Anchors of Truth

Anchored In The Truth About Salvation

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Ron Halvorsen

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Series Code: AOT

Program Code: AOT000049


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 and welcome to the 3ABN Worship Center.
00:25 And thank you for joining us for Anchors Of Truth.
00:28 I also just want to say a big "thank you" for those of you
00:31 around the world that are watching and supporting,
00:34 praying for 3ABN and supporting us financially,
00:37 as we endeavor to take this gospel of the kingdom
00:40 into all the world.
00:41 I'm thankful for our home church, for those of you that
00:44 come week after week, those of you that support.
00:46 Many of you work at 3ABN.
00:47 Many of you are from the communities.
00:50 This has been a great series.
00:52 Elder Gilley, and I think John, C.A., and a number of others
00:56 said we need something.
00:57 And we had been talking about our Pillars Of Faith.
00:59 We've done a Pillars Of Faith series in music.
01:01 We've done a Pillars hymns.
01:03 And they said we need to keep getting truth out to the world
01:06 because that's what we as Seventh-day Adventists
01:09 believe that our message is; to take present truth
01:12 into all the world.
01:13 Am I right?
01:14 And so, we can do that in a number of ways.
01:17 And one of the ways is to take advantage of the wonderful
01:20 facility that God has given us right here in southern Illinois,
01:24 West Frankfort, Thompsonville area,
01:26 the 3ABN Worship Center.
01:28 That we literally have the cameras, the equipment,
01:30 and can take this gospel to the kingdom around the world.
01:33 I'm amazed that this signal will go up today,
01:36 22,300 miles to space.
01:39 It'll hit ten different satellites around the world
01:42 and virtually anywhere on planet earth.
01:44 Where there is people inhabited continents,
01:47 people will get this signal and can watch it.
01:50 I've been in those recently.
01:51 I was down in Australia and New Zealand and could watch 3ABN.
01:54 Half way around the world.
01:55 It took me 30 some hours, from the time
01:57 I left home to get there.
01:59 But you turn on the channel and it's a good crisp
02:02 channel coming out.
02:03 And those of you out here that work at 3ABN,
02:06 a good clear picture is everywhere.
02:08 I was in Chile some time ago with Jorge and others
02:10 and we saw the signals down there.
02:12 So God has blessed.
02:14 And we have a message to take to the world.
02:16 It's the undiluted three angels messages.
02:18 One that would counteract the counterfeit.
02:20 And today, Elder Halvorsen is part of that.
02:23 We have him as our speaker.
02:24 Formally introducing him, he's a prayer coordinator
02:28 for It Is Written.
02:29 It says he's going to Las Vegas to do prayer walks
02:32 for the upcoming series there.
02:34 But he's also an author as well as an evangelist.
02:37 He has, From Gangs To God.
02:39 That's a very interesting book. It's a great book.
02:41 His story is incredible.
02:43 And also, Prayer Warriors.
02:45 Which all of us need to read this.
02:47 I think it helps tune us up for the power of prayer.
02:51 And so, Elder Halvorsen and his wife.
02:55 I'm glad that she's here.
02:56 I hadn't really met her before, but we've had some time
02:58 to get to know each other.
02:59 Wonderful people.
03:00 Wonderful man of God, a couple of God,
03:03 who has been in evangelism for 50 some years.
03:06 The devil has tried to kill him in a number of ways,
03:08 but he's still here.
03:09 Still giving the gospel message to the world.
03:11 That's what it's all about, isn't it.
03:14 What I'm going to do is ask you at home, if you want to,
03:16 and those of you here, if you want to bow your heads
03:18 with me today.
03:19 We're going to ask God's blessings on this program.
03:23 Heavenly Father, we thank You today for Your blessings
03:26 and Your love and Your plan of salvation,
03:28 for this beautiful Sabbath day that we can worship You.
03:31 And Lord, we pray today for the anointing of Your Holy Spirit
03:35 upon everything that's said and done in this service today.
03:37 And we pray that You'll bless Elder Halvorsen
03:40 as he's never been blessed before,
03:41 and those that are listening around the world.
03:43 You've already prepared their hearts, our hearts.
03:46 Because no matter how long we've been serving You,
03:49 there's always something that we can do to draw closer to You.
03:52 And help us to be open today to the truth that we'll be
03:55 hearing today about salvation and You.
03:57 In Jesus' name I pray, amen.
04:01 They've asked me to sing a song.
04:02 And I'm going to do a little song that the Lord gave me
04:04 this past year entitled, All My Praise.
04:20 All my praise,
04:25 I give You all my praise.
04:33 That's all I have to offer You.
04:44 I now build a sanctuary
04:49 so deep within my heart.
04:55 And all my praise
04:58 I offer up to You.
05:07 I love You Lord,
05:11 oh how I love You Lord.
05:19 I bear my heart and soul to You.
05:30 I'm an empty broken vessel
05:35 filled with hurt and pain inside.
05:40 Still I offer up
05:44 all my praise to You.
05:53 Fill me Lord,
05:57 oh please fill me Lord
06:05 with Your Holy Spirit.
06:10 Fill me now.
06:15 For I long for Your anointing
06:21 that I may work for You.
06:28 Fill me Lord,
06:31 touch me Lord just now.
06:39 All my praise,
06:43 I give You all my praise.
06:52 That's all I have to offer You.
07:03 I now build a sanctuary
07:07 so deep within my heart.
07:14 And all my praise
07:17 I offer up to You.
07:24 Oh, and all my praise
07:29 I offer up to You.
07:53 That's beautiful, isn't it.
07:55 Give Him all our praise, give Him all our praise.
08:00 First, I want to take a little time to welcome our
08:03 viewing audience, wherever they are around the world.
08:06 We welcome you to this very special series
08:11 on Anchored In The Truth As It Is In Jesus.
08:15 This is the fourth in a series of five.
08:18 This afternoon at 3:00 o'clock, I'll expound the Word of God
08:22 and take you back again to Jesus and the promise;
08:26 coming again.
08:28 When the New Testament Christians met,
08:30 they use to say, "Maranatha."
