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Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000694S
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00:00 (Breath of Life Theme Music)
00:06 Sermon #B694 - Marching orders 00:21 Dr. Byrd: God, I trust you today. When I can't see my way, Lord, I still trust you 00:32 because 'tis so sweet to trust in Jesus. While we're trying Lord to figure it out, you've already worked it out. 00:45 O for grace to trust in the Lord. 00:49 Now Lord, as we go into your word today, I pray that by the power of your Holy Ghost that you speak and do it again. 01:01 Do it again over the television airwaves. Do it again over the internet. Do it again over the radio. Lord, do it again. 01:16 I am so unworthy but Lord by the blood of Jesus, because of your grace, because of your mercy, 01:23 I can stand here today and I just pray that Lord, you would do it again. Speak to your people. 01:28 May your people hear. That we be careful Lord and give you the praise, the honor, the glory. Hiding behind your cross. 01:39 Forgive me of my sins. O for Grace Lord to trust you more. In the name of Jesus, I pray this prayer 01:49 and I ask these things. Amen. Amen. 02:00 Our sermon is entitled today "Marching Orders." Marching orders in the text that we take and it is very familiar to us, 02:13 Matthew 28:19 and 20. The word says, Jesus' speaking, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, 02:21 baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 02:25 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, 02:31 even unto the end of the world. Amen." Amen. Marching orders. 02:45 I've never had the privilege of serving in the military or the Armed Forces, either in active duty or in the reserves. 02:55 But I am told that order and rank are very important. 03:02 I am told that rank determines who gets to tell whom what to do in the military. And when you disobey rank, 03:14 that's a big problem because following rank is a matter of life and death, particularly in battle. 03:26 You do not play with rank in the military. You do what you are told to do. You follow orders. 03:37 Private soldiers do not challenge Sergeants. Sergeants do not challenge Lieutenants. 03:47 Lieutenants do not challenge Captains. Captains do not challenge Majors. And Majors do not challenge Colonels. 04:02 And Colonels do not challenge Generals. In fact, nobody challenges the General. When the general gives an order, 04:13 that's it. You better obey the order because if you don't, get ready for discipline. Our Commander in Chief, my Jesus, 04:28 gave us some marching orders just before he ascended back to Heaven. 04:34 He gave us these marching orders in Matthew 28:19 and 20 04:39 and just like the soldiers are to follow the orders of their superiors in the military, 04:45 we're supposed to follow the orders of our commander-in-chief, Jesus Christ. 04:51 Now, Jesus gave us these marching orders in the latter part of the chapter, Matthew 28. 04:59 But to understand the end of Matthew 28, we need to first understand the beginning of Matthew 28. 05:07 Matthew 28 begins by telling us there were two Mary's. Mary Magdalene in the Bible says, "the other Mary" 05:15 which means Matthew had his own version of Mary, Mary. 05:20 Mary and Mary went to the tomb where they had laid the body of Jesus. When you study the context surrounding the death, 05:27 the burial, and the resurrection and all of the gospels, the Bible specifically Matthew 27:60 says that Mary 05:34 and Mary saw Joseph of Arimathea, the funeral director, roll the stone in front of Jesus tomb. 05:43 But then in the next chapter, in Matthew 28:2 the Bible says, 05:48 Mary and Mary saw the angel roll the stone away from the tomb. 05:55 So Joseph rolled a stone in front of the tomb in Matthew 27, 06:01 but then an angel rolled a stone away from the tomb in Matthew 28. In other words, 06:08 it took a man to roll the stone in front of the tomb, 06:12 but it took a miracle for the stone to be rolled away from the tomb. 06:18 Then in Matthew 28:6, the angel makes an announcement. The angel says, "He is not here. He is risen." As he said, 06:27 "Come see the place where the Lord lay." Now, you need to understand that the word "lay" 06:33 here in this context is in the past tense, not the present tense, but the past tense. 06:39 The text doesn't say "lays" or "is laying" the text says "lay". Past tense. 06:47 So the angel then lets us know that the miracle of Jesus' resurrection had already taken place before Mary 06:57 and Mary had come to the tomb. Past tense. Somebody's going to get this in a minute. 07:04 Mary and Mary didn't see Jesus raised from the dead. God had already done that. The miracle had already taken place. 07:17 You are not getting what I am saying. The way God works miracles in our lives is just like that. 07:24 We do not necessarily see what God is doing, but God just lets us see, hallelujah, what he's already done. 07:33 We do not see where the cancer went, we just know the cancer went in remission. 07:39 We do not see where the Coronavirus went, we just know it's gone. We do not see where the food came from, 07:47 we just know there's food on the table. We do not see where the money came from, 07:52 we just know the car note has been paid, the house note has been paid, the tuition has been paid. 07:58 We do not see how God is working. We just know, hallelujah, that God has already worked it out. 08:05 Mary and Mary didn't see God raised Jesus from the dead, 08:10 but God let them see how he had already raised Jesus from the dead. 08:15 The angel didn't roll the stone away in order for Jesus to get out. 08:20 The angel rolled the stone away in order for the women to see in. God was letting them see what he had already done, 08:29 and friends when you look back over your life and you look in those times where the miraculous moments, 08:35 where they were in your journey, you really did not see what God was doing but you just know it was already done. 08:44 When you look back over your life. Somebody knows what I am talking about. 