Participants: Ron Halvorsen
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000132
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00:12 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth
00:14 live from the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:22 We're so happy to have you here with us tonight. 00:24 And it is a beautiful day in southern Illinois. 00:29 Our temperature; a little warm yesterday, 00:32 but today really nice. 00:34 You know, we've had some wonderful cool days, 00:37 and almost chilly evenings. 00:41 Been a couple of mornings when I'd get up and go out, 00:43 and I'd think, "Wow, a little jacket would even 00:46 feel good this morning." 00:48 But it's again a very beautiful time of the year. 00:54 We're so happy that you could join us. 00:56 And I know that you are enjoying this Anchors series 01:00 with Pastor Ron Halvorsen. 01:03 God has blessed him with the ability to preach the gospel 01:08 of Jesus Christ. 01:10 And you know, he has the right focus in focusing upon Jesus. 01:14 Today I had the opportunity to visit with him for a little bit 01:18 and to fellowship, and we were just sitting together talking. 01:22 And he was sharing with me his feelings about 01:26 what we really need to be preaching. 01:29 And it was Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. 01:33 Because you see, Jesus is the only way to life eternal. 01:37 And it is through Jesus that we understand the law. 01:41 He is the great law giver. 01:42 It is through Jesus that we understand salvation. 01:47 And we're looking at this entire series, which is, 01:51 Jesus the Radical Teacher. 01:54 Tonight, it's going to be, The Good Samaritan. 01:57 And this is a radical story that Jesus told. 02:02 It was exactly the opposite of what anyone would have 02:06 expected anybody to be telling that day. 02:09 Well I don't want to get into Pastor Halvorsen's sermon 02:12 tonight, because he has a whole lot more 02:15 to say about it than that. 02:17 But Ron Halvorsen has been preaching the gospel 02:20 now for 60 years. 02:22 Ever since he was a very young teenager, actually, 02:25 when he gave his heart to Jesus. 02:27 He was a gang leader on the streets of New York City. 02:31 And a friend of his, Jim Landis, through his grandmother, 02:37 found Jesus. 02:39 By the way, it was an exciting series of evangelistic meetings 02:43 that R. Allan Anderson held. 02:47 But it seemed like it was a failure. 02:49 And people said it was a failure. 02:52 But there were two ladies that were baptized. 02:55 And that was all they could really point to 02:57 out of that whole evangelistic series 02:59 that was over and above what they would have baptized 03:02 right in their own church. 03:04 Those two ladies went home. 03:07 One of them found her grandson, Jim Landis. 03:11 Jim Landis, who later became a Bible teacher and pastor. 03:15 He, as a young man, began to witness to his good friend, 03:19 Ron Halvorsen. 03:21 Ron, who was rough and tough and cared nothing 03:25 about things spiritual. 03:29 He was touched by the Spirit of God. 03:34 Gave his heart to Jesus. 03:36 Became a preacher. 03:37 And literally, hundreds of thousands of people 03:40 have been baptized directly and indirectly 03:43 through Ron's ministry. 03:45 You see, the failure that R. Allan Anderson 03:48 thought that he had in New York City 03:52 was not a failure. 03:54 God never has a failure. 03:57 I was with Ron once, we were together, 04:00 and I asked him, "Have you shared that story ever 04:05 with R. Allan Anderson?" 04:06 We were in Fort Worth, Texas. 04:08 And we were in a large auditorium there 04:10 in a seminar on prophecy. 04:12 And a lot of different speakers that were speaking, 04:14 including H.M.S. Richard, Sr., and R. Allan Anderson, 04:19 and many others, George Vandeman. 04:22 And so Ron went to him and he said, "Elder Anderson, 04:28 as a result of your meeting in New York City, 04:33 I'm a baptized member, pastor, evangelist." 04:39 And God at that time had already given Ron over 5000 baptisms. 04:42 He was just getting started. 04:45 And tears flowed down Elder Anderson's cheeks. 04:49 He was so happy to know that what so many people 04:53 had said was a failure was not a failure at all. 04:59 My friend, Jesus works that way. 05:02 This is the great radical Teacher that 05:04 Ron's talking to us about. 05:06 And tonight, we are going to really open up the Word of God 05:11 and study and be blessed. 05:13 But before we do, I'm going to invite Lisa Yeager 05:18 to come to the piano and to sing and to play, 05:22 What Love Is This. 05:44 You never change, You are the God You say You are; 05:53 When I'm afraid, You calm and still my beating heart. 06:01 You stay the same, when hope is just a distant thought; 06:09 You take my pain and You lead me to the cross. 06:19 What love is this, 06:23 that You gave Your life for me 06:31 and made a way for me to know You. 06:35 And I confess, 06:39 You're always enough for me; 06:46 You're all I need. 06:50 I look to You, I see the scars upon Your hands; 06:59 And hold the truth that when I can't, You always can. 07:07 And standing here beneath the shadow of the cross, 07:15 I'm overwhelmed that I keep finding open arms. 07:24 What love is this, 07:28 that You gave Your life for me 07:36 and made a way for me to know You. 07:40 And I confess, 07:44 You're always enough for me; 07:51 You're all I need. 07:55 Jesus, in Your suffering, 08:02 You were reaching; You thought of me. 08:10 Jesus, in Your suffering, 08:17 You were reaching; You thought of me. 08:25 What love is this, 08:30 that You gave Your life for me 08:37 and made a way for me to know You. 08:42 And I confess, 08:46 You're always enough for me; 08:52 You're all I need. 08:57 What love is this, 09:00 that You gave Your life for me 09:07 and made a way for me to know You. 09:11 And I confess, 09:15 You're always enough for me. 09:23 Always enough for me. 09:31 Always enough for me. 09:58 Good evening, welcome. 