Participants: Carlton P. Byrd
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000584A
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00:02 Breath Of Life Ministries Presents
00:07 Sermon B584 - "The Odd Couple " 00:16 [Breath Of Life Ministries Theme Music] 00:20 PB: I have two verses, Hosea 1:1 and 2. 00:28 "The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, 00:34 the son of Beeri, [Beerdi, excuse me] in the days 00:38 of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, 00:44 and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, 00:48 king of Israel." Verse 2, "The beginning of the 00:53 word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, 00:59 Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and 01:05 children of whoredoms: for the land hath 01:09 committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD." 01:15 The odd couple. The odd couple. When we hear the words 01:30 "the odd couple," seasoned saints go back to the 01:34 1970s to a television sitcom of two divorced men who 01:41 lived in a New York City apartment, and how their 01:45 different lifestyles led to conflicts and laughs. 01:50 Now, when young people hear the words "the odd couple," 01:55 they think of a man and a woman who get together, 02:00 but nobody can see what they see in each other. 02:06 She's tall. He's short. She's from the city. 02:13 He's from the country. She's quiet. He talks a lot. 02:21 He likes Alabama. She likes Auburn. He likes Golden State.-- 02:32 [Aud. reaction] PB: --She likes Cleveland. 02:37 [Aud. reaction] PB: He's a Lebron fan. 02:41 [Aud. reaction] PB: She's a Kevin Durant fan. 02:46 [Aud. reaction] PB: They're the odd couple. 02:52 In the text we have an odd couple: Hosea, Gomer. 03:03 He's a prophet, she's a prostitute. [Aud. reaction] 03:09 PB: He's a man of God. She's a woman of the night. 03:16 He's faithful. She's unfaithful. He preaches the 03:24 power of the loving God. She provides considerations 03:29 for cash. They're the odd couple. And let me throw 03:38 this in: ladies, you don't have to lower your standards 03:43 or provide considerations for cash just to get something. 03:49 Just because you need a ride somewhere doesn't mean 03:55 you have to provide ungodly considerations. 03:59 [Aud. reaction] PB: Just because you need help 04:02 on an assignment doesn't mean you have to provide 04:06 ungodly considerations. Just because you need 04:12 some money doesn't mean you have to provide ungodly 04:15 considerations. In fact, I'm thinking of a story 04:18 of a young lady who had a male friend who came to 04:21 her with an article, talking about "Hey, babe, 04:24 look at this article." They got a little thing 04:28 in the newspaper, in the classifieds, I can't believe it, 04:30 but it's something somebody just might do. If you 04:35 have sexual relations one time with a man for one 04:37 million dollars, there are three things you are 04:40 guaranteed of. Number one, nobody will ever know. 04:45 Number two, no disease. Number three, no babies. 04:53 No one knows, no disease, no babies. One million 04:58 dollars, no questions asked, out the door. 05:02 Would you do it? She thought about it just 05:09 like somebody right now is thinking about it. 05:13 [Aud. reaction] PB: No one would know. 05:17 One million dollars, no disease, no babies, 05:19 out the door. She thought about it; she said 05:20 "Yes! I'll do it." He said, "Then will you do 05:24 the same thing for twenty-five dollars?" 05:27 She said, "What do you think I am, a prostitute?" 05:30 He said, "We've already established that, 05:31 we're just negotiating price." [Aud. reaction] 05:37 PB: So I got all these young people here. 05:40 Listen to me good. Young ladies, reach over 05:44 and tell that young man "I'm not for sale." 05:50 [Aud. reaction] PB: And because you're not for sale, 05:56 take off all these for-sale and on-sale signs. 06:01 Preach, Pastor Byrd. I'm doing the best I can. 06:05 [Aud. reaction] PB: Coming to church with all this out. 06:15 I'm doing the best I can. [Aud. reaction] 06:18 PB: It is not of God. So all this come as you are. 06:25 I'm coming as a--God said, come as you are with your heart. 06:29 [Aud. reaction] PB: But if you're coming to 06:33 meet the King of kings and the Lord of lords, 06:37 you ought to come with your best. Do I have a 06:39 witness in this place? [Aud. reaction] 06:41 PB: Take these for-sale and on-sale signs off. 06:48 Come to church dressed right. [Aud. reaction] 06:54 PB: Amen. Aud.: Amen. 06:57 PB: Now, back to Hosea and Gomer. God puts this 07:06 odd couple together. God tells the prophet, 07:10 go marry a prostitute. Now, it has been said 07:12 that most men marry women hoping they never change, 07:16 and most women marry men hoping they will change. 