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Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000682S
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00:01 (Breath of Life Theme Music)
00:06 Sermon #B682 - Say The Word 00:20 Dr. Byrd: It is time to get in the Word of God and if you have your Bibles, 00:23 I invite you to turn to the Book of Matthew. Matthew 8:5, I am so used to be in the Beatitudes. 00:36 Turn with me to Matthew 8:5. The Word of God is speaking to us today. 00:45 Matthew 8:5, the Bible says, and I am reading from King James version of the Bible Matthew 8:5, 00:54 "And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, 01:01 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. 01:10 " Verse 7 "And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. 01:16 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: 01:21 but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. 01:25 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; 01:35 and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. 01:44 When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, 01:49 I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 01:54 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, 01:59 and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. 02:02 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping 02:07 and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, 02:14 so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour. 02:23 Today I just want to challenge this message not to be long today, but I just want to challenge it. 02:27 Say the word. Say the word. Father God, bless us now. Speak for thy servant heareth. We have prayed. 02:34 We have sung. We have returned our tithe and offering. 02:36 We have listened to a wonderful testimony about your power for your people. 02:41 But now we need to hear a word from you. Lord God, as we say this word, we need you to say a word. 02:46 Forgive me my sins, hiding behind your closet and you peel time move God. I pray in a mighty way. 02:52 It is in the name of Jesus begging for forgiveness of sin. Amen. And amen. Say the word. 03:01 We have come to the start of another academic year. Summer is over. 03:06 Although we are in a new normal with Covid-19, school whether virtual or traditional, 03:15 is here and it is at the beginning of the semester when declarations, 03:21 resolutions and statements are made by students about what they will do this school year. 03:29 Some of these declarations include no TV during the week, only on the weekends, 03:37 social media only for one hour per day, or "I am going to study every night. 03:46 Even if I do not have a test the next day. But then one week passes and you are watching TV every day. 03:56 Two weeks pass and you are on social media every hour. 04:02 One month passes and you are only studying the night before the test 04:07 and then praying on test day "Lord, recall to memory what I have not studied." 04:13 Let me remind somebody today that education, 04:17 specifically higher education is a privilege and every day God gives you is a gift. 04:25 When God opens the door, you have to walk through. When God opens the window, 04:30 you have to climb through it because doors do close, windows do close, 04:36 and opportunities can pass you by. I have learned that one of the things 04:42 that age helps you to do is appreciate life, 04:45 because the closer you get to the end of life the more you appreciate every day of life. 04:51 One of the dangers of youth is to think that you are going to live forever. 04:56 But after few aches and pains, after a few gray hairs, after few setbacks in your life, 05:04 you finally get the text message from heaven that you are not going to be here. 05:09 You are not going to live forever and with that comes a sense of urgency. 05:15 When you get older you decide there are some things that I cannot afford to let it bother me 05:19 because I am too close to my last days to let some things affect me. 05:24 You see, I need you to know as I get older, 05:28 there are some criticisms that I simply will not respond to 05:32 because I do not have time to spend the rest of my life explaining my life to people who cannot 05:38 understand what God has done for me. There are some enemies then even at this point in my life try 05:45 to resolve conflict with. There are some letters and emails that now I do not respond to. 05:51 You go ahead and you can have a problem with me, but I do not have time to have a problem with you. 05:58 I have got to preserve the time, maximize the moment, move into my destiny, 06:05 because what God has for me, it is for me. 06:09 I dare you young people to sit around with negative, do nothing, going nowhere, no time fast, 06:17 people wallowing in the weeds of life. Jesus is soon to come. We are living in the last days. 06:25 When you understand that education is a privilege, 06:28 when you begin to realize that every day is a gift from God, when you begin to realize 06:34 and understand that every day is a day of thanksgiving, 06:39 you will live your life with intentionality and focus, 06:43 and decide what you will and what you will not spend your energy on, 06:48 because you do not have time for foolishness. 