Participants: Ron Halvorsen
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000859
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01:00 Bow our heads in a word of prayer.
01:01 Gracious Father, I thank you for the 01:03 joy of being a Christian. It's good to be here, 01:09 to sense your presence, to look into your face, 01:16 to feel your touch, and to have the assurance 01:24 that we're fully kept in the grace of God. 01:28 Father, there are so many people here 01:31 this morning that have burdens and troubles 01:34 and problems and they need the peace that 01:40 passeth understanding, they need to leave 01:42 this place not being themselves down 01:45 with guilt, but walking in the freedom 01:49 of grace and the freedom of love. 01:52 God speak to us but more than that God 01:58 help us to hear in Christ name, Amen. 02:04 The year was 1981, the month was July, 02:10 the date to be exact was the 28th, 02:13 the 28th day of July 1981, 750 million 02:18 people from around the world watched this, 02:21 the Cinderella story, the wedding of the century. 02:25 I mean this was the wedding made in heaven, 02:28 that's what they said, I mean this was the 02:31 epitome of what love is supposed to be, 02:33 what courtship and what marriage, 02:36 the perfect couple, the perfect match, 02:38 it was the way a wedding should be. 02:41 The world's most eligible bachelor, 02:44 Prince Charles, Duke of Windsor 02:47 and the beautiful lady Diana Spencer, 02:49 and by the way she was beautiful, 02:54 an aristocrat. Millions of men and women 02:59 swooned as those who lived out their fantasy 03:02 before the entire world. I mean the 03:04 pump and circumstances you would expect 03:06 at a wedding of royalty. 03:08 The place was in the most eloquent churches 03:10 in the world, St Paul's. I've had the privilege 03:14 of worshiping there at least four times. 03:16 It's a beautiful place. There's a sense of 03:19 history there; there's a sense 03:21 of the presence of God there. 03:22 It's a beautiful place St Paul's Cathedral. 03:26 All England, all the world thought this 03:28 was the perfect wedding; this was 03:30 the perfect marriage. I mean Charles stood 03:32 at the altar, dressed in full military splendor. 03:35 He awaited his bride. By the way I've never 03:38 seen an ugly bride. I've seen a few 03:41 grooms that needed help. But I've never 03:47 seen an ugly bride I mean there is 03:49 something about her, and when she 03:53 walked into the church, dressed 03:58 in an exquisite long, long, long, long 04:03 flowing gown and standing together 04:08 they looked magnificent. 04:09 And they repeated their vows, 04:13 their vows were vows of loyalty, 04:17 unconditional commitment. 04:21 Diana stared starry eyed into Charles' 04:24 face and said she would be his bride forever, 04:29 and Charles stared starry eyed into 04:33 her face and said, he would be her 04:36 groom forever. They kissed and it was over. 04:44 Well, oh, except the parade that's something 04:46 else. A golden chariot, come on what woman 04:51 hasn't dreamed of that. Four white horses 04:57 and they galloped off into the horizon. 05:06 That was then but something tragic 05:10 happened. The clock struck 12 on the 05:15 Cinderella story. Somewhere lives 05:17 grew apart, somewhere tensions began to mount, 05:20 somewhere love grew cold and stale and stagnant. 05:25 This story placed marriage became 05:27 common and ordinary. Now they try to put up 05:30 a front, public appearances were 05:33 made together, pleasantries were 05:37 exchanged but in reality it was over. 05:41 December 9, 1992, British Prime Minister 05:45 John Majors cleared his throat and broke 05:47 the news to the house of commons, 05:48 tragically, there would be a royal separation, 05:51 not a divorce mind you, just a separation. 05:57 In other words, there would be a truce, 06:00 mutual co-existence but the fact is the 06:06 wedding was dead, the honeymoon was over, 06:10 the glow was gone. I mean now its official, 06:14 the divorce, and now the bride is dead 06:17 and that's as final as it gets. 06:22 England's most celebrated marriage 06:25 became a national disgrace. 06:29 After following the royal wedding through 06:31 the years, the marriage, I thought about 06:36 our wedding, our marriage to the 06:38 Lord Jesus Christ, ours is the greatest 06:41 love story ever told. The King of Kings, 06:44 the King of glory courted us and 06:46 wooed us and wedded us and honeymooned 06:49 with us, he even lived in our lowly human 06:52 existence, in our common and corrupted mind, 06:54 weak and vulnerable human beings. 06:57 The wedding took place in a visible 07:00 and the invisible church of Jesus Christ. 07:02 We stood together before the entire universe, 07:05 the heavenly host, they were there at 07:07 the wedding day, they sang to the glory of God 07:09 when we were wedded to Jesus Christ. 07:13 Here is the story of the epitome of love, 07:16 that God would court us. 07:17 That God would love us so, that God 07:19 would put His arms around us, 07:21 that God would hold us in His arms 07:23 and He would whisper in our ears, 07:25 His eternal, unconditional love 07:27 that is the story of the epitome 07:29 of true love, courtship and marriage. 07:31 There was a time, when our hearts were 07:36 full of passion and excitement, 07:39 I mean Bible study was life changing. 07:41 There was a time when prayer was 07:43 soul lifting and heart lifting, 07:45 there was a time when worship was 07:47 earth shaking. We savored every moment. 07:53 When I came to Christ as a gang banger 07:56 in Brooklyn, New York, and I went out 07:58 toward Adventist Church, it was 2 hours 08:00 on the subway from my house. 08:02 And Jimmy Landaus and I head on the 08:05 subway 2 hours, early Saturday morning. 