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Sermon #B683 -
You Must Take A Stand
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Dr. Byrd: If you have your
Bibles, take them with me to the
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Book of Daniel. Daniel chapter
three, verses sixteen and
seventeen. Daniel chapter three,
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verses sixteen and seventeen. We
are going to read today from the
King James Version of the Bible,
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Daniel chapter three, verses
sixteen, seventeen, and
eighteen. Daniel chapter three,
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verses sixteen, seventeen, and
eighteen. I am reading and you
are hearing the word of God
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says, "Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, answered and said to
the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we
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are not careful to answer thee
in this matter. If it be so, our
God whom we serve, he is able,"
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hallelujah, "to deliver us
from the burning fiery furnace."
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Verse eighteen: "But if not, be
it known unto thee, O king, that
we will not serve thy gods,
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nor worship the golden
image which thou hast set up."
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Today, I want to take this text
and I want to challenge you with
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the message today. You must take
a stand. You must take a stand.
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We thought with the election of
Barack Obama as the first
president of the United States
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that we had entered a
post-racial age, that Jim Crow
was over, that the segregated
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South was done, that racism was
behind us, but that was our
problem. We thought. We did not
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think that after the senseless
killings of Trayvon Martin, Eric
Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir
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Rice, Freddie Gray, Sandra
Bland, Laquan McDonald, Alton
Sterling, and Philando Castile
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that racism was surely over, but
that was our problem. We
thought. Then, Ahmaud Arbery was
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shot while jogging, Breonna
Taylor was shot while sleeping,
and George Floyd had a knee to
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his neck. We started marching.
We started talking. We started
peacefully protesting. We
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thought that the message was
getting across, that people of
color were being unjustly
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targeted, marginalized, and
killed, but that was our
problem. We thought.
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This week, here we go again.
Jacob Blake is at a party in
Kenosha, Wisconsin.
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There is a domestic disturbance
at the party. The police are
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called. When the police arrived,
Jacob Blake goes to his car. He
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is unarmed. His three children
are waiting for him in the car
ready to go home. A police
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officer follows him. Jacob Blake
is getting in his car. The
police officer grabs him by his
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shirt and then he shoots him not
once, not twice, but seven times
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in his back. His children
witnessed and watched all of
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this. Jacob Blake is now in the
hospital paralyzed from the
waist down, and up until
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yesterday, he was cuffed to his
hospital bed. Imagine that. You
have been shot seven times.
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You are paralyzed from the waist
down, but yet you are cuffed to
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a hospital bed. Now, let me be
clear today. I am not here to
say that Jacob Blake was a
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perfect man. I am not here to
say that he had never done
anything wrong, but what I am
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here to say is, I am here to
take a stand against what was
done to him because it was
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wrong, but the police department
is trying to say that because he
had a knife in his car,
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a knife they did not know he
had, by the way, until he told
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them. They are trying to use
that as license for shooting him
seven times in the back,
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and he is just trying to get in
his car but yet it is ironic
that that same police
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department did not
feel threatened when Kyle
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seventeen-year-old from another
state, Rittenhouse, a with a
Smith & Wesson AR-15 rifle style
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was running towards them, rifle
in hand, after killing two
people, wounding another,
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claiming he was there to restore
order and to protect physical
property but yet he crossed back
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into the state of Illinois
because he was allowed to leave
while in the presence of police.
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Then, he was not taken into
police custody for another
twelve hours when he turned
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himself in. In the name of
Jesus, he was wrong for killing
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those two people. The police
were wrong for shooting Jacob
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Blake seven times. Friends of
mine, it is time to take a stand
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against wrong. Now, there are
some people who do not want me
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to preach this. There are some
people who want me to be quiet.
There are some people who have
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called me everything but a child
of the most high God. I know
after this sermon, I am going to
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get more letters. I am gonna get
more emails. Pastors should not
protest. Pastors should not
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march. Pastors should not speak
against racism. Pastors should
just be quiet and pray.
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Yes, I am going to pray, but I
cannot be quiet. I will not stop
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marching. I will not stop
peacefully protesting. I will
not stop speaking up and
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speaking out. I do not care if
the organized church says I must
stop. I answer to a higher
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authority. I have got God on my
side. If God be for us, who can
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be against us? No weapon formed
against us is going to prosper.
