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Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000665S
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00:01 (Breath of Life Theme Music)
00:06 Sermon #B665 - Here Comes The Bride 00:21 Dr. Byrd: Let's get into the word of God today, and with that, 00:24 I want to invite each of you to take your Bibles and turn with me to the Book of Matthew. 00:28 Matthew Chapter 25, very familiar text Matthew Chapter 25 00:34 and we're going to begin reading at verse number 1. Matthew Chapter 25 00:39 and verse number 1, the word of God says in Matthew Chapter 25 verse number 1, 00:46 “Jesus himself speaking then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins 00:53 which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom,” verse 2, 00:57 “and five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 01:01 They that were foolish took their lamps 01:03 and took no oil with them but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps 01:09 while the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept,” verse 6, 01:15 “And at midnight there was a cry made. Behold, the bridegroom cometh; 01:23 go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps, 01:31 and the foolish said unto the wise, give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. 01:39 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: 01:44 but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, 01:52 the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: 01:58 and the door was shut. Afterward, came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, 02:05 open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 02:12 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.” 02:24 Dr. Byrd: Today I want to challenge you on the subject. “Here Comes the Bride,” 02:32 Here Comes the Bride.” We're praying, father right now God by the power of your 02:39 Holy Spirit speak to your people. Whether it's on the television screen, 02:43 whether it's on a live stream over the Internet, whether it's on Facebook, YouTube. 02:48 Lord, just speak to your people today. Hide behind your cross, 02:52 and God I pray that you give me Holy Ghost unction today. 02:56 May this message permeate the hearts of your people all of them whom are watching. 03:01 May they hear you speak specifically to them, and God when we get to the appeal time, 03:07 may your Holy Spirit moves even as individuals make decisions for thee, move I pray. 03:13 Hide me behind your cross, forgive me of my sins. 03:16 In the name of Jesus, we pray, let everyone say Amen, and amen. “Here Comes the Bride.” 03:29 Now, I want to share with you some things. In fact, some memorable dates in my life. 03:36 There are a number of memorable dates that I know from the top of my head 03:42 because of the impact of what transpired on these dates in my life. 03:48 Well for starters, you hear me say it all the time in April is the best month. 03:52 Well, that is because April 11th, 1972, 48 years ago, I was born. I was born. 04:02 I was a twin, I'm Carlton and then there's Carl. 04:06 There is a Buddy and then there is Buster. April 11th, 1972, I was born. 04:14 But then on August the 9th, 1980, I was born again 04:19 and baptized at the Elam Seventh-day Adventist Church, it's in St. Petersburg, Florida. 04:25 Then on May the 20th, 1990, I graduated from high school In Miami, Florida, 04:33 and then it was on June the 5th, 1994, I graduated from Oakwood College. 04:41 Another date July 1st, 1994 I began my pastoral ministry in a city called Soso, 04:50 Mississippi and I preached my first serving as a pastor there, 04:56 but then on May the 11th, 1999, I became a daddy 05:02 and our firstborn daughter Caitlyn was born, but not to stop with Caitlyn. 05:09 On February 14th, 2001, our daughter Christyn was born, 05:16 but then on January the 29th, 2003, our daughter Caylee was born 05:24 and Cristen became a big sister, but then most recently, 05:29 January the 7th, 2014 our daughter Carissa was born. 05:37 Now you need to understand before Caitlyn was born, before Cristen was born, 05:43 before Caylee was born, and before Carissa was born, I got married. 05:49 I got married first and then we had children. Do I have a witness in this place? 05:54 On December the 21st, 1997 I put on my tuxedo. I stood in this very church, 06:04 then it was called the Oakwood College Church and my beautiful wife, 06:08 Danielle Alexandria Mounter stood at the back door of this church, 06:14 and she walked down this aisle to take my hand in marriage. 06:19 She was looking good and is still looking good. 06:22 She had a beautiful white wedding gown on. Her hair was laid. I was smiling. 