08:48 You can see how the Lord already worked it out, because what you have, 08:52 you never would have had. What happened never would have happened and where you are now has only been possible 08:59 because of what God has already done. 09:02 Let me be clear with somebody today. God didn't get Jesus up to show you how awesome God is. 09:08 God got Jesus up for you. God worked a miracle for you. God rolls away the stone so you can see what he's already done. 09:15 God has already healed your body. God has already put money in your pocket. God has already secured a job for you, 09:22 God has already closed on the house for you. God has already mended your marriage. God has already saved your son, 09:28 saved your daughter, saved your grandson, saved your granddaughter. God has already rolled away the stone 09:33 and worked a miracle on your behalf. But one more thing, before we get to Jesus' marching orders in verses 19 and 20, 09:41 it's important to remember that the angel told Mary 09:44 and Mary to go tell the disciples that Jesus had risen from the dead. 09:49 But as they're running to tell the disciples what the angel told them, 09:53 the Bible says that Jesus appears in front of them. Mary, Mary see Jesus and fall down and began to worship him. 10:03 Because when you get into the presence of God, all you can do is worship him. When they worship Him, verse 10 says, 10:12 he spoke to them. 10:15 Somebody knows that when you worship Jesus, Jesus will speak to you. When you worship him, 10:22 he'll say speak to you through a sermon. When you worship him, he will speak to you through a song. 10:26 When you worship him, he will speak to you through silence. When you worship Him, he will speak to you through prayer. 10:33 When you worship, he will speak. Jesus speaks to Mary and Mary in verse number 10. He says, "Do not be afraid. 10:40 Go tell my brother to go to Galilee and I'll meet them there." As Mary and Mary obeyed Jesus and leave, 10:46 the Bible teaches that the temple police who had been guarding the tomb, 10:50 run to the chief priests to tell them Jesus is not in the tomb. So a meeting of all the Jewish leaders is now called 10:56 and they decide to bribe the temple police to say they were all asleep and Jesus' disciples came during the night 11:05 and took the body of Jesus. 11:07 The leaders told the temple police, if the governor asks what has happened or where Jesus is, 11:12 we will stick up for you and everything will be alright. So the temple police, fearful for their lives, 11:18 accepted the bride and they said what they were told to say. 11:22 The Bible says that this lie was commonly reported among the Jews until this day which meant that for several centuries, 11:30 this false account of the empty tomb appeared in Jewish and Pagan attacks on Christianity, 11:36 but I believe I've got a witness that knows no devil in hell can stop the purposes of God. 11:41 Somebody knows that a lie cannot live. Jesus meets his disciples in Galilee. 11:48 He meets them on the mountain where he told them to meet them, 11:50 and he gives them their marching orders just before he ascends to Heaven that are applicable for us today. 11:58 "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost. 12:04 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever. I have commanded you 12:07 and lo I am with you always even unto the end of the world." Now, that's the King James Version. 12:13 But I like the New International Version. 12:16 The New International Version says, "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, 12:24 baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit 12:27 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you and surely I am with you always even unto the end, 12:35 the very end of age." These my friends are our marching orders. Go make disciples. This is not a request, 12:47 this is an order. This is not an invitation, this is an order. This is not a wish, this is an order. 12:54 This is not an appeal, this is an order. Go make disciples. Our job is not to make more programs. 13:03 Our job is to make more disciples. Notice the imperative in the text is the verb "make" disciples 13:11 and not the verb "go". A better translation might be this, "As you are going, make disciples." or "Wherever you go, 13:20 make disciples." 13:23 So the marching orders for the disciples of Jesus are to make other disciples of Jesus from people of all nations, 13:27 and this is what we are ordered to do. We are ordered to make disciples. 13:33 What ultimate good would we have done if we would have fed the hungry, clothed the naked, 13:42 provide a recreation for the young people, medical care for the sick, literacy for the illiterates, 13:49 plan convention after convention, but we have not brought salvation to the lost? Jesus, in the New Testament, 13:59 often minister to someone's physical need in their life 14:04 but it was always done in order to minister to the most important need which was a spiritual need. 14:12 That's why after every miracle, after every physical miracle he would tell the miracle recipient, 14:19 "Thy sins be forgiven thee." 14:23 Disciples of Jesus must keep the main thing, the main thing. The making of disciples who then go and make disciples. 