08:33 "Maranatha."
08:35 "Jesus is coming again."
08:38 I don't know about you, but I've been excited as I've been
08:40 looking at Jesus and seeing Him in a different way every evening
08:44 and afternoon.
08:45 This afternoon I'm looking forward to it.
08:48 I love to talk about Jesus.
08:50 In fact, I was at a church and I had been there about two years.
08:54 And after I had finished preaching about Jesus,
08:57 I came off the platform and a woman came up to me
08:59 and she looked a little agitated.
09:01 Well she was flat mad, I guess.
09:03 But anyway.
09:04 She said, "Pastor, all you do is preach about Jesus."
09:07 I said, "Thank you, ma'am."
09:08 And I went on my way.
09:12 What else is worth preaching?
09:15 Every Bible message should begin and end with Jesus.
09:19 Today's message perhaps will shock you, some of you.
09:23 Perhaps if you like these pretty little messages
09:25 with bubbling brooks and, you know, positive attitudes,
09:29 and sweet and sugary words, this sermon is not for you.
09:34 The Truth About Radical Grace.
09:37 Let's bow our heads in a word of prayer.
09:39 Gracious Father, I thank You for the love of Christ.
09:43 The love that brings us together from different walks of life,
09:46 from different churches,
09:49 from different areas of theology,
09:51 to bring us together in one purpose.
09:53 And that's to know Jesus Christ better.
09:56 I pray, God, that You will speak to us through Your Word
09:58 as You spoke unto me as I wrote these words down.
10:02 And now, bless this service to Your honor, to Your glory.
10:05 Until the day we look in Your face.
10:07 In Christ's name, amen.
10:10 And amen.
10:12 My text this morning is taken from the book of Ephesians.
10:15 It's one of the great texts of the entire New Testament.
10:19 In fact, not one text do we have that explains the eternal gospel
10:27 as this text.
10:29 This text describes the good news.
10:32 This text describes and destroys work religion.
10:36 In fact, the Bible says right here in Ephesians
10:39 the second chapter:
10:52 The Bible tells us clearly in those words.
10:56 Some years ago, I had the privilege of attending a
10:58 Sabbath school with my grandson.
11:02 He was 14 years old and he was into the guitar at the time.
11:06 And he had dedicated his guitar to the Lord,
11:09 and so he was going to play special music at Sabbath school.
11:11 So I said, "I'm going to go be with my grandson and
11:14 listen to that magnificent solo."
11:19 And so anyway, I arrived at the Sabbath school and
11:22 he did a great job, let me tell you.
11:25 Because, you see, there's an overriding principle,
11:28 and it comes from the text.
11:30 It's not how perfect its played that matters,
11:35 it's who plays it that matters.
11:38 He's my grandson.
11:42 And that's true of our spiritual life.
11:45 It isn't your ability, it's your relationship.
11:50 I stayed in this class and proudly sat with him
11:54 for the entire lesson.
11:56 A squeaky clean middle aged man, black suit, dull tie,
12:04 and harsh countenance, taught his lesson.
12:09 He thumped away at the kids for 40 minutes.
12:14 The rules and the laws and obedience and the standards,
12:19 and the rules and the laws and obedience;
12:21 character development.
12:23 I still wonder how we can develop bad characters,
12:26 make them better?
12:28 That's English. No, that's Brooklyn East.
12:32 I know it's not good English. But anyway.
12:35 Either is that thinking good theology.
12:38 Well anyway, at the end of the 40 minutes of listening,
12:40 hoping he would end, boring, his lecture on do's and don'ts,
12:48 his cultish Christianity, he ended with this,
12:51 I'll never forget it, "Now remember, boys and girls,
12:55 God loves good boys and girls."
12:59 And he sat down.
13:02 I wanted to stand up.
13:04 I mean, I wanted to refute that gospel.
13:07 Like Paul the apostle did in 2 Corinthians chapter 11
13:12 and verse 4 when he wrote these words and said these things.
13:31 Another gospel.
13:34 I wanted to read the text in Ephesians and numerous other
13:38 texts that totally refute all he was saying to those kids.
13:42 Bible texts, which by the way, was lacking in the presentation.
13:46 Christ, which was lacking in the presentation.
13:51 But I shouldn't have been surprised.
13:54 I mean, it wasn't new to me.
13:56 I've been in this for 50 years.
13:58 I heard it before.
14:00 I heard it from saintly preachers.
14:03 Sanctimonious preachers laying their hands on little kids heads
14:06 saying, "God loves good little boys and girls."
14:10 Sweet sugary words of advice.
14:14 I've been quiet long enough.
14:18 I've watched from a distance.
14:20 I've listened to the crowd.
14:24 And tried to, as my mother said, "Hold your tongue, son."
14:30 But I can't any longer.
14:32 My heart is sick.
14:35 So I cannot be silent any longer.
14:37 I'm totally sick of seeing kids and adults being manipulated,
14:42 emotionally abused, intimidated by some pious fanatic
14:47 who thinks because they have memorized a few quotations
14:50 that they have a right to judge others.
14:54 Injuring godly pastors, injuring godly administrators,
14:59 injuring church members.
15:02 God does love good little boys and good little girls.
15:05 But He loves bad little boys and bad little girls.
15:09 And there are more of them than there are the good.
15:15 Perhaps if the bad little girls and the bad little boys
15:19 knew that, they would be better boys and better girls.
15:24 And that's what makes Christian God so loving
15:27 and so different from all the gods of works.
15:31 You see, this sermon is what I call, "in your face"
15:33 type of sermon.
15:34 I mean, it's a kind of sermon that won't be accepted by some.
15:38 I mean, especially the self righteous,
15:40 the pious, the holier than thou.
15:43 I mean, it's not for the super spiritual elder
15:46 that I found in one camp meeting recently
15:49 who told me he hadn't sinned in 5 months.
15:53 I said, "You just did.
15:54 The Bible says that if you say you have not sinned,
15:56 you're a liar and the truth is not in you.
15:57 Excuse me." And I walked away.
