Participants: Ron Halvorsen
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000862
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01:00 Let's bow our heads in a word of prayer.
01:03 Our kind Father, we humbly, graciously 01:09 bow on your side, we're totally aware of 01:14 the love that you show us, the love that 01:16 you have for us here. It's good to come 01:20 before you forgiven under the grace of God. 01:26 It's good for us to be able to come apart 01:28 and listen to your word and learn of 01:32 your marvelous grace, your marvelous love. 01:36 I pray tonight that you'll speak through 01:38 your word, that we'll get a picture of Jesus 01:42 that we perhaps have not had before, 01:45 that we'll see Him as our helper in our bad 01:48 times in Christ name, amen. 01:57 It was a cold January evening 02:00 in New York, Long Island. 02:03 A young man was jogging along the 02:04 high school track, doing his exercise, 02:09 getting ready for a Triathlon, he was a 02:11 triathlon runner and he was getting ready 02:14 for the next event and he told his wife when 02:16 he left for the track he said I'll just be 02:19 an hour or so and I'll be back before dark. 02:24 He didn't show up at home at dark his wife 02:26 got worried about him and she jumped in the 02:29 car with the little one and the dog and drove 02:32 out to the track and, in the growing darkness 02:35 she could see someone laying on the track. 02:40 She pulled the car over and jumped out 02:42 and ran over and Jimmy was lying in pool of blood. 02:47 Someone had come by while he was 02:49 jogging and shot him, killed him in cold 02:52 blood, when they finally caught the 02:56 person, who brutally killed him. 03:02 They asked the young man why did you do this? 03:06 Did you know him? No. Then why did you do this? 03:12 He said well I wanted to feel what it felt like 03:15 to kill someone, I went to the movies 03:18 the night before and I saw this movie called 03:20 Natural Born Killers and it was about a 03:22 thrill kill and I wanted to feel what it felt like and. 03:28 Jimmy was my nephew, he left a little 03:33 baby girl and his wife two weeks later bore 03:35 twins, but Jimmy will never see until the kingdom. 03:41 I thought as I was confronted with that 03:44 terrible tragedy, is there any hope for 03:47 the future of this young woman, 03:51 and her three little babies. 03:54 Is there any answer, why is God silent 04:00 when we ask important questions, 04:04 why is life so hard even for Christians. 04:09 Now everyone of us here have those days 04:12 you know those bad those kind of days, 04:14 those days you wish you hadn't got out of bed. 04:20 I mean, look at poor Chippy, you heard 04:22 about Chippy didn't you, the parakeet. 04:26 Poor Chippy the parakeet was sitting in 04:28 his cage doing what parakeets do, 04:33 peacefully perched, the next he was 04:37 sucked up, washed up, blown over, 04:41 the problem begin when Chippy owner 04:43 decided to clean the cage, she thought she 04:48 don't want to make a mess and so she used 04:50 the vacuum cleaner. So she took the 04:54 vacuum cleaner pot and she stuck the 04:57 vacuum cleaner into the cage just then the 04:59 phone ring, and she reached for the phone 05:03 and there was a, and she turned around and 05:08 poor Chippy wasn't there, 05:12 she began to panic and so she did what 05:14 any good parakeet owner would do she 05:17 dropped the phone and she ran to the 05:18 vacuum and she turned it off and then 05:21 she fumbled to try to get it open, when she 05:23 got it open there poor Chippy was standing, 05:27 trembling covered in dust and dirt. 05:31 And so being such a kind and loving 05:34 parakeet keeper she did the next best thing 05:37 she took Chippy and she ran for the faucet. 05:43 She turned on the cold water. 05:48 Now poor Chippy shivering and then 05:51 she realized what she had done so being a 05:54 wonderful parakeet owner and one that 05:57 loved a parakeet she ran for the hair dryer. 06:08 Poor Chippy. Few days later after the 06:14 trauma, the reporter that had reported it in 06:17 the newspaper called back to find out how 06:19 poor Chippy was doing. 06:23 Well she replied Chippy doesn't sing 06:25 much anymore, he just sits and stares, 06:35 it's not hard to see why is it. 06:38 Sucked in, washed up, I mean blown over, 06:41 that's enough to steal the song from anyone. 06:45 Can you relate to Chippy? Come on now. 06:51 I mean most of us can and we had days like 06:54 Chippy days haven't we? I mean life it seems to 06:57 us all of a sudden everything goes wrong, 07:00 you try to loose a little weight, 07:02 but it never seems to happen. 07:05 You think of making a shift in your career, 07:07 maybe even serving God but you can 07:09 never actually get to it, perhaps some of 07:13 you even made the jump but it doesn't 07:15 pan out the way you expect it and so you're 07:18 right back on the run again, you try to 07:21 recover something in your marriage and 07:23 your spouse looks at you with a glance and 07:25 says nice try, isn't it a little late 07:31 and an argument breaks out in front of the kids. 07:36 And yes we have faith, but even there it 07:39 seems to fall short of a promise, 07:42 I mean life never seems to turn out the 07:44 way we want at least a 100 percent 07:47 or 90 percent, one minute we're seen in 07:50 a familiar territory with a song on our 07:52 lips and a pink slip comes or bad news 07:56 from the doctor or the divorce is final or the 08:00 check bounces at the bank and the 08:02 policeman knocks at the door. 08:05 The life that is so calm is now so 08:08 stormy; the life that you thought you had 08:09 security is gone. The life that when 08:12 along without a glitch now is full of 08:14 surprises, from calm to storming moments. 