06:50 You better tell somebody "I do not have time to play anymore. 06:54 I do not have time to be petty. I do not have time to be jealous. 06:59 I do not have time to sweat the small stuff. I do not have time to major in minors. 07:05 I do not have time to worry about who does not like me. 07:09 I do not have time to worry about what he says and she says and they say. 07:13 Jesus is soon to come. Who cares who has the biggest house in the church? 07:18 Jesus is soon to come. Who cares what kind of car you drive? 07:23 Jesus is soon to come and this is the backdrop we talk about faith today. 07:30 Now if I were to ask you, who in the Bible had the greatest faith? 07:34 Some of you would say Noah because Noah built the ark and it had never rained before. 07:39 Some of you might say Abraham because Abraham was the father of many nations. 07:45 And before there were blue pills, there was faith in God and Abraham had a child at 90 years old. 07:53 Then some of you would say Moses because it was Moses who got to the Red Sea 07:58 and trusted that God was going to part the waters. But then some of you might say Joshua 08:03 because it was Joshua who walked around Jericho believing its city walls were going to fall down. 08:10 While all of these and many others whose stories are found in the Bible displayed great faith, 08:17 the person with the greatest faith in the Bible was not any of these. 08:20 He is not found in Hebrews 11, the Hall of Fame of Faith. 08:26 His specific name is not given in the Bible, only his title. 08:32 He is a Roman Centurion and his story is found in Matthew 8, 08:39 "Jesus has just entered the city of Capernaum. 08:42 This Roman centurion who is in charge of one hundred men in the Roman army comes up to Jesus 08:48 and he is asking Jesus for help, but he is not asking for help for himself. 08:53 He is not asking for help for one of his children. 08:56 He is not even asking for help for one of his soldiers, 08:59 but he is asking for help for his servant. The Bible says his servant is sick of the palsy. 09:05 He is grievously tormented, which meant the man could not walk and he was in terrible pain. 09:12 Now, you also need to know that the Roman centurion was not a Jew but he was a gentile. 09:19 It was not a secret that the Jews hated the Romans. But this Roman centurion still went to Jesus, 09:26 a Jew, for some help, which reminds us today that anyone who is in need of help can come to Jesus. 09:33 I do not care if you are a man or woman. I do not care if you are black or white, rich or poor, 09:40 educated or uneducated, Jew or Gentile. It does not matter who you are. Anybody can come to Jesus. 09:48 Are you hearing what I am saying? Not only does Jesus want to help those who come to Him, 09:53 but Jesus cannot wait to help those who come to Him. 09:57 Jesus did not say to the centurion "I do not have time." Jesus did not say "Not today." 10:03 Jesus did not say "Leave me alone." Jesus said "I will come. I will heal him." 10:11 That is imperative promise. That is definite guarantee. That is unquestionable assurance. 10:18 I will come. I will heal him. But then we get to verse 8, 10:24 which is my first favorite verse in this entire passage. The Bible says that centurion answered 10:29 and said "Lord, I am not worthy that thou shall come under my roof. But speak the word. 10:40 Speak the word only and my servant shall be healed." 10:46 Now I need you to know I want to shout right there. When the man says "Jesus just speak the word." 10:51 That is what makes somebody want to shout. But before we get ahead of ourselves and shout, 10:56 let us deal with the first line of the centurion statement. 10:59 "I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof" 11:03 In other words, Jesus, I am not worthy to have You in my house. 11:07 Remember the Centurion was a non-Jew and Jews were basically forbidden to enter the homes of 11:13 anyone who was not Jewish. But Jesus was willing to break Jewish tradition 11:19 and visit the home of a non-Jew to perform an act of mercy. 11:24 But the Roman Centurion says, "I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof." 11:31 Why does he say this? He believes he was inferior to Jesus. 