God told me to do justice,
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love mercy, and walk humbly with
him. God is on my side. Not only
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that, I have got the spirit of
prophecy on my side. Again,
Ellen White said in this
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manuscript release, volume
eleven, page two hundred
twenty-nine, "I was confirmed,"
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she said, "in all I had stated
in Minneapolis, that a
reformation must go through the
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churches. Reforms must be made
for spiritual weakness and
blindness were upon the people
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who have been blessed with great
light and precious opportunities
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and privileges. While we
endeavor to keep the unity of
the Spirit in the bonds of
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peace," then White said, "we
will not with pen or voice cease
to protest against bigotry."
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I must take a stand. You must
take a stand. Four hundred years
ago, we were beaten on our
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backs. Four hundred years later,
we are being shot on our backs.
We must take a stand.
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I am drawing a line in the sand.
Enough is enough, but within the
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faith community, some people
within our community feel that
if it does not affect us
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directly, we can be silent, but
we cannot be silent. If someone
does something to someone else,
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it is just a matter of
time before they do it to you.
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Jesus said, "Inasmuch as ye have
done it unto the least of these
my brethren, ye have done it
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unto me." It was Dr. Martin
Luther King who said, "In the
end, we will not remember the
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words of our enemies but the
silence of our friends." Racism
is wrong. Racism is sin.
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It is time for the people of
God to take a stand against sin.
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I do not understand some church
folk. I do not understand the
so-called people of the good
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book, the so-called saints
who can sit idly by and not say
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anything. More than that, I do
not understand the saints who
speak out against those who
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speak out against racism, but
praise God this week for the NBA
players. Praise God for the
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WNBA. Praise God for the NHL.
Praise God for Major League
Baseball. Praise God for Major
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League Soccer. At least they
were willing to take a stand.
LeBron James spoke. Doc Rivers
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spoke. Kenny Smith walked off
the TNT set. They said, "We must
make and take a stand."
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Basketball was canceled not
because of COVID-19. Basketball
was canceled because of racism.
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Today, this cleric, this
preacher, I want to know, can
the church take a stand? A stand
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against racism. A stand against
injustice. A stand against
police brutality. A stand
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against white supremacy. Let me
tell you something. Every person
whether black or white, rich or
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poor, male or female, young
or old, educated or uneducated,
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church member or non-church
member ought to stand for
something. Every person ought to
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live for something and possess
some basic principles, some
basic beliefs and convictions,
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that he or she is willing to die
for. The trouble too many of us
is we are too fickle
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or too afraid to commit
ourselves too much to anyone
calls or course of action.
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Rather than commit ourselves to
something that we are willing to
back, our lives, our jobs,
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or other symbols of human
security, we would rather play
it safe with indecision where we
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do not make any choices, but we
allow others to make choices for
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us. We rather play it safe with
popularity where having people
speak well of you means more
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than the integrity of your
convictions, or play it safe
with convenience where we
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advocate a cause as long as
it does not cost us anything, or
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two-facedness, play it safe
where where you will say one
thing in my face but say another
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thing in somebody else's face,
but nobody respects a person who
talks out of both sides of their
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mouth or tries to stand on both
sides of the fence. Joshua said,
"Choose you this day whom you
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are going to serve. " As for me
and my house, we are going to
serve the Lord. Elijah said on
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Mount Carmel, "How long do you
halt between two opinions? If
the Lord be God, then follow
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him." Jesus said, "No man can
serve two masters: for either
you will hate the one and love
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the other," and so
you must take a stand.
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Our text teaches us that there
are three Hebrew boys who
decided to take a stand against
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the edicts of the king, but they
found themselves, as a result,
in a fiery furnace.
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We are familiar with this story,
but sometimes, familiarity
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breeds contempt. Because of this
familiarity, it often makes us
become silent or forget the
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power of this story.