10:00 I'm just happy to be here. 10:03 You know, I love this Book; the Bible. 10:06 I love it because of its authentic realness. 10:09 It's real. 10:11 It paints the prophets and the apostles with their warts on. 10:15 I like that. 10:16 It tells us about their sin and about their salvation 10:20 and their Savior. 10:22 So I'm always fascinated by this Book. 10:24 Sixty years I've read it. 10:26 And it gets more interesting every day. 10:29 I want to take you to some of the radical teachings 10:31 this week of Jesus Christ. 10:33 And by the way, this is not about Ron Halvorsen. 10:36 This is about Jesus Christ. 10:38 And I want to tell you some of the radical teachings 10:41 that Jesus made, statements that He made, 10:45 that changes the world. 10:47 Tonight, The Good Samaritan. 10:49 Let's bow our heads in a word of prayer. 10:51 Gracious God, I pray for the Holy Spirit to be with us 10:54 that we might get new understanding about that 10:57 great story that Jesus told, that radical truth 11:01 that can change our lives. 11:03 Father, everything said might give honor and glory to Christ. 11:07 For He is our salvation. 11:10 In the name of Jesus, amen. 11:15 It was a dark, damp, cold night in Coney Island, 11:18 Brooklyn, New York. 11:20 A heavy fog lay over the city, wrapping the tenements 11:24 in a halo of gloom. 11:27 Our tenements stood out like a beaten old man 11:30 bent over from years of hardship. 11:32 No paint on the outside. 11:34 I mean, dirty windows looking out over the neighborhood. 11:38 Vacant eyes. It was a grim scene. 11:41 The night was a night for robbers, 11:44 and rapists, and murderers. 11:46 The neighborhood was unsafe that night, 11:49 and dangerous. 11:51 How much we Halvorsen boys hated Friday night. 11:54 Because my father, before he knew Christ, 11:56 before he ever came to salvation and the grace of God 11:59 and rebirth, he was an alcoholic. 12:04 And before he came to Christ and before grace, he was a disgrace. 12:08 He always came home drunk on Friday night. 12:12 And he abused the family. 12:14 I mean, his drunken tirades, the fighting, the yelling. 12:19 Budweiser commercials, by the way, don't show you that; 12:22 the Halvorsen family on Friday night. 12:25 I remember that night, it was close to midnight, 12:28 and Dad wasn't home yet. 12:31 The Halvorsen boys were in their bed. 12:32 I was in my bed, which was Billy's bed, 12:35 which was Warren's bed. 12:38 And we couldn't get to sleep. 12:41 We couldn't sleep. 12:43 And it was just past midnight when we heard 12:45 a car drive up in the old dirty vacant lot behind our tenement. 12:49 By the way, our tenement was so ugly, it was so frightening, 12:53 that they didn't even have it on the main street. 12:55 They put it behind other tenements. 12:57 The whole neighborhood thought it was a disgrace. 13:00 And anyway, we heard a car pulling up after midnight 13:03 in the old vacant dirty lot behind our tenement. 13:08 Cars never came through that vacant lot. 13:11 But there it was. 13:12 And so we ran to the window and looked out, 13:14 and there was a big black limo half a block long. 13:20 Couldn't believe my eyes. 13:22 This car stopped, and a huge man climbed out of the front seat. 13:26 He had a trench coat on and a Fedora. 13:28 And it was a cold night. 13:30 And he looked like Mafioso. 13:33 He then went to the back of the car, opened the door, 13:38 and helped my father out of the car. 13:41 My dad was hurting big time. 13:43 He was bandaged up, a sling on his arm. 13:47 I mean, as we looked closer we noticed sitting in the back seat 13:54 was the Godfather; Brooklyn, New York. 13:59 Couldn't believe our eyes. 14:01 He helped my dad out of the car. 14:04 His soldiers took my dad up, helped him up the stairs, 14:07 into our tenement. 14:09 "Good night, Bill." 14:11 Walked out of the house, got in the car, and drove away. 14:14 I'll never forget it. 14:16 The next morning my father told us the story. 14:19 He stopped off at a bar and grill in Brooklyn. 14:22 And that wasn't unusual, it was Friday night. 14:26 And he had a few drinks, and they led to a few more, 14:29 and then he staggered towards the subway. 14:31 And a group of kids ran out and mugged him, 14:36 beat him to the ground, took what he had in his pocket. 14:38 And my dad always carried a few dollars in the pocket, 14:40 but he put his money in his sock to protect it. 14:45 I mean, that's the neighborhood we grew up in. 14:49 But anyway, my father said that he was mugged 14:51 and he lay in the gutter bleeding. 14:54 He lay in the gutter bleeding. 14:58 It was late and it was cold and it was dark, 15:00 and not many people on the street. 15:02 Silhouetted behind him was the super structure 15:06 of the Manhattan Bridge. 15:07 He was moaning and he cried out. 15:09 But no one came to help the old drunk lying in the gutter. 15:13 And then out of the darkness comes a limo. 15:18 It pulls up, stops, the electric windows comes down. 15:24 The door opens, and out of the car steps Mafioso. 15:30 Helps my dad, puts him in the car, 15:32 takes him to the hospital's emergency room. 15:35 And did they get service! 15:39 Bandaged him up, fixed him up. 15:41 Took out his wallet and paid the bill. 15:44 Put him in his limo, drove him across Brooklyn 15:49 to Coney Island. 15:51 Let him out with these words, "Bill, I'm sorry this 15:54 happened in our neighborhood. 15:55 It will not happen again." 