08:19 When I read the story, I tried to find the 08:23 lesson that God had for me about Chippy 08:26 and my Chippy days, maybe it says bad 08:29 things happen to good birds I don't know, 08:34 or the world is good and the world is bad, 08:38 I don't know if that explains it. 08:40 If it can happen, it will happen, 08:46 or wait a little longer and life will change, 08:53 life will change. I have learned from 08:56 life and from living as a believer as a 08:59 Christian even, I've learned that there 09:00 is a cycle of goodness and there is a cycle of 09:03 badness and there's a cycle of redemption 09:05 and it applies for everything, 09:07 everyone in this universe hope vanishes, 09:11 if God is so big and so concerned and caring 09:13 why is my life such a bummer. 09:15 Now that's the question behind most 09:17 questions, that's the reason why men and 09:21 women don't believe or serve God many times, 09:26 why is it? Such devastation you 09:29 know, such violence and crime and terror 09:31 why do believers have more questions then 09:34 they do answers I mean if God is good 09:36 then why do bad things happen to His 09:39 people I mean to good people. 09:41 Now I can understand if bad things happen 09:43 to bad people, they deserve it, 09:49 but why does it happen to me, 09:52 I don't think I deserve it and you don't think 09:55 you deserve it. If God loves me eternally, 10:01 unconditionally then why aren't I happier 10:08 and why doesn't it turn out better for me, 10:11 if God is pleased with me why doesn't I, 10:14 why don't I experience more 10:15 pleasure in my life, I mean more peace 10:17 in my life, if I'm suppose to receive 10:19 the peace that passeth understanding, why is 10:22 my life in such turmoil. 10:27 Now these questions put God on trial, 10:31 your experience puts God on trial. 10:34 There is one here, there is no one here 10:36 that has not faced a devastating tragedy in 10:39 his or her life that puts God on trial, 10:41 consider how many times your life has 10:43 taken a devastating turn for the worst, 10:46 think about it for just a moment, 10:49 when I wrote my book on prayer, 10:51 prayer warrior, it came out in January, 10:54 in January my nephew was, as I just 10:55 told you the story was viciously murdered, 10:59 a few months later my father dropped dead 11:01 suddenly from an aneurysm in his brain, 11:07 I thought he was gone. That same month 11:11 I found that, they found a growth on my 11:13 throat and the doctor said, then he said, 11:15 well Mr. Halvorsen this is very dangerous, 11:20 this is, you may not be able to speak after this, 11:23 I said not speak? I said what do you 11:27 do to a preacher that can't speak, 11:28 it's like a horse break your leg you shoot him, 11:31 I mean that's all I do is speak. 11:36 I'm still speaking, amen, but the tragedy 11:39 came, a month later I was diagnosed 11:45 with Colon cancer and only by a miracle 11:48 of God I am here today preaching 11:49 because it was the worst kind in the 11:52 worst place I was awaken in the middle 11:55 of the night and a voice came an 11:58 impression came and said get a 11:59 colonoscopy, can you imagine that in the 12:01 middle of the night, I thought I was in 12:03 digestion, I rolled over, went back to 12:06 sleep, two nights later the same thing happen 12:09 I called my doctor and I said I need a 12:10 colonoscopy, he said why do you have this 12:12 symptom? You have this, I didn't have any 12:14 symptom, in fact I told my wife and said 12:16 honey, I'm jumping fences. I said honey they say 12:20 when you really feel great you're gonna die, 12:23 I said if that's the case I should be dropping 12:25 dead I mean I feel good I said no he said 12:29 but why I said because God told me, 12:31 he said would you have another reason 12:32 I said not a better reason, 12:37 and so they did a colonoscopy they 12:38 found an aggressive cancer way up on the 12:40 right side and he said to me he said 12:43 Mr. Halvorsen 99 percent of people that 12:45 get their cancer there by the time they get 12:48 the symptoms it's too late it's broken 12:50 through the wall, it's out into their body. 12:53 I went to the, what is it, this person that 12:56 does the radiation and chemo, 12:57 what are they called? 13:00 You've got the point, anyway. 13:06 He examined me, he looked at the test, 13:08 he looked at the operation and he 13:11 came back he said Mr. Halvorsen, you're 13:13 a lucky man I said no, not a lucky man he 13:15 said 99 percent of people that get cancer 13:19 in this place and die, he said but you don't 13:23 even need chemo or radiation, 13:27 come on, thank God. I mean but the amazing 13:30 thing about it, here's the amazing thing 13:32 about it the doctor that questioned 13:35 whether I should have a colonoscopy or not 13:38 was an Adventist doctor, my other 13:40 doctor said oh I believe in miracles, 13:43 listen to me there is a miraculous God, 13:45 doesn't matter what you know about surgery, 13:47 doesn't matter what you know about 13:49 medicine, God is the great physician. 13:52 Amen. Just poured out on me and my 13:54 family, let me tell you bad things happen to 13:58 good people, devastating things 14:01 happen in an instant to people, but God 14:05 has an answer and there's a resounding 14:07 yes that life can be beautiful. 14:13 When stars fall from heaven, 14:15 when mountains fall into the sea, when evil 14:17 triumphs over good, when Satan seems to 14:19 have the upper hand, when death still stings 14:22 and tears still flow, there is one splendid, 14:25 one shining, one glorious hope and that 14:27 hope is a person of the Lord Jesus Christ, 14:30 can you say amen here? The person of Jesus Christ, 14:34 He is our glorious hope, but still there 14:38 are the hunting questions, by the way 14:40 that are not only your problem. Listen to me 14:42 the prophets of old asked the same questions. 14:46 A prophet looked to heaven, beating 14:48 heaven with his prayers he said, God, 14:50 why are you silent? One prophet looking 14:54 out over the city and there were the, 14:56 the enemy coming into his city he knew 14:58 that they would rape his women and they 15:00 would take his people into captivity he said 15:03 God why don't you do something? 