Participants:
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000652S
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00:04 Sermon #B652-When God Says No
00:20 Dr. Byrd: Let's get right in the Word today, what do you say everybody? 00:24 If you will take your Bibles and go with me to the book of Romans, 00:29 and we're going to go to one chapter and one verse, Romans Chapter 8, Verse number 28. 00:39 And without even turning, we should know this text, Romans Chapter 8, Verse number 28. 00:49 Romans Chapter 8, Verse number 28. If you haven't, let me hear you say Amen. 00:54 The Word of God says and we know that all things work together for what everybody-- 01:03 come on, talk to me, work together for what everybody? [Congregants: For good.] 01:06 For good, to them, that love the Lord and are the called according to His purpose. 01:16 Let's say it again, all things work together for what everybody? 01:19 Good to them who love the Lord and are the called according to His purpose. 01:29 My subject because we can preach this text in many different ways, 01:33 but my subject today is entitled When God Says No. 01:40 Father bless us now, as we go into your word. 01:45 Forgive me of my sins, hide us behind your cross. 01:48 When the appeal time comes, move by your power and sprinkle out your grace. 01:52 Speak this Word to your people this day. In Jesus name, let everyone say, Amen, and Amen. 02:02 One of the things that we have preached, proclaim, declared and testified over 02:11 and over again, is that God will hear and answer prayer. Earlier in our worship experience, 02:20 I share with you again that God will answer prayer. We quote, ask, and it shall be given. 02:32 Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and the door shall be open until you. 02:40 We recite and this is the confidence we have when approaching God that whatever we ask, 02:47 we know, we have. We quote Second Chronicles 7:14, 02:52 "If my people, who are called by my name, would humble themselves and pray 02:58 and seek my face, turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, 03:06 And I will hear heal their land." With great enthusiasm, 03:12 we quote and recite great euphemisms about prayer. 03:17 We say, "With much prayer--" There's much what everybody? 03:21 We say little prayer and little what? No prayer and no power. 03:26 We often tell each other, "You gotta push. You've got to pray until something happens." 03:33 We used to sing a song called Jesus on the Mainline. 03:37 Tell him what you want, call him up and tell him what you want. 03:42 Now, back in the day, the young people don't know anything about this. 03:44 We used to make collect calls. And so in this song whoever the person said call collects, 03:51 he'll accept tell him what you want. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? 03:56 We get excited. when we talk about prayer. We testify I serve a prayer answering God. 04:03 I serve a problem-solving God. I serve a heart-fixing God. I serve a pain-relieving God. 04:12 I serve a way making God. I serve a cancer-killing God. I serve a job giving God. 04:21 I serve a marriage saving God, we get excited about prayer. 04:25 Do I have a witness in this place? [Congregation: Yeah] 04:28 We read the Bible and reminded of the prayers that people prayed, 04:31 and God said, "Yes." Yes, to Daniel in the lion's den. 04:37 Yes,to three hebrew boys in the fiery furnace. Yes, to the woman with the issue of blood. 04:43 Yes to the crippled man at the pool of Bethesda. Yes, to Jairus and his daughter. 04:48 Yes, to the blind man in John Chapter 9, in our own lives. 04:54 We have seen God say, "Yes." to our prayer requests for healing. 04:59 Our prayer pleas for employment, our prayer petitions for the restoration of a marriage, 05:05 the birth of a child, money to get in school, help to pass a test. 05:11 And when God says, "Yes." we jump. We shout, we clap our hands. 05:20 We say Amen because we serve a prayer-answering God. Do I have a witness in this place? 05:27 [Congregants: Yes] 05:29 But what do we do when God says, "No."? What do we do when we pray in the name of Jesus? 05:39 Pray in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost and God says, "No." 05:46 What do we do when we touch and agree with other believers, 05:53 and we bind Satan in the name of Jesus, but God says, "No."? 