15:59 That night the bad guys became the good guys. 16:06 Now I thought about it a lot in my childhood and my youth 16:09 and my teenage years. 16:11 But it wasn't until I'd been converted, until years later, 16:14 until I encountered Jesus Christ and began to read the Bible, 16:18 and began to find significance in God and how He works 16:21 and the love of God that He shows to humanity. 16:24 And one act of kindness after another 16:27 that our Lord spoke of. 16:30 It was when I was reading my Bible that I came across 16:32 a story of an unselfish act. 16:34 When a bad guy became the good guy. 16:38 And let me read it for you, it's found here in the Word of God 16:41 in Luke the 10th chapter. 16:43 And I want you, if you have your Bibles, to turn with me 16:46 to the 10th chapter of the book of Luke. 16:53 And this is verse 25 of chapter 10 of Luke. 16:59 Notice... 17:31 And the Bible says that He said, "You shall live." 17:38 This is the second most amazing story, I believe, 17:42 in the whole New Testament. 17:44 I think the first is the prodigal son. 17:46 And perhaps I'm going to speak more about that in, 17:48 Horns and Halos in Human Nature. 17:50 But right here, it's the second most amazing story 17:54 in the New Testament, the story of this good Samaritan. 17:59 Now, this is the compassion of a stranger. 18:05 The compassion of a bad guy that is not suppose to act that way. 18:09 But something within him, I mean. 18:13 It's good theology, in a sense. 18:15 And it's much more than that. 18:17 I could have called the message, I mean, 18:19 The Lawyer and the Law Breaker. 18:22 Because it's about a lawyer and about a Samaritan. 18:25 I mean, the story comes out of a question 18:27 that a lawyer asks Jesus. 18:29 Not because he wants an answer, 18:30 but rather he wants to trick Jesus. 18:32 He wants to corner Him. 18:34 He wants to embarrass Him. 18:37 As if he can. 18:39 It came about because of misunderstanding, 18:42 also on the part of the lawyer. 18:44 And notice as we exegete the passage in chapter 10 verse 25. 18:49 He says this in verse 25, and notice here... 19:02 Now it says, "lawyer," here. 19:05 A lawyer stood up and put Him to test. 19:07 A lawyer. 19:08 But don't think it is, I mean, don't think 19:11 it's Perry Mason lawyer. 19:13 Or Morgan and Morgan. 19:15 It's not that kind of lawyer. Not at all. 19:18 You see, it's a different kind of lawyer. 19:20 In the time this parable was told, lawyer would be an 19:23 expert in the law of Moses, in the Torah; 19:27 in the five books of the Old Testament. 19:30 It would be someone who was knowledgeable 19:32 in all the laws given to Israel through Moses 19:36 recorded in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, 19:39 Numbers, Deuteronomy. 19:41 I mean, he was understanding the civil laws of Israel. 19:46 He understood the religious laws. 19:48 I mean, intricate religious laws. 19:50 The ceremonial laws, which were so many. 19:52 He understood them, he could interpret them. 19:54 He understood the moral law, the Ten Commandments law. 19:58 And yes, he was an expert in religion, 20:01 he was an expert in law, he was an expert in ethics. 20:05 Moral issues. 20:07 A lawyer asked Him that question. 20:09 He's trying to test Jesus, trick Him, embarrass Him. 20:13 And so he asked the very difficult question 20:16 there in verse 25 Luke 10, 20:19 "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" 20:23 Now the lawyer knows everything about the law. 20:25 He knows everything about ethics. 20:28 He knows everything about the five books of the Torah. 20:31 He knows all of this. 20:33 But the simplest thing, he doesn't understand. 20:36 He doesn't understand grace and salvation. 20:42 Now this question asked by the lawyer to Jesus 20:45 is so relevant in that day, but it's also relevant to our day. 20:49 "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" 20:52 It never gets old with the asking. 20:55 I've had people ask it, hundreds and thousands 20:57 of people, through my lifetime in my ministry. 21:00 I've had them ask it big cities, and rich people and poor people, 21:03 and educated people and uneducated people. 21:06 I've had them ask me in third world countries. 21:09 People reaching out and wanting to know, 21:11 "How can I have eternal life?" 21:13 "How can I inherit eternal life?" 21:15 It's a great question. 21:17 It's educated people and uneducated. 21:19 I mean, it's a law answer to a grace question. 21:26 You cannot inherit something and then pay for it. 21:33 Simple. 21:34 You can't inherit... 21:36 "I inherited an estate from my mother. 21:38 How much will it cost me?" 21:40 Get real. 21:42 Wake up, smell the roses. 21:44 I mean, if you inherit it, you don't pay for it. 21:47 The lawyer understood all about law and ceremonial law. 21:50 He understood how the religion worked, 21:52 but he didn't understand how it worked in the human heart. 21:58 The lawyer seems to think that he can do something, 22:01 he can earn eternal life. 22:03 And that brilliant lawyer, Sabbath keeper, 22:05 didn't have the foggiest idea of how one receives eternal life. 22:11 Amazing, isn't it. 22:13 It's amazing to me. 22:15 And so he says, human effort, human works, obedience. 22:21 But it will not cut it. 22:23 He expects a law answer to a law question, 22:26 and he gets a grace answer. 22:28 That you don't inherit it, you receive it as a free gift. 22:32 A gift of God. Amen. 22:36 Now Jesus needs to straighten him out. 22:37 And He does here in verse 26. 22:39 Notice in verse 26 what He says. 22:50 Jesus needs to straighten him out, theologically. 22:54 The idea that you can work your way up a ladder to heaven. 