16:02 I walked away.
16:04 They wouldn't listen anyway.
16:06 It's not for the minister who abuse their children
16:09 by dressing them as if they lived in another century,
16:11 another age, humiliating them.
16:13 I mean, acting as if there dress will assure them
16:16 a place in the kingdom of God.
16:20 They wouldn't listen anyway.
16:23 It's not for the conference employee who thinks himself
16:25 or herself, or church leader themselves, important
16:28 and godly because they run the church.
16:30 I mean, they wouldn't listen anyway.
16:33 It's not for those who stayed away from the crowd or the world
16:36 afraid that they might become like the world
16:38 instead of changing the world.
16:42 They wouldn't listen anyway.
16:44 It isn't for the red hot zealot who boasts all the time
16:47 about his good works and the commandments
16:48 I've kept from my youth.
16:50 I mean, we've read that in the Word.
16:51 It's not for the fearless or the tearless.
16:55 It's not for the complacent or the hoisting over their
16:57 shoulders a tote bag full of honors and degrees,
17:00 as if education, as if knowledge will get them into
17:03 the kingdom of heaven.
17:05 They won't listen anyway.
17:08 It's not for the legalist, surely, who would rather
17:10 do it right than do it at all, who sweat it out,
17:13 who work it out, who try harder and harder and harder.
17:16 I mean, and make it harder on us.
17:24 Who live by the laws and rules as if the laws and rules
17:27 give them right to enter the kingdom of God.
17:33 Thinking they're right and everybody else is wrong.
17:36 And they're good and everybody else is evil.
17:39 Who are fanatical and who are not really faithful.
17:42 I mean, strong in the way they feel about things,
17:45 but not strong in the way they feel about people's feelings.
17:49 They won't listen anyway.
17:51 Then who is this message for?
17:53 As you listen and look at it on television and
17:56 listen to the Word of God on radio,
17:58 then who is this message for?
17:59 It's the beat up.
18:02 It's for the bruised.
18:04 It's for the battered.
18:06 It's for the burned out and the burdened.
18:09 It's for the inconsistent.
18:12 It's for the wobbly, weak kneed, church member and leader
18:15 and Christian who don't have it all together.
18:18 I mean, it's for the poor and the weak and the
18:20 hereditary faults that limit talents.
18:24 I mean it's for people, ordinary people like you and me,
18:27 everyday people, earthen vessels who shuffle along
18:31 on feeble feet of clay.
18:34 Who is this message for?
18:36 It's for the bent over people, the bruised people.
18:40 It's for that mother in the tenement who's trying to raise
18:42 five kids in a Christian atmosphere in a world
18:45 of crack cocaine, in a world of drive by shootings,
18:49 in a world...
18:53 It's for those who feel there lives are a
18:58 grave disappointment to God.
19:01 And it's for those who know they're stupid,
19:04 and down deep they know they're scalawags.
19:07 Because they do look in the mirror.
19:11 Now for you today, this message will either
19:12 bring joy and hope.
19:14 To those it will bring joy and hope.
19:17 But others, only anger.
19:20 Most of all, it will be the truth.
19:23 By the way, present truth.
19:25 For Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
19:31 And it's called, radical grace.
19:34 It's what brought Sims to know Christ.
19:38 I went to Hawaii.
19:39 The other night I told you how the brethren use to
19:42 send me to the hard cities and they'd go to the Philippines.
19:46 They'd go to 10,000, they'd send me to preach to 100
19:50 in the inner city.
19:51 But anyway, my friend called me to Hawaii.
19:54 And I went to Hawaii, and as I do in all my
19:56 evangelistic crusades, I prayer walk.
20:00 And I always pray for the meanest, toughest,
20:02 snortenest, fightenest person in the city.
20:04 Because they make the best disciples.
20:08 And so I was praying that God would bring the meanest,
20:10 toughest, snortenest, fightenest person to the meeting
20:14 and that they might get saved and give their life to Christ.
20:17 About the second night in walked Sims, a Samoan.
20:23 I mean, a big Samoan.
20:25 And those Samoans are really big.
20:28 If you're listening to me in Samoa, listen, you are big.
20:34 And he came, boom, boom, boom, down to the front.
20:37 I said, "Lord, here's the meanest, toughest,
20:39 lookenest, snortenest.
20:41 You answered my prayer."
20:44 All that night I preached, I preached only to the Samoan.
20:47 There were 1200 people there, yet I preached to the Samoan.
20:53 And after the meeting, he came out.
20:55 And I'm usually a hugger, but whoa, this guy.
21:01 It took me days to get enough courage to put my arms
21:03 half way around him, that Samoan.
21:09 But I wish you'd been there when God took hold of his heart.
21:13 It's for the Sims' of the world.
21:15 When God came into his life and Jesus took control of his life,
21:19 I wish you had been there.
21:21 You didn't need to tell him what to do.
21:23 Why are we trying to take away the work of the Holy Spirit?
21:28 The great problem with the church today;
21:30 you don't want to catch fish, you want to clean them.
21:34 That was worth coming to church for.
21:39 Sims came forward and gave his life to Christ.
21:42 And you know, I don't have five day plans,
21:44 ten day plans, to help people with their tobacco,
21:46 their alcohol, their drugs.
21:48 I have a five minute plan.
21:49 It's found in the book of James.
21:51 The anointing.
21:53 I wish you'd been there when he brought his crack
21:55 and he brought his marijuana.
21:57 I wish you'd been there when he brought his fists and alcohol.
22:00 I wish you'd been there when he brought his shopping bag,
22:02 and he wanted to be saved and set free from that.
22:07 I wish you'd been there when I prayed and tears streamed
22:09 down his face.
22:10 I wish you had been there...
22:17 ...when the Lord delivered him.
22:20 That young man, in his first year with the youth group,
22:24 they baptized over a hundred people in the kingdom of God.
22:28 I just got a phone call a few months ago.
22:30 He started an evangelistic meeting.
22:32 He called me just a few weeks ago.
22:33 He said, "Pastor Ron, I really feel burdened
22:36 to go into ministry.