15:08 And then back it out of that experience, 15:10 out of that pain, out of that captivity, 15:12 he was able to say that just shall live by 15:15 his and her faith, but still it hurts 15:23 and still is God holding out on us. 15:31 Christ you know has been trying to answer 15:32 this question and nail it down since 15:36 the dawn of time. Goodness, now we all 15:40 know the world is good, I mean there is 15:42 goodness in this world I mean, 15:46 after each act of creation He states this 15:49 and it was good and it was good and it was 15:52 very good look around you nature 15:55 proclaims it. Some weeks ago 15:59 I was having a revival meeting in Georgia 16:03 and, on the way to the church, on the way to 16:05 the hospital I was having devotions in 16:07 the morning at the hospital and then 16:09 revival at the church in evening on the way 16:11 to hospital I saw a flock of, I guess there 16:15 are flock I don't know I'm from Brooklyn, 16:17 but a flock of turkeys, do they call them a flock. 16:20 Okay that's close enough, they were 16:23 flocked around anyway, beautiful and 16:28 that afternoon one of the doctors took me 16:31 out to play golf, I only play golf for 16:32 my exercise you know it's good I walk 16:34 in the woods a lot and I noticed a beautiful 16:39 dove making her way quietly through the woods. 16:48 I look out in the faces wherever I preach and 16:50 I say beautiful people and beautiful faces, 16:54 I see the faces of little children like say God 16:57 this world is good, I mean everywhere we 17:00 can see, everywhere we can see this 17:02 goodness, this is the goodness of God, 17:04 we see it everywhere, kindness and love and 17:08 we see acts of caring and acts of love, 17:10 even outside there, outside of the church 17:13 and sometimes we see it even 17:14 more outside then we do inside. 17:19 But I'm not diluted about goodness, 17:22 not to recognize there's evil in our world, 17:26 there is human evil. People go homeless, 17:28 not for lack of resources but for lack 17:31 of love, I mean food is abundant and yet 17:33 people starve to death in our world, 17:35 all this is good things are perverted, that has 17:38 been the underlying truth from this book 17:40 from the very beginning at the fall 17:42 of man, a lie walks the truth, gluttony 17:46 abuses food and drink and a parasite evil 17:49 must feed off good, and has no ability to 17:53 create anything new. Thinking about poor 17:57 Chippy, there are some things that we 18:00 left undone. The movie Grand Canyon 18:04 articulates the theological fact and 18:06 truth, a spiritual truth, Danny Glover playing 18:12 a tow truck driver, who is threatened by 18:15 five troublemakers as he attempts to rescue 18:18 a terrified family, a motorist who had 18:21 broken down on a highway and seeing 18:24 these five ruffians trying to cause 18:27 trouble, he says man the world ain't 18:30 suppose to work like this and they keep it 18:35 up and he says it again, he says man 18:37 the world ain't suppose to work like, 18:39 and we look around and we say God, 18:42 the world ain't supposed to work like this. 18:48 Whatever we humans touch can go wrong. 18:54 In more optimistic times Christians had 18:57 to struggle to make the case for the fallen 18:59 world, we don't have to do that today do we? 19:02 I mean look around you turn on CNN, 19:04 I mean open your newspaper I mean 19:06 it jumps out at you, it pours out at you 19:08 from every page tragedy or comedy 19:12 can happen in a split moment of time. 19:16 Whatever we touch, you see what the tow 19:20 driver, tow truck driver absorbed we 19:24 know to be a fact, man the world ain't 19:27 suppose to be like this. 19:32 If indeed a good God created a good world, 19:35 something has gone rye. Now the problem 19:39 goes right back to the beginning, 19:40 I want to talk to you about this why? 19:43 A good God in a bad world? Why human suffering? 19:47 How does Jesus become the helper? 19:50 You see the problem goes right back to one 19:54 bad choice and then another bad choice 19:59 and then another bad choice. 20:01 You see the day started optimistically, 20:07 the day ended badly, her name is Eve, 20:14 one choice led to another crazy thing 20:18 about it, they tried for years to help fix it and 20:21 it keeps getting worse. 20:27 When everything breaks down in a 20:28 house my wife don't ask me to fix it, 20:32 I'm terrible at it believe me, 20:35 took me a whole week to fix the irrigation 20:41 in my backyard and I put all the pipes 20:44 together and put the glue around and 20:47 well it looks beautiful flipped the switch 20:50 when the water came through with power, 20:53 boom it throw everything all over the yard, 20:57 she don't ask me to fix anything. 21:02 I mean, we try to fix it keeps breaking down 21:09 the car gets to a certain age right, 21:11 come on now no matter what you do to it, 21:13 it keeps breaking down. 21:16 Humanity keeps breaking technology 21:18 repeats that cycle doesn't it. 21:20 I mean we master the Adam and we nearly 21:23 obliterate a universe, we learned the secrets 21:28 of life only to develop techniques to destroy 21:31 the unborn and the aging. 21:35 We unlocked the genetic code and we 21:36 opened Pandora's box of ethics, we tamed 21:40 the great plains and with agriculture and 21:42 cause a dust bowl, we try to fix the 21:44 environment and harvest the rainforest 21:47 and create floods and harness internal 21:49 combustion engines and we melt the ice cap. 21:56 We link our world to the Internet only to 22:00 find the most devastating thing is 22:02 the thing that's most downloaded on the 22:04 Internet today is pornography. 