22:57 When I first came to Christ, I gave my heart to God. 23:01 I was taught that. 23:03 That you climb this ladder, I call the Jacob's ladder. 23:06 And if you climb it and you reach the top, 23:08 when Jesus comes you go home to heaven. 23:11 Wow. 23:12 I mean, that's a tough thing to learn. 23:15 Because the higher you climb on a ladder and fall, 23:17 the more it hurts. 23:19 And I thought to myself, 23:20 "What if I don't get to the top?" 23:23 What if I don't get to the... 23:24 I mean, falling off a ladder. 23:26 It was a few months after I was a Christian and... 23:27 You know, I was a fighting kid. 23:30 I loved to fight and I was fighting all the time. 23:32 Punching people out just for fun of it. 23:34 My brother Billy and I many times would say, 23:36 "Hey, let's go look for a fight," and go fight. 23:39 And I knew as a Christian I couldn't fight, 23:41 so the first few months as a Christian I had to 23:44 put my hands in my pocket and walk around the neighborhood. 23:47 And I use to deliver flowers. 23:49 And I had to deliver flowers up in the Bronx 23:52 from Brooklyn on the IRT subway at rush hour. 23:55 Don't ever try to deliver flowers when you're a 23:58 new Christian on the IRT subway at rush hour. 24:03 And we were stuck in there like sardines in a can, you know. 24:07 And I'm holding my flowers above the crowd, 24:09 pushing people off and, "Watch out for my flowers." 24:13 And this man, he elbows me. 24:17 And I look at him and I say, "Hey man, that's my ribs." 24:19 You know, and now I'm reasoning. 24:21 Don't do that. 24:25 And so I'm singing hymns to myself and I'm praying. 24:28 And he does it again, and I go, boom, and I hit the guy. 24:33 And it was so crowded he kind of hung there. 24:37 And when we came to the next station, 24:38 when they walked off he fell to the ground. 24:40 I fell off the ladder. 24:42 It's a terrible way to think. 24:44 That I can work my way to heaven. 24:45 That I can work my way to a place in spiritual life 24:48 that I'm going to go to heaven. 24:50 I tell you, when I found the gospel, when Jesus showed me 24:53 years later the true gospel of Christ, 24:56 that I don't receive it by works but I inherit it by the 25:01 grace of God, amen, it set me free forever. 25:05 And that's why He tells us in verse 27, 25:08 "You shall love the Lord your God," the lawyers says. 25:12 He gives a good answer. 25:21 That is a good answer. 25:24 It's a brilliant answer, as far as it goes. 25:28 And that's an absolutely accurate summary 25:31 of God's Ten Commandments. 25:34 Jesus used the same answer when He talked about the law. 25:37 "Who is thy neighbor?" 25:39 Now the atmosphere is changed. 25:42 The lawyer is uncomfortable. 25:45 "Who is your neighbor?" 25:48 And Jesus answers the question that he asks 25:52 with a radical story. 25:55 I mean, an amazing story. 25:57 Amazing story. 26:01 Do we earn? 26:04 Do we love God and love our neighbor 26:07 well enough to merit eternal life? 26:10 No. 26:11 I don't. 26:12 Sorry, I admit it. 26:15 I don't love God as much as I ought to. 26:18 And you don't. 26:20 I'm pretty confident by saying, knowing human nature 26:23 and what God's Word says about our sinful nature as I do, 26:26 likewise with loving my neighbor as myself, 26:29 I've got the "loving myself" part down pat. 26:33 But loving my neighbor, that's another story. 26:38 I mean, especially if you know my neighbor. 26:42 And you have that problem too. 26:45 And so Jesus has to tell this story. 26:48 He has to get to real Christianity. 26:50 The lawyer, desiring to justify himself, according to our text, 26:54 asked the follow-up, "Who then is my neighbor?" 26:58 In other words, "Who qualifies to get my love? 27:01 Who qualifies for me to show love to them? 27:04 Which person? 27:05 If I can eliminate the bad people from my life, 27:07 and the disgusting people around me, 27:09 and the people who inconvenience me, 27:12 then I just might be able to do it." 27:16 So radical, Jesus is. 27:19 He says, "Who's your neighbor?" 27:25 Mr. Lawyer, you're missing the point 27:29 of the commandment. 27:31 "Love your neighbor as yourself," does not 27:33 put a limit on who your neighbor is. 27:37 He doesn't limit it to color of skin. 27:40 He doesn't limit it to religious affiliation. 27:44 He doesn't to political position. 27:48 You see, the way they dress. 27:50 Or the number of tattoos they wear. 27:53 To get the lawyer to understand who his neighbor is, 27:56 Jesus tells the story. 27:58 I mean, let's come to grips with that story. 28:00 Let's listen again. 28:01 Perhaps we'll see ourselves as one of the characters 28:04 portrayed in the story. 28:09 It begins at verse 30. 28:25 Well those bad guys, I mean, the robbers; 28:30 obviously they are not very loving. 28:34 They beat the guy, leave him on the road, and they run. 28:38 I know what you're thinking. 28:40 "Glad I'm better than the robbers." 28:42 Come on. 28:44 "I don't steal." 28:47 Come on. 28:48 I mean, I'm a pretty nice fellow. 28:51 I don't hurt people. 28:52 I don't punch them out anymore. 28:54 I mean, I don't kick the dog. 28:57 I'm a pretty nice... 29:01 I pay taxes. 29:03 I obey the laws of the land. 29:07 They're better than the legalists. 29:10 Knowing that Jesus continues His story, picture the scene. 29:13 It's a time the road from Jerusalem to Jericho... 29:16 By the way, that place was called, the way of blood. 29:20 From Jericho to Jerusalem was called, the way of blood. 29:23 There were so many attacks there on that road, 29:25 blood everywhere. 29:27 I mean, they usually went with caravan 29:29 from Jericho to Jerusalem because it was so frightening, 29:32 because it was dangerous. 29:34 But this man must have been in a hurry. 