Participants:
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000614A
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00:01 BREATH OF LIFE MINISTRIES PRESENTS:
00:06 B614 "A STORM IS COMING" 00:12 [BREATH OF LIFE Theme Music] 00:21 PB: The Word of God says in Genesis chapter 6, verse number 13, 00:29 “And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; 00:33 for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, 00:37 I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; 00:41 rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within 00:45 and without with pitch. This is the fashion which thou shalt 00:49 make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, 00:52 the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. 00:56 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou 01:00 finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the 01:03 side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt 01:07 thou make it. And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of 01:14 waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is 01:20 the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing 01:22 that is in the earth shall die.” I just want to challenge you, 01:29 not long today, but I just want to challenge you on the subject, 01:31 “A Storm is Coming.” Father, bless us now. We ask that your 01:38 Holy Spirit would be in this place as we preach this, 01:40 your message, your word. May your people hear you, not me. 01:43 In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen. A storm is coming. 01:52 For the past couple of days I've been flying on an 01:56 airplane every day. I've been flying to and from 01:59 Tampa, Florida, as we're getting ready tonight to 02:04 begin our summer evangelistic series in that city. 02:08 So I'll spend a day in Tampa, and then after I spend 02:13 that day in Tampa, I fly back to Huntsville so I can 02:16 do business here at Oakwood. My week went somewhat 02:20 like this: Wednesday night I was at prayer meeting 02:23 here at Oakwood. Thursday morning, early in the morning, 02:27 my wife and I, Danielle and I, we set out to drive to 02:30 Tampa and make it there by 7 p.m. Eastern time, 02:34 so that we might be there for a meeting with the pastors 02:37 in Tampa and the church officers, in preparation for the revival. 02:41 Now, because the traffic was so bad, and we're driving, 02:45 and we're looking at WAZE, WAZE, the app, and we're seeing 02:48 that we're not going to make it in time, so we say, 02:51 “Let's do this. Let's stop by the airport in Atlanta.” 02:55 Praise God for frequent-flyer miles. Do I have a witness 02:58 in this place? And so because I have frequent flyer miles, 03:02 I was able to get a flight from Atlanta to Tampa the same day, 03:07 so that I might get to Tampa at my meeting on time 03:11 Thursday night. Danielle, wonderful wife, awesome wife, 03:14 if she's watching, I love you! Danielle says, “You take 03:17 the flight. The girls and I, we will continue to drive to 03:23 Tampa, and we'll meet you there.” Later that night, 03:28 they meet me there. Friday morning, yesterday, 03:31 I fly back to Huntsville so I can be here today. 03:34 After church, I fly back to Tampa so I can be there 03:38 tonight. Now, all the while, during all of this travel, 03:41 I'm watching the weather forecast. My flight Thursday 03:46 was delayed for two hours, so I had to fly and jump on 03:50 another flight that I didn't originally sign up for, 03:53 because of the rain. My flight yesterday was also delayed 03:57 because of the rain, and I hope and pray my flight is not 04:00 delayed too much today, because while I've been here 04:03 I've already gotten a text notification that it's going 04:06 to leave an hour late. Why? Everywhere I go this week, 04:13 I keep hearing that a storm is coming. The weather 04:19 channel says there are potentially 38 million people 04:23 who might be affected today from a storm in the south 04:27 and southwestern portions of the United States. 04:29 Meteorologists are telling people in the northeast to 04:33 prepare for a rainy weekend. Weathermen and weatherwomen 04:37 are expecting storms throughout the state of Florida. 