07:19 The situation here is different though. 07:21 Hosea marries Gomer, hoping she will change. 07:25 But Gomer is entrenched in her lifestyle. 07:29 She's a prostitute. A woman of the night. 07:33 She loves the bright lights and big action. 07:35 She's not holy. She's not righteous. 07:37 She's not pure. She's been around the block. 07:40 People know her by what she does not by her name. 07:44 So God says, "Hosea, I want you to take a wife." 07:49 Hosea, "Well, God, where is she?" God, 07:52 "There she is, Hosea, on the corner." "Where?" 07:56 "Over there, on the corner with the fishnet 08:01 stockings on. With the four-inch heels on. 08:05 With the wig on her head. That's the woman 08:08 I want you to take to be your wife." "Well, 08:12 God, I'll do anything for you. But you want 08:15 me to go and take that one to be my wife?" 08:18 "Yes." "But God!" "I said, yes!." 08:23 God is telling this holy man to marry this 08:25 unholy woman who is sure to break his heart. 08:27 One that Hosea knows will not be faithful. 08:29 A woman that by her own wicked nature is certain 08:32 to commit adultery. A promiscuous woman that is 08:34 destined to cause endless frustration and 08:37 monumental grief. But God still tells him, 08:41 "Go, marry Gomer." Now why does God tell a 08:47 prophet to go marry a prostitute? Verse 2 gives 08:52 us our answer. The Lord God said to Hosea, 08:55 "Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and 08:56 children of whoredoms: for the land hath 08:58 committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD." 09:00 I like the way the New International Version puts it. 09:02 It says, "Go marry a promiscuous woman. 09:05 Have children with her, for like an adulterous wife, 09:10 this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord." 09:15 You see, what I love about God is, God never asks us, 09:18 asks us, to do anything He hasn't done himself. 09:23 [Aud. reaction] PB: What do I mean? In the text, 09:26 Hosea represents God. Gomer represents the people 09:31 of God. And the text illustrates that because 09:35 God loves us so much, that God does not stop 09:38 tugging at us until He brings us back into 09:41 relationship with Him. We wonder, we stray, 09:46 we've walked away. We've been unfaithful, 09:49 we've cheated on Him, but God is not willing 09:53 that any should perish but all should come to repentance. 09:57 Now, can you imagine Hosea's boys, his groomsmen, 10:02 his friends saying "Hosea, you're respected among 10:06 the prophets. Your name is among other prophets 10:09 in the land: Joel, Jonah, Obadiah, Micah, Amos, 10:11 Isaiah. But your decision making is in question. 10:16 Your wife is a disgrace. Why in the world are 10:21 you married to a woman like that? But then, 10:24 I can picture an offended Hosea responding, 10:27 "You're asking me why I'm married to a woman 10:30 like that? The better question is, why is such 10:32 a good and loving God married to an adulterous 10:35 people like you?" [Aud. reaction] 10:39 PB: Hosea was married to an adulterous woman 10:44 because God was married to an adulterous people. 10:48 Gomer was unfaithful, and God's church has been unfaithful. 10:55 Israel had failed to acknowledge God and therefore 10:58 Israel would be punished and disloyalty to God was 11:02 the same as spiritual adultery. Israel had turned their 11:07 attention to worshiping the idols of Baal, sacrificing 11:10 on the altars of pagan gods, and their women were 11:12 prostituting themselves in pagan temples. 11:16 But God still loved them in spite of them. 11:23 Church of the Living God, I could stop right here. 11:28 We've been unfaithful to Him. I said, we've been 11:34 unfaithful to Him. Like Israel of old, we have 11:40 been unfaithful to God. I don't care how long you've 11:44 been in the church. I don't care how long you've 11:46 read your Bible. There is a tendency among all of 11:49 us to break our commitment to God. There's a 11:52 propensity among all of us to break God's heart. 11:55 All of us have sinned and come short of the 11:58 glory of God. All of us have messed up. 12:01 That's why you can't judge folk and look down 12:04 on folk just because they've made a mistake. 