14:36 But we've gotten so caught up in the work in the church that we have forgotten the work of the church. 14:43 We have meeting after meeting, committee after committee, board after board, Zoom after Zoom, 14:54 talk show after talk show, panel discussion after panel discussion, but can't we just make disciples? 15:04 Jesus declared the reason he came was to seek and to save that which was lost. 15:08 Jesus also hinted at his marching orders for his disciples when he called those first four fishermen, Peter, Andrew, 15:15 James, and John, and told them he was going to make them now "Fishers of Men", 15:18 but it's in these final words in Matthew 28 that Jesus clearly gives his marching orders to us. 15:26 "Go ye therefore, and make disciples." 15:31 You see, when we count baptisms, we add to the church, but when we count disciples, we multiply the church. 15:41 Somebody's not getting it. Let me try it this way. When the people were hungry on that new testament countryside, 15:48 Jesus took five loaves of bread, and he took two fish and he multiplied it and he fed five thousand men plus women 15:55 and children. On the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 where there were 120 in the church in Jerusalem. 16:03 The Holy Ghost came in a mighty way and he used multiplication and the Bible says, 16:09 three thousand were baptized and added to the church in one day. In Acts 4, the word of God was preached 16:17 and it was multiplied and the Bible says, five thousand men plus women and children believed. 16:23 We can reach more people by multiplication than we can buy addition. That's how God wants us to reach the world today. 16:31 Not by addition, but by multiplication. 16:35 Now, in order for us to reach the world by multiplication, 16:38 we've got to recognize that these marching orders weren't just for the original disciples in Jesus' day, 16:45 but these marching orders are for us too. Are you hearing what I am saying? 16:49 Because when Jesus commanded the original disciples to make disciples 16:52 and then to teach them to obey everything that Jesus commanded him, 16:57 you need to understand that embedded in the words "teaching everything" is this perpetuating mission. 17:04 The disciples were to make disciples who were to teach others to make disciples 17:09 who will then teach others to make disciples. And these marching orders aren't just for preachers 17:16 or evangelist but they're for all disciples. Jesus passed the baton to all of us. 17:23 I do it from the pulpit to the many who listen, who view, and who hear, but you can do it from your home, your car, 17:32 on your job, one on one, or to two or three. I do it as a pulpit preaching, but you can do it as a personal friend, 17:41 sharing with a loved one over dinner or over a social event. I do it with a BA in Theology 17:48 but you can do it because you've been born again, and you can share your testimony with somebody else. 17:54 I do it boldly and with authority and you may say, "Pastor Byrd, I do not have that kind of boldness." 18:00 "I do not have that kind of courage." But you are going to have the same boldness, the same courage, 18:05 the same authority because it is not something I'd nurtured but it's a gift of the Holy Ghost. 18:10 And it's available to all in the name of Jesus, go and make disciples. 18:17 "But I do not know how to preach." God says, "Do not worry about that, go and make disciples." "I can't sing." 18:23 "Do not worry about that, go and make disciples." "I do not come from the right family." "Do not worry about that, 18:29 go and make disciples." "I haven't been in the church all my life." "Do not worry about that, go and make disciples." 18:36 "I've got a bad past." "Do not worry about your past, concentrate on your future, and go and make disciples." 18:42 "I do not have much money." "Do not worry about that. I own a cattle on a thousand hills, 18:47 just go and make some disciples." "I do not have a college degree." "I do not have a graduate degree." 18:53 "I do not have a terminal degree" Quit talking about what you do not have and use what you do have 18:58 because if the sea didn't stop Moses, if the wall didn't stop Joshua, if the giant didn't stop David, 19:04 if death didn't stop Jesus, you can do all things through Christ. Which strenghtens you just go and make disciples. 19:14 We do not preach all the same way. I am me. The other person's them. We don't all have the same gift. 19:23 We don't all have the same personality. We don't all have the same measure of influence, but we are all called, 19:32 commanded, commissioned, and empowered by Jesus to go and make disciples. In this COVID-19 period, 19:42 we find ourselves in. I regret that so many people have become sick 19:48 and I hated that so many people have died from this dreaded disease. But I also believe that in this season, 20:00 God is allowing some things in this season because he's trying to get his gospel out, 20:07 and he's trying to do it by multiplication because crisis is the vortex of a possibility. 20:16 Crisis is the vortex of an opportunity, 20:19 In this season of COVID-19, the viewing of cable news networks has increased 73% over the same time last year. 20:28 The viewing of the big four networks, ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox has increased nearly 19% versus the same time in 2019. 