11:37 He was in the presence of someone who was more than just a prophet. 11:42 So, his request was that all Jesus had to do was say the word. 11:47 Jesus did not have to come and see the sick man. Jesus did not have to come 11:52 and lay hands on the sick man. Jesus did not have to come and anoint this sick man. 11:58 All Jesus had to do was say the word and the man would be healed. 12:04 Lord, I am not worthy for you to come to my house. 12:08 It is not even necessary for you to walk into my living room, 12:11 but all you have got to do is say the word and my servant shall be healed. 12:17 The centurion had so much faith that he believed that if Jesus just said the Word, 12:22 his servant will be healed. Now that is going to make somebody want to shout. 12:26 I believe there is somebody watching right now that knows that if the Lord says it, 12:31 you can count on it. I believe there is somebody that knows that His Word is His bond. 12:36 That His Word will not go forward and return unto him void. 12:40 You will remember in the creation of this world in Genesis chapter 1, 12:44 in Genesis 1:3 where God said "Let there be light" and there was light. 12:49 God said it and it happened. 12:51 The centurion said "Lord, 12:54 you do not have to come to my house. I am not even worthy for a visit from you. 13:00 Just say the Word and my servant will be healed." 13:04 You see, the centurion knew authority when he saw it because he was himself a man of authority. 13:14 He knew what it was like to command and also to be commanded. He knew that when orders were given, 13:21 that people were supposed to obey. You see, anyone, I have never been there, 13:25 but anyone who's ever been in the military, I am told that in the military, 13:30 if you are going to make it you have got to obey the chain of command. 13:34 And unless you are at the very top of the chain, everybody is under the command of somebody else. 13:40 I am trying to help somebody. 13:42 Everybody has a superior. The chain of command goes all the way up. So if you disobey at one level, 13:50 you are also disobeying the person at the next level in the chain of command. 13:56 So, the centurion said, "Jesus, I myself am a man of authority. 14:03 I myself am also a man under authority, and authority goes all the way up. 14:11 But the centurion also knew that Jesus-- you all know what I am saying-- was also a man of authority. 14:18 And because the centurion knew that Jesus was a man of authority, 14:23 he believe that Jesus' Words would be sufficient enough that they would be authoritative enough 14:30 for healing. He says you do not have to come to my house. It is not necessary. 14:35 You do not have to follow me home. Just say the word. That is faith, that is trust, that is belief, 14:41 that is confidence. Let me say this right here. 14:44 You see, Jesus has authority. He is CEO of the universe. Besides him there is none other. 14:55 He is President of all galaxies. King of kings and Lord of lords. Everything falls under his control. 15:04 There is nothing beyond His reach. He is my friend, but He is also my father. He is my savior, 15:11 but He is also my strength. He is my brother, but He is also my boss. 15:16 You did not vote him in and you cannot vote him out. You cannot impeach Him 15:19 and He is not going to resign. He is God or by himself, and He does not need help from anybody else. 15:26 And all He has to do is say the Word and something we will happen. 15:30 I wish I had a witness in his place. Now when the centurion said say the word, 15:39 the Bible says that Jesus marveled., that Jesus was amazed. 15:44 You need to know that there are only two times in scripture when the Bible says Jesus marveled at 15:51 something. One was in Mark 6 when Jesus could not do many mighty miracles in his 15:57 hometown among his own people because of their unbelief, 16:01 which is why Jesus said a prophet has no honor in his own country. 16:05 But then the second time it is right here in Matthew 8 when Jesus marveled not at the people's 16:11 unbelief, but Jesus marveled at a centurion's belief. It takes a lot to marvel Jesus. 16:19 After all Jesus is omniscient and He knows everything that is going to happen anyway. 16:23 Are you hearing what I am saying? 16:25 The one thing that could make Him marvel was the amount of faith that his people had or did not have. 16:30 My question to you today is, does Jesus marvel at you? And if he does, 16:36 does he marvel at the great amount of faith you had or the great amount of faith you do not have? 16:41 I wish I had time. Jesus says He had not seen such great faith in all of Israel. 16:51 Now remember the centurion was not coming for healing for himself. Listen to me. 17:00 The centurion was coming for healing for his servant. 