08:09 It was amazing, I could get there to 08:11 Sabbath school on time. Now I have a 08:17 call with four what? 250 whatever, 08:20 how many horses I don't know, 08:21 they keep making them smaller and 08:23 smaller the horses they're ponies now 08:25 but anyway and I hardly can make it. 08:30 And in fact I was, I would go to church 08:32 in the morning, you see we used to do 08:34 church in those days. Adventists don't do 08:37 church. We used to do, I mean we get there 08:41 for Sabbath school and day after Sabbath school 08:43 there would be church and after church 08:44 there would be potluck, well they 08:46 don't have much potluck Brooklyn 08:48 but my mother would pack me a lunch 08:52 and I'd have a sandwich, peanut 08:54 butter and jelly sandwich, I grew up on it. 08:56 And peanut butter now alright don't come 08:58 after and give me a sermon on that please, 09:05 and would pack a peanut butter 09:06 and jelly sandwich and I would eat 09:08 then we had, I remembered this beady 09:11 eyed home missionary leader, 09:13 now they call them lay activities 09:14 you've been sleeping ever since. 09:18 They change their names lay activities. 09:20 Everybody lays down Sabbath afternoon 09:22 that doesn't what it means. 09:25 Anyway it's beady eyed, I was, 09:29 black leather jacket, skull blood dripping 09:31 over it, dungarees, motor cycle boots, 09:34 that's all I had, that was myself. 09:36 I got a suit from the Dorcas about 8 months 09:39 later. It was from a dead man, every time 09:42 I hung in the closet, the arms folded, 09:44 I mean that's this suit, my first suit 09:48 from the Dorcas. Anyway, they had 09:55 territory I mean a beady eyed man hands me, 09:59 she says, this is your territory. 10:01 Now I knew my what my turf was 10:02 but I didn't what my territory was, 10:04 territorial assignment and every week 10:07 we would go out and give out literature 10:08 and then we were taught how to give 10:10 Bible studies that was in the afternoon, 10:12 and then came vespers and we had vespers 10:15 then young people, we had socials, 10:17 now we're so healthy, we're chasing our 10:19 children out of the backdoor because 10:20 we're afraid they're eating popcorn. 10:22 God deliver this church. We had socials every 10:26 Saturday night, and we ate popcorn. 10:31 And we had pizza at the Italian church. 10:33 I always loved it when it was at the 10:34 Italian church. And I get home, my momma, 10:39 she wasn't converted yet I led my first person, 10:41 I lead to Christ was my momma but my momma 10:43 says, why don't you take your bed to church. 10:46 There was a time when worship was earthshaking, 10:50 there was a time we severed every moment 10:53 of the Sabbath, we severed every moment 10:55 of the presence with God but that was then 11:00 something tragic has happened for many 11:02 of us. Our marriage has gone on the rocks 11:07 I mean we live in the same house 11:10 but we live in different rooms. 11:12 The courtship is over. For many, 11:17 the separation, the divorce is proceeding 11:20 is in progress. Legally we're still married 11:23 to Christ but marriage is motion not emotion. 11:26 We go through the motions. 11:27 We sing the right songs, Happy Sabbath 11:30 brother Halvorsen, we fought all the 11:31 way to the church, happy Sabbath Elder. 11:34 You don't think God sees that hypocrisy. 11:40 By the way my next happy Sabbath will be 11:43 when Jesus breaks through the cloud 11:44 and I said, we'll break with him, 11:46 flying to heaven, I began being there. 11:51 But the glow is gone, the feeling we felt 11:57 when we first felt the feeling isn't there 12:00 any longer. Such separation has 12:03 happened to so many million. 12:06 I travel around the world preaching the 12:08 gospel of God, I preach in big churches and 12:10 little churches, and I see it's same 12:12 everywhere, the membership and 12:15 those who attend and those who are really 12:17 faithful, very faithful. But this is not new; 12:24 this isn't unique with the Adventist church 12:28 in this century. Why the first century church 12:32 had this problem? It was a church at Ephesus. 12:38 Ephesus had lost their first love. 12:41 Now not in total but in part I mean the blazing 12:45 passion had cooled off I mean they fell 12:47 out of love with Christ. Everywhere I would go 12:51 I want to tell people about Jesus, 12:53 I mean subways I preach on subways 12:55 and street corners and everywhere 12:58 now I kind of have to dignify, be dignified 13:01 you know and get by audience. 13:10 Church lost its first love. They fell out of 13:14 love with Christ, you say how can that happen, 13:17 how can that happen? Falling out of love with 13:22 Jesus Christ, you know the amazing thing 13:26 about it, before we even get into it, 13:28 the amazing thing about it is that 13:29 Jesus with great love seeks to restore 13:32 the spiritual fervor again, to reinitiate 13:34 a call for them to restore that relationship 13:37 and Jesus always takes that first step 13:39 back to you. You see this morning the 13:43 bridegroom Jesus always takes that 13:45 first step back, and he woos us and then 13:48 wins us. This morning God willing 13:49 we will see how love maybe rekindled, 13:51 and let's carefully look at this at the church. 13:54 Let's take a trip back to the first century, 13:56 let's go back to Ephesus and here 13:58 is the study, a trip to Ephesus was like 14:01 taking a trip to most large cities today. 14:04 It was a busy thriving metropolis. 14:08 It was one of the most prominent cities 14:11 in Asia Minor, it was like New York 14:12 is to United States, like Brooklyn is to 14:16 Manhattan. You will get that summery by 14:19 Tuesday but anyway preaches maybe by 14:23 Wednesday. I don't know but anyway Los Angeles, 14:27 it was located 3 miles from the Aegean sea 14:31 up the Cayster River, it was the city of Ephesus. 14:34 Ephesus stood at the cross roads of travel, 14:37 there were four major highways that 14:38 intersected at the city of Ephesus. 