Breath of Life

The Triumphal Entry

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants:

Series Code: BOL

00:02 Breath of Life Ministries Presents:
00:05 Sermon #594 - "Love Thy Neighbor"
00:08 PB: Luke chapter 10, verse 25, "And, behold,
00:23 a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him,
00:25 saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit
00:27 eternal life? He said unto him, What is
00:30 written in the law? how readest thou?
00:33 And he answering said, Thou shalt love
00:36 the Lord thy God with all thy"--what, everybody?
00:38 Aud.: [Heart] PB: And with all thy what?
00:39 Aud.: [Mind] PB: "And with all thy strength,
00:41 and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thy"--what?
00:43 Aud.: Self. PB: "And he said unto him,
00:45 Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou
00:46 shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself,
00:49 said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?
00:54 And Jesus answering said, A certain man
00:56 went down from Jerusalem to Jericho,
00:58 and fell among thieves, which stripped him
01:00 of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed,
01:02 leaving him half dead. And by chance there
01:05 came down a certain priest that way:
01:06 and when he saw him, he passed by on
01:08 the other side. And likewise a Levite,
01:10 when he was at the place, came and looked on him,
01:12 and passed by on the other side. But a
01:14 certain Samaritan, as he journeyed,
01:18 came where he was: and when he saw him,
01:20 he had compassion"--everybody say "compassion."
01:23 Aud.: Compassion. PB: "Had compassion on him,
01:25 And he went to him, and bound up his wounds,
01:27 pouring in oil and wine, and set him on
01:32 his own beast, and brought him to an inn,
01:35 and took care of him. And on the morrow
01:37 when he departed, he took out two pence,
01:40 and gave them to the host, and said unto him,
01:44 Take care of him; and whatsoever thou
01:48 spendest more, when I come again,
01:53 I will repay thee. Which now of these three,
01:55 thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that
01:57 fell among the thieves? He said,
01:59 He that shewed mercy on him. And then
02:03 [he said unto Jesus, then Jesus said to] him,
02:05 Go, and do likewise." Love thy neighbor.
02:16 Love thy neighbor. Father, bless us now
02:20 as we go into Your Word. Make it become
02:22 alive and make it become real and practical
02:24 for Your people. Hide me behind Your cross
02:26 and forgive me of my sins. In Jesus' name. Amen.
02:29 Aud.: Amen. PB: All right, so I love this story.
02:31 I've told this before, and I love this story,
02:33 so I'll tell it again. Repetition deepens the
02:34 impression. I love the story of the little
02:37 white first-grade girl, who on her first day
02:40 of school went to a newly integrated school
02:44 at the height of the segregation era.
02:46 Anxious and nervous all day long, the little
02:48 girl's mother met her daughter at the door
02:51 when the little girl came home from school.
02:53 And the little girl's mother asked her
02:54 little daughter, "Honey, how did everything
02:57 go today?" "Oh, Mother, you know what?"
03:02 says the little girl, "a little black girl
03:05 sat next to me." Expecting the worst,
03:08 the mother then tried to respond and ask calmly,
03:10 "And baby, what happened?" The little girl said,
03:15 "Oh, we were both so scared that we held
03:17 hands all day long." [Aud. Reaction]
03:20 PB: When I share this little story,
03:23 I'm able to acknowledge the fact that
03:26 the Lord has blessed us, and that God
03:29 has brought us a mighty long way.
03:32 We may not be where we should be in terms
03:35 of race relations, but praise God we're
03:38 not where we used to be. Do I have a
03:39 witness in this place? [Aud. reaction]
03:41 PB: You see, there was a time when we
03:42 couldn't vote. There was a time when we
03:45 couldn't eat in certain restaurants.
03:47 We couldn't drink from certain water
03:50 fountains. We couldn't ride in the
03:52 front of the bus. We couldn't live in
03:54 certain neighborhoods. But now,
03:56 we've come this far by faith,
03:58 leaning on the Lord. Is somebody
04:00 know what I'm talking about today?
