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Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000657S
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00:01 (Breath of Life Theme Music)
00:05 Sermon #B657_Don't Forget Where You've Come From 00:20 Deuteronomy chapter six and we want to begin reading verse number one. 00:26 Deuteronomy, the fifth book of the Bible chapter six 00:28 and we want to begin reading verse number one. 00:31 If you have it, let me hear you say, Amen. 00:34 The word of God says, "Now these are the commandments, 00:37 the statutes, and the judgments, 00:39 which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, 00:42 that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it. 00:46 " Verse two. "That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, 00:49 to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, 00:52 and thy," what everybody? "Son and thy son's," what everybody? 00:57 "All the days of thy life, that thy days may be prolonged. 01:02 " Verse three. "Hear, therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; 01:05 that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, 01:09 as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, 01:12 in the land that floweth with milk and," what everybody? 01:15 Verse four. "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one," what? [Congregation: Lord] 01:20 Is one what everybody? [Congrega tion: Lord] 01:22 "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine," what? 01:25 "And with all thy," what? "And with all thy," what? [Congregation: Might] 01:28 "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart. 01:32 And thou shalt", do what? "Teach diligently unto thy children, 01:37 and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, 01:40 and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 01:46 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, 01:49 and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 01:53 And thou shalt," do what everybody? [Congregation: Write them] 01:55 Come on. Do what everybody? 01:57 "Write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates." 02:02 Today, I don't want to be long, but I just want to challenge you on the subject, 02:05 don't forget where you've come from. Don't forget where you come from. 02:08 God bless us now, bless this word. Make Deuteronomy six come alive. 02:13 And God, when we get to the appeal[?], 02:14 may your Holy Spirit move in this place and prick[?] 02:16 your people, that they may give their lives to you. 02:19 Forgive me of my sins, hide me behind your cross. In the name of Jesus. 02:23 Let everyone say, Amen. [Congregation: Amen] 02:25 Amen. You may be seated. Don't forget where you've come from. 02:31 Today, I want to remind you of the importance of understanding your history. 02:38 Whether you're black, white, Hispanic, Asian, or Native American, 02:42 you need to know your history because when you know your history, 02:47 you can better understand how to approach your future. 02:52 When you know your past, people can't define it for you 02:57 and tell you what you should or should not know. 03:00 When you know your past, people can't legislate your future 03:05 based on their understanding of your past. 03:10 When you know your past, your past is not forgotten 03:14 and you have evidence and fuel for the future. Are you hearing what I'm saying? 03:19 Now, to say you don't care about your past is not necessarily true. 03:24 Because everybody has a desire to know something about their history, their past, 03:29 their ancestors, which is why websites like ancestry.com 03:34 that allow you to search your background are so popular today 03:38 because to understand your past, allows you to operate in your future. 03:41 Are you hearing what I'm saying? 03:43 In the text, it's been three months since the children of Israel have left Egypt 03:50 and it's about forty years before they go into the Promised Land. 03:54 Moses, in essence, is telling the children of Israel, look, 03:57 don't forget where you've come from. Don't forget your past. 04:03 It was God who said in verse number four, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord. 04:09 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine," what everybody? 04:12 "Hearts and with all thy soul and with all thy might. 04:15 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart." 04:19 Now, in this text, these three simple verses, God identifies himself 04:24 and reminds the children of Israel that he is God. [Congregation: Amen] 04:28 I said, he's God. [Congregation: Amen] 04:31 He doesn't need you and he doesn't need me because he's God. 04:37 But he also declares how the children of Israel should respond to him. 04:42 He doesn't want the people to forget him or their past. 04:46 But they weren't supposed to remember their past just for themselves. 