06:29 The people were cheering. She was smiling. 06:33 Brother Jimmy Wilson on this very organ in this church began to play. 06:39 Here comes the bride. My juices were flowing, my adrenaline was pumping, 06:46 my heart was racing. We recited our vows, we took our oath, 06:53 we made our covenant before God, we pledged our love to one another, 07:00 we kissed each other and Hallelujah, my life has never been the same. 07:05 I thank and I praise God for my wife Danielle. 07:10 I'm here to let somebody know that weddings are a wonderful thing. 07:16 In Jesus' day, it was no different. Weddings were a wonderful thing. 07:23 Great pageantry and drama were associated with weddings, in Jesus' day. In Jesus' day, 07:31 the bride where asked ten of her friends, ten virgins, ten bridesmaids to be 07:40 and accompany her. Their job was to attend to the bride and keep her company at her house. 07:49 The house she lived in with their parents until the bridegroom 07:52 or the groom showed up to take her to their new home. 07:56 Now, neither the bride nor the bridesmaids knew when the groom was coming. 08:03 The bridegroom, he never told them when he was going to come, 08:07 but the bride just had faith that he was not going to stand her up 08:12 and that he was coming. Are you hearing what I'm saying? 08:14 Now, in fact, the five reality is, she didn't know when he was coming. 08:19 It was a little game where the bridegroom would try to surprise the 08:24 bride at the wedding party, catch them off guard and arrive at an unexpected time. 08:31 And so the bride and her guest, they joined in this game. 08:36 They joined in this game by being on the lookout for the groom's arrival. 08:42 It was their hope to see when the groom would be coming. 08:46 And then know exactly when he would arrive. Now when the bridegroom was seen coming, 08:52 there was a shout, “Here comes the Bridegroom.” 08:58 And everyone would scramble up and get ready to meet the bridegroom. 09:04 When he arrived, the bride and the groom would go then into the house, 09:09 her house at for the wedding celebration and shut and lock the door. 09:15 Whoever was not there when the groom arrived didn't get in the house for the 09:20 wedding celebration. The bride and groom will exchange their vows. 09:25 They would leave with their wedding party and go to their new house. 09:30 Now, you need to understand this was all at night. 09:35 Then it was necessary then for the bridesmaids of the bride to have lamps so they 09:42 can see when they walked from the bride's old house to her 09:47 new house that she would live in with her new husband. 09:50 It's against this backdrop, that Jesus tells the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25. 09:59 Remember quickly, a parable is not truth in itself, 10:04 but it's a mirror by which truth can be seen. In this parable, 10:08 there's a simple truth that Jesus is trying to tell us and it's simply this, 10:14 “Be ready when I come because just like the bride and the bridesmaids were to be 10:21 ready for the bridegroom when he came so God's people ought to be ready for Jesus, 10:26 the ultimate bridegroom when he comes to get his people.” 10:29 In the parable, Jesus is the groom. 10:33 The ten virgins or ten bridesmaids are Jesus's followers. 10:38 The people who profess to know Jesus at the time of his second coming. 10:44 When you look at these ten virgins on the surface, 10:49 it appears that there's no difference among them. 10:53 All ten, are members of the wedding party. All ten, look alike. 11:01 All ten have same type of clothes on. All ten, are carrying lamps. 11:08 All ten, had the same purpose. 11:12 All ten, are waiting for the shouts that announces the coming of the bridegroom, 11:19 and that's just like the church today. Church members, we somewhat look alike. 11:26 We look like children of God. We dress alike. We have suits on alike. We act alike. 11:39 We all claim to be followers of Christ. We all claim to have the same purpose. 11:43 We all claim to be looking forward to the coming of the bridegroom, the coming of Jesus, 11:48 but let me also remind you the Bible is clear that the wheat and the 11:51 tares must grow together. Yes, all the virgin's looked alike 11:56 but there was a hidden difference not seen by the natural eye. 12:01 Dr. Byrd: In our churches, there's a hidden difference between the saved 12:05 and the unsaved and it's not seen by the natural eye 12:10 because what you see on the outside may not be what you see on the inside. 