Anchors of Truth

Anchored In The Truth About His Father

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Ron Halvorsen

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Series Code: AOT

Program Code: AOT000048


00:12 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth from the 3ABN Worship Center.
00:16 The Truth As It Is In Jesus with Ron Halvorsen.
00:22 Hello friends and welcome to the 3ABN Worship Center,
00:25 also the Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church.
00:28 We do believe this is the biggest little city
00:30 in the world because 75% of the world is covered by water,
00:35 and the rest of it, I'm told, is covered by 3ABN.
00:39 Thank you so much for tuning into this exciting
00:41 Bible-centered series by Pastor Ron Halvorsen.
00:46 You may have heard about Pastor Halvorsen before.
00:49 You may be intimately acquainted with him as a preacher,
00:52 a teacher, a man of God.
00:53 But the Lord did a wonderful work in his life as He took him
00:57 from the gangs and the streets of New York City.
01:00 And matter of fact, his story is chronicled in the book called,
01:03 From Gangs To God.
01:05 He was a fighter on the streets of the city of New York.
01:07 But now he's a fighter in the army of the Lord.
01:10 Can you say amen to that?
01:12 And his life is an amazing life.
01:14 Once the question was asked about Jesus,
01:17 "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?"
01:20 Well, I think Pastor Halvorsen knows that question very well.
01:24 Because people often ask, "Can any good thing
01:26 come out of Brooklyn?"
01:28 Well, if you know Pastor Halvorsen, you know that
01:31 it is true that God can transform any life,
01:35 take us from where we were to where we are going to be
01:38 and continue to grow in Jesus.
01:40 And what a life.
01:41 For example, Pastor Halvorsen has pastored many churches.
01:45 He is not only a teacher, but a preacher.
01:48 He is also a homiletician.
01:50 And if you don't know what that means; he's not only a good
01:52 preacher, but he teaches people how to preach.
01:54 And sure does preach the word from the strength and power
01:59 of God's indwelling Holy Spirit.
02:01 He also taught in many colleges Bible doctrine.
02:05 He has held more than 159 major evangelistic campaigns.
02:13 That may not sound like a lot, but if you think about if
02:16 that's just one a year, he has to be 159 years old.
02:20 So that's about an average of three a year for the 53 years
02:24 of ministry that he has conducted.
02:27 Can we say amen to that?
02:28 That's a lot of work, a lot of souls.
02:30 As a matter of fact, still to this very day he is listed as
02:32 one of the largest prayer meeting attendants ever held
02:36 in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
02:38 1500 attendants on Wednesday night.
02:41 What a record.
02:42 But the people were there, not to just see Pastor Halvorsen,
02:45 but to hear the Word rightly divided.
02:48 53 years of ministry, learning at the feet of Jesus.
02:52 54 years as a husband, learning at the feet of his wife.
02:56 And what a blessed place to be.
02:58 54 years of successful love between a man and a woman,
03:02 who's both hearts are centered in Christ.
03:05 This series is entitled, The Truth As It Is In Jesus.
03:09 And tonight the focus is,
03:11 The Truth as it is in Jesus, About His Father.
03:16 So invite your friends and family members.
03:18 If you're busying yourself, sit down and watch a series
03:21 that I believe will transform your life and open your heart
03:24 to the truth about God the Father.
03:28 How can we be transformed to do such a
03:30 wonderful work in the Lord?
03:32 I believe tonight this song brings the truth home
03:37 very well how that can happen.
03:39 But before the song, let's bow our heads and invite the
03:41 presence of the Lord to be with us.
03:44 Our gracious Father in heaven, what a blessing it is to know
03:47 that truly when a man is in the hand of the Lord,
03:50 who he was is nothing compared to who he can be in Jesus.
03:56 We pray tonight, Father, that You'll bless and anoint
03:59 Pastor Ron Halvorsen.
04:01 Cause him to preach the Word, to be instant in season
04:06 and out of season.
04:08 And Father, when the message goes forth tonight,
04:11 may we not only learn the truth about God the Father,
04:15 but may we desire to have a relationship with Him,
04:18 to have Him abide in our hearts and to strengthen us.
04:22 And Father, in the process as we continue growing in Christ,
04:26 may that be because You are refining us by the indwelling
04:30 power of Your Holy Spirit.
04:32 In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
04:49 There burns a fire with sacred heat,
04:55 white hot with Holy Flame;
05:01 and all who dare pass through its blaze
05:07 will not emerge the same.
05:13 Some as bronze and some as silver,
05:19 some as gold, yet with great skill;
05:24 all are hammered by their sufferings
05:30 on the anvil of His will.
05:38 The Refiner's fire
05:43 has now become my soul's desire;
05:51 purged and cleansed and purified,
05:56 that the Lord be glorified.
06:04 He is consuming my soul;
06:09 refining me, making me whole.
06:17 No matter what I may lose,
06:21 I choose the Refiner's fire.
06:38 I'm learning now to trust His touch,
06:44 to crave that Fire's embrace;
06:49 for though my past with sin was etched,
06:55 His mercies did erase.
07:01 Each time the purging cleanses deeper,
07:06 I'm not sure if I will survive;
07:13 yet the strength from growing weaker
07:18 keeps my hungry soul alive.
07:25 The Refiner's fire
07:30 has now become my soul's desire;
07:38 purged and cleansed and purified,
07:44 that the Lord be glorified.
07:51 He is consuming my soul;
07:56 refining me, making me whole.
08:04 So, no matter what I may lose,
08:09 I choose the Refiner's fire.
08:21 Choose the Refiner's fire.
08:45 Can you say amen?
08:46 Amen.
08:47 Thank you, John.