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
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decides that he is going to
build a golden image of himself
that is 90 feet high and 9 feet
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wide. When the Babylonian
orchestra was to begin to play
music, everyone was to fall down
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and worship this image, but the
Bible says there are three
church boys. They are known as
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Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
who refused to bow down. When
they do not bow down, Daniel
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chapter three, verse twelve says
that some of the king's subjects
run to the king and tell him,"
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O king, you are a great king.
You are the greatest king ever.
You have done wonderful things.
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You made a simple request that
at the playing of music,
everybody was to bow down
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and worship the golden
image that you set up. Well,
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those three boys that you
set over the affairs of Babylon,
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those three boys that you passed
over some of us for, those three
boys you promoted before us,
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those three boys that you are
always bragging about, those
three boys that you are always
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looking out for, well, those
three boys did not bow down to
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your image." When Nebuchadnezzar
heard of their refusal to bow to
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the image, he flies into a rage
and orders them to appear before
him. Let that be a lesson for
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us. Whenever we take a stand,
whenever we stand for the right,
whenever we have to oppose
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important people, kings, queens,
presidents, politicians, leaders
and even church pillars,
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sometimes, we must be prepared
to lay our futures on the line,
our lives on the line for what
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we believe. Nebuchadnezzar says
in verse fourteen, "Is it true,
Shadrach? Is it true, Meshach?
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Is it true, Abednego, that you
will not bow down and worship my
golden image? Is it true?"
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In other words, the word on the
street is that the three of you
have defied my decree.
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Now, let me help you
here. Nebuchadnezzar says,
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"Do not you know that I am the
one who promoted you from
nothings to noblemen,
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from the lower class to the
upper class? I changed your
names. I opened doors for you.
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I know you do not want to cross
me, so let me tell you what we
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are going to do. I am going to
give you one more chance. Let us
just say you did not hear the
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music. Let us just say you were
not paying attention. Let us
just say you did not fully
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understand. You are from another
country and that is why you did
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not bow down because you did not
understand what was going on,
because if you do not bow down,
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I am going to throw
you into a fiery furnace."
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In verse sixteen on text, one of
my favorite texts of scripture,
they give their response.
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Let me read it to
you in verse sixteen.
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"O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not
careful to answer thee in this
manner." Stop right there.
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In other words, we are not
scared of you. In other words,
we are not intimidated by you.
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We have talked it over. We put a
motion on the floor and the vote
was unanimous. We ain't bowing.
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This does not take a lot of
thoughts. This does not require
a lot of discussion.
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No matter what you say, no
matter what you do, we are not
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going to bow. Yes, we should be
obligated to you. Yes, we should
be accountable to you.
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Yes, we should be indebted to
you. Yes, we should be loyal to
you. Yes, you have elevated us.
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We appreciate what you have
done, but we have got a
different perspective.
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For every time you opened the
door for us, we said thank you,
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but we praise God. Every level
you elevated us to, we say thank
you, but we praise God.
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Every rank you promoted us to,
we say thank you, but we praise
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God. Everything you have given
us, we say thank you, but we
praise God. In fact, king, we
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cannot worship you. You are just
a courier. You are just a
conduit. You are just a channel
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through which God sent our
blessing. We cannot worship you
anymore than we can worship a
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tree for giving us shade, a cow
for giving us milk, a bee giving
us honey, rain for giving us
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water. We thank you, but you are
not worthy of our praise. God
and God alone is worthy of our
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praise. We might love you, but
we are not going to worship you.
We might respect you, but we are
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not going to worship you. We
might honor you, but we are not
going to worship you.
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Nebuchadnezzar says, "Look, if
you do not bow, you are going to
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burn." I love verse seventeen.
Look at it. It says, "If it be
so, our God whom we serve is
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able," now if I had people in
the church, I would say, "Say
able." At home, say able. Able.