12:15 Let me tell you something, just because a person looks spiritual that does not 12:21 make them spiritual, just because you look holy doesn't mean you are holy, 12:26 just because you dress holy does not mean you are holy, 12:30 just because you talk and walk holy doesn't mean your holy. 12:35 We must be careful in everything and everybody that looks and shouts and sounds 12:40 like holiness is not holiness because holiness is not about what you wear, 12:45 holiness is about how you walk. 12:48 Holiness is not about the Bible that you carry holiness 12:51 is about the Bible that carries you. Holiness is not about how well you preach, 12:55 but holiness is about how well you pray. 12:59 Holiness is not about whether you're a church officer, 13:01 holiness is about whether you're a church witness. 13:04 Holiness is not about the quantity of your tithes and offering, 13:07 but holiness is about the honesty of your tithe and offering. 13:11 Holiness is not about how high you jump when you shout, 13:14 but holiness is about how straight you walk when you come back down. 13:17 So before you claim to be holy, you better be sure, you can back it up. 13:23 Don't talk what you can't walk, don't preach what you can't practice, 13:27 and don't tell anybody how holy you are, if you've still got dirty clothes in your closet. 13:32 I'd be careful about telling folk how holy you are 13:34 because just as soon as you get through testifying somebody's going to check you out 13:39 and see if you've been testifying 13:41 or test a lying watching to see if you're really who you claim to be. 13:45 Somebody wants to know, are you walking the walk or just talking the talk? 13:48 When it comes to testifying, I've learned to tell people, 13:50 I'm just a sinner saved by grace. Do I have a witness in his place? 13:54 Everybody in the santuary is not in the spirit, 13:58 everybody that knows in the building is not in the body, 14:01 and everybody in the group is not in God. Remember, in this text, 14:07 in this parable when Jesus is teaching and talking to his disciples, Judas was there too. 14:13 Judas was among the disciples; Judas was with the disciples. 14:19 Judas looked like the disciples. 14:21 Judas talked like the disciples but everybody talking about heaven ain't going. 14:25 Everybody that knows the commandments doesn't know Christ. 14:27 Everybody that knows 23rd Psalms doesn't know the shepherd, 14:29 and everybody that knows the Lord's Prayer does not know the Lord. 14:32 Jesus is warning us in this parable that there are a lot of people who look like 14:36 Christians, talk like Christians, walk like Christians, 14:41 hang out with Christians, and even think they are Christians, 14:45 but Jesus is going to say at his second coming, “I know you not.” 14:49 Not only did the ten virgins look alike, they also acted alike. 14:57 What am I talking about? The Bible says that all ten virgins went to sleep. 15:03 When the bridegroom came, they were all asleep. 15:09 None of the ten virgins knew when the bridegroom will arrived and all ten 15:13 snapped when the bridegroom took longer than expected to arrive, 15:19 but when the bridegroom does arrive all ten virgins are asleep. 15:26 We don't find five awake and five asleep, all ten were asleep, 15:34 and today the church has fallen to sleep. We've got Coronavirus. 15:42 We've got tornadoes. We have sexual variety. 15:46 We have wars and rumors of wars but we're asleep. 15:50 But in the name of Jesus it's time for the people of God to wake up. 15:55 I can hear my great-grandmother quoting Romans 13:11, 15:59 "It's high time to awaken out of our sleep 16:02 because salvation is nearer than when we first 16:05 believed." 16:07 Now while the ten virgins looked alike and their actions were alike, 16:13 there was one major difference. Five virgins had oil and five virgins had no oil. 16:26 Five virgins were wise and five virgins were foolish. 16:32 And because the five foolish virgins were without oil in their lamps 16:35 when the bridegroom arrived, they were not permitted to go into the wedding celebration 16:40 because in order for the virgin's to go in the wedding celebration their 16:44 lamps had to work. In order for their lamps to work. 16:47 The reality is my friends when you read the text, 16:50 you would discover that the five foolish virgins didn't run out of oil. 16:56 The reality is they never had any oil. You see some people read this story 17:03 and they try to say that the foolish virgins didn't have enough oil 17:07 or that they ran out of oil, but the truth of the matter my friends is this, 17:11 the five foolish virgins never had any oil. Remember in the text, 17:17 Jesus is talking to the disciples. He's talking to church folks. 