22:38 Will you pray for me."
22:39 I'm praying for him that God will provide for him
22:41 so he can go and become a minister of the
22:43 gospel of Jesus Christ.
22:44 I tell you, it's for the down and out.
22:46 It's for the down trodden.
22:47 It's for those who realize in their heart that without God
22:50 they're lost, they're damned, they're doomed,
22:52 and they're bound for hell.
22:57 He discovered radical grace.
23:00 Something the church in many quarters have yet to discover.
23:04 May quarters of the church today accepts grace in theory,
23:07 but denies it in practice.
23:09 We say that we believe in the reality of grace,
23:12 but we don't act it.
23:13 The first time I saw grace, I was a little boy in Brooklyn.
23:17 And I was always in trouble.
23:19 My mother use to say to me, "You're always in trouble."
23:22 And I was walking by the school, it was after school hours.
23:26 And I saw a big rock and I picked it up.
23:28 And I saw the windows, you know.
23:32 And I stood back and threw the rock through the window.
23:35 And I started to laugh and I started to run.
23:37 And I ran right into the arms of the Irish cop
23:39 for 60th precinct.
23:43 He lifted me up, and my legs and feet were still moving.
23:48 Still moving.
23:50 And he said, "Young man, you just threw
23:51 a rock through the window."
23:52 I said, "I didn't do that, officer."
23:54 Come on now.
23:56 He said, "I saw you.
23:58 You're going down to the precinct.
24:00 You're going to jail, young man."
24:02 Jail.
24:05 And as he was carrying me towards the 60th precinct,
24:07 my feet moving, he said and I thought, "Whoa, jail?
24:14 Black and white stripes.
24:18 My dad would come down. Oh no."
24:24 But then I thought, "Oh, no not my dad.
24:27 My mom will come down."
24:32 And up the steps to the 60th precinct.
24:33 And just as we got to the door, he set me down.
24:37 He looked in my eyes and he said,
24:39 "Young man, will you ever do that again?"
24:40 "No, officer. No."
24:42 He said, "Alright, go ahead."
24:44 And I ran as fast as I could, and I ran toward home.
24:48 Never again, come on.
24:52 Grace.
24:55 An Irish cop taught me grace.
24:59 Unconditional.
25:01 "Go on now.
25:04 Don't do it again."
25:08 Grace is the unmerited favor of God given... What?
25:13 ...freely to sinners.
25:15 We all know that. We quote it.
25:17 We use it to our own benefit.
25:21 But in all practicality, we deny the unconditional giving
25:26 and such unconditional love.
25:28 We talk glibly about grace as a gift,
25:30 and then go on with the buts, "But, but what's my part."
25:34 "But what's... but, but, but, but."
25:36 The character stuff.
25:38 We're like the Wall Street Exchange of works
25:42 where our gospel is just for the elite.
25:47 The elite are honored and the ordinary are ignored.
25:52 David G. Benner, in his book, Surrender To Love,
25:55 page 46, says this.
25:57 Listen carefully.
25:59 "Grace is totally alien to human psychology."
26:04 He goes on to explain.
26:06 "We want to get our house in order..."
26:08 Come on now.
26:09 "...and then let God love and accept us.
26:12 The psychology of works, righteousness,
26:15 and self certification is fundamental or foundational
26:19 to human psyche and totally at odds with grace."
26:24 You don't say you believe in grace and spend the
26:26 rest of your life trying to pay for it.
26:31 But unconditional love always demands surrender.
26:34 Example, a person wanted to be baptized.
26:36 He delays it, he puts it off. "Don't know enough."
26:39 As if knowledge would give him the kingdom of heaven.
26:42 "Oh, I can't live that life."
26:45 As if our living, our living, will give us that life.
26:51 "Well, I have too many sins in my life."
26:53 As if everybody baptized didn't have sin.
26:57 I guess that's the reason I'm baptized, because I have sin.
27:02 "Oh no, I can't be baptized."
27:07 The real reason...
27:11 ...is our fear of love.
27:16 Our nature resists unconditional love.
27:21 We want to contribute to the deal...
27:24 Come on now.
27:26 ...of eternal life.
27:27 My faith, my effort, my love, my belief.
27:32 But the bottom line is that perfect love, grace,
27:36 grace love meets me where I am.
27:38 And as only I open my heart to receive the love which
27:42 I long for, which I need.
27:43 I mean, surrender is the hardest thing for us.
27:50 And because we do not really trust in God's grace,
27:54 our love is stifled,
27:58 our freedom is shackled.
28:01 Our lives refute our faith.
28:04 Now there are something things obvious about the text.
28:05 You don't have to be a theologian
28:07 or think you need a theologian.
28:10 It's clear as clear, that we often overlook it.
28:13 Men especially suffer from this; overlooking things.
28:16 Come on.
28:19 You know, looking for something and not finding it.
28:22 "Honey," here I am at the drawer, "I can't find my socks."
28:29 She comes in...
28:33 "Dear, where are my keys?"
28:37 54 years of this.
28:40 "Here."
28:45 Something right in front of you that you're missing.
28:46 Come on.
28:49 Let's look at the text carefully with open minds, open hearts.
28:53 Listen.
28:55 Put away your prejudices.
28:58 Your this group and this is this group and that's that group.
29:01 And then the liberals, and then the moderates,
29:03 and then the conservatives.
29:04 And who's who and who's what.
29:05 Forget that stuff.
29:07 And let's look at the text from a heart in need.
29:12 Because we may not all sin alike, but alike we all sin.
29:18 I should have more "amens" here, but maybe I'm
29:20 speaking to the wrong group.
29:25 I want you to have spiritual insight and clear vision.
29:30 To define grace, simply let me tell you a story.
29:34 Jesus had a way of doing that.
29:36 He took complicated things and made them simple.
29:39 We too, evangelists today, we take simple things and
29:42 make them complicated.
29:43 Have you noticed that? Come on.
29:46 We spend more time talking about angels than we do about Christ.
29:51 We spent more time about the Pope than about Christ.