12:07 Because the only difference between you and 12:08 them is, they got caught and you didn't. 12:11 [Aud. reaction] PB: We are all gone as sheep 12:14 to the slaughter. If it weren't for the grace 12:18 of God, none of us would be here today. 12:21 Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. 12:24 Don't act all holy and pious, because people who 12:27 perceive themselves to be holy are never great worshippers. 12:30 [Aud. reaction] PB: Teach all the seminars you want, 12:33 but you'll never worship God when you feel He ought 12:35 to be happy that you're here. [Aud. reaction] 12:38 PB: But when you've been to an earthly hell and back; 12:41 when you've slept around and fooled around, 12:46 you've messed around and played around, 12:49 you could have been in jail, you could have 12:51 been dead, you could have been strung out somewhere; 12:53 shoulda been arrested, but somehow God in His mercy 12:58 gave you another chance. It'll make you praise 13:03 God like you just don't care. [Aud. reaction] 13:06 PB: We sit up and we act all holy, but everybody 13:10 in here has a past and has done something that's dark, 13:13 so don't point the finger at somebody else. 13:14 Look at yourself. You'd better tell somebody, 13:16 I'm not here because I've been so good, 13:18 but I'm here because God's been so good. 13:20 [Aud. reaction] PB: I'm here today because 13:22 of God's grace. Amazing grace, how sweet the 13:23 sound that saved a wretch like me. God is an 13:27 awesome God. Somebody oughta thank God for 13:30 using you in spite of you. Somebody oughta 13:32 thank God for working on you in spite of all 13:35 the mess in your life. I just came to let 13:37 somebody know that God is going to keep loving 13:40 you until you learn how to love Him back. 13:43 Gomer wasn't used to boundaries. Gomer wasn't 13:49 used to commitment, Gomer wasn't used to 13:50 accountability. Her reputation is bad. 13:53 Life has lived her. And this is why it's 13:56 difficult for people, many a people, 13:58 to understand the love of God, because you 14:01 can't imagine why God would want to invest 14:03 in you, after all you've done. But what I 14:08 love about the Lord is this. It doesn't 14:10 matter how bad your story is. It doesn't 14:12 matter what you've done. It doesn't matter 14:14 what people remember you for. God still loves ya. 14:19 [Aud. reaction] PB: In fact, you can never 14:21 get God to stop loving you. Gomer, you've done 14:25 some things you're still paying for, 14:26 but God wants to still love on you. Gomer, 14:29 when people see you, and when you show up, 14:31 they roll their eyes at you. But God still 14:34 wants to love you. When you walk away, Gomer, 14:37 people then begin to huddle and they talk about you, 14:39 but God still wants to love you. Understanding the text, 14:43 and I'm moving quickly, that Gomer is unfaithful 14:46 in the relationship. Over and over again she's unfaithful. 14:49 But Hosea is faithful in his commitment to the marriage. 14:52 He goes to bed at night, she's not there. She wakes 15:00 up in strange places, but he goes looking for her. 15:04 Brings her back home. Nurses her back to health, 15:09 because he loves her. Y'all don't hear what I'm saying. 15:12 Can you imagine what this must have looked like? 15:14 Here is a holy man, the man of God, the prophet of God, 15:17 standing outside a brothel, in line, waiting with 15:20 strange men who are waiting to pay for the affections 15:23 of his wife. Somebody's gonna get this in a minute. 15:26 When Hosea found Gomer, Gomer was a prostitute, 15:32 and because she was a prostitute she was still 15:35 being controlled by her pimp. Listen to me. 15:38 And the pimp in her life represents the thing 15:41 that has controlled her so long that also though 15:45 she now has everything she wants, she now has 15:48 everything she needs, she is still bound by 15:51 the past that manipulates her future. 15:54 [Aud. reaction] PB: So when her pimp calls, 15:58 she sneaks out of bed with her husband to 16:00 go back to that old life. When he calls, 16:03 she loses all sense of reason. And that's 16:05 how we do God. We allow Satan to pimp us, 16:10 and although we say we love God, we enter 16:13 into a relationship with Him and we come to 16:15 the altar. We cry, we pray, we kneel down, 16:18 we sing, we shout, we wave our hands. 16:20 But as soon as the pimp calls, we go running. 