20:36 Comcast is reporting that there's a 50% increase in their video-on-demand usage. Between the age demographic of 18 20:44 and 49, 80% of them watch YouTube every month while the same demographics TV watching drop by 4% 20:53 but yet YouTube usage increased by 74%. Over 1 billion hours of YouTube videos are watched daily. 21:02 Over 500 million people watch Facebook videos every day. We have witnessed, even here at the Oakwood Church, 21:11 we have witnessed and we praise God for the increase in viewership on our YouTube channel 21:17 and Facebook page for Breath of Life and the Oakwood University Church, and we do not get the big head, 21:25 but we want you to watch, everyone should encourage other people to watch because God is trying to make disciples. 21:32 God is trying to make disciples not by addition, but by multiplication. 21:38 We have nearly three thousand members in this church, 21:42 but yet God has used this season for this gospel to go to triple that with a live audience. 21:50 Why? I believe that God is using this crisis as a vortex of opportunity so his gospel can go forward. 22:00 We do not get the big head, we do not get arrogant, but we have to go and make disciples. I am almost done, 22:10 but let me share one more thing. Notice that this marching order "to make disciples" in this verse, 22:17 involves two things. Number one, it involves baptizing people and teaching them to obey all things. 22:25 "Baptizing them" represents the work involved in bringing them into a relationship with Jesus Christ 22:29 and "teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you" represents the work involved in helping disciples grow 22:36 and live faithful lives in Jesus Christ. "Go and make disciples, baptizing them, and teaching them." 22:47 So I am going to follow my marching orders from my Commander in Chief because I am a soldier in the army of the Lord. 23:03 I am a soldier in the army. If I die, let me die in the army of the Lord. 23:17 I've got my war clothes on in the army of the Lord. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, 23:30 baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. That's marching orders. 23:36 And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world as a witness unto all nations. 23:43 And then shall the end come. That's marching orders. Fear thou not for I am with thee. 23:50 Be not dismayed for I am thy God, I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee, 23:56 I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Marching orders. If God before us, who can be against us? 24:05 That's marching orders. 24:07 No weapon formed against us. is going to prosper. It won't work, that's marching orders. 24:13 For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation. 24:19 Those are marching orders. Because I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. 24:26 Those are marching orders. When I get tired, they that wait upon the Lord, God shall renew their strength. 24:33 They shall mount up with wings as Eagles, run not get weary, walk not faint. Those are marching orders. 24:39 When people want to dog me out, when people want to talk about me, fret not thyself because of evildoers. 24:46 Neither be thou envious of the workers of iniquity God's going to cut them down like the grass. 24:51 Those are marching orders, and I saw another angel flying in the midst of Heaven. 24:56 Having the Everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth to every nation kindred tongue 25:01 and people saying with a loud voice "Fear God". Those are marching orders. 25:05 Here is the patience of the Saints. Here are they that keep the commandments of God 25:12 and have the faith of Jesus Christ's marching orders. Blessed are they that do His Commandments. 25:16 That they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city. 25:20 Those are marching orders. And today, I've got my marching orders. Today, I want to offer Christ to somebody today. 25:34 Those are my marching orders. We can have a wonderful media presence. We can have wonderful special music, 25:40 wonderful Praise and Worship. But at the end of the day, we do all of this because we've got marching orders. 25:48 We offer Christ. He was wounded for my transgressions, bruised for my iniquities. 25:57 The chastisement of our peace was upon him but by his stripes, I am healed today. 26:04 He bled his head for my evil thoughts. Bled in his mouth for my evil talk. Bled in his feet from my evil walk. 26:17 But I've got my marching orders today. I offer Christ to you today. He will give you a brand new life. 26:34 Life more abundantly. 26:40 I am not a physician. I am not an epidemiologist. I am not a doctor of studying infectious diseases. 26:49 So, I do not know all about this coronavirus. It's novel. But this I do know. Jesus Christ is coming soon. 27:01 And as long as I've got breath in my body, I am going to proclaim his marching orders. 27:10 Thank you very much for tuning in to this week's Breath of Life broadcast. 27:14 We hope and pray that you've been blessed by Dr. Byrd's inspirational message. 27:19 If you would like to hear this sermon in its entirety, 27:21 please feel free to visit us at www.breathoflife.tv. 27:27 Or, call us at (256) 929-6460. 27:33 [END] 27:40 When I was eight years old, I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. 27:46 When I was fifthteen, I had my first surgery. When I think about the time that I lost 27:57 during my adolescent years, I just can't seem to put it togther. Even now I'm doing 28:07 treatment for my disease. Everyone experiences loss. It's not of matter of if but when. 28:23 www.breathoflife.tv |
Revised 2020-11-19