08:50 I want to welcome you here and those who are watching
08:55 to The Truth As It Is In Jesus series.
08:59 Last night, we got a glimpse of the truth as it is in Jesus
09:03 concerning His unique nature, His unique person.
09:07 Jesus Christ, of all who ever lived, was unique;
09:10 unique in His origin and in His promise.
09:14 And we looked at that carefully.
09:16 We also, the night before, looked at His birth;
09:19 the birth of Jesus Christ, Christ coming down
09:22 to this earth, the incarnation, Immanuel, God with us,
09:25 so that He might touch us with that unconditional love.
09:31 This evening, I want to take another truth
09:33 from the Word of God.
09:35 We want to discover another truth;
09:36 the truth about His Father.
09:38 And what is our concept of God the Father?
09:43 To some, God the Father is like an eternal Santa Clause.
09:50 You know?
09:51 I mean, we ask things and we hope we've been good enough
09:58 to get them.
10:00 And when He doesn't give us the things we ask for,
10:04 we get upset with the eternal Santa Clause.
10:07 To others, God is kind of an eternal bellhop
10:11 carrying our luggage, lifting our burdens.
10:17 Generally, He's a servant.
10:18 And sometimes, He's our eternal banker.
10:22 And when we need help financially, we come to Him
10:26 and we expect Him to give to us, and right then answer.
10:29 And when He doesn't, we change bankers.
10:36 To others, He's harsh and vengeful.
10:40 I mean, He's unbending. He's the judge.
10:43 I mean, He kindles fires against us and seeks to destroy us.
10:47 Don't laugh or have a good time.
10:52 Don't look like your happy.
10:53 I mean, this stern God.
10:57 And many have learned to fear Him.
11:00 Others have learned to avoid Him.
11:02 Since they have such a concept of God the Father,
11:05 such a concept of this Almighty One, I mean,
11:07 they fear Him in such a way they run away from Him,
11:11 they try to hide.
11:14 And then others have even learned to hate Him,
11:19 because their concept of God had been brought to them
11:24 in a brutal way, a hateful way.
11:29 And so, what's your concept of God the Father?
11:34 Some have the idea that God the Father seeks to destroy us.
11:37 And there's God the Father on this side,
11:39 and there's Jesus on the other side.
11:41 And Jesus says, "No, don't do that, Father."
11:42 And He's trying to plead because God wants this vengeance.
11:45 But that's not the God I found in the Bible.
11:47 That's not the Father that I was introduced to by Jesus Christ.
11:51 I mean, Jesus shatters that hard idea,
11:54 the hard hearts and the hard of heads.
11:57 He destroys that bad theology, the theology of the dark ages,
12:02 and shines a new light on the nature and the
12:04 character of the Father.
12:06 Who would know the Father better than the Son?
12:09 And who would know the Son better than the Father?
12:17 On many occasions as pastor, I use to have to
12:19 visit the hospital.
12:20 And I have to admit, I didn't like hospital visits so much.
12:24 I kind of had so much empathy.
12:26 You know, I felt bad because they were feeling bad.
12:30 But every now and then, I would make my way through the nursery
12:35 as I left the hospital or just before I made the visit.
12:37 I'd go by the nursery.
12:40 And one time I was coming by the nursery window.
12:43 And the curtains were drawn and there was a family gathered
12:46 around the window looking in.
12:49 They were looking in.
12:50 They were excited.
12:52 Their faces were full of joy.
12:55 I mean, the nurse held up this wrinkled little baby.
12:59 By the way, I've never seen really a beautiful baby.
13:05 But to the parents, to the loved ones...
13:09 And he held up this little wrinkled baby
13:11 and they were gooing and pointing and laughing
13:14 and crying.
13:17 And one said, "Look, he looks just like his father."
13:25 Perhaps we need to look again through the
13:27 nursery window of God's Word.
13:30 Perhaps we need to see this gentle, loving, caring Father.
13:35 Perhaps that will not only change our view of the Father,
13:39 but that will change our view of our religion
13:42 and there will be more love and grace.
13:47 You know, it's interesting, when I studied into the Father,
13:52 I thought it was like that nursery window.
13:55 The Son looks and acts like the Father
13:57 and the Father looks and acts like His Son.
13:59 And all the gentle attributes you apply to Jesus
14:01 should be applied to the Father.
14:04 But before we get into it, let's bow our heads
14:06 in a word of prayer.
14:09 Gracious Father, we approach You tonight knowing and recognizing
14:13 Your great love.
14:16 Speak to us, caress us, and may we feel your presence
14:21 and understand Your love.
14:23 And by understanding Your love, may we be a
14:25 reflection of that love, that they might know
14:28 the loving caring Father.
14:33 In Jesus' name, amen.
14:37 It's interesting to me that when Jesus wants to make us know
14:43 who the Father is and make us aware of the Father,
14:49 He uses the occasion of prayer.
14:52 In fact, in Matthew 6 verse 8, He cares about our needs.
14:59 In Matthew 6, in the prayer, verse 9,
15:02 He reveals the holy character of God the Father.
15:08 And then again, in chapter 6 verses 12 through 13,
15:13 He rewards us, the Father rewards us and gives
15:20 His fulfilling love to us.
15:22 Now to amplify this truth, to show us really how the Father
15:27 acts and is, Jesus told a story.
15:30 And that's why I love Jesus.
15:32 When He wants to get to something deep and
15:34 get to something that hardly we can comprehend,
15:38 He tells a simple story.
15:41 And in that simple story, He reveals the truth
15:44 as it is in Jesus about the Father.
15:47 And that story is found in the 15th chapter of
15:49 the gospel of Luke.