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To deliver us from the burning
fiery furnace, and he will
deliver us out of thine hand, O
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king. In other words, throw us
into the furnace, and that is
okay because, king,
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we serve a god who is able and
he will deliver us out of thine
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hand. Verse eighteen: "But
if not..." Hallelujah, I shout
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right there. "But if not," the
text says, "be it known unto
thee, O king, that we will not
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serve thy gods, nor worship the
golden image which thou has set
up." In other words, we know God
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can save us, but if not, we know
God can free us; but if not, we
know that God can rescue us;
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but if not, we know that God can
give us a job; but if not, we
know that God can heal us;
00:17:47.96\00:17:56.64
but if not, we know that God can
stop the cancer; but if not, we
know that God can slow the
00:17:56.67\00:18:05.35
corona-virus; but if not, we
know that God can break that
habit; but if not, we still will
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not worship thee. We are going
to worship the God of Heaven and
Earth, the God of Abraham and
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Isaac, the God of Jacob and
Joseph, the God of Miriam and
Moses, the God of Enoch and
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Elijah, the God of Rachel and
Rebecca, the God of my mama and
my daddy, the God of you and me,
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the God of Heaven. As a child of
God, you got to get to the point
in your faith where you will say
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that even if God does not, even
if I lose my job, even if I lose
my house, even if I lose my car,
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even if I lose my my friends,
even if my family does not
understand, I may have to stand
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alone, but God is still able
because it is not a matter of if
God can but it is I know that
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God will; but if not, I
am still not bowing down.
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Let me tell you something. I
speak in the name of Jesus under
the unction of the Holy Ghost,
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no matter what you
may be facing today,
00:19:07.31\00:19:09.54
Carlton Byrd is a witness that
God is bigger than the stuff you
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face, bigger than your problems,
bigger than your circumstances,
bigger than your situations,
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bigger than your fears,
bigger than your troubles,
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bigger than you because he is
God and he has been God longer
than you have been you.
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Just ask David and Goliath, ask
Noah about an ark and the flood,
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ask Samson about blinded
eyes and a temple filled with
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Philistines, ask Moses about a
Red Sea, ask Joshua about
Jericho's walls, ask Joseph
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about the pit, the prison, and
the palace, ask Mary about a
virgin having children,
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ask a dying thief about a saving
Lord. If you do not get anything
else, get this today.
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My God is able.
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Nebuchadnezzar turns the heat
up seven times. Why does he do
00:19:55.22\00:20:02.60
this? Ellen White says that
Nebuchadnezzar felt it required
more than ordinary power to deal
00:20:02.63\00:20:09.97
with these noblemen.
Nebuchadnezzar's mind,
00:20:10.01\00:20:11.74
she says, was so strongly
impressed that something unusual
would interpose on their behalf,
00:20:11.77\00:20:17.25
so he intensified the heat and
his strongest men were ordered
00:20:17.28\00:20:23.02
to deal with them. In other
words, Nebuchadnezzar sensed
that something might happen to
00:20:23.05\00:20:30.76
come to the aid of the three
Hebrew boys. My question for you
today is simply this, family,
00:20:30.79\00:20:37.00
how come the enemies of God know
the power of God and we the
people of God act like we do not
00:20:37.03\00:20:41.27
know the power of God? Do not
you ever forget that the devil
is no match for our God. Put God
00:20:41.30\00:20:47.34
on the front line of your life
and watch God win. The Bible
says that Nebuchadnezzar threw
00:20:47.38\00:20:53.98
the three Hebrew boys in the
fiery furnace, but before we get
excited, before we shout, before
00:20:54.02\00:20:56.95
we stomp, before we clap our
hands over the deliverance of
God for the three Hebrew boys,
00:20:56.99\00:21:00.56
let us take an important look at
verse twenty-three. Because in
verse twenty-three,
00:21:00.59\00:21:04.83
when you read it, it tells us
that the Bible says that the
three Hebrew boys fell to the
00:21:04.86\00:21:11.17
ground in the fiery furnace.
00:21:11.20\00:21:13.13
Look at verse number 23, the
Bible is very clear. It says,
"And these three men, Shadrach,
00:21:13.17\00:21:19.04
Meshach, and Abednego, fell down
bound in the midst of the fiery
00:21:19.07\00:21:26.25
furnace." Now, one would think
that if they fell to the ground,
they were on their way to sure
00:21:26.28\00:21:35.39
death, but somebody knows
that man's extremity is God's
00:21:35.42\00:21:43.03
opportunity. Somebody knows that
our setbacks are just setups for
comebacks. When it seems like
00:21:43.06\00:21:53.98
you are going to fall, that is
when Jesus stands up for you. It
seemed as if the three Hebrew
00:21:54.01\00:22:04.59
boys were going to fall, but all
of a sudden, Nebuchadnezzar
says, "Hold up. Wait a minute.
