3ABN On the Road

The Word Dying Offers Unique Salvation

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Ron Halvorsen

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Series Code: OTR

Program Code: OTR000425


01:14 The Lord provided for a time For the slaves to be set free
01:20 For the debts to all be canceled
01:23 So His chosen ones could see
01:25 His deep desire was for forgiveness
01:28 He longed to see their liberty And His yearning was embodied
01:34 In the Year of Jubilee Jubilee, Jubilee
01:42 Jesus is the Jubilee Debts forgiven
01:51 Slaves set free Jesus is our Jubilee
02:08 At the Lord's appointed time His deep desire became a man
02:13 The heart of all true jubilation
02:16 And with joy we understand
02:19 In his voice we hear a trumpet sound
02:22 That tells us we are free He is the incarnation
02:27 Of the year of Jubilee "See if you know it"
02:30 Jubilee, Jubilee Jesus is the Jubilee
02:42 Debts forgiven Slaves set free
02:47 Jesus is our Jubilee To be so completely guilty
02:56 Given over to despair To look into your judges face
03:02 And see a Savior there Jubilee, Jubilee
03:11 Jesus is the Jubilee
03:17 Debts forgiven Slaves set free Jesus is our Jubilee
03:49 You can turn these monitors down here off if you want to.
03:52 They're humming pretty loud.
04:04 There sits Simon so foolishly and wise
04:08 proudly he's tending his nets Then Jesus calls
04:14 and the boats drift away all that he owns he forgets
04:21 But more than the nets he abandoned that day
04:25 he found that his pride was soon drifting away
04:29 and it's hard to imagine the freedom we find
04:34 from the things that we leave behind
04:45 And Matthew was mindful of taking the tax
04:49 and pressing the people to pay
04:53 But hearing the call he responded in faith
04:58 And followed the Light and the Way
05:02 And leaving the people so puzzled he found
05:06 the greed in his heart was no longer around
05:10 and it's hard to imagine the freedom we find
05:15 from the things we leave behind
05:20 Every heart needs to be set free
05:24 from possessions that hold it so tight
05:28 'Cause freedom's not found in the things that we own
05:33 It's the power to do what is right
05:38 Jesus our only possession
05:42 then giving becomes our delight
05:46 And we can't imagine the freedom we find
05:52 from the things that we leave behind
06:03 And we show a love for the world in our lives
06:07 by worshiping goods we posses
06:12 But Jesus said lay all your treasures aside
06:16 and love God above all the rest
06:21 'Cause when we say 'no' to the things of the world
06:25 We open our hearts to the love of the Lord
06:29 and it's hard to imagine the freedom we find
06:34 from the things that we leave behind
06:37 Oh, and it's hard to imagine the freedom we find
06:42 from the things that we leave behind
07:19 Why did it have to be a friend who chose to betray the Lord
07:29 And why did he use a kiss to show them,
07:34 that's not what a kiss is for
07:39 Only a friend can betray a friend,
07:44 a stranger has nothing to gain
07:48 And only a friend comes close enough
07:53 to ever cause so much pain
08:08 And why did there have to be
08:11 a thorny crown pressed upon His head
08:18 It should have been a royal one
08:23 made of jewels and gold instead.
08:28 It had to be a crown of thorns,
08:33 because in this life that we live
08:37 For all who would seek to love
08:41 a thorn is all the world has to give
08:57 And why did there have to be
09:00 a heavy cross he was made to bear
09:07 And why did they nail His feet and hands,
09:12 His love would have held him there
09:17 It was a cross for on a cross, a thief was supposed to pay
09:27 and Jesus had come into the world
09:32 to steal every heart away
09:37 Yes, Jesus had come into the world
09:42 to steal every heart away
10:01 My noticed that all of these songs
10:03 are about the Lord Jesus.
10:04 The reason for that is,
10:05 there is nothing else worth singing about.
10:08 Nobody else worth singing
10:09 to or for or be for or any of those prepositions.
10:14 This is a new song that's from the life of Peter.
10:24 I find it fascinating that two different gospel writers,
10:28 Luke and John, both use a very specific word
10:33 to describe the way that Jesus looks at Simon Peter.
10:38 I find that fascinating.
10:40 This whole song is based on that one word.
10:42 It's not a very pretty word.
10:43 In Greek it's the word "Emblepo,"
10:46 not the most lyrical sounding of words.
10:50 It's the word that Jesus, when they translate,
10:54 obviously Jesus didn't speak Greek He spoke Aramaic.
10:56 But when Jesus says, "consider the lilies of the field,"
10:59 the word 'consider' is the word Emblepo,
11:01 and Emblepo means, to look at with your mind,
11:04 to really understand what it is you are seeing,
11:08 to consider, to gaze, to look intently at.
11:11 Okay, that's the word.
11:14 John uses it-- The very first time
11:17 Jesus looks Peter in John 1,
11:19 Andrew drags Peter to come and meet Jesus.
11:21 He says, "we found the Messiah."
11:24 And John tells us that Jesus turned and looked,
11:27 and I think NIV says, looked straight at.
11:30 That's really not very good.
11:31 Jesus looked intently at, He gazed at,
11:34 in such a way that He really understood Simon's heart
11:37 and He looked at Simon and He said,
11:39 "You are Simon," present tense.
