwood, Andrews, Southern, Loma Linda, A&M, 26:00 all I know if I once was blind. You all don't 26:03 hear what I'm saying. But now I see. 26:06 I don't know what the church board said. 26:08 I don't know what the elders' board said. 26:11 I don't know what the conference committee said. 26:14 I don't know what the alumni committee said. 26:17 All I know is I once was blind, but now I see. 26:22 I don't know whether he's a saint or a sinner. 26:25 I'm not here to debate and argue how I got healed, 26:29 when I got healed, where I got healed, 26:32 or what day I got healed, or who even healed me, 26:35 all I know is I once was blind, but now I see. 26:39 So, amazing grace, how sweet the sound that 26:42 saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, 26:45 but now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see. 26:51 And when we come into the house of God, 26:53 we become in God's presence, we ought to lift 26:56 holy hands in blessing. I don't care what's happening 26:59 in your life. You ought to lift holy hands and 27:02 worship Him because you may not be where you want to be, 27:06 but praise God to not where you used to be. 27:09 [Applause] PB: The car in your driveway. 27:12 It may be a hooptie. A hooptie is it means 27:17 it barely, be barely running. But at least 27:20 you ain't walking. Are you hearing what I'm saying? 27:22 You may not have the house you want, but you've 27:26 got a roof over your head. You may not have money 27:30 in your pocket, but at least you've got some food 27:32 on your table. You've had some good days. 27:36 You've had some bad days. You've had some hills to climb. 27:40 But when you look around and think things over, 27:44 all of my good days outweigh my bad days. 27:48 I won't complain. Praise ye the Lord. 27:53 Praise God in His sanctuary. Praise Him in 27:56 the firmament of His power. Praise Him for His mighty acts. 28:00 Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. 28:02 Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet. 28:05 Praise Him with the psaltery of the heart. 28:07 Praise Him with the tempo of the dance. 28:09 Praise Him with the string instruments and organs. 28:12 Praise Him with the loud cymbals. 28:14 Praise Him with the high sounding-- 28:16 Thank you for joining us for another exciting 28:18 Breath of Life television broadcast. 28:20 Tune in next week at the same time as 28:23 Dr. Byrd will deliver another dynamic message 28:26 from the Lord, just for you. 28:28 Until next time, may God bless you. 28:29 END |
Revised 2017-06-01