17:21 Oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. 17:24 The foolish virgins representing unprepared church folk didn't run out of oil, 17:30 they didn't run out of the Holy Spirit the fact is, they never had oil. 17:36 They never had the Holy Spirit. 17:37 Look at the text, verse 8 says, "and the foolish said to the wise, 17:44 give us of your oil because our lamps are going out," and they think that 17:49 because the text says people do that their lamps are gone out, that they ran out of oil. 17:55 But when you go back and read verse number 3, 17:58 it's clear that the foolish virgins took no oil with them. 18:05 I wish I had a witness in this place, 18:07 I'm preaching to an empty church so I'll shout myself, Hallelujah! 18:11 Too many church folks, too many of our churches, 18:15 too many of our ministries haven't run out of oil. 18:18 They never had oil; they never had the Holy Spirit. 18:23 The five foolish virgins weren't once saved but then they ran out of salvation, 18:29 they were lost. They never had oil; they never had the Holy Spirit. 18:35 And the absence of oil indicates the lack of salvation, which is another way of saying, 18:43 "A Christian profession without possession." 18:46 Let's go back to verse number 8, look at it in your Bible. 18:49 The word of God says, "and the foolish said unto the wise, 18:55 give us of your oil for our lamps are gone out.” In other words, 19:03 “Can we borrow some of your oil? Can we have some of your oil?” 19:08 Now, the wise virgins respond, no, you can't, 19:13 but they didn't say no because they were trying to be selfish, 19:17 but sharing their oil would have meant that all ten would have run short of the oil. 19:25 More than that, I can't let you borrow my oil. I can't let you borrow my anointing. 19:33 I can't let you have what God has specifically given to me because what God has for me, 19:40 it is for me. You can't borrow somebody else's relationship with Jesus Christ. 19:46 You can't borrow your mother's faith, your father's faith, your friend's faith, 19:51 or the pastor's faith. You can't borrow somebody else's relationship with the Lord, 19:55 you got to know the Lord for yourself. You've got to have the Holy Ghost for yourself. 20:01 You can't think during these times in which we live that you going to make it to 20:05 heaven based on what your mother has done, your father has done, your wife has done, 20:10 your husband has done, or that your friend is close to the Lord. 20:14 You've got to know the Lord and follow him for yourself. 20:18 People not get to heaven based on the salvation that somebody else's has received. 20:25 Each one of us is accountable for our own choices. 20:28 We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. 20:33 The five foolish virgins had no oil for the very same reasons people 20:39 continue to run out of gas in their cars. Even when the message is flashing on their 20:45 dashboard. Telling them, you're about to run out. People don't believe the warning signs. 20:53 They don't think that things are as bad as they are reported. 20:58 They say I've got more gas than that, I won't run out. 21:01 I've received this message before after the light comes on. 21:05 I can go 30 more miles and I've always been able to get to the gas station 21:09 before the gas runs out. 21:12 And the people who run out of gas are just like the people who refused to heed 21:17 the warnings of God's word. They refused to heed the invitation of salvation through 21:22 Jesus Christ. They don't get gas because they don't think they need it. 21:27 There's another gas station up the road, we can wait. We've got time, we can make it. 21:34 They're asleep but you got to have the oil in order to be saved. 21:41 Bible says that the Lord's coming is going to be sudden, 21:46 it's going to be unexpected. His coming is going to be like a thief in the night, 21:53 and if you're not ready, you won't be able to go into the celebration, 21:59 because if you're not ready the door is going to be shut. 22:03 The five wise virgins have the opportunity to get oil, and they did. 22:09 The five foolish virgins have the opportunity to also get oil, but they did not. 22:15 The wise had, the foolish had not. When the bridegroom came, 22:22 the foolish virgins weren't there and when they get back to the wedding celebration, 22:27 the door was shut. And friends, 22:31 this is what's going to separate people at Jesus second coming. 22:34 Those that have oil ready for His coming will have it. 22:39 Those that aren't ready for the second coming won't have oil. Church, it's midnight. 