06:00 What do we do when we have fasted and prayed? Been anointed with oil? 06:06 Have laid on of hands, but yet God says, "No." 06:13 What do we do when we pray for healing from cancer, changed our diet, 06:19 eat now the right things, exercise, believe, expected, but God says, "No."? 06:27 We studied for the test. We didn't study on the Sabbath. 06:33 We practice problems, went over examples. We prayed for an A, but God didn't answer. 06:43 And then why are some people healed and some people aren't? 06:47 I mean, as a pastor, I must admit I have prayed for some people. 06:51 And God said, "Yes," but then I say, I pray the same prayer for other people 06:55 and God said, "No." 06:58 Can I get real? As a pastor, It gets tough sometimes. 07:04 It gets painful to visit church members who truly love the Lord. 07:11 And I see them suffering and they are unable to do anything about their condition. 07:18 I pray for their healing. I even tell people, 07:21 "If you don't believe in the healing power of God, I need you to clear out the room 07:24 because we don't need distracting spirits in this room." I pray for their healing. 07:30 They pray for their healing, but God stills says, "No." 07:36 But then I'm baffled because I'll pray for somebody elsewhere it's gonna take a miracle 07:42 for them to survive, but then God says, "Yes." Why are some people healed 07:49 and others who are just as deserving, not healed? 07:55 But then, as a Seventh Day Adventist Christian, I was taught not to question God, 08:00 because we hear it all the time. God knows what's best. God doesn't make mistakes. 08:07 God is sovereign. So don't you question God. 08:11 But yet if we're real today and we pull off the cover, if we're honest with ourselves, 08:16 we do question God. And before I give them a text, let me help somebody out right now. 08:22 Somebody's gonna get mad with me with a statement, but I'm gonna say it anyhow. 08:25 It's all right to question God. Now, that's making somebody uncomfortable. 08:32 But it's okay to question God. It's okay because God knows everything, 08:36 and God knows our questions before we even asked them. 08:40 Not asking does not mean that they're not there. 08:43 It only means that we're in denial and we're hiding them, pretending they're not there, 08:47 but they are there. God knows they're there and it is okay friends of mine to ask why? 08:55 It's okay to question God because there's a difference 08:58 between questioning God and doubting God. 09:00 When we doubt, we're saying, "I'm not sure I believe." 09:06 When we question, we're saying, "I believe, I just don't understand." 09:12 Doubt says, "I'm not sure if you're a real or true." 09:17 Question say, "I know you're real and true. 09:21 I just don't understand why you do what you do." 09:25 Another reason why it's okay to question God is because God can handle our questions. 09:30 If God can handle our sins, God can handle our questions. 09:34 If God can handle our disobedience, God can handle our questions. 09:39 If God can handle our broken promises, then God can handle our questions. 09:44 If God can handle our mess, then God can handle our questions. 09:50 If God can handle everything we're not and still love us in spite of us, 09:56 then surely God can handle our questions. 10:00 Can I be honest with you all today? Faith is not faith unless it has some questions. 10:06 Faith is not getting everything you pray for every time. 10:10 It doesn't take faith to believe in God. 10:13 If God does everything we want God to do when we want God to do it 10:17 and the way we want God to do it. Faith means we have some questions. 10:22 But faith means believing with questions. 10:26 Faith means that when God says, "Yes" we believe, and when God says, "No" we still believe. 10:33 And when we don't know what God is saying, we still believe. 10:37 Faith means believing when we understand and believing when we don't understand. 10:43 Faith means believing in the bright daylight and believing in the darkness midnight. 10:49 Faith means believing when the sun is shining in the sky, 10:53 but it also is believing in the midst of the storm. 10:56 Faith is believing when the water is clear and sparkling, 11:00 but it's also believing when the water is muddy and murky. 11:03 Faith is Job declaring though he slay me, yet well, I trust in him. 11:09 Faith is Habakkuk saying,"though the fig tree doesn't blossom, and no fruit is on the vines." 11:15 Yet but I still rejoice in the Lord. I will exalt in the God of my salvation. 