15:51 I mean, there's actually four stories here
15:54 in the 15th chapter.
15:55 If you'll just turn with me.
15:58 I'm going to concentrate on verses 20 through 24.
16:00 But I want to read the whole story here.
16:04 There are actually four stories of lostness in the 15th chapter.
16:09 I remember, my son, he was a seminary student;
16:11 we were visiting one day and driving along
16:14 and I was taking him on a visit.
16:15 And we had just been studying chapter 15 together in worship.
16:20 My son said, "There's a lot in that 15th chapter, dad."
16:23 I said, "Yea, I think I could write 15 sermons on that."
16:27 You know how you kind of brag to your son, you know.
16:30 I mean, he's in seminary and I'm going to show him up.
16:33 And he said, "No, dad, I don't think you can do that."
16:36 And so many, many months later, I called him up.
16:38 I said, "I just finished the 15th."
16:41 But we don't have 15 sermons tonight, I'll assure you that.
16:44 But anyway, it's a tremendous text that's
16:47 pregnant with God's truth.
16:49 And He amplifies it in a simple story.
16:52 He says, the lost sheep.
16:55 Now, the lost sheep wonders away.
16:59 He talks about the lost coin which is carelessly dropped.
17:04 And how many have lost their way because they've
17:06 been carelessly dropped, in the church and outside the church?
17:11 And then He speaks about the lost boy we call, the prodigal.
17:18 And then finally He gets to the real truth,
17:21 because He's speaking to the Pharisees.
17:23 He's speaking to the Sadducees.
17:25 And so He wants to show them that the brother who stays at
17:28 home is as lost as the brother who wonders to the pigpen.
17:33 And He speaks about the lost brother who's at home.
17:38 But always in this story, what I love about it,
17:40 always in this story is the face of the shadow of God.
17:45 God is there in every story.
17:47 The Father is there waiting in every story.
17:52 You'll notice that.
17:53 And so if you have your Bibles, turn with me
17:56 to the 15th chapter.
17:59 And I'm starting here at verse 11.
18:06 Who said? Jesus.
19:17 I think this is the most beautiful text in all the Bible.
19:35 Wow.
20:03 It was one of those rare moments
20:04 in the life of a preacher.
20:06 I happened to be home.
20:08 And my little boy was seated on my lap
20:12 on one of those space age recliners.
20:14 You know the kind you push back and lean back.
20:16 And you push a button and it kind of shakes you up.
20:18 And you push another button and it heats you up.
20:24 And I was telling him bedtime stories;
20:26 stories from the Bible.
20:28 And he was just 4 years old or so.
20:30 And he interrupted every sentence
20:32 with a childish question.
20:33 You know how they are.
20:36 "Daddy, why is the sky blue?"
20:38 And you know, I gave him one of those
20:40 intelligent father answers.
20:43 "Because it's blue."
20:45 "Daddy, why is water wet?"
20:47 You know the questions.
20:50 But there was one question that startled me.
20:54 There was one question that arrested my mind.
20:56 There was one question that was profound.
20:58 He looked into my face with those baby blue eyes
21:01 and he said, "Daddy, what is God like?"
21:07 "Daddy, what is God like?"
21:10 "Well Son, He's like... Uh, I mean..."
21:13 I stammered.
21:15 I'd been asked all kinds of questions.
21:17 I mean, questions, steep theological questions.
21:21 I mean, very deep questions.
21:23 And yet this question, "Daddy, what is God like?"
21:30 It's the only important question ever asked me.
21:34 What is God like?
21:36 One cannot think far into the tangled human situation
21:39 we see today in the world and not ask questions about God.
21:42 "God, what are you like?"
21:43 Or closer still, "How does God feel?"
21:47 I mean, how does God feel when He hears in the world
21:49 the thunder of guns as men hunt each other down on land and sea?
21:54 Terrorists blowing up buildings?
21:56 I mean, how does God feel when He sees the lovely planet
21:59 defaced by strife and lust and human woe?
22:02 How does God feel?
22:05 How does God feel not alone on the battlefield?
22:07 How does God feel in the hospital room?
22:09 How does God feel with that family, little family, huddled
22:12 around that casket and the one they love the most
22:15 is soon to be put beneath the earth?
22:18 And some without hope.
22:21 How does God feel?
22:23 How does God feel always and how does God feel everywhere?
22:27 And this is the question that answers all questions.
22:29 Sometimes it's asked anxiously.
22:31 Sometimes it's asked in bewilderment.
22:33 I mean, we don't know.
22:35 And sometimes it's asked in bitterness.
22:38 God.
22:39 Derision.
22:40 What is the nature, what is the character of God?
22:44 The great word on the lips of Jesus was "Father."
22:50 He is like a father.
22:53 He's like a father who knows how to give good gifts
22:56 to his children.
22:59 Now in the Old Testament, there are other words for this Father.
23:01 There are other words for this God.
23:03 I mean, philosophical and theological words.
23:06 He was the Almighty God.
23:07 I mean, He was the Creator God.
23:09 He was the God far distant, the great Judge of the universe.
23:12 Some even dared in that day to touch and suggest
23:15 that the power behind it all was like a father.
23:18 Like a father pitieth, so the Lord pitieth.
23:22 Six times only could I find it in the Old Testament.
23:26 Six times only that expression, that vague halting expression
23:32 that God, the God of the universe, the God who
23:34 created us, the God who loved us, was a God like a father.
23:41 And He took that great word, "father," rich in tenderness,
23:46 He took that great word rich and familiar to everyone,
23:51 and He made it the rallying watchword of His gospel message.
23:54 Jesus taught us the truth, anchored in the truth.
23:57 Jesus taught us, His children, that God is like a father.