00:22:04.62\00:22:11.49
I thought we had three boys in
the fiery furnace." His
subjects: "We did."
00:22:11.53\00:22:17.03
"I thought we heated the furnace
seven times hotter." His
subjects: "We did."
00:22:17.07\00:22:22.74
"Well, why do I see four
men loose, walking in the fire,
00:22:22.77\00:22:28.54
and the fourth has the
appearance of the Son of God?"
00:22:28.58\00:22:33.45
Why? Because when Jesus shows
up, Jesus shows out. When you
take a stand for what is right,
00:22:33.48\00:22:42.06
yes, you might get thrown into
the fiery furnace but know that
Jesus will show up, Jesus will
00:22:42.09\00:22:48.93
show out, Jesus will stand with
you, and Jesus will deliver you.
We must take a stand. I said we
00:22:48.96\00:22:59.07
must take a stand. A man who
stands for nothing will fall for
anything. Why are we so afraid
00:22:59.11\00:23:07.95
to take a stand? Some are going
to say I am a racist. Some are
going to say I spew hate.
00:23:07.98\00:23:12.92
Some are going to say I am
trying to divide the church.
Some will say I have lost my
00:23:12.95\00:23:17.69
mind. Some are going to write me
letters. Some are going to email
me. Some are going to try and
00:23:17.73\00:23:23.97
stymie my career. Some are going
to try to misrepresent my true
intentions. Some are going to
00:23:24.00\00:23:30.64
try to flat out lie on me. Some
are going to try to say all
manner of evil against me
00:23:30.67\00:23:34.11
falsely. Some are going to
even try to make up stuff on me.
00:23:34.14\00:23:37.48
Some are going to try to do
whatever they can to shut me up,
but I will not be silent.
00:23:37.51\00:23:45.62
I will not be quiet. When police
brutality stops, when racial
supremacy stops, when overt
00:23:45.65\00:23:53.96
and covert attempts to restrict
people from their duly appointed
right to the voting booth stops,
00:23:54.00\00:24:00.40
then I will stop. Until then, I
will not stop. I will not be
quiet. I will not shut up.
00:24:00.44\00:24:09.44
I am not a racist. I am not the
one trying to divide the church.
00:24:09.48\00:24:14.05
I am not the one who
financed Osama Bin Laden.
00:24:14.08\00:24:17.52
I am not the one who
allowed drugs to flow through
00:24:17.55\00:24:21.19
Afghanistan. I am not the one
who put Nelson Mandela in prison
for twenty-seven years.
00:24:21.22\00:24:25.13
I am not the one who had ignored
hundreds of thousands of blacks
who were killed in Rwanda.
00:24:25.16\00:24:30.13
I am not the one who conjured up
the Tuskegee experiment to kill
hundreds of black men,
00:24:30.17\00:24:35.34
injecting them with syphilis. I
am not the one who passed Jim
Crow laws, segregation laws,
00:24:35.37\00:24:40.54
or apartheid laws. I am not the
one who beat John Lewis on the
Edmund Pettus Bridge simply
00:24:40.58\00:24:46.28
because he wanted black people
to have the right to vote.
00:24:46.31\00:24:49.05
I am not the one who
assassinated Martin Luther King,
Malcolm X, or Medgar Evers.
00:24:49.08\00:24:53.96
I am not the one who beat Rodney
King to death and then got
acquitted of the charges.
