Participants: Ron Halvorsen
Series Code: 13RVT
Program Code: 13RVT000022
|
00:05 In today's troubled world
00:08 people are wondering "Where We Are Headed?" 00:13 Revelation Today presents the answers. 00:17 Bible prophecy reveals what the future holds in store. 00:22 Revelation Today. 00:37 I wonder if you can remember your first love. 00:43 Now some people are very fortunate 00:45 and their first love is also their current love 00:47 and will be their last love. 00:50 Some people I expect are saying-- 00:51 Well, wait a minute, I haven't met my first love yet 00:54 and that's okay. 00:56 But lot of people remember 00:57 what it was like to find themselves 01:00 in love that first time, 01:02 there were conversations that went on endlessly, 01:06 there were gifts that were bought, 01:08 there were demonstrations of kindness, 01:11 there were all sorts of things 01:13 and what some times happens is the guy 01:16 who met the girl and combed his hair just so 01:19 and dressed just so and opened the door 01:21 and bought her gifts and called her sweet things, 01:23 after a while, it started to lay low, 01:27 hang out and the hair got messy 01:29 and he looked shaggy and shabby 01:31 and didn't see why he can't-- 01:32 Why he has to change out of his favorite sweatpants 01:35 even if they do have holes all over them 01:37 and forgot when the birthday is, 01:39 and didn't know when they last celebrated their anniversary. 01:42 It's not good to lose your first love, 01:44 when that sort of things happens. 01:46 Things have a habit of falling apart. 01:49 You don't want to lose your first love with Jesus either, 01:53 that glow that was there when you first came to Him. 01:56 You know, you can have that, you can have that forever. 01:58 And this subject is lost first love. 02:03 The presenter of Revelation Today 02:04 continues to be, Ron Halvorsen. 02:11 Well, I'm so happy to-- 02:14 to be here this morning. 02:16 We don't have multimedia on this, 02:18 I just want to preach "Lost First Love." 02:22 Let us pray. 02:23 Gracious Father, I thank thee for Jesus Christ our Lord 02:26 and for the privilege of being here. 02:29 And pray that men and women 02:30 and young people here might think 02:31 of what I am about to say. 02:34 Perhaps they've lost that first love for you. 02:37 And I pray that they'll learn how to get it back. 02:40 And we'll give You honor in Christ's name, amen. 02:44 Something has gone wrong not only with the nation 02:47 but with the church. 02:49 If our society is ever to break out of the spiritual 02:52 and moral malaise that set in, 02:54 the church of Jesus Christ must be awakened. 02:58 In Revelation Christ, 03:00 the glorified Lord speaks first to the churches 03:03 and then He speaks to the culture. 03:05 Seven messages that offer the church of every age. 03:10 It's God's final call. 03:12 It's God's passionate call to the church. 03:14 And John puts his finger on the problem 03:17 and then clearly shows God's only solution. 03:21 Let me take you back again this morning 03:23 to that lonely isle called Patmos. 03:26 John the Revelator is there, he's almost a 100 years old, 03:29 he's had hard labor. 03:32 It's amazing that he's going on, 03:33 he wants to live on so that he might finish this, 03:36 the last book, The Revelation. 03:39 And later on, he will go back to be released from Patmos, 03:42 go back to Ephesus there, finish the book. 03:45 And therefore fall asleep in Jesus Christ. 03:48 But the lonely prisoner writes his appeal to the churches 03:50 and he begins at the church of Ephesus, 03:53 where the problem really started. 03:56 Let me read it for you, 03:57 the council of the church found in the second-- 04:00 the second chapter of the Book of Revelation. 04:02 And if you have your Bibles, I want you to turn with me 04:05 to the second chapter in the Book of Revelation 04:07 and I want you to notice verses 1-4, 04:10 "Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write, 04:14 These things saith he that holdeth 04:16 the seven stars in his right hand, 04:19 who walketh in the midst 04:21 of the seven golden candlesticks, 04:23 I know thy works, and thy labor, 04:25 and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear 04:28 those which are evil and thou hast tried them 04:31 which say they are apostles, and are not, 04:33 and hast found them liars, Hast borne, and hast patience, 04:38 and for my name's sake hast labored, 04:40 and hast not fainted. 04:42 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, 04:47 because thou hast left thy first love." 04:53 The year was 1981, the month was July. 04:58 The day to be exact was the 29th, 05:00 the 29th day of July, 1981. 05:05 750 million viewers watching around the globe 05:10 and this was the Cinderella story. 05:13 This was the wedding of the century. 05:15 I mean, this wedding was made in heaven, 05:17 that's what they said. 05:18 I mean this is the epitome of love, 05:21 and courtship, and marriage. 05:23 The perfect couple, the perfect match. 05:27 It was the way wedding should be. 05:29 The world's most eligible bachelor, 05:31 Prince Charles, Duke of Windsor, 05:35 and the beautiful lady, Diana Spencer, 05:38 a British aristocrat. 05:40 Millions of men and women around the world swooned 05:44 as those two lived out their fantasy that day 05:47 of what love is supposed to be. 05:49 The pomp and circumstances 05:51 you would expect at a wedding of royalty. 05:54 I mean, the place was one of the most 05:55 eloquent churches in all the world, 05:58 London's St Paul's Cathedral. 06:00 I've worshipped at that church often. 06:04 It's a beautiful church. 06:05 And until you worship there, 06:07 I mean, you have no idea of the magnificence 06:09 of the architecture and the splendor, 06:12 I mean, all of England, and all the world 06:14 thought this was the perfect wedding. 06:16 This is the perfect marriage. 06:17 Charles stood at the altar dressed 06:19 in full military splendor, I mean, he awaited his bride 06:23 and when she entered the church 06:25 dressed in that exquisite gown, 06:28 that long, long, long, long flowing gown. 06:35 And they repeated their vows, words of loyalty. 06:40 Vows of unconditional commitment. 06:43 I mean Diana stared starry-eyed into the face of Charles, 06:47 and said she would be his bride forever. 06:50 And Charles stared starry eyed into the face of Diana 06:56 and said he would be her groom forever. 07:00 They kissed and that was over, well, all except the parade. 07:04 That was another thing. 07:06 I mean, what woman wouldn't want a golden chariot 07:09 pulled by six white horses, to the cheers of multitudes? 