04:40 There was even a tornado watch yesterday, issued for 04:43 portions of north Alabama. Bottom line: A storm is coming. 04:49 Now, rain is not good for travel plans. Planes are delayed 04:56 when it rains. Roads are slick when it rains. 05:01 There are car accidents when it rains. People drive 05:05 slower in the rain. Your hair gets wet in the rain. 05:11 Your feet get wet in the rain. Your car gets dirty 05:17 in the rain. You might even get sick from the rain. 05:22 Most people don't like being in the rain, but a storm is coming. 05:29 Now, I'm not just merely talking about a mere sprinkling 05:32 or a shower. I'm not even talking about a thunderstorm 05:35 or tropical depression. This is even bigger than a hurricane. 05:38 This is even bigger than a tornado, but a storm of massive 05:43 proportions is coming. Genesis 6:3 teaches that 05:47 God's spirit would not always strive with men. 05:51 Matthew 24 teaches that as it was in the days of Noah, 05:55 so shall it also be in the coming of the Son of Man. 05:58 Church, a storm is coming. All right, you all still 06:03 don't believe me. Let me try this. When the leader 06:06 of the free world meets with the two biggest dictators 06:11 in the world within the past six months, and nobody 06:15 really knows what they talked about, a storm is coming. 06:21 When accusations of infidelity against the President 06:24 of the United States are mounting and his former 06:27 attorney is no longer protecting him, as evidenced 06:30 by the fact that he recorded tapings of their 06:33 conversations, a storm is coming. When rumors or 06:38 Russian collusion in the affairs of our government 06:41 and our elections are getting louder, you know a 06:44 storm is coming. When the continued fighting in 06:48 the Middle East never ends, a storm is coming. 06:51 When children are being separated from their 06:54 parents at our nation's borders, and then they 06:57 are told they will soon be reunited but they 07:00 never are, you better believe a storm is coming. 07:05 So I'm not a weatherman. I'm not a meteorologist. 07:10 But I'm a preacher man, and I can tell you something 07:14 about storms. I can tell you something about the rain. 07:19 In fact, I want to tell you four things about rain, 07:22 and then I'm going to sit down. Is that all right, 07:24 everybody? Now, the irony is that the four things that 07:27 I want to tell you about in the storm that are coming 07:29 are not all that bad. In fact, the four things that 07:32 I want to tell you about this storm, they're actually 07:34 pretty good. What am I talking about? Number one, 07:37 rain washes things out. Rain washes things out; 07:43 rain washes things up; rain cleans things out. 07:47 Let me help you understand what I mean. If the 07:49 atmosphere is cold, water molecules bond with 07:53 particles in the air, and if the atmosphere is 07:55 cold, you get snow. If the atmosphere is cool, 07:58 these same water molecules will bond with the 08:01 cool particles in the air, and you get sleet. 08:04 But if the atmosphere is warm and water molecules 08:08 bond with warm particles in the air, you get rain. 08:12 So if you have cold, you have snow. If you have cool, 08:15 you have sleet. If you have warm, you have rain. 08:19 Somebody's going get this in a minute. Now, when 08:21 it snows, snow shuts things down. Visibility is limited. 08:27 Things are cloudy. When it snows, you get snowed in. 08:31 If one inch of snow falls in Huntsville, they shut 08:35 the whole city down. You can't go anywhere in a blizzard. 08:39 You can't go anywhere in a snowstorm. Are you hearing 08:42 what I'm saying? When you get sleet, you get icy roads. 08:46 It's hard to drive in sleet. It's hard to walk in sleet. 08:49 You slip; you slide; you fall. But, when it rains, 08:52 rain has a way of washing things away. Rain refreshes 08:58 things. Rain makes things clearer, cleaner and brighter. 09:02 So then when it rains, it's not always bad, 09:04 because rain washes things out. And when you ask 09:08 God to come into your life, if the atmosphere in 09:12 your heart is cold, your heart will bold with 09:15 cold particles, and your life will be shut down. 09:19 Your life will be slowed in. If the atmosphere is cool, 09:22 when you ask God to come into your life you'll 09:24 find yourself in sleeting situations. 