00:24:53.99\00:24:58.83
I am not the one who killed the
nine people in that Charleston
Church, Mother Emanuel,
00:24:58.86\00:25:04.07
while they were having prayer
meeting. I am not the one who
killed Ahmaud Arbery while
00:25:04.10\00:25:09.60
jogging, Breonna Taylor while
sleeping. I am not the one who
put a knee to George Floyd's
00:25:09.64\00:25:14.94
neck. I am not the one who shot
Jacob Blake seven times in the
back while he was trying to get
00:25:14.98\00:25:22.48
in his car. I am not the one who
is trying to end Obamacare which
will leave twenty-three million
00:25:22.52\00:25:28.12
Americans without health
coverage and make it harder for
sick people to get new health
00:25:28.16\00:25:32.79
coverage at a time when the
coronavirus is
disproportionately impacting
00:25:32.83\00:25:37.47
black and Latino Americans. I am
not the one who is trying to
create a bureaucratic bottleneck
00:25:37.50\00:25:42.50
prohibiting the removal of
confederate monuments in
downtown squares claiming the
00:25:42.54\00:25:47.14
problem is money, but then when
we raise the money, the monument
00:25:47.18\00:25:49.51
is still there. I am not the one
who fired rubber bullets at
people who were simply trying to
00:25:49.54\00:25:55.92
exercise their right to
peacefully protest in downtown
00:25:55.95\00:25:59.69
city squares. I am
just trying to take a stand.
00:25:59.72\00:26:01.92
I am challenging you to take
a stand. This is not about black
00:26:01.96\00:26:08.76
versus white. This is about
right versus wrong. Racism is
wrong. Shooting a man while
00:26:08.80\00:26:17.97
jogging is wrong. Shooting a
woman while sleeping is wrong.
Shooting a man in the back seven
00:26:18.01\00:26:24.11
times is wrong. Putting a knee
to somebody's neck for almost
nine minutes is wrong. You must
00:26:24.15\00:26:32.05
take a stand. I must take a
stand. My model, my example, my
standard, is Jesus. He took a
00:26:32.09\00:26:43.67
stand. He was born in Bethlehem,
wrapped in swaddling clothes,
00:26:43.70\00:26:50.21
laid in a manger, smuggled into
Africa reared in Nazareth,
baptized in the muddy Jordan,
00:26:50.24\00:26:58.65
misunderstood by his family, put
out of the organized Church,
arrested in Gethsemane, beaten
00:26:58.68\00:27:05.12
by an angry, vicious mob,
condemned by the government,
crucified on Calvary, wounded in
00:27:05.15\00:27:12.03
his side, died on a cross, put
in a tomb, but he was
resurrected from the grave.
00:27:12.06\00:27:18.67
Ascended back to heaven and
because I am standing, because
you are standing, one day, he is
00:27:18.70\00:27:24.67
coming to get us where we are
standing, and I am going to
stand, you must stand, because
00:27:24.71\00:27:31.91
if we do not stand, the church
will be eradicated. The
community will be devastated.
00:27:31.95\00:27:36.35
The school will be dominated.
The world will be disintegrated.
Our children will be
00:27:36.38\00:27:43.53
debilitated. The race will be
exterminated. The globe will be
annihilated. You must stand
00:27:43.56\00:27:47.73
Thank you very much for tuning
in to this week's Breath of Life
00:27:47.76\00:27:52.10
broadcast. We hope and pray that
you've been blessed by Dr.
Byrd's inspirational message.
00:27:52.13\00:27:56.77
If you would like to hear
this sermon in its entirety,
00:27:56.81\00:27:59.14
please feel free to visit
us at www.breathoflife.tv.
00:27:59.17\00:28:05.11
Or, call us at (256) 929-6460.
00:28:05.15\00:28:18.06
Dr. Byrd: Pain, loss, trama,
00:28:18.09\00:28:27.40
in life we
experience these things.
00:28:27.44\00:28:30.64
My wife and I have a story,
00:28:30.67\00:28:33.58
we have a
testimony of how we lost
00:28:33.61\00:28:37.91
our first born daughter
in a horrific car accident.
00:28:37.95\00:28:44.62
We have this new sharing
book, its en-titled “Gone.”
00:28:44.65\00:28:49.59
And, in it I
want to share with you
00:28:49.62\00:28:53.23
how God has helped me,
00:28:53.26\00:28:55.93
how God has helped my
wife, how God has helped us,
00:28:55.96\00:29:00.70
as we had to endure the fact
that our first born daughter is
00:29:00.74\00:29:08.24
gone. www.breathoflife.tv
00:29:08.28\00:29:14.58
[END]
00:29:14.62\00:29:29.60