14:41 Ephesus at all that which cosmopolitan 14:43 cities have it had the arena for sport 14:46 and a theater for drama, it had it's odd, 14:49 it's pageantry, this was no hit town. 14:52 This was in between Oklahoma City 14:55 and somewhere else or nowhere else. 15:00 This wasn't somewhere west of Casper, 15:03 Wyoming. I mean this was a metropolis, 15:06 this was a big city, this was a city, 15:14 Ephesus was the center of pagan worship. 15:20 Back then it was one of the seven wonders 15:21 of world, the temple to the Goddess Diana, 15:25 it was place of hidden worship and idolatry. 15:28 I mean this temple was the length of 15:29 two football fields. And on the inside 15:34 Pagan worship flourished with all 15:35 temple prostitution. It was the grossest 15:37 perversions, in fact I can't even tell you 15:40 about the worship of this temple to Diana, 15:44 so perverted. drunkenness and 15:47 sexual orgy, it's no wonder the city 15:49 was so popular with businessmen. 15:51 It was like the Las Vegas, they go to 15:54 have their meetings. Ephesus was truly the 15:57 cesspool of iniquity. But it's there that 16:01 God planted a church, and if you have your 16:03 Bibles I want you to look in with me, 16:04 Revelation the Second chapter and let's see. 16:11 A picture of this place called Ephesus. 16:21 And I read, and to the angel of the church 16:25 at Ephesus write, it was there that this 16:36 godly city was to hear the message 16:40 of the gospel. You know, there's a 16:43 principle really here, listen to this principle, 16:47 it is better to run a mission at the gate 16:51 of hell than to preach to the choir. 16:55 I mean that's the message that Ephesus 16:58 tells us. I mean here is the setting, 17:05 now the setting says to the angel 17:09 of the church of Ephesus, right, 17:11 the speaker. Now the speaker is not 17:13 mentioned by name but we know who it is, 17:16 there is no question of who it is. 17:18 I mean the Lord Jesus is dictating this letter, 17:21 He's dispatching this letter, 17:22 He communicates to the angel or the 17:25 word angel translated in the Greek means 17:27 messenger and the messenger is the 17:30 one who speaks for the church and the 17:32 messenger is the preacher who has 17:33 the prime responsibility by the way of 17:35 communicating the gospel, not waiting 17:37 on your tables, not hitting up your 17:39 Baptistry, not taking the bulk of society 17:42 on a trip. It's there to preach the gospel 17:45 and to bring men and women to God, 17:46 and disciple the lost. Amen. 17:49 I know some of you don't like to hear that, 17:52 but that's alright, I'm retired you can't 17:54 fire me and I sure don't work in Oklahoma 17:58 so your can't chase me out. 18:01 Some says, well, you can say that, 18:02 but I've said it before I was retired, amen, 18:05 come on, anyway. Its interesting to know 18:08 that Jesus Christ, has these messengers where? 18:13 In his right hand, there's significance there. 18:17 I mean he holds them in his right hand 18:20 and there are seven and seven is completeness 18:23 but also it represents each one of the 18:26 seven churches, I mean He's holding them 18:28 in His right hand, it denotes the place of 18:30 strictest accountability, the strongest 18:33 protection, I mean it's the most strategic 18:36 usefulness. These leaders are surrounded 18:38 and kept by Christ and He holds them 18:41 in His hand, they are directly re-answerable 18:44 to Jesus Christ. He alone has chosen them, 18:52 and He uses them as He pleases to use them. 18:55 Notice that He walks amid the lampstands, 19:02 their significance. You see He is on location. 19:10 He's omnipresent, He is there in presence, 19:13 He is there in personality, 19:15 He is there to touch them, to help them, 19:18 to win them, to woe them, to love them, 19:21 He is there close up, He accesses them, 19:25 He inspects them, He weighs them, 19:27 He evaluates them, I mean He evaluates 19:30 this spiritual condition and I want to tell you 19:32 here. You have no right to evaluate 19:34 my spiritual life neither by what 19:37 you see nor by what you quote. 19:39 I am only accountable to Jesus Christ 19:43 and He is the only one to see me as 19:45 I really am. He accesses me. 19:49 Now God recognizes two strengths 19:53 about Ephesus I like this. 19:55 First of all He says, they toil and preserve, 20:00 look at it, well, let's see it. 20:04 Don't take my word for it, you wouldn't 20:07 anyway, but look at this, Revelation chapter 2, 20:12 and the let the word expound itself and it's 20:14 exegete itself. Notice He says, 20:16 I know your works, your labor, your patience, 20:19 and that you cannot bear those which are evil. 20:21 So he says, they toil and they preserve 20:23 and then He goes on to say, He says, 20:25 we know, He says, that you don't, you 20:28 cannot bear those who are evil. 20:30 You tested those who say they are apostles 20:33 and are not, and have found them liars. 20:34 They are strict and they are sound 20:36 they are an orthodox church. 20:38 In fact, if any of us who had been called 20:41 in Ephesus in that day we would have packed 20:43 our bags and ran. Alright, come on. 20:46 I mean that's the perfect church it works, 20:48 it's strict and it's loving because you 20:52 could not say you've lost your first love 20:54 unless they first had it. Doesn't take a 20:57 theologian to understand that, 20:59 they had love, and yet they toiled, 21:03 they persevered, they were strict, 21:05 I mean this church is not a museum of 21:07 pastors and saints, it was an infantry, 21:10 an active duty. They didn't come to church 21:13 to be entertained, they need to be fed. 21:16 They came to work, to minister, 21:22 they came to give sacrificially and 21:25 to serve selflessly and to serve lovingly 21:30 and doing and toiling and giving and going, 21:31 Jesus says, I know all about your toil 21:33 and perseverance because there is nothing 21:35 we can do in a church or not do in a church 21:37 that Jesus Christ doesn't see. 21:42 There are not lazy lethargic Laodicea 21:46 members at Ephesus. They were actively 21:49 in love with Jesus Christ. 