04:50 The text teaches that they were also supposed to remember their past, 04:53 so they could teach their history to their children. 04:56 In fact, each generation was to teach the next generation so 05:01 that nothing was lost with each subsequent generation. 05:06 But not only that, they weren't supposed to just teach passively to their children, 05:11 but they were to aggressively and intentionally, teach their children. 05:16 When you read verse number seven, it says, "And you shalt diligently." 05:20 Everybody say diligently. [Congr egation: Diligently] 05:22 "Diligently teach your children." 05:25 The Hebrew word for teach is [Sana] which means to sharpen. 05:29 So the idea here then is that just as words are cut 05:33 and embedded into a stone tablet with a sharp object, 05:37 so God's word and God's law was to be impressed 05:41 on the hearts of childrenof every generation. 05:45 God commanded the children of Israel to pass on their history 05:47 and religious instruction to their children from one generation to another generation. 05:53 They were to preserve their tradition but they were also to remember God's word. 05:59 And I believe the day has come that we need to get back to that. [Congregation: Amen] 06:04 We need to get back to the tradition of passing down our family's history to our children. 06:11 We need to get back to the tradition of passing down our insight 06:15 and our faith to our children. [Congregation: Amen] 06:17 We need to get back to the tradition of passing on the wisdom of our elders to our children. 06:24 It's not simply enough friends of mine to hand our children a book. 06:28 It's not enough to sit them in front of a television hoping they just be quiet. 06:32 It's not enough for them to surf the internet 06:35 or to let them stay on a smartphone all day long. 06:39 We must get back to some of these old 06:42 waymarks and sit our children down and talk to them about God, 06:48 Talk to them about our history. Talk to them about Jesus. 06:51 Don't you forget where you've come from. 06:54 Don't forget where you were as compared to where you are now. 06:59 Now, let's be real. You haven't always been able to live like you now live. 07:03 You haven't always been able to drive like you now drive. 07:06 Don't you get the big head. Don't you forget that it was God who brought you out. 07:11 God brought the children of Israel out. 07:13 Moses was God's agency to lead them out, but God brought them out. 07:19 And let me throw this in free of charge, 07:21 the emancipation proclamation did not free the slaves. [Congregation: Yeah] 07:26 The emancipation proclamation preserved the union. [Congregation: Yeah] 07:30 Read your history. Abraham Lincoln was a good man. 07:35 But Abraham Lincoln did not free the slaves. 07:38 God freed the slaves. [Congregation: Yeah] 07:42 Don't forget where you've come from. We are people of an oral tradition. 07:48 And yes, we need to pass in our history through the verbal word. 07:51 But number two, we also need to pass down our history through the written word. 07:56 Our culture is a culture of oral tradition. 08:01 But if you study history, you will also discover that the African tradition, 08:06 African culture produced the Egyptian hieroglyphics. 08:10 African culture and tradition also produced the Mesoptomian cuneiforms. 08:16 And so verse nine of our text, I got to move quickly, says, 08:20 "The commandments that God had given Moses, 08:23 they were so important that they were to write them down." [Congregation: Amen] 08:28 Dr. Byrd: Put them on their doorposts. Put them on their gates. 08:32 They were to be publicly displayed so all could see, all could read, 08:37 and all could know nothing was to be hidden. [Congregation: That's right] 08:41 February is Black History Month. And Black History Month is to make sure 08:46 that the contributions of people of color are not hidden. 08:50 These contributions should be shared just like the achievements from our brothers 08:55 and sisters of other races. 08:56 We have Black History Month though and some people including some black people 09:03 don't even know why we have it. Don't you let anybody tell you we shouldn't have it. 09:10 It's for good reason that we should reflect on the historical contributions 09:15 blacks have made not only in America but around the world. 09:18 Are you hearing what I'm saying? [Congregation: Yes] 09:20 Let me remind you what Mayor Reed said because repetition deepens the impression. 09:25 The forerunner to Black History was created in 1926 here in the States. 