29:53 We know more about the 144,000, so we think,
29:57 than we do about Christ.
30:00 Let me tell you a true story.
30:01 It happened in my city, New York, a long time ago.
30:04 Mayor LaGuardia, he served as mayor of New York City
30:10 through World War II.
30:13 He was called "Little Flower" because he wore a
30:15 little button flower here on his lapel.
30:18 He wore a sombrero.
30:19 So you know he was a different individual.
30:24 He was a colorful character.
30:25 He use to ride the New York City fire trucks,
30:28 and he use to raid the speakeasy's with the police.
30:31 I mean, he was so unusual, yet everyone loved him.
30:38 He'd take whole orphanages to the ball game.
30:42 That's Mayor LaGuardia.
30:45 And when the newspaper went on strike,
30:49 he read the funnies over the radio to the
30:51 little children throughout the city.
30:53 I mean, he was well loved.
30:54 And you can understand why.
30:57 One bitterly cold night in January 1935,
31:00 the mayor turned up at a night court
31:02 that served the poorest ward of the city.
31:05 LaGuardia dismissed the judge and took the place.
31:09 There, a tattered old lady came and was brought in before him
31:14 charged with stealing a loaf of bread.
31:19 She told LaGuardia that her daughter's husband
31:21 had deserted her, her daughter was sick,
31:23 and her two grandchildren were starving.
31:25 So she stole the loaf of bread.
31:30 Now the shopkeeper, he was very angry because he was
31:32 getting ripped off, I guess.
31:34 And he said, "She has to be shown, your Honor.
31:37 She has to be punished to teach other people a lesson."
31:43 LaGuardia sighed.
31:45 He turned to the woman and said, "I have to punish you.
31:49 The law makes no exception.
31:52 Ten dollars, ten days in jail."
31:55 But before he finished the sentence, he was reaching
32:00 for his wallet.
32:02 And he took out ten dollars and dropped it in the sombrero.
32:05 And then he said, "I'm going to fine every one of you
32:08 fifty cents each for making it that a little old lady
32:14 has to steal a loaf of bread in our city
32:17 to feed her starving grandchildren."
32:19 That is grace.
32:22 Do you get it?
32:23 You get the drift?
32:26 That is grace.
32:30 Give and give him a standing ovation.
32:35 Because the people, when he had said that,
32:38 stood and applauded Mayor LaGuardia.
32:46 You see, if you really understand the gospel,
32:48 the true gospel, not the false gospel but the true gospel,
32:52 you'll understand that good works
32:55 is just a standing ovation for what God has already done, amen.
33:01 What God has already done; that's grace.
33:04 Now, three important things about our text in Ephesians 2
33:07 verses 8 and 9.
33:08 There are three very important things.
33:11 First of all, the need of salvation.
33:15 "By grace..."
33:17 It is the means of grace that we go to heaven.
33:19 Secondly, the way is by faith; the act of grace.
33:25 And then there is the reward of our salvation;
33:27 which is the reward of grace.
33:30 There is need of grace, act of grace, and reward of grace.
33:33 Too many people think that justification comes by
33:36 faith and by grace, but then sanctification
33:39 is the work of a lifetime.
33:41 No, it's not the work of a lifetime.
33:43 It's the work of God working on our life for a lifetime.
33:48 It's still grace.
33:50 It's still grace, the unmerited favor of God.
33:53 We don't deserve it. None of you deserve it.
33:59 I don't deserve it.
34:01 I deserve to be lost.
34:03 But this gracious loving caring God I've been talking about
34:06 this week, this gracious God, He gives us grace,
34:10 He gives us the unmerited favor.
34:12 He gives us what He deserves so that we might
34:16 give Him our hearts.
34:21 Unmerited giving.
34:26 It's a gift from above.
34:27 Never forget that.
34:28 Acceptance based upon the need and the desire
34:30 of one who receives it.
34:32 It's a new standing before God.
34:35 I was saved, by the way, in 1954.
34:39 I was 16 years old.
34:42 I was a ruffian kid in the streets of Brooklyn.
34:45 God saved me that moment.
34:47 By the way, I was not saved to a degree and now more saved.
34:52 God didn't put a down payment on your house.
34:55 He paid for it.
34:56 Why do you think you have to pay a mortgage?
35:02 If He only paid the part and you have to pay the rest,
35:04 then it's no longer a gift, is it.
35:07 You don't say to your kid, "Here's you a little bicycle.
35:12 It's 42 dollars.
35:13 I paid 30 dollars of it, I want you to pay the rest."
35:17 It's no longer a gift.
35:19 Don't you understand that it's so simple
35:21 it's like the nose on your face?
35:24 And yet, we get so mixed up.
35:27 You see, listen to me.
35:31 I was ready for heaven the moment I gave my life to Christ.
35:38 I'm no more ready now after 50 years of serving Him.
35:42 And by the way, some people say, "I like the works."
35:44 Hey, you like works?
35:45 Then I'm way ahead of you.
35:48 I've spend 50 years living in hotel rooms, and
35:53 going into the barrios, and preaching the Word of God
35:56 and baptizing 15,000 people in the kingdom of Christ
35:59 and this church.
36:00 Listen to me, if good works then I'm ahead of you.
36:03 Thank God it's grace.
36:06 Thank God it's grace.
36:09 The unmerited favor of God.
36:11 I mean, whew.
36:14 I'm very suspicious of people who try to lay a heavy burden
36:17 upon other people in these last days.
36:20 "Oh, we've got to be different, last days."
36:22 No, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
36:25 Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord, never forget it.
36:28 I mean, "We need to be better, purer,
36:31 because we live in the last days."
36:32 What heresy.
36:33 God does not change. "I change not."
36:36 His salvation was by grace through faith,
36:38 and it is a gift.
36:39 It was a gift in the beginning, it is a gift now.
36:42 Even at this moment as I receive Him as the gift.
36:47 In Matthew 24 verse 37, you'll notice what the Bible says.
36:57 Notice, "the Son of man," what?
37:00 As the days of Noah, it shall be.
37:02 Genesis 6 verse 8 tells us:
37:07 By the way, he needed to find grace.