11:41 He said, "You will be,"
11:43 future tense, "Peter the rock."
11:47 The other writer that uses that word is Luke,
11:50 and it's one of the last times they lay eyes on each other,
11:52 it's in Luke 22.
11:54 In a story that I believe
11:55 all the gospel writers knew about
11:57 but only Luke could bring himself to tell it,
12:01 it's about the denials of Peter
12:05 and only Luke tells us that upon his third denial,
12:09 Jesus turned and looked straight at,
12:13 gazed intently at, saw with his mind Simon Peter,
12:18 and it was that gaze,
12:19 it was that look that broke Peter
12:21 and all the gospel writers say,
12:23 he left and he wept bitterly,
12:25 bitterly because of what he done.
12:29 If you think about it, that's how Jesus looks at us,
12:31 those two incidences are wonderful examples.
12:34 Right now where we are, where you sit in your seat
12:37 as even as Jesus looked at Peter and John,
12:39 He sees all your potential,
12:41 He sees everything you're ever going to be or are.
12:45 And as in Luke, he looks at all of us
12:47 and sees the absolute worst.
12:49 He sees each one of us at our worse
12:50 and yet He loves us so much,
12:52 He is willing as He did for Peter to turn
12:54 and go from that place and die for Him
12:57 and for you and for me.
12:59 Do you realize how magnificently
13:01 we are loved by this man,
13:03 and you realize that there is nothing you can do about it.
13:07 There is nothing you can do about it.
13:09 Now, let me say something that's going to
13:10 sound like heresy,
13:11 but don't get your lighters out just yet.
13:17 As you are, just as you are,
13:19 as you sit in that chair right in the Sacramento
13:21 of this present moment.
13:24 If you are caught in some sort of entangled
13:29 and some sort of sin that you're,
13:31 you know, struggling with
13:32 and trying to get out of your life as many
13:35 or most of us are all struggling with.
13:40 You don't have to stop sinning for Jesus to love you.
13:42 I know that sounds like heresy.
13:44 You don't have to stop and once you do stop,
13:47 He's not going to love you more.
13:50 He can't love you more than He loves you right now,
13:51 and He refuses to love you less than
13:53 He loves you right now,
13:55 and you don't have to be good for Jesus to love you.
13:58 He loves you so you can be good,
14:00 that's how it works.
14:01 See, it's not heresy after all.
14:05 Paul tell us that it is His kindness
14:07 that leads us to repentance,
14:09 and you will never know a stronger force
14:10 for changing your life until you realize
14:13 how magnificently He loves you,
14:16 and that there is nothing you can do about it.
14:18 So that's what the song about.
14:20 And the song is not as long as the introduction.
14:33 It was the first time that I heard His voice
14:40 Above the gentle whisper of the sea
14:49 I felt inside that He had made His choice
14:56 And that somehow He had included me
15:04 As I looked upon the open book that was His face
15:12 And read there every comfort from above
15:20 His compassion looked beyond all my disgrace
15:27 And saw someone He could build a kingdom of
15:37 His gaze was kindness but His stare was stone
15:44 Could break your heart and somehow make you whole
15:52 'Cause when He looked at you,
15:55 you felt you were completely known
16:00 Because, you see He saw you with His soul
16:24 Our eyes met once across a barren place
16:31 Where I denied I even knew His name
16:40 What broke my heart was not the look upon His face
16:47 But knowing that He loved me still the same
16:55 It is the very way He looks upon us all
17:03 This moment seeing all that we might be
17:11 And no hint of condemnation can be seen within His eyes
17:19 Because He was condemned for you and me
17:53 Amen, amen. God bless you.
17:59 So happy to have you here tonight,
18:00 you know, you don't really follow that.
18:03 You just try to go in the flow with it,
18:06 and by the way, why I love to hear him
18:08 sing is because he sings about Jesus Christ
18:10 and that's what we want to talk.
18:11 We want to not only sing about God's praise
18:13 and talk about, we want to talk about
18:15 God's praise tonight.
18:16 We want to open God's word.
18:18 So I'm going to ask you to bow your head
18:19 because we want to seek
18:21 the presence of Jesus Christ here.
18:23 God's spirit is going to moved in a mighty way
18:25 we know already what God is going to do.
18:27 Let's bow our heads, now the word of prayer.
18:30 Father God, I pray that
18:32 You'll send your Holy Spirit down upon us.
18:37 Lord, I pray that we might not only listen to the words,
18:42 Michael has sung but we'll feel the Spirit.
18:48 We pray tonight that You will speak to our hearts,
18:51 capture our minds, and O God,
18:53 we pray that we might be moved
18:54 so by the Spirit that we know we've been in house of God,
19:00 and now open your word to us, we pray, in Christ name, amen.
19:08 Amazing, isn't it.
19:10 That people are still talking about Jesus Christ.
19:15 In spite of secularism, in spite of humanism,
19:19 and determinism, and atheism,
19:23 we are still talking about Jesus Christ.
19:27 Amazing, isn't it.
19:29 Even after 2,000 years, people meet Him
19:34 in every conceivable place in the universe,
19:37 every conceivable place around the world.
19:42 Amazing, isn't it?
19:43 Jesus Christ is still the center of our universe.
19:48 Books on our libraries, art adorns our galleries,
19:53 rhymes of music are written all about Him,
19:56 whole radio stations
19:58 are given over to Jesus Christ 24 hours a day.