09:30 Historian Dr. Carter Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life 09:35 and History announced that the second week of February was to be Negro History Week. 09:41 Like Mayor Reed said, this was chosen not because February was a short month, 09:46 but this was chosen because Abraham Lincoln's birthday was on February 12th 09:50 and Frederick Douglass's birthday was on February 14. [Congregation: Yeah] 09:55 In its early days of celebrating Negro History, the goal, listen to me. 09:59 The goal was to teach the history of American Blacks in public schools. 10:05 The expansion of Black History Week to Black History Month 10:09 was first proposed not by the government. Movements always start at the ground level. 10:17 Was first proposed by students at Kent State University in 1969. 10:22 Then, seven years later, in 1976 as part of the United States bicentennial, 10:28 so the US is now celebrating two hundred years and they don't get on this. 10:31 The expansion of Negro History Week to Black History Month 10:35 was officially recognized by the United States government. 10:39 It was then-President Gerald Ford who said that 10:42 "The time had come to seize the opportunity to honor too often 10:47 neglected accomplishments of Black Americans." 10:49 Do I have a witness to this place? [Congregation: Yeah] 10:52 Because some people would have you to believe that blacks weren't in the Bible. 10:55 That's a lie from the pits of hell. [Congregation: AMEN] 10:57 Blacks were in the Bible. Let me mention three and I will because I have the mic. 11:03 Do I have a witness in this place? [Congregation: Yeah] 11:05 Number one, the Queen of Sheba. [Congregation: Yeah] 11:08 She was Ethiopian. Ethiopia is in Africa. Africa is black. 11:15 Do I have a witness in this place? [Congregation: clapping] 11:17 The Queen of Sheba visited Solomon to test his wisdom. 11:21 She had learned about his wisdom and wanted to see for herself 11:24 if what she had heard was true. She tested his wisdom, study your Bible, 11:28 through a series of questions in 1st Kings chapter 10. 11:31 Once she was satisfied, she acknowledged Solomon's God who had given him such wisdom. 11:37 But let's not stop with the Queen of Sheba. What about Simon of Cyrene? 11:42 He was a man of color, who carried the cross when our Jesus was too weak to carry the cross. 11:50 What am I trying to say? A black man carried the cross for my Jesus. 11:55 Are you hearing what I'm saying? [Congregation: Yes] 11:57 But number three, Ham. I ain't talking what you eat either. 12:05 And I'm going to put my preaching kickstand right here for a minute 12:09 because there are a lot of lies out there that have been told about Ham. 12:14 Ham was one of Noah's sons who helped Noah built the Ark. 12:20 Ham sinned against his father Noah by seeing the nakedness of his father. 12:25 When you read Genesis chapter nine verse number twenty-five, you would discover 12:29 that Noah placed a curse on Canaan. Follow me. 12:35 Ham's son, not on Ham who committed the act. 12:43 It has been taught for hundreds of years, that the curse was placed on Ham 12:50 and that caused his skin to become black. 12:54 Ham is widely considered to be the father of the black race 12:59 because the curse placed upon him changed his skin color. 13:04 But remember the curse, was put on Canaan, not Ham. 13:10 But regardless of whether Noah put the curse on Ham or Canaan, 13:15 why would God, my friends, curse a skin color when everything he created he said 13:23 was good and it was created in his image. 13:28 The erroneous notion that Ham's curse was for his skin to be made black 13:36 and thus all of his descendants should be black, would be black, 13:40 foolishly justified slavery for hundreds of years both in Europe and in America. 13:48 Now, imagine being told as a child that your skin color was caused by a curse 13:57 upon a man who sinned against his father. 14:00 Imagine thinking that there are truly was something wrong with having brown skin. 14:07 It was bad enough when others believed it about you, 14:09 but imagine if you believed it about yourself. 14:14 But this was a prominent teaching in racist circles, 14:17 that God created us inferior because of something Noah's son Ham did thousands of years ago. 14:23 And while this inferiority idea is ludicrous and there have been many 14:28 who have argued against this belief since its inception hundreds of years ago, 14:31 the belief still exists. But I hear Moses saying, teach your children. 