24:04 And this concept which we frame our thoughts about God.
24:08 There is no prayer in which it is missed.
24:11 The first record of His speaking is this,
24:13 "No ye not that I must be about My Father's business?"
24:21 To the last word, "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit."
24:29 And when Jesus wanted to tell us what God was like,
24:33 when men suffer and hurt themselves, He took the
24:37 word "Father" and He wove it into a beautiful story,
24:41 an incomprehensible story, an unforgettable story.
24:45 This story is a gem of the unsearchable riches of Christ.
24:48 This story is the pearl of great price.
24:51 A certain man had two sons.
24:53 This story is not ancient in an ancient book
24:56 to be put on a shelf to gather dust.
24:58 This happens every day in every city in most every home.
25:03 This is the story of how parents feel when children wonder.
25:06 This is the story of how children feel when they
25:09 come to themselves and they are afraid to go home.
25:12 This is the story of those who are hurting and
25:14 those who need help.
25:16 This is the story of children everywhere around the world.
25:21 It's relevant to us all.
25:28 It's not about a boy who squanders his inheritance,
25:32 this 15th chapter.
25:35 It's about a father who won't let him go,
25:41 who is waiting with tender patience,
25:46 with great love and great devotion.
25:48 A father who understands what God is like
25:51 in this age of a tidal wave of commandment breaking,
25:54 God defying, soul destroying, iniquity sweeps the
25:57 ocean of human affairs.
25:58 How does God feel?
26:00 He feels like a father who has lost someone that he loves.
26:07 But you know, to some even the word "father" is repugnant.
26:14 There may be some of you here, there may be some of you
26:16 watching this program right now that the word "father"
26:19 is repugnant.
26:22 But to understand what God is like we must, of necessity,
26:28 understand His feelings.
26:31 I was working in Brooklyn, New York.
26:34 And I was preaching there in Brooklyn, New York
26:36 and I had the name of a girl.
26:39 And I read the information, this little bit of
26:41 information I had.
26:42 And she was in a very bad neighborhood,
26:44 and she was a preachers daughter.
26:47 And I thought, "Wow, a preachers daughter
26:49 in a place like this.
26:50 How could that be?"
26:53 And I thought to myself, "Oh, I'm a preacher
26:56 and I have a daughter."
26:57 And I knew the place, I knew the neighborhood.
27:01 I grew up in the shadow of it.
27:04 And so I got in my ghetto car and drove into the inner city.
27:08 Why I call it a ghetto car; it wasn't worth stealing.
27:13 And I drove up and parked my car.
27:16 And I got out of my car and left the windows open
27:18 hoping someone would steal it.
27:23 And I ran through the neighborhood.
27:24 And I always ran, when I worked in the inner city,
27:27 I always took my Bible and I would hold it here.
27:29 Because if they shoot me, they got to go through
27:31 Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
27:36 And so I ran up the stairs and down the hall,
27:38 and I came to the door.
27:39 And you could hear the music.
27:41 Boom, boom, boom; the music.
27:47 And so I knocked on the door.
27:50 And I still heard boom, boom.
27:53 She didn't hear me.
27:54 So I got back and I rushed at the door; boom, boom, boom.
27:59 She heard me.
28:02 And she opened, and there were those locks.
28:05 We feel so sorry for the criminal.
28:07 What about the poor people who are locked in their tenements
28:10 afraid to go out at night?
28:13 And the final lock, by the way, is a crowbar in the floor
28:16 and in the door.
28:17 And she got that out and then there was the chain lock.
28:20 And she looked and she said, "Who are you?"
28:21 I said, "Pastor Ron Halvorsen.
28:24 I'm a Seventh-day Adventist minister."
28:25 She said, "I'm not interested."
28:26 I said, "I know, that's why I'm here."
28:32 And she let me in.
28:34 I sat there for a while and she didn't need a sermon.
28:38 She needed someone to listen to her.
28:41 I said, "Tell me your story." And she told me.
28:42 And it was a story of a little girl who was born in a
28:45 preacher's home and had all the benefits of
28:48 being in a preacher's home.
28:49 And grew up in a Christian home and went to a Christian school
28:53 from kindergarten right on through high school.
28:56 And she went off to high school.
28:57 And when she was in high school, she got with the wrong kids.
29:00 And that happens. It can happen to any parent.
29:05 She found out she was pregnant.
29:08 She went home to tell her daddy.
29:11 Her daddy was angry.
29:13 I mean, every father would be upset, but this was angry.
29:18 He said, "You're no longer my daughter."
29:20 And so with that, she left home and she hitch hiked
29:23 across from the west and came to Brooklyn.
29:27 And they were waiting for her when she arrived; those leeches.
29:30 They were waiting for her.
29:32 They set her up to lay her down.
29:35 And that's where I found her.
29:37 And I said, "Well honey, have you ever thought
29:39 about going home?"
29:40 She said, "I can't, my father wouldn't want me home."
29:44 And I could see in her eye that there was a
29:45 little glint of hope.
29:50 And so I had prayer.
29:54 I went home.
29:55 I got in my ghetto car and drove home and I got there.
29:57 And by the way, you can run from evangelists,
30:00 but you can't hide.
30:03 And so I got the General Conference book and I looked up
30:06 the name, the preacher, and found him
30:08 somewhere there in California.
30:11 I got on the phone and I dialed the number and
30:14 a professional preacher answered, "May I help you?"
30:17 You know, I could picture him;
30:18 black suit, black shoes, black socks, black underwear,
30:23 you know, Bible, black Bible case.
30:26 Holy.
30:29 Dressed right, talked right.
30:32 Most of you would have loved him as your pastor.