17:04 Nothing is said even in the text about the servants's faith. In the text, 17:09 it is all about the centurions' faith, which reminds me that sometimes it is not 17:16 about the faith of the sick individual but it is about the faith of the one pleading 17:20 or interceding on behalf of the sick individual. 17:23 The healing of the centurion's servant tells us something very important about intercessory prayer. 17:29 That is why even as Covid-19 pandemic and we've kind of streamline our service, 17:33 I still said we do not have intercessory prayer. We are still going to plead on behalf of others 17:38 because the servant is healed by Jesus on the basis of the centurion's faith, 17:44 not on the basis of the servant's faith. The Bible does not even mention the servant's faith. 17:50 Jesus does not ask the centurion, "Does your servant believe in me like you do?" 17:57 Jesus heals the servant based on the faith of the centurion. Do you all hear what I am saying? 18:06 What the Bible is trying to teach us is that a person in need can be helped on the basis of somebody 18:15 else's faith. Yes, each and every one of us ought to have a personal faith in Jesus, 18:21 but it is also true that sometimes people can be helped by the faith of friends who 18:28 intercedes to God on behalf of their friends. Sometimes it is the faith and friends. 18:36 Sometimes it is the faith of a spouse. Sometimes it is the faith of mamas and daddies. 18:44 Sometimes it is the faith of grandmas and grandpas. Sometimes it is the faith of church mothers 18:52 and church fathers. 18:54 Sometimes it is the faith of somebody else that brings you through when you do not have faith 19:01 yourself. It is the faith of somebody else that brings you through 19:06 and I am so glad that somebody prayed for me. 19:10 That is why I am able to go and visit in the hospital when Covid-19 is over. 19:15 And the person can be sick, can be unconscious, can be asleep. 19:20 They do not know what is going on and they cannot pray for themselves. 19:24 But then I have to tell the people who are in the room. It could be a doctor, it could be a nurse, 19:28 it could be church members, it could be people in the room who are visiting. 19:32 I tell them "Now if you do not believe in the power of God's healing hand, 19:36 then I need you to excuse yourself from this room. No hard feelings. 19:41 I am not trying to be offensive, but we are about to call down the power of God in this room. 19:47 We are about to call down the power of God on this person. 19:51 Although this person cannot pray for themselves, 19:54 God has called me in his room to pray for them right now. 19:58 We believe that through our prayers, God is going to heal, 20:02 God is going to deliver and God is going to raise this person up. 20:06 If you do not believe like we believe I need you to clear this room 20:10 because we do not need any doubting, faithless spirits in this room. 20:13 Somebody right now, somebody is in school, somebody is financially cleared, 20:20 somebody is in the dorm not because of what you prayed but 20:23 because of what somebody else prayed for you. Somebody is off the streets not on drugs, 20:29 not in jail, not because of what you pray but because of what somebody else prayed for you. 20:35 Somebody's got a job. Somebody is employed right now. 20:39 Somebody is living well, not because of what you prayed but 20:43 because of what somebody else prayed for you. I am so glad somebody prayed for me. 20:49 I am so glad my wife prayed for me. I am so glad my mama prayed for me. 20:54 I am so glad my daddy prayed for me. I am so glad the other pastors have prayed for me. 21:01 I am so glad that you prayed for me. I am almost done. 21:05 But I'm at verse number 11 and verse number 12 of the text. 21:08 The Bible is clear that those who came from the east and from the west of referred to the Gentiles. 21:13 What Jesus is saying quickly here is that many Gentiles will be saved by faith, 21:18 while many Jews will find themselves outside of the Kingdom because of their lack of faith. 21:23 This should not surprise us because there are some people in the church who think they are already 21:29 saved because they are in the church and those who are not in the church are unsaved. 21:32 Let me remind you that we are saved by faith and not by heritage. We are saved by faith 21:37 and not by tenure. I do not care how long you been in the church. 21:41 That does not mean you have got a guaranteed ticket into heaven. Salvation is the work of a lifetime. 