29:36 He had to make an appointment. 29:37 He had to get to Jerusalem. 29:39 He was on his way up to Jerusalem. 29:41 And he's there, and they fall upon him. 29:44 They beat him into a pulp and leave him bleeding, 29:47 almost dead. 29:50 But now comes the rub. 29:52 I mean, here's where Jesus gets to the point. 29:57 Verse 31, notice... 30:11 It could have been a priest, a Baptist preacher, 30:15 an Adventist preacher, a Methodist preacher. 30:17 I mean, it was a man of the cloth. 30:22 He's a good guy in our story. 30:27 I mean, who could be more pious and religious than a priest? 30:31 I mean, I'm sure he'll do the right thing, 30:33 according to the law. 30:35 And what does he do? He passes by. 30:37 But not only that, the Bible says he crosses the street 30:40 to pass him by. 30:45 But you're not suppose to act that way, priest, 30:48 minister, elder, deacon. 30:53 You're not suppose to act that way. 30:58 He doesn't do anything. 31:01 He doesn't hurt the guy. 31:04 But then he doesn't help him. 31:07 Well at least he's keeping himself ceremonially clean. 31:10 Because, you see, a priest couldn't go by a dead body. 31:12 And if the man is dead in the road, on the road of blood, 31:15 if he's dead then if he gets close to him, he's going to 31:18 become ceremonially unclean. 31:20 And then he could not do the work in the temple, 31:22 and he could not minister to the people, 31:26 I mean, and perform the sacrifice. 31:31 So he reasons, and his logic. 31:36 And he walks to the other side. 31:43 Let someone else help him. 31:46 This isn't an ancient story written so many centuries ago. 31:50 It's real even today. 31:53 But then verse 32 picks up the story. 31:56 And listen to what the Bible says here in verse 32. 32:04 Well, that's 33. We missed one. 32:07 Well I'm going to read it from the Bible. 32:10 Verse 32, alright. 32:11 Luke 10 and verse 32, notice, "And likewise a Levite, 32:16 when he was at the place, came and looked on him, 32:19 and passed by on the other side." 32:22 A Levite. 32:24 By the way, the Hebrew word of, "Levite," is, "Leuites." 32:27 It indicates the descendents of Levi. 32:30 He is the son of Jacob and Lea, Genesis 29 verse 34. 32:34 There were three family clans within the tribe of Levi. 32:40 The Gershon, the Kohath, and the Merari. 32:44 It was only Kohath who supplied the Aaronic priesthood, 32:50 the priests that ministered in the Sanctuary, 32:54 in the temple itself. 32:57 I mean, they were blessed. 33:01 They were a holy people for generations. 33:05 They were the ones who ministered to the priests. 33:08 They were the ones who ministered to the Sanctuary. 33:10 They were the ones who carried on to keep the Sanctuary 33:14 ritual going on and on through the centuries, 33:16 through time since back to Aaron. 33:21 They were there with Aaron even at the foot of Sinai. 33:26 I think they perhaps were even in the crowd, 33:28 at least the tribe Levi, they were there 33:31 when Moses came down from the mountain 33:33 and Moses found them doing aerobics before a golden calf. 33:37 That was the Levites. 33:40 Compromise, the Levites. 33:42 But yet, they were some holy men. 33:44 I mean, they took care of the service. 33:48 They're set apart to be caretakers of the tabernacle. 33:51 Numbers 1:47-53. 33:54 He passed by on the other side. 34:01 Well he's on his way to the temple. 34:02 He's got to get to the service. 34:04 I mean, you can understand that if he stops, he might be late. 34:07 And if he's late, he can't do the work he has to do 34:10 in preparation for the priests to go through their ceremony 34:12 to slay their lamb and to do sacrifices, 34:20 and make people holy. 34:24 So he walks around. 34:26 And he isn't really very holy. 34:31 Very holy. 34:39 Jesus catches with a punch line. 34:43 Martin Luther King, the day before he died in Memphis, 34:48 speaking to a large crowd recounts the story 34:50 of the good Samaritan. 34:54 His punch line captures the truth. 34:56 Listen to this quote. 34:58 "And so the first question the Levite asked was, 35:03 'If I stop to help the man, what will happen to me?' 35:09 But when the Good Samaritan came by, he reversed the question, 35:14 'If I do not stop to help the man, 35:17 what will happen to the man?'" 35:23 Wow! 35:26 Back to the story. 35:29 Symbolically, Jesus Christ is the good Samaritan. 35:33 You and I have been beaten on the road of life. 35:36 We've been mugged and we've been robbed of our dignity. 35:40 We've been robbed of our holiness. 35:41 We've been robbed of our experience. 35:44 And like Paul with things want to do, we don't; 35:46 and the things we don't want to do, we do. 35:48 Sin is ever constant with us knocking us around. 35:51 And there's the good Samaritan. 35:55 And we go on in verse 33. 35:58 And He says in verse 33... 36:10 His heart went out to him. 36:13 Compassion. 36:16 What we need today in the church, what we need today 36:18 among our believers, what we need today is compassion. 36:25 If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him? 36:30 If I do not go to my neighbor and share the good news 36:33 of eternal life, what will happen to them? 36:37 If I don't stand up and speak and love and do good to evil, 36:42 what will happen to them? 36:44 Doomed, damned, crushed, bound for hell; 36:47 what will happen to them? 36:49 The cry of the believer, the compassion of the believer is, 36:53 "What will happen to them?" 36:56 Like my dad that night in the Brooklyn street. 36:59 The most unlikely hero. 37:06 A Samaritan? 37:09 A Samaritan? 37:12 You make the hero in this story a... 37:16 Radical, the teachings of Jesus. 37:19 You make the hero a Samaritan? 37:29 Samaritans were hated... 