04:02 [Aud. reaction] PB: But even as
04:03 far as God has brought us, we still
04:04 have a long way to go. While we may
04:07 have thought, many of us, that the tensions,
04:09 and racial tensions, of the
04:10 '60s were behind us and that we entered
04:12 a post-racial era with the election
04:15 of President Barack Obama as the first
04:18 black president of the United States,
04:21 that Jim Crow was over and that the
04:24 segregated south was done, think again.
04:28 Racism still runs rampant in America's
04:32 work force, in our schools, in our
04:35 communities, and society at large.
04:38 Segregation continues in many schools.
04:42 Urban schools are understaffed and
04:44 underfunded. Blacks are often underemployed
04:48 and underpaid. The penal system,
04:50 the judicial system, education system,
04:53 economic system, and a whole bunch of
04:56 other systems, overtly and covertly
04:59 contribute to the injustices in our
05:01 society today. Now, I don't know if
05:05 you've been watching CNN this week,
05:09 but I've been watching. And just this
05:10 week CNN reported that in a private
05:13 Instagram group, private Instagram group chat,
05:18 that Nikolas Cruz, the shooter at the
05:23 Florida high school, in Parkland, Florida,
05:27 repeatedly promoted racist and
05:31 anti-Semitic views. And some of
05:33 you don't hear about that but let
05:34 me tell you. In one part of the group chat,
05:38 Cruz wrote that he hated Jews, the N-word-
05:42 -I dare not repeat in the pulpit--and immigrants.
05:47 Cruz talked about killing Mexicans, keeping
05:50 black people in chains, and cutting their necks.
05:56 Cruz said he hated black people simply
05:58 because they were black. Cruz said he hated
06:01 Jews simply because he believed they wanted
06:03 to destroy the world, and white women also
06:06 drew Cruz's hatred, specifically those in
06:09 interracial relationships, because he called
06:12 them traitors. Don't be deceived. Racism still exists.
06:20 Just this week I had to make a quick trip
06:24 to Atlanta. Quick trip. Quick trip.
06:28 Those from Atlanta know what "quick trip" is.
06:31 Quick trip to Atlanta. But I had to make a
06:34 quick trip to Atlanta, and on the way home I
06:38 was stopped twice. Lord help me. Twice! So the
06:47 first time I stopped, put my hands on the
06:50 steering wheel--you know the drill. Cut on
06:52 the interior lights. Y'all don't hear what
06:54 I got to say. Cut on the interior lights,
06:57 put my hands on the wheel, and the officer
06:58 comes up to me, and he looks at me.
07:02 And I can begin to detect there's something
07:04 in his look. So there I am in my Hugo
07:08 Boss suit--I can't get a witness in this place.
07:11 [Aud. reaction] PB: My shoes are shined,
07:15 I'm in my white shirt and my bow tie,
07:17 in my black Mercedes Benz--
07:19 [Aud. reaction] PB: --and he looks
07:23 at me as if I'm not supposed to be driving
07:26 this car. I say yeah, this is mine,
07:31 and my wife got one, too.
07:33 Do I have a witness in this place?
07:36 [Aud. reaction] PB: This is your car?
07:40 Yes. Yes. Then I say, let me humble myself,
07:45 I need a warning. Do I need a witness in this place?
07:47 [Aud. reaction] PB: Let me see your
07:49 registration and your insurance and your
07:52 driver's license. He looks at it--sure
07:55 is your car. It is my car. He goes back
08:01 to his car for a minute. Comes back,
08:04 you're okay, Mr. Byrd. Just, just slow down.
08:08 I wasn't speeding. Well, you ran the red light.
08:09 You don't even know why you stopped me.
08:11 [Aud. reaction] PB: I go 30 minutes more.
08:17 Again, I see the light. [Aud. reaction]
08:24 PB: Twice in an hour. I'm coming down
08:29 that hill, you know, Doc Guntersville.