20:02 They sing about Him, they preach about Him,
20:06 and they honor Him.
20:07 Twenty four hours a day, seven days a week,
20:10 Jesus Christ is still being exalted.
20:12 That's mighty truth to know, I mean, Jesus is still alive.
20:18 At this very moment,
20:19 somewhere not only in this place,
20:22 but somewhere around the world
20:24 people are worshiping Jesus Christ, the risen Lord.
20:27 Amazing, in small huts of Africa where I preached.
20:32 In Great Western Europe where I preached,
20:35 I've met people at this very moment
20:37 who are worshiping God and Spirit,
20:39 and worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ.
20:41 What other figure in history has so been honored.
20:45 What other figure in history has been
20:47 so revealed and revered as Jesus Christ.
20:50 Philosophies and political schemes
20:53 and religious movements have tried
20:55 and arrayed their power against Him
20:57 but they have failed,
20:58 because Jesus Christ still is unvanquished.
21:01 Jesus Christ is still undefeated.
21:04 Jesus Christ is still unconquerable.
21:07 Can you say amen with me tonight? Amen.
21:10 There is no one anywhere who is foolish enough to say
21:14 that he is impacted our world,
21:16 there's no other personality. That he's impacted our lives.
21:19 He is for real.
21:20 He is the Messiah, our God,
21:22 and in spite of all the criticism
21:25 and in spite of this the misconception about Him,
21:28 and still the mist that surround Him,
21:30 Jesus Christ is real.
21:33 Tonight I want to turn to the scripture,
21:35 I want to show you how real Jesus is,
21:37 and how Jesus impacts our society today,
21:40 and how Jesus Christ can impact your life,
21:42 that you can go away from this place,
21:44 full of Jesus Christ.
21:46 You can go away from this place,
21:47 full of the Holy Ghost and you can go from this place
21:50 revealing Jesus to all those you come in contact.
21:54 Jesus Christ is unique.
21:56 If someone said, Ron Halvorsen,
21:57 what's so different about Jesus Christ?
21:59 I would have to say that, Jesus Christ is unique.
22:04 My Bible, I want to turn
22:05 to the Second Epistle of Corinthians.
22:08 In the Second Epistle of Corinthians Chapter 4,
22:11 I want to read to you about Jesus Christ.
22:13 Notice the Fourth Chapter
22:14 of the Second Epistle of Corinthians.
22:16 Paul is writing to the Church at Corinth,
22:19 "This pagan world surrounding this Godly Church."
22:24 And in the Fourth Chapter and verse 4 through 6,
22:26 the Bible says, "In whom the God of this world
22:29 hath blinded our eyes of them which believe not,
22:32 lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ,
22:35 who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
22:37 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord
22:41 and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake."
22:45 He says, we do not preach anything but Jesus Christ.
22:48 We don't speak anything but Jesus Christ.
22:50 We don't sing anything but Jesus Christ.
22:54 And then there in Philippians.
22:56 In Philippians, the Second Chapter,
22:58 Philippians in verse 9 and 10,
23:00 "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Jesus,
23:04 and given him a name which is above every name,
23:07 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow."
23:10 Listen friend we either bow before Jesus now
23:13 or we're going to bow before Jesus at the end of time.
23:16 Well, someday, we're gonna bow before Jesus Christ,
23:19 that's what the scripture says.
23:20 Now it says the name of Jesus and the face of Jesus.
23:25 Jesus is unique, Son of God.
23:28 One word describes Him in scripture.
23:30 He is unique in His origin, Jesus.
23:32 He is unique in His name, Jesus.
23:34 He is unique in the salvation, Jesus.
23:37 And He is unique in his promise, Jesus Christ.
23:39 He is unique in His origin.
23:41 There is no one like Him in history.
23:44 For there never was another who was a human child
23:47 and at the same time,
23:48 was the divine Son of God, never.
23:51 There never was another who was wounded by Satan.
23:54 Who at the same time crushed Satan under his heel, never.
23:59 There never was another.
24:01 There never was another who walked the Earth
24:02 before He was born, never. There never was a mother.
24:06 There never was another who wrote the Lord of God
24:09 with his own finger on Sinai and yet 2,000 years later
24:12 would be called by the Pharisees,
24:14 a commandment breaker.
24:16 There never was another who was King of glory
24:19 and wore no earthly crown but a crown of thorns, never.
24:22 He is unique, Jesus Christ,
24:24 and that's why we exalt Him tonight.
24:26 That's why my dear brother Michael exalted Him in song
24:29 and that's why this humble preacher
24:31 exalts Him in spoken word. Jesus is unique.
24:35 He is unique in His origin.
24:37 There never was another who was called the truth
24:40 and yet at the same time, they called Him a liar,
24:44 a hypocrite, and an impostor, never.
24:48 There was never one who's old as His Heavenly Father yet
24:51 ages older than His earthly Mother Mary, never.
24:55 You see, who scripture says, He was the Creator
24:57 and the Preacher and the Servant,
24:59 and the Savior, never.
25:04 Jesus is unique in His origin.
25:07 My Bible tells me that
25:08 Jesus Christ was not only the Savior
25:10 but Jesus Christ was the Creator,
25:12 which Michael sung about a few moments ago.
25:15 For by Him were all things created that were created.