22:08 Every advance introduces us to 22:10 another fall, every attempt to clean the 22:12 bird cage we get deeper and we get the 22:15 bird deeper and deeper into trouble, why? 22:18 Because the good God did not create robots, 22:23 but humans with free will. 22:29 When I was a little boy many years ago, 22:32 many many many years ago I used to 22:34 like to play toy soldiers, my mom 22:38 would get me those plastic toy soldiers 22:40 and I like to play them, I set them up in the 22:42 living room and hide them behind the 22:44 piddles on the couch and put them in 22:46 strategic places there were the enemy, 22:48 you could always tell them, and they were 22:51 the good soldiers, my soldiers, 22:54 and they'd fight the war every now and 22:55 then and knock over a good soldier but we'll 22:57 knock over three bad soldiers finally I got 23:00 tied of that and knock them all over, we won. 23:05 I noticed that as only I control the 23:07 the soldiers, we won, but what if those 23:12 soldiers could come alive, 23:17 become bigger than I. It would no longer be 23:21 a fun game would it. I mean you're the 23:26 biggest so therefore you make them obey 23:28 and that happens even in your own personal life, 23:30 even with your own children, 23:31 as long as they're little they obey you, 23:33 they get up on Sabbath, they get 23:35 dressed on Sabbath, they go to, they brush 23:36 their teeth, they go to church, they come 23:38 home but when they get big, 23:42 if I were to take a survey here tonight 23:45 perhaps the most shocking thing would 23:46 be how many of our big children 23:50 are brushing their teeth to go to church 23:54 and to worship God and to carry this 23:57 kingdom, this gospel of the kingdom to the 24:02 world perishing. I mean, we even 24:08 act like as cold control freaks even in 24:10 our own church, and so therefore we set 24:14 our rules and we set our standards and we 24:16 write the law and we tell out the benefits of 24:19 it and we tell how that we need to do it 24:22 and then it get longer and longer and longer 24:25 and the kids just getting blown away, 24:27 they can't ever live up to it, 24:31 by the way I can't live up to it. 24:41 God made us in such a way that we could choose. 24:49 And I believe there are three kinds of will, 24:53 people say we need to be in God's will let's 24:55 look at it tonight there was the intentional 24:58 will of God, if we're gonna understand 25:02 why we suffer hurt even good people. 25:08 There is the intentional will of God, there is a 25:10 circumstantial will of God and there is what 25:12 I call The Ultimate Will of God. 25:16 God's intentional will, if we read the first 25:20 two chapters of the Bible we discover that 25:24 the intentional will of God what it was about 25:26 first of all you would have life abundantly, 25:29 it was to be joyous, I mean life abundantly 25:32 productive, your life forever, forever life. 25:39 In fact on that Friday God created sexuality, 25:41 so that you could create the family and 25:43 the family could create the family and 25:45 the family could create the family 25:47 and they would be one family. 25:51 And the next day he creates a Sabbath, 25:54 the worship and that's why the Seventh-day 25:56 was so meaningful because God wanted 25:58 us to bring that to the nations and God 26:01 wanted that to be apart of our existence and. 26:07 And God did everything with an intention, 26:10 everything he creates is in order, everything 26:12 he creates with intention. You see he doesn't create, 26:15 he doesn't create birds and try to create a sky 26:18 to put them in, he creates the sky and 26:20 then the birds, he doesn't create fish and 26:22 run around looking for water, 26:24 he creates the water, then the fish, 26:26 everything is done in order. 26:28 He comes to the worship day, he 26:29 doesn't create the worship day on the first day, 26:31 he creates it on the Seventh day why? 26:33 Because on the sixth day he creates the worshiper. 26:41 He intended it that way and it was good. 26:47 Read Genesis chapter 1, it's good, it's good 26:50 I mean there is no hunger, it's good, 26:53 there is no hatred, its good, there is no pain, 26:56 there is no suffering, there is no sickness, 26:57 there is no crime, I mean there is no 26:59 violence, there is no anger in the home. 27:08 There is no two people fighting and 27:10 warning until the inevitable is a divorce. 27:15 They are never separated in that 27:18 garden, until the day they chose to be 27:21 separated, its called free will. 27:26 When my boy was growing up Ronnie he 27:27 was just a little boy. I have two children 27:30 I have Ronnie and I have Dianne, 27:33 Ronnie is the oldest, when Ronnie was just 27:36 little and Dianne was just in the crib, 27:40 my wife would some times take Dianne and 27:43 have to go to store she would take Dianne 27:45 and she leave Ronnie for me to watch. 27:49 And I had a sandbox in the front of our yard, 27:52 we lived on a Cul-de-sac and there was a 27:55 little sandbox and so I got a brainy idea that 27:59 perhaps I could let him play in that 28:00 sandbox while I was studied. 28:04 You understand who has the brains in my 28:06 family, my wife didn't think it was a good 28:09 idea but she was gone, so I thought 28:11 wow I can experiment and so I put enough 28:16 toys and things to play with in the 28:19 sandbox, put Ronnie in the midst of it, 28:22 said son play in the sandbox don't go near 28:25 the road and I gave him a look, you know 28:30 the parental look, when in the house and 28:34 down the stairs and I was studying, 28:36 thinking about Ronnie, a chip off the 28:38 old block, ran up the stairs looked out the 28:43 picture window and there Ronnie was 28:44 standing by the road 28:45 throwing pebbles in the road. 28:50 I open the door and I said Ronnie he heard 28:52 my voice, he ran right back to the sandbox, 28:59 I said young man, don't you go near 29:03 that road, why? Was I trying to keep 29:05 something him, no I was trying to protect him. 29:09 I said I love you I want to protect you, 29:11 there's danger don't go near the road or else 29:13 you're gonna have to come into the house, 29:15 no more do you leave this sandbox. 