21:52 They were actively in love with Jesus Christ. 21:58 They were strict and sound. 22:01 They knew what they believed. 22:04 They would not endure evil men. 22:07 They set aside standard and chose 22:10 not to tolerate sin in the camp. 22:12 Now they aggressively fought against it 22:14 but they knew there was something 22:16 more in black and white that was you know, 22:18 and they confronted sin the way Jesus 22:20 would they tried their best to have that change 22:22 and if it didn't then they took strong stand. 22:26 Well, what a church. They toiled, I mean 22:33 this was a great church. 22:35 This church was disciplined by Aquila 22:39 that's actually 18 verse 36, 22:41 it was taught by a Apolis, 22:43 I mean it's a great church, 22:44 it's not a church with Pastor Ron Halvorsen, 22:46 I mean this is a great church, I mean, 22:48 it was taught by a Apolis who was pastored 22:50 by Timothy. It was instructed by John. 22:53 It was a recipient of eight New Testament 22:55 letters. By the way Paul was in Ephesus 23:05 when he wrote First Corinthians, 23:07 This church was a symbol of orthodoxy, 23:09 it was a bastion of faith, it was a 23:11 fortress of faith, it was a bastion of truth. 23:14 They had everything but the main thing, 23:17 they got so caught up in being strict and sound, 23:21 doctrinally pure that they lost love. 23:31 Abruptly Jesus changes His tone in his letter. 23:35 The master puts his finger one glaring 23:37 deficiency. He addressed one fatal flaw and by the 23:40 way if it continued it would destroy the church. 23:43 There is only one thing that can destroy the 23:45 church. That's the lack of love. 23:53 For some of you it's a lack of what you eat 23:56 or what you don't eat, it's a lack of 23:59 what you wear or what you don't wear, 24:01 that's not what will kill this church. 24:07 It's a lack of love that will kill this church. 24:10 That's not my word, that's his word. 24:12 That's his word to Ephesus. 24:14 I mean one fatal flaw, one deadly sin, 24:20 I mean the sin was so serious it endangers 24:22 the church existence and he says, why, 24:24 he says, thou hast lost thy first love, 24:27 verse 4, remember your first love. 24:31 Do you remember yours? I remember mine. 24:34 I'm still married to her. It would be 50 years 24:39 this September, 50 years, come on now. 24:48 Nowadays you go 50 days you get a 24:50 hand come on now. Amen. 24:56 I was sitting in the class at Atlantic Union 24:58 College, I was cool, I was like the fawns, 25:02 you know, I just came out of the gangs 25:04 of my DA, long side burns you know my 25:07 cool moves and I looked across this room 25:13 and there she was, in fact I could have 25:16 wrote a song about it, across this crowded 25:21 room, that's right Perry. That's right. 25:26 This beautiful French girl and I hit my friend 25:30 and I said, hey man look at that chick, 25:32 by the way translated for you Oklahonians 25:35 that means that beautiful girl. 25:39 Just in case you've been on this side 25:40 so long you've forgotten the other 25:42 side but anyway I looked across the room 25:44 and I said, wow, look at that beautiful chick 25:47 and I said, I'm gonna ask her out oh, 25:49 no she's engaged I said, yeah, 25:50 but she's not married. 25:56 Remember the first love, the excitement 25:58 and then I was thinking about the moves 26:00 and class bell rang and she was coming out 26:02 and I walked up and I said, hi, I'm Ron, 26:08 she says, I'm Carol. I said, hey nice to 26:10 meet you. I said, would you like to go 26:11 out on Saturday night and she was oh, 26:13 I'm engaged. I said, but you're not married. 26:22 Remember the chemistry, the mystical attraction. 26:28 When two hearts heap up and I mean romance 26:31 and flames and two lives fall in love and, 26:38 I went out. I know she thanks God everyday 26:42 for that, but at least every other day 26:47 I mean at least every other day, 26:49 at least every other day. 26:53 Remember the first love, but something 26:58 happens along the way for some, 27:00 not for everybody but for some. 27:06 The daily flow of things, the honeymoon ends 27:08 and the children come and the career takes off 27:11 and the business expands. 27:14 Now you're the big business man. 27:16 Never forget where you come from. Amen. 27:20 Big doctor now, stethoscope, 27:24 big nurse now. You're as big as 27:32 your prayer position. Amen. 27:35 Do you hear me? You're as tall as 27:39 your prayer position, stress is multiplying 27:48 you know how, and suddenly two people 27:50 wake up complete strangers. 27:54 They work for Christ but fell out of love 27:55 with Christ that was Ephesus. 27:57 Their minister became mechanical and 27:59 relationships became routine. 28:01 I'm reminded of a couple who are driving 28:03 home from prayer meeting one night 28:05 and moon was up, the little lady was sitting 28:07 over there in the passenger seat 28:09 and she looked up and she says, 28:11 honey see the moon, he was driving, yeah, 28:17 she said, remember well, when we used 28:19 to sit close together you used to put your 28:21 arm around me and it was so romantic remember. 28:25 He says, well, I haven't moved. 28:34 Jesus hasn't removed. The disenchanted 28:39 come to me with all kinds of reasons 28:41 why they leave. Church isn't the same. 28:45 It is the same, it is still 20s what is it? 28:52 28 I say 27 all the times and they keep 28:56 getting after you, it's 28 whatever; 29:03 Sabbath begins Friday evening by the way 29:05 if you still remember that, when the Sun 29:08 goes down, it ends when the Sun goes 29:11 down, hasn't changed. I can confess my sins 29:17 he's faithful and just to forgive, 29:18 it hasn't changed. 