07:15 You know, I've never met an ugly bride. 07:18 I met a few grooms that needed help, 07:20 but I never met an ugly bride, 07:22 there's something about the aura, 07:24 there's something about the mystique, 07:26 I mean, and there she was, the bride, 07:30 and they rode off into the sunset 07:33 to live happily ever after. 07:39 But that was then. 07:41 I mean something tragic happened. 07:43 The clock struck 12 on the real life 07:46 Cinderella's story, somewhere lives grew apart, 07:49 tensions mounted, 07:50 love grew cold and stale and stagnant, 07:53 and this story plays marriage became common and ordinary 07:57 and they tried to put on a facade, 07:59 I mean, pleasantries were exchanged in public. 08:02 Public appearances were made, holding hands. 08:05 But in reality, it was over. 08:09 December 9, 1992, 08:10 British Prime Minister John Major cleared his throat, 08:13 broke the news to the House of Commons. 08:17 Tragically, there would be a royal separation, 08:20 not a divorce, mind you, just a separation. 08:25 A truce, mutual coexistence, 08:30 but the fact is the wedding was dead. 08:33 The honeymoon was over, the glow was gone. 08:37 And now it's official divorce. 08:41 And now it's even more official. 08:45 The bride is dead. 08:49 And that's as final as it gets. 08:52 England's most celebrated romance 08:54 has become national disgrace. 08:56 And after following the Royal Wedding, 08:58 and marriage through the years, 09:00 I thought about our wedding to, 09:01 and marriage to the Lord Jesus Christ, 09:04 ours is the greatest love story ever written and ever known. 09:08 The King of kings, the King of heaven wooed us 09:11 and courted us and won us 09:13 and wedded us and honeymooned with us. 09:18 Even lived in our lowly living 09:20 and in our lowly human life in carnal and corrupt 09:24 and weak and vulnerable human beings, 09:26 this wedding took place in the visible 09:28 and the invisible church of Jesus Christ. 09:32 We stood together before the entire 09:38 angelic host of the heavenly places 09:40 and here is the story of the very epitome of love 09:43 and of courtship and of marriage. 09:46 There was a time when our hearts were so full of God, 09:49 a time when our hearts were so full of Christ, 09:52 I mean, there was a passion about Christ, 09:55 there was, I mean, wow. 09:57 I mean there was an excitement. 10:00 Bible study was life changing. 10:02 When you opened the Bible, 10:04 you felt so sacred to this book and you trembled at its pages 10:08 and you looked for God to say something to you from it. 10:14 You looked to find His face on every page. 10:20 Prayer was heart lifting. 10:22 You believed with such power 10:24 and with such enthusiasm your prayer life, 10:27 I mean you remember when it was so into, 10:29 it wasn't crisis praying like now 10:31 only when grandma's sick or you are sick. 10:35 I mean it was heart lifting 10:37 and prayer was so important to God. 10:39 Every prayer you prayed, 10:41 He put it in golden balls in heaven and stored it 10:44 so when you get there, 10:45 you will read your prayers through eternity. 10:50 It was life changing. 10:53 Worship was so earth shaking. 10:56 We savored every moment of His presence 10:59 but that was then, something tragic happened, 11:02 some our marriage has gone on the rocks. 11:07 Listen to me here today, 11:09 something has gone wrong 11:12 in your marriage to Jesus Christ. 11:14 He is no more first in your life, 11:16 He's secondary in your life. 11:18 And if you can find time for Him 11:20 maybe once a week or maybe once a month 11:23 or show up at special holidays for mother. 11:31 Or do it for Father. 11:34 For you, the courtship is over. 11:38 For many, the separation is complete. 11:42 Divorce proceedings is in progress. 11:44 Legally, we're still married to Him. 11:47 But marriage is motion and commotion but no emotion. 11:55 You don't feel like you felt 11:57 when you first felt the feeling. 12:00 We sing the right songs at the right time. 12:02 We stand when the preacher says stand 12:04 and we say the right words, happy Sabbath, brother Halvor-- 12:07 I mean, but we are not right with God. 12:13 The glow is gone from us. 12:16 The feelings we felt are no more. 12:18 Sadly to say, 12:19 that's what's happening to the church today 12:22 and this is not new. 12:26 A separation happened to the church 12:28 in the first century. 12:29 The church was so close to Christ. 12:31 The church that had heard the preaching of Paul 12:33 and the preaching of John 12:35 and the preaching of the apostles, 12:36 the first church at Ephesus, they too had lost something. 12:42 The blazing passion pulled off. 12:45 I was baptized Brother Halvorsen but-- 12:47 Oh, did you go to church. 12:48 Oh, no, well I don't see that time like I used to. 12:56 We fell out of love with Christ. 13:00 And so Jesus with His great love 13:03 seeks to restore that love. 13:06 He seeks to restore that spiritual fervor 13:10 and initiate a call to them to restore the relationship-- 13:12 Jesus always makes the first move. 13:16 We'll see that this morning. 13:18 We'll see how the bridegroom, 13:19 Jesus Christ always takes the first step back towards us. 13:22 He is the one that invites us and woos us and wins us. 13:26 This morning, God willing, 13:27 we shall see how love maybe rekindled. 13:32 And that first love rediscovered. 13:35 So let's look at it carefully. 13:38 I mean in the first century, back to Asia Minor. 13:43 By the way a trip to Ephesus was like taking a trip 13:45 to a large city in America today. 13:48 It was a busiest, thriving, 13:50 most prominent city in Asia Minor, 13:52 it was like what the New York is to us here in America 13:54 or Los Angeles or Chicago, 13:56 I mean it was located just three miles 13:58 from the Aegean Sea on the Castor River 14:01 and therefore it was a city of commerce. 14:04 Merchandise was shipped across the Mediterranean Sea 14:07 and it wound up there in Ephesus. 14:10 Ephesus stood at the crossroads of travel, 14:12 four major highways intersected there 14:15 at Ephesus bringing businessmen 14:17 and merchants from around the world to the city. 14:20 It was no hick town. 14:24 The city had all the amenities of a cosmopolitan city. 14:28 It had sports arenas, it had theater. 14:33 It was the center of Asia Minor culture, 14:35 it was being a free city, 14:36 it wasn't even under the dictatorship of Rome. 14:39 It had its own government. 14:44 And yet it was the center of Pagan worship. 14:47 The temple to Diana was there in Ephesus. 14:53 I mean this temple 14:54 was one of the seven wonders of the world. 