29:21 Gave him that look, when I was studying 29:27 five minutes later I thought about 29:29 Ronnie and the road, I ran upstairs and 29:36 looked out the window and there 29:37 Ronnie was standing with two feet in the 29:40 road throwing pebbles, I open the 29:45 door I said Ronnie come here and he 29:47 grabbed you know and he started backing. 29:54 Yeah that's right, we used it, 29:58 this time out stuff, give me a break. 30:03 Time out, yeah only one who takes the 30:06 time out is you to keep the time. 30:11 Now I could have solved the problem 30:12 of the road, I could have, people you see 30:14 they come to me and they talk to me and 30:16 they say well God, he could have solved this problem. 30:18 He was a big God, He could have control 30:20 the situation, that's right I couldn't control 30:22 the situation. I could have taken Ronnie 30:24 and thrown him in the closet and locked the door. 30:29 I'll solve the problem. Well I'll be a good 30:32 father and kind of cut a hole in the door and 30:36 so I could feed him every now and then, 30:37 but you know I've solved, 30:38 wouldn't it solve the problem. 30:45 But love doesn't work that way, 30:49 love doesn't work that way. 30:51 You see I could put hold him in my arms 30:53 and tell him Ronnie, I love you so much, 30:55 there is danger in the road and I could do 30:57 everything that I could to show him 30:58 that love. To try to show him what the 31:00 danger was. But some day I would have to leave him. 31:08 And now my children are on many 31:09 dangerous roads, yours are too aren't they? 31:11 This very moment we pray for them and 31:13 think about them. You see that's what it 31:17 was, it began with the intentional will of God, 31:19 if you don't believe that. Will you turn with me 31:21 to Genesis the third chapter. 31:25 And I want you to notice here, Genesis chapter 3, 31:31 and let's look at verses 1 through 4, 31:35 that's Genesis chapter 3 verses 1 through 4. 31:46 The Bible says this, And now the serpent 31:48 was more stubble or cunning then any 31:51 beast of the field the LORD God had made. 31:54 And he said unto the woman, has God 31:56 indeed said, ye shall not eat of every tree 31:58 of the garden? And the woman said 32:00 to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of 32:02 the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the 32:03 tree which is in the midst of the garden, 32:05 God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, 32:07 neither shall ye touch it, lest ye what? Die. 32:11 Now notice this, then the serpent said, 32:15 you will not surely die and next verse your 32:18 eyes will be open and you will be like God. 32:23 Look at verse 31 and they heard verse 8, 32:27 And they heard the sound of the LORD 32:29 God walking in the garden, in the cool of 32:30 the day, and the Adam and his wife 32:32 hid themselves from the presence of the 32:34 LORD God among the trees of the garden. 32:37 And then the Lord God called to Adam 32:38 and said to him where are you? 32:43 Where are you? Good, the intention of 32:50 God was for goodness, perfect family. 32:54 Every parent that ever creates a child, 32:57 has the best dreams and hopes for that 32:58 child to come on right. Amen. 33:02 I've never met a person yet, a parent yet, 33:06 that said in that moment that kid was born, 33:08 I was hoping bad things would happen to him. 33:13 So, the heavens declared the glory of 33:15 God and the earth He created with living 33:18 things, so that man would 33:20 enjoy the food of his hands. 33:23 And man has created in the image of God. 33:26 His plan is an everlasting happiness, 33:28 His plan is everlasting life, it's full of life and 33:30 joy and that is the intention of God. 33:32 That's intentional will and every parent has 33:35 that intention, but a problem arises. 33:39 Not in the heart of the parent, 33:42 but in the heart of the children. 33:46 I always tell parents that lost their children 33:49 to the world for a time, that God made a 33:51 round world and by the way its simple, 33:55 scientific, spiritual lesson. 33:58 Why did he create a round world, because 34:00 the further you go away from home, 34:05 the closer you will comeback to home? 34:10 Freewill choices, now comes a twist 34:16 intrusion it's a paradise. Intrusion, I mean a 34:19 covenant is broken, sin enters the world 34:21 from Genesis 3 to Revelation chapter 21. 34:24 I mean in 22 the world is taken by sin, 34:26 pain comes to the world, suffering 34:28 comes to the world, death comes to the world. 34:31 Romans 5:12 notice what it says Romans 34:34 the fifth chapter and verse 12, it tell us 34:36 why this is, he gives us an 34:39 explanation of simple truth. 34:41 He says here in the fifth chapter and verse 34:43 12 these words, Therefore, just as 34:45 through one man sin entered into the world, 34:47 and death through sin, and thus death spread 34:49 to all men, because all have sinned. 34:53 You said why did Eve do that, 34:54 if you were Eve, you would have. 34:59 If you were Adam, you are the Adam of this generation; 35:02 you are the Eve of this generation, 35:04 what are you doing? 35:09 I hope you're not like the woman who came 35:10 and saw me recently at a camp meeting 35:12 and she says pastor in a virtuous way 35:14 I haven't sinned in six months. 35:17 I said, oh you just did, the Bible says if you say 35:20 you have not sinned you're a liar and the truth 35:22 is not in you excuse me and I took off. 35:32 You see the intentional will of God is soft, 35:35 the intentional will of God is, is affected 35:37 by man's sin and so, there comes 35:39 the circumstantial will since the fall, 35:42 the rules have changed. 35:44 Evil conditions exist just because evil exists. 