30:37 But God looks right through it.
30:40 It's not what you have on the outside,
30:42 it's what you have on the inside.
30:45 And so I said, "Hi, I'm Ron Halvorsen."
30:48 He said, "Who's Ron Halvorsen?"
30:49 Now I knew he needed a lesson.
30:53 And so I said, "Well, I'm a pastor evangelist in Brooklyn.
30:57 And I just was visiting with your daughter."
30:58 He said, "I have no daughter." I said, "You're a liar."
31:03 "You have a beautiful daughter.
31:04 And by the way, you have a beautiful granddaughter.
31:08 You seem so hard."
31:09 He said, "You don't understand."
31:10 I said, "No, I do understand. I do understand.
31:16 Do you realize where I found her?
31:20 She needs you."
31:23 And there was a pause.
31:24 And soon he began to cry.
31:26 And I thought, "Wow, even preachers can repent."
31:31 I said, "Do you want her home?"
31:33 He said, "I want her home.
31:36 I want her home."
31:37 So I had prayer with him.
31:39 And then I got in my ghetto car and I drove.
31:42 But before I got to the girl's place, I stopped at
31:44 LaGuardia Airport and I bought a one-way ticket to California.
31:47 And put it in my pocket and drove there, ran up the stairs,
31:50 and down the hall; boom, boom, boom.
31:53 Don't wait until they're ready.
31:55 Don't wait until they have straightened out their life.
31:58 Give them hope.
32:01 And I... boom, boom.
32:03 "Who is it?" "Ron Halvorsen."
32:04 She knew who Ron Halvorsen was now.
32:08 And she opened the door.
32:11 And there, all the bitterness towards the father.
32:18 I said, "Your father wants you home."
32:20 She said, "I can't believe that."
32:21 I said, "Well, here's the ticket."
32:23 I took her to LaGuardia.
32:26 The little baby, I remember it.
32:27 Close my eyes and I see her.
32:31 I held that baby in my arms and when it was time,
32:33 I hugged that baby and hugged that little girl.
32:35 And I sent her to California.
32:38 Years later, I was preaching in Anaheim, California.
32:40 35,000 people at that meeting.
32:43 And I was preaching.
32:44 And after I got done preaching, I stood at the front and this
32:47 beautiful woman came down with a beautiful little girl
32:50 and a handsome young man.
32:51 And she said, "Remember me?
32:53 You know what I told you?"
32:54 "I don't remember. I'm sorry."
32:56 I look in the mirror twice every morning to see who I am.
33:00 I said, "Well, I can't."
33:01 She said, "Brooklyn. Boom, boom."
33:04 And I found this girl again.
33:07 She had gone back to her father. Her father repented.
33:10 They were in each other's arms.
33:12 And after that, he sent her to school.
33:14 She became a teacher and is teaching.
33:17 And now she's going with, was going then with a young man,
33:21 Christian young man for the kingdom.
33:23 But even the word "father" can be repugnant.
33:25 "Daddy, what is God like?"
33:27 He's like a father that loves.
33:31 And I discovered three things about this Father
33:33 here in the Word of God.
33:35 How does God feel?
33:36 Well, He feels like a father.
33:38 How does a father feel?
33:39 He sorrows like a father over our estrangement,
33:42 our separation.
33:44 You don't go far in the Bible without finding it.
33:46 I mean, you find it right away.
33:47 Face to face with the loneliness of God.
33:49 It's the kind of loneliness which all parents feel
33:52 to some degree, to some measure,
33:54 when their children go away and set their affections
33:57 on something outside the home.
33:59 I mean, it's like the poem, "I had a nest full once.
34:01 Happy, happy I.
34:02 Right dearly I loved them.
34:04 But when they were grown, they spread their wings to fly."
34:07 We all know that as parents.
34:09 But added to this willful estrangement,
34:12 there's no sorrow like unto it.
34:15 When they walk away, grow course and cheap,
34:17 and fling away their birthright like a fool.
34:20 When you crave love and you get nothing but indifference.
34:22 When you look for affection and you get nothing
34:24 from them but ingratitude.
34:26 I mean, that hurts.
34:27 How does God feel?
34:28 Don't you ever think of the feelings of God?
34:32 He feels like a father that sorrows
34:39 over our estrangement.
34:42 A preacher had a son and he wanted his son to be a preacher.
34:44 I guess every preacher does.
34:45 I'm fortunate, I have two kids; they're both preachers.
34:50 But he had a son and that son grew up.
34:52 And the son, you know, use to go up behind the pulpit and
34:54 preach when his daddy was doing something around the church.
34:58 And the boy sang in the choir.
35:00 But as he got older, he got with the wrong company.
35:02 And this can happen.
35:08 And soon the boy was drinking and carousing.
35:12 The father's heart was broken.
35:16 Every time the father came home late at night,
35:17 he would go to his boy's room and look in to see if his
35:20 boy was home safe.
35:21 And you could smell the fumes of alcohol and the vomit.
35:25 They don't show you that on Budweiser commercials.
35:30 They don't show you broken homes and broken hearts.
35:35 "Grab all the gusto. You only go around once."
35:37 That's right. I'm going around twice.
35:40 You'll get that by next Thursday, some of you.
35:46 And one night he came home and the door was open a little.
35:48 He looked in and his boy was laying there in bed, out.
35:51 And there his wife was kneeling beside the bed and
35:54 she was stroking his hair and she was crying.
35:57 And she heard her husband at the door and she turned.
36:00 And she said, "He won't let me love him when he's awake."
36:07 And this is the dominant theme in Scripture.
36:12 From the very first book, "Adam, where are you?"
36:17 To the last book where God says, "Behold, I knock at the door."