25:18 Ephesians 3:9 says,
25:19 "who created all things by Jesus Christ,"
25:23 it is from the hands of the Jesus Christ
25:26 that all the seas and all the lakes,
25:28 and all the rivers out of the crystal
25:30 chalice of eternity came into existent.
25:32 Jesus brought it into existence.
25:34 Jesus formed the planet.
25:36 It was Jesus that tried and the green grass sprouted,
25:38 and the little flowers blossomed
25:40 and the pine tree pointed his finger to the sky,
25:42 and the oak spread out his arms,
25:44 and lakes cuddled down in the hollows of the ground,
25:47 and rivers ran down to the sea.
25:49 It was Jesus Christ who called it into existence.
25:52 Can you say, amen to me tonight? Amen.
25:54 All things were made by Him.
25:56 There was not anything made that was not made
25:58 but made by Jesus Christ.
26:00 He made us, and He bought us back again.
26:03 It was He cwho cried I thirst
26:04 and yet the very rain that falls from the heavens,
26:07 and the very dew that comes upon the rose,
26:10 is coming from the spoken word of Jesus Christ.
26:13 Uniquely He is the living water,
26:15 and He is the one who cries.
26:17 It was He who spoke the green grass.
26:19 He is inclusive Jesus Christ.
26:21 I mean, He is inclusive in His origin,
26:24 because of His unique origin,
26:26 He is the sum and solution of all human paradoxes.
26:31 Because of His unique origin,
26:34 He is the end of all of all mysteries.
26:37 Because of His unique origin,
26:39 He is the reason and explanation
26:41 for all enigmas, I mean, He is the only one from eternity
26:45 who was incarnated.
26:47 I mean, born of a virgin,
26:48 birth place dictated by imperial senses,
26:51 birth place predicted by divine prophecy.
26:54 Jesus Christ is unique.
26:56 He is the unique Son of God
26:57 and that's why we worship Him even tonight,
27:00 we worship Him here.
27:02 Jesus Christ unique in His origin.
27:05 My dear friend, He's unique.
27:07 He is unique in every way
27:09 but He is also unique in His name.
27:11 I mean, His name holds variety the name of Jesus.
27:14 It holds proportion in the name of Jesus.
27:16 It holds perfection in the name of Jesus.
27:18 It holds power, the name of Jesus, why?
27:21 Because He is God's purpose consummated Jesus.
27:24 He is God's love eternal dream dramatized Jesus.
27:28 He is just as married to mercy Jesus.
27:31 He is creator wedded to His creation, Jesus.
27:33 And He is our God. He is always the unlike.
27:39 Even His name Emmanuel,
27:41 which we sung about a few moments ago.
27:43 His name Emmanuel describes His unlikeness.
27:46 I went to the alphabet to find the name of Jesus.
27:49 I went to the alphabet to find His name
27:51 and to find His title and to find His position.
27:54 And I discovered that He is the alpha and the Adam,
27:57 and the advocate, and the anointed,
27:59 and the author of faith and the amen of salvation,
28:02 and He is the Ancient of Days.
28:03 I went to the alphabet to find the name of Jesus.
28:06 He was everywhere.
28:07 I mean, He is the beginning and the begotten,
28:09 and the beloved, and the blessed,
28:11 and the branch and the bridegroom,
28:13 and He is the bread of life.
28:16 I went to the alphabet to find His name my Jesus,
28:18 He was everywhere,
28:19 on every page and every paragraph.
28:21 He leaped out at me.
28:22 He is the Creator, and the counselor.
28:24 He is the comforter and the child.
28:26 And he is the cornerstone.
28:27 He is the deliverer and the day star
28:29 and the door and the desire of nations.
28:32 He is the divine Son of God. Amen.
28:35 I went to the alphabet and I found
28:36 and He was everywhere.
28:37 On every page and every, I mean, He leaped out me.
28:40 He is Emmanuel.
28:41 He is elect. He is eternal.
28:42 He is the everlasting one.
28:44 He is Father and Friend,
28:46 you know, and He is the faithful witness.
28:48 He is the governor,
28:50 the guide, and the glorious Lord.
28:54 I went to the alphabet and I found Jesus,
28:55 He was everywhere.
28:57 For He is the husbandman and the help and the holy one
29:00 and horn of salvation and ear of all things
29:03 and He is our heavenly priest
29:05 according to the Book of Hebrews.
29:08 I went to the alphabet to find Jesus,
29:11 and He is unique in His name.
29:14 For He is the immortal. You see, He is the invincible.
29:17 He is the judge and the just and the Jesus
29:19 and He is the Jehovah.
29:21 He is king of glory and king of Israel
29:23 and king of kings.
29:24 He is the light and the life
29:25 and the love and the lion and the lamb.
29:28 He is the law giver.
29:32 I went to the alphabet
29:33 and I found His name my Jesus.
29:35 He was everywhere, on every para I found Him,
29:37 He is the master and the mighty God
29:39 and He is our messiah.
29:40 He is the Omega and He is the only begotten,
29:43 the offering, and the offerer.
29:45 He is the passover and the potentate
29:47 and the prophet and the propitiation
29:49 and the priest, and He is, He is the physician.
29:54 He is to all people all things, Jesus.
29:56 And that's why Michael sings of Him
29:58 and that's why I preach about Him.
