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The Black Heritage Bible Lessons Presents
Blacks in the Bible Sermon
Black Men Dangerous and Endangered
Joel
2:14-20
15 Blow the
trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. 16
Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders,
gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom
leave his room and the bride her chamber. 17 Let the priests, who
minister before the LORD, weep between the temple porch and the altar.
Let them say, 'Spare your people, O LORD. Do not make your inheritance
an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say
among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'' 18 Then the LORD will
be jealous for his land and take pity on his people.19 The LORD
will reply to them: 'I am sending you grain, new wine and oil, enough to
satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the
nations. 20 'I will drive the northern army far from you, (NIV)
Acts
21:39-22:3
39 But Paul
said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen
of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the
people.
40 And when
he had given him licence, Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with
the hand unto the people. And when there was made a great silence, he
spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,
Acts 22
1 Men,
brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you.
2 (And
when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept
the more silence: and he saith,)
3 I am
verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet
brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to
the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward
God, as ye all are this day.
Paul was a most
unusual character. despised by the authorities, mistrusted by His
Christian brethren. He was a loner. Yet he loved people wherever he
went and accepted them as mothers, brothers and sister. Born in
the Hametic city of Tarsus, a city that was a part of the Roman Province
Paul was to have been immune to flogging or punishment without a trial..
Because however, Paul was not readily identifiable as a Jew, because of
His Hametic characteristics, Paul was at times subject to flogging and
beatings without trial.
Ever since the
day he met Jesus, Paul was a dangerous man. He was considered
dangerous, because his interest, was not the interest of the State.
Paul marched to the beat of a different drummer,
fearing no one but God, hating nothing but sin, and loving nothing more
than to see the souls of his fellow men saved, Paul was placed on the
extermination list, because he was fearless, and because out of
necessity, he was force to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Whenever
we are dealing with people who must do things out of necessity, we are
dealing with dangerous people.
Paul was soon
caught up in a racial problem.
Acts 21:27-31
27 And when
the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they
saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him,
28 Crying
out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every
where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further
brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place.
29 (For
they had seen before with him in the city Trophimus an Ephesian, whom
they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.)
30 And all
the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they took Paul, and
drew him out of the temple: and forthwith the doors were shut.
31 And as
they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the
band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.
Acts 21:37-22:2
37 And as
Paul was to be led into the castle, he said unto the chief captain, May
I speak unto thee? Who said, Canst thou speak Greek?
38 Art not
thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, and
leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers?
39 But Paul
said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen
of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the
people.
40 And when
he had given him licence, Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with
the hand unto the people. And when there was made a great silence, he
spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,
CHAPTER
22
1
Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto
you.
2 (And
when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept
the more silence: and he saith,)
This encounter
ultimately led to Paul's death, because of racism, Here he was an man
who looked like an African, killed because some Asian had a problem with
his behavior.
African American
men must still live with this problem today, in fact he is on the
endangered specie list, because he is considered dangerous.
His name was
Gabriel and he was a deeply religious man.
Day and night Gabriel meditated on the Bible.
The words of Jesus rung clear and burned deep within his breast, “If the
son hath made you free, you shall be free indeed.
Gabriel was born a free man on the continent of Africa, then captured
and brought to America as a slave. Gabriel dreamed of freedom, but as
Gabriel dreamed of freedom, his dream was not to return to Africa, but
to build a little Africa in American. Gabriel dream of an Israel rising
up from slavery and settling in the promised land of
Virginia.
For four to five
months Gabriel held meeting at fish fry and Barbecue. Every Sunday he
slipped into Richmond and studied the Town, making a mental note of
strategies points and location of arms and ammunition. Gabriel's plan
was simple, three columns would attack Richmond, the Right wing would
grab the arsenal, the second the guns, then the lift wing would take the
powerhouse. When Richmond was secure, other cities would be attacked
with lightening speed. If successful, he would be declared King of
Virginia, if unsuccessful the freedom fighters would flee to the
mountains and fight a guerrilla war. Gabriel was a dangerous man, and
thus he was placed on the endangered specie list. Gabriel was turned
in by a fellow African-American who decided he did not want to see his
slave master get hurt.