29:26 It hasn't changed we have changed, 29:36 we have changed. The distance was not 29:38 because of Him but because of us. 29:44 But you know one thing about this book 29:48 is God doesn't only put His finger on 29:49 the problem, He doesn't only deal 29:51 with the problem. I think too many of us 29:53 are always dealing in apologetics, 29:55 we're always dealing with the problem, 29:56 we never get to that solution. 29:59 In Ephesus, He doesn't deal only with the 30:02 problem, He told you how you can get back 30:04 that first love, would you like to learn 30:06 how you can get back that first love, 30:07 then let's read on. Look at verse 5 and 6, 30:12 wow! Look at verse 5 and 6, I can't 30:18 believe this, when I first read it, 30:20 I ran around, I do this when I come, 30:23 I jumped up, did a holy dance in my office 30:25 which I can't do for you Adventists till 30:26 I get to heaven but I got so excited, 30:29 ran around my room five times and 30:30 sat down again, it's amazing. 30:35 Look at verse 5 and 6, how do we get 30:39 it back. Remember therefore from 30:41 where you have fallen, repent and 30:43 do the first works; and I will come 30:47 or I will come to you quickly remove 30:48 your lampstand and then he says, 30:50 and remain, repent or remember, 30:55 repent, repeat and remain. 30:59 Let's look at it, first of all he says, 31:02 remember, remember back when you were 31:04 first fell in love. That's our problem we forget. 31:08 Lest we forget, remember the excitement 31:10 reading the Bible stories, remember 31:11 the excitement you felt at junior camp, 31:13 remember when you first came to know Him, 31:16 he says, do those, remember those things 31:19 I always go back to Brooklyn, 31:20 but once a year I go. I walked to the alley, 31:22 was when my children growing up 31:23 I took them with me. I drive out of Keene 31:27 as fast as I could go, head north, 31:30 back to Coney Island. Parked the car and 31:33 I hope it was there when I got back. 31:37 And I walked through the alley ways 31:39 and showed them the addicts and drunks 31:41 and the, I mean show them the wasted humanity 31:45 and I would say, son, save for the grace 31:48 of God that's what daddy would be, 31:50 Diane honey, that's what daddy would 31:52 be save for the grace of God and 31:54 I take that and I still go back. 31:56 I take my grand children now. 32:00 Remember, remember when you decided 32:05 for Christ, remember you see the road back 32:09 to Christ is first of all to remember, 32:12 memory is the handmade of revival, 32:14 remember unless you forget he says remember. 32:18 I was preaching in Brooklyn, they sent 32:20 me to Brooklyn to go back and preach him. 32:22 Brethren always send me to those places 32:24 they don't want to go. Sorry I mean I admit 32:27 that, I never make the back page of Review 32:29 and Herald because they don't send me 32:30 over to Philippines, they send the president 32:32 of the general conference there. 32:35 So you see I still have a little problem 32:37 but for Lord's sake working on it. 32:44 You know and I, you see I get so excited 32:51 about that I got a senior moment that 32:54 lasts an hour sometimes, so we better get on with 32:57 this sermon, anyway what I saying here, 33:00 you were supposed to be listening what was I. 33:05 Well, anyway I go back to the city and 33:08 but I was sent to Brooklyn and oh, 33:11 while the general conference president 33:12 went to the Philippines with 20,000. 33:13 I went to Brooklyn with about 20, 33:17 and I got a name and one thing I decided 33:21 as a believer that and as a minister all my life 33:24 that find a name I would try to do my 33:26 best to follow up that name. 33:28 Because that name was sacred trust, 33:31 and when I read that it was a daughter 33:35 of a Seventh-day Adventist minister 33:37 I wanted to more visit that because I had 33:39 a daughter she was and I read the address 33:42 and I told what is an Adventist girl preacher's 33:46 daughter doing in that neighborhood. 33:51 So I got my get ghetto car and drove down. 33:54 My ghetto car wasn't worth stealing. 33:59 I'd open a trunk even the spare wasn't worth 34:02 stealing. I leave the keys and the ignition 34:05 hoping they would steal it. it's how bad that 34:08 car was, I go down into the neighborhood. 34:10 Parked where I could park, went up the 34:15 stairs down the hall came to the door, 34:20 terrible neighborhood, I can't even describe it. 34:27 Sometimes you hear about these poor 34:29 mission places and how they need these 34:31 little church. I wish you would come to 34:33 the inner city with me and go to some of 34:34 these little Spanish churches, little black 34:36 churches in some of our cities in America, 34:39 and see the ceiling falling down and water 34:42 tripping out of the pipes and I wish you would 34:44 see life here where I spent my life as a 34:47 missionary and I went back to Brooklyn 34:50 and I come to the door and the music boom, 34:55 boom, boom, and so I gave a knock, 34:58 Christian knock I had my Bible with me 35:00 and I get back dignified ecclesiastical knock, 35:06 nothing happened, by the way it never does. 35:12 All preaches today get, spending all their time 35:15 trying to figure out post modernist instead 35:18 of just going out and preaching let God figure 35:20 that out. So I knocked and boom, 35:28 you know how music is, that rock boom, 35:31 you just hear the base boom, boom, 35:33 that's Satan trying to drive it down boom, 35:35 boom. So I got back and I ran at the door 35:39 and boom, boom, finally she came to the door 35:47 and unlocked the locks and there was 35:49 a chain lock she looked out and she said, 35:50 who are you? I said, Ron Halvorsen, 35:52 she said, who is Ron Halvorsen, 35:53 I knew that girl needed help. 36:01 I said, I am a Seventh-day Adventist preacher, 36:04 she says, I'm not interested, I said, 36:06 I know that's why I am here. 36:10 She's not interested, and she couldn't resist 36:13 it after that, I mean she close the door 36:15 unlocked it. I walked in, there she was in 36:17 her room, bed and chair and table, 36:20 little girl clinging to her dirty house. 