30:00 He is the rabbi and the ransom and the righteousness
30:03 and the rest and the root of Jesse,
30:05 and He is the rose of Sharon, and He is the resurrection.
30:08 And I could go on.
30:09 He is ruler and redeemer and He is rock of the ages.
30:12 He is stone and He is Shepherd and He is Son of God,
30:15 and He is the Savior, He is the truth
30:17 and the tabernacle and the testator.
30:19 He is the witness and the word and the way
30:21 and the wisdom of God.
30:22 He is the wonderful and He is your way.
30:26 Give Him praise tonight, He is your way.
30:32 The name above every other name,
30:33 the name of Jesus Christ, He was the perfect son of God.
30:39 We humans born in sin, shaped in iniquity.
30:43 Sinners by birth and by choice and by genetic flaw,
30:46 that there is no such no good in us,
30:49 but that which good comes,
30:51 flows from us is none other than
30:52 the flowing love and blood of Jesus Christ
30:54 that flows through us, who had been born again.
30:57 History shows how short we have fallen from His grace,
31:00 for thousands of years men have tried to be perfect.
31:03 To this imperfection, we've tried to corn God.
31:06 We've tried to snow-job God.
31:08 I mean, with our wit and our charm,
31:11 and our culture and the way we dress
31:14 and our religion and rules and our standards.
31:17 We've acted as if we were somebody when we are nobody.
31:22 How have we played these religious games?
31:26 We prayed and we promised Him and we pleaded with Him
31:28 and prostrated ourselves before Him.
31:31 I mean, but we failed Him.
31:32 You see, history past and present
31:34 proves of our failure.
31:36 Even the holiest of our heroes, even the patriarchs,
31:39 and the prophets and those men in the Old Testament
31:41 and those prophets and priests and patriarchs
31:44 and even the apostles, they've failed us.
31:48 Some of the stories in the Bible
31:50 are more like adventures in Sinbad the sailor,
31:53 than really stories for Vacation Bible School.
31:58 Take a look at that, see them as God sees them.
32:02 I mean, Adam adorned with fig-leaves.
32:07 Stains of forbidden fruit on his lips,
32:09 see him hiding in a perfect garden,
32:11 not so perfect.
32:13 Noah, master boat builder
32:14 but not master of his own habits.
32:16 See Him, as He really is lies drunk and naked before his sons.
32:20 As the days of Noah
32:21 so shall it be in the days of the coming of the son of man.
32:24 I tell you, if you are looking for perfect people
32:26 when He comes, let me tell you,
32:28 wake up and smell the roses.
32:32 A man said to me recently,
32:33 I want to find the perfect church.
32:35 I says, well, when you enter it,
32:36 it won't be perfect any longer.
32:40 Looking for that perfect church.
32:43 Instead of looking
32:44 at the perfect grace of Christ,
32:46 look at the heroes of the Bible,
32:48 I mean, even the Old Testament,
32:49 whenever the Hebrew talked about perfection,
32:51 they talked about Moses.
32:53 Look at him,
32:54 flowing down the staff in a temper tantrum.
32:56 Receiver of the law of God and breaker of the law of God.
33:01 Seeing God's back and doing a few things
33:05 behind God's back, that's Moses.
33:10 I mean, not so perfect, and then there was Aaron,
33:15 right hand man of Moses, I mean, witnessed the plagues.
33:17 He was, on the red sea expedition,
33:19 He was holy priest of God.
33:21 I mean, yet if he's so Holy
33:23 what is he doing leading the Israelites
33:26 at fireside aerobics before a golden calf.
33:31 Not so perfect.
33:33 There was David, man after God's own heart
33:35 but after some other things.
33:38 But there was disgrace and then there was grace.
33:41 Wherever there is disgrace, there is grace.
33:44 In front of it all,
33:47 the pointing finger and forgiveness.
33:52 Now, it's all right in protected
33:53 little Christian communities like this.
33:56 In our air conditioned churches,
33:58 where little people talk about big theology.
34:01 And Sunday or Saturday,
34:02 theologians who sit around blowing bubbles about nothing.
34:06 But out there where I work in the streets,
34:07 in the great cities of the America
34:09 and the cities of the world, and the inner cities
34:11 where I work fighting a war on drugs.
34:13 Listen to me,
34:14 Samson swooning on Delilah's couch,
34:17 drunk with wine and perfume.
34:18 She's leaving the room.
34:19 She's getting into something more comfortable.
34:22 She says, oh, where did I leave those scissors.
34:26 Samson not so perfect,
34:28 I mean, throughout the Old Testament,
34:29 the Old Testament ends in failure.
34:31 The patriarchs can't save us,
34:33 the patriarchs can bring us out of bondage.
34:35 The patriarchs can't save us from our sins.
34:38 The law that was written at Sinai is not enough.
34:41 You see, there needs to be not only the law maker
34:43 but there must be the law keeper
34:45 and the only one was Jesus Christ.
34:47 So Jesus needs to come.
34:48 He enters as the unique Son of God Jesus,
34:51 I mean, this is history now, He is unique in His origin.
34:56 He is unique in His name
34:59 but He is unique in His salvation.
35:01 He enters the world as a baby.
35:04 I mean, that must have been,
35:05 I mean, He must come to the crib
35:07 before He goes to the cross.
35:08 There needs to be a crib before there's a cross.
35:13 Wrapped in swaddling clothes, Jesus.