35:47 God must salvage good out of the evil. 35:49 You see did God will that Moses and Daniel 35:52 and Jeremiah and Paul moulder in prison? 35:54 No, but he took that experience and he used it 35:57 to the glory of God and the building of the kingdom 35:59 of Christ and the deliverance of God's people. Amen. 36:04 Despite of evil circumstances 36:06 they triumphed over the circumstance. 36:08 Joseph triumph, Daniel experience 36:10 supernatural deliverance, Paul formulated 36:13 much of his theology while in prison. 36:19 We created this world, we molded it 36:21 and now we're being molded by it, 36:24 that's why Jesus says to the Apostle. 36:26 He says hate not this world. 36:34 God is trying to work good 36:36 out of evil that's what going on now. 36:38 He touches the ruin life and he heals it. Amen, amen. 36:44 He touches the waste of life and he restores it. Amen. 36:47 He comes to a lost person, a lonely person 36:50 and He brings fulfillment, He renews it. 36:52 I mean this is God working the circumstance. 36:55 He is working through the circumstances; 36:57 He is touching the ruin life to heal it, 36:59 the wasted life to renew it. 37:00 He comes and makes a difference, 37:02 that's why the incarnation, 37:04 that's why Jesus came into this world, 37:06 incarnated so He might touch us and love us 37:09 and in the circumstances that we are surrounded 37:11 with that He might say all things are possible 37:14 to those who believe. Amen. 37:21 That's why God impacted us and was touched 37:25 with the feelings of our infirmities. 37:29 Try to change it into good. 37:34 And that leads us to the ultimate will. 37:39 Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 37:48 Now God promises to those who trust Him 37:51 to use every circumstance to serve Him 37:53 that the ultimate will, will be done, 37:56 that He will get us through the circumstance, 37:58 He will get us through this planet and rebellion, 38:01 He will redeem us from this corruptible 38:03 and He will give us incorruption, 38:05 He will redeem us from this mortal, 38:07 this dying and give us immortality, 38:09 He will redeem us for the corruptional world 38:12 and give us a new world. 38:16 There is nothing better than 38:17 something new come on. Amen. 38:19 You like new things don't you? 38:21 I was a little boy in Brooklyn. 38:23 There were five little boys in Brooklyn 38:25 and my daddy was hardworking man, 38:29 but we were quite poor, 38:30 we lived in a tenement co-word a flat, 38:33 cold in the winter and warm in the summer. 38:36 And my momma use to scrimp and save she called it. 38:40 And she would save up all year long 38:46 and then once in a year buy one of the boys a suit. 38:52 She came to me one time, she says son it's your turn. 38:55 Oh I tell you whip me, I was excited. 38:59 Momma said we going to Manhattan. 39:03 Do you want to come along? 39:04 I wanted to go, got on subway 39:07 sat all the way to the 34th street. 39:09 Got off we walked right by Macy's 39:12 because that was more expensive store. 39:13 We turned the corner to Gimbels. 39:18 Momma brought me up into a big room, 39:21 I mean big as this filled with all kinds of suits. 39:26 She then took me over into the sale section. 39:31 My momma said, pick out a suit, 39:36 I was walking and looking and touching, 39:38 I knew nothing about suits. 39:40 But I was touching feeling these suits. 39:42 A salesman came along and said, may I help you, 39:45 he wanted to rush this event. 39:48 I mean I had to wait five, six more years 39:51 before another one, whether is he joking me. 39:53 No, I've got this under control. 39:56 Then I saw it, pale blue suit, pale blue. 40:04 I said momma, she said son, 40:07 you sure you want a pale blue, 40:10 all she could think about was Coney Island 40:12 and the suit and dummy, 40:18 oh mamma I want this suit. 40:20 So she took the suit, went to the counter 40:24 to paid 6 bucks or whatever. 40:29 Now you can't buy the buttons for a suit. 40:32 You can't buy sneakings for a suit. 40:38 The woman said should I put it in a bag 40:40 or you want a box, a bag or a box 40:43 what is this woman joking, I want a box. 40:46 You know those big boxes with a wooden handle. 40:49 I dragged my box right down to the subway 40:53 and got on the subway and Coney Island. 40:58 That Easter Sunday morning I was in that 41:01 Lutheran church in the front row, didn't go much, 41:04 but boy I was there then, 41:06 sitting in my pale blue suit, did it feel good. 41:13 And that's why God says I will make all things new, 41:20 that is the ultimate will of God. 41:27 Right now circumstantially we are put in harms way, 41:33 buildings collapse, tectonic plates shift, 41:40 viruses proliferate, evil people resort to violence, 41:46 but none of these things reflect the intentional 41:49 will or force the ultimate will of God, 41:52 Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Amen. 41:58 Through creation God works though matter, 42:01 in redemption He works through personality. 42:04 You see through tragedy I can respond 42:06 either blaming God or turning to God, 42:09 going against God or going towards God. 42:13 You see I have the choice, I have the responsibility, 42:16 I can make the choice. 42:24 Our freewill has a part to play. 42:28 We have sinned, we have fallen, we have brought 42:34 disgrace on ourselves and we are free to choose. 42:40 I believe there are four reasonable explanations 42:43 for human suffering, sickness, pain, death 42:46 and all the tragedies that happen to us. 42:49 First of all Satan is the instigator of evil, 42:54 and he is in direct rebellion against God 42:56 and misery likes company, come on now, amen. 43:01 You don't believe that? 43:05 I talk to teenagers all the time, 43:08 they'd give up everything for a friend, 43:11 even if that friend isn't really a friend. 43:17 When I was working in the cities, 43:20 in the city in New York I was visiting late at night. 