14:56 It was the size of three football fields. 15:01 It was a place of heathen worship 15:03 and idolatry, the temple-- 15:04 I mean on the inside Pagan worship flourished, 15:07 it was a temple, and in that temple 15:09 they had temple prostitutes, that's right. 15:11 I mean the grossest perversions, 15:13 I can't even preach about it in this mixed audience. 15:17 Drunkenness and sexual orgies. 15:21 In the middle of church 15:22 they would solicit each other in the church. 15:26 Hey, by the way, those of you here, 15:28 let's say, well, you know, the apostle said, 15:30 women should be silent in church, 15:32 this is where they get it 15:34 and you see what was happening, 15:35 Paul was holding evangelistic meeting like this 15:38 and there were the prostitutes from the temple 15:40 and at a certain time in the worship service, 15:42 they stood up to solicit the men. 15:44 Paul stopped them and said, 15:45 women should be silent in church. 15:47 That's all, don't go beyond what it says. 15:53 It's no wonder that city was so popular 15:55 to the Pagan world, come on now. 15:58 Ephesus truly was a cesspool of inequity. 16:01 It was there in this godless city 16:02 that Paul planted a thriving church. 16:05 There is a principle here, listen to me, 16:07 it's better to run a mission at the gate of hell 16:10 than to preach to the choir. 16:13 And God often built a church 16:15 where circumstances seem the least favorable 16:18 and that's the grace of God. 16:20 And so we see the setting, there is Ephesus, 16:22 the temple to Diana, the gross perversion 16:25 and there was a little church struggling serving Christ. 16:29 Now you notice here in Chapter 2 of Revelation. 16:33 You'll notice what he says there in verse 1. 16:36 Onto the angel or the messenger of the church, 16:40 the messenger of the church is the preacher of the church 16:43 or the minister of the church. 16:45 And so he says, 16:46 "The minister of the church at Ephesus write, 16:48 These things that he, 16:49 that hold the seven stars in his right hand 16:52 who walketh in the midst of the golden candlesticks." 16:54 What a beautiful description of Jesus. 16:58 The Lord is dictating and dispatching his letter. 17:02 He communicates to the angel or the messenger 17:04 of the church and the messenger, 17:06 the preacher who has prime responsibility 17:08 of communicating the gospel to the people of Ephesus. 17:11 By the way, I say to all preachers, 17:13 your primary responsibility is to preach the gospel, 17:17 not deal with politics, 17:20 not deal with some spurious scenario 17:25 but preach the gospel. 17:27 It's the gospel that changes lives 17:30 and they preach the gospel faithfully. 17:32 Now by the way, seven is completeness always, 17:36 that's why the seventh day Sabbath 17:38 is completeness. 17:40 And He holds the seven in His right hand, 17:44 by the way, that right hand 17:45 denotes the place of strictest accountability. 17:48 The church is accountable to Christ. 17:50 It's strongest protection, 17:51 the church is protected by Christ. 17:53 You see, there is strategic usefulness, 17:57 the leaders are surrounded and kept in Christ's care, 18:00 He holds them in His hand. 18:04 People, God holds you in His hand. 18:07 You've been baptized, 18:09 you who have come to profession of faith, 18:10 you have been following the truth, 18:12 some of you have come under persecution over it. 18:14 Let you know that God is holding you in His right hand. 18:18 He will not let you go. 18:23 Think about it, it says that He must be on location, 18:28 He's right there. 18:30 He assesses us, inspects us, 18:33 He weighs the church, He evaluates, 18:34 He observes their spiritual condition. 18:37 Jesus recognizes two things about the church, the strength. 18:41 They toil and they persevere, it's a working church. 18:45 And they were strict and sound. 18:47 They were strict about their faith. 18:50 That doesn't mean they were mean. 18:53 They were just strict. 18:55 By the way, you should be stricter 18:57 that you expect them to be. 19:01 The-- Hey, listen, listen to what He says, 19:06 He says, "I know thy works and thy labor and thy patience 19:09 and how that cannot bear them which are evil." 19:11 He goes on to say the virtues of the church 19:13 and I mean they come to work in ministry of that church. 19:16 In fact, if I have been called to a church like that, 19:19 I would've gone. 19:22 They're sacrificial, selfless serving, 19:26 doing, toiling, giving, going, what a church. 19:31 I know all about it, he says, 19:33 I know all about you, your acts of love. 19:38 They love the lost, 19:40 that's hard to find in a church. 19:42 They love the lost and they were strict and sound, 19:46 they knew the Bible. 19:48 Church would not endure evil men. 19:50 Now that wasn't meaning that they didn't work with them. 19:53 That didn't mean they didn't try 19:54 to reach out to them and love them. 19:56 No, not at all. 19:57 It just meant that they couldn't, 19:58 I mean, the closer you come to Jesus, 20:03 the harder it is for you to survive evil. 20:09 So they set a high standard, 20:12 chose not to tolerate sin in the camp, 20:14 they aggressively fought to keep the church pure. 20:16 By the way morality was black and white here, 20:19 wasn't grey, truth is truth. 20:23 See our culture today says 20:25 there's no such thing as black and white. 20:27 No such thing as right and wrong. 20:28 That's why we have a messed up culture, 20:30 that's why we have a messed up people 20:32 who are doing messed up things 20:34 and they are supposed to be serving Jesus Christ. 20:37 That's why. 20:40 Spiritual leaders approach the person, 20:41 work carefully and then you are patiently restored. 20:46 Now keep in mind, these are the people 20:47 who toiled and persevered 20:48 who are actively involved in ministry, 20:50 they had the right to confront, by the way. 20:52 You have no right to confront a person that comes to God 20:55 if you've never let a person to God. 21:01 You see, the problem with the church, 21:03 they wanted to clean fish, not catch them. 21:08 Was worth coming to church today, 21:10 wasn't it, just for that? 21:13 They want to clean up the fish, not catch them. 21:16 But that was the church. 21:18 I mean, think about this church, 21:20 I mean this church it had a 40 year history, 21:24 it was disciplined by Aquilas, Acts 1836, 21:27 it was taught by Apollos 21:28 could you imagine your Sabbath school teacher Apollos. 21:31 That's Acts 18:24-25 21:33 and it was pastored by Timothy, 1 Timothy 1:3, 21:36 it was instructed by John the Apostle, 21:38 it was recipient of eight New Testament books. 