08:31 Somebody knows what I'm talkin' about.
08:33 You been stopped there too. Come on, say amen.
08:37 [Aud. reaction] PB: And I'm coming down
08:39 that hill in Guntersville, and sure enough!
08:43 I see the light. I pull over right at that
08:47 Windom Resort, right after you come off the lake.
08:49 Somebody knows what I'm talkin'--look at,
08:50 they know what I'm talkin' about. Put my hands
08:53 on the steering wheel, cut the interior lights on,
08:57 and there comes the police officer. Sir,
09:00 do you know why I stopped you? Sir, no, sir.
09:04 Well, you were going 70 coming down that hill,
09:09 and the speed limit is 50. Is this your car?
09:14 I said, yes, it's my car. And then I looked at
09:22 his name badge, and the last name said "Bradford."
09:27 I said, Brother Bradford-- [Aud. reaction]
09:34 PB: Can we cut through the chase?
09:40 Brother Bradford, this is my car.
09:44 Brother Bradford, you were waiting on me.
09:48 Brother Bradford, you're trying to entrap me.
09:52 Brother Bradford, let's tell the truth.
09:54 I'm the pastor of the Oakwood University Church.
09:57 I'm a pastor, I would not tell beyond the truth.
09:59 And I made sure while I was talking to him I
10:01 put my jacket over the warning I had just received.
10:03 Y'all don't hear what I'm saying.
10:06 [Aud. reaction] PB: I said,
10:08 Brother Bradford, I'm a good guy.
10:11 The husband of one wife-- [Aud. reaction]
10:15 PB: Three children. I pastor at Oakwood.
10:19 I'm trying to make it back to Huntsville.
10:21 I'm a good guy. This is my car. Let me go.
10:27 Brother Bradford, as he's now laughing at me--
10:31 [Aud. reaction] PB: Looks at my license.
10:35 You are Carlton Byrd. I said, I am. He said,
10:40 just go and slow down. I said, thank you.
10:42 As I'm driving off, I'm saying, Lord,
10:44 thank You. Twice tonight-- [Aud. reaction]
10:45 PB: I promise I won't do anything else.
10:49 I began to drive and I began to think
10:53 about what they asked me first.
10:54 Is this my car. The problems facing
11:02 black America are still there.
11:06 Twenty-seven percent of all
11:08 African Americans live below the
11:09 poverty line. Seventy-two percent
11:12 of African American babies are born
11:14 to unwed mothers. One in three black
11:16 males is in jail under some form of
11:19 police scrutiny. Blacks, we comprise
11:21 13 percent of the United States'
11:23 population, but we make up 35 percent
11:25 of drug arrests, 53 percent of drug
11:27 convictions, 74 percent of drug prisoners,
11:29 and commit 55 percent of all robberies.
11:32 But don't be deceived. It's not just us.
11:36 Just as it is for blacks, it is for whites.
11:39 It's either, not either-or in reference to
11:41 blacks and whites but it's both-and,
11:42 because white men are also in trouble.
11:46 What am I talking about? There are fewer
11:47 white men in college and graduate programs
11:48 per capita today than there were 10 years
11:51 ago in the United States. Especially in
11:53 the fields of math and science and engineering,
11:55 which is why we always hear all this talk
11:57 about stem programs, science technology,
11:59 engineering and math. America's unreadiness
12:02 to deal with the oil shortage and global warning,
12:04 the definite deterioration of the United
12:07 States in industrial competence, the loss
12:08 of market share, the automobiles, steel,
12:10 and textile industry, the utter lack of
12:12 non-belligerent imagination when it comes
12:14 to solving world crisis, and the painful
12:16 lack of initiative in dealing with the
12:18 budget crisis, the job crisis, the drug
12:21 crisis, are just a few of the moral intellectual
12:23 decline indicators of the white American male.
12:27 So as Dr. King said it, we're going to either
12:30 learn to love each other, learn how to hang
12:33 together like brothers and sisters, husbands
12:37 and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends,
12:39 or we gonna surely hang and die tragically
12:41 like fools. Let me be clear with you today.