36:26 What do you say? What you talk about? 36:32 2300 days, vegan vegetarianism, 36:38 come on give me a break, you listen, 36:44 that's all, you listen and I said, honey I said, 36:50 tell me a little bit about your life? 36:55 She said, I'm the PK. I said, oh yeah, 36:59 tell me more. She said, my daddy is a 37:03 Seventh-day Adventist preacher, I said, 37:07 yeah, tell me more? She said, 37:11 I grew up in a church. I sang in the youth choir, 37:17 I went to elementary school, I went to 37:19 pre-school I mean I had all the school, 37:21 I graduated went to academy 37:23 I mean then the story started deteriorating 37:30 by the way you can't put your academy for 37:32 and out and the country far enough 37:34 and you can't built the walls big enough. 37:36 What you got to do is insulate the heart 37:39 and not isolate the child. 37:47 And she said, I went to the academy 37:48 and I got with the wrong kids and that 37:50 happens by the way that's what the 37:51 prodigal son is all about, that's what 37:53 the story is. Said, soon I began to smoke 37:56 and drink and by the way that's not 37:58 the problem, always dealing with smoking 38:00 and drinking that's not the problem 38:01 it's the heart, get to the heart, 38:05 and she said, I got pregnant, wasn't 38:09 married and I went home and told my dad 38:12 he got mad, why did you get upset 38:15 but he got mad and it's a difference, 38:19 and yelled and fought with me and said, 38:23 you're not my daughter, get out of this house, 38:25 and so I packed my suitcase and. 38:31 Hitchhiked across the country from California, 38:33 got to New York and they were waiting 38:35 those leeches, those maggots, they were 38:41 waiting to set her up to lay her down. 38:51 I said to her finally, I said something. 38:54 I said, honey have you ever thought 38:55 about going home and she started to cry 38:58 and by then I was crying you know big lug. 39:03 She said, I can't go home. Can you imagine 39:05 a girl getting to a place in her life 39:07 where she can't go home. Preacher's 39:10 daughter PK. She says, if I wanted 39:17 to go home and there came a glimmer 39:20 of light in her eye that I saw it. 39:22 She says, but he wouldn't want me home. 39:26 I said, but if he wanted you home, 39:28 so that won't happen, that will never happen. 39:31 I prayed with her, gave her a holy hug, 39:38 left, ran to my car, I mean ran, jumped in, 39:44 drove back home, got out the GC book. 39:48 You can run from evangelist, 39:50 but you can't hide. Looked up the name, 39:57 sure enough the city, so I needed, 40:01 got on the phone information 5 minutes, 40:04 hey, call them up. He answered the phone 40:10 I could picture him, black suit, black tie, 40:15 black socks, black underwear, black 40:17 briefcase, real biblical. May I help you? 40:27 Give me a break you hypocrite, hypocrisy 40:33 I said, oh, yeah, you can help me. 40:36 He said, oh, you I said, Ron Halvorsen. 40:38 He said, who is Ron Halvorsen I knew 40:40 he needed help. 40:48 I told him I was an evangelist in 40:49 New York City. I just visited his daughter, 40:52 he said, to me I have no daughter, 40:54 I said, you're a liar. You have a beautiful 41:00 daughter, and a beautiful little grand baby. 41:05 He said, you don't understand I said, 41:07 I do understand. I was with her. 41:15 I saw if you only could see it 41:25 and he went on and told them you hypocrite. 41:31 How many times have you preached from 41:33 Luke 15, talked about lost prodigals 41:43 and then there was silence, 41:45 he was remembering. 41:48 The second is Bible says, right here, 41:50 he say, repent, not only are you to 41:53 remember when first found Christ 41:56 but you are to repent for leaving His side. 41:58 Hardest thing for us, spiritual Christian 42:02 people is to repent, to admit, to admit, 42:08 that gifted Godly theologian under 42:12 the inspiration said this about human beings. 42:15 We will have besetting sins to overcome 42:18 as long as we have life. 42:25 We don't like the quote those things. 42:29 Repent and he started to cry, 42:34 even preachers can repent, oh, praise God. 42:39 Even I can repent. And then he says, 42:44 do those things. He says do the deed 42:46 you did before. Well, it's so simple, 42:49 do the things you did before. 42:50 What were those things? You prayed. 42:53 Now the only time you praise when 42:55 you get a bad report from your doctor. 42:57 Some financial problem you can't solve 43:00 so now we'll call on God to solve it. 43:06 He said, do those things and you know 43:07 I looked it up now, I'm not making this up, 43:09 I'm not theologizing this, I am getting it 43:11 right here from scripture, he says, 43:12 they were devoted themselves to apostles 43:15 teachings, that's Bible study. 43:18 They had fellowship, they worshiped, 43:20 you will get so holy you can't even come 43:23 to worship with sinners. 43:28 They broke bread together. 43:30 You know what I have against you 43:33 Adventists and I'm one. 43:38 We can't break bread together, 43:39 we can't socialize together, 43:43 we can't sit down and laugh together, 43:46 I don't know if you're vegan or not vegan. 43:48 I don't know if you eat cheese or 43:49 don't cheese, I don't know if you eat 43:50 popcorn after a certain hour, and so 43:52 here I am, I sit at your table like this. 43:55 God get me out of here, they broke bread, 44:02 that's not communion by the way. 44:04 They broke bread, they socialize together 44:07 and they weren't counting what kind of bread, 44:11 and what they were having for breakfast. 