21:44 It was the citadel of orthodoxy, 21:46 it was the bastion of truth, it was the fortress of faith 21:49 and they were everything but they lost the main thing, 21:52 they had one sin. 21:56 Abruptly Jesus changes the tone of a level. 22:01 The master puts his finger 22:03 on one of the glaring deficiency. 22:04 One fatal flaw, one deadly sin, 22:06 I mean that sin was so serious 22:08 it endangered the church's very existence. 22:10 What could it possibly be, 22:11 Jesus said, you've lost your first love. 22:16 Remember your first love, 22:18 do you remember yours, I remember mine. 22:20 I have a lot of infatuations. 22:22 In fact, the whole neighborhood is infatuated with me. 22:26 Not infatuations but my first love 22:29 I was in evangelical college, freshman, 22:32 and I looked across the room, 22:33 it was the health class or something, 22:35 I wanted to take it, thought it would be easy. 22:36 But anyway, the health class, 22:39 I looked across the room and there she was. 22:41 I could have wrote a song across the crowded room, 22:43 I mean it was so beautiful 22:46 and blue eyes, beautiful. 22:52 I said to my friend, I said, look at that chick over there. 22:55 Now for you saints, I'll translate, 22:57 that's a good looking girl. 23:00 All right. 23:01 And so I said, wow, I'm gonna ask her out. 23:04 He said, oh, no, I heard she is engaged. 23:05 I said she is not married. 23:10 So when she came out of the class, 23:11 I made those cool moves, you know. 23:15 You think the fangs was cool? 23:16 No, man, I am cool. 23:18 Then I went up and looking cool, 23:20 I said, hi I'm Ron and she said I'm Carol. 23:23 I said, would you like to go out on Saturday night. 23:26 She said, oh, oh, no I'm engaged. 23:28 I said, you're not married. 23:32 And that started a battle and I won her heart 23:36 and I've been married to her 56 years. 23:40 Going on 57. 23:43 Do you remember it, the excitement, 23:46 the romantic, the passion. 23:48 I mean chemistry happens, 23:50 whoo, mystical attraction, two hearts heap up. 23:53 I mean romance enflames, 23:55 two lives fall in love, 23:56 get married, and become one. 23:59 Then something happens. 24:02 The daily flow of things, 24:04 the honeymoon is over, children come, 24:05 the career takes off, come on. 24:10 And suddenly two people-- bills pile up. 24:14 And suddenly two people wake up 24:15 in the same bed complete strangers. 24:19 Yes, I am sure, it happened at Ephesus. 24:22 They worked for Christ 24:23 and fell out of love with Christ. 24:26 Their ministry became mechanical. 24:29 Relationships have become routine. 24:32 I'm reminded of couple, 24:33 they are driving down the road home from church 24:35 and husband sitting over there both hands on the wheel 24:38 and puts his hand on the seat for little bit 24:40 and she is way over at the window, 24:41 passenger side and the moon is out, 24:44 big moon and she says, oh, honey, remember, 24:47 remember when we used to ride home 24:50 and used to put your arm around me 24:52 and used to hold me and he says I haven't moved. 24:59 I haven't moved. 25:01 I hear the disenchanted, 25:02 the back slide always complaining about the church. 25:06 Discouraged, distanced, how the church has changed, 25:10 blaming the church for their separation, their divorce, 25:13 but the church hasn't moved, 25:14 it still holds the same truths that I became as a teenager 25:18 when I gave my heart to Christ. 25:19 It still believes in the Sabbath 25:21 and the second coming and baptism by-- 25:23 It still believes in those great themes. 25:26 We have changed. 25:27 Amen, amen, amen. 25:29 So we blame everything and everybody about our change. 25:32 When the real problem is, we stopped praying. 25:37 The real problem is we stopped witnessing. 25:41 The real problem is this we stopped being involved 25:44 and not being involved soon you lose your way 25:47 and before you know it, you're out there. 25:49 And you can't blame yourself, 25:50 you got to blame someone or something. 25:55 Don't look for a blame. Look for a way back. 25:57 Amen, amen. 25:59 And Jesus shows you the way back. 26:02 Here is the solution. 26:04 Look at verse 5. 26:08 "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen... 26:13 and repent." 26:15 But, Halvorsen, you've been talking about 26:16 that whole month, repent. 26:19 "And do the first works 26:23 or else I would come unto you quickly 26:26 and I will remove thy candlestick out of the place, 26:28 except thou repent." 26:33 Step one back to the first love. 26:37 Are you following? 26:39 Step one, recovering Jesus Christ. 26:43 Step one, remember. 26:46 Remember back when you first fell in love with Him. 26:50 Remember back when you first-- 26:52 I mean refocus. 26:53 Put you on times when you really loved Him. 26:56 It may have been as a child growing up 26:57 at your mother's knee. 26:59 It may have been listening to your sweet mother's voice 27:01 about Jesus and about the Bible. 27:03 And you were a little child, you just loved Him 27:06 and you loved to sing Jesus loves me, 27:08 this I know, for the Bible tells me so. 27:11 And you just loved being at church. 27:12 And you loved being with spiritual people 27:15 and doing spiritual things. 27:17 You may have been a child. You may had a child like faith. 27:21 But now you're grown up. 27:24 Huh, that's a joke. 27:27 You were smarter as a child serving Christ 27:30 than adult serving Satan. 27:34 Remember the excitement of reading the Bible. 27:38 I remember when I first learned to read, 27:41 I was a teenager. 27:43 When I started reading, I first began to read-- 27:45 I had heard the Bible 27:47 and I received Jesus without reading. 27:49 You don't have to read. 27:50 There are some people in our world 27:51 that perhaps can't read. 27:52 Don't worry, don't feel inferior. 27:54 You can still love Jesus. 27:56 In fact some of those people 27:57 I have known have a closer faith relationship 28:00 than some who have PhDDDs. 28:05 And God's not against education. 28:07 I am not against education. But don't feel too superior. 28:11 I found him without reading and now I read. 28:17 I read, most of you couldn't keep up with my reading. 28:21 I read. 28:24 Remember the excitement at Bible camp. 28:27 Come on, remember. 28:30 Remember the fireside at the night. 28:33 You used to sign hymns, you remember there. 28:35 Some of you found Him there at camp. 28:38 Remember you were in evangelistic meeting 28:40 maybe like this and you rediscover the truth 28:42 and you rediscovered Him. 28:44 Wow, it's like a great and wonderful experience-- 28:47 Amen, come on. 28:49 Remember, the first time you heard about the Sabbath. 