11:21 Faith is Jesus saying in the garden of Getsemani, "Nevertheless not my will, 11:26 but thy will be done." Faith is Jesus hanging on the cross, even though he questions God, 11:33 "My God, why has thou forsaken me?" Faith means we have questions, 11:41 but faith also means believing with questions. 11:44 So somebody wants to know, "Pastor Byrd, how do you keep your faith in God? 11:50 When God says no, and your questions are not answered?" 11:55 Well, I'm gonna tell you like the old folks used to tell me, you just have to trust God. 12:01 Now I believe the Paul wrote these letters to the New Testament Church in the 12:06 that he did for a reason. I believe there's a reason why Paul's journey was in Rome 12:13 before Corinth. I believe there's a reason Romans comes before Corinthians. 12:18 I believe there's a reason Paul writes Romans 8:28 before he wrote Second Corinthians 12. 12:25 Because I believe he had to say something in Romans 8 12:27 before he said something in First Corinthians-- in Second Corinthians 12. 12:31 Now in Romans 8, he says, and we know that all things work together for what everybody? 12:36 Good. To them who love the Lord and are the called according to His what? Purpose. 12:41 But I want you to take your Bibles quickly, I'm almost done. 12:43 Take your Bibles quickly and go to Second Corinthians. 12:46 Go to second Corinthians and I want you to go to Chapter 12. 12:49 Second Corinthians, Chapter 12, and I want you to go to verse number 7. 12:52 I do believe there is a reason Romans 8 comes in for Second Corinthians 12. 12:56 Quickly go to Romans-- go to Second Corinthians Chapter 12, and go to Verse number 7. 13:02 II Corinthians 12 verse 7, if you have it let me hear you say Amen. 13:05 All right, the Word says, Paul, unless I should be exalted above measure, 13:11 to the abundance of the revelations there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, 13:16 the messenger of Satan to buffet me, less I should be exalted above measure. 13:21 For this thing, I be sought the Lord thrice. 13:25 In other words, Paul said, "I prayed three times, for God to remove this thorn, 13:31 that it might depart from me." But look what he says, God said. 13:34 And he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for thee," 13:39 for my strength is made perfect in weakness. 13:44 Most gladly, therefore what I rather glory in my infirmities, hallelujah, 13:49 that the power of Jesus Christ may rest upon me. 13:53 Therefore, Paul says, "I take pleasure in infirmities I could preach that all right there. 13:59 I take pleasure in infirmities. I take pleasure in reproaches. 14:05 I take pleasure in the necessities 14:07 in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake for when I am weak." 14:14 Then I am what, everybody? [Congregation: inaudible] 14:16 Now, in Second Corinthians 12 quickly, 14:18 Paul begins this chapter by talking about a spiritual 14:20 experience when he was shown heaven in vision. 14:23 He didn't know whether the experience was in body or out of body, 14:26 but envision he has an experience. Paul says that to keep him from becoming conceited, 14:33 to keep him from getting the big head, a thorn in the flesh, 14:41 a messenger from Satan was set to torment him. Now, Paul took this thorn, Haleluya. 14:51 He took it to God in prayer not once, not twice, but three times. 14:58 Paul prayed, Paul pleaded, Paul petition, Paul agonized with God, 15:03 "God, take this thorn from me." But three times, God said, "No" 15:11 God says "No". When Paul and Silas are in jail, they prayed, 15:15 and they sang so powerfully that the earth shook, the prison doors flew open, 15:22 their chains fell off. But yet when Paul asked God, "God, remove this thorn." 15:29 God says, "No," God said no to Paul's prayer requests, 15:34 and instead he says, "My grace is sufficient." 15:40 Why would God tell Paul "No" and then turn around and talk about grace? 15:48 I believe that God is reminding Paul, 15:51 that he should be more concerned with his spiritual health than his physical well being. 15:58 While is God focused on spiritual power during physical pain, 16:01 how is spiritual power perfected in weakness? 16:05 The answer to this question gives us a better insight as to why 16:09 God said "No" to remove the thorn in the first place? Think about it. 16:14 When do we pray the most? Do we pray more when we're happy, and things are going our way, 16:25 and the sun is shining and we have no worries? 