12:45 There is a conspiracy led by the devil to
12:50 des troy the black man, the white man,
12:53 the red man, the yellow man, the white woman,
12:57 the black woman, the red and the yellow woman.
13:01 Satan is trying to elim--we're trying to
13:03 eliminate each other, but the devil is
13:05 trying to eliminate us all. So this isn't
13:07 a revolution of black against white and
13:09 whites against blacks. This is a revolution
13:11 of right against wrong. And so today-
13:14 -I'm not gonna be long--just got to get
13:16 28 minutes in for the television show.
13:18 Come on, say amen. [Aud. reaction]
13:21 PB: But the cry from this preacher
13:26 today is love thy neighbor. Love thy
13:34 black neighbor. Love thy white neighbor.
13:38 Love thy red neighbor. Love thy yellow neigh-
13:43 -love thy Jewish neighbor. Love thy Muslim neighbor.
13:47 Love thy Catholic neighbor.
13:49 Love thy Baptist neighbor.
13:52 Love thy Christian neighbor.
13:54 Love thy atheist neighbor.
13:56 Love thy poor neighbor.
13:58 Love thy rich neighbor.
13:59 Love thy Jamaican neighbor.
14:01 Love thy Bahamian neighbor.
14:04 Love thy Trinidadian neighbor.
14:05 Love thy African neighbor.
14:07 Love thy black American neighbor.
14:11 And stop all this foolish black
14:13 on black racism. [Aud. reaction]
14:15 PB: We're all neighbors. We're all black.
14:18 We were all slaves. We just got
14:21 dropped off on different shores.
14:22 I wish I had a witness in this place.
14:24 [Aud. reaction] PB: Love thy neighbor.
14:28 The command to love thy neighbor
14:29 shouldn't surprise us. After all,
14:31 loving thy neighbor is one of the
14:33 great two laws in the Bible. Remember,
14:35 the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 6:5,
14:37 "Love the Lord thy God with all thy"-
14:39 - what, everybody? Heart. With all
14:41 they soul and with all thy--what? Might.
14:42 The second is like unto it. Leviticus 19:8.
14:45 "Love thy neighbor as thy"--what?
14:47 Aud.: [Self] PB: Jesus then,
14:48 in Matthew chapter 22, repeats
14:49 the same thing. He says,
14:51 There are two great commandments.
14:52 A lawyer is trying to tempt him.
14:54 What is the law? Love God.
14:56 Love whom, everybody? Aud.: God.
14:57 PB: Love God, and then the second
14:59 is like it. Love thy--what? Aud.: Neighbor.
15:02 PB: And the first four of the Ten Commandments
15:03 deal with loving God, and the final six
15:05 of the Ten Commandments deal with loving
15:07 our what, everybody? Neighbor. So Jesus
15:11 is real about this love thy neighbor thing.
15:14 But in our text, another lawyer comes
15:17 up to Jesus. And he asks a question, what
15:19 shall I do to inherit eternal life? Again,
15:21 this lawyer asks this question not for
15:23 the purpose to be instructed but for the
15:25 purpose of tempting Jesus. But Jesus has
15:28 something, something for this man.
15:30 So Jesus doesn't answer him directly,
15:32 but He starts out telling the story,
15:33 the parable, about a man on a journey
15:35 who is mugged, beat up and left for
15:36 dead on the side of the road.
15:38 Jesus says the first person to travel
15:40 the same road and see this man was a priest,
15:42 a preacher. A minister. Now, you would think
15:44 that out of all the people in the world,
15:46 the preacher would help the injured man.
15:49 But when the preacher saw the man,
15:50 he passed by on the other side of the road.
15:52 Maybe the priest is afraid to defile himself.
15:55 He saw the man, was unsure if the man was
15:58 dead or alive, and according to Jewish law
15:59 he would have defiled himself if he had touched
16:02 a dead man. So to avoid any inconvenience,
16:05 he goes, the Bible says, to the other side.