28:53 You wanted to tell everybody. 28:55 And they all tried to-- 28:57 Isn't it amazing? 28:59 Ah, come on, isn't it amazing. 29:00 Amen, amen. 29:02 Preach nine commandments, they all love you. 29:04 Preach one, they're after you. 29:07 Remember the first time you heard, 29:09 you decided to give your life to Jesus. 29:11 Remember the altar call, 29:12 the victories, the feeling you felt 29:13 when you first felt that feeling. 29:15 And your baptism. 29:16 Remember the road back to Christ 29:17 begins first by remembering. 29:19 Lest you forget, 29:20 you need to remember that day. 29:24 Memory is the handmade revival. 29:28 Remember the second step, repent. 29:33 He says remember, 29:36 remember when you first met Him. 29:39 I can close my eyes. 29:41 Listen to me, close your ears, honey. 29:45 I can close my eyes 29:46 and I can still see her in that health class. 29:51 Most beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen 29:57 and her pink cheeks. 30:00 Ooh, I am getting romantic here. 30:04 I better watch out. 30:06 I love her, rushed down the aisle and kissed my wife. 30:10 I have to wait after church 30:11 but I remember that first moment. 30:14 I remember the first moment I heard about Jesus Christ. 30:19 I remember it was 11 o'clock when I gave my heart to Christ. 30:22 It was a Friday afternoon 30:23 or morning 11 o'clock, 1954. 30:33 See lest you forget 30:36 and then repent, say you're sorry. 30:38 The hardest thing for those who have fallen by the side. 30:41 The hardest thing for the back-slide. 30:42 We don't like to use that word. 30:43 The disenchanted, 30:45 whatever you want to use, it doesn't matter. 30:47 You're out there. 30:49 God wants you in here. 30:52 You got to repent, 30:54 He says after you remember, repent. 30:58 Repentance means you change direction in your life 31:01 to have a heartfelt change. 31:03 I mean turning around, coming back. 31:05 The Bible says draw near the God, 31:07 and He will drawn near to you. 31:09 Just say to God, 31:10 God my heart has been distant from You. 31:14 I have been far away. 31:15 He knows it already but just tell Him. 31:19 Because then He'll recognize you, 31:20 you recognize Him and once you recognize Him, 31:24 you're almost home. 31:27 You're almost home. 31:30 Repent, repent. 31:35 Visiting New York City, I did a lot of street work. 31:39 I did a lot of preaching on street corners 31:41 and that's the only place they would invite me to preach, 31:43 by the way, I mean, because they couldn't say no, 31:45 I just stood up and preached. 31:48 But I remember I met a man and one of those occasions, 31:53 I was preaching there at Broadway or somewhere, 31:55 you know, preaching about Jesus. 31:57 I didn't know much about the Bible. 31:59 My first sermon, I preached on David in the lions' den. 32:04 Come on, folks, you never got near one. 32:07 But I preached with lot of enthusiasm, 32:09 by the way, the whole neighborhood 32:10 thought the Bible had printed wrong. 32:12 And I was speaking in-- and people were jeering, 32:15 you know, and what they do 32:16 when the street corner preaches in, 32:19 but there was one man, 32:20 after they had kind of moved away, 32:22 he stood up to me. 32:23 And he said, you know once I was a Christian. 32:27 And I could see there was something in his eyes. 32:30 And I said once? 32:32 He said, once I used to be a Christian. 32:33 I served God. 32:35 He says but now I am a long way away from God. 32:38 I said, no. 32:39 I said, I don't know much about theology. 32:41 I don't know much about much. 32:43 I still don't know much about too much. 32:49 I said, but it's only a step. 32:54 One step, do you know how to take one step. 32:59 Yeah. 33:01 Take that one step back, repent. 33:06 And there that man, the homeless man-- 33:08 We prayed together, I held him in my arms. 33:11 And I heard him repent. 33:14 And he went away with a smile on his face. 33:15 I thought, wow, simple. Ask us to repent. 33:21 We get so theological, we scare people away. 33:27 Thirdly, he says repeat. 33:30 Remember, repent, 33:32 hey, this is easy for you to remember, 33:33 says, thirdly, repeat. 33:35 Listen, do the deeds you did before. 33:38 A good counseling. 33:40 They were told to repeat the spiritual activities, 33:42 they did it first. 33:43 In other words, back to basics. 33:45 What are the first deeds you did. 33:46 Acts 2:42 says, 33:48 "They devoted themselves to four things. 33:50 To the apostles' teaching Bible study." 33:53 Get into the Bible. Take the Bible course. 33:55 We offer you Bible courses. 33:56 There is no reason for you not to get into the Bible. 33:59 Well, Brother Halverson, I was busy. 34:00 You're not really busy. You get home at night. 34:02 You fall into that easy chair, 34:03 it flips you up and you are spell bound 34:05 for three hours, two hours, fall into bed, 34:08 open the Word of God 34:09 sit down with a good commentary and read 34:12 and then look in that commentary. 34:14 There's a good Adventist commentary 34:16 that pastor can recommend to you 34:18 and the apostles' teaching Bible study, 34:21 fellowship, worship. 34:23 You need to be there on the Sabbath. 34:26 You need to be there. Not one of these. 34:28 You're not a tourist any longer, you're a pilgrim. 34:30 And you need to be there on the Sabbath 34:32 with God's Sabbath keeping people. 34:35 Your neighbors need to see you going to church on Sabbath. 34:37 They need to see you carrying your Bible on Sabbath. 34:40 They need to see you happy on Sabbath. 34:45 And since they had fellowship, 34:47 worship, Sabbath, get the prayer meeting. 34:50 I built my whole churches on prayer meetings. 34:53 We'd have 1,500 people at prayer meetings. 34:56 We're on television all across the nation, 34:57 our prayer meeting was on television 34:59 across 200 stations across the nation. 35:02 The fellowship one with another. 35:05 Prayer meeting, hey, at midnight. 35:07 Well, it's not interesting. What do you? 35:08 What do you have to be entertained? 35:11 He didn't say, come on, I want to interest you. 35:13 He says, come on out and worship with me. 35:16 Be in my presence, breaking bread. 35:19 By the way, that breaking bread is not communion. 35:21 That breaking bread is socializing. 35:23 You know, I got to admit something to you people. 35:25 It's hard for me sometimes to social with you Adventists. 35:31 I'm really, I mean, I have a hard time. 35:32 I don't know if you're vegan or not vegan. 35:34 I don't know if you're this or not. 35:35 I don't know if I, 35:36 I don't know if I eat popcorn you're gonna get on me, 35:38 get off this stuff. 