09:27 You'll be slipping; you'll be sliding; 09:30 you'll be falling. But when your heart 09:32 is warm and you ask the Lord to come into 09:34 your life, the Holy Ghost will reign in 09:37 your life, and when the Holy Ghost reigns in 09:40 your life, He will clean you up and He will 09:42 clean you out. [Aud. reaction] 09:44 When the Holy Ghost reigns, God washes you. 09:47 God cleanses you. God changes you from the 09:51 inside out. When God reigns, saints are made 09:56 out of sinners, deacons out of drunkards, 09:59 prayer warriors out of prostitutes, 10:02 choir members out of club-goers, good 10:05 men out of bad men, humble men out of 10:08 high-minded men, conquerers out of cowards. 10:11 When God reigns, tyrants die on the spot. 10:16 When God reigns, ravens feed prophets. 10:20 Red Seas become dry highways. Lions lay 10:24 down like house dogs. Air-condition comes 10:27 down and cools down fiery furnaces. 10:29 When God reigns, donkeys talk. 10:34 The sun stands still. Dry dust becomes 10:38 fleas and lice in defense of the children 10:41 of God. When God reigns. But not only that. 10:45 Number two. Another good thing about rain is 10:48 that you hear rain before you see rain. 10:53 Somebody missed that. You hear it before you 10:58 see it. You hear thunder and lightning before 11:03 you see it. You've got to hear God say it's 11:07 going to rain before you see rain. God told 11:11 Noah in Genesis 6, it's gonna rain, before 11:15 Noah even saw rain. Noah preached 120 years 11:21 about something that had never happened before. 11:24 Noah preached 120 years for nobody to listen 11:28 to him but his wife, his three sons, and their wives. 11:31 Noah preached 120 years to get in a boat full of cows, 11:37 horses, elephants, kangaroos, camels and birds. 11:43 He preached, it's gonna rain. [Aud. reaction] 11:46 But why would he preach about something he had 11:48 never seen before? Noah preached about rain 11:51 because the Lord told him to. Noah preached 11:53 because he had faith in God. Noah preached 11:56 because Noah knew God's promises were true. 11:59 What's our application for us today? 12:02 You've got to hear God say, you're gonna 12:05 be healed, before you even see it. 12:09 You've got to hear God say, you've got 12:12 a new job, before you even see it. 12:15 You've got to hear God say, you gonna get married, 12:18 even before you see that man or you see that woman. 12:21 You've gotta hear God say that your son, 12:24 your daughter, your grandson, your granddaughter 12:26 is coming back to the Lord before you even 12:28 see them coming back to the Lord. 12:30 You hear rain before you see rain, 12:33 so you better tell somebody, I don't see it, 12:35 but I can hear it. I almost gave up, 12:39 but I heard something. I almost threw in 12:44 the towel, but I heard something. I almost 12:48 walked away, but I heard something. I almost said, 12:53 “Forget it,” but I heard something. I almost 12:57 dropped out of school, but I heard something. 13:01 I almost closed up my practice, but I heard something. 13:05 I almost lost my marriage, but I heard something. 13:10 You've got to hear it before you see it. 13:13 [Aud. reaction] But then number three. 13:16 When you hear something, you got to tell somebody. 13:21 When you hear rain is coming, naturally, you tell 13:24 somebody. When you hear a thunderstorm is coming, 13:28 you tell somebody. When you hear a hurricane or 13:31 tornado, that they're coming, you tell somebody. 13:34 I hear rain, and I've gotta tell somebody. 13:41 And so I came today to drop by and tell somebody 13:46 that God is about to rain down His spirits, 13:50 that God is about to bless somebody, that God 13:54 is about to reign in somebody's life, that somebody, 13:58 your best days are ahead of you because your latter 14:02 is going to be greater than your former. 14:04 I hear the abundance of rain. I hear somebody 14:08 coming out of their drought, out of their depression, 14:12 out of their sickness, out of their debt, 14:15 out of their illness, out of their dry place. 14:17 When you hear something, you gotta tell somebody. 