35:15 When He enters the world
35:16 He is wrapped in swaddling clothes.
35:17 When He leaves the world
35:18 He is wrapped in death clothes.
35:20 And when He comes in power He will be wrapped in a cloud.
35:25 That's Jesus, give Him honor.
35:30 The only way He could save us is to come close to us.
35:33 Don't you understand that the difference
35:35 between all the religions of the world and Christianity.
35:37 As Christianity has its God come up close.
35:40 I mean, He comes as close as He can,
35:42 tempted as we are tempted.
35:43 Yet without sin, He had to feel pain.
35:46 So those who have pain could never say to God,
35:48 what you know about our pain, He became pain for us.
35:52 He needed to be poor
35:53 so that the poor could never say to Christ,
35:55 "What do you know about our poverty?"
35:56 He became poor for us,
35:58 and the sick could never again say to God,
36:00 "God, what do you know about our sickness?"
36:02 He became sick for us,
36:04 and the dying could never look into the face of God and say,
36:07 "Jesus, what do you understand about dying?
36:10 He died for us.
36:15 He comes to a planned rebellion.
36:18 He comes to touch us with His love.
36:21 He enters even after his plan is rebelled,
36:23 I mean, after generations are stripped naked.
36:25 I mean, He enters to save us, wow.
36:31 He enters and what we do?
36:33 Come on now, what we do?
36:36 Like past generations we reject Him.
36:39 We revile him, we revenge Him.
36:44 We strip Him naked and then we lacerate His back.
36:47 We place a crown of thorns upon Him
36:49 and lift the cross where He dies,
36:51 and why does He die?
36:52 Not because we have power over Him
36:55 but because He wants to give us power within us.
37:01 Why does He die?
37:03 Only because He loves and love needs to die.
37:07 God so loved the world
37:09 that He gave his only begotten Son,
37:11 that whosoever believeth on him should not perish
37:12 but have everlasting, that's why.
37:16 He gave Himself fully in his death
37:19 and He forever proves that He loves us.
37:22 And by the way, the value of the gift
37:26 is in the love of the giver.
37:29 Well, my little girl,
37:30 she is 6 foot now and a preacher,
37:32 but when she was a little girl,
37:34 there was a law in our house.
37:36 And the law said, when daddy was in his study,
37:38 studying the word of God
37:40 that you were not to disturb him.
37:42 I mean, it was set in concrete.
37:46 I mean, it was ruled by the rod.
37:51 That was the law.
37:52 One day, I was studying and the door was partly opened,
37:55 I heard a noise at the door
37:56 and I turned and looked and it was Diane.
37:58 She was peaking in the door, beautiful blue eyes,
38:01 sparkling and blonde hair flexing in the light
38:06 and I said, Diane, and with that she remembered the law.
38:10 And so she started to run.
38:12 And I said, Diane, stop, and she stopped.
38:15 That was in the days they stopped.
38:20 And she turned around
38:21 and she came as far as the door
38:23 and I said, "honey, come in."
38:25 And where sin abounded, grace did much more abound,
38:28 So she bounded in.
38:31 And she said, "daddy, I have a gift for you."
38:36 I said, "A gift" I said, "Let me have it."
38:39 She said, "no, guess."
38:42 I see there are some parents out there, guess.
38:45 And so she wanted to play the game with me
38:47 and so I decided, well, I'll play the game.
38:51 So I, I said, "is it a new boat, Honey?
38:55 She giggled and laughed.
38:56 She said, "no, daddy."
38:58 And so I went on and she went on,
39:00 and finally I couldn't stand it any longer.
39:04 I said, "honey, give me the gift."
39:08 For the value of the gift is in the love of the giver.
39:13 And she took it out and it was a picture,
39:18 a picture of a lamb made from noodles.
39:23 A noodle lamb.
39:26 I took it, I ran over
39:30 and took my most expensive Kmart painting off the wall,
39:36 and I put up the little picture
39:37 of the lamb made of noodles, and people would come
39:40 and they'd look at it strangely
39:41 and I'd say, I'd say, that's my daughter's,
39:45 then they understood.
39:46 You see the value of the gift is in the love of the giver.
39:50 The value of the gift,
39:52 no one else loved quite like Jesus Christ, why?
39:55 Because no one else cared quite like Jesus Christ.
39:58 Humanity, what losers we are.
40:01 We promise Him so much and give Him so little.
40:05 We promise Him our allegiance
40:07 until someone else comes along,
40:09 and we give Him nothing but our anger,
40:13 and yet He still loves us.
40:15 We say, we shall serve Him and we serve only ourselves,
40:21 and yet He still loves us.
40:23 We say, we'll die for Him,
40:26 and we don't even live for Him,
40:31 and He still loves us.
40:33 And that is why Jesus Christ is unique,
40:35 and that is why the Savior is so special,
40:40 and that is why when a gang leader
40:41 in Brooklyn, New York,
40:42 switchblade in my pocket, looked up to heaven.
40:45 Felt His touch, then I followed Him.
40:49 And that is why salvation
40:51 is so wonderful to me even tonight.
40:53 In old pagan religions
40:54 you see they strive for human perfection,
40:57 and that happens even in a church.
41:00 They work to obtain it.
41:04 You see in our religion He is the instigator.
41:06 I was sharing faith with a Muslim woman once.