16:07 But isn't it interesting that back in Jesus'
16:10 day, just like it is today, some church folk
16:12 care more about policy than people.
16:16 [Aud. reaction] PB: The priest forgot
16:20 that one of the weightier matters of the
16:22 law was mercy. Everybody say "mercy."
16:24 Even if he would be defiled, he should
16:26 have had compassion and mercy for the
16:28 injured man. But then the Bible goes on.
16:30 Jesus says, another man comes. But just
16:32 like the priest, this other man is a Levite.
16:34 Everybody say "Levite." Aud.: Levite.
16:36 PB: Levite. And he is a deacon. He sees
16:38 the injured man and passes by the other
16:40 side of the road. Now, the priest and the
16:43 Levite should have been the first people
16:45 and most expected to help the injured man.
16:47 After all, they're of the same race and religion
16:50 as the half-dead brother in the ditch.
16:54 They're both Christian, just like the man
16:56 in the ditch. Y'all don't hear what I'm saying.
16:57 They're both Adventists, just like the man in
16:59 the ditch. They're both black, just like the
17:03 brother in the ditch. They're both religious people.
17:05 They've read the law. It's been written a hundreds
17:08 of times in their minds, but they passed this
17:10 man right on by. They know the law, but they
17:13 don't love. They know commandments,
17:16 but they don't know Christ. They're religious,
17:18 but they don't have a relationship.
17:20 They're what I call private sinners but
17:23 public saints. I wish I had a witness in
17:25 this place. [Aud. reaction]
17:26 PB: Having a form of godliness
17:27 but denying the power thereof.
17:29 They might feel a little guilty
17:31 for a couple of minutes, but by the
17:33 time they'd gotten around the corner,
17:34 they'd forgotten all about the man in the ditch.
17:38 [Aud. reaction] PB: Can somebody relate to this?
17:40 We talk mission. We talk evangelism.
17:45 But don't mess up our nice,
17:48 pretty church with your strange ways.
17:51 Don't mess up our nice clean holy
17:53 church with your ankle bracelets,
17:55 your rings, tattoos, dreads,
17:57 or urban life styles. And that's just
17:59 like some folk in the church--not this
18:01 church but other churches--they want
18:03 to keep out people the most who
18:04 need the church the most. [Aud. reaction]
18:07 PB: But Jesus says, then a Samaritan
18:10 guy comes along. He's not Adventist.
18:13 He's not black. He's of a different race
18:18 and religion that the man in the ditch.
18:21 And neither race of people like each other.
18:24 As a matter of fact, they're taught to
18:26 hate each other. They're taught to think
18:28 of one another as less than human.
18:30 They're not supposed to talk to one another.
18:32 But that doesn't stop the Samaritan from
18:34 stopping to see about the man. He gets
18:37 off his donkey. You do know I thought about
18:39 calling this sermon--but some of y'all
18:41 would have been mad at me--
18:42 "Get Off Your Donkey," but I said no.
18:43 [Aud. reaction] PB: He gets off his donkey,
18:49 bandages up the man's wounds,
18:53 and then the Bible says pours oil
18:55 and wine on the man. Then he puts
18:57 the guy on his own donkey,
18:59 takes him to a hotel where
19:00 he can be taken care of.
19:01 He goes out of his way,
19:03 and probably misses whatever
19:06 meeting he was planning to go to.
19:08 He spends his own money for the guy
19:11 to stay in a hotel, even promises
19:14 to pay the hotel manager for any extra
19:16 expenses, even though he probably
19:18 wasn't particularly wealthy himself,
19:20 but he helps the man. He loves his neighbor.
19:25 In the church we talk about love.
19:27 We talk about compassion. We talk
19:30 about mercy. But really, do we know
19:33 what it means to love thy neighbor?
19:36 You see, when we really get close to
19:38 those who are hurting, it will always
19:40 cost us something. Working with other
19:44 people's wounds is messy business.