43:23 It was almost 9 O'clock I was in Holland 43:25 and I wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. 43:28 I wanted to even get out of there but anyway. 43:30 I turned on the staircase going up on my last visit 43:33 and I found a little 8-year-old boy, 43:35 he was laying there. He had a needle in his arm, 43:37 an 8-year-old boy, his friend; his brother turned 43:45 him on the drugs and turned him off the life, 43:47 he died in my arms. Satan is the instigator. 43:54 He causes tragedy so that, that tragedy, 43:58 that people will blame God they point their fingers 44:01 at God when in reality they should point it at Satan, 44:03 Satan has done this to us. 44:07 Job had to learn that truth, 44:11 and you and I will have to learn that truth, 44:15 and so when it comes on here which it will, 44:19 when it ruins your day, remember who's behind it. 44:26 He is the instigator of evil. 44:30 Secondly, innocent people suffer for the violation 44:36 of others against the law of God. 44:38 Do you hear me? 44:42 Adolf Eichmann's mother created a baby, 44:45 an innocent child, he became 44:47 Adolf Eichmann the murderer. 44:53 He repudiated God's law, he took a, 44:56 made a choice somewhere along in his life 44:59 and he created the hate, the malice, 45:02 the violence and the death of over a million Jews, 45:08 but he was created an innocent child. 45:13 Thirdly, God sometimes uses suffering to 45:17 soften and perfect our character. 45:20 He maketh me to lie down then I'm looking up. 45:28 There are some things in my life, the suffering 45:33 and pain in my life that drew me closer to God, 45:38 so God was my Balm in Gilead. 45:42 God was the inoculation, 45:44 His grace was the inoculation that killed the pain. 45:50 That God softens us in our pain and in our suffering. 45:55 Have you ever met anyone in your life 45:59 that because of some tragedy. 46:04 They rose to a higher place in love and serving God. 46:11 You have and you know you have. 46:17 Falsely people suffer for the violation of the law, 46:21 Galatians 6:7 tells us that, man smokes, 46:26 he drinks, he uses drugs, promiscuous, 46:31 he burns the candle at both ends, 46:33 by the way its amazing to me how Christians 46:35 are always condemning those who smoke, 46:37 drink and use drugs and eat meat or whatever, 46:40 but they work 15 hours a day. 46:45 Day in and day out and they ruin their families, 46:46 they ruin everything that's important and they think 46:47 they're perfect and the others are going to hell, 46:49 give me a break, amen. 46:55 A man smokes and they find cancer lungs, 46:59 he says oh God why did you do this to me. 47:02 God didn't have anything to do with it. 47:06 Man drinks, drugs, cirrhosis of the liver. 47:13 HIV, man burns the candle at both ends, heart attack. 47:20 God, why did you do this to me? 47:25 God had nothing to do with it, you had to do with it. 47:30 Why did you do this? God runs a universe on order 47:35 and on the principles of natural and moral law. 47:39 And laws obeyed protect, 47:43 disobeyed harm, it's that simple. 47:47 All of our roars, our sorrows, our heartache, 47:49 our tragedy is the result of a rebellion against God. 47:53 Look at Romans 8 and he finalizes 47:56 the truth with these words. 47:58 Romans chapter 8 and notice, 48:01 I want you to notice verse 28, 48:05 that's Romans 8 and verse 28, 48:10 And we know that all things work together 48:13 for good to those who love God, 48:14 that never says that all things are good, 48:18 didn't say that did it. 48:21 It said all things, cancer is not good, 48:24 let me vouch for that. 48:30 Stroke is not good, let me vouch for that. 48:36 Leukemia is not good, let me vouch for that. 48:39 Death is not good. 48:42 It's the last enemy that God will put down, 48:46 but listen to what he says. 48:50 He can take this adversely, He can take this pain, 48:53 He can take this death and good will come out of it. 48:55 Notice He says, to those who are called according 48:58 to his purpose, that His purpose 49:01 and then in verse 35 listen as He goes on, 49:04 who shall separate us from the love of Christ? 49:07 Shall tribulation, shall distress, persecution, 49:10 famine, nakedness, peril, sword, as it's written, 49:13 For Your sake we are killed all day long; 49:15 we're accounted as sheep for slaughter. 49:17 Yet in all these things we are more than 49:19 conquerors through Him who loved us. 49:21 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, 49:24 nor angels nor principalities nor powers, 49:26 nor things present nor things to come, 49:28 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing 49:32 shall be able to separate us from the love of God, 49:35 which is in Christ Jesus. Amen. 49:41 His name was brother Larson. 49:44 He had crippling arthritis, 38 years, he lay in a bed, 49:51 and I used to go to visit him to cheer him up 49:55 and he cheered me up, 49:57 whenever I walked in that little room, 50:02 he was in that hospital bed in his home, 50:05 he would smile and say Pastor. 50:08 Thirty eight years crippling arthritis. 50:11 Thirty eight years, his hands no, 38 years, 50:15 one day I finally said we've become such close friends, 50:19 we prayed together so many times. 50:22 I said brother Larson, I said why is it, 50:27 what is it about I come to see you 50:29 and 38 years and you're smiling, 50:32 I come to bring you joy and you have joy, 50:36 I mean you always seem to be happy, 50:40 I said how? Why? Tell me the secret. 50:44 He looked up with a twinkle in his eye, 50:46 he said well this isn't gonna last forever, amen. 50:49 Thirty eight years on his bed, his hospital bed, 50:55 he started a radio program of devotions 50:58 and for some 28 years he has preached 51:04 from his bed with crippling arthritis. 51:08 This won't last forever, wow! 51:18 Yea, though I walk through the valley. 51:24 It never says that we will not go to the valley. 