35:41 Be humane. 35:45 I can't sit down on and associate with you. 35:48 I don't know if I am doing quite right. 35:51 Give me a break. 35:54 They broke bread together. 35:55 They laughed together, that's right, 35:57 you can laugh and still go to heaven. 35:59 Yes. 36:00 Why so serious? 36:03 Come on, they enjoyed their faith. 36:07 They weren't trying to take more away from you. 36:09 They were trying to give you joy and peace 36:11 and contentment and happiness 36:13 and all the positive things that God can and will give you. 36:17 Amen. 36:18 Praise Him. 36:19 Amen. 36:21 Praise Him. 36:23 And they prayed together. 36:25 Amen. 36:26 Listen to me, prayer. 36:29 I wrote a book on prayer, Prayer Warrior. 36:33 You need to get that book, believe me. 36:34 My wife heads out in the lobby at Saturday night. 36:37 But you need to get it not because it's my book. 36:40 You got to get it because it's on prayer warfare. 36:42 And we're in the battle right now. 36:44 And it's going to teach you how to be battle-prepared 36:46 for what's gonna break on this world 36:48 and what's gonna break in your home. 36:50 What's gonna break in your neighborhood. 36:51 What's gonna break into your friends. 36:54 So I want you to-- I want you to get that book. 36:56 I want you to read it. 36:58 A lot of pastors use it for their prayer meetings. 37:01 And get on your knees and confess your sins 37:03 and tell Him your desire to change. 37:05 A church that loved Bible study. 37:07 It was faith from the apostles' teaching. 37:09 A church that maintains fellowship, 37:11 continuing sharing, encouraging one and other, 37:13 bearing one another's burdens, comforting one-- 37:15 I would like to join a church like that. 37:17 Amen. 37:19 These spiritual disciples 37:22 lead us back to the full love of Christ. 37:25 In Scripture, we hear about Christ. 37:26 That's why you need to read it. 37:29 In fellowship, we share Christ. 37:32 In the Lord's Table, we commune with Christ. 37:34 And socially, we accept. 37:36 The first miracle of Jesus was at a party. 37:39 That's right. 37:41 Amen. 37:44 The prodigals comes home, he throws a party. 37:49 Amen. 37:50 The shepherd finds his lamb. 37:53 He throws a party. 37:55 The woman finds a coin, her dowry. 38:00 And she throws a party. 38:02 Why can't the church throw a party 38:04 when sinners come to know Jesus Christ as the Lord? 38:12 Fourthly, remain, I am talking to you now, 38:17 the devil is gonna throw things at you 38:19 in the next few weeks, you who have been baptized. 38:21 You've come to God. 38:22 It took great strength and great faith. 38:24 You could have walked away, but you didn't. 38:26 You walked towards Him. 38:27 Listen, the devil hates you now. 38:30 Amen. 38:31 Devil will throw everybody at you. 38:33 They will come up with text that sound right-- 38:37 they will do everything, remain. 38:39 Amen. 38:42 Dig your roots deep. 38:44 Amen. 38:45 Remain, remain faithful to God. 38:50 Amen. 38:51 I don't know if I told you the story 38:52 but it gets better with the telling-- 38:55 I was holding a meeting in Hawaii. 38:57 And I met a drunken marine. 39:00 He came to my meeting with his wife 39:03 because he decided he wanted to get a Bible. 39:07 He didn't know even why. 39:09 And we were offering a little revelation Bible. 39:13 So he came in half drunk that night. 39:14 Sat in about the fifth row 39:17 and his wife came, sat with him. 39:19 And after I had done preaching, he went out 39:21 and went to the bar and next day he came. 39:25 I mean, next time. And next time. 39:26 I think we were going six nights a week. 39:29 And so came night to get his Bible, 12 nights. 39:35 He gets on line, at the back of the line 39:37 when he gets there, we have run out of Bibles. 39:41 And here's this half drunk marine 39:44 which I am not gonna mess with. 39:47 And he says, where is my Bible. 39:50 I said, oh, I am so sorry, we ran out of the Bible. 39:52 He said, I thought there was some kind of gimmick here. 39:55 I said, no, we ordered some more Bibles. 39:57 So they're going to be in on Tuesday. 39:59 Tuesday night, you get online and we have the Bible. 40:01 Got online Tuesday night, him and his wife. 40:04 By the time they got to the table, 40:05 all the Bibles were gone. 40:07 He said, what? 40:08 I said, no, I said, we sent for more Bibles. 40:13 He said, what are you trying? Just keep me coming so I get-- 40:17 I hadn't thought of that but that's a good idea. 40:21 And I said, oh, no. I said, no. 40:24 I said, you keep coming. I went out to visit him. 40:29 He was a marine sharpshooter. 40:33 He knocked the enemy off from a mile away. 40:37 He had learned to kill, the marine. 40:44 It was there that I talked to him about Jesus. 40:46 It was there that he received Christ into him. 40:48 In the first Iraq war, he was a sharpshooter. 40:51 In the second Iraq war, 40:53 he was a Seventh-day Adventist chaplain. 40:55 And he was leading men and women to God. 40:57 Come on now, give God some glory here. 40:59 What are you afraid to clap? 41:04 Amen, come on. Amen. 41:06 He remains faithful to this day. 41:09 He is now chaplain there in Washington State. 41:11 And we were together just a few weeks ago. 41:14 This is, I don't know how many years since then. 41:16 And he is so full of God. 41:17 His wife is so sweet and so full of God. 41:20 They have beautiful children that are growing up in faith. 41:22 They're so full of God. 41:24 I mean they want to remain, 41:25 they want to be faithful, and they're faithful, 41:28 and he is a faithful witness for Jesus Christ. 41:30 Listen to me, the Bible says, He says, remain. 41:35 After I retired which I never have retired 41:37 but I thought I retired. 41:39 I signed the papers to retire. 41:41 And then from that moment on, I have been working ever since. 41:47 But, you know, when you're retired 41:48 and you preached all your life 41:49 and you did all this all your life, 41:51 you sometimes say 41:52 what good have I accomplished Lord? 41:55 And so I had one of those feel sorry days. 41:57 Yeah, we have them, too. 41:59 And I was at a great convention 42:01 and I was supposed to speak that night at that convention. 42:03 I said to myself. 42:04 I said, Lord, I said, what was my work? 42:06 What have I really accomplished in my work? 42:09 And I said, Lord, please show me someone 42:13 that I have influenced for Jesus Christ 42:16 while I am here. 42:18 So I am walking to home and I hadn't gone five steps. 42:21 And four women came running over to me. 42:24 They said, you're Ron Halverson. 42:26 I said, yeah in person. 