16:28 I mean, we get blessed with money, blessed with a house, blessed with car, 16:32 and we just pray and pray and pray and not, "No, no. " 16:35 Or do we pray more when we're suffering? When we've got major problems, 16:41 when we've got questions and we need answers, and we don't know what to do? 16:44 And God is telling Paul, and God is telling us today that when we are weakened 16:50 by this life, that's when we're strongest. Because that's when we rely on the Lord. 16:59 I would never know that he is a provider if I've never been broke. 17:05 I would never know He's a healer unless I've been sick. 17:10 When we're going through the trouble that's when we pray more, 17:15 that's when we depend on God more. So, God says, 17:18 "No, Paul, I'm not gonna remove that thorn because it's when you're in your pain, 17:25 when you're going through it. that's when you learn to best depend on me." 17:31 How many testimonies Have you heard people tell of a time in which their time lives were 17:37 going great, and they just decided to pray more, and everything just got better? 17:43 I haven't heard many testimonies like that. 17:45 But I heard countless testimonies of people whose lives were in a mess 17:51 and they decided to turn to Lord, to depend on the Lord, to rely on the Lord. 17:58 And when they turn to the Lord, everything in their life began to change. 18:04 And I believe I've got a witness in this place that knows when you surrender to the Lord, 18:10 things change, won't God do it? If God not able, don't get it twisted. 18:17 It doesn't mean that they were miraculously healed or completely freed of their situations, 18:22 but they knew that God now was in control, and they began to depend on him. 18:27 And so sometimes, God says no to our prayers, no to removing the thorns in our lives, 18:32 because he knows what's best for us and all things work together for good. 18:38 But I want to share something else before I set down. 18:40 Remember now, Paul prays, God says "No". God instead says, "My grace is sufficient." 18:52 Why grace? The Lord could have said, "My love is sufficient." 18:59 He could have said, "My peace is sufficient." He could have said, "My will is sufficient." 19:08 But why does God say, "My grace is sufficient."? Well, you got to remember what grace is. 19:16 Grace is the unmerited goodness of God. 19:19 Grace is what God does for us without our asking, y'all don't hear what I'm saying? 19:24 You see, we ask for blessings. We ask for forgiveness. We asked for peace. 19:30 We asked for a car, we asked for a house. 19:32 We ask for mate but Grace is what God gives us without asking, because God is good. 19:40 When God says, "No" God is saying, "I'll give you what you need without you asking for it. 19:47 So instead of giving you what you want, I'm going to give you what you need." 19:52 God doesn't give us what we want when we ask, God gives us what we need. 19:57 And so to say yes, sometimes would bring us harm we don't foresee. 20:03 Because God's getting you ready better, ready for something better, 20:06 and we know that all things work together for good. 20:11 But not only that, sometimes we get discouraged in prayer by thinking God has said 20:15 "No" when in fact, God has said nothing at all. 20:18 I have learned, my friends, that delay is not denial. Wait, is an answer. 20:26 God often delays his answer to us to teach us patience and build our faith. 20:30 I've learned that sometimes God says "Yes", sometimes God says "No", 20:36 sometimes God says "Slow", and sometimes God says, "You need to grow." 20:41 But we know that all things work together for good. 20:46 And because God knows what's best, and he knows what's best for our good, 20:50 even when you don't know what to ask, and even when you're not ready for the answer, 20:54 God's grace is sufficient. God will take care of you. 21:03 So I preach this sermon not just for your ears, but for my ears too. 21:08 I preach the sermon not just for you to do you today, but as your pastor, 21:13 I'm preaching to myself today. I wonder, 21:16 "Why Lord in the past month we've had all these deaths at the Oakwood University church?" 21:23 And sometimes it can begin to weigh you down. And I have to now preach to myself. 21:30 And I have to tell myself, that God says sometimes it's not "Yes", 21:34 but sometimes it's "No", but he says, "My grace is sufficient." 