19:47 I wish I had a witness in this place.
19:49 [Aud. reaction] PB: Investing in people
19:51 who are in pain knocks us off our normal
19:54 schedule. It's not convenient.
19:57 It's not pretty. It takes a lot of time.
20:01 It means we must deny ourselves.
20:04 It means we must come out of our comfort
20:06 zones and deal with people who don't look
20:08 like us; who don't dress like us;
20:12 who don't smell like us; who don't
20:15 act like us; who are not the same
20:16 color as us; who don't go to the same
20:19 church like us; who are not of the same
20:22 denomination like us. But Jesus said,
20:24 love thy neighbor. Love thy--that white man.
20:30 Love that white woman. Love that drunk man.
20:34 Love that drug-using woman. Love that
20:39 Baptist brother. Love that Catholic sister.
20:43 Love your roommates; love your classmates;
20:47 love your coworker; love your boss;
20:49 love thy neighbor. Love the one who
20:52 doesn't look like ya and smell like ya,
20:53 who doesn't come from the same side of
20:55 town and say love thy neighbor.
20:58 And so there are four things we
21:01 learn from the Samaritan. I tell
21:03 you this and I'll sit down. Number one,
21:04 he was willing to get involved.
21:07 Now we can quote Scripture and recite
21:10 cliché's on love and God, but until
21:13 we are willing to get involved in the
21:15 lives of others, we're only blowing smoke.
21:17 We are only sounding brass and tinkling cymbal.
21:23 The Samaritan treated and bandaged the man's
21:25 wounds, put the injured man on his donkey,
21:27 took him to a hotel and cared for him throughout
21:29 the night. The Samaritan could have said to
21:32 himself, I give already to the poor fund at
21:35 my church. I regularly tithe. I give
21:41 combined budgets. I've done my part.
21:45 But the man didn't do that. The Bible says,
21:47 he had compassion and acted on it.
21:50 Number two, we can learn from the good
21:52 Samaritan. He ignored racism. Now,
21:56 even though he was considered a despised
21:59 Samaritan, he rose above such shallowness
22:02 for the care of a fellow human being.
22:04 That's like an American slave showing
22:07 compassion to a plantation owner.
22:10 Or a Jewish prisoner demanding and
22:12 demonstrating concern for a Nazi guard
22:15 during World War II. The good Samaritan
22:18 ignored racism. I long for the day where
22:25 there will be no more racism. And when
22:29 we talk about racism--listen to me good-
22:31 -we always talking about racism in the world,
22:32 but let's talk about racism in the corporate church.
22:35 Because in case you didn't know, now you
22:38 know, we still have racism in the corporate
22:40 church. I wish I had a witness in this place.
22:42 Time won't let mem go there, but just know,
22:46 it's true. I sit on committees you don't sit on.
22:48 I know it's true. Number three, he had a good name.
22:51 Now, you have to wonder. If the Samaritan had
22:54 been to that hotel before, he probably paid
22:56 for somebody else's stay. Think about it.
23:00 Because why would the hotel owner say, it's good.
23:03 It's all right. When he told him, if he has more
23:05 charges don't worry, cover my tab. This we
23:09 do know. The innkeeper trusted the Samaritan,
23:13 probably because the Samaritan had proven
23:15 himself to be trustworthy. Then finally
23:17 number four, we can learn from the good
23:19 Samaritan. He was generous. Now remember,
23:21 the Samaritan didn't know how long the
23:25 injured man would be laid up in the hotel.
23:28 But my eisegesis--you know there's a difference
23:32 between exegesis--eisegesis. My eisegesis
23:35 leads me to conclude that because the
23:38 text said that the atta--attack left
23:41 the man half dead, that his stay in
23:45 the hotel was going to be a prolonged stay.
23:48 Are you hearing what I'm saying?
23:49 I wish I had time to elaborate on that.