36:25 Willful estrangement.
36:27 "What is God like, daddy?"
36:29 He's like a father who sorrows deeply over our separation.
36:34 He hurts because we seek life's satisfaction outside of
36:38 His grace and outside of His love.
36:40 But secondly, "Daddy, what is God like?"
36:42 He's like a father who sorrows over our impoverishment.
36:46 In the story, the prodigal leaves with the inheritance.
36:48 He comes back broke.
36:52 He is shabby and disillusioned and broke.
36:55 This is the real story of a life without God.
37:02 Look at this story.
37:05 Jesus is trying to tell us in simple terms
37:08 what the Father is really like.
37:12 The prodigal leaves young and vibrant;
37:15 comes home old and worn out and captive.
37:21 The Bible pictures endlessly the disappointment in God's heart
37:25 that so little should come from His expectations
37:27 and from His investments.
37:29 One is poor outside the Father's house.
37:31 Don't you understand that?
37:32 One is poor outside the Father's love.
37:35 On dark dingy streets of New York, I found them;
37:38 tired, hungry, sick prodigals.
37:40 Wherever I go preaching the Word of God in the great cities,
37:43 I find them; tire and hungry and sick prodigals.
37:46 I saw them in the dingy tenements.
37:48 I held them in my arms helping them through their
37:51 drug addiction, impoverished by sin.
37:53 Sin always robs you.
37:59 And the Father always sorrows over you.
38:03 But I can't look at the Word of God and not only see
38:08 the third thing in this story.
38:12 He's like a father who sorrows over our defilement.
38:16 When he was a great off, the father saw him and ran.
38:20 I had an uncle once.
38:23 He was my favorite uncle, I have to admit it.
38:25 Uncle Henry.
38:27 And Uncle Henry was a periodic alcoholic.
38:30 In other words, he would be sober for long periods of time.
38:35 Sometimes years.
38:37 And then one drop, one bottle,
38:42 and he would drink himself into the gutter.
38:46 One day I was riding on the subway with friends of mine
38:49 and we were doing things that, you know,
38:51 young teenagers did there.
38:53 I won't tell you all of them. But anyway, we were in trouble.
38:56 And we looked over and there was a drunk lying sick in his vomit.
39:01 And we made fun, threw little things at the drunk.
39:04 And then the drunk turned over and I looked.
39:05 And oh, it was my Uncle Henry.
39:08 Now right away, I didn't want my friends to know that.
39:11 I didn't want anybody to know. I wanted to get away from that.
39:13 I said, "Let's go away from this
39:15 and let's go in the other compartment."
39:16 But my father was different.
39:19 My dad was a hard working man.
39:21 I never knew a harder working man in all my life.
39:25 We never had much money, but my father worked hard.
39:30 And he would come home sometimes late at night in the winter.
39:32 We lived in a cold water flat.
39:35 We had hot water in the summer and cold water in the winter.
39:41 And daddy would come home and he'd be sitting at the
39:44 kitchen table, and someone would knock at the door
39:46 and say, "We saw your brother in an alleyway,"
39:48 "We saw your brother down in the gutter."
39:52 My dad, no matter how cold it was, no matter how tired he was,
39:55 long hard day, he'd put on his pea coat and I'd see him
39:59 go out into the night.
40:02 And then I'd see him come home with his brother
40:03 thrown over his shoulder.
40:04 I'll never forget that.
40:08 You see, we loved Henry because when Henry was sober,
40:10 he'd take us down to Coney Island and put us on the rides
40:13 and, you know, buy a knish and a Nathan's hotdog.
40:16 All those things that are not good for you.
40:18 That, you know, we enjoy.
40:19 But anyway.
40:21 And so we loved him putting us on the roller coaster
40:24 and on the Ferris wheel.
40:26 But drunk?
40:29 But not my father.
40:32 That was his brother.
40:34 And he'd put him on his bed and heat up the water in the tub.
40:39 You know, you had to heat it.
40:40 You know, you get it heating. You know how it was.
40:42 You'd get it warm and then by the time you got it ready,
40:44 it was getting cold.
40:47 My dad would clean him up and put him in pajamas and
40:52 put him to bed.
40:57 You see, I loved him for what I could get out of him.
41:01 My father loved him because he was his brother.
41:06 I learned something from my father.
41:09 I learned that when he was a great way off,
41:11 the father saw him and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
41:14 Was it an accident that he was looking down the road?
41:19 Was it an accident the old man was on the porch
41:22 looking down the road?
41:23 Was it an accident that he sees the boy at a distance and he
41:26 recognizes his son, shabby and dirty and filthy?
41:29 We would not have recognized him.
41:31 But a father always recognizes him.
41:38 And the thing I learned the most about it,
41:42 the greatest joy I saw in it,
41:48 was that while he was a great way off, the father saw him.
41:51 He knew who he was.
41:54 Knew who he was.
41:55 Some time ago, I was visiting in a tenement.
41:58 Wasn't much furniture there.
42:01 But there was a picture on the wall and it was thumb tacked
42:05 to the wall.
42:07 And I was trying to make the visit but I kept
42:09 looking at that picture.
42:10 It was very graphic.
42:11 It was a picture of a boy playing chess with Satan.
42:17 And what made the picture meaningful
42:20 was not that the boy was in deep trouble.
42:23 I mean, anyone who knows anything about chess
42:25 knew it was the boys last move; checkmate.
42:30 Sweat was standing on his forehead and there was
42:33 Satan with that cynical look.
42:34 You know, there's the boy struggling, "Whoa, what am I...
42:37 You know, "How am I going to..."
42:40 But what made the picture meaningful was,
42:43 there in the background was a shadow of the face of God.