37:09 He comes out of the Ark, he gets drunk,
37:11 he lies naked before his children.
37:13 Surely, Noah needed grace.
37:18 He found grace.
37:20 Hmm, boat builder found grace.
37:26 He's an example of our generation.
37:27 Because the Bible says, "As was in the days of Noah,
37:29 so shall it be in the..." What?
37:30 "...days of the coming of the Son of man."
37:35 And yet, this perfect person gets out of the Ark
37:39 and he gets drunk and lays naked.
37:42 His nakedness was covered by grace.
37:45 Our generation will be like that generation.
37:47 Do you hear me? You'll be like that generation.
37:50 Grace rescues us.
37:51 Take a look at that powerful text found in Colossians
37:54 the second chapter.
37:55 The second chapter of Colossians.
37:57 And I'm reading here.
38:09 God made you alive.
38:11 I became alive when grace came.
38:15 God forgave you.
38:16 I was forgiven when God came.
38:18 I mean, the debt was cancelled when God's grace came.
38:21 God took away the record.
38:23 I mean, God stripped the spiritual rulers.
38:25 God won the victory.
38:27 Why walk around like losers?
38:29 You are victorious because Christ is victorious.
38:36 God shows the whole world the way to victory.
38:40 The question is, who is active? You or I?
38:44 Well, God.
38:46 Who is trapped?
38:48 And who comes to rescue us, you or God?
38:53 Who throws a life preserver?
38:54 Many read books about life saving.
38:59 We've read all the books about life preservers.
39:02 But you never had to wear one.
39:09 Trapped.
39:12 You know something?
39:14 I'm not more saved now than I ever was
39:16 when I first found the Lord.
39:18 I enjoy my walk better.
39:22 Romans chapter 1 verses 16 and 17.
39:24 Listen to the Word of God. Listen to what it says.
39:58 He calls it, "faith to faith."
40:01 What is faith? Faith is trusting Jesus Christ for your salvation.
40:06 Faith to faith is trusting on a continuing bases in salvation.
40:10 For everyday faith, it is the spirit that gives me faith.
40:14 It's the spirit filled life that fills me with faith to faith.
40:18 And that allows me to visualize,
40:19 accomplish mountain moving faith.
40:22 It originates in my soul only as a gift of God.
40:29 Salvation is always by faith.
40:31 And that is why he says, "faith to faith."
40:34 We begin our walk by trusting.
40:37 Then somehow we get all messed up in our heads, somehow.
40:40 Maybe it's us preachers who have been filling you with this.
40:44 Sorry.
40:47 Sorry.
40:50 We get so messed up and start trying.
40:53 You talk about a person, "How's your spiritual life?"
40:55 "Oh, I'm trying."
40:59 As if trying is going to help.
41:02 As if receiving and keeping salvation is
41:04 two different things.
41:08 I don't receive it by faith and keep it by works.
41:11 "Not by works, lest any should..." What?
41:13 "...boast."
41:15 Self effort, self sanctification,
41:18 self justification is not the way of faith.
41:20 The way of faith is what He inspires in us.
41:22 The process is so clear we overlook it.
41:24 God forgives us, accepts us, establishes us
41:27 in a right relationship.
41:28 He then goes on from faith to faith.
41:34 He engenders a hunger in us.
41:38 A hunger.
41:41 When I first came to know Christ,
41:43 I had a hunger in my heart.
41:47 You didn't have to tell me.
41:51 In fact, I'm tired of you tell me.
41:55 You didn't have to tell me.
41:57 The Holy Spirit told me.
42:00 Don't tell me, "You've got to give up this, give up that."
42:02 The Holy Spirit moves.
42:06 Not by works, self justification.
42:09 Listen to me, faith to faith.
42:11 We cannot force ourselves to have faith.
42:15 Faith can only originate in the soul by the gift of God.
42:18 And by the way, it comes by the Spirit, the Holy Spirit.
42:20 You can't have faith without the Holy Spirit.
42:23 Don ever think you're going to live without the Holy Spirit.
42:25 You can't have faith without the Holy Spirit.
42:27 You can't cry out to God without the Holy Spirit.
42:30 You can't say your prayers without the Holy Spirit.
42:33 It's the Spirit that convicts you and brings you to faith.
42:41 In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, if I had time I'd read it for you.
42:45 But they have me on a clock.
42:48 In this passage, we have nineteen gifts of the Spirit.
42:51 Did you notice?
42:53 Kathismata, the grace gifts.
42:58 The indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
43:01 We study the Holy Spirit like it's a class; Holy Spirit 101.
43:05 It's not a class.
43:07 It's an experience.
43:11 It's sensing Him, it's feeling Him in your heart.
43:14 It's being convicted when you get up off your knees.
43:17 I mean, it's the Holy Spirit that enwraps around you.
43:20 It's the Holy Spirit that makes you look towards Christ.
43:23 It's the Holy Spirit that makes you want to pray.
43:25 It's the Holy Spirit that makes you want to do for God.
43:28 It's the Holy Spirit.
43:29 Give Him glory and credit too.
43:36 No one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.
43:48 If you are of the belief that someday you'll live without
43:50 the Holy Spirit, you are a deluded people.
43:54 That is what Paul said.
43:56 You will not be able to say in that day, "Come, Lord Jesus."
44:00 Because it's the Holy Spirit that puts it in your mouth.
44:04 It's the Holy Spirit that puts it in your eyes.
44:09 It's the Holy Spirit that puts it in your ears
44:11 so you hear God.
44:16 It's nurtured and grown by faith and trust and belief.
44:22 It means those of us who have been given the capacity to
44:25 trust Christ unreservedly for our salvation are now
44:28 afforded a special confidence to believe what He can and
44:32 will do in our circumstances.
44:33 It's a mountain moving faith.
44:36 The faith that does not shrink from the task.
44:39 The faith that sees what God wants to be done,
44:41 and sees that it's done.
44:46 I always marvel at this station here.
44:49 Because when you first started,
44:53 vision, you saw something.
44:57 The leaders saw something.