51:29 He never promises us that we 51:33 wouldn't go through deep valleys. 51:36 Someone said to me I would like 51:37 to always be on the mountain top, I said 51:39 if you're always on a mountain top, it's a plateau. 51:44 The higher the mountain experience, 51:46 the lower the valley, read the words of the Prophets, 51:50 read the story of the Apostles, I mean they were 51:52 yea in the valley of the shadow of death, 51:54 they were skin ripped off their bones 51:57 and they were plunged through with spear 51:59 and crucified upside down, but they walk through. 52:07 Stephen was stoned; 52:11 they walk through the valley of the shadow. 52:18 I was a young evangelist in Morganton, North Carolina, 52:23 I think its North maybe its South, 52:24 but I think its North. 52:25 Morganton, North Carolina anybody know? 52:27 North Carolina, and I was preaching in Morganton 52:31 I had a name to visit a family 52:33 and so I drove out with the preacher and, 52:36 and got to the house and when I got to the house 52:39 I knocked on the door and a little child 52:42 answered the door and she was crying. 52:46 And so I said honey, is your momma here? 52:49 And she says no momma is down at the cemetery. 52:51 Baby sister died last week and now I'm crying, 52:57 and I said honey where, where is the little, 53:00 where is the cemetery and she says well it's down 53:03 the road behind the little Baptist church. 53:06 Now I wanna say something to you people, 53:08 don't wonder why it's so hard for them to break. 53:13 They have deep roots in some Baptist cemeteries 53:19 and some Methodist cemeteries and some. 53:24 So, I got in the car and the preacher said, 53:27 we should visit another time. 53:28 I said, no, this is the time. 53:29 Drove and found the little Baptist church 53:32 and parked the car and got out and I walked around 53:34 and I noticed way in the back of the cemetery 53:36 was a woman kneeling by a new dug grave 53:38 and her body was just moving in agony 53:44 you could see she was sobbing. 53:47 I noticed as I was getting closer that, 53:49 there was a little white picket fence 53:51 it was knocked over and then plastic flowers 53:53 have been scattered somebody come through, 53:55 boys or girls or whatever and thought they were funny, 54:01 and she was trying to make something of the grave. 54:03 Listen to me friend; you can't make anything 54:05 of a grave without Jesus Christ, amen. 54:09 So I walked up and she looked up at me 54:12 and I said don't be frighten, I'm Ron Halvorsen, 54:14 I'm an evangelist and I'm, I'm just visiting, 54:16 I want to come, let me help you. 54:19 And so I knelt down beside her and I tried to help her 54:22 put together the little fence and the little flowers. 54:28 And she looked up at me and she says, 54:32 preacher, my life is over. 54:36 I said oh no, your life is about to begin. 54:42 Someday Jesus is gonna place that baby back in you. 54:46 It's not a time to give her a funeral service 54:49 on the state of the dead. 54:51 Whoa! Job says it's time to give her hope. 55:01 And so I said oh Jesus is gonna, and 55:04 she said oh I wish I could believe that, 55:06 I said oh you can, because he's promised 55:08 and he has never broken a promise. 55:11 And I told her about my meetings I said oh 55:14 if you could only come to the meeting you, 55:15 I know God could bring you the hope you need. 55:18 I remember she said well I work at night. 55:21 I said well, do you have a lunch hour, don't you? 55:25 She said yes, it's about 8 O'clock. 55:26 I said well your factory where you work 55:28 is just around the corner from the church, 55:30 you come over during your break. 55:32 Sure enough first night she was there 55:34 in the back row in her work clothes, 55:36 I'm glad some of the saints didn't see her that way, 55:39 you know and maybe go up 55:40 and try to straighten her out about it, 55:42 but you don't think that happens, oh that happens? 55:48 You be an evangelist long enough you will see 55:50 it happen, but she came every night 55:55 and I wish you would see what God did for her, 55:58 I wish you could see the change of her complexion, 56:01 the change, I mean I wish you could see 56:03 God working on her heart, 56:04 I wish you could have seen the rosy cheeks, 56:07 I wish you could have seen the smile on her face 56:09 when she went down in the watery grave in Baptism 56:12 and came up in the marvelous faith 56:14 of the resurrected Lord. Amen. 56:17 The end of the meeting she said Pastor, 56:19 I wanna speak to you and so I said 56:22 fine everybody had gone and I came down the front 56:25 and sat beside her, and she said Pastor 56:28 she said when we get to heaven, 56:30 I wanna introduce you to my baby. 56:34 I said you better, you look for the tall ugly guy 56:38 on the right hand of the throne of God. That's me. 56:42 And we have an appointment, 56:46 so nothing can shake me out of my faith. 56:49 I have an appointment with a little woman 56:52 from Morganton, North Carolina, 56:56 and the little baby that I haven't seen yet. 57:00 That's God's ultimate will for her life 57:09 and that is God's ultimate will for your life, amen. 57:16 Father which art in heaven, 57:17 I thank you so much for the grace of Christ. 57:22 We know that you intended for us goodness 57:25 and life and enjoy and family forever. 57:30 We know that these circumstances 57:32 right now seem to be overbearing, 57:34 these circumstances seem to rob us of our joy, 57:37 but Father, may we get through it, 57:40 to see with our eyes and to feel with our hands 57:43 and to see with our heart, your ultimate will. 57:49 We might see your finger wipe away the tears 57:52 from our eyes, and your heart touch our heart, 58:00 and your hand touch our hand 58:03 so that we might be restored forever. 58:09 Thy will be done on earth. 58:13 In Jesus name. Amen and amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17