37:33 ...by the Jewish target audience. 37:37 The Jews so much hated them to a degree, the lawyer 37:40 used the phrase, he didn't even use the term, "Samaritan." 37:44 Listen to what he says. 37:46 He says, "The one who had mercy on him." 37:49 He wouldn't even use the name. 37:53 "The one who had mercy on him. 37:54 I'm not going to say Samaritan." 37:56 That's how much they hated them. 38:05 In fact, not only would the injured man not expect 38:07 any help out of one of those despicable Samaritans... 38:10 Because most likely the man who was mugged and robbed 38:13 was a Jew on the road to Jerusalem. 38:18 A Samaritan viewed in that day like Al Qaeda is viewed today. 38:22 Better to die in a pool of blood on the road than to be 38:25 touched by a Samaritan. 38:29 Let him die and be at peace than be touched by a Samaritan. 38:36 But it's this Samaritan, this bad guy, 38:41 despised and rejected, who is never the less 38:44 moved to compassion. 38:45 Three surprises in heaven; one, I'm there. 38:51 Two, "Why isn't sister so-and-so here?" 38:56 And finally, "He's here? 39:00 The Samaritan? 39:03 The Samaritan? 39:06 My enemy?" 39:10 And so the Bible says the Samaritan coming down 39:12 the road sees the wounded man. 39:17 He sees him. 39:19 There's a difference between seeing and seeing. 39:24 That's why Jesus says they looked and they saw, 39:25 and the people were like trees. 39:27 We sometimes look at the multitudes who are hurting, 39:29 suffering, being robbed of dignity, 39:32 and we see them as trees. 39:34 But then our eyes are opened with the eyes of Jesus, 39:36 and we see them as people who are hurting 39:39 and in need to be touched with love. 39:48 Just as the Son of Man came down from heaven 39:53 to this earth when we were lying half dead 39:58 on the road unable to save ourselves. 40:02 When I discovered in a Brooklyn street that God loved 40:08 a bum in a Brooklyn street, being half dead, 40:15 resurrected to a new life, because 40:17 I discovered His compassion. 40:20 People say, "Well, why did you... 40:21 Well all those wonderful truths." 40:23 No. 40:24 Those wonderful 28 fundamental truths, 40:27 as wonderful as they are, no. 40:29 But it was for the first time that I loved 40:31 that this God loved me. 40:35 And wounded as I was, He came down to me 40:40 with the touch of grace. 40:43 Friend, that's the story. 40:48 Seeing and loving. 40:50 I was out in San Bernardino, California. 40:52 It's one of the worst areas in the world. 40:55 There are 625 or more gangs in the county of San Bernardino. 41:00 And I taught the people to prayer walk. 41:02 We were going to hold a crusade and so we walked 41:04 the streets of San Bernardino praying. 41:06 We had wonderful people from all over. 41:08 Some from Loma Linda, from the hospital. 41:10 There was this lovely nurse. 41:11 She came up to me one night, she said, "Brother Ron, 41:13 I want to cover the Orange Show." 41:16 To go around the Orange Show is about a mile 41:20 in a very bad neighborhood. 41:22 And she said, "I'm going to make that my mission. 41:23 I'm going to prayer walk it and ask God to touch someone." 41:28 She was walking along one night before the meetings started. 41:32 It was the night before the meetings started. 41:34 And she saw a homeless man digging in the garbage can. 41:39 And she was moved by the Spirit to see this poor man. 41:42 Nothing, he had nothing, but what was in the garbage. 41:46 And she walked up to him and she says, "Hi." 41:48 And he looked up and she introduced herself. 41:51 And she said, "I'm a prayer walker and a prayer warrior." 41:55 And he said, "Well that's nice." 41:59 And she says, what am I going to say? 42:01 And so she said, "Well Ron Halvorsen is starting 42:03 a meeting tomorrow night here in the Orange. 42:05 Would you go as my guest?" 42:08 She didn't see a homeless man. 42:10 She didn't see someone smelling as... 42:14 She saw a candidate for the kingdom of God. 42:18 So she invited him. 42:19 She walked into this hall, 3000 people, 3500 people. 42:24 She walks in and sits in the last row with the homeless man. 42:27 And she has a beautiful smile on her face, 42:29 this sophisticated nurse. 42:31 One of the heads of the department at Loma Linda. 42:36 And she is so proud to introduce him to me. 42:38 And the next night, where do you meet a homeless man 42:41 but at the garbage. 42:43 And she took him every night. 42:46 She was so proud. 42:49 And at the end of that meeting, God touched his heart. 42:53 The homeless man came forward with 42:55 four or five hundred other people 42:57 and were baptized in the kingdom of Christ. 42:59 And, oh, what friends they made of him. 43:03 Oh, they cleaned him up, they got him a job. 43:05 They got him an apartment. 43:07 And that love, that compassion; he was half dead. 43:13 But they had learned... 43:18 ...to love. 43:21 That's what the story of the Samaritan is about. 43:24 I mean, that's what it's about. 43:27 He went and bound up his wounds, pouring oil in it, 43:29 puts him on his donkey. 43:32 I saw Brother Jim's donkey today, donkeys. 43:37 Very nice, real country. That's good. 43:40 I'd rather ride a subway. But anyway. 43:42 The donkey. 43:44 And put him on his donkey and brought him to the inn. 43:50 And puts him up in the inn. 43:52 Binds his wounds and puts him up in the inn, 43:54 and pays two denari. 43:56 Which is, by the way, equivalent to two days wage. 44:02 And he says, "Now if it costs more, 44:04 I'll be coming back again." 44:06 In those days, you could trust a handshake. 44:10 "And I'll be back and I'll pay the rest." 44:12 Wow, what a story. 44:14 I mean, this is amazing. 