21:41 We don't know why our loved one has died, but we know God is going to take care of us. 21:47 We don't know why we lost our job, but God is going to take care of us. 21:52 We don't know why our marriage relationship fell apart, but God is gonna take care of us. 21:59 We don't know what's gonna happen to our children, but we know God's gonna take care of us. 22:04 We don't know why God won't heal us, but we know God's gonna take care of us. 22:09 We don't know where the money is gonna come from to pay our bills, 22:12 but we do know God's gonna take care of us. 22:16 We don't know why God says "No", but we know God's gonna take care of us. 22:21 We don't know what the future holds, but we do know who holds the future 22:27 and we know God is gonna take care of us. 22:32 And we know that all things work together for good to them who love the Lord 22:43 and the call according to His purpose. I once was young, but now I'm old. 22:52 But I've never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread. 23:02 If God before us, who can be against us? 23:08 And we know that all things work together for good to them who love the Lord 23:14 and are called according to His purposes, fret not thyself because of evildoers, 23:20 neither be that envious of the workers of iniquity 23:23 because God will cut them down like the grass, 23:25 and we know that all things work together for good to them who love the Lord. 23:30 So when God says "No", I will trust Him. [background music] 23:37 When God says "Slow", I'll trust Him. 23:43 When God says, "Buddy bird, you got to grow.", I'll trust Him. So in your life, 23:57 you might have to question Him, but you still have got to trust Him. 24:06 You may not understand, but You gotta trust Him. 24:13 The old folk were right, God is too wise to make mistakes. God is too right to be wrong. 24:26 Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take him at his word, 24:35 I don't know what tomorrow might be, but I trust Him. 24:42 Thank you very much for tuning in to this week's Breath of Life broadcast. 24:47 We hope and pray that you've been blessed by Dr. Byrd's inspirational message. 24:51 If you would like to hear this sermon in its entirety, 24:54 please feel free to visit us at www.breathoflife.tv. 25:00 Or, call us at (256) 929-646 25:06 [end] 25:12 [Congregation: Applause] 25:20 Dr. Byrd: Our Miami revival was a special treat. 25:23 Truly the Holy Spirit was in the place, as over hundred individuals were baptized. 25:30 One of these persons who was baptised, was an old classmate of mine; René Castillo. 25:36 I hadn't seen René in over thirty years, but when the appeal was made for baptism, 25:42 René surrendered his life to the Lord, and was baptized. 25:46 René: Every word that man said, man it's just- 25:51 Every time he opened his mouth I would have an epiphany. 25:56 Everytime he said something, I already knew it but I had buried it. 26:03 That it was like - almost like relearning it and I'm like, I know that. 26:07 I know that. I know that. 26:10 He did say something, and it's been going over and over in my head. 26:17 He says-- Lord I hide your word in my heart, so that I don't sin against you. 26:27 [Sobbing] 26:35 I feel grateful because I brought one of my sons-- 26:44 for two days and he actually enjoyed it. I didn't want to push it on him you know? 26:50 It is my responsiblity, according to word of God, to be the leader-- 26:55 the spiritual leader of my household; and I have not done that. 27:02 Dr. Byrd: I am so grateful, that René had the opportunity 27:06 to renew his relationship with the Lord. 27:08 René's story makes us mindful, 27:11 that the work of evangelism restores and strengthens individuals and families! 27:18 To help Breath of Life continue its mission, 27:21 of spreading this wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ. 27:24 Please share a gift with us today. 27:27 Make your tax deductible gift payable to Breath of Life by mail, 27:30 at Breath of Life PO BOX 5960, Huntsville, AL 35814 27:36 Give us all call the number is 256.929.6460 27:42 Or you can visit us online at www.breathoflife.tv 27:56 Social justice is embedded in Breath of Life's commitment 28:02 to carry this wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ. 28:06 I believe in social justice. I believe in equality of all people. 28:14 And I also believe that Jesus died and His blood was spilt for all of us. 28:26 [The End] |
Revised 2021-07-21