44:15 They just enjoyed each others company, 44:17 there's gonna come a day when God's saints 44:20 and God's people will enjoy each others 44:22 company no matter what. 44:24 I was at a camp meeting. How was it. 44:26 I'm a renegade anyway. I was at a camp meeting? 44:28 And they had at that camp meeting God forbid. 44:31 They had at that camp meeting, 44:32 chocolate cake. Now I do not like chocolate 44:36 cake not because I'm virtuous, 44:38 now I like a sneaker bar now and then, 44:41 but I did not like chocolate cake, 44:43 and we went through and I met the pastor, 44:45 a friend of mine, and he took a piece 44:46 of chocolate cake. And I didn't not because 44:49 I was virtuous. I don't like chocolate cake 44:52 and so we sat down and this doctrine's 44:55 wife came, sat down across from us. 44:58 It's amazing they can so educated 45:00 and be so stupid. He looked across the 45:06 table at the chocolate cake cake and began 45:09 to rant and range about how terrible 45:10 that chocolate cake was. 45:12 What it was going to do for him and so 45:14 I got so, I mean I prayed but I got up 45:16 and I got two pieces of chocolate cake 45:19 and sat out and ate it in front of them. 45:21 God help me. Amazing we sanctimonious. 45:36 They broke bread together, 45:37 I prayed there come a day when 45:39 we can have socials without someone 45:41 looking over our shoulder and telling 45:42 us what we shouldn't do with our kids. 45:47 I'll ask you this, where are your kids? 45:49 I know where they are, they're both 45:51 preaching this day. But we ate popcorn. 46:00 They prayed. The church that loves Bible, 46:06 listen to me, you want to come back, 46:08 you want to have a new relationship with Jesus. 46:10 Well remember, repent, repeat, do the things 46:18 you did before. Each step rekindles our love 46:24 for Christ. Each step we get closer to Christ, 46:28 we get so close to Jesus. Repent and 46:33 then forth of he says remain. 46:35 Listen to me, you can't beat me out 46:37 of this church, you can't quote me 46:41 out of this church. Well I'm here for the 46:48 long run. I have given everything to it. 46:52 I told my doctor, my doctor said to me 46:55 the other day he said, Mr. Halvorsen, 46:57 he says, you got to take it easy. 47:00 He said, I should why, why I have a fibrillation, 47:04 so you could, actually could I die from that? 47:06 He says, yeah. I said, could I live with it. 47:09 He says, yeah, I said so either way I went. 47:13 If I die I'm gonna be with the Lord 47:18 because he's going to come. 47:19 If I live I work for him so both ways doc. 47:21 What about you? Remain, remain, 47:32 I remember my baptism in Brooklyn, New York. 47:35 I was only one in my family but 47:37 I had the privilege of leading my mother 47:38 to Christ. My four brothers to Christ, 47:42 my drunken father to Christ, 47:44 was a deacon in a church open the first, 47:46 open the first, the last to lock up, 47:48 you know the kind, until the day he died 47:50 he was faithful to Jesus. My mother 47:52 was faithful to Jesus, my four brothers 47:54 are faithful to Jesus. Listen to me, 47:56 I love this church, the storm's building. 48:07 Don't lose that love. If you've lost it, 48:11 take the steps back, the Lord's coming soon, 48:18 the storm's building not gonna get easier. 48:20 Listen, it's not going to get easier. 48:24 If you can't stand it now, you won't stand 48:26 it three months from now. 48:28 When I was a little boy I used to love 48:31 to go fishing, by the way I still 48:33 love to go fishing, everybody that 48:34 knows me. Now they ask me what 48:36 I do with the fish? Give me a break here, 48:38 I mean they even try to ruse, 48:41 I go to fishing when I come back my wife says, 48:43 catch any? I said, no honey, I went fishing, 48:46 catching is a different sport. 48:58 So, a little boy who wanted to go fishing, 49:00 that's what I wanted out of life. 49:02 I want to go fishing. My daddy was drunk 49:04 from Friday night till Monday morning 49:06 and we had not fishing poles we 49:09 lived in a tenement, cold water well 49:13 we had hot water in the summer, 49:14 cold in the winter. And I'd asked him, 49:18 daddy could we go fishing, could we go 49:20 fishing, bugged him, he never, yeah 49:22 we're gonna go someday son, 49:24 we're gonna go fishing. 49:25 One morning, Saturday morning, 49:28 this busy Saturday morning, 49:31 I was shaken awake in my bed which 49:33 was Billy's bed, which was Warren's bed, 49:35 which was Richard's bed, which was 49:36 Elle's bed, which, the neighborhood 49:39 kids the bed. And my daddy and I smelled, 49:44 they don't show you that on Budweiser 49:47 commercials, do they? Oh, always a chick 49:50 on each arm, come on what a deception. 49:53 Can't you see for what it is? 49:54 They don't show you sick and vomit, 49:56 they don't show you beating the wife at 49:58 home, they don't show your mommy 49:59 with bloody mouth, they don't show you that, 50:02 they don't show you that. 50:05 And my dad says, let's go fishing son. 50:09 He think he had to chase me out of bed, 50:11 to give me a sermon to get me out of bed. 50:14 I jumped out and landed in my sneakers. 50:19 Got on the bus went to Sheepshead Bay. 50:22 My daddy had the rink poles. 50:24 We had no poles. Dad rented a little 50:27 boat with a outboard on it. 50:29 Being Norwegian, I knew I was in safe hands, 50:32 by the way you brethren always do 50:34 this to me at this camp. 50:35 You try to make a swede out of me. 50:37 Spell my name right please, anyway. 50:40 We'll talk about that later, but anyway, 50:43 drive out in the Atlantic. 50:46 I'm fishing, not catching, fishing, 50:52 my dad's fishing, the storm's coming up. 50:55 While looking at the storm and wow! 51:00 Looking at the storm and I'm a little boy 51:04 in this big boat and the storm and 51:06 I'm looking I'm spending all my 51:07 time looking at the storm and soon 51:08 I'm crying but I didn't want my daddy 51:10 to see these big boy don't cry, 51:11 I wasn't became a Christian discovered 51:13 big boys do cry and I am crying 51:16 then my dad says, well I think it's time 51:20 we go home son. But what happened is 51:22 I took my eyes off the storm was looking 51:23 in the face of my father, and as long as 51:27 I concentrated on the face of my father 51:28 I didn't worry about the storm. 