41:09 She said, our religion is much like yours.
41:12 I guess she got a hold of a Christian
41:13 that had a lot of standards and lot of rules,
41:16 and she said we don't smoke,
41:17 we don't drink, we don't, don't, don't, don't--
41:21 And I said, our religion is much different thing than yours.
41:23 She said, well, if you can show me
41:25 I'll become a Christian,
41:26 now that's a challenge for any believer.
41:29 And so I said this, I said, sister,
41:33 in your religion you go to the temple to find God.
41:39 In my religion,
41:41 He came to a tenement to find me.
41:47 In your religion, you say your prayers.
41:50 In your religion, if you do enough good things
41:52 you finally come to your state of blissfulness,
41:54 your state of blessedness, but in my religion,
41:57 Jesus has done enough things
41:59 to get me to his heaven, hallelujah, amen.
42:03 She said, it is different.
42:05 Tell me more, and I shared the gospel,
42:10 and the woman received Christ as her Savior.
42:12 I'll tell you, it is different.
42:14 He offers us salvation,
42:16 I mean, He is the initiator of grace.
42:18 It is unmerited giving, you don't deserve it,
42:22 you don't earn it,
42:23 God did not put a down payment on your salvation,
42:26 He paid the price fully at Calvary
42:29 when he died to save you from your sins.
42:33 You can't buy it by money or will power.
42:40 It's always in every gift,
42:41 for the value of the gift is in the love of the giver,
42:45 not the receiver.
42:47 That's why He said in Ephesians 2 verse 8 and 9
42:50 that salvation is a gift.
42:53 Grace is God's unmerited giving,
42:55 I mean, He is unique in that salvation.
42:57 Faith is our merited response to that unmerited giving
43:01 and that brings us to a promise.
43:03 He is not only unique in His origin.
43:05 He's not only unique, not only unique in His name,
43:08 not only unique in His salivation,
43:10 but He is unique in His promise.
43:12 I will put enmity between thee and the woman,
43:15 between thy seed and her seed,
43:17 it shall bruise thy heel, but thou shalt bruise,
43:20 Crush the promise of a redeemer.
43:28 He made a promise to Adam, I'm with you always.
43:34 He made a promise to Noah.
43:37 And He wrote it in a rainbow coalition in the sky.
43:41 He made a promise,
43:44 and when we break our promises,
43:46 Jesus Christ doesn't break His.
43:48 Can you say amen here tonight? Amen.
43:50 When you break it, He doesn't break it,
43:53 and when we forget He doesn't forget.
43:54 And when we give up on ourselves
43:56 He doesn't give up on us, He is unique.
43:58 When Moses said, here am I, send Aaron.
44:05 He didn't give up--
44:07 And when Samson whispered to Delilah and Saul
44:11 rode against David,
44:12 and David schemed against Uriah.
44:14 And God didn't give up when Peter denied his Lord.
44:21 And when John and James fought for position,
44:25 when Judas kissed the kiss of death.
44:28 Two men died on a tree that day,
44:30 Christ on the tree of sacrifice,
44:32 Judas on the tree of shame, behold Judas hanging.
44:39 The Pilate washed his hands of him.
44:42 God do not give up.
44:44 Listen to me, listen carefully, this truth is eternal.
44:52 God would give up his only son
44:56 before he would give up on you.
45:00 The promise is made, the promise is kept.
45:06 He enters our world through the backdoor,
45:08 listen, amid strife and terror.
45:10 Amazing, local politics determined
45:13 where he would spend his early years in Egypt.
45:15 He stoops low to a stable.
45:17 He turned to his embryo in the womb of virgin.
45:20 If you preexisted your mother
45:22 what kind of mother would you choose.
45:26 And he picked up.
45:30 And nine long months she held him in her womb.
45:36 I mean.
45:40 The life lived a perfect life.
45:47 I mean, without spot,
45:48 without blemish and atoning death,
45:53 a resolution or a resolute resurrection.
45:56 I mean, the womb of Mary in incarnation.
45:58 Now the womb of Mother Earth in redemption.
46:00 You see the first Adam in the garden
46:02 is wounded in his side
46:04 and there comes forth the first Eve,
46:05 and now the second Adam
46:07 is wounded in his side at cavalry,
46:08 and there comes forth blood and water,
46:11 and the new Eve, the church of Jesus Christ.
46:18 And he makes a promise,
46:22 "I am with you always."
46:30 Hey, when times get hard, listen to me, look to Jesus.
46:35 When people don't listen and don't care, look to Jesus.
46:43 Listen to me, when tears come
46:50 and won't stop, look to Jesus.
46:55 For He is unique in His love, look to Jesus.
47:03 When I was a little boy growing up in Brooklyn,
47:07 I always wanted to go fishing,
47:09 I loved fishing, I still love fishing.
47:12 I come home from fishing now, my wife says, catch any?
47:15 I say, no, honey, that's another sport,
47:16 but anyway I love fishing.
47:20 And I always want to go to fishing,
47:22 and my dad was an alcoholic at the time.
47:26 And he promised me but break the promises.
47:31 And always asking, dad, can I go fishing?
47:34 And one Saturday morning I was sleeping in my bed,
47:37 which was Billy's bed, in which was Warren's bed.
47:40 My room which was Billy's bed,
47:42 Billy's room and Warren's room and Richard's room,
47:45 and Elliot's room and -- I was awaken.