42:31 They said, you baptized us 42:35 in a campaign in New York 42:39 23 years ago. 42:43 I said, thank you Jesus. 42:44 I had prayer with them. I hugged them. 42:46 I gave them holy day-- my sisters. 42:48 I gave them a holy hug. I was rejoicing. 42:50 I was walking now, you know, 42:52 with a holy ghost feet, you know. 42:54 I mean, I'm walking with holy ghost feet. 42:56 Some of you don't know that, I wish I could stay longer, 42:59 I could teach you it. 43:00 And I was all excited. 43:01 I hadn't gone 50 more feet 43:04 and a handsome young black man 43:05 came up to me, dressed well. 43:08 He said you're Ron Halverson, aren't you? 43:10 I said, I am here in person. 43:12 Touch it, it's alive. 43:16 He said, I was in Harlem. 43:18 And I lived in an apartment across from this church 43:20 where you were holding a meeting in January. 43:23 The brethren sent me to Harlem to preach in January. 43:26 They went to the Philippines. 43:27 I don't know what they do like that. 43:30 But anyway, I am in Harlem. 43:32 And he says, I was across and I was a heroin addict. 43:35 He said, but I saw this sign blinking-- 43:38 Revelation. 43:39 I used to go to Revelation Offers Hope, 43:40 same as Revelation Today. 43:42 Blink, blink, blink, he was half high, 43:45 half low whatever you want to coin. 43:47 So he came across and he said, there at that meeting, 43:50 I gave my heart to Jesus Christ. 43:53 He said wait, no, it's not done yet. 43:55 He says, by the way, 43:57 he says I am a Seventh-day Adventist preacher. 43:59 And he told me the church which he had. 44:00 Amen. 44:01 Give God glory and give Him honor. 44:06 Remain, 20-30 some years ago remain. 44:12 Why do you be like a fly annoying, flying away. 44:18 The piece of bread. 44:19 Stay, remain, don't let the devil knock you out, 44:25 don't let him whisper, you're a sinner. 44:27 Of course, you are. But you have a savior. 44:30 Amen. 44:36 Remain, remain, remember, 44:41 repent, repeat and remain. 44:48 Each step rekindles the first love. 44:53 And Jesus concludes 44:54 with the command to all believers. 44:57 Every word of scripture Jesus makes a special appeal. 45:01 Look at Revelation again, Chapter 2. 45:04 I am here in the context of this marvelous book, 45:07 this marvelous chapter, 45:09 understanding this marvelous church. 45:12 And he says, 45:14 "He that hath an ear, let him hear 45:19 what the Spirit says unto the churches, 45:22 To him that overcometh 45:23 what I give to eat of the tree of life, 45:27 which is in the midst of the paradise of God." 45:33 I remember my baptism. 45:37 I was the only one in my family there that day. 45:40 I traveled 2 hours each way on Sabbath to go to church. 45:44 It's amazing now people have big cars 45:46 and it's hard for them to make it 45:47 10 minutes down the road. 45:48 Isn't that amazing. 45:50 That's no reason but you watched your first love. 45:53 And I traveled 2 hours with my friend 45:55 who led me to Christ. 45:58 He was there. 46:00 And I remember I went down into the watery grave 46:03 and that day God baptized me in His spirit. 46:07 I came out of that water. 46:10 From that moment on, I decided I am gonna remain. 46:15 Amen. 46:17 And listen to me. 46:19 They tried to beat me out, oh, they have all kinds of-- 46:24 Hey, listen. You can't beat me out. 46:28 You can't gossip me out. Amen. 46:31 And you surely can't teach me out. 46:33 All right. 46:35 So God says remain faithful to the God that we love. 46:42 Remain faithful to Jesus. 46:45 I mean, Jesus, He invites you in His praise 46:49 to come to your marriage again. 46:51 To renew your vows here perhaps. 46:55 Perhaps there's some of you who have wandered away 46:57 and, you know, if Jesus came today, 46:58 you would be outside the fold 47:00 and like the virgins without oil in their lamp. 47:03 And you need that oil 47:04 and you need to come and you need to say 47:06 Jesus I need to reestablish my vow to you. 47:09 I need to reestablish my faith. 47:12 God maybe speaking to you here and saying that you. 47:16 God may have been inviting you all these weeks. 47:20 And his word has been clear to you 47:21 and you got to say, I got to go. 47:23 I have to return. 47:25 Some of you have to return to the God of your childhood. 47:29 You have to return because if you don't return, 47:34 who will you turn to? 47:37 Where will you go? 47:40 I am the way, 47:43 the truth, and the life. 47:48 Jesus said to return. 47:53 Let us pray. 47:55 Father God which art in heaven, 47:56 I humbly bow in Your presence at this moment. 48:00 I pray for Your spirit. 48:03 I don't want to end this meeting 48:05 without inviting some here 48:06 to return to the God of their child. 48:08 To return to God. 48:11 They may be a man, a woman, 48:12 a child, a teenager, I don't know. 48:14 There may be a person here today 48:16 that this is my last appeal to them 48:19 that they need to return. 48:21 With every head bowed, every eye closed, 48:25 if you know in your heart 48:26 then you have to return to Jesus Christ, 48:29 to come home, lift up your hand where you are. 48:31 I want you to hold up your hand right now. 48:32 Come on, don't be ashamed, hold it up high. 48:35 Some of you need to come back through rebaptism. 48:38 I don't know, God's spirit will tell you that. 48:41 I don't know. 48:42 But if he does, you can be a part 48:46 of what God is doing here. 48:47 Father, see the hands raised to thee, oh, God. 48:51 Bless them. 48:52 Amen. Amen. 49:30 How can I know God hears my prayers? 49:32 Excellent question. 49:34 And you want to know 49:36 that you know God hears your prayers. 49:38 And so we're gonna look in the Bible 49:40 at two verses that are emphatic. 49:44 1 John 5:14, 49:47 "And this is the confidence that we have in Him, 49:51 that, if we ask anything according to His will, 49:54 He hears us." 49:56 Now, we can press on from there. 49:58 "And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, 50:02 we know that we have the petitions 50:04 that we desired of him." 50:06 Jesus said if you ask anything in My name, I will do it. 50:08 Keep in mind when you pray, 50:09 you pray according to God's will. 50:11 You could pray for a shiny red sports car, 50:13 God might instead give you a job 50:14 at McDonald's flipping burgers 50:17 because what He knows you need is discipline 50:19 and you need to save up some money 50:20 and when you saved enough money 50:21 for a shiny red sports car, you gonna say, 50:23 you know, I don't need that after all. 50:25 That might happen. 50:26 You may pray to be healed of an illness today. 50:28 You might not be healed of that illness 50:29 until tomorrow or never. 