51:30 A big problem at the church today, 51:32 every new sign you love, hey, if I wrote 51:35 book on a 20 foot Tsunami you won't 51:38 buy it 'cause you're sign watchers, 51:42 you're sign watchers. I wrote a book on 51:44 when the Sunday Law's gonna happen 51:45 boom you buy it like that, but don't 51:48 look at he storm, look at Jesus because 51:53 the signs can't get you out of the storm, 51:56 only Jesus. They lost their first love. 52:04 Father, we art in heaven, 52:05 I humbly bow in your presence. 52:07 Storm's building, we're seeing people 52:11 ship wrecked on every hand. 52:13 We're seeing a church Lord that's Laodicea. 52:16 We're seeing a church so lukewarm 52:17 they don't even come to church any longer. 52:20 We're raising a new generation of 52:22 non-believers like agnostics, humanists, 52:27 seculars, materialists, oh God please 52:32 save us, wake us up, help us to recover 52:38 what we've lost if we've lost it. 52:42 There maybe some here right now 52:44 who come to this camp meeting you're outside, 52:46 the divorce proceeding is already 52:47 taking place but you want to return 52:51 to that first love. With your head bowed, 52:55 your eyes closed if there's some that 52:56 would like me to pray for you that 52:58 you'll return to that first love. 52:59 Just lift up your hand quietly right here 53:01 and let me pray for you, hold the hands 53:02 up right now. God bless you, so many 53:04 hands here. Now listen hold it up, 53:06 don't be ashamed now. You're not ashamed 53:08 of your love, I'm not ashamed of my wife, 53:09 if she was here I'd hold her up. 53:11 God you see the hands, they want 53:13 to return to you to the God of their 53:16 childhood. Bless them, I pray in Christ name, 53:19 amen, and amen. God bless you. 53:22 Before I begin the message tonight 53:24 I got to finish the story I started 53:25 this morning, alright, would you like 53:28 to hear the end, alright. I you know, 53:32 I must have to see, I wish my wife had 53:35 been here. She would have jumped up 53:36 and said, you got to finish the story, 53:38 so everybody they didn't say Ron, 53:41 good to see you, what about the story? 53:43 What's the end of the story? 53:44 What's the end of the story? 53:45 So I figured I better tell you the end 53:47 and then get to the beginning, 53:48 so we'll stall at the end. 53:50 Well, I would like to know I called the father 53:53 and the father repented and wanted 53:56 his daughter home and so on my way 53:58 back to Brooklyn I stopped at LaGuardia 54:00 airport and brought a one way ticket 54:01 to California. I figured if I was gonna 54:05 ask you to get out I needed a way 54:06 for her to get out. Don't ask people to get out, 54:09 not give them a way out. So I took the ticket 54:13 and I got my car drove back to the 54:14 neighborhood, and ran up the stairs 54:16 and boom, boom, by the way don't 54:19 wait for people to get right for you 54:20 to do right. I mean I'm throwing pearls 54:26 out of here, I hope you understand 54:28 what I'm saying. And so I knocked boom, 54:37 boom, on the door and it was boom, boom, 54:39 finally she came to the door opened up and, 54:41 she didn't ask who I was then, 54:43 she knew who I was, she unlocked the locks 54:45 and I said, your daddy wants you home. 54:47 She said, I can't believe that I said, 54:49 look here's the ticket. She started to cry, 54:56 of course, I was crying by that time big lug 54:59 you know I did a holy dance, I can't, 55:03 I can't do those things it's terrible, 55:04 a right brained person in a left-brained church. 55:07 Do you know that? You know because 55:10 I sit on my hands you know I don't 55:12 want to be a religious in the Advent, 55:13 you know I got so carried away other 55:15 day in the sermon, preacher was preaching 55:17 I raised my hand and gave praise and 55:20 the preacher knew me, he stopped 55:21 and he said brother Halvorsen, 55:22 you have a question, I said, no, I have 55:23 the answer then I finally sat down on 55:27 my hands the rested of the day. 55:28 What make you left-brainers think 55:29 right-brainers are unholy. 55:32 Anyway, I get off that. 55:33 Anyway, so I did a holy dance. 55:36 Next day I took her to the airport 55:38 and the little one, I was holding the 55:40 little one in my arms and had to say 55:43 goodbye. I leaned over and handed 55:48 the little baby to mom, and gave 55:50 them both a hug, and sent them on 55:52 their way. Five years later I was in Anaheim, 55:56 California preaching to 37,000 Adventists 55:59 in the Anaheim convention center 56:02 camp meeting. And after I finished 56:04 I came down in the front. 56:05 People you know how they do it, 56:06 they come down and say, remember me. 56:09 She come down and she was standing 56:11 beautiful woman and a little girl 56:14 and a handsome man. 56:15 She said, remember me. 56:16 I said, I can't remember me, 56:17 I got to look in mirror twice every 56:19 morning to see who I am? 56:21 She kind of laughed and She said, boom, boom. 56:28 I said, Brooklyn, she said, yeah, she said, 56:32 I went to home my daddy and he loved me 56:35 and sent me to PUC and I got an education, 56:38 I became an elementary school 56:40 teacher in one of our church schools, 56:41 and I met this wonderful Adventist Christian 56:46 and we got married and this is the 56:49 little one growing up. That's the rest 56:53 of the story. Can you say, amen. 56:56 God is all powerful, amen. God is all powerful. 57:00 And I needed to share that, 57:02 that text with you and that wonderful story. |
Revised 2014-12-17