16:25 How is it that you can talk about how you 16:28 love God so much, but when the pimp calls, 16:31 you're unfaithful to your relationship to 16:32 the Lord? So today, who's pimping you? 16:35 [Aud. reaction] PB: What is it in your life 16:39 that's so strong that it takes priority over 16:42 your relationship with God? What is her name? 16:46 What is his name? What's the job's name? 16:50 What's the food's name? What's the drink's name? 16:54 What's the drug's name? What or who is pimping you, 16:57 because it's causing God pain. It's breaking His heart. 17:02 God says, every job I give you, you mean to tell 17:06 Me that you don't have it in you to tithe? 17:07 Why do you keep breaking My heart? I got you 17:10 in school, I got you to Oakwood, I financially 17:12 cleared you, I helped you pass the class. 17:13 Why do you keep breaking My heart? You were sick, 17:16 you had cancer. I healed your body, but why do 17:18 you keep breaking My heart? Gomer was the type of wife, 17:22 much like today's church, who ignores her husband 17:25 and secretly wishes he wasn't around so she can go 17:28 enjoy his money, his gifts, and what he brings to 17:31 the marriage. She loves his affection, 17:33 loves his protection, she loves eventually 17:35 sometimes being called by his name, and sadly that's 17:38 like many church folk. We love being called 17:42 Christian but we hate being married to Christ. 17:45 [Aud. reaction] PB: But today I'm so glad 17:49 that God's love is not measured by our love, 17:56 that He keeps on loving us. Cause the Bible 18:00 says while we were yet sinners, He died for us. 18:05 Which means, He still loved me when I was still 18:10 hurting Him. He loved you while you were still 18:14 dippin' and sippin'. Pimpin' and trippin'. 18:18 While you were still doing your own thing, 18:21 He still loved you. Think about it. Hosea would 18:25 go out every day, go to work and go to do God's work, 18:29 and then he'd come home in the evening only to 18:31 find their child in the crib, crying, unattended, 18:34 dishes in the sink, house a mess, and his wife 18:37 was out on a street corner. Coming home at two 18:41 or three in the morning, beat up, black-eyed, 18:43 bruised. But Hosea would never condemn her. 18:46 He would just bring her home, tuck her in, 18:49 and put her to bed. The next day he would 18:53 go out again. He would do God's work, 18:54 calling out to God, doing what God would 18:56 have him to do. And the next day, again, 18:58 she was nowhere to be found. Every day she 19:03 would do the same thing. God told me to tell 19:07 you today, I've been looking for you. Every 19:10 day I've been giving you every thing. I see you, 19:12 this Sabbath, but I was looking for you last Sabbath. 19:15 I was looking for you the Sabbath before that. 19:18 I've been good to you, I got you in school, 19:20 I got you that job, I healed your body, 19:22 I got you in your right mind. I gave you a house, 19:24 a car, but I'm looking for you and I'm just trying 19:27 to figure out, do you love Me enough that you can 19:31 say bye to your pimp and hello to Me. 19:35 [Aud. reaction] PB: I'm done. 19:40 I didn't want to be long, cause I knew it 19:45 would be long today. I thank God that He 19:48 never gave up on me. [Aud. reaction] 19:51 PB: When the world and the church are ready 19:55 to throw you away, God said I'm gonna keep 19:58 loving you till you learn how to love Me back. 20:01 Then I know one day you're gonna outgrow this 20:04 foolishness. You're gonna outgrow this mess, 20:07 that one day you're gonna get this thing together. 20:09 God could've given up on me, God could've left me. 20:12 But I'm so glad that if any man be in Christ, 20:16 he's a new creature. Old things are passed away, 20:18 all things become new. I'm so glad that God so 20:22 loved the world that He gave His only begotten 20:24 Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not 20:26 perish but have everlasting life. Somebody looking 20:28 at me right now ought to thank God that God so loved you. 20:33 [Aud. reaction] PB: What does that mean? 20:37 It means what you oughta be saying is, 20:40 I was so messed up. I was so pitiful. 20:44 I was so unfaithful. I was so trifling. 20:50 But God looked beyond my faults and saw my need, 20:58 and I'm today glad that He paid a price on a 21:02 debt He didn't even owe. That He loved me 21:05 enough to go to Calvary and die for me, 21:07 and the only reason I'm here, Carlton Byrd 21:10 is here today, is because God's desire for 21:12 me is to be saved. [Aud. reaction] 21:17 PB: Now, let me end with a reminder that 21:19 the name "Hosea"--everybody say "Hosea." 