45:00 It was out of that magnifying faith
45:05 you see what's happening now.
45:08 You see, the person who has the gift of faith
45:11 asks, "What does God want?"
45:14 "What does He want in this particular situation?"
45:17 "What would Jesus do in this particular situation?"
45:21 "What does He expect in particular circumstances?"
45:24 First, faith asks it.
45:25 Secondly, faith has the courage to believe that it will be done.
45:29 We all live on the edge of some complexity.
45:31 Listen to me.
45:32 Most of us expect little from God.
45:35 And that's why we're not disappointed.
45:40 The majority of Christians I know do not have
45:41 a lively expectancy which comes from faith.
45:45 Faith seen is the gifted life.
45:48 They have enough faith to accept Christ at Calvary.
45:50 But they don't have enough faith to accept Him
45:52 in our culture, in our moment with our need.
45:58 Now the question is, how do I get it?
46:01 Well, the answer is clear as the nose on your face.
46:04 More of the Holy Spirit.
46:08 The One who enables to believe in the beginning will help you
46:15 meet the challenge of the future.
46:16 The moving of faith to faith to faith to faith to faith.
46:23 Not faithful, mind you. To faith.
46:28 "Got to be more faithful if I'm going to have this."
46:30 Faith.
46:36 If you haven't asked Jesus Christ for eternal salvation,
46:38 ask Him now.
46:40 You can, right at this moment.
46:43 You can ask Him now.
46:44 Boldly claim the gift of faith.
46:47 And if you've never known the enabling power of faith,
46:49 you who are here at church, you've never known the
46:51 indwelling, the overflowing of the Holy Spirit in your life,
46:54 then ask it now.
46:58 There's a wonderful story about a first grader.
47:00 A little boy, he was leaving the class his last day
47:04 and he shook the hand of the teacher and he said,
47:06 "Teacher, I really like you.
47:10 I sure wish I could stay here forever.
47:13 But I've been promoted.
47:15 Boy, I wish you knew enough to teach me in the second grade."
47:24 We laugh at that.
47:26 And then we know the Holy Spirit who gave us the gift
47:28 of primary faith knows more than enough to
47:31 give us powerful faith.
47:35 For instance, what is faith?
47:38 Well if I had a chair, I'm sitting on a chair
47:41 and there's a chair over there.
47:42 I'd say, "Will that chair hold me?"
47:44 You say, "Well, I don't know."
47:46 Well, you'd have to get up and walk over and
47:48 sit on that chair, right?
47:49 You see, I get up off the chair and I walk over and
47:51 I sit on that.
47:52 Before I knew Christ, before I knew salvation,
47:55 before I knew the gift of eternal life,
47:57 I was sitting on myself.
47:59 I was depending upon myself.
48:01 And then all of a sudden, it dawned on me.
48:03 I needed to go over and I needed to put my weight
48:06 on Jesus Christ.
48:14 And that's powerful faith.
48:17 The faith that unshackles us.
48:19 I was a pastor in Cleveland, Tennessee and I worked
48:21 in prison ministry.
48:24 I worked with a young man at the prison and
48:25 he gave his life to Christ.
48:28 There was a real transformation of his life.
48:31 You can't come into the presence of Jesus and not be changed.
48:37 His life was changed.
48:39 One day when I was visiting him, he said, "Pastor Ron,"
48:41 he said, "I really want to be baptized."
48:44 And so I went to the prison officials and I said,
48:47 "He needs to be baptized."
48:48 "Well, we don't have a baptistery here."
48:50 I said, "Well, I have one in my church."
48:52 They said, "Well, I don't know if we can do that."
48:54 I said, "No, the man..."
48:55 And they saw a transformation.
48:58 And so they said, "Alright, Thursday afternoon."
49:01 So I went and filled up the water and got it ready and
49:06 in walked the prisoner, shackled.
49:11 Shackled.
49:13 He walked in and I said, "Take those shackles off him.
49:16 He's a born again Christian. He's new in Christ."
49:19 They said, "Well, I don't know if we can."
49:21 But they did.
49:24 He went down in the water, baptized in the kingdom of God.
49:26 He came up; the glow, the beauty in his face.
49:31 He went back to prison to serve his term.
49:35 And I moved away from the church, but the church would
49:37 get a tithe envelope every so often from this
49:40 box number in Tennessee.
49:44 And they'd send it, the name.
49:47 One day, the church was sanctimoniously sitting
49:49 in a board meeting wondering what the church manual says
49:52 about a person who doesn't attend church.
49:55 They forgot they should have asked Immanuel.
50:00 Get the drift? But anyway.
50:04 And so they said, "Well, where is this person.
50:07 We never see him at church."
50:09 And then the treasurer said, "Oh, he sends faithfully
50:12 offerings and tithes from a box number."
50:16 A few years later, a man walked into the church in a cheap suit.
50:24 And they said, "Oh, are you a visitor, a guest?"
50:26 And he said, "No, I'm a member."
50:29 He told them the story.
50:31 Unshackled.
50:34 Unshackled.
50:36 That's the story of grace.
50:39 And that's the story of quantum grace.
50:42 Bill Tamerly talks about quantum grace.
50:43 I like that.
50:45 Listen to what he says.
50:46 "Barely visible mustard seed, mover of mountains.
50:51 Ever smaller, we search for the ultimate indivisible.
50:55 We find unimaginable force from an atom split.
50:58 Yet even electrons, neurons, and beyonds
51:01 infinitesimal, invisible, and still divisible
51:05 by the lowest and the highest common denominator.
51:09 Faith, the smallest and the greatest,
51:12 the evidence of things hoped for,
51:13 the substance of things not seen,
51:15 the building block of all that matters,
51:17 the power of the infinite, at our disposable."
51:21 I like that.
51:24 That's grace through faith.
51:26 The unmerited gift of God's giving, of God's giving.
51:34 Years ago...
51:35 And I tell this story wherever I go.
51:37 You've heard it, perhaps.
51:38 If you haven't, you should.
51:39 If you have, it's gets better with the telling.