The names and
voices of black men have been causing fear and bring anxiety to the
hearts of there is for century. Picture the sight of two
men
of Hametic descent running towards in the valley of Elah. For many
days the voice of one rang over the hillside, Send me a man that I may
fight against him. Finally it eventually happened. A young descendant
of Rahab and Ruth named David was visiting his brothers when he heard
this uncircumcised man and declared who is it that defy the God or
Israel. Thus two fearless men of Hametic descent came charging towards
each other, the real difference between them, is not their statue, true
Goliath stands like a giant. But that was not the major difference, the
major difference was that David had Yahweh in his heart, and Goliath did
not. Both were dangerous men, because they were fearless men....
Think of Hannibal
the Great, who left Cartage in North Africa, the last stronghold of the
Phoenicians and marched across the Alps with his massive elephant army,
they said it was impossible the crossing of the Alp, but Hannibal was
fearless, and that made him dangerous.
What of Pianki
King of Ethiopia who marched into Egypt to reclaim the land of His
ancestry. Think of Imhotep, the father of Medicine, a African
whose name still bring awe to the medical students of today. What
of Thusmoses 111 who in 1500 Bc won the respect of the world as one of
the mightiest conquers to ever live. Or Akhenaton, the first Messiahs
who led Egypt into the worship of one God, and wrote many Psalms who
David King of Israel another man of African descent was later to emulate
in the writing of his Psalms.
What of Seostris,
the Greatest of the African Pharaoh, who according to the Greek
Historians, sent his ship to every corner of the world, capturing
Palestine, Arabia, Asia, and Europe and setting his His Stele for all to
see.
Hear the Words of
Shabaka, King of Ethiopia to the great Persian King Cambyses, Until you
can fire the arrows as far and as accurately as an African , you dear
not set foot into Ethiopia, and until then, thank the God’s that they
have not placed it in the hearts of the Sons of Ethiopia to win another
mans country. What of Cetewayo Zulo, Son of Chaka, who sent word
to the English General and declared, go tell the British, and let them
hear me
well, I give Him till sunset to leave my territory or the Sons of the
African Soil will die throwing him out. Then what of the Old
Jamaican Seer called Boukman in Hati, who declared Lord, the white man
do things we cannot doe, give us justice, or give us vengeance, and
fires raged all over Haiti, signaling the end of slavery. These Black
men were dangerous, because they were fearless.
Black men for
their own survival, must be fearless in
America.
He is forced into gang activities for his very survival. Men and
boys are gunned down in the streets, not because they are in a gang, but
because the don't belong to a gang. In School they are under
pressure, at home they are under pressure, in the church they are under
pressure. Everywhere they turn there are forces pulling and pushing ,
and to make matters worst, they have not Jobs. So before long he
explodes, his wife is abused, his children is abused and if we would
stop the deterioration of the African American family in America, the
African American male must be returned to the workplace. Deny a man the
right to work, and you deny him his very reason for existing.
When the civil
rights movement began the cry was, give us equality. And white American
realized what was going down. They realized they had no choice because
two fearless men were on the scene. Malcolm and Martin. They feared
Malcolm, so the Media made Martin a bigger than life figure, hoping they
could stall the movement. They soon discovered however they couldn't,
because despite his non-violence stand, Martin was a fearless man.
White American was forced to the table, and they found a
solution. Minority rights, only thing was, the largest portion of the
white American population was declared a minority, White Women. Thus
the jobs created went not to the black male but to the white female.
The woman's movement began in full swing, white families thus had two
bread winners and the black family still had none.
When accused of a
crime, the black man got long prison terms. The death sentence was
reserved primarily for him. Welfare locked him out of his home,
because his woman could get no help as long as he was in the home.
The Black man was on his way to becoming extinct. He was endangered.
How do we save
our men.
The Jews had a
similar dilemma. Troubled because of exploitation and racial bigotry
Joel declared to them how to solve their problem.
Joel 2:15-18
15 Blow the
trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:
Warn all to return to God.
16 Gather the
people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the
children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth
of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
1.
Get everybody together to work on the problem.
17 Let the
priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the
altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine
heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore
should they say among the people, Where is their God?
2. The
preachers must be involved.
3.
Pray for good leadership.
18 Then
will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.
4.
God will respond.
Gentlemen,
this is not the time to turn away from God, it is time to turn to God.
Some of us will be casualty of war, just as Paul the Apostle was, but we
must remember, this world is not our home, we are just a passing
through. Look what God says in Psalm 126.
Ps 126:4-6
5 They
that sow in tears shall reap in joy. 6 He that goeth forth and
weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with
rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
We have sowed in
tear - The Black Heritage Bible Lessons. - Two Powerful Books
teaching Black History from the Bible.
Black History
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