21:47 It is called sanctification, God's imparted righteousness where day by day we grow into 21:52 the knowledge of God. I am so glad I am not the man I used to be. I am not the husband I used to be. 21:58 I am not the father I used to be. I am not the pastor I used to be. If any man be in Christ, 22:04 he is a new creature, old things are passed away, old things become new, 22:09 but I am that the last verse now. Verse number 13, 22:12 Jesus closes out the text telling the centurion that his servant is already healed. 22:20 This verse 13 says and Jesus said to the centurion, "Go thy way and as thou hast believed, 22:31 so be it unto thee. And his servant, the Bible says, was healed in the selfsame hour." 22:42 In other words, Jesus tells the centurion, "Go home. 22:48 What you believe could happen has already happened. It is already done. 22:55 Before you call I will answer and while you are yet speaking, I will hear. 23:02 All God has to do is say the Word and it is already done. 23:08 Jesus heals the centurion's servant from a distance. 23:12 In fact, the servant is healed when Jesus speaks, 23:18 which teaches us that distance is not a barrier for healing. 23:22 Distance is not a barrier for salvation. All Jesus has to do is say the Word and it is already done. 23:31 Today, young people, adult people, senior adult people and all people, 23:37 all we need is faith like that Roman centurion 23:42 and we will have access to everything we need from God. If we will just hear the Word, 23:49 believe the Word and speak God's Word, we would see the manifestation of God's Word get our lives. 23:57 Now I am done and I am trying to quit but my soul is about to get happy 24:04 because if we would just hear the Word, believe the Word and speak the Word, 24:11 we would see God's word in our lives. 24:14 Jesus said it in Mark 11: 22-23, He told the disciples "Have faith in God, for verily I say unto you. 24:24 Whatsoever ye shall say unto this mountain it shall be removed." 24:29 And when you have faith in God, when you speak God's Word to your mountain, 24:35 when you tell your mountain to be removed, I said it once, I will say it again, 24:40 "Satan has got to go. Somebody better tell the devil today. 24:45 Satan, you and your satanic ways have got to go. You cannot text me anymore. 24:51 You cannot call me anymore. You cannot email me anymore. You cannot tweet me anymore. 24:57 You cannot even ride with me anymore. You have got to go." I keep saying it. 25:02 I say it all the time. I keep saying and I am going to keep saying until you get it. 25:07 Jesus never told us to climb the mountains in our lives. Too many people trying to sing that song. 25:14 "I am coming up the rough side of the mountain." 25:19 But nowhere in the Bible does it say we are supposed to climb up the mountain. 25:25 In fact, the Bible does not say climb it. But the Bible says speak to it. So stop climbing it. 25:32 Stop wrestling with it. Stop fighting it. Stop boxing it. Just speak to it. 25:39 That is how you fight the mountain. That is how you remove the mountain. 25:43 Speak to the mountain. Use the authority you have. Say something. Speak to it. 25:48 The power of life and death is in your tongue. Speak to it. 25:51 God says "Be thou removed and be cast in the midst of the sea for whatsoever you sayeth you shall 25:59 have it." 26:00 Today if you want healing, say it. If you want deliverance, say it. 26:08 If you want financial breakthrough, say it. If you want a job, say it. 26:15 If you want sound mind, say it. If you want salvation, say it. If you want Jesus, say it. 26:25 Jesus said I can have whatever I say. All I have got to do is say the Word. 26:31 Healing over your body, say it. Finances in your account, say it. Renewing of your mind, say it. 26:40 Restoration of your family, say it. Peace like a river, say it. Love like an ocean, say it. 26:50 Joy like a fountain, say it. Victory over that habit, say it. Mending of your heart, say it. 26:59 Removal of your enemies, say it. I dare you to walk up to your situation and just start talking. 27:07 Just say it. Say the Word and it shall be done. 27:16 Thank you very much for tuning in to this week's Breath of Life broadcast. 27:21 We hope and pray that you've been blessed by Dr. Byrd's inspirational message. 27:25 If you would like to hear this sermon in its entirety, 27:28 please feel free to visit us at www.breathoflife.tv. 27:34 Or, call us at (256) 929-6460. 27:47 When I was eight years old, I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. 27:53 When I was fifthteen, I had my first surgery. When I think about the time that I lost 28:03 during my adolescent years, I just can't seem to put it togther. Even now I'm doing 28:14 treatment for my disease. Everyone experiences loss. It's not of matter of if but when. 28:29 www.breathoflife.tv 28:35 [END] |
Revised 2020-08-26