23:51 But the well-being and welfare of this
23:53 stranger was more important to the
23:55 good Samaritan than whatever the
23:56 cost of the hotel might have been.
23:58 The man was generous. So this is the
24:01 essential message of this parable.
24:04 If we are to be good neighbors,
24:09 we need to be more like the Samaritan.
24:13 So Jesus concludes with the admonition:
24:17 Go and do likewise. In other words,
24:21 do act two. That's the message for us
24:26 today. Get off your donkey-- [Aud. reaction]
24:32 PB: --and love your neighbor. Now, the ditch-
24:38 -gotta close--the ditch from Jerusalem to
24:41 Jericho is a huge one and it's filled with
24:43 human suffering. Can you see the child?
24:45 The relative? Your friend? Your coworker?
24:53 The homeless man or woman? The Arab?
24:56 The Middle Easterner? The Muslim?
24:59 The black person, the white person,
25:01 the Hispanic, the Haitian? Can you see
25:04 the stranger in pain? Can you hear their groans?
25:08 But human pain is so horrible that many
25:11 of us have learned to close our ears to it.
25:13 It's natural for us to make excuses and
25:16 simply pass by on the other side,
25:19 but Jesus has not called us to live that way.
25:23 Jesus has called us to love thy neighbor.
25:29 Let me tell you something. I know there
25:34 are some folk who hate you. 'Cause there
25:37 are some folk that hate me. They hate my guts.
25:42 But in order for them to get in the Kingdom,
25:44 they gotta love me. Come on, say amen.
25:46 [Aud. reaction] PB: I don't care what you wear;
25:50 I don't care what color you change your hair;
25:54 I don't care how nice you are: there are some
25:57 people that hate you. You can give them money;
26:01 you can buy them gifts, and they will take them.
26:06 But they still hate you because you're blessed.
26:10 I wish I had a witness in this place.
26:12 But I read somewhere that greater is He that
26:17 is in me than he that is in the world. So let me
26:22 throw this in. In life, stop telling people you
26:27 got lucky. Lucky and luck is for the people who
26:33 play the numbers. You don't play the numbers,
26:35 do you? Ha ha. Luck is for people who gamble.
26:40 Luck is for people who roll the dice. I'm not
26:45 rollin' the dice. I'm blessed. I'm blessed in
26:52 the city; I'm blessed in the field; I'm blessed
26:56 in my going out and my coming in. I was blessed
27:00 before I came in the world. The hand of the wo-
27:03 -Lord was upon me. Can the blessed people of God say so.
27:06 [Aud. reaction] PB: Are there some blessed
27:07 people in this place today? [Aud. reaction]
27:09 PB: Let me tell you something. Worship,
27:12 worship provokes the fire of God to fall on
27:16 the worshiper. But it also provides the hatred
27:18 of men to come against the worshiper. But Jesus
27:22 said, love your enemies. Bless those that curse you.
27:28 Do good to them that hate ya and pray for
27:31 them which despitefully use you and
27:33 persecute you. Jesus wants us to follow
27:35 the example of the good Samaritan and to
27:38 be a good neighbor. How do we do this?
27:39 Number one, we gotta have vision.
27:41 We gotta have what, everybody?
27:42 Aud.: Vision. PB: We need eyes to see those
27:43 that are hurting. Too many of us have sight
27:46 but no vision. [Aud. reaction]
27:47 PB: Number two, we need compassion.
27:55 We need what, everybody? Aud.: Compassion.
27:56 PB: We need the love of God in our hearts.
27:59 Number three, we've got to go to the people
28:01 and do whatever it takes to reach people
28:04 "Thank you very much for tuning into this
28:06 week's Breath of Life Broadcast.
28:07 We hope and pray that you have been blessed
28:09 by Dr. Byrd's inspirational message.
28:12 If you would like to hear this sermon in
28:14 its entirety, please feel free to visit us at
28:17 www.breathoflife.tv or call us at 256.929.6460.
28:27 [END]

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Revised 2018-02-28