21:22 Aud.: Hosea. PB: Is also pronounced Ho-shay-ah. 21:26 The same root for the word "Joshua," and "Jeshua," 21:33 the Hebrew name for Jesus, which further illustrates 21:37 then that Hosea is a foreshadow and a symbol of 21:43 Christ to His church. Now, there's an odd couple for you. 21:50 Christ and convicts. Righteous and unrighteous. 21:56 Savior and sinners. Redeemer and reprobates. 22:05 Prince and prisoners. Deliverer and delinquents. 22:15 But He loves you. He loves me. He loved you when 22:22 you were unlovable. He didn't wait till you got 22:25 right to love you. But He loved you when you wouldn't 22:28 do right, when you wouldn't act right. He loved 22:33 you when you were shacking up, when you were shooting up. 22:35 He stopped the car from crashing. He stopped you from dying, 22:40 stopped you from being destroyed. And if none of you 22:43 all will praise Him, I will bless the Lord at all times, 22:50 and His praise shall continually be in my mouth. 22:55 When they put Jesus on the cross, they hung Him 23:00 high and they stretched Him wide. And I can hear 23:04 the devil saying, "Why are you staying up there 23:07 if you know they're gonna be unfaithful? Why are you 23:10 staying up there if you know they're not gonna come 23:12 to church every Sabbath, they're not going to study 23:14 their Bible. Why are you staying up there if you know 23:16 that next week they're gonna be drunk as a skunk, 23:19 talking about folk, judging folk, robbing folk, 23:22 stealing from folk, cheating on folk." 23:24 I want to hear God say, "Devil, you didn't die 23:30 for 'em, I did." [Aud. reaction] 23:34 PB: "Devil, you didn't bleed for them. I did. 23:38 Devil, you didn't rise for them. I did. 23:44 So you can't define my love for them, because 23:48 I love them and one day they're gonna learn 23:51 how to love Me back." The Bible says that He 23:56 hung from the sixth hour till the ninth hour. 24:01 They took his body down from the cross on Friday. 24:05 He lay resting in the grave, according to the 24:07 commandment, on the Sabbath. But early-- 24:09 [Aud. reaction] PB: --early, the first day of the week, 24:15 on the third appointed day, He got up with all 24:20 power in His name, and somebody oughta give Him glory, 24:26 because when He got up, you got up, I got up, we got up! 24:36 Do I have a witness in this place? [Aud. reaction] 24:38 PB: And is there anybody in here today that says, 24:40 Lord, I know how I've messed up. But this time I'm 24:46 gonna be more committed. I messed up. But this time, 24:53 when I pray, I'm gonna mean it. I messed up. But this 25:00 time I'm not gonna let my job, I'm not gonna let my 25:03 girlfriend, my boyfriend, I'm not gonna let anything 25:05 get ahead of You. This time, it's nothing but You. 25:09 Because when I think about how far God brought me, 25:14 when I think about how much God has done in my life, 25:19 I can't help but give Him glory. I can't help but give 25:23 Him honor, I can't help but give Him praise. I can't 25:27 help but shout hallelujah. If you knew, like I knew, 25:37 what I've been through, you'd know why I preach like 25:41 I preach. Why I run meetings like I run meetings, 25:44 why I shout like I shout, why I stomp this foot like I do. 25:47 You'd understand why I give Him glory. You don't have 25:51 time to be stuck up. [Aud. reaction] 25:55 PB: You don't have time to be cute. Because you could be 26:03 somewhere on a corner somewhere. He could have left you 26:10 in your mess. Somebody oughta be excited because He's 26:17 been good to you. Listen, Hosea went to a brothel. 26:25 Hosea went to the red-light district, Hosea went to 26:32 the worst places imaginable to get his bride. 26:37 But you know what? So did Jesus. 26:44 [Aud. reaction] PB: He left the celestial courts of heaven. 26:53 He left the palatial palace of paradise. 26:57 And He left to get you and get me. So where 27:05 would I be if Jesus didn't love me? Where would 27:10 I be if Jesus didn't care? Where would I be 27:12 if He had not sacrificed His life. Today I'm glad. 27:17 I'm glad He did. He made a way--[Aud. reaction] 27:30 PB: I don't know why He did it, but He made a way. 27:45 I don't know how He did it, but He made a way. 27:53 When my back was against the wall, He made a way. 28:00 "Thank you very much for tuning into this 28:02 week's Breath of Life Broadcast. 28:04 We hope and pray that you have been blessed 28:06 by Dr. Byrd's inspirational message. 28:09 If you would like to hear this sermon in 28:10 its entirety, please feel free to visit us at 28:13 www.breathoflife.tv or call us at 256.929.6460. 28:23 Again, thank you very much for joining us, 28:29 [END] |
Revised 2017-10-16