50:32 God knows, He knows the best thing. 50:34 You might pray for a $1000 50:36 because you need it to pay a bill 50:38 and God knows that you somehow 50:41 need to get through this experience in another way 50:43 in a way that will built your faith 50:44 and trust and hope in Him. 50:47 So, let's not pretend that we need to tell God 50:52 that we know best. 50:53 We can pray and prayer changes things 50:56 and prayer will move the omnipotence 50:58 and God will do things in answer to prayer 51:00 that He might not otherwise do had we not prayed, 51:03 that's the truth. 51:04 But prayer is not a stick with which we beat God 51:08 and we beat Him relentlessly until He gives us what we want. 51:11 Actually, in prayer what we do is, 51:13 we come so close to God that we before we're done, 51:15 we know what God's will is in certain situation. 51:18 And then we can pray more intelligently. 51:20 So anyhow, do pray, do pray for what you want. 51:23 Tell God you want to press the throne of God, that's fine. 51:26 But pray according to God's will 51:27 and pray trusting that God knows best. 51:30 How can you know God hears your prayers 51:31 because God said so. 51:33 Well, I don't feel like He heard my prayers 51:35 and since when have you needed to feel like it. 51:38 You just need to believe it. 51:39 Well, I don't have evidence that God heard my prayer. 51:42 What do you want? 51:43 A confirmation email, if you look for that, 51:48 you'd probably go to your spam thing anyway 51:50 because you weren't expecting an email from God 51:52 and your computer wasn't set up for it. 51:54 You don't need any of that. 51:55 We are saved by grace, 51:57 not through evidence but through faith. 52:00 And as you grow as a Christian and as you read your Bible, 52:02 you'd find more than enough evidence 52:05 to hang your spiritual head on. 52:07 Now, I believe that God created the world, 52:09 even though I didn't see it. 52:10 I believe it because the Bible says so, 52:11 but along the way, I have picked up 52:14 plenty of what I consider to be strong evidence 52:17 suggesting that God did that. 52:19 It's not just that the Bible says it, 52:20 it's that I believe I have evidence 52:23 that helps me understand that. 52:25 When it comes to answering my prayers, 52:27 I know God answers my prayers 52:28 because the Bible says but along the way 52:31 in my Christian journey, 52:33 I have learned that God is a prayer 52:35 answering God from experience. 52:37 We prayed and seen God do great things. 52:40 So you pray, expect the best and you can know by faith, 52:45 God hears your prayers. 52:46 This is not even something 52:47 you need to lose any sleep over. 52:50 Another Bible question now. 52:51 How can God forgive a sin as bad as murder? 52:57 There are other things that are terrible too 52:59 and that as a society 53:00 we say that's not good and it's not good. 53:04 But God forgives. 53:07 How's that? 53:09 Because that's what God does. 53:11 Thou Lord art good and ready to forgive. 53:15 Jesus asked us to pray for forgiveness. 53:19 Did you know that? 53:21 He told us to pray for forgiveness. 53:24 You read in the Lord's Prayer. 53:25 "Our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name, 53:29 thy kingdom come, 53:31 thy will be done on earth as in heaven, 53:35 give us this day our daily bread, 53:38 and forgive us our debts." 53:42 I'm gonna read that next little bit in just a moment. 53:45 We've been told to pray and ask God to forgive. 53:48 He didn't say pray and ask God to forgive you 53:51 as long as you don't do something that's too bad, 53:53 He doesn't say that. 53:54 Just pray for forgiveness and expect it to be so, 53:58 God will forgive him. 53:59 Murder, God forgave Moses. 54:01 Moses was a murderer. 54:03 God forgave David. 54:04 David had Uriah the Hittite murdered, 54:07 he send him to his death, that was murder, really. 54:11 Throughout the Bible there are other people too 54:13 that have committed the most heinous crimes. 54:14 Paul set people up to be put to death 54:17 is no better than a murderer. 54:18 God not only forgave Moses, David and Paul 54:21 which was Saul who became Paul, 54:23 He used them mightily. 54:26 Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, 54:28 a murderer. 54:30 The Apostle Paul wrote 54:31 the majority of the books in the New Testament 54:33 and I'm gonna say for the benefit of this exercise, 54:35 a murderer or someone who is an accessory 54:37 after the fact, before the fact, to the fact, 54:41 an accessory to the fact, 54:43 God can forgive that how, God forgives. 54:49 You know, murder is the breaking 54:51 of the commandment, isn't it? 54:52 Thou shall not kill. 54:54 What commandments have you broken lately? 54:56 Thou shall not be a false witness. 54:57 Thou shall not steal. 54:58 Thou shall have no other Gods and maybe Carolina Panthers 55:02 have become your God before God. 55:05 And God is willing to forgive you. 55:08 He is willing to forgive anybody. 55:10 Jesus died for our sins. 55:12 It just says something to us 55:14 about the depth of God's grace and goodness. 55:17 Now, that little phrase I didn't read. 55:20 "Forgive us our debts..." 55:21 This is Matthew Chapter 6, "as we forgive our debtors." 55:26 God has been willing to forgive you. 55:29 God would have you be willing to forgive others. 55:32 Remember that story, it was a parable Jesus told. 55:34 A man had a lot of debts, his master forgave them, 55:38 forgave him the debts that were colossal. 55:41 He goes out and find somebody who owes him a small amount 55:45 and he treats him terribly in order to get his money back. 55:48 He didn't forgive that person 55:50 as he had been forgiven or treated. 55:54 It can be a challenge sometime, 55:55 somebody does something very terrible, 55:57 but God wants us to forgive. 55:58 If you don't forgive what is somebody saying. 56:01 It's like taking the poison pill 56:02 and expecting the other guy to die. 56:06 Forgiveness is good for us. 56:07 Forgiving somebody for doing something bad to you 56:09 doesn't let them off the hook. 56:12 Doesn't let them off the hook. 56:13 It lets you off the hook. 56:15 Lets you off the hook of bitterness 56:17 and malaise and unforgiveness. 56:27 It Is Written is dedicated 56:28 to sharing the gospel around the world. 56:30 To discover more about It Is Written, 56:32 I invite you to visit our website, itiswritten.com 56:36 and browse the dozens of pages that describe 56:38 what we do and how we do it. 56:40 Let's get to know each other better. 56:41 Visit our website, itiswritten.com today. |
Revised 2015-01-22