42:48 And what made the picture so meaningful
42:53 was there was the hand of God on his shoulder.
42:59 And what it said to me is, "Preacher,"
43:04 it said, "We're not alone in this game of life."
43:07 There is someone who seeks us and pursues us and
43:11 follows after us and suffers with us and
43:14 living in our living, and striving in our striving,
43:18 and identified us with our defilement.
43:21 "Daddy, what is God like?"
43:23 And here's the truth. Listen to me.
43:27 You who seek life outside of His life,
43:32 love outside of His love...
43:35 When he was a great off, his father saw him
43:41 and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
43:47 Call that emotionalism.
43:49 I call it love.
43:52 And love is what makes the world go round.
43:57 And here's the heart of the gospel.
44:00 Here is what you and I need to know more than anything else.
44:04 He who could crush us...
44:09 ...stoops to redeem us.
44:21 God loves us in our defilement.
44:27 While he was a great way off, the father saw him
44:30 and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
44:34 Jim Cymbala, a wonderful pastor in Brooklyn,
44:39 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, The Brooklyn Tabernacle.
44:43 Now the reason I identify with that is,
44:46 I was converted near there.
44:48 I was baptized in a little church just in the shadow
44:50 of Atlantic Avenue, Washington and Gates,
44:54 when I was a young man.
44:56 And that always is remembered in my heart.
44:59 But anyway, Jim Cymbala went down to this very bad
45:02 neighborhood in Brooklyn and wanted to start a
45:05 great church for God, for Jesus.
45:07 And he had a few women and they were prayers,
45:10 and he was a prayer.
45:11 And so they got together and prayed and he ministered.
45:14 That church started to grow and they prayed.
45:17 And they used their energy in praying and
45:19 asking God for sinners.
45:21 And they went out and visited the people of the streets.
45:23 And soon they started to come.
45:28 The prodigals of Brooklyn.
45:31 The prostitutes and the pimps.
45:33 And they started to come to church.
45:38 And they started to get converted.
45:41 Because you can't sit in the presence of this Father
45:45 and not be touched by His love.
45:49 The only way you can stay is run away from Him.
45:52 You're afraid to look at Him.
45:54 And there are some of you here on the television right now,
45:56 you're afraid to look at Him.
45:57 So you've been running.
46:00 But you can't run fast enough or far enough.
46:04 And anyway, Jim Cymbala built that church.
46:06 It became a great church.
46:08 And all over, they have churches now.
46:09 All over Brooklyn and Manhattan.
46:12 But one Easter Sunday, he was preaching in his church.
46:14 He had to preach four times for the crowd.
46:19 Isn't that marvelous?
46:21 By their fruits...
46:22 And he was preaching.
46:24 He got tired after that fourth sermon, that
46:26 evening sermon, he was tired.
46:27 But during the evening service, he had one of the prostitutes
46:30 who had been converted, became a Christian,
46:32 get up and give her testimony.
46:35 She shared how Jesus Christ had come into her heart,
46:40 how Jesus had come into her life.
46:43 And now she was changed.
46:45 And everyone could see it.
46:47 And they, you know, they were excited.
46:50 And they get excited about things.
46:53 I always tell people it's very hard to grow up in a
46:55 left brain church and be a right brain Christian.
47:01 Because I'm sorry, however you feel about it,
47:03 I like to praise the Lord.
47:06 And that doesn't make me less holy than you, by the way.
47:13 And so the crowd was euphoric.
47:17 This woman gave that testimony.
47:21 And after the service, he was tired.
47:23 By the way, he's bone tired.
47:24 When I taught homiletics, or preaching, to the young people,
47:27 I use to tell them, "Young man, young woman,
47:29 when you get done preaching, if you're not tired,
47:31 preach it over again."
47:35 And so he's tired, he's wiping his brow.
47:36 He sat down on the platform and dangled his feet down.
47:40 And the people were visiting like we do in our church.
47:42 And they were excited about the service and about the testimony.
47:47 And he was feeling tired, wanting to go home,
47:50 hoping they'd go out and he could get back to home.
47:53 Just then, down the aisle came a homeless man.
47:58 A homeless man.
48:01 And Jim works with homeless people.
48:04 But he said, "The smell..."
48:07 He said, "Oh, I've never smelled anything like it."
48:12 And the man stopped about the third pew.
48:15 And Jim just thought, "Oh no."
48:18 He couldn't hide it in his expression.
48:21 "Oh no."
48:23 And so he started to reach for his wallet.
48:24 He figured he'd give him a few bucks and send him on his way.
48:33 And Jim said, "How long you been on the street?"
48:35 He said, "Six years."
48:37 "Where did you sleep last night?"
48:38 "I slept in an old car on Atlantic Avenue."
48:45 So he took out his wallet.
48:47 And the man said, "I don't want your money.
48:52 I want what that little girl has.
48:56 I want what that prostitute girl has."
49:02 And then Jim heard the voice of Christ.
49:06 And He said, "Jim, it was for that smell that I died."
49:17 The radiance came to his face and the man saw it,
49:22 and ran and fell on him and put his head on his shoulders.
49:26 And they wept together.
49:27 And there, Jim led him to Christ.
49:30 And everybody, oblivious, going home.
49:32 But there they were with God the Father
49:34 looking down upon that scene.
49:36 Can you imagine how He must have felt?
49:38 He loves us in our defilement.
49:43 That man, God cleaned him up. God got him a job at the church.
49:48 He became a custodian at the church.
49:49 And he goes everywhere in New York giving his testimony
49:52 to the glory of God.
49:55 God works that way.
49:57 I was holding a crusade in San Bernardino, California.
50:00 It's a rough place, a rough neighborhood.