14:22 But then my fourth and final point: There's always 14:28 what I call a first rain, and then a second rain. 14:32 You ever know what I'm talking about? It rains 14:34 real hard and it'll stop, but then another rain 14:37 will follow the first rain. Does anybody know what 14:39 I'm talking about? I believe this is spiritual 14:41 because we understand from the Word of God that 14:44 there's a former rain, but there also would be a 14:48 latter rain. Are you hearing what I'm saying? 14:50 What am I talking about? Some of you think I'm 14:52 lost, but I'm still in the Word. Understand, 14:54 Joel chapter 2. Joel chapter 2. Joel chapter 2, 14:58 verse number 21. Let me read it to you. Joel, 15:00 chapter 2, verse 21. If you have it, turn there. 15:02 Turn there if you have it. Joel chapter 2, 15:04 verse number 21, the Word of God says, 15:06 “Fear not, O land; but be glad and rejoice.” 15:10 Everybody say rejoice. Aud: Rejoice 15:13 “Rejoice: for the Lord will do great things.” 15:15 Verse 22: “Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: 15:18 for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, 15:20 for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree 15:22 and the vine do yield their strength.” Verse 23: 15:24 “Be glad then, ye children of Zion, rejoice in the 15:28 Lord your God: he hath given you the former rain moderately.” 15:32 Hallelujah, somebody. But “he will cause to come down for 15:37 you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in 15:42 the first month. And the floors shall be full of wheat, 15:45 and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.” Verse 25: 15:48 “And I will restore to you the years that the locust 15:53 hath taken, that the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, 15:56 and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. 16:01 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise 16:06 the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously 16:10 with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. But ye 16:13 shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, that I am 16:15 the Lord your God, and none else: and my people 16:19 shall never be ashamed.” Verse 28: 16:21 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour 16:24 out my spirit upon all flesh; your sons and your 16:30 daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall 16:33 dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.” 16:36 Everybody say visions. Aud: Visions. 16:38 “And also upon the servants and upon the 16:40 handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirits. 16:42 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the 16:44 earth, blood, and fire, pillars of smoke.” Verse 31, 16:49 good ol' Adventists: “The sun shall be turned into 16:53 darkness, the moon into blood, before the great and 16:58 the terrible day of the Lord shall come.” Verse 32: 17:02 “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall 17:06 call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered,” 17:10 hallelujah! “For in mount Zion and in Jerusalem 17:14 there shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, 17:17 and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.” 17:19 Church of the living God, a storm is coming. 17:23 And in a spiritual sense the rain is good. Why? 17:27 Because rain washes things up. Rain washes things out. 17:31 You hear rain before you see rain. When you hear something, 17:35 you gotta tell somebody. But then there's the former rain 17:39 and the latter rain, and the latter is going to 17:41 be greater than the former. [Aud. reaction] 17:44 What am I talking about? We've already experienced 17:48 the dark day, May 19th, 1780, when across the entire 17:55 United States the sun didn't shine on that day. 18:00 At that night, the moon turned to blood. 18:04 In Revelation chapter 6, and in Matthew chapter 24, 18:09 these events have already happened under the sixth seal, 18:14 which means we're already living in the time of 18:17 the seventh seal. And it's under the seventh seal 18:21 that Jesus Christ is going to come. God is about 18:25 to rain. God is about to pour out His Spirit on all flesh. 