51:44 I was sent to Harlem.
51:46 The brethren were sent to the Philippines.
51:48 Get the drift?
51:50 And so I was there in January in Harlem.
51:52 January.
51:54 And I was to preach the Word of God.
51:58 The first night, I stood up to preach and
52:00 the church was packed out.
52:03 They had to get on the subway, and they had to go through
52:05 the snow, and they had to get on buses, those people.
52:08 But they were faithful.
52:09 If the rain drops are falling, we stay home.
52:12 We can see it on 3ABN.
52:14 Give me a break.
52:15 I hope the second coming comes through 3ABN,
52:18 or else some of you will be left behind.
52:25 And so I was preaching, and I noticed in the second row
52:29 a woman with a gold afro.
52:35 A big gold afro.
52:37 Now I teach preaching in some of our colleges.
52:41 And I told my preachers, don't keep looking at the same people,
52:44 or else they'll think you're preaching about them.
52:46 And so, I looked and a gold afro.
52:48 I mean, you could hardly miss it.
52:50 So I tried to turn away.
52:51 But everywhere I turned, I looked and...
52:55 ...I saw that gold afro.
52:58 And on the way out, as the people coming by are
53:01 shaking their hands, she shook my hand.
53:03 She said, "Hi, I'm Goldie."
53:04 I said, "Yea."
53:07 She went out in the night and the deacon came over.
53:10 He said, "You know who she is?"
53:11 I said, "Yea, Goldie."
53:12 He said, "No, she's the prostitute from 145th Street,
53:15 Amsterdam Avenue."
53:16 Now I never knew how the deacon knew that.
53:18 But anyway.
53:21 And so me being who I am, I did a holy dance.
53:25 Can't show you Adventists, but when I get to heaven
53:27 I'll show you it.
53:30 I went home and prayed that night.
53:32 Couldn't sleep that night.
53:33 All night I prayed for Goldie, that she'd come back
53:35 and listen to the Word of God, that Jesus would take her heart.
53:38 Next night, she was there.
53:39 And the next night and the next night and the next.
53:41 By that time, I'm in the third heaven, preaching from
53:44 the third heaven.
53:47 And one night she comes out and I said,
53:48 "Goldie, I'm going to come visit you."
53:50 Her head dropped.
53:53 She said, "Preacher, you don't want to visit me where I work.
53:55 Because where I work, I live."
53:57 You see, I never read in the Scripture,
53:59 "Office hours between 10 and 12."
54:01 Give me a break here.
54:03 What's happened to us?
54:06 We're so professional.
54:08 What's happened to us?
54:11 I said, "No." I didn't even know where.
54:13 "I'm going to come."
54:14 She said, "Pastor, I work where I live and I live where I work."
54:17 I said, "That's alright. I'll be there.
54:18 Would Thursday afternoon be alright, 2 o'clock?"
54:21 On the way home, I said to my wife,
54:22 I said, "Honey, I'm going to a house of prostitution
54:24 on 145th Street on Thursday.
54:26 Would you like to come?" She said, "Yea."
54:35 Drove out on Thursday, my wife parked the car.
54:37 I took my Bible; you keep out of trouble with your Bible.
54:41 I told you the other night, when I'm visiting the
54:43 inner cities, whether it's in the barrios of Los Angeles,
54:45 or San Bernardino, I carry my Bible.
54:48 They've got to shoot through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus
54:50 to get to me.
54:52 I said to my wife, I said, "Pray,"
54:55 She kept the car running, and praying.
54:57 I ran up the stairs, down the hall.
54:58 The customers were waiting.
55:01 I knocked on the door.
55:02 They said, "Hey man, where you going?"
55:03 I said, "I'm going to see Goldie."
55:04 I gave them my best Christian smile.
55:06 They said, "So are we."
55:07 I said, "Yea, but for the wrong reason; I'm a preacher."
55:09 That got them nervous.
55:12 I knocked on the door.
55:13 She said, "Who is it?"
55:15 I said, "Brother Ron, Pastor Ron."
55:18 She said, "Oh Pastor, wait."
55:19 And I waited for a customer to go out.
55:21 And I went in.
55:22 What do you say? What do you preach?
55:25 Come on, 2300 days?
55:28 Come on.
55:29 What do you talk about? Healthful living?
55:31 Come on.
55:34 What do you preach about? The Sabbath?
55:36 Get real.
55:38 You tell them that there's a God in heaven that loves them.
55:41 And this God doesn't want them to perish.
55:45 And He loved them with such a cost He gave His own Son.
55:49 You tell them that there's a God who loves them.
55:51 I said, "Goldie, Jesus loves you."
55:54 And she started to cry.
55:56 And I started to cry too, big lug.
55:59 She said, "You know, I learned something in Sunday school."
56:01 By the way, I met prostitutes from Sunday school
56:03 and I met some from Sabbath school.
56:08 And she said, "I learned something in
56:10 Sunday school when I was a little child."
56:11 I said, "What is it?" "A song."
56:13 I said, "A song? What is it?"
56:14 "Jesus loves me, this I know.
56:19 For the Bible tells me so.
56:22 Little ones to Him belong."
56:26 I said, "That's it."
56:28 The older I get, the more I understand.
56:34 That's it.
56:37 That's it.
56:39 Jesus loves me, this I know.
56:43 And there I led her to her knees to pray.
56:45 And I said, "Goldie, say a prayer."
56:47 She said, "I can't, I don't know how to pray."
56:49 I said, "Well just talk to Jesus, He loves you.
56:51 Just talk to Jesus as you love."
56:53 She said, "I don't know how to love."
56:56 I said, "Just tell Him what's in your heart."
56:59 I heard the most beautiful prayer I've ever heard
57:01 this side of glory.
57:04 A prostitute on 145th Street, Amsterdam Avenue; Goldie.
57:09 A few days later, she came forward to
57:13 give her life to Christ.
57:15 She received the unmerited favor of God.
57:18 And she became a Bible worker to serve God now,
57:23 and be with God forever.
57:28 The unmerited giving is yours.


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Revised 2014-12-17