50:03 But I had prayer warriors, I had 700 prayer warriors
50:05 walking the streets in prayer.
50:08 And one woman, she said, "I'm going to take the street
50:10 around the Orange Show.
50:11 Now that's a long, long, long, long street, by the way.
50:16 And it's a very bad neighborhood.
50:18 They told me there in the churches,
50:19 "Oh, no one will come out. It's a bad neighborhood."
50:22 Opening night, 3500 people showed up.
50:24 The last night, we had almost 3000.
50:29 You see, God can only do what you can visualize.
50:33 And she's walking along praying, as we do when prayer walking.
50:37 And she's thinking about the Lord and thinking about
50:40 prayer and about the meetings.
50:41 And she sees a homeless man digging in a garbage can.
50:45 So she goes over and introduces herself,
50:47 "Hi, I'm a prayer warrior."
50:49 Isn't that nice?
50:51 He looked up, "What's that?"
50:55 "Oh, we're praying for everybody in this neighborhood.
50:58 We're praying for you."
51:01 "That's nice."
51:02 He said, "That's nice."
51:04 And she said, "Oh, Ron Halvorsen is going to start a meeting
51:06 on Friday night here in the Orange Show.
51:09 Would you go as my guest?"
51:13 "Yeah."
51:16 Well, where do you go to meet him?
51:17 He doesn't have an address.
51:19 She said, "Oh that's no problem.
51:21 I'll meet you here at this garbage can."
51:25 And so that Friday night, she picked him up.
51:28 They walked in together.
51:30 This sophisticated professional woman and her homeless friend.
51:36 Sat down.
51:39 On the way back to the garbage can, she said,
51:41 "We hope you liked it.
51:42 Would you like for me to pick you up tomorrow night?"
51:43 He said, "yes."
51:44 And he came every night.
51:48 During that series of meetings, he stood up and he came forward.
51:53 And that woman came and walked with him.
52:00 He loves them.
52:03 "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
52:09 It's amazing to me.
52:10 The church can hardly love the church,
52:13 no less the sinner,
52:16 no less the sinner.
52:18 You see, love overcomes lust.
52:20 It's the only thing.
52:21 Love overcomes our failure. It's the only thing.
52:25 Love overcomes our cheapness.
52:28 Love overcomes our thoughtlessness.
52:30 Love overcomes our thoughtlessness and our hatred.
52:34 Love overcomes our sin.
52:39 "Daddy, what is God like?"
52:42 Jesus said, He's like a father
52:47 who watches, who waits, who looks.
52:52 Waiting that He might run to them and hug them
52:57 and put His head upon their shoulder and kiss their cheek.
53:04 What is your concept of God?
53:07 What kind of God have you projected to your children?
53:11 The stern God?
53:16 A hard hearted God?
53:21 The God that Jesus showed us.
53:24 The Father who loves while we were yet sinners.
53:30 Christ died for us.
53:38 Christina, a Brazilian girl in a Brazilian neighborhood
53:43 in the inner city in the worst area, wanted to see the world.
53:51 Discontented with home.
53:52 Having only one pallet on the floor, a wash basin,
53:56 a wood burning stove.
53:58 She dreamed of a better life in the city.
54:01 One morning, Christina slipped away from her home,
54:07 breaking her mother's heart.
54:11 Now the mother, knowing what life is like in the big city,
54:14 Rio de Janeiro, she knew and understood what
54:16 that was like in Brazil.
54:22 She wondered just what would happen to her young
54:26 beautiful little girl.
54:30 And so, Maria the mother, hurriedly packed her suitcase
54:34 to go find her.
54:36 On her way to the bus stop, she stopped and she entered
54:40 the drug store to get one last thing; pictures.
54:45 She sat in the photograph booth, closed the curtains,
54:50 spent all she could on pictures of herself.
54:55 And with her purse full of pictures,
54:58 black and white photos,
55:01 she boarded the next bus for Rio de Janeiro.
55:06 Maria knew Christina had no way of earning money.
55:09 She also knew that her daughter was too stubborn to give up.
55:12 And when pride meets hunger, things can happen.
55:23 A human will do almost anything.
55:28 Even the unthinkable.
55:29 Knowing this, Maria began her search in the bars,
55:35 the hotels, the night clubs.
55:41 Everywhere they could meet.
55:42 And she would tape a picture on the bathroom mirrors,
55:49 or tacked on a hotel bulletin board,
55:51 fastened on a corner phone; her picture.
55:55 It wasn't long before her money ran out
55:56 and her pictures ran out.
55:58 And so she knew she had to go home.
56:01 The weary mother wept as she boarded the bus
56:03 and began her journey back to her small village.
56:07 It was a few weeks later that young Christina
56:09 descended the hotel stairs.
56:11 Her young face was now tired.
56:15 Her beautiful brown eyes no longer danced with youth,
56:19 but spoke with pain and fear.
56:21 Her laughter was broken, her dreams.
56:23 Everything she dreamed about, it was gone.
56:25 It was a nightmare.
56:26 A thousand time over, she wished she could go home.
56:30 And there she looked in the mirror and
56:32 she found the picture of her mother.
56:35 She pulled it off the mirror and turned it over,
56:39 "Whatever you've done, please come home.
56:46 Come home."
56:50 And she did.
56:54 And she did.
56:57 "Daddy, what is God like?"
57:00 "Well son, He's like a father that hurts.
57:07 He's like a father that sorrows.
57:11 He's like a father that wants his children home.
57:19 Just like I, as a father, want you home."
57:27 God so loved the world.
57:30 "Daddy, what is God like?"
57:32 He's like a father.


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Revised 2014-12-17