18:30 The primary application of the former rain and the 18:33 latter rain in Joel 2 is the restoration of adequate 18:36 rainfall, that the former rain fell in the fall 18:39 and promoted germination. But the latter rain fell 18:43 in the spring and helped to bring the grain crops 18:47 to maturity. When we apply this to God's church, 18:51 the former rain and then the latter rain represent 18:55 the work of the Holy Ghost. The former rain, 19:00 or the early rain, represents the outpouring of God's 19:03 Spirit on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. 19:06 Whereas the latter rain represents the final outpouring 19:10 of the Holy Spirit, which produces the ripening 19:12 of the harvest in the last days. The time of the 19:16 latter rain is the time of the loud cry, 19:18 that the message of Christ's righteousness 19:20 is to sound from one end of the earth to the 19:23 other end of the earth, to prepare us for the 19:25 coming of the Lord. Now, this latter rain 19:28 is not a little shower, but it's a downpour. 19:32 Ellen White says in “Great Controversy” that 19:35 the great work of the gospel cannot close with 19:37 less power than that which marked or started 19:41 its opening. You all don't hear what I'm saying. 19:43 Which means she's saying that the latter rain 19:46 prepares the church for the coming of Jesus, 19:49 and it's going to be greater than the former rain. 19:52 On the day of Pentecost, when the disciples 19:56 were in one place in Acts chapter 2, filled 19:59 with the Holly Ghost, Peter says, “This is 20:02 that which was spoken by the prophet Joel.” 20:04 This was the former rain. If you don't believe me, 20:06 check on Acts chapter 2, verse 16. 20:08 Acts 2 teaches that the disciples in the former 20:11 rain were in one place, in one accord. 20:14 The Holy Ghost rained on them like never before. 20:18 The Bible says they turned the world upside down, 20:21 that sicknesses were healed, relationships 20:24 were mended, that 3,000 people were baptized 20:27 on one day. But this was the first rain. 20:30 But the Bible teaches that the second rain, 20:33 the latter rain, is going to be greater than 20:36 the first rain, the former rain, that the events 20:39 at Pentecost are just a partial fulfillment of 20:42 Joel's prediction. I said all that to say this: 20:45 Child, you ain't seen nothin' yet. 20:48 [Aud. reaction] Let me tell you something. 20:51 People talking about Trump and all what's going on. 20:54 Let me tell you all something. A storm is coming. 20:57 God is about to do something. I can't see it yet, 21:02 but I hear it. And because I hear it, 21:06 I gotta tell somebody. [Aud. reaction / organ] 21:09 And when the people of God come together today, 21:13 just like the people did in Acts chapter 2, 21:17 the people who come in this church sick, 21:19 they gonna leave healed. The people who come 21:22 in here blind are gonna leave seeing. 21:26 The people who come here lame are gonna leave walking. 21:29 When God says something, you better believe 21:32 it's gonna happen. And so Acts chapter 2, 21:34 verse number 1 says, “And when the day of 21:36 Pentecost was finally come, they were all with 21:40 one accord in one place.” And the Bible says, 21:42 “Suddenly”everybody say suddenly. [Aud reaction] 21:44 Come on, say it like you mean it. Say suddenly. 21:46 Aud: Suddenly. “There came a sound from heaven 21:49 like the sound of a mighty rushing wind, 21:51 and it filled the house where they were sitting.” 21:54 The Bible says it happened suddenly. 21:57 Without warning. Suddenly. No head's up. 22:03 Suddenly. Unexpected. Sudden. Immediate. 22:10 [Aud reaction / Organ] It was suddenly. 22:12 The disciples had no idea how the Holy Ghost 22:14 was doing to come. They just saw the Holy Ghost come. 22:18 And so now I hear God telling us that if you just 22:23 come to a place of agreement, that if you just 22:27 come together and touch and agree, that there 22:32 are going to be some mighty things that are 22:35 gonna happen in your life. And they're going 22:38 to happen suddenly. God's about to bring 22:42 about healing, suddenly. God's about to 22:45 bring about breakthrough, suddenly. 22:49 God's about to bring deliverance, suddenly. 22:52 God's about to bring rescue, suddenly. 