44:16 You can't read this Book without being touched by it, 44:19 without being moved by it. 44:21 And this is the work of the church of Jesus Christ, 44:24 to show that kind of mercy and that kind of love. 44:29 Now we see what loving our neighbor looks like. 44:34 Both in story and in deed. 44:37 I mean, Jesus tells. 44:39 And in the story, Jesus lived. 44:40 In the life, and death, and resurrection 44:43 with which Jesus loves us. 44:47 Do you remember when He came to you wounded on the road? 44:52 Do you recall the first touch? 44:56 The first time I felt loved. 44:59 Did you remember that? 45:01 When I stood in that church in Brooklyn alone, 45:04 none of my family were Christian. 45:05 I had the privilege of leading them to Christ. 45:08 Listen to me, wonderful Christians. 45:09 I love them with all my heart. 45:11 My daddy, he was transformed by the grace of God. 45:14 Became a deacon in his church. He was faithful. 45:17 You know, the kind of deacon that opens the door, 45:19 and shuts it last. 45:21 And faithful till the day he died, and resting in Jesus. 45:25 And I tell people, I hope I'm in Brooklyn when 45:27 Christ comes to see the resurrection of my mama, 45:30 who was the first I led to Jesus and His truth. 45:33 And my daddy, my brothers, my sister. 45:37 The Halvorsen family; wounded. 45:41 And then Jesus. 45:43 And then Jesus. 45:47 Who qualifies to be your neighbor? 45:52 Does that bring about your love? 45:56 You know, it's about being a neighbor to others. 46:00 Whoever happens to come across your path. 46:02 Anyone who comes across your path. 46:06 "The one who showed him mercy," verse 37. 46:10 The one who showed him mercy, that is the good Samaritan. 46:26 Wow, that's the command of Jesus. 46:28 Go ye into all the world with compassion. 46:32 Go ye into all the world, into the 46:34 neighborhood with compassion. 46:36 Look for the wounded, the hurting, the suffering. 46:42 "Go and do likewise." 46:44 The lawyer rightly responded, and Jesus says, 46:46 "You go and do likewise." 46:47 Yes, you go out and try that, Mr. Lawyer. 46:50 See how well you do it. 46:53 And I bet you'll fall short. 46:56 The lawyer understood the legal part of the law, 46:59 but not the spiritual. 47:00 And we can understand the Ten Commandments 47:02 and the legal part of that law, and we can keep it. 47:04 Easy keeping. 47:06 But the spiritual part of that law, 47:08 as we talked about last night. 47:11 Come on now. 47:13 The spiritual part of that law that says, 47:17 "Who is your neighbor?" 47:19 He that is in need, he that's hurting, 47:21 that needs help. 47:23 That is our neighbor. 47:25 "But I don't like him." 47:26 That's irrelevant. 47:28 "You don't understand. 47:30 You don't understand." 47:32 That's irrelevant. 47:34 That's irrelevant. 47:39 You must, in a turn, give up in justifying yourself, 47:44 admit your sins. 47:47 And listen, to you who are watching this program, listen. 47:51 Seek that love and that compassion. 47:54 Let Jesus Christ change your heart. 47:58 I mean, let Jesus Christ become heir of your life 48:01 and you might inherit eternal life. 48:05 It's the only way. 48:07 Say "yes" to Him and to His love. 48:11 Good Samaritan love. 48:13 This Christ-like love to others, to your neighbor. 48:16 And that is why, any person who happens 48:18 to come across your path. 48:19 The good news today is, Jesus is the good Samaritan. 48:24 The reason He told that story, He wanted to tell men and women 48:26 who are wounded, men and women and teenagers and children 48:30 who are hurting, who are wounded, 48:31 maybe in the heart, maybe wounded in the head, 48:34 maybe wounded wherever, wounded by sin, He says, 48:38 "There is a good Samaritan." 48:40 And there on the road He will come to you 48:42 and He will minister to you with the oil; 48:45 symbol of the Holy Spirit. 48:47 He will minister with you the wine; which is the symbol 48:49 of the blood of Christ. 48:51 He will raise you up, He will put you on and carry you 48:54 into the place of safety, and pay the penalty 48:58 and pay the price. 49:00 Jesus pays the price. 49:03 The price. 49:06 One man I admire greatly was Maximilian Kolbe. 49:09 I don't know if you ever heard about him. 49:11 He lived 1894 to 1941. 49:15 Maximilian Kolbe was a Catholic priest 49:19 who was put in a Nazi concentration camp 49:22 for his faith. 49:25 And it was at Auschwitz. 49:28 And during that time there, he was to share his 49:30 meager rations of food with others. 49:32 He was very compassionate and loving. 49:34 He was showing what he knew of Jesus 49:37 in his compassion for others. 49:39 And all the people in that place knew this faithful priest. 49:48 Despite the evil in the camp perpetrated against inmates, 49:52 Kolbe pleaded with the prisoners to forgive their persecutors 49:56 and overcome evil with good. 49:59 I mean, a Protestant doctor who treated the patients 50:02 in Kolbe's block said, "Kolbe would not let himself be 50:04 treated before any other prisoner. 50:07 He sacrificed himself for the prisoners," 50:10 the doctor said of Kolbe. 50:12 "From my observation," quote, "the virtues in this servant 50:15 of God were no monetary impulse such as are often found in men. 50:20 They sprang from a habitual practice deeply woven 50:23 into his personality." 50:24 In other words, he was practicing Christ. 50:32 One day he was standing out in the hot sun. 50:37 And at the end of the day a man escaped 50:39 from that concentration camp. 50:42 And one of the soldiers, Fritzsch, the Nazi commandant, 50:47 told the prisoners ten men, ten men, would be selected 50:51 to die in a starvation bunker. 50:55 And one of the men was a Polish sergeant; Franciszek. 50:59 I cannot pronounce his second name; but Franciszek. 