47:51 My dad said, we're going fishing.
47:54 Do you think he had to force me out of bed?
48:00 I jumped, landed in my sneakers.
48:06 We got on the bus in Coney Island
48:07 went out to Sheepshead Bay.
48:09 My dad had to rent the boat, a little row boat,
48:12 I mean, a little one with a little tiny motor on it.
48:14 He had to even rent the fishing poles,
48:18 but I went fishing, got in the boat,
48:22 out around the point out in Atlantic Ocean.
48:26 I was so excited, I mean, can you imagine
48:29 I was so excited all this time asking him,
48:32 take me fishing,
48:33 and now here I am, I'm fishing, not catching.
48:39 And a storm came up,
48:42 clouds and wind and rain and,
48:47 I would look at my father,
48:48 my father, by the way, Halvorsen means something,
48:50 it's Norwegian, I mean, he's a Norski and,
48:53 you know, I mean, they're great seafarers,
48:55 so I wasn't too frighten by it.
48:56 My dad was in the boat, Halvorsen.
49:04 But I look at the storm,
49:08 rain, my little lip started quivering
49:11 and the storm was beginning to run.
49:15 I started to cry but,
49:16 you know, the rain in my face had hid them,
49:21 then I looked at my dad and serene face.
49:25 Everything under control, my dad, Bill Halvorsen.
49:32 You know, I learned something in the boat.
49:35 I learned if I would look at the father's face,
49:41 that I would have peace in a storm.
49:46 Finally my dad said, son, pull up the anchor.
49:51 We're going home, He found his way.
49:58 God knows the way.
50:01 In the storm of life, when things batter you,
50:06 when the winds beat down on you,
50:10 when you wonder
50:11 why bad things come to good people, in the storm,
50:17 look in the face of Jesus,
50:20 for He knows the way.
50:23 And he said,
50:25 "I will come to get you and lead you home."
50:34 Father, we art in heaven, I thank You for that promise.
50:40 To every man, woman and child here tonight
50:42 that promise is made.
50:45 You've never reneged on your promise, not once.
50:52 I pray that we might here in this place, accept it.
50:58 Open our hearts to it,
51:03 with every head bowed and every eye closed,
51:07 is there a storm in your life,
51:11 I mean, is there some wave of adversity
51:13 so big it's bigger than you or your little boat,
51:18 and you will need peace.
51:22 Would you just slip up your hand
51:23 and let me pray for you right now.
51:25 Is there a storm in your life, lift up your hand,
51:28 let me pray for you here, hold up your hand.
51:31 Is there a burden in your life that you need lifted?
51:33 Is there a problem?
51:34 Is there a sin, a habit, something so great,
51:36 you seem to be going down and sinking
51:38 but you wanna lift up your hand.
51:45 Father, You see those hands, God bless them.
51:48 While their heads are bowed, and their eyes are closed,
51:50 I want the ushers to come
51:51 and I want them to pass out a little pray request.
51:54 I believe in the power of prayer,
51:55 I finish a book called
51:56 "Prayer Warfare" "Prayer Warrior,"
51:59 it's about prayer
52:00 and we're praying for you people every night.
52:01 We give out a prayer request card,
52:03 we're gonna do that with your heads bowed,
52:04 quietly just take it.
52:07 I want you to take that card right now
52:08 as they pass it out.
52:09 I want you to pick up the card,
52:11 just pass it through.
52:16 We're gonna ask Michael to come and sing for us now.
52:20 And I want you to think about this card.
52:22 I want you to think about the request on this card,
52:24 look it over carefully and prayerfully.
52:27 And I want you to just take that card in your hand
52:29 and I want you to put that, I have problem with,
52:32 and you don't have to write the problem down,
52:34 but you have a problem.
52:35 I have loved ones
52:36 that are not ready for Jesus to come, not saved,
52:38 and I like to give me heart to Jesus.
52:40 I would like to know more about God's will for your life.
52:43 Would you just take time and we're gonna pray,
52:45 we have prayer warriors already here in this place,
52:47 that are praying for you.
52:48 Every name that I get from this,
52:50 they're going to make the list of them.
52:51 I'm gonna bring it with me and pray.
52:54 I have thousands, tens of thousands
52:55 of Prayer Warriors around the world
52:57 that are praying intercessory
52:58 pray for many women, their needs.
53:01 Maybe a health problem, it's bigger than you.
53:04 So just pass it out,
53:05 friend, we're not gonna collect them yet.
53:06 We're just passing them out,
53:08 Everybody person just pass it through,
53:10 take a card,
53:11 Michael, God bless you as you sing to God's glory.
53:31 Remember to love one another
53:39 And do what is pleasing to him
53:47 Be strengthened by grace
53:51 And worship in reverence and awe
53:57 The God of peace And grace be with you all
54:11 And may the great shepherd of the sheep
54:19 Equip you with good things for doing his will
54:27 And grace be with you all
54:47 Forget not the suffering of Jesus
54:55 And bear the disgrace that he bore
55:03 Confessing His name
55:07 For Christ is the same yesterday
55:13 Today and forever And grace be with you all
55:27 And may the great shepherd of the sheep
55:36 Equip you with good things for doing his will
55:44 And grace be with you all
56:12 And grace be with you all. Amen.


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Revised 2014-12-17