14:43 But if you've been taught that you're inferior and someone points out 14:48 that your race has not had any impact of historical significance 14:52 because it's not recorded anywhere, 14:55 that lends itself to an acceptance of the facts by a preponderance of the evidence 15:00 even if the evidence is wrong. [Congregation: You're right. You're right] 15:04 We need to know, understand, and believe in the truth and he shall know the truth 15:13 and the truth shall set you free. We must read, 15:20 we must research and learn ourselves and stop accepting any lie as fact just 15:27 because we refused to verify it. We must tell our children our history. 15:33 Tell them our stories. Tell them our struggles and how we made it over. 15:39 We must instill within them a sense of self that is not based on how others define them, 15:47 but on how they define themselves based on what they can do. 15:51 You see, something went very wrong for us after the Civil Rights Movement 15:56 and struggle the 50s and 60s. 15:59 You see, we believed that we were fighting for integration. 16:05 And after we achieved the Voting Rights Act and after we achieved access to 16:11 public facilities and public schools, after we won the use of public transportation, 16:18 we thought we had achieved the goal of integration. 16:23 But we were tricked. The powers that were and still are, if you don't believe me, 16:31 they still are, watch CNN, told us that we had achieved integration. 16:41 But what they actually gave us was assimilation. 16:46 There's a difference between integration and assimilation. 16:51 In true integration, we gain something when we become part of the whole. 16:58 But in assimilation, we lose something when we become a part of the whole 17:04 and we lost so much. We've lost our culture. We've lost our identity. 17:08 We've lost our history. Our children sit beside other children in public schools 17:15 and they all learn about the great white people of Europe and America. 17:20 But they are taught little about the great people, black of Africa and America. 17:27 This is assimilation. In school classroom settings, 17:30 the teacher may mention Frederick Douglass, Booker J. Washington, Martin Luther King, 17:34 but there's often no in-depth study of these persons and their backgrounds. 17:38 And usually, no mention of them is made until Black History Month in February. 17:42 This is assimilation. And so many of us are fooled by this. 17:50 This is why there are so many of us were forgotten who we are. 17:52 We have forgotten our heritage. Forgotten our identity. Forgotten our history. 17:56 But don't you forget where you've come from. 18:00 When Israel held on to its heritage and cultural identity, it prospered and progressed. 18:07 But when it abandoned its heritage and cultural identity, it stumbled and fell. 18:13 Sadly, many of us are in the midst of the so-called success 18:20 and we believe that we've arrived. And we believe we no longer need God. 18:26 Now, that we've got a good job. Now, that we've got a big office. 18:31 Now, that we've got some letters behind our names, 18:34 a big house with two cars or three cars in the driveway. 18:37 Now, that we have four or five bedrooms, three or four bathrooms in our homes, 18:41 some of us act like God is dispensable in our lives. 18:48 But there's only one way, that we're going to survive as a people, 18:53 and that's to let God back into our lives. 18:58 The only way we're going to save our families is to let God back in our families. 19:05 The only way we're going to save our schools is to let God back in our schools. 19:13 The only way we're going to save our churches is to let God back in our churches. 19:20 If we want to fly, if we want to survive and stay alive, 19:24 we must hold on to what God has given us. Don't forget your past. 19:32 Don't forget where you've come from. 19:37 But before I take my seat, let me give you a word of caution. 19:42 Don't forget where you come from. But don't forget where you need to go either. 19:48 Too often we think we've arrived. Too often we think we've made it. 19:53 That the struggle is over. 19:57 But the average income still significantly lower than our white counterparts. 20:01 We're still the last to be hired and the first to be fired in most cases. 20:05 We're still rejected for bank loans at an alarmingly high rate. 20:09 Our children still make up the largest percentage of those who are incarcerated. 20:14 Gonna be real. It's good to have a black man in the Supreme Court. 20:21 But justice is still unjust when the prisons are filled with just us. 20:29 It's great that the Constitution gives us the right to vote, 20:33 but the 15th Amendment is worthless if we're turned away at the polls 20:38 for senseless reasons or the oldest voting machines are placed in our communities, 20:46 where the tags don't fall off and our votes are not being counted. 