51:05 And he begged to be spared, he says, "I have a wife 51:08 and I have a family of children." 51:11 He's pleading with the commandant. 51:14 And Maximilian Kolbe silently stepped forward and 51:17 stood before the commandant. 51:19 The commandant turned to him and asked, 51:21 "What does the Polish pig want?" 51:24 And Kolbe pointed to the Polish sergeant and said, 51:27 "I'm a Catholic priest from Poland. 51:29 I would like to take his place. 51:32 Because he has a wife and children and I have none." 51:37 The commandant stood silent for a moment. 51:39 Disbelief. 51:41 He then allowed the sergeant to go back to his place 51:44 in the ranks, and Kolbe took the place in the starvation bunker. 51:51 Each day the guards removed the bodies of those 51:53 who starved to death. 51:56 One four were left, it was just two days before liberation. 52:01 The guards came in and injected each of those men 52:04 with lethal injection. 52:07 And on August 14, 1941, Kolbe paid the ultimate price; 52:15 his life, following the Master. 52:19 "For if a man says, 'I love God,' 52:22 and hateth his brother, he is a liar. 52:27 For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, 52:31 how can he ever love God whom he has not seen?" 52:38 That's what Jesus Christ is trying to say to us here today. 52:44 That's the hard words of Jesus. 52:48 The radical word of Jesus. 52:50 Do you love him because he or she is loveable? 52:55 Or do you love him or her because they are wounded, 53:02 and they are hurting, and dying? 53:07 Jesus, the good Samaritan, heals our wounds, 53:15 sets us free, and we live. 53:19 Pays the price for us; eternal life. 53:25 One of my favorite stories is about a little boy; ghetto boy. 53:30 I'm always attracted to ghetto boys, I don't know why. 53:35 But anyway, it's a story about Wall Street. 53:37 And if you're ever in New York at three o'clock, 53:39 go down to Wall Street. 53:40 See the scene. 53:43 The limousines pull up waiting for their people. 53:48 They come out. 53:49 Some of them made a million that day, some lost a million. 53:53 But three o'clock they come out, get in the limo, 53:55 drive out to the suburbs, have a cocktail, go to sleep, 53:58 then come back in the morning and start all over again. 54:02 One man was coming out, he had a cashmere coat. 54:06 May have earned a million that day or lost a million. 54:11 Didn't matter, he was on his way. 54:12 Get in the limo, get home, forget it. 54:17 But he noticed from the corner of his eye, 54:19 he noticed a little boy huddled in the hallway, 54:23 shivering and crying. 54:26 And right away the man thought about when he was a little boy. 54:29 You see, the thing you've got to understand 54:31 is where you came from. 54:35 You need to remember what you were 54:38 before you knew Christ. 54:40 When my children where growing up, I use to 54:42 take them to Coney Island. 54:44 And back in the alley ways and under the Board Walk. 54:46 And there were the drunks and the addicts, 54:48 and I'd point to them and say, "Save for the grace of God 54:51 that's where your daddy would be." 54:54 Now both of them are serving Christ, and my four grandkids. 54:59 But anyway, as I think about this boy. 55:04 And the man thought about when he was a child. 55:05 So he went over and he said, "Young man, can I help you?" 55:08 And the boy was crying and rubbing away the tears, 55:11 and he says, "No, Mister. Bug off." 55:15 Trying to be cool and tough. 55:18 And the man said, "Well, I can help you. 55:20 Let me help you." 55:21 He says, "No, Mister. Bug off." 55:23 And so the man turned around. 55:24 But the draw of that child, and he turned back. 55:27 This is his neighbor... 55:31 ...in that sense. 55:34 And he says, "Let me help you." He says, "Well, what happened?" 55:36 And he says, "Well, I was on the way to the store, 55:38 and daddy gave me a dollar. 55:39 And I was running, trying to keep warm, 55:41 and the wind blew the dollar down the drain, 55:45 the sewer drain." 55:47 Wow. 55:49 "I've lost the dollar." 55:50 The man said, "A dollar? Go home and tell your father." 55:53 He says, "You don't know my father." 55:56 "Go home and tell your father." 55:58 "Oh, you don't know my father." 56:00 And so the man says, "Well, what store were you going to?" 56:02 He said, "Around the corner." 56:03 He took the boy around the corner to the store. 56:06 And the boy went and got what he had to get for the father. 56:08 Came to the counter, put it on the counter; 95 cents. 56:13 The man took out his billfold trying to find a dollar. 56:17 He found a dollar, put it on. 56:19 The man took the package and the five cents change, 56:23 put it in the boys hands, and said, 56:25 "Now you go home to your father." 56:27 The boy started out. 56:30 He stopped at the door, turned around, 56:31 came back, put his arms as far around the man as he could. 56:34 He said, "I wish you were my father." 56:37 As we show compassion, as we show love, 56:40 as we show the love of Christ to others, 56:43 they'll reach out and say, "I wish He was my Father." 56:49 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, 56:54 that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, 56:57 but have everlasting life." 57:00 I'm glad Jesus told that story. 57:02 Aren't you? 57:04 Write yourself into that story. 57:06 When you see someone in need, stop. 57:09 Help. 57:10 And you'll fulfill forever the word of God. 57:15 Let us pray. 57:16 Father God, I thank You for the grace of Christ. 57:20 I thank You that You are our good Samaritan. 57:23 And that we can put our trust in You 57:26 even now wherever we are. 57:28 In Jesus' name, amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17