22:46 I said, its midnight and here comes the bridegroom. Here comes the bride, 22:59 it's time to wake up, get up, rise up, stand up, and look up, 23:09 because here comes the bride. 23:13 The events as we told you last week under the sixth seal have happened. 23:17 The great earthquake has come, the sun has become black, the moon has become as blood, 23:24 the investigative judgment is about to be over. Here comes the bride. 23:31 People are losing their jobs, people are getting sick, people are dying from Coronavirus, 23:38 people are talking about opening up this country when they know it's not safe, 23:43 people are talking about population control open up your eyes, here comes the bride. 23:51 This is not a time to get scared. This is not a time to lose your faith. 23:56 This is not a time to leave the church. I'm not leaving, 23:59 I'm not getting off this ship for anybody, this is not the time to be asleep. 24:04 This is what we've been preaching for. This is what we've been teaching for. 24:09 Here comes the bride so fear thou not for I am with thee be not dismayed for I am thy God. 24:16 I will strengthen thee, I will help thee, 24:18 I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. 24:20 Here comes the bride, and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the 24:25 world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come. 24:28 Here comes the bride, if God before us, who can be against us? 24:33 Here comes the bride, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, 24:38 for it is the power of God unto salvation. Here comes the bride, 24:43 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that 24:47 whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. 24:50 Here comes the bride, 24:52 let not your heart be troubled ye believe in God believe also in me in my father's 24:57 house are many mansions. If it were not so I would have told you I go in prepare a place, 25:03 if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again 25:04 and receive you unto myself that where I am there ye may be also. 25:09 Here comes the bride. Behold, I show you a mystery that one day we shall not all sleep, 25:16 but we shall be changed in a moment in a twinkling of an eye. 25:19 Here comes the bride, 25:21 and I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel 25:26 to preach unto them that dwell on the earth to every nation, 25:28 kindred tongue and people saying with a loud voice fear God. 25:31 Give glory to him the hour of judgments come. 25:34 Here comes the bride, here is the patience of the saints. 25:38 Here are they that keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus Christ. 25:41 Here comes the bride, blessed are they that do His commandments, 25:46 that they may have a right to the tree of life 25:47 and may enter in through the gates into the city. 25:49 Here comes the bride, choose you this day whom you going to serve 25:52 but as for me and my house, we going to serve the Lord. 25:57 Here comes the bride, and I'm getting ready, I don't know what you're doing, 26:02 but I'm getting ready for a great celebration. 26:06 I'm getting ready with Jesus breaks through the clouds. 26:10 I'm getting ready for the grand wedding celebration. There'll be no more crying, 26:14 no more dying. No more sickness. No more pain. No more cancer. No more Coronavirus. 26:20 No more diabetes. No more heart attacks. No more pre-existing conditions. 26:25 No more wheelchairs. No more walking canes. No more house note, no more car note. 26:30 I'm getting ready for the great wedding celebration. 26:34 I'm getting ready to live with my Jesus. I'm going to sit at the welcome table. 26:40 I'm going to feast on milk and honey. I'm going to sing and never get tired. 26:45 I'm going to put all my long white robe. I'm going to shout Hallelujah 26:50 because here comes the bride. 26:55 Thank you very much for tuning in to this week's Breath of Life broadcast. 26:59 We hope and pray that you've been blessed by Dr. Byrd's inspirational message. 27:04 If you would like to hear this sermon in its entirety, 27:06 please feel free to visit us at www.breathoflife.tv. 27:12 Or, call us at (256) 929-6460. 27:25 Dr. Byrd: Pain, loss, trama, 27:34 in life we experience these things. 27:37 My wife and I have a story, 27:40 we have a testimony of how we lost 27:45 our first born daughter in a horrific car accident. 27:52 We have this new sharing book, its en-titled “Gone.” 27:56 And, in it I want to share with you 28:00 how God has helped me, 28:03 how God has helped my wife how God has helped us, 28:07 as we had to endure the fact that our first born daughter is gone. 28:20 www.breathoflife.tv |
Revised 2020-05-07