20:51 [Congregation: That's right] 20:53 It is great to have the opportunity to go to college, go to Oakwood, to go to A&M. 20:56 But the opportunity is worthless if too many of our children end up flunking out 21:01 because of our inadequate and inferior elementary education. 21:06 It's wonderful to have racial tolerance as part of our elementary school curriculum. 21:12 But we need to teach it also to the real estate broker, to the bank loan officer, 21:19 to the law enforcements, to the human resources departments of major corporations, 21:26 and our neighbors who move out when we move in. 21:32 History's reflection can be wonderfully satisfying 21:35 but be aware fo letting it ruin your appetite for progress. 21:39 There are still so much work to be done. 21:44 "So, pastor, why do you bring this to us?" Deuteronomy six. 21:47 Well, what role do we as Christians play in this quest for equality? 21:53 Black traditions says that hope for change always began in the black church. 22:03 Black Christians have been the catalyst for revolutionizing 22:06 and transforming our circumstances and we can't stop now. 22:10 The children of Israel were challenged not to think that their greatest victories 22:15 with the Lord were behind them. Because if you keep reading the Old Testament, 22:19 you will read in Isaiah 43, where God in Isaiah 43 reminded the children of Israel 22:25 that he had brought them through the Red Sea. 22:29 But if you read Isaiah 53, you also read where he said, 22:32 I brought you through the Red Sea, but I'm about to do a new thing. 22:38 He said, "Behold I will do a new thing. 22:41 Now, it shall spring forth, shall ye not know it. 22:46 I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." 22:49 He commanded the Israelites to look ahead. 22:52 He said, "I'm not through with you yet." And that's a word for somebody today. 22:59 That if God can part the Red Sea, if God can make a way in the wilderness, 23:06 if God could make rivers in the desert, 23:09 we know that God is able to move our present mountains out of the way. 23:14 God never told us to climb up the rough side of the mountain. 23:18 God said, speak to that mountain and tell that mountain to be removed. 23:25 If the Lord can cause a virgin to conceive, then God can restore our families. 23:34 If the Lord can open a Red Sea, then surely the Lord can open windows of opportunity. 23:41 If the Lord can resurrect Lazarus, I'm sure that he can resurrect our dying churches. 23:51 If the Lord can heal a woman with an issue of blood, surely, 23:57 God can heal somebody of cancer. The Lord can do it because he's God 24:05 and so I hear the prophet of this church saying, 24:08 "We have nothing to fear for the future, less we forget how God has led us in the past." 24:16 Don't forget where you come from and don't forget where you're going. 24:21 God is going to do a new thing. I'm glad he did what he did for the children of Israel. 24:27 I'm glad he parted the Red Sea. I'm glad he led them through the wilderness. 24:32 I'm glad he led them to the Promised Land. But that's what he did for them. 24:38 And I just believe that he's getting ready to do something for me. 24:43 Somebody ought to testify. I'm glad he'll heal somebody else of cancer. 24:47 I'm glad he restores somebody else's marriage. 24:50 I'm glad he got you a new job, the new house. I'm glad he gave you peace. 24:56 I'm glad he's done something for you. 24:58 But now, now, now, He's getting ready to do something for me. 25:05 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. His mercy endureth forever. 25:10 I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. 25:15 The humble shall hear thereof and be glad. 25:17 Oh, come and magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. 25:21 Don't forget where you come from and don't forget where you're going. 25:28 Heaven is a wonderful place. Filled with glory and grace. 25:39 I plan to see my Saviour's face. Because Heaven is going to be a wonderful place. 25:51 Don't forget where you've come from. But don't forget where you're trying to go. 25:59 I'm trying to meet my God. I'm trying to see my God. 26:07 I'm trying to live forever with God. Because he's the joy and the strength in my life. 26:19 He moves all misery and strife. God is. God is [Congregation: singing] 26:27 Dr. Byrd: [Singing] God is 26:31 Thank you very much for tuning in to this week's Breath of Life broadcast. 26:35 We hope and pray that you've been blessed by Dr. Byrd's inspirational message. 26:40 If you would like to hear this sermon in its entirety, 26:42 please feel free to visit us at www.breathoflife.tv. 26:48 Or, call us at (256) 929-6460. 26:55 [END] |
Revised 2020-02-17