22:55 God says, I'm tired of things taking so 22:57 long in your life. God says, There are 23:00 gonna be some things I do suddenly. 23:02 The sick are going to be healed, suddenly. 23:05 The lame are made to walk, suddenly. 23:07 The dumb made to talk, suddenly. 23:10 The blind made to see, suddenly. 23:12 Marriages mended, suddenly. 23:15 Chains broken, suddenly. 23:17 Addictions alleviated, suddenly. 23:20 Strongholds pulled down, suddenly. 23:22 [Aud. reaction / organ] 23:24 Ways made out of no way, suddenly. 23:26 If God be for us, who can be against us? 23:31 Now, let me close with this. We are living 23:34 in what I call a post-Christian society. 23:38 We can't do church the way we used to do it. 23:44 We're living in a post-Christian society. 23:50 When we talk to people today, they're not even 23:53 talking about Seventh-day Adventist church. 23:55 They talking about, do I believe in Jesus? 23:58 We are living in a post-Christian society. 24:03 Now, the message is the same, but the methods 24:06 must change. Folk are tired of playing church. 24:11 Folk are tired of [unclear] outside show for 24:13 an unfriendly world. Folk are tired of form 24:15 and fashion without, with no power and deliverance. 24:20 Folk are tired of religion with no [unclear]. 24:23 [Aud. reaction] Folk are tired of rules and 24:26 regulations without relationship. Folk are 24:28 tired of the way it used to be instead of 24:29 the way it ought to be. Folk are tired of 24:31 talking about it instead of being about it. 24:33 So today, I want a thunderstorm. I want a tornado. 24:40 I want a hurricane. I want it to rain. 24:45 I want the Holy Ghost to rain. 24:48 Let it rain in Huntsville. 24:50 Let it rain in Atlanta. 24:53 Let it rain in Tampa. 24:54 Let it rain in New York. 24:56 Let it rain in Los Angeles. 24:58 Let it rain in Miami. 25:00 Let it rain in Kingston. 25:02 Let it rain in Port-au-Prince. 25:04 Let it rain in Port of Spain! 25:06 Let it rain in Africa! 25:08 Let it rain in Australia! 25:09 Let it rain in Asia. 25:11 Let it rain in your hearts! 25:14 Create in me a clean heart, and renew a 25:22 right spirit within me. [Aud reaction] 25:26 Rain cleanses me. It washes me out. 25:33 I hear rain before I see rain. 25:38 I hear it, and after I hear it, 25:41 I've got to go tell it. [Aud reaction] 25:44 The latter rain will be greater than the former rain. 25:51 I'll go to sporting events, and I'll sit 25:56 in football stadiums, 80,000 people sitting 26:00 up in there, and I begin to scratch my head. 26:03 And I begin to say, God, how are you going to 26:06 do this latter rain? How are all these people 26:09 who don't know about this wonderful gospel message, 26:12 how are they going to come into the knowledge 26:14 of your truth? And all I can say is, 26:18 “Lord, thou knowest.” Because if God said it, 26:22 that settles it. The storm is coming. 26:31 And I want to know, is there anyone else 26:36 other than me that wants it to rain. 26:40 Does anybody else want the Holy Ghost to rain? 26:46 [Aud reaction] I'm not talking about Hurricane Trump. 26:49 I'm not talking about Hurricane Putin. 26:52 I'm not talking about Stormy Daniels. 26:54 I'm talking about Hurricane Holy Ghost! 26:57 [Aud reaction] Jesus is good. Jesus is coming. 27:10 So somebody says, why do you get on all these 27:15 planes and go back and forth? Come on, you all. 27:19 Because the Lord's been mighty good to me. 27:25 I tell it everywhere I go. My plane is supposed 27:33 to leave Atlanta at five o'clock today so I 27:35 can get there at 7:12. Because that service starts at seven. 27:39 And I got a notification that my plane is not leaving 27:42 Atlanta until 6:40. Which means I'm not supposed 27:46 to get there, based on that flight, until 8:20. 27:50 But I'm trusting God. Now, He's got some folk 27:56 in Tampa, Florida that need to hear this gospel 28:00 >: Thank you very much for tuning in to this 28:02 week's Breath of Life broadcast. 28:04 We hope and pray that you've been blessed 28:06 by Dr. Byrd's inspirational message. 28:09 If you would like to hear the sermon in its entirety, 28:11 please feel free to visit us at www.BreathofLife.tv, 28:17 or, call us at (256) 929-6460. 28:24 [END] |
Revised 2018-10-13